China grants Ivanka Trump 5 trademarks
SHANGHAI — The Chinese government has granted Ivanka Trump’s company preliminary approval for another five trademarks this month, as her father’s administration pushes ahead on trade negotiations with China.
Four trademarks, including child care centers, sunglasses and wedding dresses, were approved on Sunday. A fifth, covering brokerage, charitable fundraising and art valuation services, was approved Jan. 6, according to online trademark office records. The applications were filed in 2016 and 2017. If no one objects, they will be finalized after 90 days.
Ms. Trump’s expanding intellectual property holdings have long raised ethical concerns, particularly in China, where the courts and bureaucracy tend to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party.
Critics argue that by asking a foreign government for valuable intellectual property rights, White House officials could open themselves to pressure in government negotiations. There is also concern that the family’s global trademark portfolio would open the way for lucrative business opportunities once Donald Trump leaves office.
Model released in Moscow
A Belarusian model who claimed to have insider knowledge of Russian attempts to meddle in the U.S. elections has been freed from police custody in Moscow, state media reported.
The model, Anastasia Vashukevich, was detained Thursday at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on prostitution allegations after being deported from Thailand, where she had spent nearly a year behind bars for soliciting. She remains a suspect in a prostitution case, TASS reported.
Ms. Vashukevich, along with seven others, pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation and conspiracy at a court in the Thai resort town of Pattaya, where they were arrested in February 2018 while running so-called sex training sessions. They were each sentenced to 18 months in jail but were released to serve the remainder of their sentence on parole.
The 28-year-old selfstyled “sex expert,” who also goes by Nastya Rybka on social media, made international headlines last year when she offered to swap secret audio recordings allegedly shedding light on President Donald Trump’s links to Russia for asylum in the U.S. Ms. Vashukevich claimed to have obtained the recordings during an affair with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, an ex-business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Zimbabwe crackdown
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called violence by the country’s security forces “unacceptable and a betrayal” following deadly protests last week sparked by a sharp fuel price hike.
Mr. Mnangagwa’s comments were his first on the strife that has wracked Zimbabwe for over a week, during which the president was largely absent. He arrived back in Harare on Tuesday from Switzerland, where he had been due to attend the World Economic Forum.
“One week ago I announced measures to stabilize our nation’s crucial fuel supply. I was aware that these measures may not be popular ... ,” Mr. Mnangagwa said on Twitter. “What followed was regrettable and tragic. Everyone has the right to protest, but this was not a peaceful protest.”
He added that “chaos and insubordination will not be tolerated. Misconduct will be investigated. If required, heads will roll.”