U.K. farmers worry where exports will go without EU Brexit deal

Abstract: CEREDIGION, WALES - Wyn Evans’ family has owned a plot in western Wales for generations, a bucolic expanse where 370 sheep and 80 cows feast on the verdant grasses of undulating hillsides. Evans, 55, wants his son to take over the farm that’s been in the family for 500 years. But he’s concerned that may not happen, as the rancorous debate over Brexit increases the risk Britain will leave the European Union without an agreement on future relations that would preserve free trade with the continent. “People are extremely worried,” he said, looking out across the craggy Atlantic coastline. “There is a very big lack of confidence in the industry at the moment.” U.K. meat producers are particularly vulnerable to the threat of a no-deal Brexit because 90 percent of their exports go to EU countries, meaning many would find themselves in jeopardy because of the tariffs and border delays that would follow a disorderly exit from the bloc. Britain’s Parliament on Tuesday refused to rule out a no-deal Brexit, voting instead to give Prime Minister Theresa May more time to try to iron out a compromise with the EU. May says the threat of leaving without an agreement, and the economic havoc that would cause on both sides of the English Channel, must remain a real possibility to bring EU negotiators to the table. That is unacceptable to meat producers because in case of an exit without a deal trade would immediately revert to World Trade Organization rules, which would impose effective tariffs of 46 percent on British lamb and 48 percent to 84 percent on beef, according to the National Farmers’ Union. About 30 percent of the lamb produced in the U.K. is exported, with 95 percent of those shipments destined for Europe. In addition, meat shipments would likely face delays at European border crossings because truck drivers would be forced to show paperwork proving their cargoes meet EU standards. And Britain would immediately lose access to markets outside Europe that is currently guaranteed by EU trade agreements, leaving the U.K. an outsider hoping to eventually strike its own deals with countries like the United States and China. Such deals typically require years of negotiations. “The real short-term issue is this: It will take months for us to get registered for livestock as a third country and given the potential for delays at the border, even if it is one-sided, there will be potential issues that hauliers will not want to make that route,” said Tim Benton, co-author of a report about Brexit’s impact on food supplies published by the Chatham House think tank. “There is the potential for lambaggedon,” Benton said. “That is the worst case scenario.” The problem shines a light on one of the ironies of the Brexit process. While some parts of Britain like Wales voted to leave the EU, many people in those regions stand to lose out most economically. Wales, for example, has been a net receiver of subsidies from the EU budget. But the June 2016 Brexit vote was campaigned on a number of issues including immigration. As the Brexit talks have ground on for almost two years, the lack of clarity on what will come has been among the biggest problems for businesses, with many holding off investments or hiring. “People aren’t spending money and reinvesting in their businesses,” said Evans, who voted to remain in the EU. “And there’s only so long you can hold that off for. And people do need to invest in their businesses soon. We do need some security.” There are also fears that Britain won’t impose tariffs on imports in order to maintain food supplies, forcing local farmers to contend with cheap imports at home while losing markets on the Continent because of high tariffs. There’s the threat that British markets will be flooded by imports from places like the U.S., which are currently barred under EU rules that ban meat raised with hormones. “There will be British farmers out there lambing now with no guarantee about what market they will be selling into in three months’ time, let alone a year or two down the line,” the farmers union said in a statement. Farmers aren’t the only ones who are worried. Food retailers this week warned about higher prices and the possibility of shortages in a starkly worded letter that urged lawmakers to avoid a no-deal scenario. Supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, along with McDonald’s restaurants, were among those saying they were “extremely concerned” about the disruption of food supplies, given that nearly one-third of the food Britons eat comes from the EU. The retailers said their supply chains would be significantly disrupted if Britain leaves without a deal, and that increased transportation costs, an expected currency devaluation, and tariffs would cause food prices to rise. “Our ability to mitigate these risks is limited. As prudent businesses we are stockpiling where possible, but all frozen and chilled storage is already being used and there is very little general warehousing space available in the U.K.,” the retailers said in a statement. All this has real consequences for people like Evans, who worries that his family’s long farming tradition will be a casualty of Britain’s divorce from the EU. His son, Gwynfor, is at university studying business, because Evans wanted him to have something to fall back on if the farm doesn’t survive. “I would tell politicians they need to pull themselves together and they need to collaborate and they need to back a deal,” he said. “It’s vitally important that we get a deal.”


Japan's 10-day holiday for Imperial handover stirs concern among traders and investors

Abstract: To mark the ascension of the new Emperor, the government has declared an unprecedented 10-day Golden Week holiday from late April to early May, worrying investors who say a market shutdown could cause disruption and unsettle the yen. With Crown Prince Naruhito scheduled to be crowned new Emperor on May 1, the government made the entire period from April 27 to May 6 a market holiday. The extra-long Golden Week will represent the longest break ever for Japanese stocks and bonds. Major financial centers rarely have such long shutdowns. U.S. financial markets closed for six days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. “It’s horrifying that we can’t trade for six business days. We’ve got to adjust our positions before the week. Hard to say exactly what I will do then, but I’ll probably have to make my position neutral before the holidays,” said Yasuo Sakuma, chief investment officer at Libra Investments. Japan’s financial watchdog has told all financial institutions to alert customers about the possibility of turbulence in overseas markets during the shutdown, and to make sure their systems can cope with a flurry of activity before and after, documents obtained by Reuters showed. During the extended Golden Week, the U.S. and U.K. central banks plan to hold policy meetings, and U.S. payroll data, along with GDP figures from the United States and the Eurozone and corporate earnings around the world, will also be released. “In 10 days, we can be in a completely different world,” said a currency trader at a major Japanese bank. Currency traders at the nation’s biggest banks and insurers, such as MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank , Mizuho Bank and Nippon Life Insurance, are equipped to work either at home or in the office during the holidays, markets players say. But they added it might be tougher to deal with more complex products, such as derivatives, as pricing them usually requires in-house terminals. Fund managers meanwhile say they will probably need to bring their positions to neutral by late April to avoid exposure to market swings. The break also could disrupt currency trading. Speculators with a bullish view on the yen could take advantage of the extra long string of holidays to push up the yen, traders say. The yen has strengthened against the dollar since early October on rising concerns about a global economic slowdown and the U.S.-China trade war. “You can move the market more easily because of low market liquidity. So those who want to move market prices, like hedge funds, will likely do so during this holiday. Therefore, the most important point is that you have to be prepared for the risk of the yen’s rise,” said Kyoya Okazawa, Asia-Pacific head of institutional clients at BNP Paribas. Japanese stocks will be more volatile after the holiday, he added. “Let’s say the dollar falls from ¥100 to ¥90 during the holiday. Where should the Nikkei be after that? No one can tell exactly. It’s when no one has a clear idea that markets crash,” he said. Okazawa also expects many investors will hedge such risk by buying options on dollar/yen and Japanese stocks, giving them rights, but not obligations, to trade. “In 10 days, anything could happen. But it could go either way so you can’t afford to be out of the market,” said Bill Maldonado, global chief investment officer for equities at HSBC Global Asset Management.

yen
stocks
emperor akihito
imperial family
abdication


As Huawei case continues, U.S. and China resume trade negotiations

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Top U.S. and Chinese trade officials returned to the bargaining table Wednesday, working to avoid a further escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is leading Beijing’s delegation to the talks, with just a month remaining of a 90-day truce declared in December. The talks also occur against the backdrop of Washington’s sweeping prosecution of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which has outraged Beijing and infused the negotiations with uncertainty. Should the talks fail, U.S. import duties on $200 billion in Chinese imports are due to more than double on Mar. 2 — something economists say could help knock the wind out of the global economy’s sails. The world’s two largest economies are battling for nothing less than future dominance in critical high-tech industries, according to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the lead U.S. negotiator. A little over three years ago, Beijing launched a strategic plan dubbed “Made in China 2025” that aimed to make the nation the global leader in aerospace, robotics, artificial intelligence, new-generation autos and other areas. Those are sectors U.S. officials say now represent the “crown jewels” of American technology and innovation. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he favors a healthy Chinese economy but not at the expense of American business and know-how. In the sights of U.S. officials are Chinese trade practices they say are unfair, such as the forced transfer of American technology, through requirements that foreign companies form joint ventures with local firms, as well as alleged theft of American intellectual property through hacking. To pressure Beijing, the White House has slapped tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports. Beijing hit back with duties on virtually every product it buys from the United States, which amounts to about $110 billion in goods annually. Given the complexity of the issues, a finished agreement is unlikely to emerge from the two days of talks in Washington this week. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday he expected “significant progress,” and noted that the governments have another month left in the 90-day truce declared in December. A final agreement seemed even more distant Monday after the U.S. Justice Department announced two indictments of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on charges of stealing trade secrets, fraud, obstruction of justice, and of a top executive accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. But U.S. officials insist the trade talks and Huawei prosecutions are not related. “Let me be clear. Those are separate issues,” Mnuchin told Fox Business, repeating comments made Monday by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Still, Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Tuesday the Huawei case could only complicate matters in the trade negotiations. “Of course the Huawei issue does make the trade negotiation much more difficult. There is no doubt about that,” she said. “The Huawei issue could make a kind of breakdown at some point more likely.” Last year, U.S. sanctions on another Chinese telecoms company, ZTE, sent waves through the trade negotiations, which produced no breakthrough. Trump later intervened to modify the penalties, allowing ZTE to avoid collapse. In a sign the sides are hopeful of making progress, Harvard-trained Liu He is due to meet Trump during this week’s talks. Trump so far has projected optimism, believing Washington has the upper hand given China’s weakening economy. Last year, the Asian country recorded its slowest growth in nearly 30 years, making the U.S. trade war scarcely a welcome development. But Trump also may appear weakened after agreeing last week to end a five-week government shutdown without extracting any concessions from opposition Democratic lawmakers, in a battle over building a wall on the Mexican border. “The danger here is that other countries will conclude Trump is a paper tiger,” said Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He blusters and takes very strong public positions, puts himself in situations he cannot win, and then meekly backs down and declares victory,” Alden added. “It will reinforce that argument that China’s best strategy is to wait and to stonewall and Trump will back down.”

huawei
china
technology
donald trump
hacking
tariffs
zte
trade war
u.s .
steve mnuchin


Japan Investment Corp. at risk of becoming another 'zombie' rescue fund after METI's intervention

Abstract: Japan’s largest public-private fund, Japan Investment Corp., once had an ambitious mandate to aggressively pursue investments in next-generation businesses. Now it is inactive after all nine of its private-sector board members resigned last month in a revolt against the government. It has even been accused of being reduced to an organization designed to save “zombie companies.” The JIC has been stuck in a leadership void since. President and CEO Masaaki Tanaka bolted with the eight directors in December amid a dispute over the government’s role in the fund, leaving less than three months after it was established. Initially, there were high hopes for JIC. Founded last September, the public-private fund was to invest its ¥2 trillion in capital in next-generation businesses like artificial intelligence, robotics and new drugs, making use of partnerships with investment funds at home and abroad. The government provided more than 90 percent of the capital. In early July, Hiroshige Seko, minister of economy, trade and industry, described Tanaka and the other board candidates as “world-class people.” “I am sure they will contribute to the creation of next-generation businesses through global-standard management as financial and investment experts,” he said. Tanaka, formerly deputy president of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., intended to set JIC apart from previous public-private funds often criticized for saving zombie companies — struggling firms that would fail without government bailouts. These included Japan Airlines and Renesas Electronics Corp.. “We have no intention of rescuing zombie companies,” Tanaka said in September. Those aspirations seem to have fizzled since the executive exodus. The once-warm relationship between JIC’s top brass and METI turned sour in November after the media reported on the board members’ compensation. Initially, METI planned to pay them more than ¥100 million each — with a basic annual pay of ¥15 million and bonuses for successful investments. But with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry alarmed by the high compensation, METI unilaterally reneged on its promise. The ministry also retracted its policy of allowing JIC to aggressively provide money to overseas investment funds expected to produce high returns, and decided to put the fund on a tighter leash. Unlike its predecessor, Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, JIC aimed to generate profit through partnerships with foreign government-affiliated investment funds and private investment firms. Its investment decisions were supposed to be made after thorough examination by external directors. But METI changed its tune and made it mandatory for JIC to submit its investment plans to strict government screenings. “The compensation cut wasn’t a big issue, but we couldn’t accept an increase in the government’s involvement in investment decisions,” a former JIC executive said. Following the resignations of the nine board members, however, Seko suggested it was essential to scrutinize the investment targets. “We didn’t give them a blank check,” he said. The policy reversal highlighted the differences between the ministry and private-sector professionals seasoned by the intense competitive pressure of the financial world. Although METI hopes to form a new management team for JIC by this spring, selecting the candidates is expected to be difficult. Stanford University professor Takeo Hoshi, one of the nine who quit JIC’s board, said the fund “is becoming an organ to save zombie companies.” The government may well convert JIC’s structure into one better “suited” to rescuing zombie firms, Tanaka told reporters.


Apple busts Facebook for distributing data-sucking app

Abstract: NEW YORK - Apple says Facebook can no longer distribute an app that paid users, including teenagers, to extensively track their phone and web use. The tech blog TechCrunch reported late Tuesday that Facebook paid about $20 a month to users of the Facebook Research app. While Facebook says this was done with permission, the company has a history of defining “permission” loosely and obscuring what data it collects. Facebook says fewer than 5 percent of the app’s users were teens and that they had parental permission. Nonetheless, the revelation is yet another blemish on Facebook’s track record on privacy and could invite further regulatory scrutiny. According to TechCrunch, Facebook sidestepped Apple’s app store and its tighter rules on privacy. Apple says Facebook was using a distribution mechanism meant for company employees, not outsiders, so Apple has revoked that capability. As of Wednesday, a disclosure form on Betabound — one of the services that distributed Facebook Research — informed prospective users that by installing the software they are letting Facebook collect a range of data. That includes information on apps users have installed, when users use them and what they do in them. Information is also collected on how other people interact with users and their content within those apps, according to the disclosure. Betabound warned that Facebook may collect information even when an app or web browser uses encryption. Mobile app security researcher Will Strafach, who studied the app on TechCrunch’s behalf, told The Associated Press that he was aghast to discover Facebook caught red-handed violating Apple’s trust. He said such traffic-capturing tools are only supposed to be for trusted partners to use internally. Instead, he said Facebook was scooping up all incoming and outgoing data traffic from unwitting members of the public — in an app geared toward teenagers. “This is very flagrantly not allowed,” said Strafach, CEO of Guardian Mobile Firewall. “It’s mind-blowing how defiant Facebook was acting.” He described as “muddying the waters” any attempt by Facebook to claim that users who installed the apps understood the unrestrained scope of the data collection. “I don’t think they make it very clear to users precisely what level of access they were granting when they gave permission,” Strafach said. “There is simply no way the users understood this.”


Dollar weakens to around ¥108.70 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was weaker at around ¥108.70 in Tokyo trading late Thursday, pressured by a drop in U.S. interest rates following an surprisingly “dovish” outcome of the policy-setting meeting of the Federal Reserve. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥108.72, down from ¥109.31 at the same time on Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1497, up from $1.1433, and at ¥125.03, up from ¥124.98. In overseas trading the previous day, the dollar dropped to around ¥108.80 as long-term U.S. interest rates fell following a dovish statement announced by the Fed after its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting ended on Wednesday. In early Tokyo trading, the greenback attracted buybacks and moved around ¥109. The dollar gradually lost ground later, weighed down by growing prospects for narrower interest rate gaps between Japan and the United States, traders said. In late trading, the U.S. currency dropped below ¥108.70 against the backdrop of a decline in U.S. interest rates. “The Nikkei stock average’s strong performance triggered some risk-on yen selling, but lower U.S. interest rates weighed on the dollar versus the yen,” an official of a Japanese bank said. Still, the dollar resisted falling further, as market players retreated to the sidelines to “see the results of the U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks” ending later on Thursday, a currency broker said.


Tokyo stocks rebound on Wall Street jump after dovish Fed meeting

Abstract: Stocks rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, with market sentiment brightened by an overnight surge on Wall Street following a surprisingly “dovish” outcome of the policy-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 216.95 points, or 1.06 percent, to end at 20,773.49, after briefly gaining over 300 points in morning trading. On Wednesday, the key market gauge lost 108.10 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 16.73 points, or 1.08 percent, at 1,567.49, after slumping 6.33 points the previous day. A wide range of issues attracted purchases from the outset of Thursday’s trading, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 25,000 for the first time since Dec. 4 on Wednesday. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting through Wednesday, the Fed signaled a possible end to its recent interest rate hikes and suggested a flexible approach to its balance sheet reduction, reassuring a U.S. market concerned over a global economic slowdown, brokers said. Both Tokyo market indexes lost steam after the initial buying ran its course, hurt by profit-taking and selling on rallies, brokers said. The FOMC outcome “couldn’t have been better” for U.S. equities, said Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc. An official of another brokerage firm said of the Tokyo market, “I’ve got the impression that selling by individual investors abated thanks to the improved sentiment.” The official thus suggested that some investors remained cautious about making big moves in order to wait and see the results of U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks ending later on Thursday. “If progress is made at the U.S.-China trade talks, stocks will likely gain further ground next week,” Fujii said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,563 to 493 in the TSE’s first section, while 72 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.36 billion shares from 1.44 billion shares on Wednesday. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines gained 4.51 after the shipping firm revised up on Thursday its consolidated earnings forecast for the year to March. Astellas added 3.97 percent after the drug maker announced a share buyback plan on Thursday. Other major winners included cosmetics maker Shiseido and technology giant Sony. But Screen plunged 10.35 percent after the electronic parts maker revised down on Wednesday its earnings forecast for the year to March. Also on the minus side were power supplier Tepco and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average rose 140 points to end at 20,750.

stocks
tokyo stock exchange
nikkei
topix


Nintendo beats profit estimates thanks to 'Pokemon' and 'Super Smash Bros.' but cuts Switch shipment target

Abstract: Nintendo Co. topped quarterly profit estimates on brisk holiday demand for the “Pokemon” and “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” games, but slower Switch shipments forced the company to cut its outlook for the gaming device. Operating profit was ¥158.6 billion ($1.5 billion) in the last three months of 2018, the Kyoto-based company said in a statement Thursday. Analysts were projecting ¥147 billion on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Nintendo is now forecasting 17 million Switch shipments for the fiscal year through March, compared with its prior outlook for 20 million units and analysts’ average prediction for 18 million. But thanks to strong sales of Switch software led by the “Mario” and “Pokemon” games, Nintendo raised the software sales outlook to 110 million units from the previously expected 100 million for the year to March. Robust holiday sales, the possibility of price cuts and an improving software lineup are helping to boost confidence among investors that President Shuntaro Furukawa will be able to attract more buyers for the hybrid console beyond its core fan base. “Nintendo needs to expand the audience reach of the Switch,” David Cole, founder and chief executive officer of DFC Intelligence, said in an interview this month. “That is really a marketing” challenge. Nintendo’s shares, which fell 29 percent in 2018, have climbed 16 percent this year on optimism that the company will be able to stage a recovery. The game-maker kept its operating profit outlook of ¥225 billion for the current fiscal year, compared with analysts’ prediction for ¥267 billion.


Nissan chief holds first meeting with new Renault chairman

Abstract: AMSTERDAM - The leaders of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA met Thursday for the first time since the French automaker appointed new leadership in the wake of former chief Carlos Ghosn’s arrest more than two months ago over alleged financial misconduct. During the discussions in Amsterdam, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa and Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard are expected to reaffirm their commitment to maintaining an alliance that has grown into one of the world’s largest car manufacturing groups. The two are likely to hold off on negotiating major changes to the capital tie-up, including a possible full-fledged merger that is believed to have been under consideration by the French government, Renault’s top shareholder. “The capital structure is not going to be a topic,” a Nissan official said. “The primary objective is to build a personal relationship between the top leaders.” The talks in Amsterdam coincide with a regular two-day meeting that will run through Friday between members of the alliance, which also involves Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Mitsubishi Motors chief Osamu Masuko will take part via video conference call, according to a company official. Renault named Senard, who has headed French tire-maker Michelin since 2012, as chairman and promoted deputy CEO Thierry Bollore to chief executive last week, replacing Ghosn who remains in detention in Tokyo following his arrest in November. Both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have also removed him as chairman. At a news conference following the appointment, Senard said that strengthening the alliance was one of his “major priorities.” Saikawa has said he hopes to have “sufficient communication” with his new peer. Ghosn’s arrest by Japanese prosecutors has led to renewed speculation over the future of the tripartite alliance, which in 2018 was the world’s second-largest carmaking group behind Volkswagen AG with 10.75 million units sold. French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly downplayed any hopes for a merger, earlier this week calling for preserving “balance” among the members. But the French government’s desire to hold more influence over Nissan, of which Renault holds a 43.4 percent stake with voting rights, is at odds with the Japanese automaker’s insistence on maintaining its independence. The rift has been fueled by a feeling of unfairness among some within Nissan, which holds only a 15 percent stake in Renault without voting rights but contributes to about half of its net profit.

nissan
renault
mitsubishi motors
carmakers


Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi's three-way alliance still second for global sales, automaker data shows

Abstract: The alliance of Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA of France and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. remained in second place in terms of global auto sales in 2018, totaling 10.75 million units, data showed Wednesday. The alliance, whose former boss Carlos Ghosn was arrested more than two months ago, finished behind Volkswagen AG of Germany for the second straight year, with a 1.4 percent year-on-year increase in worldwide unit sales, according to data released by the automakers. Volkswagen kept the top spot for the third consecutive year with 10.83 million units, up 0.9 percent from a year before, while the Toyota Motor Corp. group, including minicar maker Daihatsu Motor Co. and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd., came third with a record-high 10.59 million units, up 2.0 percent, according to the automakers. While Nissan’s sales were lower than the previous year’s due to weaker demand for its vehicles in its mainstay North American market, those of the Japanese-French alliance as a whole grew thanks to a sharp rise in Mitsubishi’s sales in Southeast Asia and robust sales of Renault in Russia and Brazil, the data showed. Despite the solid business results, the three-way alliance has been reeling from the arrest in November of Ghosn by Japanese prosecutors over his alleged financial misdeeds at Nissan. Although General Motors Co. has yet to release its annual sales figures, the U.S. automaker is believed to have been outperformed by the Toyota group.

nissan
renault
mitsubishi motors
carlos ghosn
carmakers


Hon Hai rethink of Wisconsin LCD screen plant plan flies in face of Trump job-creation boast

Abstract: MADISON, WISCONSIN - Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said Wednesday it is shifting the focus of its planned Wisconsin campus away from blue-collar manufacturing to a research hub, while insisting it remains committed to creating 13,000 jobs as promised. The much-ballyhooed facility was heralded by President Donald Trump and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to return manufacturing to the Midwest and the United States. The Taiwanese electronics giant, also known as Foxconn Technology Group and a major supplier to Apple, is the world’s largest contract maker of electronics and China’s largest private employer. In a statement Wednesday, Hon Hai said it remains committed to the project, the creation of 13,000 jobs and “to our long-term investment in Wisconsin.” But because the global market environment that existed when the project was first announced in 2017 has shifted, “this has necessitated the adjustment of plans for all projects, including Wisconsin.” Hon Hai previously said it could invest as much as $10 billion in the project, but did not recommit to that number in Wednesday’s statement. Louis Woo, special assistant to Hon Hai CEO Terry Gou, told Reuters in a story published Wednesday that it is scaling back and possibly shelving plans to build liquid crystal display panel screens. “In terms of TV, we have no place in the U.S.,” Woo told Reuters. “We can’t compete.” Woo said a factory would not be built in Wisconsin: “You can’t use a factory to view our Wisconsin investment.” Instead, Woo said Hon Hai wants to create a “technology hub” that would largely consist of research facilities along with packaging and assembly operations. Woo said about three-quarters of the jobs created will be in research and development and design, rather than blue-collar manufacturing jobs. Hon Hai said in its statement that it was broadening its base of investment in Wisconsin to ensure the company and workforce will be positioned for long-term success. That includes focusing on research and development in advanced industrial internet technologies and producing high-tech applications and solutions for industries such as education, medical and health care, entertainment and sports, security, and smart cities, Hon Hai said. The Taiwan-based company, which took over Sharp Corp. in 2016, billed the massive 20 million-square-foot (1.86 million-square-meter) Wisconsin campus as its first North American manufacturing site for the next generation of liquid crystal display panels to be used in a wide variety of products, including large-screen TVs, self-driving cars, notebooks and other monitors. Wisconsin state and local governments promised roughly $4 billion to Hon Hai, the largest incentive in state history and the biggest promised by a state to a foreign corporation in U.S. history. Hon Hai was required to invest $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs to get the full incentives. It hired 178 full-time jobs rather than the 260 targeted in 2018, failing to earn a state tax credit worth up to $9.5 million. A spokeswoman for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat who was critical of Hon Hai in his campaign against Walker, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., which brokered the deal with Foxconn, also did not immediately return a message. Wisconsin Republican legislative leaders who pushed the Foxconn project also did not immediately return messages Wednesday. The White House had no immediate comment Wednesday. Last summer, Trump highlighted his economic policies at a groundbreaking event for the massive Foxconn complex, which state officials initially said could house 11 football fields. “America is open for business more than it has ever been open for business. Made in the USA: It’s all happening and it’s happening very, very quickly,” Trump said in June after visiting the Foxconn site. “Today we’re seeing the results of the pro-America agenda. America First, Make America Great Again. Greatest phrase ever used in politics, I suspect.” Democratic critics, including Evers, said the incentives promised to Hon Hai were too much and questioned whether the company would ever fulfill its job creation and investment promises. They also said the massive plant, which was relying on water from nearby Lake Michigan, posed serious environmental risks. “Every step of the way Foxconn has overpromised and under-delivered,” said Democratic Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz in a statement. “This news is devastating for the taxpayers of Wisconsin. We were promised manufacturing jobs. We were promised state of the art LCD production. We were promised a game-changing economic opportunity for our state. And now, it appears Foxconn is living up to their failed track record in the U.S. — leaving another state and community high and dry.”

hon hai
wisconsin
lcd
jobs
donald trump
foxconn
terry gou
taiwan


Rescued Sea Watch migrants to land in Italy after deal is reached for other EU states to take them in

Abstract: ROME - Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday that 47 rescued migrants aboard the Sea Watch NGO vessel could finally disembark after Italy and six other countries agreed to take them in. France, Germany, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Luxembourg have all now offered to accept some of the migrants who have been stuck on the Sea Watch 3 vessel since Jan. 19, “Luxembourg has joined the list of friendly countries that responded to our invitation (to take the migrants), now we are seven countries,” Conte told journalists. “Disembarking will begin in the coming hours.” The fate of the migrants has been at the centre of a standoff between Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini — who has closed the ports to migrants and demanded Europe take its share — and the German NGO Sea Watch. The aid group on Friday filed an urgent case at the European Human Rights Court against Italy for refusing to allow its ship to dock and the mainly sub-Saharan migrants, including 15 minors, to disembark. Rescuers say they include youngsters bearing the scars of violence suffered in crisis-hit Libya. Salvini, who has warned that he was considering legal action against Sea Watch’s crew, refused to be drawn on how many of them Italy would be taking in. “Once we know with certainty what the others will do, then I’ll say what we will do,” he said. He has accused the ship of sailing straight for Italy rather than taking the migrants to closer ports in Libya or Tunisia, but the NGO says it tried but failed to get a response from Tripoli or Tunis. Sea Watch 3 is sailing under a Dutch flag and currently sheltering from bad weather off Sicily after pulling the migrants to safety as they attempted the treacherous Mediterranean crossing. The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday urged the Italian government to “take all necessary measures, as quickly as possible,” to provide them with medical care, water and food. “In the end, humanity won,” said member of parliament Stefania Prestigiacomo from the center-right Forza Italia party, who had boarded the ship this week as part of a delegation supporting the migrants, in defiance of a direct order from Salvini. “The loser is the Italian government, which pathetically begged for someone to take in fewer than 50 people, while keeping them hostage at sea,” she said. People rescued at sea have frequently been left in limbo since Italy’s anti-immigration government came to power in July. Europe has been wrestling with divisions over how to handle the problem since the migration crisis of 2015 when more than 1 million people arrived on its shores, many of them fleeing conflict in the Middle East. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called for the need for “humane solutions” for migrant rescue operations and urged that migrants be allowed to disembark at the nearest port, in this case “in Italy.” He said sharing of the care of migrants came after, and that France was committed to that principle. In a similar case earlier this month, the EU struck a deal to share out between eight European countries nearly 50 migrants stranded aboard two ships, one of which was Sea Watch 3. The Netherlands on Monday rebuffed Italy’s call to take in the 47 migrants, arguing that the Dutch-flagged ship had acted “on its own initiative.” Some 113,482 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe last year, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which said 2,262 people lost their lives or went missing making the perilous journey.

italy
eu
matteo salvini
libya
mediterranean
refugees
marine accidents
sea-watch


Venezuelans take to the streets at noon to pressure Maduro to step down

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuelans began turning out of their homes and offices at noon Wednesday, filling the streets of Caracas in the latest defiant demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro. Hundreds of opposition supporters gathered in the early stages of a second nationwide protest called by National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who is appealing to world leaders and, crucially, the armed forces to recognize him as the rightful head of state. About 30 people draped in Venezuelan flags and blowing whistles blocked Romulo Gallegos avenue in eastern Caracas, chanting “Guaido! Guaido!” Near Altamira’s business district, men and women in office clothes walked out of their buildings and stood on the sidewalks. Passing cars honked to join in the protest. “I want to see my country free; enough of so much repression. I am here for my son, for my family and for all my friends who have left the country,’ said 40-year-old Nancy Torres, a physiotherapist who lives in the Horizonte neighborhood. “We don’t have food, we don’t have medicine, they are killing us. We want free elections.” Two dozen people in Palo Verde, a working-class neighborhood near Petare, Caracas’s biggest slum, chanted “We are not afraid!” They held signs reading, “Petare needs humanitarian aid.” Major demonstrations kicked off in the crisis-wracked country last week after Guaido, the 35-year-old head of the National Assembly, invoked a resolution in Venezuela’s charter that would let him lead an interim government in the absence of a legitimate president. The U.S. and more than a dozen other nations quickly recognized Guaido and are pressuring Maduro to step down, accusing him of rigging his re-election last year and leading the once-rich country into ruinous poverty. On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Venezuelan crude, the country’s only significant export, and froze state bank accounts and assets. Last week, the European Union demanded the regime convene fresh elections within eight days. Guaido has called for another nationwide protest Saturday when the EU’s deadline expires. Despite dismal approval ratings and risking further imperiling the economy, Maduro has refused to back down. The 56-year-old anointed successor to the late Hugo Chavez insists his opponents are launching a U.S.-backed “coup” to end two decades of socialist rule. Since Guaido has laid claim to the presidency, Maduro has been touring the nation’s military installations as top generals and admirals swear their allegiance to him on state television. But in the downtown Caracas working-class neighborhood of La Candelaria, some were unswayed. “It’s unfair people are dying due to lack of medicine,” Morelia Obelmejia, a 63-year-old homemaker, said Wednesday. “There is no rule of law anymore and Maduro doesn’t seem to care that we’re starving. They say they’re socialist and democrats, but they’re not.”

venezuela
caracas
nicolas maduro
juan guaido
u.s .


Storage of nuclear waste a 'global crisis' as stockpile reaches 250,000 tons, Greenpeace warns

Abstract: PARIS - Nuclear waste is piling up around the world even as countries struggle to dispose of spent fuel that will remain highly toxic for many thousands of years, Greenpeace detailed in a report Wednesday. An analysis of waste storage facilities in seven countries with nuclear power revealed that several were near saturation, the anti-nuclear nongovernmental organization said. All these nations also confronted other problems that have yet to be fully contained: fire risk, venting of radioactive gases, environmental contamination, failure of containers, terrorist attacks and escalating costs. “More than 65 years after the start of the civil use of nuclear power, not a single country can claim that it has the solution to manage the most dangerous radioactive wastes,” Shaun Burnie, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace Germany and coordinator of the report, said in a statement. In particular, storing waste material from nuclear power reactors deep in the ground — the most researched long-term storage technology — “has shown major flaws which exclude it for now as a credible option,” he said. Currently, there is a global stockpile of around 250,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel distributed across 14 countries. Most of this fuel remains in so-called cooling pools at reactor sites that lack secondary containment and remain vulnerable to a loss of cooling. Some lack a source of back-up power. The partial meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 made clear that the high-heat hazard of spent fuel pools is not hypothetical. The 100-page report, compiled by a panel of experts, dissected shortcomings in the management of voluminous waste in France, which has the second-largest nuclear reactor fleet (58), after the United States (about 100). “There is no credible solution for long-term safe disposal of nuclear waste in France,” the report said. French oversight bodies have already raised concerns about capacity of massive cooling pools in Normandy at the La Hague site. In response, energy giant Orana, which manages the site, said in a statement that “there is not risk of saturation of the pools in La Hague until 2030.” In the United States, billions of dollars and decades of planning have failed to secure a geological disposal site, the report notes. The Yucca Mountain underground facility — decades in construction — was finally canceled in 2010 by the Obama administration. Some 70 percent of spent fuel in the United States remains in vulnerable cooling pools, often in densities several times greater than originally intended. Nuclear waste from uranium mining is also a major environmental concern. The world’s inventory of uranium mill tailings — sandy waste material that can seep into the local environment — was estimated at more than 2 billion tons as of 2011. The other countries covered in the report are Belgium, Japan, Sweden, Finland and Britain.

nuclear waste
fukushima no . 1
nuclear energy


E-cigarettes nearly twice as effective at helping smokers quit than patches or gum, study finds

Abstract: LONDON - E-cigarettes are almost twice as effective at helping smokers quit as nicotine replacement treatments such as patches, lozenges and gum, according to the results of a major clinical trial. The study, involving almost 900 smokers, found that 18 percent of e-cigarette users were smoke-free after a year, compared to 9.9 percent who tried quitting using other products. “This is great news for cigarette smokers who want to quit,” said Richard Miech, from the University of Michigan in the United States who has studied e-cigarettes but was not involved in this trial. “This evidence is persuasive.” E-cigarettes have no tobacco, but contain nicotine-laced liquids that the user inhales in a vapor. Many big tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and Japan Tobacco, sell e-cigarettes. Using e-cigarettes, or “vaping,” is considered by many health experts to be an effective way for smokers to give up tobacco, but the scientific community has been divided over their potential public health benefits. Independent experts said the latest trial, funded by Britain’s National Institute for Health Research and carried out by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, was robust and well-conducted. Some research has previously suggested e-cigarettes might help smokers cut back or quit altogether, but other studies have raised concerns about their use among teenagers. This study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found a stronger e-cigarette effect than previous trials. The researchers said this might be due to the inclusion of smokers seeking help, the provision of face-to-face support and allowing the e-cigarette users to choose their own liquids. In the trial, 886 smokers were randomly divided into groups to receive either up to three months’ supply of nicotine replacement products such as patches, gum, lozenges and sprays, or an e-cigarette starter pack with one or two bottles of liquid and encouragement to buy their own choice of future supplies. All participants were also tested to see if they were still smoking tobacco cigarettes, and had weekly one-to-one support for at least four weeks. The researchers said one reason e-cigarettes were found to be more effective may be that they allow for better tuning of nicotine doses to individual needs. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, a behavioral expert at Britain’s Oxford University, said the study adds to growing evidence that e-cigarettes can improve health by helping smokers quit. “More research is needed on the effects of long-term electronic cigarette use, but experts agree e-cigarettes are considerably less harmful than smoking, so switching … is likely to bring substantial health gains,” she said.


Siberian cave findings shed light on enigmatic extinct Denisovan human species

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Scientists using sophisticated techniques to determine the age of bone fragments, teeth and artifacts unearthed in a Siberian cave have provided new insight into a mysterious extinct human species that may have been more advanced than previously known. Research published on Wednesday shed light on the species called Denisovans, known only from scrappy remains from Denisova Cave in the foothills of the Altai Mountains in Russia. While still enigmatic, they left a genetic mark on our species, Homo sapiens, particularly among indigenous populations in Papua New Guinea and Australia that retain a small but significant percentage of Denisovan DNA, evidence of past interbreeding between the species. Fossils and DNA traces demonstrated Denisovans were present in the cave from at least 200,000 to 50,000 years ago, and Neanderthals, a closely related extinct human species, were present there between 200,000 and 80,000 years ago, the new research found. Stone tools indicated one or both species may have occupied the cave starting 300,000 years ago. Scientists last year described a Denisova Cave bone fragment of a girl whose mother was a Neanderthal and father a Denisovan, evidence of interbreeding. The girl, nicknamed “Denny,” lived around 100,000 years ago, the new research showed. Pendants made of animal teeth and bone points from the cave were determined to be between 43,000 and 49,000 years old. They may have been crafted by Denisovans, suggesting a degree of intellectual sophistication. “Traditionally these objects are associated in Western Europe with the expansion of our species, and are seen as hallmarks of behavioral modernity, but in this case Denisovans may be their authors,” said archaeological scientist Katerina Douka of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. Our species arose in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, later spreading worldwide. There is no evidence Homo sapiens had reached Denisova Cave when these objects were made. Denisovans are known only from three teeth and one finger bone. “New fossils would be especially welcome, as we know almost nothing about the physical appearance of Denisovans, aside from them having rather chunky teeth,” said geochronologist Zenobia Jacobs of the University of Wollongong in Australia. “Their DNA in modern Australian Aboriginal and New Guinean people tantalizingly suggests they may have been quite widespread in Asia, and possible even southeast Asia, but we need to find some hard evidence of their presence in these regions to flesh out the full story of the Denisovans,” added University of Wollongong geochronologist Richard “Bert” Roberts. The research was published in the journal Nature.

denisovans
russia
homo sapiens
papua new guinea
neanderthals
evolution
siberia


'Avalanche of evidence' against 'El Chapo,' prosecutors say at U.S. trial

Abstract: NEW YORK - The “avalanche of evidence” presented against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman at his New York trial over the past three months shows he is guilty of trafficking tons of drugs to the United States, prosecutors said Wednesday. In closing arguments, U.S. Attorney Andrea Goldbarg pointed to the evidence presented by her team — testimony from 56 people, including 14 of Guzman’s former employees, as well as dozens of phone calls between the accused drug lord and others, intercepted text messages and letters he wrote from prison. “We’ve presented an avalanche of evidence,” she told the 12 members of the jury under the watchful eye of 61-year-old Guzman, dressed in a dark suit, and his ex-beauty queen wife, Emma Coronel. “All this evidence shows the defendant is guilty of the counts.” The prosecution placed rifles — including an AK-47 — a bulletproof vest and a brick of cocaine in front of the jury seized from the cartel. Guzman faces trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges that could see him jailed for life in the United States. Extradited to the United States two years ago, after two spectacular escapes from Mexican prisons, he stands accused of pocketing $14 billion over a quarter-century. “In the opening arguments, we told you this case was about drugs, money and violence,” Goldbarg said. “Over 25 years, the defendant rose to the ranks to become the principal leader of the Sinaloa cartel. His goal was to distribute as much drugs as possible to the United States, his goal was to make millions of dollars in profits.” The prosecutor recalled testimony heard by the jury last week from Chapo’s former hit man, Isaias Valdez Rios — who goes by “Memin” or “Memo” — who told the court that he saw Guzman kill a member of the rival Arellano Felix cartel. The victim had been tortured before he arrived at El Chapo’s camp on the plane of Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, who led the Sinaloa organization with Guzman. “He had burns made with an iron on his back, his shirt was stuck to his skin. He had burns made with a car lighter all over his body. His feet were burned,” said the 39-year-old Valdez Rios. According to the hit man, who later became Guzman’s secretary and pilot, El Chapo became angry when he saw the condition of the man, so he left him locked in a chicken coop for days and buried him alive. The ex-hit man also said Guzman had tortured two other members of the Zetas cartel before throwing them in a bonfire. Guzman’s lawyer have presented him as the scapegoat of a corrupt Mexican government and accused his co-defendant — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is currently on the lam — as the cartel’s true leader. Prosecutors are set to wrap up closing arguments later Wednesday before the Guzman’s attorneys presents theirs — the defense called only one witness before resting their case in a mere 30 minutes — and the jury begins deliberating Friday.

drugs
murder
mexico
joaquin el chapo guzman


Mexican president declares war on drugs over, but critics fear street-level militarization is here to stay

Abstract: MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared the country’s war on drugs over Wednesday, saying his government would no longer prioritize using the army to capture cartel kingpins. However, critics questioned the announcement, pointing out that the leftist president has not taken the army off the streets as he pledged during his campaign, and is proposing the creation of a national guard that opponents say would permanently militarize the country. Mexico has deployed its army since 2006 to fight its powerful drug cartels. But the strategy has been widely criticized. Although it has led to the capture of a string of high-profile kingpins, it has also been accompanied by a tidal wave of violence, as the fragmented cartels wage war on each other and the army. Asked in his daily press briefing if his government had taken down any kingpins since he took office in December, Lopez Obrador said that was no longer the strategy. “There’s no war. There is officially no more war. We want peace, and we are going to achieve peace,” he said. “No capos have been arrested, because that is not our main purpose. The main purpose of the government is to guarantee public safety. … What we want is security, to reduce the daily number of homicides.” Mexico has registered more than 200,000 murders since the military was sent into the streets 13 years ago, and some of its states have homicide rates on par with the most violent countries in the world. Last year was the most violent on record, with 33,341 homicides. Lopez Obrador has proposed a series of social programs he says will end the poverty that drives violent crime. But he is also pushing for a national guard with tens of thousands of soldiers that would officially bring civilian police duties under military control. There is a “clear contradiction” in Lopez Obrador’s statements on Wednesday, said security expert Alejandro Hope. “His anti-crime strategy barely changes anything, it’s not different from that of previous governments, and even accentuates the use of the armed forces for public security,” he said. Rights groups say the national guard plan would militarize the country permanently. The measure, which requires a constitutional amendment, has passed the lower house and must now clear the Senate and half the state legislatures.

drugs
mexico
andres manuel lopez obrador
organized crime


Evidence from Mueller probe was used in disinformation campaign

Abstract: NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors say confidential material from the Russia investigation was altered and released online as part of a disinformation campaign to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, according to a court filing Wednesday. The material had been handed over to defense attorneys for Concord Management and Consulting LLC, a Russian company that Mueller has charged with financing efforts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But the files, which prosecutors say were not sensitive, surfaced online last year in a link posted by a pro-Russian Twitter account. The prosecutors stopped short of accusing Concord of leaking the material, but they argue that the company’s request to have sensitive new evidence sent to Russia “unreasonably risks the national security interests of the United States.” Concord is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman known as “Putin’s chef” for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been hit with U.S. sanctions over Russian interference in the 2016 election and is charged alongside his company in the indictment brought by Mueller. The company is one of three entities and 13 individuals charged in a conspiracy to spread disinformation on social media during Donald Trump’s presidential bid. Concord is the only defendant to respond to the allegations in court, which means its attorneys have access to evidence in the case. In Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors cited a Twitter account that surfaced last year purporting to have a stolen copy of evidence provided to the company. A tweet from the account @HackingRedstone included a link to a webpage that contained file folder names that matched the materials that Mueller had produced. The tweet read, “We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!” Prosecutors say the vast majority of the files released by the Twitter account were actually “junk material that has nothing to do with the case,” and were included along with real files from the investigation in an attempt to discredit it. An FBI analysis of the files found that only about 1,000 of the 300,000 released were real documents provided to Concord by Mueller’s team. The Mueller documents were largely “images of political memes from Facebook and other social media” that were posted during the 2016 election by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian social media troll farm. Concord is accused of funding IRA. Prosecutors say that whoever created the webpage had access to at least some of the material provided by Mueller in the case. They also say the FBI determined the documents were not stolen from government servers. Also Wednesday, Trump said he would let the Justice Department decide how to handle the special counsel’s repor. Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, William Barr, said at his confirmation hearing this month he would allow Mueller to complete the probe and pledged to make as many details of the findings public as he can. Asked in an interview with a conservative website, the Daily Caller, whether he would make the decision on whether to release the Mueller report, Trump said “they’ll have to make their decision within the Justice Department.” Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said on Monday that Mueller’s probe is “close to being completed.” Trump told the Daily Caller he has not spoken to Whitaker about whether the investigation is nearing its conclusion. Whitaker’s comments were the first time a top government official with knowledge of the investigation has publicly said it is in the final stages. Democrats worry that Trump’s administration may try to undercut the investigation, which has clouded Trump’s two years in office and has been a frequent target of the president and his allies. So far, the investigation has ensnared 34 people. Russia rejects the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow ran an operation to hack Democratic Party computers and spread disinformation to undermine candidate Hillary Clinton and the American electoral process. The president dismisses the probe as a political witch hunt and denies collusion with Russia. Mueller’s office most recently indicted a longtime Trump confidant, Republican political operative Roger Stone, on charges of obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to Congress. He has pleaded not guilty. Others in Trump’s orbit charged by prosecutors include former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, his former campaign deputy, Richard Gates, and his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn and former lawyer Michael Cohen.

donald trump
2016 u.s. presidential election
russia probe


'Absolute coldest' deadly deep freeze stretches from U.S. Midwest to Eastern Seaboard

Abstract: CHICAGO - A large swath of the United States was gripped by brutal cold and wind chills on Wednesday as record-low temperatures caused by a blast of Arctic air moved across the Midwest and into Eastern states, prompting residents to stay indoors. Classes were canceled Wednesday and Thursday in Chicago, home of the nation’s third-largest school system, and police warned of the risk of accidents on icy highways. The U.S. Postal Service temporarily set aside its credo about carrying mail regardless of “snow nor rain … nor gloom of night,” and halted deliveries from parts of the Dakotas through Ohio. Temperatures in parts of the Northern Plains and Great Lakes plunged to as low minus 42 Fahrenheit (minus 41 Celsius) in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and minus 31F in Fargo, North Dakota, according to the National Weather Service. Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the service, said the some of the coldest wind chills were recorded in International Falls, Minnesota, at minus 55F (minus 48C). That’s significantly more frigid than an expected low of minus 28F (-33C) with wind chill in Antarctica. “Really today is going to be the absolute coldest across the Northern Plains and across the Midwest … stretching down into the Ohio Valley as well,” Orrison said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Moving forward here, we are going to see a decent amount of this cold air move through the East Coast.” The bitter cold is being carried by the polar vortex, a stream of air that spins around the stratosphere over the North Pole, but whose current has been disrupted and is now pushing south. An Illinois police department found a fictitious cause for the icy blast, posting on Facebook that its officers had arrested Elsa, the frosty character from the Disney movie “Frozen,” for bringing the arctic air to the Midwest. The McLean Police Department shared a staged photo of officers putting a woman dressed in a blue princess gown in pink handcuffs and escorting her into a police car. With officials in Midwest and the Northern states advising residents to stay indoors, dashcam footage from one trucker taken outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, gave a snapshot of hair-raising driving conditions. “I about just got caught in a giant wreck; cars are into other pickups, there’s people hurt. I gotta let you go,” Jason Coffelt is heard saying in an Instagram post on Tuesday, as his truck is forced off the highway and pulls up just before a multivehicle accident. At least five deaths relating to cold weather were reported since Saturday in Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, local media reports said. More than 2,000 flights were canceled early on Wednesday, largely out of Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway international airports, the flight tracking site FlightAware. Train service Amtrak said it would cancel all trains in and out of Chicago on Wednesday. Most federal government offices in Washington D.C. opened three hours late on Wednesday due to the frigid weather already impacting the area.

chicago
weather
amtrak
airlines
u.s. midwest


Maduro rallies military and slams 'mercenaries' as Venezuela opposition plans protest

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro hit out Wednesday at military “mercenaries” he says are conspiring to divide the armed forces and plot a coup as the opposition planned a new protest to force the socialist leader from power. Maduro accused an “oligarchy” in neighboring Colombia of being behind an attempt by military deserters to drive a wedge between himself and his loyal forces, which are key to the leader’s hold on power faced with mounting international support for self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido. Six major Western European countries have set a weekend deadline for Maduro to call elections or they too will recognize Guaido as interim president. In a telephone call, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Guaido on his “historic assumption of the presidency,” giving him a new sense of legitimacy, the White House said. Speaking at a parade of 2,500 military personnel in Caracas, Maduro declared: “Where there are mercenary traitors, justice!” It came just hours before a midday strike announced by opposition leader Guaido. The strike aims to “demand that the armed forces side with the people” after bloody clashes following protests last week left more than 40 people dead and 850 incarcerated. Oil-rich Venezuela has suffered an economic meltdown marked by hyperinflation and shortages of basic necessities that has left millions in poverty, while 2.3 million more have fled the country. “Venezuela has risen up to dream of the country we want to be,” said Guaido. “We must take to the street.” In an interview with the German daily Bild, he called on EU countries to impose more sanctions on Maduro’s government. The U.S. slapped oil sanctions on Maduro’s regime earlier this week in an attempt to starve the government of its funding. Another mass street demonstration is planned for Saturday. National Assembly president Guaido wants Maduro to step down so he can set up a transitional government ahead of new elections. In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti agency, Maduro said he was willing to negotiate with the opposition and, mockingly, even offered to bring forward parliamentary elections. “I am ready to sit down at the negotiating table with the opposition so that we could talk for the good of Venezuela,” said Maduro, 56. “It would be very good to conduct parliamentary elections at an earlier stage.” But France said Maduro has not responded to an EU demand for elections. Although in opposition hands since 2015, parliament has been sidelined since 2016 as the regime-loyalist dominated Supreme Court annuls its every decision. Maduro created a rival legislature — the Constituent Assembly — made up exclusively of his supporters. What Guaido and the National Assembly are demanding, though, is presidential elections, something Maduro is unwilling to countenance. “Presidential elections in Venezuela have taken place, and if imperialists want new elections let them wait until 2025,” he said in an apparent reference to Washington. The United States, the European Union and many Latin American countries joined the opposition in dismissing the legitimacy of presidential elections Maduro won in May. Several opposition leaders were unable to stand due to being imprisoned, exiled or barred, leading to a boycott from their parties. Guaido, 35, says Maduro is “illegitimate” and launched a direct challenge to the former bus driver’s authority last week when he declared himself acting president. He has received backing from the U.S. and several major countries but it is the support of the military that he needs most to drive Maduro out of power. The military high command remains loyal to Maduro but Guaido has tried to convince the rank and file to switch sides. Last week, a group of soldiers rose up against Maduro, while Venezuela’s military attache to Washington deserted the president on Saturday. The U.S. has urged Venezuela’s armed forces to “accept the peaceful, democratic and constitutional transfer of power.” “The regime is in its final throes,” said Guaido. The United States has refused to rule out military intervention in Venezuela and Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton was even photographed on Monday at the White House holding a notepad with the scrawled line: “5,000 troops to Colombia.” A furious Maduro said Trump would have “blood all over his hands” if violence breaks out in Venezuela. In a tweet, he urged the opposition to “ignore the imperialist calls” and reiterated his offer of dialogue to Guaido. He has previously accused the U.S. of trying to orchestrate a coup.

military
venezuela
nicolas maduro
colombia
juan guaido
donald trump
russia
u.s .


Beyond Trump's divisive wall, U.S. Republicans and Democrats seek common ground on border security

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s planned “great, great wall” began morphing into a physical barrier and an array of high-tech gadgets in congressional talks launched on Wednesday to forge a compromise on security at the U.S. border with Mexico. Although there were no guarantees a deal could be reached by a Feb. 15 deadline, lawmakers on both sides showed a willingness to avoid ultimatums and seek common ground. Some negotiators from Trump’s Republican Party avoided uttering the word “wall” during the 17-member border security panel’s first session on Wednesday. They spoke of a mix of enforcement tools, as Democrats had urged. The long, contentious debate over one of Trump’s biggest 2016 campaign promises — a concrete border wall financed by Mexico — entered a new stage with the committee’s launch last week ending a 35-day partial closure of the government. Lawmakers have an opportunity, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said, to choose “all of the above” for border investments, “including physical barriers where it makes sense.” Even Trump’s early morning Twitter message on the committee’s urgent work left some wiggle room on the wall. “If the committee of Republicans and Democrats now meeting on Border Security is not discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!” he tweeted. The Feb. 15 deadline was imposed when Trump agreed last week to end the shutdown and give lawmakers another chance to forge a deal or face another closure. At a news conference, Democrats handed out a fact sheet they described as their opening proposal. It included no money for a wall or physical barriers, but House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey said: “Everything’s on the table.” But she added: “Smart border security is not overly reliant on physical barriers, which the Trump administration has failed to demonstrate are cost effective compared to better technology and more personnel.” Instead of Trump’s wall, Democrats have been urging investment in high-tech equipment to enhance border security, such as drones, sensors and advanced scanning equipment, along with additional law enforcement personnel. On Dec. 22, about a quarter of the U.S. government closed, leaving 800,000 federal workers without pay for the next five weeks. The shutdown was prompted by Trump’s demand that any shutdown-ending legislation contain $5.7 billion for his wall. Mexico long ago refused to pay for it. Trump now wants U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for a project that some estimates have shown could cost more than $23 billion. He says it is needed to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs. Democrats broadly support more border security, but oppose the wall and stood firm against Trump’s demand that money for it be part of a bill to end the shutdown. Trump temporarily gave up that demand on Friday and agreed to the committee. Congress has until Feb. 15 to pass a package to fund several federal agencies through Sept. 30. That gives lawmakers little more than a week to settle their differences and leave time for both houses of Congress to debate and vote on any deal. Trump said on in an interview with the Daily Caller on Wednesday that it was highly unlikely he would be willing to include the status of “Dreamer” immigrants in the border security negotiations. Trump, in an unsuccessful attempt to secure wall funding and end the government shutdown in January, had offered temporary protection from deportation for the immigrants brought to the United States illegally when they were children. A top House Democrat said on Tuesday he did not expect the issue to be part of the current negotiations. Trump has moved off his demand for a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) concrete barrier and now talks about either a wall or “physical barrier” on only some parts of the border. Democrats in the past have backed “fencing.” The Department of Homeland Security says 654 miles (1,050 km) of pedestrian and vehicle barriers already exist. Democrats repeatedly have voted for $1.3 billion in added border funds for this year. Late last year, Trump even signaled his willingness to go along with that figure before reversing course and insisting on $5.7 billion for his wall. Wednesday’s committee meeting might be the only public session, with future sessions likely behind closed doors. If lawmakers do not craft a deal Trump likes, he has threatened two possible next steps: another shutdown, or declaring a “national emergency” and taking existing funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes — possibly from the Defense Department, for example — to build his wall. There is bipartisan opposition in Congress to the emergency strategy, which likely would spark a legal challenge.

donald trump
congress
immigration
_analysis


Trump reaffirms U.S. support in call with Venezuela's Juan Guaido

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, agreed during a Wednesday phone call to maintain regular contact amid planned protests in coming days, according to a White House spokeswoman. Trump spoke with Guiado “to reinforce President Trump’s strong support for Venezuela’s fight to regain its democracy,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement. Washington has recognized Guaido, an opposition leader and head of Venezuela’s national assembly, as the president of the country. In an interview with CNN that aired on Tuesday, Guaido said he had spoken with Trump a number of times. When asked about a possible military option in Venezuela, Guaido said all options were on the table, CNN said. Meanwhile in an interview with Moscow’s RIA news agency, Venezuela’s socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro, accused Trump of ordering his assassination while his main global backer, Russia, called on Wednesday for mediation in a standoff deepening geopolitical splits. The fight to control Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, has intensified with new U.S. sanctions and legal moves that may bring Guaido’s arrest.

venezuela
juan guaido
donald trump
sarah sanders
nicolas maduro
russia
u.s .


Colder than the South Pole: Deadly deep freeze grips U.S. Midwest

Abstract: CHICAGO - A blast of icy polar air brought dangerously low temperatures to the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, causing at least three more deaths while halting mail services and forcing residents who pride themselves on their winter hardiness to huddle indoors. Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said some of the coldest wind chills were recorded in International Falls, Minnesota, at minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 48 Celsius). Even the South Pole was warmer, with an expected low of minus 24 F (minus 31 C) with wind chill. Classes were canceled for Wednesday and Thursday for students across the region, including Chicago, home of the nation’s third-largest school system, and police warned of the risk of accidents on icy highways. Michigan said all state offices would remain closed through Thursday. In a rare move, the U.S. Postal Service appeared to set aside its credo that “neither snow nor rain” would stop its work as it halted deliveries from parts of the Dakotas through Ohio. At least eight deaths related to extreme cold weather have been reported since Saturday in Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to officials and media reports. More than a thousand flights — close to two-thirds of those scheduled — were canceled on Wednesday into or out of Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway international airports, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. Amtrak canceled all trains into and out of Chicago on Wednesday. The bitter cold was caused by a displacement of the polar vortex, a stream of air that normally spins around the stratosphere over the North Pole, but whose current was disrupted and was now pushing south. Officials opened warming centers across the Midwest, and in Chicago, police stations were open to anyone seeking refuge. The Michigan Agency for Energy said the state’s utility companies had agreed not to shut off gas or electric supplies to delinquent customers for the rest of the week.


Iran ships 30 tons of uranium ore to enrichment facility in Isfahan, ostensibly for nuclear plant fuel

Abstract: GENEVA - Iran has sent a large batch of mined uranium yellowcake for processing ahead of shipment to its main enrichment facility, Iran’s state news agency reported on Wednesday in the latest sign of plans to step up its atomic activities. Yellowcake, or uranium ore, can be further processed into enriched uranium to make fuel for nuclear power plants, Iran’s stated aim, or to provide material for atomic bombs if refined much more, which the West fears may be the Islamic Republic’s ultimate goal. U.S.-Iranian tensions have resurged since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear accord, calling it deeply flawed. Under the deal, Iran restricted its enrichment program to ease concerns it could not be put to developing nuclear weapons and in return won relief from sanctions. Thirty tons of yellowcake from a production plant in the city of Ardakan in central Iran was sent to a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan on Wednesday, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. This appears to be the second time a consignment of yellowcake has been delivered to the facility, which was reopened in June after lying idle for nine years. The activity is permissible under the nuclear deal, which allows Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent — far below the 90 percent of weapons grade — and caps its stock of enriched uranium hexafluoride at 300 kg. Yellowcake is converted into a gas called uranium hexafluoride (UF6) before enrichment. The shipment will subsequently be sent to the Natanz nuclear facility for enrichment, according to IRNA. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in June that the plant for the production of UF6, the feedstock for centrifuge machines that enrich uranium, had been relaunched at the Isfahan uranium conversion facility and a barrel of yellowcake had been delivered there.


Australia's river agency pilloried for 'gross negligence' and ignoring climate science after mass fish die-off

Abstract: SYDNEY - The authority that oversees Australia’s largest river system was accused of “maladministration,” “gross negligence” and ignoring climate science Thursday, when its waterways were carpeted with hundreds of thousands of dead fish. A Royal Commission report into the Murray-Darling Basin Authority — which happened to coincide with a series of mass fish kills — was scathing in its assessment, accusing the body of illegality. The Murray-Darling Basin is a river network sprawling for 1 million square kilometers (400,000 square miles), about twice the size of Spain. It affects the livelihood of millions of people but had been overexploited for years and seriously depleted by drought. A South Australian inquest said the authority acted unlawfully in setting water levels and had “completely ignored” climate change projections. “Politics rather than science ultimately drove the setting” of limits on the amount of water that could be taken out of the river, the report said. The commission charged that the authority failed to be guided by “environmental priorities,” as required by law. “It is an unlawful approach. It is maladministration.” An investigation by the national broadcaster the ABC in 2017 found billions of liters slated for environmental flows was being used to irrigate farmland in New South Wales. A review of water management compliance in 2017 found inconsistent and poor enforcement in some states. The report comes as debate rages over a series of mass fish kills over the past few weeks in rivers connected to the Murray-Darling. Up to a million were killed last month — with scientists pointing to low water and oxygen levels as well as possibly toxic algae — in drought battered eastern Australia. The royal commission recommended a complete overhaul of the water river management plan, with revised levels based on “the best available scientific knowledge.”

australia
rivers
fish
drought
climate change
pollution


Tired of army rule, Thai youth are a rising force ahead of March election

Abstract: BANGKOK - Standing atop the stairs outside his university auditorium, 20-year-old activist Parit Chiwarak led a protest of hundreds of people calling for an end to Thailand’s ruling military junta. “The military is supposed to protect the country, not fight the people,” he called out to students gathered last month at Thammasat, one of Thailand’s most prestigious universities. “We want elections,” they chanted, many of them waving fans emblazoned with hearts reading “Love Democracy.” Thailand is scheduled to hold its first election since the army seized power in a 2014 coup within two months. The March 24 vote could be swayed by young people, many of them newly politicized and active in a way that has rarely been seen since state forces crushed student pro-democracy movements in the 1970s. Voters aged 18-35 now make up just over a quarter of the electorate of about 50 million. Of those, 7 million are eligible to vote for the first time. While it is not clear which way youngsters will vote, many say they do not favor the junta and the military-backed parties that have been formed to contest the election. Young Thais for years have been seen as politically apathetic. Many say they were turned off by years of paralyzing street protests by Thailand’s two rival factions, the Red Shirt loyalists of exiled ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and establishment Yellow Shirt pro-military royalist groups. But nearly five years of direct military rule has led to a small but determined movement of young people calling for change. “Young people today are not like before. We’re more politically engaged, and we’re a large voter base,” said Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, a 22-year-old student activist. “This is an all-important election for us. It’s more than a transition of politicians, but a testimony whether we accept dictatorship, a life-and-death moment for our future.” A December poll by King Prajadhipok’s Institute found that 90 percent of young voters aged 18 to 24 surveyed said they would vote in the next election, a departure from conventional wisdom that Thai youth are apathetic where politics are concerned. That compares to only 37.9 percent of Thais aged 15 to 25 who said they were “quite interested or very interested” in politics ahead of Thailand’s last election in 2010 . “Young people are creating ripples and are more politically awakened,” said Anusorn Unno, a lecturer at Thammasat University. Most of the student activism has focused mainly on calling for elections and has not translated into support for any party. One new political party is making direct appeals to the youth vote part of its platform. The Future Forward party, led by the charismatic heir to an auto-parts manufacturing empire, promises a new kind of politics that weakens the military and moves beyond the red-yellow conflicts. “The young people grew up in a highly divisive society. They don’t see this as the new normal; they seek a way out. They seek change,” said party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who at 40 is at least a decade younger than other major parties’ likely prime ministerial candidates, all in their 50s and 60s. Future Forward, made up almost entirely of young progressives with zero experience in politics, touts left-wing policies including scrapping obligatory military conscription for young men and ending economic monopolies for wealthy families. Also making appeals to youth are two of the biggest established parties, roughly associated with the Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt rival camps that have taken to the streets in the past decade. For the Pheu Thai party, which has won every election since 2001 and is linked to the Red Shirts, there are rampant social media memes of its possible prime ministerial candidate, Chatchart Sittiphan. He is portrayed as The Hulk, among other pop culture references. Another prominent Pheu Thai candidate, long-time politician Sudarat Keyuraphan, often takes her teenage daughter on her campaign tours. The rival Democrat party, whose opposition to Thaksin gained some support from the Yellow Shirt movement, also heavily promotes its New Dem wing of young politicians including the party leader’s 26-year-old nephew, Parit Wacharasindhu, who promised to bring more youth agendas to government. Even junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha has a few youthful fans- though they are harder to find. “He’s obviously not corrupt like previous governments,” said Penumpai Phumxusri, 27, said of Prayuth, a former general. In recent decades, youth activism in Thailand has been muted, haunted by the violent crackdown on student uprisings in the 1970s. On Oct. 6, 1976, state forces and royalist mobs attacked a group of about 2,000 students inside Thammasat University and killed dozens, accusing them of sympathizing with left-leaning revolutions sweeping through the region at the time. Now, several youth activists have taken to calling the junta a “dictatorship.” Small protests are held and satirical cartoons targeting the military have appeared on social media and as street art. Last year, a music group called Rap Against Dictatorship released a song that notched up about 54 million views on YouTube, with lyrics calling Thailand “a country where the Parliament is the military’s living room.” Social media-savvy youth also took their frustration to Twitter in January with a hashtag translated roughly as “not another damn delay,” when the junta said a Feb. 24 election date would be postponed again. “I have seen a lot of changes in the youths over the past year, like with the rap song and the hashtag, which indicate how much they value their rights and liberties,” said Anusorn, the Thammasat lecturer. “When the polls roll around, the young and especially the new voters will turn up in high numbers.”

elections thailand military rights _asia


Malaysia enthrones king after predecessor's abdication and reported marriage to ex-Miss Moscow

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia on Thursday installed a new king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, after the last monarch abdicated in a historic first following his reported marriage to a Russian ex-beauty queen. In a ceremony steeped in pomp and centuries of tradition, the sports-loving sultan, dressed in aqua blue formal wear, took the oath of office at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur. The ceremony was televised nationally and attended by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and hundreds of guests decked out in Islamic finery. Before being sworn in at the palace, the 59-year-old, who is also the ceremonial ruler of central Pahang state, was given a welcome at the national Parliament and inspected a guard of honor. His predecessor, Sultan Muhammad V, stepped aside this month following just two years on the throne after he went on medical leave. Reports then surfaced he had married a former Miss Moscow. No official reason was given for his abdication, but it was the first time a king had stepped aside before the end of his term in the Muslim-majority country. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between royal rulers of the country’s nine states. Pahang was next in line for the throne after Muhammad V stepped down, and Sultan Abdullah was formally chosen as the country’s 16th king by Malaysia’s royal families last week. The new king is an avid athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies. He is on the council of world soccer governing body FIFA, president of the Asian Hockey Association, and used to be the head of the Football Association of Malaysia. After attending school in Malaysia, the keen polo player went on to study in Britain where he attended the Sandhurst military academy, according to a biography published on official news agency Bernama. Despite the merely ceremonial role, Malaysia’s Islamic royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, the country’s majority group, and criticizing them is strictly forbidden. Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military. Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to the 15th century. The king is referred to as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or “He Who Is Made Lord.”

malaysia
sultan abdullah sultan ahmad shah
sultan muhammad v
royalty


U.N. panel to accuse South Korea of violating sanctions with petroleum shipments to North, sources say

Abstract: NEW YORK - A report by a U.N. panel will accuse South Korea of failing to notify the Security Council of its shipments of petroleum products to North Korea in breach of international sanctions, diplomatic sources say. It will be the first time for the sanctions committee on North Korea under the 15-member council to say that Seoul has violated U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang. South Korea has been stepping up efforts to improve relations with North Korea since last year. The panel is also expected to say North Korea illegally sold fishing rights to other countries in contravention of Security Council resolutions. The panel’s annual report is expected to show that vessels carrying North Korean fishing licenses were operating in waters between the Korean Peninsula and neighboring countries. The claim is based on information provided by two unnamed member states — one identified as Japan, according to officials in Tokyo. It is anticipated that information obtained from fishermen will reveal that around 200 Chinese fishing vessels were operating in North Korean waters, and that the price of a single fishing license cost about 50,000 yuan ($7,250) per month. South Korea allegedly did not notify the Security Council of its deliveries of petroleum products for use at a joint liaison office set up in September in Kaesong, just inside the North Korean side of the border. South Korea brought about 340 tons of such products to North Korea between January and November last year, which appear to have chiefly been used for powering and heating purposes at the office. During the period, Seoul did not report on the shipments as required under U.N. sanctions aimed at suffocating funding for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It brought back about 4 tons of unused products. South Korea has normally filed requests to get council permission to deliver banned items to the North. The sources said Seoul did not do so about the shipments of petroleum products to Kaesong in view of the perceived difficulty of gaining consent, including from the United States in prior consultations. In December 2017, the Security Council capped refined petroleum product exports to North Korea at 500,000 barrels annually, down from 2 million barrels a year, following Pyongyang’s test-firing the previous month of a new type of long-range missile. The measure requires all U.N. member nations to provide a report to the sanctions committee every 90 days on the amount of crude oil shipped to North Korea. Russia and China, which maintain close ties with Pyongyang, have since adhered to the rule. North and South Korea opened the joint liaison office in line with an agreement at an inter-Korean summit in April. It is designed to keep the two Koreas in constant contact while becoming a regular channel to improve relations. The office is located in a facility in the Kaesong industrial park used for a joint economic cooperation project between the two Koreas. The industrial park was shuttered in February 2016 amid worsening ties between the nations. The office is also used as a venue for inter-Korean consultations. Electricity to power the facility has been supplied by the South. The sanctions committee comprising eight experts in such areas as nuclear nonproliferation and export trade control is scheduled to compile a new report detailing Pyongyang’s sanctions violations by Friday and make it public later. A summit last June between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump produced a vague commitment by Kim to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but he has yet to take what Washington sees as concrete steps in that direction. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was dispatching a team to make preparations for the next summit between the two, to be held somewhere in Asia late in February. In an interview with Fox News Channel, Pompeo said the North Koreans had agreed the second summit between the two leaders would be held at the end of February. “We’ll do it someplace in Asia,” he said. “I am dispatching a team there. They’re headed that way now to lay the foundations for what I hope will be a substantial additional step towards the path for not only denuclearization of the peninsula but a brighter future for the North Korean people.” Pompeo did not name the summit venue. Vietnam said last week it had not been informed about any time or venue for a possible Trump-Kim summit, but that it was confident in its ability to host such a meeting. Officials and diplomats said two weeks ago that Vietnam was keen to host the summit and two sources said Hanoi was preparing to receive Kim on a state visit. Singapore, where Trump and Kim met in June, and Bangkok have also been talked about as possibilities for the planned summit.

south korea
sanctions
north korea
u.n .
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
kim-trump summit


Indian police arrest founder of Love Commandos, group that helps couples who defy families

Abstract: NEW DELHI - The head of Love Commandos, an organization that offers shelter to runaway lovers, has been arrested in Delhi for extortion and abuse of desperate couples, officials said Thursday. The group became well known for providing safe houses and legal advice to couples who defied family, religious and caste pressures to get married in the conservative country. Love Commandos founder Sanjoy Sachdev was arrested on Tuesday night after police raided one of the shelter homes with members from the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) and freed four couples. “It was observed that (Sachdev) was indulging in illegal confinement and extortion of the couples behind the facade of providing a safe home to the victims,” the DCW, an official body, said in a statement. The four couples found during the raid said they were forced to pay arbitrary sums as fees and threatened if they tried to leave, the statement added. Former journalist Sachdev launched Love Commandos in 2010 after coming to the aid of a young man falsely accused of rape by the family of the woman he wanted to marry. The vast majority of marriages in India are arranged by families, and couples who defy the tradition to marry outside caste and religion face a severe backlash. Hundreds each year are the victims of “honor killings” by close relatives to protect the family’s reputation. “Couples facing the threat of honor killing in our nation undergo immense trauma,” DCW chief Swati Maliwal said. “For an NGO to extort and abuse these vulnerable youngsters in the name of helping them is extremely shameful and tragic.”

india
love commandos
marriage
tradition
discrimination