Dems vow to impeach Trump over Capitol riots – National & International News – FRI 8Jan2021

Dems vow to impeach Trump over Capitol riots. Boeing to pay $2.5 billion over 737 Max conspiracy. South Korean court orders Japan to compensate wartime sex slaves. That and more below.

NATIONAL NEWS

Dems vow to impeach Trump over Capitol riots

A Capitol police officer has died of injuries received during the Capitol riots on Monday. Officer Brian Sicknick is now the 5th fatality resulting from the riots. Ashli Babbitt, 35 of San Diego, was fatally shot by Capitol police during the invasion. The other fatalities have been identified as Benjamin Phillips 50, of Ringtown, PA; Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, AL; and Rosanne Boylan, 34, of Kennesaw, GA.

Reports circulated yesterday that members of Trump’s Cabinet were considering invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Congressional Democrats have warned that if the Cabinet does not begin 25th Amendment proceedings, the Democrats will begin a new impeachment process. According to sources close to the President, Trump is already considering pardoning himself.

Two members of Trump’s Cabinet have resigned. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao both tendered their resignations yesterday. In her statement, DeVos specifically blames Trump’s rhetoric for inciting the mob.

That mob still has not completely dispersed despite an influx of law enforcement and National Guard troops surrounding the Capitol

Boeing to pay $2.5 billion over 737 Max conspiracy

Boeing has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle criminal charges that the firm hid information from safety officials about the design of its 737 Max planes. The Justice Department says Boeing’s choice of “profit over candor”, impeded oversight of the planes’ design and manufacture. Boeing failed to notify the FAA of changes to the 737 Max’ automated flight control system. As a result, the 737 Max was involved in two deadly crashes in early 2019 when the planes nosedived shortly after takeoff. Those crashes killed a total of 346 people, whose families will receive a total of $500 million from the settlement in compensation.

But the conspiracy didn’t end there…

In December, a Senate investigation found that Boeing and he FAA had inappropriately coached test pilots to get the 737 Max recertified. The report from the Senate Commerce Committee stated concluded that the FAA and Boeing had “established a pre-determined outcome to reaffirm a long-held human factor assumption related to pilot reaction time”. The report was based on corroborated testimony from whistleblowers.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

South Korean court orders Japan to compensate wartime sex slaves

A court in Seoul, South Korea, has ruled that Japan must compensate 12 surviving “comfort women” forced into sex slavery by Japan during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Koreas. The compensation works out to about $91,000 per woman. The ruling was made despite a 1965 treaty between Seoul and Tokyo that declared colonial era claims between the two countries settled. Tokyo has retorted citing the treaty and a 2015 deal that “irreversibly” ended the dispute. However, the South Korean court says that Japan’s forcible taking of Korean women to work in wartime brothels “was a crime against humanity that was systematically, deliberately and extensively committed by Japan in breach of international norms”. As such, the court claims, neither of the two previous deals can negate the women’s right to seek compensation.

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Olympic official says not certain Tokyo games will go ahead

Dick Pound of the International Olympic Committee has expressed concern as Tokyo enters a third deadly wave of coronavirus infections. Pound says he “can’t be certain” that the summer games in Tokyo will go ahead this summer. The games have already been delayed after originally being scheduled to take place last summer. Other members of the IOC are adamant that the games will take place this year and say they cannot postpone the games for another year.

Overall, Japan has had more success in containing the coronavirus than other countries, with only 3,900 COVID deaths in a country of 126 million. However, Japan is unlikely to begin vaccinating frontline health workers until at least the end of February. This puts them well behind the curve compared to other developed countries. Fears that visiting fans and athletes could trigger another outbreak have also diminished support for holding the games this year among the Japanese. A recent poll found that 63% of Japanese people were in favor of another postponement or cancellation of the games.

Another postponement or cancellation would be a big economic blow to Japan which has already spent $billions preparing for the games.

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