Israel, the Vatican, Obama's house — Trump sees walls everywhere as he fights for border security money

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Everywhere President Donald Trump looks, he sees a wall. As he lobbies for money for his long-promised border wall, Trump keeps talking up other barricades. He is pointing to walls in Israel, at the Vatican, even at former President Barack Obama’s house — though fact checkers have pushed back on the accuracy of some of his claims. With bricks and mortar on his mind, Trump declared at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, “Walls work.” He added: “There’s a reason why politicians and wealthy people build walls around their houses and their compounds. President Obama recently built a wall around his compound.” Trump also tweeted that Obama’s wall was 10 feet high. But while fencing has been added around the Obamas’ spacious house in Washington’s tony Kalorama neighborhood, there is no 10-foot wall. It is all part of Trump’s effort to prevail in an increasingly difficult standoff with congressional Democrats over border funding that has produced a partial shutdown of the federal government. But David Bier, an immigration policy analyst for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said there is little comparison between the demands for private security and border security. “It doesn’t make sense to compare” the two, said Bier, pointing to the difference between a home break-in and migrants trying to seek asylum. Another favorite structure for Trump is the fortifications at the Vatican, which he has cited in the past as an argument for the wall and brought up again at the Cabinet meeting, this time making a moral argument. “When they say the wall is immoral, well then you better — got to do something about the Vatican, because the Vatican has the biggest wall of them all,” Trump said. Much of Vatican City is off-limits to the general public but walls there do not block all access. St. Peter’s Square is not behind any walls. The Vatican Museums are walled but the public may enter with a ticket and security screening. Trump’s immigration policies have drawn criticism from Pope Francis, who has said in the past that anyone who wants to build walls to keep out migrants is “not Christian.” Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg said that in some of these examples, Trump was trying to argue that his opponents are saying “do as I say, not as I do.” Trump and allies have repeatedly cited barriers in Israel as proof that walls are effective. Trump said this week he had recently spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding “In Israel, as you know, they built a wall. He said 99.9 percent it works. And it would with us too.” Bier said a direct comparison with Israel’s border security is challenging because the U.S. border is much longer and has different terrain, including mountains, raising questions about whether building a physical wall is the best approach. “I think it’s fair to say that border barriers make it easier to catch people who are coming into the country,” Bier said. “The question is whether it is as effective in areas where the president wants to build.” With no end to the border fight in sight, Trump is likely to keep up his wall commentary — although at times his rhetoric sends mixed messages. His message Thursday: “You can call it a wall. You can call it a barrier. You can call it whatever you want.”


Nancy Pelosi's return as U.S. speaker may lead to fireworks with Trump

Abstract: WASHINGTON - He is in the White House. She is in Congress. For the next two years, Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi will have to work together. It won’t be easy. Trump, the Republican president, will need to deal with Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, if he wants to improve on what has been a thin list so far of legislative accomplishments. Pelosi, second in line for the presidency, will need to show that Democrats are ready to govern and have more to offer than just opposition to Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Trump and Pelosi are separated by more than just their politics. He is a bombastic New York real estate tycoon who revels in railing against Washington, which he refers to as “The Swamp.” She represents liberal San Francisco in Congress and has spent more than three decades negotiating the corridors of power on Capitol Hill. The 72-year-old Trump is generally quick to slap a derisive nickname on his political opponents but he has not done so with Pelosi, who at 78 is six years his senior. “I like her,” Trump said of Pelosi shortly after she led the Democrats to a decisive victory in the House in November’s midterm elections. “Can you believe it?” Trump said. “I like Nancy Pelosi. I mean, she’s tough and she’s smart. She deserves to be speaker.” Trump’s relationship with his Democratic opponents has been stormy since he took office and few expect things to change significantly now that Pelosi has assumed the role of speaker. “I don’t believe he respects her,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. “I believe he fears her.” “He has some understanding of power in Washington and how the midterms changed the dynamics,” Zelizer said. “If he senses she is on the defensive or vulnerable, he will unleash his Twitter storm,” he said. Trump and Pelosi had a memorable encounter in the Oval Office last month as they aired their disagreements over Trump’s demand that Congress provide $5 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Pelosi at one point characterized as a “Trump shutdown” the president’s threats to partially shut down the federal government if he did not receive the money for the wall. “Did you say ‘Trump,’ ” an offended Trump shot back. “I was going to call it a ‘Pelosi shutdown.’ ” Both sides have pointed to areas where they could potentially reach agreement — modernizing infrastructure and lowering the prices of prescription drugs, for example. But those moments could be few and far between. “Occasionally they can and will join together to push a compromise proposal,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “But these instances will be relatively rare,” Sabato said. “Trump cannot be seen to be bending to Pelosi’s will. “And Pelosi will generate a revolt in her House caucus ranks if she gives in to Trump on much of anything,” he said. “Democrats were elected to check Trump and frustrate his objectives, period.” Pelosi has served as speaker before with a Republican in the White House — George W. Bush — and is the first woman ever to hold the post. But the 45th president is very different from the 43rd and Pelosi, who has spoken admiringly of the Bushes, is loath to compare the two. “When you are negotiating with someone you have to … stipulate to some fact,” Pelosi told NBC of Trump. “It’s hard to do that with the president because he resists science, evidence, truth,” Pelosi said. “It’s hard to pin him down on the facts.” And how will Trump react to being forced to deal with a strong woman? “I don’t know if he knows how to deal with women in power and women with strength,” Pelosi said. “We’ll see. “Let’s hope for the best in that regard because, again, it is a new day for many people in Congress and in Washington, D.C. “And in the country.”


Democrats train sights on Trump as divided U.S. Congress gets to work

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Democrats take over the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, ushering in a new era of divided government in Washington with the goal of checking Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency. Battle-tested Nancy Pelosi was poised to take over as speaker of the House for the second time in her career, as a partial federal government shutdown over Trump’s insistence that lawmakers fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall neared the two-week mark. The end of Trump’s one-party rule in Washington invigorated Democrats still dejected over the bombastic Republican’s 2016 presidential win. In excerpts of the speech she was to deliver to the House later Thursday, Pelosi vowed the new Congress would be “bipartisan and unifying” and “will debate and advance good ideas no matter where they come from.” “In that spirit, Democrats will be offering the Senate Republican appropriations legislation to re-open government later today — to meet the needs of the American people, and to protect our borders,” she said. But such cooperation across the political aisle appeared unlikely as Trump continued to dig in over his demand that Congress approve a $5 billion plan to construct a border wall aimed at thwarting illegal immigration — with Democrats appearing unlikely to appease him. After saying he remained “ready and willing to work with Democrats” late Wednesday, Trump lashed out Thursday. “The Shutdown is only because of the 2020 Presidential Election,” he tweeted. “The Democrats know they can’t win based on all of the achievements of ‘Trump,’ so they are going all out on the desperately needed Wall and Border Security — and Presidential Harassment. For them, strictly politics!” Indeed, progressives will be eager to push back with greater effect against an administration they believe has overstepped its authority and abused power in the nearly two years since Trump’s inauguration. They will have that opportunity, as congressional panels will be led by chairmen who have pledged to probe topics such as Trump’s income taxes, his firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the president’s ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Incoming chairs have signaled that Trump will face a barrage of investigations that could bog down a White House already besieged by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion probe, draining energy from the administration’s agenda and foiling Trump’s message. But while the “blue wave” swept dozens of House Republicans out of Congress last November, Trump’s party managed to modestly expand its majority in the Senate to 53-47, meaning Washington gridlock is almost certain to deepen. Among the first tasks of the 116th Congress will be ending the shutdown, which has left one quarter of federal agencies shuttered due to lapsed funding. Trump has said he would not sign a spending bill that does not include $5.6 billion for wall construction. Pelosi has introduced new measures that would fund the agencies, but she noted that they “contain no new wall funding,” a move the White House — and Republican Senate leaders — dismissed as a nonstarter. “Democrats will have to get serious about border security so that a government funding agreement may be reached that can pass the House, earn 60 votes here in the Senate, and receive a presidential signature,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. “All three of these things are needed. One partisan vote in the House tomorrow won’t solve anything.” The House and Senate convene Thursday at noon (1700 GMT), with the new Congress sworn in shortly thereafter. Pelosi is expected to win her speaker election in the early afternoon. She will preside over the most diverse Congress in history. One hundred House freshmen will take the oath of office, including trailblazers like New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. The first two Native American women and first two Muslim women were also elected. “It’s a new day in America,” tweeted Ilhan Omar, a Muslim Somali refugee elected from Minnesota, along with a picture of her standing on Capitol Hill. The House and Senate will each have a record number of female members. Democrats will move early to protect coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and form a special committee on climate change. Hovering in the background in Washington will be the threat of impeachment, and it is almost certain that some Democrats will introduce proceedings to remove Trump from office. Even if Democrats believe some of Trump’s actions clear the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Pelosi has downplayed the prospects of impeachment. “It would be very divisive,” she told Elle magazine. “It’s not something that I’m stirring the pot on.”

democrats
donald trump
nancy pelosi
robert mueller
u.s. house
russia probe


French scientists dismiss Russian challenge to age of world's oldest person on record

Abstract: PARIS - Two French scientists who validated Jeanne Calment’s status as the oldest person ever to have lived, have dismissed claims by Russian researchers who say that she didn’t really survive to 122. Mathematician Nikolay Zak and gerontologist Valery Novoselov claim that Calment’s daughter, Yvonne Calment, assumed her mother’s identity decades earlier. The Russians analyzed photographs, official documents and interviews to produce a body of evidence they acknowledge is circumstantial. Gerentology is the scientific study of old age. Jean-Marie Robine, one of the two French scientists who validated Calment’s age, told France Inter radio late on Wednesday that the stir being caused in France by the Russians’ findings was a “ridiculous controversy. A spokesman for Guinness World Records, which registered Calment’s age as a world record, said they were aware of the Russians’ claims. “Extensive research is performed for every oldest person record title we verify, which is led by experts in the gerontology field and they have been notified of the current situation,” a spokesman said. In a paper for the Moscow Center For Continuous Mathematical Education, Zak cites discrepancies between the color of Jeanne Calment’s eyes, her height and the shape of her forehead in a copy of a 1930s identity card and in her appearance later in life. “I do not have cast-iron proof,” Zak told Reuters on a snow-blanketed street in Moscow. “I reviewed the whole situation. There are lots of small pieces of evidence.” The second French scientist who validated Calment’s age, gerontologist Michel Allard, acknowledged that even if far-fetched, the Russians’ conclusions should be given consideration, although he rejected their suggestions of discrepancies between early images of Calment and her appearance in later life. “In the last years of Jeanne Calment’s life, I saw so many transformations of her physiognomy,” he told France Inter. Jeanne Calment was born on Feb 21, 1875, more than a decade before the Eiffel Tower was built and a year before Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. She married a distant wealthy cousin and outlived her daughter, Yvonne — who died of pneumonia in the early 1930s according to official documents — her husband and a grandson before passing away in Arles, southern France, on Aug 4, 1997.

jeanne calment
france
guinness world records
russia
longevity


Tehran snubs U.S. warning over Iran space launches using ballistic missile tech

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States issued a pre-emptive warning to Iran on Thursday against pursuing three planned space rocket launches that it said would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution because they use ballistic missile technology. Iran rejected the warning, issued by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying its space vehicle launches and missile tests were not violations. Pompeo said Iran planned to launch in the coming months three rockets, called Space Launch Vehicles (SLV), that he said incorporate technology “virtually identical” to what is used in intercontinental ballistic missiles. “The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime’s destructive policies place international stability and security at risk,” Pompeo said in a statement. “We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation.” Pompeo said the rocket launches would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. It calls upon Iran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, but does not explicitly bar such activity. Iran has repeatedly rejected U.S. accusations about its ballistic missile tests, including the firing of space launchers. “Iran’s launch of space vehicles — & missile tests — are NOT in violation of (Resolution) 2231. The US is in material breach of same, & as such it is in no position to lecture anyone on it,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in Twitter post on Thursday. Tehran denies it has missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads. Pompeo said Iran has launched ballistic missiles numerous times since the U.N. resolution was adopted. He said it test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads on Dec. 1. President Donald Trump decided in May to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Iranian Deputy Defense Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh in late November was quoted by Iranian media as saying that Iran would soon launch three satellites into space. “The satellites have been made by domestic experts and will be put on various orbits,” Taqizadeh said. In July 2017, Iran launched a Simorgh (Phoenix) rocket it said could deliver a satellite into space, an act the U.S. State Department called provocative. Earlier that month, the United States imposed new economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program. Iran’s Amirkabir University of Technology said on Tuesday that it was putting the final touches to the Payam (Message) satellite, which it said was equipped with four cameras and could be used for agricultural, forestry and other peaceful purposes, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The satellite, weighing about 100 kg (220 pounds), is to be launched by a state-run space center into an orbit of 500 km (300 miles) with a locally built Simorgh, the ISNA news agency reported. Iranian media reports said the launch of Payam may coincide with celebrations in early February marking the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

iran
ballistic missiles
mike pompeo
nuclear weapons
donald trump
u.s .
u.n .


13 Canadians held in China since arrest of Huawei executive; U.S. issues travel warning

Abstract: OTTAWA/WASHINGTON - Thirteen Canadians have been detained in China following the arrest on Dec. 1 of a senior executive from Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei, Ottawa said Thursday, with eight subsequently released. Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Guillaume Berube confirmed the detentions, adding the figures excluded Hong Kong. The thirteen include former diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor, arrested on Dec. 10, for activities said to threaten national security, as well as Sarah McIver, who was subsequently freed and returned to Canada. There are approximately 200 Canadians overall who have been detained in China for a variety of alleged infractions and continue to face ongoing legal proceedings, and the number has remained relatively stable in recent years. By way of comparison, there are almost 900 Canadians in a similar situation in the U.S. Some observers believe the detentions of Kovrig, who works for the International Crisis Group, and Spavor, who is frequently consulted on matters linked to North Korea, were retaliatory actions following the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States. Washington has accused her of fraud for helping evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. She was later released on bail pending her extradition hearing. Backed by the U.S. and several European countries, Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Kovrig and Spavor, whose arrests Ottawa has termed arbitrary. In Beijing, China’s top prosecutor said Thursday that the two Canadians had “without a doubt” violated the law. In Washington, the State Department on Thursday renewed its warning for U.S. citizens traveling in China to exercise increased caution due to heightened diplomatic tensions over Meng’s arrest. The updated travel advisory maintains the warning at “Level 2” but also warns about extra security checks and increased police presence in the Xinjiang Uighur and Tibet autonomous regions. In its previous travel advisory for China issued on Jan. 22 last year, the State Department urged Americans to “exercise increased caution” in the country because of “the arbitrary enforcement of local laws and special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese nationals.” The latest advisory repeats that warning but adds: “Extra security measures, such as security checks and increased levels of police presence, are common in the Xinjiang Uighur and Tibet Autonomous Regions. Authorities may impose curfews and travel restrictions on short notice.” The advisory also warns about China’s use of “exit bans” that would prohibit U.S. citizens from leaving the country, sometimes keeping them in China for years.

china
huawei
canada
michael kovrig
michael spavor
meng wanzhou


Third woman enters flashpoint Indian Hindu temple

Abstract: THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA - Police in southern India said Friday that a third woman has entered a flash point temple, stoking tensions after two days of clashes involving Hindu hard-liners and police. The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state has been at the center of a prolonged showdown since India’s top court overturned in September a ban on women age 10 to 50 setting foot inside. Before dawn on Wednesday two women in their 40s, escorted by police, slipped past devotees to become the first to access the shrine since the landmark verdict, sneaking in via a side entrance. They remained under police protection on Friday. The third to enter the temple, on Thursday night, was a Sri Lankan, police said. “She entered the temple yesterday night. She is 47 years old and came as a devotee. We were aware and watched the situation,” Balram Kumar Upadhyay, a police official, told AFP. Upadhyay said that the situation at the temple on Friday was “normal for now.” Thousands of Hindu hard-liners, many of them female, had previously succeeded in preventing women from accessing the site in the weeks following the landmark ruling, with some hard-liners throwing stones at police and assaulting female journalists. Wednesday’s news sparked uproar among Hindu devotees, including many in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who believe that women of menstruating age should not enter the temple because the diety it is dedicated to, Ayyappa, was celibate. Clashes on Wednesday and Thursday between devotees, activists of Kerala’s ruling leftist alliance and riot police firing tear gas and a water cannon, left one man dead and at least 15 people injured, including four who were stabbed. Police said that 1,369 people have been arrested, and that the situation on the ground on Friday was peaceful but tense. Much of the sporadic violence took place as Hindu hard-liners sought to force shopkeepers to comply with a dawn-til-dusk hartal shutdown called by the Sabarimala temple hierarchy, media reports said. On Tuesday tens of thousands of women, in an initiative backed by the state government, had formed a huge human chain called the “Women’s Wall” across Kerala to back the demand access. The Supreme Court is to start hearing a legal challenge on its temple ruling — the latest in a series of verdicts to upset traditionalists and reflect a more liberal outlook in Indian society — from January 22. Women are barred from a handful of Hindu temples in India. The entry of women of menstruating age to Sabarimala was taboo for generations and formalized by the Kerala High Court in 1991.

india women religion discrimination tradition


China's Jade Rabbit 2 rover makes tracks across soft surface on 'dark side' of moon

Abstract: BEIJING - The Chinese rover on the far side of the moon is leaving its tracks in the soft lunar surface. The Jade Rabbit 2 rover drove off its lander’s ramp and onto the soft, snow-like surface at 10:22 p.m. Thursday, about 12 hours after a Chinese spacecraft made the first-ever landing on the moon’s far side. A photo from China’s space agency showed tracks the rover left as it headed away from a ramp leading down from the spacecraft. “It’s a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation,” Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV. “This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe.” Exploring the cosmos from the far side of the moon could eventually help scientists learn more about the early days of the solar system and even the birth of the universe’s first stars. The far side can’t be seen from Earth and is popularly called the “dark side” by some because it is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight. Three nations — the United States, the former Soviet Union and more recently China — have sent spacecraft to the near side of the moon, but the latest landing is the first on the far side. That side has been observed many times from lunar orbit, but never up close. The mission highlights China’s growing ambitions to rival the U.S., Russia and Europe in space, and more broadly, to cement its position as a global power. The Jade Rabbit 2 rover has six wheels that all have power, so it can continue to operate even if one wheel fails. It can climb a 20-degree hill or an obstacle up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) tall. Its maximum speed is 200 meters (220 yards) per hour. “The surface is soft and it is similar that you are walking on the snow,” Shen Zhenrong, the rover designer from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., said on CCTV. The public was kept in suspense about the landing itself for more than an hour after it occurred, with state broadcaster CCTV announcing it at the top of the noon news. By that time, speculation already had begun spreading on social media in China and overseas. “On the whole, China’s space technology still lags behind the West, but with the landing on the far side of the moon, we have raced to the front,” said Hou Xiyun, a professor at Nanjing University’s school of astronomy and space science. He added that China has Mars, Jupiter and asteroids in its sights: “There’s no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther.” The landing was “a big deal” because it used an engineering technique of the spacecraft itself choosing a safe place to touch down in treacherous terrain, something called autonomous hazard avoidance, said Purdue University lunar and planetary scientist Jay Melosh. He recalled mentioning the idea of such a technique for an unfunded NASA lunar mission about eight years ago, only to be told it wasn’t doable at the time. “The moon is more challenging to land on than Mars,” Melosh said. “On Mars, you can pick out smooth areas.” In 2013, the predecessor spacecraft Chang’e 3 made the first moon landing since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. The United States is the only country to successfully send astronauts to the moon — 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing — although China is considering a crewed mission too.


Modern witch-hunts terrorize New Guinea highlands

Abstract: TSAK VALLEY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA - A spate of brutal witch hunts has plunged parts of Papua New Guinea’s highlands into a state of terror as fearful tribes blame dark forces for their rapidly changing world. In one particularly horrifying incident that was filmed, an elderly woman writhes and pleads hysterically as she is mercilessly beaten, raped and tortured on a hut floor, before her naked body — bloodied and nearly lifeless — is dragged outside, where a village mob beats and burns her until movement ceases. Almost everyone joins in. No one bothers to obscure their face. No one tries to stop it. The crowd believe what they are doing is right, that it is the only way to stop a nonhuman sorcerer who has killed a clansman of theirs and devoured his heart. The graphic scene was captured by cell phone video. Dozens of similar videos have been gathered as evidence by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary showing the brutal reality of modern-day witch hunts. There have been at least 20 murders linked to sorcery accusations in this part of the highlands in the past few years, and dozens more violent attacks. In places like the remote Tsak Valley, attacks have spread “like bush fire,” said Senior Inspector Epenes Nili, even resulting in an attack on the country’s chief justice. Belief in sorcery and witchcraft has long been common across Enga province and Papua New Guinea, but these lynchings are not some ancient rite or custom. “This is a new phenomenon,” insisted Anton Lutz, a Lutheran missionary who has spent his life in Enga Province and has rescued accused sorcerers, some as young as 6. Other researchers say widespread lynchings are new in Enga, and the extreme brutality and sexual nature of the attacks is unheard of. “We did have ancient beliefs about ghosts and ancient beliefs about stones that could talk and all kinds of interesting things,” Lutz said. “But this practice of accusing a woman of causing a death and torturing her sadistically and sexually for hours until she dies — that is a new thing.” “It began about five years ago,” he said. “We had a serious rise last year. It just seemed like there was an attack happening every week, every fortnight.” According to Lutz, each spasm of violence seemed to begin with a death that locals found difficult to explain. Heart attacks, diabetes and AIDS are becoming more common but are still not well understood. The death of an otherwise healthy person is more easily blamed on sorcery than cholesterol. Even a recent drunken-driving crash that killed eight people prompted a violent witch hunt as people tried to explain why some passengers survived and others did not. The sheer number of people involved in the mob attacks ensures that news spreads quickly, as does fear, due to the widespread belief that witches don’t act alone. The emergence of glasman — opportunist diviners who travel the countryside detecting witches for money — also exponentially increased the rate of killings. So too did tribally ordained retribution. Like the old woman in the video, Rachel, a 55-year-old mother-of-two, was accused of sanguma — sorcery. Her story shows how quickly suspicion can turn into violence. Her life changed suddenly in April 2017, when she went with her family to pay her respects at a funeral service for a member of a neighboring tribe. She was getting ready to leave, looking for her children, when she was grabbed by the dead man’s son. Unknown to her, another woman had been accused of involvement in his death, and under torture she had named Rachel as part of a coven. Rachel pleaded innocence. But she was stripped and, like the murdered woman in the video, violated and burned with hot machetes, spades and rods for a full day by people she knew who were trying to make her “return the heart” of her “victim.” “The pain was beyond endurance,” she recalled, speaking as a crowd of locals — some curious, others appearing suspicious — gathered near her hut. “I thought I would die.” With her mouth gagged, and the pain too much to bear, she managed only a silent prayer: “‘You gave me the job of caring for my children, but if I die, who will care for them?’ “ Only a dispute among the mob, estimated at around a thousand people, saved her life. Across Papua New Guinea the specifics of witch hunts are bafflingly different. In Enga, the victims of violence are almost exclusively women. But on Bougainville island they are almost always men. In Port Moresby, where violence linked to sorcery accusations has also increased, men and women are targeted alike. Researcher Miranda Forsyth at the Australian National University, who has studied hundreds of such cases, sees grim patterns emerging. She describes a “script” of violent responses to suspected sorcerers that is spreading across Enga. Part of the phenomenon is people trying to deal with “high levels of uncertainty due to dramatic economic, social and cultural changes,” Forsyth said. Authorities know the toxic brew will be difficult to remedy. In the meantime, fear has “turned the whole place into a paranoid mess,” said Lutz, the missionary. Almost two years after Rachel’s attack, she can walk again and has returned to her village, although even among her own people, she still lives in fear. “The situation is still tense,” she said in a near whisper. The burns she sustained in the attack had only partially been treated when a mob came to the clinic where she was recuperating, forcing her to flee. She still complains of skin being tight and painful around her torso. “Even though I still need surgery, I am afraid my attackers might kill me if I go. So I live with the pain.” “I hope that things will calm down so that I can go to the hospital, but for now, the way is closed.”

papua new guinea
murder
supernatural
tradition


China's population shrinks for first time in 70 years despite two-child policy: experts

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s population shrank last year for the first time in 70 years, experts said, warning of a “demographic crisis” that puts pressure on the country’s slowing economy. For decades the world’s most populous nation, with about 1.4 billion citizens, China limited most families to one child in an attempt to keep population growth sustainable. But since 2016 it has allowed couples to have two children in response to concerns about an aging society and shrinking workforce. The number of live births nationwide in 2018 fell by 2.5 million year-on-year, contrary to a predicted increase of 790,000 births, according to analysis by U.S.-based academic Yi Fuxian. Yi, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a long-term critic of the one-child policy, and his work has previously gained traction among the country’s leadership. Enforced through fines but notorious for cases of forced abortions and sterilization, the one-child policy caused birth rates to plummet after it was introduced in 1979. However, childbirths have not increased as much as forecast since the two-child policy came into force, and there has been rising speculation the government will further ease restrictions. Last year marked a “historic turning point for the Chinese population,” said Yi, who studied publicly available data on births in towns and villages across China. This downward trend may be irreversible, he cautioned, due to factors such as a decrease in the number of women of childbearing age and the reluctance of couples to have children due to rising education, health and housing costs. Yi’s calculations show that the number of deaths in 2018 was about 11.58 million, and the total population shrank by 1.27 million. “The Chinese population has started to decrease for the first time since the founding of new China in 1949, the aging problem has accelerated and economic vitality has weakened,” he said. Yi’s findings, due to appear in an upcoming research paper co-authored with Peking University economist Su Jian, were pieced together from National Health Commission figures. The experts also used other official statistics including school enrolment figures, household registration data and government censuses to reach their conclusions. China’s National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release official nationwide birth figures for 2018 later this month. In the meantime, data released by some local authorities indicate a significant drop in births last year. In Qingdao, a city in eastern Shandong province — one of China’s most populous regions — births between January and November decreased by 21 percent to just over 81,000 compared to the previous year. Ren Zeping, chief economist at property developer Evergrande Group, wrote in a research note that China is walking into a “demographic crisis” as the easing of the one-child policy has failed to boost the country’s fertility rate. Tracking China’s demographic changes is difficult as the figures published by the health commission and statistics bureau do not always match, said He Yafu, an independent demographer based in southern Guangdong province. But he said Yi’s estimate of the drop in children born in 2018 is likely to be correct. The number of women of childbearing age is expected to fall by more than 39 percent over the next decade and China’s two-child policy isn’t enough to shore up dwindling birth rates, He added. Yi said he was skeptical of the National Bureau of Statistics figures, accusing the organization of “inflating the number of births” to account for families who may not have registered their second, third or fourth child. Local authorities seeking more funds from the central government have also “over-reported” school enrolment figures and hospital live births, he said. Yi added that the statistics bureau may have also underreported the number of deaths. In 2016, Yi was invited to speak at the Boao Forum in southwest China, an annual gathering of influential figures including politicians and businesspeople — the same year Beijing announced an end to its one-child rule. He is now urging the government to get out of people’s bedrooms by scrapping the two-child limit and offering more incentives including generous maternity leave and tax breaks for parents. If the government doesn’t intervene now, “China’s aging crisis will be more severe than Japan, and the economic outlook will be bleaker than Japan,” Yi said. China’s labor force is becoming smaller as the population grays, putting intense strain on the country’s fragile pension and health care systems. For each elderly citizen, there are seven people who are working and contributing to the social welfare system, Yi said — a figure that is expected to shrink to just four by 2030. “The U.S. economy will not be overtaken by China, but by India, which has a younger population,” he said. “China’s economic vitality will continue to decline, which will bring about a disastrous impact on the global economy.”


Buddhist monk ticketed for driving while wearing a robe sparks Twitter storm

Abstract: Skateboarding, jumping rope and wielding lightsabers aren’t things we typically expect monks to do. That was until September, when a monk in Fukui Prefecture was ticketed for wearing his traditional robe while driving. The police officer believed the robe was impeding his ability to operate the vehicle. In response, monks from all over Japan have taken to Twitter to demonstrate how their Buddhist attire is anything but a hindrance in daily life, using a hashtag that translates as “I can do this in a monk’s robe.” Many have posted videos of themselves juggling, working out or doing other physical activities. One posted a clip of juggling bowling pins. Another filmed himself skateboarding down a hill. Others from around the country played hacky sack, rode scooters or performed any number of other activities to prove that wearing a robe doesn’t hinder their movement. Zuiho Yokoyama, a monk in Yamanashi Prefecture, posted a video of himself jumping rope in a robe a day after an article thought to have prompted the stir was published by the daily Yomiuri Shimbun on Dec. 29. Since then, Yokoyama’s post has been liked by more than 15,000 users and retweeted more than 6,000 times. The Twitter outbreak spurred many to compare the traditional robes to long dresses or skirts — which are, of course, legal to drive in — while others raised concerns about the inconvenience the case may cause for monks if it becomes legal precedent. Fukui Prefecture’s regulations for enforcing the Road Traffic Law state that driving a vehicle in clothing that might affect safe driving is prohibited. The police officer is believed to have decided that the monk’s robe violated this regulation and so cited him with a traffic ticket. According to local reports, the monk was driving to a memorial service when he was stopped in Fukui on Sept. 16 around 10 a.m. The monk was told he could not wear kimono to drive and received a ticket with a ¥6,000 fine. The violation, according to the ticket, was “driving in attire that hinders vehicle operation.” The monk is refusing to pay the fine and said he would like to “clearly state at a trial that I can drive safely in a monk’s robe.” Monks be like …


Fire at Yokohama lodging house leaves two dead and eight injured

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A man and a woman were killed and eight others were injured early Friday when a fire broke out at a lodging house in Yokohama, police said. The fire broke out in a room on the fifth floor of the 10-story Ogiso Bekkan lodging house, which provides low-priced accommodation in Naka Ward, at around 6:15 a.m. The fire was contained in about an hour but had already spread to four other rooms and a shared bathroom, police and firefighters said. The cause was not immediately known. About 140 people were believed to be inside when the fire broke out. Those killed or injured are all likely to be people who were staying there, police said. One of the injured appears to be in serious condition. Police also found a body of a man in a room on another floor but believe his death is unrelated because he appears to have died a couple of days before. The lodging house is one of many such establishments roughly 500 meters west of Ishikawacho Station. The district is well-known as a place where day laborers live. A 47-year-old man staying at the house said: “It was terrible. The emergency staircase was filled with people and I was at a loss about how to evacuate.” Another man who was staying there said he was awakened by an announcement asking people to evacuate and saw black smoke. He said he had been scheduled to receive his welfare benefits that day, and was shocked to experience such a thing. Neighbors said many of the people staying at the lodging house are on welfare or receive day care services for the elderly.


South Korea's Defense Ministry releases video of maritime incident to dispute Japan's account

Abstract: SEOUL - South Korea released on Friday a video of an alleged radar lock-on incident involving a Japanese plane and a South Korean warship, repeating its demand that Japan stop “distorting” the truth about the case and apologize for a low-altitude flyby by one of its planes. The move by Seoul marks another twist in a dispute that has pitted two U.S. allies against each other, and comes exactly one week after Japan released a video of its own to support its claim that a South Korean Navy ship had locked a fire-control radar onto a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane over the Sea of Japan. South Korea has steadfastly denied Japan’s claim, saying that the destroyer was on the scene on Dec. 20 to rescue a drifting North Korean fishing boat. It said the destroyer used an optical camera but did not direct its radar at the plane. “Japan will have to stop distorting the truth and apologize for a low-altitude flight over our ships that were on a humanitarian rescue mission,” Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in the video, which was published on video-sharing website YouTube. “The purpose of today’s disclosure is to inform (the public of) the more correct facts, as distorted truth has reached netizens all over the world after Japan’s unilateral release of video footage,” Choi said in a briefing recorded Dec. 28 but only released in the video Friday. The South Korean video is 4 minutes and 26 seconds long and summarizes the claims made by Seoul so far. Choi said the video will soon be translated into foreign languages.

defense ministry
radar
south korea-japan relations


As ties sour over wartime issues, Foreign Minister Taro Kono urges South Korea to be fair to Japanese firms

Abstract: Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Friday urged South Korea to prevent Japanese firms from being treated unfairly following the launch of procedures to seize assets from Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. over its refusal to compensate for wartime forced labor. After speaking by phone with South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung Wha, Taro Kono said Japan will take resolute action based on international law, if needed. “I asked (the South Korean side) to take steps quickly so Japanese firms will not suffer from treatment that is unfair and disadvantageous,” Kono told reporters. “We believe that South Korea will take appropriate action, so we will wait and see for the time being. But we want to make preparations in case we have to act resolutely based on international law,” Kono said without elaborating. Bilateral ties have deteriorated in recent weeks over rulings made by South Korea’s Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for forced labor during the war, and the alleged directing of a fire-control radar at a Self-Defense Forces plane by a South Korean warship in the Sea of Japan on Dec. 20. In the wartime labor case, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal had until Dec. 24 to respond to a request by lawyers for the South Korean plaintiffs to start talks on compensation. After the deadline passed, the lawyers said Wednesday they had launched a process to seize the steel-maker’s shares in Posco-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture (PNR), its strategic partnership with South Korean steelmaker Posco. “We take (the request) very seriously,” Kono said after the phone talks, which were held at Kang’s request. The Japanese government says the issue of compensation was settled “completely and finally” in an agreement attached to the 1965 treaty that normalized ties between Japan and South Korea. Tokyo has described the top court rulings in South Korea as being in breach of international law. The South Korean top court said in recent rulings against two firms — Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. — that the right of anyone victimized by forced mobilization under Japan’s “illegal” colonial rule to seek compensation was not terminated by the bilateral accord. The talks between the two ministers took place as Japan and South Korea remain at odds over the alleged radar incident. “Minister Kang and I shared the view that defense authorities need to discuss the (radar) issue based on facts and resolve it at the earliest possible date,” Kono said. South Korea on Friday released its own video of the radar incident and repeated its demand that Japan stop “distorting” the truth and apologize for a low-altitude flyby by one of its patrol planes. The Japanese Defense Ministry released a video clip of the alleged radar lock-on incident on Dec. 28 to back up its claim that South Korea used the radar intentionally.

taro kono
wartime labor
msdf
south korea-japan relations


Name of Japan's next Imperial era to be announced April 1, Abe confirms

Abstract: The name of the next Imperial era, known as gengō in Japanese, will be announced on April 1, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed Friday. “Tradition dictates that the name of a new era is decided on and disclosed to the public following the start of the new Imperial era,” Abe said during a New Year’s news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, following his annual visit to the Grand Shrines of Ise earlier in the day. “However, I believe it is best to announce the name on April 1, prior to the Crown Prince’s ascension, so as to minimize the impact the change may have on the lives of the Japanese people,” he added. The new era name will be made public soon after it is approved at a Cabinet meeting on April 1, a month prior to the start of the new era. Crown Prince Naruhito is set to accede the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1 following Emperor Akihito’s abdication the day before. “The government will put its best efforts into preparing for the new era, so that the public can celebrate the historic succession of the Chrysanthemum Throne,” Abe said. The announcement follows months of speculation over when the new era name would be revealed. The decision over when to make the announcement has proved to be a delicate balancing act between following age-old traditions and adapting to the requirements of the digital age. According to local media reports, conservative politicians had voiced concerns over issuing the name of the new era while Emperor Akihito is still on the throne, citing reasons such as the risk of giving an impression of there being concurrent authority between the old and new Emperors. They believe in the principle of associating one gengō to one emperor, and called for the new era name to be announced and issued after the ascension of the Crown Prince to maintain tradition. But the government had also been keen to ensure a smooth transition to the new era by securing adequate time for computer systems and software to be updated in time for May 1. In Japan, the Imperial era is still used in official documents and public records such as those related to tax or pensions. Friday’s announcement suggests Abe put the need for time to iron out any technical glitches ahead of the concerns raised by his conservative base.

shinzo abe
emperor akihito
abdication
ldp
gengo
heisei


Search suspended for missing crew member of ship carrying 3,500 Nissan vehicles on fire near Hawaii, four unresponsive in water

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - The active search for the remaining missing crew member from a Japanese commercial ship that caught fire earlier in the week has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday. Twenty of the vessel’s 21 crew members had been accounted for as of Wednesday after the fire started Monday on the 59,400-ton Sincerity Ace, which was carrying 3,500 Nissan Motor Co. vehicles from Yokohama to Hawaii. After “good Samaritan” crew from merchant vessels rescued 16 people Monday, an additional four were found “unresponsive and unable to grab onto life-saving equipment to be brought aboard,” according to the U.S. Coast Guard. They remain in the water until commercial tugboats arrive at the scene. “Following the conclusion of morning and afternoon searches by our aircraft and commercial vessels we suspended the active search. This is always a difficult decision and takes many factors into account,” said Chief Petty Officer Dennis Vetrano of the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu. “We extend our condolences to the families and loved ones of the crew members affected by this tragedy.” The fire broke out on New Year’s Eve when the Panama-flagged car carrier was traveling about 3,330 kilometers (about 2,000 miles) northwest of Oahu Island. As of Thursday, the vessel remained adrift and burning, according to the Coast Guard. “We have no information on the condition of the vehicles at this time,” said Nissan North America spokeswoman Lloryn Love-Carter. “Our thoughts are with the crew members as well as the safety of the rescue teams.” The 21 crew members are Philippine nationals, according to the ship’s managing company, Shoei Kisen Kaisha. The company has dispatched commercial tugboats, which the Coast Guard said will arrive Monday, to transport the survivors and make recovery efforts. The cause of the fire and the conditions of the unresponsive crew members remain unknown.

missing
sincerity ace
rescue
u.s. coast guard


Fireball passes through sky over western Japan

Abstract: OSAKA - A flying fireball was seen over a wide area of western Japan early Thursday, with astronomical experts saying it may have been caused by a meteor. Masayoshi Ueda, a 67-year-old amateur astronomer, successfully captured images of the object around 4:50 a.m. Thursday at his home in Habikino in Osaka Prefecture. “I could not tape the sound but it flashed for a second and grew into a big fireball,” Ueda said. “I was lucky because we cannot predict when and where we can see one.” Some posted information about the mysterious flying object on the internet. One said, “I thought it was an earthquake as I heard a bang and rumbling,” while another said, “I woke up to a very loud sound.” Hitoshi Yamaoka, associate professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, said, “We have bolides almost every day but it is very rare to hear one make a noise — only a few times a year.” “I guess the one seen this time was a large object that may have measured around half a meter in length. Such objects typically evaporate in the air, but this one could have fallen to the ground,” Yamaoka said.


Man who plowed car into pedestrians on New Year's had planned to ignite crowds at Meiji Shrine

Abstract: The arrested driver of a car that plowed into a crowd in the Harajuku district of Tokyo at New Year has said he was planning to spray kerosene at people at a popular Shinto shrine and set them ablaze, investigative sources said Friday. In the rented minicar used in the attack, police found a 20-liter tank of kerosene and a high-pressure water sprayer with an ignition tool attached that the 21-year-old suspect, Kazuhiro Kusakabe, said he bought to carry out the plan. “I was going to use the sprayer and kerosene to set fire to crowds at Meiji Shrine,” Kusakabe, identified by police as a resident of Osaka Prefecture, was quoted as saying, adding that he drove into the pedestrians after “things didn’t go well.” He also said he wanted to “target areas where there were many people” and had considered Osaka as well as Tokyo, according to the sources. Earlier the suspect had told investigators he’d kept his foot on the gas pedal during the attack. As no tire marks have been found on Takeshita-dori, police believe Kusakabe intended to commit murder. Kusakabe was arrested on New Year’s Day, on suspicion of attempted murder, after ramming his car into pedestrians on the shopping street in Harajuku, a center of youth culture and fashion. Eight people were injured, including a 19-year-old university student living in Tokyo who remains unconscious due to a serious head injury. The suspect told police earlier that he had intended to kill the pedestrians he hit “in retaliation for an execution,” while also claiming it was an act of terrorism. Kusakabe obtained his driver’s license in early December and booked the vehicle four days before the attack. The street was closed to vehicles at the time of the incident as it was expected to be crowded on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. In a new development possibly linked to the car rampage, Kazuo Nakano, a 36-year-old police officer attached to Harajuku Police Station, was found in the basement of the police station at around 10 p.m. Wednesday, bleeding from his head. He was later confirmed dead at a hospital. His gun was found near his right hand and police believe he killed himself. Nakano had been serving at the police station since August. He was working from Monday through Tuesday, which was New Year’s Day, to be on alert when the area became packed with people visiting at New Year.


Government plan for poor and elderly to use vacant homes falls short of target

Abstract: Only about 7,000 vacant homes and rooms had been registered as of Thursday of an anticipated 50,000 annually under a government plan to help provide subsidized housing to single seniors and people on low incomes. The underwhelming result may force the government to review the program, which was introduced in October 2017 in the hope of complementing its policy of accepting more foreign workers from April this year. The government planned to have 175,000 units of accommodation registered by the end of fiscal 2020, but the low figure indicates a lack of interest among owners of vacant property. Private landlords frequently turn away single seniors and low-income single-parent households, concerned that they will have to deal with rent defaults or elderly people passing away. The government has been working to secure housing for vulnerable people and solve the problem of unoccupied residences that have increased with the graying of the population. Under the policy that it implemented as part of its Housing Safety Net Law, the central and local governments partially subsidize rent and the cost of repairs needed to make homes barrier free for the disabled. Property owners register their unoccupied housing as rental property with local governments, which then provide related information on their websites and match interested parties. Adoption has been uneven across the nation. Of the 7,049 properties registered as of Thursday, three-quarters were concentrated around Osaka, according to official data. That was followed by the prefectures of Aichi and Yamanashi, with 429 and 284 units respectively. Elsewhere, none were registered in eight prefectures, while 19 prefectures had 10 or fewer. “Osaka has continued to implement a similar policy on its own, and it has a very high awareness of the problem of housing discrimination,” said an official involved with the program. The low number of registrations can be explained by a lack of public knowledge about the system, an infrastructure ministry official said. The ministry plans to increase funding for nonprofit groups involved with housing assistance and send officials to local governments to urge them to increase the number of housing units registered.


Pilot's drinking on previous day delays five flights operated by ANA Wings

Abstract: All Nippon Airways, the core unit of ANA Holdings Inc., said Thursday that five flights operated by group company ANA Wings had been delayed earlier in the day after a pilot in his 40s failed a breath test. The pilot had drunk alcohol the previous day, according to ANA. The airline said it will deal with the incident strictly in line with company rules. The ANA Wings pilot, on loan from ANA, was scheduled to board a flight from Osaka’s Itami Airport to Miyazaki Airport on Thursday morning. The pilot failed the breath test after arriving at Itami Airport early Thursday. He had drunk two 350-milliliter cans of whiskey and soda at a hotel in Osaka the previous day. He was replaced on the flight and five flights were delayed as a result by a maximum of one hour and 44 minutes. The delays affected a total of 677 passengers. Last October, a male ANA Wings pilot was unable to perform his duties a day after he drank alcoholic beverages while on Ishigaki Island, in Okinawa Prefecture. The transport ministry issued strict warnings to ANA Wings and ANA in December over the incident. ANA said it is taking the latest drinking incident seriously.

pilot
drinking
all nippon airways
itami airport


U.S. Supreme Court to hear case on vulgar trademarks

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case brought by a clothing line named Fuct, which the government has refused to register, claiming it would promote vulgarity. The case pits a provision of U.S. trademark law that allows the government to deny requests on the basis “immoral” or “scandalous” words against the bedrock principles of free speech enshrined in the Constitution. A date of hearing has not yet been fixed. But it is a safe bet no case before it will have exposed the nation’s top judges to so many profanities. The street wear brand was founded in 1990 by Los Angeles-based designer Erik Brunetti. The name sounds like, but is spelled differently from, the past tense form of a common swear word. Brunetti tried to formally register it in 2011 but was refused under the so-called scandalous-marks provision of trademark law. He appealed against the decision and won, but the current administration of President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to give a final ruling on the matter. In its brief, the government argues the contested legal provision “does not restrict any speech or restrain any form of expression.” Rather, it “simply reflects Congress’s judgment that the federal government should not affirmatively promote the use of graphic sexual images and vulgar terms by granting them the benefits of registration.” In 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that an Asian American band could trademark its name “The Slants,” which had been rejected because it was deemed a racial slur.


Trump says China woes help U.S. in trade talks, downplays Apple warning

Abstract: WASHINGTON/BEIJING - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed a revenue warning from Apple Inc that cited slowing sales in China and said China’s weakening economic growth puts the United States in a strong position as negotiators from the world’s two largest economies prepare for trade talks next week. Trump has slapped import tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods as he seeks concessions from Beijing on issues ranging from industrial subsidies to hacking, sparking retaliation by China. The measures have disrupted trade, hurt manufacturing, roiled international markets and slowed the global economy. U.S. officials are heading to Beijing next week for the first face-to-face talks since Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping in December agreed to a 90-day truce in the trade war as they sought to strike a deal. “I think we will make a deal with China,” Trump told reporters at the White House after a meeting with Democratic and Republican lawmakers about the U.S. government shutdown. “I really think they want to. I think they sort of have to.” Beijing on Friday cut bank reserve requirements for a fifth time this year amid slowing growth at home and the punishing U.S. tariffs on exports. “China’s not doing well now. And it puts us in a very strong position. We are doing very well,” Trump said. “I hope we’re going to make a deal with China. And if we don’t, they’re paying us tens of billions of dollars worth of tariffs — not the worst thing in the world.” Official data this week showed manufacturing has slowed in both China and the United States, though the U.S. Labor Department on Friday reported a surge in new jobs in December along with higher wages. The president downplayed the effects of the economic woes on U.S. technology giant Apple Inc., which this week blamed slowing iPhone sales in China for a rare reduction in its quarterly sales forecast. When asked if he was concerned about Apple’s revenue cut and share price drop, Trump said: “No, I’m not. I mean look, they’ve gone up a lot.” Shares of Apple rebounded on Friday after a 10 percent nosedive on Thursday on the revenue warning. The shares closed at $148.26 on Friday, down about 5.1 percent for the week. For the 2018 full year, Apple shares fell 7 percent, though they are up about 24 percent since Trump took office in January 2017. “They’re going to be fine. Apple is a great company,” Trump said, adding he had told Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to build his company’s products at home in the United States, something he has harped on previously. “Apple makes its product in China. China is the biggest beneficiary of Apple, more than us, because they build their product mostly in China,” Trump said. “I want Apple to make their iPhones and all of the great things that they make in the United States. And that’ll take place.” Apple’s lowered revenue outlook along with a double-digit drop in earnings at commodities giant Cargill Inc. on Thursday may be among the clearest warning signs yet that the trade war’s effects have begun to hit U.S. companies. A team led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will travel to China for talks, China’s commerce ministry and the USTR said. That news that helped boost global markets. The talks begin on Monday. The USTR said the U.S. delegation would also include under secretaries from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy and Treasury, as well as senior officials from those agencies and the White House. While Trump and other officials have said talks between the two sides are progressing well, they have given few details on concessions that China has made. Some U.S. demands would require structural reform that may be unpalatable for Chinese leaders. China would deepen reform but will not yield on issues it deems to be its core national interests, a commentary in the ruling Communist Party’s official newspaper said on Wednesday. “We know what sort of changes we need,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business on Friday. “Now, the question is can we negotiate these changes and can we do so with enforcement (and) with timetables.”


After plunge, Tokyo stocks expected to remain unstable in coming week

Abstract: Tokyo stocks are expected to remain unstable next week, with persistent concerns over a slowdown in the global economy likely to continue to grip the market, observers have said. On Friday, the first trading day of 2019 after the New Year’s holidays, the Nikkei tumbled 452.81 points, or 2.26 percent, to close at 19,561.96 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A sharply stronger yen and an overnight slump in U.S. equities spurred heavy selling. Adding to the bearish sentiment were weak economic data from China and the United States, as well as U.S. technology heavyweight Apple Inc.’s downward revision to its October-December sales outlook, brokers said. The Nikkei is expected to move between 19,000 and 20,500 next week, analysts and brokers said. Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., said he expects the Tokyo market to move on a “cautious” note. If progress is made at U.S.-China vice ministerial trade talks early next week to resolve friction between the world’s two largest economies, Tokyo stocks may rally, Otani said. “The market may stage some kind of rebound after being oversold, but I don’t expect investors to chase higher ground” amid nagging concerns over a global economic slowdown, an official of a midsize securities firm said. Meanwhile, Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc., said he expects stocks to regain some footing next week, as long as no fresh negative factors emerge in the United States. The Nikkei’s downside will likely be supported by the price-book value ratio line of 1.0, which stands at 19,240 for the index, according to Fujii.


Nissan executive takes leave to work on 'special tasks' related to arrest of Carlos Ghosn

Abstract: Nissan Chief Performance Officer Jose Munoz, who oversaw the automaker’s global strategies, is taking a leave of absence to work on “special tasks arising from recent events,” the company said Saturday, referring to the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. Nissan Motor Co. spokesman Nicholas Maxfield did not offer any other details. Munoz is among several executives media have speculated could be a possible successor to Ghosn. Ghosn, a revered figure in the global auto industry, led Nissan for two decades after being sent in by Renault in 1999 when Nissan was near bankruptcy. The French automaker owns 43 percent of Nissan. Ghosn was arrested Nov. 19 and has been charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting his income. He has said repeatedly he is innocent, including on the latest allegation that he had Nissan temporarily shoulder investment losses. The income was never decided on, and Nissan did not suffer the losses, according to sources close to Ghosn and his family. Ghosn is scheduled to face a Tokyo courtroom Tuesday, his first public appearance since his arrest, as his lawyers demand to know why his detention is continuing. His detention has been repeatedly extended and now goes through Jan. 11. In Japan, suspects are often held for months before trial. Prosecutors consider Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, a flight risk. Greg Kelly, another Nissan executive charged with collaborating on Ghosn’s underreported income, was freed on bail last month. Kelly, an American, is also asserting his innocence. He has said through his lawyers he will get hospital treatment for a neck ailment. No trial dates have been set for Ghosn or Kelly.


Central Japan Railway to test N700S shinkansen at 360 kph ahead of 2020 debut

Abstract: NAGOYA - Shin Kaneko, president of Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central), has said the company plans to conduct test runs of the new N700S shinkansen at a maximum speed of 360 kph this year. The N700S is slated to debut on the Tokaido Shinkansen line in fiscal 2020. The maximum operating speed on the line, which links Tokyo Station with Shin-Osaka Station, is currently 285 kph. “We aim to carry out test runs at 360 kph this year so that we can demonstrate safety when we export the train to such markets as the United States and Taiwan,” Kaneko said in a recent interview, pointing out that it attained a maximum speed of 330 kph in past tests. He also noted that about a third of those who buy reserved seats on both the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, the latter of which connects Shin-Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture, used the ticketless SmartEX service to buy seats via smartphone. SmartEX was introduced for the two lines in autumn 2017. “Ticketless travel relieves passengers of stress,” Kaneko said, adding that it is also a plus for railway operators because it does not require commission fees. “Personally, I hope that a ticketless system will be introduced also for the Chuo Shinkansen line,” which is slated to open in 2027 and link Tokyo with Nagoya via magnetically levitated trains. Kaneko said JR Central has made steady progress in construction work for the maglev line. “We have secured more than 50 percent of land needed for the maglev work on the west side of Nagoya Station, and are now in talks with landowners for the east side of the station,” he explained. “We’ll continue making all-out efforts” on the maglev project, Kaneko said, indicating the schedule is tight as JR Central has a lot of work to do.


U.S. says no timeline for Syria withdrawal as 'final blows' continue

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States has no timeline for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a senior State Department official said on Friday, sending a strong signal that U.S. forces could stay until the fight against Islamic State militants is over. U.S.-backed forces are still retaking territory from Islamic State in Syria, Pentagon officials said on Friday, two weeks after Washington said it would withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in the country. President Donald Trump said at the time that the troops had succeeded in their mission and were no longer needed there. The administration’s abrupt announcement last month, which took officials in Washington and allies by surprise, contributed to Jim Mattis’ decision to resign as U.S. defense secretary and prompted concern that Islamic State could stage a comeback. The State Department official, briefing reporters before a visit to the Middle East next week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, apparently sought to allay that concern. “We have no timeline for our military forces to withdraw from Syria,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “It will be done in such a way that we and our allies and partners maintain pressure on ISIS throughout and we do not open up any vacuums for terrorists.” The United States did not intend to have an indefinite military presence in Syria, the official added. U.S. officials have said it could take several months to carry out a withdrawal, potentially giving time for U.S.-backed forces to deal parting blows to the militant group that once held broad swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would get out of Syria slowly “over a period of time” and would protect U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the country as Washington draws down troops. White House national security adviser John Bolton will also travel to Israel and Turkey in the coming days. “Bolton will travel to Israel and Turkey to discuss the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, and how the U.S. will work with allies and partners to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, stand fast with those who fought with us against ISIS, and counter Iranian malign behavior in the region,” Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said, using an acronym to refer to Islamic State. Marquis said Bolton would be joined in Turkey by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and U.S. special Syria envoy James Jeffrey. Separately, the State Department said Jeffrey would be taking on the additional role of the special envoy for the coalition to defeat Islamic State. Jeffrey will be involved in negotiations on a political process and also assumes the diplomatic role of coordinating with allies and partners on the fight against Islamic State. Brett McGurk, the previous special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, quit last month over Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which include Kurdish fighters, captured the Syrian town of Kashmah on Wednesday after retaking the town of Hajin on Dec. 25, Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Sean Robertson said. The day the SDF took Kashmah was the same day that Trump stated during a Cabinet meeting his strong desire to gradually withdraw from Syria, calling it a place of “sand and death.” Trump also said it was up to other countries to fight Islamic State, including Russia and Iran, and said that Islamic State was down to its last remaining bits of territory in Syria. “We’re hitting the hell out of them, the ISIS people,” Trump said, adding “we’re down to final blows.” Separately on Friday, the U.S.-led coalition said it carried out 469 strikes in Syria between Dec. 16 and Dec. 29 which destroyed nearly 300 fighting positions, more than 150 staging areas, and a number of supply routes, oil lubricant storage facilities and equipment. Aaron Stein, the Middle East program director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Islamic State retained control of just a “sprinkle of villages” near the Euphrates river. “(ISIS) will simply revert to a diffused rural insurgency where it could use just the tyranny of space — the desert is very big— to sort of hide out and be able to launch raiding attacks,” Stein said. The Pentagon spokesman said coalition forces, which Washington coordinates, were continuing to assist the SDF with close air support and artillery strikes in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. “We will continue to work with the coalition and regional partners toward an enduring defeat of ISIS,” Robertson said. He called the capture of Hajin significant. “This was a milestone, since it was among the largest of the last remaining ISIS strongholds in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” he said. Islamic State declared its “caliphate” in 2014 after seizing large swaths of Syria and Iraq. The hard-line Islamist group established its de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, using it as a base to plot attacks in Europe. Much of the U.S. campaign in Syria has been waged by warplanes flying out of Qatar and other locations in the Middle East.

syria
islamic state
donald trump
russia
conflict
u.s .
vladimir putin
terrorism
bashar assad
syrian civil war


Feminist filmmakers tackle machismo in porn industry

Abstract: BERLIN - Ethical, diverse and not a silicone breast in sight — feminist filmmakers are standing up to mass-market porn with adult movies that are free of male domination and gender stereotypes. Their films aim to show realistic, consent-based and egalitarian sex instead of the superhuman bedroom exploits of macho studs and submissive women. “Feminist porn is part of a fight against misogyny, on the same territory and with the same weapons as the sex movie mainstream,” French filmmaker Ovidie, 38, said at a recent film festival on the subject in Berlin. The first attempts at feminist pornography date back to the 1980s in the United States, but the movement has received a new lease on life in response to the flood of free online porn that has become available in the internet age. The easy access to even hard-core porn online has raised concerns that a generation of young people is being exposed to material that could warp their sexual attitudes and expectations. To counter this effect, Berlin’s center-left Social Democrats, who govern the city-state in a coalition with the Greens, are proposing to use feminist adult films in sex education programs. Traditional adult films “always follow the same kind of choreography. . . . Men dominate women,” said Ovidie, who is spearheading the “femporn” movement in France. In her “Stories of Sex(es)” and “X-Girl vs. Supermacho,” women are no longer reduced to objects. On the contrary, they are in charge. To be truly “feminist,” explained Laura Meritt, a German linguist and specialist on the movement, the productions must meet several criteria. In addition to portraying the desires “of all genders” — including men, who in most porn movies are “merely reduced to their penis” — the cast must be “varied physically and culturally” and not be of uniformly perfect physique, she said. Condom use is a must, and so are ethical “working conditions, based on consent, where everyone has the choice to take part in certain practices or not,” Meritt said. An actress who goes by the name of Misungui Bordelle said that the sex scenes are usually shot with “the least possible” interruption, rather than through the mainstream industry’s “methodical execution . . . with many takes.” The American director Jennifer Lyon Bell, a 49-year-old Harvard graduate, in 2004 launched her company Blue Artichoke Films, specializing in movies that “portray sexuality in an emotionally realistic way.” She sees her work as part of “sex-positive feminism” that, rather than seeking to abolish pornography, sees sexuality as the arena in which women must win their emancipation. In 2006, Toronto hosted what organizers billed as the world’s first Feminist Porn Awards at its adult film festival. Similar events followed in Lausanne, Lisbon and Sydney. In Europe, the biggest festival is organized annually in Berlin, attracting 10,000 visitors this autumn. Despite this, feminist pornography is far from breaking into the mainstream. “I have very little relationship with the mainstream industry. The festivals and modes of income are different. These are circles that rarely intersect,” said French director Lucie Blush, 30. It is a view reflected in the global sex movie industry, where many have yet to see this type of film-making as competition, said Gregory Dorcel, manager at Marc Dorcel, one of the leading porn media groups. These “ethical” productions remain “a drop in the ocean of porn” online, said Camille Emmanuelle, a writer specialized in issues of sexuality. Lacking broad distribution channels, the business model is based on subscription systems — a limiting factor because “people, especially young people, are now used to free porn.” The Swedish Film Institute in 2009 pioneered a series of 12 short films directed by feminists and produced by Mia Engberg. Inspired by Sweden’s example, the proposals by Berlin’s Social Democrats to use such films in sex education may make them eligible for state funding. The party’s Ferike Thom said, “It would be great if this alternative porn, which portrays sex differently, could be as easily and freely accessible as the classic sex movies.”

film sex women pornography france germany prostitution


Brazilian troops deployed to stop violence by criminal gangs in northern city of Fortaleza

Abstract: RIO DE JANEIRO - A special deployment of Brazilian troops was fanning out in the northern city of Fortaleza on Saturday with orders to stop days of violent attacks by criminal gangs against banks, buses and shops, officials said. By the end of the weekend, 300 soldiers should be patrolling that city and other towns in Ceara state in a bid to halt the rampage, National Public Security Secretary Guilherme Teophilo said, according to government news agency Agencia Brasil. The intervention is the first test of new President Jair Bolsonaro’s strict law-and-order platform since he took office last Tuesday. His justice minister ordered the deployment after evaluating that Ceara police were overwhelmed. Some 50 suspects have been arrested. The gangs terrorizing Fortaleza could be seen torching service stations in security videos aired by Brazilian media. Dozens of attacks have been registered this past week, forcing residents to stay at home and leaving main roads deserted. The trigger of the wave of violence is being investigated, but intelligence reports published by media suggested gangs are revolting against tough new measures recently imposed in the state’s prisons. The changes include cellphone signal blockers and an end to a policy of separating inmates according to gang affiliation. Two gangs have set aside their rivalry to join forces against the government, the G1 news website reported, citing security officials. Bolsonaro has vowed to crack down on Brazil’s rampant crime by extending immunity to soldiers and police using lethal force and easing gun laws so “good” citizens can challenge armed criminals. The far-right president, a 63-year-old former paratrooper, has made “restoring order” a centerpiece of his four-year mandate. Much of that task falls to his justice minister, Sergio Moro, a former star judge who headed up Operation Car Wash, an investigation into Brazil’s biggest-ever corruption scandal.

brazil
violence
gangs
fortaleza
jair bolsonaro


Trump's wall not going to happen, Mexican psychic foretells

Abstract: MEXICO CITY - Brace yourselves, America: the U.S. government shutdown that has dragged on for two weeks could last a lot longer — possibly forever — if a Mexican psychic’s predictions come true. As Donald Trump said Friday he was prepared to keep the partial shutdown going for as long as it takes to get funding for his border wall, Antonio Vazquez — better known as “The Grand Warlock” — said in his annual predictions on the year ahead that the U.S. president would not get funding for the wall in 2019, or ever. Hovering over his tarot cards and holding a microphone to his flowing white beard, Vazquez said of Trump: “He’s not going to get (the money). On Tuesday or Wednesday there will be a very grave problem arising from this wall foolishness. That wall will never be built.” The offbeat prognostication came on the same day Trump said he “will do whatever we have to do” — including maintain the shutdown for “a very long period of time” — to get Congress to approve the $5.6 billion he is requesting to build a barrier on the U.S.-Mexican border. Vazquez, 79, is famous in Mexico for his annual fortune-telling on subjects ranging from politics to celebrities and sports. But his track record is spotty. In 2016 he predicted Trump would lose the Republican primary election. And last year he predicted Mexico’s presidential election would be won by ruling-party candidate Jose Antonio Meade — who ended up finishing a distant third. However, Vazquez did correctly predict Mexico’s shock upset of defending champions Germany at last year’s World Cup. In other forecasts for 2019, Vazquez said accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman would be sentenced to life in prison at his ongoing trial in New York, and foretold health troubles for Mexico’s new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

mexico
donald trump
antonio vazquez
congress
immigration
supernatural


Dancing video of star Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lights up Twitter — as troll bid falls flat

Abstract: WASHINGTON - An attempt to discredit new U.S. congresswoman and leftist poster child Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a video of her dancing as a student backfired spectacularly on Friday, triggering eye rolls and a barrage of whimsical memes. The 30-second clip of a younger Ocasio-Cortez, now 29, strutting her stuff on the roof of a building quickly went viral on social media — but the troll attempt fell flat, with users rushing to praise rather than shame her. “Well, @AOC is officially done. She’ll never recover from the world seeing her… (watches video) …dancing adorably and having fun with her friends in high school?” tweeted the comedian Patton Oswalt, tongue-in-cheek. The edited clip that began circulating widely Thursday shows an upbeat Ocasio-Cortez twirling and hamming it up for the camera. “Here is America’s favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is,” read the original tweet from @AnonymousQ1776, who described it as a video from her high school days. The Twitterverse later unearthed the full video posted on YouTube eight years ago, when viral dance crazes began taking the internet by storm. The short was filmed at Boston University, and sees Ocasio-Cortez — who graduated from there in 2011 — join peers to pay wholesome homage to an iconic dance scene from the 1980s film “The Breakfast Club,” set to the French indie pop band Phoenix’s “Lisztomania.” The trolling intended as a “gotcha” moment for the New York politician — who was sworn in to Congress on Thursday, becoming the legislative body’s youngest woman ever — instead saw social media turn the video into a comical meme. “Cannot wait for my enemies to post a video of me spinning around looking super hot with the shiny hair of youth and act like they just caught me breaking into the Watergate Hotel,” tweeted writer Nicole Cliffe of the flubbed smear attempt. A Twitter account @aoc_dances unleashed a steady stream of posts setting the clip to dozens of popular tunes as well as classics like the National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China. The meme mashing up David Bowie’s hit “Rebel, Rebel” with the footage was particularly apt, playing the lyrics: “We like dancing and we look divine.” Ocasio-Cortez is a favorite among American progressives, having burst into the public consciousness after beating a Democratic Party stalwart in her first political race, New York’s June primary. An ally of longtime progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, she has built her platform on championing her working-class roots and Puerto Rican heritage. In response to the dancing video, Ocasio-Cortez on Friday posted a fresh clip of herself shimmying into her office on Capitol Hill, as the counterculture classic hit “War” plays. I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous. Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too! 💃🏽 Have a great weekend everyone :) pic.twitter.com/9y6ALOw4F6 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 4, 2019 “I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous,” she wrote. “Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too!”

alexandria ocasio-cortez
twitter
congress
social media
internet
elections


Pelosi doesn't want to talk impeachment, but some Dems do

Abstract: WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had only been in office for a few hours when a handful of Democrats defied her persistent calls not to begin the new Congress by talking about impeachment. Just after Pelosi was sworn in on Thursday, longtime Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Al Green of Texas introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. That evening, newly elected Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan riled up a supportive crowd by calling the president a profanity and predicting that he will be removed from office. Tension over impeachment is likely to be a persistent thorn for Pelosi, who will have to balance between a small, vocal group of the most liberal members of her caucus, who want to see Trump removed immediately, and the majority of her members who want to wait for special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation to finish. Pelosi purposely avoided — and encouraged most fellow Democrats to avoid — any talk of impeachment during the election, believing there could be backlash from voters. While many Democrats might favor impeachment, those calling for it now are largely outliers. Most Democratic lawmakers listened to Pelosi and campaigned on kitchen table issues such as health care and jobs and prefer to keep them at the forefront of the party’s focus. Still, it will be hard for Pelosi to quiet some on her left flank who see their new majority as a direct challenge to Trump. “Impeachment is on the table,” Sherman said. “You can’t take it off the table.” The division delights Republicans, who have used impeachment calls to fire up their base of voters. Trump was eager to immediately seize on the topic, asking in a tweet Friday, “How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong.” Speaking later Friday to reporters in the Rose Garden, Trump said he thought Tlaib’s comments were “disgraceful” and she “dishonored herself.” Tlaib, who represents liberal Detroit, exclaimed at an event late Thursday that Democrats were going to “impeach the mother———.” She didn’t back down Friday, tweeting that “I will always speak truth to power.” She added the hashtag, “#unapologeticallyMe.” Her spokesman, Denzel McCampbell, said in a statement that Tlaib, one of only two Muslim women in Congress, “was elected to shake up Washington” and will not stay silent. “The congresswoman absolutely believes he needs to be impeached. She ran and won by making this very clear to the voters in her district,” McCampbell said. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the new head of the Republican conference, denounced the comments. It’s “a level of vitriol that’s not good for this country,” Cheney said. Pelosi said Friday at an MSNBC town hall that the House shouldn’t move to impeach Trump without more facts. She said, as she has many times before, that impeachment is “divisive” and she wants the new Democratic majority to be unified. On Tlaib’s language, Pelosi said she doesn’t like it and wouldn’t use it. But she also said that it’s no worse than things Trump has said, adding that she wouldn’t censor her colleagues. Top Democrats have supported Pelosi’s approach to impeachment, with House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler also saying that it is a divisive, even traumatic, process that should only be done with Republican support. Both Nadler and Pelosi were in Congress when the Republican-led House impeached President Bill Clinton in 1998. Sherman and Green forced votes to impeach Trump in 2017 and 2018, but the Republican House blocked those resolutions twice, with the help of many Democrats who said the effort was premature. Even if the House should approve articles of impeachment — very unlikely at present — a two-thirds majority vote to convict Trump in the Republican-led Senate and remove him from office would seem out of the question, barring new revelations or a dramatic decline in the president’s political support. Many Democrats on Friday distanced themselves from Tlaib’s words. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he doesn’t think “comments like these particularly help.” House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said the comments were “inappropriate” and go against efforts to reclaim civility. Other Democrats were more forgiving, even if they disagreed. “I think some of our new members probably don’t realize that you are always on, that when you are a member of Congress, there’s always someone listening,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly said the comments were just “red meat” for Tlaib’s supporters. “I think it’s a forgivable sin, an outburst of exuberance with her and her supporters, and I think we all need to move on,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect the caucus, and I’m sure upon reflection, she might choose other words to describe her feelings.” Sherman dismissed suggestions that the impeachment talk distracts from the fight over the partial government shutdown, where Democrats are clashing with Trump over funding for a southern border wall. “Does it compete for attention? Yes. So do the Lakers’ games.”

impeachment
nancy pelosi
congress
donald trump


As U.S. shutdown talks falter, Trump threatens emergency powers to build wall

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump and senior Democrats failed to strike a deal in talks on Friday to end a partial shutdown of the U.S. government as they again fought over Trump’s request for over $5 billion to fund his signature wall on the Mexican border. After Democratic congressional leaders turned Trump down at a meeting in the White House Situation Room, the Republican president threatened to take the controversial step of using emergency powers to build the wall without approval from Congress. Trump is withholding his support for a bill that would fully fund the government until he secures the money for the wall. As a result around 800,000 public workers have been unpaid, with about a quarter of the federal government closed for two weeks. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats had told Trump during the meeting to end the shutdown. “He resisted,” Schumer said. “In fact, he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.” Trump confirmed that comment but painted a more positive picture of the meeting, the first since a new era of divided government began when Democrats took control of the House of Representatives on Thursday. “We had a very, very productive meeting, and we’ve come a long way,” Trump said. According to a source familiar with the White House discussion, Trump opened the meeting with a speech that lasted at least 15 minutes in which he insisted on the need for $5.6 billion for a border wall. The source also said Trump brought up recent impeachment threats during those remarks, arguing that he had notched a strong performance as president and should not be a target for impeachment. Raising the stakes in his tussle with the newly emboldened Democrats, Trump threatened extraordinary measures to build the wall, which he says is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. Asked by a reporter whether he had considered declaring a national emergency to build the wall, Trump said: “Yes, I have . . . I may do it . . . we can call a national emergency and build it very quickly.” He said he could declare a national emergency “because of the security of our country, absolutely.” Senator Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the comments, saying in a statement, “Declaring a trumped up national emergency in order to skirt congressional approval is wrong.” The Constitution assigns Congress the power over funding the federal government so Trump likely would face legal challenges if he tried to bypass Congress on financing the wall. Building a wall — and having Mexico pay for it — was one of Trump’s main promises when he ran for president in 2016. Trump’s wall project is estimated to cost about $23 billion. Democrats have called the wall immoral, ineffective and medieval. Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Democratic speaker of the House, said Friday’s meeting with Trump was “sometimes contentious” but that they agreed to continue talking. “But we recognize on the Democratic side that we really cannot resolve this until we open up government and we made that very clear to the president,” she said. Credit rating agency Moody’s says the shutdown will cause minimal U.S. economic and credit market disruption but there could be a more severe impact on financial markets and the broad economy if the closure is protracted. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll last week showed that 50 percent of the public blame Trump for the shutdown and 7 percent blame Republican lawmakers, while 32 percent blame Democrats. In a Dec. 11 meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, Trump said he would be “proud” to shut the government over the security issue and would not blame Democrats. He has since said they are responsible. White House officials and congressional staffers will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday to try to end the impasse, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters that Trump had named Vice President Mike Pence, senior aide Jared Kushner and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to work over the weekend. The partial shutdown is straining the country’s immigration system, worsening backlogs in courts and complicating hiring for employers. Federal agencies such as the Justice Department, Commerce Department and departments of Agriculture, Labor, Interior and Treasury have been hit by the shutdown. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat, asked the Internal Revenue Service in a letter on Friday to explain the possible effects of the shutdown on the upcoming tax filing season for millions of Americans.