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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2019)
March 6, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 9 News Former Nissan Chairman Ghosn Released After Posting Bail TOKYO (AP) — Disguised as a con- struction worker, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Co., Carlos Ghosn, left a Tokyo detention center Wednesday after posting 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) bail. Ghosn wore a surgical mask, glass- es, a hat and a construction worker’s outfit. There was no immediate official confirmation of his release, but his identity was apparent, especially after he was seen on TV smiling after he re- moved his mask and hat. There was a scramble by media to follow Ghosn after he boarded a small Suzuki van, topped with a ladder, and traveled from the Tokyo Detention Cen- ter toward downtown. Ten motorcycles trailed the van in formation as it passed largely unnoticed through city streets. Nippon Television Network showed brief footage of Ghosn after he got out of the van in an undisclosed part of the city. Ghosn, the former head of the Re- nault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors al- liance was arrested on Nov. 19. He is charged with falsifying financial re- ports and with breach of trust. North Korea Said to be Rebuilding Structures at Rocket Site SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is restoring facilities at a long- range rocket launch site that it disman- tled last year as part of disarmament steps, according to foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seoul’s spy service. The finding follows a high-stakes nu- clear summit last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump that ended without any agreement. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service provided the assessment about the North’s Tongchang-ri launch site to lawmakers during a private briefing Tuesday. North Korea didn’t immedi- ately respond in its state media. An article from 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, cited commercial satellite imagery as indicating that efforts to rebuild some structures at the site started sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2. Dismantling parts of its long-range rocket launch facility was among sev- eral steps the North took last year when it entered nuclear talks with the United States and South Korea. North Korea has carried out satellite launches at the site in recent years, resulting in U.N. sanctions over expert claims that they were disguised tests of banned missile technology. Father of UK Teen Who Joined IS Says Don’t Scrap Citizenship SUNAMGANJ, Bangladesh (AP) — The father of a British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group in Syria said his daughter’s citizenship should not be revoked and that she should return to the U.K. and be pun- ished if it was determined she had com- mitted a crime. Shamima Begum fled east London with two friends to travel to Syria to marry IS fighters in 2015 at a time when the group’s online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed ca- liphate. Begum, now 19, resurfaced at a ref- ugee camp in Syria and told reporters recently that she wants to come home. But her apparent lack of remorse has triggered criticism in Britain and the family has expressed its own shock at her lack of repentance. She married a Dutch man who wants to take her to the Netherlands with their newborn son. British Home Secretary Sajid Javid has revoked Begum’s citizenship — de- spite saying he wouldn’t make a deci- sion that would render a person state- less. Her family has insisted she isn’t a dual citizen. The case is pending in the courts. Begum’s father, Ahmed Ali, told The Associated Press in an interview Tues- day in his Bangladeshi village that he would still request that the British gov- ernment allow his daughter to come back. Why a Meaningful US- China Trade Deal Could Be Hard to Reach WASHINGTON (AP) — Under Presi- dent Donald Trump, America’s trade deficit with China has so far worsened. That gap represents an unfulfilled Trump pledge just as talks between the world’s two largest economies may be nearing a potential deal to suspend their trade war. Despite signals from Chinese and U.S. officials that some truce could soon be at hand, there are few signs of any truly transformed trade relationship. Beijing’s longstand- ing policy of subsi- dizing its own busi- nesses and charges that it illicitly ob- tains U.S. technolo- gy remain key obsta- cles. During the first 11 months of 2018, America’s trade deficit in goods with China — the gap be- tween the value of U.S. goods that China buys and the higher value of what it sells to the U.S. — swelled to a record $382 bil- lion. And a govern- ment report to be released Wednes- day is expected to show the U.S. deficit with China reaching a new high above $400 billion. A senior Trump administration of- ficial asserted that progress had been made during trade talks over the past two weeks, only to acknowledge that the eventual out- come remains a mystery and that China faced no time- table for responding to the U.S. priorities. The official insisted on anonymity to dis- cuss private conver- sations. U.S. and Chinese officials have hint- ed that some kind AP PHOTO/AHN YOUNG-JOON World News Briefs A man watches a TV screen showing an image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang- ri, North Korea, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea March 6. North Korea is restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps, according to foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seoul’s spy service. of agreement could be finalized by the end of March, with Trump and Presi- dent Xi Jinping possibly meeting to for- malize the deal at Trump’s private club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. FDA Allows Treatment of Depression with Club Drug’s Cousin WASHINGTON (AP) — A mind-alter- ing medication related to the club drug Special K won U.S. approval Tuesday for patients with hard-to-treat depres- sion, the first in a series of long-over- looked substances being reconsidered for severe forms of mental illness. The nasal spray from Johnson & Johnson is a chemical cousin of ket- amine, which has been used for de- cades as a powerful anesthetic to pre- pare patients for surgery. In the 1990s, the medication was adopted as a party drug by the underground rave culture due to its ability to produce psyche- delic, out-of-body experiences. More recently, some doctors have given ket- amine to people with depression with- out formal FDA approval. The Food and Drug Administra- tion approved Spravato as a fast-act- ing treatment for patients who have failed to find relief with at least two antidepressants. Up to 7.4 million American adults suffer from so-called treatment-resistant depression, which heightens the risk of suicide, hospital- See BRIEFS on page 11