The billionaire head of South Korea’s Samsung Group, Jay Y. Lee, was jailed for five years for bribery on Friday after a six-month trial over a scandal that brought down the president.

Lee had paid bribes in anticipation of favors from then president Park Geun-hye, according to a landmark ruling by a Seoul court, which also found him guilty of hiding assets abroad, embezzlement and perjury.

Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed Park to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone and chip maker, and has interests ranging from drugs and home appliances to insurance and hotels.

Lee denied wrongdoing.

One of his lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, said Lee would appeal the lower court ruling.

“The entire verdict is unacceptable,” Song said, adding that he was confident his client’s innocence would be affirmed by a higher court.

Under South Korean law, sentences of more than three years can not be suspended. The five year-sentence is one of the longest prison terms given to a South Korean business leader.

The Seoul Central District Court said Samsung’s financial support of entities backed by Park’s close friend, Choi Soon-sil, constituted bribery, including 7.2 billion won ($6.4 million) in sponsoring the equestrian career of Choi’s daughter.

In return for the contributions, prosecutors say, Samsung sought government support for a controversial 2015 merger of two of its affiliates, which helped Lee tighten his control of the conglomerate.

His lawyers had argued that the merger was done on business merits but the court did not accept that.

Park, who was forced from office in disgrace, is facing her own corruption trial, with a ruling expected later this year.

Prosecutors have argued that Park and Lee two took part in the same act of bribery so Lee’s conviction would appear ominous  for Park.

Hundreds of rowdy, diehard Park supporters rallied outside the court earlier in the day to demand Lee’s acquittal.

“The trials of former President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Jay Y. Lee go hand in hand,” said Son Tong-sok, 63, who heads a conservative group, holding a Korean flag.

Son said prosecutors had built their cases on circumstantial evidence and unsubstantiated claims reported in the media.  “Arresting these two innocent people are violations of human rights,” he said.

Samsung, founded in 1938 by Lee’s grandfather, is a household name in South Korea and a symbol of the country’s dramatic rise from poverty following the 1950-53 Korean War.

But over the years, it has also come to epitomize the cosey ties between politicians and powerful family-controlled business groups – or chaebols – which have been implicated in a series of corruption scandals.

South Koreans, who once applauded the chaebols for catapulting the country into a global economic power, now criticize them for holding back the economy and squeezing smaller businesses.

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, who replaced the Park after a May 9 election, has pledged to rein in the chaebols, empower minority shareholders and end the practice of pardoning corporate tycoons convicted of white-collar crime.
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Environmentalists are condemning a decree by Brazilian President Michel Temer allowing mining in the heart of the Amazon.

The measure strips protection from a national reserve between the northern states of Para and Amapa and clears the way for the private mining sector to explore the forest.

The gold-rich area is larger than the Netherlands, measuring roughly 18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers). It is also home to numerous indigenous tribes.

The Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature says Wednesday’s decree will create conflicts between miners, indigenous peoples and conservationists working in the area.

The government says indigenous groups will be protected and the mining will attract foreign investors and create jobs.
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Stonehenge is dry and has been for too long — seven years too long. You can taste the dust well before you cross the cattle grids that cut the only road into town.

More than 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) northwest of Sydney, Australia’s Stonehenge could not be more different from its famous namesake, the World Heritage prehistoric monument of Stonehenge in England.

Stonehenge in England averages 10 days a month of rainfall and a maximum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit).

The town in Australia averages 325 sunny days a year and summer temperature of about 45C (113F), and forget regular rain.

How the town got its name is a mystery.

“In the mid-1800s, dingo [wild dog] trappers built a stone fortress which they used as a shelter, but no one is really sure,” said resident Judy Baldry as she drove along a dusty road on the outskirts of town.

Another possibility is the stony landscape, with rocks ranging in size from marbles to boulders scattered across the plains as far as the eye can see.

The stones lure tourists to an area known as “The Address Book” on the outskirts of town, where people create their names or love messages using stones, such as “Jim loves Kerry” and “Dan 4 Jan.”

Praying for rain

Stonehenge’s remaining 23 residents say they are struggling to survive one of the longest droughts in memory.

“Certainly, this is the worst drought I’ve seen in the last 28 years because of its longevity. It’s just gone on for so long,” said cattle and sheep farmer Tony Jackson.

Jackson’s Hill View Park Station property of more than 150,000 acres (60,000 hectares) is excellent wool country because of the stones. Less dirt means better quality wool.

He manages 800 cattle and about 6,000 sheep on the drought-hit property, but he fears he will have no feed or water if there is no rain by Christmas.

Jackson and his neighbors have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on feed.

Debt levels for broadacre farms, which include cattle, sheep and crops, is estimated to have increased by 7 percent during 2015-16 to average A$560,500 per farm, the Australian government’s agricultural bureau said.

Other parts of Australia have seen the drought break, and farmers there are looking at a bright future. Cash incomes on cattle farms are estimated to be the highest in more than 20 years, at A$204,000 per farm, because of rising beef prices.

But the drought has a stranglehold on Stonehenge.

For the first time in more than 34 years, the main water supply, the meandering Thomson River, has stopped flowing.

Farmer Dick Smith says it has been seven years since the last decent rain filled the river.

“This is drought country. No one forced me to live here. We have to expect a drought, but this one’s gone on too long,” he said on the veranda of his home on the Depot Glen property.

Smith usually manages about 1,500 cattle but has destocked to survive and now has just 47 cows and calves.

He said that because of droughts over the past decades, he had “completely destocked three times,” and the potential for a fourth was high.

When the rains do come, the farmers of Stonehenge will struggle to pay for new stock at a time when cattle prices are at record levels because of demand for beef.

Hard on families

The drought has taken its toll on families, with the emotional and financial stress contributing to poor mental health, according to a study by the Australian National University.

The study examined 8,000 people living in drought and found that the more severe the drought, the more severe the impact on the mental health of a farmer and his family.

Sue Smith knows the burden. She runs Depot Glen alone for many months while her husband, Dick, is away driving a grader or fixing fences thousands of kilometers away in the Northern Territory.

“You really have to love your husband to live out here,” said Sue, a champion equestrian when she was young.

“We’re not isolated up here. We have bitumen roads, telephones, internet, but I do miss white sheets,” she said, referring to the groundwater that stains her sheets.

Stonehenge has suffered a huge loss of people because of the drought. The town many years ago boasted three hotels, and until just a decade ago, a population of 106.

Frank Irwin, who used to work on a farm, now runs the Stonehenge Hotel, a tin building with a bar crowned with empty beer bottles and rodeo memorabilia.

Stonehenge, like its English namesake, will survive, he said. “We just batten down the hatches until it does rain.”
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Experts at credit rating agencies are watching Washington’s political squabbling over budgets and spending closely, and they might make another cut in the U.S. credit rating if the Republican-controlled White House, Senate and House cannot reach an agreement.

President Donald Trump has promised to build a massive wall along the southern U.S. border in a bid to stop illegal immigration. Trump has said he will press Congress hard to fund the controversial measure, even if it stalls action on other budget issues and forces the government to shut down.

Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans who ran on promises to limit or cut government spending are reluctant to fund the measure, and most rival Democrats oppose the wall.

U.S. law provides for a “debt ceiling,” meaning the Treasury cannot borrow more money unless Congress agrees to raise the limit. That limit was reached months ago, and the federal government will apparently run out of cash by the end of September or early October if nothing changes.

The political situation is made more complex by the fast-approaching end of the budget year and the need for Congress to agree on next year’s spending priorities.

Congress and presidents have bickered over budgets in the past, and in 2011 a debt ceiling impasse prompted the Standard & Poor’s agency to make the first downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

The Fitch agency Wednesday said failure to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner would prompt a review of the nation’s credit rating. Fitch currently gives the United States its top rating.

Moody’s experts Thursday wrote that they expected Washington politicians to work out their differences, but that failure to reach an agreement could prompt the government to shut down, disrupting the economy more and more if the impasse drags on.

Moody’s noted that a previous government shutdown prompted lenders to demand higher interest rates, raising the cost of government by about $1.3 billion in just one year.

Moody’s and other experts have urged Congress to remove the debt ceiling because it does not restrain spending but does add “to the noise” around the budget process.
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President Donald Trump’s comments at a Phoenix rally that he will probably end up terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement brought cheers from the crowd but groans from the state’s top business group.

Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Glenn Hamer posted a video calling any termination a “terrible mistake” within hours of Trump’s remarks Tuesday night. Hamer is in Mexico on a trade mission with a bipartisan delegation of about two dozen state lawmakers.

“It would be a mistake that the administration would feel each and every day,” Hamer said. “And why would that be? The administration has set a noble goal of 3 percent growth. You can’t get there if your start unraveling trade agreements.

“You need good tax policy, you need good regulatory policy and you need good trade policy,” he said.

Trump hints NAFTA is done

Trump said at the campaign-style rally that he believes Mexico and Canada are coming out ahead on the 23-year-old trade agreement. Renegotiations began in recent weeks.

“Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal, because we have been so badly taken advantage of,” Trump said. “I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point, OK? Probably.”

Modernizing agreement

Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain have called for modernizing an agreement they say has brought huge benefits for Arizonans.

Flake has put on a full court press in recent months, launched an effort in May to highlight what he calls the agreement’s “huge boon to Arizona and the U.S.” He’s put out videos featuring people and businesses that have benefited from the trade pact.

On Wednesday, he said he won’t stop that effort.

“I will continue to speak up for the countless Arizonans whose jobs and businesses rely on the billions of dollars that NAFTA injects into our state’s economy,” Flake said in a statement.

 
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