Economist tells newspaper he was forced out from Chinese bank because he's a Hong Konger - CNBC

Buildings along Victoria Harbor at night in Hong Kong, on April 29, 2019.

Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Law Ka-chung stepped down as chief economist at the Hong Kong unit of a Chinese state-owned bank and has alleged he was forced to do so because he is a native of Hong Kong, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Law spent 14 years at the Bank of Communications before being forced to resign in October, the article said.

"They don't think it's appropriate for a Hong Kong guy to speak on behalf of a Chinese bank," Law told the newspaper. The report noted it was his first interview with an international English-language media organization since being asked to resign.

The Bank of Communications did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

The former economist told the newspaper the bank has become less lenient about comments made to the media.

Law told the Financial Times that management was especially displeased with remarks he made in a local radio interview, in which he said the SARS outbreak in 2003 had a bigger economic impact on Hong Kong than the anti-government protests have.

The city's leader Carrie Lam, who has Beijing's public support, has said the opposite, that the protests hit the economy worse than the epidemic.

Largely peaceful protests that began in early June over a controversial extradition bill have turned increasingly violent in the months since, intermittently forcing public transportation, schools and government offices to close.

The region's economy contracted 3.2% in the third quarter, entering a technical recession for the first time since the global financial crisis. In October, retail sales in Hong Kong fell 24.3% from a year earlier, the worst on record and marking a ninth-straight month of decline.

Read the Financial Times story here.

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2019-12-03 08:10:00Z
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North Korea threatens US with Christmas gift - The - The Washington Post

Kcna Via Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cuts a ribbon during a ceremony in North Korea in a KCNA photo provided on December 2, 2019.

TOKYO — North Korea said on Tuesday that dialogue with the United States had been nothing but a “foolish trick” and warned Washington it could be on the receiving of an unwelcome Christmas gift.

The North Korean regime has given the United States until the end of the year to drop its “hostile policy,” come up with a new approach to talks and offer concessions in return for its decision to end nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in 2018.

But a recent decision by the United States to postpone a joint air drill with South Korea clearly hasn’t satisfied Pyongyang.

Ri Thae Song, vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, accused Washington of trying to buy time by calling for a “sustained and substantial dialogue,” but he rejected this approach.

“The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.,” he said, referring to his country by its official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The DPRK has heard more than enough dialogue rhetoric raised by the U.S. whenever it is driven into a tight corner. So, no one will lend an ear to the U.S. any longer.”

Ri then again reminded the United States of the fast-approaching deadline, effectively repeating a veiled threat to resume long-range missile tests.

“The DPRK has done its utmost with maximum perseverance not to backtrack from the important steps it has taken on its own initiative,” he said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.”

North Korea has a history of timing launches with an eye on international developments and even U.S. holidays.

Last week, North Korea chose Thanksgiving Day to launch two projectiles from what it called a “super large multiple-rocket launcher,” marking the 14th test of short-range rockets or missiles it has undertaken this year.

On July 4, 2017, North Korea conducted its first ICBM test, the Hwasong-14, with leader Kim Jong Un describing it as a “gift package” for the Americans on their Independence Day.

North Korea has also dialed up the military threats in recent months, suggesting it may soon launch a ballistic missile in the direction of Japan.

When Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described last week’s launch as a threat to the region and the world, but described the projectiles as ballistic missiles, North Korea responded by calling him the worst idiot in the world and the most stupid man in history.

“Abe may see what a real ballistic missile is in the not distant future and under his nose,” KCNA said Saturday. “Abe is none other than a perfect imbecile and a political dwarf.”

Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

Read more

North Korea launches two projectiles in Thanksgiving message to Trump

North Korea threatens military escalation as clock ticks on year-end deadline

U.S. and South Korea postpone military drills in bid to save North Korea dialogue

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-12-03 08:09:00Z
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NATO leaders gather in London for anniversary summit - CNN International

Donald Trump is a very unpopular man in the UK. Which is unfortunate, given he's here for the next couple of days for a meeting of NATO leaders.

Visits of the US President are hard to predict, but Trump's last two trips to Britain followed a pattern.

First, there's the build-up, in which political groups across the spectrum announce their plans to protest against Trump as soon as he sets foot on British soil.

Then there's the President's obligatory dig at Sadiq Khan, the popular Mayor of London, over the city's knife crime epidemic. He might skip that tradition this time, given the deadly terror attack that took place in London last week. But his dislike of Khan is profound, and it could be too tempting.

There's usually a "surprise" newspaper interview, in which he sticks his nose into British politics and offends a major political figure. That's often followed by a press conference where he tries to clean up the mess, but usually just ends up tying himself in a knot of contradictions.

The visits are usually more of a spectacle than anything else. This time, however, Trump lands just a few days before the UK holds what could be the most important general election in the nation's postwar history. And any unexpected grenades Trump chooses to hurl could have consequences beyond a two-day political storm and affect the outcome of an actual election.

Read more here:

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2019-12-03 10:05:00Z
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Trump to meet the queen and NATO allies after tariff threat to France - CNBC

LONDON — President Donald Trump touched down in the U.K. on Monday night ahead of a highly-anticipated NATO meeting, marking 70 years since the alliance's creation.

The gathering comes amid overt tensions between some leaders regarding spending pledges, how to tackle the challenges posed by Russia and China, and the relevance of NATO itself.

The two-day meeting is taking place just outside of London, in Watford, with high-profile delegates then heading to Buckingham Palace in the evening where Queen Elizabeth II will host NATO heads of state and government for dinner.

Trump is scheduled to have talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg; he is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday. It's unclear if the U.S. president will meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson with the U.K. leader apparently keen for Trump not to involve himself in Britain's domestic politics ahead of an upcoming election on December 12.

Trump's meeting with his French counterpart Macron — due to take place at the U.S. ambassador to the U.K.'s residence where Trump and first lady Melania Trump stayed Monday night — could be an awkward affair given the U.S. administration's threats to impose import tariffs of up to 100% on $2.4 billion worth of French imports.

The U.S. trade representative has identified several goods, including Champagne, handbags and Gruyere cheese that could be targeted.The U.S. said Monday that the move is a response to a French digital services tax that it believes "unfairly targeted" American tech companies.

Defense spending among NATO allies, or the lack thereof (a persistent bugbear of Trump, and of his predecessor Barack Obama) is also likely to feature prominently in this week's summit.

Although NATO members have increased their defense spending dramatically over the last five years, according to NATO defense spend data, many members are still not hitting a target set in 2014 when members agreed to spend a minimum of 2% of their GDP (gross domestic product) on defense.

NATO estimates for 2019, released in June, show that only the U.S., U.K., Greece, Estonia, Romania, Poland and Latvia have met or surpassed that target. The highest defense spend was made by the U.S., at 3.4% of its GDP, while the lowest spend was by Luxembourg which only spent 0.55%.

It's the first visit Trump has made to the country since his state visit in June when Trump and the first lady were welcomed with full pomp and pageantry (and widespread protests) to the country.

Protests and crowds in London are expected to be large in the capital. The last time the president was in London, tens of thousands of demonstrators closed many major roadways and a 20-foot "Trump baby" blimp flew over the crowds.

On Tuesday, ahead of the formal start of the NATO "Leaders Summit" Tuesday evening, a demonstration under the banner of "No to Trump – No to NATO" will be held in the capital.

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2019-12-03 07:16:00Z
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Russian scientists display 18,000-year-old permafrost pup - Al Jazeera English

Russian scientists showed off a prehistoric puppy believed to be 18,000 years old that was found in permafrost in the country's far east.

Discovered last year in a lump of frozen mud near the city of Yakutsk, the puppy is unusually well-preserved with its hair, teeth, whiskers and eyelashes still intact.

"This puppy has all its limbs, pelage - fur, even whiskers. The nose is visible. There are teeth. We can determine due to some data that it is a male," Nikolai Androsov, director of the Northern World private museum where the remains are stored, said at the presentation at the Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum, which specialises in ancient specimens.

In recent years, Russia's far east has provided many riches for scientists studying the remains of ancient animals. As the permafrost melts, affected by climate change, more and more parts of woolly mammoths, canines and other prehistoric animals are being discovered. Often it is mammoth tusk hunters who discover them.

"Why has Yakutia come through a real spate of such unique findings over the last decade? First, it's global warming. It really exists, we feel it, and local people feel it strongly. Winter comes later, spring comes earlier," Sergei Fyodorov, a scientist with the North-Eastern Federal University, told The Associated Press.

"And the second very serious deep reason of why there a lot of finds is the very high price of mammoth tusk in the Chinese market."

When the puppy was discovered, scientists from the Stockholm-based Center for Palaeogenetics took a piece of bone to study its DNA.

"The first step was, of course, to send the sample to radiocarbon dating to see how old it was and when we got the results back it turned out that it was roughly 18,000 years old," Love Dalen, professor of evolutionary genetics at the centre, said in an online interview.

Further tests, however, left the scientists with more questions than answers - they could not definitively tell whether it was a dog or a wolf.

"We have now generated a nearly complete genome sequence from it and normally when you have a two-fold coverage genome, which is what we have, you should be able to relatively easily say whether it's a dog or a wolf, but we still can't say and that makes it even more interesting," Dalen said.

He added that scientists are about to do a third round of genome sequencing, which might solve the mystery.

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2019-12-03 06:27:00Z
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NASA photos show the crash site of India's Vikram lunar lander - Engadget

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This image shows the Vikram Lander impact point and associated debris field. Green dots indicate spacecraft debris (confirmed or likely). Blue dots locate disturbed soil, likely where small bits of the spacecraft churned up the regolith. "S" indicates debris identified by Shanmuga Subramanian. NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

In September India lost contact with its Vikram lander just a mile above the Moon's surface, and now NASA has confirmed photos taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show where it impacted. The actual discovery, however, has been credited to an amateur, Shanmuga Subramanian. As the New York Times reported, he is an Indian programmer and mechanical engineer who noted subtle differences in before/after mosaic photos back in October.

The debris kicked up by the impact was small enough that it's barely recognizable in the orbiter's resolution. According to NASA, the debris Shanmuga found is about 750m from the main crash site. Last week the ISRO said Vikram crashed within 500m of its intended landing point, but didn't release any pictures. The crash was apparently due to a problem with its braking thrusters, although the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft that released it is still operational and orbiting the moon, collecting data.

@NASA has credited me for finding Vikram Lander on Moon's surface#VikramLander #Chandrayaan2@timesofindia @TimesNow @NDTV pic.twitter.com/2LLWq5UFq9

— Shan (@Ramanean) December 2, 2019

The #Chandrayaan2 Vikram lander has been found by our @NASAMoon mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. See the first mosaic of the impact site https://t.co/GA3JspCNuh pic.twitter.com/jaW5a63sAf

— NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2019

Source: New York Times, NASA

In this article: chandrayaan-2, gear, India, ISRO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, moon, NASA, space, Vikram

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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2019-12-03 06:58:13Z
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China Bars U.S. Military From Hong Kong Ports Over Support For Protesters - NPR

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"China urges the U.S. to correct its mistake and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs," a government spokesperson says, as China retaliates for U.S. support of pro-democracy demonstrators. Here, an anti-government activist holds a flag as people gather for a lunchtime protest Monday at Chater Garden in Hong Kong. Leah Millis/Reuters hide caption

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Leah Millis/Reuters

China is barring U.S. Navy port calls and American military aircraft from visiting Hong Kong, in retaliation for Washington's recent adoption of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act — legislation that supports pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

"China urges the U.S. to correct its mistake and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs or interfering in China's other internal affairs by any word and act," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, according to the state-run media outlet Xinhua.

From Beijing, Amy Cheng reports for NPR's Newscast unit:

"Beijing will also sanction several organizations headquartered in the United States, including the National Endowment for Democracy and Human Rights Watch, saying these entities 'encouraged protesters to take up radical and violent criminal actions.' It is unclear what Beijing's sanctions will entail."

When President Trump signed the Hong Kong legislation last week, he said he was doing so "out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong." He also urged an amicable peace between Beijing and the former British colony, where protesters have repeatedly launched mass protests this year to call for true universal democracy and other demands.

After Trump signed the act, China's foreign ministry had accused the U.S. of showing its "malicious and hegemonic nature." But U.S. adoption of the act also triggered a celebration by Hong Kong activists, who had long called for Congress to endorse their cause.

The night after the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act is passed, #Hongkong people gathered and celebrated this bitter victory amid the prolonged movement. The bill is a thanksgiving present for HongKong—it encourages us to keep fighting for democracy.#DemocracyNow pic.twitter.com/8E88qewXy2

— Nathan Law 羅冠聰 😷 (@nathanlawkc) November 28, 2019

The U.S. measure includes provisions for sanctions against Chinese officials who are found to have violated human rights; it also links Hong Kong's special trade status to an annual evaluation of condition there.

Trump signed the act days after voters in Hong Kong delivered a sharp rebuke to Beijing, turning out in droves to give pro-democracy politicians a landslide victory and place them in control of 17 of the 18 district councils.

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2019-12-02 14:41:00Z
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