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Japan to lift state of emergency except in Okinawa
The Japanese government has officially decided to end the coronavirus state of emergency on Sunday for nine of the 10 prefectures covered. Seven of the nine prefectures will then have focused restrictions through July 11. The government also decided to extend the state of emergency for Okinawa Prefecture through July 11 because the healthcare system there remains overstretched. The decision came at a government task force meeting on Thursday afternoon. Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, health minister Tamura Norihisa, and Nishimura Yasutoshi, the minister in charge of coronavirus response, were among those who attended.
Tokyo and Osaka are among the seven prefectures where a state of emergency will be replaced with rigorous restrictions involving focused steps. Such restrictions to prevent the spread of infections are now in place in five other prefectures. The government plans to end them in Gifu and Mie prefectures on Sunday, while extending them for Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures through July 11. Specifically, for the period through July 11, the state of emergency will be in place only for Okinawa Prefecture. Focused restrictions will apply to Tokyo and nine prefectures, which are Hokkaido, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto and Fukuoka. For Tokyo and the nine prefectures, governors are to ask local pubs and restaurants to close by 8 p.m.
They will be allowed to serve alcoholic drinks until 7 p.m. on the condition that thorough anti-virus measures are taken. But governors can still prohibit the serving of alcohol depending on the infection status.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210617_32/
BLKWF14 USAF E-11A BACN sw after a ground stop and refuel at Bangor, ME
Departed Al Dhafra AB on 0616 with a ground stop at Ramstein AFB
These are based at Al Dhafra AB, Abu Dhabi and likely here for some maintenance and/or upgrades.
This AC is one of the legacy versions as it still has the bubbles for the electronic equipment. Later AC's do not habs the bumps protruding from the air frame
Bombardier E-11A BACN is the military variant of the civil Bombardier BD-700 Global Express for use as overhead communications-relay platform in southwest Asia. The BD-700 was selected due to its high service ceiling, up to 51,000 ft and up to 12 hours flight duration. Initially aircraft was designated as RC-700 under the reconnaissance classification but later was re-designated as the E-11A under the special electronics installations category. The E-11A is a U.S. Air Force aircraft that provides unparalleled communications capabilities to forces on the ground and aircraft in the air. Commonly known as Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN, this aircraft extends the range of communications channels and enables better communication among units. This element is essential where the terrain may disrupt communications channels and it enables ground forces to know what is around them when something is not in their line of sight.
https://worldofaviation.net/bombardier-e-11a-bacn/
Biden-Xi meeting 'likely' at October G-20 summit, US says
A meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely take place in October at the Group of 20 summit, the White House said on Thursday, noting Western countries' increasing alignment on China.
Biden "will look for opportunities to engage with President Xi going forward," U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on a briefing call when asked if such a summit is in the picture after Biden concluded his first trip abroad as president to Europe on Wednesday. In addition to attending the Group of Seven summit, Biden's weeklong itinerary was also packed with bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "What the president said about there being no substitute for leader-level dialogue as a central part of why he held the summit with Putin yesterday also applies to China and to President Xi Jinping," Sullivan said. As for a summit between Biden and Xi, "we don't have any particular plans at the moment, but I would note that both leaders are likely to be at the G-20 in Italy in October," Sullivan continued.
The most recent high-level correspondence between Beijing and Washington took place just ahead of the G-7 summit, when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with Chinese foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, who is a Politburo member and the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission. Sullivan said a major area of progress out of the G-7 meeting this week was "convergence among like-minded countries, among the world's democracies, on China."
This includes the start of a new infrastructure initiative billed as a high-standard and transparent alternative to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, directly addressing the challenge of China in a NATO communique for the first time, as well as the launch of the U.S.-EU Trade Technology Council, which seeks to coordinate response to China's nonmarket economic practices, he said.
On Biden's engagement with Turkey, Sullivan underscored Erdogan's "clear commitment" to protecting the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ankara has said Turkish troops will remain there after U.S. forces leave. In April, Biden announced a full U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. Central Command said last week that it had completed more than 50% of the withdrawal. "Turkey would play a lead role in securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, and we are now working through how to execute against that," Sullivan said Thursday. "Obviously, we take seriously the concern that the Taliban or other elements in Afghanistan will attack the Western or the international presence, diplomatic presence or security presence in and around Kabul," he continued. "That's why we are putting together a detailed and effective security plan."
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/US-China-tensions/Biden-Xi-meeting-likely-at-October-G-20-summit-US-says
TaskUS Inc. sold by Blackstone Group: $140.81m-June 14
TaskUs, Inc., is a digital outsourcing company. The Company is focused on serving high-growth technology companies to represent, protect and grow their brands. The Company's omni-channel delivery model is focused on providing its clients three key services: digital customer experience, content security and artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Digital Customer Experience principally consists of omni-channel customer care services. Content Security consists of review and disposition of user and advertiser generated content. AI Operations principally consists of data labeling, annotation and transcription services. The Company has approximately 100 clients spanning various industry segments within the Digital Economy, including social media, e-commerce, gaming, food delivery and ride sharing, health information technology (HiTech) and financial technology (FinTech). It also offers back office supports, customer experience consulting, and business process optimization services. Number of employees : 23 600 people.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/TASKUS-INC-123529035/company/
The Blackstone Group was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman with $400,000 in seed capital. The founders named their firm "Blackstone", which was a cryptogram derived from the names of the two founders (Schwarzman and Peterson): "Schwarz" is German for "black"; "Peter", or "Petra" in Greek, means "stone" or "rock". The two founders had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers. At Lehman, Schwarzman served as head of Lehman Brothers' global mergers and acquisitions business. Prominent investment banker Roger C. Altman, another Lehman veteran, left his position as a managing director of Lehman Brothers to join Peterson and Schwarzman at Blackstone in 1987, but left in 1992 to join the Clinton Administration as Deputy Treasury Secretary.
Blackstone was originally formed as a mergers and acquisitions advisory boutique. Blackstone advised on the 1987 merger of investment banks E. F. Hutton & Co. and Lehman Brothers, collecting a $3.5 million fee.
https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1404073&tc=7&b=2
>>63962 pb Apria Healthcare Inc. sold by Blackstone Group: $ 131.34m-June 14
Yellen tells Mexican counterpart G20 countries should back global minimum tax
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with Mexican finance minister Arturo Herrera on Thursday, stressing the importance of securing support from the Group of 20 major economies for a proposed global minimum tax, the Treasury said in a statement.
Yellen, whose proposal for a global minimum tax of at least 15% has won the backing of the Group of Seven advanced economies, is now urging G20 countries - including Mexico and China - to support the plan when they meet in Venice in July.
Yellen told U.S. lawmakers that Washington would not agree to any type of special treatment for China or other countries that would weaken a global minimum tax regime.G7 finance officials on June 5 agreed to support a minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%, a move endorsed by G7 leaders on Sunday. In "her" discussion with Herrera, Yellen also affirmed the Treasury’s commitment to deepen cooperation with Mexico on illicit finance and to work together to address root causes of migration from northern Central America, Treasury said.
Herrera, who met with Yellen in Washington, said the two officials discussed the possible approval and implementation of the global minimum tax rate, but gave no details. He also said they discussed economic recovery in the region, including in Central America. Treasury said Yellen reviewed ongoing efforts in both countries to address the COVID-19 pandemic and to support a robust economic recovery. The Federal Reserve on Thursday forecast the U.S. economy would grow 7% in 2021, which should help the Mexican economy given extensive trade ties between the two neighboring countries.
Herrera also met with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva for what she described in a tweet as a “very productive in-person meeting on the global and regional economic recovery.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-treasury-mexico/update-1-yellen-tells-mexican-counterpart-g20-countries-should-back-global-minimum-tax-idUSL2N2O003O