TRUMP IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OPENS AS WATCHDOG FAULTS WHITE HOUSE ON UKRAINEThe Senate impeachment trial on whether to remove U.S. President DonaldTrump from office formally began on January 16 even as a congressionalwatchdog found that the White House broke the law by withholding securityaid for Ukraine approved by Congress.The assessment from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO)was a setback for Mr. Trump, but it was unclear if it would figure in histrial in the Republican-led Senate given that key questions such as whetherwitnesses will testify or new evidence will be considered remain unanswered.Democrat Adam Schiff, who heads a team of seven House of Representativesmembers who will serve as prosecutors, appeared on the Senate floor to readthe two charges passed by the House on Dec. 18 that accused Trump of abuseof power and obstruction of Congress arising from his dealings with Ukraine.Chief Justice John Roberts took an oath to preside over the trial and thenswore in the assembled senators who will serve as jurors.The Senate is expected to acquit Mr. Trump, as none of its 53 Republicanshas voiced support for removing him, a step that requires a two-thirdsmajority. Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing and has called the impeachmentprocess a sham.Opening statements were due to start on January 21.The abuse of power cited in the House articles of impeachment included Mr.Trump's withholding of $391 million in security aid for Ukraine, a moveDemocrats have said was aimed at pressuring Kiev into investigatingpolitical rival Joe Biden, the president's possible opponent in the Nov. 3U.S. election.US INDICTS FIVE PAK-ORIGIN MEN FOR SMUGGLING NUKE EQUIPMENTThe US Federal Court has indicted five men of Pakistani origin for smugglingequipment related to nuclear weapons and entities that have been sanctionedfor years as threats to the US national security.Although arrest warrants are pending, none of the five defendants has beenarrested so far. The case brings back memories of the arrest of ArshadPervez in 1987 on charges of illegal procurement. But all moves to takeaction against Pakistan were stymied by then US President Ronald Regan as hefeared it could impact the arming of militants fighting the KabulGovernment.It remains to be seen with the Afghan peace talks hanging in balance,whether the US will cancel its recently restarted International MilitaryEducation and Training (IMET) with Pakistan.TECHNOCRAT, 'DECENT' HOCKEY PLAYER, PIANIST: RUSSIA'S NEXT PM MIKHAILMISHUSTINOn Wednesday, Mikhail Mishustin, who is best known in Russia for improvingtax collection processes and doubling tax revenues, was picked by PresidentVladimir Putin as the nation's next prime minister. On Thursday, the lowerhouse of Russia's parliament is expected to decide on approving Mishustin,despite analysts saying he was at best a 'technocratic placeholder'.Mishustin, who is 53-years-old, has been the head of the Federal Tax Servicesince 2010 and has worked in government roles related to tax collectionsince the early days of his career, says a Reuters profile of him.A glowing profile of him on state-run RT.com said that the Moscow-bornMishustin worked in the computer and IT sector throughout the 90s and joinedthe tax service near the end of the decade, when he began his career as acivil servant. Mishustin holds a doctorate in economics and oversaw theopening of the first special economic zones in Russia and in the early 2000swas put in charge of the Federal Real Estate Cadaster Agency.Like Putin, Mishustin enjoys ice hockey and is on the boards of CSKA Moscowice hockey club and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. A former ice hockeyplayer-turned-lawmaker said that he is a "decent" hockey player. The PMcandidate is said to compose music and plays the piano.What analysts said"Mishustin does not have any political experience or popularity with theelectorate, and is not part of Putin's inner circle," Tatiana Stanovaya, anon-resident scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote on social media.She said Mishustin would be unlikely to run in the presidential election duewhen Putin's fourth term ends in 2024, adding: "(It) seems highly likelythat Mishustin is just a technocratic placeholder.""(Mishustin) looks a lot like the technocratic premiers. of the early2000s," Stanovaya said.Analyst Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Putin adviser, told the Interfax newsagency that Mishustin is "a splendid bureaucrat, in the best sense of theword."IRAN ACCUSES EU OF ABANDONING NUCLEAR DEALIran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday three Europeannations - U.K., France and Germany - had succumbed to "high school bully"Donald Trump when they triggered a dispute mechanism in nuclear deal.The three governments "sold out remnants of #JCPOA (the nuclear deal) toavoid new Trump tariffs," Mr. Zarif charged."It won't work my friends. You only whet his appetite. Remember your highschool bully?"Germany's defence minister on Thursday confirmed a Washington Post reportthat the United States had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports ofEuropean cars if EU governments continued to back the nuclear deal."This expression or threat, as you will, does exist," AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer told a news conference during a visit to London.Mr. Zarif said Europe's unwillingness to antagonise the United States made amockery of its stated determination to rescue the nuclear deal."If you want to sell your integrity, go ahead," Mr. Zarif tweeted. "But DONOT assume high moral/legal ground."The European states triggered a dispute mechanism established under thedeal, which allows a party to claim significant non-compliance by anotherparty before a joint commission, with appeals possible to an advisory boardand ultimately to the UN Security Council.Since Washington pulled out of the agreement and reimposed cripplingunilateral sanctions in 2018, EU governments have sought to find a way toallow European businesses to continue trading with Iran without incurringhuge US penalties.As its economy has gone into reverse, an increasingly frustrated Iran hashit back with the step-by-step suspension of its own commitments under thedeal.AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT USED PUBLIC FUNDS TO TARGET MARGINAL ELECTORATES:AUDITOR REPORTAustralia's conservative government used a A$100 million ($69 million) sportdevelopment fund to target votes in marginal electorates ahead of anelection last year, the country's independent auditor of public spending hasconcluded.Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison secured re-election in May 2019,defying polls that had indicated voters would punish the conservativegovernment for the backbench revolt that ousted former leader MalcolmTurnbull in 2018.Looking to regain lost support in the run-up to the election, Mr. Morrison'sgovernment promised increased spending on local sport, but the AustralianNational Audit Office said late on Tuesday that then Minister for SportBridget McKenzie used the public funds to win favour with voters.The report said 400 projects received funding. The Australian National AuditOffice said more than 70% of those that received funding had done so withoutany endorsement by the governing body for sport in Australia."The award of funding reflected the approach documented by the minister'soffice of focusing on 'marginal' electorates held by the Coalition as wellas those electorates held by other parties or independent members that wereto be targeted by the Coalition at the 2019 election," the report read.The report fuels pressure on Mr. Morrison, who is already struggling under abarrage of criticism over his government's handing of ragging bushfires thathave destroyed an area the size of Bulgaria. Ms. McKenzie did not disputethe findings of the report, though she insisted no rules had been broken."Ministerial discretion was actually written into the guidelines for apurpose," McKenzie told Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio. Rightnow, as a result of our investment, parents are watching their kids getactive on a Saturday morning."Australia's current Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the governmentwould take action on the audit's findings, though he did not specify whatchanges would be made.JAPAN REPORTS CASE OF MYSTERY VIRUSJapan has confirmed a case of a mystery virus that first emerged in Chinaand is from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen, authorities saidThursday.It appears to be only the second time the novel coronavirus has beendetected outside China, after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmeda case in Thailand.Japan's health ministry said a man who had visited the central Chinese cityof Wuhan, the apparent epicentre of the outbreak, was hospitalised onJanuary 10, four days after his return to Japan. He reported a persistentfever.Tests on the patient, who was released from hospital on Wednesday, confirmedhe was infected with the new virus."This is the first domestic discovery of a pneumonia case related to the newcoronavirus," the ministry said in a statement."We will continue active epidemiological research while also coordinatingefforts with the World Health Organization and related agencies to conduct arisk assessment."The outbreak has caused alarm because the new virus is from the same familyas the pathogen that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), whichkilled 349 people in mainland China and 299 in Hong Kong in 2002 and 2003.Authorities in Wuhan said a seafood market was the centre of the outbreak.It was closed on January 1.Japanese authorities said the man had not visited the market and that it waspossible he had been in contact with a person infected with the virus whilein Wuhan.ARMY BOOT ON PAK TV SHOW; ANCHOR BANNED FOR 60 DAYS FOR MINISTER'S FIASCOA Pakistani TV anchor and his news programme was banned by Pakistan's mediawatchdog for 60 days on Thursday for letting a cabinet minister to displayan army boot during the talk show to ridicule the opposition.Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda appeared on KashifAbbasi's programme 'Off the Record' on ARY News and used a military boot toheap scorn on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People'sParty (PPP) for voting in favour of the recently passed Army Act inParliament.Senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira and PML-N leader Javed Abbasi, who wereco-participants, walked out in protest as the show host just grinned andfailed to stop Vawda's antics.Taking cognizance of the incident, Pakistan Electronic Media RegulatoryAuthority (PEMRA) took action against the news programme and its anchorciting violation of media laws and banned Kashif Abbasi and his show for 60days.Vawda in a show with Hamid Mir of Geo News on Wednesday defended his actionas a "mirror to opposition, especially the PML-N, for opposing and vilifyingarmy".However, the minister agreed his action was extreme and showed ignorancethat it was against the laws of PEMRA.He said Prime Minister Imran Khan "disliked the boot thing" in the show.