US-China Officials Discuss Trade; Mnuchin Eyes Possible In-Person Talks

WASHINGTON—U.S. and Chinese officials spoke by telephone on July 18 as the world’s two largest economies seek to end a year-long trade war, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggesting in-person talks could follow. Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke with their Chinese counterparts over the phone, Lighthizer’s office said on Thursday, following earlier comments by the Treasury secretary in an interview on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Chantilly, France.

The United States and China have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff battle since July 2018, as Washington presses Beijing to address what it sees as decades of unfair and illegal trading practices. “Right now we’re having principal-level calls and to the extent that it makes sense for us to set up in-person meetings, I would anticipate that we would be doing that,” Mnuchin told Reuters. Asked if Thursday’s call could lead to a face-to-face meeting, Mnuchin said: “It’s possible, but I’m not going to speculate on the outcome.” Lighthizer’s office later confirmed that the conversation took place as scheduled, but gave no details.

China’s foreign ministry said on Friday the two sides had discussed ways to implement the consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders, but gave no other details. Separately, Su Ge, former president of the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with China’s Foreign Ministry, said he expected more formal discussions to resume this month. “These are difficult questions … but at least they agreed to let the two negotiation teams to restart their work, so we will keep our fingers crossed,” he said. William Lee, chief economist for the Milken Institute, said tensions were simmering, with neither China nor the United States appearing ready to budge on critical issues. “That high level of trade uncertainty is causing manufacturing firms to be reticent to make investments,” he said. “The real issue is … China wants a face-saving way of coming to the table.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-china-officials-discuss-trade-mnuchin-eyes-possible-in-person-talks_3008660.html

Suspect in Animation Studio Arson Fire Reportedly Had Grudge

TOKYO—Police on Friday were investigating at the blackened, gutted building in Kyoto where a man raging about theft set a fire that killed 33 people in a beloved animation studio, crushing the hearts of comic fans in Japan and beyond. Some were questioning why mass killings like this are now repeated in the country. Witness accounts and reports suggested the man had a grudge against Kyoto Animation, but police only have said the suspect Shinji Aoba, 41, who is hospitalized with severe burns and unable to talk, is from near Tokyo and did not work for the studio. Japanese broadcaster NHK and other media, quoting an unnamed source, said Aoba spent three and half years in prison for robbing a convenience store in 2012 and lived on government support. The man told police that he set the fire because he thought “(Kyoto Animation) stole novels,” according to Japanese media. It was unclear if he had contacted the studio earlier.

The company founded in 1981 and better known as KyoAni made a mega-hit anime series about high school girls and trained aspirants to the craft. The shocking attack left another 35 people injured, some critically. It drew an outpouring of grief for the dead and injured, most of them workers at the studio.

Kyoto prefectural police chief Hideto Ueda solemnly laid flowers at the site, now a charcoal shell, vowing for the utmost in the investigation to find motives behind the attack, which he described as “unprecedented and unforgivable.” While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile killings in recent years. Less than two months ago, a man described as a social recluse, or “hikikomori,” stabbed a number of private school children at a bus stop outside Tokyo, killing two people and wounding 17 before killing himself. In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled allegedly killed 19 people and injured more than 20.

Nobuo Komiya, a Rissho University criminology professor, calls the attacks “suicidal terrorism,” in which attackers typically see themselves as losers and target their anger to the society, often those who seem happy and successful. “Feeling angry at people who they think are winners, they tend to choose privileged people as targets,” Komiya said. “They think they have nothing to lose, they don’t care if they get caught or if they die.” They are part of a growing trend that reflects a change to the Japanese society, where disparities are growing and ties among families, community and other groups have weakened and people are less obligated to follow the rules and be part of it, he said. “Japan shouldn’t be complacent about its safety anymore. We should follow the U.S. and Europe and do more for risk management.” About 70 people were working inside the 3-story Kyoto Animation No. 1 studio in southern Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, Thursday at the time of the attack.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/suspect-in-animation-studio-arson-fire-reportedly-had-grudge_3008827.html

Remains of 9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Settlement Unearthed Outside Jerusalem

A huge Stone Age settlement unearthed outside Jerusalem may have been home to 3,000 people, the Neolithic equivalent of a large city, according to details released by the Israel Antiquities Authority on July 16. Believed to have been inhabited 9,000 years ago, the site has yielded thousands of tools and ornaments, including arrowheads, figurines and jewelry. The findings also provide evidence of sophisticated urban planning and farming, which may force experts to rethink the region’s early history, said archeologists involved in the excavation.

The discovery was made near the Israeli town of Motza, about three miles west of Jerusalem. Although the area has long been of archeological interest, excavation director Jacob Vardi said the sheer scale of the site—which measures between 30 and 40 hectares—only emerged in 2015 during surveys for a proposed highway. Archeologists have since found a large collection of buildings just below the ground’s surface. As well as private homes, the excavation revealed the remnants of public facilities and spaces used for rituals and burials.

Describing the site as the largest of its kind “not just in Israel but in the Southern Levant,” Vardi said in a phone interview that the settlement would have been home to 2,000 and 3,000 people, adding: “In comparison to other settlements (from that time), it’s like a very big city.” The structures suggest that plaster was widely used, while alleyways between buildings point to a comparatively advanced urban planning, Vardi said.

Elsewhere, storage sheds were found to have contained legumes, such as lentils, implying intensive agriculture at the site. And although the discovery of thousands of arrowheads showed that the inhabitants still hunted, unearthed animal bones also point to sheep husbandry. Flint tools, knives and axes for felling trees were among the various tools uncovered. The site also provides extensive evidence of the inhabitants’ production of jewelry and art, with discoveries including stone bracelets, medallions, bracelets and figurines. Other unearthed objects suggest that inhabitants enjoyed trade or contact with the outside world. Sea shells from the Mediterranean and Red Sea were among the discoveries, as was obsidian—a type of volcanic glass—from Anatolia, in present-day Turkey.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/remains-of-9000-year-old-neolithic-settlement-unearthed-outside-jerusalem_3006370.html

Ex-Trump aide Hicks denies involvement in hush money talks: lawyer

(Reuters) - An attorney for former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks denied on Friday that she was involved in discussions during the 2016 presidential campaign about a hush-money payment to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump. Her lawyer, Robert Trout, issued a statement a day after newly unsealed FBI documents raised new questions about Hicks’ June 19 testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Hicks, formerly one of Trump’s closest aides, told lawmakers that she was never present for discussions between Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen about a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. “Reports claiming that Ms. Hicks was involved in conversations about ‘hush money’ payments on October 8, 2016, or knew that payments were being discussed, are simply wrong,” Trout said in his statement on Friday. “Ms. Hicks stands by her truthful testimony that she first became aware of this issue in early November 2016, as the result of press inquiries, and she will be responding formally to Chairman Nadler’s letter as requested.”

At a judge’s order, the government published on Thursday a 19-page section of its application in 2018 for a warrant to search Cohen’s home and office that had previously been redacted. The new material cited several phone calls involving Hicks in support of the application. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, and said he had no knowledge at the time of payments to her. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler sent Hicks a letter late on Thursday asking her to clarify her testimony in light of “apparent inconsistencies.” Hicks was press secretary for Trump’s presidential campaign in October 2016, the period during which FBI documents outline how Cohen arranged to pay Daniels $130,000 to avert a scandal.

The campaign was already reeling from the release on Oct. 7 of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women by the genitals. The document outlines several weeks of phone calls and text messages between Cohen, Trump officials and executives from the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper, many of which the government believed were about the payoff to Daniels.

Beginning on Oct. 8, 2016, there was a sharp uptick in calls between Cohen, Trump and Hicks as Cohen began negotiations with Daniels’ lawyer to buy her silence, according to the FBI agent who wrote the document. That evening, Hicks initiated what would become a four-minute, three-way call with Trump and Cohen, according to the document. Cohen would have two further phone calls that evening with Hicks amid a flurry of calls with executives from American Media Inc, which publishes the National Enquirer and which helped bury bad press for Trump by buying the rights to unflattering stories. Before Oct. 8, Cohen had not spoken on the phone with Hicks for “at least” several weeks, the document said.

Cohen and Hicks spoke again for three minutes late on Oct. 28, the day after Cohen had made the $130,000 payment to Daniels’ lawyer and as the final paperwork for the deal was being drawn up. Cohen also spoke with Hicks and Keith Davidson, the lawyer for Daniels, multiple times on Nov. 4 after Trump’s circle learned the Wall Street Journal was about to publish an article saying the National Enquirer had “shielded” Trump from allegations by former Playboy model Karen McDougal that she and Trump had had an affair. Trump has denied having an affair with McDougal. Cohen had at least two more calls that evening with Hicks before the Journal story was published online. The next morning, Cohen sent a text message to Hicks saying he felt the Journal story was getting “little to no traction.” “Same,” Hicks texted back. “Keep praying!! It’s working!” Cohen is serving three years in prison after pleading guilty last year to breaking campaign finance laws through the hush-money scheme, as well as other financial crimes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-hicks/ex-trump-aide-hicks-denies-involvement-in-hush-money-talks-lawyer-idUSKCN1UE24U?il=0

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