News Headlines - 13 January 2020

▽Nissan executives step up planning for potential split from Renault | Financial Times

Senior executives at Nissan have accelerated secret contingency planning for a potential split from Renault as the downfall of Carlos Ghosn continues to reverberate through the 20-year-old automotive alliance.
The plans include war-gaming a total divide in engineering and manufacturing, as well as changes to Nissan’s board, according to several sources, and have been ramped up since Mr Ghosn’s dramatic escape from Japan in late December.

▽With Ghosn Gone, Greg Kelly Faces a Legal Battle Alone - WSJ

Greg Kelly, the man Carlos Ghosn left behind to face charges of financial crimes alone, says his own case will suffer without his one-time boss.
Mr. Kelly had expected Mr. Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Co., to speak in his defense against Japanese charges he tried to hide tens of millions of dollars in Mr. Ghosn’s compensation. With him gone, Mr. Kelly, a former senior executive at the company, says his trial will be adversely affected: Mr. Ghosn was key to corroborating his side of the story, he said.

▽Ships using the Panama Canal will see an extra charge for fresh water - The Washington Post

The Panama Canal will begin collecting a freshwater surcharge from ships using the waterway, authorities announced Monday, as part of actions to address a scarcity of rainfall after the surrounding area recorded its fifth driest year of the last seven decades in 2019.
Canal administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said the new measure aims to protect the supply of fresh water for shipping activity and human consumption.

▽Iran's only woman Olympic medalist seeks asylum | NHK WORLD

Iran's only woman Olympic medalist has expressed her intention to seek asylum, criticizing Iranian authorities for oppressing her.
Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh posted a comment on Instagram on Saturday, two days after Western and other media reported she had left Iran for the Netherlands to seek asylum.

▽Oscar Nominations 2020: ‘Joker’ Leads With 11 Nods; Three Others Get 10 - The New York Times

The 92nd Academy Awards will be a showdown between old and new Hollywood: Netflix amassed a leading 24 nominations on Monday, including best picture honors for “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story,” but traditional studios were only a heartbeat behind... “Joker” (Warner Bros.), which portrays the DC Comics villain as sharing the psychological traits of real-life mass shooters, led all films with 11 nominations, including ones for best picture, director (Todd Phillips), actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and score (Hildur Gudnadottir).