by foxbusiness.com -- Following his escape from Japan, former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo this weekend that he has "actual evidence" and documents that will prove that this was a coup to take him down. Ghosn told Bartiromo that at a press conference this week he plans to name names, including some people behind the Japanese government which he believes, are behind his 2018 arrest over financial misconduct allegations. Ghosn believes "they wanted to take him out" because he was going to merge with Nissan and Renault. But Ghosn said giving up his position as CEO put him in a "dangerous position" and he believes he should have left Japan, instead of being a support system for his successor Hiroto Sakawa.

Ghosn also told Bartiromo that he was "really unnerved and upset" that he failed to understand the unfairness of the Japanese judicial system and that the "straw that broke the camel's back" was the fact that he was unable to speak to his wife. Ghosn said he refused to sit in his apartment under surveillance when he would not get a fair trial but is willing to have his case heard in front of any court aside from Japan. Ghosn's wife told FOX Business in April that her husband was in poor health and enduring harsh conditions while being incarcerated.

by cnn -- Ghosn's public attacks will bruise 'brand Japan'

"Brand Japan is going to suffer a great deal," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan. "His case is certainly a major black eye for the Japanese judicial system." Ghosn is already using his newfound freedom to rail on the country's criminal court system, which boasts an incredibly high conviction rate, and which he claims had held him "hostage." He has promised to communicate "freely" with journalists about his plight. The former Nissan chief may be guilty of various financial crimes, Kingston said, "but that has all been over shadowed" by Ghosn's treatment and his arguments that the judicial system is rigged.

by newsmax.com --Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. strategy in countering Iran is to target the country's "actual decision-makers” rather than to focus on Iranian proxy forces in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Pompeo was explaining U.S. strategy in the aftermath of the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, who was mastermind of the country's military operations outside Iran. That killing has sent shock waves across the Middle East, with expectations that Iran will make good on its threat to strike back, with unpredictable consequences for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Pompeo spoke on ABC's “This Week” amid rising uncertainty about next steps in the U.S.-Iran crisis and the breadth of its ramifications. The U.S. acknowledged an attack Sunday by an al-Qaida affiliate on a Kenyan airfield used by American military forces. It was not immediately clear whether there were U.S. casualties.

In Beirut, Lebanon's Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, said the U.S. military in the region, including bases and warships, were fair targets after the killing of Soleimani. Hezbollah is a primary ally of Iran with broad influence. The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops throughout the region, including in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar — all within range of Iran or its proxy militias. Iraq's parliament on Sunday called for the expulsion of U.S. troops from the country in the wake of the attack in Baghdad that killed Soleimani. There are 5,200 American forces in Iraq. At issue is the fate of the agreement under which Washington sent troops to Iraq more than four years ago to help in the fight against the Islamic State group.

by alkhaleejtoday.co -- Aden - Yasmine El Tohamy - Syrian national Mohammad Al-Mousa approached the superstar's luxury villa, perched on a hilly region of Keserwan, in the central Mount Lebanon Governate, armed with a handgun. Three private security guards assigned to the home of one of the most popular performers in the Arab world were powerless as the invader brandished his weapon, securing entry into the property, according to officials now leading the investigation. With the black-clad thief walking freely inside, Ajram's husband Dr Fadi El Hachem was forced to negotiate. Dr Hachem pleaded that he leave the family home and offered him large sums of money in exchange, An-Nahar reported. Yet Al-Mousa paid no attention his appeals, threatening to kill anyone who dared obstruct him. He then advanced toward the bedroom where the couple's young daughters slept. At this point, Dr Hachem resolved to take matters in his own hands. A brief exchange of gunfire between the two resulted in the death of Al-Mousa and injured Ajram, one of the most famous female performers in the Middle East

A picture circulating on social media shows her face hidden by her hair, while she is comforted on a couch in the couples' home, in the aftermath of the shooting. Police were immediately called to the scene, according to Al-Quds. Ghada Oun, public prosecutor of the Mount Lebanon governate, issued an arrest warrant for Dr Hachem. Security officials investigating the incident are likely to consider Dr Hachem's actions as a use of reasonable force to defend his wife and their children. In 2010, Ajram was announced as the bestselling Middle Eastern female singer of the 21st Century's first decade, and in 2019 she was declared the region's most popular celebrity figure, with nearly 18 million followers on Instagram. In June last year, Ajram made headlines with her first concert in Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom ended a decades-long ban on live music.

by AFP — Banks in a region of northern Lebanon were closed until further notice on Saturday, the National News Agency said, …