Tokyo High Court upholds life term for Filipino man over gang rape and murder of student in 2004

Abstract: The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a Filipino man to life imprisonment for the 2004 gang rape and murder of a university student in Ibaraki Prefecture. According to the rulings, Jerico Mori Lampano, 37, conspired with two other Filipino men to rape and kill the 21-year-old Ibaraki University student by cutting her throat multiple times on a riverbank in the village of Miho on Jan. 31, 2004. The three men had abducted the victim in a vehicle from the nearby town of Ami earlier that day. “A life term is appropriate even though the accused has shown remorse,” presiding Judge Tsutomu Tochigi said, calling the crime despicable and heinous. During the high court trial Lampano’s defense lawyers had claimed a life term was too severe for the accused, who pleaded guilty and expressed regret for the attack after having a daughter of his own. Police arrested Lampano in September 2017 based on DNA samples collected from the student’s body. The two other men, who were minors and colleagues of Lampano at the time of the crime, returned to the Philippines and have been placed on an international wanted list. Whether they will be prosecuted remains uncertain, as Japan does not have an extradition treaty with the Philippines.

life term
filipino
rape
murder
ibaraki
jerico mori lampano


Multinational bunch of Tokyo Halloween revelers referred to prosecutors for overturning truck in Shibuya

Abstract: Police referred 10 men to prosecutors Wednesday for allegedly overturning a small truck during a Halloween event in late October in the busy Shibuya district of Tokyo. The men, aging from their late teens to their 30s, are made up of Japanese and foreign nationals including French, British and Belgian students and tourists, investigators said. At around 1 a.m. on Oct. 28, the men were allegedly involved in flipping a truck as crowds in costumes gathered near Shibuya Station in central Tokyo. There were no injuries in the incident, one of a series of escalating pranks at the increasingly popular Halloween event in the district. The men were identified after police analyzed footage from about 250 security cameras in the area, the investigators said. Four other men in their 20s were arrested in December in relation to the incident on suspicion of property destruction. The police said they were particularly culpable as they were seen standing on the vehicle and damaging it. Two of them were fined ¥100,000 ($920), while the other two had their charges dismissed. The police also believe that another man was involved and are continuing their investigation. Concern is growing over the raucousness of the Halloween street party, which attracts many people clad in fancy dress, along with the massive amount of litter that tends to be left after the event.

tokyo
halloween
shibuya
police
foreign tourists


Tokyo's foreign residents prepare for worst at multilingual disaster drill

Abstract: On the heels of a year marked by natural disasters — and with thousands of foreign workers expected to enter the country over the next few years — the Tokyo Metropolitan Government hosted a disaster drill Wednesday in Setagaya Ward to prepare foreign residents for the worst-case scenario. “Last year, we suffered from a series of major disasters, from earthquakes in northern Osaka and Hokkaido to the heavy rains and typhoons in western Japan,” said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who made opening remarks at the event. “We are told that the possibility of an earthquake directly hitting Tokyo within the next 30 years is 70 percent. That means, in the future, we will face a major earthquake.” “We have to prepare for the worst,” she added. The drill has been held annually since 2006 and involves a series of presentations, simulations and interactive demonstrations designed to teach people how to respond during an emergency. As they rotate between stations every group of participants is accompanied by a translator or interpreter, and pamphlets are available in multiple languages to make sure everything is correctly understood. This year, 129 participants — 58 of whom either work at one of 28 foreign embassies in Japan or came with a family member who does — took part in the drill and learned skills such as how to perform resuscitation, how to use a defibrillator and how to maintain good hygiene and blood circulation during a prolonged stay at an emergency or evacuation center. More than half a million foreign residents live in Tokyo, according to Koike. The largest portion hail from China, numbering nearly 200,000 residents and equating to almost 40 percent of the foreign resident population in the capital. More than 90,000 are Korean and over 30,000 are Vietnamese or Filipino. Many of the remaining foreign residents hail from Nepal, the United States, India, Myanmar, Thailand and France. The governor believes most of them have never experienced a major earthquake. Li Xiao Ru, a researcher from Shanghai, China, moved to Japan a little over a month ago with her husband and 4-year-old son, Wu Yi Feng. She’s fluent in Japanese and English, and used both during the drill Wednesday to help her family understand what was going on. “Everything was very easy to understand,” Li said. “I think it’s much more useful to learn these things by seeing and experiencing them, not just by studying them.” Li said she has felt several earthquakes in and around Tokyo even since her family started living here in December. She brought her family to the disaster preparedness drill in the hopes that, if a natural disaster were to happen, she would know how to protect them. “My concern grows as long as my child is near,” Li said. “He’s my greatest responsibility.”


Ibaraki to adopt smartphone-based cashless payment system in tie-up with Tokyo startup

Abstract: MITO, IBARAKI PREF. - Ibaraki Prefecture is adopting cashless payments made using smartphones as a means to tap into data-driven marketing, and allow small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from a central government plan to offset a scheduled consumption tax hike by rewarding consumers for noncash purchases. Prefectural officials on Tuesday signed an agreement with Tokyo-based startup Origami Inc., a QR-code payment service provider, in the hopes of using the payment data as it seeks new tourism development strategies, and to invigorate the local economy, the officials said. The deal “will help increase consumption and enable us to benefit from data-driven marketing,” Ibaraki Gov. Kazuhiro Oikawa said during a ceremony held Tuesday to commemorate the deal. “I want Ibaraki to become a promoter of cashless payments.” Those who wish to pay without cash will need a smartphone to do so. At stores that provide the service it will be possible to make transactions via the downloadable Origami Pay app, which requires users to register their credit card or bank account information. Under a government plan, details of which are still under discussion, reward points — expected to be worth 5 percent of purchases made at small shops — will be returned to purchasers that use credit cards or other cashless payments, in an effort to reduce the economic impact of the planned consumption tax hike set for October. At the same time, the government hopes the plan will help sustain small businesses. Ibaraki will first test cashless payments at stores located near Kairakuen, a famous plum blossom viewing spot in the city of Mito, as well as at public facilities in the prefecture, around the time of the Mito Plum Blossom Festival in mid-February. The officials will later analyze the data gathered from cashless payments at designated stores and facilities to gauge consumer sentiment and financial performance. To encourage consumers to pay with their phones, local merchants will offer purchase discounts for first-timers and distribute half-price coupons that can be used at stores in Mito.

ibaraki
smartphones
cashless
tourism
origami inc .


Foreign tourists spent record ¥4.5 trillion in Japan in 2018

Abstract: Foreign tourists spent a record-high ¥4.51 trillion ($41.5 billion) in Japan in 2018 as the tourism boom continued in the country, government data showed Wednesday. Spending by foreign visitors increased for the seventh consecutive year. Average spending per person stood at ¥153,000, the Japan Tourism Agency said in a preliminary report. The number of foreign visitors to the country reached a record 31.19 million last year, up 8.7 percent from 2017, the agency also said. The government expanded consumption tax exemptions for foreign tourists in July as part of efforts to raise such spending to ¥8 trillion by 2020 when Tokyo is set to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chinese travelers spent the most, at ¥1.54 trillion. Those from South Korea came second at ¥584.2 billion, followed by tourists from Taiwan at ¥583.9 billion.


Emperor reflects on sunflowers, remembrance and reconstruction in final poetry recital event before abdication

Abstract: In the final annual New Year’s Poetry Reading Ceremony before his abdication, Emperor Akihito reflected Wednesday on sunflowers, which have become associated with a major earthquake in the nation. The choice of topic has been said to indicate his ongoing commitment those affected by the disaster. The 85-year-old Emperor is scheduled to retire on April 30 as the first living Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years, ending his reign and the Heisei Era. His son Crown Prince Naruhito will succeed him the following day. This year’s theme for waka poems at the reading ceremony, which was held at the Imperial Palace, was hikari , meaning light. The Emperor and Empress Michiko, who have visited disaster-hit areas together over the years, are not expected to compose poems for future reading ceremonies. In his poem, the Emperor described how sunflowers that have become a symbol of remembrance and reconstruction have thrived following the magnitude 7.3 quake in 1995 that claimed the lives of more than 6,400 people in western Japan. The official translation of the Emperor’s poem is as follows: These sunflowers grown From seeds presented to us How tall they now are Their leaves spreading out widely In the early summer light. The Imperial Couple were given the seeds of “Haruka’s Sunflowers,” named after 11-year-old Haruka Kato who was killed in the Great Hanshin Earthquake on Jan. 17, 1995, on the 10th anniversary of the disaster. They planted them in the garden of the Imperial Palace in 2005. They continued to grow the sunflowers each year by planting seeds taken after the flowering season, according to the Imperial Household Agency. The sunflower seeds have since been distributed to many parts of Japan, including areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. The Emperor has regarded visiting people facing hardships as the role of an emperor who is a “symbol of the state,” and has regularly traveled to disaster-hit areas to console those affected. A senior official at the Imperial Household Agency said the feelings of the Emperor and Empress for those in the affected areas will remain the same even after the Emperor’s abdication. “The poem recited at his last reading ceremony reflects such resolve,” the official said. In her poem, Empress Michiko, 84, reflected on the moment of quiet joy and serenity she felt as roses bloomed in the garden of the Imperial Palace, easing the worries that have come with aging. The official translation of the Empress’s poem is as follows: For a while longer I resolve to live my life Each garden rose So serene and beautiful In the waning light of dusk. Japan passed one-off legislation to enable the Emperor’s abdication after he expressed his desire to step down in a rare video message aired in August 2016, citing his advanced age and weakening health. The English translation of the two poems was provided by the Imperial Household Agency. The Imperial Couple’s poems, as well as works composed by other members of the Imperial family and 10 pieces chosen from 21,971 entries from the public, were recited in the traditional style at the reading. Crown Prince Naruhito reflected on the memories of seeing sunlight shining through clouds as he was climbing Mount Kimpu, straddling Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures, as a high school student. Crown Princess Masako depicted the morning light shining on white birch at the Crown Prince’s residence. The princess did not take part in the ceremony as she has developed symptoms of a cold. Waka poetry was developed by the court aristocracy in the sixth century. Tanka poems, typically synonymous with waka, consist of 31 syllables in a pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. The agency said it will announce the theme for next year’s New Year’s Poetry Reading ceremony after Crown Prince Naruhito ascends to the throne on May 1. He will decide the theme as the host of the reading. The theme of the following year’s poetry is normally announced on the day of the reading.

poetry
abdication
emperor akihito
disasters
empress michiko


Tokyo considers plans for convention center complex at site of former Tsukiji fish market

Abstract: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering building a complex including a convention center on the site of the closed Tsukiji fish market, a source close to the matter said Wednesday. On Jan. 25 the Tokyo authorities will outline a draft redevelopment plan for the 23-hectare site of the former fish market, which closed last October after 83 years of operation, the source said. The draft plan is expected to be finalized by the end of March. Tokyo has already decided to use the location temporarily as parking lots for athletes and staff during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The city government is also considering opening a luxury hotel, hoping to attract more business people and foreign tourists by using the site that had become a popular tourist attraction. Plans for the redevelopment include leasing the site to private-sector entities. The fish market was relocated to a site previously used as a gas production plant in nearby Toyosu, in Koto Ward in the capital, after much political wrangling. In 1999, Shintaro Ishihara, then Tokyo governor, decided to relocate the Tsukiji market to the Toyosu waterfront district. The Tsukiji market, established in 1935 on reclaimed land in the heart of Tokyo, was originally scheduled to relocate to the newly built wholesale market in November 2016 as its buildings had become obsolete. But Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike put the brakes on the relocation after assuming office in August 2016 because of concerns over soil and air pollution at the Toyosu site. In June 2017, she announced a plan to use both the new market as well as the old site as a “food theme park,” saying Tsukiji was “an established brand.” Following the discovery of pollutants, including high levels of benzene in groundwater, and subsequent decontamination work, the metropolitan government and businesses agreed on the relocation, and the Toyosu market finally opened in October last year. The Toyosu market — a new tourist attraction in Tokyo — is a closed facility suitable for temperature control and improved sanitation, and is 1.7 times larger than Tsukiji.

tsukiji
tokyo metropolitan government
toyosu
yuriko koike


France's Macron tells Shinzo Abe he feels Ghosn's detention in Japan is 'too long and too hard'

Abstract: PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he’s worried about Carlos Ghosn’s conditions in jail, making his strongest comments yet on the fallen car titan and the scandal that has rocked Renault SA’s decades-old alliance with Nissan Motor Co. “All I’ll say is that I felt the detention was too long and too hard, and I told Abe that,” Macron told reporters in Cairo, referring to a telephone conversation with Abe last Friday. “I’m just concerned that the case of a French citizen should respect basic decency.” Macron’s views came days after Ghosn stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of France’s largest carmaker and two months after Nissan booted him out, with the attention shifting to the future of the partnership. While Renault named Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard as its chairman last week, the French leader has reportedly suggested the executive be made Nissan’s chairman as well to help manage the alliance. With his public remarks on the case, Macron risks being seen as meddling in Japan’s justice system. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday that due process is being followed in Ghosn’s detention and investigation. “It is being carried out by highly independent investigative authorities, based on appropriate procedures and strict legal judgment, including the orders of the court,” Suga said. He also said the two carmakers should decide on who becomes Nissan’s chairman, pushing back on the idea of governments getting involved in the talks. Ghosn has been in custody since his Nov. 19 arrest at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, indicted for allegedly understating his income at Nissan and transferring personal trading losses to the carmaker. He has been denied bail repeatedly after prosecutors argued he is a flight risk, while his lawyers say he could stay in custody until a trial that may be six months away. Ghosn has denied wrongdoing. Macron’s involvement in the affairs of the two companies is mainly because of the power the French state wields over Renault. The government owns 15 percent of Renault with extra voting rights, while the latter holds about 43 percent of Nissan with voting rights, giving French leaders an indirect say in decisions that sometimes affect the Japanese carmaker. Nissan has a 15 percent nonvoting stake in Renault, which also appointed Thierry Bollore as its CEO. While both companies have repeatedly said they are committed to the partnership, Nissan has long been unhappy about what it considers an outsize French role in the alliance, whose third member is Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “We will be diligent to ensure the stability of the group,” Macron said. Renault-Nissan alliance executives will meet this week in Amsterdam, where the company that manages the partnership is based, sources said. The meeting will be the first since Ghosn quit. Macron has a history with Renault. On Sunday, he defended an increase in the French stake in 2015 on his watch as economy minister. It was a move that had rattled Nissan. “I was happy I intervened, because I felt that Ghosn had gone too far in the ‘Nipponization’ of the group,” he said.

france
shinzo abe
emmanuel macron
carlos ghosn
renault
nissan
france-japan relations


Retail rout deepens as U.K. and Germany lose thousands of jobs

Abstract: BERLIN - Europe’s retail crisis deepened as companies in the U.K. to Germany are set to cut thousands of jobs as online shopping accelerates erosion of sales from traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. Tesco, the biggest U.K. grocer, will eliminate about 15,000 positions and close meat, fish and delicatessen counters, the Mail on Sunday reported, citing unidentified industry sources. Galeria Kaufhof, which has department stores in cities including Berlin and Munich, will cut about 2,600 jobs, it said Friday — the same day that German fashion chain Gerry Weber International AG began insolvency proceedings. They join a growing list of European retailers that have collapsed amid ever tougher online competition. The shift to internet shopping, slowing economic growth and insecurity in the U.K. over the country’s exit from the European Union are eating into traditional retail sales. In the U.K., there is concern over the future of retailers such as Debenhams PLC, which is in talks with lenders as it faces at least £300 million of debt coming due starting next year. The U.K.’s shopping districts have already been decimated by a series of collapses, including the company behind cake chain Patisserie Valerie, which is seeking a buyer. Sports Direct International PLC Chief Executive Officer Mike Ashley rescued department-store chain House of Fraser last year. Tesco’s job cuts will probably affect the majority of its 732 larger stores, according to the Mail on Sunday report. The retailer will also overhaul in-store bakeries, and replace staff canteens with vending machines, the newspaper said. Tesco declined comment on the size of cuts outlined in the Mail on Sunday report. In Germany, local politicians have warned that inner cities may turn into wastelands if the bricks-and-mortar onslaught continues. Galeria Kaufhof needs comprehensive restructuring to cut costs, parent company Karstadt Warenhaus said Friday. Gerry Weber, which operates more than 1,200 stores in 60 countries, had reported its first full-year loss before interest and taxes in almost three decades in October.

retailers
germany
jobs
tesco
internet
u.k .
brexit


Last summer's heat wave in Japan helped push appliance shipments to 22-year high

Abstract: Driven by strong sales of air conditioners, appliance shipments in terms of value reached their highest level in 22 years in 2018, an industry body said Monday. The value, ¥2.45 trillion and up 4.1 percent from a year before, was also boosted by brisk sales of refrigerators and washing machines, according to the Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association. It was the third year in a row that the annual figure grew. Except for April, monthly shipments in 2018 were higher than the same month a year before. Due to last summer’s scorching heat, the volume of air conditioner shipments hit 9.65 million units, an all-time high since officials began compiling comparable data in 1972. The value increased 9.4 percent from a year before to ¥790.9 billion. Japan was hit by a deadly heat wave last year, prompting the Meteorological Agency to declare a natural disaster. The temperature rose to a record 41.1 degrees in July. “The 2018 market was firm, at a time when a huge increase in shipments of white goods appliances is hard to expect on the back of the country’s decreasing population,” an association official said. Demand for high-priced large electrical home appliances continued to be robust. By product, refrigerators rose 3.3 percent to ¥437 billion and washing machines grew 6.1 percent to ¥347 billion. While vacuum cleaners remained almost flat, the value of microwave and rice cooker shipments decreased.


Taro Aso pledges to keep Japan's economy strong as October's consumption tax hike looms

Abstract: Finance Minister Taro Aso pledged Monday to ensure that an upcoming tax hike does not hurt the economy by causing household spending to plummet. “We will use every policy tool at our disposal to make sure that the economy remains on a recovery track,” Aso said in a speech on the first day of this year’s ordinary Diet session. He asked his fellow lawmakers for swift passage of the proposed budget for fiscal 2019, which features a ¥2 trillion stimulus package to underpin demand after the consumption tax is raised to 10 percent from 8 percent on Oct. 1. The measures include a rebate program meant to encourage consumers to shop at small businesses using cashless payment methods such as credit cards as well as using shopping vouchers made available to households with small children or low incomes. The stimulus package also aims to ramp up spending on infrastructure projects. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is likewise seeking to implement measures that increase tax cuts for people who purchase homes and new cars. Aso promised to work toward improving Japan’s battered fiscal health by cutting unnecessary spending and reducing government debt, which is more than twice the size of the nation’s gross domestic product. In a separate speech, Toshimitsu Motegi, minister for economic and fiscal policy, noted that six years after Abe’s return to power, nominal GDP has grown to a record ¥550 trillion as corporate profits scaled new heights and unemployment fell to the lowest level in 25 years. But he warned that risks could come from abroad in the form of heightened trade tensions, sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s raising of tariffs under his “America First” agenda. “As protectionism spreads across the world, Japan must be a leader in defending the system of free trade,” Motegi said. Developments in trade policy will be significant for Japan in 2019. The TPP entered into force in December, with 11 members following the exit of the U.S., and another free trade agreement with the European Union is set to come into effect in February, deals Motegi touted as the “new engines” for growth in the economy. Japan will also begin bilateral trade negotiations with the U.S., which is seeking to open up Japan’s protected agriculture market and bar competitive currency devaluations in a bid to reduce its trade deficit. Motegi vowed to improve Japan’s fiscal position so it can achieve its target of a primary balance surplus by fiscal 2025, though even its own optimistic forecasts show it is currently tracking toward a deficit of ¥2.4 trillion for that year. A primary balance surplus means that tax revenue is more than sufficient to cover government spending on everything but interest payments on public debt.

taro aso
consumption tax
taxes
diet
toshimitsu motegi


Bank of Japan policymakers disagreed over level of bond yields at December meeting

Abstract: Bank of Japan policymakers disagreed over the appropriate level of bond yields, minutes from their meeting last month show, a sign of the strain on the BOJ’s monetary framework as the global economy weakens. One member said long-term yields should be allowed to temporarily turn negative, according to minutes of the Dec. 19-20 Policy Board meeting released Monday. The minutes do not identify the board members by name. Another member agreed, saying yields have fallen due to worries about the U.S.-Chinese trade war and that conducting market operations to raise yields would tighten monetary policy. Yet another member said the BOJ should strengthen policy to reach its 2 percent inflation target. In contrast, a member said long-term yields need to be higher to ease the burden on the financial system and make corporate bonds more attractive to investors. This member also said revising the BOJ’s government bond purchases is one future option. Rising pressure from the trade war between China and the U.S. — Japan’s biggest trading partners — is weighing on the economy and undermining years of efforts by policymakers to foster durable growth. “One member expressed the recognition that … long-term yields should be allowed to temporarily turn negative,” the minutes showed. “The member continued that it was natural for such yields to move more or less symmetrically from around zero percent.” At the meeting, the BOJ kept policy on hold. At a subsequent meeting last week, the central bank cut its inflation forecasts but left its massive monetary easing in place. The BOJ’s massive government debt purchases have had some unintended consequences, as years of low rates hurt financial institutions’ profits. The bank has also amassed a lot of exchange-traded funds in its marathon asset buying spree, which risks distorting financial markets. Many BOJ policymakers are wary of ramping up stimulus, though external shocks or a sudden spike in the yen could force the bank to do just that if the risk of recession grows.


Trump lifts Rusal sanctions as Putin ally Oleg Deripaska cuts stake

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury Department on Sunday lifted sanctions on three firms tied to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, including United Co. Rusal, a move that will provide relief to the global aluminum market. Deripaska, an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, will remain under U.S. sanctions, and his property will remain blocked. But the Treasury Department is removing restrictions on Rusal, EN+ Group PLC and EuroSibEnergo JSC. “The companies have also agreed to unprecedented transparency for Treasury into their operations by undertaking extensive, ongoing auditing, certification, and reporting requirements. All sanctions on Deripaska continue in force,” the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a release. Congressional Democrats tried to block the action, citing concerns about the Trump administration’s motives at a time when special counsel Robert Mueller is continuing his investigation of Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible connections to the Trump campaign. Sanctions relief for Rusal, the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, will remove a source of uncertainty from the aluminum market. Prices surged in April when Treasury announced the financial restrictions. But prices tumbled in recent months on speculation that the Rusal sanctions would be lifted. Deripaska’s agreement with Treasury, negotiated over eight months, includes cutting his direct and indirect share ownership below 50 percent in each company, overhauling the boards of En+ and Rusal, and “committing to full transparency with Treasury by undertaking extensive, ongoing auditing, certification, and reporting requirements,” the department said in December when announcing its plans to remove the sanctions. Rusal is among the largest companies the U.S. has ever put on its sanctions designation list. The value of the aluminum producer has declined by more than half from $9.2 billion more than eight months ago.

rusal
sanctions
oleg deripaska
aluminum
robert mueller
u.s .
donald trump
russia probe


BlackRock data leak affecting thousands also ensnared Envestnet advisers

Abstract: NEW YORK - Financial advisers served by technology provider Envestnet Inc. were among the thousands affected by a data leak at BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager. Envestnet was informed by BlackRock that some adviser information was inadvertently released, Estee Jimerson, managing director and head of asset manager distribution at Envestnet, said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We are engaged with BlackRock to better understand the content and the advisors who were included in the document,” she said. “BlackRock is in the process of informing impacted firms and we are closely monitoring the situation.” Bloomberg News first reported Jan. 18 that BlackRock inadvertently released names, email addresses and other information on about 20,000 financial advisers who do business with the firm’s iShares exchange-traded funds unit. That number includes the Envestnet-linked advisers. In total, Envestnet serves more than 92,000 advisers. The leak included information on about 12,000 advisers who are clients at LPL Financial, the largest U.S. independent broker dealer. LPL informed advisers over the weekend that BlackRock posted details about some of them on its website. BlackRock attributed the incident to human error. In a statement issued Monday, BlackRock said it “recognizes the seriousness of the error and we deeply regret that it occurred. We always seek to treat the information entrusted to us with great care.” The firm declined comment further on Tuesday. In November, Envestnet and BlackRock entered a partnership to provide financial advisers with technology. As part of that arrangement, BlackRock agreed to acquire an equity stake of about 4.9 percent in Chicago-based Envestnet.


Nissan faces U.S. probe over executive pay after Carlos Ghosn case raises questions

Abstract: NEW YORK - The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Nissan Motor Co. accurately disclosed its executive pay in the U.S., according to several sources. The U.S. financial regulator is examining whether Nissan’s executive-pay disclosures were accurate and whether the carmaker maintained adequate controls to prevent improper payments, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the probe hasn’t been disclosed publicly. Nissan, in response to questions, confirmed it has received an inquiry and said it is cooperating fully. Through spokeswoman Kristina Adamski, the company said it could not provide further details. The SEC investigation adds to scrutiny surrounding Japan’s second-largest automaker and its executives after Japanese authorities arrested Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s then-chairman, and another company director, Greg Kelly, in November. Both men were indicted there over allegations Ghosn underreported his income at Nissan by billions of yen. The carmaker also has been indicted, a step that allows Japanese prosecutors to lay formal charges. Ghosn and Kelly were arrested after a monthslong internal investigation at Nissan uncovered what the company said were financial misdeeds by Ghosn. Both Ghosn and Kelly deny wrongdoing. The SEC inquiry, launched out of its Washington headquarters, is focused on whether lapses by Nissan in reporting on its executives’ pay violated U.S. securities law, one of the sources said. The regulator’s work was slowed by the U.S. government shutdown that lasted over a month, another said. While the SEC’s civil inquiry is in its early stages and may not point to wrongdoing, it adds a layer of complexity for Nissan and the two former executives. The SEC, which often works closely with law enforcement, could seek financial penalties and injunctions to prevent violation of laws or SEC rules. John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC, declined to comment. Aubrey Harwell Jr., an attorney for Kelly, said his client hasn’t received an SEC subpoena and declined further comment. U.S.- and Japan-based representatives for Ghosn declined to comment. In a memo to staff last month, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa, who succeeded Ghosn as CEO, said oversights in the company’s corporate governance “permitted the situation to continue, which clearly calls for grave reflection.” Nissan shares trade in the U.S. via American depositary receipts, which generally gives the SEC enforcement authority. U.S. courts have disagreed about whether the regulator has jurisdiction in certain cases where wrongdoing occurred abroad. The activities under scrutiny so far at Nissan took place mostly in Japan and Europe. But the SEC believes it has authority in this instance, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter. Japanese authorities have accused Ghosn and Kelly of colluding over several years to underreport Ghosn’s deferred retirement pay. Ghosn, who gained near-mythic status in the auto business for rescuing Nissan and forging a global alliance between it and France’s Renault SA, also was indicted in relation to a decision to temporarily transfer personal trading losses to Nissan. He remains in custody. Kelly, the only American on Nissan’s board, was known inside the company as the “CEO whisperer” for his close ties to Ghosn during his leadership tenure. A Tennessee resident, Kelly was released on bail last month but must remain in Japan pending trial as a condition of his release.


Tokyo stocks head south ahead of key events and earnings reports

Abstract: Stocks turned lower in thin trading Monday as investors refrained from making big moves ahead of a series of key events abroad and earnings releases from major companies in and outside Japan. The Nikkei 225 average lost 124.56 points, or 0.60 percent, to end at 20,649.00. On Friday, the key market gauge rose 198.93 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 10.59 points, or 0.68 percent, lower at 1,555.51 after rising 13.50 points Monday. It was the first drop in three market days. Both indexes moved in negative territory throughout the day, with market players taking a wait-and-see stance, brokers said. Among the key overseas events are the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policymaking meeting starting Tuesday and ministerial-level trade talks between the United States and China in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday. Tokyo stocks were also pressured by the yen’s advance reflecting a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that the Fed is considering an early end to its balance sheet reduction, brokers said. “Investors found few reasons to buy stocks today,” an official of a Japanese brokerage firm said, adding that muted trading will likely continue Tuesday, prior to the closely watched events. Tokyo stocks will unlikely show a clear direction this week, said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., indicating the market has priced in any possible negative factors while a lack of fresh buying incentives is expected. Wall Street’s reaction to the upcoming key events requires attention, Otani said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,498 to 560 on the first section, while 69 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.065 billion shares from 1.330 billion Friday. Fujitsu General sagged 5.66 percent after the air conditioner maker announced Friday it was lowering its consolidated earnings forecast for the year to March. Profit-taking hit Kabu.com Securities after the online brokerage firm surged in the previous two sessions. Other major losers included Nintendo and Nissan. Among winners were chip-related Tokyo Electron and Advantest.

stocks
nikkei
topix
tokyo stock exchange


Dollar weakens to around ¥109.40 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was weaker around ¥109.40 in late Tokyo trading Monday, with players retreating to the sidelines ahead of key events abroad this week, including a policy-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.39-40, down from ¥109.75-76 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1405-1405, up from $1.1323-1323, and at ¥124.77-77, up from ¥124.28-28. After moving above ¥109.50 in early trading, the dollar lost momentum to slip below ¥109.30 in the midmorning in step with the weakness of the Nikkei 225 stock average. Selling by Japanese exporters also weighed on the U.S. currency, traders said. Buybacks temporarily pushed up the dollar above ¥109.40, but the greenback fell back below the threshold toward noon. In the afternoon, the dollar moved in a narrow range around ¥109.30-40 amid a dearth of trading incentives. A report by The Wall Street Journal late last week that the Fed is considering an early end to its balance sheet reduction “helped diminish market expectations for a widening in Japan-U.S. interest rate gaps, and this made the dollar vulnerable to selling versus the yen,” an official of a major securities firm said. Still, dollar-yen movements were limited as “market players found it difficult to tilt positions either way” prior to the Fed’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting Tuesday and U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.


Toyota resisting price hikes in Indonesia's hot minivan market

Abstract: JAKARTA - Toyota Motor Corp. and its group firm Daihatsu Motor Co. are trying to keep their prices steady in Indonesia’s increasingly competitive and affordable minivan market, offering 2019 models at the same prices as last year. PT. Toyota-Astra Motor launched new models of the Avanza and the Veloz last week, while PT. Astra Daihatsu Motor introduced its Grand New Xenia. Henry Tanoto, vice president of Toyota-Astra Motor, known as TAM, said the company set the prices for the new models after studying production costs, exchange rates and expected sales volume as well as acceptable retail price ranges. “We have decided that the prices should be the same as in 2018. Hopefully Indonesian people will find them acceptable,” he said. Astra Daihatsu Motor, a local Daihatsu unit known as ADM, has decided against price increases in a gesture of appreciation to loyal customers. “New Xenias can be owned at the unchanged prices. It’s a manifestation of our commitment to our customers,” said Amelia Tjandra, ADM marketing director at Daihatsu BSD Astra Biz Center in South Tangerang on Java. Toyota and Daihatsu began producing low multipurpose vehicles, or LMPVs, an affordable range of MPVs also known as minivans, in Indonesia in 2003. Avanzas and Xenias are popular, but they are facing increasingly fierce competition from Japanese rivals — Suzuki Motor Corp.’s Ertiga, Nissan Motor Co.’s Livina, Honda Motor Co.’s Mobilio and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s Xpander and Wuling. Yoshihiro Nakata, TAM president, said even though Toyota’s LMPVs still lead the Indonesian market, the company is concerned about competition, noting that the “LMPV market competition is getting tighter.” TAM remains optimistic that Avanza will maintain its large market share of nearly 30 percent in Indonesia, accounting for more than 70 percent of Toyota’s total wholesale figure. “Our sales have been increasing steadily every year. In the January-November period, total Avanza sales at the wholesale level were 75,493 units, with a market share of 28 percent,” TAM’s Tanoto said. “With (the introduction of) the more stylish and modern model, we have set the market share target for this year at 30 percent.” This year Toyota predicts Indonesia’s LMPV market will grow around 5 percent. Toyota has set the sales target for the new Avanza and Veloz within a range of 7,000 to 7,500 units per month, Tanoto said. “Currently there are a total of seven brands competing in the LMPV segment,” ADM’s Tjandra said. “We must build a stronger strategy so that this year’s sales, especially those for Xenias, will increase by 20 percent compared to last year.” The Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries forecast that domestic vehicle sales will increase by 5 percent to 1.05 million units this year on the back of the government’s solid economic growth target of 5.5 percent, but the combined LMPV sales target by carmakers is estimated to be around 1.1 million units. “Therefore, it is possible that the automotive industry will not easily increase prices for new models,” Jongkie D. Sugiarto, chairman of the association, told NNA. Based on association data, LMPVs have a 30 percent share of total vehicle sales


Pittsburgh attack pushed anti-Semitic killings in 2018 to highest level in decades, Israel report says

Abstract: JERUSALEM - The number of Jews murdered in anti-Semitic attacks around the world in 2018 reached its “highest” level in decades after a mass shooting at a U.S. synagogue, an Israeli government report said Sunday. A total of 13 Jews were killed in three separate attacks during the year, according to the 2018 Global anti-Semitism Report released on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A gunman shot dead 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in October in America’s deadliest ever anti-Semitic attack. In January, a student was also murdered in California, and in March 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mirielle Knoll was killed in a brutal attack at her Paris home. “This marks the highest number of Jews murdered in anti-Semitic attacks since the attacks on the Argentinian Jewish community in the 1990s,” the report said. For the second year running the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain reached a record high, the report said. It cited British charity Community Security Trust which counted over 100 anti-Semitic episodes a month in 2018, a quarter of which occurred on social media. The report noted a 69 percent rise in reported anti-Semitic attacks and threats in France after a two-year decline. Contrary to previous years, anti-Semitic violence in 2018 was “led by neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” the report said. It defined 70 percent of attacks as “anti-Israel in nature,” noting a spike in May when the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem and violence flared on the Gaza border. Diaspora Minister Naftali Bennett said it is Israel’s “responsibility to help the millions of our brothers and sisters in the diaspora who are facing more and more anti-Semitic crimes.” He called on governments around the world to “take a harsh stance against the hatred of Jews.” Despite the grim numbers, there was also “room for hope,” the 113-page report said. “More and more governments are declaring their commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, and appointing emissaries to that end,” the report said. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem on Sunday also released its annual report on the “Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals.” It said that between April 2017 and March 2018 one person was convicted for Nazi-era crimes, while three others were charged.


'Red scarves' march in Paris in riposte to 'yellow vests' in wake of violence

Abstract: PARIS - Thousands of protesters marched through Paris on Sunday to condemn violence in the “yellow vest” movement that has rocked France for weeks with angry protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s rule. Some 10,000 people turned out for Sunday’s counter-demonstration, a day after an 11th consecutive Saturday of “yellow vest” demonstrations across France that brought sporadic clashes with police. Participants, some wearing red scarves after the name of the counter-movement, displayed slogans like “stop the violence” and “hands off my Republic” in a peaceful afternoon procession in eastern Paris that ended in Bastille square. Saturday’s “yellow vest” march in the capital also ended at Bastille, where small groups confronted police and a demonstrator suffered an eye wound that inflamed a debate about whether the authorities are using excessive force. The “yellow vest” protesters, who wear the fluorescent jackets French motorists are required to have in their cars, took to the streets in November to oppose a fuel tax rise. Their movement then developed into a broader revolt against the government. Around 69,000 people attended the latest Saturday protests, including 4,000 in Paris, a lower turnout than the previous weekend, the interior minister said. However, the injury to well-known activist Jerome Rodrigues attracted more television coverage on Sunday than the “red scarves” march, as it heightened debate over use by police of dispersal grenades and so-called “flashball” pellet guns. To help quell discontent, Macron this month launched a series of public debates that he has promised will lead to changes.

red scarves
paris
yellow vests
france
emmanuel macron


Far-right protest staged for first time during Auschwitz camp liberation commemoration

Abstract: OSWIECIM, POLAND - Dozens of Polish far-right nationalists gathered at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland on Sunday to protest at the same time as officials and survivors marked the 74th anniversary of the camp’s liberation in an annual ceremony. The two parties gathered in different parts of the camp, now an open-air museum, and did not encounter each other. It was the first time the far-right has held a protest at Auschwitz at the annual event, which is also International Holocaust Victims Remembrance Day. At the official ceremony on Sunday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other government officials were joined in prayer by some of the last remaining survivors of the death camp. In another location at the site, far right protesters wrapped in Polish flags, some of the stamped with the words “Polish Holocaust,” laid flowers and sang the Polish national anthem. “The Jewish nation and Israel is doing everything to change the history of the Polish nation,” said Piotr Rybak of the Polish Independence Movement, who led Sunday’s protest. “Polish patriots cannot allow this.” The protest comes at a time of surging anti-Semitism in parts of Europe and as critics accuse the PiS of trying to build a nationalist sense of grievance among Poles by seeking to minimize Polish complicity in the Holocaust. During decades of communist rule, Poles were taught to believe that, with a few exceptions, the nation had conducted itself honorably during a war that killed a fifth of the population. Many still refuse to accept research showing thousands had participated in the Holocaust — in addition to the thousands that had risked their lived to help the Jews — and feel the West has failed to recognize Poland’s own suffering during the war. More than 3 million of Poland’s 3.2 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, accounting for about half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust. Jews from across Europe were sent to be killed at death camps built and operated by the Germans on Polish soil, including Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis also killed at least 1.9 million non-Jewish Polish civilians. Diplomatic relations between Poland and Israel were strained last year after the PiS government sought to impose jail terms for suggesting the nation was complicit in the Holocaust.

auschwitz
poland
holocaust
jews
nazis
discrimination
hate speech


The digital drug: Internet addiction spawns innovative U.S. treatment programs

Abstract: CINCINNATI - When Danny Reagan was 13, he began exhibiting signs of what doctors usually associate with drug addiction. He became agitated, secretive and withdrew from friends. He had quit baseball and Boy Scouts, and he stopped doing homework and showering. But he was not using drugs. He was hooked on YouTube and video games, to the point where he could do nothing else. As doctors would confirm, he was addicted to his electronics. “After I got my console, I kind of fell in love with it,” Danny, now 16 and a junior in a Cincinnati high school, said. “I liked being able to kind of shut everything out and just relax.” Danny was different from typical plugged-in American teenagers. Psychiatrists say internet addiction, characterized by a loss of control over internet use and disregard for the consequences of it, affects up to 8 percent of Americans and is becoming more common around the world. “We’re all mildly addicted. I think that’s obvious to see in our behavior,” said psychiatrist Kimberly Young, who has led the field of research since founding the Center for Internet Addiction in 1995. “It becomes a public health concern obviously as health is influenced by the behavior.” Psychiatrists such as Young who have studied compulsive internet behavior for decades are now seeing more cases, prompting a wave of new treatment programs to open across the United States. Mental health centers in Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and other states are adding inpatient internet addiction treatment to their line of services. Some skeptics view internet addiction as a false condition, contrived by teenagers who refuse to put away their smartphones, and the Reagans say they have had trouble explaining it to extended family. Anthony Bean, a psychologist and author of a clinician’s guide to video game therapy, said that excessive gaming and internet use might indicate other mental illnesses but should not be labeled independent disorders. “It’s kind of like pathologizing a behavior without actually understanding what’s going on,” he said. ‘Reboot’ program At first, Danny’s parents took him to doctors and made him sign contracts pledging to limit his internet use. Nothing worked, until they discovered a pioneering residential therapy center in Mason, Ohio, about 35 km south of Cincinnati. The “Reboot” program at the Lindner Center for Hope offers inpatient treatment for 11- to 17-year-olds who, like Danny, have addictions, including to online gaming, gambling, social media, pornography and sexting, often to escape from symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Danny was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at age 5 and anxiety disorder at 6, and doctors said he developed an internet addiction to cope with those disorders. Reboot patients spend 28 days at a suburban facility equipped with 16 bedrooms, classrooms, a gym and a dining hall. They undergo diagnostic tests, psychotherapy, and learn to moderate their internet use. Chris Tuell, clinical director of addiction services, started the program in December after seeing several cases, including Danny’s, where young people were using the internet to “self-medicate” instead of drugs and alcohol. The internet, while not officially recognized as an addictive substance, similarly hijacks the brain’s reward system by triggering the release of pleasure-inducing chemicals and is accessible from an early age, Tuell said. “The brain really doesn’t care what it is, whether I pour it down my throat or put it in my nose or see it with my eyes or do it with my hands,” Tuell said. “A lot of the same neurochemicals in the brain are occurring.” Even so, recovering from internet addiction is different from other addictions because it is not about “getting sober,” Tuell said. The internet has become inevitable and essential in schools, at home and in the workplace. “It’s always there,” Danny said, pulling out his smartphone. “I feel it in my pocket. But I’m better at ignoring it.” Is it a real disorder? Medical experts have begun taking internet addiction more seriously. Neither the World Health Organization nor the American Psychiatric Association recognize internet addiction as a disorder. Last year, however, the WHO recognized the more specific gaming disorder following years of research in China, South Korea and Taiwan, where doctors have called it a public health crisis. Some online games and console manufacturers have advised gamers against playing to excess. YouTube has created a time monitoring tool to nudge viewers to take breaks from their screens as part of its parent company Google’s “digital wellbeing” initiative. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said internet addiction is the subject of “intensive research” and consideration for future classification. The American Psychiatric Association has labeled gaming disorder a “condition for further study.” “Whether it’s classified or not, people are presenting with these problems,” Tuell said. Tuell recalled one person whose addiction was so severe that the patient would defecate on himself rather than leave his electronics to use the bathroom. Research on internet addiction may soon produce empirical results to meet medical classification standards, Tuell said, as psychologists have found evidence of a brain adaptation in teens who compulsively play games and use the internet. “It’s not a choice, it’s an actual disorder and a disease,” said Danny. “People who joke about it not being serious enough to be super official, it hurts me personally.”


Russia and Putin mark 75 years since WWII siege of Leningrad

Abstract: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - The Russian city of St. Petersburg marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the devastating World War II siege by Nazi forces with a large military parade Sunday in the city’s sprawling Palace Square. Russian President Vladimir Putin later laid flowers at a monument in Piskarevskoye Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of siege victims are buried. The siege of the city, then called Leningrad, lasted nearly 2½ years until the Soviet Army drove the Nazis away on Jan. 27, 1944. Estimates of the death toll vary, but historians agree that more than 1 million Leningrad residents died from hunger or air and artillery bombardments during the siege. On Sunday, more than 2,500 soldiers and 80 units of military equipment paraded as snow fell and temperatures hovered around minus-18 degrees Celsius (0 Fahrenheit). The vehicles included a T-34 tank; such tanks played a key role in defeating the Nazis and became a widely revered symbol of the nation’s wartime valor and suffering. During the siege, most Leningrad residents had to survive on rations of just 125 grams (less than 0.3 pounds) of bread a day and whatever other food they could buy or exchange at local markets after selling their belongings. Among those who succumbed to the deprivations of the siege was Putin’s 1-year-old brother. Putin himself was born after the siege, in 1952. The Russian president did not attend the parade, which some civic groups had objected to as inappropriate, saying the day should commemorate the victims rather than flaunt military strength. The Kremlin also announced Sunday that Putin had signed an order allocating 150 million rubles ($2.3 million) for creating new exhibits at the state museum of the siege. “Today we mourn those who died defending Leningrad, who at the cost of their lives broke through the blockade. We recall those who worked in the besieged city, who, risking themselves, delivered bread and medicine along the Road of Life,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote on social media. Medvedev was referring to the ice road across Lake Ladoga that was the only conduit for supplies and evacuations during much of the siege. Tamara Chernykh, 81, told The Associated Press that she still can’t forget the tiny pieces of bread that her granny used to put under her pillow as a night treat for a starving four-year-old girl in besieged Leningrad during the deadly winter of 1941-1942. In the daytime, Chernykh said she and her baby cousin mostly stayed put under several blankets in the darkness. There was no heating during the first and the coldest winter of the siege, when temperatures outside sometimes plunged to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit). Chernykh’s grandmother, who gave the bread out of her own scant food ration, said the crumbs would bring good dreams. She died from starvation before the siege ended. Germany has allocated €12 million ($13.5 million) to modernize a Russian hospital for veterans of the war and to create a center in St. Petersburg where Germans and Russians can meet, the German and Russian foreign ministers said Sunday. “We are sure that this voluntary action will improve the life quality of the victims of the siege who are still alive and also serve the historical reconciliation of the peoples of both countries,” ministers Heiko Maas and Sergey Lavrov said in the statement.

russia
wwii
leningrad
st. petersburg
nazis
vladimir putin
germany


Russian police detain suspect after bold gallery heist

Abstract: MOSCOW - Russian police said they have detained a suspect after a painting was stolen from a Moscow gallery Sunday, when the thief strolled unchallenged past visitors who mistook him for an employee. Red-faced officials said security would be stepped up at the State Tretyakov Gallery following the theft of “Ai Petri.Crimea ,” which was removed from a temporary exhibition that had not been fitted with alarms. Police said Monday they had arrested a 31-year-old suspect. The TASS news agency cited a police interview in which he denied committing any crime. The picture, by landscape artist Arkhip Kuindzhi and depicting a mountain in Crimea, was recovered at a building site after a tip. Completed in 1908 shortly before Kuindzhi’s death, it is valued at around $1 million, state TV said. The theft refocused attention on security at the gallery, which made headlines in May after a man damaged one of the most famous paintings there, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581,” by Ilya Repin, with a metal pole. “For us Muscovites this is shameful,” Ludmila Gavrina, a visitor, said Monday. “Something needs to change.” Vladislav Kononov, an official at the Ministry of Culture, told reporters the painting had not been damaged and that all pictures at the gallery would henceforth be fitted with sensors and alarms.


Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone hints he may cooperate with Robert Mueller's Russia probe

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Roger Stone, an ally of President Donald Trump and a longtime Republican operative, did not rule out on Sunday cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Arrested at his waterfront home in Florida on Friday in a dawn raid by FBI agents, Stone told reporters he would not “bear false witness against the president.” Stone was charged with lying to Congress about the Trump campaign’s efforts to use stolen emails to undercut Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Asked on ABC’s “This Week” if he would cooperate with Mueller, he said: “You know, that’s a question I would have to — I have to determine after my attorneys have some discussion. “I’d also testify honestly about any other matter, including any communications with the president,” he said. “It’s true that we spoke on the phone, but those communications are political in nature, they’re benign, and there is certainly no conspiracy with Russia.” Stone, 66, will be arraigned in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. Stone’s indictment cut deeply into Trump’s inner circle and revealed a link between his campaign and WikiLeaks, the online publisher of secret documents, to damage Clinton with material that U.S. intelligence agencies have said was stolen by Russians. Stone shared with Trump campaign staffers advance knowledge that he had of WikiLeaks’ plan to release senior Democrats’ emails, Mueller said in court papers. The special counsel’s indictment also said a top Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about additional damaging information that WikiLeaks had on Clinton. Jerome Corsi, a right-wing commentator and conspiracy theorist, said on Friday that he is the “Person 1” cited in the indictment as having communicated with Stone about the stolen emails and WikiLeaks’ plan to release them. He also said the information in the indictment was accurate and that he would testify against Stone. “I will be happy to testify,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “And I will let the testimony fall wherever it falls.” Stone said the evidence in Mueller’s indictment was thin, “so I’m prepared to fight for my life.” U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said, however, that the indictment presented specific allegations of lies and witness intimidation that were unambiguous and provable. “They are very detailed and I think he’s going to need a much better defense than the one you just heard,” he told ABC. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said working with WikiLeaks should be considered a crime because it was tantamount to cooperating with a foreign intelligence agency. “It should have been clear to people a long time ago that WikiLeaks and others like that could have been tools of foreign intelligence used to divide America,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The Kremlin denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that Russia interfered to sway the 2016 election away from Clinton and toward Trump, who denies any collusion. Schiff said his panel would give Mueller access to all transcripts of testimony before the committee, including Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., for prosecution purposes. He also pledged to continue congressional probes of any Trump-Russia ties. “We are determined the public is going to know exactly what Donald Trump did, what his family did, what his campaign did, what the Russians did and what we need to do to protect the country,” Schiff said.

roger stone
robert mueller
russia probe
donald trump
wikileaks
julian assange


More bad weather forecast as tornado hits Turkish resort city of Antalya, injuring 12

Abstract: ANKARA - A tornado hit the Turkish resort of Antalya, injuring a dozen people, overturning buses and damaging airplanes at the airport with officials warning on Sunday of the risk of more bad weather. After the tornado battered the area in the south on Saturday, Antalya Gov. Munir Karaloglu said 12 people were injured and two buses were blown over at the airport. Two planes and a police helicopter were also partly damaged, Karaloglu said. It was the fifth tornado in three days, the governor’s office said. The governorate on Sunday warned the public on Twitter that the risk of another tornado as well as strong winds, flooding and lightning remained in the province’s east. Former Antalya MP and current Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday told reporters that two people were killed after storms and flooding in the east of the province. Turkish state news agency Anadolu had reported on Thursday that two people had died after a tornado hit Kumluca and Finike districts, while at least 10 others were wounded. Search and rescue teams on Sunday were looking for a 20-year-old university student who went missing after her car was hit by the tornado as she was on her way to visit her mother and father, Anadolu said. Environment Minister Murat Kurum said 315 buildings had been damaged in the past two days in the province because of bad weather. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said during a rally in Antalya that the material damage had reached nearly 100 million Turkish lira ($19 million; €16.6 million).

tornadoes
antalya
recep tayyip erdogan
turkey


Influential commission's report says obesity, bad nutrition and climate change pose triple threat to globe

Abstract: NEW YORK - Obesity, undernutrition and climate change are the biggest threats to the world population, linked by profit motives and policy inertia, a top commission said Sunday, calling for a binding plan and trillions of dollars to thwart the dangers. A $1 billion fund and action strategies targeting food policy and production are needed urgently to support health, the environment and economic well-being, said the report by the Lancet Commission on Obesity, a panel of experts in agriculture, economics, human rights and other fields. The three problems of obesity, undernutrition and climate change are intertwined by methods of agricultural production, transport, urban design and land use that will take an enormous toll on the population and planet, the commission said. “What we’re doing now is unsustainable,” said William Dietz, an author of the study and public health expert at George Washington University. “The only thing we can hope is that a sense of urgency will permeate,” he said on a conference call with reporters. “We’re running out of time.” Government subsidies of $500 billion to beef, dairy and other food industries worldwide should be shifted to sustainable, healthy farming and $5 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies moved to renewable energy and sustainable transport, the commission said. The three global dangers are linked in such ways as mass production of processed, nutrient-poor food that causes not only obesity and poor nutrition but major greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, the report said. Agricultural production and distribution burn fossil fuels that contribute to rising global temperatures, drought and extreme weather, it said. The international Food and Agricultural Organization has said agriculture, forestry and other land uses are responsible for a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions heating up the planet. The problems are exacerbated by inaction by policy makers, influence by profit-seeking food companies over public policy and a lack of demand for change by the public, the report said. As an illustration, it said that in 2016, companies making sugar-filled drinks spent almost $50 million to lobby against U.S. government initiatives to reduce consumption of the beverages thought to contribute to poor nutrition and obesity. “With market power comes industry power, said Tim Lobstein, a commission author and the director of policy at the World Obesity Federation, a British-based professional group. “Even willing governments struggle to get policies implemented against industry pressure,” he said. Some 4 million deaths each year are linked to obesity, and some 815 million people are chronically undernourished, the commission said. The commission said a binding international agreement, similar to that reached on global warming in 2015, is needed to address and improve food production and distribution. Three years ago, nearly 200 nations met in Paris to agree on a pact, aspects of which are legally binding, to cut greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.


Kremlin denies reports that Russia mercenaries are protecting Venezuela's Maduro

Abstract: MOSCOW - The Kremlin on Sunday denied news reports that Russian private military contractors were in Venezuela to protect embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Several Russian and international media outlets have reported about Russian mercenaries sent to Venezuela to help Maduro who is under international pressure to hold elections. Asked on television about whether there were “400 of our fighters protecting Maduro” in Venezuela, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded: “No of course not.” The Russian ambassador to Caracas also dismissed reports of Russian mercenaries in Venezuela. On Friday, a self-proclaimed Cossack leader close to army veterans said a private military contractors group recently returned from Gabon had “urgently” got together “400 people” to send to Caracas via Cuba. Yevgeny Shabayev, leader of a local chapter of a paramilitary group of Cossacks, said he had been contacted by relatives of the men because the objectives of the mission to Venezuela were “not clear. Maduro is under pressure to hold elections after the United States, Canada and some South American governments recognized opposition rival Juan Guaido as acting president.

russia
mercenaries
venezuela
nicolas maduro
cuba


White House indicates Trump OK with second shutdown over border wall; president says chance of reaching deal 'less than 50-50'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said the odds congressional negotiators will craft a deal to end his border wall standoff with Congress are “less than 50-50.” As hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers prepared to return to work, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t think the negotiators will strike a deal that he’d accept. He pledged to build a wall anyway using his executive powers to declare a national emergency if necessary. “I personally think it’s less than 50-50, but you have a lot of very good people on that board,” Trump said in an interview Sunday with the newspaper. The president was referring to a bipartisan committee of House and Senate lawmakers that will consider border spending as part of the legislative process. The president’s standoff with Democrats on Capitol Hill is far from over and the clock is ticking — the spending bill Trump signed on Friday funds the government agencies that had been shut down for 35 days only until Feb. 15. It’s unclear if the Democrats will budge. Trump seemed girded for battle, sending out a series of online messages that foreshadowed the upcoming fight with lawmakers. “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!” he tweeted. Is Trump prepared to shut down the government again in three weeks? “Yeah, I think he actually is,” acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said. “He doesn’t want to shut the government down, let’s make that very clear. He doesn’t want to declare a national emergency.” But Mulvaney said that at “the end of the day, the president’s commitment is to defend the nation and he will do it with or without Congress.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a member of the Democratic leadership in the House, said his colleagues are looking for “evidence-based” legislation. “Shutdowns are not legitimate negotiating tactics when there’s a public policy disagreement between two branches of government,” he said. The lynchpin in the standoff is Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for his prized wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, a project Democrats consider an ineffective, wasteful monument to a ridiculous Trump campaign promise. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the leading Republican in the House, said Democrats have funded border barriers in the past and are refusing this time simply because Trump is asking for it. “The president is the only one who has been reasonable in these negotiations,” he said. Mulvaney wouldn’t directly answer whether Trump would take less than $5.7 billion, but indicated the president was willing to negotiate. “The president has already gone to the Democrats and said, look, it’s not a 2,000-mile sea-to-shining-sea wall.” Trump has asserted there is a “crisis” at the southern border requiring a wall, blaming previous presidents and Congress for failing to overhaul an immigration system that has allowed millions of people to live in the U.S. illegally. Last month, he put that number at 35 million, while on Sunday he pegged it at 25.7 million-plus — figures offered without evidence. “I’m not exactly sure where the president got that number this morning,” Mulvaney said. Both are higher than government and private estimates. His homeland security chief cited “somewhere” between 11 million and 22 million last month. In November, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center reported 10.7 million in 2016 — the lowest in a decade. The president also tweeted Sunday that the cost of illegal immigration so far this year was nearly $19 billion; he didn’t cite a source. Compare that with research in 2017 from a conservative group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for less immigration: $135 billion a year or about $11.25 billion a month — a figure that included health care and education, plus money spent on immigration enforcement. In coming weeks, a bipartisan committee of House and Senate lawmakers will consider border spending as part of the legislative process and may seek help from outside experts. Jeffries said that Democrats are willing to invest in additional infrastructure, especially at legal ports of entry where the majority of drugs come into the country. “We’re willing to invest in personnel. We’re willing to invest in additional technology. … In the past, we have supported enhanced fencing and I think that’s something that’s reasonable that should be on the table,” he said. Sen. Roy Blunt said that he thinks a compromise is possible. “The president went from talking about a wall along the entire southern border at one point during the campaign … to let’s have barriers where they work and let’s have something else where barriers wouldn’t work as well,” Blunt said. The partial federal shutdown ended Friday when Trump gave in to mounting pressure, retreating from his demand that Congress commit to the border wall funding before federal agencies could resume work. The bill he signed did not provide the money Trump wanted for a barrier, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called “immoral” and has insisted Congress will not finance. Mulvaney said Trump agreed to temporarily end the shutdown because some Democrats have stepped forward, publicly and privately, to say they agree with Trump’s plan to better secure the border. Mulvaney said they told Trump they couldn’t split with Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and work with the White House if the government remained closed. “Everybody wants to look at this and say the president lost,” Mulvaney said. “We’re still in the middle of negotiations.”

donald trump
mick mulvaney
u.s.-mexico border
u.s. government shutdown


Venezuela's defense attache to U.S. breaks with Maduro as diplomats leave, telling military 'don't mistreat your people'

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuela’s top military envoy to the United States defected from the government of President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, as the South American nation said the two countries had scaled back their diplomatic missions to skeleton staff. The diplomatic friction and defection was triggered by U.S. recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Washington, Canada and most Latin American nations said Maduro’s second-term election win was fraudulent. “Today I speak to the people of Venezuela, and especially to my brothers in the armed forces of the nation, to recognize President Juan Guaido as the only legitimate president,” Col. Jose Luis Silva said in a video recorded at the embassy in Washington, seated at a desk alongside the Venezuelan flag. Silva told Reuters in Washington that one consular official in Houston and one in another U.S. city also recognized Guaido, but that he was the only diplomat in Washington he knew of who had taken the step. Reuters was not able to independently confirm other defectors. “The top brass of the military and the executive branch are holding the armed forces hostage. There are many, many who are unhappy,” Silva said. “My message to the armed forces is, ‘Don’t mistreat your people.’ We were given arms to defend the sovereignty of our nation. They never, never trained us to say, ‘This is for you to attack your people, to defend the current government in power.’ ” While small rebellions against Maduro have broken out in Venezuela’s armed forces in recent months, there has been no large-scale military uprising against him. Guaido welcomed Silva in a message on Twitter and encouraged others to follow his example. In a tweet, the Venezuelan Defense Ministry called Silva a coward, posting a picture of him emblazoned with the word “traitor” across it in red capital letters. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis called the defection an example of the principle “that the role of the military is to protect constitutional order, not to sustain dictators and repress its own people. Encourage others to do the same.” A 72-hour deadline issued by Maduro for U.S. Embassy personnel to leave Caracas expired on Saturday, after the embattled socialist leader broke off bilateral relations on Wednesday. Some U.S. Embassy staff left Caracas on Friday, and Venezuela was withdrawing staff from Washington on Saturday, Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement. However, Maduro softened his demand that all U.S. Embassy staff withdraw by Saturday. Instead, the two countries will seek an agreement to replace the embassies with “Interest Offices” in their respective capitals within 30 days, the statement said. For decades, diplomacy between Cuba and the United States was represented by an interest section. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the remaining diplomatic staff will have to leave and the missions will close. (We would) “maintain an Interests Office, with minimum personnel, and office of representation of interests as functioned in Cuba. That is true diplomacy,” Maduro said in a live broadcast with Venezuelan youth. “We don’t want to be a North American colony,” he sang during the broadcast, during which he also pounded conga drums. For now, the remaining staff can only carry out their activities within the diplomatic missions, the statement said. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the embassy in Caracas.

venezuela
diplomats
nicolas maduro
juan guaido
jose luis silva
u.s .


White House promises 'significant response' to any Venezuela violence against U.S. diplomats or Juan Guaido

Abstract: WASHINGTON - White House national security adviser John Bolton warned on Sunday against violence or intimidation of American diplomats in Venezuela or opposition leader Juan Guaido, saying such action would trigger a response from the United States. “Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela’s democratic leader, Juan Guiado (sic), or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response,” Bolton said in a Twitter post, also noting Cuba’s support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s paramilitary forces.

venezuela
juan guaido
john bolton
nicolas maduro
u.s .
diplomacy


Near Islamic State holdout, U.S.-backed Syrian fighters face female suicide bombers

Abstract: BAGHOUZ, SYRIA - Driving toward the front line of what remains of the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate in eastern Syria, U.S.-backed fighters pass huge craters from air strikes and buildings reduced to rubble. Backed by airstrikes of the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are battling to expel IS from a few hamlets in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. But cornered in a final remote pocket of territory near the Iraqi border, the jihadis are staging a fierce fightback, hiding in tunnels and deploying suicide bombers — including women. Listening to Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum, SDF fighters drive along a desert road toward a string of villages retaken in recent weeks from the jihadis. “The Islamic State has surrendered,” reads graffiti scrawled across the wall of a small house at the entrance to the deserted village of Shaafa. Nearby, a cart once used to sell fruit and vegetables lies abandoned. The armored car continues southward, to where the Kurdish-led SDF is battling to secure the last patch of the village of Baghouz from the jihadists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights this week said the village had been retaken, but SDF commanders on the ground say some IS fighters still remain, and are fighting back hard. “Two women blew themselves up near our position,” an SDF official tells AFP. “We saw them come towards us dressed in black. They cried ‘God is greatest’ and then blew themselves up,” he says, giving his name as Damat. Aram Jaweesh, a commander in the SDF, says five women blew themselves up in various parts of Baghouz on Saturday, killing one SDF member and wounding three others. IS suicide bombers are usually men, but some women have carried out such operations in Iraq. From a rooftop, Jaweesh oversees operations, issuing instructions to his fighters in Kurdish through a walkie-talkie that never leaves his side. A few streets away, armored cars from the international coalition rumble by. SDF advances in recent weeks have whittled away at the last pocket of Syrian territory the group controls, and Jaweesh says the noose is tightening around IS. “They’re cornered between the Iraqi border on one side and the SDF on the other,” he says. Late Saturday, four more suicide bombers killed 11 SDF fighters, according to the Britain-based Observatory, while a further 19 jihadis lost their lives in airstrikes. Coalition warplanes zip across the skies above Baghouz. A blast resonates, then a mushroom cloud of smoke rises above its houses. On the roof, an SDF fighter points to another spot in the village. “Look, civilians are coming out,” he says. Thousands of people, mostly relatives of IS fighters, have fled the ever-shrinking IS pocket in recent weeks. When they reach SDF-held territory, those who are suspected of being fighters are detained for questioning, while relatives are ferried north to Kurdish-run camps. IS swept across large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a caliphate there and ruling it with a brutal version of Islamic law. It has since lost almost all of it to various offensives. Earlier this week, the SDF’s commander-in-chief told AFP that his forces would have flushed out the last shreds of the quasi-state within a month. Leaving Baghouz, the armored car drives into the dark, cold desert, traditional Kurdish songs now blasting from its speakers. Jaweesh says the battle has yet to be won — the jihadists may be encircled in a small area, but they are still launching rockets and drones. “Every time our forces lead an assault, they emerge from tunnels and blow themselves up,” he says.

islamic state
syria
baghouz
u.s .
terrorism


Two-day Bing outage in China was technical error, not censors' block, says source

Abstract: SHANGHAI/BEIJING - Search engine Bing’s outage in China last week was a technical error, rather than an intentional censorship block, a source familiar with the matter said, although Chinese authorities and Microsoft have not so far commented on the topic. From a technical perspective, a person at Microsoft Corp. said the site appeared to have been blocked in a manner similar to sites blocked by the government. But the company had received no prior notice from authorities, and the disruption was not intentional on the part of the government, added the person, who declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the matter. Microsoft was not immediately available for comment Monday. Last week, although it confirmed the outage, it declined to give details. The Cyberspace Administration of China did not respond immediately to a faxed request from Reuters seeking comment. Starting from Thursday, Internet users in China attempting to access cn.bing.com, the search engine’s domestic URL, found themselves directed to an error page. Attempts to log on to Facebook, Google search, or other sites blocked by China’s “Great Firewall,” encountered the same fate. Service had resumed by late Friday, however. Engineers at ExpressVPN, a provider of virtual private network software allowing internet users in China to access censored websites, ran tests during the outage to determine its origin. They found that rather than domain name service poisoning, the most common means for blocking sites under the firewall, Bing’s outage appeared to employ a technique known as “black-holing.” With this method, rather than re-directing to a dummy server traffic headed for a specific website, the traffic is simply cut off en route, usually at the internet service provider level. Express VPN Vice President Harold Li said black-holing boosts the likelihood of an accidental block, versus the more typical DNS poisoning, though he added that the company could not confirm the exact nature of the outage. “We have no idea if it was an accident or not, but it’s much easier to make the mistake of blocking Bing when you’re blocking a set of IP addresses,” he said, referring to website addresses. Bing has long been the only major overseas search engine accessible in China, which blocked access to Alphabet’s Google search platform starting in 2010. Microsoft alters Bing’s results to avoid politically sensitive topics, in line with government policy. Bing’s outage came a day after a widely read article by a Chinese journalist criticizing the quality of search results from Baidu Inc., the dominant domestic search engine. That led some internet users to speculate the two incidents were related. The company has endured regular public backlash since 2016, when a Chinese student died after seeking treatment at a hospital that advertised on Baidu.

bing china censorship microsoft internet


Australian defense chief says Beijing has raised 'anxiety' in disputed South China Sea

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne urged China on Tuesday to resolve tensions in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, in a swipe after Beijing’s sudden detention of a writer who holds dual citizenship. Pyne said the artificial islands Beijing has been building in the disputed waters has “increased anxiety” and “not increased regional confidence in China’s strategic intentions.” “On the other hand, resolving disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with international law would build confidence in China’s willingness to support and champion a strategic culture that respects the rights of all states,” he added. Pyne was speaking at a forum in Singapore attended by defense representatives from 24 countries. He said Australia was open to taking part in multilateral activities in the “international waters,” which are crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves. China is pitted against smaller neighbors in those waters that it claims almost in entirety. While Australia is “not interested in containing China,” it wants Indo-Pacific countries to not have to make “choices between economic gain and sovereignty,” Pyne said. He added that the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China should not be defined in “wholly adversarial terms” or characterized as a new Cold War, as economies are far more mutually dependent than they were when the West contested the Soviet bloc. “There is no gain in stifling China’s growth and prosperity, and this is not an agenda in any capital that I know of,” Pyne said. Instead, Australia hopes to join Japan in increasing its engagement with the Indo-Pacific, which is home to the world’s busiest sea lanes and 50 percent of its population. “As an island nation, it’s no coincidence that the Australian Government is investing in the maritime security of the region. And we’re not alone,” Pyne said according to a transcript of his speech. Pyne noted a visit to Japan last week for a briefing on its new defense guidelines, offering an endorsement of Tokyo’s record-high investments in bolstering its military. “Australia strongly supports Japan’s efforts to build and modernise their sovereign capabilities, and to play a strategic role in the Indo-Pacific that is commensurate with their great economic strength,” he said. As for its own defense spending, Pyne said Canberra will invest more than 90 billion Australian dollars ($64.8 billion) in a fleet of attack-class submarines, frigates and other ships to strengthen its maritime capabilities. Pyne said the country hopes to raise its defense budget to over 2 percent of its gross domestic product by 2021. “Australia sees its role as one of being able to talk to both China and the United States openly and frankly,” he said. “We are clearly a very close ally of the United States … but we don’t believe we need to choose between security and prosperity, and we haven’t in the past and we don’t intend to in the future.” Pyne visited Beijing last week for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe. They discussed the detention of Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun, whom China has accused of endangering its national security. On Tuesday, Pyne said consular access to Yang, a 53-year-old novelist and online commentator “has been granted.” He did not give further details on the matter but said Australia’s relations with China were in “positive shape.”

australia
south china sea
china
yang hengjun
china-australia relations


Chinese rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang jailed for 'subversion'

Abstract: BEIJING - Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang was sentenced on Monday to 4½ years in prison for state subversion, a northern Chinese court said. Wang, 42, who defended political activists and victims of land seizures, disappeared in a 2015 sweep — known as the “709” crackdown — aimed at courtroom critics of Communist authorities. Charged in January 2016 with alleged state subversion, Wang had been the last of more than 200 lawyers and activists arrested in the 709 crackdown to be tried or released. Wang was “found guilty of subverting state power, sentenced to four years and six months in prison, and deprived of political rights for five years,” the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement. After more than two years of being in legal limbo — detained without a trial date — Wang’s court hearing took place behind closed doors in Tianjin on Dec. 26. At the time, the court said the trial was closed to the public “due to the state secrets involved.” Wang’s wife Li Wenzu was placed under de facto house arrest the day before her husband’s trial to prevent her from attending. Li has actively protested her husband’s detention. Last April, she attempted to march 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the detention facility in Tianjin where her husband had been held. In December, before Wang’s court date was announced, Li and three supporters shaved their heads and tried to submit a petition to a Beijing court protesting Wang’s detention. Rights organizations denounced Wang’s jail sentence, with Amnesty International calling it “a gross injustice.” “His sentence is part of the Chinese government’s ongoing crackdown on rights lawyers,” explained Maya Wang, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “In the past three years, the Chinese government has not only detained and imprisoned rights lawyers but also debarred them,” she said. According to Doriane Lau, China researcher at Amnesty International, Wang’s 4½ year prison sentence includes the more than three years the rights lawyer spent in detention. “He should be released in a little over a year,” she wrote on Twitter. Article 47 of China’s criminal law says that prison terms are “to be shortened by one day for each day spent in custody” for cases where imprisonment is “employed before the judgment.” In addition to Wang, a number of other rights lawyers and activists detained by Chinese authorities in the 709 crackdown have also been charged with state subversion. In December 2017, Chinese dissident Wu Gan was sentenced to eight years in prison, one of the harshest punishments meted out in the sweep. Wang was part of a now defunct law firm called Beijing Fengrui, which specialised in cases involving farmers’ land rights, labor camps and criminal rights. The firm had also frequently defended victims of sexual abuse, dissident scholars and members of banned religious groups. Wang, for instance, had worked on several cases defending Falun Gong practitioners. The law firm had been at the centre of the 709 crackdown, with at least five lawyers detained in 2015. At the time, state media called Beijing Fengrui a “major criminal gang” and accused Zhou Shifeng, the firm’s founder, and his colleagues of “disrupt(ing) social order.” Other attorneys at the firm, such as Liu Xiaoyuan, who told AFP that he believed Wang had been “wrongfully convicted,” have been unemployed since the crackdown.


Chinese state media has salty words for Canada over 'political interference' in Huawei case

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese state-run media on Monday decried the sacking of Canada’s ambassador to Beijing, who was fired after he suggested that it would be “great” for Ottawa to release a detained Huawei executive, using a salty folk expression to lambaste Ottawa. The ousted envoy, John McCallum, had raised eyebrows over a series of remarks regarding the case of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, whose arrest has sparked a diplomatic row between Beijing and Ottawa. The resignation, at the request of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “reveals political interference,” the nationalist tabloid Global Times said in an editorial. Ottawa is now as “sensitive as a frightened bird,” the newspaper said, noting the visceral political reactions to McCallum’s comments. “The truth is that they knew the geopolitics in the case from the very beginning, but were afraid to point them out,” it said. “As a Chinese folk saying goes, ‘You cannot live the life of a whore and expect a monument to your chastity,’ ” the Global Times wrote. “Canada is a country worthy of respect, but some Canadians … are against moral righteousness while deceiving themselves to believe that they can be honored as moral models.” Meng was arrested in December at the behest of the United States, where she is wanted for violations of Iranian sanctions. U.S. authorities plan to formally file for her extradition by a Jan. 30 deadline. Beijing has reacted furiously to Meng’s detention. In apparent retaliation, two Canadian citizens have been detained on national security grounds and another was sentenced to death for drug trafficking. McCallum, a former senior Cabinet minister, said in front of Chinese-language media in Ontario last week that he believed the U.S. extradition request was seriously flawed, comments that he later walked back. But Friday, he told the Star Vancouver newspaper that it would be “great for Canada” if the U.S. dropped its extradition request, prompting Trudeau to demand McCallum’s resignation. Ottawa has repeatedly stressed the case is not politically motivated and the justice system is fair but Chinese media has cast Meng’s arrest as part of an assault on the development on the country’s high tech industry. In the past year, a number of Western countries close to the U.S. have barred Huawei products in their telecommunications infrastructure citing security concerns. The China Daily observed: “McCallum was merely stating the truth when he observed that Meng has a strong case against extradition, which he rightly said was politically motivated.”

canada
huawei
meng wanzhou
china
courts
espionage