North Korea fires unidentified projectile into sea South Korea military February 11, 2017

North Korea fires unidentified projectile into sea South Korea military
North Korea fired an unidentified projectile early on Sunday into the sea off the east
coast of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean military said.
The object was launched from an area in North Korea's western region, the South's Office
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a short statement.
It did not provide further details.
Earlier, the country's Yonhap news agency reported in a short dispatch that the North
had fired a ballistic missile.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year speech that the country was close
to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and state media have said such
a launch could come at any time.
That prompted a vow of an "overwhelming" response from U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis when
he traveled to South Korea earlier this month.
North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and a number of missile-related tests at an
unprecedented rate since early last year and was seen by experts and officials to be making
progress in its weapons capabilities.
Panama detains Mossack Fonseca founders on corruption charges
The two founders of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca were arrested on Saturday, the attorney
general's office said, after both were indicted on charges of money-laundering in a case allegedly
tied to a wide-ranging corruption scandal in Brazil.
Firm founders Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca were detained because of the risk they might
try to flee the country.
Attorney General Kenia Porcell told reporters on Saturday that the information collected
so far "allegedly identifies the Panamanian firm as a criminal organization that is dedicated
to hiding assets or money from suspicious origins."
Porcell said the one-year investigation that led to the arrests has been aided by prosecutors
in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Switzerland and the United States.
Mossack Fonseca is also at the center of a separate case known as the Panama Papers,
which involved millions of documents stolen from the firm and leaked to the media in April
2016.
The fallout from the leaks provoked a global scandal after numerous documents detailed
how the rich and powerful used offshore corporations to hide money and potentially evade taxes.
On Thursday, prosecutors raided Mossack Fonseca offices seeking evidence, and the homes of
the firm's founders were searched on Friday.
Fonseca, a former presidential adviser in Panama, has previously denied that the firm
had any connection to Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht, which has admitted to bribing
officials in Panama and other countries to obtain government contracts in the region
between 2010 and 2014.
"This investigation in principle is not related to Odebrecht, but to the Lava Jato case,"
Porcell said, referring to the probe centered on Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras.
Fonseca has also denied any relationship with the Lava Jato case.
Following the arrests, Mossack Fonseca defense lawyer Elias Solano called the accusations
against the firm's founders "weak" and said he would challenge the evidence presented
against his clients.
A source in the prosecutors office told Reuters that an unidentified third lawyer with the
firm had also been arrested, while a fourth faces an arrest warrant, but her whereabouts
are unknown.
The two additional lawyers were not named by Porcell.
Defections by Sears, Kmart cap week of controversy for Trump brands
Trump-branded consumer products have suffered new blows, with U.S. retailers Sears Holdings
Corp and Kmart Corp discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items, while new details
emerged showing sales of Ivanka Trump's brand fell in the weeks before Nordstrom Inc stopped
carrying her products.
Sears and Kmart disclosed their decision on Saturday, even as the Wall Street Journal
reported that Nordstrom sales of Ivanka Trump's brand had dropped sharply before the retailer
discontinued sales this week.
Citing internal Nordstrom data, the Journal reported sales of Ivanka Trump-branded clothing
and shoes had dropped more than 70 percent in the second, third and fourth week of October
compared with the same weeks the previous year.
The election was held on Nov. 8.
The developments were the latest in a week of controversy swirling around commercial
activity connected to the Trump name.
And the moves may be a rare sign of companies taking calculated risks in making business
decisions that might invite criticism from President Donald Trump's Twitter account.
Neil Stern, a retail consultant for McMillan Doolittle, said Nordstrom may have felt insulated
given its stores tend to be located in cities and affluent suburbs, which tend to tack Democratic.
“If there is a political blowback they will survive it given where there stores are,”
he said.
For Sears, which last month announced plans to close 150 stores, any publicity that draws
attention away from the retailer's financial struggles is welcome, Stern added.
On Friday, three athletes sponsored by Under Armour Inc took to social media to distance
themselves from comments by the company's chief executive, Kevin Plank, in support of
President Trump.
Earlier in the week, a congressional committee said it was seeking a review into whether
senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway had violated ethics rules by using her position
to promote Ivanka Trump's product lines.
Prior to Conway's comments, Donald Trump used Twitter to defend his daughter in the wake
of Nordstrom's decision to discontinue her product line.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer characterized the Nordstrom move as a "direct attack" on
the president's policies.
Neither Sears nor Kmart carried the Trump Home products in their retail stores, a Sears
Holdings Corp spokesman said.
Kmart is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings.
"As part of the company’s initiative to optimize its online product assortment, we
constantly refine that assortment to focus on our most profitable items," spokesman Brian
Hanover said in a statement.
"Amid that streamlining effort, 31 Trump Home items were among the items removed online
this week," he said, adding those items can be found through a third-party vendor, without
providing additional information about the products.
The Trump Home collection includes lines of furniture, bedding and lighting, often from
makers that supply Trump hotels, according to the collection's website.
Nordstrom, in announcing the discontinuation of Ivanka Trump's line last week, said sales
had "steadily declined to the point where it didn’t make good business sense" to continue
selling the products.
Turkmenistan leader certain to win third term in vote
Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is certain to secure a third term in office
in Sunday's presidential election, maintaining his grip on power in the isolated gas-rich
nation.
Berdymukhamedov, 59, has run the former Soviet republic of five million people with an iron
fist for a decade after succeeding equally autocratic president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov
who died in 2006.
Berdymukhamedov, a dentist by training, has kept in place Niyazov's repressive political
system which tolerates no political opposition or public expressions of discontent, while
refocusing his predecessor's elaborate personality cult on himself.
While Niyazov was known as Turkmenbashi, the head of all Turkmen, Berdymukhamedov is often
referred to as Arkadag, the protector.
Gilded statues of both leaders have been erected in Ashgabat, the capital city.
Running against Berdymukhamedov are eight other candidates, all of them either public
servants, managers of state-owned companies or nominees of political parties completely
loyal to the government.
In the previous election in 2012, Berdymukhamedov won 97 percent of the vote.
Last year, Turkmenistan amended its constitution in a way that could allow Berdymukhamedov
to stay in power indefinitely, removing the 70-year age limit for presidential candidates
and extending the presidential term to seven years from five.
Also last year, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the president's only son who has previously kept
a low public profile, became a member of parliament after winning a by-election.
This consolidation of power has been taking place against a background of slowing economic
growth and shortages of foreign currency due to Russia's decision to halt imports of Turkmen
gas, Ashgabat's main source of export revenue.
Moscow had long been the main buyer of Turkmen gas and sales to China, although significant,
have not completely offset the loss of Russian money flows.
Faced with budget deficits after years of surpluses, the authorities are considering
scaling down a generous welfare system which includes free gasoline rations.
Amid the gas row, Turkmenistan has also flatly rejected the idea of Russia providing military
assistance to the Central Asian nations in the light of escalating violence in neighboring
Afghanistan; it has also vehemently denied claims of violent incidents at the Afghan
border.
'Boy-band governor' surges in wide-open South Korea presidential race
A provincial governor nicknamed after a leading boy-band is surging in South Korean presidential
polls following former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon's announcement that he would not
run in an election that could come within months.
Governor An Hee-jung is seen as a down-to-earth, uncomplicated politician, traits that could
serve him well in a nation roiled by December's impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
If the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment, an election would be held in 60 days.
"I want to be a president who would put up a basketball hoop in the yard of the Blue
House and play basketball with aides," An, a youthful-looking 51, said in a recent online
video interview, referring to the presidential compound.
The image is in contrast to Park, 64, who was perceived as isolated and aloof even before
the corruption crisis that was to envelop her presidency erupted late last year.
None of her prospective successors has a commanding lead in polls.
But An has scored the biggest increase in ratings since Ban's undeclared candidacy fizzled
in January, vaulting into second place from as far back as fifth less than a month ago.
A Gallup Korea poll issued on Friday showed An closing the gap on fellow Democratic Party
member Moon Jae-in, who leads 29 percent to 19 percent.
Last week, Moon led 32-10.
Gallup Korea is not affiliated with U.S.-based Gallup Inc.
Ban was expected to stand on a moderate-to-conservative platform, while An is a Democrat but has positioned
himself as a centrist.
As two-term governor of South Chungcheong province, the same area Ban is from, he is
picking up regional support as well as backing from older voters who tend to lean conservative.
An, who says he was tortured by intelligence agents when jailed as a student activist,
has also courted younger voters who have been demoralized over job prospects in a sluggish
economy and have been leading weekly rallies for Park's ouster.
He has appeared on entertainment shows, singing a hit song on one of them.
His Instagram postings include a soap opera parody photo and a New Year video message
featuring his cat.
Supporters have nicknamed him the "EXO of South Chungcheong," after a popular K-pop
band.
UPHILL RACE
An was an aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal, while Moon was Roh's chief of staff.
To contest the presidency, An would need to beat Moon, a 64-year-old who is more left-leaning,
in a primary unless he leaves the Democrats to form a coalition with others, which he
has shown no inclination to do.
Still, his centrist positioning could get him support from conservatives who are lacking
a clear standard-bearer.
"We need someone to unite our country," said An supporter Lee Eui-go, who runs a small
business on the outskirts of Seoul.
"As a liberal he succeeded in a two-term governorship in a conservative region, which means his
ability and sincerity are recognized by the opposition."
An has stressed the importance of South Korea's alliance with the United States, respecting
an agreement between Seoul and Washington to deploy the THAAD missile defense system
that is opposed by China.
Moon says the next government should decide on the missile defense.
An also disagrees with Moon's plan to boost employment by creating more government jobs.
Married with two sons, An has an eventful past.
As a student activist in the 1980s, he was expelled from high school and imprisoned twice
during college for opposing the then military dictatorship.
In 2004, An was imprisoned for violating campaign finance law during Roh's election but was
later pardoned by Roh.
He was elected governor of his home province of South Chungcheong in 2010 and re-elected
in 2014.
His biggest asset seems to be his ability to connect with voters.
At a recent event hosted by a conservative foundation, not a traditional support base,
An drew cameras and fans seeking selfies and handshakes.
During his speech, he was interrupted by cheers from a pair of middle-aged women.
"Thank you, ma'am, for the cheers.
You are beautiful," An said, generating laughs.

North Korea fires unidentified projectile into sea South Korea military February 11, 2017

Latest Posts