News Headlines - 08 March 2021

▽Senior official close to Suga ousted from job in ethics scandal | The Japan Times

A senior official with close ties to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was ousted from his position on Monday after the communications ministry acknowledged he was treated to expensive meals by a telecom giant recognized as a stakeholder.
Yasuhiko Taniwaki, who was a vice minister for policy coordination at the ministry, highly likely violated Japan’s ethics code for government officials by accepting the meals, worth a total of about ￥107,000 ($987), on three occasions between September 2018 and July 2020.
The ministry identified Taniwaki’s wrongdoing in an interim report on its investigation into a wine-and-dine scandal involving Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

▽Myanmar security forces raid media HQ as opposition crackdown spreads | The Guardian

Myanmar security forces have raided the Yangon offices of a local media outlet as the ruling junta widens its efforts to suppress opposition to the coup it carried out more than a month ago.
Soldiers and police on Monday evening raided the headquarters of Myanmar Now, a news outlet that regularly scrutinises the Tatmadaw, or military, seizing computers, part of the newsroom’s data server and other equipment, a representative of the outlet said.

▽EU and US agree to suspend tariffs in Airbus-Boeing dispute | Financial Times

The EU and US have agreed to suspend punitive tariffs related to their longstanding feud over aircraft subsidies, in the first breakthrough in trade relations since President Joe Biden took office.
The two sides reached a deal after intensive talks, according to people familiar with the discussions, in a sign that the 16-year-old transatlantic trade battle over state aid to Airbus and Boeing could be coming to an end.
The accord, announced by Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, means both sides will suspend tariffs linked to the dispute for four months. The duties have hit products ranging far beyond aircraft, encompassing an eclectic array of goods such as US self-propelled shovel loaders, French wine and even US ornamental fish.

▽Swiss ‘burka ban’ accepted by slim majority - SWI swissinfo.ch

A decade after another national vote that banned the building of minarets, Switzerland will introduce a clause in its constitution to outlaw face coverings, including the Islamic burka and niqab, in public spaces.
In doing so, it will join five other European countries, including neighbours France and Austria, who have already banned such garments in public.
Exceptions to the law will include face coverings for reasons of security, climate, or health - which means protective masks worn against Covid-19 are acceptable. Niqabs and burkas will still be allowed in places of worship.

▽Vladimir Nabokov Ponders Superman, Lois Lane's Sex Life in Lost Poem - Rolling Stone

A lost poem written by Vladimir Nabokov about Superman - in which the Man of Steel envisions a tragic wedding night with Lois Lane and longs to be a mortal man - has been published for the first time.
Written in June 1942 and rejected by the New Yorker, “The Man of To-morrow’s Lament” was penned two years after Nabokov emigrated from Russia to the U.S., with the Lolita author focusing on the American cultural icon - he read the comics to his 8-year-old son - and jumping into one of the biggest debates in comic book-dom: Whether or not Clark Kent and Lois Lane could have a sexual relationship.