https://www.unian.info/politics/10834097-ukraine-s-pm-honcharuk-submits-resignation-letter.html

Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk on Friday, January 17, announced resignation. Honcharuk emphasized that he had come to the post to carry out the president's program since he is "a model of openness and decency." "However, in order to remove any doubts about our respect and trust in the president, I wrote a letter of resignation and submitted it to the president who can submit it to parliament," he wrote on Facebook.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fears-children-could-become-stateless-after-australian-government-strips-parents-citizenship

A couple has been stripped of their Australian citizenship over alleged terror links, prompting fears their children will be left stateless in Syria.

It is understood a 32-year old female who is located in the Al-Hol camp for refugees, and a man held at a Kurdish prison have had their citizenship retrospectively revoked, by the Australian government.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200117000632

The prosecution on Friday filed charges against former Justice Minister Cho Kuk in connection with allegations that he abused his power to suspend an inquiry into a former Busan vice mayor.

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office charged Cho with abuse of power without physically detaining him, three weeks after the prosecution’s request for a warrant to arrest him was rejected by a local court.

Prosecutors accused Cho of abusing his power in 2017, as then-presidential secretary for civil affairs, to end his office’s special inspection into Yoo Jae-soo, who was arrested on bribery charges Dec. 13, despite substantial evidence against him.

Yoo was under inspection by the presidential office – of which Cho was in charge – on suspicion that he took bribes from four businesspeople when he served as a director general at the Financial Services Commission in 2017.

Cho informed the FSC of the alleged irregularities surrounding Yoo instead of sending the case to the prosecution, which prosecutors consider abuse of power on Cho’s part and an attempt to help Yoo avoid punishment. Yoo later resigned from the post, and in 2018, he became Busan’s vice mayor in charge of economic affairs.

Cho has denied any criminal responsibility, saying the decision was within his discretion as presidential secretary for civil affairs.

Cho was already sent to trial on Dec. 31 for allegedly being involved in irregularities surrounding his children’s admission into college and dubious financial investments.

Cho’s wife, Chung Kyung-shim, is also on trial in connection with the allegations.

https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/01/16/uc-berkeley-budget-director-arrested-after-child-porn-investigation

Update, 6:45 p.m. UC Berkeley “is in the process of putting Jon Bain-Chekal on administrative investigatory leave,” Diana Harvey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications & Public Affairs, told Berkeleyside in a prepared statement. “As this is an ongoing investigation, no additional information will be provided.”

Original story: A Berkeley man who oversees UC Berkeley’s operating budget was arrested Thursday morning in connection with a child pornography investigation by the Berkeley Police Department, according to authorities and records online.

Jon Bain-Chekal, 49, was arrested at 8:45 a.m. on suspicion of possession of child pornography, a misdemeanor, according to jail records online.

Berkeley Police spokesman Officer Byron White said BPD’s investigation began with a tip from Internet Crimes Against Children and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those agencies “received a Cyber tip regarding child pornography from an online account. The account was created and accessed from Jon Bain-Chekal’s residence and work.”

http://world.einnews.com/article/507412991/jxbu4pYgx9LUmWRz

A four-day-long tribal meeting among the Brazilian Indigenous leaders has begun in the Amazon to protest far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s push to open their reservations for commercial mining and agriculture.

The meeting, which is being attended by several tribal leaders, seeks to develop a contingency to combat Bolsonaro’s plan to exploit this historical region for commercial purposes. “The riches Bolsonaro speaks of are white man’s riches, to buy cars and planes and ranches. Our riches are in the forest and the rivers here,” the Kayapó tribe leader Megaron Txucarramãe told the Reuters News Agency.

The Brazil-based O Globo newspaper has received a draft copy of the legislation that is going to be presented by the government, which would not just open up the reservation to mining, but also to oil and gas exploration, the building of new hydroelectric dams and commercial farms with genetically modified crops currently banned by law on tribal lands.

According to the legislation draft that O Globo received, the Indigenous communities would be consulted on economic projects, as stipulated in Brazil’s Constitution, but they would not have the power to veto projects decided by the government.

….

Bolsonaro has vowed to integrate Brazil’s roughly 900,000 indigenous people into the broader economy and society, while tapping the mineral riches and commercial farming potential of their 462 reservations.

Environmentalists say such a move will speed up clearing of the Amazon jungle, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, which is considered vital for slowing global climate change.

https://katu.com/news/politics/state-supreme-court-guts-state-carbon-cap-program

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Washington Supreme Court has reinstated a rule designed to cap carbon pollution in the state - but it has drastically limited its application.

In a 5-4 decision Thursday, the court said Gov. Jay Inslee's rule cannot apply to companies that sell or distribute petroleum or natural gas because they don't make their own emissions.

The Clean Air Rule had been struck down by a lower court judge after it was challenged by business groups.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/17/business/tech/toshiba-algorithm-faster-than-supercomputer/#.XiFRTVP7SfU

It’s a tantalizing prospect for traders whose success often hinges on microseconds: a desktop PC algorithm that crunches market data faster than today’s most advanced supercomputers.

Toshiba Corp. says it has the technology to make such rapid-fire calculations a reality — not quite quantum computing, but perhaps the next best thing. The claim is being met with a mix of intrigue and skepticism at financial firms in Tokyo and around the world.

Toshiba’s “simulated bifurcation algorithm” is designed to harness the principles behind quantum computers without requiring the use of such machines, which currently have limited applications and can cost millions of dollars to build and keep near absolute zero temperature. Toshiba says its technology, which may also have uses outside finance, runs on PCs made from off-the-shelf components.

“You can just plug it into a server and run it at room temperature,” Kosuke Tatsumura, a senior research scientist at Toshiba’s Computer & Network Systems Laboratory, said in an interview. The Tokyo-based conglomerate, while best known for its consumer electronics and nuclear reactors, has long conducted research into advanced technologies.

Toshiba has said it needs a partner to adopt the algorithm for real-world use, and financial firms have taken notice as they grapple for an edge in markets increasingly dominated by machines. Banks, brokerages and asset managers have all been experimenting with quantum computing, although viable applications are generally considered to be some time away.

https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/wajir/Declare-locust-invasion-a-national-disaster-official-says/3444790-5421218-jjweu9/index.html

A top agricultural official from Wajir County has urged the national government to declare the locust invasion that is wreaking havoc in several parts of the country a national disaster.

This is after it emerged that more swarms of locusts had been spotted in parts of Wajir South on Thursday evening even after the government had carried out aerial spraying in the devolved unit.

"We have all seen the effects of this invasion and I think it's time the government should declare it a national disaster to pave way for more resources to be mobilised," Wajir County Chief Executive for Agriculture Ahmed Shariff told the Nation yesterday.

His sentiments come at a time when the desert locusts, which invaded Kenya from neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia, continue their advance into other parts of the country.

On Thursday, newly-appointed Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya admitted that the pesticides being used in aerial spraying had proved ineffective, thus dulling efforts to get rid of the flying pests.

Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties were first hit by the invasion before the insects munched their way into Marsabit, Isiolo, Meru, Samburu and Laikipia counties even as the government continues to step up its efforts to end the menace.

>>7837100

both i'd guess. want to keep the resources in brazilian control while global corporations want to buy it up.

>>7837106

maybe a faster way to launder money? move it around fast enough that the trail gets muddled somehow.

https://www.unian.info/politics/10833941-donbas-elections-only-possible-after-russia-pulls-its-troops-u-s-mission-to-osce.html

he United States calls for the reinstatement of Ukrainian control of its international border with Russia, U.S. Permanent Representative to the OSCE, James Gilmore, said in a statement on Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine and illegal occupation of Crimea. "Free and fair elections should take place under Ukrainian control and in a secure environment, with Russia-led forces and illegal armed formations withdrawn from Ukraine's territory," the statement reads. Also, the official noted a continued flow of personnel and military hardware from Russia to the areas of eastern Ukraine beyond government control. "OSCE Observers document an unrestricted flow of train cars, trucks, and military vehicles every day crossing from Russia into Russia-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. This unchecked flow of personnel and matériel is a direct challenge to efforts to prepare for free and fair local elections in the Donbas," Gilmore said.

Orban: ‘We were an inch away from quitting EPP’

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party was “an inch away” from leaving the European People’s Party (EPP) on Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a radio interview.

Referring to the European Parliament resolution on the rule of law in Hungary and Poland and broad EPP support for it, Orban said the reason why Fidesz was so close to quitting was that the majority of the party family “betrayed us”. He said the French, Spanish and Italian MEPs in the EPP were “clearly on our side”, and in the debate they argued that the party family should stand up for Hungary.

At the same time, this situation cannot remain as it is, he added. If the EPP does not stick up for Hungary, “we’ll have to launch a new European Christian-Democratic movement”. “We will have allies,” Orban said.

https://thehungaryjournal.com/2020/01/17/orban-we-were-an-inch-away-from-quitting-epp/

https://electroverse.net/extreme-cold-sees-albertas-electricity-emergency-alert-raised/

The entire province of Alberta is currently under an extreme cold warning, reports cbc.ca.

Temperatures as low as -40 degrees through Monday evening saw electricity demand spike as Albertan’s uniformly took action to combat the brutal winter conditions.

The surge in demand forced the Alberta Energy System Operator to raise the Emergency Alert to level 1 and then 2 in quick succession, stating their reserves were being exhausted and that “emergency energy was being requested from neighboring areas.”

The alert read: “At this point we would also ask customers … to lower their demand on the system,” referring not to residential customers but energy companies across the province.

……..

he lower-latitudes are refreezing in line with historically low solar activity.

NASA has recently revealed this upcoming solar cycle (25) will dip further still, to become “the weakest of the past 200 years,” with the agency correlating previous solar shutdowns to prolonged periods of global cooling

https://twitter.com/jnmet/status/1218093538363219968

TC #Tino is pushing into #Fiji's Vanua Levu island with heavy rain & strong winds continuing across Fiji into Saturday. Tino will pass near #Tonga on Saturday before pushing into the open SW Pacific Sunday.

>>7837495

The Recording Academy has placed Deborah Dugan, its president and CEO of just six months, on administrative leave following an allegation of misconduct by a senior leader at the organization.

The move announced late Thursday comes 10 days before the 2020 Grammy Awards, which will be held in Los Angeles.

"In light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team, the board has placed Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave, effective immediately," the academy said in a statement to The Associated Press. "The board has also retained two independent third-party investigators to conduct independent investigations of the allegations."

Dugan, the former CEO of Bono's (RED) organization, was the first woman appointed to lead the academy.

Dugan succeeded Neil Portnow, who'd led the Grammys since 2002. Before joining (RED), the AIDS organization that launched in 2006, Dugan was president of Disney Publishing Worldwide and executive vice president at EMI/Capitol Records. She started her career as an attorney on Wall Street