Abe to start delayed tour of Britain and Netherlands this week

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the Netherlands and Britain starting Wednesday as he kicks off his diplomatic schedule for the year. Abe is set to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May and ask her anew to make sure Japanese companies operating in Britain will not be affected by its exit from the European Union, informed sources said. Abe and May are also likely to discuss economic alliances, the sources said. Britain has shown interest in joining the Pacific free trade pact led by Japan and 10 other countries. At a New Year’s news conference Friday, Abe said, “Japan is determined to lead the efforts to formulate fair rules for a new era, raising the banner of free trade,” at a time when concerns over protectionist moves are increasing in the world. Britain and the Netherlands are slated to take part in the summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Osaka in June, with Britain already a member. The Netherlands is not a member but has been invited to attend along with seven other nonmembers. The visit to Britain will be the first for Abe since April 2017. Abe and May are also likely to exchange views on Hitachi Ltd.’s project to build nuclear reactors in Britain, the sources said. In addition, the leaders are expected to confirm their two countries’ stepped-up cooperation in the field of security, including the expansion of joint exercises involving the Self-Defense Forces and the British military, and the promotion of joint research on defense equipment. Abe and May are seen agreeing that Japan and Britain will work closely together to tackle North Korea’s ship-to-ship smuggling of items banned under U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against Pyongyang, and to achieve denuclearization of North Korea, the sources said. Abe and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are set to discuss mainly economic cooperation ahead of the effectuation of a Japan-EU economic partnership agreement for free trade next month. Abe initially planned to visit the two countries as part of a tour from late last November, which included a trip to South America, but postponed the European leg to put priority on debates in the Diet. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay were visited as planned. Many important diplomatic events are scheduled for Japan this year. Late this month, Abe is slated to visit Russia for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the bilateral summit, Abe will aim to achieve progress in negotiations on the long-standing territorial row over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido and the envisioned conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities. After the G-20 summit in June, the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD VII, will be held in Yokohama in August.


Partial solar eclipse observed across Japan, first since March 2016

Abstract: A partial solar eclipse, in which a portion of the sun’s disk is obscured by the moon passing between it and Earth, was observed across Japan on Sunday morning. In many areas of the country, the moon started blocking part of the sun between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The amount of the sun obscured peaked at around 10 a.m. and ended between 11 a.m. and noon. Up to 40 percent of the sun’s disk was seen blocked in Hokkaido, 30 percent in Kanto and up to 20 percent in Kyushu. This was the first solar eclipse seen in Japan since March 9, 2016, when a partial eclipse occurred in the morning. Observation events were held at facilities including Kodomo Yugakukan, a children’s museum in Kushiro, Hokkaido, the Sendai Astronomical Observatory in Sendai, and the Miyazaki Science Center in Miyazaki. At Kodomo Yugakukan, special glasses and telescopes were made available for observing the solar eclipse. “The weather was fine, and some 60 people, including parents and children, joyfully observed the solar eclipse,” said Koichi Tago, a 44-year-old curator at the museum. The next time a solar eclipse will be observable in Japan will be on the afternoon of Dec. 26.


Love it or hate it? 10-day Golden Week holiday draws mixed reactions

Abstract: The 10-day Golden Week period from April 27 to May 6, during which the Imperial succession is scheduled to take place, has received mixed public reactions. The travel industry is eager to take advantage of the unusual business opportunity, while a survey indicated that those who welcome the upcoming holidays and those who do not are nearly evenly split. This year’s Golden Week has 10 straight days off including May 1, designated as a one-off national holiday because Crown Prince Naruhito is set to rise to the throne that day. According to major travel agency JTB Corp., the number of reservations for overseas trips during this year’s Golden Week has already tripled from the previous year. Luxury cruise ship tours are particularly popular. Usually, demand from aged people and honeymooners is robust for Golden Week tours. This year, however, “we’ve seen many reservations from corporate workers and for family trips,” an official said. Besides Hawaii, which is a popular tourist spot for Japanese, Europe and other places relatively far away from Japan are popular as travel destinations, the official added. Expectations are running high also in the marriage consulting service industry. Many young people start konkatsu spouse-hunting activities after being told to do so by their parents during their visits back home during the holiday periods, major service provider Zwei Co. explained. “We are considering starting a discount campaign, expecting the number of customers to increase just after the Golden Week period,” an official said. Meanwhile, a survey by major travel booking website Expedia shows that 46 percent of respondents said they are not happy about the upcoming Golden Week holidays. Many in the “not happy” camp said they will be busy with work amid labor shortages or with household chores because their husbands and children will be at home, according to the survey of 400 people, conducted in October 2018. Mutsumi Goda, 40, who is a single-parent karate instructor raising two kids, is among those who are unhappy about the 10-day holidays. “With after-school care services closed, there’ll be no place to leave my children,” said Goda, who cannot expect to take leave during the period. “Workers paid by the day or hour will only see their income decrease,” Shuichiro Sekine, an executive of Haken-Union, a labor union, said. “I haven’t heard anybody say they welcome the holidays.”

golden week
holidays
imperial succession
abdication


Carlos Ghosn says 'no' to signing confession; plans to 'vigorously' fight charges: son

Abstract: PARIS - Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn refused to sign a confession in return for being released from custody, his son told a French newspaper Sunday, and will “vigorously” defend himself in a Japanese court this week. The former Nissan chief, who has been held since his shock arrest in November on allegations of financial misconduct, is due to appear in a Japanese court Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention. He will give his version of events for the first time, his son Anthony told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD). The father of four has gone from heading a powerful international auto alliance to languishing in a Tokyo detention center, where his stay has been repeatedly extended. Anthony told the JDD that his father would be released if he signed a confession. He can “tell the prosecutor that he is contesting the charges or instead he could confess and be released. For seven weeks his decision has been quite clear,” he said. “The paradox is that the confession he has been asked to sign is written only in Japanese,” adding that his father does not understand it. He added that the defense does not yet have a complete file on the case. Authorities are pursuing three separate lines of inquiry against the 64-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive, involving alleged financial wrongdoing during his tenure as Nissan chief. They suspect he conspired with his right-hand man, executive Greg Kelly, a U.S. national, to hide away around half of his income — some ¥5 billion yen ($44 million) — over five fiscal years from 2010. They also allege he underreported his salary to the tune of ¥4 billion over the next three fiscal years — apparently to avoid criticism that his pay was too high. The growing case against Ghosn represents a stunning reversal of fortune for a man once revered in Japan and beyond for his ability to turn around automakers, including Nissan. “He is ready to defend himself vigorously and is very focused on the goal of responding to the accusations against him. He is particularly calm,” said Anthony, who has not spoken directly with his father. “For the first time he will be able to explain all the charges against him and give his version and I think everyone will be quite surprised to hear his version of the story.” Ghosn will appear handcuffed in prison clothes and will have 10 minutes to speak, his son said. He has lost 10 kg since his detention began due to a prison diet of three bowls of rice a day, and spends his time reading books. “He takes all this as a challenge,” Anthony added. Prosecutors have pressed formal charges over the first allegation — that Ghosn underreported his salary between 2010-2015 — but not yet over the other accusations.


JAXA says landing-site selection for Hayabusa2's touchdown on Ryugu asteroid is in the final stage

Abstract: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is searching for a suitable site on the Ryugu asteroid that it can safely land its Hayabusa2 spacecraft as early as late this month. The space agency had to abandon its first touchdown attempt that had been scheduled for late last October due to a rockier than expected surface. Last September and October, JAXA conducted a total of three landing rehearsals on potential sites. During the rehearsals, the agency succeeded in lowering Hayabusa2 to a point 12 meters above Ryugu’s surface through the use of laser sensors that allowed to the craft to autonomously control its positioning. “We’ve got to the point where the only thing left for us to do is make a landing, so we’re fully prepared in terms of technique,” said Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2’s project manager. Hayabusa2 will use a 1-meter-long cylindrical device to collect samples from Ryugu, which will be deployed on the asteroid when the craft touches down. For a safe touchdown, it is necessary that there are no rocks bigger than 50-70 centimeters high around the landing site. “At the moment, we can’t guarantee a perfect landing,” Tsuda said. A JAXA team aims to reduce the chance of an error by improving Hayabusa2’s autonomous control program based on its movements during the rehearsals. The team is working to find the safest location by estimating the heights of nearly 100 rocks based on the lengths of their shadows. “I’ve had a dream in which I stand at the landing place,” Tsuda said. “After accurately understanding the conditions of the asteroid’s surface, we’ll aim to land Hayabusa2 safely and perfectly.”


Japanese firms hopping on ride-hailing bandwagon in Southeast Asia

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Japanese firms are involved in a clash of titans that is expected to intensify this year between two successful ride-hailing startups in Southeast Asia. Fierce competition is looming between Indonesia’s Gojek and Singapore-based Grab, which is backed by companies including SoftBank Group Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co. Gojek is backed by Singapore’s largest local bank (DBS Bank), technology giant Google, Chinese internet services giant Tencent, Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Chinese online food giant Meituan-Dianping. Potential may be high, but a rocky road awaits for the ride-hailing sector due to anger from taxi firms — which see their business model under threat — and likely moves by regional authorities meant to ensure a level playing field. Despite its relatively small population, Singapore has emerged as a key market for ride-hailing firms due to its position as a key business hub and the unique condition of its transport sector. The sky-high price of car ownership has boosted demand for ride-hailing services and electric car rentals. For decades, the wealthy city-state has pursued a policy of curbing the number of private cars to prevent the traffic snarls that have paralyzed many other Southeast Asian cities. That has made car prices in Singapore among the highest in the world and inadvertently turned car ownership into a status symbol. In recent years, Singapore has gone even further, with measures including encouraging the use of rented bicycles, allowing electronic scooters on pedestrian paths, promoting car-sharing and conducting trials ahead of the possible introduction of driverless vehicles. Gojek recently entered the Singapore market with an eye on expanding to the rest of Southeast Asia. On Tuesday, the company announced that from Wednesday it would be extending its ride-hailing services to the whole island following a limited rollout last year. Gojek’s foray into Singapore will challenge the dominance that Grab briefly enjoyed there after it acquired the Southeast Asian business of U.S.-based Uber in March last year. Cash-rich Japanese companies have been scrambling to invest in such firms amid the rising popularity of on-demand, smartphone-based chauffeured car services. In June 2017, SoftBank and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing decided to invest up to $2 billion in Grab. A year later, Grab announced that it had struck a deal for a $1 billion investment from Toyota. That investment was the largest ever by an automaker in the global ride-hailing sector. Recently, Yamaha agreed to invest $150 million in Grab and form a strategic partnership to collaborate on a motorcycle ride-hailing service in Southeast Asia with a focus on Indonesia. Last month, Toyota and Grab further announced that the Japanese auto giant will provide “total care service” for 1,500 Grab-owned vehicles in Singapore, with plans to extend the service to other nations in the region. Grab, headed by Anthony Tan, the scion of a rich Malaysian family, has expanded to cover Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar. The region’s ride-hailing market is booming. According to a report by Singapore state investment firm Temasek and Google that was released in November, 35 million Southeast Asians use ride-hailing services every month, with 8 million rides taken every day across 500 cities. The report projected that the market for ride-hailing services in the region will hit $30 billion in 2025 from an estimated $7.7 billion last year. The trend reflects Southeast Asia’s booming internet economy, which is expected to hit $240 billion by 2025, the report said. The two companies not only provide chauffeured car services but also a host of other e-commerce services. Gojek, which launched its app in January 2015 to provide motorbike delivery and ride-sharing services in Indonesia, also provides payment services, food delivery, logistics and other on-demand services. Grab has also extended its scope to food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services. In Singapore, aside from cars being out of reach for most people, the popularity of ride-hailing services is also partly due to dissatisfaction with the quality of service provided by the city’s taxis and frustration with overcrowded commuter trains. However, ride-hailing services have become so popular that they are threatening the livelihoods of taxi drivers, who have risen in protest in some countries in the region, including Indonesia and Malaysia. Grab was reportedly ordered by a Vietnamese court to pay compensation of $206,000 to a local taxi firm that sued claiming unfair business practices. According to data from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, the number of taxis in Singapore shrank from around 28,000 in 2015 to under 21,000 last year. On the other hand, the number of chauffeured private hire cars plying its roads has risen to 45,000. The Land Transport Authority said by email that it is “currently reviewing the regulatory framework” for the sector to ensure that taxi and ride-hailing markets “remain open and competitive.” It said the new regulatory framework will also prohibit driver exclusivity arrangements, a move meant to ensure that drivers are free to choose which operators to drive for, reduce entry barriers for new operators and facilitate more options for commuters. Grab’s aggressive local expansion has ruffled some feathers, with its acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asian business prompting the government to intervene to level the playing field for potential competitors, while Singapore’s competition watchdog fined the two companies a total of 13 million Singaporean dollars over their merger. Despite that backlash, ride-hailing services have provided a lucrative source of livelihood for thousands of people in the region. But hurdles remain. Singapore has charted a plan to create a high-tech public transport sector by complementing its dense commuter train and bus systems with autonomous vehicles, which could remove the need for human drivers altogether. Authorities see this as a necessity rather than luxury, as a government white paper projects that the city-state’s population will rise to 6.5 million by 2030, up from 5.6 million today. But the introduction of autonomous cars will not come immediately, as they are still being tested and a legal framework for their use must be developed.

singapore
gojek
grab
softbank
toyota
yamaha motor
tencent
carmakers
akio toyoda
masayoshi son


Canadian ambassador suggests Huawei exec could avoid U.S. extradition, in comments described as 'mind-boggling'

Abstract: TORONTO - Canada’s ambassador to China said a top Chinese executive has a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States, in remarks one of his predecessors said were “mind-boggling.” Ambassador John McCallum told Chinese language media in Markham, Ontario, on Tuesday that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has “quite good arguments” including “political involvement by comments from Donald Trump on her case.” Canada arrested the daughter of Huawei’s founder at the request of the U.S. on Dec. 1. Meng is wanted on fraud charges that allege she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran. Trump said last month he might abandon the Meng case in pursuit of a trade deal with Beijing. His comment led some to suggest the case has been politicized and that the U.S. is loosening its commitment to the rule of law and an independent judiciary. “She has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,” McCallum said in legal advice that shocked many in Canada. McCallum also said Meng would be able to argue against the extra-territorial aspect to her case and the fact that the allegations are related to Iran sanctions, which Canada did not sign onto. If she is extradited to the U.S., the ambassador said, “that would not be a happy outcome. “And that would take years before it happens because she would have the right to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.” McCallum said the U.S. could make a deal with China in which it would no longer seek her extradition, or a Canadian judge could decide she doesn’t have to be extradited. The case has severely damaged Beijing’s relations with Ottawa. China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor on Dec. 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng. Her arrest has also infuriated China’s president. Meng is Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, Ren Zhengfei. Huawei has close ties to China’s military and is considered one of the country’s most successful international enterprises, operating in the high-tech sphere where China hopes to establish dominance. “What I do know is that President Xi Jinping was very angry about this and so others in the Chinese government have taken the lead from him,” McCallum said. “I don’t know exactly why. Maybe it’s because Huawei is a national flagship company of China. It’s not just any company.” David Mulroney, Canada’s former ambassador to China, called McCallum’s remarks “mind-boggling.” Mulroney said giving advice to a judge is completely inappropriate when the government has been saying that Meng’s extradition is up to judicial authorities. “It raises some troubling questions about whether there is two track messaging going on,” he said. “It’s beyond me. I can’t imagine what his intent was.” Mulroney said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland have to distance themselves from the remarks. “It’s a setback. It undermines that Canada is playing this by the book,” he said. Trudeau and Freeland have stressed they can’t interfere politically in the case. “With respect to Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Canada is conducting a fair, unbiased and transparent legal proceeding. There has been no political involvement in this process. Canada respects its international legal commitments, including by honoring its extradition treaty with the United States,” Freeland spokesman Adam Austen said in a statement. Opposition Conservative lawmaker Erin O’Toole also said McCallum’s comments on Meng’s legal matters raises questions of political interference.

huawei
canada
meng wanzhou
donald trump
justin trudeau
u.s .


CEOs at Davos sour on Trump policies, warning they hurt business and investment

Abstract: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - From center-stage in Davos last year, President Donald Trump told the world’s corporate bosses that America is a great place to invest. It hasn’t quite turned out that way. Foreign direct investment to the United States fell in 2018, and companies gathered at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps this year say they are worried Trump’s trade war with China will dampen the global economy and business investments even further. One key complaint here this week is that companies increasingly reliant on consumers in China have had to lower their earnings outlooks as the world’s second-largest economy cools. And while the U.S. administration has cut taxes and regulations to attract new investment, a wave of caution is rippling through many industries in the United States. “The trade war has been very damaging for the U.S. agricultural economy,” said David MacLennan, chief executive of U.S. food and agricultural giant Cargill Inc, which announced worse-than-expected results out of China earlier in January. “The longer this goes on, the worse it is,” he said. Foreign investment in the United States, which includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions and intra-company loans, fell about 18 percent in 2018 from the prior year, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). That is close to the 19 percent year-on-year drop in foreign investment globally. But it is notable given the deregulation and tax cuts that might have otherwise fed into inward investment. In January of last year at Davos, many executives said they planned to spend money in the U.S. in 2018. While the U.N. trade agency attributed the global and U.S. declines to the tariffs that the United States and China have imposed on each other’s imports since mid-2018, foreign investment in China actually rose 3 percent last year over the previous year. Foreign investment to India rose 7 percent. Alan Jope, chief executive of consumer goods company Unilever, said the United States remains a good market for its products, which include Dove deodorant, Magnum ice cream and Lipton tea. But it is China, where Unilever last year joined forces with e-commerce giant JD.com to move its products around the country, that has become the more resilient market. Jope said China was “one of our most reliable sources of growth. China provides the new stability in consumer consumption.” The U.S.-China trade war has hit industries around the world over the past few months. Big Chinese companies such as Alibaba have shrunk their plans to invest in the United States. Taiwan-based Foxconn has scaled back its plans for a Wisconsin factory, and Chinese automaker GAC Motor has also delayed a move into the U.S. market. In September, Austria’s fiber producer, Lenzing, halted a planned U.S. expansion, blaming rising tariffs between the United States and China. Chinese textile exports to the U.S. are among the goods facing tariffs. Lenzing mothballed a $322 million project in Alabama to focus on setting up a new production facility in Thailand. That said, foreign companies are still investing, particularly in the auto industry. Volkswagen said earlier this month that it would invest $800 million to build a new electric car at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Toyota and Mazda are working on a new assembly plant, and Daimler and BMW are investing in existing operations. But the economic malaise driven by the upending of trade flows is hitting tech companies hard due to both supply chain disruption and the economic slowdown in China. Apple this month warned of disappointing quarterly revenues, citing slowing iPhone demand in China. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and the manufacturer of chips for other smartphone makers including Apple and Huawei, said its fourth-quarter profit likely dropped 29 percent. “For the long run … I worry that the trend will expand to many other countries and industries, and at that time … we all will be negatively affected,” said Ken Hu, deputy chairman of China’s Huawei Technologies, in Davos. Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, is “probably suffering the most right now” because it relies on heavily integrated and globalized supply chains, Hu said. As a result of the disruption, Trump’s trade war with Chinese President Xi Jinping is looming large over Davos this year, even if neither man is here. The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecasts Monday, and a survey by auditing and accounting giant PwC of nearly 1,400 chief executives showed increasing pessimism among business chiefs. The PwC research showed 27 percent of executives from outside the United States see the U.S. as the number one location, with the most potential for growth, down from 46 percent in 2018. It’s not only economics that is clouding the skies. Foreign companies, mainly Chinese, also face tighter scrutiny when they bring deals to the United States, after the Trump administration last year strengthened the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), said Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and now head of law firm Covington & Burlington LLP’s international practice. CFIUS is an intra-agency panel that reviews acquisitions on national security grounds. Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group, which has been in merger talks with ChemChina to create the world’s biggest industrial chemicals firm, said that it did not think it could clinch a U.S. acquisition in the current environment. “You know what’s happening today, so I think you will see there will be less investment going abroad,” Sinochem Chairman Ning Gaoning said. “The Chinese are getting quite confused. They thought they were welcome to invest in other countries. Now they realize they are not being welcomed all the time.” Takeshi Niinami, chief executive of Japanese brewer Suntory Holdings Ltd., said in an interview that the world has “very big emotional leaders” including the one in Washington. “Davos is a body to work on one voice, to give (a message that says): ‘Come on, we have to be rational,’ ” he said. “Business should be the one to let them cool down.”

davos
donald trump
trade war
china
foxconn
autos
toyota
huawei
takeshi niinami


Microsoft's Bing search engine goes offline in China, raising fears it was 'walled off'

Abstract: BEIJING - The Microsoft-run search engine Bing was unavailable in mainland China late Wednesday, raising concerns among some social media users that it could be the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. Attempting to open cn.bing.com resulted in an error message, though users could still access Bing’s international site using a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent China’s “Great Firewall” of censorship. It is not clear whether Bing has joined China’s long list of prohibited websites or if its China service is experiencing technical difficulties. Facebook, Twitter and a host of Western media websites are blocked in China. While its rival Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010, Bing has continued to operate in the country along with Microsoft-owned Skype. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media site, people complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been “walled off. Others aired their dissatisfaction about having to use Baidu, China’s largest domestic search service. “I can’t open Bing, but I don’t want to use Baidu — what to do?” wrote one user. “Bing is actually dead — is this to force me to use Baidu??” said another, cursing.

microsoft
bing
china
vpn
great firewall
censorship
twitter
baidu


Boeing 'flying car' prototype completes first test flight

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Boeing said Wednesday its prototype “flying car” — part of a project aimed at “on-demand autonomous air transportation” — has completed its first successful test flight. The test of the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft was carried out Tuesday outside Washington, the company said in a statement. Boeing is among a handful of companies in the United States and around the world, including Uber and a startup backed by Google founder Larry Page, that are developing vehicles that could be used for personal air transport with autonomous navigation. Boeing NeXt, which leads the company’s urban air mobility efforts, used Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to design and develop the prototype. Tests will continue “to advance the safety and reliability of on-demand autonomous air transportation,” the company said. “In one year, we have progressed from a conceptual design to a flying prototype,” said Boeing chief technology officer Greg Hyslop. The vehicle is designed for fully autonomous flight from takeoff to landing, with a range of up to 50 miles (80 kilometers). The craft, which is some 9 meters (30 feet) long and 8.5 meters wide, integrates propulsion and wing systems to hover and advance like a helicopter. “This is what revolution looks like, and it’s because of autonomy,” said John Langford, president and chief executive officer of Aurora. “Certifiable autonomy is going to make quiet, clean and safe urban air mobility possible.” Boeing said it is also working on an unmanned, fully electric cargo air vehicle (CAV) designed to transport up to 500 pounds (226 kilograms). The cargo vehicle completed its first indoor flight last year and will see outdoor flight testing in 2019. Aurora, which works on future technologies for Boeing, is headquartered in Manassas, about 30 miles outside Washington. Last year, Boeing agreed to establish research and lab space inside a new facility at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for “future mobility” research. Boeing and others have discussed the idea of autonomous flying taxis to help ease congestion and improve short-range transportation.


Japan internal affairs ministry corrects 2018 consumption index data after age error

Abstract: The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Thursday that it has corrected consumption trend index figures for April-October 2018 following the discovery of a problem with underlying data. The year-on-year change of the index on price-adjusted real terms was revised up by 0.1 percentage point for households overall in August and by 0.1 to 0.2 point for single-person households in April, May, June and September. The corrections came after a research firm commissioned by the ministry mistakenly lowered the age of people surveyed by one year since April last year. The ministry apologized for the problem, saying it will fully check figures in efforts to prevent a recurrence of similar issues. On the same day the ministry released the index for November 2018, which was delayed due to the problem. The index for overall households stood at 94.9 against the 2015 base of 100, up 1.3 percent from a year before. The consumption trend index reflects consumption patterns of singles more strongly than the household spending survey, which mainly covers families with two or more members. The ministry started releasing the data in January last year.


Nikkei falls further in absence of incentives

Abstract: The key Nikkei average lost further ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday amid a dearth of major trading incentives. The 225-issue Nikkei average sagged 19.09 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 20,574.63. On Wednesday, the key market gauge dropped 29.19 points. But the Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 5.57 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,552.60. It fell 9.40 points the previous day. Until around midmorning Tokyo stocks were caught in a tug of war between selling to lock in profits and buying on dips, with both indexes fluctuating around Wednesday’s closing levels, market sources said. After sinking into negative territory toward noon, the Nikkei average failed to become buoyant in the absence of powerful market-moving factors for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, the Topix index went up thanks to solid performances of financial issues, according to the sources. Brokers said the Nikkei’s fall can be attributed to a sell-off of clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing Co., pointing out that the heavily weighted component issue’s drop pushed the index down by over 50 points. Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd., offered the view that the market was weighed down by concerns over U.S.-China trade talks and the prolonged partial government shutdown in the United States. The day’s market was calm as “investors refrained from tilting their positions significantly ahead of major Japanese firms’ release of their earnings reports later this month,” Kuramochi noted. “Trading was thin due to the absence of both domestic and foreign institutional investors,” said Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Volume edged down to 1.149 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.151 billion shares. Despite the continued drop in the Nikkei average, gainers overwhelmed losers 1,419 to 624 in the TSE’s first section while 84 issues were unchanged. Fast Retailing closed 3.10 percent lower. Also downbeat were employment information service firm Recruit Holdings Co. and convenience store operator FamilyMart UNY Holdings Co. By contrast, regional lender Yamanashi Chuo Bank shot up 11.18 percent after announcing its own share buyback plan Wednesday. Semiconductor-related Tokyo Electron, Advantest Corp., Screen Holdings Co. and Sumco Corp. also attracted buying. Other major winners included pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma Inc. and cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average stayed unchanged at 20,560 for the second consecutive market day.


Dollar slightly firmer above ¥109.70 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar firmed above ¥109.70 in Tokyo trading Thursday, supported by solid performances of Asian stocks. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥109.71-75, up from ¥109.61-62 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1367-1368, slightly up from $1.1364, and at ¥124.74, up from ¥124.57-58. After rising around ¥110 in overnight trading amid revived hopes for progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations, the dollar lost ground to levels near ¥109.40 on reselling in the early morning. Although the U.S. currency briefly retook ¥109.60, it fell back below ¥109.50 later in line with the Nikkei stock average’s retreat. In the afternoon, the greenback regained strength as the Nikkei trimmed its early losses and stocks in other Asian markets fared well, traders said. The dollar was stuck in a narrow band between ¥109.60 and ¥109.70 in late hours, as a wait-and-see mood spread ahead of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council meeting and a subsequent news conference by ECB President Mario Draghi, they said. Chances are slim that the ECB chief will make “dovish” comments. “But if the surprise occurs, it would affect the dollar-yen pair,” said an official at a Japanese bank. After the ECB policy meeting, market attention will shift to next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve and ministerial-level trade talks between the United States and China, an official at a bank-linked securities firm said.

currencies
exchange rates
foreign exchange
forex
fx


Japan mobile carrier KDDI in talks to invest in kabu.com brokerage, source says

Abstract: KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest mobile carrier, is considering taking a nearly 50 percent stake in online brokerage kabu.com Securities Co. as it eyes making financial services a new source of revenue, sources close to the matter said Thursday. With the country’s telecommunications market facing saturation, KDDI is in the final phase of talks with kabu.com kabu.com’s parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. over the ratio of its investment, the sources said. KDDI and the securities company would offer new financial services that utilize the large customer base of KDDI, which has some 53 million mobile phone subscriptions, together with the brokerage expertise of kabu.com. If KDDI takes a stake, the online brokerage house would likely be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the sources said. Kabu.com is currently listed on the TSE’s first section. Kabu.com currently offers foreign exchange and stock trading services mainly to individual investors. “We are considering various possibilities with kabu.com Securities in terms of financial services,” KDDI said in a statement, without elaborating. Two MUFG units — Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. and MUFJ Bank — own nearly 60 percent of kabu.com. Amid the spread of fintech, the combination of financial services with information technology, the securities sector has seen more cross-industry entrants such as messaging app provider Line Corp. and department store chain Marui Group Co. In another step to strengthen its fintech offerings, KDDI set up a company with Daiwa Securities Group Inc. to offer asset management services through a smartphone app. KDDI is considering purchasing kabu.com shares through a takeover bid, according to the sources. KDDI hopes to work out details, including the share purchase price, in February and complete the acquisition within the next few months, the sources said.

kddi
kabu.com
mufg
mufj
daiwa securities


General Oyster, Japan's largest oyster restaurant operator, sees interest from Chinese firms: sources

Abstract: General Oyster Inc., Japan’s largest oyster restaurant operator, has been approached by several Chinese companies interested in buying a stake or perhaps acquiring the business, according to people familiar with the matter. Three Chinese firms including a large internet company have expressed interest in separate deals with General Oyster, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The Tokyo-based company is considering whether to start talks with the potential partners, and may decline to engage, said the people. A spokeswoman for General Oyster declined to comment. The Japanese company runs 27 oyster bars throughout Japan, harvesting wild shellfish and cultivating its own oysters, while cleaning them with deep ocean water for more than 60 hours to get rid of viruses, according to company disclosures. It exports them to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Chinese companies are interested in General Oyster’s technology and techniques for producing oysters that avoid food poisoning dangers, they said. The company, which is in trials to farm 100 percent virus free oysters in Okinawa, received patents in 2017 and 2018. There were 63 acquisitions of Japanese companies from greater China last year, worth a total of $3.1 billion and up from 41 deals worth $2.9 billion in 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Hitachi to remain in nuclear business after halting plant project in Wales, chairman says

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Hitachi Ltd. plans to remain in the nuclear business, its chairman said, even after suspending a reactor project in the U.K. and as public anxiety over the technology persists. “When we build up some nuclear power stations, we have to maintain this for 40, 50, 60 years,” Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi said in a Bloomberg Television interview Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland. “We don’t have any short-term decision.” Earlier this month, Hitachi suspended indefinitely its plan to build reactors at a site in Wylfa, Wales, and booked a loss of about ¥300 billion ($2.7 billion). The Japanese industrial conglomerate joins other companies such as Toshiba Corp. in looking for growth in other business areas as project costs balloon and demand shrinks following multiple meltdowns at reactors in Fukushima in 2011. Having sold off some of its train and automotive assets last year, Hitachi has continued to push for expansion of its Lumada platform for implementing “internet of things” technologies. The industrial giant, which makes everything from nuclear power plants to car parts, has said it can use its own manufacturing operations to develop its internet of things platform faster than rivals. Speaking in an interview during the World Economic Forum, Nakanishi said Hitachi is moving to focus on its solutions-oriented business, and sees this as a key target area for acquisitions.

hitachi
wales
hiroaki nakanishi
fukushima no . 1
u.k .
nuclear energy


Renault picks Michelin's Jean-Dominique Senard as new chairman and Thierry Bollore as CEO

Abstract: PARIS - The board of Renault SA on Thursday decided on two new leaders to replace Carlos Ghosn as CEO and chairman, as the once-celebrated tycoon appears likely to remain in detention in Japan for months on charges of financial misconduct. The board picked Thierry Bollore, currently deputy CEO of the French automaker who has been in charge of overseeing day-to-day operations in place of Ghosn, as the new CEO, and Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO of French tire company Michelin, as chairman. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed Thursday that Ghosn had handed in his resignation, ahead of a board meeting to appoint his successor. A senior director of the firm “received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn,” who remains detained in Japan, according to Le Maire. Senard, the new chairman, would also be charged with smoothing out the strained relationship with partner Nissan Motor Co., a person familiar with the matter said, while Bollore would handle daily operations. Nissan showed a positive reaction to the change in the leadership. “We welcome these management changes at Renault,” the company said in a statement. “Over the past 20 years, each company has respected the other’s identity and autonomy, and by combining our strengths we have created synergies and achieved profitable growth.” Le Maire said this week that the government favored dual leadership atop the companies in which it holds a stake, with the chairman overseeing long-term strategic planning. France owns 15 percent of Renault, with extra voting rights and two seats on the board. The first task of the new management team “is to consolidate the alliance between Renault and Nissan,” Le Maire told Francine Lacqua in an interview Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I am sure the alliance will stay.” Ghosn has been in custody in Japan since Nov. 19, when police boarded his jet shortly after it landed at Haneda airport in Tokyo. He’s been charged with understating his income at Nissan by tens of millions of dollars and transferring personal trading losses to the company. If convicted he could face decades in jail. Ghosn has denied wrongdoing. His downfall has roiled the pact between Nissan and Renault that the globe-trotting executive held together for two decades. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. joined in 2016. All three companies have said the alliance is essential to remain competitive at a time of costly changes sweeping through the industry, from the decline of diesel cars to the enormous investment required for electric and autonomous vehicles. Inside Nissan, operations and relationships with key dealers across the world are being reviewed as part of an expanding internal investigation into Ghosn’s alleged misdeeds, according to people familiar with the matter. Hundreds of people including regional and legal compliance teams are participating in the probe, the people said. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa wants to convince investors he’s addressing corporate-governance shortcomings exposed by Ghosn’s detention. The scandal may not be the last of its type in Japan, where companies need to address how they keep top executives in check, Takeshi Niinami, CEO of liquor giant Suntory Holdings Ltd., said in Davos. Nissan and Mitsubishi ousted Ghosn as chairman days after his arrest. On Tuesday, Le Maire said the “absolute priority” for Renault’s next chairman should be “strengthening the alliance and getting in touch with Japanese authorities.” Le Maire has previously said that it’s Renault’s CEO who heads the three-way venture, headquartered in Amsterdam, that manages the partnership. Still, Senard would take the lead in handling alliance matters, said the person familiar with the issue, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. Senard would bring a big change of style to Renault. Cordial and soft-spoken — some would say austere — his demeanor contrasts with Ghosn’s larger-than-life persona. He’s also in the good graces of the government, which has had a sometimes rocky relationship with Ghosn. It’s not just the government that speaks highly of the Michelin CEO. Franck Daout, a representative of the CFDT union at Renault, said “we would be supporting Senard as the leader who handles the alliance.” French President Emmanuel Macron called Michelin a “model company” last year, praising it for its frequent dialogue with unions. The government assigned Senard to write a report on how French companies can contribute to general welfare. The document concluded that companies shouldn’t be accountable only to their shareholders, but also the common good. It advocated putting more employee representatives on company boards. With Senard taking the lead at the partnership, the role of Bollore, who started his career with Michelin, will be somewhat less prominent. Some Renault insiders have expressed concern that, as a former protege of Ghosn, Bollore might be met with distrust in Japan. Bollore had been seen as Ghosn’s heir apparent since February, when he was promoted to chief operating officer. He had been handling many of the day-to-day duties at Renault even before his boss’s arrest. At that time, Ghosn pledged to use his final four years as CEO focused on a plan to “make the alliance irreversible.” Bollore, a soft-spoken Frenchman from Brittany, joined Renault in 2012 from car-parts supplier Faurecia SA, where he rose through the ranks to become vice president with responsibilities for global industry, quality and packaging. He started his career at Michelin and worked there for a number of years at the same time as Ghosn.

renault
jean-dominique senard
thierry bollore
carlos ghosn
bruno le maire
nissan


Chinese airlines to operate 46 more direct routes to Japan from February

Abstract: BEIJING - The number of direct flights to Japan run by Chinese carriers will soar from February, documents released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China have shown. Approval was given to at least 46 new direct flight routes between the countries in the first three weeks of 2019, up from five approved between last November and December, according to the documents. Flights are scheduled to start between February and March on all 46 routes. The increase apparently reflects improving bilateral relations and a rise in the number of Chinese visitors to Japan, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The new routes will connect Japan with major Chinese cities in various regions aside from Beijing and Shanghai, which are already accessible by direct flights. Flights between Nagoya and Urumqi, in China’s northwest, will be available in March. Many new routes will connect China with Nagoya, Osaka and Sapporo. Flights between Fukuoka and Qingdao in eastern China are also planned, as well as between Kitakyushu and Dalian in the northeast. Other new routes include those from Shizuoka to Xian and Changsha, both in central China, and between Toyama and Dalian. Chinese visitors to Japan increased 13.9 percent in 2018 to a record 8.38 million, continuing to hold the top share of all foreign visitors to Japan. “We welcome” the increase in direct flights between the two countries following a period of little growth, said an official at the Beijing branch of the Japan National Tourism Organization.


French sex workers seek repeal of ban on paying for sex

Abstract: PARIS - French sex workers have lodged a constitutional challenge to a 2016 law making it illegal to pay for sex, reopening a debate on whether women should be free to sell their bodies. On Tuesday, around 30 sex workers backed by nine associations, including a medical NGO, went to the Constitutional Council to argue the law infringed their sexual and commercial freedom and made them more vulnerable to attack. The law, which punishes people caught paying for sex with fines of up to €1,500 ($1,800) for first-time offenders and €3,750 for repeat offenders, took years to make its way through parliament after fierce debate. Inspired by Sweden, it makes it a crime to buy sex but not to sell it, shifting the criminal responsibility to clients. Hailed by many feminist groups at the time as an advance for women’s rights, the law was assailed by sex workers as an infringement of “constitutional rights to personal autonomy and sexual freedom, respect of privacy, freedom of contract and freedom to do business.” The sex workers also argued that by criminalizing their clients the law has eroded their earnings, forcing them to take ever greater risks to earn a living. These include agreeing to engage in unprotected sex or to have sex in isolated environments where they are more vulnerable to attack. In August a Peruvian transgender sex worker, Vanesa Campos, was killed in the forested Bois de Boulogne park west of Paris. She was shot dead while trying to stop a group of men robbing a client. “It’s the client who dictates his conditions and we have no choice because we have fewer clients than before but still as many bills at the end of the month,” one sex worker, who gave her name as Anais, said after Tuesday’s hearing. Many rights groups argue women do not engage in prostitution freely but are forced to do so by hardship or other circumstances. They accuse clients of exploiting their vulnerability. Issuing a robust defense Wednesday of the law, France’s High Council for Equality Between Men and Women argued prostitution was “the opposite of sexual liberation” and “oppresses all women” by enshrining the notion of male domination. The council pointed to a poll showing that 78 percent of French supported the ban as proof of widespread support. “We don’t want a society where it is possible to buy someone else’s dignity,” a lawyer for the abolitionist camp, Cedric Uzan-Sarano, argued before the Constitutional Council. But a lawyer for the sex workers’ camp, Patrice Spinosi, countered that by making it a crime to buy sex but not to sell it the state had created a “schizophrenic” situation and “infantilized prostitutes.” “Who are you to forbid me from doing what I want with my body?” he asked. The Constitutional Council will publish its decision on whether the law is compatible with France’s basic charter on Feb. 1.


U.S. federal employees stage protest at congressional office building over shutdown costing them their pay

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Several hundred U.S. federal employees who have not been paid in weeks due to the partial government shutdown protested the impasse on Wednesday in Washington. They peacefully occupied a U.S. congressional office building for several hours, responding to the call of several unions and organizations representing government employees and contractors. The employees protested silently for 32 minutes, symbolizing the duration in days of the shutdown sparked by a dispute over funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall project, which he has demanded and Democrats have declined to provide. Some held posters or paper plates with messages including “Will work for pay” and “Do your job — so Americans can do theirs.” While government employees are to be paid retroactively, the same is not true for contractors. “It’s been five weeks now and I only worked one or two days, my company called me for special events,” said Claudia Martinez, who works for a catering company that has a contract with the U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria. She has a second job with a tourism company, but “January is very slow.” “This month will be very difficult,” said the 43-year-old mother, who has to pay $400 per month for her child’s student loan. “The shutdown affects this whole country,” said Francis Nichols, an official in the American Federation of Government Employees union. “I heard many people say what bill I should we pay first,” he said, while others have to choose between paying bills or fuelling their cars to come to work. The standoff between Trump and opposition Democrats over border wall funding has seen some 800,000 federal employees to go without pay. The Senate is to consider two competing bills to end the shutdown on Thursday, but the chances are slim that either will reopen federal agencies.

federal employees
donald trump
congress
wages
u.s. government shutdown


Telescopes capture moment of comet-rock impact on moon during eclipse

Abstract: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - Astronomers managed to capture the moment of an impact during this week’s eclipsed moon. Spanish astrophysicist Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva said Wednesday it appears a rock from a comet slammed into the moon during the total lunar eclipse late Sunday and early Monday. The strike was seen by telescopes in Spain and elsewhere as a bright flash. Madiedo says it’s the first impact flash ever seen during a lunar eclipse, although such crater-forming impacts are common. He says the object hit at an estimated speed of 10 miles (17 km) per second, and was 22 pounds (10 kg) and 12 inches (30 cm) across. Madiedo set up extra telescopes for the eclipse, and says he jumped out of his chair when he learned an impact was seen.

telescopes
comet
impact
moon
lunar eclipse
nasa
earth


Root and branch reform: Swedish scientist makes fuel from tree waste

Abstract: LUND, SWEDEN - Could tree roots, twigs and branches one day be used to power cars? That’s the hope of a Swedish researcher who has developed a pulp byproduct that — on a modest scale — does just that. Chemical engineering scientist Christian Hulteberg, from Lund University, has used the black liquor residue from pulp and paper manufacturing to create a polymer referred to as a lignin. After purification and filtration, the polymer is turned into a gasoline mixture. “We’re actually using the stuff of the wood that they don’t use when they make paper and pulp. … It adds value to low-value components of the tree,” he said. In environmental terms, he says that gives it an advantage over other biofuels such as ethanol. “A lot of the controversy with ethanol production has been the use of feedstock that you can actually eat,” he said. Hulteberg has a pilot plant in operation and hopes the forest fuel will be available in service stations by 2021. Though it will only serve a fraction of the demands of Swedish motorists, he is hopeful that, along with other renewable products under development, it could help wean us off our addiction to fossil fuels.


At least five killed in Florida bank shooting and gunman, 21, arrested: police

Abstract: NEW YORK - At least five people were killed on Wednesday in a shooting inside a bank in a small central Florida town, and the suspect is in custody, authorities said. The 21-year-old suspect, identified as Zephen Xaver, walked into the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, a town of about 10,000 people 95 miles south of Orlando, just after 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) and began shooting, Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference. Xaver called police himself and said he had fired shots inside the bank, according to authorities. After negotiators failed to convince the suspect to leave the bank, the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team entered the building and continued to talk to the gunman, police said. He eventually surrended. “Today has been a tragic day in our community,” Hoglund said. “We’ve suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.” No details about the victims have been released. It was not clear whether other people in the bank were injured.

florida
zephen xaver
suntrust bank
sebring
guns
mass murder


Michael Cohen postpones testimony to Congress amid 'threats' by Trump against his family, lawyer says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is postponing his Feb. 7 testimony to the U.S. Congress because of threats against his family from Trump, his adviser said on Wednesday. Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to crimes he committed while working on Trump’s 2016 election campaign and is cooperating with investigators, had received “ongoing threats against his family from Trump” and Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, the adviser, attorney Lanny Davis, said in a statement. Trump called Cohen a “rat” in a tweet last month for cooperating with prosecutors. Cohen had been Trump’s self-described longtime “fixer” and once said he would take a bullet for the New York real estate developer. In a Fox News interview this month, Trump also suggested he had damaging information on Cohen’s father-in-law. “That’s the one that people want to look at,” Trump said in the interview. Davis said last week: “There is no question that his threatening and calling out his father-in-law, who — quote — has all the money, is not only improper and unseemly for a bully using the bully pulpit of the presidency, but the very definition of intimidation and witness tampering.” Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to postpone his testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee. A new date has not been scheduled and Cohen is required to report to a federal prison in March. During an event at the White House, Trump was asked by a reporter about Cohen saying he had been threatened by Trump and Giuliani. “I would say he’s been threatened by the truth. He’s only been threatened by the truth. And he doesn’t want to do that probably for me or other of his clients,” Trump said. “He has other clients also, I assume, and he doesn’t want to tell the truth for me or other of his clients.” Giuliani told Reuters that the “president’s response covers it.” Cohen’s decision raised the possibility that the committee would issue a subpoena compelling him to testify. Committee chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat, declined comment. “We’ll release a statement later,” he said. Both Cummings and Rep. Steve Lynch, who is set to chair the oversight subcommittee on national security, are considering issuing subpoenas to Cohen to testify, according to a source with knowledge of the discussion. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December for crimes including orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election. He said in the guilty plea that he was directed to make the payments by Trump. Cohen had volunteered to testify before the congressional panel. Davis said Cohen looked forward to testifying at a later date. “This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first,” Davis said.

michael cohen
congress
donald trump
rudy giuliani
lanny davis
robert mueller
russia probe


Paul Manafort disputes Robert Mueller's claims he lied to prosecutors

Abstract: NEWARK, NEW JERSEY/WASHINGTON - Lawyers for Paul Manafort, the convicted former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, denied in court papers that he broke his plea agreement by lying to prosecutors when he was supposed to be cooperating. The filing came Wednesday as Manafort’s legal team seeks to limit the damage caused by special counsel Robert Mueller’s claims that the political strategist lied about five matters during a dozen debriefings with prosecutors. “A fair reading” of Mueller’s claims does not support the conclusion that Manafort “intentionally provided false information,” according to the filing. Many of the events described by Mueller “occurred years ago, or during a high-pressure U.S. presidential campaign he managed when his time was extraordinarily limited, or during the difficult time that followed his departure” from the 2016 campaign. Manafort, 69, is preparing for sentences in federal courts in Virginia and Washington, where he faces years in prison for tax fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. He has been in solitary confinement and suffers from severe gout, depression and anxiety, his lawyers have said. Mueller has said Manafort breached his plea deal partly by lying about his communications between August 2016 and March 2018 with Konstantin Kilimnik, a translator and fixer on campaigns in Ukraine for a decade. Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether anyone in Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russians, says Kilimnik has ties to Russian intelligence. In several debriefings and in grand jury appearances, Manafort gave “various accounts concerning his communications with Kilimnik,” including a meeting in New York, according to prosecutors. Mueller has said Manafort lied about his interactions with Kilimnik, his efforts to join Kilimnik in tampering with witnesses, his communications with the Trump administration while he was under investigation, a $125,000 payment he made to an undisclosed party in June 2017, and matters relating to an undisclosed Department of Justice investigation. According to the special counsel, Manafort made false statements after the election about his contacts with the Trump administration, saying he “never asked anyone to communicate a message” on “any subject matter,” according to heavily redacted, 188-page filing last week by Mueller. In the filing, Mueller said Manafort told Rick Gates, his former right-hand man, in January 2017 that he was using intermediaries to secure appointments in the Trump administration. Gates pleaded guilty and is cooperating with Mueller. Earlier this month, Manafort’s lawyers inadvertently disclosed in a court filing that Manafort shared polling data on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with Kilimnik. Trump has said he had no knowledge of Manafort sharing such data with Kilimnik. That disclosure, caused by a formatting error, made it possible to view redacted material and sparked a new focus on the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia. Recent news reports have said that the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation of Trump and that he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin several times without telling officials in his own administration what they discussed. Manfort’s court filing also revealed that Mueller claims Manafort lied about talking to Kilimnik about a Ukrainian peace plan and about a meeting they had in Madrid in early 2017. Manafort has been in jail since June 15, when U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked his bail after Mueller accused him and Kilimnik of witness tampering. In August, federal jurors in Virginia convicted Manafort of tax and bank fraud; he is due to be sentenced in that case on Feb. 8. In September, he pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses, and agreed to cooperate with Mueller. By pleading guilty, he avoided a second trial on charges that he failed to disclose lobbying on behalf of the Ukrainian government and that he laundered money. Jackson set a March 5 sentencing date in Washington but has said she first wants to determine whether Manafort broke that deal. She has scheduled a Jan. 25 hearing on the case; it’s unclear if she will ask Mueller to present witnesses. All told, Manafort could be sentenced to two decades in prison. In a filing last week, prosecutors said Jackson can resolve the question of whether Manafort broke his plea agreement based on evidence already submitted. The case is U.S. v. Manafort, 17-cr-201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

paul manafort
robert mueller
donald trump
konstantin kilimnik
ukraine
russia probe


Denied asylum, Iraqi charged with rape and murder in Germany's 'Susanna case'

Abstract: BERLIN - German prosecutors Wednesday announced child rape and murder charges against a rejected Iraqi asylum-seeker in a case that fueled a heated debate about immigrant crime. The accused in the “Susanna case,” 21-year-old Ali Bashar, had fled Germany after the crime for northern Iraq but was extradited in a mission joined personally by federal police chief Dieter Romann. Bashar is accused of beating, raping and then strangling schoolgirl Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, in a wooded area near his refugee shelter in the city of Wiesbaden last May 23. Earlier he had also allegedly twice raped an 11-year-old girl — once in April 2018 after locking her in his room, and again near a supermarket parking area the following month. Prosecutors also laid charges against an Afghan youth who was living in the same refugee shelter, Mansoor Q., who was believed to be aged at least 14 at the time, for also raping the 11-year-old girl. Prosecutors said Ali Bashar’s younger brother — who is believed to be in Iraq, according to media reports — had also taken part in a violent sexual assault against the younger girl. Following a public outcry over Susanna’s death, German federal police hauled Bashar back from Arbil, northern Iraq, where he had been arrested by local Kurdish security forces. Despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Iraq and Germany, Bashar was put on a flight to Germany, with pictures of him disembarking under heavy police guard making front pages. Bashar had first arrived in Germany in 2015 along with his parents and five siblings. He faced deportation after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal. During this time, he got into trouble with police on several occasions, including for fights, alleged robbery and possession of an illegal switchblade. In his upcoming trial he also faces charges for a park robbery in which he beat, strangled and threatened with a knife a man to steal his watch, bag, phone and bank card. The Susanna case prompted politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel to urge the speeding up of deportations of asylum-seekers who have broken the law in Germany.

iraq
rape
murder
germany
immigration
ali bashar
angela merkel
kurds


Wife of 'El Chapo' played key role in escape plots, ex-lieutenant testifies

Abstract: NEW YORK - The wife of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman played an important role in plotting his 2015 escape from a Mexican prison and tried to help him escape again after he was recaptured the following year, one Guzman’s former top lieutenants testified on Wednesday. Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, has attended nearly every day of her husband’s trial in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. She was there on Wednesday as Damaso Lopez Nunez testified that Coronel carried messages from her imprisoned husband about digging a tunnel into his cell. Guzman, 61, was extradited to the United States in 2017 and has been on trial since November on charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs into the country as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. His lawyers have claimed he was framed by another powerful drug trafficker, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Lopez, 52, is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison for drug trafficking, and has said he is cooperating with prosecutors in the hope of getting the sentence reduced. He has testified that he began working for Guzman in 2001 and is godfather to one of his former boss’ twin daughters. Lopez told jurors that, while Guzman was held in Mexico’s Altiplano prison in 2014 and 2015, he plotted his boss’ escape with Coronel and Guzman’s sons, with Coronel passing messages to and from Guzman. Lopez said the sons bought a plot of land near the prison from which to tunnel into Guzman’s cell. Guzman escaped through the finished tunnel in 2015. Guzman was recaptured in January 2016. Lopez said Coronel told him the following month that Guzman, then at Altiplano, wanted to duplicate his earlier escape. That plan was thwarted when Guzman was moved to another prison in Ciudad Juarez, Lopez said, and a $2 million bribe to a national prison official to get him moved back was unsuccessful. Lopez did not identify the bribed official. Despite her alleged role in both escape attempts, Coronel has never been charged with a crime. John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. prosecutors, declined comment. When Lopez first stepped up to the witness stand on Tuesday, he looked at Guzman and bumped his fist to his chest. Asked by one of Guzman’s lawyers on cross-examination Wednesday why he made the gesture, Lopez answered, “Because I love him.” Nonetheless, Lopez said, “the circumstances” compelled him to testify. “I chose to think about my family,” he said.

drugs
emma coronel
mexico
joaquin el chapo guzman


Nurse nabbed for alleged sexual assault after woman in vegetative state gave birth in Arizona

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - A male nurse has been arrested in Arizona for the sexual assault of a woman who gave birth while in a long-term vegetative state, police in the state said Wednesday. The 29-year-old victim — whom police said “was not in a position to give consent” — gave birth late last month to a baby boy, sparking an investigation. The suspect’s DNA was matched to that of the baby, leading to the arrest, according to police. The suspect — identified as Nathan Sutherland, age 36 — faces charges of one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson told a news conference. Sutherland is a “licensed practical nurse who was responsible for providing care to the victim during this time the sexual assault occurred,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. The police chief said she had not encountered a similar case during “30 years in law enforcement.” “The baby, I am told, is doing good,” said Thompson. “We can’t always choose how we come into this life, but what we can choose to do as a community is love this child, and that’s what we have the opportunity to do,” he said. A lawyer for the woman’s family has said the infant “has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for,” according to The New York Times. The CEO of the nursing facility resigned following the scandal, according to a statement sent to media. “This is a facility that you should be safe in and someone wasn’t,” Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams said.


Canada acquires Hitler book on Jews that could've served as roadmap for 'Final Solution' in North America

Abstract: OTTAWA - Library and Archives Canada announced Wednesday it had acquired a rare 1944 book that once belonged to Adolf Hitler. Written in German, “Statistics, Media, and Organizations of Jewry in the United States and Canada” is a 137-page report produced in 1944 by Heinz Kloss, a famed German linguist who had contact with U.S. Nazi sympathizers. The book details certain cities’ population statistics along with organizations and media outlets key at the time to North America’s Jewish communities, Library and Archives Canada said in a statement. “This work hints at the story of what might have happened in Canada had the Allies lost World War II. It also demonstrates that the Holocaust was not a purely European event, but rather an operation that was stopped before it reached North America,” it added. The bookplate bears an eagle, and swastika, and the words “Ex Libris Adolf Hitler,” indicating it was part of his personal library. “It is fundamental … to acquire, preserve and make available documents no matter how controversial or contentious they could be,” said Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Hitler was an avid reader with a collection reportedly containing 6,000 to 16,000 titles. Library and Archives Canada said the book was likely brought back to the U.S. as a souvenir of war, as in spring 1945 American soldiers took thousands of books from the Nazi leader’s second home near Berchtesgaden, in the German Alps. The institution added it acquired the book from a reputable Judaica dealer, who obtained it as part of a collection owned by a Holocaust survivor.

canada
libraries
adolf hitler
nazis
holocaust
wwii
u.s .
history
germany
judaism


Democrats push technology as alternative to Trump wall in shutdown impasse

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives floated the idea on Wednesday of ending a partial U.S. government shutdown by giving President Donald Trump most or all of the money he seeks for security along the Mexican border but for items other than the wall he wants. As a shutdown that has left 800,000 federal workers without pay hit its 33rd day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi essentially disinvited Trump from delivering the annual State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government is fully opened. Other leaders in the Democratic-controlled House said they were drafting a funding offer that they will likely make to Trump in a letter. Rep. James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, said Democrats could fulfill Trump’s request for $5.7 billion for border security with technological tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, said Democrats also would discuss “substantial sums of additional money” for border security as part of a possible deal. He did not say if it would amount to the $5.7 billion sought by Trump. The Republican president triggered the shutdown last month by demanding money for the wall, opposed by Democrats, as part of any legislation to fund about a quarter of the government. Clyburn’s offer would be a significant monetary increase over bills previously passed by Democrats, which included only about $1.3 billion for this year in additional border security, with none for a wall. “Using the figure the president put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall,” Clyburn told reporters. Republican Rep. Tom Cole, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters the Democratic proposal could help. “Any movement, any discussion is helpful,” Cole said. “We’ve got to get past this wall-or-no-wall debate.” The battle over border security and government funding spilled over into a parallel controversy over Trump’s upcoming State of the Union address. Trump sent a letter to Pelosi on Wednesday saying he looked forward to delivering it as scheduled next Tuesday in the House chamber. Pelosi previously had asked Trump to consider postponing because security could not be guaranteed during the shutdown. But Pelosi on Wednesday told Trump the House would not consider a measure authorizing his address until the shutdown ends. “Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened,” Pelosi said to Trump in a letter. The U.S. Senate, controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, planned votes for Thursday on competing proposals that face steep odds to end the shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans a vote on a Democratic proposal that would fund the government for three weeks but does not include the $5.7 billion in partial funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Its prospects appeared grim. The House has passed several similar bills but Trump has rejected legislation that does not include the wall funding. McConnell previously said he would not consider a bill that Trump did not support. McConnell also planned to hold a vote on legislation that would include wall funding and a temporary extension of protections for “Dreamers,” people brought illegally to the United States as children, an offer Trump made on Saturday. Trump’s 2017 plan to rescind protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of “Dreamers” has been blocked by the courts. Democrats have dismissed the offer, saying they would not negotiate on border security before reopening the government, and that they would not trade a temporary extension of the immigrants’ protections in return for a permanent border wall they have called ineffective, costly and immoral. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Wednesday Trump has made calls to Democrats. Barclays economists said on Wednesday they reduced their outlook on U.S. economic growth in the first quarter to an annualized rate of 2.5 percent from an earlier projection of 3.0 percent as a result of the shutdown. Furloughed federal workers are struggling to make ends meet during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Many have turned to unemployment assistance, food banks and other support, or have sought new jobs. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week found more than half of Americans blame Trump for the shutdown even as he has sought to shift blame to Democrats after saying last month he would be “proud” to close the government for border security.

democrats
donald trump
nancy pelosi
border wall
u.s .
u.s. shutdown


Maduro rival claims Venezuela's presidency; neighbors recognize Guaido as interim president

Abstract: CARACAS - Numerous governments in the Western Hemisphere quickly recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido after he declared himself the interim president of his crisis-torn country Wednesday. The United States and all but one member of the Lima Group of regional nations threw their support behind Guaido after he declared himself leader in a speech before masses of anti-government demonstrators. At a rally in eastern Caracas that drew hunreds of thousands, Guaido accused President Nicolas Maduro of usurping power. He promised to create a transitional government that would help the country escape its economic collapse. “I swear to assume all the powers of the presidency to secure an end to the usurpation,” Guaido, the head of the opposition-run legislature, told the crowd. Guaido’s declaration takes Venezuela into uncharted territory, with the possibility of the opposition now running a parallel government that is recognized abroad as legitimate but lacks control over state functions. In a potent symbol of Venezuelan anger, demonstrators in the southern city of Puerto Ordaz on Tuesday toppled a statue of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. They brokeit in half and dangled part of it from a bridge. Maduro took power in 2013 after Chavez, his mentor, died. As oil prices sank and revenues dried up, the social welfare programs designed by Chavez faltered. Venezuela spiraled into its worst-ever economic crisis, with inflation forecast to reach 10 million percent this year. But Maduro nevertheless started a second term on Jan. 10, following a widely boycotted election last year that many foreign governments described as a sham. The avalanche of support for Guaido dramatically raised the stakes in Venezuela, an oil-rich nation that has become deeply impoverished under Maduro. Maduro has clung to power through the support of the military and is an ally of Russia, which last month sent two nuclear-capable bombers to the country to participate in a military drill. The declaration by the Lima Group, which has been vocal in denouncing Maduro, was signed by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru. Mexico was the only member to not sign. The group said it supported the beginning of the process of a democratic transition in Venezuela following its constitution with aim of carrying out new elections as soon as possible. It also condemned acts of violence in Venezuela and made a call for peace. U.S. President Donald Trump called on Maduro to resign and said the U.S. would use the “full weight” of its economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela’s democracy. The U.S. also said it stood ready to use “all options” if Maduro tries to quash the opposition — an implied threat of military force. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the Venezuelan military to protect “the welfare and well-being of all Venezuelan citizens,” along with U.S. citizens in Venezuela. Pompeo said the United States would take “appropriate actions” against anyone who endangered the safety of U.S. personnel. Maduro then cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S., the largest importer of Venezuelan oil, and announced that American diplomats had 72 hours to leave his country. He also heaped much of the blame for developments on U.S. imperialism and Colombia’s “oligarchy.” “Get out! Leave Venezuela. Here we have dignity, damn it,” Maduro said. Guaido tweeted in response that, under him, Venezuela wants countries “to maintain their diplomatic presence in our country.” And the U.S. State Department said “former president Maduro” did not have the authority to sever relations. Venezuelans have been suffering from an economic and governance crisis that has led millions to flee hyperinflation and severe shortages of food and medicine. Paraguay was the first regional country to express support for Guaido after he took an oath before thousands of supporters. “Count on us to embrace freedom and democracy again,” Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez said on Twitter. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Latin America’s largest nation also would support the 35-year-old lawmaker “so that peace and democracy return to Venezuela.” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her country’s “full support” for Guaido, adding, “It’s an important day for Venezuela and I’m grateful for the solidarity of the Lima Group in speaking out on this.” The European Union did not join the countries lining up behind Guaido but called for “free and credible elections.” Cuba, however, sprang to the defense of its socialist ally, expressing “solidarity” with Maduro while Mexico extended lukewarm support to him. Guaido has said it is his right under Venezuela’s constitution to take over the presidency until new elections can be called. But not everyone backed his bold move. Bolivian President Evo Morales condemned what he called an imperialist attack. “Our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and Nicolas Maduro, in these decisive hours when the claws of imperialism are once again trying to deal a death blow on democracy and self-determination on the peoples of South America,” Morales tweeted. “We will not be the backyard of the U.S. again.” A spokesman for Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico continued to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president. “We maintain our position of neutrality in the Venezuelan conflict,” Jesus Ramirez Cuevas told Mexico’s Milenio news television channel. “The Mexican government is analyzing the situation in Venezuela. Until now, there is no change in its diplomatic relations with that country nor with its government.” Colombian President Ivan Duque said his nation would accompany Guaido “in this process of transition toward democracy so that the Venezuelan people can free themselves from the dictatorship.”


Bolsonaro says Brazil must reform or it will become the next Venezuela

Abstract: BRASILIA - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged swift and sweeping measures to fix the economy and ward off what he said was a risk that Latin America’s largest nation turns into a Venezuela-style regime. Plans to sell a large number of state-owned companies are nearly ready, and a proposal to be sent to Congress will bring “substantial” cuts to pension outlays and establish a minimum retirement age, Bolsonaro said on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. He said the approval of the pension reform investors are eagerly awaiting is practically certain as Brazil’s financial situation gives it little choice. The government expects to raise $20 billion from privatizations this year, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos. In addition, reform of the pension system would help slash the budget deficit from around 7 percent of GDP to zero this year. “There’s an awareness in Brazil that the reforms are vital for the federal entities to continue operating,” Bolsonaro said. “Brazil has to work out. If not, the Left will return and we won’t know Brazil’s destiny, maybe it’ll become more like the regime that we have in Venezuela.” The Caribbean nation has contracted for five straight years, annual inflation exceeds 200,000 percent and wide-spread hunger has fueled a mass exodus. A new round of protests against the administration of Nicolas Maduro started Wednesday morning. With global investors excited by the prospect of a market-friendly Brazil, the new president addressed a packed conference hall on Tuesday, promising to cut taxes and slash red tape in a brief speech. While Brazil’s potential raised interest in the sale of state assets and the possibility of greater trade remains intense, investors are starting to demand more specifics from the new administration. Following a 20 percent rally since Bolsonaro’s first round victory, Sao Paulo stock market gains have taken a pause. Some of the privatization plans have begun to emerge in recent days but a pension reform proposal will only be presented to Congress in mid-February, and it may take many more months to pass. Markets are eying the pension reform closely because of its potential to help narrow a gaping budget deficit. In what sounded like a departure from previous intentions, Bolsonaro said in the interview that the military pension system would only be altered in a ‘second part of the reform’. The president is a former Army captain and at least half a dozen cabinet members are former military officers. Bolsonaro said efforts were underway to modernize the South American trade block Mercosur and allow Brazil to seek separate trade deals. ‘A country the size of Brazil can’t be held back by Mercosur to do trade with the rest of the world,’ said Bolsonaro, a 63 year-old former paratrooper. An impasse on trade talks with the European Union was due to France’s resistance to Brazilian demands on farm goods, he said. In the wake of the worst recession on record and years of corruption scandals, Bolsonaro’s tough campaign talk on law and order as well as his promise of a clean government had resonated with a population deeply disillusioned with traditional parties. However, his first trip overseas as president has been overshadowed somewhat by Brazilian media reports on allegations of financial irregularities involving his oldest son. The inquiry into Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator-elect, risks undermining the president’s anti-corruption agenda and alienating his support base. “If by chance he erred and it were proven, I regret it as a father, but he’ll have to pay the price for those actions we can’t accept,” Bolsonaro said.

brazil
venezuela
jair bolsonaro
pensions
davos
inflation
recession


Anti-immigrant AfD lawmakers walk out on Holocaust survivor's speech in Bavaria legislature

Abstract: BERLIN - Lawmakers from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) walked out of the Bavarian parliament on Wednesday after a Jewish community leader accused the party during a speech to commemorate the Holocaust of playing down Nazi crimes. “A party is represented here today that disparages those (democratic) values and downplays the crimes of the National Socialists,” Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and president of the Jewish Community in Munich, told the regional assembly. All but four AfD lawmakers in the Bavarian lower house stood up and left the hall as legislators from the other five parties applauded Knobloch. The AfD, which has always rejected charges of racism, entered the Bavarian parliament for the first time in a regional election last year, winning 22 seats to become the fourth largest party, on a par with the centre-left Social Democrats. The rise of the AfD, which has representatives in all of Germany’s 16 regional assemblies, has alarmed Jewish leaders who accuse it of contributing to a rise in anti-Semitism. The AfD also entered the lower house of the federal parliament in Berlin, the Bundestag, for the first time in a national election last year, drawing support from a broad array of voters angry with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision in 2015 to welcome almost a million, mainly Muslim asylum seekers. “The so-called AfD bases it politics on hate and exclusion and doesn’t abide by our democratic constitution,” Knobloch said in her speech, given in remembrance of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Katrin Ebner-Steiner, the AfD’s parliamentary leader in Bavaria, defended her colleagues’ protest walkout. “It is scandalous that the president of the Jewish community in Munich abused a memorial service for the victims of Nazism to defame the whole AfD and its legitimate and democratically elected faction using evil blanket insinuations,” she said. Knobloch later told Reuters she was not surprised when AfD lawmakers walked out on her speech. “The supportive reaction from the democratic factions made me really happy,” she wrote in an email. “Democrats in our country must stand against the AfD also in the future.” German politicians in June rebuked AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland after he said Hitler and the Nazis “are just bird shit in 1,000 years of successful German history.” Two years ago, Bjoern Hoecke, the AfD’s leader in the eastern state of Thuringia, triggered anger after he told supporters that Berlin’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was a “memorial of shame” and that history books should be rewritten to focus more on German victims.

afd
holocaust
germany
jews
charlotte knobloch
racism
angela merkel
immigration


Trump recognizes Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido as 'interim president'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States on Wednesday recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president, urging the overthrow of hard-left strongman Nicolas Maduro following tainted elections and a spiraling economic crisis. In a coordinated bid to oust Maduro, Guaido declared himself acting president during a mass demonstration and within minutes was recognized by President Donald Trump as well as the Organization of American States. Trump said in a statement that the National Assembly, headed by Guaido, is “the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people.” Trump noted that the National Assembly had declared Maduro “illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant.” “The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,” he said. Trump urged other countries to follow his lead and promised to “use the full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy.” Apparently referring to tensions around the demonstrations against the Maduro government, Trump warned: “We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezuelan people.” Maduro has repeatedly blamed the nation’s woes on the United States, which he accuses of plotting a coup in a continuation of the US history of meddling in Latin America. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explicitly called for Maduro to exit and said that Guaido would be considered interim president until a new election takes place. “The Venezuelan people have suffered long enough under Nicolas Maduro’s disastrous dictatorship. We call on Maduro to step aside in favor of a legitimate leader reflecting the will of the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo said in a statement. “The United States supports President Guaido as he establishes a transitional government, and leads Venezuela, as the country prepares for free and fair elections,” Pompeo said. Pompeo also renewed the Trump administration’s call for the security forces to intervene. A group of 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro on Monday but were quickly arrested. “We repeat our call to the Venezuelan military and security forces to support democracy and protect all Venezuelan citizens,” he said. Guaido insists he has the constitution on his side but acknowledges he needs the backing of the 365,000-strong military, and has offered an amnesty to any personnel who disavow Maduro. NGO Citizen Control says around 180 soldiers were arrested last year for conspiring against the government, while 4,000 deserted the National Guard. Maduro, the heir to leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez, won a new term last year in an election widely criticized as tainted. Venezuela has faced skyrocketing inflation and shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine. Some 2.3 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the United Nations.

venezuela
juan guaido
nicolas maduro
donald trump
mike pompeo
u.s .


Democrat navy vet Pete Buttigieg, 37, enters 2020 race, hoping to be first openly gay nominee

Abstract: WASHINGTON - He is a long-shot candidate, but South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday he is jumping into the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field challenging Donald Trump, aiming to become the first openly gay presidential nominee. Should he win, the 37-year-old wunderkind, a U.S. Navy reservist who took leave from his mayoral duties to serve in Afghanistan, would also be America’s youngest-ever commander in chief. Buttigieg announced that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee, a key opening step to formally launching a bid. He joins a growing list of charismatic Democrats seeking to carry the party’s torch into 2020, including three female U.S. senators — Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand — and Hispanic-American former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro. In a nearly-two-minute video posted online, Buttigieg portrayed himself as a can-do reformer — he has earned high praise for reviving his mid-sized Indiana city — from America’s millennial generation eyeing the future, not the past. “Right now our country needs a fresh start,” he says in the clip. “There’s no such thing as again in the real world. We can’t look for greatness in the past.” In his opening video he makes no mention of Trump, instead taking aim at what he called the “show” in Washington: “The corruption, the fighting, the lying, the crisis. It’s got to end.” And he highlights his credibility as being part of a new forward-focused generation facing immense challenges. “We’re the generation that lived through school shootings, that served in the wars after 9/11. And we’re the generation that stands to be the first to make less than our parents — unless we do something different,” he said. Buttigieg was in the early primary state of Iowa last year, testing out a campaign message and attempting to build name recognition. He is up against a strong Democrat field of contenders, which will broaden in the coming months to include the likes of former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the runner-up for the 2016 Democratic nomination. “Longest of longshots, but this 37-year-old gay, Afghanistan War vet has a remarkable story,” David Axelrod, a senior aide to then-President Barack Obama, said on Twitter. Buttigieg was elected mayor at just 29. He was born and raised in South Bend, studied in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a degree in history from Harvard University. He married Chasten Glezman, a teacher, last year. He has been mentioned as a potential presidential hopeful for years. In June 2016, The New York Times ran a profile of Buttigieg titled, “The first gay president?”

democrats
pete buttigieg
donald trump
2020 presidential election