Abe says snap election 'nowhere on my mind,' but few likely to take his words at face value

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday sought to quell recent speculation that he may dissolve the Lower House to coincide with July’s pre-scheduled Upper House poll in a political gamble often dubbed a “double election.” “The idea of dissolving (the Lower House) is nowhere on my mind,” Abe told Toranosuke Katayama, co-head of conservative opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai. Abe’s comment came during his first face-off in a year with opposition leaders under the Japanese equivalent of the British Parliament’s Question Time. But few are likely to take his words at face value, as it is an open secret in Nagatacho, the political epicenter of Japan, that prime ministers are allowed to publicly lie about when to call a snap election. Rumors of a double election have been swirling in recent weeks and days as Abe braces for the crucial Upper House election in July. Some political observers have pointed out that given an expected economic slowdown in the fall, his Cabinet’s high approval ratings and a hectic political calendar over the next two years, now may be the best possible timing for Abe to call a snap election. Speaking to a gathering in the city of Utsunomiya on Tuesday, Finance Minister Taro Aso reportedly recalled a surprise move pulled off by former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1986 to dissolve the Lower House despite widespread predictions that he wouldn’t. “At that time, it was being said there was a 200 percent chance that he won’t call a snap election, but he did anyway,” Aso was quoted by public broadcaster NHK as saying. “That’s the reality. It’s only Prime Minister Abe who knows what’s going to happen.” As the Upper House poll nears, opposition parties have been seeking to play up a recent furor over a report by a Financial Services Agency council that casts doubt on the sustainability of the public pension system. That topic dominated Wednesday’s session, where Abe again questioned its legitimacy and called it “misleading.” In his debate with Yukio Edano, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Abe reiterated the report was flawed in that it painted an oversimplified picture of post-retirement lives that he said should vary depending on each individual, and gave the public the misguided impression that the public pension system is not sustainable at all. “The huge problem about the FSA council’s report is that it has caused huge misunderstanding by stating — based on some averaged figures — that pension beneficiaries will face a monthly deficit of ¥50,000, or a total ¥20 million if they live to the age of 95 years old,” Abe told Edano. “But the reality is the lifestyle of each pensioner varies.” Edano accused Abe of emphasizing only the perceived “security” of the pension system while his government refuses to even accept the report and therefore avoids facing the reality depicted in it. Abe, meanwhile, repeated that his government remains convinced that the public pension system can provide “the pillar on which people can subsist after retirement” — although he acknowledged it alone cannot sustain their post-retirement lives entirely. Abe also repeatedly stressed that the sustainability of the pension system has been bolstered since he returned to office in 2012. He claimed a mechanism called “macroeconomic slide” — which was introduced as part of a 2004 pension reform to reduce pension payout levels as the size of the working-age population falls and people’s average life expectancy increases — has started properly functioning under his Abenomics policy mix. Wednesday marked the first time in about a year that Abe faced off one-on-one with opposition leaders at question time. Although it was originally introduced to invigorate policy discussions between leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, the system has barely been able to play that role in recent years, with a fragmented opposition having to divvy up its 45-minute session to grill Abe. On Wednesday, Edano was afforded 20 minutes and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, 14 minutes, while Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii and Katayama were each left with a mere 5 minutes and 30 seconds. When he dueled with Abe in May last year, Edano, frustrated with his opponent’s rambling answers that chipped away at his already limited share of question time, declared the system was no longer serving its original purpose. This assessment was echoed by Abe a month later when Edano retaliated with a similarly lengthy monologue during a separate question time session


At least 26 injured in earthquake in Japan's northwest

Abstract: At least 26 people were injured, including one seriously, after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Japan’s northwestern region late Tuesday, causing landslides and power outages in some areas. The quake hit Niigata Prefecture on Tuesday night, recording a maximum of upper 6 on the Japanese earthquake intensity scale of 7. Seventeen people were injured in Yamagata Prefecture, four each in Niigata and Miyagi prefectures, and one in Ishikawa Prefecture, according to a Kyodo News tally Wednesday. There were no reports of missing people, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Landslides were reported in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, and Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. The Meteorological Agency warned of potential building collapse and more landslides as there is a chance additional similar quakes will hit Yamagata and Niigata prefectures over the following week, while rain is expected in part of the region Wednesday. A man in his 30s in Tsubame, Niigata Prefecture, fell down and fractured a bone, according to local officials. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 800 people in the affected region evacuated. While many people returned home Wednesday, the Murakami Municipal Government told the elderly and others who may take longer to relocate to be prepared to evacuate because of the risk of landslides and other disasters triggered by the earthquake and rain. All public elementary and junior high schools in Murakami and Tsuruoka were closed Wednesday. Some vehicles were trapped in mud in parts of Tsuruoka, as the temblor caused soil liquefaction, and the roof over a sumo ring at an elementary school in the city collapsed, according to the local government. Over 9,200 houses in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures were hit by power outages but electricity services were restored by 6:44 a.m., according to Tohoku Electric Power Co. East Japan Railway Co. said the quake caused some delays to its bullet train services Tuesday, affecting around 10,000 people. Wednesday’s services began as normal. Some highways and roads in Yamagata and Niigata prefectures were closed because of fallen rocks. Airlines said the earthquake will not affect flights to and from the affected region Wednesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said early Wednesday that no fires, major damage nor serious injuries have been reported. The quake, which occurred at around 10:22 p.m. off the coast of Yamagata Prefecture, prompted the Meteorological Agency to issue tsunami advisories for coastal areas of Yamagata and Niigata prefectures and the Noto area in Ishikawa Prefecture. The agency estimated the possible tsunami’s height to be as much as 1 meter. A 10-centimeter tsunami was reported at Niigata port just after midnight, but the Meteorological Agency lifted the tsunami advisories for all three prefectures at 1:02 a.m. The city of Murakami, which experienced an upper 6 level of seismic intensity, set up 10 evacuation centers. “I can’t believe I have experienced major quakes like this repeatedly in my life,” said Riki Yokota, an 81-year-old resident of Murakami, recalling surviving a big earthquake that struck Niigata Prefecture in 1964. A strong earthquake jolted the prefecture and its vicinity in 2007 as well. “I was so afraid I might not be able to escape” after a tsunami warning was issued, she said, after evacuating to a nearby junior high school with her daughter. She said she needs to use a walker. At the school’s gymnasium, about 200 people, including elderly people and children, took shelter. Two passengers and two crew members aboard a local train stopped in Murakami following the quake got out of the carriages and rushed to higher ground to get away from the coast. “We were really afraid of a tsunami,” said an evacuee from the train on the JR Uetsu Line. “I came to this shelter after fleeing to a shrine on higher ground with my three children,” said another evacuee, 40-year-old beautician Toshiko Togashi, after arriving at an evacuation center in Murakami. “I did not get lost because I took part in an annual emergency drill.” It was the most powerful temblor in Japan since last Sept. 6, when a deadly quake registering 7 on the intensity scale rocked the town of Atsuma in Hokkaido. Tuesday’s strong quake also hit Tsuruoka with a lower 6. A lower 5 was recorded in Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture, in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, and in Nagaoka and Kashiwazaki in Niigata Prefecture. The Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex run by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. The complex’s seven units have been idled since March 2012. Suga, who entered the Prime Minister’s Office after 10:40 p.m., said at an urgent press conference he had been informed that there are no problems at any of the nuclear plants in Japan. The quake struck one year to the day after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted Osaka Prefecture and killed six people. The coastal region facing the Sea of Japan from Hokkaido to Niigata Prefecture has experienced similar big earthquakes in the past. Shinji Toda, a professor of seismic geology at Tohoku University said, “Active faults are concentrated (around the area hit by the latest earthquake) and some of them likely moved.” Toda pointed out that there are similarities in scale and mechanism between Tuesday’s quake and one that rocked Niigata in 2007.


Sumitomo under fire over labor dispute and rights abuses at Philippines banana plantation

Abstract: Two representatives from a Philippines labor union on Tuesday protested what they claim are unfair labor practices and human rights abuses at a banana plantation run by a fruit company affiliated with Sumitomo Corp. Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Paul John Dizon, president of the local labor union Namasufa, and Jamila Seno from the group’s board of directors accused Sumifru Philippines Corp. of failing to “regularize” its workers, and of harassment following a strike held in October last year. They called for Sumifru to comply with the Philippines’ labor department order that the over 700 workers laid off following the strike be reinstated, and urged Japanese consumers to boycott the banana brand until it resolves the labor dispute. The affiliate of the major trading company currently employs workers on fixed-term contracts with low wages and no benefits, regardless of how many years they have been with the company, Dizon said. Despite a Philippines Supreme Court order in 2017, Sumifru has refused to recognize Namasufa as a collective bargaining agent, arguing that a contracting agency is their employer, he said. On Tuesday, Sumitomo said it would sell its 49 percent stake in Sumifru Singapore Pte., the owner of the Philippine unit, to joint venture partner Thornton Venture Ltd., who currently holds the majority stake. The Japanese trading company has been producing bananas in the Philippines since 1970 and cited future growth strategies as the reason for the decision, denying any connection with the ongoing labor dispute in the Philippines. It said the sale of the stake, the cost of which was not disclosed, is expected to be completed by the end of September this year. Sumifru’s unit in the Philippines, which makes roughly one-third of all bananas imported to Japan, operates an approximately 2,200-hectare banana plantation and nine packaging plants in Compostela Valley, Mindanao, with a total production capacity of around 19,000 boxes per day. At the news conference, Seno spoke of harsh working conditions with long hours and adverse health effects from exposure to chemicals used on the bananas. “The company cares more about the bananas than the workers,” she said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Dizon and Seno, who had worked at the plantation for five and ten years, respectively, have now been unemployed for more than seven months after their involvement in the strike, but the two said they would fight against the continued harassment of Namasufa members, including the suspected killing of a prominent union member and burning down of property. “The bananas produced or being sold by Sumifru has the blood of the workers,” he said.

sumitomo
philippines
bananas
unions
namasufa
mindanao
labor laws
black companies


Car used by fugitive to escape arrest Wednesday found in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A car used by a fugitive was found late Wednesday night near Tokyo, hours after the man convicted of assault and theft brandished a knife and fled in the vehicle from police and prosecutors trying to take him into custody, officials said. The car driven by Makoto Kobayashi, 43, was found at around 11:30 p.m. outside an apartment building in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 7 kilometers away from his home in the neighboring town of Aikawa, where he had fled from prosecutors and police 10 hours earlier. The police put Kobayashi on a nationwide wanted list Thursday after the Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office obtained an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of obstructing officers from performing their duties. In Atsugi and Aikawa, 45 public elementary and junior high schools closed for the day to ensure the safety of students, according to their education boards. Kobayashi was last seen driving the car on the Tomei Expressway in the city of Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday. The fugitive had been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for theft, assault and violation of the stimulants control law, according to the prosecutors’ office. His sentence was finalized in February, but he was out on bail and repeatedly ignored orders to report to the prosecutor’s office, the officials said. They had repeatedly visited his apartment but could not find him, they added. “I’ve locked all the doors at my home but cannot let my child walk alone. I hope he will be detained soon,” said Ai Tanaka, a 32-year-old housewife living near the Atsugi apartment where the car was found. Local governments said they had not been informed of the discovery of the fugitive’s car and learned of it through news reports early Thursday. On Wednesday, the prosecutor’s office alerted the local government in Aikawa about three hours after the incident. “We were surprised as the initial report on the fugitive was made hours later. Why couldn’t they inform us about the discovery of the car sooner?” asked an official of the Kanagawa Prefectural Education Board. “We are deeply sorry for the incident and the delay in passing on the information,” said Hiroshi Takeuchi, deputy public prosecutor at the office.


UNESCO lists Kobushi mountains spanning Tokyo and three other prefectures as biosphere reserve

Abstract: UNESCO on Wednesday added the Kobushi mountain region, which straddles part of Tokyo and three other prefectures, to its list of biosphere reserves, Japanese officials said. As of July last year, 686 areas in 122 countries have been designated as biosphere reserves — areas for harmonizing environmental preservation and human activity — by the Paris-based U.N. organization. Nine of the areas are in Japan. They differ from UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites and are known as UNESCO eco parks in Japan. The latest decision was reached at a gathering in Paris. The newly added 190,000-hectare biosphere reserve is centered on the 2,475-meter-high Mount Kobushi and covers areas in Nagano, Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures, as well as Tokyo. The zone covers the head of the Arakawa river and other major rivers flowing in eastern Japan and a habitat of various wildlife, particularly rare butterflies. Biosphere reserves have three interrelated zones — the strictly protected core area, the buffer zone used for scientific research and environmental education including “ecotourism,” and the transition zone aimed at fostering economic and human development that is socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable. The Japanese National Commission for UNESCO applied for the listing of the Kobushi mountain region in September 2018. There are currently no other nominations pending from Japan.

unesco kobushi mountains tokyo nagano saitama yamanashi environment


Osaka plans no changes to safety measures for the G20 gathering following earthquake in northern Japan

Abstract: Following Tuesday night’s magnitude 6.7 earthquake in northwest Japan, Osaka Prefecture, the host of the Group of 20 summit scheduled next week, isn’t planning additional changes to its emergency safety plans, officials said Wednesday. Kazuo Fudo, an assistant chief of the Osaka Prefecture’s fire prevention and safety affairs division, said the city of Osaka already has a regional disaster prevention plan, which the city will follow in case of an earthquake. The G20 summit will convene on June 28 and 29 at Intex Osaka in the city’s waterfront area. “Intex Osaka is located on high ground, so we don’t think there would be damage due to a possible tsunami,” Fudo said. “Besides, even though it is standing on an artificial island, it is connected to land via tunnels, bridges and expressways that are all capable of withstanding earthquakes. We don’t believe people will be stranded there.” The central government, the official added, handles safety and security issues for world leaders and key government officials. If an earthquake strikes, Fudo said, they would likely take shelter there or leave the country. After Tuesday night’s earthquake in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures, Osaka Prefecture established a tentative task force to collect information, said Daigo Yakabe, an official in the prefecture’s disaster control division, adding that such a precaution would be taken regardless of the G20 summit. The earthquake that rattled residents in four northern prefectures Tuesday night coincided with the one-year anniversary of a major earthquake in the Kansai area, which killed six people and injured more than 450 people. Yakabe said the authorities will further tighten disaster prevention and security measures next week as it gets closer to the G20 summit. The authorities have already warned residents about the heightened security measures being implemented and coming traffic restrictions that will be enforced. Osaka, along with surrounding areas, is considered to be vulnerable to an earthquake along the Nankai Trough. The probability of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake in the Nankai Trough happening within 30 years is between 70 and 80 percent, according to one study released last year.


Trump weighs limits on uranium imports after security risk found

Abstract: The U.S. Commerce Department has recommended the White House take steps to protect the domestic production of uranium after finding the nation’s reliance on imports was a national security risk, according to three people briefed on the matter. Among the trade remedies recommended is to require nuclear power plants to purchase a minimum of 5 percent of the radioactive fuel from U.S. mines, said the people who requested anonymity to discuss non-public deliberations. Two of the people said an option under consideration would see the quota escalate by 5 percentage points a year. A decision to impose the quotas would be a boon to the two small mining companies that petitioned the Commerce Department to take action, Energy Fuels Inc. and Ur-Energy Inc. The move would increase costs for nuclear reactor operators that are already struggling in the face of competition from cheaper sources of power generated by natural gas and renewables. The Commerce Department concluded that the imports did harm national security in April, delivering a confidential report on the matter to the White House, the people said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the Commerce Department declined comment on the contents of the uranium report and said it is at the White House. The recommendations have yet to be presented to President Donald Trump and a meeting between him and advisers on the issue that had been scheduled for Thursday was said to be delayed, two people said. The matter is far from final, but one person said it is certain that the White House appears poised to take action. Other options being considered include doing nothing or putting limits on uranium from specific countries, one of the people said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who met with Trump Thursday, is expected to make the case against import quotas on uranium, which his country produces. The Trump administration was asked by the two domestic uranium producers to impose a 25 percent domestic market quota on the grounds imports of uranium are a threat to national security. A finding that the imports of uranium are harming U.S. national security gives Trump wide latitude to impose a trade remedy of his choosing — or do nothing at all — using the same trade law the administration has successfully used to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. While the domestic uranium producers, both of which are based in Colorado, initially asked the administration for a 25 percent quota, a lower amount could be a compromise both the utilities and the producers could live with, analysts have said. Currently, the nuclear power industry gets nearly all of its uranium from foreign sources such as Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia. The U.S. uranium industry produced roughly 700,000 pounds in 2018, according to Chris Gadomski, a nuclear industry analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A 5 percent quota would translate to between 2 million and 2.5 million pounds, he said. The two miners who petitioned for the case have already begun expanding their mines in anticipation of a favorable decision.

uranium
donald trump
justin trudeau
australia
canada
russia
u.s .
nuclear energy


Walmart agrees to pay $282 million to settle Brazil unit bribe claim

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay a total penalty of $282 million to settle charges by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission that its Brazilian unit violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The retailer will pay more than $144 million to settle charges by the SEC and approximately $138 million to resolve parallel criminal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to court and regulatory filings. The settlement with the Justice Department was reached on Thursday in a federal court in Virginia. The department launched an investigation against the retailer after a series of New York Times articles in 2012 described bribes that Walmart allegedly paid in Mexico to obtain permits to build stores there. The reports spurred a wide-reaching Justice Department investigation of the behavior of Walmart subsidiaries across the globe, including in Mexico, Brazil, China and India. According to court filings, from around 2009 to 2010, Walmart Brazil knowingly led its parent to maintain false records, which then made it into the company’s consolidated financial statements. Specifically, Walmart Brazil and its employees recorded $527,000 in payments to an intermediary for assistance in acquiring construction permits as a payment to certain construction companies, the court filings show. The intermediary’s ability to obtain licenses and permits quickly “by sorting things out like magic” earned the middleman the nickname “sorceress” or “genie” within Walmart Brazil, the court filings said. A separate investigation by the U.S. SEC also found that Walmart violated the FCPA in Brazil. “Walmart valued international growth and cost-cutting over compliance,” Charles Cain, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit, said in announcing the investigation and fine. “The company could have avoided many of these problems, but instead Walmart repeatedly failed to take red flags seriously and delayed the implementation of appropriate internal accounting controls.” Walmart did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Walmart set aside nearly $300 million to settle charges with the U.S. government over international bribery allegations in 2017. In June 2018, the retailer sold a majority stake in its Brazilian operations to private equity firm Advent International. In August that year, the company said it had spent about $900 million on legal fees and other costs stemming from the investigation, including a global overhaul of its internal compliance system. A few months later, in October, the retailer, without admitting wrongdoing, agreed to pay $160 million to settle a class action by investors unhappy with the way Walmart handled the foreign bribery investigation.

walmart
brazil
sec
corruption
walmart brazil
u.s .
scandals


China's potent baijiu tipple, likened to cow manure or burning plastic, is tough sell overseas

Abstract: LONDON/LUZHOU, CHINA - It may be China’s national spirit, but London bartender Ellie Veale can tell from the first swig why baijiu has not caught on overseas. Veale crinkles her nose as the crystal-clear booze, after some initial fruity notes, reveals its intense, earthy essence. “I worked on a cattle farm in Australia, and this kind of aftertaste reminds me of the smell of … cow manure, hay and horses,” she said in the bar Demon, Wise & Partners. “It’s not the beverage for me.” And yet baijiu’s popularity in China has propelled demand — making it the most consumed spirit in the world, and its major producers the most valuable distilleries globally. “Baijiu belongs to China, but also the world,” said Su Wanghui, information director at Luzhou Laojiao, one of the country’s biggest and oldest brands. “We hope to have people around the world try baijiu, and like baijiu.” There is just one problem: the taste. Kinder critics say it evokes truffles or burning plastic. Less generous descriptions have included “industrial cleaning solvent” and “liquid razor blades.” Ranging from around 35 to 55 percent alcohol, baijiu packs a searing, sickly sweet punch, an intensity that evolved to match the powerfully spicy cuisine of southwestern China, baijiu’s heartland. Many foreigners in China relate horror stories of being bombarded by baijiu toasts at banquets. “The foreign view of baijiu is: very spicy, like a rocket blasting to heaven,” Su said at Luzhou Laojiao’s headquarters on the upper Yangtze in rugged Sichuan province. Most Chinese cannot imagine major celebrations without it, particularly the Lunar New Year holiday, when excessive toasting leaves revelers staggering toward brutal hangovers. Around 10.8 billion liters (2.9 billion gallons) of baijiu was consumed last year — nearly all in China — according to International Wine and Spirit Research. That is more than whisky, vodka, gin, rum and tequila combined and would take an hour to slosh over the Niagara Falls, according to WorldBaijiuDay.com. But baijiu has been on a roller-coaster in recent years. A crackdown on government corruption, launched in 2012, hit hard — premium brands had become the go-to gift for bribing officials. Sales fell off a “cliff,” Su said. And many younger Chinese, exposed to French wine and German beer, shun a rotgut they equate with rural regions and drunken businessmen. Forced to adapt, manufacturers have found success with milder new varieties and brightly packaged single-serving mixed drinks. Sales have recovered, igniting share prices. In 2017 the market value of Shanghai-listed Kweichow Moutai surged past London-based Diageo, maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka, to become the world’s most valuable distiller. Now around 900 yuan ($130) per share, it could become China’s first 1,000 yuan stock. Emboldened distilleries are now looking abroad, staging tastings and developing smoother, export-oriented brands while touting centuries-old artisanal production methods. At Luzhou Laojiao, sorghum is fermented for months in deep microbe-rich earthen pits, some in continuous use since 1573. Staffers, resembling Shaolin monks in bright yellow-and-red outfits and performing all work by hand, distill the fermented mash in steam-belching wooden pot stills. The end product is then aged, sometimes for decades, in giant clay pots in nearby caves. Water, soil, climate and other factors make baijius from different regions as “different from each other as a whiskey is to a mescal,” said Bill Isler, CEO of Ming River, an export-only brand created by Luzhou Laojiao. But he says there is a “lot of prejudice” to overcome before baijiu can follow once-obscure “local” spirits such as vodka and tequila and go global. A wave of “baijiu bars” opened in China, the U.S. and Europe in recent years as a buzz swelled. But many have since closed. “It’s a challenge for the customers. It hasn’t really caught on in the West yet,” said Demon, Wise & Partners owner Paul Mathew. The price of top brands is one hurdle. Mathew charges £12 ($15) for a glass of Kweichow Moutai. “It is also a very unfamiliar flavor for guests, so we need to tell them the story — how baijiu is made, why it has the characteristics it has — before it becomes more accessible,” he said. Jim Boyce, a Beijing blogger on China’s booze scene who launched the annual Aug. 9 World Baijiu Day in 2015 to raise awareness, said baijiu is hampered by how it is consumed in China: straight up, with food. “The fact is, people — at least in North America and Europe — don’t drink lukewarm straight 52 percent alcohol, so the people promoting this tend to be really into traditional baijiu culture,” he said. Boyce advocates creative cocktails or novelties like baijiu ice cream, suggestions that provoke blank stares from Chinese baijiu executives seeking his advice. “It’s been frustrating, frankly,” he added. Overseas sales are growing, however. Kweichou Moutai earned 2.89 billion yuan ($418 million) abroad last year, up 27 percent year-on-year. But that is a drop in the bucket of its 73.6 billion yuan overall revenue. “We’re trying our best to make the world understand, to spread the word about baijiu, just like whisky and red wine are now known within China,” Su said. “But there is still a long road ahead.”


Apple warns against China tariffs, saying iPhone and contributions to U.S. would be impacted

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. urged the Trump administration not to proceed with tariffs of as much as 25 percent on a new slate of products imported from China, saying it would reduce the company’s contribution to the U.S. economy. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant made the plea in a letter to U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer this week. Tariffs will affect nearly all major Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Apple Watches, AirPods and the iMac, the company wrote. It would also hurt products made in lower volumes like the HomePod speaker, some Beats headphones, wireless routers, the Apple TV box, cases, and iPhone replacement parts. “We urge you not to proceed with these tariffs,” Apple’s letter said. This is the first time Apple has specifically mentioned the iPhone on a list of products that would be impacted by tariffs. The smartphone generates about two-thirds of Apple sales, and drives the purchase of other devices and services. Apple is one of the largest job creators in the U.S., it said, responsible for more than 2 million positions. The company also said it is the biggest U.S. corporate taxpayer. Apple has pledged to make a direct contribution to the U.S. economy of more than $350 billion over five years, and said it’s on track to meet that goal. The U.S. and China said their presidents will meet in Japan next week to relaunch trade talks after a month-long stalemate. Apple has spent decades building one of the largest supply chains in the world. The company designs and sells most of its products in the U.S., but imports them from China after assembly. That makes it one of the most exposed companies to tariffs. The firm may be evaluating moving some production out of China to elsewhere in Asia, according to a recent report by the Nikkei newspaper. Apple’s global supply chain has helped it efficiently pump out hundreds of millions of devices, making the company one of the most profitable in the world. But the approach relies on cheap labor and the relatively free movement of goods between nations. The trade war between the U.S. and China is a threat to this lucrative status quo. “What has benefited Apple in the past may turn full circle and harm their super-normal margins in the future,” wrote Neil Campling, head of TMT research at Mirabaud Securities Ltd., in a note to investors on Thursday. “While Apple attempts to portray itself as pivoting to a services company the bare fact remains that more than 60 percent of profit is generated by the iPhone.” In the past, when it has been up against local taxes on the sale of products built elsewhere, Apple has relocated production within that country. Apple is now building iPhones in India to avoid a local tax in the region, while it conducted similar measures several years ago in Brazil for selling iPhones. However, moving production out of China is not without risk. The company’s suppliers employ millions of people in China and its relationship with the government there is partly based on this contribution to the economy. Moving out of China could threaten some of these jobs, hurting the relationship with the government and raising potential roadblocks to sales of iPhones and services like Apple Music and iCloud in the country. Last year, Apple told Lighthizer that tariffs could affect AirPods, some Macs and the Apple Watch. The company was granted a reprieve when the government said it would avoid impacting the Apple Watch. In its letter this week to the U.S. government, Apple said that the tariffs would weigh on its global competitiveness. It also stressed its impact on the U.S. economy. “The Chinese producers we compete with in global markets do not have a significant presence in the U.S. market, and so would not be impacted by U.S. tariffs,” Apple said. Apple’s letter was filed during the public comment period for proposed tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese goods as the U.S. tries to finalize a deal with China that addresses the trade deficit, allegations of intellectual property theft and other trade practices. Hundreds of U.S. companies and trade groups are appearing at a seven-day public hearing through June 25, mostly to oppose the duties as a tax on businesses and consumers. The duties could be imposed after a rebuttal period ends July 2.

apple
china
tariffs
iphone
mac
trade war
u.s .
donald trump


Business sentiment at Japan's large manufacturers at three-year low, poll finds

Abstract: Business confidence at big manufacturers in Japan likely worsened to an almost three-year low in the April-June quarter, as the U.S.-China trade war and weakening global demand hurt the export-reliant economy, a Reuters’ poll found Friday. A deterioration in corporate sentiment will add to the Bank of Japan’s concerns about slowing economic growth, after its governor signaled readiness to ramp up stimulus as global risks cloud the outlook. The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan business sentiment survey is expected to show the headline index for big manufacturers’ confidence slipped to plus nine in June from plus 12 three months earlier, the poll of 16 economists showed. That level for the index would be the lowest since September 2016, when it was at plus six. The sentiment index for big non-manufacturers inched down to plus 20 in June from the plus 21 recorded in a March survey, the poll found. “Slowdown in the global economy, weak exports and factory output due to lower demand for semiconductor-related products dented manufacturers’ mood,” said Yasunari Tanaka, a researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute. “An escalation in the U.S.-China trade conflict hurts exports and the yen’s appreciation damaged the corporate earnings environment,” he added. In the March survey, sentiment among big manufacturers soured at its fastest pace in more than six years. But the pace of deterioration likely slowed in the June survey, propped up by relatively solid domestic demand and the 10-day extended holiday to celebrate the enthronement of a new emperor, analysts said. In the September quarter, big manufacturers’ business confidence is seen slipping to plus six and non-manufacturers’ sentiment is expected to ease to plus 19, the poll showed. Big companies are forecast to increase their capital spending plans by 8.9% for this fiscal year, up from 1.2% projected in the March survey. “Although uncertainty over the overseas situation has been rising, we expect demand for upgrading aging facilities, as well as streamlining and labor-saving investment, will stay solid,” said Koichi Ishida, economist at Japan Research institute. The BOJ will publish its tankan survey on July 1. Japan’s factory output likely rose 0.7% in May from the previous month after a 0.6% gain in April, another poll of 17 economists showed. “Domestic demand, such as consumer spending and public investment, remain solid, but falls in exports weighed on factory output,” said Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. The trade ministry will announce May factory output on June 28. The ministry’s May retail sales, which will be issued June 27, was expected to show a 1.2% increase from a year earlier, underpinned by auto sales, after a revised 0.4% gain in April, the poll showed. Tokyo’s core consumer prices (CPI) index, which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, was seen rising 0.9% in June from a year earlier, slowing down from a 1.1% gain in May due to falling oil prices. The government will publish Tokyo’s core CPI on June 28.

manufacturing
tankan
boj
economic indicators


Core consumer prices in Japan rose 0.8% on year in May

Abstract: Core consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in May, due to higher energy costs, but the year-on-year gain slowed from the previous month despite the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent inflation target, government data shows. The nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, increased for the 29th straight month, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. It rose 0.9 percent in April. Prices have picked up in recent months due partly to rising energy costs, but the BOJ faces an uphill battle in achieving its inflation target and estimates the rate will remain under 2 percent in coming years. On Thursday, after a two-day policy-setting meeting, BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said that the central bank will consider additional easing measures without hesitation if inflation loses momentum. In May, electricity costs rose 3.6 percent and city gas costs climbed 6.4 percent, reflecting higher crude oil prices, a ministry official said. Gasoline prices jumped 2.8 percent from a year earlier. The price of air conditioners increased 14.1 percent as appliance makers unveiled new products to consumers earlier than usual this year, a ministry official said. Prices for overseas package tours rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier due to relatively robust demand, but accommodation costs slid 0.2 percent after the 10-day Golden Week holiday through May 6 — extended this year to celebrate the imperial succession. Mobile phone bills fell 4.3 percent and handset prices declined 10.6 percent, following greater government pressure on wireless carriers to lower charges and tougher competition to win customers. Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, said spending is “not so strong” due to disappointment with the pay hikes secured in this year’s annual management-labor negotiations, held in spring. He added that the outlook is especially bleak after October, when the consumption tax is set to rise to 10 percent from 8 percent and preschool education will become free.


Japan and U.S. seek compromise on car and industrial-goods tariffs in working-level talks

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Japan and the United States tried to find middle ground Thursday in working-level negotiations on lifting or cutting tariffs on vehicles and other industrial goods, as they sought to hammer out a bilateral trade agreement. The talks come as the two sides prepare for the upcoming bilateral summit and minister-level trade talks at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka from June 28 to 29. Working-level officials from the both sides, including representatives from Japan’s foreign and trade ministries, met in Washington to discuss what specific goods will be subject to tariff removal or reduction. The Japanese negotiators went on the offensive, as almost no tariffs are levied on industrial goods imported to Japan. They asked the United States to swiftly eliminate its 2.5 percent tariffs on Japanese vehicles, as well as immediately lift tariffs on major auto parts such as tires and engines, which are heavily exported to the U.S., according to sources with knowledge of the matter. Tariffs on consumer electronics, industrial machinery, chemical goods and textiles were also said to have been discussed at the meeting. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which is trying to revive America’s manufacturing industry, maintained a cautious attitude toward opening its market. The United States promised in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement to abolish tariffs on vehicles in the 25th year of the TPP’s effectuation, and to immediately lift tariffs on more than 80 percent of auto parts, before Washington withdrew from the framework in early 2017. With the U.S. presidential election approaching next year, U.S. negotiators do not appear likely to make concessions. Tokyo and Washington agreed earlier this month to try to conclude their negotiations, launched in mid-April, at an early date after the House of Councilors election this summer, according to Japanese officials. The two sides spent last week building the foundations for the negotiations by confirming the tariff rates and export volumes for all traded goods.

tariffs
trade
u.s .
carmakers
u.s.-japan relations


NTT to set up 1,300 Wi-Fi points at New National Stadium for Tokyo Olympics

Abstract: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. said Thursday it will install 1,300 Wi-Fi access points at the New National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Olympics. The telecommunications giant received the order for the project from the Japan Sport Council, which manages the stadium. “We want to support the quadrennial games by preparing the world’s best Internet environment,” NTT said. The company, which is one of the major sponsors of the Olympics, will also be in charge of establishing communications infrastructure and taking cybersecurity measures during the competition. NTT plans to deploy 20,000 employees for the games, said Jun Sawada, NTT’s president and chief executive officer, at a news conference. “The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and Paralympics is believed to have seen 12 billion cyberattacks. The Tokyo Games may see several tens of times more,” Sawada warned.

ntt
new national stadium
tokyo
olympics
telecoms
wifi
2020 tokyo olympics


Airbus demands chance to bid after IAG's surprise Boeing 737 Max order

Abstract: PARIS - Airbus called on Thursday for a chance to compete for a blockbuster plane order by British Airways owner IAG, which stunned industry executives at this week’s Paris Airshow by ordering 200 of Boeing’s grounded 737 Max. Airbus announced a new version of its best-selling A321 with close to 240 orders and commitments in Paris, only to see its grip on IAG’s European short-haul networks damaged by the Boeing deal, which analysts said shores up the embattled 737 Max. Boeing’s top-selling aircraft has been taken out of service worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in March, five months after a Lion Air 737 Max plunged into the sea off Indonesia. A total of 346 people died in the two disasters. Tuesday’s blockbuster order, worth more than $24 billion at list prices, was partly seen as an effort to preserve competition between planemakers, damaged by the three-month-old grounding crisis. But it clearly rattled Airbus, which was caught unawares after signing a smaller order for A321XLRs with IAG. Wrapping up the world’s largest air show on Thursday, Airbus publicly voiced its frustration over the deal and urged IAG to run a competition for the planes, which would be deployed at Vueling, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level and part of BA. “We would like a chance to compete for that business,” Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer told reporters, adding that IAG had not issued a formal tender for the narrow-body order. IAG was not immediately available for comment, but said earlier in the week that it did not comment on negotiations. Boeing declined comment. The shock announcement of a tentative order for 200 737 Max jets from IAG jolted the industry and frayed an unusual PR truce between the world’s largest plane-makers after Airbus had publicly supported Boeing over the grounding. Commercial rivalry remains fierce, with Airbus launching its A321XLR — a longer-range version of its A321 — to try to reduce the space left for Boeing as it draws up designs for a new 220-270-seater in the so-called middle of the jet market. Airbus reported 383 orders and commitments including 239 for the A321XLR. Boeing’s firm and tentative orders came to 247. Both are suffering from slower in demand after a long upswing. Airbus announced a last-minute order for 13 of the XLR jets from U.S. budget carrier JetBlue Airways, which is expanding into the cut-throat transatlantic market, joining a varied list of backers including American Airlines. Airbus hopes to derail Boeing’s plans for a midmarket jet in a gap between traditional narrow-body and wide-body jets by dominating the lower end, where its A321 outsells Boeing. But it is more vulnerable at the top end where its A330neo wide-body jet is up against tough competition from the newer Boeing 787. Airbus grabbed key orders from Philippines carrier Cebu Air and Virgin Atlantic, while Korean Air took 20 787s. Yet the biggest issue hovering over the show was the grounding of the Max, which secures supplier profits for the next decade, while on the defence side of the show a Franco-German pairing and Turkey each unveiled new fighter designs. The IAG deal marked a psychological turning point for the five-decade-old 737 series though Boeing avoided wading into the traditional ding-dong with Airbus over who won the show, as it strikes a more somber tone than usual following the crashes. Boeing did, however, say it was in talks with other airlines for sales of its 737 Max after the IAG deal. Sales chief Ihssane Mounir dismissed the A321XLR as suitable for only a “sliver” of the market that Boeing hopes to address with its proposed all-new mid-market plane. The two sides also traded blows over competition for wide-body jets, with each scoring key wins in Asia. Boeing had opened the show on a subdued note with apologies over lives lost in the Max crashes. It suffered a further setback when General Electric disclosed a delay of months in supplying engines for the new 777X wide-body aircraft. Mounir said he still expected the world’s largest twin-engined plane to fly this year and to be delivered in 2020.

airbus
iag
boeing
737 max
airlines
a321xlr
aviation
paris air show


Southeast Asia looks to Taiwan as recycling pioneer

Abstract: BANGKOK - Once dubbed “garbage island” for its overflowing landfills and filthy streets, Taiwan now has Asia’s highest rate of recycling and is a role model for the region, analysts said on Thursday. With untreated waste causing marine pollution and clogged drains triggering fatal floods from Bangkok to Manila, Southeast Asian cities should look to Taiwan’s success in reducing and recycling waste, they said. “Taiwan didn’t do anything mystical; it just developed good policy based on the experiences of others,” said Nate Maynard at Taiwan’s Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research. “If Southeast Asian countries adopted the same core principles, then they could develop their own models that work.” Reducing waste is becoming a global priority amid growing calls for more aggressive action on climate change and plastic pollution, particularly in urban areas, which the United Nations projects will house 60 percent of the global population by 2030. Environmentalists asked leaders at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit to create a “sustainable and ethical circular economy” that reduces the harmful impacts of poor waste management amid rapid growth. “Countries should be thinking about reducing consumption of plastic, redesigning products to reduce waste, and more recycling,” said Penchom Saetang at advocacy group Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand. “We have seen the devastating impacts of improper waste management on communities. The price we pay in terms of loss of health, land and clean drinking water is incalculable.” Taiwan’s reforms were kick-started by residents in Taipei who protested the city’s inaction on waste management two decades ago, resulting in “pay-as-you-throw” taxes, in which charges depend on the amount of trash produced. Pre-sorted waste is also handed to musical garbage trucks that make the rounds five nights a week. citizens and businesses are encouraged to generate less waste, with stringent penalties for violations. “Taiwan did all this at a time of relatively lower economic development, and without a long history of environmentalism. The movement was driven by grassroots efforts and public protests,” said Maynard. Taiwan now recycles about 55 percent of its municipal solid waste — the second-highest rate globally, said Grayson Shor, a circular economy consultant to the U.S. government-funded American Institute in Taiwan. Its per capita daily waste generation has fallen nearly 20 percent in two decades, with landfill sites being converted into parks and community centers, he added. “Taiwan has been able to do this as a result of its green technology and design innovations in public education,” he said. “It is … easily transferable to other Asian countries.”

southeast asia
taiwan
recycling
garbage
waste
asean


With yen's rise and heightened Mideast tensions, Tokyo stocks turn sharply lower

Abstract: Battered by the yen’s rise against the dollar and heightened tensions in the Middle East, stocks fell back sharply on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday. The 225-issue Nikkei average went down 204.22 points, or 0.95 percent, to end at 21,258.64, after advancing 128.99 points Thursday. The Topix index of all first-section issues dropped 14.00 points, or 0.90 percent, at 1,545.90. It gained 4.63 points the previous day. After opening almost flat, the market came under selling pressure exerted by profit-takers and the stronger yen, brokers said. The key Nikkei average moved around the previous day’s closing level until around midmorning. But the yen’s further appreciation against the dollar and a drop in the Nikkei futures price sent the index deep into negative territory in the afternoon. Behind the afternoon plunge were fears of an increase in U.S.-Iran tensions, an official at a bank-affiliated brokerage house said. Concerns over an escalation of the conflict between Washington and Tehran were fueled by a media report that U.S. President Donald Trump had given the go-ahead for limited strikes against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. military drone, brokers said. Trump, however, abruptly withdrew the approval, according to the report. “Besides, investors turned reluctant to buy stocks before the weekend and a Group of 20 summit” in Osaka on June 28-29, Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., pointed out. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,458 to 619 in the TSE’s first section, while 68 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.53 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.01 billion. Automakers including Toyota and Subaru were sold amid growing worries about the higher yen dampening their earnings. Shiseido, Kose and other cosmetics makers soured after a news report said China will tighten e-commerce regulations. Among other losers were troubled Daiwa House and drug maker Eisai. On the other hand oil names, such as Inpex and Idemitsu, were buoyed by a rise in New York crude futures following the drone downing. Also on the positive side were Sumitomo Metal Mining and factory automation equipment maker Keyence. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key September contract on the Nikkei average dropped 210 points to end at 21,190.


Dollar falls to 14-month low, near ¥107, in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar hit a 14-month low close to ¥107 in Tokyo trading Friday, as a risk-off mood grew amid heightened concerns over the situation in the Middle East. At 5 p.m., the greenback stood at ¥107.44-45, down from ¥107.67-67 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1311-1311, up from $1.1297-1297, and at ¥121.54-54, down from ¥121.64-64. In early trading, the U.S. currency moved on a weak tone around ¥107.30 after U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter denounced Iran’s downing of a U.S. military drone the previous day. Dollar selling against the safe-haven yen was fueled by a media report that Trump had approved limited retaliatory attacks against Iran but abruptly called them off. With the geopolitical risk in the Middle East heightening, the greenback gradually lost ground in early afternoon trading, to around ¥107.05, a Japanese bank official said. A key U.S. long-term interest rate’s sharp drop also weighed down the dollar, a fund manager said. But the dollar rebounded close to ¥107.50 in late trading, thanks partly to buying to cover short positions, said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service company.


Renault welcomes Nissan's decision to grant seats on board committees

Abstract: Renault SA has welcomed a decision by partner Nissan Motor Co. to grant the French carmaker a seat on its board committees, signaling an end to a dispute that had poisoned the world’s largest auto alliance. The accord could help mend relations, which plumbed to new depths after Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard threatened to abstain from voting on a governance plan at Nissan’s annual meeting next week. His demand for more committee representation came shortly after Nissan failed to support a merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. The Japanese company will give Renault CEO Thierry Bollore a seat on the board’s audit committee and Senard a position on the nomination committee — key positions at the heart of decision making — Nissan said in a statement Friday. Renault now expects to support Nissan’s resolutions during the investor meeting on June 25, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing the negotiations. “The agreement reached on Renault’s presence in Nissan’s new governance confirms the spirit of dialogue and mutual respect that exists within the alliance,” Renault said in a statement. Yasushi Kimura, an adviser to oil company JXTG Holdings Inc., will chair the board and Senard will become the vice chair. The nomination committee will be chaired by Masakazu Toyoda, the lead independent outside director. The concessions from Nissan to allow Renault’s CEO onto the audit committee came with strings attached. The Yokohama-based automaker is placing restrictions on Bollore’s role in areas where the two companies might have a conflict of interest, people familiar with the matter said. While tensions between the partners have never been higher, both sides have indicated they have little choice but to patch up their two-decade alliance. The partnership has proven to be one of the most successful among automakers, generating €5.7 billion ($6.4 billion) in savings from manufacturing, purchasing and engineering in the 2017 financial year, the companies estimate. Yet the arrangement has grown increasingly fractious since the November arrest of former leader Carlos Ghosn on accusations of financial misconduct, which he has denied. Nissan’s governance overhaul was largely geared toward improving oversight following the scandal. In the aftermath, a joint audit by the two companies also found transparency breaches and a lack of adequate financial controls at RNBV, the Amsterdam-based company that managed the alliance. Since then, RNBV has been shrunk, its executives reassigned to their respective companies, and common services — such as communications and legal — appear to be dormant.

renault
nissan
carmakers
jean-dominique senard
thierry bollore


Terry Gou resigns as Hon Hai chairman to pursue Taiwan presidency, hands reins to Sharp board member Liu

Abstract: TAIPEI - Foxconn’s Terry Gou announced Friday he is stepping down as chairman of the major contract electronics maker formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. but will remain on its board as he campaigns to become president of Taiwan. Board members subsequently elected Young Liu, head of Hon Hai semiconductor subgroup Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc. and a board member of subsidiary Sharp Corp., to replace Gou on July 1. Gou, 68, has put himself forward as a potential candidate to represent the main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) in Taiwan’s presidential election in January. Speaking at an annual shareholders meeting in Tucheng, New Taipei City, he said a nine-person team headed by Liu will take over hands-on management of the company he founded 45 years ago and that he is confident they will “do better” than he did in running it. He later told a news conference that despite staying on Hon Hai’s board, he would step aside from overseeing the company’s day-to-day operations and has no intention of resuming the chairmanship in the future. The charismatic Gou played an instrumental role in developing Hon Hai into a global company, and his departure is certain to have an impact on its future. In remarks to reporters, he urged Apple Inc., a major client, to move some of its manufacturing plants to Taiwan. Foxconn faces an immediate challenge amid the protracted trade dispute between the United States and China, as well as the U.S. ban on supplying technological components to Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. over security concerns. The South China Morning Post reported earlier this month that Hon Hai had recently stopped several production lines for Huawei phones following reduced orders from the Chinese company. Hon Hai bought struggling Sharp in 2016. In lengthy remarks that at times resembled a stump speech, Gou said he is ready to lead Taiwan to “take off on a new aviation route.” The presidential hopeful said reforms are desperately needed as Taiwan’s economic development faces a critical bottleneck caused by political infighting. Calling himself a “pragmatic entrepreneur,” he promised to use his decades of business experience to rescue Taiwan from the brink of bankruptcy and make it rich and strong again. At the news conference, Gou further expounded on his political views, including on relations with mainland China and on his past remarks about the failure of Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” model under which the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. When asked whether he would accept implementation of that model in Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, he said Taiwan and Hong Kong are different because Taiwan has its own national flag and its constitution was enacted on the basis that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of one China. “The ‘one country, two systems’ is not a key issue for me,” he said. “The key issue is how the two sides of the Taiwan Strait find a new term that both find acceptable.” While Hon Hai employs about 1.2 million people in China, Gou tried to separate his political ambitions from his business connections there, saying “let business be business, and politics be politics.” Gou, who has been criticizing arms procurement from the United States, said he has never said Taiwan should not buy any weapons, but rather it should spend more money on integrating modern technology with military equipment.

terry gou
taiwan
foxconn
electronics
hon hai precision industry co .
sharp corp .


Mitsubishi Motors shareholders approve removal of Carlos Ghosn from board

Abstract: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved Friday the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the automaker’s three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year. The vote took place at a two-hour general meeting of shareholders at a Tokyo hotel, with approval shown in clapping from some 500 shareholders present, although some votes were submitted in advance. Nissan Motor Co. owns 34 percent of Mitsubishi Motors. Osamu Masuko, who was reappointed chairman, promised to strengthen governance and transparency and monitor wrongdoing. More outsiders will check executive appointments and compensation, he said. Nissan shareholders held an extraordinary meeting in April to oust Ghosn as chairman. They also approved the appointment of French alliance partner Renault SA’s Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan. Nissan, based in Yokohama, is holding a general shareholders meeting next week to approve other measures, including setting up committees to strengthen governance. The Japanese firm said late Thursday that two Renault executives will be on the committees. Renault had earlier said it would abstain in the governance vote, but the greater representation promised on the committees may secure Renault’s approval. Some analysts suggest a deepening rift between Renault anda Nissan after a planned merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler fell through earlier this month. Nissan expressed reservations about immediately joining the merger. During Friday’s meeting in Tokyo, Masuko told shareholders the auto industry faced challenges because of the costs of advancements such as emissions standards and self-driving technology. He said the Tokyo-based automaker will pursue focus over expansion, repeatedly highlighting the company motto “small but beautiful.” He also stressed the importance of auto alliances. “We want to be a profitable company even if smaller in scale,” he told shareholders. One Mitsubishi Motors shareholder expressed anger over the Ghosn scandal, but most of the questions asked were less charged and related to new models and market strategy. Ghosn — who led Nissan for two decades, saving it from near-bankruptcy — had served as chairman at Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, and was long a revered figure in the industry. He has been charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting retirement compensation, and with breach of trust in having Nissan shoulder investment losses and in diverting Nissan money for personal gain. Ghosn says he is innocent, and has resigned from Renault.

mitsubishi motors
carlos ghosn
nissan
renault
scandals
carmakers


U.N. agency starts partial suspension of Yemen food aid, claiming Houthis diverting shipments

Abstract: CAIRO - The U.N. food agency has begun a partial suspension of food aid to areas of Yemen controlled by the rebels amid accusations they were diverting aid from the war-torn country’s hungriest people, the group said Thursday. The World Food Program said it suspended its operations in the capital, Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since 2014. The suspension would affect 850,000 people, it said in a statement. The move came less than a week after the head of the WFP accused the rebels, known as Houthis, of diverting food aid. The Houthis denied the accusation. “The decision was taken as a last resort after lengthy negotiations stalled on an agreement to introduce controls to prevent the diversion of food away from some of the most vulnerable people in Yemen,” the agency said. The WFP said it failed to reach an agreement with the Houthis on introducing “a biometric registration system that would prevent diversion and protect the Yemeni families we serve, ensuring food reaches those who need it most.” The agency said it has repeatedly appealed to the rebels for “space and freedom to operate … impartiality” and with operational independence. WFP said it would maintain nutrition programs for malnourished children, and pregnant and nursing mothers throughout the period of suspension. On Monday, David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council that his agency has insisted on — and the Houthis finally agreed to — registration and biometric identification of beneficiaries and monitoring in December and January, but the WFP has faced roadblocks ever since in implementing the agreements. “If we do not receive these assurances, then we will begin a phased suspension of food assistance, most likely toward the end of this week,” he said. The Associated Press reported Dec. 31 that armed factions on both sides of the conflict were stealing much-needed food aid, diverting it to their fighters or reselling it for profit. Some groups are blocking deliveries to communities they view as their enemies, AP found. WFP confirmed the report. On Jan. 1, the Houthis said they were “surprised” by the WFP’s accusations and accused the food agency of taking sides in the war. Beasley told the council Monday that the diversions were mainly in Houthi areas. When there are reports in government-controlled areas, he said, “we receive cooperation to address issues.” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a rebel leader, has accused the WFP of sending expired food to Yemen. He demanded the agency distribute cash rather than their “corrupted food,” according to the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV. The conflict began with the 2014 takeover over of northern and central Yemen by the Iranian-backed rebels, driving out the internationally recognized government from the capital, Sanaa. Months later, in March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign to prevent the rebels, known as Houthis, from overrunning the country’s south. In the campaign, Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties and killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have used drones and missiles to attack Saudi Arabia and have targeted vessels in the Red Sea. Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict, which has created what the United Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The war killed at least 91,600 people since 2015, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which track the violence.

yemen
aid
houthis
wfp
conflict
saudi arabia
u.n .
hunger


Presidents of Mexico and El Salvador meet to discuss curbing U.S.-bound migrant surge

Abstract: TAPACHULA, MEXICO - The Mexican and Salvadoran presidents were meeting in Mexico on Thursday to discuss a development plan that aims to slow a surge of mostly Central American migrants toward the U.S. border. The meeting came amid tough U.S. pressure on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to do more to curb irregular immigration through Mexican territory. His government has recently begun deploying some 6,000 National Guard agents to stem the influx and believes that creating more opportunities in Central America is key to avoiding more migration. But at least some migrants were skeptical despite “This is very good for them to offer jobs” to migrants, said Carlos Vindel a 24-year-old driver from El Salvador who was waiting to request asylum in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula. “But if the violence doesn’t end it won’t work.” Vindel, traveling with two adults and two minors, crossed the border a day later than expected because he saw five uniformed agents on the banks of the Suchiate River at Talisman, across from Guatemala. The group had to turn around and wait for the agents to leave, and ended up crossing the border on Tuesday. “Even if there are (development) projects, people are going to keep leaving,” said Vindel, who fled El Salvador after gangs tried to recruit him. Saying no to the likes of the notorious MS-13 and 18th Street gangs is often a death sentence. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele took office June 1 and shares Lopez Obrador’s view on the need to create opportunities in Central America. As in the neighboring countries of Guatemala and Honduras, thousands of Salvadorans have left the country in recent months to flee poverty and violence. Bukele has promised a crackdown on gangs in his country following a spate of police and military killings, and on Thursday officers and soldiers began a deployment in commercial areas of the Salvadoran capital’s historic center and 11 other municipalities with a gang presence. Some 80% of gangs’ revenues are said to come from extortion, and Justice Minister Rogelio Rivas said the offensive seeks to strangle financially “the terrorist groups.” “Now that President Nayib Bukele is hitting them hard, things are going to become more critical,” Vindel said. “There will be more violence because the gangs already respond.” While the arrival of migrants to Mexico’s southern border appears to have slowed somewhat in recent days with the anticipated arrival of National Guard forces, some continued to trickle in. “The poverty is not going to change,” said Marisol Martinez, who left El Salvador because her 13-year-old daughter was threatened and she feared a gang would soon come to recruit her 14-year-old son. They entered Mexico this week. “I was scared,” she said. “But thank God we made it.” So far this year, more than 24,000 people have requested asylum in Mexico, almost the same number as all of 2018. Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday that there are 14 U.N. agencies prepared to help with the Central America plan. The U.S. has also committed to support it, though there are no concrete details at least publicly available, as well as the European Union. Many migrants who have registered for refuge in Mexico are hopeful and view positively its programs letting them normalize their migratory status and get temporary employment. “For the time being I’m going to stay here, as long as there is work,” said Maria del Carmen Ramirez, a 23-year-old who fled Honduras with her 3-year-old son, sister-in-law and cousin. But development plans could take a long time to have an effect in Central America, and nobody seems eager to go back right now. “It’s not only about finding work there,” said Luis Antonio Vazquez, a 23-year-old Salvadoran. “It’s also because they extort you if you have a job.” In his eyes, the Guard deployment “may give us all security, but it also may not let through many of those who flee to avoid being killed.”

mexico
el salvador
andres manuel lopez obrador
immigration
guatemala
nayib bukele
u.s .
refugees
donald trump


India deploys two ships in Gulf of Oman after tanker attacks

Abstract: MUMBAI - India’s navy has deployed two ships in the Gulf of Oman to ensure safe passage for Indian-flagged vessels, the country’s defense ministry said late on Thursday, a week after two oil tankers were attacked in the region. The United States has blamed Iran for the attacks on a Norwegian-owned and a Japanese-owned tanker, raising concerns about further U.S.-Iranian confrontation. Tehran has denied the allegation. Indian naval ships named Chennai and Sunayna have been “deployed in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf to undertake maritime security operations,” the defense ministry said in a statement, adding that the navy is also conducting aerial surveillance of the area.

india
shipping
oil
iran
hormuz tanker attack


Telescope on sacred Hawaiian peak gets final go-ahead

Abstract: HONOLULU - After years of protests and legal battles, officials have announced that a massive telescope which will allow scientists to peer into the most distant reaches of our early universe will be built on a Hawaiian volcano that some consider sacred. The state announced a “notice to proceed” for the Thirty Meter Telescope project at a news conference Thursday. Hawaii Gov. David Ige said it was the final legal step in a long, often contentious, process, and that construction is expected to begin sometime this summer. “We will proceed in a way that respects the people, place and culture that make Hawaii unique,” Ige said. “We are all stewards of Mauna Kea. The state has an obligation to respect and honor the unique cultural and natural resources on this special mountain.” Scientists say the summit is one of the best places on Earth for astronomy. The telescope would be three times as wide as the largest existing visible-light telescope in the world, with nine times more area. Several telescopes and observatories are already on the summit. But opponents say the telescope will desecrate sacred land atop Mauna Kea, the state’s highest peak and a place of religious importance to Native Hawaiians. State and county officials arrived at the summit early Thursday morning to remove Native Hawaiian structures that had been built on land where the telescope will be constructed. Kealoha Pisciotta, a Native Hawaiian activist who has led some of the protest efforts, said officials were only allowing astronomers through and blocking the road to the summit for everyone else, including Hawaiians who asked to go pray. The Department of Land and Natural resources said one person was arrested by county police for obstruction. Native Hawaiians have used the structures for years, Pisciotta said, and she considers the removal of the structures to be desecration and discriminatory. “What’s the argument for taking them down? It’s completely discriminatory. It’s hostile to the Native Hawaiian people,” she said. “These are places of worship and the places where we lay our offering and our prayer.” She said their rights to religious freedom are being violated. “If someone went into a church and took down the crucifix or you know the cross, how would that be treated?” Pisciotta asked. Pisciotta said an overnight solstice ceremony was planned on the mountain and worried that they would be denied access. The group was also planning to honor an elder who recently died. “They know that we go up during solstice and equinox,” said Pisciotta. “We were preparing to head up tonight for the solstice and to honor him.” A spokesman for the state attorney general’s office said in an email that officials will not restrict access for that event. The new telescope will allow astronomers to reach back 13 billion years, to the time just after the big bang, and scientists say it will help answer fundamental questions about the advent of the universe. “The world is not black and white. This is not an oil pipeline. It is a telescope to look into the very origins of life in the universe,” Ige said. “We have worked a long time to hear each other and to make a choice as a collective community. To the many who support this project, let us always hold all views as one. Let us always touch the mountain as we gaze out beyond the sky.” Plans for the telescope date to 2009, when scientists first selected Mauna Kea. The project won a series of approvals from Hawaii, including a permit to build on conservation land in 2011. Protests disrupted a groundbreaking and Hawaiian blessing ceremony at the site in 2014. Construction stopped in April 2015 after 31 protesters were arrested for blocking the work. A second attempt to restart construction a few months later ended with more arrests and crews retreating when they encountered large boulders in the road. Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors said the state Supreme Court ruling must be respected, but that people’s right to free speech is also protected and that the conversation should continue. “It is important that it not stop even as the telescope is constructed,” Connors said. “For safety we encourage that this conversation happens somewhere other than on Mauna Kea.” The attorney general said she hopes there will be no more confrontations. “We are all in this together and we hope that everyone who comes to Mauna Kea takes responsibility for their actions, their words and their decisions,” she said. “The safety of our community depends upon people respecting the law and each other.” A group of universities in California and Canada make up the telescope company, with partners from China, India and Japan. Thirty Meter Telescope spokesman Scott Ishikawa said that they hope to begin construction as soon as possible but that they needed to work with county and state officials on exact timing. “We remain committed to being good stewards of Mauna Kea, and to honoring and respecting the culture and traditions of Hawaii,” said Henry Yang, chair of TMT International Observatory Board of Governors. “It has been a long process to get to this point.” Richard Ha, a Native Hawaiian farmer who lives on the Big Island and supports the project, said he thinks the telescope will provide an opportunity for the community to learn and grow. He does not practice religion on the summit, he said, but he does visit Mauna Kea and respects the connection Native Hawaiians have to the place. “Once you get above the clouds, you’re in a different world,” Ha said. “You’re in the universe and it’s just amazing to look up and see so many stars. It makes you feel like humans are just a small part.”

hawaii
astronomy
religion
u.s .
space
indigenous people


EU leaders fail to agree on 2050 carbon-neutral goal as four states refuse to budge

Abstract: BRUSSELS - European Union leaders failed Thursday to back a plan to make the bloc’s economy carbon-neutral by 2050 in spite of promises to protesters across the continent to fight harder against climate change. Ahead of a U.N. meeting in the fall, the proposal was relegated to a non-binding footnote in the final statement of Thursday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels. “For a large majority of Member States, climate neutrality must be achieved by 2050,” the footnote read. However, for the change in approach to become an official target, all 28 EU countries need to back the change. The non-decision showed the rift between the western member states and the eastern nations on climate change. According to French president Emmanuel Macron and several other diplomatic sources, 24 countries including Britain, France and Germany supported the initiative, but were held back by Poland and three other nations which heavily depend on a fossil-fuel economy. Discussions dragged out and delayed the leaders’ dinner by two hours, Macron said. “Because we refused to weaken the text,” he said. In the end though, no unanimity could be found. Environmental group Greenpeace said European leaders blew the chance to agree a deal and called on the EU to organize an emergency meeting before the U.N. summit in New York in September. “This is a black day for climate protection in Europe,” said Greenpeace spokesman Stefan Krug. “A small number of eastern European countries prevented Europe’s impasse on climate protection from being broken.” “The climate strikes by tens of thousands of students and the election choices of millions of Europeans for more climate protection were ignored,” he said. The protests are part of the ‘Fridays for Future’ rallies that have been held regularly across Europe for almost a year and which urge political leaders to act more decisively against global warming. Krug said that not only did EU members fail to set a concrete target for 2050, he noted that the bloc’s old goal for 2030 remains in place even though it was agreed before the Paris climate accord four years ago. EU officials said there still was time to swing the eastern nations around. Macron, who two years ago launched the “One Planet Summit” aimed at speeding up the implementation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, vowed to continue the fight within the EU and at next week’s G20 summit. “When you fight, when you move forward, you manage to make the club get bigger and to make progress,” Macron said.

eu
europe
climate change
energy
oil
coal
emissions
renewables
environment


U.S. Supreme Court upholds WWI memorial cross on public land in Maryland

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A 40-foot-tall, World War I memorial cross can continue to stand on public land in Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in an important decision about the use of religious symbols in American life. The justices said preserving a long-standing religious monument is very different from allowing the building of a new one. And the court concluded that the nearly 100-year-old memorial’s presence on a grassy highway median doesn’t violate the Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring one religion over others. Seven of the court’s nine justices sided with the cross’ backers, a lineup that crossed ideological lines. The case had been closely watched for its potential impact on other monuments. Defenders of the cross in Bladensburg, a suburb of the nation’s capital, had argued that a ruling against them could doom hundreds of war memorials that use crosses to commemorate soldiers who died. But the case was also seen as an indication of how far the court’s conservative majority would be willing to go in approving of religious symbols in public life. In the end, a majority of the justices signed on to a relatively narrow ruling, declining to go as far as they had been urged to by some of the cross’ defenders. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a majority opinion for himself and four colleagues that “when time’s passage imbues a religiously expressive monument, symbol or practice with this kind of familiarly and historical significance, removing It may no longer appear neutral. “A government that roams the land, tearing down monuments with religious symbolism and scrubbing away any reference to the divine will strike many as aggressively hostile to religion,” Alito wrote Alito also wrote that the Maryland cross’ connection to World War I was important in upholding it because crosses, which marked the graves of American soldiers, became a symbol closely linked to the war. Two of the court’s liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, both of whom are Jewish, joined their conservative colleagues in ruling for the memorial, which on its base lists the names of 49 area residents who died in World War I. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is also Jewish, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, with Ginsburg writing that “the principal symbol of Christianity around the world should not loom over public thoroughfares, suggesting official recognition of that religion’s paramountcy.” Ginsburg read a summary of her dissent in court, a way of expressing deep disagreement. In all, seven justices wrote to explain their views in opinions that totaled some 80 pages, an indication of the depth of feeling the case provoked but also differences in the justices’ positions. The case began as a lawsuit by three people who live near the cross and the District of Columbia-based American Humanist Association, which includes atheists and agnostics. They argued that the memorial should be moved to private property or modified into a nonreligious monument such as a slab or obelisk. Monica Miller, the lawyer who argued on behalf of the American Humanist Association at the Supreme Court, said after the decision was announced that while the organization was disappointed, the ruling is “very limited” and “could have been a lot worse.” Two justices, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, said they would have thrown out the lawsuit by the cross’ challengers altogether. Gorsuch wrote that people offended by religious displays shouldn’t be able to sue over them. Gorsuch wrote that in “a large and diverse country, offense can be easily found” and that the answer shouldn’t be a lawsuit. He pointed out that many Washington buildings including the Supreme Court include religious symbols in their decoration. The cross’ defenders included the American Legion, which raised money to build the monument, Maryland officials who took over maintenance of the cross nearly 60 years ago and the Trump administration. “The Court’s decision today is a win for protecting religious freedom and American historical tradition,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said in a statement following the ruling. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, also praised the ruling in a statement as a “great victory.” In the past, similar monuments have met with a mixed fate at the high court. On the same day in 2005, for example, the court upheld a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol while striking down Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky courthouses. The setting of the Texas monument among many other monuments was important to the case’s outcome, while the displays in Kentucky courthouses were struck down because they were seen as having a religious purpose. Breyer, who voted to uphold the Maryland cross, was justice whose vote was central to both Ten Commandments cases.

wwi
maryland
religion
christianity
u.s. supreme court


U.S. human trafficking report drops child separation warning and demotes Cuba and Saudi Arabia

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department’s annual human trafficking report released on Thursday demoted Saudi Arabia and Cuba to countries that failed to meet minimum U.S. anti-trafficking standards. The report www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report also dropped a warning from the 2018 issue that traffickers prey on children separated from their parents. Policies implemented by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their families. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ivanka Trump, a top adviser to her father, released the 2019 Trafficking in Persons report at a State Department ceremony at which Pompeo called human trafficking “a stain … on all of humanity.” Saudi Arabia and Cuba were downgraded to countries that have failed to make significant anti-trafficking efforts after both were kept on a watch list for four years, said the report. In his remarks, Pompeo pointed to Cuba’s demotion to Tier 3 — the worst ranking the report can give a country — and noted that it joined Iran, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and Russia. He did not mention, however, the demotion of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally and arms buyer. Some lawmakers and human rights advocates have already questioned the report’s objectivity after Reuters disclosed on Tuesday that Pompeo declined to place Saudi Arabia on a list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his own experts’ findings that a Saudi-led coalition uses under-aged fighters in Yemen. John Cotton Richmond, the ambassador-at-large who oversaw the writing of the report and whose office recommended the kingdom be placed on the child soldiers list, told reporters on Thursday afternoon that Pompeo determined that Saudi Arabia “did not rise to the level to warrant a listing.” Yet the trafficking report’s section on Saudi Arabia cited numerous reports of the Saudi-led coalition recruiting Sudanese and Yemeni children to fight Houthi rebels. The coalition denies using child soldiers. Inclusion on Tier 3 can bring restrictions on U.S. non-humanitarian, nontrade-related assistance, a decision made by the president, who limited aid to 22 countries listed in that category last year. But it is unlikely that Trump will act against Saudi Arabia amid rising tensions between the United States and the kingdom’s regional rival, Iran. The United States provides no aid to Cuba’s communist government. Its placement in Tier 3 comes as the Trump administration rolls back the detente that occurred under former President Barack Obama. The 2019 report also dropped a section included in last year’s document that warned against removing children from their families because they can become vulnerable to trafficking. “The physical and psychological effects of staying in residential institutions, combined with societal isolation and often subpar regulatory oversight by governments, place these children in situations of heightened vulnerability to human trafficking,” the 2018 report said. The U.S. section of this year’s report made no mention of the separation of more than 2,700 children from migrant families who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, and the children’s placement in government custody. The separations, which occurred during the period covered by the report, were implemented under a “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration that subjected parents to criminal charges. Trump rescinded the separation policy in June 2018 amid international outcry. Judith Kelley, dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and author of a book on the trafficking report’s impact, said Trump’s child separation policy should have been cited. But its exclusion should not diminish the extent of U.S. anti-trafficking efforts or the impetus the report gives other countries to improve their ratings, she added.

human trafficking
cuba
saudi arabia
donald trump
mike pompeo
ivanka trump
immigration
u.s .
refugees
family separations


Appeals court allows Trump abortion rules to take effect

Abstract: SEATTLE - A federal appeals court said Thursday new Trump administration rules imposing additional hurdles for women seeking abortions can take effect while the government appeals decisions that blocked them. More than 20 states and several civil rights and health organizations challenged the rules in cases filed in Oregon, Washington and California. Judges in all three states blocked the rules from taking effect, with Oregon and Washington judges issuing nationwide injunctions. One judge called the new policy “madness.” But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco called the rules a “reasonable” interpretation of a federal law that prohibits taxpayer-funded health clinics from advocating, encouraging or promoting abortion. The panel said the lower courts appeared to have gotten the rulings wrong, and it granted a stay of those orders requested by the Justice Department. That allows the rules to take effect while the government appeals the lower court rulings. “We are pleased that the Ninth Circuit has cleared the way for this important executive branch action to take effect while our appeals are pending,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said in an emailed statement. “The Department of Justice’s position is supported by long-standing Supreme Court precedent and we are confident we will ultimately prevail on appeal.” The new rules ban taxpayer-funded clinics from making abortion referrals and prohibit clinics that receive federal money from sharing office space with abortion providers — a rule critics said would force many to find new locations, undergo expensive remodels or shut down. Many considered the rules an attack on Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood said it would immediately ask the 9th Circuit to reconsider the decision. “The Trump-Pence administration’s gag rule is unethical, illegal, and harmful to public health,” Dr. Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a written statement. “The news out of the 9th Circuit this morning is devastating for the millions of people who rely on Title X health centers for cancer screenings, HIV tests, affordable birth control and other critical primary and preventive care.” A federal court in Maryland has also issued an order blocking the rules from taking effect, but that ruling only applies in that state. The Justice Department has appealed it.

abortion
planned parenthood
u.s .
donald trump


U.S. prosecutors say ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone violated court-imposed media gag order

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused U.S. President Donald Trump’s former political adviser Roger Stone of violating a court-imposed media gag order by posting comments on social media about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. In a court filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors accused Stone of trying to “fan the flames,” and poison the jury pool ahead of his November trial, and asked the judge to hold a hearing to consider changing his conditions of release. “Stone’s posts appear calculated to generate media coverage of information that is not relevant to this case but that could prejudice potential jurors,” they wrote, saying the posts relate to his claims that Russia did not hack Democratic computer servers in the 2016 presidential election. Attorneys for Stone, who are also subject to the court’s media gag order, could not be immediately reached for comment. The request by the government could potentially land Stone behind bars, and news of his posts this week were not likely to be well-received by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. In February, Jackson ordered Stone to stop publicly speaking about the case after he had posted a seemingly threatening photo of her next to the image of gun crosshairs on his Instagram account. In that hearing Stone tried to apologize, saying the posting was not intended as a threat. But a visibly angry Jackson said his apology “rings quite hollow” and warned him he would not have a second chance if he failed to abide by her order. Stone is one of 34 individuals who were snagged as part of Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Mueller concluded his probe in March. His report documented multiple points of contact between Trump campaign’s and Russia, but he could not establish evidence of a criminal conspiracy. Stone has repeatedly bashed Mueller’s investigation, and also questioned whether Russians actually hacked Democratic emails. Prosecutors, in their filing on Thursday, said Stone posted comments on June 18 and 19 on Instagram that referenced articles including one titled “US Gov’t Entire Russia-DNC Hacking Narrative Based on Redacted Draft of Crowdstrike Report.” Stone then tagged the post and asked “But where is the @NYTimes? @washingtpost? @WSJ? @CNN?” Stone also posted other articles that expressed skepticism of Mueller’s probe, and questioned why mainstream media outlets were not covering the developments.

roger stone
donald trump
robert mueller
amy berman jackson
u.s .
russia probe


Ex-aide Hope Hicks told House panel Trump is serious about getting foreign help in elections

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Hope Hicks, once a close aide to President Donald Trump, told the House Judiciary Committee that Trump was serious in saying there was nothing wrong in accepting derogatory information about political opponents from a foreign government, panel Chairman Jerrold Nadler said on Thursday. “Ms. Hicks made clear that she understood the president to be serious when he said that he would accept foreign interference in our elections,” Nadler said in a statement for a hearing on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “She also made clear that even she knew that such foreign assistance should be rejected and reported to the FBI,” he said. The committee later heard from an expert witness who said Trump’s remarks about accepting foreign assistance, made in an ABC News interview, could violate the presidential oath of office and provide evidence for any future impeachment inquiry. “Receiving foreign assistance has been recognized throughout the entire history of the country as something that is counter to and undermines the Constitution,” said Carrie Cordero, a conservative attorney who is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank. “That is an invitation … to Russian intelligence and any other intelligence service that’s out there that wants to try to find a way to influence our democratic processes,” she added. Hicks, who was Trump’s campaign press secretary and his White House communications director, spent eight hours in a closed-door committee hearing on Wednesday. But she refused to answer questions about her 14-month White House tenure after administration attorneys said she was immune from testifying on the topic. “Ms. Hicks could not even answer whether she told the truth to the Mueller team because the president’s lawyers objected to the question,” Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat, said during Thursday’s hearing. Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, want Hicks to answer questions about five episodes in the Mueller report that they believe contain evidence of obstruction of justice by Trump. They also questioned her about hush payments during the 2016 campaign to two women, including porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Nadler pledged to release a transcript of Hicks’ testimony soon.

hope hicks
donald trump
jerrold nadler
robert mueller
u.s .
congress
u.s. elections
russia probe