Saitama man arrested for napping under train platform after refusing to return home in wake of job-hunting failures

Abstract: SAITAMA - A 20-year-old man was arrested after he was found sleeping under a train platform at Omiya Station in the city of Saitama, the police said Thursday. Riku Kogure, who resides in Kuki, about 15 km north, was taken into custody for allegedly trespassing by going under the station’s No. 5 platform. “I’ve been sleeping here. I was troubled over my job hunting and I didn’t want to go home,” Kogure was quoted as saying by the police. According to investigators and the local fire department, a piece of timber and some garbage caught fire under the platform around 1 p.m. on Thursday, causing white smoke to billow out. When firefighters and police officers rushed to the scene, they found Kogure squatting nearby. Investigators are trying to determine whether he had something to do with the fire as well. According to East Japan Railway Co., there is a wall between the area under the platform where Kogure was found and the rails, which were not in use at the time, but he apparently snuck in through a gap.

jr east
saitama
trespassing
homelessness


Japanese team plans to use iPS cells in clinical trial for cancer patients

Abstract: A Japanese team is preparing a clinical trial to inject immune cells made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into patients with head and neck cancer, it has been learned. The team of Riken and Chiba University researchers will file for state approval of the trial as early as autumn and start as soon as approval is given, informed sources said Thursday. The trial would become the first in Japan to use iPS cells as a possible cancer treatment. Key members of the team include Haruhiko Koseki, executive of the Riken Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, and Chiba University professor Yoshitaka Okamoto. The trial is expected to be conducted on three patients with recurrent cancers that cannot be sufficiently treated through surgery. The team plans to collect from the blood of healthy people a type of white blood cell known as a natural killer T cell, which attack cancer cells and activate other immune cells. The cells will then be converted into iPS cells, which will be developed again into natural killer T cells. The new natural killer T cells will be transplanted into the patients through a series of three intravascular injections. In the first round, about 30 million natural killer T cells will be transplanted. The team will examine the positive and negative effects of the treatment and adjust the number of cells for the second and third transplants. In a Chiba University clinical study using a patient’s own natural killer T cells, a similar transplant helped reduce cancer cells. Blood contains only a small number of the cells and it takes time to culture them, while the number of iPS cells can be increased easily, making it easier to produce a large number of natural killer T cells, the sources said. IPS cells may turn cancerous if they stay within subjects without being converted into the cells researchers intend to produce. But this is unlikely to be a problem in the planned trial, because it will use cells from other subjects. The cells are expected to be cleared away by the patient’s immune systems even if they turn cancerous.

medicine
ips
cancer
riken
chiba university


Abe says Japan is 'using various channels' to talk with North Korea, including over possible summit with Kim Jong Un

Abstract: LONDON - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government is “using various channels” to communicate with North Korea, including over a potential summit with leader Kim Jong Un. Asked by a reporter about meeting Kim, Abe said last June’s summit in Singapore between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump meant the “situation has greatly changed” and as both sides work toward further talks, “I think next time around I will also have to face Kim Jong Un.” “Nothing has been decided on a Japan-DPRK summit, not even the timing,” Abe said through an interpreter at a news conference in London on Thursday, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s formal name. “But we are using various channels, including the embassy in Beijing, to communicate with North Korea.” “I would like to refrain from disclosing any details on our communications with the DPRK since it may impact the future negotiations,” he added. Abe has previously said he wants a new start for Japan-North Korea ties, and has welcomed the talks between Trump and Kim as a step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But he has also made the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea a key political issue at home. Tokyo officially lists 17 people as having been kidnapped in the late 1970s and early 1980s, five of whom returned to Japan in 2002. Abe’s latest comments come after Kim traveled to China for discussions on U.S.-led sanctions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, after which both leaders issued statements supporting a second U.S.-North Korea summit. Seven months after Trump shook hands with Kim, the U.S. and North Korea continue to argue over what the leaders agreed to do. Washington asserts Kim accepted the “final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,” while Pyongyang says the deal implied a step-by-step approach where its actions were simultaneously met by U.S. responses. Trump has pressed ahead with a second summit to resolve the dispute. The U.S. leader said this week that a date will be announced “in the not-too-distant future.”


Japan fires back after South Korea's Moon urges Tokyo to take a 'humble stance' on wartime labor issue

Abstract: The government on Friday rebutted South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s accusation over Tokyo’s response to Seoul’s top court rulings on wartime labor involving Japanese companies. “It is extremely regrettable that President Moon tried to shift South Korea’s responsibility to Japan,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference. Tokyo and Seoul have been engaged in an intensifying dispute since October, when South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to compensate four South Korean nationals for wartime labor, and handed a similar ruling to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. the following month. The plaintiffs were recognized as having been forced to work during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The top government spokesman’s rebuttal came a day after Moon said at his New Year’s news conference that Japan’s “politicization” of the issue is “not a wise stance,” and urged Tokyo to take “a more humble stance.” Earlier this week, Tokyo requested that Seoul launch talks as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal faced the imminent seizure of its assets in South Korea after refusing to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. “We believe South Korea will, as a matter of course, comply with our request with sincerity,” Suga said. The request to launch intergovernmental talks on the top court’s ruling and ensuing developments is based on a bilateral accord to settle property claims signed alongside the 1965 Japan-South Korea treaty that established diplomatic ties. Japan maintains that the issue of compensation was settled “completely and finally” under the agreement. “This state in breach of the pact was created by South Korea when last year’s Supreme Court rulings were finalized. It is South Korea that should take responsibility to address the situation,” Suga said. Moon told reporters in Seoul on Thursday that the South Korean government must respect judicial decisions as a matter of the separation of powers among the three branches of government.

yoshihide suga
south korea
diplomacy
moon jae-in


Japanese former shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen loses wartime forced labor appeal in Seoul court

Abstract: SEOUL - A Seoul court on Friday dismissed a Japanese industrial firm’s appeal against an order that it pay a South Korean man 50 million won ($45,000) for forced wartime labor, the latest in a series of court rulings to strain ties between the neighbors. South Korea and its former colonial power Japan are both U.S. allies who have to contend with nuclear-armed North Korea and a rising China. But their relationship is soured by historical issues, including the wartime labor of Koreans at Japanese firms’ factories during World War II, and a territorial row over Seoul-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan claimed by Tokyo. South Korean courts have made a series of orders against Japanese firms, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in this week said Tokyo should take a “more humble” attitude to history. “It is extremely regrettable that President Moon tried to shift South Korea’s responsibility to Japan,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Friday. Earlier this week, Tokyo requested that Seoul launch talks as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. faced the imminent seizure of its assets in South Korea after refusing to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. “We believe South Korea will, as a matter of course, comply with our request with sincerity,” Suga said. The latest ruling came in the case of a 95-year-old South Korean man surnamed Lee, who claimed in 2012 that he had worked at a Hitachi Zosen shipyard and other locations with no pay for about a year. Hitachi Zosen was formerly a shipbuilder associated with the giant Hitachi Group, but is now focused on environmental equipment and incinerators. In 2014 a Seoul court ordered Hitachi Zosen to pay Lee 50 million won in unpaid wages and compensation for emotional distress. The company appealed, but the Seoul High Court upheld the original ruling on Friday, saying the award was not excessively high. Japan says the victims’ right to sue was extinguished by the 1965 treaty which saw Seoul and Tokyo restore diplomatic ties and included a reparation package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans. But South Korean courts made a series of recent rulings holding private Japanese businesses responsible for forced labor. South Korea’s top court in November ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay 80 million to 150 million won to two separate groups of 11 people for forced wartime labor at its plants. Another court earlier this month ordered the seizure of South Korean assets owned by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal in a case involving former wartime laborers or their families, prompting condemnation by Tokyo.

wwii
history
yoshihide suga
south korea
diplomacy
wartime labor
hitachi zosen


More in Japan identify as LGBT as social awareness grows, study finds

Abstract: At least 1 in 11 people in Japan identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a survey conducted by advertising giant Dentsu Inc., while more than two-thirds of respondents were familiar with the acronym LGBT. Of the 60,000 people aged between 20 and 59 who responded online in October, 8.9 percent self-identified as LGBT, a rise of 1.3 percentage points from the previous survey conducted in 2015, the company said. The survey also found that 68.5 percent either knew that LGBT was an acronym for sexual minorities or had heard of the term. In 2015, 37.6 percent of respondents answered similarly. “More people may have started to think about their sexuality as information about LGBT people has increased in the last few years,” a Dentsu official in charge of the survey said. Almost 80 percent of respondents said that, instead of simply knowing the acronym, they wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the LGBT community to ensure that they would not make such individuals feel uncomfortable. Of the LGBT respondents, 65.1 percent said they had not told anyone about their sexuality, pointing to the difficulty of coming out in Japan. Regarding same-sex marriage, legal in some Western countries, 78.4 percent responded that they approved or were likely to approve. A growing number of municipal governments are issuing marriage certificates to LGBT couples in Japan, but legal marriage remains limited to heterosexual couples. In the survey, 72.1 percent said they wanted to see stronger legal protections put in place for the LGBT community. Discriminatory comments are still being made against the LGBT community, most recently this month by politician Katsuei Hirasawa, who said “a country would collapse” if everyone became LGBT. After a fierce backlash, he said that LGBT rights should be protected.


Government to review statistics after revelation that faulty Japan jobs data spanned 14 years

Abstract: The government said Friday it will conduct a sweeping review of key statistics after the labor ministry was revealed to have published faulty jobs data for more than a decade. “It’s very regrettable that we have a situation that impairs the credibility of our statistics,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news briefing. The government lists 56 reports as key statistics, ranging from gross domestic product and the population census to data on dairy products. Suga also said the government will rework the state budget for fiscal 2019 to include the cost of reimbursing people who did not receive enough benefits due to the faulty jobs data. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare admitted Friday that it had failed to pay more than ¥53 billion in unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and sailors’ insurance to nearly 20 million people beginning in 2004. The issue came to light after it was revealed that the ministry had published its monthly labor survey without collecting enough data. Under existing rules, the ministry must review all business establishments in the country with 500 or more employees. But in Tokyo it had collected data from only a third of the roughly 1,400 such establishments, leading the data to show nationwide wages that were lower than they actually were. The ministry said staff members involved in compiling the survey results began the practice in 2004 and continued through 2017, when it was discovered internally. But the issue was not made public until the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications found an inconsistency in December. The ministry continued to publish the survey using specialized software to make it appear as if it had collected the necessary data, sources familiar with the matter have said. Labor minister Takumi Nemoto apologized Friday for the faulty data but said he doesn’t believe the ministry tried to systematically cover up the issue at this point of time. He said the ministry would continue its investigation and may punish those found to be responsible. The draft budget for the year starting April 1 was approved by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month and was to be deliberated in the upcoming Diet session. Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters the budget will likely need to be re-approved by the Cabinet. The issue is likely to draw strong criticism from opposition lawmakers during the session, giving them ammunition ahead of local and national elections later this year. Of the nearly 20 million people affected, some 19 million were unable to receive a total of ¥28 billion in unemployment insurance benefits. Among those entitled to workers’ compensation, 270,000 people did not receive a combined ¥24 billion in disability pension benefits while 450,000 people lost out on a total of ¥150 million in lost wage benefits. A further 10,000 people who work on ships were unable to receive a combined ¥1.6 billion in sailors’ insurance benefits, and there were an additional 300,000 cases of business owners not receiving their share of ¥3 billion in employment adjustment subsidies. Toshimitsu Motegi, minister of economic and fiscal policy, said Friday that the Cabinet Office would need to correct figures on employee compensation, which it publishes along with GDP every three months.


Tourists to Japan hit record 31 million in 2018, helped by easier visas for visitors from India, Russia and others

Abstract: The estimated number of overseas visitors to Japan reached a record high 31.19 million in 2018, up 8.7 percent from the previous year and rising for the seventh straight year, the tourism minister said Friday. Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii credited the growth to the relaxation of visa requirements for travelers from Russia, India, the Philippines and other countries, as well as promotions overseas. “The government’s efforts have brought the desired result,” Ishii said. “There is a sign of us hitting the 40 million mark on the horizon.” The government has set a target of 40 million annual visitors by 2020, when Japan will host the Olympics. The Japan Tourism Agency will release a detailed report on foreign visitors in 2018, including a regional breakdown, next Wednesday. Growth continued throughout the year except in September, when the number posted a year-on-year decline following a typhoon and an earthquake that led to temporary shutdowns of airports in Osaka and Hokkaido, respectively. Earlier this week, Japan started collecting a ¥1,000 departure tax from every traveler leaving Japan. The government will use the revenue to promote tourism, Ishii said.


Japan Airlines faces fresh disciplinary action after flight attendant drank Champagne on Narita-Honolulu flight

Abstract: The government Friday recommended Japan Airlines Co. improve operations after one of its flight attendants drank alcohol while on duty last month, the latest disciplinary measure against the airline that has been embroiled in a number of such incidents involving its flight crews recently. Transport minister Keiichi Ishii criticized the airline, saying, “The company as a whole lacks awareness that this is a critical problem in terms of safety.” The female attendant drank some Champagne meant for passengers while working on a flight from Narita airport to Honolulu on Dec. 17. A colleague noticed the smell of alcohol on her breath and she tested positive in a Breathalyzer test, according to JAL. She has also admitted to consuming alcohol on a flight in November 2017, the airline said. “I deeply apologize for the series of cases of misconduct,” JAL President Yuji Akasaka said after receiving the recommendation at the ministry. JAL has been under scrutiny since one of its pilots was arrested by British police in October for being around 10 times over the legal alcohol limit under U.K. aviation law, delaying the departure of its London-Tokyo flight for more than an hour. He was later convicted of the charge and dismissed by JAL. Given the series of drinking-related incidents, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a business improvement order for JAL in December. Friday’s action adds to pressure on JAL to enhance its safety management. Among other instances of misconduct by JAL crew members, it was recently learned that a captain used another pilot as a stand-in in order to skip alcohol testing ahead of his Narita-Chicago flight in December 2017.


With eye on tourism, Tsukiji redevelopment planning set to accelerate in 2019

Abstract: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will soon accelerate work to draw up a blueprint for redevelopment of the former site of the landmark Tsukiji food market, following its closure in October 2018. Through the redevelopment, the authority aims to increase the capital’s appeal as a waterfront tourism city. It plans to set a new urban planning policy for the Tsukiji district in Chuo Ward by the end of March, while mapping out a vision for the Tokyo Bay area, which includes Tsukiji, by the end of 2019. The former market site is “perfectly located, with very big potential,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike stressed in a recent interview, expressing the metropolitan government’s eagerness to reinvent the Tsukiji brand. “We hope to develop a traffic network that functions like arteries” to connect across the Tokyo Bay area, she said. Demolition work is underway at the 23-hectare Tsukiji site, which will be used as a base for vehicles to transport athletes and others during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, before being redeveloped. The site is “the last remaining prime property that the metropolitan government owns in the center of Tokyo,” a senior official said. Interest is growing in the kind of redevelopment plan the metropolitan government will come up with. Various ideas have been proposed, such as construction of an international convention center, a luxury hotel for visitors from abroad, a water bus terminal and other facilities. Rather than selling the site as one lot to the private sector, the metropolitan government plans to divide it into multiple areas and work out development plans for each of them in stages in consultation with local communities. In the interview, Koike said the redevelopment of Tsukiji will take advantage of nearby popular tourist destinations including the Ginza luxury shopping district and Hamarikyu Gardens, as well as utilizing Tsukiji’s traditional food culture. The waterfront area, including the new Toyosu food market that took over the Tsukiji market’s former role, and the Ariake district, which will host many Olympics and Paralympics facilities, is a place “where traditions and new communities coexist,” the governor said. “We’ll aim for organic collaboration among them.” In June 2017, Koike announced a plan to create a new market in Tsukiji that would also serve as a food theme park. That plan is now expected to be withdrawn. The metropolitan government managed the Tsukiji market on an independent financial account for its wholesale markets. But the governor is expected to announce later this month that management of the former market site will be transferred to the general account. The change will make it impossible to open a food market in Tsukiji again, but the metropolitan government will be able to redevelop the site from a broader perspective.

tokyo
tourism
2020 tokyo olympics
tsukiji
yuriko koike


Outrage erupts online in Japan after assaulted NGT48 pop idol apologizes for 'causing trouble'

Abstract: A recent case of assault on a member of a popular female idol group has sparked a barrage of criticism aimed at the ensemble’s management agency for its failure to protect her and take care of her after the incident. Maho Yamaguchi of Niigata-based NGT48 tearfully revealed in a video post Wednesday that two men in their 20s forced their way into the entryway of her home on Dec. 8 and grabbed her face. She was uninjured. She said that the group’s management firm did not really do anything even after she spoke with them, and asked who would be responsible if “the worst-case scenario” occurred. On Thursday, Yamaguchi appeared on stage for the group’s three-year anniversary event, took a deep bow and expressed her apologies for “causing trouble.” “I have something that I want to protect, so I’ve told you about (the incident) this way.” Her fans emphatically responded by saying that she did not need to apologize. A petition calling for NGT48’s manager to resign was launched Thursday on the website Change.org. The petition also asks the managing agency to publicly apologize for not handling the incident properly. As of Friday evening it had gathered nearly 30,000 signatures. Other female idols and TV celebrities also expressed their discontent with the management company, asking why the victim had to explain details of the case by herself on social media in the first place. They also questioned why she then felt the need to apologize. “How could they let Ms. Yamaguchi speak publicly yesterday? They have to heal her pain first,” said Haruna Kondo, a female comedian, on a Nippon TV morning show on Friday. She slammed the management agency’s handling of the case, as the company has not yet punished another member of the group even though they have since admitted involvement in the incident. Natsuko Yokosawa, also a female comedian, voiced her concern over the agency’s handling of the incident during a Fuji TV show on Thursday. “I wonder if it was possible for her to discuss it with the agency in a proper manner,” she said, “since the only protection (a celebrity) has is from their agency. “They have an obligation to provide good protection.” The two men who assaulted Yamaguchi were arrested but were subsequently released without charge. The two reportedly said they were fans of the idol star and “just wanted to talk with her.” According to a statement published on NGT48’s website Thursday, another member had given the male fans information about when Yamaguchi might return home. As a measure to keep other group members safe, the company said they would be distributing personal safety alarms. Staff members would also patrol around their homes, it said. According to the statement by NGT48’s management company, it has identified another male fan involved in the incident. All individuals identified will be barred from NGT48 events, the firm added. The company also canceled three upcoming events in which Yamaguchi had been scheduled to perform.

niigata
j-pop
idols
assaults
ngt48
maho yamaguchi


Fire in under-construction Tokyo high-rise injures four workers

Abstract: A fire broke out in a high-rise building under construction near a bustling Tokyo railway station on Friday, leaving four male workers injured, but all remained conscious, firefighters and police said. A plume of black smoke was visible after 2 p.m. rising from the upper part of the building, which has 27 floors and two basement floors. The building is located in one of the capital’s major business districts about 300 meters northwest of JR Shinbashi Station. The fire was extinguished about two hours later after roughly 100 square meters of the rooftop portion of the building were burned, they said, adding that some 360 construction workers were in the building, including 30 on the rooftop. Local police said they believe sparks from a burner fell on polystyrene foam insulation on the rooftop and ignited the fire. The building was expected to be completed in July and will house shops and a hotel, according to its construction plan. A number of fire trucks surrounded the building as several helicopters circled overhead. A 58-year-old man who was cleaning on the 15th floor said, “I thought I had to escape very quickly after seeing people were coming down one after another from upper floors.”


Germany edges out China in Bolivia in the new lithium 'Great Game'

Abstract: UYUNI, BOLIVIA/BERLIN - When Germany signed a deal last month to help Bolivia exploit its huge lithium reserves, it hailed the venture as a deepening of economic ties with the South American country. But it also gives Germany entry into the new “Great Game” in which big powers like China are jostling across the globe for access to the prized electric battery metal. The signing of the deal in Berlin on Dec. 12 capped two years of intense lobbying by Germany as it sought to persuade President Evo Morales’ government that a small German family-run company was a better bet than its Chinese rivals, according to Reuters interviews with German and Bolivian officials. While the substance of the deal has been reported, how China, Bolivia’s biggest noninstitutional lender and close ideological ally, lost out to Germany has not. China has been quietly cornering the global lithium market, making deals in Asia, Chile and Argentina as it seeks to lock in access to a strategic resource that could power the next energy revolution. China has invested $4.2 billion in South America in the past two years, surpassing the value of similar deals by Japanese and South Korean companies in the same period. Chinese entities now control nearly half of global lithium production and 60 percent of electric battery production capacity. German officials told Reuters they championed the bid by ACI Systems GmbH because they saw an opportunity to lower Germany’s reliance on Asian battery makers and help its carmakers catch up with Chinese and U.S. rivals in the race to make electric cars. The German push included a series of visits by German government officials who talked up the benefits of picking a German company. Bolivian officials also toured German battery factories, Bolivia’s deputy minister of High Energy Technologies, Luis Alberto Echazu, told Reuters. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier wrote a letter to Morales, an environmental champion, emphasizing Germany’s commitment to environment protection. The lobbying effort was capped by a call last April between Altmaier and Morales, Bolivian, German and ACI officials said, without offering details of what was discussed. German diplomats in La Paz also stressed high-level German government backing for the project, potential loan guarantees and the tantalizing prospect of supply agreements with German automakers, ACI and Bolivian officials told Reuters. ACI’s win means Germany now has a foothold in the final frontier of South America’s so-called Lithium Triangle: the Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia, one of the world’s largest untapped deposits. The triangle comprises lithium deposits in an area that includes parts of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. “This partnership secures lithium supplies for us and breaks the Chinese monopoly,” Wolfgang Tiefensee, economy minister of the German state of Thuringia, an automotive manufacturing hub, told Reuters during a visit to the Bolivian capital La Paz in October. The venture in Bolivia is not without risk for ACI. While Uyuni boasts at least 21 million tons of lithium, Morales has made nationalizing natural resources a key policy plank. Bolivian officials assured ACI that foreign investments in the Uyuni would be guaranteed should anything go awry, CEO Wolfgang Schmutz said in an interview. In addition, unlike Chile’s sun-drenched Atacama salt flats, snow and rain slow the evaporation process needed to extract lithium from brine in Uyuni, and the landlocked nation will have to use a port in neighboring Chile or Peru to ship the metal out. ACI, a family-run clean tech and machinery supplier, has no experience producing lithium. The company dismisses concerns from some lithium analysts about its ability to deliver, saying its small size gives it more flexibility to bring partners from different fields into the project. Schmutz said the company has preliminary lithium supply deals with major German carmakers, but declined to provide details, citing non-disclosure agreements. None of Germany’s top three carmakers — BMW, VW or Daimler — confirmed any agreement with ACI when contacted by Reuters. BMW said it was in preliminary talks with ACI but had made no decision. VW said ensuring supplies and stable prices for raw materials was important, but noted lithium production in Bolivia was particularly demanding. Daimler board member Ola Kaellenius said: “If it’s happening, we’re not part of it.” ACI said the carmakers that it was in talks with would not be able to confirm anything publicly until final deals were made. The global battle for control of lithium has been likened to the “Great Game,” the term coined to describe the struggle between Russia and Britain for influence and territory in Central Asia in the 19th century. The Bolivian project includes plans to build a lithium hydroxide plant and a factory for producing electric car batteries in Bolivia. Once completed, the factory will help to fulfill Morales’ ambition to break with Bolivia’s historic role as a mere exporter of raw materials. ACI has said it expects the lithium hydroxide plant to have an annual production capacity of 35,000-40,000 tons by the end of 2022, similar in output to plants operated by the world’s top lithium producers. Eighty percent of that would be exported to Germany. ACI’s willingness to build a battery plant in Bolivia helped to seal the deal, said Echazu, the deputy minister. The Chinese did not want to build a battery plant in Bolivia because they felt it made no economic sense to ship in materials to make the batteries only to re-import the final product to China, he said. China’s embassy in La Paz declined comment on the Uyuni project, but said the potential for future cooperation with Bolivia on lithium was “huge.” Bolivia’s state-owned lithium producer YLB will own 51 percent of the new joint venture. Control of the project was another key demand of the Bolivians, who have bitter memories of foreign powers meddling in the former Spanish colony to seize its natural resources. Juan Carlos Montenegro, the head of YLB, said geopolitics was a factor for Bolivia in deciding which companies to work with. “We don’t want a single country to set the rules, we want balance and other world powers must help create that balance,” he said. “So for Bolivia it’s important to have not just economic partners for markets, but geopolitical strategic partners.” He stressed, however, that Bolivia had not been predisposed against China in deciding who had made the best offer. “China-Bolivia relations are still good. China is present in every country in the world and impossible to avoid,” he said.

china
germany
jobs
batteries
bolivia
lithium
carmakers
evo morales
bmw
aci


Nissan-Renault alliance reportedly to meet Thursday in Amsterdam

Abstract: PARIS - The heads of Renault and Nissan will meet Thursday in Amsterdam for the first time since Carlos Ghosn was ousted as chairman of Nissan Motor Co. and resigned as head of Renault SA following his arrest in Japan, a source close to the companies said. The source said Monday that the Dutch-based alliance’s board will hold an “operational meeting” that was scheduled well in advance of Ghosn’s resignation, but declined to say if the nomination of a new president was on the agenda. The French carmaker declined to comment. Last week, Renault named Thierry Bollore as chief executive and Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman, filling the posts that Ghosn had held. Nissan and Renault are equal partners in the alliance, which coordinates activities and elaborates medium- and long-term strategy for the companies, but according to a restated agreement, the Renault CEO is its president. Ghosn is being held in Tokyo Detention House on charges of underreporting his income, and France is keen to maintain a “balance” in the alliance, President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan, which itself has a 15 percent stake in the French company and 34 percent of alliance member Mitsubishi Motors. Nissan has outperformed its French partner recently, however, and Ghosn’s arrest could harm Renault’s influence in the alliance, which was the world’s largest in 2017, with sales of 10.6 million vehicles. France is Renault’s top shareholder, and holds 22 percent of its voting rights.


Naomi Osaka's victory proves to be a boon for her sponsors

Abstract: Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open victory on Saturday has already been a boon to some of her sponsors as they capitalize on the newly crowned world No. 1’s rising fame. Models of the Adidas AG tank top, wristband, skort and sun visor worn by Osaka during the tournament have been flying off the shelves at a Windsor Racket store in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, said Masahito Yamazaki, head of the planning division at Windsor Corp. “Her tennis apparel appeared on the storefront around her second or third match and it sold out,” Yamazaki said. “As she made to the next round, more customers contacted us about them, so we had more shipped in. By Sunday noon, everything was sold out.” An Adidas spokesman said the tennis apparel Osaka uses has run out of stock at its online store. He declined to reveal the number of orders it had processed. Osaka’s monumental win over the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in Melbourne has moved her to the top of the Women’s Tennis Association’s singles rankings, a first for an Asian player. During the match, Osaka wore a Citizen Watch Co. piece with a showy orange strap. The Eco-Drive Bluetooth model, of which only 1,000 are due to be made, is slated to go on sale March 7. Advance orders have already sold out, company spokeswoman Norie Odate said. “Initially, advanced orders were slow,” Odate said. “But after she won the championship, it went up significantly.” She added that some may be available for purchase on the release date. A spokeswoman for Yonex Co., which makes Osaka’s rackets, said by phone the company has been receiving more business inquiries and additional orders. She said it is not yet known how Osaka’s latest grand slam victory will impact sales of rackets that are based on the model she uses, but added that it is likely the 21-year-old’s win may have once again boosted revenue for the Tokyo-based sporting goods maker. Last September, just a week after Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final, sales of her racket model spiked around fourfold compared with the weekly average for August. Osaka uses a customized version of the racket, which first went on sale in January 2018. Now that Osaka is world No. 1, the spokeswoman said Yonex has also seen an increasing number of queries about her racket strings in the belief that a recent change contributed to her success in Australia. “At the end of the year, (Osaka) started using stiff polyester strings that help bring the ball down hard,” the spokeswoman explained. Osaka’s victory has also cast a spotlight on another Naomi — a roughly 4-year-old earless female seal that is a resident of Kamo Aquarium in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. “Our Naomi has been enjoying popularity … and I’m hoping (Osaka’s) success will help draw more visitors,” said Ai Ito, 27, a marine animal breeder at the aquarium, which has been decorated with celebratory banners and photographs of Osaka in commemoration of her success. In response to calls from the public, aquarium employees named the seal after the tennis player following the U.S. Open, “in the hope she grows healthy and cared for, just like Naomi Osaka,” Ito said. The seal was rescued and came to the aquarium a year earlier. Now, Naomi weighs 495 kg and “is getting bigger,” according to the breeder.


Facebook tightens EU political ad rules, adds 'paid for by' disclaimers

Abstract: LONDON - Facebook says it’s tightening requirements for political ads in the European Union ahead of bloc-wide elections scheduled for the spring, its latest effort to fight misinformation and increase transparency on its platforms. The social media giant said Monday that starting in late March, political ad buyers will need to have their identities confirmed before placing ads. Each ad will also be entered into a publicly searchable archive with detailed information on who paid for it and the people it has reached. The rules are similar to those the company put in place last year in the U.S., Britain and Brazil. Hundreds of millions of people in 27 EU member countries are set to vote in May for 705 lawmakers in the bloc’s parliament. Facebook and other internet companies are scrambling to respond after coming under fire for not doing enough to stop misuse of their platforms by groups trying to sway elections. Under the new system, EU political ads on Facebook will carry “paid for by” disclaimers that, when clicked, will take users to a searchable library where they will be able to find out how much money was spent on the ad, how many times it was seen and the age, gender and location of the people who saw it. “These tools will cover not only electoral ads but also so-called issue ads, ads which don’t explicitly back one candidate or political party but which focus on highly politicized topics like immigration,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global policy and communication, said in a speech in Brussels. The company will launch the same political ad system for elections in India, Ukraine and Israel in the coming months before it’s expanded globally in June. In another move aimed at allowing more oversight, the company is also looking at setting up an independent board to hear appeals over Facebook’s content decisions. Facebook last year hired Clegg, a veteran of EU politics and former U.K. deputy prime minister, to help it deal with increased regulatory scrutiny in the region and snowballing challenges to its reputation. Facebook, which also owns Instagram and Whatsapp, has automated systems that prevent 1 million fake accounts from being registered every day, Clegg said. The company is planning to set up two regional operations centers focused on election integrity in Dublin and Singapore to help support its efforts to combat fake news.

u.s .
brazil
eu
elections
facebook
alphabet
fake news
political ads


Japan to survey 200 million devices in cybersecurity push ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Abstract: The government is preparing a national sweep of some 200 million network-connected devices for cybersecurity lapses ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, an official said Tuesday. The government-backed National Institute of Information and Communications Technology will start the survey in February to check potential vulnerabilities in items such as routers, webcams and web-connected home appliances. Officials are rushing to beef up cybersecurity as the nation prepares to host major global events, such as the Rugby World Cup this year, the Group of 20 meetings and the Summer Olympics. Cybersecurity has become increasingly important as sporting events introduce new technologies for everything from broadcasting to ticketing. For the study, researchers will take common but unsafe IDs and passwords often exploited by malware — like “abcd,” “1234” or “admin” — to see if devices are readily accessible to hackers, institute spokesman Tsutomu Yoshida said. The researchers will survey devices with the consent of internet service providers and will mostly examine products that use physical cables to access the internet, he said. The institute will not conduct expensive and complex operations necessary to check individual mobile devices like smartphones, but the survey may examine routers at cafes, for example, that provide free connectivity to mobile users, Yoshida said. “Too often, we see webcams, for example, that are already being hacked because security settings are too simple and their images are being seen by outsiders,” Yoshida said. “Sometimes they are put on public websites without the owners being aware. “We will see, of roughly 200 million products to be surveyed, how many are being exposed” to risks, he said. The survey will notify ISPs about vulnerable users without breaking into individual devices to view data stored inside, he said. Major global sporting events like the soccer World Cup and the Olympics face a growing threat from cyberattacks. At the Pyeongchang Olympic Games last year, for example, internal internet and Wi-Fi systems went down just as the opening ceremonies began. South Korean officials acknowledged they had been the victim of a cyberattack, without elaborating further.

internet
hacking
cybersecurity
cyberattacks
rugby world cup
2020 tokyo olympics


Executives raise global growth alarm on risks from China and trade to Brexit

Abstract: HONG KONG/LONDON - Corporate executives are increasingly nervous about the global economic outlook as they see threats multiplying from China to trade to Brexit. While few see recession looming, louder warnings from semiconductors to logistics signal that waning confidence among businesses and consumers is sapping activity. The more downbeat mood was underscored recently by U.S. power-tool maker Stanley Black & Decker Inc., whose shares plunged after saying profit will miss estimates and warning about a global slowdown. Concerns are rising as investors, bankers and former policymakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the expansion is weakening. Under a deluge of disappointing numbers, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said risks to the eurozone outlook have moved to the downside, a key acknowledgment of the changed backdrop. It’s a cause for concern, particularly given the slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy. China said Jan. 21 that gross domestic product grew 6.6 percent last year, the slowest pace since 1990, creating a lack of demand that is cascading down supply chains in the technology and automotive industries. Economists expect further deceleration through 2020. The mood darkened the same day as the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts and a survey found 30 percent of business leaders expect growth to weaken, about six times more than a year ago. Much of the uncertainty is pinned on the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China as both sides negotiate for a deal ahead of a March 1 deadline, after which President Donald Trump has threatened an escalation of tariffs on Chinese goods. Trinseo SA, a U.S. producer of synthetic rubber for tires, plunged after warning that slowing auto demand in China had reduced fourth-quarter earnings, while Nidec Corp., the Japanese maker of micro-motors used in hard drives and other electronic devices, said third-quarter profit fell and cited the slowing Chinese economy for weighing on some segments. Apple Inc.’s main chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., forecast the worst revenue growth in at least a decade. In Europe, Apple chip supplier STMicroelectronics NV forecast a drop in sales in the first part of the year, though expects a return to growth further out. Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, the biggest iPhone assembler, says it may slow the pace of hiring at its $10 billion manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. But China and trade aren’t the only concerns. Germany’s huge manufacturing sector is faltering, and uncertainty about Brexit is continuing to weigh on U.K. firms. Airbus SE is the latest company to warn of the damage a no-deal split from the European Union could do. “Where we see more worries is in Europe, where the geopolitical situation has some impact on the business,” Alain Dehaze, chief executive officer of Swiss recruitment firm Adecco Group AG, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Davos. “With uncertainty, people are stopping to hire and invest, and it has repercussions.” In the U.S., the longest government shutdown in the country’s history could temporarily curtail growth in the world’s largest economy, though Trump said Friday that a deal had been reached to end the impasse for at least three weeks. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment tumbled this month to the lowest since October 2016, a University of Michigan report showed. The warnings come as data showed Japan’s exports fell in December, with shipments to China down 7 percent. South Korea’s exports — a bellwether for tech demand — fell 15 percent from a year earlier the first 20 days of January, the most since September 2016. In Davos, Dubai-based global ports operator DP World Ltd. said the U.S.-China trade war is weighing on its ability to invest as banks grow more cautious in lending. While infrastructure hasn’t been affected as much as other industries, ripple effects from the spat are affecting short-term decisions, Chief Executive Officer Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said in an interview.


Japan's economy likely in longest postwar expansion phase, government says, as risks loom

Abstract: Japan’s economy is likely experiencing its longest expansion phase since the end of World War II amid solid domestic demand and a tightening labor market, the government said Tuesday. But in the same economic report for January, the Cabinet Office, which helps coordinate government policy, cut its monthly assessment of exports for the first time in three months due to the trade war between the United States and China in a warning that the fallout is spreading to Japan. The Japanese economy is thought to have counted its 74th consecutive month of improvement since December 2012 under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, though there is persistent criticism that consumers have yet to feel the benefits as wage gains remain tepid. In the report, the Cabinet Office kept its headline assessment that the economy is “recovering at a moderate pace.” Toshimitsu Motegi, minister for economic and fiscal policy, told a Cabinet meeting the economy has likely surpassed the previous longest expansion between February 2002 and February 2008, also known as the Izanami Boom, named after a goddess in Japanese mythology. In roughly a year from now after conducting a comprehensive review of more data, a government panel will formally decide whether the boom has indeed extended the record. Robust exports and business investment have been the main drivers of growth under Abe’s economic policies focusing on drastic monetary easing and fiscal spending. His Liberal Democratic Party will seek to tout the success of Abenomics ahead of local elections in April and Upper House elections in the summer. But gross domestic product has grown a real 1.2 percent on average during the current expansionary phase, lower than the 1.6 percent during the previous boom. Private consumption remains on a weak note as wage increases remain slow despite companies chalking up record profits. Motegi, who belongs to the LDP, was quick to point out that the economy had added 3.75 million jobs in that time, nearly four times as many as during the Izanami Boom and approaching that of the asset bubble economy of the late 1980s and early ’90s. The government will implement measures to “extend the current expansion and make the benefits felt more strongly,” he said. Despite the record-setting implications, the Cabinet Office report was somewhat downbeat on the economy, saying exports are “in a weak tone” as demand from Asia for technology products waned. It also warned of risks abroad including heightened trade tensions between the United States and China and a slowdown in the Chinese economy. “We need to keep in mind that there is uncertainty about how trade disputes and China’s economic outlook will affect the global economy,” the report said. Japan’s exports in December fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier, its sharpest year-on-year decline since October 2016, dragged by plummeting shipments to China. Exports account for around 17 percent of the country’s GDP. In addition to the U.S.-China trade row, Japanese policymakers are wary of Britain’s departure from the European Union and the risk of a sudden spike in the yen. The office maintained its assessments of other key elements of the economy, saying private consumption is “picking up” and business investment is “increasing.” But it also said that inflation is “flat,” a more dovish reading than in December when it said it had been “rising at a slower tempo.” Year-on-year gains in core consumer prices, excluding volatile fresh food items, have slowed to 0.7 percent despite the Bank of Japan’s efforts to hit 2 percent inflation.


U.S. shutdown slashed $11 billion from GDP but most is recoverable, congressional report says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The five-week government shutdown subtracted $11 billion from the U.S. economy, about twice the amount President Donald Trump sought to fund a border wall, an independent congressional body said Monday. However, all but $3 billion, or 0.02 percent of GDP, will eventually be recovered as the government resumes operations, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report. The estimate suggested the damages from the political brawl in Washington were significant but stopped short of the far worse harm that could have occurred had it been allowed to continue. “Underlying those effects on the overall economy are much more significant effects on individual businesses and workers,” the report said. “Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income.” Growth in subsequent quarters this year should see a small, temporary bounce, compensating for the losses in the final quarter of 2018 and the start of 2019, the report said. The partial shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, left some 800,000 federal workers either working without pay or furloughed although they are due to receive back pay this week. But government contractors, including hourly workers, may not be compensated for lost income. With public services including aviation safety beginning to buckle under the strain of withheld wages and suspended operations, Trump agreed Friday to reopen the federal government temporarily but with no additional funding for the wall. In a signature pledge from his 2016 campaign, Trump claimed the barrier would stem illegal immigration and drug trafficking, a claim Democrats have rejected. Funding for the government is due to run out by mid-February and Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday the odds were below 50 percent that lawmakers would reach a deal on border security he would find acceptable. The shutdown underscored the myriad but frequently unseen ways that the federal government greases the wheels of the economy: farm subsidies, mortgage approvals, tax refunds, permits for oil drilling, food safety inspections, all were temporarily interrupted. And the CBO report said its estimate did not reflect indirect costs which were difficult to quantify but which were “probably becoming more significant” as the government freeze went on. The halt to permits and government loan approval was “probably beginning to lead firms to postpone investment and hiring decisions.” Airports in Miami and New York operated at reduced capacity causing some flights to be grounded due shortages of air traffic controllers and transportation safety agents, bringing home the direct threat to normal commerce as the shutdown dragged on. Trump was widely seen as having lost the standoff with congressional Democrats as polling showed most voters blamed the president for the impasse while hard-right commentators accused him of capitulation. The president has threatened to use emergency powers to build the wall if he does not get his way with Congress. However, observers say this would likely face immediate legal challenges.


At Starbucks, Howard Schultz pushed envelope on social issues but also shows signs of 'red' leanings

Abstract: NEW YORK - In building Starbucks into a global behemoth, Howard Schultz has embraced a range of difficult, occasionally polarizing social debates that companies often try to dodge. The former Starbucks chief executive, who is weighing a run for U.S. president as an independent, has been unwavering in support of gay marriage and racial equality, stances in alignment with the progressive side of American politics. Yet Schultz — whose potential candidacy drew mixed reviews, including ridicule from President Donald Trump — has also found common ground with themes thought of as central in “red” America, as with a drive to hire veterans at the coffee chain and his co-authorship of the book, “For love of country: what our veterans can teach us about citizenship, heroism and sacrifice.” Schultz told the CBS news show “60 Minutes” his candidacy would be “as a centrist independent outside of the two-party system.” If he runs, Schultz could draw on his legacy of on social issues as much as on his success in transforming Starbucks from a sleepy Seattle cafe into a coffee giant with some 22,500 stores in 70 countries. The “60 Minutes” appearance begins a speaking tour that kicks off Monday in New York and snakes through 12 major U.S. cities through early March. Schultz, whose wealth is estimated at $3.4 billion by Forbes, is promoting his just-published memoir “From the Ground Up,” which chronicles his rise from Brooklyn housing projects to the top of what has become one of America’s most iconic companies. That tale of a self-made billionaire stands in contrast to Trump, whose wealth originated with support from his father and whom Schultz dismissed on “60 Minutes” as “not qualified to be the president.” Trump hit back on Monday on Twitter. “Howard Schultz doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that’s he is not the ‘smartest person.’ Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!” Leading Democrats also reacted negatively, with some threatening Starbucks boycotts on the view that an independent Schultz candidacy would divide the progressive electorate and hand Trump a second term. “There are two ways Trump can get re-elected,” Jim Kessler of the center-left think tank Third Way said on Twitter. “Democrats nominate someone who can’t win moderate voters or a third party candidate siphons off enough votes that 40% wins an election. Stick to coffee #howardschultz.” A self-described lifelong Democrat, Schultz won big points from gay rights supporters at the company’s 2013 annual meeting, when he famously invited a shareholder upset at the company’s support of gay marriage to sell his shares if he did not like the stance. Schultz was also behind the chain’s ill-fated “Race Together” initiative that sought to compel conversations about race as guests awaited their morning coffee, an idea quickly ditched because it proved awkward in practice, but which Schultz described as close to his heart and an effort “to stimulate conversation, empathy and compassion toward one another.” Schultz was also at the forefront of the company’s response to the April 2018 arrest of two African-American men in a Philadelphia Starbucks, saying he was “ashamed” of their treatment and enlisting civil rights experts with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other groups to help the company improve its policies. These high-profile stances have boosted Schultz’s credentials as a progressive, yet the company is also known for its resistance to labor unions, Washington Post columnist Helaine Olen noted in a June 2018 piece criticizing a potential Schultz candidacy when the idea was floated earlier. “A CEO for president is one of those things that on first blush in our turbo-capitalist society seems to make a lot of sense,” Olen said. “CEOs take advice but generally don’t need to actually listen to it. They do not govern by consensus. “And satisfying shareholders (the vast majority of whom represent business interests or affluent individuals) or other company investors on a quarterly basis is a far cry from running a government,” she added. “The common good is a discretionary concept.”

u.s .
discrimination
democrats
starbucks
howard schultz
2020 u.s. presidential election


ANA to order 30 planes from Boeing and 18 from Airbus amid Japan inbound tourism boom

Abstract: The operator of All Nippon Airways said Tuesday it will order a total of 48 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus for delivery between 2021 and 2025. ANA Holdings said it will buy 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 18 Airbus A320neos, citing growing demand in the region and increased inbound tourism to Japan. The company said the 30 Boeing jets will have a catalogue price of ¥383 billion ($3.5 billion), adding that the firm has so far confirmed orders for 20 planes with an option to buy 10 more. The 18 Airbus orders are all confirmed, but details regarding their engines have yet to be decided, the company said. For now, the Airbus deal has a catalogue price of ¥166 billion, ANA Holdings said. The deal makes ANA the first Japanese buyer of the Boeing model, while the Airbus A320neo already serves ANA’s international routes. The company praised the fuel efficiency of the two models. The Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo have amassed thousands of orders due to significant fuel savings offered by a new generation of engines. But the world’s largest plane makers continue to wage fierce market battles, with Boeing having chipped away at the Airbus lead in medium-haul airplanes. President Donald Trump and other top U.S. administration officials have criticized Japan over its trade surplus with the United States, asserting that Tokyo treats Washington unfairly by shipping millions of cars to North America while blocking imports of U.S. autos and farm products. Japan says its markets for manufactured goods are open, although it does protect politically sensitive farm products. In September, Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to start trade talks in an arrangement that appeared, temporarily at least, to protect Japanese automakers from further tariffs on their exports, which make up about two-thirds of Japan’s $69 billion trade surplus with the United States. Japan has insisted the new Trade Agreement on Goods would not be a wide-ranging free trade agreement, but U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last year he was aiming for a full free trade deal requiring approval by Congress.


Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, set to ax up to 9,000 jobs

Abstract: LONDON - Britain’s biggest retailer, supermarket group Tesco, said Monday that it planned to ax up to 9,000 jobs under the next stage of a vast restructuring program, as it continues to come up against increasing competition from German discount retailers Aldi and Lidl. Tesco, which employs about 300,000 staff in the U.K. out of a total global workforce of 440,000, added that it would try to find new roles for up to 50 percent of those affected. “Overall, we estimate that up to 9,000 Tesco colleague roles could be impacted, however, our expectation is that up to half of these colleagues could be redeployed to other customer-facing roles,” the supermarket said in a statement. “In our four years of turnaround we’ve made good progress, but the market is challenging and we need to continually adapt to remain competitive,” said Britain and Ireland CEO Jason Tarry. Tesco said jobs would go as it planned to shut counters at some stores serving items such as fresh fish, meat and cheeses. It intends also to simplify the way it controls stocks of goods, as well as reducing head office numbers and shutting staff canteens in favor of self-service kitchen facilities. “We expect that around 90 stores will close their counters, with the remaining 700 trading with either a full or flexible counter offer for our customers,” Tesco said in the statement. Tarry added: “We’re making changes to our U.K. stores and head office to simplify what we do and how we do it, so we’re better able to meet the needs of our customers.” Tesco’s share price closed down 1.7 percent at 221 pence on London’s FTSE 100 index, which lost 0.9 percent overall. “The group is engaging in a strict cost-cutting scheme as a way of coping with the rise of Lidl and Aldi,” noted David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK. “The stock has pushing higher since late December, and if the move continues it might target the 245 pence region.” More than 10,000 jobs have been cut at Tesco since chief executive Dave Lewis took charge in 2014 with the brief to save £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion, €1.7 billion). The group rebounded into annual net profit last year on strong sales and restructuring following a net loss of £40 million in 2016/2017, when it was hurt by costs arising from an accounting fiasco. Tesco — the world’s third-biggest supermarket chain, after France’s Carrefour and global leader Wal-Mart of the United States — has global operations, including in China, India, Malaysia, Slovakia and Thailand. While in its main market Britain, Tesco has been dogged in recent years by fierce domestic competition from discounters, which shoppers flocked to following the global financial crisis. Tesco has also been hit by an accounting scandal. The supermarket announced in September 2014 that it likely overstated profits by about £250 million and was subsequently hit by fines and costs of a similar amount. However, last week, Tesco’s former U.K. finance director was cleared of playing a role in the affair after a case against him was dropped by the courts.


Japan's Mitsubishi Aircraft accuses Bombardier of trying to limit competition for regional jets

Abstract: MONTREAL - Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is accusing Bombardier Inc. of using “anti-competitive conduct” to limit competition for planes with less than 100 seats, as the Japanese company works to bring its long-delayed regional jet to the market. In October, the Montreal-based maker of planes and trains sued the aircraft unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., alleging that former Bombardier employees passed on trade secrets to help with the development and certification of the company’s new regional jet known as the MRJ, short for Mitsubishi Regional Jet. The MRJ will compete with regional jets produced by Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer SA. Mitsubishi said in a counter-filing claim that Bombardier tried to coerce it and Seattle-based Aerospace Testing Engineering & Certification (AeroTEC) to sign no-poach agreements in 2016 that would stop them from hiring Bombardier’s employees. Bombardier Chief Executive Alain Bellemare also implicitly threatened the continuation of its “supply relationship” with Mitsubishi Heavy in a 2016 letter to board Chairman Hideaki Omiya unless the Japanese company “ceased the solicitation of Bombardier employees,” Mitsubishi said in the claim. “We believe that in response to the threat posed by the MRJ, Bombardier has chosen to engage in a pattern of anti-competitive conduct instead of competing on the merits of its product,” Mitsubishi said in a statement. “Bombardier has threatened, pressured and sought to coerce Mitsubishi Aircraft, its U.S.-based partners, and individual employees working on the MRJ program.” The MRJ, Japan’s first passenger plane since the 1960s, has been delayed by several years, with first customer ANA Holdings Inc. now expecting the 90-seat plane in 2020, rather than in 2013 as originally envisaged. Bombardier has said it hopes to make a decision this year on the future of its money-losing CRJ regional jet as it “aggressively” pursues new orders to secure its industrial future. In response to the latest filing, Bombardier repeated its view that its rival was illegally trying to obtain and use its trade secrets. “Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.’s attempt to recast the dispute as anything other than Bombardier’s justified protection of its intellectual property is misguided and disingenuous,” it said in a statement. “Bombardier will vigorously enforce its rights and that includes holding (Mitsubishi Aircraft), AeroTEC and individual wrongdoers accountable.” In the October lawsuit, Bombardier accused Mitsubishi Aircraft of violating the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 by trying to use the confidential data and documents obtained from former employees to accelerate the “extremely complex and costly” process of getting its planes certified. Mitsubishi Aircraft asked a U.S. court in December to dismiss Bombardier’s lawsuit, arguing that the allegations were baseless and designed to “disrupt development” of its rival jet.

aviation
mitsubishi regional jet
bombardier


Dollar weakens to around ¥109.20 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar traded on a weak note around ¥109.20 in Tokyo on Tuesday as investors continued to refrain from active trading ahead of key events this week. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.23-23, down from ¥109.39-40 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1434-1435, up from $1.1405-1405, and at ¥124.90-91, up from ¥124.77-77. The greenback moved mainly around ¥109.20-30 in early trading, after yen buying gained strength in overseas markets overnight amid a risk-off mood traced to growing concerns over a slowdown of the Chinese economy, traders said. The U.S. currency dropped below ¥109.20 in the midmorning, following a weak start of the Nikkei 225 stock average. After drifting around ¥109.20, the dollar rose above ¥109.30 in midafternoon trading in step with an upturn of the Nikkei. In late trading, the dollar lost steam again while market players sat on the fence ahead of a vote by Britain’s parliament on an amendment to Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal on Brexit and the start of a two-day policy-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, both on Tuesday, traders said. “Dollar sell orders are lining up around the psychologically important ¥110 level,” a think tank official said. If the key events turn out to be positive for the dollar, the U.S. currency may attract buying and test its upside, the official said.


Yen bulls face reckoning as data threaten to add to evidence Japanese economy is slowing

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Investors growing increasingly bullish on the yen may have to re-examine their outlook if retail sales and industrial production figures due this week add to mounting evidence that the Japanese economy is slowing. The currency — the best performer among its Group of 10 peers last year — started 2019 with a bang as money managers sought haven assets amid signs of slowing global growth. Analysts from Deutsche Bank and Credit Agricole to Commerzbank predicted the yen will strengthen to as much as 100 per greenback this year, driven in part by expectations that the Bank of Japan will pivot away from its massive monetary stimulus program. But the currency has begun to lose its appeal as risk appetite returns. To make matters worse, recent economic reports from machinery orders to exports and vehicle sales have come in decidedly on the downside. That makes December retail sales and factory output figures, to be released Wednesday and Thursday, all the more important. With dollar-yen rates already testing technical resistance near the 110 level, more bad news on the data front will likely forestall any chance of a decline in the near term. After sliding 1 percent month over month in November, industrial production is forecast to have dropped another 0.5 percent last month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Retail sales figures are predicted to be slightly better, with a 0.4 percent advance seen following November’s 1.1 percent decline. While a more hawkish BOJ would certainly help the yen regain its momentum despite recent dour data, signs of policy normalization failed to manifest following last week’s Policy Board meeting. Officials cut their core inflation forecasts for fiscal 2019 and 2020, prompting interest-rate markets to dial back any tightening expectations priced into the forward overnight index swap curve. Technicals aren’t offering much help either, with the dollar-yen’s moving average convergence-divergence, a momentum indicator, beginning to turn bullish, rising above the signal line and approaching zero. A global economic downturn may be one of the few potential saving graces for the Japanese currency. The International Monetary Fund last week downgraded its forecast for the second time in three months and warned that fresh trade tensions could spell further trouble. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said last Thursday that Washington and Beijing remain “miles and miles” from a resolution to the trade war, and that the outcome will hinge on whether China agrees to deepen economic reforms and further open its markets. Yet should Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer make progress toward breaking the impasse when they meet in Washington later this week, the prospects of the yen approaching 105 per dollar anytime soon — much less 100 — will seem far fetched indeed.


Tokyo stocks erase early losses to end higher

Abstract: Stocks wiped out early losses to close marginally higher Tuesday, partly supported by speculation that the Bank of Japan moved to buy exchange-traded funds. The Nikkei 225 average edged up 15.64 points, or 0.08 percent, to finish at 20,664.64 after falling 124.56 points Monday. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, was up 1.58 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,557.09. It slumped 10.59 points Monday. The TSE opened lower after Wall Street turned down Monday following weak guidance from U.S. construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar and chipmaker Nvidia. But both the Nikkei and the Topix erased their early losses in the afternoon, aided by dip buying, as well as speculation of ETF purchases by the BOJ, brokers said. “Today’s Tokyo market almost mirrored what happened in New York yesterday” in terms of the selection of shares to trade, an official of a Japanese brokerage firm said, pointing to the weakness of electronic parts and construction machinery makers. In New York on Monday, Caterpillar and Nvidia came under heavy selling due to their earnings warnings partly reflecting the deceleration in the pace of China’s economic growth. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said investors continued to refrain from making big moves in the midst of the earnings reporting season. Market activities remained lackluster ahead of key events abroad, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy-setting meeting through Wednesday and ministerial-level trade talks between the United States and China on Wednesday and Thursday, brokers said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,143 to 894 on the first section, while 89 were unchanged. Volume came to 1.182 billion shares, against 1.065 billion Monday. Defensive issues attracted buying amid growing concerns over the Chinese economy. Among major gainers were power supplier Tepco and beverage maker Asahi Group. Also on the plus side were clothing retailer Fast Retailing and mobile phone carrier KDDI. By contrast, construction machinery maker Komatsu fell by 4.56 percent and peer Hitachi Construction by 4.36 percent, following the disappointing guidance and weaker than expected quarterly earnings from Caterpillar. Semiconductor-related names such as Tokyo Electron, Advantest and Sumco met with selling as their U.S. counterparts, including Nvidia, suffered losses overnight. Other major losers included drugmaker Takeda and Tokai Carbon.

stocks
nikkei
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Germany to soften 'advertising' ban on abortions

Abstract: BERLIN - Germany’s coalition government agreed in principle Tuesday to soften a Nazi-era law that bars medical doctors from advertising abortion services. Gynecologists, hospitals and public health services will now be allowed to share essential information about where and how women can terminate unwanted pregnancies. The bill is expected to be approved by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet on Feb. 6 and then pass both houses of parliament. German law allows abortions but effectively discourages them through various hurdles, including the law in question, article 219a, which dates to May 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler assumed full powers of Nazi Germany. Last year gynecologist Kristina Haenel was fined €6,000 ($6,800) for breaking the law by publishing information on abortion services on her website. The case revived an emotional debate in the coalition government led by Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). Junior partners the Social Democrats (SPD) wanted the article scrapped, a demand backed by leftist opposition parties the Greens and Die Linke. In the end the ruling parties reached a compromise that many read as a defeat for the SPD. Health Minister Jens Spahn of the CDU said women needed access to crucial information but added that abortions should not be advertised because they are “not a medical procedure like any other.” Andrea Nahles, the SPD leader, nonetheless welcomed the agreement, tweeting that “women are finally getting the information they need.” The draft bill seen by AFP would allow federal health authorities and the German Medical Association to publish nationwide lists of doctors who perform abortions. In other changes, the age limit for women entitled to free contraceptives would be raised from 20 to 22 years, and training on performing abortions will be expanded for medical students. Greens Party co-chief Annalena Baerbock criticized the compromise deal, arguing that it signals lingering “distrust” of a woman’s ability to choose. Linke party lawmaker Cornelia Moehring similarly charged that, by refusing to scrap the article outright, the government was continuing to treat abortion as “a grubby issue” and a “taboo subject.” Germany, despite being a leading voice for women’s rights in the 1970s, imposes tight restrictions on abortion, permitting it only under strictly regulated circumstances. It is left out of universities’ course books for student doctors and kept unavailable in swathes of the country. A woman who wants to abort within the first trimester is required to attend a consultation at a registered centre. The aim of the interview is to “incite the woman to continue the pregnancy,” according to the rules, even if in the end she has the final say. Excluding special circumstances such as a pregnancy that threatens the life of the mother, or one arising from rape, abortion is not a procedure that is reimbursable by health insurance. In some regions, including in the predominantly Catholic state of Bavaria, it may be necessary to travel 100 kilometers to find a doctor who performs the procedure. Germany records an average of 100,000 abortions for 790,000 births, about half the rate of neighboring France.


Dutch reject Italy's call to take in 47 rescued migrants aboard ship in Mediterranean limbo

Abstract: THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - The Netherlands on Tuesday refused a request by Italy to take in 47 migrants on board a Dutch-flagged rescue ship that Italian ports have refused to allow to dock. The Sea Watch 3 ship, run by a German NGO, rescued the mainly sub-Saharan African migrants off Libya more than a week ago and it is currently sheltering from bad weather off Sicily. The Mediterranean nations of Italy and Malta have both refused to let it dock. “Without a firm idea of an overall solution, the Netherlands will not take part in ad hoc measures for disembarkation” of the ship, Lennart Wegewijs, a spokesman for the Dutch Justice and Security Ministry, told AFP. Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has insisted Germany or the Netherlands take responsibility for the migrants, warning that he was considering legal action against the crew. But German and Dutch authorities insist the problem should be solved within the wider context of an elusive EU migration deal that distinguishes between people in need of asylum, and economic migrants. The Dutch government said it was not its responsibility because the boat had acted “on its own initiative. … It was up to the captain of Sea Watch 3 to find a nearby port to disembark the 47 migrants he had on board. EU rules say that the country where migrants land should be responsible for dealing with any asylum claims. In early January the EU reached a deal to share out migrants on board two ships, one of which was Sea Watch 3, between eight European countries. Migrants rescued by ships have frequently been left in limbo since Italy’s anti-immigration government began turning them away last summer. Some 113,482 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe last year, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which said 2,262 people lost their lives or went missing making the perilous journey. Europe has been wrestling with the issue since the migration crisis of 2015 when more than 1 million people arrived on its shores, many of them fleeing conflict in the Middle East.

immigration
italy
germany
netherlands
refugees
mediterranean
sea-watch
matteo salvini


Pilot's 'emotional breakdown' blamed for deadly Nepal plane crash last March

Abstract: MADHYAMANCHAL, NEPAL - An “emotional breakdown” by the pilot caused a deadly plane crash in Nepal last March, a government investigation concluded, in the worst aviation accident in the Himalayan nation for decades. The March 12 flight from Dhaka crashed at Kathmandu airport and skidded into a football field where it burst into flames, killing 51 people on board. Twenty passengers miraculously escaped the burning wreckage. “The probable cause of the accident is due to disorientation and a complete loss of situational awareness in the part of crew member,” the report said. The investigation concluded that there was clear evidence the pilot in command, Capt. Abid Sultan, was harboring “severe mental stress” and was upset after a female co-worker had questioned his reputation as a good instructor. According to the report, Sultan — a former Bangladesh Air Force pilot who was also an instructor for the airline — talked nonstop and smoked throughout the short flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu, as he tried to impress upon the junior co-pilot his competence and proficiency. “One of the reasons could be him trying to prove … he is a very competent pilot and would be able to safely land the aircraft in any adverse situation,” the report said. The co-pilot, Prithula Rashid, had only recently qualified and had never previously landed at Kathmandu airport, which lies in a narrow bowl-shaped valley, making it a notoriously challenging place to land. As the Bombardier DHC-8-402 turboprop approached the runway it made a last-minute change of direction, failed to reduce its speed and did not carry out the necessary landing checks, investigators said. “The accident could have been avoided. The pilot thought he would be able to land it, but couldn’t,” Buddhisagar Lamichhane, a government official part of the investigation committee, told AFP. The report said the pilot had been released from the Bangladesh Air Force in 1993 due to depression and declared fit to fly in 2002 after a detailed medical evaluation. It also cited a lack of assertiveness from controllers at Kathmandu airport in monitoring the flight path and failing to issue clear instructions. The accident was Nepal’s deadliest since September 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed as it approached Kathmandu airport. Just two months earlier a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people. Nepal’s poor air safety record is largely blamed on inadequate maintenance and sub-standard management. Accidents are common and Nepal-based airlines are banned from flying in European Union airspace.

accidents
kathmandu
nepal
dhaka
mental health


'5,000 troops to Colombia' seen written on Trump aide John Bolton's notepad amid Venezuela talks

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was photographed Monday holding a notepad that included the handwritten line “5,000 troops to Colombia.” Bolton spoke to White House reporters while holding the yellow notepad and discussing the crisis in Venezuela, where the U.S. now recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president. It was not until after the briefing that observers spotted the black scrawl. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official said “we are not seeing anything that would support” a potential troop deployment to Colombia, which neighbors Venezuela. The Pentagon referred a query back to the White House. During the briefing, Bolton would not rule out use of U.S. troops in Venezuela. “The president has made it clear on this matter that all options are on the table,” he said. The U.S. military’s Southern Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bolton’s notepad also had the line: “Afghanistan — welcome the talks” — a reference to a potential breakthrough in discussions with the Taliban.

u.s .
venezuela
colombia
pentagon
donald trump
john bolton
juan guaido


Blood pressure treatment cuts risk of cognitive impairment, a risk factor for dementia, in study

Abstract: TAMPA, FLORIDA - Aggressive treatment to lower blood pressure in older people has been shown to cut the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, a risk factor for dementia, U.S. researchers said Monday. While the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) did not find any significant impact on the likelihood of developing dementia, experts said the trial offers a glimmer of hope as the world’s population ages and dementia becomes a growing concern. Dementia, including its most common, form, Alzheimer’s disease, is expected to affect 115 million people worldwide by 2050. So far, the world’s best scientific minds have not found a way to reliably prevent, cure or treat dementia. But some research has suggested that high blood pressure — which affects three-quarters of people over 75 — might be a modifiable risk factor. For the the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), more than 9,300 people aged 50 and older with high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure of between 130 and 180 mmHg) were randomized to receive different interventions. Some received intensive blood pressure control, with medications that targeted 120 mmHg. Others aimed for a more standard treatment goal of less than 140 mmHg. Patients were followed for about five years and given a battery of cognitive tests. In the intensive treatment group, 149 participants were deemed to have probable dementia, compared with 176 participants in the standard treatment group. In other words, the intensive blood pressure control “did not significantly reduce the incidence of probable dementia,” said the study. However, researchers were cautiously optimistic about a secondary finding, that mild cognitive impairment occurred in far fewer participants in the intensive treatment group — 287 compared to 353 participants in the standard treatment group. “This is the first trial, to our knowledge, to demonstrate an intervention that significantly reduces the occurrence of MCI, a well-established risk factor for dementia,” said the study. An accompanying editorial in JAMA by Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco, also emphasized the possibility that more research could confirm the technique as an effective prevention strategy. “For older adults, almost all of whom have concern about being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, SPRINT MIND offers great hope,” she wrote. “The study demonstrates that among those with hypertension, intensive SBP control can reduce the development of cognitive impairment.” She called for studying the approach along with other vascular health efforts, such as physical activity, and prevention. Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, which is funding a two-year extension of the study to further probe any effects on dementia, called the findings “the strongest evidence to date about reducing risk of mild cognitive impairment through the treatment of high blood pressure. “MCI is a known risk factor for dementia, and everyone who experiences dementia passes through MCI,” Carrillo added. “However, the study’s outcome on reducing risk of dementia was not definitive,” hence the need for more research, she said.

health
dementia
alzheimer 's
blood pressure
cognitive impairments


Roger Stone's arrest may hurt Trump's 'love' of Wikileaks

Abstract: WASHINGTON - “WikiLeaks,” Donald Trump said at a campaign rally on Oct. 10, 2016. “I love WikiLeaks.” That was three days after U.S. intelligence agencies issued a public warning that the Russian government was using the organization, already well known for its disclosures of government secrets, to interfere with the presidential election. Now special counsel Robert Mueller has charged longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone with attempting to undermine government investigations by lying about his links between Trump’s campaign and WikiLeaks. The indictment on Friday doesn’t bode well for the president’s inner circle, with its assertion that “a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact” Stone in July 2016 to learn what damaging information the group had on Democrat Hillary Clinton — although it didn’t say who gave the direction. According to the document, a “high-ranking Trump campaign official” was in touch with Stone that October before more damaging information was released. Trump pushed back in a tweet early Saturday, comparing Stone’s actions to what he termed “the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper” and other frequent targets, including Clinton. Stone displayed his usual bravado, saying Monday that he would travel from Florida to Washington to fight the charges against him and blaming the FBI for a “raw abuse of power.” He’s due in court in Washington on Tuesday morning. “Had they contacted my attorneys I would have voluntarily turned myself in,” Stone told reporters outside his Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, home. “I would have been able to wear a suit and tie for my mug shot, it would have looked a lot better.” The indictment brings fresh attention to WikiLeaks, which has been antagonizing the U.S. government for years. The group and its Australian founder, Julian Assange, became famous in 2010 when it published government secrets leaked by a U.S. Army soldier now known as Chelsea Manning. Yet Assange’s claims as a champion of transparency have lost some luster since 2012, when he took refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced rape allegations that he has denied, or the U.S., where he could face charges over the publication of secret government documents. While the U.S. has long viewed WikiLeaks as hostile to American interests, links between the group and Russia weren’t apparent before Assange started leaking information damaging to Clinton in the summer of 2016, according to a former U.S. intelligence official. Assange has denied he was given the stolen material by Russia, but he won’t say whether it came from President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence apparatus through an intermediary. Once the leaks were underway, an assessment about whether WikiLeaks was acting as a willing tool of Russia began to take shape inside the U.S. government, said the former official, who asked to remain anonymous speaking about a sensitive matter. According to an indictment by Mueller’s office last July, Russian conspirators used an online persona known as Guccifer 2.0 to communicate with WikiLeaks and ultimately transfer the stolen documents. Guccifer 2.0 was known to U.S. intelligence as a Russian front, according to the former official. On July 18, 2016, WikiLeaks confirmed to Guccifer 2.0 that it had received the material and planned to soon publish it. On July 22, WikiLeaks released more than 20,000 emails and other documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee — the first of several dramatic releases. It was after that release that a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone to find out about any other upcoming leaks and what other information WikiLeaks had on Clinton, prosecutors said in Mueller’s new indictment. “Stone thereafter told the Trump campaign about potential future releases of damaging material” by WikiLeaks, according to the indictment, which refers to the group as “Organization 1.” An analysis by the House Intelligence Committee conducted after the election found that WikiLeaks sent 118 tweets promoting the hacked material, and that messaging was magnified by 426,000 tweets by other users. “WikiLeaks played a key role in Russia’s malign influence campaign and served as a third party intermediary for Russian intelligence during the period leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” according to the report by the panel, which was controlled then by Republicans. “WikiLeaks’ historic actions, which have undermined U.S. interests and been beneficial to Russia, make the organization an ideal intermediary for Russian intelligence.” The report said there was no evidence that any Trump associate was involved in the release of emails by WikiLeaks or had access to stolen material before it became publicly available. Democrats, however, argue the investigation wasn’t thorough. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Friday that the charges against Stone have “nothing to do with the president,” and Trump tweeted: “Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION!” Stone said he’s innocent and will plead not guilty. “I will defeat them in court,” he vowed Friday outside the federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale. “I believe this is a politically motivated investigation.” American intelligence agencies have found that Russia set out to hurt Clinton’s campaign in 2016 and ultimately to help Trump win the White House. But some of those closest to Trump have said the material put out by WikiLeaks seemed fair game. “At the time, I looked at them as essentially a media outlet” that “would have also put out negative information on Trump if it had it,” Donald Trump Jr. testified to the House Intelligence Committee in December 2017. His father never wavered in denying collusion with Russia, but neither did he ever hide his appreciation of WikiLeaks for the disclosures that damaged his opponent. “This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,” Trump said at another rally in on Oct. 31, 2016, a week before he won the election.

hillary clinton
julian assange
wikileaks
robert mueller
donald trump
roger stone
russia probe


China tells U.S. to stop 'unreasonable crackdown' on Huawei after charges revealed

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s government called on Washington on Tuesday to “stop the unreasonable crackdown” on Huawei following the tech giant’s indictment in the U.S. on charges of stealing technology and violating sanctions on Iran. Beijing will “firmly defend” its companies, said foreign ministry statement read on the state-run TV news. It gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate for the charges against Huawei, China’s first global tech brand and the biggest maker of network switching gear used by phone and internet companies. Huawei Technologies Ltd. denied committing any of the violations cited in Monday’s indictment, the most serious escalation yet of pressure on Huawei, which has spent a decade battling U.S. accusations it is a front for Chinese spying and a security risk. The foreign ministry complained Washington has “mobilized state power” to hurt Chinese companies “in an attempt to strangle fair and just operations” for political reasons. “We strongly urge the United States to stop the unreasonable crackdown on Chinese companies including Huawei,” the ministry statement said. It said Beijing will defend the “lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies” but gave no details. The charges unsealed Monday accused Huawei of trying to take a piece of a robot and steal other technology from a T-Mobile lab that was used to test smartphones. Huawei also is charged with using a Hong Kong front company, Skycom, to trade with Iran in violation of U.S. trade controls. It said the company’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, lied to banks about those dealings. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested Dec. 1 in Vancouver on U.S. charges related to Iran, a development that set off a political firestorm between China and Canada. “The company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of U.S. law set forth in each of the indictments,” a Huawei statement said. Huawei is “not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng, and believes the U.S. courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion,” it said. There was no allegation Huawei was working at the Chinese government’s direction. The U.S. government previously has accused Beijing of involvement in cyberspying and theft of industrial secrets. It has charged several Chinese hackers and intelligence officials. Huawei said U.S. prosecutors rejected a request to discuss the investigation following Meng’s arrest. It also noted the allegations in the trade secrets charge were the subject of a U.S. civil lawsuit that already has been settled. Meng is out on bail in Vancouver and is due in court Tuesday as she awaits extradition proceedings. Her case has set off diplomatic spats between the United States, China and Canada. The latest charges could dim prospects for U.S.-Chinese trade talks due to start Wednesday in Washington. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed Dec. 1 to put off any further sanctions against each other’s exports while they negotiated. A breakdown in negotiations would likely lead to higher tariffs, a prospect that has rattled financial markets for months. While U.S. authorities stress that courts are independent, “ordinary Chinese people all believe it is a deliberate crackdown on Huawei,” said Lu Feng, an economist at Peking University. “From the U.S. perspective, it is a law enforcement issue, but from China’s viewpoint, it has a link to Chinese-U.S. trade relations,” said Lu. “The difference in understanding will bring about complicated problems.” The Justice Department officials provided details from a 10-count grand jury indictment in Seattle, and a separate 13-count case from prosecutors in New York. The Seattle charges allege that beginning in 2012, Huawei plotted to steal information about T-Mobile’s robot, known as “Tappy.” It says Huawei engineers secretly took photos of the robot, measured it and tried to steal part of it from T-Mobile’s lab, according to prosecutors. T-Mobile declined to comment.

china
u.s .
canada
iran
fraud
huawei
t-mobile
donald trump
meng wanzhou


Conservative Party lawmakers offer last-minute compromise on Brexit plan

Abstract: LONDON - Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party on Tuesday proposed a last-minute compromise Brexit plan which seeks to draw a line under internal divisions that have so far prevented Parliament from approving an exit deal. May is under acute pressure to find a way out of Britain’s worst political crisis since World War II after her proposed deal for leaving the European Union was overwhelmingly rejected by Parliament earlier this month. The new plan aims to broker peace between Conservatives who voted “leave” and those who voted “remain” in the 2016 Brexit referendum and has been endorsed by senior figures from both sides. The small Northern Irish party that props up May’s minority government has also indicated its support. It courts Brexiteers with a promise to ditch an unpopular Irish border policy in favour of an alternative, and appeals to remain-supporting Conservatives by pledging safeguards against the risk of disruption if no deal can be agreed on with the EU. But, its chances of success depend on both an official endorsement from May and a change in policy from EU negotiators. The EU has so far been unwilling to consider reopening the withdrawal agreement it reached with May, and which was subsequently rejected by Parliament in a Jan. 16 vote. That would be required under the new plan in order to replace the Irish backstop, a policy designed to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland if no better agreement can be reached. The new plan — dubbed the Malthouse Compromise after one of its backers Kit Malthouse — was announced on the eve of a debate in Parliament over May’s response to the rejection of her original deal. May has not yet commented on the Malthouse plan. But she has already said she wants to go back to the EU to renegotiate the backstop, without setting out what changes she is seeking. She is hoping that lawmakers signal their support for this, and add pressure to the EU to reopen talks by voting to approve a statement calling on her to replace it with “alternative arrangements.” The Malthouse plan itself will not be directly discussed or voted upon during the debate, but its backers are hoping May will verbally endorse it as a way to unite the party.