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Lebanon may lift Ghosn's travel ban if files not received within 40 days

BEIRUT — Lebanon may lift a travel ban on ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn if files pertaining to his case do not arrive from Japan within 40 days, caretaker justice minister Albert Serhan said in a statement on Friday. Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, last month as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. His dramatic escape has raised tensions between Japan and Lebanon, where Ghosn slammed the Japanese justice system at a two-hour news conference on Wednesday, prompting Japan's Justice Minister to launch a rare and forceful public response. Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan. Serhan said in the statement that he had met with the Japanese ambassador to Lebanon and reaffirmed the importance of the relationship between the two countries. He also said that Ghosn's wife Carole will also be questioned by Lebanese prosecutors when authorities receive an Interpol notice for her. "Carole will be subject to the same procedures that were followed for (Carlos) when the red notice was received from Interpol." Tokyo prosecutors on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Carole for alleged perjury related to the misappropriation charge against her husband. A spokeswoman for Carole said that she had voluntarily returned to Japan nine months ago to answer prosecutors' questions and was free to go without any charges, adding that the warrant was "pathetic". A fair trial? Carlos GhosnÂ’s lawyer on Friday told JapanÂ’s government that the authorities had failed to arrange for a fair trial that respected universal rights. Francois Zimeray, French lawyer for Ghosn, said that it had been for JapanÂ’s prosecutors to prove GhosnÂ’s guilt, not for Ghosn to prove his innocence. “It belongs to the prosecution to prove guilt and not to the accused person to prove its innocence,” Zimeray said in a statement. Japanese Justice Minister Masako Mori launched a rare and forceful public takedown of auto executive-turned-fugitive Ghosn after he blasted the countryÂ’s legal system as allowing him “zero chance” of a fair trial as he sought to justify his escape to Beirut. Reporting by Hoda Monem, Dominique Vidalon and Richard Lough. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Government/Legal Nissan Renault Carlos Ghosn

Nissan's Taxi of Tomorrow shut down by NYC courts [UPDATE]

Justice Schlomo Hagler may have just put a big dent in Nissan's plans to rule New York City's taxi fleets and outgoing Mayor Mike Bloomberg's vision of a unified fleet of yellow cabs.
As an October 28 deadline approached that would see all current, non-hybrid taxis replaced over by the Nissan NV200 over a three-to-five-year span, the legal battle that's enveloped the Taxi of Tomorrow program from the start has intensified. In a lawsuit, the Greater New York Taxi Association claims New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission overstepped its powers in mandating that taxi fleets are refitted with the NV200, according to the New York Daily News. This isn't the first time the courts have sided with the cabbies in the ToT debate.
Justice Hagler agreed with the cabbies, striking down the Taxi of Tomorrow purchasing requirements, and saying, "Simply stated, the power to contract and compel medallion owners to purchase the Nissan NV200 from Nissan for ten years does not exist in the City Charter," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Nissan Sport Sedan Concept foretells a future Maxima

Nissan is in the midst of overhauling its design language. We got our first glimpse at the direction its style was going a year ago with the Resonance crossover concept, which was followed in Shanghai by the connected-car Friend-Me hatchback concept. And now, after dropping a few hints, Nissan has revealed the third in this developing series.
Unveiled at today's Detroit Auto Show, the new Sport Sedan Concept applies many of the same design elements we've seen on Nissan's previous show cars to a more conventional four-door shape. But far from a design exercise, the decidedly uncreatively named Sport Sedan Concept previews "a future production sports sedan," which has every indication of being the next Maxima.
Its dimensions reveal the concept to be bigger than the current Maxima in every direction but height, with that visual impression further entrenched by a floating roof design that combines with a high waistline to give a coupe-like profile. There are also sharp creases in the bodywork that visually break up the space between the rear set of 21-inch alloys and the tapered greenhouse. The shape is further punctuated by the V-shaped grille and distinctly Nissan boomerang-shaped lights that lend a face to this distinctly Japanese design that was penned in California and honed back in Japan. The sharp and simple cabin is characterized by a high-contrast palette with quilted leather and metallic trim.