Venezuela Goes Dark in Worst Blackout in DECADES

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Venezuela entered its fourth day of blackouts in an “electricity crisis” that plunged most of the country’s 23 states, including the state home to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, into complete darkness.

Reuters reports that international non-governmental organizations estimate that at least 17 people have died, nine of whom were waiting for emergency medical attention. Reuters was not able to independently verify the numbers, but they are being tabulated by the non-partisan NGO, Doctors For Health, which has been treating patients in Venezuela.

“The outage is by far the longest in decades. In 2013, Caracas and 17 of the country’s 23 states were hit by a six-hour blackout, while in 2018 eight states suffered a 10-hour power outage, government officials said at the time,” Reuters reported Sunday. Six of the country’s 23 states have no power at all.

Bloomberg reports that the outage began when a transformer exploded at the Guri Dam, one of the nation’s most important hydroelectric plants. The government says the explosion was “sabotage,” but it’s not immediately clear what caused the system to collapse. One government official blamed the problem on eroding infrastructure. . .

Hospitals can’t even use emergency generators because of Venezuela’s ongoing fuel shortage. Without gasoline to power the generators, the country is reliant on the grid system to deliver power, even in emergency situations. (Read more from “Venezuela Goes Dark in Worst Blackout in DECADES” HERE)

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Flight Crashes Killing 157, Including 8 Americans

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An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff in Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board, including at least eight Americans, according to the Associated Press and other news agencies on the ground in Africa.

Reuters reports that all 149 passengers and eight crew members died aboard the flight, which crashed less than 50 miles (and less than ten minutes) into its planned journey. Eight Americans are among th dead, but Ethiopian state broadcasters listed “Kenyan, Ethiopian, American, Canadian, French, Chinese, Egyptian, Swedish, British, Dutch, Indian, Slovakian, Austrian, Swedish, Russian, Moroccan, Spanish, Polish, and Israeli citizens” among the victims.

Many of the passengers were part of a United Nations delegation, including four members of the U.N.’s World Food Program, headed to an environmental conference in Kenya, also according to Reuters.

The Ethiopian prime minister offered condolences to the friends and family of those who perished in the flight, the Associated Press reports; the airline — Africa’s largest — says that it is still engaged in a search and rescue operation, but that they have found no survivors.

“Tewolde Gebremariam, who is at the accident scene now, regrets to confirm that there are no survivors. He expresses his profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident,” read a post on Ethiopian Airline’s social media accounts mid-day on Sunday. (Read more from “Flight Crashes Killing 157, Including 8 Americans” HERE)

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Japanese Woman Honored by Guinness as Oldest Person

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A 116-year-old Japanese woman who loves playing the board game Othello was honored Saturday as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records.

The global authority on records officially recognized Kane Tanaka in a ceremony at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka, in Japan’s southwest. Her family and the mayor were present to celebrate.

Tanaka was born Jan. 2, 1903, the seventh among eight children. She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922, and they had four children and adopted another child. . .

Japanese tend to exhibit longevity and dominate the oldest-person list. Although changing dietary habits mean obesity has been rising, it’s still relatively rare in a nation whose culinary tradition focuses on fish, rice, vegetables and other food low in fat. Age is also traditionally respected here, meaning people stay active and feel useful into their 80s and beyond.

But Tanaka has a ways to go before she is the oldest person ever, an achievement of a French woman, Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived to 122 years, according to Guinness World Records. (Read more from “Japanese Woman Honored by Guinness as Oldest Person” HERE)

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Ending U.S. War Games With South Korea Will Help Prevent War

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“The reason I do not want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed,” President Trump tweeted Sunday of his administration’s decision to end large-scale war games with South Korean forces. “Also,” Trump added, “reducing tensions with North Korea at this time is a good thing!” In a follow-up tweet Monday, he redoubled the argument from thrift, insisting the move was not discussed during his recent second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and that anyone saying otherwise is “FAKE NEWS.”

The savings here are not inconsequential—the Pentagon estimates the two annual exercises in question cost about $14 million each—but are easily overshadowed by the more than $800 million the Defense Department spends annually to station U.S. troops in South Korea, to say nothing of the Pentagon’s $700 billion annual budget. But for all Trump downplayed it, the strategic rationale here is more important than the money: It is good to reduce tensions with North Korea, and ending these drills is a positive step toward that end.

That’s why this move comes with South Korean support—indeed, at Seoul’s request. It should be one piece of a broader strategy of Korean-led diplomacy which prioritizes concrete shifts toward peace and normalcy over creation of a tidy but unrealistic denuclearization deal.

This requires a sharp shift away from the rut in which U.S.-North Korean relations have floundered across multiple decades and presidencies. It rejects conceptualizing the United States as the “indispensable nation,” to borrow the Clinton administration’s infamous phrase, and hands the diplomatic reins to our South Korean partners. While Trump’s latest meeting with Kim seems to have done little to move negotiations along, ongoing conversations between Seoul and Pyongyang have racked up a steady stream of small but significant wins over the last year.

Guiding talks with North Korea is a task to which South Korea is uniquely suited in terms of cultural and physical proximity alike. The obscene destruction South Korea would suffer should war break out—far more serious than anything Kim could hope to inflict on the United States—necessitates an invaluable prudence and patience in Seoul’s negotiating which Washington seems incapable of reproducing. (Read more from “Ending U.S. War Games With South Korea Will Help Prevent War” HERE)

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Miami Reporter Missing in Politically Collapsed Venezuela

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WPLG Local 10 News in Miami, Florida lost their contributor in Venezuela Wednesday.

Cody Weddle’s sister, Kelsey McMahan, told Bristol Herald Courier that she believes the country’s authorities arrested him at 8 a.m. that morning after raiding his home in Caracas. Their mother, Sherry Weddle, said that the U.S. Embassy contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but have yet to hear back. She last contacted her son Tuesday on Facebook messenger.

“[I heard from him at] maybe about 6 or 7 yesterday evening and yesterday morning about 10,” Sherry Weddle told CNN. “I asked him how he was doing. He said he was fine and wanted to know how I was.” . . .

Weddle lived in Venezuela since June 2014, covering the economic turmoil, political struggle and humanitarian crisis in the area. One of his recent articles detailed the growing deadlock between political opposition leader Juan Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro as the National Assembly brought in a new board of directors for their oil sector. The new faces of the board consist of people who will give the opposition side more say in Venezuela’s government. . .

“We are working through various channels to get as much information as we can and to see that Cody is released.” said WPLG President & CEO E. R. Bert Medina. “Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers here in South Florida. The arrest of a journalist doing his job is outrageous and unacceptable.” (Read more from “Miami Reporter Missing in Politically Collapsed Venezuela” HERE)

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CRISPR Babies: The Chinese Government May Have Known More Than It Let On

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When scientist He Jiankui announced he’d conducted an experiment that led to the birth of twin girls with CRISPR-edited genomes in November, the international scientific community swiftly condemned him. In the uproar that followed, the Chinese government, He’s university, and the hospital where the babies were born distanced themselves from the researcher, who claimed he was the first scientist known to use CRISPR to edit human embryos resulting in a live birth — and that a third CRISPR baby was on the way.

But there were also glaring inconsistencies in the official version of events. As the Washington Post reported, a hospital executive appeared on camera in an Associated Press video applauding He’s work, which seemed strange given that the hospital later denounced him. And an informed consent form He used stated that his university funded the experiment. . .

Shortly after He announced his experiment, China’s National Health Commission ordered an investigation of He’s research. In January, an initial government report found that He “seriously violated” state laws in pursuit of “personal fame and fortune.” His university, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, fired him and said his experiment was done “outside of the school.” . . .

Overall, He has been painted in the media — including in China — as a rogue actor and bad apple, tinkering quietly in a lab while smashing through norms and local laws to feed his ego. He also claimed that he privately funded the work while on unpaid leave from his job as a professor.

But according to a slide presentation, the clinical trials registry, and patient consent forms obtained by journalist Jane Qiu for Stat, three Chinese government institutions were listed as the funders of He’s experiment: the Ministry of Science and Technology (the nation’s federal science agency), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, and Southern University of Science and Technology, where He was a professor. (Read more from “CRISPR Babies: The Chinese Government May Have Known More Than It Let On” HERE)

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Soros Money Used to Promote Movement Against Israel

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Money tied to George Soros, a liberal billionaire who uses his wealth to support a number of Democratic and progressive causes, funded the creation of a database that singles out business investment in Israel.

The EIRIS Foundation, a charity organization that focuses on investment research, received donations totaling nearly $300,000 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations to build a “Business in Occupied Lands” database, according to financial reports from the U.K. Charity Commission between 2015 to 2017.

The database is advertised as a way to help companies practice better corporate social responsibility, i.e., ethical business investing. However, the information from the database only focuses on two areas: Crimea and Israel, which the EIRIS Foundation simply refers to as “Palestine.” Despite claiming the Business in Occupied Lands project to be an “objective” collection of information on corporate operations in Israel, the EIRIS Foundation frames the region as “illegally administered.”

While a growing number of companies across the world are implementing corporate social responsibility into their business practices in an effort to promote justice, experts point out that more partisan-driven actors have weaponized corporate social responsibility to reach political goals. Namely, it has been used to boost the BDS movement, a global campaign that seeks the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” of Israel and Israeli-linked businesses.

“In addition to being promoted by groups affiliated with the BDS movement, elements of the Foreign Boycott Campaign have recently been adopted by [corporate social responsibility] advisors and companies that employ CSR programs. As a result, the Foreign Boycott Campaign represents the intersection of several strains of discrimination with CSR,” Marc Greedorfer writes in an upcoming law review article. (Read more from “Soros Money Used to Promote Movement Against Israel” HERE)

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Trudeau in TROUBLE: Canadian Prime Minister Is Facing a Political Crisis

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According to the BBC, Trudeau is facing claims that he exerted intense political pressure on Canada’s female, indigenous attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to “abandon prosecution” of Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, a “corrupt company” with alleged ties to Trudeau and some of his closet political pals. When Wilson-Raybould refused to call off an investigation (and subsequent prosecution) into SNC-Lavalin over fraud and corruption charges, the story goes, Trudeau fired her.

For some time, the story remained uncorroborated — a mere rumor that circulated around Canada’s government officials. But last week, Wilson-Raybould testified in front of Parliament, telling her story in “meticulous detail,” according to Canadian reporter Ezra Levant, parsing out “how Trudeau and his staff tried to get her to drop criminal charges against a corrupt company that he liked.”

“[Wilson-Raybould] refused to bend the law for Trudeau’s cronies. But they didn’t stop. Trudeau; his chief of staff; his principal secretary; even the finance minister. They met her ten times, phoned her ten more. trying to get the charges dropped. She wouldn’t. So Trudeau fired her as A-G,” Levant tweeted in a short “primer” for American audiences — an account substantiated by The Washington Post. Trudeau eventually appointed Wilson-Raybould to a lesser position, handling veteran’s affairs.

Because Wilson-Raybould was silenced by attorney-client privilege, only Trudeau was able to speak fully on the matter, according to Levant’s account, but after weeks of pressure, and several high-profile departures from Trudeau’s inner circle, Wilson-Raybould was invited to testify in front of Parliament, and Trudeau waived privilege.

The result was a bombshell testimony that appears to implicate Trudeau in a major political scandal. (Read more from “Trudeau in TROUBLE: Canadian Prime Minister Is Facing a Political Crisis” HERE)

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Israeli Prime Minister to Be Indicted

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By Daily Wire. On Thursday, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that his office would be formally indicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on one count of bribery and two counts of fraud and breach of trust. The indictments pertain to three different cases that spanned two years of investigations.

The timing of the indictments gives off the perception of potential political motivation — Israel will hold national elections on April 9, and Netanyahu is currently triangulating an episode of turmoil and pushback that has followed his controversial decision to welcome fringe party Otzma Yehudit into his possible Right-of-center governing coalition. (Read more from “Israeli Prime Minister to Be Indicted” HERE)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Be Indicted on Bribery, Fraud and Breach of Trust, Pending Hearing

By Fox News. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be indicted on corruption charges, the country’s attorney general said Thursday, just weeks before the country goes to the polls.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said the charges of one count of bribery and two counts of fraud and breach of trust relate to three different cases, and came after two years of investigation.

The indictments are subject to a hearing, and marks the first time in Israeli history that a sitting prime minister has been charged with a crime. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert served time in prison for corruption, but had already resigned by the time he was charged.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and calls the various allegations a media-orchestrated witch hunt aimed at removing him from office. He has vowed to carry on and is deadlocked in the polls ahead of national elections on April 9.

“The Left is on a hunting spree against me,” Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that the accusations are a political ploy because “they know they can’t defeat me at the ballot.” (Read more from “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Be Indicted on Bribery, Fraud and Breach of Trust, Pending Hearing” HERE)

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After Trump’s Walkout, What Comes Next in the U.S.-North Korea Nuclear Negotiations?

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There was no grand bargain in Hanoi between President Trump and Kim Jong-un at the second summit between the two leaders. After meeting and taking some questions from reporters in which both were optimistic (Trump was more guarded about what would be accomplished at this summit), they didn’t even go through with a planned lunch. While disappointing for some hoping for concessions from Trump and Kim that would yield at the minimum “confidence building” measures, the news of a no-deal outcome came to me as a relief. Here’s why. . .

President Trump has already been over-the-top generous towards Kim and owes him exactly nothing. The first summit in Singapore was a PR victory for Kim, who is known internationally for what he is: a cruel, ruthless dictator who sits atop a strange (though don’t confuse it for irrational) brand of Communist authoritarianism and deserves global isolation. The state’s official ideology is juche, which infuses racism and dynastic rule and has Communist influence. It’s dangerous and still deserves global isolation.

But Trump, committed to decreasing the hostility of the two countries in the hopes of making progress on the issue peacefully, has taken an unprecedented approach: give Kim the flattery and photo opps not as a reward for disarmament, but instead as an inducement for more. Trump is trying to get the young Kim drunk on praise and fame with the promise that more will follow in greater degrees, if only Kim will accept the deal of all deals with President Trump and choose economic prosperity in exchange for his nuclear missile program.

So far, Kim has rebuffed this offer. According to the president, in Hanoi, Kim demanded total sanctions relief upfront in exchange for only minimal steps towards denuclearization. It is an absurd demand and if those disappointed with the results of the summit want someone to blame, the blame rests with Kim Jong-un and him alone. . .

One, every missile and nuclear weapon that was in North Korea at the time of the Singapore Summit is still there. And just because the regime has stopped testing missiles doesn’t mean it has stopped producing them or producing nuclear (and chemical and biological) weapons. In fact, we have reason to believe the regime is doing just that. Moreover, there are reports that indicate North Korea continues to proliferate weapons outside its borders including chemical weapons technology to Assad in Syria. Recall, North Korea and Iran have a history of cooperation. (Read more from “After Trump’s Walkout, What Comes Next in the U.S.-North Korea Nuclear Negotiations?” HERE)

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