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Saturday, 28 December 2019

Russia Has Reclassified The Tu-22 As A Heavy Bomber (And They Are Heavily Armed)

What does this mean for the New START treaty?

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Norwegian woman told to leave India after joining citizenship law protest

A Norwegian woman on holiday in India's southern state of Kerala has been told to leave the country after she joined a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new citizenship law, authorities said on Friday.

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U.S. appeals court voids 'shockingly low' 17-year sentence in NY terrorism case

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Fareed Mumuni's trial judge abused her discretion in imposing a term that was 80% below the 85 years recommended by federal guidelines, and even below the 18-year term for co-defendant Munther Omar Saleh, who was not accused of attempted murder. In a 2-1 decision, the court said U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie improperly second-guessed whether Mumuni, 25, intended to kill FBI Special Agent Kevin Coughlin in June 2015 by stabbing him repeatedly with an 8-inch kitchen knife in Mumuni's home.

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The lawyer who shaped Boeing's response to the 737 Max crisis announced his retirement just 3 days after CEO Dennis Muilenburg was fired

Boeing's handling of legal elements of the 737 Max crisis has been subject to sharp criticism, including from Congress.

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2 passengers say they were sexually assaulted during their flights. They're suing the airline for allegedly ignoring their reports.

One woman alleged in the lawsuit that she immediately notified a flight attendant when she was assaulted, but she was not allowed to switch seats.

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Japan’s Longest Serving Premier Faces 2020 Hobbled by Scandals

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads into 2020 hampered by scandals that have dragged his support to levels not seen in a year and tarnished his record as the country’s longest-serving premier.The latest poll by the Asahi newspaper found 38% of respondents surveyed Dec. 21-22 said they supported Abe, down for the third straight month and sagging below 40% for the first time in more than a year.Abe, 65, has a built a record of deflecting such problems since he took office for the second time seven years ago. He bounced back from allegations of cronyism in 2017 and 2018. The combination of an opposition in disarray along with a perceived lack of alternative leaders may enable him to do the same again.The allegations of corruption could, however, weigh on the chances that he will stay on for a fourth straight term as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or make progress toward his goal of revising Japan’s pacifist constitution.Abe’s term as LDP leader ends in less than two years and several recent polls have found the most popular candidate to succeed him is Shigeru Ishiba, a former defense minister who has criticized the Abe administration since leaving the cabinet in 2016.Here are some of the problems Abe is facing:1\. Cherry blossom bluesOpposition lawmakers raised questions over whether Abe rewarded constituency supporters with invitations to a publicly funded cherry blossom-viewing party. The scandal has deepened with accusations that an organized crime figure was also among the guests and the Abe government was covering up its involvement in deciding who could attend the party.The most recent cherry blossom event in April attracted about 18,000 people, and pictures on the website of the prime minister’s office show a smiling Abe posing with celebrities, some of them dressed in colorful kimonos. Abe’s government has said it won’t hold the event next year, breaking an almost 70-year run.Attempts to unearth evidence about the party have met with little success -- the government says the guest list happened to have been shredded an hour after an opposition lawmaker submitted an application to see it in May. A hotel gathering for Abe’s supporters held the night before the main party has also come under scrutiny.Polls show 70% or more of respondents say they are not satisfied with Abe’s explanation about the parties.Upshot: Unless further information emerges, the worst may be over for Abe in this scandal.2\. Casino bribery caseA ruling party lawmaker was arrested this week on suspicion of receiving bribes from a Chinese company seeking to invest in the casino industry. The first arrest of a sitting lawmaker in nearly a decade doesn’t look good for Abe but the damage may be limited since he hasn’t staked a great deal of his political capital on promoting casinos.Upshot: The scandal will deal a blow to already unpopular plans to allow the first gambling resorts to be established in Japan. The casinos are intended to help the country meet its target of welcoming 60 million tourists a year by 2030.3\. Cabinet and business corruptionThe chief executive of the partly government-owned Japan Post Holdings and two other executives are set to resign on Friday over an insurance sales scam, according to broadcaster JNN. The scandal undermined trust in the group and is likely to force a delay to the sale of the last tranche of the government’s holdings.An October payoff scandal involving Kansai Electric Power Co. clouded the prospects for planned nuclear re-starts. The resignations of two ministers in October over suspected illicit payments also hurt the image of Abe’s cabinet. A Kyodo News poll last month indicated the public is less willing than before to accept his plans to change the constitution, and more than 60% said Abe should not stay on for another term.Upshot: A raft of other recent scandals is set to sway government policy, as Abe enters what could be a lame duck period.To contact the reporter on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Muneeza NaqviFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Thousands protest in rival demonstrations over new India law

Thousands protested in rival demonstrations in India Friday as tensions deepen over a citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, with authorities deploying huge numbers of riot police in the country. Twenty-seven people have died in two weeks of at times violent demonstrations after Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government made it easier for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to be naturalised. Coupled with a mooted citizens register, it has stoked fears -- including in Washington and the UN rights office -- about the marginalisation of Muslims who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people.