Amazon's mom-and-pop merchants feel the pain of U.S. trade war with China

Abstract: HONG, KONG/SEATTLE - Over the past several years, Shanghai entrepreneur Yung Lin has built a decent business selling wrenches, screwdrivers and other tools on Amazon.com. Then U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on thousands of goods made in China, and Lin faced a difficult choice: eat the additional cost or try and pass it onto his mostly American customers. He chose to raise prices and watched sales of some products dive by as much as one-third in just two weeks. Amazon.com Inc. merchants around the world are scrambling to navigate an unpredictable trade war that’s upending their proven business model of buying inexpensive goods in China and selling them at a markup in the U.S. The problem is particularly acute now as Trump weighs another $300 billion worth of tariffs, many on consumer goods. Mom and pop sellers won’t be able to wait for Trump’s decision: They have to place factory orders now and figure out pricing if they want to get their goods made in time for the lucrative Christmas shopping season, when they make as much as half their annual revenue. The most obvious solutions — raising prices, shifting production to other countries, stockpiling inventory — all have costs and complications of their own. These businesses — many of them one-person shops — are especially vulnerable because they lack big companies’ wherewithal to ride out the uncertainty as well as the negotiating power to shift tariff costs onto their suppliers. “The smaller companies have a significant problem,” says Joel Sutherland, managing director of U.C. San Diego’s Supply Chain Management Institute. “We have an administration that says one thing today and does something else tomorrow, which poses tremendous risks.” Amazon is more insulated than the merchants in the near term but it too could take a hit if sales slow and cut into the commissions and fees the company charges merchants to use its online store. Much depends on whether the U.S. and China can come to terms. Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Group of 20 summit in Osaka this week, and both sides have agreed to resume trade talks after a weekslong stalemate. But even if they hammer out an agreement, the trading relationship between the world’s two largest economies probably will never be the same. “We’re going to assume the tariffs are here to stay,” says Chuck Gregorich, who sells China-made hammocks, patio furniture and 2,000 other products on Amazon. “We can’t have this happen in a year or two and get caught with our pants down again.” Like many other importers, Gregorich tried to move up orders early last year to beat a Jan. 1 tariff hike on Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent. He wound up spending an extra $400,000 on shipping only to see the tariff hike delayed. Burned once by the guessing game, Gregorich is looking to shift about 30 percent of his production to factories in Vietnam and elsewhere. He’s not alone. Many other Amazon merchants are considering having their goods made in India, Southeast Asia and Central America. Michael Michelini relocated to China from New York in 2007 to make Italian coffee presses and upscale bar supplies for U.S. shoppers. Eight months ago he decided to move with his wife and children to Thailand, where he’s working with a new factory to develop a line of high-end kitchenware. “Now when I think of China, I think of risk,” he says. Moving isn’t easy, however. Merchants say finding the right factory, securing raw materials and conducting product quality testing can easily eat up a year. Jerry Kavesh sells cowboys boots and hats on Amazon and recently spent months locating a factory in India that could make his products. But Kavesh discovered he would still have to import raw materials from China, negating any advantage. So as a last resort, he’s cutting his holiday inventory by about 15 percent and raising prices by about 12 percent, which he figures will spook enough customers to hurt sales. “When I hear the (U.S.) administration say just move, that’s just not realistic,” says Kavesh, the chief executive officer of 3P Marketplace Solutions. “You can’t just suddenly turn all of your production over to someone new.” Even as U.S. sellers try to diversify their manufacturing base, their Chinese counterparts are looking for new customers in Europe, Japan and Australia to offset the potential hit to their U.S. business. “If you are a Chinese seller, money is money,” says Eddie Deng, a former Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. strategist who now runs an online clothing brand called Urbanic that sells Chinese-made, Western-style clothing in India. “It doesn’t matter if it’s from the U.S., India or the Middle East.” Amazon has said little publicly about the trade war. It wasn’t among 600 businesses including Walmart and Target that wrote to the Trump administration earlier this month seeking an end to the trade war because it’s bad for U.S. shoppers. Amazon is a member of the Internet Association trade group, which signed the letter. Behind the scenes, Amazon has agreed to pay some vendors up to 10% more for products affected by tariffs, according to two people familiar with the matter. “Companies of all sizes throughout the supply chain are adjusting to increased costs resulting from new tariffs,” Amazon said in an emailed statement. “We’re working closely with vendors to make this adjustment as smooth as possible.” But that help will apply only to products Amazon buys wholesale and resells itself. The mom and pops that sell directly to consumers on Amazon’s marketplace are on their own. The hardest part is the uncertainty — the temptation to parse Trump tweets in a mostly vain effort to divine the future. “This could all be a head fake,” says Steve Simonson, who sells Chinese-made home goods and electronics and has been scouting factories in India, Vietnam and Central America. “In two months, this could all go away and all of this time and work will be wasted.”

amazon
trade war
donald trump
u.s.-china trade war


Red state Nebraska slowly rolls out voter-approved Medicaid expansion

Abstract: LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - Marti Poll knows she should see a doctor. Sometimes she has a severe tightness in her chest. She also has chronic sinus and ear infections. But she can’t afford the medical bills, so she simply waits and hopes the pain will subside. She thought her wait might end soon after voters approved a Medicaid expansion that would allow people like her who earn too much money to qualify for the health care program but who can’t afford to buy insurance on their own. But more than seven months later, Poll and some 90,000 other Nebraska residents who could qualify are still waiting — and will be for 15 more months as Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration says it’s working to ensure the smooth implementation of an expansion that voters passed despite his objections. “I think this would help a lot of people,” said Poll, 55, who lives outside Lincoln and works as an office assistant and janitor. “Are they just looking to do it right, or are they obfuscating? That’s the question I have.” Some of the skepticism stems from Republicans’ long objections to expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law championed by Democratic former President Barack Obama. Medicaid, which provides health coverage for lower-income and disabled Americans, is funded jointly by states and the federal government. The 2010 Affordable Care Act encouraged states to expand Medicaid by promising that the federal government would cover most of the cost. Nebraska was among several conservative states that declined to expand Medicaid, as first Gov. Dave Heineman and then Ricketts argued it would cost too much and overwhelm the health care system. It was one of three states with Republican-controlled legislatures where voters last year approved an expansion. In Utah, lawmakers cut nearly in half the number of people who would be covered and added spending caps and work requirements, angering advocates. Idaho lawmakers also imposed work requirements and other restrictions. In Nebraska, Ricketts has promised to abide by voters’ wishes, and the legislature did not pass any changes to the voter-approved measure. But Ricketts’ administration decided unilaterally to implement a two-tiered program: a “basic” plan available to all newly qualified recipients, and a “premium” plan available to people who are working, in school, volunteering or caring for a relative. State Sen. John McCollister said the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services created a needlessly complex system that he believes runs contrary to the will of voters. McCollister said a straightforward expansion likely would have been easier and allowed people to get coverage sooner. “They’re grudgingly implementing the policy — and I think ‘grudgingly’ is the operative word,” said McCollister, a moderate Republican from Omaha. Advocates have noted that similar expansions took less than six months in Louisiana and Virginia and less than two months in Alaska. Expansion took longer in Maine, primarily because of opposition from elected officials. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services officials have defended the October 2020 launch date and their two-tiered approach, calling the expansion plan a massive undertaking that shouldn’t be rushed. They note some changes still need federal approval. Other challenges include that the state needs to upgrade its computer system for processing applicants; hire more workers; and negotiate new contracts with the private, managed-care companies that will serve Medicaid recipients, officials say. They also say the state needs more doctors who accept Medicaid patients. “We completely understand and are very sympathetic to the situation,” said Nate Watson, a deputy director for Nebraska’s Medicaid and Long-Term Care Division. “We get it. What we’re worried about is what other states have experienced. We could expand quickly and people would get a shiny new card in the mail, but if there aren’t doctors in their area or the types of doctors that they need, what good does that do anybody?” Coverage would be available to adults ages 19 to 64 who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $16,753 per year. The federal government must pay 90 percent of the program’s cost in 2020 and subsequent years. The Nebraska Hospital Association, which supported the ballot measure, has accepted the state’s time-line. “I don’t know if they can go any faster, given what they’re trying to do,” said Andy Hale, a lobbyist for the group. “They’re trying to do what they think is best.” However, Jordan Rasmussen, policy manager for the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs, noted that the state is losing out on millions in federal funding while setting up the program. “The delay is hurting Nebraska,” she said. “We’re missing out and our people aren’t getting the care they need.”

nebraska
medicaid
health care
republicans
pete ricketts
barack obama
affordable care act
u.s .


Dollar slightly eases to around ¥107.40 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar lost modest ground to around ¥107.40 in Tokyo trading Monday amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥107.40-41, down from ¥107.44-45 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1376, up from $1.1311, and at ¥122.19, up from ¥121.54. The dollar temporarily fell below ¥107.30 in the morning after a moderate earthquake rocked Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo. But it soon bounced back above the level, supported by buying by Japanese importers, traders said The greenback moved in a tight range around ¥107.40 in the afternoon. “The dollar’s topside proved heavy,” said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm. Meanwhile, a currency broker pointed out that the U.S. currency was “underpinned by position-squaring purchases.” “Players would find it difficult to tilt their positions either way” prior to a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to be held on the sidelines of the two-day Group of 20 summit in Osaka from Friday, a major bank official said.


Nikkei climbs slightly in thin trading as players take to G20 sidelines

Abstract: Stocks turned modestly higher Monday as investors held active trading in check due to a dearth of major incentives. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 27.35 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 21,285.99 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On Friday, the key market gauge fell 204.22 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 1.84 points, or 0.12 percent, at 1,547.74, after losing 14.00 points the previous trading day. The market got off to a weak start following a downturn in U.S. equities Friday caused by the Commerce Department’s ban on transactions with a Chinese supercomputer maker and related firms. Both indexes remained in negative territory for most of the morning session, although they showed some resilience thanks to buying induced by Shanghai stocks’ strength and higher U.S. index futures in off-hours trading, brokers said. In the afternoon, the market turned buoyant, albeit modestly, amid renewed expectations for progress in the U.S.-China trade negotiations after a media report cited Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen as saying talks were ongoing and both Washington and Beijing should compromise. Wang’s comment preceded a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, expected on the sidelines of the two-day Group of 20 summit in Osaka from Friday. “Investors took a wait-and-see stance” ahead of the Trump-Xi talks as well as the G-20 summit, said Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc. Given the yen’s sustained strength against the dollar, players were reluctant to actively buy stocks, Fujii added. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,066 to 966 in the TSE’s first section, while 113 issues were unchanged. Volume plunged to 830 million shares from Friday’s 1.536 billion shares. Textile makers were higher, with Toray up 2.41 percent, Teijin up 1.92 percent and Toyobo up 1.78 percent. Kyocera extended its winning streak to a fifth session, thanks to a media report on the electronics maker’s plans to develop a next-generation battery. Other winners included job information firm Recruit Holdings and technology giant Sony. On the other hand, real estate companies met with selling. Among them, Tokyu Land fell by 2.25 percent and Sumitomo Realty by 1.58 percent. Also on the negative side were chip-making-gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron and mobile phone carrier KDDI. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key September contract on the Nikkei average rose 40 points to end at 21,230.

nikkei
stocks
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Ghosn lawyer asks why charges were dropped against Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa

Abstract: Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s defense team on Monday urged prosecutors to explain in detail why they decided not to charge the automaker’s CEO for his involvement in their client’s alleged financial misconduct, according to people close to the matter. The request was made during a pretrial proceeding held to discuss the former auto tycoon’s alleged crimes. The procedure was the first in relation to the charge of underreporting remuneration in Nissan securities reports leveled at the 65-year-old Ghosn. During the proceeding — held to narrow down points of dispute ahead of a trial and attended by a judge, prosecutors and lawyers — Ghosn’s defense requested an explanation over the April 26 decision not to indict Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa for his part in approving securities reports cited in Ghosn’s indictment, the sources said. Ghosn, wearing a dark, striped suit with a tie, was also joined at the Tokyo District Court by former close aide Greg Kelly, who is accused of conspiring to underreport his former boss’ remuneration. A complaint has been filed alleging Saikawa violated the financial instruments law by being aware that Ghosn’s remuneration was underreported when he was Nissan chief. Saikawa, who succeeded Ghosn as president and chief executive officer in April 2017, told investigators that he signed a company document regarding the post-retirement payment to Ghosn “without thinking deeply” because he considered the matter already agreed between Ghosn and Kelly, according to different sources familiar with the matter. During Monday’s process, Ghosn’s lawyer also requested prosecutors promptly present evidence. As for the other charge leveled against Ghosn over aggravated breach of trust involving the transfer of private investment losses to the automaker, a pretrial procedure was already conducted on May 23. The procedure for that charge was also discussed during Monday’s process. The next round of discussions will be held July 23, the sources said. Since his initial arrest last November, Ghosn was indicted over a violation of the financial instruments law for allegedly underreporting his remuneration in the eight years through March 2018 as around ¥7.8 billion ($72 million) when his pay actually totaled around ¥17 billion. He is also accused of having a Nissan subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates pay $10 million to a distributor in Oman between July 2017 and last July, and having $5 million of that money transferred to a savings account at a Lebanese investment firm that Ghosn effectively owns. Ghosn, credited with saving Nissan when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, has been stripped of his chairmanship posts at Nissan and its alliance partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. He has denied all allegations, saying in a video message recorded prior to his fourth arrest in April that he is the victim of a “conspiracy” by Nissan executives who felt that a possible convergence or merger with Renault would threaten Nissan’s autonomy. Ghosn has been free on bail since April 26 following his fourth indictment in April 22.

nissan
hiroto saikawa
carlos ghosn
financial misconduct
courts
greg kelly
corruption
scandals
carmakers


Japan Post admits insurance and banking units engaged in improper sales to elderly people

Abstract: Japan Post Holdings Co. said Monday its insurance and banking units repeatedly sold unsuitable insurance and investment trusts to elderly customers, prompting the financial watchdog to launch an investigation. Japan Post President Masatsugu Nagato said around 40 percent of the total products sold to customers age 70 or above were unsuitable. “I deeply regret (the wrongdoing). We will build a sales system that is centered on customers,” Nagato told a news conference. Employees of Japan Post Insurance Co. recommended that clients terminate their insurance policies for fresh contracts even though they could be negatively impacted. At Japan Post Bank Co., employees sold investment trusts to elderly people without checking the state of their health or their understanding of the products. As part of corrective measures, Nagato said Japan Post will consider abolishing its current practice of setting sales targets for employees. A senior official of the Financial Services Agency said a salesperson “must not hurt the interest of a client.” The misconduct came to light as the profitability of the two units of the Japan Post group continues to be squeezed by the Bank of Japan’s negative interest rates policy.

japan post
insurance
investment trust
financial products


Seven-Eleven Japan to wrap its billions of rice balls in bioplastic

Abstract: Convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said Monday it will start selling all of its rice balls in wraps made of biomass plastics, possibly from July, as it aims to reduce the use of fossil-fuel-derived materials. The company’s move, affecting the some of 2.2 billion onigiri rice balls it sells annually, comes as more firms adopt plant-derived plastics amid the government’s calls for reducing plastic waste to prevent marine pollution. By replacing part of the wrapping with a sugar cane-derived material, Seven-Eleven estimates it can reduce the use of plastic by 260 tons and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 403 tons a year. In a similar move, convenience store chain operator FamilyMart Co. has replaced its containers for cold noodles with those made from recycled plastic. Ohsho Food Service Corp. also announced last week it will replace its plastic straws with biodegradable ones and plastic spoons with biomass plastic ones at its 729 restaurants nationwide from next month.

seven-eleven
rice balls
convenience stores
plastic
waste
environment
7-eleven


House-flipper takes advantage of Japan's 8 million-plus empty homes

Abstract: More than 8 million homes lie abandoned across Japan, a symptom of the declining population and people’s migration to major cities. For one company, this isn’t just an ominous demographic signal, it is also a business opportunity. Katitas Co. is a house-flipper, deploying a business model that would be humdrum in other countries but in Japan is considered innovative. That is because people in the country have a deep-seated aversion to second-hand homes. Katitas buys old properties where the buildings are often considered worthless, renovates them on the cheap, and sells them to people in rural areas who don’t have the means to buy new homes. Its shares have risen more than 60 percent this year as investors bet the model will yield steadily higher profits. “There’s big potential in this business,” Katsutoshi Arai, Katitas’ president and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “People who live in rural areas but can’t afford new houses have no choice of quality, affordable housing.” A record 8.46 million homes were unoccupied in 2018, according to a government report in April. The number, which represents 14 percent of total residences, is only set to rise, according to Katitas. “It’s clear that the number of vacant houses will surge,” Arai said. “There’s a big pool of properties that we can buy.” Houses in Japan traditionally haven’t been built to last like those in the U.S. or Europe. The country’s wooden homes have typically been depreciated to zero over about 20 years and often knocked down and rebuilt. Sales of pre-owned houses make up just 15 percent of the market, compared with about 83 percent in the U.S. and about 88 percent in the U.K., according to a land ministry report. Katitas mainly buys single-family houses that are on average 30 years old in regional towns. It uses a standard renovation toolkit — such as putting in new floors, kitchens and toilets — and sells them for about half the price of a comparable new home, according to the company. Buyers are usually people in their 30s to 50s with annual incomes of ¥2 million to ¥5 million. “The company’s business model is really good,” said Shota Watanabe, a fund manager at stock picker Rheos Capital Works Inc. in Tokyo, which holds Katitas shares. It is likely to have “stable and steady growth.” Katitas, which is based in Gunma Prefecture, posted operating profit of ¥9.1 billion for the fiscal year ended March, more than double the level three years earlier. Analysts expect that to increase to ¥12.4 billion by the year ending March 2021, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Of 10 analysts covering the stock, nine rate it a buy while one says hold. On average, they expect shares to rise a further 14 percent over the next 12 months. The company, which has a market value of about ¥161 billion, counts Baillie Gifford & Co. and Matthews International Capital Management among its biggest shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Home-furnishing retailer Nitori Holdings Co. owns about 34 percent of Katitas after acquiring the stake from Advantage Partners Inc. several months before the private equity firm offloaded the rest of the company’s shares through Katitas’ December 2017 listing. Katitas has started selling second-hand houses furnished with Nitori’s sofas, tables and other items. Nitori said the company chose Katitas as a partner because the firms have similar management philosophies. Arai joined Katitas in 2012 when it was still owned by Advantage Partners. His mission was to engineer a turnaround at the firm, which was struggling at the time. He instituted the model of buying empty homes directly from owners, rather than the previous method of purchasing houses in court auctions. The supply of housing in auctions had been drying up and becoming more expensive. “Katitas’ strength is its ability to assess properties and the risks associated with buying them, as well as its renovation expertise,” said Shinichiro Kita, a senior partner at Advantage Partners who brought Arai to Katitas. “There are thousands of potential homebuyers.” One analyst has turned more cautious on the stock. SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. senior analyst Junichi Tazawa lowered his rating to neutral from outperform in May, saying Katitas is looking less cheap within its sector after the rally this year. Katitas has risen 61 percent in 2019 and trades at 22 times estimated earnings, versus 14 times for the Topix Real Estate Index. Arai has an unconventional background for a CEO. At the age of 28, he ran for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, losing by a small margin. He then worked as a secretary for a member of the Diet before moving on to roles at management consultancy Bain & Co. and Recruit Holdings Co. Arai says Katitas is targeting selling 10,000 houses per year sometime in the next 10 years, up from 5,352 homes last fiscal year. In the long run, he’s seeking to increase that to 50,000 homes. “We aren’t just a company that buys, remodels and resells second-hand houses,” he said. “We want to provide people with a better life.”

housing
katitas
buildings
katsutoshi arai
entrepreneurs
rural life
akiya
house-flipping


Nomura shareholders vote to re-appoint under-fire CEO Koji Nagai

Abstract: Nomura Holdings Inc.’s besieged chief executive won a shareholder vote Monday, surviving a call for his ouster from the board following an information leak. CEO Koji Nagai was re-appointed at an annual shareholder meeting alongside nine other nominees proposed by the company, Japan’s biggest brokerage said in an emailed statement. The vote was held almost a week after Nomura announced several moves to placate investors following the leak and recent losses, including governance changes and a $1.4 billion stock buyback. But those reforms — particularly tweaks to how it selects its top executives — are also likely to weaken the influence of management over who eventually succeeds Nagai, the bank’s longest-serving CEO in three decades. By stripping Chairman Nobuyuki Koga of his role as head of the key nomination committee in favor of an external director, Nomura may break from the traditional way that Japanese financial firms choose their leaders when the time comes for Nagai to step down. That could be just what the loss-making brokerage needs to meet its long-term challenges, according to Morningstar Inc. analyst Michael Makdad. “Rather than Nagai or Koga having a large say in who will be the next CEO, Nomura will try to have a selection process that is as independent as possible,” Makdad said. “It is possible the company would choose a candidate open to a broader range of strategic moves than if it chose a protege of Nagai who might defer to some degree to the opinions of former CEOs.” Like most of its Japanese peers, Nomura has tended to choose its CEO from a close circle of senior executives who are groomed by management after rising through the ranks. Now more of that responsibility will fall to outside director Hiroshi Kimura, a former Japan Tobacco Inc. chief. Revelations last month that employees leaked market-sensitive information led to regulatory penalties and prompted proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services to recommend voting against Nagai’s re-appointment. Nomura is not the only Japanese company facing difficult shareholder meetings this season as the government’s corporate governance reforms give investors a bigger voice. Nissan Motor Co. faces opposition to its CEO’s re-appointment after the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, while activist shareholders are pressing for change at housing materials maker Lixil Group Corp. and rail operator Kyushu Railway Co. Now that Nagai has been re-appointed, his immediate priority will be to implement his plans to cut costs at its struggling global wholesale operation and shut retail branches at home following the company’s first fiscal-year loss in a decade. In an April interview, he signaled that he may step down before the completion of the three-year overhaul as long as it goes smoothly. The jury is still out on whether his eventual successor can address Nomura’s difficulties in an industry that is grappling with big changes, said Travis Lundy, a special situations analyst who publishes on Smartkarma. “It could be good for Nomura to be influenced by an outsider,” Lundy said. “The question would really be whether an outsider could do it better. It is a tough business.”

shareholders
koji nagai
nomura holdings
nobuyuki koga


Japan to start testing unmanned vehicles on public roads

Abstract: The economy ministry plans to start testing unmanned ground vehicles on public roads by the end of March next year through cooperation with private-sector companies, hoping to put them into practical use soon. The ministry agreed Monday to establish a public-private council on UGVs. Members include e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc., Yamato Transport Co., Japan Post Co. and transport company Seino Holdings Co., as well as the National Police Agency, the transport ministry and local governments. The council is to identify challenges, including ways to secure the safety of UGVs on public roads and who would bear responsibility for accidents, officials said. The ministry is considering possible revisions to the Road Traffic Law in fiscal 2020, which starts in April next year. Utilizing GPS and cameras, UGVs would be used to deliver parcels and other items. They are expected to be utilized by logistics companies that face severe labor shortages, industry sources said. On Monday, five UGVs developed in Japan and overseas gave a demonstration at the economy ministry in Tokyo. A UGV developed by U.S. robotics company Marble, which has a tie-up with major real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate Co., automatically determines its route and travels to its destination using four cameras and sensors. Recipients receive their deliveries by inputting passwords. In the United States, tests have already started for pizza delivery services. A UGV developed by Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc., a partner of Rakuten, is already delivering goods purchased online in some areas of China. Shipping companies require a large number of staff to deliver parcels the last few kilometers between local depots and their final destination. UGVs would reduce the need for such companies to have so many employees.

unmanned ground vehicles
rakuten
yamato transport
transportation
japan post
seino holdings
national police agency


Toyota brings forward revamp of its dealership strategy in Japan

Abstract: NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will reform its dealership strategy and start selling the full range of its models at all of its outlets across Japan from next May, moving up the schedule from the initially set period of sometime between 2022 and 2025. The move comes as part of Toyota’s efforts to win customers despite the shrinking domestic market, which has been affected by the growth in car-sharing and Japan’s aging and declining population. Toyota has maintained four dealership chains among about 6,000 dealers across the country — Toyota for pricey vehicles, Corolla for mass-market models, and Netz and Toyopet for young drivers. Aiming to maximize its profitability by revamping the role of its dealers, Toyota has launched a car subscription program called Kinto while also planning to fully enter the car-sharing business using test-drive cars at its dealership chains and 1,200 outlets of its rent-a-car service affiliate Toyota Rent-a-Lease. “By making vehicles and all possible services related to mobility available to customers through any outlet, Toyota aims to be able to provide at an early stage services that better approach the needs of its customers,” the company said in a statement. In Tokyo, Toyota began a trial in April of having its dealerships sell all models together. Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. have both already unified their dealership chains.


U.K. offshore wind to get $127 million fund to boost growth

Abstract: LONDON - The U.K. offshore wind industry is to get a £100 million ($127 million) fund to spur growth in the next decade. The Offshore Wind Industry Council, run by government and industry, will invest in companies along the whole supply chain and support companies wanting to export their services. The move is part of the U.K. government-backed sector deal that aims to encourage at least 30 gigawatts of offshore wind farms installed by 2050. “The offshore wind industry is offering multimillion pound opportunities to hundreds of innovative companies throughout the U.K. in the years ahead,’ said Benj Sykes, industry chair at OWIC and country manager for Orsted A/S in the U.K. The first project will focus on the offshore wind foundations company, OWIC said. Union bosses say that the U.K. government hasn’t done enough to capitalize on the offshore wind boom in the country. ‘To date the majority of the potential benefits from the boom in offshore wind, and renewables in general, have passed the U.K. workforce and economy by,’ said Justin Bowden, the GMB national secretary. The U.K. deal announced in March calls on the industry to invest £250 million in improving supply chains and manufacturing. “Securing decent jobs in the renewables industry and its supply chain, and fairness in how de-carbonization costs are met, is now paramount,’ Bowden said.


Nazi-branded gay prisoners remembered at Buchenwald camp site

Abstract: BERLIN - A ceremony has been held at the former site of Germany’s Buchenwald concentration camp to remember people imprisoned there because they were thought to be gay. The commemoration on Sunday was part of events in the nearby town of Weimar for Christopher Street Day, Germany’s LGBT pride observance. About 50 people marched through the grounds of the Buchenwald Memorial holding a rainbow flag and placed flowers at a marker for 650 camp prisoners who were assigned uniforms with pink triangles between 1937 and 1945. Nazi Germany forced people to wear pink triangles to identify them as gay. Many of the prisoners lost their lives at Buchenwald, but how many is unknown. Weimar’s Christopher Street Day group said it wanted to “commemorate the prisoners who had to suffer because as men they loved men.”

nazis germany weimar lgbt wwii history sexuality holocaust


War veterans join biggest gay pride march in Ukraine

Abstract: KIEV - War veterans in fatigues joined more than 8,000 people marching in Kiev’s Gay Pride parade amid tight security on Sunday, the biggest-ever annual celebration of diversity in ex-Soviet Ukraine. The participants, waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags and sporting colorful costumes, marched through the center of the capital as far-right and Orthodox activists sought to disrupt the event. The marchers were joined by foreign ambassadors and politicians as thousands of police and National Guard troops stood by to ensure order. For the first time, several dozen Ukrainian veterans of war with Russia-backed separatists in the east walked in a separate column — some in fatigues. “Freedom is our religion” and “We all look the same from space,” read some of the banners held up by the march participants. Some 1,000 far-right and Orthodox activists, who were kept away from the marchers, held up anti-gay banners and shouted “Shame!” as the procession began. The event was the first “March of Equality” to take place since Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian without previous political experience, took over as president in May. Turnout was higher than last year, when around 5,000 people took part. Zelensky’s office urged law enforcement agencies to ensure order. “Every citizen should feel safe and should not be subjected to violence,” it said in a post on Facebook early Sunday. Activists at the parade said that things have been gradually improving for gay people in Ukraine. But homophobia is still commonplace, even though Kiev authorities have allowed gay pride marches to be held, unlike in neighboring Russia. Viktor Pylypenko, who led the column of veterans, said: “There are more than 30 of us here.” He said more gay soldiers wanted to join the event but could not leave the front line in eastern Ukraine, adding that life for gay servicemen was tough. “There are lots of homophobes and because of these homophobes and their homophobic commanders these people cannot come out,” he said in televised remarks. Ruslana Panukhnyk, head of KyivPride, which organizes the parade, said the marchers felt safe despite the presence of the anti-gay protesters. “We go out to show that there are a lot of us and we have a lot of support,” she told AFP. Vitaliy, who declined to give his last name, said he was attacked with glass bottles after the parade in 2015. The 27-year-old said that “it was scary” to participate in the event the next year but things have since improved. “Ukraine has made a big step forward,” he said. Police said they had detained nine activists ahead of the march on Saturday, over planned “provocations. There were no major incidents on Sunday even though some protesters scuffled with police. Some of the anti-gay protesters said a country at war should not be holding such events. “This is unacceptable during war. We have traditional society and such things demoralize the army,” said Sergiy. “Me and many of my brothers would not want our children to be gay or lesbian,” added 21-year-old Semen Sokha. Foreign diplomats and international organizations praised the event. “We are very proud of Ukraine today,” Amnesty said on Twitter. Ukraine, which ousted a Kremlin-backed regime in a pro-Western uprising in 2014, hopes to become a member of the European Union as it seeks to overcome widespread poverty and corruption. But attacks and harassment against gays and other minorities are fairly common in Ukraine and global rights groups have previously slammed “an atmosphere of total impunity” in the Western-backed nation.

veterans
ukraine
russia
volodymyr zelensky
conflict
lgbt


Italy holds Netherlands and EU 'responsible' for stranded migrant boat

Abstract: ROME - Italy’s hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he would hold the Netherlands and the European Union “responsible” for the fate of 42 migrants that Rome has blocked from disembarking at Italian ports for over a week. The Dutch-flagged rescue boat Sea-Watch 3 has been stuck in the Mediterranean since rescuing 53 migrants drifting in an inflatable raft off the coast of Libya on June 12. While 11 of those on board the Sea-Watch have been allowed to disembark — including two pregnant women — the vessel has been denied permission to dock in Italy. But the crew has refused to return those rescued back to crisis-hit Libya, arguing that Tripoli is not a safe port. Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and leads the far-right League party in the ruling coalition, has seen his popularity soar in the last year as he has taken a hard line against migrants which has included closing ports to rescue vessels. He said on Sunday that he had written to his counterpart in the Netherlands. “I am incredulous because they are not interested in a boat that is flying their flag … and has been floating in the open sea for 11 days now,” he said in a statement. “We will hold the government of the Netherlands and the European Union, distant and absent as usual, responsible for all that happens to the women and men on board the Sea-Watch,” he added. Later Salvini released a letter addressed to the Dutch authorities in which he said that Sea-Watch had asked the government there to provide a safe port where their passengers could disembark. They had received no response, said Salvini. “An intervention on your side is necessary and urgent,” to ensure that the people on board the ship could be rapidly taken in at a place that was not Italy, Salvini added. Any further deterioration of the situation on board the vessel would therefore be the responsibility of the Dutch authorities and the Sea-Watch crew, Salvini added. Ten of the Sea-Watch migrants were allowed to disembark a week ago on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which lies between the Italian mainland and the north African coast, while a sick man was also allowed to leave the boat on Saturday. But 42 people remain on board the ship, which is operated by German aid group Sea-Watch. Malta on Sunday said its navy had rescued a group of 37 migrants in difficulty in the Mediterranean. They were expected to arrive on the island during the day. While Rome and Valletta insist on a fair distribution of migrants to other EU countries, countries such as France say migrants should disembark at the closest port and then be voluntarily redistributed around Europe. More than 12,000 people have died since 2014 trying to flee Libya to Europe by what the U.N. refugee agency calls the “world’s deadliest sea crossing.”

italy
netherlands
eu
matteo salvini
libya
refugees
immigration
maritime accidents


Protesters at largest Prague rally since 1989 revolution say Czech democracy is at risk

Abstract: PRAGUE - Hundreds of thousands of people rallied Sunday in Prague to urge Prime Minister Andrej Babis to resign, assembling from across the Czech Republic for the capital’s biggest anti-government protest since the 1989 pro-democratic Velvet Revolution that brought down the communist regime. The demonstration at Letna Park, a site of massive gatherings that significantly contributed to the fall of communism in what 30 years ago was Czechoslovakia, was the largest from two months of street protests opposing Babis. The protesters of 2019 said they didn’t come to overthrow the current political system but to defend it. They consider Babis, a populist billionaire, as a threat to democracy, including the independence of the country’s legal system. “We demand the resignation of Andrej Babis,” said Mikulas Minar, a student who put his studies on hold to help lead the recent demonstrations organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy. Babis has repeatedly said he has no reason to resign. “It will likely be a long run,” another organizer, Benjamin Roll, told the crowd. “The current situation is unacceptable.” Opposition to Babis has been fueled by the appointment of a new justice minister as prosecutors are deciding whether to indict Babis over alleged fraud involving European Union funds. The protesters fear the new minister might undermine the independence of the Czech legal system, a threat that has brought the governments of Poland and Romania warnings from the European Union. Justice Minister Marie Benesova is a close ally of Babis’ and voted against a police request to strip the prime minister of parliamentary immunity to face a criminal investigation. A preliminary European Union report leaked in May concluded that Babis might have had a conflict of interest over EU subsidies involving his former business empire. Babis denied wrongdoing and accused the EU of trying to destabilize the Czech Republic. Besides demanding the prime minister and justice minister’s resignations, many of the demonstrators accused Babis and his key ally, President Milos Zeman, of undermining Czech politics and democracy overall. Babis also faces allegations he collaborated with Czechoslovakia’s secret police before 1989, as well as criticism of his government’s power-sharing deal with the Communist Party. “What is happening is more than we can tolerate,” said Dagmar Kratochvilova, a 60-year-old pottery maker who traveled across the country on a bus to reach Prague with others from the eastern city of Frydek Mistek. The peaceful crowd chanted “Resign, resign,” and “We’ve had enough” while waving Czech and also European Union flags. “No Tolerance for Lies and Fraud,” read a banner unrolled by the demonstrators. “I’m fed up with the government,” Natalie Bartkova, 18, a student from just south of Prague. “Babis seems to think that anything goes for him.” Babis’ critics cited a new source of frustration, blaming him is for contributing to the inability of European Union leaders to agree on a plan to make the bloc’s economy carbon neutral by 2050. The protesters announced another major protest at the same location for Nov.16 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

prague
andrej babis
czech republic
velvet revolution


Mexican authorities send more U.S.-bound migrants in south to detention center

Abstract: ARRIAGA, MEXICO - U.S. authorities reinforced efforts over the weekend to deter Central Americans and others from crossing Mexico to reach the United States, detaining migrants in the south and stationing National Guardsmen along the Rio Grande in the north. In Arriaga, a town in the southern state of Chiapas, The Associated Press saw about 100 migrants bused to detention Sunday, while Milenio TV reported that 146 more were pulled from a private home in the central state of Queretaro and more than 100 were taken away from a hotel in the Gulf state of Veracruz. Pressured by the U.S., Mexico’s government has deployed some 6,000 agents of the National Guard, its new militarized policing force, along its southern and northern borders this month. In Ciudad Juarez, just south of El Paso, Texas, National Guardsmen turned back migrants trying to cross the border over the weekend. The guardsmen patrolled along the Rio Grande with assault rifles. “The function of these brigades is to try to educate and inhibit people who are at risk,” said Luis Mario Dena Torres, representative of the Chihuahua state governor in Ciudad Juarez. Many of the National Guardsmen are soldiers, and police officers who now wear black armbands indicating they are part of the National Guard. Some Mexicans worry that the increased enforcement is an overreach. “The National Guard, in theory, shouldn’t be repressing those who want to cross to the United States,” said Isabel Sanchez, coordinator for a Ciudad Juarez civic group concerned with security and justice. More broadly, however, stiffer immigration enforcement has popular support in Mexico. More than half the Mexicans surveyed by the newspaper El Universal earlier in June said that authorities should not allow migrants to enter the country and that those found traveling through Mexico without visas should be deported. Residents of Arriaga expressed a mixture of concern for the migrants they have grown accustomed to hosting and relief that officials are looking to get a better handle on migrant flows. “As a resident, sometimes you have distrust because with the necessity that they have, they could try to rob or do something to you,” said Rogelio Perez, an accountant. “They’re human beings and they need help, but Mexico can barely employ Mexicans.” Migrants have long congregated in Arriaga to hop on a freight train known as “The Beast.” Migrants would pile onto train cars, sometimes being maimed or killed when they fell off. Authorities started pulling migrants off the train in mid-2014, under pressure to reduce flows to the U.S. Still, Arriaga remains a strategic point on the migrant trail. Over the weekend, there were no migrants riding atop the trains that pulled in and out of town. Since January, Mexico has detained more than 74,000 migrants and deported over 53,000, according to the latest figures available. Those numbers are expected to rise when June figures are released. Luis Arbey Perez, a civil rights advocate, corroborated that five immigration vans carried about 100 migrants from Arriaga to the southern border with Guatemala early Sunday. He worries that the National Guard deployment, together with heightened inspections of passenger vehicles, will push migrants into more dangerous modes of travel. “There is more persecution, more detentions, but the people keep coming,” he said. “What rises is the risk.” Dozens of families have been found packed tight into semi-trailers in recent weeks, while travel in secret compartments of vehicles is also common. Mexican authorities have also broken up recent caravans of more than 100 migrants traveling in packs for greater safety. Last week, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador instructed private bus companies to begin checking identifications of those buying bus tickets, in an effort to crackdown on human smuggling. Significant numbers of migrants appear to still be crossing into Mexico, but they are traveling in smaller groups and under the radar. Elias Camacho, coordinator of the 84-bed Hogar de la Misericordia migrant shelter in Arriaga, said that on average at least 15 migrants show up each day at his shelter. He said private homes in the town also take in migrants. Honduran migrant Edwin Cruz, 22, said conditions in his country will continue to propel Hondurans north. At least three people were killed in protests across Honduras last week that demanded the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez. Violence, gang threats and poverty plague the country. Cruz said he spotted at least nine checkpoints on his way north from Mexico’s border with Guatemala. To avoid detection, he crossed through mountains and swamp rather than more visible highways. He also said he traveled by taxi and train. “It has become more complicated, but the necessities of the countries are increasing as well. So we prefer to take the risk than to stay there,” said Cruz, who hoped to make it to Tennessee.

mexico
immigration
guatemala
u.s .
refugees
donald trump


Trump sets deadline for Democrats to change asylum system and vows deportation raids

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump gave Democrats two weeks to work on immigration reform and stem the flow of migrants at the southern border, but cast doubt on getting action from Congress and vowed to go ahead with a roundup of people facing deportation. “I want to give the Democrats every last chance to quickly negotiate simple changes to Asylum and Loopholes,” Trump said in a tweet on Sunday, referring to laws he’s seeking to change. “Probably won’t happen, but worth a try. Two weeks and big Deportation begins!” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke by telephone with Trump Friday night, asking him to call off the raids, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Pelosi said the delay was welcome. “Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform,” she tweeted. Officials in some cities where raids were planned protested and vowed noncooperation. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she’d ordered police to cut federal agents’ access to databases related to immigration enforcement activities. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on ABC said rounding up immigrants “stokes fear and panic” in the community. Trump began last week with a vow to begin deporting “millions” of undocumented migrants, focusing on one of his signature issues as he tries to make the case that voters should re-elect him in 2020. He’s also putting pressure on Democrats, who’ve been using a funding bill they hope will block his immigration policies. Trump faulted their plans on Sunday. “If the Democrats would change the asylum laws and the loopholes, which they refuse to do because they think it’s good politics, everything would be solved immediately,” Trump said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that was taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. “But they refuse to do it. They refuse to do it. You know what? If they change those, I say, I used to say 45 minutes. It’s 15 minutes. If they changed asylum and if they changed loopholes everything on the border would be perfect.” Trump delayed the raids, planned to start Sunday, “at the request of Democrats,” although immigration officials suggested that reports on the timing of the actions played a role. In an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Vice President Mike Pence disputed a suggestion that Trump lost the element of surprise by announcing the raids in advance, and was instead motivated more by political reasons. Pelosi, he said, has indicated she’s willing to discuss more humanitarian resources at the border. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had been poised to start attempting to round up about 2,000 people in 10 cities, including Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore, according to multiple media reports. An immigration official on Saturday suggested that reports of the timing of the actions had played a role in the postponement. “Any leak telegraphing sensitive law enforcement operations is egregious and puts our officers’ safety in danger,” ICE spokeswoman Carol Danko said in a statement. The raids are the latest effort by Trump to restrict undocumented migration — either by curbing arrivals at the border or cranking up deportation efforts. Trump has also pushed to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, which critics warn would scare off noncitizens from participating, skew the count, and weaken the political clout of immigrant communities. Mexico, facing Trump’s threat of new tariffs, agreed this month to send National Guard soldiers to its border with Guatemala in a bid to slow the flow of migrants from Central America, through Mexico, to the U.S. Trump has said that deal has prompted a “night-and-day” difference, and on Thursday thanked Mexico for its efforts, but also warned of new punitive measures if migration levels aren’t reduced. On Saturday, he said Mexico has been “really good” on the border since the deal. Pence echoed the president on Sunday. “In last 10 days, Mexico has done more to secure our southern border than Democrats in Congress have done in the last 10 years, and that has to change,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The U.S. government hasn’t released migration data for June, though numbers typically fall in the summer.

democrats
donald trump
immigration
congress
nancy pelosi
u.s .
refugees


In border camps, Syrian refugees rely on doctors in trucks and tents

Abstract: AZAZ, SYRIA - The Syrian war has inflicted all kinds of hardships on Najwa Abdelaziz but she still manages to make light of one of them. “The uprising ruined my teeth,” she jokes while getting dental care for the first time in years in the back of a truck. The 33-year-old could not find help for her toothache even after she fled Islamic State rule and took refuge in northwest Syria. But a dentist in a mobile clinic has now arrived at the Rayyan camp where she lives with her husband and four children in a tent among the trees. “We kept getting uprooted, so we were cut off from doctors,” said Abdelaziz, whose family was smuggled out of Raqqa city some three years ago. They wound up in Syria’s northwest corner, the country’s last major rebel stronghold. The camps are overflowing, the doctors are too few, and many hospitals have collapsed under government bombing. In the camps along the Turkish border, often the only health care for people like Abdelaziz comes from mobile doctors and makeshift clinics in tents. “Many just take pills and stay silent about the pain,” said Bassel Maarawi, 57, the dentist who goes around seven camps in the border strip held by Turkey-backed rebels. The dental mobile clinic stays at each camp a few months at a time, treating dozens of patients every day who cannot go into town to see a doctor. It belongs to the Independent Doctors Association, a Turkey-based Syrian group also running a free camp facility including a clinic for women, children, and internal medicine as well as a pharmacy. Maarawi himself was uprooted in late 2016 from his city of Aleppo, where the army crushed rebels with Russia and Iran’s help after a bitter siege. The children he treats now, living in the dirt and drinking filthy water, often suffer from malnutrition. “Many people were displaced recently which really affected them mentally, you can see it when they come in,” he said. A new wave of fighting has sparked yet another exodus, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing an army offensive in northwest Syria since April. At a camp for some 14,000 people in the border village of Shamarin, Ammar al-Omar runs a physiotherapy clinic inside a large tent. The staff — a medical professional and three volunteers he trained — made most of the equipment themselves and get by on just a few donations. They treat everything from back pain to battle wounds for patients including rebel fighters and paralyzed children. “There are many injuries because of the fierce bombing,” Omar said. “The patients can’t afford food let alone transportation.” Um Mhamad, 29, has carried her son from another camp nearby and walked to the tent clinic for more than two years. An injury at birth had crippled the six-year-old boy, whose family was shuttled out of Aleppo in 2016. “He used to not move at all,” she said. “Today, he can crawl and turn on both sides and stand up.”


U.S. government rejects call to disclose size of nuclear arsenal

Abstract: NAGASAKI - The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected a request from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) to disclose the number of nuclear warheads possessed by the country, according to the Washington-based think tank. The about-face in the Trump administration, which at one time did disclose information on the warheads, marks a policy shift as it emphasizes nuclear deterrence, FAS said. The previous administration, under Barack Obama, released the number of U.S. nuclear warheads in 2010 and continued to respond to the think tank’s request for disclosure every year. The move was in line with Obama’s pledge in 2009 to pursue a “world without nuclear weapons.” His administration also said it intended to urge China and other nuclear powers to release information as well and commit to reducing nuclear weapons. According to an FAS report, the organization asked the U.S. Department of Energy in October to disclose the number of the country’s nuclear warheads as well as dismantled nuclear warheads as of late September last year. In April, the department responded in a statement that, “It was determined that the requested information cannot be declassified at this time” following consideration by the U.S. Department of Defense. The statement did not cite reasons. Hans Kristensen, an FAS nuclear expert, said the Pentagon’s response might have been influenced by the review in the U.S. nuclear program unveiled in February last year under the Trump administration. In the Nuclear Posture Review, the administration pledged to develop low-yield nuclear warheads for increased deterrence, expanding the role of nuclear weapons compared to the previous review that was conducted in 2010 under Obama. The Trump administration has responded only once to the think tank’s request for information disclosure, saying that at the time of the request it had possessed 3,822 nuclear warheads excluding those planned for dismantlement as of late September in 2017 — 196 fewer than the previous year. The government also said it had dismantled 354 warheads in the year through late September 2017. Kristensen said that with the United States shifting its stance on nuclear warhead disclosure, Russia and China “are now off the hook in international discussions about increasing transparency.” He also said the U.S. policy shift could “certainly add to an international atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion” if a nuclear arms race continues to heat up. “That, in turn, will drive worst-case planning and make things more dangerous,” he added.

donald trump
federation of american scientists
barack obama
nuclear weapons
china
russia
u.s .


Death toll from acute encephalitis in east Indian town rises to 129 children

Abstract: NEW DELHI - At least 129 children have now died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the town of Muzaffarpur in the eastern Indian state of Bihar since an outbreak earlier this month, a medical official said on Sunday. The death toll from AES, a fever that affects the central nervous system, has risen from 97 reported last Monday and medical and government officials are facing mounting criticism for struggling to contain the crisis in the town of nearly 350,000 people. AES, known as “brain fever,” is caused by any one of a number of viruses. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting and, in severe cases, seizures, paralysis and coma. Infants and elderly people are particularly vulnerable. “I received my last update in the afternoon and according to the latest report that I have, 129 children have died so far,” Shailesh Prasad Singh, the top state medical official in Muzaffarpur, told Reuters by phone. The town lies about 80 km (50 miles) from Patna, the state capital. The precise causes of AES are not known, though a majority of medical professionals say it is linked to a ferocious heat-wave. Some studies have blamed toxins in lychees, a fruit grown in abundance in orchards around Muzaffarpur. But many families told Reuters last week that their children had not eaten them in recent weeks. Singh said a team of experts, including doctors, paramedics and other government officials, was working “round the clock” to contain the spread of AES, which killed more than 350 children in a previous outbreak in Bihar in 2014. Doctors from other parts of the country had been dispatched to Muzaffarpur to help staff at the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital, which had to evict a group of sick inmates from a ward to accommodate the surge in AES patients. Most of the children who died were being treated at the hospital. Nearly half of all children in Muzaffarpur are underweight, and a similar number are stunted, making them vulnerable to AES, which grips the town almost every year when summer temperatures surge. As the death toll mounts, both the Bihar and the federal governments have come under criticism for their inability to save children, and doctors and government officials have faced angry protests. On Sunday, the Bihar government suspended a doctor in Muzaffarpur for dereliction of duties, news agency ANI, a Reuters affiliate, said. Indian Federal Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is himself a doctor, said last week that health officials have finalised plans for construction of a 100-bed paediatric intensive care unit in Muzaffarpur, but gave no timeframe for when it would be built.

acute encephalitis syndrome
muzaffarpur
bihar
lychees
india
heat waves


Trump won't say if he'll ask FBI to probe Jamal Khashoggi's slaying by Saudi agents

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump isn’t saying whether he’ll direct the FBI to investigate the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump said the slaying of the Saudi Arabian journalist has “been heavily investigated” and he suggested that pledges by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia to spend billions of dollars buying U.S. military equipment is more important to him because of the economic impact and jobs than finding out what happened to Khashoggi. Last week, an independent U.N. report on the killing found “credible evidence” to warrant further investigation into the possible role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and called for the FBI to investigate. U.S. intelligence agencies had also concluded that the crown prince ordered that Khashoggi be killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. “Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of (American) product. That means something to me. It’s a big producer of jobs,” the president told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in a wide-ranging interview that was taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. Trump said the subject of Khashoggi “didn’t come up” when he and the crown prince spoke last Thursday, largely about Iran. Trump said the Middle East is a “vicious, hostile place” and that Iran and other countries in the region are also guilty of the type of behavior Saudi Arabia has been accused of engaging in. Khashoggi was killed, and believed to have been dismembered by Saudi agents, inside the consulate on Oct. 2. His remains have never been found. The president declined last year to penalize Saudi Arabia over the killing. Khashoggi had been living in the U.S. at the time of his death. Trump said he’s “not like a fool” that will refuse to do business with Saudi Arabia, arguing that the kingdom will turn to U.S. rivals China and Russia if Washington refuses to sell arms to the Saudis. “Take their money. Take their money,” Trump said.

fbi
jamal khashoggi
donald trump
saudi arabia
mohammed bin salman
u.s .
murder
u.n .


Naming Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general was 'biggest mistake,' says Trump

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that if he could have one “do-over,” it would be “personnel” decisions, including naming former Sen. Jeff Sessions as his first U.S. attorney general. “I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. … That was the biggest mistake,” Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. After almost three years of investigations, Trump’s presidency is still clouded by questions surrounding Russian interference to boost his candidacy in the 2016 U.S. elections and his subsequent efforts to impede inquiries into the matter. Sessions, formerly a Republican senator from Alabama, was one of the earliest Trump administration casualties of the Russian election meddling scandal, which continues to be investigated by committees of the U.S. Congress. In February 2016, Sessions became the first serving senator to endorse Trump when the New York reality TV star and real estate developer was still a presidential candidate. Russian intelligence organizations a month later began a cybercampaign aimed at interfering with the 2016 presidential election, according to U.S. intelligence agencies. During the campaign, Sessions, a close Trump adviser, met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Several others in Trump’s inner circle met with Russians during this period, too. In late July 2016, the FBI began investigating Russian meddling in the election. After Trump’s stunning election victory, Sessions was rewarded for his loyalty by being nominated as the top U.S. law enforcement official and head of the Justice Department. In January 2017 in Senate confirmation hearings, Sessions said that during the campaign he had no communication with Russians. A month later, he was confirmed as attorney general. Only two months afterward Sessions’ campaign ties to Kislyak were reported. Democrats accused him of lying to Congress. In March 2017, Sessions recused himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the elections, infuriating Trump, who thereafter frequently attacked Sessions. In May 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the Russia probe from the FBI. In November 2018, after months of being publicly ridiculed by Trump, Sessions resigned. He was replaced briefly by Matthew Whitaker until William Barr was confirmed to the job of attorney general. On Barr, Trump said, “He’s brought sanity back.” Mueller’s 448-page final report, released in mid-April, found insufficient evidence to establish that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow, despite numerous contacts between the campaign and Russia. The report also described attempts by Trump to impede Mueller’s investigation, but stopped short of declaring that he committed a crime. Asked on Sunday if he had read the Mueller report, Trump said, “I read much of it … I read the conclusion.” He again called the allegations that his campaign worked with the Kremlin “a hoax.” Trump told NBC: “I’ll be honest with you, nobody even mentions Russia anymore since the Mueller report.”

jeff sessions
donald trump
robert mueller
russia probe
william barr
u.s .


Turkish civil society leaders on trial over 2013 protests

Abstract: SILIVRI, TURKEY - Sixteen leading Turkish civil society leaders appeared in court Monday, accused of seeking to overthrow the government during the “Gezi Park” protests of 2013, in a trial dubbed an absurd sham by critics. The group includes renowned businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, whose detention since November 2017 has made him a symbol of what critics say is a crackdown on civil society. Kavala rejected the “irrational claims which lack evidence” in his opening statement, shortly after the trial began under high security in the prison and court complex of Silivri on the outskirts of Istanbul. He is accused of orchestrating and financing the protests which began over government plans to build over Gezi Park, one of the few green spaces left in Istanbul. The protests snowballed into a nationwide movement that marked the first serious challenge to Erdogan’s brand of Islamic conservatism and grandiose development projects. The 657-page indictment seeks to paint the protests as a foreign-directed conspiracy with links to the Arab Spring, which, ironically, the Turkish government supported. “None of these actions were coincidental… they were supported from the outside as an operation to bring the Turkish Republic to its knees,” the indictment says. Amnesty International’s Andrew Gardner said the trial “speaks volumes about the deeply flawed judiciary that has allowed this political witch-hunt to take place. “It is absurdly attempting to portray routine civil society activities as crimes,” he said. One of the allegations is the claim that a map on Kavala’s phone showing bee species actually depicted his plans to redraw Turkey’s borders. A respected figure in intellectual circles, Kavala is chairman of the Anatolian Culture Foundation, which seeks to bridge ethnic and regional divides through art, including with neighboring Armenia, with which Turkey has no diplomatic ties. “I was involved in projects contributing to peace and reconciliation. There is not a single piece of evidence or proof in the indictment that I prepared the ground for a military coup,” Kavala told the court. Six of the suspects are being tried in absentia after fleeing Turkey, including actor Memet Ali Alabora and dissident journalist Can Dundar. The case against Alabora focuses on his appearance in a play featuring a revolt against the ruler of a fictional country. Others, including architect Mucella Yapici, have already been tried and acquitted for their role in the Gezi Park protests in 2015. “I am on trial the second time on the same charges. Peaceful protests cannot be banned. They are a right,” Yapici told the court on Monday. Erdogan has linked Kavala to U.S. billionaire George Soros, whose efforts to promote democracy around the world have made him a target for several authoritarian leaders. Last year, Erdogan said Kavala was the representative in Turkey of the “famous Hungarian Jew Soros” whom he accused of trying to “divide and tear up nations.” Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which ceased activities in Turkey last year, called Monday’s trial a “political sham.” “The charges in this case follow a political script that seeks to silence all critical voices in Turkey,” said foundation president Patrick Gaspard in a statement. “That they are now on trial, facing possible life sentences, is a tragedy.” There has been a renewed crackdown on dissidents since a coup attempt in 2016, blamed by the government on U.S.-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, with thousands arrested and tens of thousands sacked from public sector, media and military jobs.


Member of armed border group charged with impersonating U.S. law officer

Abstract: GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA - A man who has been a spokesman for a small group of armed civilians patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border was charged with impersonating a U.S. officer or employee. An indictment returned Wednesday by a grand jury in New Mexico charged James Christopher Benvie, 44, of Albany, Minnesota, with two counts of false personation of a U.S. officer or employee, federal prosecutors said in a news release Friday. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted. The news release from prosecutors does not provide details on the allegations, including what kind of officer or employee Benvie is accused of impersonating. It does say that the alleged offenses were committed in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, on April 15 and April 17. The county is along the U.S-Mexico border. Benvie posted Facebook live videos on both April 15 and April 17 of encounters with people crossing the border. Benvie made an initial appearance in federal court Friday in Oklahoma, after the FBI arrested him in Guthrie, Oklahoma, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he would remain jailed until a detention hearing set for Tuesday in Oklahoma. It was unclear if he had an attorney. Prosecutors said he’ll be transported to New Mexico for prosecution. Benvie was a spokesman for a group called the United Constitutional Patriots before becoming a spokesman for a splinter group called the Guardian Patriots. Armed civilian groups have been an intermittent presence on the border for years, portraying themselves as auxiliaries to the Border Patrol and operating in areas where agents are not stationed. As the videos show, U.S. authorities keep them at arm’s length while also responding to reports of people entering the country illegally. Other videos he posted include one in March under the heading “Detained a man with a baby!” As an agent arrived, Benvie said, “The border is overrun. We’re being invaded.” In Oklahoma, Benvie was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to obtain money by false pretenses. Benvie’s defense attorney in that case, David Bedford of Oklahoma City, said Sunday that he could not discuss the matter. The leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, Larry Hopkins, was arrested in April on federal weapons charges.

james christopher benvie
courts
u.s .
immigration
police


Cyprus serial killer pleads guilty to 7 murders

Abstract: NICOSIA - A Greek Cypriot army officer pleaded guilty on Monday to seven counts of premeditated murder in a serial killing case that has shocked the Mediterranean island. Nikos Metaxas, 35, was led into a Nicosia court under heavy security and stared grimly at the ground as a prosecutor read out a string of charges, including kidnapping and the killings of five women and two of their daughters — all foreigners. Holding back tears, he pleaded guilty to the accusations one by one. After the prosecutor read a long document detailing his crimes, Metaxas, who faces life in prison, read out a short handwritten statement apologizing to his victims. Metaxas, who is expected to be sentenced later Monday, said he could not explain why he had carried out the killings. “Cypriot society will be wondering how one of its members reached this point. I have also asked myself why; I have not yet managed to find an answer,” he said in a wobbly voice. “I have committed hateful crimes.” It is the first time in Cypriot legal history that a defendant has faced seven counts of pre-meditated murder. Metaxas carried out the killings between September 2016 and the summer of 2018. Relatives and friends of the five women — from the Philippines, Romania and Nepal — along with two of their daughters, have accused authorities of neglect over the cases. The police’s failure to follow up on reports of women going missing has sparked outrage and led to the dismissal of the police chief and the resignation of the justice minister. Protesters have accused the police of racism, saying the searches had been botched because the missing women were foreigners. President Nicos Anastasiades criticized the police for “apparent negligence and dereliction of duty” and acknowledged that better initial investigations could have prevented some of the killings. The trial comes after a two-month search for the bodies of the victims. The killings went undetected for nearly three years, coming to light when tourists spotted a body brought to the surface of a mine shaft on April 14 by unusually heavy rains. That sparked a manhunt that led to the army captain’s arrest four days later. He then directed investigators to the sites where he had dumped the other bodies, including in a toxic lake near the capital Nicosia. Authorities spent weeks searching the lake with help from Israeli and British experts before finding the body of a child believed to be the killer’s seventh and final victim. State radio said the child’s body was found by divers wrapped inside a carpet with a cement block attached to it to it. Police had previously recovered six other bodies, including remains dumped inside three suitcases found at a different site known as the Red Lake. The Cyprus government has agreed to cover the funeral costs of all seven victims.

cyprus
serial killers
murder
nikos metaxas


2,000 protest in Moscow over police falsifications and detention of political activists

Abstract: MOSCOW - About 2,000 people rallied in Moscow to protest the falsifying of cases by Russian police and the detention of political activists. The demonstration on Sunday, which authorities had sanctioned to take place, was the latest in a series of protests sparked by the arrest this month of a prominent investigative reporter on drug-dealing charges. The charges were dropped days later after a public outcry and allegations that police planted drugs to implicate the journalist. Anger over Ivan Golunov’s treatment has spread to protests of cases involving other journalists, including the arrest on terrorism charges last week of the religious affairs editor at independent weekly newspaper Chernovik, Abdulmumin Gadzhiev. Demonstrator Ruslan Titov said Sunday: “The case of Ivan Golunov isn’t the only one in its kind.”

protests moscow courts russia rights prisons


Sudan's protesters accept Ethiopian road map for civilian rule but military yet to commit

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Sudan’s protest movement accepted an Ethiopian road map for a civilian-led transitional government, a spokesman said on Sunday, after a months-long standoff with the country’s military rulers — who did not immediately commit to the plan. Ethiopia has led diplomatic efforts to bring the protest and military leaders back to the negotiating table, after a crackdown against the pro-democracy movement led to a collapse in talks. According to protest organizers, security forces killed at least 128 people across the country, after they violently dispersed the sit-in demonstration outside the military’s headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, earlier this month. Authorities have offered a lower death toll of 61, including three from the security forces. Yet it appeared that protest leaders, represented by the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, were open to the Ethiopian initiative as a way out of the political impasse. Ahmed Rabie, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which is part of the FDFC, told The Associated Press that the proposal included a leadership council with eight civilian and seven military members, with a rotating chairmanship. All the civilians would come from the FDFC, except for one independent and “neutral” appointee, he said. According to a copy of the proposal obtained by AP, the military would chair the council in the first 18 months, and the FDFC the second half of the transition. Rabie said that the road map would build on previous agreements with the military. These include a three-year transition period, a protester-appointed Cabinet and a FDFC-majority legislative body. Rabie added that protest leaders would also discuss with the Ethiopian envoy, Mahmoud Dirir, the possibility of establishing an “independent” Sudanese investigation. Previously, the FDFC had said it would only resume talks with the military if it agreed to the formation of an international commission to investigate the killings of protesters. The ruling military council has so far rejected the idea of an international probe, and says it has started its own investigation, in parallel with that of the state prosecutor. The FDCF said Saturday said their approval of the Ethiopian plan “pushes all the parties to bear their responsibilities” to find a peaceful solution. It urged the military council to accept the plan “in order to move the situation in Sudan” forward. The Ethiopian Embassy said that the FDFC had handed a response to its proposals, which included the demand for trust-building measures from the military. These included concerns about the investigation into violence, restoring severed internet connectivity, and ordering the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — widely blamed for attacks against protesters — back to their barracks. The spokesman for the military council, Gen. Shams Eddin Kabashi, confirmed at a news conference that the council had received a proposal from the Ethiopian envoy, and another one from the African Union envoy to Sudan, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt. “The council asked for a combined initiative to study and discuss the details,” Kabashi said. This joint proposal should be received by Monday, he said. Kabashi also defended Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, saying that both countries, along with Egypt, “have provided unconditional support” to the Sudanese people. Egypt has voiced its support for the military council, pressing the African Union not to suspend Sudan’s activities in the regional block. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pledged $3 billion in aid to shore up its economy. Sudanese activists fear that the three countries are pushing the military to cling to power rather than help with democratic change, given that the three Arab states are ruled by autocrats who have clamped down political freedoms in their own countries. A member of the military council, Yasser al-Atta, suggested that it had doubts about the protest leaders ability to govern. He addressed protest leaders saying that “you should include other political forces” or it would be difficult to rule. “We want them to rule and lead the transitional period, but can this be done?” He added. Meanwhile, the head of the military council, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, said on Sunday he canceled a decree demanding that the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur hand over its premises as part of its withdrawal. Burhan also issued a new decree that says the U.N. facilities when handed over are to be used for civilian purposes in Darfur. The target for ending the U.N. mission is June 30, 2020.


Ruling party's Ghazouani declared winner of election in Mauritania, an ally of West against Islamist militants

Abstract: NOUAKCHOTT - Mauritania’s government-backed candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won the presidential election on Sunday, cementing the power of a ruling party that has positioned itself as an ally of the West against Islamist militants. The electoral commission declared Ghazouani winner late on Saturday with 52 percent of the vote. His nearest rival, anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid, came second with 18.58 percent, while third place candidate Mohamed Ould Boubacar, who is backed by Mauritania’s biggest Islamist party, got 17.85 percent. The election was the first in the sparsely populated Saharan nation’s history, since independence from France in 1960, to choose a successor to a democratically elected president. None of the three remaining candidates got more than 10 percent. Ghazouani has campaigned on continuing economic and security progress made under outgoing President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who took the helm in a 2008 coup, then won elections in 2009 and 2014. Under the leadership of the 62-year-old president, the economy has grown and will receive an extra boost when a large offshore gas field starts producing early next decade. Hours earlier government spokesman Sidi Mohamed Ould Maham had declared Ghazouani “president-elect” at a news conference, and opposition candidates represented by Abeid said they would contest the results. “This seems like a coup d’etat,” Ghazouani’s nearest rival, Biram Dah Abeid, representing himself and the other opposition leaders, said. “We are united and will lead the contestation (of the results).” The election has been largely peaceful, apart from in some Riyadh, Elmina, and Sebkha regions of Nouakchott, where earlier on Sunday protesters burned tires and trash before police dispersed them. Abdel Aziz surprised many of his compatriots and international observers by stepping aside after serving the maximum two five-year elected terms in Mauritania, a country of fewer than 5 million people comprising a large chunk of the western Sahara Desert. His decision bucked a trend in which African leaders, including in Rwanda and Congo Republic, have changed or abolished term limits to cling to power. Despite his economic record, Abdel Aziz has been criticized for not facing up to Mauritania’s most searing injustice: the persistence of slavery. Tens of thousands of black Mauritanians still live as domestic slaves, rights groups say, usually to lighter-skinned masters of Arab or Berber descent. That is despite the practice being abolished in 1981 and criminalized in 2007, the year before he took power. He has made pronouncements denying slavery is widespread. Abeid, himself a descendent of slaves, had campaigned partly on this platform. He and other opposition leaders also sought to tap into youth anger at high unemployment.

elections
mauritania
mohamed ould ghazouani
terrorism


Trump says 'surprise' campaign question about Mike Pence led him to hesitate

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump says he hesitated when he was asked about backing Vice President Mike Pence if Pence runs for president in 2024 because the question caught him off-guard. “You can’t put me in that position,” Trump said June 14 when one of the hosts of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” asked him about endorsing Pence should the vice president decide to seek the presidency in 2024. Pence hasn’t explicitly said he’ll run in 2024, but he is widely expected to. Offered a chance to explain, Trump said he hesitated “because it was a surprise question.” “I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in a wide-ranging interview taped Friday at the White House and broadcast Sunday. “Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.” Also in the interview, Trump criticized Fed chairman Jerome Powell and said his biggest mistake was choosing Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. For his part, Pence glossed over the flap Trump’s comments caused, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” that the president’s comment reflected “the fact that the only election he and I are focused on is 2020.” Trump formally announced his 2020 reelection bid last week, with Pence at his side. In the NBC interview, Trump lashed out at Powell over past interest rate hikes and denied threatening to demote Powell to the Fed’s No. 2 job. The Federal Reserve voted last week to leave its key interest rate unchanged, but the independent agency signaled that it is prepared to begin cutting interest rates to protect the U.S. economy from trade conflicts and other threats. Last week, Trump did not answer directly when he was asked about news reports that the White House in February had explored whether Trump had the authority to demote Powell to the Fed’s No. 2 job. Trump denied to NBC that such a threat has been issued. “I have the right to do that. But I haven’t said that,” Trump said. Trump has previously explored firing Powell, who, under the law, can only be fired for cause.

mike pence
donald trump
fox news
jerome powell
2024 u.s. presidential election


Beginning of the end? Turkey's opposition deals blow to Erdogan with Istanbul mayoral win

Abstract: ISTANBUL - Turkey’s opposition has dealt President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a stinging blow by winning control of Istanbul in a rerun of its mayoral election, breaking his aura of invincibility and delivering a message from voters unhappy over his policies. Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) had secured more than 54 percent of votes, with nearly all ballots opened, Turkish broadcasters said — a far wider victory margin than his narrow win three months ago. The previous result was annulled after protests from Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party, which said there had been widespread voting irregularities. The decision to redo the vote was criticized by Western allies and caused uproar among domestic opponents who said Turkey’s democracy was under threat. On Sunday, tens of thousands of Imamoglu supporters celebrated in the streets of Istanbul after the former businessman triumphed over Erdogan’s handpicked candidate by almost 800,000 votes. “In this city today, you have fixed democracy. Thank you Istanbul,” Imamoglu told supporters who made heart signs with their hands, in an expression of the inclusive election rhetoric that has been the hallmark of his campaigning. “We came to embrace everyone,” Imamoglu said. “We will build democracy in this city, we will build justice. In this beautiful city, I promise, we will build the future.” The High Electoral Board has yet to announce the formal results, but Erdogan has already congratulated Imamoglu for his victory and Imamoglu’s rival, Binali Yildirim of the AK Party, wished him luck as mayor barely two hours after polls closed. Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president, becoming the country’s most dominant politician since its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, nearly a century ago. His AK Party has strong support among pious and conservative Turks and its stewardship of Turkey’s economy through a decade and a half of construction-fueled growth helped Erdogan win more than a dozen national and local elections. But economic recession and a financial crisis have eroded that support, and Erdogan’s ever-tighter control over government has alarmed some voters. Imamoglu won support even in the traditionally pious Istanbul districts, once known as AK Party strongholds, ending the 25-year-long Islamist rule in the country’s largest city. “This rerun (election) was one to put an end to the dictatorship,” said Gulcan Demirkaya, a 48-year-old housewife in Istanbul’s AKP-leaning Kagithane district. “God willing, I would like to see him as the president in five years’ time. The one-man rule should come to an end.” The results are likely to trigger a new chapter in Turkish politics, with the country’s top three cities now held by the opposition, and could trigger cracks within Erdogan’s AK Party, while bringing the economic troubles more to the center. “This is definitely going to have an impact on the future of Turkish politics given the margin of victory. It’s alarming sign for the AKP establishment,” said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels and former Turkish diplomat. Analysts say the loss could set off a Cabinet reshuffle in Ankara and adjustments to foreign policy. It could even trigger a national election earlier than 2023 as scheduled, although the leader of the AKP’s nationalist ally played down that prospect. “Turkey should now return to its real agenda, the election process should close,” MHP party leader Devlet Bahceli said. “Talking of an early election would be among the worst things that can be done to our country.” The uncertainty over the fate of Istanbul and potential delays in broader economic reforms have kept financial markets on edge. Threats of sanctions by the United States if Erdogan goes ahead with plans to install Russian missile defenses have also weighed on the markets.

turkey
istanbul
recep tayyip erdogan
elections
ekrem imamoglu
rights


Venezuela said holding six military and police officials as Maduro seeks to stifle dissent

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuelan authorities have arrested six members of the country’s military and police forces over the weekend, according to relatives of the detainees and human rights activists, as President Nicolas Maduro seeks to weed out dissent. Air Force Brigade Gen. Miguel Sisco Mora was arrested Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Guatire, some 40 km (25 miles) east of the capital Caracas, his daughter, Stephanie Sisco, said. Navy Corvette Capt. Rafael Costa was detained on Friday in nearby Guarenas, according to his wife, Waleska Perez. “We demand that the government provide us with information about his whereabouts,” Stephanie Sisco wrote on Twitter on Saturday. The arrests come nearly two months after a failed uprising against Maduro called by opposition leader Juan Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly who in January invoked the constitution to assume a rival interim presidency and has called on the armed forces to join his cause. They also come on the heels of a visit to Venezuela by U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who on Friday called on Maduro to release prisoners arrested for peacefully protesting. Maduro, whose 2018 re-election has been widely denounced as illegitimate, said he would take the U.N.’s concerns seriously. Human rights group Penal Forum had previously said that two retired Air Force colonels had been arrested in Caracas on Friday afternoon while two high ranking officials from Venezuela’s CICPC forensic police unit were arrested in Guatire, according to human rights lawyer Tamara Suju. Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor the Chief Prosecutor’s office responded to requests for comment on the six detentions on Sunday. According to Penal Forum, some 700 people are detained for political reasons in Venezuela, including about 100 members of the military. Maduro’s government has denied it holds political prisoners, and frequently accuses the opposition of fomenting violence. Maduro refers to Guaido as a puppet of the United States seeking to oust him in a coup.

venezuela
nicolas maduro
juan guaido
u.s .


Trump's popularity, and credibility, could be tested if Sarah Sanders runs in Arkansas in 2022

Abstract: LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS - Press secretary Sarah Sanders seems to be in an enviable position as she leaves the White House for a possible run for governor in her home state of Arkansas. She has the tacit endorsement of a president popular in the state and political connections that go back to her dad Mike Huckabee’s more than 10 years as governor. Since her departure was announced this month, Sanders hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a run for public office when she returns to Arkansas later this summer. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who was reelected last year, is barred by term limits from running again in 2022. Other White House officials who left have remained in the public eye by writing books and hitting the lecture circuit, but none has made a high-profile run for office. A Sanders candidacy could test whether President Donald Trump and questions about his administration’s credibility are political liabilities, even in solidly Republican states. Trump has openly teased the prospect of Sanders running. “I have a feeling she’s going to be running for a certain gubernatorial position,” Trump said at a rally in Florida kicking off his reelection campaign last week. “She’d be tough, right?” Sanders became a household name over the past two years through her sparring with reporters who aggressively questioned her about any number of controversies involving the president. She was regularly skewered by late night hosts and “Saturday Night Live,” which portrayed her as a dishonest loyalist to Trump with an exaggerated southern drawl. Sanders was already a known quantity in Arkansas before her time in Washington. She appeared in ads for her father’s campaign for governor, managed Sen. John Boozman’s 2010 election and worked as an adviser to Sen. Tom Cotton’s in 2014. “I’ve told Sarah, it used to be you were known by your dad,” said former state Rep. Jonathan Barnett, a member of the Republican National Committee for the state and a longtime friend of the Huckabees. “Now your dad is known by you.” Political observers in Arkansas see little downside in Sanders’ connections to Trump, who easily won the state in 2016 and whose approval rating here remains above his national figures. Once a reliably Democratic state, Arkansas is now dominated by Republicans. The GOP controls both chambers of the legislature, all partisan statewide offices and every seat in its congressional delegation. “In terms of a liftoff, in terms of launch, in terms of a game plan, she got major support from a president that’s extremely popular in Arkansas,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, located next to the former president’s library. “Among the base — and that base for President Trump seems to be growing in Arkansas — her nature to take on the national media is a plus for her politically right now.” But three years is a long time and a presidential election away. There’s no guarantee Trump will remain as popular in Arkansas, or even be in office, when and if Sanders makes a bid. “Three years from now, if the perceptions of Trump have gone south and those are tied to scandals and untruths, then the fact she was the voice of some of that could be damaging,” said Jay Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix College. Yet, “even if he’s no longer president, that doesn’t mean he still wouldn’t be beloved by a lot of Republican voters.” Democrats are already relishing the idea of a Sanders run, saying it would bring national money and attention to a race that may otherwise be written off. Republicans caution that it’s not a given Sanders would win the GOP’s nomination. Her potential rivals are some of the party’s top figures who have built up their own network of supporters and donors. Among them are Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, a former congressman who worked in the George W. Bush White House, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who worked for the Republican National Committee. Another potential candidate is state Senate President Jim Hendren, who is also Hutchinson’s nephew. Bill Vickery, a political strategist in the state, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see just as much outside money come into the state supporting Sanders’ rivals in a GOP primary. “She will have 10 times the amount of money needed to win,” he said. “That same amount will be spent to defeat her. We will be awash in money.”

sarah sanders
arkansas
mike huckabee
republicans
elections
donald trump
democrats
u.s .
fake news