Dollar breaches ¥107 for first time since January in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar temporarily breached ¥107 for the first time since early January in Tokyo trading Tuesday, following a U.S. media report citing President Donald Trump’s dissatisfaction with the U.S. security treaty with Japan. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥107.03, down from ¥107.40 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1388, up from $1.1376, and at ¥121.89, down from ¥122.19. The dollar moved in a narrow range around ¥107.30 in early trading, as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the expected start of Japan-U.S. ministerial trade talks on Tuesday, traders said. The greenback gradually lost ground later in the morning, hit by selling from Japanese importers, traders said. Additional U.S. sanctions against Iran and sharply lower Chinese stocks also weighed on the dollar-yen rate, market sources said. The dollar fell below ¥107 in the early afternoon, as a risk-averse mood grew following a Bloomberg report that Trump recently mused to confidants about the United States withdrawing from its security treaty with Japan. After the selling ran its course, the dollar showed some resilience and moved around ¥107 in late trades. The U.S. media report “strengthened uncertainty over the Trump administration’s foreign policy,” an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said. “Lower U.S. and Japanese stock prices and a drop in U.S. long-term interest rates also pressured the dollar versus the yen,” an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. “The dollar could fall below ¥106 on speculative selling ahead of the U.S.-China summit” later this week, the official said.


Lixil shareholders back former CEO slate in move seen as victory for corporate governance in Japan

Abstract: Shareholders of major housing equipment-maker Lixil Group backed on Tuesday a slate of board candidates supported by the company’s ousted chief executive, a move that is likely to be seen as a victory for corporate governance in Japan. Shareholders at the toilet-maker’s annual general meeting endorsed all eight candidates who had been backed by former Chief Executive Kinya Seto, including Seto himself, a Lixil spokeswoman said. Seto’s ouster as chief executive last year sparked a governance crisis at the company. Six of the eight candidates proposed by management were elected to the board, the spokeswoman said. Shareholders had earlier said that Seto had been re-elected. Two of the successful candidates were supported by both Seto and management. Lixil emerged as a test case for the nation’s governance reform after four investment firms in March called for Chief Executive Yoichiro Ushioda to leave the company’s board along with the Hirokazu Yamanashi, chief operating officer. The investors cited what they said was a lack of governance after Seto abruptly resigned in October and was replaced by Ushioda, who hails from one of the company’s founding families. In an attempt to improve Lixil’s governance, Seto had submitted shareholder proposals on a slate of new board members to be voted at the shareholders meeting. Foreign institutional investors had criticized Seto’s ouster as president and CEO, and demanded that Lixil dismiss Ushioda, saying the procedures related to the dismissal showed that the firm’s governance system is not functioning. Lixil incurred a group net loss of ¥52.1 billion in the year to March due to poor performance at an Italian subsidiary. This year, Lixil expects to return to the black with a net profit of ¥15 billion. It plans to eke out a profit by selling a domestic building materials unit.


Mitsubishi to buy Bombardier's regional jet unit for $550 million

Abstract: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. agreed to buy Bombardier Inc.’s CRJ regional-jet program for $550 million, extending a push into commercial aircraft and setting up a rivalry with Embraer SA and Boeing Co. The Japanese manufacturer will also assume liabilities of about $200 million and take over Bombardier’s interest in a regional-jet securitization program, which is valued at about $180 million, according to a statement by the companies Tuesday. The deal, expected to close in the first half of next year, gives Mitsubishi a worldwide maintenance and support operation in addition to an aging line of short-haul jets. That will bolster the company’s ability to market its SpaceJet regional aircraft, the first airliner built in Japan since the 1960s. For Bombardier, the transaction caps a strategic overhaul in which Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare is largely exiting the commercial airplane business to focus on making business aircraft and trains. The company last year handed control of its C Series jetliner program to Airbus SE, which renamed the plane the A220. Mitsubishi will face off with Embraer in the market for small planes. The Brazilian manufacturer is in the process of combining its commercial jet business into a joint venture with Boeing. Bombardier was briefly suspended ahead of the market open in Toronto. The announcement was made after the markets closed in Tokyo.


Ministop begins charging for plastic bags at two Chiba stores

Abstract: CHIBA - Major convenience store operator Ministop Co. started an experiment this week to charge for plastic bags at two of its stores in Chiba Prefecture amid heightened environmental awareness worldwide and the government’s policy to ban free plastic bags. The experiment began Monday at two stores next to the headquarters of Ministop’s parent, Aeon Co., in the city of Chiba, and the company is considering expanding the practice to 40 stores by next February. The stores will charge ¥3 per bag, 10 percent of which comes from plant-derived polyethylene. Calls for an international treaty banning single-use plastic waste are growing amid worsening ocean pollution, a key issue during a meeting of the environment and energy ministers from the Group of 20 economies at Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, earlier this month. The United Nations Environment Program estimates 300 million tons of plastic waste are disposed of worldwide every year, with 8 million tons ending up in the oceans. Trade minister Hiroshige Seko said at the meeting that Japan will pursue having all stores charge customers for plastic bags, and that the government is aiming to have the policy take effect by April. Seven & I Holdings Co. announced it will completely stop the use of plastic bags by 2030 with plans to shift to paper bags and other alternatives. Since April, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has been conducting an experiment to allow customers in Yokohama to choose between plastic or paper bags. Lawson Inc. plans to halve the number of plastic bags used by 2030 compared with 2017. FamilyMart Co. also seeks to reduce the weight of plastic bags to cut down on plastic consumption.

g20
convenience stores
lawson
family mart
seven-eleven japan
plastic


Sharp back in 'normal mode' after buying back shares issued during crisis

Abstract: OSAKA - Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it has returned to “normal mode” after completing the purchase of all preferred shares it issued to financial institutions during its crisis four years ago. “We would like to report to all of you that our management has finally returned to normal mode and obtained a free hand,” Sharp CEO and Chairman Tai Jeng-wu said at its annual shareholders meeting in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. The company issued preferred shares worth ¥200 billion ($1.87 billion) in total to Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank in 2015 in a debt-for-equity swap bailout when it was on the brink of collapse due to slowing sales of liquid crystal display panels. Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. bought Sharp in August 2016, but the Japanese company’s preferred shares issued to the banks weighed on its balance sheet as the shares pay higher dividend yields in place of voting rights. “Sharp will change into a global brand,” said Tai, as the company boasts what it calls its cutting-edge technologies in high-end 8K ultrahigh-definition TVs and 5G next-generation wireless telecommunications systems. The company is looking for new areas to drive profitability after it ditched its initial target of achieving ¥3.25 trillion in sales in fiscal 2019 through next March due partly to a slowdown in television sales in China.

taiwan
banks
sharp
tvs
mizuho bank
hon hai precision industry
mufg bank


Nissan shareholders express concern over strained partnership with Renault

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - Shareholders of embattled Nissan Motor Co. on Tuesday voiced concerns over the fraught relationship with alliance partner Renault SA, while they gave a green light to install a new governance structure to ensure oversight following the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. During a more than three-hour annual shareholders meeting in Yokohama, a number of individual stakeholders expressed distrust toward Renault, as the two automakers have clashed over differences on a proposed merger and Renault’s recent attempt to tie up with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. “Will you act as a director of Nissan, not as Renault’s chairman?” a shareholder asked Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, who doubles as a Nissan director. Senard said he is working “for the well-being of (Nissan)” and has been doing everything he can “to smooth the relationship of the alliance” that he found in a “much worse state” than thought. Senard explained that the merger between Nissan and Renault is not something he can single-handedly realize because it needs board approval. Renault owns a 43 percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan owns a 15 percent stake in the French automaker. Renault has reportedly proposed the two firms merge, but Nissan is reluctant out of fear that it will lose its independence. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa rejected the idea of a merger again during the meeting but stressed that stabilizing the relationship with Renault is essential in order to turn around its struggling earnings. For the business year to March, Nissan is expected to post its lowest earnings in 11 years. A 72-year-old Yokohama resident who declined to be named said after the meeting that he still cannot fully trust Renault but that it is critical to build a win-win relationship, saying that the ratio of cross-shareholding should be more equal. Saikawa said he will talk to Renault about the shareholding balance if necessary. As for the failed merger deal with Fiat Chrysler, Senard called it a “lost opportunity.” “It would have been a wonderful project for Nissan and the alliance because in my mind, it was the only way to enhance and strengthen the alliance in the future,” Senard said. News of the merger talks between Renault and Fiat Chrysler abruptly emerged last month but they eventually gave up, as Nissan was concerned with the plan. “All our competitors in the world were very happy” that the deal did not happen, Senard said. At the meeting, shareholders approved Saikawa to remain CEO, but some criticized him for failing to catch Ghosn’s alleged financial misconduct. Ghosn denies the allegations. Asked when he intends to step down to take responsibility, Saikawa said he hopes that a newly created nomination committee will “speed up” efforts to prepare the next management structure. Moreover, the annual meeting greenlighted a drastic change to Nissan’s company framework by setting up three key committees tasked with nominations to the board, compensation and auditing. The committees are designed to be more independent from the firm’s internal politics. Strengthening corporate governance has been a major priority for Nissan, as its problematic structure was exposed following the arrest of Ghosn last November. It also scrapped the chairman position to avert the concentration of power on a single executive, who could take advantage of it to effectively oversee personnel affairs, which was apparently the case with Ghosn, according to a report by a panel of experts. But amid increasing tensions with alliance partner Renault, the process to get consensus from the French carmaker did not go smoothly. Initially, Nissan planned to appoint only Senard as a committee member. However, Renault demanded more representation, saying that it would abstain from voting at the shareholders meeting if their demand was not met. Senard said the French firm was just seeking fair representation . Eventually, Nissan chose Renault CEO Thierry Bollore to be a member of the auditing committee.

nissan
carmakers
renault
mergers
fiat chrysler


Caesars deal catapults underdog Eldorado to casino powerhouse

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - In the casino business, the minnow is swallowing the whale. Eldorado Resorts Inc.’s $8.58 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corp. means an underdog from Reno, Nevada — a town long in the shadow of Las Vegas — will become the largest owner of casinos in the U.S. In the deal, announced Monday, Caesars shareholders will receive about $12.75 a share, including $8.40 in cash. That’s a 28 percent premium to the casino chain’s close on Friday. While the combined company will retain the Caesars name, there’s no mistaking who’s buying whom in this transaction: Eldorado, with a market value of less than $4 billion, is clinching the giant from Las Vegas and its flagship Caesars Palace. Eldorado’s quick ascent to the top of the industry benefited from a campaign by activist billionaire Carl Icahn, Caesars’ biggest shareholder, who pushed for a sale in recent months. The Reno company is buying an ailing Caesars, still coping with the fallout of a 2008 leveraged buyout that left it with a mountain of debt. But it wasn’t the only suitor: Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta proposed merging his restaurant and casino empire with Caesars last year. Eldorado dates back to a single casino opened in Reno in 1973 by Donald Carano, a lawyer who died in 2017. The town, which calls itself “The Biggest Little City in the World,” has always been the second fiddle of Nevada’s gambling industry. The business has grown exponentially in recent years under the direction of Tom Reeg, who is now chief executive officer and will lead the combined Eldorado-Caesars along with Chairman Gary Carano and the rest of Eldorado’s management. Among its purchases, Eldorado acquired MTR Gaming Group and Isle of Capri Casinos, and last year added Tropicana Entertainment, which was controlled by Icahn. “Eldorado is 5 for 5 in the merger department and everyone time they announce synergies, they find more,” said Chad Beynon, an analyst at Macquarie. Eldorado, which still counts the founding Carano family as its largest shareholder, had 26 casinos in 12 states. Combined with Caesars, it will boast 60 owned, operated and managed casino-resorts across 16 states — including chains like Harrah’s. Tellingly, the enlarged company will be headquartered in Reno. Like Caesars, Eldorado has had its ups and downs. The Reno market was pummeled by competition from Indian casinos in Northern California and the expansion of gambling across the country. In 2012, the company put one of its subsidiaries — the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, a joint venture with MGM Resorts International — into bankruptcy. For a time, it seemed the Carano family would be more likely to have long-term wealth from their winery Ferrari-Carano Vineyards in Healdsburg, California. Then the family set on a strategy of diversifying its casino business through acquisitions. Reeg, a former banker who’s now 47, joined the board of directors in 2007. With the demeanor of an accountant more than a casino boss, Reeg has built a reputation for cutting costs and boosting profits. He consolidated functions at resorts the company acquired and cut back on the promotions that often lead to vicious competition in small markets. Eldorado also boosted results at its properties by adding additional hotel and dining options, such as the Row, a food court in Reno, and a hotel near its property in Columbus, Ohio. Reeg has proven himself a shrewd negotiator outside of acquisitions, cutting deals with William Hill PLC and the Stars Group in the emerging market of sports betting. He’s also teamed up with Maryland’s Cordish Cos. to develop the area around a horse track in Pompano, Florida. Still, Reeg will have his work cut out for him with Caesars, which is competing with newer resorts in places like Atlantic City, New Jersey. Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG, the two private equity giants in the 2008 leverage buyout of Caesars, took a bath on the company before exiting the investment several months ago. Their departure allowed Icahn to swoop in. Caesars casinos are likely to contend with even steeper competition in states such Illinois, which recently authorized six new casinos — including one in downtown Chicago. Eldorado and Caesars said Monday that they have identified benefits of $500 million by combining the businesses, and expect the deal to boost cash flow immediately. A parallel agreement will see VICI Properties Inc. acquire some of the companies’ real estate, generating $3.2 billion of proceeds to help pay down debt. “As with our past transactions, we have a detailed plan for significant synergy realization,” Reeg said in a statement.

u.s .
gambling
casinos
carl icahn
nevada
caesars
eldorado


Sompo Japan to cut 4,000 jobs during fiscal 2020

Abstract: Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc. plans to cut the number of its employees by about 4,000, or 15 percent of its workforce, from fiscal 2017 levels, it was learned Monday. By reducing its payroll to 22,000-23,000 workers by the end of fiscal 2020, which starts April 1, the unit of Sompo Holdings Inc. aims to save some ¥10 billion per year in labor costs, informed sources said. Sompo Japan will capitalize on information technology to carry out its business rationalization. The workforce cut will also be achieved by relocating employees to group firms and reducing the number of new graduates it hires. The company will not offer an early retirement program, the sources added. In the Japanese financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and other mega-bank groups are boosting efforts to replace manpower with IT.

workforce
job cuts
sompo japan nipponkoa insurance


Taiwanese fund drops out of bailout consortium for Japan Display

Abstract: Japan Display Inc. said Tuesday that a Taiwanese private equity fund has dropped out of a bailout consortium, further clouding the outlook for the struggling panel-maker. The exit by CGL Group follows the departure of Taiwan’s TPK Holding Co. last week from the consortium that was supposed to offer a capital injection of up to ¥80 billion ($748 million) to the Apple Inc. supplier. China’s Harvest Tech Investment Management Co., the only remaining member of the consortium that agreed on the bailout plan in April, has notified Japan Display that it will finalize a decision on financial aid by Thursday. Meanwhile, Oasis Management Co. of Hong Kong has stepped forward as a potential new sponsor, telling the Japanese company that it will make a final decision by Thursday as well. Touch panel-maker TPK left the group citing “changes in circumstances,” but the reason for the withdrawal of CGL Group was not disclosed. The decisions apparently reflect Japan Display’s business performance, which is deteriorating more than expected. The maker of display panels reiterated there is “no change” to the capital injection amount of up to ¥80 billion. It also said some domestic as well as other overseas companies have shown an interest in investing, without naming them. Japan Display was established in 2012 following the merger of the display operations of Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. with support from state-backed fund INCJ Ltd. The display-maker incurred a group net loss for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2018 of ¥109.43 billion, on sales of ¥636.66 billion, down 11.3 percent from a year earlier, hit by falling demand from main client Apple.


Tokio Marine, which spent $17 billion on acquisitions, says there's more to come

Abstract: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. is seeking acquisition opportunities in Asian emerging markets and elsewhere as it seeks to double profits from those regions, according to the new chief of Japan’s largest property-and-casualty insurer. “We have group companies in Southeast Asia but they’re small,” Satoru Komiya, who became president Monday, said in an interview. “If we have a chance to make a further leap in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, we’d like to expand our business.” Komiya’s quest to deepen the company’s global reach comes after it spent more than $17 billion (¥1.82 trillion) in the past 11 years on a string of large acquisitions overseas, Bloomberg data show. Tokio Marine and its Japanese competitors are looking abroad to diversify geographic risk and make up for diminishing prospects at home as the population shrinks. The company is also looking for opportunities in emerging markets beyond Asia, such as Central and South America and the Middle East, said Komiya, 58, who was promoted from senior managing director in charge of overseas businesses. While it isn’t working on any specific deals now, the insurer has compiled a list of potential targets, he added. “Valuations are high because of excess money globally,” he said. “But if there’s a good chance, we’d like to pursue it actively.” Overseas insurance businesses now account for almost half of Tokio Marine’s profits, but these mainly U.S.-focused deals — including the purchase of Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. for $7.5 billion in 2015 — have left Asia and other emerging markets as a minor contributor. The company has said it wants to increase the proportion of these regions’ profits to 20 percent of its overseas businesses, up from about 10 percent now. There are early signs of Tokio Marine’s pivot to Asia deals. Last year, the company agreed to buy the Thai and Indonesian businesses of Sydney-based Insurance Australia Group Ltd. for about 525 million Australian dollars (¥56.2 billion). Komiya said he’s paying more immediate attention to building the firm’s nonlife insurance business in Asia outside Japan. “Life insurance business takes time” to generate substantial profits, he said. He is leaving open the possibility of large-scale acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe, where the company bought specialty insurers providing coverage for particular industries and liabilities, as opposed to general auto and home insurance. Tokio Marine HCC and other overseas units will continue to do smaller “bolt-on” acquisitions, the CEO added. One specific challenge that Komiya is inheriting in his new role as president is a sexual harassment complaint at its U.K. unit. Two executives at Tokio Marine Kiln Group Ltd., a managing agent at Lloyd’s of London, have resigned following reports of the allegations. Komiya said the unit has set up a third-party committee to investigate the matter and the holding company is being briefed. “We are monitoring the situation to make sure TMK will take appropriate measures,” he said in an emailed response to questions because the story broke after the interview.

australia
insurance
acquisitions
tokio marine holdings


Governments must regulate social networks, says Facebook's Nick Clegg

Abstract: LONDON - Governments, not companies, must regulate social networks, Facebook’s head of global affairs and former U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said Monday. “It’s not for private companies, however big or small, to come up with those rules. It is for democratic politicians in the democratic world to do so,” Clegg told the BBC in an interview. Clegg, the former leader of the British Liberal Democrats party, said there was a “pressing need” for new “rules of the road” on issues including data privacy and election rules. At the same time, companies such as Facebook should play a “mature role” in advocating regulation, he told the BBC. Clegg later told an audience in Berlin that countries like China would not wait for the West to set standards for the internet. “If we in Europe and America don’t turn off the white noise and begin to work together, we will sleepwalk into a new era where the internet is no longer a universal space but a series of silos where different countries set their own rules and authoritarian regimes soak up their citizens’ data while restricting their freedom,” he said at the Hertie School of Governance. “The fact is there is no longer a single unilateral internet but rather two internets: China and the rest of the world.” Clegg said he was in Berlin for the last in a series of meetings with experts around the world about the creation of a Facebook “independent oversight board” that would make binding decisions about content issues such as reported hate speech. He said the company expected to release a “final charter” for the oversight board this summer. “But it would be a much easier task as well as a more democratically sound one if some of the decisions that we have to make were instead taken by people who are democratically accountable to the people at large rather than by a private company,” he said. Britain has said it will make social media bosses personally liable for harmful content and shut down offending platforms under a “world-leading” government plan. Coming in for heavy criticism over the past year, Facebook has instituted changes, particularly on privacy and the transparency of political campaign ads. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has called for “globally harmonized” online regulation. Skeptics say Facebook is seeking to buy time amid calls for tougher regulation in the United States and elsewhere — with some calls to break up major tech firms and other activists questioning whether they should maintain immunity from liability for content posted by users.

china
social media
facebook
mark zuckerberg
nick clegg


Russian air force plane lands in Venezuela, say witness and website

Abstract: MAIQUETIA, VENEZUELA - A Russian air force plane landed on Monday in Venezuela’s main airport, according to a Reuters witness and a website that tracks plane movements, three months after a similar arrival spurred a war of words between Washington and Moscow. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela in March carrying Russian defense officials and 100 troops, leading the United States to accuse Russia of “reckless escalation” of the situation in the struggling South American nation. An Ilyushin 62 jet with tail number RA-86496 on Monday was parked at Maiquetia International Airport, according to a Reuters witness. That tail number is registered to a Russian Air Force jet, according to website Flightradar24, and matches the tail number of the plane that arrived in March. U.S. President Donald Trump in March ordered Russia to remove all troops from Venezuela, while Russia’s foreign ministry said the planes were only carrying specialists who were servicing arms sales contracts. Venezuela’s information ministry and Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

russia
venezuela
nicolas maduro
maiquetia international airport


Trump's threatened deportations are not 'civilized,' House speaker says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Donald Trump’s threatened coast-to-coast deportations of migrants “outside the circle of civilized human behavior” on Monday in remarks that underscored the gap between the two sides over immigration. Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke after a weekend tweet in which Trump said he would give Congress two weeks to solve “the Asylum and Loopholes problems” along the border with Mexico. “If not, Deportations start!” he tweeted. The president had earlier warned that there would soon be a nationwide sweep aimed at “millions” of people living illegally in the U.S., including families. The sweeps were supposed to begin on Sunday, but Trump said he postponed them. Pelosi said the threatened raids were “appalling” when she was asked about them at an immigration event Monday in Queens, New York. “It is outside the circle of civilized human behavior, just kicking down doors, splitting up families and the rest of that in addition to the injustices that are happening at the border,” she said. That was a reference to detentions — often in harsh conditions — of people caught entering the country, including children. She also said that in a Friday phone call to Trump in which she asked him to call off the raids, she told him, “You are scaring the children of America, not just in those families but their neighbors and their communities.” She said that Trump didn’t tell her what he would do but told her, “Oh, I’ll let you know. Well, people broke the law.” It is not clear exactly what he means regarding asylum and loophole changes. But Trump, who has started his 2020 re-election bid, has been trying to restrict the numbers of people being allowed to enter the U.S. after claiming asylum and impose other restrictions. He’s followed that path since he began his quest for president years ago. Democrats and Republicans have long been unable to find middle ground on immigration that can pass Congress. It seems unlikely they will suddenly find a solution within two weeks. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard Durbin of Illinois are trying to find middle-ground on immigration, but their efforts are considered an uphill battle. Asked Monday about Trump’s two-week deadline, No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said it was “typical” of Trump. “I think that his efforts to use as pawns families who are living in this country are inappropriate,” said Hoyer, D-Md. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is close to Senate GOP leaders, said Trump was trying to force Democrats to negotiate. “It hasn’t worked yet, but I think it’s worth trying,” Cornyn said. The House and Senate are expected to vote this week on separate but similar bills providing around $4.5 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants crossing the southern border. Trump said he postponed the immigration raids “at the request of Democrats.” But three immigration officials told The Associated Press that officials of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were worried that officers would be endangered because details about the raids had been publicly revealed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.

u.s .
congress
immigration
nancy pelosi
donald trump


Government moves detained migrant kids after AP exposes bad treatment

Abstract: NEW YORK - The U.S. government has removed most of the children from a remote Border Patrol station in Texas following reports that more than 300 children were detained there, caring for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation. Just 30 children remained at the facility near El Paso Monday, said Rep. Veronica Escobar after her office was briefed on the situation by an official with Customs and Border Protection. Attorneys who visited the Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, last week said older children were trying to take care of infants and toddlers, The Associated Press first reported Thursday. They described a 4-year-old with matted hair who had gone without a shower for days, and hungry, inconsolable children struggling to soothe one another. Some had been locked for three weeks inside the facility, where 15 children were sick with the flu and another 10 were in medical quarantine. “How is it possible that you both were unaware of the inhumane conditions for children, especially tender-age children at the Clint Station?” asked Escobar in a letter sent Friday to U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner John Sanders and U.S. Border Patrol chief Carla Provost. She asked to be informed by the end of this week what steps they’re taking to end “these humanitarian abuses.” Lawmakers from both parties decried the situation last week. Border Patrol officials have not responded to AP’s questions about the conditions at the Clint facility, but in an emailed statement Monday they said: “Our short-term holding facilities were not designed to hold vulnerable populations and we urgently need additional humanitarian funding to manage this crisis.” Although it’s unclear where all the children held at Clint have been moved, Escobar said some were sent to another facility on the north side of El Paso called Border Patrol Station 1. Escobar said it’s a temporary site with roll-out mattresses, showers, medical facilities and air conditioning. But Clara Long, an attorney who interviewed children at Border Patrol Station 1 last week, said conditions were not necessarily better there. “One boy I spoke with said his family didn’t get mattresses or blankets for the first two nights and he and his mom came down with a fever,” said Long, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch. “He said there were no toothbrushes, and it was very, very cold.” Vice President Mike Pence, asked about the unsafe, unsanitary conditions for the children on “Meet The Press” on Sunday, said “it’s totally unacceptable” adding that he hopes Congress will allocate more resources to border security. Long and a group of lawyers inspected the facilities because they are involved in the Flores settlement, a Clinton-era legal agreement that governs detention conditions for migrant children and families. The lawyers negotiated access to the facility with officials and say Border Patrol knew the dates of their visit three weeks in advance. Government rules call for children to be held by the Border Patrol in their short-term stations for no longer than 72 hours before they are transferred to the custody of Health and Human Services, which houses migrant youth in facilities around the country through its Office of Refugee Resettlement. Customs and Border Protection referred AP’s questions Sunday to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which did not immediately respond.

u.s .
children
immigration
child abuse
texas
donald trump
border patrol
clint
veronica escobar


Hundreds of Palestinians protest Bahrain Mideast peace conference

Abstract: HALHUL, WEST BANK - Hundreds of Palestinians protested throughout the West Bank against this week’s economic conference in Bahrain that will kick off the Trump administration’s plan for Mideast peace. Palestinians on Monday poured into the streets of West Bank cities, from Hebron to Nablus, many burning effigies of President Trump and Bahrain’s king. Protesters in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, carried a giant coffin labeled “Bahrain workshop,” and signs reading “The Deal of the Century is doomed.” Dozens of youths in the southern city of Halhul set tires ablaze and slung stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. In the Gaza Strip, protest turnout was meager. A single man dressed as the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, stood on the street in Gaza City holding a sign that read “Deal of the Devil” and crossed-out Israeli and American flags. “My message to the meeting in Bahrain, is let us alone, let us in peace,” said Ibrahim al-Nahal. “We don’t need your money … no one can stop the Palestinian revolution.” Gaza’s Hamas rulers have called for a general strike and mass demonstrations later in the week. “We declare our rejection of the Deal of the Century and the Bahrain conference,” senior Hamas official Mushier al-Massri told reporters Monday. “We pledge to work to abort this conspiracy.” Meanwhile, multiple fires erupted in Israel’s southern farmlands, which local officials blamed on incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority has rejected the U.S. peace proposal and is boycotting the workshop in Bahrain, where the Trump administration’s Mideast peace team hopes to drum up regional support and secure financial pledges from Arab and Israeli stakeholders. Accusing the U.S. of unfairly favoring Israel, Palestinians say an economic component can’t pre-empt a political settlement. The plan calls for $50 billion for investment and infrastructure projects in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab states, intended to lay the groundwork for the plan’s still mysterious political component. There are serious doubts about the feasibility of the proposal, which does not address the half-century-old Israeli military occupation that has largely restricted the West Bank’s economic and infrastructural growth.

israel
middle east
palestinians
hamas
bahrain
west bank
donald trump


London midwifery students use augmented tech to improve clinical skills

Abstract: LONDON - Midwifery students in London are learning to bring new life into the world in a radically new way with the help of augmented reality (AR) technology. Using AR headsets and lifelike models of full-term mothers, trainee midwives at Middlesex University can take part in fully simulated births, which the university’s clinical staff hope will both hone their clinical skills and leave them better prepared to face challenges rarely seen in day-to-day practice. AR technology offers users an interactive experience in which objects in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated information. Midwifery educator Sarah Chitongo said the AR system allowed students to understand better the birthing process by displaying an interactive representation of a patient’s anatomy. “It allows you to see a visual picture of the actual anatomy itself, which is raised out of the normal body, and you can step in, walk around and have an internal view,” Chitongo told Reuters. Chitongo cited high-risk problems such as shoulder dystocia — when a baby’s shoulders get stuck in the mother’s body — and breech births — when a baby is born bottom first — as particular rarities for midwives where AR could help prepare students to cope better and ultimately to save lives. Chitongo believes that younger trainees will embrace the technology positively as they are of a generation that has largely grown up with computers and interactive environments. However, her overarching aim is for midwives to become better prepared to reduce mortality rates, which are disproportionately high among ethnic minority pregnancies. “Currently, here in the U.K., it sits at 60 percent combined, compared to 9.8 percent in white women,” Chitongo said, adding that the issue had not been meaningfully addressed despite the trend having risen since 2011. “When you get it right, with a population where it’s actually on the worst side (of the statistics), it means you’ve got a better and safer maternity service across the U.K.”

pregnancy
tech
u.k .
health care
augmented reality
london
middlesex university


Five endangered black rhinos relocated from Europe to Rwanda

Abstract: KIGALI - Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos from wildlife parks in three European countries were transported to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park on Monday. Two male and three female eastern black rhinoceroses were released into protective enclosures and will eventually be introduced into open plains to increase the genetic diversity of the park’s rhino population, said officials. The eastern black rhino is in critical danger of extinction with about 1,000 remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The five rhinos from European zoos and safari parks will bring to 20 the number of eastern black rhinos in Akagera Park after a number of the rhinos were delivered from South Africa in 2017. More than 50 black rhinos once lived in Akagera’s savannah habitat, which is considered excellent for black rhinos, but their numbers declined due to wide-scale poaching and the last confirmed sighting of a rhino was in 2007. “The newly translocated rhinos will bolster the founder group that we introduced in 2017, contributing to the reestablishment of a robust eastern black rhino population in Rwanda,” said Jes Gruner, manager of Akagera Park. “This unique achievement represents the culmination of an unprecedented international effort to improve the survival prospects of a critically endangered rhino subspecies in the wild. Their arrival also marks an important step in Akagera’s ongoing revitalization, and one that underscores the country’s commitment to conservation.” Clare Akamanzi, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, said the eastern black rhinos are “crucial to wildlife conservation and biodiversity protection efforts, both in Rwanda and across Africa.” Africa’s rhinos remain under intense pressure from poachers who kill them to meet demand for their horns in illegal markets, primarily in Vietnam and China. Under the management of the African Parks group, Akagera has rebuilt its wildlife populations. In July 2015, Rwanda reintroduced lions to Akagera, 15 years after they had disappeared. Rwanda is actively promoting tourism as part of its recovery from the genocide 25 years ago, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Tourism has become one of Rwanda’s largest earners of foreign exchange and 1.3 million visitors came to the country in 2017, according to government statistics. Many come to encounter the rare mountain gorillas and Rwanda is increasing the ability for tourists to see other big game such as elephants, lions, leopards and buffaloes, as well as rhinos. The five eastern black rhinos were came from the Safari Park Dvur Kralove in the Czech Republic, Flamingo Land in Britain and Ree Park Safari in Denmark. The five began their journey from the Czech Republic on June 23 following months of preparation at Safari Park Dvur Kralove. Precautions were taken to minimize stress and ensure their well-being throughout the translocation process. They were flown to Kigali before being transferred by truck to Akagera Park.


Alerts issued in France as intense heat wave envelops Europe

Abstract: PARIS - The sunset had an orange glow and so does the new heat alert level for Paris. More than half of France, including around Paris, was placed on an orange alert for intense heat Monday — the second-highest level on the scale — as very hot temperatures were predicted across continental Europe this week. The national weather agency Meteo France said the heat wave beginning Monday is expected to last all week with temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across the country just as the summer tourist season shifts into high gear. The peak is expected Thursday. In Paris, charity organizations were patrolling the streets to provide water to homeless people and local authorities organized air-conditioned places where the public can seek shelter. French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, deciding it was too hot to study, ordered national exams by students heading to high school postponed from Thursday and Friday to next week. Meteorologists say the heat wave is caused by hot winds coming from the Sahara Desert. The alert system was introduced in France following the summer of 2003, which saw an estimated 15,000 heat-related deaths, many of them older people left in city apartments and retirement homes that were not air-conditioned. French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Monday that “everything is ready, in retirement homes, in hospitals, in transports.” “Yet when people are fragile, even when everything is organized, there’s always a higher mortality rate,” she warned. Organizers at the Women’s World Cup, which is being hosted by France, could be faced with implementing FIFA heat precautions, since knockout soccer matches at the tournament were being played every day this week except Wednesday and Sunday. Those precautions include holding official cooling breaks during the match or even postponing it if the heat at the stadium is too high. Luckily, most of the women’s games are being held at night. Similar heat is also expected in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. In Germany, temperatures above 40 degrees C are possible in some places on Wednesday, topping the country’s previous June record of 38.2 degrees Celsius (nearly 100.8 degrees Fahrenheit) set in Frankfurt in 1947. Rescue services urged people to look out for young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems who are at particular risk in high temperatures. Parts of northeastern Germany are also at high risk for forest fires. Authorities in the eastern state of Brandeburg, which circles Berlin, say the risk of forest fires is at the highest level in the coming days. Scientists say measurements show that heat waves in Europe are becoming more frequent. Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said “monthly heat records all over the globe occur five times as often today as they would in a stable climate.” “This increase in heat extremes is just as predicted by climate science as a consequence of global warming caused by the increasing greenhouse gases from burning coal, oil and gas,” he added. Dim Coumou, a scientist at the Free University of Amsterdam, said melting Arctic sea ice is also affecting atmospheric circulation, which in turn makes extreme heat more likely. “Data analysis shows that the normally eastward traveling summer circulation of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes has slowed down, including the Jet Stream,” he said. “This favors the buildup of hot and dry conditions over the continent, sometimes turning a few sunny days into dangerous heatwaves.”

france
europe
weather
heat waves
meteo france


Driver with Ebola response team severely injured by Congo mob

Abstract: BENI, CONGO - A driver working with an Ebola response team is in critical condition after angry crowds hurled rocks at him and set his vehicle on fire. Monday’s attack in Beni is the latest against health workers trying to combat the virus that has killed more than 1,500 people in eastern Congo since the outbreak began last August. Col. Safari Kazingufu told The Associated Press that authorities were working to find the attackers and to protect the health teams out in the field. Ebola response efforts have been severely hindered by community mistrust and fear. Health centers have come under deadly attack and teams in the field have been threatened and injured. As a result, Ebola has spread in areas where vaccination efforts have stopped because of the dangers.


Doctors helping cancer patients fight stress in own lives

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Ashley Sumrall was an early career brain oncologist when she got a case that would stay with her for the rest of her career. Losing a patient is far from rare in her field: 90 percent of the people she sees will go on to die as a result of their illness. But David was different. A former White House aide, he had come into her care after years of experimental trials failed to halt the advance of his glioma. She believed he would be a difficult case because of his initial refusal to accept muscle-destroying steroids but over time she became so involved in his care that losing him was akin to losing a member of her own family. “It sounds cliched, but it’s truly a disease that affects their whole family. So you’re caring for the individual and their spouse or caregiver, their adult children, you know, you’re connected to that whole family,” the assistant professor at the Levine Cancer Institute in North Carolina said. Cancer is a devastating diagnosis for the patient and their loved ones, but an underexamined area is its impact for those involved in its care, who are at higher risk for anxiety, depression and burnout. A report last year by the American Psychiatric Association found that a doctor commits suicide every day in the US, the highest rate of any profession — 28 to 40 per 100,000, which is more than twice the rate for the general population. “We know that physicians in general don’t ask for help for their mental and physical health as soon as others,” said Bill Eley, an oncologist and associate dean of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. “For oncologists, people die, and you walk with them through that. And we’re ill prepared for the stress that’s physical, emotional and spiritual, that we undergo.” Burnout and the ever present pressure of showing value — the U.S. hospital system measures how busy doctors are, but doesn’t account for how valued they are by patients — are factors most commonly quoted by professionals who study the problem. But the stressors are even more intense for oncologists for several reasons, explained Michelle Riba, a psychologist and director of the PsychOncology Program at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. “We have long relationships, we often hold the key to their survival. There’s no room for errors, it’s a pressure cooker,” she said. Eley agreed: “We see tragedy after tragedy. And we go see the next patient. And we go see the next patient. And there’s very little attention to processing grief and sadness and suffering in our systems.” Beyond that is the amount of suffering patients undergo in the cancer treatments prescribed by their doctors, including the most dreaded chemotherapy and all the destructive side effects it brings. One case that Eley recalls vividly was a 28-year-old woman who had a rare cancer called sarcoma. The treatment left her unable to swallow and she was left drooling, “which just makes it all the more painful.” And although cancer treatments today are more advanced and life-prolonging than ever before, that too, paradoxically, brings its own challenges, adds Eley. “Thankfully we have longer and longer relationships with our patients. And I think when you have relationships with people, and you lose them, they die, you are sad, and you suffer.” At one point early on in his career, Eley lost interest in the things in life that gave him joy, such as dancing. “I did become numb for a number of years, where I did not feel much,” he said. “But I came through it, because a great colleague, who helped me and mentored me that I gained an outlook on life that we can start again. The antidote, he said, is forming strong relationships with colleagues, mentors, patients and their families. For Sumrall, David’s case was a reminder that the work she does is about more than just “giving chemo.” “I let my boundaries down in a way that I had not done in years. His kids were similar to mine in age, and I adored the patient and his wife,” she said, adding she is still in touch. “It could be easy to ‘give up’ after experiencing loss in such a way. “In fact, my team probably loses 50 patients per year. For us, we view those opportunities as a chance to help others gently transition to their next phase, and the pain we feel is minuscule compared to theirs.”

medicine cancer nurses doctors depression caregivers physicians


New lawyer for ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn says she may need more time to prep for sentencing

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since hiring a new lawyer who has criticized special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The lawyer, Sidney Powell, told U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan that the evidence in the case has “more moving pieces … than an old-fashioned Swiss watch.” Powell, who took over Flynn’s case earlier this month after he fired his previous lawyers, said she may need to seek a security clearance to review classified information to help Flynn prepare for his sentencing for lying to investigators. Powell frequently appears on Fox News and sells t-shirts saying “Creeps on a Mission” featuring images of Mueller, former FBI Director James Comey and other Justice Department officials. She is also the author of a book called “Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice,” and Sullivan said she sent him a copy in 2014 with a note praising his service as a judge. Sullivan said he decided he should disclose receiving a signed copy of the book and that it did not warrant him recusing himself from the case. Flynn was among the first people in Trump’s inner circle to be charged by Mueller’s prosecutors for lying to investigators about his December 2016 conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s then-ambassador in Washington, about U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow by President Barack Obama. Flynn worked on Trump’s election campaign and the conversations took place between Trump’s November election victory and his January 2017 inauguration. He pleaded guilty to the charge, agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation and has assisted prosecutors in a separate federal case against his former business partner, Bijan Rafiekian. Flynn, who lasted less than a month as Trump’s national security adviser, was supposed to be sentenced in December but that was postponed after a contentious hearing in which Sullivan excoriated Flynn for lying to investigators, and accused the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general of selling out the United States. A new sentencing date has not been set. Sullivan then gave Flynn the option to have his sentencing delayed so that he could fully cooperate with any pending investigations to help bolster his case for leniency. It is unclear whether Flynn will change his legal strategy before his sentencing. Powell has written opinion pieces in which she called for Flynn to consider withdrawing his guilty plea. However, after Flynn hired her she said in a statement that Flynn would “continue to cooperate with the government in all matters.” Powell confirmed Monday that Flynn’s cooperation with the government is “fully ongoing” and that he is expecting to testify in Rafiekian’s trial in July. Rafiekian was indicted on allegations of unregistered lobbying on behalf of Turkey. Rafiekian denies the charge. The government disputed her claim that she will need a security clearance to review classified material prior to sentencing. “There is no classified discovery provided to defense counsel,” prosecutor Brandon Van Grack said. He said the discovery file is only about 20,000 pages. “We are not talking terabytes of data,” he said. Powell said she will need 90 days before being able to provide the court with an update but Sullivan set a 60-day deadline for the end of August to receive a status report.

u.s .
robert mueller
donald trump
michael flynn
russia probe
sidney powell


Former University of Illinois doctoral student guilty in slaying of visiting Chinese scholar

Abstract: PEORIA, ILLINOIS - Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict Monday at the federal death-penalty trial of a former University of Illinois doctoral student who killed a visiting scholar from China after abducting her at a bus stop. Brendt Christensen, 29, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as a guilty verdict was announced against him. The swift conviction was expected because Christensen’s attorneys acknowledged from the start that he raped and stabbed Yingying Zhang in June 2017. Prosecutors say he beat her to death with a baseball bat and decapitated her. The judge has said there will be a break of a week or more before the penalty phase, a sort of mini-trial that could last several weeks. Illinois no longer has capital punishment, but he could be sentenced to death because he was convicted in federal court. There are more than 5,000 Chinese students among the 45,000 attending the University of Illinois in Champaign, making it one of the largest such enrollments in the nation. They have closely followed developments from the trial at U.S. District Court in Peoria. Zhang had been in Illinois for just three months — her only time living outside China. The daughter of working-class parents, she aspired to become a professor in crop sciences to help her family financially. Friends and family described her as caring and fun-loving. Defense attorneys began the trial with the rare admission that their client killed Zhang but said they said they disagreed with prosecutors over how and why. Their surprising strategy was a bid to start immediately trying to persuade jurors to spare Christensen’s life. Elisabeth Pollock, an attorney for Christensen, said her client was “someone who lost control … who battled these dark thoughts.” When she added, “We are here because the government wants to take his life,” the prosecution objected and Judge James Shadid stopped her. He told jurors they were not yet in the penalty phase of the trial and the only issue now was the defendant’s guilt or innocence. Prosecutor Eugene Miller told jurors that Christensen abducted a stranger who was “an object for him to fulfill his dark desire — to kill for the sake of killing.” Jurors heard evidence that Christensen boasted he killed 12 others before killing Zhang, starting when the Stevens Point, Wisconsin, native was 19 and still living in Wisconsin. He began his studies in Champaign at the university’s prestigious doctoral program in physics in 2013. His lawyers said he made the claim about being a serial killer when he was drunk and that it’s not true, but the FBI didn’t rule it out. Christensen lured Zhang into his car by posing as an undercover officer when she was running late to sign an apartment lease on June 9, 2017. The muscular Christensen forced the 5-foot-4 (162-cm-tall) Zhang into his apartment in Urbana, Champaign’s sister city 140 miles (225 km) southwest of Chicago, where he raped and killed her. Zhang was unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, prosecutors said, saying Christensen — who had fantasized about killing — determined to kill someone that day and had been cruising in his car looking for a victim. Earlier, again posing as an officer, he approached a different young woman, but she refused to get in the car. He and his girlfriend, Terra Bullis, attended a vigil for Zhang on June 29, during which Bullis wore an FBI wire recording him detail how he killed Zhang. As they left at night, she said she’d rather not call a ride-sharing service, telling him: “My version of safer is walking at night with a serial killer.” He responds: “Yeah. That’s me.” Christensen was arrested on June 30, his birthday. Jurors found Christensen guilty of kidnapping resulting in death, which carries a possible death sentence. Prosecutors are expected in the penalty phase to focus on Christensen’s brutally, with the defense broaching mental health issues. Christensen sought help from mental-health counselors at the school for homicidal and suicidal thoughts in the months before Zhang vanished, according to his lawyers, who said his life was spinning out of control. In his first few semesters as a doctoral student, Christensen was making straight As but by late 2016 was getting Fs in all his classes. The federal death penalty case is the first in Illinois since the state struck capital punishment from its books on the grounds that death penalty processes were too error-prone. Some Illinois anti-death penalty activists criticized what they said was the government’s imposition of a death penalty case on a nondeath penalty state.

china
murder
death penalty
serial killer
illinois
brendt christensen
yingying zhang


Census question might have discriminatory motive, says federal judge

Abstract: BALTIMORE - New evidence paints a “disturbing picture” that racial discrimination may be the motive behind the Trump administration’s push to ask everyone in the country about citizenship status, a federal judge wrote in a Monday filing. Last week, U.S. District Judge George Hazel of Maryland ruled there’s enough evidence to warrant reopening a case focused on whether a proposed 2020 census question violates minorities’ rights. In his court filing Monday, Hazel reasoned that new evidence “potentially connects the dots between a discriminatory purpose” and a decision by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to add the citizenship question. “It is becoming difficult to avoid seeing that which is increasingly clear. As more puzzle pieces are placed on the mat, a disturbing picture of the decisionmakers’ motives takes shape,” Hazel wrote. The U.S. Supreme Court could soon render Hazel’s decision moot. The country’s highest court is expected to decide this week whether the Trump administration can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. But the federal judge’s opinion appears to strongly buttress arguments from voting rights activists who assert that newly discovered emails from a deceased Republican architect of political maps show the proposed citizenship question was intended to discriminate in an effort to restrict the political power of Democrats and Latino communities. Democrats fear the citizenship question will reduce census participation in immigrant-heavy communities and result in a severe undercount of legitimate voters who fear revealing their immigration status to federal officials. They say they want specific documents to determine why Ross added the question to the 2020 census and contend the administration has declined to provide the documents despite repeated requests. Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, said in a memo last year that the Justice Department wants to ask the question to gather data to help identify majority-minority congressional districts, which the Voting Rights Act calls for when possible. But a recently discovered trove of computer documents from Republican operative Tom Hofeller, who died last year, included detailed calculations that lay out gains Republicans would see in Texas by basing legislative districts on the number of voting-age citizens rather than the total population. The late North Carolina redistricting expert said in the documents that GOP gains would be possible only if the census asked every household about its members’ immigration status for the first time since 1950. The documents were discovered when Hofeller’s estranged daughter found four external computer hard drives and 18 thumb drives in her father’s North Carolina home after his death last summer. In his written opinion, Hazel said the new evidence shows that Hofeller was “the first person” to talk to Mark Neuman, a Commerce Department transition official who played an “outsized role” advising Ross on census decisions, regarding the addition of a citizenship question. He references evidence found on Hofeller’s computer drives showing he contributed key wording to a Justice Department letter used to justify the question on the grounds that it was needed to protect minority voting rights. “Plaintiffs’ new evidence potentially connects the dots between a discriminatory purpose — diluting Hispanics’ political power — and Secretary Ross’s decision. The evidence suggests that Dr. Hofeller was motivated to recommend the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census to advantage Republicans,” the U.S. judge wrote. If the case gets remanded, Hazel wrote that he would reopen discovery for 45 days, order an evidentiary hearing and issue a “speedy ruling.” Hazel had ruled in April to block the addition of the citizenship question, but found at the time that the voting rights activists failed to prove their equal protection rights were violated. His ability to consider the case further based on the new evidence would depend on a federal appeals court returning it to him. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Hazel’s latest decision, but has previously denied that the new documents show any discriminatory intent. Justice Department lawyers have said the assertion that the proposed question is discriminatory and that Hofeller and others were pushing for it on that end “borders on frivolous.” Whether the citizenship question ends up on the 2020 Census is up to the Supreme Court. The nation’s top court is deciding whether it should be allowed after several states sued calling for the question to be removed.

u.s .
discrimination
democrats
donald trump
u.s. census
wilbur ross
tom hofeller


Driver charged with seven homicides in fiery crash with motorcycles

Abstract: CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE - The driver of a truck in a fiery collision on a rural New Hampshire highway that killed seven motorcyclists was charged Monday with seven counts of negligent homicide, and records show he was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving last month and in 2013. Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, was arrested Monday morning at his home in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on a fugitive from justice charge related to Friday’s crash, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said. He was expected to make a court appearance on the charge Monday afternoon in Springfield. Zhukovskyy was questioned at the scene of the crash and allowed to return to Massachusetts, the National Transportation Safety Board has said. The fugitive charge is standard for someone charged in a warrant in another state, Massachusetts State Police said. Records show that Zhukovskyy was arrested on drunken driving charges last month and in 2013. He was stopped by police in East Windsor, Connecticut, on May 11, state court records show. Details were not available; a message seeking comment was left for his lawyer in that case. Additionally, Zhukovskyy was arrested for drunken driving in 2013 in Westfield, Massachusetts, state motor vehicle records show. He was placed on probation for one year and had his license suspended for 210 days, The Westfield News reported. A man who answered the phone at the home of Zhukovskyy’s family and would identify himself only as his brother-in-law said Monday that the family is in shock and feeling the same pain as everyone else but couldn’t say whether the driver was right or wrong. Since the accident, the brother-in-law said, Zhukovskyy had remained in his room, not eaten and talked to no one. Zhukovskyy’s pickup truck, towing a flatbed trailer, collided with a group of 10 motorcycles Friday on a two-lane highway in the northern New Hampshire community of Randolph, investigators said. The truck was traveling west when it struck the eastbound group of motorcycles. The victims were members or supporters of the Marine JarHeads, a New England motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses, and ranged in age from 42 to 62. Four were from New Hampshire, two from Massachusetts and one from Rhode Island. George Loring, a JarHeads member who lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, and was a few hundred yards from the crash, said Zhukovskyy has “got to live with it for the rest of his life.” “Everyone’s suffering so much,” Loring said. “It’s so sad for the brothers and sisters who died. You can be angry at him, you can be whatever. I don’t know. I’m glad he’s been arrested.” Joseph Mazza, whose nephew, Albert Mazza Jr., was killed in the crash, welcomed the arrest but admitted it was a poor consolation for the loss of a loved one. “As long as he pays a price. He has caused lot of harm to a lot of families,” Mazza said from his Haverhill home. “If has a problem, he shouldn’t be on the road. If he is a bad actor, he doesn’t belong on the street. He caused enough of a tragedy. Enough is enough.” Authorities identified the dead as Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, New Hampshire; Mazza, 59, of Lee, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, 42, of Concord, New Hampshire; Aaron Perry, 45, of Farmington, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, 58, of Riverside, Rhode Island; and Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Massachusetts.

u.s .
ntsb
traffic accidents
drunken driving
new hampshire
marine jarheads
volodymyr zhukovskyy


Italian 'king of cocaine' mob boss Morabito flees Uruguayan prison

Abstract: MONTEVIDEO - Italian mafia boss Rocco Morabito has fled prison in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo, where he was awaiting extradition to Italy, the interior ministry announced Monday. Morabito and three other inmates “escaped through a hole in the roof of the building” late Sunday and robbed the occupants of a nearby farmhouse, the ministry said in a statement. The statement said the 52-year-old Morabito — a top ‘Ndrangheta figure arrested in Uruguay in 2017 after decades on the run — was awaiting extradition for “international drug trafficking. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini reacted angrily to the “disconcerting and serious” news. “I make two commitments, first to shed full light on how he escaped, asking for an immediate explanation from the Montevideo government. Then we will continue the hunt for Morabito, wherever he is.” Long-time fugitive Morabito — dubbed “the king of cocaine — was one of Italy’s most-wanted men when he was arrested in a downtown Montevideo hotel. His lawyer told reporters at the time he was staying there while looking for a new apartment after splitting from his wife. Registering for new accommodations would have helped expose Morabito, who had been on the run for 23 years. He had been living since 2004 in Punta del Este, a playground for South America’s rich about 90 minutes’ drive northeast of Montevideo. He eventually settled in a country estate with a Tuscan-style farmhouse some 40 km (25 miles) from Punta del Este. Officials said at the time that he had acquired Uruguayan residence after entering the country with a false Brazilian passport in the name of Francisco Capeletto. Morabito, a capo with the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, Italy’s most feared organized crime gang, was originally arrested on charges of falsifying identity papers, but has been awaiting extradition on the more serious charges since September 2017. The three other men who escaped with Morabito were awaiting extradition to Brazil and Argentina, including one on charges of homicide. Morabito arrived in trendy Milan from his hometown of Africo in Italy’s poor southern region of Calabria at the age of 23, and quickly carved out a reputation as the city’s “king of cocaine.” Nicknamed ‘U Tamunga’ in reference to a German military vehicle, the Dkw Munga, the young Morabito became a charismatic figure in Milan who frequented bars and parties, according to Italian press reports. He quickly came to the attention of Italian anti-Mafia investigators and they regularly tracked him delivering suitcases filled with millions of lira to Colombian drug traffickers in a Milan piazza. Police finally moved in on his birthday as he made what would be his last delivery, in October 1994, but the capo managed to escape. The following year he was sentenced in absentia to 28 years’ imprisonment for mafia association and drug trafficking. Later the sentence was extended to 30 years.

drugs
italy
organized crime
uruguay
mafia
'ndrangheta
rocco morabito


Ex-White House aide to answer written questions for Congress

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee said Monday that former White House aide Annie Donaldson won’t appear for a scheduled deposition because she is in her third trimester of pregnancy. The committee said she will instead answer written questions. Donaldson, a former aide to former White House Counsel Donald McGahn, appears frequently in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. She took frequent notes about what was happening in the White House as President Donald Trump reacted to the unfolding Russia probe. The committee had subpoenaed Donaldson to appear for a closed-door interview Monday as part of its investigation into obstruction of justice. Instead, the panel said Donaldson will appear in person after Nov. 1 and will provide written answers within a week of receiving them. The committee said that the White House, which has directed Donaldson not to turn over any documents from her time there, can “make any objections on a question-by-question basis as if Ms. Donaldson had appeared in person.” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said that the committee understands that Donaldson’s pregnancy makes travel and lengthy testimony difficult so they worked to find an accommodation. Donaldson is now working as a lawyer in Alabama. Still, Nadler said she is a key witness for the committee because she “had a front row seat to many of the instances outlined in the Mueller Report dealing with President Trump’s alleged obstruction of justice and other abuses of power.” Mueller wrote that he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice and examined multiple episodes in which the president sought to influence the Russia investigation. Separately, the report said there was not enough evidence to establish that there was a conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia. The Judiciary panel heard testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, another name mentioned frequently in the report, last week.

u.s .
congress
robert mueller
donald trump
don mcgahn
russia probe
jerrold nadler
annie donaldson


Pilot killed in Eurofighter collision over eastern Germany

Abstract: BERLIN - One pilot was killed and another was able to parachute to safety after two German Eurofighter jets collided over northeastern Germany on Monday. The jets were unarmed when they crashed over the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the German air force said. “Together with a third Eurofighter they were flying an air combat mission,” it said in a statement. “The pilot of the third Eurofighter observed the collision and reported that two parachutes descended to the ground.” One of the pilots was found alive in the crown of a tree shortly after the crash, according to Ostseewelle radio. The armed forces said he was now receiving medical attention. The other was found dead, it said. The battalion based at Laage air force base, near Rostock, from which the aircraft took off, is tasked with training all pilots of Germany’s 140 Eurofighters. Ostseewelle radio, which first reported the crash, posted a video sent in by a listener which it said showed two plumes of smoke rising from separate crash sites some distance apart. It described a field of debris around the area of the crash, which it said had ignited a small forest fire. No details were immediately available on the circumstances of the crash. Some 400 Eurofighters — made by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, are in service with militaries around the world.


After Istanbul loss, Turkey's Erdogan vows to listen to people's 'messages'

Abstract: ANKARA - In his first public appearance since his party’s crushing defeat in a rerun election for mayor of Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed to draw lessons and make adjustments in line with “the messages given by the people.” Addressing legislators from his ruling party in Parliament, Erdogan again congratulated opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu who garnered 54.21% of the vote in Istanbul on Sunday to become Istanbul’s mayor. Erdogan had previously congratulated Imamoglu in a tweet. Sunday’s results came as a rare electoral defeat for Erdogan and broke the Islamic-leaning ruling party’s decades-old grip on Turkey’s most important city. It was also a personal blow to Erdogan whose rise in Turkish politics had started with his own election as Istanbul mayor 25 years ago. “In line with our political understanding, we cannot be angry or hold a grudge or blame the people,” Erdogan told his party’s legislators. “We don’t have the luxury of turning a deaf ear and ignoring the messages given by the people,” He said his ruling party, which is scheduled to meet later Tuesday, would determine its “failings, disunity and errors” and look for ways to fix them. In a related development, Erdogan in his speech marked the anniversary of last year’s electoral win that also ushered in a new political system that abolished the office of the prime minister and vastly expanded the powers of the president. Critics say the system has eroded democracy and paved the way to one-man rule. Erdogan said the people and country had “accepted” and “adjusted” to the new system but stated that a committee lead by Vice President Fuat Oktay would nevertheless be formed to assess possible shortcomings. Hours later, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who leads the main opposition party that backed Imamoglu, called for the new presidential system to be scrapped. “Let’s lift this one-man regime and build a democratic system,” Kilicdaroglu said in a speech in Parliament. Speaking to journalists on his way out of Parliament, Erdogan wouldn’t rule out a Cabinet reshuffle following Sunday’s defeat. “If one is needed we will do it, but we won’t take an order,” Erdogan said. Sunday’s repeat election in Istanbul was held after the ruling party challenged the first vote over alleged irregularities, and Turkey’s electoral board nullified the results and revoked Imamoglu’s mandate after 18 days. Imamoglu won by around 800,000 votes more than his rival, compared with a 13,000-vote margin in the first vote. The win electrified the secular party that has been spent nearly two decades in lackluster opposition as Erdogan strengthened his hold on power. The opposition also gained hold of the municipality of the capital, Ankara, in the March 31 local elections.

elections
turkey
istanbul
recep tayyip erdogan


Iran says U.S. sanctions on supreme leader close diplomatic path 'forever'

Abstract: TEHRAN - Iran said the path to a diplomatic solution with the U.S. had closed after the Trump administration imposed sanctions against its supreme leader and other top officials, ramping up tensions further in the Middle East. President Donald Trump on Monday slapped sanctions on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and eight senior military commanders, that deny him and his office access to financial resources. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said financial restrictions will be imposed on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later this week. “The futile sanctions against the Iranian leader and the country’s chief diplomat mean the permanent closure of the diplomatic path with the government of the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency. “The Trump government is in the process of destroying all the established international mechanisms for the maintaining (of) global peace and security.” Treasury futures pushed higher and most Asian stock markets slipped as increasing tensions rattled investors. Trump last week abruptly canceled planned airstrikes against Iran for shooting down a U.S. Navy drone, and the administration also blames Tehran for recent attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf — a strike Iran has denied. “The supreme leader of Iran is the one who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime,” Trump said Monday. The penalties will not have a significant impact on a country that is already in recession and facing heavy sanctions from the U.S. Still, the new restrictions serve as a symbolic reprimand for the attacks, according to former Treasury officials. “It will have an effect because it will annoy the Iranians and make negotiations hard to pull off if the supreme leader is sanctioned,” said Brian O’Toole, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who previously worked in the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions unit. The U.S. already has sanctioned more than 80 percent of Iran’s economy, according to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to rally a front against Iran. Trump has coupled his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions with invitations to sit down with Iranian leaders. In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the president said that he thinks Iranian leaders want to negotiate and he is willing to talk with no preconditions except that the outcome must be Iran acquiring no nuclear weapons. At the United Nations on Monday, Iranian Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi ruled out one-on-one talks with the U.S., urging Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to help organize regional talks instead. “You cannot start dialogue with someone who is threatening you, who is intimidating you,” Ravanchi told reporters. Outside a session of the Security Council called by the U.S. — where Iran was not invited to participate — U.K. Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters that “there’s a lot of desire to see de-escalation and to look for diplomatic solutions. At the same time, one has to take very seriously the sorts of attacks that have occurred on the tankers, which is dangerous for international shipping, dangerous for regional security.” Reflecting the same ambivalence, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said “maximum pressure only makes sense with maximum diplomacy.” Khamenei, who was initially elected president of the nascent republic in 1981, has “possessions” valued at an estimated at $200 billion, according to a Facebook post by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in April. He’s backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and has survived an assassination attempt and front-line combat. The U.S. Treasury Department said Monday those sanctioned also include eight officials of the Guard Corps who supervised “malicious regional activities,” including its ballistic missile program and “harassment and sabotage” of commercial ships in international waters. Mnuchin said at a news conference in Washington that some of the sanctions had been “in the works” and others were a result of “recent activities.” He said sanctions against the Islamic republic have been effective in cutting off funds to the military and “locking up” the Iranian economy, and that the new penalties will be effective as well. Mnuchin said the U.S. will impose financial restrictions on Zarif “later this week.” Typically, the U.S. doesn’t announce sanctions in advance against individuals so they don’t hide assets before penalties take effect. Zarif, viewed as Iran’s most skilled diplomat, was lead negotiator in the multiparty nuclear accord reached in 2015 under the Obama administration that Trump has since rejected. “A lot of restraint has been shown by us, a lot of restraint,” Trump told reporters Monday. “And that doesn’t mean we are going to show it in the future, but I thought that we want to give this a chance.” Any financial institution that knowingly assists with a financial transaction for those who were sanctioned could be cut off from the U.S. financial system, according to the Treasury. Even before the new penalties were announced, the U.S. had applied sanctions to almost 1,000 Iranian entities, including banks, individuals, ships and aircraft. In May, the Trump administration prohibited the purchase of Iranian iron, steel, aluminum and copper. Tensions have spiked in the Gulf since May, when the Trump administration revoked waivers on the import of Iranian oil, squeezing its economy a year after the U.S. walked away from the landmark 2015 deal meant to prevent the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon. Since then, a spate of attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz shipping choke point have raised the specter of war and pushed up oil prices. On Monday, Trump questioned in comments on Twitter why the U.S. is protecting the shipping route on behalf of other countries. Hours later, a State Department official said the U.S. was seeking allies to join in a “Sentinel” program to deter Iran by equipping ships with cameras to monitor tanker traffic and document any threats. That would stop well short of the “tanker wars” of the 1980s when the U.S. re-registered Kuwaiti ships under the U.S. flag and gave them armed escorts.

u.s .
saudi arabia
drones
iran
sanctions
ayatollah ali khamenei


Leaked vetting documents show 'red flags' of Trump picks, including links to Russia and white supremacists

Abstract: WASHINGTON - One nominee was flagged for his relationship with Russia, another for his alleged ties to white supremacist groups, and several others for criticizing Donald Trump before he became U.S. president. These are the revelations from a trove of vetting documents published by news site Axios on Sunday that examine the backgrounds of people considered for, and whom in some cases received, appointments to Trump’s administration after his 2017 inauguration. The documents show that the Trump administration was well aware of allegations of inappropriate relationships that dogged some of his initial Cabinet members, many of whom have since resigned or been forced out. Energy executive Rex Tillerson’s relationship with Russia was said to “go deep,” but he was nonetheless made secretary of state, a position he held until Trump fired him last year. And the administration was well aware of the “allegations of coziness with big energy companies” surrounding former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, but Trump still named him chief of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt resigned last July following a series of ethics scandals. Axios did not publish the dossiers in full but described them as “political vetting forms” that were standard for top White House officials. The trove also includes the dossiers of a host of people who didn’t get the jobs they were considered for but nonetheless stayed close to Trump. A document on the “foreign entanglements” of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, compiled as part of his vetting for secretary of state, ran 25 pages. He didn’t get the job, but is now Trump’s personal lawyer. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach had “white supremacy” flagged as a vulnerability when he was being vetted for homeland security chief based on allegations from political opponents. Trump didn’t end up nominating him for that job but later tasked Kobach with investigating alleged voter fraud. While he’s well-known for hitting back at his critics, the documents show that Trump also hired people who had previously made critical comments about him. Mick Mulvaney once called Trump “not a very good person,” but today he is the White House’s chief of staff.

u.s .
russia
white house
donald trump
white supremacists
scott pruitt
rex tillerson
kris kobach
axios


Boris Johnson pledges Brexit in October, with or without deal

Abstract: LONDON - Boris Johnson, the favourite to become the next British prime minister, promised on Monday to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a deal. “My pledge is to come out of the EU at Halloween on 31 October,” Johnson said in an interview with BBC News. “And the way to get our friends and partners to understand how serious we are is finally, I’m afraid, to abandon the defeatism and negativity that has enfolded us in a great cloud for so long and to prepare confidently and seriously for a WTO or no-deal outcome.”


Candidate Bernie Sanders calls for canceling $1.6 trillion in student loan debt

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders proposed a plan on Monday to cancel $1.6 trillion in student loans and pay for it with a tax on Wall Street, elevating the issue in the 2020 debate and going beyond proposals from his Democratic White House rivals. Sanders, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont, said his plan would wipe out college debt for 45 million Americans and be funded with a tax on stock, bond and derivatives transactions that would raise about $2.2 trillion over 10 years. The proposal builds on Sanders’ longstanding call to make public universities and colleges tuition-free, an issue he has highlighted since his first presidential run in 2016. He said student loan debt was economically crippling young Americans. “This proposal completely eliminates student debt in this country and ends the absurdity of sentencing an entire generation, the millennial generation, to a lifetime of debt,” Sanders said at the unveiling of his U.S. Senate bill. “The American people bailed out Wall Street. Now, it is time for Wall Street to come to the aid of the middle class of this country,” he said. Other liberal Democrats, including presidential rivals Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro, have taken up the call and proposed smaller student-debt cancellation plans. Warren has proposed canceling $50,000 in student loan debt for anyone with annual household income under $100,000 and give substantial cancellation to those between $100,000 and $250,000. She proposed paying for the plan with a tax on wealthy families. The Sanders proposal comes two days before the first debates involving candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the right to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in November 2020. Ten candidates each will meet in back-to-back debates on Wednesday and Thursday nights in Miami. Sanders appeared at a news conference with U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal, who joined him in proposing the legislation.

congress
taxes
universities
wall street
democrats
elizabeth warren
bernie sanders
donald trump
2020 u.s. presidential election
student debt


Boris Johnson breaks cover in U.K. leadership race after accusations he has been ducking scrutiny

Abstract: LONDON - Boris Johnson broke cover Tuesday after accusations of ducking scrutiny in his bid to become Britain’s next prime minister, defending his Brexit strategy but saying it would be “unfair” to discuss his private life. The frontrunner to replace Prime Minister Theresa May gave a series of broadcast interviews and arranged several campaign events, after his rival Jeremy Hunt had urged him not to be a “coward” by shunning media appearances. It came as the ruling Conservatives set the date to announce the winner of the race to become party leader — and therefore prime minister — as July 23. Just 160,000 party members will decide between current Foreign Minister Hunt and his predecessor, Johnson, in the ballot, which was triggered by May’s resignation as her bid to steer Britain out of the European Union collapsed. Johnson is known for his big personality but has been keeping a low profile during the campaign, in what appears to be a bid by his team to stop him from making any major gaffes. But since a story broke last week about a noisy row with his girlfriend that prompted a police visit, but no further action, he has come under increasing pressure to break his silence. He told the BBC late Monday that he had never spoken about his loved ones in public because “if you do, you drag them into things that … in a way that is not fair on them.” However, in a radio interview on Tuesday, he refused to explain how a photo of him and his girlfriend holding hands in a countryside setting made its way to the newspapers. Johnson has also faced repeated demands to clarify his position on how Britain would leave the European Union, the biggest challenge facing the country’s next leader. He has promised to deliver Brexit on the latest delayed deadline of Oct. 31 — telling TalkRadio it would happen “do or die, come what may.” But he acknowledged that he would need the cooperation of Brussels to cushion any economic disruption, telling LBC radio: “There has to be agreement on both sides.” Businesses fear leaving Britain’s closest trading partner with no new arrangements would be catastrophic. Around a dozen Conservative MPs are also said to be ready to bring down a Johnson government to stop this “no deal” scenario. Johnson and Hunt were selected from a wide field of candidates by Conservative MPs. Both men are taking part in 16 party meetings around Britain, and although one TV debate was canceled Tuesday after Johnson refused to take part, another is planned for July 9. Hunt, who took over as foreign minister when Johnson quit last year, is the underdog and as such has taken every opportunity to give interviews and pose for photos. On Brexit, Hunt too has said he is willing to accept a “no deal” departure, but says he is prepared to delay Brexit to get an agreement. Both men are hoping to renegotiate the divorce deal May struck with the EU last year, which Parliament has repeatedly rejected — even through Brussels says this is not possible. Johnson said he wanted to keep “the best bits,” which protect the rights of EU expats and set up a post-Brexit transition period. He suggested trade terms stay the same until a new free trade agreement could be struck, with Britain withholding its £39 billion ($50 billion) share of EU liabilities until this is done. Johnson says he would prepare to take Britain out of the EU anyway if Brussels will not agree. However, the EU has repeatedly said it will not sign any deal that does not include the “backstop” plan to keep open the border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. This would keep Britain in the EU’s customs union and require Northern Ireland to follow other rules set by the bloc until another way was found to avoid border checks. Johnson said “technical fixes” could provide a way of verifying the origin and compliance of goods without physical frontier checks, but admitted there was “no single magic bullet.” In the LBC interview, Johnson also strongly denied claims by former U.S. President Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon that the pair had worked together, saying it was “codswallop.”


'Back to square one': Sudan's military sidesteps Ethiopian proposal for civilian rule

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Sudan’s military rulers refused to agree on Monday to the Ethiopian proposal for a power-sharing agreement with the country’s pro-democracy movement, a top general said, in comments that could worsen a volatile standoff with the protesters. Ethiopia has led diplomatic efforts to bring the military and protest leaders back to the negotiating table, after a deadly crackdown by security forces killed at least 128 people across the country earlier this month, according to protest organizers. Sudanese authorities offered a lower toll of 61 deaths. Protest leaders, represented by the coalition Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, had accepted the Ethiopian initiative the day before. It centered on forming a transitional government — a “sovereign council” — with a civilian majority to rule Sudan, over two months after the protesters forced the military to remove the autocrat Omar al-Bashir from power. But on Monday, the powerful deputy head of the military council, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said the mission of the Ethiopian envoy, Mahmoud Dirir, was to pave the way for resuming talks with the FDFC, “not to offer proposals for solutions.” “The mission of the Ethiopian mediator was limited to prepare the parties for negotiations. We did not agree on shares in the sovereign council. We do not accept prescriptions,” he said. Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, said the ruling military council did not oppose civilian participation in the future sovereign council — or that the FDFC might form the government. He added that the transitional legislative body “should be (formed) through elections.” He also said the military council decided to release all detained rebels, to pave the way for peace talks with rebel groups in the provinces. Dagalo is the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias. The RSF led a violent campaign against insurgents in Darfur — and now stands accused of involvement in protester deaths in Sudan’s main cities. In a press conference on Sunday, the military council had said the previous deals with the protest leaders were invalid, given the changes on the ground in Sudan since talks collapsed in May. A spokesman for the council, Gen. Shams Eddin Kabashi, said: “The circumstances in which we reached such understandings … are not the same.” Previously, both sides had agreed on an interim legislative body and Cabinet formed by the protesters. They had still not reached agreement on the extent of the military’s role in the planned sovereign council, which would guide the nation throughout the three-year transition period, when security forces launched the deadly clampdown on June 3. The movement has since tried different tactics — including a short-lived nationwide strike, and nighttime marches to keep up pressure on the military. Ismail al-Tag, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which is a member of the FDFC, called on Monday for marches next week demanding the handover of power to civilians. The demonstrations are planned to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamist-backed coup that brought al-Bashir’s to power in 1989 — and toppled Sudan’s last elected government. Meanwhile on Monday, police forces used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in Khartoum. The clashes broke out in the district of Buri — a stronghold of the protest movement. Demonstrators hurled stones at police before fleeing inside the National Ribat University campus. An Associated Press photographer saw officers arresting a number of people, before taking them blindfolded into police trucks. The FDFC had called on Sunday for trust-building measures from the military before resuming talks. These included a demand for an independent investigation into the violence on June 3. It had also demanded that the military-backed authorities restore the country’s severed internet services. On Monday, the United Nations human rights chief said the military council had not responded to a request for cooperation with its office for investigating alleged human rights crimes, including the rape and sexual abuse of both women and men, in the deaths of protesters. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also urged authorities to “immediately” restore internet connections. Amany el-Taweel, head of the African program at al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Egypt, said the military canceling previous deals with the protest leaders boded badly for the situation in Sudan. “We are back to square one,” she said. She said the military had been exploiting time, as the number of the street protests has fallen.

sudan
ethiopia
omar al-bashir
mohammed hamdan dagalo