News Headlines - 11 May 2019
▽China indicts former Interpol chief on bribery charges：The Asahi Shimbun
Chinese prosecutors indicted former Interpol president Meng Hongwei on Friday on charges of accepting bribes, the latest development in a case that began with his disappearance while on a journey to Beijing.
The announcement from the prosecutor's office in the northeastern city of Tianjin said Meng had abused his positions, including as a vice minister of public security and head of the maritime police to "illegaly accept cash and property in return for performing favors for others."
▽Hong Kong lawmakers scuffle in parliament | The Guardian
Hong Kong’s legislative assembly descended into chaos on Saturday as lawmakers for and against amendments to the territory’s extradition law clashed over access to the chamber... The amendments have been widely criticised as eroding the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s judicial independence by making it easier to send criminal suspects to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.
▽2 Nissan execs to escape charges under plea bargaining deal：The Asahi Shimbun
Two executives of Nissan Motor Co. who entered into a plea-bargaining deal with prosecutors investigating suspected financial wrongdoing by Carlos Ghosn will not be indicted, sources said... The pair who cooperated with prosecutors are a foreign senior executive and a Japanese official who once headed the company's secretariat.
Sources said the foreign executive approached prosecutors through lawyers on Oct. 10 about a plea bargain, and the Japanese official did the same on Oct. 26.
Algerian police have arrested Said Bouteflika, the youngest brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and two former intelligence chiefs, Generals Bachir Athmane Tartag and Mohamed Mediene, security sources said on Saturday... Said Bouteflika, who served as a top advisor to the presidency for more than a decade, acted as Algeria’s de facto ruler after his brother suffered a stroke in 2013 which left him in a wheelchair.
▽Nearly all countries agree to stem flow of plastic waste into poor nations | The Guardian
Almost all the world’s countries have agreed on a deal aimed at restricting shipments of hard-to-recycle plastic waste to poorer countries, the United Nations announced on Friday.
Exporting countries - including the US - now will have to obtain consent from countries receiving contaminated, mixed or unrecyclable plastic waste. Currently, the US and other countries can send lower-quality plastic waste to private entities in developing countries without getting approval from their governments.
