Islamic State fighter wants to return to Italy, warns of 'sleeper cells'

Abstract: QAMISHLI, SYRIA - An Islamic State fighter detained in Syria urged Italy on Saturday to let him come home to start a new life, saying he had abandoned the self-styled jihadi “caliphate” after growing disillusioned with its rulers. Mounsef al-Mkhayar, a 22-year-old of Moroccan descent who grew up in Italy, spoke to Reuters in his first interview since surrendering to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) two months ago. He has been in prison since emerging from Baghouz, a tiny village in eastern Syria where the SDF is poised to wipe out the last vestige of Islamic State rule — which once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria. Mkhayar gave an account of growing chaos among jihadi fighters on the brink of defeat, and of disputes in the ranks as top commanders fled Syria. But he said Islamic State was also planning for the next phase, smuggling out hundreds of men to set up sleeper cells across Iraq and eastern Syria: “They said ‘We must get revenge.’ ” Mkhayar is one of thousands from all over the world who were drawn to the promise of an ultraradical Sunni Islamist utopia overriding national borders. Kurdish security officials identified him as Italian and he said he holds Italian citizenship. “I wish to return to Italy to my family and friends … for them to accept and help me to live a new life,” said Mkhayar, who walks on crutches after shelling injured his leg. “I just want to get out of this movie, I’m tired.” However, Mkhayar was sentenced to eight years in jail by a Milan court in 2017 for spreading Islamic State propaganda and trying to recruit Italians to its cause, Italian media say. As a result, he is likely to have to serve this sentence if he does return to Italy. Reuters interviewed him at a security office in northern Syria in the presence of an SDF official. As it nears victory, the SDF has struggled with the dilemma of holding fighters who traveled from abroad to join Islamic State along with women and children. Before the final assault on Baghouz, the Kurdish-led SDF said it had around 800 foreign militants in jails and 2,000 of their wives and children in camps. Since then, the numbers have ballooned. The SDF wants them sent back to where they came from. But foreign governments generally do not want to receive citizens who may be hard to legally prosecute, and who pledged allegiance to a caliphate that left behind of a trail of butchery. Once an atheist with an affinity for rap music and a dream of moving to America, Mkhayar joined Islamic State at 18. He said he had spent most of his life in Milan with an aunt he calls his mother, before being placed in a home for troubled youths overseen by an Italian priest. He spent a month in prison on drugs charges. Then he began immersing himself in Islamic State videos on YouTube and speaking to recruiters on Facebook. It took him only a month to decide to move to Syria with a friend four years ago. His friend was later killed on the battlefield. After military and religious training, Mkhayar fought on various fronts. As Islamic State lost its Syrian headquarters at Raqqa, he left for Mayadin on the Euphrates river in Iraq, then moved further east across the desert, towards the Iraqi border. Amid a string of military defeats in eastern Syria, Islamic State leaders were in disarray, killing off rival clerics and commanders known as emirs, Mkhayar said. He said he had tried to quit the fighting but had been imprisoned, and then dispatched back to the frontlines as attacks intensified. He wound up in Baghouz, where he said the jihadis were split between wanting to give up or fight to the death. Mkhayar said his wife, a Syrian Kurdish woman from Kobani whom he had married three years ago, helped convince him to leave. “‘That’s it,’ we said, ‘we’re getting out’. I saw my little daughter turning weak. I was scared my children would die.” Mkhayar said he could not sleep thinking about his wife and two daughters in a camp for displaced people in another part of northeast Syria. His wife is due to give birth in a month. He said he still believed in the idea of a caliphate for Muslims, but accused Islamic State rulers of governing their land like “a mafia,” seeking only to make money and violating their own rules with impunity. Commanders had stolen money and fled to Turkey, Iraq or Western Europe while ordering people to stay and defend Islam, he said. “This is my belief and I won’t change it, but here in Islamic State, in reality this doesn’t exist … There is no justice,” he said. “Honestly, I came here too fast … When I arrived, I found another story.”

islamic state
italy
syria
conflict
terrorism


No survivors on crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight: state TV

Abstract: ADDIS ABABA - An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s capital Sunday morning, killing all 157 people thought to be on board, the airline and state broadcaster said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November, records show. The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself Africa’s largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to the continent. Its statement said 149 passengers and eight crew members were thought to be on the plane that crashed six minutes after departing Addis Ababa on its way to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. The crash occurred around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, at 8:44 a.m. The plane showed unstable vertical speed after takeoff, air traffic monitor Flightradar 24 said in a Twitter post. Visibility appeared to be clear. State broadcaster EBC reported all passengers were dead and that the passengers included 33 nationalities. An Ethiopian Airlines spokesman said 32 Kenyans and 17 Ethiopians were among the victims. Grieving family members gathered at Bole Airport. A statement by the Ethiopian prime minister’s office offered its “deepest condolences” to families. Kenya’s transport minister, James Macharia, told reporters that authorities had not yet received the passenger manifest. He said an emergency response had been set up for family and friends. “My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said, as many Kenyans braced for the worst. In October, another Boeing 737-8 MAX plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, killing all 189 people onboard the Lion Air flight. The cockpit data recorder showed that the jet’s airspeed indicator had malfunctioned on its last four flights, though Lion Air initially claimed that problems with the aircraft had been fixed. The last deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was in 2010, when the plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Beirut killing all 90 people on board. Sunday’s crash comes as the country’s reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has vowed to open up the airline and other sectors to foreign investment in a major transformation of the state-centered economy. Ethiopian Airlines has been expanding assertively, recently opening a route to Moscow and in January inaugurating a new passenger terminal in Addis Ababa to triple capacity. Speaking at the inauguration, the prime minister challenged the airline to build a new “Airport City” terminal in Bishoftu — where Sunday’s crash occurred.


Turnout in French 'yellow vest' protests falls to lowest yet

Abstract: PARIS - Turnout at “yellow vest” protests across France, a backlash against high living costs that has lasted nearly four months, fell on Saturday to its lowest level yet. People wearing the neon high-visibility vests that have come to symbolize the movement were joined in Paris by others donning pink tops, as child-care workers turned out against a reform of their unemployment subsidies. Demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees avenue were pushed back at one point by water cannon, and sporadic clashes with police erupted in other cities including Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse, though the protests largely passed off peacefully. Some protesters staged a “flash mob” at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, waving French flags and dancing in one of the terminals, television footage on BFM TV showed. Some 28,600 people turned out overall, according to the interior ministry, with 3,000 of those in Paris — down from 39,300 across France the previous Saturday, and a far cry from the nearly 300,000 who blocked roads and marched in cities in mid-November. Some campaigners are calling for a bigger show of force next weekend, when a series of town hall-style debates launched by President Emmanuel Macron to try to quell anger is due to end. What started out last November as an outcry against Macron’s plan to hike fuel taxes — part of his bid to push a cleaner energy model — has morphed into a broader, leaderless movement decrying the government as out of touch with the hardships faced by some households and low-income workers. Macron dropped the fuel tax increase and budgeted an extra €10 billion ($11 billion) to help the poorest workers. Since riots in December, recent demonstrations have been largely peaceful. On Saturday in Paris, 19 people had been arrested by 6:35 p.m., police said. In an Ifop poll taken on March 7 and 8 for the online news site Atlantico, 54 percent expressed sympathy with the “yellow vests” — up from 50 percent in mid-February, but down from a peak of 72 percent. Macron’s popularity has also improved in recent weeks. An Ipsos poll released on March 6 gave him an approval rating of 28 percent, up 8 points since December.

yellow vest
protests
paris
france
emmanuel macron
taxes


U.N. chief proposes cutting Congo peacekeeping force

Abstract: UNITED NATIONS - U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has proposed shrinking the large peacekeeping force in Congo. After presidential elections in December that ended Joseph Kabila’s rule and improved security, the 16,000-strong mission known as MONUSCO now can be reconfigured, U.N. officials have said. Guterres suggested a reduction of about 2,000 people, in a report to the Security Council obtained by AFP Saturday. The United Nations has been present in the DRC for about two decades. MONUSCO is one of its biggest, most expensive missions. Its annual budget is about $1.11 billion. “I propose to reduce the current strength of MONUSCO uniformed personnel by 1,600 military personnel, 35 individual police officers and one formed police unit,” the U.N. chief argued in his report. “I also propose a 30 percent reduction in the number of military observers.” “However, should the Security Council deem it necessary to maintain MONUSCO at its current troops and police levels, it would be imperative that the commensurate resources be made available to enable the Mission to fulfill its mandated tasks,” Guterres stressed. Discussions on drawing down MONUSCO come as the United States, the number one financial contributor to U.N. peacekeeping, is seeking to reduce its share of the U.N. budget for peace operations. US national security advisor John Bolton in December said the United States will seek to wind down long-running U.N. peacekeeping missions that do not bring long-term peace.


Malaysia deports six Egyptians despite concerns over torture, rights abuses

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has deported six Egyptians and a Tunisian suspected of being linked to Islamist militant groups abroad, despite protests from human rights groups. The suspects include five people who allegedly confessed to being part of Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement Sunday. Rights groups say that members of the group face possible torture and persecution in Egypt, which brands them as terrorists. The Tunisian and one of the Egyptians deported were members of Ansar al-Sharia al-Tunisia, which is listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations, Mohamad Fuzi said. The two, both in their early 20s, had previously been detained for attempting to enter another country illegally in 2016. They allegedly used fake passports to enter Malaysia with the intention of traveling to and launching an attack in a third country, police said. “Members of this terror group are suspected of being involved in plans to carry out large-scale attacks in other countries,” Mohamad Fuzi said. The other five Egyptians confessed to being members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and are accused of providing shelter, transport and employment for the two linked to Ansar al-Sharia. “As the presence of these foreigners constitute a security risk, all suspects have been deported to their native country and … recommendations have been made to blacklist them from entering Malaysia for life,” Mohamad Fuzi said, adding that two Malaysians were detained in the counterterror operation. Amnesty International Malaysia said the Egyptians deported were now at risk of enforced disappearance, torture, prolonged detention and unfair trials. “We urge the Malaysian government to respect the principle of nonrefoulement and ensure that those at risk of persecution or risk of irreparable harm in another country, including torture, are not deported,” said the group’s executive director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu. Malaysia has arrested hundreds of people in the past few years for suspected links to militant groups, after gunmen allied with the Islamic State carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016. A grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June 2016 wounded eight people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such strike on Malaysian soil.

malaysia
egypt
torture
rights
terrorism
islamic state
religion


China to grow crops for wild elephants to spare farmers

Abstract: BEIJING - China plans to grow crops specifically for wild elephants to graze on in an effort to spare the livelihoods of local farmers. The southwestern province of Yunnan will set up the special farm in a habitat area in Menghai county where 18 of the animals frequently raid the crops of farmers from villages in the area. The 51-hectare (126-acre) farm located in a habitat protection area will grow corn, sugarcane, bamboo and bananas. The official Xinhua News Agency on Sunday quoted an unidentified official with the local forestry bureau as saying protecting local residents was key to Asian elephant conservation Wild Asian elephants are a protected species in China, and conservation efforts have allowed their numbers in the country to rise to about 300.


North Koreans head to polls to approve new parliament lineup

Abstract: PYONGYANG - North Koreans went to the polls Sunday for an election in which there could be only one winner. Leader Kim Jong Un’s ruling Workers’ Party has an iron grip on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as the isolated, nuclear-armed country is officially known. But every five years it holds an election for the rubber-stamp legislature, the Supreme People’s Assembly. And in keeping with one of Pyongyang’s most enduring slogans — “single-minded unity” — there is only one approved name on each of the red ballot papers. With portraits of the leader’s father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung looking down on every ballot box, voters lined up to drop their slips inside. There is a pencil in the paneled voting booths for anyone who might wish to register dissent by crossing out a candidate’s name. But no one does. Turnout last time was 99.97 percent, according to the official KCNA news agency — only those who were abroad or “working in oceans” did not take part. And the vote was 100 percent in favor of the named candidates, a result unmatched anywhere else in the world. “Our society is one in which the people are gathered around the respected Supreme Leader with a single mind,” election official Ko Kyong Hak said as voters lined up at the 3.26 Pyongyang Cable Factory. Participation in the election was a citizen’s obligation, he said, “and there are no people who reject a candidate.” An editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling party, reinforced the message. Voters “should cast approval ballots with their loyalty to the party and the leader, absolute support to the DPRK government and the will to share their destiny with socialism to the last,” it said. With a total absence of electoral competition, analysts say the election is held largely as a political rite to enable the authorities to claim a mandate from the people. It was the result of “established institutional inertia and a need to legitimize the government by simulating democratic procedure,” said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group. Soviet-style communist states had a long tradition of holding general elections, he said, even if the ruling party ignored its own rules about holding regular congresses — something the North skipped for more than 30 years. “North Korea is just emulating all other communist states,” he said. “The early communists sincerely believed that they were producing a democracy the world had never seen. So they needed elections and it became a very important part of self-legitimization.” The last significant government of a major country to dispense with elections altogether was Nazi Germany, he pointed out. The North is divided into constituencies for the vote. There were 686 in the last election in 2014, when Kim stood upon Mount Paektu, a dormant volcano on the border with China that is revered as the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people. He received 100 percent turnout, with 100 percent in favor, according to KCNA. Some of the seats are allocated to two minor parties: the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongdu Party, which has its roots in a 20th-century Korean religious movement. They are both in a formal alliance with the ruling party. Analysts and diplomats say they exist largely on paper. Even so, participation in the poll, like other obligatory rituals in the North, does reinforce loyalty to the government and social unity, Lankov said, “because humans love symbolism.” It is a marked contrast to the vibrant multiparty democracy on the other side of the demilitarized zone dividing the peninsula, where President Park Geun-hye was ousted in 2017 after mass street protests over a corruption scandal. For North Koreans who defect, the South’s electoral system was “definitely novel,” said Sokeel Park, of campaign group Liberty in North Korea. “The idea that you get to cast your vote and either be on the winning side or the losing side and you don’t know what that’s going to be until the results come in — that’s a big thing.” Sunday’s voting took place in something of a carnival atmosphere in Pyongyang, with children parading in the streets to encourage voters to attend. Bands played at polling stations, where voters lined up in numerical order according to voter lists displayed for days beforehand. After casting their ballots, women danced in flowing traditional dresses. Architecture student Kuk Dae Kwon, 18, said he was excited to be taking part for the first time: “At this election we consolidate the single-minded unity around the supreme leader and also demonstrate the advantages of our socialism to the world.”


India returns key envoy to Pakistan amid easing tensions

Abstract: NEW DELHI - India said Saturday that it was returning a key diplomat to Pakistan’s capital amid an easing of tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, but also demanded that its archrival take concrete steps against terrorists operating from its territory. India’s high commissioner to Pakistan was set to return to Islamabad, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a statement. Pakistan had announced earlier in the week that its high commissioner to India was returning to New Delhi. On Sunday, however, India said Pakistani forces had violated a cease-fire agreement along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and again accused its neighbor of failing to take credible action against terrorist groups. There was shelling with mortars and the firing of small arms by Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, and India “retaliated befittingly,” according to an Indian defense official. The Indian Army separately said it had brought down a drone on Saturday in Ganganagar in the state of Rajasthan, a city near its border with Pakistan. The diplomatic moves came after the two countries recalled their diplomats for consultations as tensions flared after a Feb. 14 suicide attack on a convoy of Indian paramilitary soldiers in Pulwama in the Indian-held portion Kashmir that killed 40 soldiers. India blamed the attack on a Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and launched a retaliatory airstrike inside Pakistan. Asked whether it was right to say that the worst was over and de-escalation has taken place between the two neighbors, Kumar said at a media briefing that India’s airstrike on a terrorist training camp inside Pakistan on Feb. 26 was “necessitated by the lack of action by Pakistan on the perpetrators of Pulwama attack.” Kumar said that a reported Pakistani crackdown earlier in the week on seminaries, mosques and hospitals belonging to outlawed groups and the arrests of dozens of people was not enough, and that Pakistan should take concrete steps “against terrorists and terror infrastructure” on its territory. He said a recent United Nations statement also called for “perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism to be held accountable and brought to justice.” Kumar accused Pakistan of failing to take any credible action against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist organizations, which he said continued to operate with impunity from Pakistan. “The widespread presence of terrorist camps in Pakistan is public knowledge within and outside Pakistan,” he said. Pakistan says it has arrested 44 people, including the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar who was apparently named in a dossier given to Islamabad by New Delhi. It also says it shut a number of facilities and froze assets of several outlawed organizations. Pakistan’s information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, said Saturday that his country was acting against the banned militant outfits and would not allow anyone to “use Pakistani land for terrorism against any country.” He also said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked India to send evidence it has against any individuals. “India hasn’t shared yet any actionable information and proof against anybody,” Chaudhry said. He also said Khan has invited India to take part in a joint investigation and negotiations, but that there had been no response from the Indian side. New Delhi’s retaliatory strike in the northwest Pakistani town of Balakot last month sent tensions spiraling. India said its air force hit a terrorist training camp and killed “a very large number” of militants. Pakistan said the strike only damaged three trees in a forest. Islamabad responded by shooting down two Indian warplanes and capturing a pilot, who was later returned to India as a peace gesture. India said it lost only one aircraft. Since then, the two sides have exercised restraint amid calls from the international community to avoid war.

india pakistan terrorism kashmir military


Pakistan — the other great home of the bagpipes

Abstract: SIALKOT, PAKISTAN - Umer Farooq’s grandfather and father made bagpipes. Now he is the third generation to take up the tradition in Pakistan, which is thousands of kilometers from Scotland yet sells thousands of bagpipes each year. The fresh smell of wood floats through the Mid East factory in Sialkot, on the eastern side of Punjab province, where Farooq is one of the managers. Workers are busy standing or sitting on the ground. Covered in sawdust, they carve the wood and polish it. Rosewood or ebony serve as the blowstick, into which players exhale. The drones — long pipes with a lower tone — follow a similar process. They are then attached to a bag, and often covered with tartan, a colored plaid fabric typical of Scotland. “In my family, all the boys know how to make a bagpipe, step by step,” said Farooq. “When we were 7 or 8, we would go to the factory. It was like a school, but the teachers were our dads and uncles.” Honing such a craft is not easy. South Asia has had for centuries its pungi , a wind instrument used for snake charming, and shehnai , a traditional oboe. The bagpipe arrived in the mid-19th century when British colonialists brought it to subcontinental India, of which Pakistan was a part before independence in 1947. “Anywhere the British Army went, they took pipers with them,” said Decker Forrest, a Gaelic music teacher at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland. Locals seized on the tradition, which remains popular, with dozens of bagpipe bands available for weddings and religious festivals. “People love the bagpipe,” said Yaser Sain, the leader of a Sialkot trio who play at least two performances each day. Proudly he shows pictures on his mobile phone of the band in colorful costumes. Forrest said Pakistani bands put the emphasis on how they look, rather than musical technique, “which is less important to them.” At the world bagpipe championship, which is held every year in Glasgow, they are “the most beautifully dressed,” he said. The kilt, however, is not de rigueur among the Pakistanis. The Pakistani military, born out of the colonial British Indian Army, also still has a soft spot for the instrument. In 2014 it established a camel-mounted bagpipe band attached to a unit of desert rangers. The camels, draped in scarlet and gold as their musicians sway above them, are particularly appreciated during parades. But Pakistan’s main affiliation with bagpipes is its mass production of them, though the quality of the instruments it makes can vary. Some 2,600 are exported from the Mid East factory each year, mainly to the United States. The M.H. Geoffrey & Co. workshop, also in Sialkot, claims to manufacture a further 500 annually. Its owner, Zafar Iqbal Geoffrey, estimates that when contributions from dozens of small- and medium-size businesses in the city are counted, Sialkot can produce a total of 10,000 bagpipes a year. That is more than any country other than the United Kingdom. “Bagpipes are our roaming ambassadors. This is good not only for the economy, but for the image-building of Pakistan,” said Waqas Akram Awan, vice president of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce. The city’s exports for 2017 — a 15-year record of $4 million for thousands of instruments — underscores his comment. “Our instruments are the same as the European ones, but they are much cheaper. We make music more accessible,” said Umar Farooq’s uncle Muhammad Aftab. Cheap labor means Pakistani bagpipes are priced less expensively than ones made in Scotland, with Mid East’s going for around £300 ($390) in Britain, compared to £900 ($1,170) for instruments made in Scotland. But Pakistani bagpipes have a reputation. “The quality of sound is not the same,” said Paul Gardner, manager of a London music store. “They are for beginners who are working on a really low budget,” he explained. “It might get somebody started, but that person will quickly look to upgrade.”


Nine policemen killed in attack in Myanmar's violence-plagued Rakhine state

Abstract: YANGON - Nine policemen have been killed in a militant attack in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, police said Sunday, as tensions ratchet up in a state riven by ethnic and religious conflict. A bloody military crackdown in 2017 forced some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims over the border into Bangladesh in violence U.N. investigators have said warrants the prosecution of top generals for genocide and crimes against humanity. But the armed forces are now waging a war against a militant group claiming to represent the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, a population that also stands accused of aiding soldiers in their expulsion of the Rohingya. The Arakan Army (AA) has in recent months mounted several attacks on security forces and officials in its struggle for more autonomy and rights for Rakhine people. The attack late Saturday took place in Yoetayoke village, just an hour north of Rakhine state’s capital, Sittwe. Images showed bodies lying on the ground, covered in blankets with a pool of blood soaking into the dust on the grounds of the ramshackle police station. “Nine police were killed, one was injured and another one is missing,” a senior police officer said, not wanting to be named. A leaked police report said weapons were also taken from the police post. No group has yet claimed responsibility and the AA could not immediately be reached for comment. A local administrator confirmed investigations are underway. Northern Rakhine state is inaccessible outside of carefully government-chaperoned trips and information is difficult to verify independently. But swaths of the state’s north are once again engulfed in conflict. The military has brought in thousands of reinforcements and is bombarding AA positions with heavy artillery. Several thousand people have been forced from their homes by the violence. Yet there is widespread support for the AA’s cause across much of Rakhine, one of the poorest states in the country, where many feel they have suffered decades of discrimination by the state. Some 100 local administrators submitted their resignation en masse this month calling for the release of four colleagues reportedly arrested for having links with the AA. The verdict in a treason trial against a popular Rakhine politician is also expected in the coming days and could prove to be a further flash point. Aye Maung stands accused of treason after allegedly inciting Rakhine people in a speech last year to take arms and rise up against the country’s ethnic-Bamar (Burmese) majority. The AA has expanded its ranks since its formation in 2009 and is now believed to have several thousand recruits. The group ramped up operations at the end of last year, but it was a deadly attack on four police posts on Independence Day early January that focused the country’s attention and triggered the military’s swift retaliation. Thirteen police officers were killed in the brazen attack and in an unprecedented move the civilian government instructed the military to crack down on the insurgents. This came just a couple of weeks after the military declared a unilateral cease-fire against ethnic armed groups on the other side of Myanmar, allowing the army to concentrate its efforts in Rakhine. Myanmar’s restive borderlands have been plagued by conflict since independence from British colonial rule 70 years ago. Violence in strife-torn Rakhine was glossed over by Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a recent investment forum where she touted the state’s “untapped” economic potential and blamed the international community for focusing “narrowly” on its problems.

police myanmar violence ethnicity conflict religion


Abe support rate falls; 69% want Okinawa vote on base issue respected

Abstract: The public support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet has fallen slightly to 43.3 percent, with many calling for respecting a recent local referendum that rejected a plan to relocate a U.S. air base within Okinawa Prefecture, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday. In the nationwide telephone poll conducted Saturday and Sunday, a large majority of respondents also indicated their disappointment at the country’s tepid economic recovery and the government’s response to a labor data scandal. The Cabinet approval rate fell 2.3 percentage points from the previous survey in early February, while the disapproval rate was almost unchanged at 40.9 percent. On the Okinawa prefectural referendum in February regarding the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, 68.7 percent of respondents said the central government should respect the outcome while 19.4 percent said there is no need to do so. Supporters of the government’s policy to push ahead with the current Futenma relocation plan came to 37.2 percent, down 2.2 points from the previous survey. But opponents also fell to 48.9 percent while those who did not take either side or did not answer the question rose 4.9 points to 13.9 percent. In the nonbinding poll, more than 70 percent of voters in the island prefecture rejected the relocation plan, which originated in an agreement reached between the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996. But the Abe government has continued to proceed with the work to build a replacement facility for the Futenma base. The telephone survey also showed that 84.5 percent do not actually feel that the Japanese economy is recovering, even though Abe is counting on the success of his Abenomics policy mix to maintain public support for his Liberal Democratic Party ahead of the House of Councilors election in the summer. Adding to concerns over the economic situation, the government earlier in the month downgraded its assessment of a key indicator of economic trends, which suggested that Japan may have already entered a recessionary phase rather than marking its longest growth streak since the end of World War II, as previously believed. A total of 54.4 percent opposed Abe’s decision to raise the consumption tax rate to 10 percent from the current 8 percent in October, up 3.4 points from the previous survey. Supporters of the tax hike stood at 39.9 percent, down 5.1 points. The scandal on faulty labor ministry jobs data also appears to be casting a shadow over the support rate for the Abe government. A total of 70.7 percent said they are not satisfied with the outcome of the latest government probe into the issue, which denied there was a systematic cover-up. About 13 percent responded otherwise. The scandal involving sampling irregularities led to the underpayment of work-related benefits to more than 20 million people and cast doubt over the accuracy of government statistics. Regarding the Upper House election, 32.3 percent said they would vote for the LDP in the proportional representation section, down 3.8 points from the previous survey, and 10.0 percent said they would vote for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, down 0.3 points. As for support rates by party, the LDP remained the most popular with 38.3 percent, followed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 10.5 percent. Abe’s long-standing ambition to amend the postwar Constitution for the first time was opposed by 51.4 percent, while 33.9 percent were in favor. The survey covered 740 randomly selected households with eligible voters as well as 1,218 mobile phone numbers, obtaining responses from 516 and 513 people, respectively.

okinawa
shinzo abe
polls
futenma
u.s. base


Actor Takuro Tatsumi asked again by LDP to run in Osaka gubernatorial election

Abstract: Actor Takuro Tatsumi has been asked again by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to run in next month’s Osaka gubernatorial election, sources familiar with the situation said Sunday. A senior member of the party headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with the 60-year-old Osaka native, who has appeared in dramas and entertainment shows, in Tokyo on Friday and formally made the request, according to the sources. Tatsumi is expected to decide within days whether to enter the race, which will take place at the same time as the nationwide round of local elections on April 7. On Friday, Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura tendered their resignations in a rare and risky bid to seek re-election to each other’s positions in order to give fresh momentum to their long-held ambition to reshape the city into a metropolitan government system akin to Tokyo’s. Matsui and Yoshimura are the head and policy chief, respectively, of local political group Osaka Ishin no Kai. By seeking re-election on the same day as the nationwide local elections, they hope to give a boost to their group, which does not hold a majority in either the Osaka prefectural or city assemblies. Under Japanese election law, if the two leaders sought re-election in their current positions, fresh elections would have to be held when their original four-year terms expire later this year. Matsui and Yoshimura were both first elected in November 2015 on a platform to resurrect the metropolis plan originally drafted by former Osaka Gov. and Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who sought to save taxpayer money by reducing functional overlaps between the prefectural and municipal governments. Ahead of the 2015 double mayor and governor election, the LDP asked Tatsumi to be its candidate, but he declined. After graduating from Kyoto University, Tatsumi made his national debut in the NHK drama “Romance” in 1984. He is also known as a food and wine connoisseur.

takuro tatsumi
osaka
elections
ichiro matsui
hirofumi yoshimura


Waste not, want not: Temporary housing units for 3/11 finding new roles across Japan

Abstract: FUKUSHIMA - The makeshift homes built for evacuees after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami are being reused in many ways to make more effective use of raw materials and slow the ballooning disposal fees. “I guess it would cost around ¥10 billion to tear down all the temporary housing,” an official from the Fukushima Prefectural Government said. The temporary housing, leased from companies, must be returned to the owners, though homes acquired by municipal and prefectural governments can be reused. The Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectural governments, among others, have begun providing municipalities with materials salvaged from such units free upon request. Fukushima and the city of Tono, Iwate Prefecture, have turned some of their temporary units into permanent public housing for those still displaced. Gagyu Sankei-kai, a social welfare corporation in Miyagi Prefecture that supports jobs for people with disabilities, received an assembly hall set up at a temporary housing complex in the town of Yamamoto. Based in Kakuda, Gagyu Sankei-kai plans to use the hall mainly as a meeting place for employees at perilla oil-processing and bread plants expected to open in October. In Yamamoto, it ran a pizza restaurant that was washed away by tsunami. Gagyu Sankei-kai head Toshinori Yunomura, 71, said he hopes to keep memories of calamity alive by reusing the hall. In western Japan, which was hit by deadly storms and flooding last July, the municipal government of Soja, Okayama Prefecture, asked Fukushima for temporary wooden homes it set up to house evacuees. The used structures thus found new life as 48 housing units and as facilities for gatherings and other functions. “We felt deep appreciation,” a Soja official said. “(The buildings) were well received by their residents because the wooden features are splendid.” Fukushima has since given materials for some 200 units to other governments, companies or entities at no cost. From fiscal 2017, Fukushima started using such materials to prepare facilities for people relocating from urban and other areas to promote permanent settlement, providing three municipalities with enough material to construct 29 buildings.


Japanese lawmaker in Kisarazu Municipal Assembly stabbed to death

Abstract: CHIBA - A member of the Kisarazu Municipal Assembly in Chiba Prefecture has been stabbed to death, and investigators said Sunday they are interrogating a man believed to be a relative on suspicion of murder. Police identified the victim as Norihisa Ishikawa, 71. They said his wife found her bloodied husband lying face down in the hallway with multiple wounds outside their 12th floor condominium at around 8:50 p.m. on Saturday. He was confirmed dead about an hour later. Ishikawa’s wife had gone out at around 7:30 p.m. that day after dinner. Upon her return is when she found her husband, according to the police. The couple did not live with anyone else in the unit. The man being interrogated was found in possession of a knife in Tokyo, according to the investigators. Ishikawa, who joined the then Construction Ministry after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1970, was serving his first term in the city assembly. He was planning to run in the nationwide local elections in April.

kisarazu municipal assembly
chiba
murder
norihisa ishikawa


Ishinomaki whale-tooth artisan who lost shop on 3/11 sees chance to preserve tradition

Abstract: SENDAI - In a once-booming whaling community in the northeast, an artisan has managed to keep alive a whale-tooth crafting tradition after his store was destroyed by the mega-quake and tsunami in 2011. Carver Masayuki Chijimatsu, 65, now sells seals and accessories made from the teeth of sperm whales at a temporary shop in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Given Japan’s controversial decision to resume commercial whaling in July for the first time in about 30 years, he hopes the renewed attention will breathe life into his community. One seal can be made from the central part of each tooth, a chunk about 20 cm long and 10 cm in diameter, Chijimatsu said. A seal and holding case cost at least ¥54,000 ($480). “It may be more valuable than elephant ivory,” he said. “Because the prices are set rather high, few people actually buy.” Whale meat was a valuable protein source amid the starvation after the war, leading the whaling industry to flourish. But Japan stopped after the International Whaling Commission adopted a moratorium in 1982. Chijimatsu’s grandfather, who started the family’s store in 1928 after moving to Miyagi from southwest Japan, settled in Ishinomaki’s Ayukawa district on the tip of the Oshika Peninsula in search of materials for his craft. In the ’50s and ’60s, Ayukawa was bustling with whale-related businesses, whaling crews and butchers. But when Japan halted commercial whaling in 1988, Chijimatsu’s father thought the business would be in danger and bought teeth in bulk. Three other whale-tooth shops in the area closed and only Chijimatsu’s survived. When the deadly quake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, Chijimatsu was in the center of Ishinomaki, an hour’s drive from Ayukawa. He tried to drive home but the black, debris-filled waves chased him to higher ground. He spent the night atop a hill and left his car behind to walk home the next day. As the roads were flooded and strewn with debris, the journey took five hours. Although his family was safe, his shop on the peninsula was gone. “I thought it was impossible to continue my business,” he recalled. But later, while clearing rubble from the site where his store had stood, Chijimatsu found a white stick buried in the mud. He had located his stock of whale teeth. He cleaned most of them but left some covered in mud. “When I see the mud, it reminds me that I survived,” he said. Despite the official halt in whaling in the ’80s, Japan resumed hunting in 1987 in areas including the Antarctic Ocean for what it claimed were research purposes — a practice criticized internationally and by the IWC as a cover for commercial whaling. Japan quit the IWC in December, saying it intended to hunt whales in adjacent waters and in its exclusive economic zone. A company in Ayukawa is expected to take part. Chijimatsu does not think the resumption of commercial whaling will make it easier for him to secure materials for his craft as the whales to be targeted are too small. Though he has decided not to have his son take over his business, he remains determined to forge on for a while longer. “As whaling will restart, I want to take this opportunity to have younger generations learn about the Japanese traditional (whaling) culture,” he said.

whaling
masayuki chijimatsu
miyagi
disasters
3.11


The week ahead for March 11 to March 17

Abstract: Monday Eighth anniversary of Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear crisis at Fukushima No. 1 power plant. The quake-tsunami disaster left more than 15,000 dead and recovery efforts continue. More than 50,000 people still live as evacuees nationwide. Memorial ceremony for victims of Great East Japan Earthquake to be held at Tokyo’s National Theatre. Tuesday Emperor Akihito to visit the Imperial Palace Sanctuaries to declare the date of his abdication, kicking off a series of succession rituals through 2020. The sanctuaries include a shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the Imperial family is said to be descended. Wednesday Major automakers to respond to labor union demands in annual wage negotiations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been calling on companies to raise wages to spur private consumption and beat chronic deflation. Cabinet Office to release machinery orders data for January. Tachikawa Summary Court to hand down ruling in trial over Kobe Steel’s decades-long fabrication of product quality data. Thursday Bank of Japan to hold policy meeting through March 15. Board members are expected to maintain current monetary easing but may downgrade their assessment of economic conditions amid recent weakness in exports and industrial production. Friday Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to hold news conference. Tokyo District Court to hand down ruling in trial of bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox’s former CEO Mark Karpeles, accused of embezzlement in 2013. Prosecutors have sought a 10-year jail term for the French-born defendant, who has pleaded not guilty. Iwakuni branch of Yamaguchi District Court to issue judgment over a request for provisional injunction to halt the operation of the only active reactor at Shikoku Electric Power’s Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture. Saturday East Japan Railway to start a new system that allows female train drivers and conductors who are raising children to choose more flexible working hours. The move is intended to reduce the number of female workers who quit jobs to prioritize family. Opponents of plan to transfer a key U.S. air base within Okinawa to hold rally in the prefectural capital of Naha. Sunday Akashi mayoral election to be held. Fusaho Izumi, 55, is seeking re-election after resigning in February to take responsibility for verbally abusing a city official.


U.N. patent data show Asia innovation surge, with Huawei top-filing firm

Abstract: GENEVA - More than half of all international patent applications filed last year came from Asia, a further sign of innovation shifting “from west to east,” the United Nations said Tuesday. In the latest annual breakdown of patent filings released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United States remained the leading individual country for applications in 2018. But on a regional basis, Asia’s surge continued. “Asia is now the majority filer of international patent applications via WIPO, which is an important milestone for that economically dynamic region and underscores the historical geographical shift of innovative activity from west to east,” the agency’s director general, Francis Gurry, said in a statement. WIPO’s complex system of registering international patents involves multiple categories. In the main category — the Patent Cooperation Treaty — the U.S. led the way with 56,142 applications, followed China (53,345) and Japan (49,702). Germany and South Korea came in a distant fourth and fifth, with fewer than 20,000 applications each. India registered the largest innovation jump of any country last year. Patent applications jumped more than 27 percent — from 1,583 in 2017 up to 2,013. Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei also set new record for the number of patent applications filed a single corporation in one year, with 5,405.


Probe of FAA's oversight of Boeing 737 Max began before second crash

Abstract: WASHINGTON/SEATTLE - U.S. federal authorities began exploring a criminal investigation of how Boeing Co.’s 737 Max was certified to fly passengers before the latest crash in Ethiopia involving the new jet, according to sources familiar with the probe. The investigation was prompted by information obtained after a Lion Air 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta on Oct. 29, said one source, who wasn’t authorized to speak about the investigation and asked not to be named. The investigation has taken on new urgency after the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 near Addis Ababa that killed 157 people. It is being conducted in part by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Inspector General’s office, which conducts both audits and criminal investigations in conjunction with the Justice Department. The Justice Department is now in the process of gathering information about the development of the 737 Max, including through a grand jury subpoena, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it. The Justice Department’s Criminal Division, which is overseeing the effort, declined to comment. The grand jury’s involvement was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal. Separately, a Seattle Times investigation published Sunday found that U.S. regulators delegated much of the plane’s safety assessment to Boeing and that the company in turn delivered an analysis with crucial flaws. Both Boeing and the Transportation Department declined to comment about the investigation. Ethiopia’s transport minister said Sunday that flight-data recorders showed “clear similarities” between the crashes of that plane and Lion Air Flight 610 last October. A possible criminal investigation during an aircraft accident investigation is highly unusual. While airline accidents have at times raised criminal issues, such as after the 1996 crash of a ValuJet plane in the Florida Everglades, such cases are the exception. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration employees warned seven years ago that Boeing had too much sway over safety approvals of new aircraft, prompting an investigation by Transportation Department auditors who confirmed the agency hadn’t done enough to “hold Boeing accountable.” The 2012 investigation also found that discord over Boeing’s treatment had created a “negative work environment” among FAA employees who approve new and modified aircraft designs, with many of them saying they had faced retaliation for speaking up. Their concerns pre-dated the 737 Max development. In recent years, the FAA has shifted more authority over the approval of new aircraft to the manufacturer itself, even allowing Boeing to choose many of the personnel who oversee tests and vouch for safety. Just in the past few months, Congress expanded the outsourcing arrangement even further. “It raises for me the question of whether the agency is properly funded, properly staffed and whether there has been enough independent oversight,” said Jim Hall, who was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 to 2001 and is now an aviation safety consultant. At least a portion of the flight-control software suspected in the 737 Max crashes was certified by one or more Boeing employees who worked in the outsourcing arrangement, according to one person familiar with the work who wasn’t authorized to speak about the matter. While people like Hall have raised concerns about the potential for a conflict of interest, the FAA has been designating authority for certification work and other tasks to employees of companies it regulates for decades and executives at the agency believe it is necessary to keep up with the demands of industry. The agency doesn’t have the budget to do every test, and “the use of designees is absolutely necessary,” said Steve Wallace, the former head of accident investigations at the FAA. “For the most part, it works extremely well. There is a very high degree of integrity in the system.” In a statement Sunday, the FAA said its “aircraft certification processes are well established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs,” adding that the “737 Max certification program followed the FAA’s standard certification process.” Separately, Canadian transport authorities are re-examining the certification given to the 737 Max, Reuters reported, citing Transport Minister Marc Garneau. Canada had earlier accepted FAA certification of the plane in March 2017 under a deal where both countries accept each other’s approvals. The Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after it took off from Addis Ababa. The accident prompted most of the world to ground Boeing’s 737 Max 8 aircraft on safety concerns, coming on the heels of the October crash off the coast of Indonesia that killed 189 people. Much of the attention focused on a flight-control system that can automatically push a plane into a catastrophic nose dive if it malfunctions and pilots don’t react properly. In one of the most detailed descriptions yet of the relationship between Boeing and the FAA during the 737 Max’s certification, the Seattle Times quoted unnamed engineers who said the company had understated the power of the flight-control software in a System Safety Analysis submitted to the FAA. The newspaper said the analysis also failed to account for how the system could reset itself each time a pilot responded — in essence, gradually ratcheting the horizontal stabilizer into a dive position. Boeing told the newspaper in a statement that the FAA had reviewed the company’s data and concluded the aircraft “met all certification and regulatory requirements.” The company, which is based in Chicago but designs and builds commercial jets in the Seattle area, said there are “some significant mischaracterizations” in the engineers’ comments. Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said the company will soon release a software update for the plane and related pilot training to address concerns that emerged after the Lion Air tragedy.

faa
boeing 737 max
lion air
ethiopian airlines
aircraft accidents
u.s. transportation department


Some at Bank of Japan reportedly see price goal out of reach through 2021

Abstract: Amid intense debate over the Abe government’s inflation target, some officials at the Bank of Japan think the 2 percent goal will probably remain out of reach for the next three years, according to sources familiar with the matter. The pessimistic view comes as the BOJ prepares for a quarterly outlook report next month that will provide its first estimates for prices and economic growth in the fiscal year that begins in April 2021. The central bank hasn’t started discussions on actual numerical forecasts for the report, which will be released at the end of a two-day policy meeting on April 25, according to the sources. They were speaking in recent weeks, in the lead up to the March 14-15 policy gathering, amid signs that inflation will weaken this year. Six years of aggressive monetary policy under Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has helped Japan out of deflation but also hurt banks and bond markets. Kuroda on Friday kept stimulus unchanged and reaffirmed his commitment to the price target. Finance Minister Taro Aso earlier in the day suggested things could go wrong if Japan focuses slavishly on 2 percent. The officials who see the target as unlikely to be met for the next three years judge inflation momentum to be insufficient, according to the sources. Aso, who signed off on the 2013 joint statement with the BOJ that committed the bank to 2 percent target, said last week that many factors have changed since then. He said “only newspapers and the BOJ” are still adamant about the goal. Inflation figures for February are due Friday, with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg for the core consumer price index, which exclude fresh food, to remain at 0.8 percent. The BOJ’s most recent outlook report in January projected core inflation to average 0.9 percent in the fiscal year starting this April and 1.4 percent the following year.


Japan's regional land prices rise first time in 27 years on tourist boom

Abstract: The average price of all types of land in regional areas rose last year for the first time since 1992 as the growing influx of foreign tourists rejuvenated real estate investment, the government said Tuesday. In regions outside the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, the average price for land across all categories, including commercial, residential and industrial, grew 0.4 percent from a year earlier as of Jan. 1, the annual government survey showed. The rise was aided by redevelopment projects and investment in such cities as Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. However, land prices in depopulated areas continued to fall, underlining the polarization of regional land prices in Japan, according to the survey. As of Jan. 1, the average regional land price was unchanged from a year earlier, according to the nationwide survey by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry covering some 26,000 locations. Regional residential land prices edged up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the first rise in 27 years, while commercial land prices went up 1.0 percent for the second straight year of increase. But prices dropped at 48 percent of regionalsurvey spots and remained flat in 19 percent of them as growth was mostly limited to tourist sites and areas with improved access due to redevelopment. Among the major regional cities, Fukuoka observed the largest increase in commercial land prices at 12.3 percent, followed by Sendai at 10.7 percent, Sapporo at 8.8 percent and Hiroshima at 5.8 percent. Residential land prices rose 4.4 percent on average in the four cities. Overall, the national average price for commercial land increased 2.8 percent and that of residential land crept up 0.6 percent. The three largest metropolitan areas also saw an average growth of 5.1 percent in commercial land prices and 1.0 percent in residential land prices, propped up by increased demand for condominiums and business offices driven by low interest rates. “Unlike during the bubble economy years, when numerous land transactions were aimed at resale, the rising land prices this time are backed by (real) economic activities,” a ministry official said. By prefecture, Okinawa led in both commercial and residential land price gains, registering an increase of 10.3 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. Niigata Prefecture saw the largest fall in commercial land prices at 1.4 percent, while Akita and Wakayama prefectures logged the biggest drop in residential land prices at 1.3 percent. By site, the town of Kutchan in Hokkaido, a popular ski area among foreign visitors, led the nation in both commercial and residential land price jumps, surging 58.8 percent and 50.0 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, areas in western Japan devastated by heavy rains and flooding last summer saw major declines in their land prices, including residential areas in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, and commercial zones in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture The main shop of Yamano Music Co. in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district logged the highest land price among the surveyed locations across the country at ¥57.20 million per square meter.


China hits out at 'abnormal, immoral' attacks on Huawei

Abstract: BRUSSELS - China’s foreign minister lashed out at what he called “abnormal, immoral” attacks on Huawei Technologies Co. amid growing concern, led by the U.S., that the telecom giant poses a security risk to the West. Wang Yi demanded a “fair and just competition environment” for Chinese firms as he met Monday with EU foreign ministers and officials in Brussels. His call comes as Washington steps up pressure on allies, particularly in Europe, to shut Huawei out of tenders for fast fifth-generation, or 5G, telecom networks because of the firm’s ties to the Chinese government. “China hopes all countries will create a fair and just competition environment for companies of all countries,” Wang told reporters before joining a meeting of EU foreign ministers. “What we oppose is groundless accusations out of political purposes and attempts to bring down a foreign company. We think such practices are abnormal, immoral and have no support from other countries.” Huawei strenuously denies allegations its equipment could be used for espionage and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang insisted Friday that Beijing would “never” ask its firms to spy on other nations. A law recently enacted by Beijing obliging Chinese companies to aid the government on national security has added to concerns about Huawei just as European countries begin planning 5G infrastructure. The U.S. has said the company poses a “threat” to Europe and last week NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance took these concerns seriously. Several Western countries have followed the U.S. lead in barring Huawei from bidding for 5G tenders, but Wang urged Europe not to be swayed by U.S. pressure. “We hope and we believe European countries and other countries will have independence in making their own choice and their own judgment,” he said. Wang also hit back at a new EU policy document published last week outlining a shift to more assertive relations with Beijing. The 10-point plan calls for more balanced ties, warning that China is a “rival” to the bloc as well as its biggest trading partner. In response Wang insisted China and the EU are “comprehensive strategic partners” and laid out his own 10-point plan for greater cooperation. His comments found an echo in EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, who stressed common ground between the two sides and insisted that last week’s policy document was primarily aimed at informing internal debate in Brussels. Mogherini’s comments contrasted with the tougher rhetoric of European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen at the launch last week of the new EU plan — pointing to divisions over the China strategy at the very highest level in Brussels. Katainen insisted on the need for Europe to “more assertively” push for reciprocity in trade relations and defend its values. The EU is concerned about China’s failure to open its markets to foreign competitors and the distorting influence of subsidies for state-run enterprises. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius warned that in the face of a China that is becoming “really ambitious, expansionist,” the EU has to set rules and stick to them.

huawei
eu
5g
espionage
nato
jens stoltenberg
u.s .


Alitalia faces uncertain future as easyJet quits rescue talks

Abstract: LONDON - The future of Alitalia was plunged further into uncertainty on Monday after British budget airline easyJet pulled out of talks to rescue the Italian carrier two weeks before a deadline to save it. EasyJet said it had decided to withdraw from the process after discussions with Italy’s state-controlled railway Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and U.S. airline Delta Air Lines. Alitalia was put under special administration in 2017 after workers rejected the latest in a long line of rescue plans, leaving the government once again seeking a buyer to save the airline. Ferrovie is racing against the clock to meet deadline of the end of the month set by the Italian government to present a rescue plan for Alitalia, and had been in talks with easyJet and Delta over a possible deal. But the parties had not seen see eye to eye on the structure of a deal. Without an industrial partner fully on board, a source said last week that Alitalia could soon find itself in trouble since neither Ferrovie nor the state have the skills to run the carrier. Delta said it was still in talks with Ferrovie. “Discussions remain ongoing as Alitalia is a long-standing partner of Delta,” the U.S. airline said in a statement. Alitalia and Ferrovie could not immediately be reached for a comment. EasyJet, whose shares were unaffected by Monday’s announcement, had said several times it was interested in Alitalia’s short-haul operations and positions at primary airports. A source familiar with the talks said easyJet still believed it could be a good partner for Alitalia, but that a deal was not feasible with the current approach. “EasyJet pulled out because it wanted to control (Alitalia’s) Milan hub and use it for point-to-point flights. This could not be done,” another source with knowledge of the matter said. EasyJet said it remained committed to Italy, as a key market for the company. “We continue to invest in the three bases in Milan, Naples, (and) Venice,” it said in a statement.

alitalia
easyjet
ferrovie
delta air lines


Stocks end slightly lower on profit-taking

Abstract: Stocks recouped most of its initial losses but failed to end higher Tuesday, pressured by selling to lock in gains after a two-session rally. The Nikkei 225 average finished at 21,566.85, down 17.65 points, or 0.08 percent. On Monday, the key market gauge rose 133.65 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 3.45 points, or 0.21 percent, lower at 1,610.23 after climbing 11.05 points Monday. Profit-taking hit the market right after the opening bell, forcing the Nikkei to give up over 150 points. Although the key market gauge cut its early losses and popped into positive territory around midmorning thanks to buying on a dip, it came under renewed selling pressure from profit-takers, brokers said. In the afternoon, the Nikkei gradually pared losses but failed to return to the sunny side. The Topix showed resilience but remained in negative territory throughout the day. Investors refrained from taking positions either way as “they found no trading incentives,” said Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co. A wait-and-see mood prevailed before the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting started later Tuesday, brokers said. Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd., pointed out that market players were specifically waiting to see the Fed’s quarterly policy interest rate projections, to be announced after the meeting. He also noted that the market was underpinned by buying to secure rights to receive dividends for fiscal 2018, which ends March 31. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,464 to 597 in the first section, while 74 issues were unchanged. Volume inched up to 1.104 billion shares from 1.033 billion Monday. Zozo tumbled 11.31 percent after JP Morgan Securities Japan Co. lowered its investment rating and stock target price for the operator of online fashion mall Zozotown. Chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron, cosmetics producer Shiseido and automaker Suzuki were among other major losers. By contrast, financials, including mega-bank groups Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho, and insurers Dai-ichi Life and Tokio Marine, were upbeat after their U.S. peers fared well Monday. Also hunted were air-conditioner manufacturer Daikin, drugmaker Astellas and Daiwa House Industry.

stocks
nikkei
topix
tokyo stock exchange


Dollar falls below ¥111.30 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar slipped through ¥111.30 in Tokyo trading Tuesday, hurt by lower Japanese share prices. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.26-27, down from ¥111.48-48 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1346-1346, down from $1.1349-1349, and at ¥126.25-26, down from ¥126.51-52. Hit by selling induced by the Nikkei 225 stock average’s sluggish moves, the dollar dropped below ¥111.20 toward noon, although the U.S. currency was temporarily supported by buying by Japanese importers earlier. In the afternoon, the greenback pared part of the morning losses but came under renewed selling pressure when it rose to around ¥111.30, traders said. The dollar moved on a weak note in tandem with Japanese and Chinese stocks, as players turned to focus on safer assets amid rekindled worries about Britain’s possible exit from the European Union without any sort of deal, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. A currency broker said falls in U.S. long-term interest rates have been weighing on the dollar. Investors retreated to the sidelines to wait for U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks and the Fed’s quarterly policy interest rate projections, both to be made after the end of a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting later Tuesday, the broker added.


Lyft gets the jump on Uber, opens up its IPO road show with plan to offer 30 million shares

Abstract: NEW YORK - Lyft has officially kicked off the road show for its initial public offering, saying it plans to put more than 30 million shares up for sale with an anticipated price of between $62 and $68 each. That would raise more than $2 billion for the San Francisco ride-hailing company, pegging its market value at $20 billion to $25 billion even though it hasn’t been able to turn a profit yet. It’s the first time that Lyft has revealed how much money it hopes to raise in the IPO, and how much it believes it’s worth. Those financial targets, revealed Monday, could still change as Lyft’s investment bankers gauge demand for the company’s stock leading up to the IPO pricing, which is expected to happen next week. Lyft and Uber have raced to be first with an IPO, and Lyft’s rival is expected to offer shares in the coming weeks. Uber is hoping its larger ride-hailing service will justify a market value as high as $120 billion after its IPO is completed later this spring, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lyft released financial details about the company for the first time this month, reporting $2.2 billion in revenue last year, more than double its $1.1 billion in revenue in 2017, but also $911 million in losses. Lyft has lost nearly $3 billion since 2012 but has brought in more than $5 billion in venture capital. The company’s executives warned that the company could struggle to turn a profit despite a rapidly growing market share. The company’s share of the U.S. ride-hailing market was 39 percent last December, up from 22 percent in December 2016, according to its filing. The $2.2 billion in revenue for 2018 was about double what it brought in the previous year. Bookings, which represent Lyft’s fares after subtracting taxes, tolls and tips, have been rising dramatically — a trend that the company intends to highlight to potential investors. Lyft’s bookings surpassed $8 billion last year, 76 percent more than in 2017 and more than four times the number from 2016. Lyft’s recent market-share gains came as Uber was dogged by reports that drivers accosted passengers and that the company tolerated rampant sexual harassment internally. Those problems ultimately led co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign. Uber has been working to repair its image under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Lyft said it would offer 30.77 million shares of its common stock to the public and give underwriters the option to buy up to 4.6 million more shares.


Nissan to introduce new models in Arab world, sets sights on No. 1 in Middle East

Abstract: CAIRO - Nissan Motor Co. is planning on introducing new models in the Arab world and increasing capacity at its local factories as part of a bid to secure the largest market share in the Middle East. The carmaker plans to increase its market share to more than 20 percent by 2022 in the Gulf and in Egypt, from 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively, Peyman Kargar, chairman of Nissan in Africa, the Middle East and India, said in an interview. The company is currently No. 3 in Egypt and second in the Gulf. “We want to double our industrial footprint in the Middle East, Africa and India by 2022,” said Peyman, adding that Nissan is looking to boost its production facilities in the region to more than six. It presently has three factories in Egypt, India and South Africa, and wants to add one in Pakistan and another in Algeria. Others would come later, he said. Egypt, with a population of around 100 million, is considered a strategic market for Nissan, according to Peyman. The automaker has invested $200 million in the country since it began operating there in 2005, he said. More investments are planned in the company’s fiscal year starting in April, and Nissan wants to bring its Egypt plant to full capacity of 28,000 vehicles per year, compared with the current level of 22,000. While the company’s Egypt outlook is optimistic, Peyman said the government’s decision to exempt imported cars from the European Union from customs duties is a challenge in the short and medium term. Yokohama-based Nissan had “very positive” discussions with the Egyptian government regarding this issue, he said. “We asked them to support the local industry to be able to compete, to not put us in a less competitive situation,” Peyman said. Among the proposals made was exempting imported parts from customs duties. “I’m pretty sure they will take some decisions soon,” said Peyman, referring to the government.


IS says displacements from Syria's Baghouz will not weaken the group

Abstract: CAIRO/BAGHOUZ, SYRIA - An Islamic State spokesman said Monday the displacement of “the weak and poor” from Syria’s Baghouz would not weaken the group. “Do you think the displacement of the weak and poor out of Baghouz will weaken the Islamic State? No,” Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer said in a recording distributed by Al Furqan, a media organization linked to the group. Islamic State’s defeat at Baghouz would end its control of inhabited land in the third of Syria and Iraq that it captured in 2014. However, the group will remain a threat, regional and Western officials say. The comments come as U.S.-backed forces continued to battle holdout jihadis after a night of shelling and heavy airstrikes the same day. Even as it fought IS, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also came under threat from Damascus, which has sworn to retake the third of the country the SDF controls. The SDF has been closing in on IS fighters holed up in a small sliver of territory in the eastern village of Baghouz since January. A cluster of rudimentary tents and vehicles is all that remains of the once-sprawling “caliphate” declared across large swaths of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014. Tens of thousands of men, women and children have poured out of the small farming village in recent weeks, slowing down an SDF offensive aimed at crushing the last vestige of the jihadi proto-state. Backed by airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF pummelled the IS pocket with shelling on Sunday night, pushing deeper into the jihadi encampment. Ground battles and artillery attacks continued as of Monday as the Kurdish-led force worked to consolidate its most recent gains, SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin said. “Clashes are ongoing between the SDF and IS” as the Kurdish-led forces secured positions it had seized inside the camp, he said. On a hilltop overlooking the bombed-out bastion earlier, an AFP correspondent heard the sound of gunfire and heavy shelling ring out. Men, believed to be jihadis, could be seen shuffling inside the redoubt, beneath a plume of smoke that obscured most of the encampment. Crouching behind rocks, SDF fighters opened fire at IS fighters that appeared near the banks of the Euphrates River. “The SDF ground offensive has been very effective,” coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said. The SDF said on Sunday night that its forces had captured positions inside the camp. Syria’s minority Kurds have largely stayed out of Syria’s eight-year civil war, instead carving out a de-facto autonomous region in the northeast of the country. The Kurdish-led SDF now controls some 30 percent of the nation’s territory, including areas from which it has expelled IS. Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub on Monday said his government would recapture territory controlled by the SDF in the same way it “liberated” other parts of the country. “The only card that remains in the hands of the Americans and their allies is the SDF,” he said. “The Syrian government will deal with this issue in one of two ways: a reconciliation agreement or liberating the territory they control by force,” he said. A shock announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump of a troop pullout sent the Kurds scrambling to mend ties with Damascus to protect them from a feared Turkish offensive, but ongoing talks have yet to yield any results. Eight years into a conflict that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces are in control of almost two-thirds of the country. But the northeastern swathe held by the SDF, as well as the jihadi-held northwestern region of Idlib, remain beyond its control. It remains unclear exactly how many people remain inside the last IS pocket, but SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel on Sunday said those leaving the area put the number at up to 5,000 people. More than 66,000 people, mostly civilians, have quit the last IS redoubt since Jan. 9, according to the SDF. They include 37,000 civilians, 5,000 jihadists and around 24,000 of their relatives. An additional 520 IS fighters have been captured in SDF operations. The huge numbers have flummoxed Kurdish forces, who are struggling to accommodate jihadis in Kurdish-run detention centers further north. The exodus of civilians and relatives of fighters has also sparked a humanitarian crisis in Kurdish-run camps for the displaced. The biggest of them is now struggling to host 70,000 people, including at least 25,000 school-aged children, according to the International Rescue Committee. More than 123 people have died on the way or shortly after arriving at the main camp of Al-Hol, the aid group said. While the SDF taking Baghouz would mark the end of the IS “caliphate,”the jihadis still retain a presence in eastern Syria’s vast Badia desert and have sleeper cells in Idlib.

syria
baghouz
islamic state
syrian democratic forces
conflict
terrorism
u.s. airstrikes


Letter points to 'terror' in Dutch tram attack

Abstract: UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS - Dutch authorities said Tuesday they were “seriously” investigating a terrorist motive for the Utrecht tram attack because of evidence including a letter found in the suspected gunman’s getaway car. Police were questioning Turkish-born main suspect Gokmen Tanis, 37, and two other men over Monday’s rampage in which three people were killed and seven injured, three seriously. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had earlier said they “cannot exclude” other motives including a family dispute, but police and prosecutors said on Tuesday that the probe was leaning towards terrorism. “So far, a terrorist motive is seriously being taken into account. This is based on a letter found in the getaway car among other things and the nature of the facts,” police and prosecutors said in a joint statement. “Our investigation has established no link between the main suspect and the victims.” The three people who died in the shooting were a 19-year-old woman from Vianen, south of Utrecht, and two men aged 28 and 49 from Utrecht itself, the statement said. Armed police captured Tanis after an eight-hour manhunt that virtually shut down the Netherlands’ fourth-largest city and triggered a nationwide increase in security at airports and key sites. Police said they had found a red Renault Clio that the suspect had used as a getaway car after the attack. They had also found a firearm after his arrest, they added. Tanis and two other men aged 23 and 27 are still being interrogated, police said. A stream of mourners laid flowers on Tuesday at the site of the attack near the 24 Oktoberplein square. “One of the victims was my friend’s girlfriend. So coming here today was the least I could do,” said Marco van Rooijen. “I am here to pay homage to the victims and to support their families,” added local resident Yvette Koetjeloozekoot. Flags were flying half-mast on many buildings around the Netherlands. Public transport was running again after forensic police finished their investigations at the scene and removed the tram on which the shooting erupted. Rutte was chairing a cabinet meeting on the attack, which has raised security fears a day before provincial elections in the Netherlands. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country’s intelligence agency was “looking into” the attack. “Some say it is a family matter, some say it is a terror attack … Our intelligence agency is looking into the matter,” Erdogan told Ulke TV late Monday. Dutch media have reported that the suspect had a long rap sheet and was only released from jail two weeks ago on a number of charges. Broadcaster NOS reported that some of his relatives had links to fundamentalist Islamic groups, but also that he was known for unstable behavior after divorcing his wife two years ago. A woman involved in a rape case against Tanis told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper: “He is completely mad and uses drugs. I have previously warned the police against him. He’s not a terrorist but a psychopath.” People in the Kanaleneiland area where he lived described Tanis as a “small-time criminal and dealer,” a “loser with a drug problem” and as being “confused and lost.” “We want nothing to do with him. He has the IQ of a shrimp,” one resident told the Volkskrant newspaper, asking not to be named. Police and witnesses said gunfire broke out on the tram on Monday morning, sending people fleeing and triggering a huge police response. Mosques and schools were closed across Utrecht following the bloodshed, before heavily armed officers surrounded a building and arrested Tanis. Support for the Netherlands poured in from around the world including the United States, the EU and Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “America stands with you. We will continue to do all we can to help you in this terrible time of tragedy.”


Russia sends 'squadrons' of nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea in response to U.S. missile shield in Romania

Abstract: Russia has sent “squadrons” of nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 strategic bombers to Crimea in response to the deployment of U.S. Navy Aegis Ashore missile defense installations in Romania, according to a report in Russian state-run media. “The deployment of American missile defense systems in Romania came as a major challenge, in response to which the Russian Defense Ministry made the decision to deploy long-range missile-carrying bombers Tupolev Tu-22M23 at the Gvardeyskoye air base,” Viktor Bondarev, the head of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security, was quoted by Russia’s TASS news agency as saying Monday. “This move has drastically changed the balance of forces in the region,” Bondarev said of the missile defense shield. While the bombers are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, it is unclear if those weapons would come with the bombers when they are sent to Crimea. Washington views the missile shield, which U.S. and NATO officials switched on in May 2016, as vital to defending itself and Europe from so-called rogue states — especially Iran — a claim Moscow has disputed. Rather, the Kremlin has said, the move is actually aimed at blunting Russia’s own nuclear arsenal. U.S. officials have said that despite Washington’s plans to continue to develop the capabilities of its system, the shield would not be used against any future Russian missile threat. That, however, could change after the U.S. departed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which Russia formally suspended its participation in on March 4. In a statement released Monday, NATO condemned “Russia’s ongoing and wide-ranging military build-up in Crimea,” and said it was “concerned by Russia’s efforts and stated plans for further military build-up in the Black Sea region.” On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the fifth anniversary of Moscow’s widely condemned annexation of Crimea from Ukraine with a visit to the Black Sea peninsula.

russia
crimea
aegis ashore
nuclear weapons
weapons
nato
u.s .


Flooding of key U.S. Air Force base flies in face of Trump climate change stance, experts say

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Flooding at a U.S. Air Force base in Nebraska that damaged buildings and forced the removal of a plane integral to the nation’s nuclear attack response highlight the risks climate change poses to national security, experts said on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned whether humans cause climate change and has been angered by assessments from his military and intelligence agencies that say the phenomenon poses national security risks. Last week’s “bomb cyclone” storm flooded about 60 structures including 30 buildings at the Offutt Air Force Base, said Ryan Hansen, a spokesman for the 55th Wing, a unit providing reconnaissance, intelligence and combat support to U.S. leaders. Eight planes in the 55th Wing had to leave the base, Hansen said, and workers might not be able to assess damage to hangers and maintenance buildings until the end of the week. One of the planes was a Boeing-made E4-B plane, one of four the Air Force has that are meant to serve as an aerial command center in case of national emergency or destruction of ground bases, such as in a nuclear attack. Two E4-B’s were also damaged by a tornado at Offutt in 2017, CNN reported at the time. Francesco Femia, the co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, said the flooding shows that the White House needs to let the military do its job in assessing the climate threat. “This is an example of a vital threat to our national security from a climate-related disaster, and more of this kind of thing is likely in the future,” Femia said. While flooding from storm surges linked to climate change that could damage sensitive electronics and mechanical equipment have long threatened U.S. Naval bases like Norfolk, Virginia, Offutt is a reminder that climate change also poses risks to bases far from sea. Offutt is also home to Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal. The Strategic Command headquarters, set on a hill, was not affected by the floods, and neither was its new building, expected to open in the spring. “Given the president’s denial of climate change … I don’t know if ironic is the word to capture how strange it would be for the results of climate change to adversely impact the president’s ability to control U.S. nuclear weapons in a crisis,” said Stephen Young, the Washington representative of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which advocates for investment to protect bases from climate change threats. The White House has considered forming a panel to assess the science used in government climate risk reports that could be headed by a retired physics professor who believes greenhouse gas emissions are good for the planet. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. While climate change can’t be blamed for a single storm, the vast majority of scientists say emissions from fossil fuels and the burning of forests are trapping heat in the atmosphere and making storms and floods more intense.

climate change
donald trump
military
u.s .


U.S. top court weighs whether GOP-drawn Virginia electoral maps diluted black vote

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday wrestled for the second time over whether Republican legislators in Virginia drew electoral districts in the state in a way that unlawfully diluted the clout of black voters. The high court heard arguments in an appeal by the Republican-led state House of Delegates in defense of 11 state House districts that a lower court ruled last year violated the rights of black voters to equal protection under the law under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The case involves gerrymandering, a practice involving the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to marginalize a certain set of voters and increase the influence of others. While the Supreme Court for decades has invalidated electoral maps due to racial gerrymandering, the justices have not yet made a definitive ruling on whether drawing legislative districts for purely partisan advantage violates the Constitution. The court will hear two major cases on that issue next week, one from North Carolina and the other from Maryland. One way the court could resolve the Virginia racial gerrymandering dispute is to say that the House of Delegates, which sought to appeal the ruling, did not have legal standing to do so. The state’s Democratic attorney general, Mark Herring, has argued that the House cannot pursue the case independently and that only he could decide whether or not there would be an appeal. Some of the nine justices appeared sympathetic to Herring’s argument, although it is unclear if there is a majority in favor of that outcome. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito suggested that the court could send the case to the Virginia Supreme Court to decide who can represent the state. “I would be very uncomfortable trying to decide whether, as a matter of Virginia law, anybody other than the attorney general can ever represent the Commonwealth,” Alito said, referring to Virginia. Morgan Ratner, a lawyer for President Donald Trump’s administration, argued that the House of Delegates does not have standing to appeal. But Ratner said that the House of Delegates is correct that the lower court used the wrong standard to assess the districts. Democrats have accused Republicans in Virginia and other states of crafting such legislative maps in a way that crams black and other minority voters, who tend to favor Democratic candidates, into certain districts in order to reduce their overall sway in the state. The voters who brought the lawsuit accused Republicans of packing black voters into certain districts to diminish their voting power and make surrounding districts more white and more likely to support Republicans. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed sympathy for the Republicans who drew the maps, noting that if they assigned fewer black voters to each district “they would get hammered from the other side, saying you are discriminating against African American voters because you’re not giving the voters a sufficient opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice.” When the litigation first reached the high court, the justices in 2017 threw out an earlier lower court ruling that had found the 11 districts, as well as one other district, to be lawful. The justices said the lower court had not sufficiently analyzed the consideration of race by the Republican legislators in the process of drawing Virginia’s electoral map. At issue was the state legislative map drawn by Republicans after the 2010 national census. Since then, Democrats have made gains in Virginia in both state and federal elections. The current governor and attorney general are both Democrats. Race can be considered in redrawing boundaries of voting districts only in certain instances, such as when states are seeking to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. That law protects minority voters and was enacted to address a history of racial discrimination in voting, especially in southern states. A ruling is due by the end of June.

elections
republicans
rights
gerrymandering
donald trump
ethnicity


Half of Americans see Trump as victim of witch hunt but most want Mueller report made public: poll

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Half of Americans believe President Donald Trump is the victim of a political “witch hunt,” nearly two years after the launch of the Russia meddling investigation, a new poll showed Monday. Voters are also broadly opposed, 62 percent to 28 percent, to an impeachment effort against the president in the House of Representatives, the USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed. But they overwhelmingly want special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on whether Trump obstructed justice and whether his campaign colluded with Russians made public. Mueller has already issued some three dozen indictments, including charging six former aides and associates of the president and is believed to be winding up his investigation. He has given no indication so far what he will conclude. Trump, who has stepped up his campaign to convince the public that Mueller’s team is biased and the investigation politicized, tweeted “Wow!” in reaction to the poll. “50% of Americans AGREE that Robert Mueller’s investigation is a Witch Hunt,” he wrote. “Very few think it is legit! We will soon find out?” Democrats in the House of Representatives say they will impeach Trump if there is evidence of wrongdoing in Mueller’s report. But support in Congress for impeaching and trying Trump could be influenced by the level of voter support. Mueller has obtained guilty pleas and convictions against five of the six Trump aides charged so far, including Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The investigators are still interviewing witnesses, signaling that they could still be preparing charges against others. But Mueller’s conclusions about Trump’s role, if any, are unknown. Since Mueller was appointed in May 2017, Trump and the White House have pushed hard to discredit the investigation, and Trump has reportedly demanded several times that it be shut down. He also is pushing to prevent any release of Mueller’s report. “The Special Counsel should never have been appointed and there should be no Mueller Report. This was an illegal & conflicted investigation in search of a crime,” Trump tweeted on Friday. But the new poll said support for releasing the report is very high: 62 percent consider its release “very important” while another 21 percent judge it “somewhat important.”

donald trump
impeachment
usa today/suffolk university poll
robert mueller
michael cohen
russia probe


Dutch police capture Turkish man suspected of killing three in tram shooting

Abstract: UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS - Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday. Utrecht police announced the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody. The city was put into lock-down after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations. But hours after the shooting, the gunman’s motive remained unclear. A prosecutor said it could be for “family reasons” and Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her. Helicopters hovered over the usually quiet medieval town. Authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. “Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht. … A terrorist motive cannot be excluded,” Rutte said. “The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence. … We are now doing everything we can to find the perpetrator or perpetrators as soon as possible. That is now our complete focus.” The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and nine wounded, three of them seriously. The number of injured was later lowered to five. Dutch police issued an image of Tanis and warned the public not to approach him. The suspect had had previous run-ins with police, the prosecutor said. Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht said earlier the suspect was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013. The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population. “It’s frightening that something like this can happen so close to home,” said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. “These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful.” Witness Daan Molenaar, who said he had been sitting at the front of the tram when the shooting started, told national broadcaster NOS he did not believe it was a terrorist attack. “The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who’s really mad and grabbed a pistol,” he said. The streets of Utrecht were emptier than usual and mosques in the city kept their doors closed on Monday. Police screened off the site where at least one body lay covered near the tram. Dutch television showed counterterrorism units surrounding a house in Utrecht and sniffer dogs being put to work. Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.

tram shooting
utrecht
netherlands
gokmen tanis
terrorism
guns
turkey