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jp0002899
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/16
|
English level at Japan's secondary schools falls short of government target
|
The English-language ability of students at public secondary schools fell short of the government’s target in the 2018 academic year through March, despite a slight improvement from a year earlier, a government survey showed Tuesday. The percentage of third-year students at junior high schools whose English skills were equivalent to Grade 3 of the widely-used Eiken proficiency test rose 1.9 points from a year ago to 42.6 percent. For third-year senior high school students with skills matching Grade Pre-2, the increase was 0.9 point to 40.2 percent. Conducted by the education ministry in December, the survey showed that final-year students of both junior and senior high schools did not reach the 50 percent goal set for them by the government. Holders of Eiken Grade 3, aimed at junior high school graduates, are expected to be able to understand and use English concerning everyday topics. Those with Grade Pre-2, aimed at second-year senior high school students, are supposed to be at a level sufficient to allow them to participate in general aspects of daily life. The Education, Culture, Science, Sports and Technology Ministry, which has been conducting the annual survey since the academic year beginning April 2013, recognized a wide regional gap in the students’ English proficiency. “We want to raise the overall level by analyzing excellent efforts and common challenges and widely sharing that information,” an official said. Among the country’s 47 prefectures and 20 major cities, the city of Saitama posted the highest percentage of final-year junior high school students with skills equivalent to Grade 3, at 75.5 percent, followed by Fukui Prefecture at 61.2 percent and Yokohama at 55.9 percent. As for third-year senior high school students by prefecture, Fukui topped the list for students with skills matching Grade Pre-2 at 56.0 percent, followed by Toyama at 54.8 percent and Akita at 53.3 percent. Meanwhile, many regions failed to reach 50 percent at both junior and senior high school levels. With the government aspiring to foster individuals who can excel on the international stage, it originally aimed to meet the 50 percent target by the 2017 academic year but has postponed the goal until the year through March 2023. As English will become a mandatory subject for fifth and sixth graders at public elementary schools from next spring, the ministry also looked into the English-language proficiency of elementary school teachers. The ministry survey found only 5.9 percent, or 20,182, of 343,295 full-time elementary school teachers nationwide were licensed to teach English at a secondary-school level — the lowest level for which there is certification. While many elementary schools made their own efforts to secure proficient personnel, such as hiring those with a license to teach English or coordinating with junior high schools, many teachers were worried about leading English classes as they had not been trained to do so. The ministry has been trying to address the situation by improving training programs for elementary school teachers and increasing the number of licensed teachers with a certain level of English proficiency. The number of native English-speaking assistant language teachers at elementary schools rose to 13,044, up 132 from the previous school year, while 80.6 percent of junior high schools said they have been cooperating with elementary schools on English education.
|
education;survey;english;junior high school;eiken;high school
|
jp0002900
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/16
|
South Korean man in Mie Prefecture arrested for illegally uploading sci-fi anime
|
OSAKA - A man was arrested Monday on suspicion of illegally making popular anime available online for free, police said. Lee Jun-hyung, a 29-year-old South Korean in Mie Prefecture, allegedly violated the copyright law by offering the sci-fi anime series “World Trigger” on the internet on Sept. 5 using file-sharing software. Police have also found some other videos of anime and TV drama series that Lee illicitly posted online, estimating a total damage of around ¥1.8 billion based on the number of downloads and other factors. “I wanted people to watch the videos I edited,” Lee said while admitting to the allegation, according to the police.
|
internet;anime
|
jp0002901
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/16
|
Fukuoka High Court overturns ruling and denies damages in hepatitis B relapse cases
|
FUKUOKA - A high court on Monday overturned a lower-court ruling and denied damages to chronic hepatitis B sufferers who contracted the illness in a state-run vaccination program and had relapses. The focus of the trial at the Fukuoka High Court had been on when the 20-year countdown for claims under the Civil Code begins, as the two male plaintiffs sued the state more than 20 years after they first developed symptoms. The Fukuoka District Court in 2017 ordered the state to pay ¥12.5 million in damages to each of the men, deeming their relapses in 2004 and 2008 “new damage” the plaintiffs suffered and that they should, therefore, receive compensation. But the high court ruled in favor of the state, which claimed the count should start from the time when they first had symptoms. Presiding Judge Noriyuki Yamanouchi said the two men’s relapses could not be regarded as causing damage different from earlier symptoms because the root cause was the same illness that they had initially contracted. “It’s quite a ruthless judgement and regrettable, but we won’t give up and will continue to fight,” one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said at a news conference, adding that they will appeal to the Supreme Court. Like the two men, about 90 plaintiffs have filed suits against the state in 13 district courts across Japan over 20 years after their first symptoms appeared, the lawyers said. Under a special law that took effect in 2012, people suffering from chronic hepatitis receive a one-off benefit of between ¥500,000 and ¥36 million depending on their symptoms — with the latter figure available in the most serious cases — if they file a lawsuit against the state and a recognized link between the vaccination and the illness can be established. Some of those suffering from chronic hepatitis are eligible to receive ¥12.5 million, but the payments are reduced to ¥3 million or ¥1.5 million if they do not take legal action within 20 years of developing symptoms. Hepatitis B, which is caused by a virus transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer, according to the World Health Organization. At least 400,000 people in Japan are believed to have been infected with the hepatitis B virus due to lax needle-use practices during the country’s group vaccination program between 1948 and 1988. However, as of the end of February, only about 46,000 people had been recognized as eligible to receive a payment based on the special law.
|
courts;disease;fukuoka;vaccinations;hepatitis
|
jp0002902
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/04/16
|
French team in Chile to question suspect over missing Japanese student believed slain
|
BESANCON, FRANCE - French investigators were to arrive in Chile on Monday to question a man suspected of killing his former Japanese girlfriend, who was last seen at her university residence in France in 2016, a source close to the inquiry told AFP. Nicolas Zepeda is the sole suspect in the disappearance of Narumi Kurosaki, 21, who went missing in the eastern French city of Besancon on the night of Dec. 4, 2016, after having dinner with her ex-boyfriend. Her body has not been found despite extensive searches of a nearby forested area. Authorities in France believe she was suffocated by Zepeda in a jealous rage. He has denied any role in her disappearance. Zepeda returned to Chile before French police issued an arrest warrant but a Chilean judge rejected France’s request to have him arrested and extradited, citing insufficient evidence. French authorities later asked if they could visit the country to interview Zepeda, a request that was granted last month. The Besancon prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux, along with a judge overseeing the case and two police investigators are expected to participate in the questioning of Zepeda this week, the source said. But the questions themselves will be posed by a Chilean prosecutor who will then decide whether to charge Zepeda and arrest him, in which case France would again request his extradition. Zepeda, a teaching assistant in his mid-20s, was seen at a restaurant outside Besancon with Kurosaki on the night she disappeared. He has admitted going to her room afterward, where he claims they had consensual sex. Fellow students at her dormitory said they heard terrified cries and banging noises in the residence on that night but no traces of blood were found in her room. Manteaux, the prosecutor, said last November that Zepeda had bought five litres of flammable liquid and matches at a supermarket days before Kurosaki disappeared, and that his hire car was returned covered in mud. Zepeda had also posted videos online threatening his ex-girlfriend after she began a relationship with another man. In their search for her body, police have focused their efforts on the vast Chaux forest area on the outskirts of Besancon, but have been unable to find any trace of the student.
|
france;murder;chile;narumi kurosaki;nicolas zepeda
|
jp0002903
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/04/16
|
Japanese police arrive in Thailand to investigate phone scam
|
BANGKOK - Japanese police investigators arrived in Thailand on Tuesday to probe a phone scam in which more than 200 people in Japan are believed to have been swindled out of some ¥220 million. Fifteen Japanese men, arrested by Thai police on allegations they worked in the country without permission, are suspected of targeting people in Japan, particularly those who are retired and living alone, from a rented luxury house in the beach resort of Pattaya. Thai police have learned that nine of them spent up to a year in the Philippines, on the island of Cebu, shortly before moving to Thailand, suggesting they might have engaged in scamming activities from that country, too. They all left the Philippines around the same time late last year, returned to Japan temporarily and then entered Thailand. One of them had been arrested in Japan in the past for alleged involvement in fraud. Japanese investigators said they will gather information on what the men have told Thai police, and from the contents of documents confiscated in a raid on March 29, which included what is believed to be a manual for how to carry out the scam. Thai police also confiscated some 50 IP phones in the house search. The suspects are believed to have called people all over Japan, saying they had failed to pay subscription fees for a website, and made them purchase electronic money to swindle them out of the cash. Japanese police plan to arrest the 15 suspects after they are expelled from Thailand, the investigators said.
|
thailand;fraud;scams
|
jp0002904
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/16
|
Japan ready to support France in rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral
|
The government expressed willingness to support France in restoring the Notre Dame Cathedral, while officials and notable Japanese figures expressed sadness after Paris’ iconic Catholic church was badly damaged by fire. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a message to French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that he was “greatly shocked” to see the famous cathedral engulfed in flames. “Our hearts are with France at this time of huge loss,” Abe was quoted by the Foreign Ministry as telling Macron. “The Japanese government will consider providing support if requested by the French government,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference. “It was a loss for the world and we feel deeply sad,” Suga said, referring to the fire at the World Heritage site on Monday, which burned through its roof and caused the toppling of the building’s 90-meter spire. Japanese celebrities conveyed their sadness and grief about the tragedy. Award-winning actress Keiko Kishi, a Paris resident noted for her starring role in the 1983 film “The Makioka Sisters” (“Sasameyuki”), said, “Notre Dame is a symbol of Paris. I often took walks along the banks of the River Seine and passed by the cathedral.” “It’s regrettable that something like this happened to a structure that even survived World War II,” she said. Actor Kanji Ishimaru, the Japanese voice of protagonist Quasimodo in Disney’s animation “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” said, “The cathedral has been an important presence in my life as an actor and I’ve visited the church a number of times.” “Watching clips of the blaze saddened me deeply. I hope the reconstruction begins as quickly as possible,” he added. It was not only celebrities who expressed their sympathy for the people of Paris. Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa sent his best wishes to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, saying he hopes the cathedral can be rebuilt to its former glory. Kyoto and Paris have been sister cities since 1958. Yuta Naiki, who regularly hosts French language and cultural exchange events at a Tokyo cafe he manages, said, “Notre Dame is a symbolic presence, even among the many churches in the city.” Miki Kato, a daughter of renowned shogi player Hifumi Kato and the head of the Catholic research center at Sendai Shirayuri Women’s College, also conveyed her sadness about the fire as she reminisced about her visit to Notre Dame just last month. “(The church’s) magnificence was unlike any other church, and the many visitors and locals praying there left an impression,” she said. Noting that Notre Dame held a service for victims of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Sendai and other areas of northeastern Japan, Kato said, “It is now our turn to support France. I pray for (the cathedral’s) recovery.” The church is among the most famous landmarks in Paris. Located on a small island in the River Seine, the church was completed in 1345 and was the site of numerous historical moments, including the vandalism it suffered during the 18th-century French Revolution and the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804.
|
france;yoshihide suga;fires;paris;notre dame
|
jp0002905
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/16
|
Japanese luxury vehicles being smuggled into sanctions-hit North Korea, source says
|
Japanese-made luxury vehicles that were used by Chinese military forces are being smuggled into North Korea through the Chinese border city of Dandong, Liaoning province, an informed source said. While such vehicles are among luxury goods whose export to North Korea is banned under U.N. sanctions, it is believed that many banned items are secretly being brought into the reclusive country through informal channels at the China-North Korea border. According to the source in Dandong, who is familiar with the Chinese and North Korean situations, photographs were taken of two Toyota Land Cruisers in the city last month. The vehicles were to be brought into North Korea, the source said. They were originally used by the People’s Liberation Army but were not disposed of through official channels, the source said. It is not clear which organization or organizations in North Korea bought the vehicles. The vehicles cost about $13,000 each, the source said. It appears that the vehicles were in use for more than 10 years. Ahead of delivery to North Korea, they were repainted and had other exterior maintenance work. “It is unlikely that the Chinese military is involved (in the smuggling) systematically. Some people related to the military appear to have sold the used vehicles through informal channels to make extra money,” the source said. Used vehicles are being delivered illegally to North Korea by boat and other means, skipping formal procedures at Chinese customs and avoiding detection. The source said that used heavy construction machinery is also being smuggled into North Korea. “There are dealers specializing in smuggling. There must be collaborators among border control officials,” the source said. Meanwhile, another source familiar with the situation in North Korea said that Chinese authorities have intensified crackdowns on smuggling since the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which took place late February in Vietnam, ended without a deal. Chinese authorities may be taking action at the wish of the United States and others at a time when strengthened border controls by China have made transactions through official channels difficult, leading to more widespread smuggling.
|
north korea;smuggling;sanctions;people 's liberation army;toyota land cruiser
|
jp0002906
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Ecuador to appeal Amazon oil exploration ruling won by tribe
|
QUITO - The Ecuadorian government announced Saturday it will appeal a ruling won by the country’s Waorani indigenous tribe that blocks oil companies’ entry onto ancestral Amazonian lands for exploration activities. The Ministry of Energy and Non-renewable Natural Resources said in a statement it “will appeal the decision, given that although documents and videos were presented and compliance with all standards was demonstrated, these were not taken into account.” After two weeks of deliberations, a criminal court in Puyo, central Ecuador, on Friday accepted a Waorani bid for court protection in Pastaza province to stop an oil bidding process after the government moved to open up around 180,000 hectares for exploration. The lands are protected under Ecuador’s constitution that establishes the “inalienable, unseizable and indivisible” rights of indigenous people “to maintain possession of their ancestral lands and obtain their free adjudication.” Crucially, however, the wealth in the subsoil is owned by the state. The constitution also enshrines the need for prior consultation on any plans to exploit the underground resources, given the probable environmental and cultural impacts on tribal communities. The state reached an agreement with the Waorani over oil exploration in 2012, but the tribe’s leaders said they were duped. The judges ordered the government to conduct a new consultation, applying standards set by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose.
|
courts;rights;oil;ecuador;amazon;ethnicity
|
jp0002907
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Xi Jinping's wins and losses at second Belt and Road Forum
|
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted some 5,000 delegates from across the globe at a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing last week to discuss his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to rebuild ancient trading routes across Eurasia. This year’s gathering eschewed the pageantry of the inaugural summit in 2017, as Beijing tried to address international criticism by toning down its rhetoric and tightening oversight. Here are three takeaways from the summit, and how Xi fared in the international spotlight. A chastened Xi Compared with his keynote speech two years ago, Xi was more muted on the “Belt and Road” initiative’s growing presence in other countries. The president stuck to discussing steps China is taking to clean up the project, and vowed “zero tolerance” on corruption. People’s Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang said the central bank would “build an open, market-oriented financing and investment system,” and the government released its analysis framework for debt sustainability. Xi didn’t announce new numbers on upcoming investment into the program, though he said $64 billion worth of deals were signed at last week’s forum. In 2017, he said China would add 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) to the Silk Road Fund and two state-owned banks would provide special loans for BRI projects worth 380 billion yuan in total. This year’s joint statement — released after Xi chaired a round table with participating leaders — repeatedly called for “high-quality” projects and standards. The 2017 communique didn’t use the phrase. The document also encouraged developed nations to invest in “connectivity projects” in developing countries, and said cooperation “will be open, green and clean.” “International lenders will not invest in a project that has not been de-risked or is not financially viable,” said Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “China’s challenge now is to demonstrate that the forum’s lofty rhetoric about ‘Green BRI’ and ‘Clean BRI’ has been translated into action throughout the Belt and Road.” Rehabilitation signals China’s efforts to rehabilitate the image of the initiative did have some success, drawing eight more heads of state to this year’s conference. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, previously one of the biggest critics of the initiative in Southeast Asia, said his country is fully supportive and stands to benefit from its BRI project. Earlier this month, Malaysia struck a deal with China to resume the East Coast Rail Link project for 44 billion ringgit ($10.7 billion) — down from 65.5 billion ringgit — after deciding to terminate it in January. In March, Italy became the first Group of Seven country to sign up for the BRI, a big win for Beijing that also raised alarm bells in the region. At last week’s forum, developed countries including Austria, Switzerland and Singapore signed up for so-called third-party market cooperation. Japan, France, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Australia have already signed the document, agreeing to help build infrastructure in developing countries. “The attendance of some EU countries leaders show the projects are attractive to some developed countries which also have their own domestic economic issues,” said Suisheng Zhao, executive director of the Center for China-U.S. Cooperation at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. “Since the trade war with the U.S. broke out, China has re-examined its leverage in its relations with major countries and readjusted some accordingly.” Trade message While Xi made no mention of the ongoing trade war with the U.S. in his speech on Friday, a large part of it alluded to the major issues in the negotiations — such as cleaning up state subsidies, reducing nontariff barriers, boosting imports and protecting intellectual property. China won’t engage in currency devaluation that “harms others,” Xi said in the speech. The phrase mirrors language he’s used to describe China’s diplomatic policies. Bloomberg News reported earlier that the U.S. was asking China to keep the value of the yuan stable to neutralize any effort to soften the blow of U.S. tariffs. While he reiterated Chinese talking points about opening up, Xi specifically highlighted the significance of implementation, another sticking point in the China-U.S. trade talks. “We will establish a binding enforcement system for international agreements,” Xi told the forum. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the two sides have “pretty much agreed on” a mechanism for sticking to the trade deal. “It’s clear that Xi sought to use this year’s Belt and Road Forum as a platform to pursue multiple objectives: to re-brand the Belt and Road and also to telegraph to the United States that he is prepared — rhetorically, at least — to address American concerns that have led to the current trade confrontation,” said Daniel Kliman, senior fellow in the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
|
china;aid;xi jinping;development;belt and road
|
jp0002908
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Major Japanese firms project 1.1% profit drop, survey finds
|
Major Japanese nonfinancial companies project a 1.1 percent drop in their group net profit for the year ending in March 2020, a Jiji Press survey has found. The survey covered 243 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section that have released earnings results for the fiscal year which ended last month. Their combined market value represents 36 percent of the total in the section. Industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp. estimates a 60 percent net profit fall, anticipating continued weakness in capital investment in China. Advantest Corp. forecasts a drop of 50 percent or more in its net profit amid expectations that sluggish memory-chip demand will weigh on sales of its semiconductor testing devices. “Many companies, mainly those related to capital investment, are cautious about their outlooks,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, an equity strategist at Daiwa Securities Co. Nidec Corp. expects a 21 percent net profit increase, believing that motor demand in China will recover in the second half. Hitachi Ltd. expects its net profit to nearly double from the previous year, when it booked losses related to the suspension of its nuclear plant construction project in Britain. The 243 firms reported a 1.2 percent net profit increase for the year which ended last March. The number of firms that reported higher profits nearly matched that of firms with lower profits. A final tally may show a net profit decline for the year as many companies that have yet to report results plan to book massive charges.
|
earnings;tse
|
jp0002909
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
The mystery of the 'Salvator Mundi,' the world's most costly painting
|
PARIS - Later this year, the Louvre in Paris will host an exhibition of masterpieces by the Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci to mark his death 500 years ago in France. But the work that in recent months has been the intense focus of scrutiny by the media and Leonardo specialists may not be on show. In 2017, Leonardo’s “Salvator Mundi” was sold at auction by Christie’s for a record $450 million. But it has not been displayed in public since, triggering doubts about its ownership, its whereabouts and its authenticity. The painting, a portrait of Jesus, was to go on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi last September. But its unveiling was postponed by the museum without any explanation. The Louvre Abu Dhabi has kept tight-lipped about the identity of the buyer, saying only that the emirate’s Department of Culture and Tourism had “acquired” it. And the mystery has further deepened ahead of a visit by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who will join French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday on a trip to the Loire Valley to mark the anniversary of Leonardo’s death there in 1519 at the age of 67. “The Louvre has asked the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi for the painting to be given on loan,” a Louvre spokesperson said. “But we have not yet had any reply.” According to the Wall Street Journal, the buyer of the picture was Saudi Prince Badr ben Abdallah, acting in the name of powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has never confirmed or denied the report. Badr was appointed to head the kingdom’s Culture Ministry in a government shake-up in June. Saudi Arabia and the neighboring United Arab Emirates are very close allies that are both engaged militarily in the war against rebels in Yemen. Mohammed bin Salman, known more commonly as MBS, is also a close confidant of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, who along with Macron opened the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017, the first foreign institution to carry the name of the great Paris museum. The painting’s disappearance comes as MBS’s international reputation has taken a battering over the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, in which he has denied any involvement. Artprice, the leading art market information service, said clerics from Sunni Islam’s leading authority, the Al Azhar university in Cairo, told MBS the painting could not be displayed on religious grounds.Jesus is seen as a prophet within Islam, which prohibits any physical depiction of God. But the picture portrays him as a savior and thus a deity. Many art experts remain unconvinced of the painting’s authenticity. “Certain details are very telling,” said Jacques Franck, a specialist in Leonardo’s technique, pointing to the poor depiction of a finger and other elements that are “anatomically impossible.” He said that at the time the canvas was painted, Leonardo had his workshop complete certain paintings because he himself had very little time. Daniel Salvatore Schiffer, another Leonardo expert, also believes the painting was not done by the Italian master. “When you analyze the details, nothing is by Leonardo — it doesn’t have his spirit.” Ben Lewis, an art historian who wrote “The Last Leonardo,” said London’s National Gallery, which exhibited the painting in 2011, had not taken on board the advice of five experts who were sent to authenticate the painting. Although two of them believed it was authentic, another didn’t, and the others were unsure. But the painting was presented at the exhibition as a genuine work by Leonardo. But Diane Modestini, who worked on the restoration of the painting from 2005, said she did not understand the controversy, insisting that “Leonardo da Vinci painted it.” A Christie’s spokesman said: “We stand by the thorough research and scholarship that led to the attribution of this painting in 2010. No new discussion or speculation since the 2017 sale at Christie’s has caused us to revisit its position.” The Louvre says its exhibition, due to open in Paris in the autumn, will bring together “a unique group of artworks that only the Louvre could bring together” in addition to its own outstanding Leonardo collection. But whether people will be able to draw their own conclusions by actually seeing the “Salvator Mundi” remains to be seen. “If the Louvre has still not received a response (from Abu Dhabi) months before the exhibition, it is because the work will not be exhibited there,” said Franck. Schiffer said it could end up being a positive thing for the Paris gallery, which could see its “reputation and credibility tarnished” if the work was exhibited.
|
saudi arabia;art;auctions;leonardo da vinci;mohammed bin salman
|
jp0002910
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Elite U.S. Navy SEAL facing war crimes charges for killings in Iraq
|
LOS ANGELES - Stabbing a teenage prisoner to death, picking off a young girl and an old man with a sniper rifle and firing a heavy machine gun into a residential area: these are some of the charges facing an elite U.S. Navy SEAL on trial for war crimes while deployed in Iraq. Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, a decorated 39-year-old veteran of combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, is still a hero in the eyes of many Americans and the right-wing Fox News channel — and his case may even become a factor in next year’s presidential elections. Around 40 Republican members of Congress have written an open letter demanding Gallagher — who denies the charges against him — be set free until he stands trial. One has even called on President Donald Trump to step in and have the case dismissed. Trump has weighed in on the case on Twitter, saying that he had intervened to ensure that Gallagher — who was nominated for the Silver Star for his service — “will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court.” Trump wrote that the move was made “in honor of his past service to our Country.” Gallagher, a platoon commander of SEAL Team 7, will face a military tribunal at a Navy base in San Diego on May 28. He was arrested last September and has been held at the base ever since. He was arrested after men under his command in the elite navy unit were so horrified by his actions that they complained to their superiors, but were warned that their accusations could damage their careers, according to reports in The Navy Times and The New York Times last week. Gallagher now faces charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder and obstruction of justice. He could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty. The crimes he stands accused of were committed in 2017 during a deployment in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. U.S. special forces were fighting alongside Iraqi troops to take back parts of the town from Islamic State group fighters. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. According to testimony at a preliminary hearing last November, members of Gallagher’s Alpha platoon were so disturbed by his behavior that they tampered with his sniper rifle to make it less accurate, and would fire warning shots to make civilians flee before he could open fire on them. “They said they spent more time protecting civilians than they did fighting ISIS,” Special Agent Joe Warpinski of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told the military court. Their chief allegedly boasted about the number of people he had killed, including women, according to The New York Times. In May 2017, Iraqi troops captured a wounded teenage Islamic State fighter who appeared to be around 15 years old. Two members of the SEAL team said that as a medic was treating the fighter’s wounds, Gallagher stepped up without a word and stabbed the prisoner in the neck and side several times. He then posed for a photo holding up the teenager’s head in one hand and the knife in the other, the two SEALs said. He went on to stand over the youth’s body and perform a re-enlistment ceremony while another member of the team held up a U.S. flag, they said. According to the charge sheet, soldiers from his unit tried on several occasions to alert their superiors about the alleged war crimes, but without success. Seven of them said they were told they could face retaliation if they went public with the case, but finally managed to bring their concerns to a higher-ranking officer. Gallagher’s commanding officer, Lt. Jacob Portier, reportedly posed in the photo with the dead teenager and is himself facing charges for failing to report the crimes and for destroying evidence. Navy prosecutor Chris Czaplak said Gallagher had “handed ISIS propaganda manna from heaven” by deciding to “act like the monster the terrorists accuse us of being.”
|
u.s .;terrorism;military;rights;afghanistan;iraq;war crimes;islamic state
|
jp0002911
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
San Diego-area synagogue shooting leaves one worshipper dead, three wounded
|
POWAY, CALIFORNIA - A gunman walked into a San Diego-area synagogue crowded with Sabbath worshippers on Saturday and opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing one woman inside and wounding three others in a hate crime carried out on the last day of Passover, authorities said. The suspect, who fled the scene by car but surrendered to police a short time later, was identified by authorities as John Earnest, 19, of San Diego, the apparent author of a “manifesto” who claimed to have set a nearby mosque on fire last month and professed drawing inspiration from the gunman who killed nearly 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand. San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said police and FBI were investigating Earnest’s “possible involvement” in an unsolved predawn arson on March 24 at the Islamic Center of Escondido, a town about 15 miles (24 km) north of the synagogue attacked on Saturday. No one was hurt at the mosque fire. Gore said Earnest had “no prior criminal record.” The gun violence at the Congregation Chabad synagogue in the town of Poway, California, about 23 miles (37 km) north of downtown San Diego, unfolded six months to the day after 11 worshippers were killed and six others were wounded by a gunman who stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh yelling, “All Jews must die.” The assailant in that massacre, said to be the deadliest attack ever against Jews on U.S. soil, was arrested. Saturday’s Passover violence followed a recent spate of deadly attacks on houses of worship around the world. Suicide bombings during Easter Sunday services at several churches in Sri Lanka killed more than 250 people. A gunman who opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15 left 49 people dead and more than 40 wounded, some as they knelt in prayer. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus characterized Saturday’s shooting as a “hate crime,” saying his assessment was based on statements uttered by the gunman when he entered the synagogue. At a news conference later, Gore told reporters: “Clearly it’s being investigated as a homicide, but we’re also looking at the hate crime possible violation as well as federal civil rights violations.” A rambling, violently anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim screed written by an individual calling himself John Earnest was found posted to the online text-storage site Pastebin.com and the file-storage site Mediafire.com . Links to the content on both sources were posted on the Internet message board 8chan. In that letter, the author also claimed credit for the Escondido mosque arson, which was put out by congregates inside who were alerted by the smell of smoke. Local media at the time reported that a message scrawled on the driveway of the mosque mentioned the New Zealand massacre. Speaking with reporters at the White House about Saturday’s attack, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected.” He added that “it looks like a hate crime” and that authorities will “get to the bottom of it.” Gore told reporters that four people were struck by gunfire and taken to Palomar Medical Center, where one of the victims, an “older woman,” died. The three other patients — “two adult males” and a “female juvenile” — were listed in stable condition, Gore said. Authorities later identified one of the victims as the rabbi, who underwent surgery for treatment of “defensive wounds to his index fingers.” The sheriff’s office said the two other patients, a 34-year-old man and the girl, were each struck by shrapnel but were “doing well.” The attack occurred shortly before 11:30 a.m. in Poway, a suburb of about 50,000 residents, when the suspect walked into the synagogue and started shooting, Gore said. As he was making his getaway, an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire on the suspect, striking the vehicle but apparently missing the suspect, according to Gore. The gunman was arrested a short time later when he gave himself up to police. A San Diego officer was en route to the shooting scene when he overheard a California Highway Patrol (CHP) radio dispatch “of a suspect who had called into CHP to report that he was just involved in this shooting and his location,” San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit recounted. “The officer was actually on the freeway and he clearly saw the suspect in his vehicle. The suspect pulled over and jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Nisleit said. He said the assault-style rifle believed to be the murder weapon was found on the front passenger seat of the car. Local television channel KGTV 10News said the synagogue was hosting a holiday celebration beginning at 11 a.m. and due to culminate in a final Passover meal at 7 p.m. Authorities said about 100 people were inside the temple, where Saturday services marking the Jewish Sabbath would have been under way or have just concluded. A man who lives nearby, Christopher Folts, said on CNN he heard six to seven gunshots, then a man yelling, followed by six to seven more shots. Cantor Caitlin Bromberg of Ner Tamid Synagogue, down the street from the shooting scene, said her congregation learned of the shooting at the end of their Passover services and that they were heading to Chabad of Poway to show support and help. “We are horrified and upset, and we want them to know we are thinking of them,” Bromberg told The Los Angeles Times, adding that she has not heard from Chabad of Poway leadership because they would not normally use the phone during the Sabbath. “They would only do that on emergency basis, if they do it at all,” Bromberg told the newspaper.
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religion;guns;u.s .;mass shootings;donald trump
|
jp0002912
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Questions swirl around Saudi royal officials in Khashoggi trial
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WASHINGTON - Two top Saudi royal advisers have been linked to journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. One has been labeled the “ringleader,” but questions are swirling over the absence of the other in the closed-door trial of 11 suspects, multiple sources have said. Saudi prosecutors have said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw The Washington Post columnist’s killing in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate last October and that he was advised by the royal court’s media czar, Saud al-Qahtani. Both aides were part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s tight-knit inner circle and have formally been sacked over the killing, but only al-Assiri has appeared in the five court hearings since January, according to four Western officials privy to the information. “Qahtani is not among the 11 facing trial,” one of the officials said. “What does his absence mean? Are the Saudis keen to protect him, or discipline him separately? No one knows.” Last November, the kingdom’s public prosecutor indicted 11 unnamed suspects, including five who could face the death penalty over the murder. Diplomats from the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members — the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia — as well as Turkey are allowed to attend as observers of the legal proceedings, which are held entirely in Arabic. They are not allowed to bring interpreters and are usually summoned at short notice, the sources said. A representative of the Khashoggi family — which this month rejected reports of a settlement with the Saudi government — has attended at least one court session, they said. Maher Mutreb, an intelligence operative who frequently traveled with the crown prince on foreign tours, forensic expert Salah al-Tubaigy and Fahad al-Balawi, a member of the Saudi royal guard, are among the 11 on trial who could face the death penalty, the officials said. The defendants are allowed legal counsel. Many of them have defended themselves in court by saying they were carrying out orders by al-Assiri, describing him as the “ringleader” of the operation, according to the officials. Al-Assiri, lionized in Saudi military ranks as a war hero, does not face the death penalty, the Western officials added. Believed to have previously worked closely with U.S. intelligence, he is also not named in two American sanctions lists of Saudis implicated in the murder. Al-Qahtani, who led fiery social media campaigns against critics of the kingdom and was seen as a conduit to the crown prince, is on both lists. He met the Saudi hit squad team before they left for Turkey to share “useful information related to the mission based on his specialization in media,” according to the Saudi prosecutor’s office. But he has not appeared publicly since the murder, and his current whereabouts are a subject of fevered speculation. Some Saudis claim he continues to peddle influence behind the scenes, but others say he is lying low, waiting for the international outrage over the murder to subside. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported earlier this year that the crown prince continues to seek his counsel, citing U.S. and Saudi sources. “Qahtani holds a lot of files and dossiers,” Ignatius quoted one American who met the crown prince as saying. “The idea that you can have a radical rupture with him is unrealistic.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who faces intense scrutiny in Congress over Washington’s close relations with Riyadh, has urged the crown prince to sever his ties with al-Qahtani, two Western officials said. The CIA has reportedly said the murder was likely ordered by the crown prince, the de facto ruler and heir to the throne. Saudi authorities strongly deny the allegation, and in private conversations with Western officials they have instead criticized Turkish authorities for failing to stop the murder. “Their intelligence knew that a (Saudi) hit squad was coming. They could have stopped them!” one of them quoted a Saudi official as saying. Turkish officials were the first to report Khashoggi’s murder and have continued to press Saudi Arabia for information on the whereabouts of his dismembered body, which has yet to be found. Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur conducting an independent inquiry into the killing, last month condemned what she called a lack of transparency in the legal proceedings and demanded an open trial. The kingdom “is grievously mistaken if it believes that these proceedings, as currently constituted, will satisfy the international community,” she said. It was unclear when the Saudi trial will conclude. This month, a coalition of seven international human rights and press freedom groups called on Britain, France, and the U.S. to issue public reports on the trial. Secret trial proceedings “run the risk of enabling the authorities in Riyadh to find a set of individuals guilty, without due process, while whitewashing the possible involvement of the highest levels of the Saudi government,” the coalition said in an open letter.
|
murder;saudi arabia;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi;saud al-qahtani;ahmed al-assiri
|
jp0002913
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Julian Assange alleges extortion and espionage while he was in Ecuador Embassy
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MADRID - Julian Assange’s lawyers have filed a court complaint in Spain against a group of Spaniards they allege extorted the WikiLeaks founder, whom they say may have been the victim of “espionage,” a source in his defence team said Saturday. Assange, who for seven years lived holed up in London’s Ecuadorian embassy, where he had taken refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, was arrested on April 11 after Quito terminated his asylum. The 47-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, which exposed everything from U.S. military secrets to the wealthy’s tax evasion, is now awaiting sentencing for breaching his British bail conditions in 2012. The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the complaint was against “a group of Spaniards who allegedly engaged in extortion.” The source told AFP the complaint was also against various employees of the embassy and Ecuador’s foreign ministry “who could be responsible,” without detailing how. The source added a probe was ongoing into the alleged extortion, as well as “espionage” that could have taken place against Assange, without giving further details. According to online daily eldiario.es , four Spaniards have videos and personal documents of Assange that they somehow obtained via an alleged spying system that included security cameras set up in the embassy in London. The Spaniards allegedly tried to extort €3 million ($3.3 million) out of WikiLeaks not to publish any of it, the report says. If confirmed, it is unclear how the Spaniards got access to the alleged spying system and were able to get the information about Assange. It is also unclear whether his lawyers accuse the embassy and ministry employees targeted in the complaint, reportedly made to Spain’s top-level National Court, of being behind the alleged espionage. The National Court could not comment when contacted by AFP. The accusations of espionage contrast with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno’s version of events. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he alleged Assange had himself tried to set up a “centre for spying” in Ecuador’s embassy. Now in prison in Britain, Assange is also fighting a U.S. extradition warrant relating to the release by WikiLeaks of a huge cache of official documents.
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ecuador;espionage;julian assange;wikileaks
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jp0002914
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Oliver North out as NRA president after leadership dispute with CEO
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INDIANAPOLIS - Oliver North announced Saturday that he would not serve a second term as National Rifle Association president, making it clear he had been forced out by the gun lobby’s leadership after his own failed attempt to remove the NRA’s longtime CEO in a burgeoning divide over the group’s finances and media operations. “Please know I hoped to be with you today as NRA president endorsed for re-election. I’m now informed that will not happen,” North said in a statement that was read by Richard Childress, the NRA’s first vice president, to members at the group’s annual convention. North, whose one-year term ends Monday, did not show up for the meeting, and his spot on the stage was left empty, his nameplate still in its place. His statement was largely met with silence. Wayne LaPierre, whom North had tried to push out, later received two standing ovations. It was a stunning conclusion to a battle between two conservative and Second Amendment titans — North, the retired U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel with a ramrod demeanor who was at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s, and LaPierre, who has been battle-tested in the decades since he took up the mantle of gun rights. He has fought back challenges that have arisen over the decades, seemingly emerging unscathed each time. In this latest effort, he pushed back against North, telling members of the NRA’s board of directors that North had threatened to release “damaging” information about him to them and saying it amounted to an “extortion” attempt. Hundreds of the NRA’s estimated 5 million members packed the convention center in Indianapolis where the group’s annual meetings were being held. Near the end of the two-hour meeting, some members challenged efforts to adjourn and pushed to question the board about controversies involving its financial management, the relationship with its longtime public relations firm and details of what North sought to raise about alleged misspending, sexual harassment and other mismanagement. But those cries were drowned out as some board members urged such conversations not to be held at such a large public forum, even if the media were eventually discharged from the room. “We don’t want to give the other side any more information than they already have,” said Tom King, a board member from New York for more than a decade. Offered Marion Hammer, a former NRA president and longtime lobbyist from Florida: “The life’s blood of this organization is on the line. We are under fire from without. We do not need to be under attack from within.” The internal dispute first spilled out in public after the NRA in recent weeks filed a lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen, the Oklahoma-based public relations firm that has earned tens of millions of dollars in the decades since it began shaping the gun lobby’s fierce talking points. The NRA’s lawsuit accuses Ackerman McQueen of refusing to hand over financial records to account for its billings. North has a $1 million contract with Ackerman McQueen, raising alarm bells among some in the NRA about conflicts of interest. He has a show called “American Heroes” on NRATV, the online TV station created and operated by Ackerman McQueen. NRATV and Ackerman McQueen’s billings are at the center of the turmoil, with some members and board members questioning whether they were getting any value for the money devoted to that part of the operation. In 2017 alone, the NRA paid the firm $40 million. NRATV’s programming is provocative, often taking on topics far afield from gun rights, leading some members to wonder if it was damaging its efforts to further gun rights and bring in new members. The NRA also has faced financial and regulatory struggles in recent years, and there remain concerns that New York authorities in particular — the state where the NRA created its charter — are looking to strip it of its nonprofit status. An outside lawyer for the NRA, William A. Brewer, said Saturday that New York’s attorney general has opened an investigation into the organization. In his statement, North said a committee should be set up to review the NRA’s finances and operations. “There is a clear crisis and it needs to be dealt with” if the NRA is to survive, he said. Childress, who read North’s statement, said he only found out the night before that he would be asked to read it. A message left with the Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit group founded by North in the 1990s, seeking to contact North, was not immediately returned. In his speech later Saturday, LaPierre stuck to standard NRA talking points, going after the mainstream media and lawmakers who seek to restrict gun rights. He told the crowd that efforts to strip away gun rights will fail. “We won’t accept it. We will resist it. We won’t give an inch,” he said. North, 75, was a military aide to the National Security Council during the Reagan administration in the 1980s when he entered the spotlight for his role in arranging the secret sale of weapons to Iran and the diversion of the proceeds to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. He was convicted in 1989 of obstructing Congress during its investigation, destroying government documents and accepting an illegal gratuity. Those convictions were overturned in 1991. Embraced by many on the right, he went on to run for office, write several books and serve as a commentator on Fox News.
|
guns;nra;u.s .;scandals;wayne lapierre;oliver north
|
jp0002915
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Despite record diversity, 70-something white men rule 2020 race
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WASHINGTON - Democrats seeking to reclaim the White House are calling for generational change. It may be time for a woman, they say, or a minority figure. But for all the talk of breaking new presidential ground, the opposition party’s top candidates to become the new boss look about the same as the current boss: white, male and pretty old. President Donald Trump is a 72-year-old billionaire, and for many he epitomizes the white male privilege that Democrats often decry. But the top two candidates leading the race to replace him are pale, male and stale, too. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who jumped into the race Thursday, is 76 and has spent the bulk of his life in national politics, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77, has been in Congress since 1991. The two men’s dominance in the 2020 Democratic field is at odds with last year’s midterms, when record numbers of women and minorities were elected to the most diverse U.S. Congress ever. The presidential race itself is historically diverse: six women, three blacks, a Hispanic former Cabinet member, an Asian—American, a Hindu congresswoman and a gay military-veteran mayor. Nine are under 50. The 2020 campaign “calls for a new generation of leadership,” candidate Pete Buttigieg, the Indiana mayor, who at 37 is less than half Biden’s age, said recently. And yet it is the two septuagenarians who currently dominate the nominations landscape, with Biden at 29 percent and Sanders at 23 percent in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. No one else is in double digits. The Democratic candidates with the more traditional profiles, Biden and Sanders — each of whom has run for president before — have the strongest name recognition. That has “significant influence on polling at this point,” said Kelly Dittmar, an expert at the Center for American Women and Politics. Unlike recent congressional elections, “presidential politics has been the most dominated by men, and masculinity, for all of our history.” Dittmar said that is true not just in who inhabits the office, but in the norms of behavior and expectations voters place in presidential leaders. A woman, of course, has made the case that it is possible to shatter that presidential shield of masculinity, as Hillary Clinton did when she won more popular votes than Trump in 2016. There are signs that a post-Clinton mindset has yet to evolve. The hype that accompanied the entry into the race by Texan Beto O’Rourke (6.3 percent in polling), a white 40-something ex-congressman with a thin resume, contrasted sharply with the muted coverage of the rollout by progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (6.5 percent). She was the first heavyweight to enter the race and is the candidate with the most concrete policy platform, but she has been spinning her wheels in the polls. O’Rourke, who literally wandered in the wilderness before launching his campaign, appeared to acknowledge the hand he has been dealt. “As a white man who has had privileges that others could not depend on, or take for granted, I’ve clearly had advantages over the course of my life,” he told NBC News in Iowa. Dittmar said she is not confident that Sanders and Biden, unlike O’Rourke, “have gotten to that point in which they realize … the limitations they have as older white men in being able to understand the challenges of women and communities of color.” Those limits came into sharp relief this past week. Biden faced awkward questions about refusing to directly apologize to women who said they were made uncomfortable by his touching and the affectionate gestures he lavished on them. Sanders was booed by black women at a conference when he conveyed a 56-year-old anecdote about marching with civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. when asked how he would combat racism and advocate for people of color. Such gestures by the front-runners are “not enough,” Dittmar said. Both Sanders and Biden have built campaign teams that reflect America’s diversity. But they will need to speak “in a more detailed way about how you’re going to best empathize with the experiences of women and communities of color in a way that goes beyond a tag line, or one thing you did” in the past, Dittmar added.
|
aging;joe biden;bernie sanders;donald trump;2020 u.s. presidential election
|
jp0002917
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Trump, U.S. media in open war on annual dinner date
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WASHINGTON - It’s meant to be the annual Washington love-in, a dinner where White House journalists and the president yuck it up in a hotel ballroom. But this Saturday, President Donald Trump stood up his dates. Members of the White House Correspondents’ Association, or WHCA, were decked out in bow ties and gowns at the downtown Washington Hilton. Trump, however, was 685 miles (1100 kilometers) away in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for a rally with his baseball cap-wearing supporters. As usual, he devoted portions of his speech — like most of his speeches — to haranguing the “fake news media” or “enemy of the people.” “They are fakers,” he said of the media to a typically boisterous crowd. “I’ll tell you, you know what sucks? Their ratings suck because people don’t believe them.” Back in Washington, the WHCA’s president Olivier Knox told attendees he did not want to dwell on Trump — but called for a rejection of the president’s rhetoric. “Fake news and enemies of the people are not punchlines, pet names or presidential. And we should reject politically expedient assaults on the men and women whose hard work makes it possible to hold the powerful to account,” he said. Although there’s nothing obligatory about attending WHCA dinners, presidents have usually done so at some point during their time in office every year since the inaugural version in 1921. Ronald Reagan was the last absentee in 1981 and he had a decent excuse: being recently shot in an assassination attempt. Trump, however, has boycotted what he calls the “boring” and “negative” party for three years in a row — his entire presidency so far. The gala used to be a glamorous affair where hundreds of journalists, Hollywood celebrities and the president were entertained by a top-drawer comedian or other talent. Now the celebs have drained away and this year even the comedian was missing. A presidential historian, Ron Chernow, was set to deliver the main speech instead. Underlining the snub, Trump ordered staff, including chief press secretary Sarah Sanders — who appeared onstage in Wisconsin — to also refuse invitations. It’s the latest shot in what the president sees as his war against a media machine refusing to give him fair coverage. Trump’s main weapon is Twitter, which he uses daily to reach some 60 million followers. Millions more follow him on other platforms. The other main way of bypassing potentially critical outlets is his extraordinary relationship with Fox News, the Rupert Murdoch-owned network which has been criticized for coming to resemble state television. Even if many of the news journalists maintain their independence, some of the most prominent anchors and hosts show nothing but loyalty to Trump. They’re rewarded with exclusive access to administration officials and to the president himself. Meanwhile, other outlets are mostly kept at arm’s length. The news briefing room in the White House, which used to see nearly daily Q&A sessions under previous presidents, has been all but abandoned. Trump is unusually accessible, but mostly through often chaotic, informal gatherings, while Saturday marks the 48th day since Sanders held a full briefing. When they’re not being ignored, White House journalists can expect to hear abuse. Trump’s rallies invariably include segments where he encourages the crowd to boo the reporters covering the event. For years, WHCA dinners were a chance to let the hair down in a notoriously serious town. Past performers include Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. Since the 1980s, comedians have provided entertainment, making gentle and not-so-gentle fun, or “roasting,” the centerpiece of the dinner. Presidents were expected to give back as good as they got. A standout moment was Obama’s riff in 2011, when one of his comic targets in the VIP-packed audience was none other than Donald Trump. Last year, though, the jokes fell flat with organizers. Featured comedian Michelle Wolf tore into Sanders and caused as much offense as laughter. Even the WHCA thought it had gone too far, calling her routine “not in the spirit” of the occasion. Wolf called the WHCA “cowards.”
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media;u.s .;rights;donald trump
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jp0002918
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Embattled ex-Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski undergoes heart surgery
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LIMA - Peru’s former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who is under arrest in connection with the Odebrecht corruption scandal and has been hospitalized for heart problems, underwent emergency surgery Saturday to install a pacemaker, his brother said. “He has come out of a fairly long operation … the doctors are happy with the results of the operation,” Miguel Kuczynski told reporters. The 80-year-old former president was urgently hospitalized on April 16 suffering from high blood pressure, lawmaker Gilbert Violeta told RPP radio at the time. Hospital officials said Kuczynski was suffering from ventricular tachycardia, a condition considered potentially life-threatening for someone of his age. The former head of state was arrested earlier this month and was being held under preliminary detention, accused of money laundering. He is one of four Peruvian ex-presidents embroiled in various corruption scandals linked to Odebrecht, alongside Ollanta Humala, Alan Garcia and Alejandro Toledo. Garcia died in hospital on April 17 after shooting himself in the head as police were about to arrest him over the graft investigation. Kuczynski has been accused of passing laws to favor Odebrecht when he was finance minister during Toledo’s government. In 2018, he resigned from office over the Odebrecht scandal, the first sitting president to do so. Odebrecht has been accused of spreading some $788 million in bribe money to a dozen countries over more than a decade to win big construction contracts.
|
heart disease;corruption;scandals;peru;surgeries;pedro pablo kuczynski;odebrecht
|
jp0002919
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Iran says leaving nuclear NPT one of many choices after U.S. sanctions move
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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Quitting a treaty designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons is one of Iran’s “numerous choices” after the United States tightened sanctions on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was on Sunday quoted as saying by state media. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions. “The Islamic Republic’s choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering them, … and leaving NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) is one of them,” state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Zarif as saying. Iran has also threatened in the past to leave the NPT, as U.S. President Donald Trump moved to scrap the 2015 deal with world powers — the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. It has also threatened to pull out of the 2015 deal unless European powers enable it to receive economic benefits. The Europeans have said they would help companies do business with Iran as long as it abides by the deal, but Tehran has criticized what it sees as the slow pace of progress on a promised payment mechanism for Iran-Europe trade. “The Europeans have had a year but unfortunately they have not taken any practical measures. Our expectation is for them to show that it is not so, and I don’t think they have much time left,” Zarif told IRIB.
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nuclear weapons;iran;treaties
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jp0002920
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Moscow 'thinking' of simplifying nationality process for all Ukraine: Putin
|
BEIJING - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow was “thinking” of making it easier for all Ukrainians to obtain Russian citizenship after the Kremlin moved to grant passports in the country’s separatist east, causing uproar in Kiev. “We are actually thinking about providing citizenship in a simplified order to all citizens of Ukraine, not only residents of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics,” Putin told the press during his visit to Beijing, referring to the unrecognized separatist republics governed by Moscow-backed rebels. Earlier in the week Putin signed a decree allowing people living in the breakaway regions to receive a Russian passport within three months of applying for one. The conflict between the Ukrainian government and breakaway rebels began after Moscow annexed Kiev’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014. The war has claimed some 13,000 lives. It is unclear how many Ukrainians would actually take up Putin’s offer amid deepening divisions between the two neighbors. Rebel officials say about 3.6 million people live in the areas under their control. About 360,000 people in separatist-held territory in Donetsk have already obtained Russian passports through ordinary procedures, said the head of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin. Russia has made similar moves in other breakaway regions in the former Soviet Union — and in at least one case used the presence of newly converted citizens as justification for military intervention. Putin’s declaration sparked more condemnation in Kiev. “Russia wants further escalation and chaos in Ukraine and therefore continues to complicate the rules of the game,” Dmytro Kuleba, Kiev’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe, wrote on Twitter. The move came just days after Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelensky as president. The actor, due to be inaugurated by early June, called for more international sanctions against Russia in response. The European Union also condemned the move, calling it a fresh assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty. The German and French foreign ministries said in a joint statement that the passport offer “contradicts the spirit and goals” of a stalled 2015 peace agreement intended to resolve the conflict. Putin on Saturday said he wanted to “understand” Zelensky’s position on the conflict. He did not exclude talks with the comedian, with whom he said he was ready to “have a discussion.” The Russian leader said “everyone is tired of this conflict” and that Ukraine expects solutions on the war from the country’s new leadership. He also said Moscow will fulfill all “social responsibilities to our new citizens of Russia.” After they receive a Russian passport, residents of eastern Ukraine will be eligible for “social payments, pensions and their increase, everything will be fulfilled.” Such payments would not strain the Russian budget, he claimed, saying that the decision had been “calculated.”
|
vladimir putin;russia;ukraine
|
jp0002921
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/28
|
China's quest for clean, limitless energy heats up
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HEFEI, CHINA - A groundbreaking fusion reactor built by Chinese scientists is underscoring Beijing’s determination to be at the core of clean energy technology as it eyes a fully functioning plant by 2050. Sometimes called an “artificial sun” for the sheer heat and power it produces, the doughnut-shaped Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which juts out on a spit of land into a lake in eastern Anhui province, has notched up a succession of firsts. Most recently, in November, it became the first facility in the world to generate 100 million degrees Celsius (212 million Fahrenheit) — six times hotter than the sun’s core. Such mind-boggling temperatures are crucial to achieving sustainable nuclear fusion reactions, which promise an inexhaustible energy source. EAST’s main reactor stands within a concrete structure, with pipes and cables spread outward like spokes that connect to a jumble of sensors and other equipment encircling the core. A red Chinese flag stands on top of the reactor. “We are hoping to expand international cooperation through this device (EAST) and make Chinese contributions to mankind’s future use of nuclear fusion,” Song Yuntao, a top official involved in the project, said during a recent tour of the facility. China is also aiming to build a separate fusion reactor that could begin generating commercially viable fusion power by midcentury, he added. Some 6 billion yuan ($890 million) has been promised for the ambitious project. EAST is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which seeks to prove the feasibility of fusion power. Funded and run by the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States, the multibillion-dollar project’s centerpiece will be a giant cylindrical fusion device, called a tokamak. Now under construction in Provence in southern France, it will incorporate parts developed at the EAST and other sites, and draw on their research findings. Fusion is considered the Holy Grail of energy and is what powers our sun. It merges atomic nuclei to create massive amounts of energy — the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, which splits them into fragments. In comparison to fission, fusion carries less risk of accidents or the theft of atomic material. But sustaining the high temperatures and other necessary but unstable conditions is both extremely difficult and prohibitively expensive — the total cost of ITER is estimated at €20 billion ($22.5 billion). Wu Songtao, a top Chinese engineer with ITER, conceded that China’s technical capabilities on fusion still lag behind more developed countries, and that U.S. and Japanese tokamaks have achieved more valuable overall results. But the Anhui test reactor underlines China’s fast-improving scientific advancement and its commitment to achieve yet more. China’s capabilities “have developed rapidly in the past 20 years, especially after catching the ITER express train,” Wu said. In an interview with the state-run Xinhua News Agency in 2017, ITER Director-General Bernard Bigot lauded China’s government as “highly motivated” on fusion. “Fusion is not something that one country can accomplish alone,” Song said. “As with ITER, people all over the world need to work together on this.”
|
china;energy;nuclear energy;physics
|
jp0002922
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/28
|
The Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte broached South China Sea ruling in meeting with China's Xi Jinping
|
BEIJING - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in a meeting this week with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, brought up the thorny issue of a 2016 arbitration award favoring his country in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, senior Philippine officials said Saturday. At the Thursday meeting in Beijing, Xi simply reiterated Beijing’s position of not recognizing the ruling by the U.N.-backed court in The Hague that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over almost the entire South China Sea, according to the officials who attended the meeting. “We brought out our position, and they also brought out theirs. And that was it,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said of the two leaders’ exchanges about the matter at the Great Hall of the People. “We cannot expect them to change their comment about the arbitral (award) because even from the start, when the arbitration case was filed, they have already said that they don’t honor the ruling. So, that is still the same stand of Xi Jinping,” Lorenzana said. Hermogenes Esperon, Duterte’s main security adviser who heads the government’s task force on South China Sea issues, said Beijing’s disregard of the award and Manila’s assertion about its existence are both “maximum” positions of the two governments. “They don’t even recognize our ‘West Philippine Sea.’ But we always tell that to them,” Esperon said in a separate interview. The Philippines calls its claimed portion of the South China Sea the West Philippine Sea. Esperon said that Duterte also brought up Manila’s concern about the presence of several Chinese vessels near the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island in the Spratly archipelago. In addition, there was also an “expressed agreement or talks between the two leaders” on the Code of Conduct (for the South China Sea),” he said. The COC is currently being negotiated by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which the Philippines is a member of. He said both wanted the negotiations to be fast-tracked to be able to meet the three-year deadline, or until the end of the Philippines’ coordinatorship between China and ASEAN ends in 2021. “The talks went well. … The president articulated very much the Philippine interest and our position in the South China Sea. It was very good, if not the best,” Eduardo Ano, the interior and local government secretary, separately confirmed. Despite a decision to temporarily set aside the arbitration award in line with his administration’s friendlier approach toward China, Duterte mentioned for the first time the ruling before Xi when they met in Beijing in May 2017 for the first Belt and Road Forum. But, according to Duterte, Xi responded at the time with a threat of China going to war. The Philippine leader had repeatedly vowed he will confront China with the arbitral award at a proper time during his administration, which ends in 2022, especially when Beijing starts to extract mineral and gas deposits in the disputed waters. “The president is the principal architect of foreign policies. I give my advice. It’s up to him how to play the game. Let’s not pre-empt him because our relations (with China) are not only about the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea. There are many other aspects,” Esperon said. On Friday evening, Duterte witnessed the exchange of 19 business agreements signed with Chinese firms worth over $12 billion in investments and trade. The Philippine trade ministry expects more than 21,000 jobs to be generated from those. “Our growing economic exchanges can only strengthen the enduring friendship between the Filipino and Chinese nations,” Duterte told businessmen at the event. Esperon said that amid the lingering territorial disputes, the two countries’ relations are “only going to get stronger” if such other aspects as trade and economic, cultural and tourism are considered. China asserts it has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. After reclaiming disputed reefs there, some of which were already ruled to be part of the Philippines, it fortified them with military installations. The arbitration court also reprimanded China for driving away fishermen from countries including the Philippines from their traditional fishing areas in the South China Sea, as well as for causing marine environmental damage as a result of its artificial island-building activities.
|
china;u.s .;vietnam;philippines;military;disputed islands;south china sea;rodrigo duterte;south china sea ruling
|
jp0002923
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/28
|
'Jilted bride': As South Korea marks peace summit, North stays aloof
|
GOSEONG, SOUTH KOREA - Along forest trails below a bare mountain peak that until last year was a vantage point for a North Korean guard post, a group of around 20 ordinary South Koreans took a rare hike on Saturday near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. The hikers were chosen by lottery to explore a “peace trail” near the heavily fortified frontier, launched to mark the first anniversary of a landmark summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Hours later at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the border village of Panmunjom, where Moon and Kim met, a series of music performances and other events were held to highlight cross-border rapprochement fostered since the summit. But conspicuously absent from the peace-themed celebrations was North Korea, which failed to send any official or message in response to the South’s invite. North Korea has effectively pulled back from engagement since a second meeting in Hanoi in February between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump fell apart without any agreement on dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program. In the South, Moon’s administration is forging ahead with its peace drive without it. The trail hiked on Saturday, dubbed the DMZ Pathway to Peace although it does not enter any part of the zone, was introduced after the North refused to implement an agreed plan to provide tourists from both sides with greater access to the JSA. Public access to the area was strictly limited as the two Koreas remain technically a war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. “I wish I could freely go down this road into the North,” said Song Hae-sook, a 71-year-old hiker. “It’s too bad that they’re not keeping their promise, which is what always worries us.” The failed Hanoi summit was a blow for Moon, who has offered to mediate between Kim and Trump for a deal that he hoped would help ease U.S. sanctions in return for the North taking steps toward denuclearization, leading to a restart of inter-Korean economic cooperation. Moon’s efforts to meet Kim again and send an envoy to Pyongyang to discuss a possible compromise after the breakdown have made little headway. Planned weekly talks at an inter-Korean liaison office in the North’s border city of Kaesong have not taken place since the Hanoi summit, and the North briefly pulled out of it without giving a reason. “It may look like a bride walking down the aisle when there’s no groom waiting from the other side to greet her,” a South Korean official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. “But many in the Blue House would just be happy as long as the soldiers keep finding some remains from the DMZ.” Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul expressed regret over the North’s absence, but requested understanding citing the “change of the situation.” “But it isn’t less meaningful for us to once again reaffirm our resolve to implement the agreement made in Panmunjom through these events,” he told reporters during a rehearsal for the celebration on Friday. The DMZ tourism plan was part of a military pact, sealed during a September summit in Pyongyang, which calls for a set of tension-defusing measures. Both Koreas implemented some steps last year, halting major military drills, setting a no-fly zone around the border and removing landmines and guard posts within the DMZ, including the mountaintop watchtower above the “peace trail.” But the North snubbed the South’s proposal last month for talks to discuss follow-up action. This month, the South began excavating the remains of soldiers missing from the war from the DMZ on its own. Moon’s unfazed push for peace has triggered worries that Seoul may be moving faster than anyone else is prepared to. U.S. officials have openly said since last year that inter-Korean relations should keep pace with progress on the North’s denuclearization. . Marking the anniversary of the Panmunjom summit, the North’s state media released a series of articles on Saturday blasting the South’s “submissive” alliance with the United States, which it said tries to “interfere” in inter-Korean ties, and urging Seoul to “take a proper stand.” “North Korea is expressing discontent and disappointment after the South raised hopes for a deal but then failed to deliver as a ‘mediator’ eventually,” said Hong Min, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. Saturday’s ceremony was titled Long Journey, which Moon’s office referred to a “path that is long but must be taken” until lasting peace is established on the Korean Peninsula. “This is a new path, and as we all must take it together, we need, sometimes, to wait for those moving slower to catch up,” Moon said in a video message, conveying his greetings to Kim.
|
u.s .;north korea;kim jong un;nuclear weapons;south korea;north korea nuclear crisis;donald trump;moon jae-in;kim-trump summit
|
jp0002924
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Thousands take to Hong Kong streets to protest new extradition laws
|
HONG KONG - Thousands of people marched on Hong Kong’s parliament on Sunday to demand the scrapping of proposed extradition rules that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial — a move which some fear puts the city’s core freedoms at risk. Opponents of the proposal fear further erosion of rights and legal protections in the free-wheeling financial hub — freedoms which were guaranteed under the city’s handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Early estimates suggested several thousand people had joined the march along Hong Kong Island from Causeway Bay to the council in the Admiralty business district. Veteran Hong Kong activist and former legislator Leung Kwok-hung said the government’s move risked removing Hong Kongers’ “freedom from fear.” “Hong Kong people and visitors passing by Hong Kong will lose their right not to be extradited into mainland China,” he said. “They would need to face an unjust legal system on the mainland.” Some younger marchers said they were worried about traveling to China after the move, which comes just as the government encourages young people to deepen ties with the mainland and promotes Hong Kong’s links with southern China. The peaceful marchers chanted demands for Hong Kong’s Executive Carrie Lam to step down, saying she had “betrayed” Hong Kong. Some sported yellow umbrellas- the symbol of the Occupy civil disobedience movement that paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for 11 weeks in 2014. The proposed changes have sparked an unusually broad chorus of concern from international business elites to lawyers and rights’ groups and even some pro-establishment figures. Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong who handed the city back to Chinese rule in 1997, on Saturday described the move “as an assault on Hong Kong’s values, stability and security,” government-funded broadcaster RTHK reported. Chief Executive Lam and other government officials are standing fast by their proposals, saying they are vital to plug long-standing loopholes. Under the changes, the Hong Kong leader would have the right to order the extradition of wanted offenders to China, Macau and Taiwan as well as other countries not covered by Hong Kong’s existing extradition treaties. As a safeguard such orders, to be issued case-by-case, could be challenged and appealed through the city’s vaunted legal system. Government officials have said no-one at risk of the death penalty or torture or facing a political charge could be sent from Hong Kong. Under pressure from local business groups, they earlier exempted nine commercial crimes from the new provisions. The proposals could be passed into law later in the year, with the city’s pro-democratic camp no longer holding enough seats to block the move. The government has justified the swift introduction of the changes by saying they are needed so a young Hong Kong man suspected of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan can be extradited to face charges there. The government’s assurances are not enough for Lam Wing-kee, a former Hong Kong political bookseller who said in 2016 he was abducted by mainland agents in the city. Lam left Hong Kong for Taiwan last week, saying he feared being sent back to the mainland under the new laws and his experienced showed he could have no trust in China’s legal system. A group of 33 followers of Falun Gong, a religious sect banned in China, flew from Taiwan to Hong Kong on Saturday to join the march but were refused entry to Hong Kong, RTHK reported. Sunday’s march comes amid renewed calls for deeper electoral reforms stalled five years ago after Occupy protests. Four leaders of the movement were last week sentenced to jail terms ranging from eight to 16 months, part of a group of nine activists found guilty after a near month-long trial.
|
china;hong kong;extradition bill
|
jp0002927
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Xinjiang crackdown at the heart of China's 'Belt and Road'
|
KHORGOS, KAZAKHSTAN - Traders travel freely through the bustling Khorgos special economic zone that straddles the Kazakhstan-China border, but signs on the Chinese side bear a blunt warning — no veils or long beards allowed. It’s a stark reminder of the severe security policies that China has imposed on mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in its vast border region of Xinjiang, which it considers crucial to the success of President Xi Jinping’s cherished “Belt and Road” initiative (BRI). The gateway to Central Asia and key project partner Pakistan, Xinjiang is at the heart of the globe-spanning trade infrastructure program. A series of riots, bombings and stabbings blamed on ethnic Uighurs over the years prompted authorities to launch a massive security crackdown in the far western region. “The BRI is an important factor behind the central government’s urge to bring the restive region of Xinjiang once and for all under its control,” said Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher specializing in Xinjiang. The drastic measures have included placing as many as 1 million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities, including ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, in internment camps that Beijing downplays as “vocational education centers.” Uighur wives of Pakistani traders have also been swept up in the dragnet. The crackdown has put the leaders of Central Asia and Pakistan, who attended a “Belt and Road” summit in Beijing this week, in an awkward position. Key recipients of BRI projects, they have refrained from publicly criticizing China’s Xinjiang approach despite discontent within their own countries. “Frankly, I don’t know much about that,” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told the Financial Times in March when asked about China’s treatment of Uighurs. Although Kazakhstan has stated that the well-being of ethnic Kazakhs in China is an “important factor” in ties with Beijing, it has also voiced support for China’s battle against terrorism, extremism and separatism. Kazakh authorities are holding an activist on suspicion of inciting interethnic hatred after he highlighted the treatment of ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang, while an escaped Chinese national who described conditions in an internment camp has been denied asylum. “Fundamentally for these countries it’s quite difficult because they have this economic partner which is only going to become bigger and more powerful,” said Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute. “They need to try to manage that relationship while at the same time make sure that they are representing their people to some degree,” Pantucci said. Xi picked Kazakhstan’s capital to launch his pet project in 2013, a symbolic choice highlighting Central Asia’s historic place on the ancient Silk Road. Projects include a highway connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, a railway tunnel in Uzbekistan and a regional natural gas pipeline. China’s investments in Central Asia pre-date BRI as Beijing has long seen development in the region as key to pacifying Xinjiang, Pantucci said. “From China’s perspective, the long-term answer to problems — separatism, unhappiness in Xinjiang — is basically economic prosperity,” he said. Kazakhstan and China share the massive, special trade hub in Khorgos, where traders can shop for clothes, kitchenware and other goods without needing a visa to go through security checkpoints. “The goods are cheaper there. Every day we can come to the border without it (feeling) like a border,” said Aida Massimzhanova, a resident of Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty. But Khorgos is also a reminder of China’s tightening stance on the Muslim faith that is dominant in Kazakhstan. A Kazakh journalist on a press tour was told by Kazakh officials that she would not be able to pass through the Chinese security check if she kept her hijab. She chose to stay back. On the Chinese side, journalists were prevented from approaching a sign showing Muslim veils are prohibited — an apparent violation of an agreement on a common law governing the special trade zone. Authorities have banned a number of Muslim practices in Xinjiang, including wearing “abnormal” beards. Gaukhar Kurmanaliyeva associates the special economic zone on the border with the long arm of Beijing after her cousin Asqar Azatbek was allegedly snatched by unknown Chinese people on the Kazakh side in December 2017. The Kazakh foreign ministry raised the case with Beijing and told Kurmanaliyeva that Azatbek, a Chinese-born Kazakh passport holder, was jailed for breaking Chinese citizenship laws. “We don’t know where he is (being held) or how he is,” Kurmanaliyeva said. In Kyrgyzstan, a committee was formed by relatives of those vanished in Xinjiang’s security sweep. Marat Tagayev, who joined the committee over fears for friends living in China, said the foreign ministry reported that most Kyrgyz have left the internment camps. “But how many still remain in the camps?” Tagayev said. The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to questions related to security or detentions in Xinjiang, but said in a statement that the “Belt and Road” initiative “has become the main line of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries.” In Pakistan, which hosts the multibillion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor linking Xinjiang to the port of Gwadar, traders have protested over the detention of their Uighur wives in the Chinese region. Ali Ibrar, a 39-year-old trader from northern Pakistan married to a woman from Xinjiang, has been involved in a push to bring abuses there to the attention of Islamabad. “Pakistan is not only silent about the plight of Uighur Muslims but is also aiding and abetting China by forcing people like me to silence,” he said.
|
china;rights;ethnicity;xi jinping;uighurs;belt and road
|
jp0002928
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Hands-free travel approaches reality in Japan as firms tap demand for luggage-storage options
|
Having your luggage stolen or losing it while traveling can easily ruin a trip, but dragging bulky baggage around crowded tourist spots can hijack your itinerary, too. The latter is more likely in Japan, especially in major destinations like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto where the tourism boom is making the task of finding a vacant coin locker a major challenge for domestic and international visitors alike. The problem has sparked the rise of digital platforms aimed at helping travelers go hands-free by matching them with providers of storage space. Picture yourself elbowing your way through Tokyo’s famed Shibuya scramble crossing — said to be the world’s busiest — while toting heavy suitcases after failing to find an open coin locker. This scenario could easily occur during this year’s extended Golden Week holiday from Saturday to May 6 as Japan marks the Imperial succession and the start of a new era Wednesday. Japan’s leading travel agency, JTB Corp., projects that 24.01 million people will be traveling around Japan during the 10-day period. This scenario is likely to happen again in late May, when Japan will host U.S. President Donald Trump, bringing deja vu to those who were inconvenienced when lockers in and around the capital were shuttered for security reasons during Trump’s November 2017 visit. Tokyo-based Ecbo Inc., operator of the nation’s first platform connecting travelers with baggage storage establishments, hopes the service can help tourists travel with ease. “I thought it would be cool to create a platform that allows us to have our belongings stored and to take them out only when we need them,” said Ecbo chief Shinichi Kudo, 28. Kudo said the service represents the first step toward addressing one of the most daunting challenges of travel: how to handle one’s belongings and time. Kudo launched the Ecbo Cloak service in January 2017, allowing travelers to store luggage for up to a few days at more than 1,000 facilities including coffee shops, beauty salons, karaoke parlors and even shrines, in major cities from Kyushu to Hokkaido. For a fixed price ranging from ¥300 to ¥800 per item, travelers can book storage space via smartphone or the firm’s website. In Tokyo, for instance, the service is available at Shinagawa, Tokyo, Ikebukuro and Ueno stations on East Japan Railway Co.’s Yamanote Line, and the number of participating firms and organizations is growing daily, he said. The app is available in Japanese, English and Chinese, and users can communicate with storage providers via screenshot or QR codes with their booking information. Ecbo estimates that foreign travelers account for around 70 percent of Ecbo Cloak users and that thousands have used it so far. Kudo came up with the idea for the platform in Tokyo in August 2016 after encountering a foreign traveler on the streets of Shibuya desperately searching for a locker in the neighborhood that would be spacious enough for his extra-large bag. “We spent 40 minutes wandering around Shibuya, to no avail,” Kudo said. He said the incident sparked his interest in luggage problems across Japan, leading him to discover that there are about 1,400 coin lockers in Shibuya but only 90 suitable for extra-large luggage. Based on the firm’s own findings, Kudo estimates there are roughly 220,000 lockers nationwide but that 300,000 more are needed to meet demand. Kudo has concluded that some 176,000 people face difficulty finding space for their belongings every day, he said. He believes the emerging storage services are a response to changing travel habits, as more people drift away from tours organized by travel agencies and schedule independent trips, keeping their heavy bags at their sides. Named Ecbo Cloak, the platform proved a hit with tourists in 2017 when most coin lockers in and around Tokyo’s major stations were sealed for Trump’s visit, according to the company. Although luggage storage services are available at train stations or hotels, travelers are usually required to complete time-consuming paperwork or to line up to leave their gear. Kudo aims to improve the process so travelers can focus on exploring and take advantage of other services provided by Ecbo’s partners, such as getting a haircut at an affiliated salon. Ecbo and the participating firms split the profits equally. Other companies are rushing to address Japan’s luggage storage challenges ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as well. Travelers familiar with popular room rental service Airbnb may have heard about monooQ, which in Japanese sounds like mono oku, meaning “to store.” This company links people looking to store items with those who can offer space in their homes. At the airports, JTB, together with electronics giant Panasonic Corp. and parcel company Yamato Holdings Inc., have taken Japan’s rapid baggage delivery service, known locally as takkyubin , into the smartphone age by letting travelers preregister for door-to-door delivery straight to their hotels. The luggage service, which dispenses with paperwork by using QR codes, is offered as an option on JTB tours and is now available in languages including English, Chinese, French and Thai. Kudo, who was born in Macau but grew up in Japan, is preparing to take his digital cloak room portal worldwide within a year. “By 2025, I’d like to expand Ecbo Cloak’s system to 500 cities around the world,” Kudo said. “But further, I’d like to introduce something more futuristic — a delivery app that would enable travelers to have their luggage sent to wherever they want, with just one click,” he added. “And in 2025, I envision people around the globe using such an app to stow their luggage and have it delivered to any place on the globe they wish.”
|
tourism;golden week;luggage;ecbo inc .
|
jp0002929
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Eight-year study finds 10 visually impaired people died at train stations in Japan while hundreds more fell from platforms
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Ten people with impaired vision were struck and killed by trains at railway stations between fiscal 2010 and 2017, transport ministry officials said Saturday. During the eight-year period that ended March 2018, 605 such visually impaired people fell from station platforms and 15 came in contact with trains and other objects while on platforms. Of those, five were injured and 10 died as a result of being hit by trains. In January 2011, a visually impaired male masseur, 42, died after falling onto the tracks and being struck by a train at Mejiro Station on the Yamanote Line run by East Japan Railway Co. In the wake of the accident, the ministry called on railway operators to install Braille tiles for visually impaired people at platforms of railway stations used by 10,000 or more people on average per day. In addition, it sought to set up platform doors at stations with 100,000 or more daily users. As of March 2018, all 275 railway stations with 100,000 or more users were equipped with platform doors or Braille tiles. Either one or the other have been introduced at 2,017 stations with 10,000 or more users, or 93.3 percent of the total, with only a limited number of those being platform doors. In August 2016, a 55-year-old male corporate worker who was with his guide dog died after falling onto the tracks and being hit by a train at Tokyo Metro Co.’s Aoyama-itchome Station. A similar tragedy happened with a 63-year-old male masseur who was being led by his guide dog at Warabi Station on JR East’s Keihin-Tohoku Line in January 2017. As of the end of March 2018, platform doors were introduced at 725 stations across the country, including 105 of the stations whose daily users exceed 100,000 people. The government plans to push forward its goal of placing platform gates at some 800 stations from fiscal 2020.
|
jr;visually impaired
|
jp0002930
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Aichi-based companies converge on Nagoya Station ahead of Japan's 2027 maglev launch
|
With the maglev line scheduled to launch in 2027, linking Tokyo and Nagoya, more companies in Aichi Prefecture are moving their headquarters closer to Nagoya Station to take advantage of the convenient location. With rent rising around the station, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult for startups to set up there. Even without the maglev, Nagoya Station is a key transport hub in the Chubu region, hosting various lines including the Tokaido Shinkansen and Nagoya Railroad Co. The latter connects the station with Chubu Centrair International Airport. Aica Kogyo Co., a maker of construction materials, moved its headquarters in January last year from Kiyosu to JP Tower Nagoya, a 40-story building right in front of Nagoya Station. “Compared to before we moved, it has become more convenient for us to go on business trips in and out of the country, and we are communicating more with our clients,” said an Aica Kogyo official. With the national labor shortage worsening, keeping big offices in metropolitan areas where businesses are concentrated is also proving to be an advantage in attracting fresh graduates. Sun Corp. moved its headquarters in January last year from Konan to Global Gate, an office complex in the redeveloped Sasashima district near Nagoya Station. “Now we are hiring people from areas we have not been able to reach out to,” an official from the IT device maker said. Nagoya-based steak chain Bronco Billy Co. bought a building near Nagoya Station and moved its headquarters there in March from Meito Ward, a residential area in eastern Nagoya. It also brought along its cook training center, which was in Kasugai. “Amid the tight labor market, we have a greater advantage if we have a foothold in the city center,” a Bronco Billy official said. OKB Payment Plat Co., a fintech provider affiliated with Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, moved house from Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, to a building in front of Nagoya Station in March. The new headquarters “is suited to collecting the latest information related to our business,” a company official said. The number of newly established companies setting up around Nagoya Station, however, is decreasing, according to Tokyo Shoko Research. The number that set up their main offices in the Meieki and Nagono districts east of the station sank to just one in 2018 from 19 in 2015, 15 in 2016 and 10 in 2017. According to the Nagoya branch of major office broker Miki Shoji Co., the average rent in Meieki as of March was ¥13,600 per tsubo (3.3 sq. meters), the highest since comparable data became available in 2002. Rents have climbed 10 percent in the past five years. “Office vacancies declined and rents are increasing, making it difficult for newly created firms to rent an office (in the city center),” branch representative Shinya Kawaguchi said.
|
nagoya;maglev;nagoya station
|
jp0002931
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2019/04/28
|
University of Tokyo plans experiment to grow human organs in pigs within about a year
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The University of Tokyo plans to start an experiment to grow human pancreases in pigs for transplantation using induced pluripotent stem cells, better known as iPS cells, a professor leading the project said recently. Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi said he hopes to launch the first project in the country to grow human organs in animals within a year or so, once it clears government and university screening committees, and use genetically engineered pancreases in the treatment of disorders such as serious diabetes within 10 years. The decision by Nakauchi’s research team comes after the Japanese government lifted a ban on producing animals with embryos containing human cells, as the supply of donated organs continues to lag behind demand from patients awaiting transplants. Nakauchi’s team will inject human iPS cells, which can grow into any kind of cells, into a pig embryo genetically modified so that it lacks the ability to develop a pancreas. The embryo will then be placed in a surrogate sow’s uterus. The fetus will be removed before delivery to examine the amount of pancreas tissue derived from the human iPS cells and how well it functions. The Japanese government still prohibits the placement of fertilized animal eggs containing human cells in human wombs as well as the use of animals produced through such genetic engineering for breeding. Such experiments using pigs have already been conducted overseas.
|
transplants;university of tokyo;ips cells
|
jp0002932
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Japan's summer Upper House election set to draw more than 250 candidates, poll shows
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A total of 256 people are prepared to run in the Upper House election set for this summer, a Jiji Press survey has found. The poll will be the first nationwide parliamentary election since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a third consecutive three-year term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September last year. The LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, have completed procedures to field candidates in all electoral districts. Major opposition parties are set to compete with each other in 21 of the 32 districts where only one seat will be contested. They plan to complete work on unifying their candidates by the end of May. The election is expected to take place on July 21 unless the current Diet session, now scheduled to end on June 26, is extended. The prospective candidates include 172 in districts where a total of 74 seats will be contested and 84 vying for 50 proportional representation seats. The LDP aims to win at least 53 seats for the ruling coalition, which will give the bloc an Upper House majority overall including uncontested seats. But Komeito insists that the coalition needs to win at least 63 contested seats, a majority of such seats. One of the election’s focal points is whether the ruling bloc and other parties positive about amending the Constitution, including Nippon Ishin no Kai, will win at least 88 seats together to maintain a two-thirds majority. Any proposal to revise the Constitution needs to be approved by at least two-thirds of members in both Diet chambers. The LDP has endorsed 49 candidates for all 45 electoral districts, including two each for four districts where two or more seats will be contested. It plans to field 31 candidates for proportional representation. Komeito obtained the LDP’s backing for candidates it plans to field in five districts where multiple members will be elected, excluding Tokyo and Osaka. A focus on the opposition side is whether the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People will be able to cooperate with the Japanese Communist Party, which has already endorsed 37 electoral district candidates. The DPP’s merger with the Liberal Party may have an impact on the effort. Nippon Ishin has endorsed 11 candidates.
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ldp;elections;upper house
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jp0002933
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/28
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Heisei in perspective: A look at the expanding role of Japan's Self-Defense Forces
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The mission of the Self-Defense Forces significantly expanded — most notably with its first overseas deployments — during the Heisei Era, which started in January 1989 and is set to close Tuesday with the abdication of Emperor Akihito. Since the first dispatch abroad 28 years ago, the SDF’s overseas missions centering on U.N. peacekeeping operations have become increasingly familiar for many Japanese. But there remains strong concern in the country over the SDF’s expanded role, with many questioning whether it is in line with the pacifist Constitution and who oppose its dispatch overseas due to the risks and the lack of transparency of its operations. During the Gulf War in 1991, the third year of Heisei, Japan was criticized by the international community for its decision not to send SDF troops, due to constitutional constraints, despite providing financial assistance totaling as much as $13 billion. Later the same year, after the war ended, Japan dispatched the SDF on a minesweeping mission in the Persian Gulf, which marked the its first overseas operations. The landmark peacekeeping cooperation law, which enables SDF troops to engage in U.N. peacekeeping operations, was enacted the following year, in June 1992. In September that year, the government sent SDF troops to Cambodia in the first dispatch based on the new law. The SDF’s overseas activities have since expanded, and a total of some 60,000 Japanese military personnel have been dispatched overseas so far to take part in various missions. They include maritime refueling operations in the Indian Ocean under a 2001 law to assist the U.S.-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan; providing reconstruction and humanitarian assistance in the Iraq war under a special law in 2003; anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia since 2009 and international emergency assistance for disaster-relief operations. While the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears keen to expand the SDF’s overseas missions, based on his concept of “proactive pacifism,” many Japanese people remain skeptical, particularly after a coverup scandal emerged in 2017 involving the daily activity logs of SDF troops dispatched to South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping operations. The government’s failure to provide a clear explanation has increased people’s sense of distrust toward the SDF’s expanded role. During the SDF’s mission in Iraq, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the Diet that “the areas where SDF personnel operate are noncombat areas,” without elaborating on the definition of “noncombat areas.” When Japan decided to withdraw SDF troops from South Sudan in 2017, Abe denied that the decision was due to deteriorating security in the region, despite multiple uses of the word “combat,” and descriptions of a worsening security situation, in the troops’ daily logs. Japan has not sent SDF troops on U.N. peacekeeping missions since their withdrawal from South Sudan due to increased risks that the focus of the missions could shift from monitoring cease-fires to protecting civilians, which may involve the use of weapons. Instead, Japan has received requests to dispatch SDF officers to serve in command roles in U.N. missions, as well as to provide support for foreign troops involved in human resources development. As part of human resources development activities, Ground SDF troops have, since 2015, taught military engineering units from African countries involved in peacekeeping operations how to operate heavy machinery. Since late last year, following requests from the United Nations, the SDF has also engaged in work to revise manuals for engineers taking part in peacekeeping operations. Earlier in April, the government dispatched two GSDF officers to the Multinational Force & Observers command in the Sinai Peninsula, which monitors the Egypt-Israel border. The dispatch is the first case of so-called international peace and security cooperation activities, which enable the SDF to take part in missions outside the United Nations, under the national security laws that came into force in March 2016.
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peacekeeping operations;sdf
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jp0002934
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/28
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Trump pressed Abe to have Japanese automakers build more vehicles in the U.S.
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump pressed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to have Japanese automakers produce more vehicles in the United States, according to a readout of their recent meeting provided by the U.S. ambassador to Japan on Saturday. The two discussed recent public announcements by Japanese carmakers, including Toyota Motor Corp.’s decision to invest more in U.S. plants. “We talked about the need to see more movement in that direction but I think the president feels very positive that we will see such movement because all the economics support that,” said Ambassador William Hagerty. Trump told a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday that Abe said Japan would invest $40 billion in U.S. car factories, though Trump did not give details on the timeline for the planned investments. Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, said last month it would exceed a 2017 pledge to invest $10 billion over five years with a new commitment to reach nearly $13 billion over that period. Trump has prodded Japanese automakers to add more jobs in the United States as the White House threatens to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported vehicles, on the grounds of national security. Trump on Friday said it is possible that the United States and Japan could reach a new bilateral trade deal by the time he visits Tokyo in May, but he and Abe cited areas where they differ on trade. “We want to ensure that the U.S. has trading terms with Japan that are no less favorable than any other nation,” Hagerty said in a phone call with reporters. The pair also confirmed a joint desire to eliminate oil imports from Iran, Hagerty said, adding that the two leaders discussed a “desire to see Iran change its path and seek a more peaceful course forward.” He added that Trump is planning to attend the summit of the Group of 20 industrialized nations set to take place in the city of Osaka in June. Separately, Trump was optimistic trade talks with China would be successful, the ambassador said. The news came after Trump hit the golf course Saturday with Abe. With Abe in Washington, the golf-mad pair set off in the morning for the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, around 30 miles (48 km) from the White House. The two leaders struck up something of a “bromance” during Trump’s visit in November 2017 as they traded fist-bumps and tucked into burgers at a golf club outside Tokyo. And Japan, which closely aligns its foreign policy with the United States, has publicly backed Trump’s drive to make peace with North Korea — although it has been cautious on chances for success. Trump will become the first foreign leader to greet the new emperor of Japan, Naruhito, when he travels there on May 25 to 28.
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shinzo abe;toyota;carmakers;u.s.-japan relations;donald trump
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jp0002935
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Power outage between Niigata and Tokyo leaves vacationers stuck in packed bullet trains
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A power outage suspended operations of the Joetsu Shinkansen for 3½ hours on Sunday, leaving passengers stuck aboard packed trains between Tokyo and Niigata on the second day of an extended 10-day holiday period. The outage, which occurred at 7:21 a.m., also left travelers stranded in front of shinkansen ticket gates at Tokyo Station, with crowds gathering to travel for the Golden Week holiday made longer this year due to celebrations marking the Imperial succession. Services resumed at around 11 a.m. “It’s regrettable that I’ll have less time to play with my grandchild, but waiting is all I can do,” said 66-year-old Toshio Suzuki, who was on his way to visit Niigata. Trains bound for the Sea of Japan coastal city were fully booked from Sunday morning, but no passengers were injured or fell ill as a result of the delays, according to East Japan Railway Co.
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shinkansen;trains
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jp0002936
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
With spirits high, the LGBT community and supporters marks Tokyo's 25th pride march
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With rainbow flags flying high and colorful signboards vividly displayed under a clear blue sky, thousands of members of the LGBT community and their supporters took to the streets of Shibuya Ward on Sunday to march in the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride Festival parade. According to the organizers, 10,000 people were expected to take part in this year’s march — believed to be the largest of its kind in the nation — with more than 180,000 participating in the festival itself. The parade marked the 25th year such a march has been held, with the first promoting LGBT rights taking place in 1994. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. | RYUSEI TAKAHASHI The theme for this year’s festival was, “I have pride aru ga mama o hokorō” (“Be proud of who you are”). However, for a 48-year-old gay man who attended the festival in Yoyogi Park, Japan is not yet at a place where he feels he can proudly express his sexuality. | CHISATO TANAKA “My company presents itself as a gender-open organization that supports LGBT communities, but I still cannot come out as a gay man in the office because I have heard so many of my colleagues say mocking things about gay people,” said Kazu — who would only provide his first name. “It’s a similar situation for women who want to take maternity leave,” he explained. “Companies provide such a benefit, but if a mother uses it and then comes back to her office, she will not really be welcomed back by her colleagues.” He said it’s a matter of introspection and people needing to change their attitudes about such minorities. | CHISATO TANAKA A 42-year-old man who attended the parade with Kazu echoed this sentiment, saying he cannot come out because he is afraid he will be pigeon-holed as a result of stereotypes about gay men. “Hiding my identity is easier than coming out. I know my colleagues will make fun of me behind my back if I come out.” This year’s Rainbow Pride Festival was sponsored by a record 278 companies and organizations, including major consultancies such as cloud-based customer service provider Salesforce.com, recruitment agency Bizrearch Inc. and game console maker Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. | RYUSEI TAKAHASHI With the assistance of Buzzfeed Japan, the parade also included signboards from LGBT members living in the countryside who could no make it to the event but wanted their thoughts expressed at the festival. In Japan, same-sex marriages are not legally recognized, so they lack the same rights as heterosexual couples. Still, in some areas, including Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where the parade was held, gay couples can get partnership certificates that recognize same-sex relationships to facilitate matters related to medical services and real estate purchases in the same manner, though the certificates are not legally binding. As of May 28, Shibuya Ward had issued the certificates to 33 couples. “I have been participating every year for the past four years, and each year I see more people gather and march,” said a 20-year-old bisexual woman who came to the event with her friend. “I think it’s a good sign that more people are seeking gender equality and promoting diversity in Japan.” | RYUSEI TAKAHASHI
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lgbt;transgender;same-sex marriage;tokyo rainbow pride festival
|
jp0002937
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Fukushima Prefecture enjoys sharp jump in foreign lodgers
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Foreign hotel stays in Fukushima Prefecture more than doubled to 17,700 in January, marking the highest year-on-year growth among all prefectures, according to Japan Tourism Agency statistics released in March. Fukushima Prefectural Government officials attribute the robust growth, up roughly 2.4 times from the same month the previous year, to local efforts to work with neighboring prefectures, including Miyagi and Yamagata, to promote tours aimed at people from Taiwan and Thailand, among other places. It is the first time the monthly figure for foreign lodgers in Fukushima has represented the highest growth in Japan since comparable tourism data became available in 2010. The prefecture is looking to strengthen the way it promotes local sites and cuisine and take other tourist-oriented measures to take advantage of the April 4 launch of a year-round flight service between Fukushima Airport and Taiwan. A breakdown of those who stayed in accommodations run by 10 or more employees in January shows that Taiwanese topped the list at 6,160, up about five times from the previous January, followed by Chinese at 1,370, up 1.2 times. Thais and Australians came to about 1,200 each, up 3.8 and 3.1 times, respectively. Prefectural officials said Taiwanese visitors rose sharply after it called on travel agencies on the self-ruled island to devise tours around new flights not just to Fukushima, but Sendai as well. Tourists from Thailand are apparently attracted to the winter scenery in places like the Tadami River First Bridge, as more people became familiar with the so-called Diamond Route that connects Tokyo with destinations in Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures, while ski resorts in Fukushima have become more well known by skiers from Australia, the officials said. In 2018 foreign lodgers in Fukushima reached 120,250, surpassing the 100,000 line for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis in 2011. That’s a vast contrast from the 24,000 logged that year, when visitors plummeted to just 30 percent of the 2010 level. In November and December last year, the prefecture hosted 1.4 and 1.8 times more foreigners, respectively, than in the same months a year before. Miyagi and Niigata also saw significant increases in foreign visitors in January. Fukushima officials credited the same joint promotion efforts, including campaigns conducted by the three prefectures in Taiwan, and model tours they conducted with Tochigi Prefecture for travel agency representatives from Thailand. Fukushima expects to receive up to 7,000 travelers from Taiwan a year as the prefecture’s plans for the flight service call for two round-trip charter flights a week, or 208 flights a year. Officials said they will continue measures to attract more tourists, such as by advertising local specialties and cuisine, providing information in foreign languages, and helping retailers adopt cashless payment systems. “We hope to utilize every possible means to promote the prefecture’s attractiveness as a tourist destination to bring in more visitors,” a prefectural official in charge of tourism said.
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fukushima;taiwan;tourism;japan tourism agency
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jp0002938
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/04/28
|
Japan weighs granting pardons to mark new Emperor's enthronement
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The Japanese government is considering granting pardons for certain crimes as early as this fall in line with Crown Prince Naruhito’s accession to the throne, sources have said. Pardons linked to Imperial family events were last issued in 1993 on the occasion of the marriage of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako. Before that, pardons were granted in 1989 in line with the death of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, and in 1990 to mark the enthronement of his son, Emperor Akihito, covering 10 million and 2.5 million people, respectively. Pardons linked to Emperor Akihito’s abdication are unlikely to be issued, the sources said. Pardons include making guilty rulings ineffective, reducing sentences and restoring legal rights restricted by guilty rulings. The sources said that the pardons currently under consideration are unlikely to cover serious crimes in consideration to the feelings of victims. A focus will be whether election law violations will become eligible for the proposed pardons. The government came under fire for its decision to make election law violators eligible for the pardons granted to mark Emperor Akihito’s enthronement. It is possible to cancel punishments imposed on government officials in line with pardons, but such a step will not be implemented this time because it is unlikely to win public understanding, a government source said. Pardons themselves have been criticized by some critics for being outmoded or arbitrary. Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on Tuesday and his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, is scheduled to accede to the throne the following day.
|
royalty;imperial family;pardons;emperor naruhito
|
jp0002939
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/28
|
The key ceremonies in Japan's Imperial succession
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Emperor Akihito’s abdication on Tuesday, one of several ceremonies marking the transition to his heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, will be a brief, relatively simple and rare event. The last abdication by a Japanese monarch was in 1817. Crown Prince Naruhito will become Emperor on Wednesday, but his formal enthronement will take place at a more elaborate ceremony in October, to which foreign dignitaries will be invited. April 30 — abdication ceremony (5 p.m.-5:10 p.m.): The ceremony will take place in the Imperial Palace’s Pine Chamber, known for its polished wood floor and considered the palace’s most prestigious room. About 300 people will attend the event, broadcast live on national television. Imperial chamberlains will carry the state and privy seals into the room along with two of Japan’s three sacred treasures — a sword and a jewel — which together with a mirror are symbols of the throne. They are said to originate in ancient mythology. The sword, representing one kept at a shrine in Mie Prefecture, and the jewel are enclosed in cases. The mirror is kept at the Grand Shrines of Ise, the holiest Shinto site in Japan, and its authentic replica is at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will announce the abdication followed by Emperor Akihito’s final remarks as emperor. Empress Michiko, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako will attend along with the leaders of both houses of the Diet and the Supreme Court justices. May 1 — regalia inheritance (10:30-10:40 a.m.): This is the first stage of Crown Prince Naruhito’s accession to the throne. Chamberlains will put the seals, sword and jewel on desks in front of the new Emperor as proof of his rightful succession. The ceremony is observed by a small group that includes adult male royalty and representatives of the three branches of the government, including Abe and his Cabinet. Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko will not be present. The ceremony is not open to female Imperial family members, but Satsuki Katayama, the only female minister in Abe’s Cabinet, will be the first woman in modern history to attend. Naruhito will wear a Western tailcoat. Akihito wore a Western morning coat when he became emperor in January 1989. May 1 — Emperor’s first remarks (11:10-11:20 a.m.): Shortly afterward, Emperor Naruhito will make his first public remarks as emperor in the Pine Chamber — comments that might offer hints about his goals or hopes for his reign. In 1989, Emperor Akihito pledged to protect the Constitution and fulfill his duties. He also expressed his hopes for national prosperity, global peace and the well-being of humanity. Abe will speak as the representative of the Japanese people. New Empress Masako and other members of the Imperial family will be present, along with representatives from the three branches of the government and their spouses. May 4 — Emperor, Empress greet well-wishers at palace: Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will make their first public appearance, greeting well-wishers gathered at the Imperial Palace. They will appear six times during the day from 10 a.m. A large turnout is expected partly because the public event will take place during a 10-day holiday. More than 100,000 people flocked to see Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in 1990. Oct. 22 — Sokuirei Seiden no Gi (enthronement ceremony): Emperor Naruhito will proclaim his enthronement in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from nearly 200 countries. Like his father, the new Emperor is expected to wear a traditional robe and headdress. He will step into the pavilioned Takamikura throne and briefly sit on a cushioned chair with a seat made from tatami straw. The Emperor will then stand as the pavilion curtains are drawn open and declare his succession to the world. Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana and U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle were among the 2,200 people who attended the ceremony for Emperor Akihito in 1990. The Imperial Couple will ride in an open-top limousine through central Tokyo. Some 120,000 people, many waving national flags, lined the route in 1990 to cheer Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as they passed by a Rolls-Royce Corniche III. Nov. 14-15 — Daijokyu no Gi (great thanksgiving ceremony): The Emperor will offer newly harvested rice and sake to Imperial ancestors and deities, and partake of them himself as he prays for bumper crops and national peace. The government has earmarked ¥2.7 billion ($24 million) for the ceremony, including costs to build temporary halls at the Imperial Palace for the occasion, although there has been controversy over the constitutionality of the state funding an event that involves strong religious elements.
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shinzo abe;royalty;emperor akihito;imperial family;abdication;reiwa;emperor naruhito
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jp0002940
|
[
"reference"
] |
2019/04/28
|
The week ahead for April 29 to May 5
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Monday Showa Day, a national holiday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to return from eight-day trip to France, Italy, Slovakia, Belgium, United States and Canada. National judo championship to be held at Nippon Budokan. Tuesday Emperor Akihito to become first Japanese monarch to abdicate in over two centuries. The 85-year-old Emperor, who has reigned since January 1989, expressed his desire to step down in a video message in 2016, citing concerns that he might not be able to fulfill official duties due to his advanced age. Wednesday Crown Prince Naruhito to ascend the throne. The 59-year-old will inherit Imperial regalia and seals, and meet heads of the government, legislature and judiciary at ceremonies to be held at the Imperial Palace. Reiwa, the new Imperial era, to begin to coincide with new Emperor’s ascent. On April 1, the government unveiled the new era name, which is used during an emperor’s reign. Reiwa, translated as “beautiful harmony,” is taken from the “Manyoshu,” Japan’s oldest poetry anthology dating back more than 1,200 years. The government starts its annual Cool Biz campaign. The initiative launched in 2005 encourages workers to dress casually to help reduce energy use and calls for setting air conditioners at 28 degrees Celsius. Thursday Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting to be held in Fiji through Sunday. Japan will be represented by Finance Minister Taro Aso, who is scheduled to hold trilateral discussions with his counterparts from China and South Korea. Friday Constitution Day, a national holiday. Saturday Greenery Day, a national holiday. Emperor Naruhito to greet the public at the Imperial Palace. The new Emperor and Empress are expected to appear on the palace balcony with other members of Imperial family. The Imperial Household Agency opens the palace to the public on limited occasions, such as New Year’s Day and the Emperor’s birthday. Sunday Children’s Day, a national holiday. Rush of travelers returning from domestic and overseas trips during Japan’s extended 10-day Golden Week holiday to reach peak.
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weekly events;the week ahead;schedule
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jp0002941
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Google blocks Chinese app TikTok in India after court order
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NEW DELHI - Google has blocked access to the hugely popular video app TikTok in India to comply with a state court’s directive to prohibit its downloads, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The move comes hours after a court in southern Tamil Nadu state refused a request by China’s Bytedance Technology to suspend a ban on its TikTok app, putting its future in one of its key markets in doubt. The state court had on April 3 asked the federal government to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and made child users vulnerable to sexual predators. Its ruling came after an individual launched a public interest litigation calling for a ban. The federal government had sent a letter to Apple and Google to abide by the state court’s order, according to an IT ministry official. The app was still available on Apple’s platforms late on Tuesday, but was no longer available on Google’s Play store in India. Google said in a statement it does not comment on individual apps but adheres to local laws. Apple did not respond to requests for comment, while TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Google’s move. TikTok, which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, has become hugely popular in India but has been criticized by some politicians who say its content is inappropriate. It had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users in India installed it in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year. Jokes, clips and footage related to India’s thriving movie industry dominate the app’s platform, along with memes and videos in which youngsters, some scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to popular music. Bytedance challenged the state court’s ban order in India’s Supreme Court last week, saying it went against freedom of speech rights in India. The top court had referred the case back to the state court, where a judge on Tuesday rejected Bytedance’s request to put the ban order on hold, K. Neelamegam, a lawyer arguing against Bytedance in the case, said. TikTok earlier said in a statement that it had faith in the Indian judicial system and was “optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by millions” of its users. It did not comment further on the judge’s decision. The company, however, welcomed the decision to appoint a senior lawyer to assist the court in upcoming proceedings. The state court has requested written submissions from Bytedance in the case and has scheduled its next hearing for April 24. Salman Waris, a technology lawyer at TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, said the legal action against Bytedance could set a precedent of Indian courts intervening to regulate content on social media and other digital platforms. In its Supreme Court filing, Bytedance argued that a “very minuscule” proportion of TikTok content was considered inappropriate or obscene. The company employs more than 250 people in India and had plans for more investment as it expands the business, it said.
|
india;google;app;porn;tiktok;bytedance technology
|
jp0002942
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Toyota executive likens Trump's auto tariffs to 'pulling the pin out of the grenade'
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SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN - Toyota Motor Corp. warned the Trump administration will inflict serious economic damage if it elects to hit cars and components with tariffs on national security grounds. Implementing the levies will be like “pulling the pin out of the grenade,” Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America, said Tuesday at a conference affiliated with the New York International Auto Show.
|
u.s .;trade;toyota;carmakers;tariffs;donald trump
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jp0002943
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Apple and Qualcomm settle bitter beef over iPhone tech, mum on terms
|
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple and mobile chip maker Qualcomm have settled a bitter financial dispute centered on some of the technology that enables iPhones to connect to the internet. The surprise truce announced Tuesday came just as the former allies turned antagonists were facing off in a federal court trial that was supposed to unfold over the next month in San Diego. The resolution abruptly ended that trial, which also involved Apple’s key iPhone suppliers. The deal requires Apple to pay Qualcomm an undisclosed amount. It also includes a six-year licensing agreement that likely involves recurring payments to the mobile chip maker. Investors reacted as if it were a resounding victory for Qualcomm. The San Diego company’s stock soared 23 percent to close Tuesday at $70.45. Apple shares edged up 2 cents to $199.25. Neither Apple nor Qualcomm would comment beyond a brief statement announcing they had resolved their differences. Details about how much Apple and its iPhone suppliers will be paying Qualcomm could emerge in court documents or when the companies announce their latest financial results. Apple is due to report its quarterly results on April 30 while Qualcomm is scheduled to release its numbers on May 1. Apple had been seeking at least $1 billion for money that Qualcomm was supposed to rebate as part of an earlier licensing agreement. Apple had begun to have misgivings about that deal as it added more features to its increasingly popular line-up of iPhones. Qualcomm was seeking $7 billion for unpaid royalties it contended it was owed for its patented technology in the iPhone. Apple’s iPhone suppliers, including Foxconn and Pegatron, wanted another $27 billion from Qualcomm. Apple had already lost an earlier battle with Qualcomm last month when a federal court jury in San Diego decided the iPhone maker owed Qualcomm $31 million for infringing on three of its patents. Qualcomm still faces other potential fallout from its demands to be paid royalties in addition to the fees it charges for its mobile chips. The Federal Trade Commission has accused the company of using its royalty system to stifle competition in the mobile chip market in another case in which Apple played a central role. A trial about the FTC’s lawsuit wrapped up in a San Jose, California, court in January, but the judge still hasn’t issued a ruling.
|
china;u.s .;taiwan;apple;south korea;chips;patents;qualcomm;royalties
|
jp0002944
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Italy targets Amazon in market dominance probe
|
MILAN, ITALY - Italy’s competition authority said Tuesday it had opened an investigation into Amazon for possible abuse of its dominant position in online commerce and logistics. The authority said it suspected that the retail giant had been giving preferential exposure to third-party vendors on its platform only if they subscribed to Amazon’s logistics service. “These practices would have allowed Amazon to profit unfairly from its dominant position” in online commerce platforms “in order to significantly curtail competition” on storage and dispatch markets, said the Italian competition authority, Antitrust. These practices would have in the end harmed consumers, it added. The investigation is likely to last a year, said Antitrust. The authority’s agents inspected various Amazon sites on Tuesday, accompanied by members of the financial crime unit. The Italian case follows probes by authorities in Japan, France, Austria and the EU Commission into practices by Amazon and other tech giants, like Google, Apple and Facebook. In June 2017, the EU Commission hit Google with a fine of €2.42 billion ($2.73 billion) for abuse of its dominant market position, the first such sanction for the company in Europe.
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italy;google;apple;amazon;antitrust
|
jp0002945
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Japan and U.S. agree to include e-commerce and digital services in new trade talks
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WASHINGTON - Japan said Tuesday it has started talks with the United States over cutting tariffs on agricultural and industrial products, and that the two sides agreed to include digital trade as part of the new negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement. During the first round of talks with economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer raised the “very large” trade deficit with Japan, urging the country to address the trade imbalances between the world’s biggest and third-largest economies. Speaking to reporters after the two-day meeting in Washington, Motegi said he and Lighthizer agreed to start talks on digital trade, an area including e-commerce and music distribution services, at an appropriate time. In digital trade, tech giants such as Amazon and Google have been calling for the free flow of cross-border data transfers, and both sides are expected to discuss setting up rules to foster data-driven business. Separately, the Office of the USTR said the two ministers “discussed trade issues involving goods, including agriculture, as well as the need to establish high standards in the area of digital trade.” “In addition, the United States raised its very large trade deficit with Japan — $67.6 billion in goods in 2018,” it said. The ministers reaffirmed they will conduct negotiations and achieve substantive results in line with an agreement struck between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump last September. The agreement said the two governments “will enter into negotiations … for a Japan-United States trade agreement on goods, as well as on other key areas including services, that can produce early achievements.” Besides digital trade, Lighthizer did not refer to specific types of services and other key areas that the United States wants to be included in the trade talks, according to Motegi. “The U.S. side said Japan and the United States share views on digital trade, and that the two sides could produce results at an early date,” Motegi said. Motegi said he is planning to have another meeting with Lighthizer ahead of a summit between Abe and Trump that is likely to be held April 26 in the U.S. capital. Motegi quoted Lighthizer as saying the Trump administration wants to cut the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, and that the administration has a strong interest in increasing access to the Japanese market, especially for agricultural products. A revised Trans-Pacific Partnership — an 11-member free trade agreement including Japan and farming nations such as Australia and Canada — as well as an FTA between Japan and the European Union have put American farmers and ranchers at a disadvantage. Motegi said he told Lighthizer that Japan will not reduce tariffs on American farm products beyond levels the country has agreed in other trade pacts such as the revised TPP and Japan-EU FTA. The Japanese minister said he has won the USTR’s assurance that Washington will refrain from imposing tariffs on automobile imports from Japan while negotiations are underway. However, Lighthizer’s reference to the “very large” trade deficit with Japan signaled that Washington may push Tokyo to set quotas for restraining automobile exports, as well as to address nontariff barriers to facilitate imports of American cars. Trump regards automobiles as a symbol of the trade imbalance with Japan, because automobiles and auto parts accounted for about 75 percent of the U.S. deficit with the country as of 2017. Motegi also told Lighthizer that a currency provision, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said must be included in a trade deal with Japan, should be handled by the respective finance ministers. U.S. industry lobbies pushed the Trump administration to take swift action on a trade deal with Japan so American workers, farmers and businesses will not be left behind in what has long been a top market for U.S. exports. “The rising tide of trade between Japan and its new trade agreement partners has meant lost sales for Americans,” said Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “U.S. pork exports to Japan, the top export destination, have dropped by 35 percent so far this year.” Donohue also said in a commentary posted Tuesday to U.S. business news network CNBC that Tokyo and Washington must reject managed trade practices such as voluntary export restraints. “We must also end the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum from Japan and the threat of tariffs on autos and auto parts,” he said.
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u.s .;trade;automakers;e-commerce;japan
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jp0002946
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/17
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Japan logged first trade deficit in three years in fiscal 2018
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Japan’s goods trade balance fell into the red in fiscal 2018 for the first time in three years amid higher energy prices and sluggish demand from China, government data showed Wednesday. Japan logged a deficit of ¥1.59 trillion ($14.2 billion) in the year through March, according to a preliminary report by the Finance Ministry. Exports rose 1.9 percent from a year earlier to ¥80.71 trillion on increased deliveries of cars and ships, while imports jumped 7.1 percent to ¥82.29 trillion on higher costs of crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Exports have served as a driving force of the Japanese economy’s recent expansion cycle. But demand has weakened in recent months, with the trade conflict between the United States and China taking its toll, particularly affecting Chinese capital spending. Koya Miyamae, a senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said business investment in China would not expand while tensions continue between the world’s two largest economies. “Exports will likely continue to remain sluggish for the time being, although they may not deteriorate further,” he said. Among trading partners, Japan’s trade surplus with the United States decreased 6.7 percent from a year ago but remained high at ¥6.53 trillion, a level that could prompt U.S. President Donald Trump to put more pressure on Tokyo in his bid to cut his country’s deficits. Japan’s U.S.-bound exports climbed 2.9 percent to ¥15.63 trillion, but by sector, automobiles and auto parts were down 1.3 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Analysts pointed out that the declines in auto exports may have reflected the trend of Japanese automakers boosting their production in the United States amid threats from the Trump administration that additional levies would be placed on Japanese car imports. The release of the latest trade data came hours after economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wrapped up their two-day trade talks in Washington, with the U.S. government regarding a bilateral trade deal as a way to rectify the trade imbalance. Japan’s deficit with China, its biggest trading partner, expanded for the first time in three years to ¥3.58 trillion. Exports grew 2.9 percent while imports rose 3.5 percent. Tokyo’s trade surplus with the rest of Asia, including China, tumbled 14.4 percent to ¥5 trillion, down for the first time in five years. Exports increased by 1.3 percent and imports grew 3.7 percent. With the European Union, Japan incurred a trade deficit of ¥421.7 billion — the seventh straight year the balance has stayed in the red. Imports hit a record-high ¥9.69 trillion. For March alone, Japan had a goods trade surplus of ¥528.5 billion, with exports falling 2.4 percent and imports rising 1.1 percent. The figures were measured on a customs-cleared basis.
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u.s .;trade;eu;budgets
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jp0002947
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Democratic lawmakers subpoena Deutsche Bank, other institutions as part of Trump probe
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WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers investigating President Donald Trump’s finances announced Tuesday they have issued subpoenas to several banks, including Deutsche Bank, as part of a probe into “potential foreign influence” in U.S. elections. The subpoenas were announced by the heads of the House intelligence and financial services committees, which are looking into the president’s finances as part of a larger probe into election meddling by Russia. Deutsche Bank, a major lender to Trump real estate projects, said in a statement that it is engaged in a “productive dialogue” with both committees. “We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations in a manner consistent with our legal obligations,” it said. The German investment bank was one of the few major Western financial institutions to continue to lend to Trump’s real estate empire after several of its casinos went bankrupt in the 1990s, resulting in claims by creditors valued at $330 million in today’s dollars. Adam Schiff, the intelligence committee’s chairman, said Deutsche Bank has been cooperating with the committees and described the subpoena issued to it as “friendly.” “As part of our oversight authority and authorized investigation into allegations of potential foreign influence on the U.S. political process, the House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas to multiple financial institutions in coordination with the House Financial Services Committee, including a friendly subpoena to Deutsche Bank, which has been cooperative with the Committees,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to their continued cooperation and compliance,” he said. Maxine Waters, chair of the Financial Services Committee, said her committee was investigating “the potential use of the US financial system for illicit purposes.” The committee, she said, “is exploring these matters, including as they may involve the president and his associates.” The announcement of the subpoenas comes just two days before the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his near two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Attorney General Bill Barr summarized Mueller’s findings in a four-page letter to Congress last month, saying the former FBI director found no evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Barr also cleared Trump of obstruction of justice even though Mueller, while reaching no conclusion on that score, said his investigation did not exonerate the president.
|
u.s .;deutsche bank;democrats;donald trump;adam schiff;maxine waters
|
jp0002948
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Pornography concerns prompt Indian court to ban downloads of Chinese video app TikTok
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NEW DELHI - The Chinese video app TikTok is no longer available on Google and Apple app stores in India after a state court prohibited its downloads, a setback for developer ByteDance Technology’s efforts to tap users in a key market. TikTok, which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, is hugely popular in India but some politicians say its content is inappropriate. A court in southern Tamil Nadu state asked the federal government on April 3 to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and warning that sexual predators could target child users. The federal government sent a letter requesting Apple and Google to abide by the state court’s order, according to an IT ministry official. Google blocked access to TikTok on its Play store in India to comply with the court’s directive, a person with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday. The app was not available on Apple’s app store on Wednesday. Google said in a statement it does not comment on individual apps but adheres to local laws. Apple did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for TikTok in India declined to comment on the app’s removal, saying the matter was still in the courts. The company had faith in the judicial system and was “optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by” its millions of users in India, he added. TikTok had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users installed the app in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year. Jokes, clips and footage related to India’s thriving movie industry dominate the app’s platform, along with memes and videos in which youngsters, some scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to popular music. ByteDance challenged the state court’s ban order in India’s Supreme Court last week, saying it went against freedom of speech rights in India. The top court had referred the case back to the state court, where a judge on Tuesday rejected ByteDance’s request to put the ban order on hold, K. Neelamegam, a lawyer arguing against ByteDance in the case, said. The state court has requested written submissions from ByteDance in the case and has scheduled its next hearing for April 24. Salman Waris, a technology lawyer at TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, said the legal action against ByteDance could set a precedent of Indian courts intervening to regulate content on social media and other digital platforms. In its Supreme Court filing, ByteDance argued that a “very minuscule” proportion of TikTok content was considered inappropriate or obscene. The company employs more than 250 people in India and had plans for more investment as it expands the business, it said.
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india;apps;pornography;tiktok
|
jp0002949
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Nikkei stretches winning streak to fifth market day
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The benchmark Nikkei average rose for the fifth straight session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, aided by an overnight rebound in U.S. equities. The 225-issue average gained 56.31 points, or 0.25 percent, to end at 22,277.97. On Tuesday, the key market gauge advanced 52.55 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 4.22 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,630.68, after falling 1.47 points the previous day. The Tokyo market got off to a higher start, tracking a Wall Street rally on Tuesday. Selling seemingly to lock in profits took the upper hand in midmorning trading amid the yen’s strengthening against the dollar, briefly pushing down both Nikkei and Topix indexes into negative territory. The market soon took an upturn on renewed buying by investors who took heart from stronger-than-expected Chinese economic data released Wednesday, such as January-March gross domestic product and March industrial production, brokers said. In the afternoon, the price indexes moved sideways amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives. Expectations grew further for an end to the U.S.-China trade dispute and a pickup in the Chinese economy, an official of a major brokerage firm said. But, referring to the market’s top-heaviness in the afternoon, Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said investors “found it difficult to buy actively” ahead of the release of earnings reports by major Japanese companies and the 10-day national holiday from April 27. The first round of Japan-U.S. trade talks, which ended in Washington on Tuesday, had little impact on the overall market because no concrete result was shown, brokers said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,220 to 803 in the TSE’s first section, while 118 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.27 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.05 billion shares. Semiconductor-related issues attracted purchases after their U.S. peers fared well overnight. Major gainers included Advantest, Screen and Sumco. Automakers, including Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki, rose as there were no media reports about tough U.S. demands for the Japanese auto sector in the trade talks, brokers said. Clothing store chain Fast Retailing continued to attract purchases, hitting a listing-to-date high in afternoon trading. Kyushu Electric was sharply lower on a downward revision in its earnings estimates for the year that ended in March. Also sold were technology investor SoftBank Group and mobile phone carrier KDDI. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average rose 50 points to end at 22,270.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
|
jp0002950
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Dollar firms above ¥112 in Tokyo trading
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The dollar strengthened above ¥112 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, helped by a rise in Tokyo stocks. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.01-01, up from ¥111.89-89 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1317-1317, up from $1.1310-1310, and at ¥126.72-73, up from ¥126.55-55. The dollar rose to year-to-date highs above ¥112.10 on buying sparked by the 225-issue Nikkei average’s brisk start. But the greenback came under selling pressure from Japanese exporters later in the morning. After moving in a range slightly below ¥112, the U.S. currency went marginally above the threshold in late afternoon trading. The dollar was also pushed up by stronger-than-expected Chinese economic data released Wednesday, including January-March gross domestic product data, traders said. “But selling to lock in profits gained strength when the dollar approached ¥112,” said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm. “The dollar-yen pair has begun attracting position-squaring selling” ahead of the Easter weekend overseas, which includes Good Friday, and the special 10-day national holiday from April 27, an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm said.
|
forex;currencies
|
jp0002951
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Nissan unveils 50th anniversary editions of GT-R and Fairlady Z
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Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday unveiled the 50th anniversary editions of its GT-R and Fairlady Z flagship sports cars. The all-wheel drive GT-R is recognized as one of the fastest commercially available sedans in the world, winning many races inside and outside of Japan, especially in the 1990s and 2000s. The sleek, streamlined Fairlady Z, which was also known abroad as the Datsun Z, was a smash hit in the 1970s and gave Nissan a firm footing in the U.S. market, according to the company. Both debuted in 1969. “We feel proud of the GT-R and Fairlady Z for having been some of the best cars in the world. We would like to provide the pleasure of driving and excitement to our customers,” Nissan Senior Vice President Asako Hoshino said at a ceremony in Tokyo. The special-edition GT-R has two-tone exterior color combinations to represent the first-generation model that dominated in domestic races in the 1960s and 1970s, while the Fairlady Z is painted white and red in the same style as an older model that competed in U.S. races in the 1970s. The anniversary GT-R will go on sale from June in Japan, with the price starting at ¥13.2 million ($118,000). Orders will be accepted until next March. The special Fairlady Z will arrive in the domestic market this summer. Nissan said it will also sell both models in overseas markets but has not provided details on release dates and prices. Nissan temporarily suspended production of the GT-R and Fairlady Z in the early 2000s due to stricter emissions regulations, but later resumed production of both models amid the enduring popularity of the cars. The unveiling of the new models comes amid growing pressure on Nissan to improve its corporate image following the arrest of its former boss, Carlos Ghosn, for alleged financial misconduct at the carmaker.
|
nissan;carmakers;gt-r;fairlady z
|
jp0002952
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Nidec to acquire Omron's auto electronics unit for ¥100 billion
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OSAKA - Electric motor-maker Nidec Corp. said Tuesday it will acquire component-maker Omron Corp.’s automotive electronics subsidiary for ¥100 billion ($893 million), as it seeks to speed up the development of technology for autonomous and other advanced vehicles. Kyoto-headquartered Nidec will take an entire stake in Omron Automotive Electronics Co. by the end of October, as it aims to combine its strengths in motors, radar and camera-related technologies with Omron Automotive’s edge in auto components for self-driving vehicles. “We want to widen our product lineup through the acquisition and enhance our competitiveness in the automobile-oriented business,” as the auto industry has been shifting its focus to more electrified and self-driving vehicles, Nidec Chairman and CEO Shigenobu Nagamori told a news conference in Tokyo. Omron said it will focus more on its industrial automation and health care businesses as it found it difficult to continue hefty investments in developing auto technology on its own amid the intensifying race to make next-generation vehicles. Nidec, founded in 1973, has grown in part due to its ambitious mergers and acquisitions strategy. The company announced in April last year the acquisition of Embraco, the refrigeration compressor business of U.S. giant Whirlpool Corp., for $1.08 billion.
|
carmakers;acquisitions;nidec corp .;omron corp .
|
jp0002953
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Nippon Paint to acquire DuluxGroup for ¥300 billion
|
OSAKA - Nippon Paint Holdings Co. will acquire major Australian peer DuluxGroup Ltd. for ¥300.5 billion ($2.7 billion) to strengthen its foothold in the overseas market, the two companies said Wednesday. The major paint and coating manufacturer aims to close the deal to buy DuluxGroup, which has the largest share of the paint market in Australia and New Zealand, by mid-August. Nippon Paint said it hopes to establish a leading position in Asia through the acquisition of DuluxGroup, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and is strong in the decorative paint segment. No changes in leadership, business portfolio, manufacturing or operations are expected through the deal, DuluxGroup said.
|
acquisitions;nippon paint;duluxgroup
|
jp0002954
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
950 apply for Coca-Cola Japan's voluntary retirement plan
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Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that 950 group employees have applied for its voluntary redundancy program conducted in March, against some 700 targeted by the company. The retirement date under the program is April 30, according to the firm. The company will book ¥8.7 billion in costs for special retirement allowances and re-employment support in its financial statement for January to March. The program was aimed at streamlining operations at a time when the major beverage group faces higher logistics and material costs.
|
beverages;coca-cola bottlers japan holdings
|
jp0002955
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Japan's antitrust watchdog probes tech giants over concerns they may be abusing their dominant positions over smaller firms
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Technology giants such as Google LLC, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. came under pressure Wednesday as Japan’s antitrust watchdog noted opaque practices that could disadvantage vendors on their e-commerce sites or smartphone app stores. Some 50 to 90 percent of such vendors said their contracts have been changed in Japan and abroad without prior negotiations, a survey by the Japan Fair Trade Commission found, fueling concerns that the tech groups are abusing their dominant position against smaller companies using their platforms. The poll showed that 93.2 percent of suppliers on the e-commerce site run by Japan’s Rakuten Inc. said they have experienced unilateral contract changes. Similar responses were collected from 81.4 percent of vendors for Apple, 73.8 percent for Google and 72.8 percent for Amazon. The internet survey was conducted between Feb. 27 and March 26, collecting 867 responses. The FTC said it will continue its probe, including the holding of interviews with the large tech firms known in Japan as “platformers.” The commission has already raided offices in Japan of some platformers such as Amazon, which allegedly violated antitrust laws by having vendors shoulder part of the costs to cover discounts it applied to goods sold online. The Japanese government is expected to compile soon new rules to ensure more transparent transactions between platformers and vendors.
|
google;amazon;e-commerce;fair trade commission;gafa
|
jp0002956
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
U.S. wants to build more tents at border to detain migrant families
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HOUSTON - The Trump administration wants to open two new tent facilities to temporarily detain up to 1,000 parents and children near the southern border, as advocates sharply criticize the conditions inside the tents already used to hold migrants. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a notice to potential contractors that it wants to house 500 people in each camp in El Paso, Texas, and in the South Texas city of Donna, which has a border crossing with Mexico. Each facility would consist of one large tent that could be divided into sections by gender and between families and children traveling alone, according to the notice. Detainees would sleep on mats. There would also be laundry facilities, showers, and an “additional fenced-in area” for “outside exercise/recreation.” The notice says the facilities could open in the next two weeks and operate through year end, with a cost that could reach $37 million. CBP did not respond to several requests for comment. But the agency has said its resources are strained by the sharp rise in the numbers of parents and children crossing the border and requesting asylum. It made 53,000 apprehensions in March of parents and children traveling together, most of whom say they are fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. Many ultimately request asylum under U.S. and international law. The Border Patrol has started directly releasing parents and children instead of referring them to immigration authorities for potential long-term detention, but families still sometimes wait several days to be processed by the agency and released. The Border Patrol processing center in McAllen is routinely over capacity. Kevin McAleenan, the new acting homeland security secretary, was scheduled to visit McAllen Tuesday and Wednesday. In El Paso, hundreds of people are detained in tents set up at the center of a parking lot next to a patrol station. People detained there have complained of prolonged exposure to cold. The Border Patrol limits them to one warm layer of clothing, confiscates coats, and issues a Mylar blanket to each detainee, citing health and safety concerns. U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan, a California Democrat, visited the tents earlier this month. She said she had seen a mother with her 4-month-old child who had been there for five or more days, in conditions she said were “unhealthy.” Border Patrol officials have declined to allow the media inside the tents in El Paso. Land near the bridge in Donna was used last year as a camp by active-duty soldiers when they were ordered to South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. The Border Patrol also established a tent facility at Donna to hold migrants in December 2016, in the last weeks of the administration of former President Barack Obama, in response to a previous surge of migrants from Central America. Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, said she had been allowed to visit the tent facility in 2016. She said that facility had been “open and clean,” but noted she visited before it began detaining people. “Detention is never a good idea for any family,” Pimentel said. “I believe families are victims of a lot of abuse, and we just add to that abuse by the way we respond to handle and process them.”
|
u.s .;immigration;rights;mexico;migrants;donald trump
|
jp0002957
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Organized crime trumps terrorism, migration as top threat to security: Europol
|
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - Increasingly violent organized crime groups pose the biggest threat to European security, outstripping terrorism and migration, top police from across the continent said Tuesday. Italian Mafia groups, Albanians and Eastern Europeans, and “outlaw” motorcycle gangs were the biggest players, officials told a conference led by Italy’s anti-Mafia agency and the EU police agency Europol. But Asian, African and South American groups were also muscling in on Europe’s €110 billion a year organized crime business, with many increasingly working with each other, the meeting in The Hague heard. “Currently organized crime constitutes the highest risk for EU internal security, Jari Liukku, head of Europol’s European Serious and Organized Crime Center, told a press conference. Officials said that organized crime had been “in the shadow” in recent years when Europe faced a wave of terrorist attacks and a huge migration crisis, but that it now had to be tackled by cross-border cooperation. “To prevent organized crime we have to act internationally, because the organised crime groups are already doing it,” added Liukku. Giuseppe Governale, head of Italy’s Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, said the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and Neapolitan Camorra were still the biggest, but added that the problem was more widespread. “This is a European problem,” he said. European authorities had to crack down on money laundering in particular as a way of starving organized crime groups of their lifeblood, Governale told the news conference. “Mass money-laundering has a great impact on society, whole sectors are destabilized and it can jeopardize the national economy and security,” he added. One hallmark of the new organized crime groups was an increasing level of violence, officials told the conference. Sweden in particular had seen an unprecedented surge of violence akin to a “low intensity form of warfare,” senior Swedish police official Jale Poljarevius said. Fatal shootings had risen from around 15 a year in 2011 to over 40 in 2018, while in the first three months of 2019 there had been 12 gun deaths in 67 shootouts — as well as one dead in 47 grenade explosions. “Sweden has never before seen these kinds of numbers,” Poljarevius said. In December EU authorities announced the arrest of around 90 suspected ‘Ndrangheta mobsters in six countries in Europe and South America.
|
europe;terrorism;security;mafia;europol;calabrian 'ndrangheta;motorcycle gangs
|
jp0002958
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
U.K. becomes first country in world to roll out age-verification for online porn
|
LONDON - Britain said Wednesday it will become the first country in the world to introduce age-verification to access online pornography. The new law, which comes into force on July 15, will require commercial providers of internet pornography to check on users’ ages to ensure that they are 18 or over. “Adult content is currently far too easy for children to access online,” Minister for Digital Margot James said in a statement, hailing the mandatory scheme “a world-first.” Websites that fail to implement the verification technology could have payment services withdrawn or be blocked for British users, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is the latest move by British authorities to crack down on the spread of online abuses and crimes. The government announced earlier this month proposals to make social media bosses personally liable for harmful content and shut down offending platforms. The latest step to bring in age-verification for pornography follows public consultation and parliamentary debate on the issue last year. Research conducted as part of that outreach found that 88 percent of parents with children aged 7 to 17 supported new controls, DCMS said. The department insisted the range of checks to be carried out by providers would be “rigorous” and go beyond users simply entering their date of birth or ticking a box. They could include using traditional identity documents online, such as credit cards and passports, as well as digital IDs or cards bought in stores “where the verification is face-to-face.” The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will be responsible for ensuring compliance. The government said it had “listened carefully” to privacy concerns and was clear the arrangements should only be concerned with verifying age — not identity. The BBFC will therefore also create — in cooperation with industry — a voluntary certification scheme to assess the data security standards of the providers. Internet Matters, a nonprofit organization concerned with online child safety, welcomed the government tackling the issue but also sounded a cautionary note. “We must recognise that digital solutions aren’t the only answer,” said its CEO Carolyn Bunting. “There is no substitute to having regular and honest conversations with your child about what they’re getting up to online.”
|
internet;u.k .;pornography
|
jp0002959
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Congo's president wants Ebola contained within three months
|
BENI, CONGO - Congo’s president on Tuesday said he wants to see a deadly Ebola virus outbreak contained in less than three months even as some health experts say it could take twice as long. President Felix Tshisekedi spoke as he visited eastern Congo, where this outbreak has become the second-deadliest in history. Congo’s health ministry says more than 1,200 cases have been confirmed, including more than 800 deaths. Tshisekedi’s visit came a few days after the World Health Organization decided that the outbreak is not yet a global health emergency. The outbreak is occurring in a volatile area near the border with Rwanda and Uganda where rebel groups and bouts of community resistance have complicated efforts to contain the hemorrhagic fever. As of this week more than 100,000 people have received an experimental but effective Ebola vaccine, a bright spot amid the challenges. Congo’s president vowed more protection for health workers and called on the local population to cooperate with them. This is the first time this region has faced an Ebola outbreak, and many in the population are wary of both outsiders and the government after years of deadly rebel attacks. If the Ebola outbreak continues “people will be scared to visit the region,” Tshieskedi said. Since taking office early this year he has vowed to combat the region’s rebel groups. One woman who was leaving the Ebola treatment center on Tuesday after recovering from the disease described her mixed feelings once she learned she had the virus. “I thought I would die and I hid, but a few days later I came and got myself admitted,” 29-year-old Kavugho Rachel said. “And here I am, in good health.” She appealed to others in the region to seek help at the centers, too.
|
conflict;who;congo;epidemic;ebola;felix tshisekedi
|
jp0002960
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Seals, caviar, oil, warming: Caspian Sea faces severe pollution threat
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BAKU - Seals waddling along the waterfront were once a common sight in Baku Bay, the Caspian Sea home of Azerbaijan’s capital. Not anymore. Of the more than 1 million seals that inhabited the shores and islands of the Caspian a century ago fewer than 10 percent remain, and the species has been declared endangered. Azer Garayev, the head of the Azerbaijan Society for the Protection of Animals, says the seals have for decades been suffering from over-hunting and the effects of industrial pollution. In 2003, his group found 750 seal carcasses in just one month. “It was not normal,” but no one looked into the issue, the 57-year-old activist said. “The seal is a sign of all the major environmental problems (in the Caspian).” Bordered by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the Caspian is the world’s largest inland body of water, about the size of Japan. As well as the seals and other endemic species including Caspian turtles and the famed beluga sturgeon, the sea boasts vast energy reserves, estimated at 50 billion barrels of oil and 300,000 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Pollution from the extraction of that oil and gas, along with declining water levels due to climate change, pose a threat to many species and put the future of the sea itself at risk. The U.N. Environment Program has warned that the Caspian “suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste introduced mainly by the Volga River. A few kilometers from downtown Baku, fishermen along the seashore watch small drops of oil appearing on the surface of the sea and spreading in varicolored strains. “Some fish seem to prefer polluted water, so they tend to congregate here,” said 26-year-old Rashad. “The water is dirty,” he said, displaying a plastic bag that was caught on his fish hook. Besides fishermen like Rashad, the entire caviar industry is in danger as a result of the pollution. The Caspian Sea used to be home to one of the world’s largest population of sturgeons, but it has declined by more than 90 percent over the last three generations, the World Wildlife Fund said in 2016. “I remember when caviar cost 10 (Azerbaijani) manats (per kilogram, 2.2 pounds),” or about $6, said environmentalist Garayev. “Today, it costs more than 1,500 manats ($960, €850) and there is almost none left. We have practically no viable population of sturgeon today.” Aligaidar Mammedov, a former hydro-geologist and fisherman turned environmental activist, said that oil exploration methods either kill or chase away the sturgeon. “They set off seismic explosions in the sea,” he said, adding: “The seabed is destroyed as a result, and sturgeons are seabed fish.” Mammedov also warned of the potential for oil spills, which would be far more polluting in the inland sea than they are in the ocean. Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company, SOCAR, says it is doing its part and has cleared most of the vast areas near Baku that used to be covered with oil sludge. “The environmental challenges came mainly during the Soviet era, when the country didn’t take enough care of the environment and the technology was not as sophisticated,” SOCAR spokesman Ibrahim Ahmadov said. But even if pollution from the oil industry were mitigated, the Caspian could still be inching toward a catastrophe, since global warming is causing it to lose water. A recent study by Azerbaijan’s Academy of Sciences estimated that the sea level is dropping by more than 6 cm (2.3 inches) per year. “Climate change along the Caspian Sea basin causes very rapid evaporation,” said Elnur Safarov, an Azerbaijani marine scientist and one of the study’s authors. “The five countries bordering the Caspian, their economies, their lives, depend on it completely — fishing, the oil industry, agriculture, communications,” he said. “When the sea level changes … the social and economic situation of the entire coastline changes.” In 2018, Caspian Sea countries signed an agreement defining the status of the sea, which had lacked an international legal framework since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The agreement mainly regulates military use, oil and gas extraction and caviar production, and activists have so far been disappointed that it has not touched on environmental issues. They worry that the Caspian may share the fate of Central Asia’s Aral Sea, which has all but vanished in one of the world’s greatest environmental catastrophes. “It would be so stupid to lose it (the Caspian) like the Aral Sea,” Garayev said. “I don’t want to think about it. It would be a crime.”
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pollution;russia;u.n .;oil;global warming;environment;caviar;seals;caspian sea;volga
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jp0002961
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
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Russian support for Stalin surges to record high, poll shows
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MOSCOW - Respect among Russians for Josef Stalin has surged to the highest level of President Vladimir Putin’s era, with 70 percent saying his rule had been good for the country, according to a poll tracking attitudes toward the Soviet dictator. A record 51 percent viewed Stalin positively in March, up from 40 percent a year earlier, the survey published Tuesday by the Moscow-based Levada Center showed. The proportion regarding him with admiration, respect or sympathy was the highest since it began the survey in April 2001, Levada said on its website. “Nostalgia over the collapse of the Soviet Union is at a peak this year. In addition, Stalin is seen as a figure who ensured social justice,” something Russians are increasingly seeking amid discontent with falling living standards and a government reform of pensions, said Karina Pipia, an analyst at Levada. Even so, the people who admired Stalin “don’t really want to go back to those times,” she said. Russians were more willing to defend the mass killings and political persecutions that accompanied Stalin’s 31-year rule until his death in 1953, according to the survey. Some 46 percent agreed that repressions were “definitely” or “in some way” justified by the results achieved under Stalin, up from 36 percent in 2017 and the highest level since the question was first posed in 2008. Another 45 percent said progress under Stalin didn’t justify the repressions. The rise in Stalin’s standing follows Kremlin efforts to play down his tyranny in school history books and recast him as a modernizer who transformed the Soviet Union into a superpower through rapid industrialization and victory in World War II. It comes amid deepening disenchantment among Russians with Putin, the longest-serving Kremlin ruler since Stalin, following the unpopular increase in the pension age last year. There’s also growing hardship after five straight years of declining consumer incomes. The March 21-27 survey of 1,600 people had a margin of error no greater than 3.4 percent. An increase of 12 percentage points in the proportion expressing respect for Stalin explained the jump in his ratings this year, while there’s been a gradual decline in the number of Russians with indifferent or negative attitudes toward him, according to Levada. An “irrational romanticization of the Soviet past and of the figure of Stalin” was expressed not only by older people in the poll but also by those aged under 25 who didn’t live in the communist era, Pipia said.
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russia;josef stalin;soviet union
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jp0002962
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[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/17
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Canada man charged with four murders over 'targeted' shootings
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TORONTO - A retired city engineer was charged Tuesday with the murders of four people in what police have called a ‘targeted’ shooting spree in the western Canadian city of Penticton. John Brittain, 68, is facing three counts of premeditated murder and one of second-degree murder after turning himself in to authorities on Monday after police were alerted to two of the killings. Investigators then discovered the bodies of two more victims during a search of the suburbs of Penticton, British Columbia, which has a population of around 30,000. The suspect made a brief court appearance on Tuesday. “Our preliminary investigation has determined that the accused and each of the victims were known to each other,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Ted De Jager told a press conference. “The question of motive remains under investigation,” he said. “At this time, our investigation is continuing across multiple crime scenes.” On Monday, De Jager called the shootings a “targeted incident.” Renate Winter, whose 71-year-old husband, Rudi, was one of those killed, told local media she believed his murder was likely linked to a neighborhood dispute. The couple had a “frosty” relationship with the shooter’s estranged wife, who lived next door, she told The Vancouver Sun. Authorities have withheld the identities of the second male victim and the two female victims, all in their 60s and 70s. Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki said he knew very little about Brittain other than that prior to his retirement in 2016, he had been very involved in community matters and “did his job well.”
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guns;canada;mass shootings;john brittain;pinticton
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jp0002963
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[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
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U.S. expands indefinite detention for asylum-seekers
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NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. attorney general on Tuesday struck down a decision that had allowed some asylum-seekers to ask for bond in front of an immigration judge, an action that expands indefinite detention for some migrants who must wait months or years for their cases to be heard. The first immigration court ruling from U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly appointed attorney general, William Barr, is in keeping with the administration’s moves to clamp down on the asylum process as tens of thousands of mostly Central Americans cross into the United States asking for refuge. U.S. immigration courts are overseen by the Justice Department, and the attorney general can rule in cases to set legal precedent. This year the administration implemented a policy to return some asylum-seekers to Mexico while their cases work their way through backlogged courts, a policy that has been challenged with a lawsuit. Several top officials at the Department of Homeland Security were forced out this month amid Trump’s frustration with the influx of migrants seeking refuge at the southern border. Barr’s decision applies to migrants who crossed illegally into the United States. Typically, those migrants are placed in “expedited removal” proceedings — a faster form of deportation reserved for people who illegally entered the country within the last two weeks and are detained within 100 miles (160 km) of a land border. Migrants who present themselves at ports of entry and ask for asylum are not eligible for bond. Before Barr’s ruling, those who crossed the border illegally and asked for asylum were eligible for bond once they proved to asylum officers that they had a credible fear of persecution. “I conclude that such aliens remain ineligible for bond, whether they are arriving at the border or are apprehended in the United States,” Barr wrote. Barr said such people can be held in immigration detention until their cases conclude, or if the Department of Homeland Security decides to release them by granting them “parole.” DHS has the discretion to parole people who are not eligible for bond and frequently does so due to insufficient detention space or other humanitarian reasons. Barr said he was delaying the effective date by 90 days “so that DHS may conduct the necessary operational planning for additional detention and parole decisions.” The decision’s full impact is not yet clear because it will in large part depend on the department’s ability to expand detention, said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas. “The number of asylum-seekers who will remain in potentially indefinite detention pending disposition of their cases will be almost entirely a question of DHS’s detention capacity, and not whether the individual circumstances of individual cases warrant release or detention,” Vladeck said. In a brief in the case, the department had argued that eliminating bond hearings would have “an immediate and significant impact on … detention operations.” In early March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the DHS agency responsible for detaining and deporting immigrants in the country illegally, said the average daily population of immigrants in detention topped 46,000 for the 2019 fiscal year, the highest level since the agency was created in 2003. Last year, Reuters reported that ICE had made more restrictive a tool that officers had been using since 2013 when deciding whether an immigrant should be detained or released on bond. The decision will have no impact on unaccompanied migrant children, who are exempt from expedited removal. Most families are also paroled because of a lack of facilities to hold parents and children together. The American Civil Liberties Union said it intended to sue the Trump administration over the decision, and immigrant advocates decried the decision. Barr’s decision came after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to review the case in October. Sessions resigned in November, leaving the case to Barr to decide.
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immigration;rights;migrants;donald trump;william barr
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jp0002964
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Army action feared as Sudan protesters toughen demand for civilian rule
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KHARTOUM - Sudanese protesters Tuesday hardened their demand that the military men in power quickly step down and make way for civilian rule, refusing to budge from their sit-in outside army headquarters. The country’s new military ruler, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in another apparent concession to the protesters’ demands, meanwhile fired the prosecutor general, Omer Ahmed Mohamed. “Freedom, peace, justice,” read banners carried by hundreds of University of Khartoum professors and academic staff who marched to the protest site, demanding the transitional military council resign. The pro-democracy demonstrators fear the army is seeking to hijack the street revolution that last Thursday ended the three-decade reign of president Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled by top commanders. The often festive mood of the protesters has grown more tense amid fears the army will try to clear out the demonstrators with force. Witnesses said several army vehicles had surrounded the area and that troops were seen removing the barricades which demonstrators had put up as a security measure. Several vehicles carrying paramilitary forces deployed on a bridge that connects the protest site with north Khartoum, a witness said. One protester, Ahmed Najdih, predicted “the army will try to make another attempt to disperse the protesters because it is under huge pressure. “But we are not going anywhere. We will not lose our patience. We know what happened in Egypt and we don’t want that to happen to us.” In neighboring Egypt, the so-called Arab Spring revolution of 2011 toppled veteran President Hosni Mubarak and replaced him with elected Islamist Mohammed Morsi, only for him to be overthrown in 2013 by then army chief, now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Protest leaders have gradually toughened their approach toward the military council, as policy announcements from its uniformed officers have multiplied. Amid widespread anger at the number of faces from the old regime, the protesters secured the replacement of its first chairman, a longtime Bashir loyalist, after just 24 hours last week. But the honeymoon of his successor, Gen. Burhan, lasted just days. As weekend talks on the transition failed to make headway, protest leaders who initially demanded a “swift” handover to civilian rule, began demanding first an “immediate” handover then the military council’s dissolution. The protesters have highlighted their sacrifices in murals painted outside army headquarters of some of the more than 60 of their comrades killed in clashes with the security forces. The military council has pledged that individuals implicated in killing protesters would be held to account and that demonstrators detained under a state of emergency imposed by the president during his final weeks in power would be freed. It has held briefings with Western diplomats and sent an envoy to the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa before it met on Sudan on Monday. But the 55-member African Union stood by its longstanding opposition to all military coups, giving the military council just 15 days to hand over to civilian rule or face suspension from the body. The foreign ministry said the military council was “committed to having a complete civilian government” and urged foreign governments to back it in order to achieve “the Sudanese goal of democratic transition.” The council said Sudan would continue to provide ground troops to a Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen. Sudan has taken heavy losses in the unpopular war but grew heavily dependent in the last years of Bashir’s rule on credit from the oil-rich Gulf Arab states to prop up the collapsing economy. In a bid to woo Western opinion, the military council has also backtracked on its position towards longstanding warrants for Bashir’s arrest issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Having initially refused to deliver Bashir or any other Sudanese abroad for prosecution, a member of the council said Monday that the decision would be up to a civilian government. Protest leaders say Bashir must face justice, along with officials from his feared National Intelligence and Security Service whose chief Salih Ghosh resigned on Saturday.
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sudan;coups;african union;omar al-bashir;khartoum
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jp0002965
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Macron calls for France to rebuild fire-ravaged Notre Dame within five years
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PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild Notre Dame “even more beautifully” within five years, as all of France’s cathedrals prepared to ring their bells on Wednesday to mark 48 hours since the colossal fire began. The blaze on Monday gutted the great Paris landmark, destroying the roof, causing the steeple to collapse and leaving France reeling with shock. Macron announced the fast timescale for restoration — a process some experts said would take decades — in an address to the nation where he hailed how the disaster had shown the capacity of France to mobilize and unite. Pledges worth around €700 million ($790 million) have already been made from French billionaires and businesses to restore the Gothic masterpiece. An unknown number of artifacts and paintings have been lost and the main organ, which had close to 8,000 pipes, has also suffered damage. But the cathedral’s walls, bell towers and the most famous circular stained-glass windows at France’s most visited tourist attraction remain intact. Macron’s defiant comments indicated he wants the reconstruction of the cathedral to be completed by the time Paris hosts the Olympic Games in 2024. “We will rebuild the cathedral even more beautifully and I want it to be finished within five years,” Macron said from the Elysee Palace. “And we can do it.” Macron said that the dramatic fire had brought out the best in a country riven with divisions and since November shaken by sometimes violent protests against his rule. “Our history never stops and that we will always have trials to overcome,” he added. The bells of all cathedrals in France were set to sound at 6:50 p.m. on Wednesday, 48 hours after the fire started. Images from inside the cathedral showed its immense walls standing proud, with statues still in place and a gleaming golden cross above the altar. However the floor was covered in charred rubble from the fallen roof and water while parts of the vaulting at the top of the cathedral had collapsed. Junior interior minister Laurent Nunez told reporters at the scene that work to secure the structure would continue into Thursday, allowing firefighters access to remove remaining artifacts and artworks. He said the building had been saved within a critical time window of 15-30 minutes by a team of 400 firefighters who worked flat out through the night. Though “some weaknesses” in the 850-year-old structure had been identified, overall it is “holding up OK,” he added. Renovation work on the spire, where workers were replacing its lead covering, is widely suspected to have caused the inferno. Investigators interviewed witnesses and began speaking with employees of five different construction companies that were working on the monument, said public prosecutor Remy Heitz. “Nothing indicates this was a deliberate act,” Heitz told reporters, adding that 50 investigators had been assigned to what he expected to be a “long and complex” case. A public appeal for funds drew immediate support from French billionaires and other private donors as well as from countries including Germany, Italy and Russia which offered expertise. French billionaire Bernard Arnault and his LVMH luxury conglomerate, rival high-end designer goods group Kering, Total oil company and cosmetics giant L’Oreal each pledged 100 million euros or more. Support came from outside France as well, with Apple chief Tim Cook announcing the tech giant would give an unspecified amount. But experts had warned a full restoration will take many years. “I’d say decades,” said Eric Fischer, head of the foundation in charge of restoring the 1,000-year-old Strasbourg cathedral. Thousands of Parisians and tourists watched in horror Monday as flames engulfed the building and rescuers tried to save as much as they could of the cathedral’s treasures. Many more came Tuesday to the banks of the river Seine to gaze at where the roof and steeple once stood. A firefighter suffered injuries during the blaze, which at one point threatened to bring down one of the two monumental towers on the western facade of the cathedral that is visited by 13 million tourists each year. The Holy Crown of Thorns, believed to have been worn by Jesus at his crucifixion, was saved by firefighters, as was a sacred tunic worn by 13th-century French king Louis IX. Rescuers formed a human chain at the site of the disaster to evacuate as many artifacts as possible, which were then stocked temporarily at the Paris town hall.
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france;paris;notre dame;emmanuel macron;fire
|
jp0002966
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Workers quizzed on Notre Dame inferno as spire repair is suspected as source of fire
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PARIS - French investigators probing the devastating blaze at Notre-Dame Cathedral Tuesday questioned workers who were renovating the monument while hundreds of millions of euros were pledged to restore the historic masterpiece. As firefighters put out the last smoldering embers, a host of French billionaires and companies stepped forward with offers of cash worth around €700 million ($790 million) to remake the global landmark. Most of the roof has been destroyed, its steeple has collapsed and an unknown number of artifacts and paintings have been lost. The main organ, which had close to 8,000 pipes, has also suffered damage. But the cathedral’s walls, bell towers and the most famous circular stained-glass windows at France’s most visited tourist attraction remain intact, leading the vicar general, Philippe Marsset, to call it “more than miraculous. “We’re all just dumbfounded. It’s more than miraculous, it’s heroic,” Marsset said, who paid tribute to the more than 400 firefighters who toiled through the night. Junior interior minister Laurent Nunez told reporters at the scene that work to secure the structure would continue into Thursday, allowing firefighters access to remove remaining artifacts and artworks. Though “some weaknesses” in the 850-year-old structure had been identified, overall it is “holding up OK,” he added. The Paris fire service said that the last remnants of the blaze were extinguished Tuesday, 15 hours after the fire broke out. Renovation work on the steeple, where workers were replacing its lead covering, is widely suspected to have caused the inferno after the blaze broke out in an area under scaffolding. Investigators interviewed witnesses overnight and began speaking with employees of five different construction companies that were working on the monument, said public prosecutor Remy Heitz. “Nothing indicates this was a deliberate act,” Heitz told reporters, adding that 50 investigators had been assigned to what he expected to be a “long and complex” case. The architect in charge of the renovation project slated to last until 2022 said no workers were on the site when flames first appeared shortly before 7:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron struck a defiant tone late Monday as he visited the scene with his wife, Brigitte, telling reporters: “We will rebuild Notre-Dame because it is what the French expect.” He described the cathedral as the “epicenter of our life. A public appeal for funds drew immediate support from French billionaires and other private donors as well as from countries including Germany, Italy and Russia which offered expertise. French billionaire Bernard Arnault and his LVMH luxury conglomerate, rival high-end designer goods group Kering, Total oil company and cosmetics giant L’Oreal each pledged €100 million or more. Support came from outside France as well, with Apple chief Tim Cook announcing the tech giant would give an unspecified amount to help restore a “precious heritage for future generations.” Specialized craftsmen and rare materials are expected to be needed to restore Notre-Dame, which is seen as an emblem of France and, more broadly, a symbol of Western civilization that has survived revolutions and war. “We have everything to be able to rebuild it in exactly the same way,” Culture Minister Franck Riester told France Inter, adding that the government was looking at ways to encourage donations. But experts warned a full restoration will take many years. “I’d say decades,” said Eric Fischer, head of the foundation in charge of restoring the 1,000-year-old Strasbourg cathedral. Thousands of Parisians and tourists watched in horror Monday as flames engulfed the building and rescuers tried to save as much as they could of the cathedral’s treasures. Many more came Tuesday to the banks of the river Seine to gaze at where the roof and steeple once stood. A firefighter suffered injuries during the blaze, which at one point threatened to bring down one of the two monumental towers on the western facade of the cathedral that is visited by 13 million tourists each year. The Holy Crown of Thorns, believed to have been worn by Jesus at his crucifixion, was saved by firefighters, as was a sacred tunic worn by 13th-century French King Louis IX. Rescuers formed a human chain at the site of the disaster to evacuate as many artifacts as possible, which were then stocked temporarily at the Paris town hall. Smoke damaged paintings will be sent to the Louvre museum, a world center for restoration. Shock at the extent of the damage was palpable in France and stirred reactions from governments worldwide. In a rare statement, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II said she was “deeply saddened,” while Pope Francis hoped that Notre-Dame “may once again become, thanks to reconstruction work and the mobilization of all, a jewel in the heart of the city.” The cathedral has been a backdrop to the twists and turns of French history since construction began in mid-12th century — and has featured in countless books and movies. Bells at cathedrals across France were to ring out on Wednesday at 6:50 p.m. (1650 GMT) in tribute.
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france;paris;notre dame;construction;donations;fire
|
jp0002967
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Donors pledge €700 million to rebuild gutted Notre Dame
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PARIS - Pledges from French billionaires, businesses and the public sector to help rebuild Notre Dame cathedral reached some €700 million ($790 million) on Tuesday amid an outpouring of public support for one of Europe’s most iconic monuments. President Emmanuel Macron has vowed the medieval monument will be restored after its spire and roof collapsed Monday night in a spectacular blaze thought to be linked to extensive renovation work. French luxury group Kering, whose brands include Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, kicked off the campaign late Monday with a promise of €100 million ($113 million). It was followed Tuesday by a €200 million pledge from Kering’s rival luxury conglomerate, LVMH, and the family of its founder, Bernard Arnault, France’s richest person. The L’Oreal cosmetics group and its founding Bettencourt family offered €200 million, while French oil giant Total said it would contribute €100 million. Several other business executives and blue-chip French firms also said they would contribute, some announcing pledges of five, €10 or €20 million. Air France said it would offer free flights to experts brought in to help with Notre Dame’s renovation, while glass giant Saint-Gobain promised its expertise in restoring the stained-glass windows that exploded in the fire. Support came from outside France as well, with Apple chief Tim Cook announcing the tech giant would give an unspecified amount to help restore a “precious heritage for future generations.” Some gripes emerged on social media over the huge fiscal deductions companies in both France and the U.S. would be eligible for, with commentators saying taxpayers would be footing much of the final bill. But pledges were also pouring in from anonymous donors to groups including the privately run French Heritage Foundation, which said it had secured more than €13 million in pledges. On a more modest scale, a fund set up on the Leetchi fundraising platform had reached nearly €29,000 by Tuesday afternoon. France 2 television said it will broadcast a special classical music concert Wednesday night as part of the fundraising effort. The French Council of the Muslim Faith also called on French Muslims to help save “an architectural masterpiece that is the honor of our country. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the city would unlock €50 million, while the government of the greater Paris region promised €10 million. And French insurer Groupama said it would supply the estimated 1,300 huge oak beams needed to re-create the intricate roof support. The German and Italian governments have also offered to help in the reconstruction, while Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to send “the best Russian specialists with rich experience in the restoration of national heritage monuments.” In total, around €700 million has been pledged for the painstaking renovation work that is likely to take years, if not decades, though experts breathed sighs of relief that the damage was not even worse. The steeple of the Gothic edifice had been undergoing an €11 million ($12.4 million) overhaul financed by the French state to repair damage inflicted by time, pollution and the weather. The cathedral has long relied on individual donations for repairs, and a few years ago created a U.S.-registered charity enabling American voters to deduct gifts from their taxes. The New York-based French Heritage Society said it had also set up a fund for tax-deductible donations for Notre Dame in the wake of the fire.
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france;u.s .;vladimir putin;fires;notre dame;emmanuel macron
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jp0002968
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Foxconn's Terry Gou says he will follow order of sea goddess to run for Taiwan presidency
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TAIPEI/HONG KONG - Foxconn founder Terry Gou has claimed divine endorsement for his bid to become Taiwan’s president: support of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu. The billionaire told reporters after visiting a New Taipei City temple Wednesday that the goddess had encouraged him to “come forward” to support peace across the Taiwan Strait. He made the remarks a day after saying that he was considering a run with the opposition Kuomintang to challenge President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party advocates a more decisive break from the mainland, in next year’s general election. Tsai is also facing a challenge for the DPP nomination by her former Prime Minister William Lai Ching-te, a vocal advocate of asserting the island’s formal independence. The 68-year-old Gou has amassed a personal fortune of about $4.4 billion building consumer electronics on which other companies can slap their brand, including Apple and Sony. The Foxconn Technology Group — the main assembler of iPhones — was among the first Taiwanese companies to build factories in China to tap lower wages and land costs. Foxconn also acquired control of Japan’s Sharp Corp. in 2016 to try to boost its advanced screen technology. Gou is Taiwan’s third-richest person and the 442nd in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His resources could help him stand out among a field of potential challengers who include former New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu and former legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng. Han Kuo-yu and Ko Wen-je, the outspoken mayors of Kaohsiung and Taipei, also haven’t ruled out a run. The Kuomintang controlled Taiwan for all but 11 years since World War II and is expected to choose a candidate in the coming weeks. China cut off official communication with Taiwan after Tsai’s DPP ousted the Kuomintang from the presidency and parliamentary majority in 2016, citing her refusal to accept that both sides belong to “one China.” The two have been governed separately since Chiang Kai-shek moved his Kuomintang government to Taipei during the Chinese civil war. Gou’s entry into Taiwan’s presidential race illustrates the dilemma facing Tsai as she prepares for an uphill re-election bid. On one side, Tsai must contend with a resurgent Kuomintang advocating closer ties with China and eager to regain power after three years in the opposition. On the other, she is battling the nomination fight within the DPP, where her pro-independence base is pushing for a cleaner break from the mainland. A challenge by Gou represents a broader problem for Tsai. A series of tough policy fights and an isolation campaign by China have pushed public support for her re-election into the teens in some public opinion surveys and have encouraged several would-be contenders from among the more China-friendly “pan-blue” camp. Gou’s resources could pose a formidable challenge to Tsai. But first, she must survive a primary challenge from Lai, a self-described “independence worker” who has pledged a firmer push-back against China. That has forced Tsai to shore up her base, cracking down on mainland investments, visitors and other potential sources of political influence. “Tsai is caught in between,” said Chang Ling-chen, an emeritus political science professor at the National Taiwan University. “She is not only having to fight for party support in the primary, but will also face a contest from the pan-blue group.” One possible solution for Tsai would be to convince Lai to join as her vice presidential running mate. But polls show him running more competitively against possible Kuomintang candidates than Tsai. The DPP has delayed its primary until at least late May to allow more time for negotiations. In the meantime, Tsai’s government has raised the top fine for illegal mainland investments to 25 million new Taiwan dollars ($800,000) from NT$600,000 previously and removed a communications regulator accused of failing to clamp down on false reports benefiting China. Earlier this month, Taiwan deported a mainland academic, Li Yi, after he tried to deliver a speech on unification while on a visit to the island. She has also held a series of events with China hawks in the U.S. in which she sounded the alarm about Communist Party “coercion” and urged greater military support from Washington. The race comes against the backdrop of increased pressure from Beijing, with President Xi Jinping suggesting earlier this year that mainland China and Taiwan should enter into “in-depth democratic consultations” on unification. “The scrutiny has always been there, as the DPP is wary of China’s influence on Taiwan society and politics,” said Yuan-kang Wang, a professor of political science at Western Michigan University. “The upcoming elections might have created some sense of urgency in curbing Chinese influence.” Although China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the late 1940s, Beijing has said any moves by Taiwan to formalize its status as a sovereign state would be grounds for invasion. Tsai has so far avoided actions that might provoke the Communist Party, frustrating some within her party. The risk for Tsai is moving so far toward her base that she cedes the middle to a Kuomintang challenger. Improving China ties has been a unifying theme among the pan-blue contenders. Han, the former mayor of Kaohsiung, has described China and the island as two partners in an “arranged marriage” who had fallen “madly in love” and said that peace talks were “inevitable” between the democratically run Taiwan and the Communist Party-ruled mainland. Gou’s personal story as the child of mainland emigres who made a fortune in China echoes Taiwan’s own economic dependence on the much larger economy next door. That might appeal to Taiwanese voters. Public opinion polls show they favor continuing the island’s ambiguous status without immediate independence or unification. “Like other Kuomintang candidates, Gou also supports Taiwan’s economic links with China,” said Austin Wang, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “Where he differs from other party rivals is that he has business experience.”
|
taiwan;elections;foxconn;terry gou
|
jp0002969
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Top U.S. envoy for North Korea heads to Moscow as speculation about Kim-Putin summit gains steam
|
The top U.S. envoy for North Korea will travel to Moscow this week for talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the State Department said Tuesday — a sign that a meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future could be imminent. Stephen Biegun, who is in charge of working-level negotiations with Pyongyang, was due to visit Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday to meet with Russian officials and discuss “efforts to advance the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,” the State Department said in a statement. The visit comes amid unconfirmed reports that Kim and Putin will hold their first-ever summit in Russian next week. A senior Russian diplomat has confirmed that preparations are underway for the summit, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing the country’s vice foreign minister, Cho Hyun. Cho said Monday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Titov, had reiterated the Kremlin’s earlier announcement that Moscow has long been preparing for the first summit between the two leaders. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no final decision had been made on the time and location of a meeting, but said preparations were ongoing. “I can confirm that preparations for the meeting are underway, we have been talking about it for quite a while,” the Tass news agency quoted him as saying. “As soon as there is full clarity on the date and place of the meeting, we will inform you.” Yonhap had reported earlier, citing sources in Moscow, that Kim could visit Russia next week, saying that a Russia-North Korea summit was likely to be held in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. It noted that Putin is expected to attend the “One Belt, One Road” forum in Beijing on April 26 to 27, and that the two leaders’ meeting could take place shortly before that event, possibly on April 24. A separate source said the meeting could take place after the forum. Tass reported in early March that Moscow and Pyongyang are discussing Kim’s trip to Russia through “diplomatic channels,” and that it will be decided “in the near future.” Speculation about the possible Putin-Kim summit comes as North Korea — determined to develop its tattered economy — has grown increasingly frustrated over a lack of progress in its efforts to secure sanctions relief in denuclearization talks with the U.S. By bolstering cooperation with Russia, as well as China, Kim may be seeking to ease the international and unilateral sanctions regime. Senior officials from Moscow and Pyongyang have been seen traveling to their respective capitals in recent weeks, suggesting the two countries may be laying the groundwork for a visit by Kim. Kim Chang Son, a member of the North Korean leader’s inner circle and his chief aide, visited Moscow and Vladivostok from March 19 to 25. He in charge of logistical preparations ahead of Kim’s overseas trips, according to the North Korean Leadership Watch website. Earlier this month, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who is known to be in charge of security issues, visited Pyongyang. The North Korean leader has held multiple summits with three leaders: Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump.
|
china;u.s .;north korea;vladimir putin;russia;kim jong un;nuclear weapons;north korea nuclear crisis;donald trump;kim-trump summit
|
jp0002970
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Indonesia's Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on track to win presidency: pollsters
|
JAKARTA - Indonesians have voted in the world’s biggest single-day election, with unofficial tallies putting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ahead with 55 percent with around 38 percent of votes counted. Kompas news channel has Jokowi leading with 55.37 percent in the bitterly fought campaign dominated by promises to boost jobs and the economy against a backdrop of growing religious intolerance and the rising influence of political Islam. At least three other counts by private pollsters showed similar margins. A re-run of the 2014 race, it pit former furniture exporter Jokowi — now the incumbent — against Prabowo Subianto, an army general who served as a special forces commander during the 32 year reign of the dictator Suharto. The campaign, which officially began back in September, saw both candidates vowing to fire up Southeast Asia’s biggest economy as well as heightened nationalism and allegations of voter fraud. As many as 193 million Indonesians were eligible to vote in Wednesday’s elections — the country’s first simultaneous presidential and legislative elections. The contest will not only decide who leads Indonesia but will shape the parliament, and therefore the landscape for reform — as well as the investment climate — over the next five years. Jokowi, as Widodo is popularly called, vowed during the campaign to create 100 million jobs and alleviate poverty in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation. Prabowo promised to revive Indonesia’s manufacturing sector while railing against Indonesia’s current account deficit and the inability of the current administration to spur economic growth much beyond 5 percent. Quick counts by private pollsters are likely to provide the earliest indication of how the candidates fared as officials results are several days away. These numbers are based on snapshots of actual votes from more than 800,000 polling stations across the country — the margin of error depends on the sample size, though the consensus of these polls has proven accurate in the past. After casting his vote at a polling station in Central Jakarta, Jokowi told reporters he was optimistic about winning the election. Prabowo repeated warnings about the possibility of electoral fraud after he voted in Hambalang, near Bogor. “If there is chaos or not, it will not come from us, that I guarantee,” Prabowo said. “But we don’t want to be cheated anymore, the Indonesian people won’t be cheated anymore.” As polling stations closed at 1 p.m. local in times zones across the archipelago, authorities remained on alert amid concerns of potential unrest. In Jakarta, armored vehicles were parked in front of shopping malls, while tens of thousands of security forces had been deployed around the capital. Two years ago, the Prabowo-backed pair of Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno won a divisive gubernatorial election in the capital Jakarta. That race, dominated by mass street protests aimed ousting then-incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Chinese Christian and Jokowi ally later jailed for insulting the Koran, is seen as having boosted Prabowo’s stocks ahead of his 2019 run at the presidency. That also ensured the 2019 race would be set against the backdrop of a growing influence of conservative Islam. To many observers, the unrest seen two years ago prompted Widodo to pick a leading Muslim cleric in Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate. This election is “much more about political identity” compared to the 2014 race, said Aaron Connelly, a Singapore-based research fellow from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Jokowi has sought to co-opt a number of Islamic conservatives,” Connolly said, noting his choice of Amin was designed to “make a number of Muslims who might feel uncomfortable voting for Jokowi feel a little more comfortable voting for him.” “Prabowo is backed by a number of political conservatives,” he said. “He’s seen as the candidate of Islamic conservatives even though he himself is not particularly religious.” Inflation is at a near-decade low and the jobless rate close to its lowest in 20 years. Still, the economy has been growing at about 5 percent and well short of the 7 percent target put forward by Jokowi when he entered office in 2014. Mari Pangestu, Indonesia’s trade minister from 2004 to 2011, said whoever wins will face major challenges to revitalize the economy. “The key is really generating private investment if you want to grow higher than 5 percent,” Pangestu said. Foreign direct investment dropped 8.8 percent in 2018, the first decline since Jokowi came to office in 2014. Still, Indonesia is “fairly resilient” in the face of a global slowdown, Pangestu said. “There could be a cut,” she said on interest rates, which have been left unchanged for several months after six rates hikes since May last year.
|
indonesia;elections;joko widodo;prabowo subianto
|
jp0002971
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Images may show reprocessing activity at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear site, U.S. researchers say
|
WASHINGTON - Satellite images from last week show movement at North Korea’s main nuclear site that could be associated with the reprocessing of radioactive material into bomb fuel, a U.S. think tank said on Tuesday. Any new reprocessing activity would underscore the failure of a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in late February to make progress toward North Korea’s denuclearization. Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report that satellite imagery of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear site from April 12 showed five specialized railcars near its Uranium Enrichment Facility and Radiochemistry Laboratory. It said their movement could indicate the transfer of radioactive material. “In the past, these specialized railcars appear to have been associated with the movement of radioactive material or reprocessing campaigns.” the report said. “The current activity, along with their configurations, does not rule out their possible involvement in such activity, either before or after a reprocessing campaign.” The U.S. State Department declined comment on intelligence matters, but a source familiar with U.S. government assessments said that while U.S. experts thought the movements could possibly be related to reprocessing, they were doubtful it was significant nuclear activity. Jenny Town, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center think tank, said that if reprocessing was taking place, it would be a significant given U.S.-North Korean talks in the past year and the failure to reach an agreement on the future of Yongbyon in Hanoi. “Because there wasn’t an agreement with North Korea on Yongbyon, it would be interesting timing if they were to have started something so quickly after Hanoi,” she said. Trump has met Kim twice in the past year to try to persuade him to abandon a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States, but progress so far has been scant. The Hanoi talks collapsed after Trump proposed a “big deal” in which sanctions on North Korea would be lifted if it handed over all its nuclear weapons and fissile material to the United States. He rejected partial denuclearization steps offered by Kim, which included an offer to dismantle Yongbyon. Although Kim has maintained a freeze in missile and nuclear tests since 2017, U.S. officials say North Korea has continued to produce fissile material that can be processed for use in bombs. Last month, a senior North Korean official warned that Kim might rethink the test freeze unless Washington made concessions. Last week, Kim said the Hanoi breakdown raised the risks of reviving tensions, adding that he was only interested in meeting Trump again if the United States came with the right attitude. Kim said he would wait “till the end of this year” for the United States to decide to be more flexible. On Monday, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed aside this demand with Pompeo saying Kim should keep his promise to give up his nuclear weapons before then. Town said any new reprocessing work at Yongbyon would emphasize the importance of the facility in North Korea’s nuclear program. “It would underscore that it is an active facility that does increase North Korea’s fissile material stocks to increase its arsenal.” A study by Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation released ahead of the Hanoi summit said North Korea had continued to produce bomb fuel in 2018 and may have produced enough in the past year to add as many as seven nuclear weapons to its arsenal. Experts have estimated the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal at anywhere between 20 and 60 warheads.
|
u.s .;north korea;kim jong un;nuclear weapons;denuclearization;reprocessing;donald trump;stimson center;uranium enrichment facility and radiochemistry laboratory
|
jp0002972
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Over half of guide dog users say Tokyo's preparations for 2020 Games not yet adequate, survey shows
|
More than half of guide dog users in Japan said Tokyo is not adequately prepared to welcome visitors from overseas who rely on guide dogs when it hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, a survey finds. The largest segment of the respondents, 50.6 percent, chose “not really ready,” while 17.6 percent answered “not ready at all,” according to the survey by The Eye Mate Inc., a guide dog training organization. It showed 14.1 percent said Tokyo is “almost ready, but not fully.” Takao Shioya, who heads the organization, noted that not many guide dog users abroad are expected to come to Tokyo for the games, but that it is important to establish an environment friendly for them in time. Shioya stressed the importance of improving the situation for domestic guide dog users. The survey also revealed persistent discrimination in Japan against visually impaired people accompanied by guide dogs despite a law banning discrimination having taken effect in 2016. For the survey 219 guide dog owners nationwide were contacted in the 10 months through February 2019, and 85 valid responses were obtained. The survey, published on March 27, showed 52.9 percent of the respondents had experienced being treated unfairly due to being accompanied by the dogs, such as being denied entry to restaurants and other facilities. Sixty-three percent had reported likewise in a comparable 2018 survey. Restaurants, including izakaya Japanese-style pubs and cafes, were the most common place to experience being denied access, which was mentioned by 80 percent this year compared with 78.7 percent in last year’s survey. Although the survey did not ask about the reason given for the denial, Shioya said it stemmed from a ” lack of understanding.” “Some restaurants don’t want to accept such customers because they simply don’t know how, or because the dog may cause trouble (with other customers),” he added. Lodging facilities and taxis were next in line, cited by 33.3 percent and 17.8 percent, respectively. Supermarkets and convenience stores were identified by 11.1 percent. Many respondents expressed concerns that guide dog users visiting Tokyo from abroad for the Olympic events would find themselves in the same predicament. For users to come to the capital without anxiety, the respondents expressed in the survey’s free response section wishes for a society where entry would not be refused to people with guide dogs. Other popular requests included “developing toilets” where guide dogs can use and “fostering volunteers who will support the users.” Asked how the respondents would prefer to watch the events, the largest ratio, 62.4 percent, cited “TV,” followed by 17.6 percent who answered “at the venues.” The 2016 law aims to eliminate discrimination on grounds of disability, with the goal of realizing a society where people respect each other’s individuality. It prohibits the central and municipal governments as well as private businesses from discriminating against people because of their disability without giving good reason. Regarding the extent to which this objective has been achieved, a total of 78.8 percent said “more efforts should be made.”
|
tokyo;olympics;discrimination;disability;2020 tokyo olympics;surveys;2020 tokyo paralympics;guide dogs
|
jp0002973
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Expensive daily products at Osaka Prison prompt human rights concern from lawyers
|
OSAKA - Tissue paper and other daily products sold at Osaka Prison are so expensive that inmates mostly cannot purchase them, a situation amounting to a human rights violation, according to local lawyers. The Osaka Bar Association advised the prison to make improvements in a statement dated March 29 after finding that 800 pieces of tissue were being sold inside the prison for ¥594, some 4.5 times higher than the market price. Similarly, toothbrushes sold for ¥181 each, about 1.7 times more expensive than outside prison, while men’s briefs cost ¥702, a markup of about 1.4 times, according to the bar association. Inmates are generally given daily products by the prison, but they can also make purchases on their own from designated sellers. The price of the products at the prison rose after the Justice Ministry switched the designated seller in 2011 from a foundation operated by former correctional officers to a Tokyo-based firm under a major trading house, it said. “Reward money inmates gain through prison labor is about ¥4,500 a month. Although the quality of the products may have improved, they are too expensive and are a restriction on the freedom to buy necessities,” a lawyer from the bar association said. The bar association issued the advisory after a 63-year-old male inmate at the prison filed in 2016 for a human rights remedy over the matter. The ministry admitted to receiving the advisory but said prices are kept as low as possible and that it currently has no plan to review them. Similar issues have been reported at a juvenile correctional facility in Kawagoe and at Yokohama Prison, according to the bar association.
|
osaka;rights;prisons;justice ministry;osaka prison
|
jp0002974
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Half of foreign nationals in Tokyo experience discrimination, survey shows
|
Nearly half of foreign nationals living in Tokyo have experienced racial discrimination, according to a survey released Tuesday by a civic group. In the survey conducted by the Anti Racism Information Center , a group organized by scholars, activists and university students, 167 of 340 respondents including students said that they have suffered discriminatory treatment such as being told not to talk in a language other than Japanese. Some working as retail shop cashiers said customers asked for Japanese cashiers, according to the face-to-face questionnaire survey conducted in February and March in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. Among them, a Nepalese man working at a drugstore said one customer told him that they did not like to see foreigners working as cashiers and asked to be served by someone else. A Chinese respondent who works at a convenience store said that a colleague told the respondent not to speak Chinese when the respondent was asked for directions by a Chinese-speaking customer. There were also cases where foreign nationals had apartment rental applications rejected. Some said they were denied entry into stores, but none of the respondents took their cases to the public offices that deal with such issues. Ryang Yong-song, a representative of the civic group, told a news conference that foreigners living in Japan tend to “end up letting (their discriminatory experiences) drop.” “The government should conduct a survey to show what kind of discrimination foreigners face,” Ryang said, calling on schools and employers to deal more proactively with discrimination and establish mechanisms to involve public officials in addressing the problems. With the country having introduced two new visas this month to bring in more foreign workers, in hope of addressing the deepening labor crunch, there has been criticism about the government’s ability to offer consultations to foreign residents.
|
survey;discrimination;foreigners;anti racism information center
|
jp0002975
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Life-size skeletal replica of Japan's largest dinosaur restored
|
SAPPORO - What is believed to be Japan’s largest fossilized dinosaur skeleton has been restored as a life-size replica, researchers and officials from the town of Mukawa, in Hokkaido, where the original discovery was made, said Wednesday. The replica of the 8-meter-long and 4-meter-tall plant-eating Hadrosaurid, dubbed “Mukawaryu,” was created with duplicates of the actual fossils unearthed from a 72 million-year-old geological layer. The replica and the fossils will be displayed at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo for three months from July 13. “A standing Mukawaryu has been resurrected after 72 million years. I hope it will help liven up our town,” Mukawa Mayor Yoshiyuki Takenaka said. The excavation involving Hokkaido University members began in 2013 after local fossil collector Yoshiyuki Horita found a fossilized tail bone in 2003 in the Hobetsu district of Mukawa. More than 1,000 fossil bones were eventually unearthed, making it the largest complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in the country. Complete skeletons are generally defined as containing more than 50 percent of the bones, but for the Mukawaryu, over 80 percent were unearthed as fossils. The work to create the replica of the duck-billed dinosaur began in July 2017 and was completed last month. The replica, unveiled to the media, has a color close to the actual fossils and is positioned as if the reptile is looking into the far distance. “I hope people will immerse themselves in the fascination of ancient history by imagining Mukawaryu strolling over the vast ground of Hobetsu,” said Horita, 69. Hadrosaurids were common herbivore dinosaurs during the late Cretaceous Period and thrived on the Eurasian and North and South American continents in addition to Antarctica, according to Hokkaido University.
|
paleontology;hokkaido;fossils;dinosaurs;hadrosaurid;mukawaryu
|
jp0002976
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Abe to issue apology to victims of forced sterilization under Japan's now-defunct eugenics law
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to issue a statement offering a state apology to those who were subject to forced sterilization under a now-defunct eugenics law after a redress bill clears the Diet, government sources said Tuesday. His statement and the bill’s expected enactment this month to provide ¥3.2 million ($28,600) in state redress to each victim are unlikely to settle compensation disputes, however, as victims are demanding much larger payments. The compensation bill has been criticized by victims for its wording, which does not clarify government responsibility and only states that “we” apologize for causing victims’ physical and mental suffering. Ruling and opposition party lawmakers who drafted the bill said the “we” refers to former government members and lawmakers who sat in the Diet in 1948 when the Eugenic Protection Law was enacted. The law was effective until 1996. The exact wording of the prime minister’s statement is still being formulated, but expressions similar to those in the compensation bill will likely be used, the sources said. The bill, jointly submitted to the Diet by the ruling and opposition parties, cleared the Lower House last Thursday. The Upper House is likely to approve it by the end of this month. From 1948 to 1996, the Eugenic Protection Law authorized the sterilization of people with an intellectual disability, mental illness or hereditary disorder to prevent the birth of “inferior” offspring. About 25,000 people with disabilities were sterilized under the law including some 16,500 who were operated on without their consent, according to the health ministry and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. In cases where victims do not have direct records of having been sterilized, a health ministry committee of medical experts will determine their eligibility. A series of damages suits have been filed against the government across the country with the highest compensation demanded exceeding ¥35 million. Some observers say they believe the prime minister’s apology will only repeat what is written in the bill and is unlikely to be much more than formality. “Even if the law takes effect and the prime minister offers an apology, the damages suits will continue,” a government source said. “If the government loses the initial trial, whether or not the government decides to appeal to a higher court is a different matter.” In 2001, when the Kumamoto District Court ordered the state to compensate former Hansen’s disease patients for forcing them into decades of isolation, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a political decision not to appeal to a higher court and issued a statement of apology.
|
shinzo abe;history;rights;diet;discrimination;sterilization;eugenics;eugenic protection law
|
jp0002977
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/04/17
|
'Breaking Bad'? Shikoku professor allegedly instructed students to produce MDMA
|
MATSUYAMA, EHIME PREF. - A pharmaceutical science professor at a university in Shikoku was referred to prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly instructing his students to produce the synthetic drug MDMA without a permit, the university said Tuesday, in an echo of hit TV series “Breaking Bad.” Tatsunori Iwamura, 61, a professor at the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Matsuyama University in Ehime Prefecture, admitted to the allegation, telling investigators that he did it in order to help his students’ “learning.” He also acknowledged that he knew it was illegal. According to the university, Iwamura instructed an associate professor and two then-students to produce MDMA in class between 2011 and 2013, despite him not being licensed to produce the drug for academic purposes. Then, between 2016 and 2017, Iwamura directed the associate professor and two other people, who were also students at the time, to also produce the drug, which the professor took into his possession. The regional drug enforcement authority sent investigative papers on Iwamura to prosecutors, as well as on the assistant professor and four former students who were involved in the production of MDMA under his instruction. The MDMA they produced has not been found, but a trace of another drug was discovered in his laboratory, according to the sources. MDMA is often a constituent ingredient in the recreational drug commonly known as ecstasy and molly. “We sincerely apologize for causing major concern to students and their parents,” said Tatsuya Mizogami, president of the university. He also said the university will consider taking measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again and that it will take disciplinary action against Iwamura and the assistant professor in accordance with the outcome of the investigation. The investigation started following a tipoff from an outsider. The drug enforcement officers at the health ministry’s regional bureau searched Iwamura’s home and lab, and also questioned the professor from January. Based on the narcotics control law, which Iwamura and the others allegedly violated, a researcher must obtain a license issued by the prefectural government hosting the research lab to make narcotics for academic research. According to the sources, Iwamura had obtained a license from a prefecture other than Ehime, but it had expired. The associate professor thought Iwamura had the license, while the former students did not know that such a license was necessary, according to the university. Iwamura has been conducting research on what are called dangerous drugs in Japan, defined as those containing chemical agents that can cause hallucinations or have a stimulant effect, according to the sources. It was unclear if there were any other similarities between the case of Iwamura and that of Walter White, the fictitious hero of “Breaking Bad.” White, played by Bryan Cranston, was a former chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer who starts manufacturing crystal methamphetamine to pay for his treatment and provide for his family — sometimes with the help of a former pupil.
|
mdma;matsuyama university
|
jp0002979
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Senior JAL official arrested in Tokyo child prostitution case
|
A senior manager with Japan Airlines Co. was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of committing an indecent act with a female junior high school student in exchange for money, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Tatsuya Yokozeki, the 57-year-old head of the company’s operation control department, was arrested by police officers in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward for alleged violation of the law against child prostitution and pornography. Yokozeki, a resident of Hachioji, western Tokyo, has denied the allegations, saying that he didn’t know how old she was. On Sept. 15 last year, Yokozeki allegedly paid ¥30,000 to the girl, then a junior high school student, and carried out the indecent act with her at a hotel in Tokyo’s Taito Ward, while knowing that she was under 18, the police said. According to the police, Yokozeki contacted her after reading a Twitter post by her soliciting a compensated dating partner. An officer at the police station started an investigation after finding the post during a cyberspace patrol in October last year. According to JAL, the operation control department manages the airline’s domestic and international flight services.
|
child prostitution;japan airlines
|
jp0002980
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Small volcanic eruption observed on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture
|
After a small eruption was observed Tuesday evening on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture the weather agency said Wednesday morning no new eruptions had been confirmed, although the volcanic plume could still seen. While there were no immediate reports of injuries from the Tuesday eruption, the local tourism industry is concerned over possible negative impacts. “Time has passed (since the last eruption in October 2016) and tourists were starting to come back to Mount Aso,” said Naomi Goto, 52, who works at an inn in the city of Aso. “I hope (the latest eruption) will not discourage people from visiting the area during the coming Golden Week holidays.” An Aso Municipal Government official in charge of tourism said no tourist facilities or hotels have been closed due to the latest eruption. The Meteorological Agency confirmed that the eruption occurred at 6:28 p.m. Tuesday. The government had raised the alert level from 1 to 2 on Sunday. The volcanic plume rose about 200 meters above the crater, the agency added. The government set up a communication office in the crisis management center at the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor the situation. Mount Aso is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world.
|
volcanoes;kumamoto;mount aso
|
jp0002981
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Three years on, officials and residents pay their respects to victims of Kumamoto quakes
|
MASHIKI, KUMAMOTO PREF. - Mashiki officials offered silent prayers on Tuesday for the victims of the powerful earthquakes that hit the town and other areas of Kumamoto Prefecture three years ago. “We’ll place top priority on rebuilding the lives of afflicted people,” Mayor Hironori Nishimura said. “We expect post-disaster reconstruction will take 10 years, but we hope to shorten the period as much as possible.” The municipal government called on employees at 10 municipal facilities to pray silently for the victims at 8:30 a.m. At the makeshift town government building, some 50 workers stood in a line in a corridor of the second floor and offered prayers for one minute. Mashiki was heavily damaged by the 6.5 magnitude foreshock that struck on April 14, 2016, and the 7.3 magnitude main shock two days later. In the town, both temblors measured the highest reading of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. According to the Mashiki government, the total death toll from the quakes in the town, including from indirect causes, stood at 45 as of Friday, and 3,473 people had been evacuated as of the end of March. On Tuesday, municipal officials of the nearby villages of Minamiaso and Nishihara also offered silent prayers. The death tolls came to 30 in Minamiaso and nine in Nishihara. The April 16, 2016, main shock also registered 7 in Nishihara. Separately, residents of the Tateno district in Minamiaso paid tribute to victims of the disaster. In the district, three people died in the quakes, including Nobuo Katashima, 69, and his wife. The couple’s house was washed away by some 10,000 tons of water from a quake-damaged tank on a hill. Hiroshi Yamauchi, a friend of Katashima’s, visited the location where the house used to lie, and laid flowers and offered a one-minute prayer. An evacuation advisory was in place in the Tateno district for one and a half years after the quakes. With local transportation networks damaged by the disaster, only 30 percent of local residents had returned to the district as of the end of last month. Yamauchi, who now lives in a rental house in the town of Ozu, adjacent to Minamiaso, is planning to return to the district in September after rebuilding his house. “Katashima and I had been friends since we were children. Residents in the district know each other,” Yamauchi said. “I hope to maintain our bonds by, for example, offering information about local events to those who have left the district, so that we can achieve reconstruction,” he added.
|
earthquakes;kumamoto;2016 kumamoto earthquake
|
jp0002982
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/17
|
Talks on Imperial succession rules may be delayed until next fall or spring
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Some government officials are calling for deferring discussions on stable Imperial succession until the events related to Emperor Akihito’s abdication and Crown Prince Naruhito’s enthronement are over in spring 2020, sources said Tuesday. The officials believe it is best to avoid possibly heated discussions before the events end. At a time when the number of males in the Imperial family’s line of succession has been decreasing, Japan needs to consider measures to ensure stable future successions. If the government postpones the discussions, it may face criticism from opposition parties. But because conservatives — the main supporters of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — oppose changing the rules, succession talks are highly likely to be fractious, observers say. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party also hopes to refrain from holding discussions on the matter, which could divide its members, ahead of this summer’s elections for the House of Councilors, sources said. Possible topics of discussion may include whether to let women remain in the Imperial family after marriage and head branches of the family, the sources said. Under the Imperial House Law, a woman who marries outside the family loses her status as an Imperial family member. A resolution attached to the special law to enable the Emperor’s abdication stipulates that the government should start discussions on stable Imperial succession soon after the law takes effect on April 30, when the Emperor will step down, and promptly report the results to the Diet. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said he wants the government to launch the discussions not long after the enthronement, scheduled for May 1. Such discussions inevitably will refer to the ideas of letting an emperor’s daughter or her children to assume the throne. These ideas were proposed in 2005 by a private advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The Imperial House Law spells out that the throne “shall be succeeded to by a male offspring in the male line belonging to the Imperial lineage.” The abdication- and enthronement-related state events conducted under the Constitution will start with the Taiirei Seiden no Gi abdication ceremony on April 30 and end with the Rikkoshi no Rei ceremony on April 19, 2020, proclaiming Prince Akishino, the younger son of the current Emperor, as first in line to the throne. A government source said, “We don’t want discussions on stable Imperial succession to heat up” and the talks “will be kicked off after the Rikkoshi no Rei ceremony.” The speaker of the House of Representatives, Tadamori Oshima, said in a speech on Monday that he wants the government to initiate the talks after related ceremonies end this fall. One government official said it would be difficult for the government to win public acceptance for postponing the discussions for a year. Given this, the government is expected to seek the best timing for such talks while paying close attention to public opinion, observers said.
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women;emperor akihito;imperial family;abdication;succession;emperor naruhito
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jp0002983
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[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
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First hotel with sleeping capsules opens in Slovenian capital
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LJUBLJANA - Tourists who visit Ljubljana can now stay in the Slovenian capital’s first sleeping capsules after the city’s Central Hotel put up 10 capsules in a former telephone switchboard room. “This is a new story in Slovenia,” said Matej Rigelnik, chief executive officer of the hotel. Slovenia, the native country of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, has seen a surge in tourism since it joined the European Union in 2004 and the eurozone in 2007. The Alpine state’s capital has a picturesque medieval centre that stretches along the Ljubljanica river and a castle on a hill above the centre. Last year the number overnight stays by foreign tourists in Slovenia jumped by 15.4 percent, with most of them coming from Germany, Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Croatia.
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eu;tourism;slovakia;melania trump;capsule hotel;ljubljana;central hotel
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jp0002984
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
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Boeing records zero new 737 Max orders amid global grounding
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BANGALORE, INDIA/CHICAGO - Boeing Co.’s orders and deliveries sank in the first quarter, with zero new orders for the 737 Max following a worldwide grounding in March in the wake of two fatal plane crashes. The groundings forced Boeing to freeze deliveries of the Max, which had been its fastest-selling jetliner until a March 10 crash on Ethiopian Airlines that killed all 157 on board, just five months after a similar crash of a Lion Air jet that killed all 189 passengers and crew. Total orders, an indication of future demand, fell to 95 aircraft in the first quarter from 180 a year earlier, suggesting a wait-and-watch approach for airlines as Boeing rides out the worst crisis in its history. Still, Boeing is ahead of its European rival Airbus, which last week said it had won 62 gross orders during the first three months of 2019, but some 120 cancellations left it with a negative net order. Chicago-based Boeing’s first-quarter 737 deliveries tumbled about 33 percent, pushing total aircraft deliveries down 19 percent to 149 from a year earlier. Boeing delivered just 11 Max in March before the suspension. Deliveries are financially important because that is when plane-makers receive the bulk of money from airlines’ purchases. It is still unclear when the Max jets will fly again, with global regulators including that of China saying they would join a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration panel to review the aircraft’s safety. “A fix and removal of the grounding prior to September 2019 could be perceived positively,” Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said, noting that fresh scrutiny of the certification process could potentially filter into Boeing’s 777X program. Boeing’s shares, which have lost about 13 percent since the crash, were down 1.66 percent at $368.32 in afternoon trading. Goldman Sachs said it does not expect Boeing to deliver any Maxs in the second quarter and said it was difficult to expect Max orders at the upcoming Paris Air Show in June. The latest variant of Boeing’s 737 family, which makes up the bulk of its narrow-body production, has been viewed as the likely workhorse for global airlines for decades and central to Boeing’s long-running battle against Airbus. Boeing said last week it would cut monthly 737 Max production by 20 percent starting mid-April, without giving an end date. The company had been ramping up Max deliveries before the grounding, with the planes accounting for nearly half of its deliveries in the last few months. There were more than 300 Max jetliners in operation at the time of the fatal Lion Air crash last October, and about 4,600 more on order.
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u.s .;boeing;airbus;ethiopian airlines;aircraft accidents;737 max;lion air;aircraft orders
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jp0002985
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
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IMF cuts global growth outlook to lowest since financial crisis
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WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for global growth to the lowest since the financial crisis amid a bleaker outlook in most major advanced economies and signs that higher tariffs are weighing on trade. The world economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, down from the 3.5 percent the IMF had forecast for 2019 in January, the fund said Tuesday in its latest World Economic Outlook. The 2019 growth rate would be the weakest since 2009, when the world economy shrank. It’s the third time the IMF has downgraded its outlook in six months. The global volume of trade in goods and services will increase 3.4 percent this year, weaker than the 3.8 percent gain in 2018 but reduced from the IMF’s January estimate of 4 percent, the fund’s report showed. Global economic growth will recover in the second half of this year, before plateauing at 3.6 percent from next year, according to the Washington-based fund. A series of encouraging developments have boosted optimism about the world economy in recent weeks, including the decision of the Federal Reserve to put interest rate hikes on hold and encouraging data from China’s manufacturing sector and the U.S. job market. Still, the IMF is warning that risks are skewed to the downside, with a range of threats menacing the global economy, including the possible collapse of negotiations between the U.S. and China to end their trade war, as well as the departure of the U.K. from the European Union without a transition agreement, known as the “no-deal” Brexit scenario. “Amid waning global growth momentum and limited policy space to combat downturns, avoiding policy missteps that could harm economic activity needs to be the main priority,” the IMF said. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde is warning that the world economy faces a “delicate moment” as finance ministers and central bankers prepare to gather in the U.S. capital this week for the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. While intense trade talks between the U.S. and China have raised expectations of a lasting truce between the world’s two-largest economies, analysts remain worried about the strength of the global economy a decade after the financial crisis. Lagarde said last week the fund doesn’t anticipate a recession in the near-term. The fund cut its forecast for U.S. growth to 2.3 percent this year, down 0.2 percentage point since the IMF’s last global outlook in January. The downgrade reflects the impact of the partial government shutdown that ended in January, as well as lower-than-expected public spending. The fund upgraded its U.S. forecast next year to 1.9 percent, up 0.1 percentage point, on the Fed’s shift to a more patient stance on interest rates. The IMF slashed its outlook for the euro area to 1.3 percent this year, down 0.3 point from three months ago. Growth is expected to be softer in several major European economies, including Germany, where weak global demand and tougher car-emission standards have hit factory production. Weak domestic demand and high sovereign-debt spreads have dimmed Italy’s outlook, while street protests in France weighed on growth, the fund said. The IMF cut its outlook for U.K. growth to 1.2 percent this year, down 0.3 point from three months ago. The IMF raised its forecast for Chinese growth by 0.1 point to 6.3 percent this year, while lowering its projection for growth in Japan by 0.1 point to 1 percent. The fund cut its outlook for India’s growth this year to 7.3 percent, down from 7.5 percent in January.
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imf;global economy;economic growth
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jp0002986
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Steve Mnuchin denies selling his entertainment firm to Russians but won't reveal buyers
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WASHINGTON - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to tell lawmakers who purchased his entertainment company, but promised it wasn’t a Russian. “I can assure you that it’s not a Russian oligarch or any Russian,” Mnuchin said Tuesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. “I don’t believe I’ve ever met a Russian oligarch.” Mnuchin has faced questions over reports that a company linked to Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik purchased a stake in Mnuchin’s company RatPac-Dune Entertainment in 2017, after he became Treasury chief. Democratic lawmakers have said such a transaction would create a conflict of interest for Mnuchin, because Blavatnik is a business associate of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the target of U.S. sanctions aimed at President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The Treasury Department said in a January letter that Mnuchin didn’t sell his stake in RatPac-Dune to Blavatnik or any of his firms, but didn’t identify the buyer. Mnuchin’s stake, which he was required to sell under an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics before he was confirmed as Treasury secretary, was sold to “a third party unconnected to Blavatnik,” Treasury said. Speaking Tuesday, Mnuchin reiterated that statement and said the transaction was “confidential.”
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vladimir putin;russia;ukraine;u.s. congress;steve mnuchin;oleg deripaska;len blavatnik;ratpack-dune entertainment
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jp0002987
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Reheated row: Trump threatens tariffs on EU products over Airbus subsidies
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the EU, vowing to impose tariffs on billions in imports over subsidies to the aviation giant Airbus, suddenly escalating a transatlantic skirmish that is more than a decade old. His Twitter outburst rattled a fragile truce between the EU and the United States. Trump had sparked outrage in Europe last year by imposing steep duties on steel and aluminum and threatening new ones on autos. “The World Trade Organization finds that the European Union subsidies to Airbus has adversely impacted the United States, which will now put Tariffs on $11 Billion of EU products!” Trump tweeted. “The EU has taken advantage of the US on trade for many years. It will soon stop!” Trump’s remarks were likely to raise the temperature for U.S. and EU negotiators, who have been meeting since last year ahead of proposed trade talks to resolve the dispute. The threatened U.S. tariffs are in response to subsidies received by aircraft maker Airbus and target a host of European products, including helicopters, aircraft parts and gouda cheese. However, the immediate consequences of Trump’s remarks were unclear. Hours earlier, on Monday evening, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had said the final amount of any tariffs had yet to be determined and would not be announced until the outcome of a WTO arbitration process — expected later this year. For more than 14 years, Washington and Brussels have accused each other of unfairly subsidizing Boeing and Airbus, respectively, in a tit-for-tat dispute that long predates Trump. The Boeing-Airbus spat is the longest and most complicated dispute dealt with by the WTO, which aims to create a level playing field in global trade. Lighthizer said Monday that the World Trade Organization had repeatedly found European subsidies to Airbus harm the United States. “This case has been in litigation for 14 years and the time has come for action,” Lighthizer said in a statement. “Our ultimate goal is to reach an agreement with the EU to end all WTO-inconsistent subsidies to large civil aircraft. When the EU ends these harmful subsidies, the additional U.S. duties imposed in response can be lifted.” The EU fired back on Tuesday, saying that the amounts claimed by Washington were “greatly exaggerated.” “The figure quoted by USTR is based on U.S. internal estimates that have not been awarded by the WTO,” a commission official said. Both sides agreed that the size of the duties was subject to arbitration at the WTO, the result of which was expected in the summer. And both aviation giants have scored points along the way in the marathon dispute. The WTO ruled in March 2012 that billions of dollars of subsidies to Boeing were illegal and called on the United States to end them. But a few months later, the European Union filed a new complaint, alleging Washington was not complying with that order. In a split ruling published in June 2017, the WTO said the United States had mostly brought programs into compliance but agreed that Washington had not taken “appropriate steps to remove the adverse effects or … withdraw the subsidy” in one case. Brussels was also reprimanded by the WTO during the Airbus-Boeing row, and the United States asked the WTO to determine the amount it could impose in sanctions against the European Union for failing to remove subsidies. USTR said Monday that once that report is issued, it would announce a finalized product list. Airbus in a statement said the list was “totally unjustified,” while archrival Boeing said that it supports Washington’s “ongoing efforts to level the playing field.” “Boeing has consistently supported U.S. compliance with WTO rulings. It’s now time for the EU to follow that example and end all illegal government support for Airbus,” Boeing said. The revived spat comes at a sensitive time for transatlantic relations. Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in July agreed to launch trade talks and refrain from imposing further tariffs in a bid to cool tensions. “I plead for an amicable agreement,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at a news conference in Paris. “When I look at the growth situation worldwide, I cannot believe we can allow a trade conflict, even in the sole area of aeronautics, between the United States and Europe,” he added. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a French official told AFP on Tuesday the American side had struck first but that both sides had landed blows. “We’re coming to the end of the road for this dispute. Both sides have been found at fault, in reality,” the official said. The tariff threat also comes at a critical time for Boeing, caught in a crisis over its 737 Max aircraft, grounded over safety fears following two fatal accidents.
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boeing;eu;airbus;wto;tariffs;ustr;subsidies;donald trump;robert lighthizer;trade war
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jp0002989
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Ex-GOP congressman partnered with KGB agent in Russian bank accused of money-laundering
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ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA - A former North Carolina congressman says he had begun selling shares in a Russian bank before it lost its license. Last week, Russia’s central bank accused Commercial Bank of Ivanovo of breaching anti-money laundering rules by providing incomplete or unreliable transaction information. Central bank records on Friday showed Rep. Charles Taylor owned more than 80 percent of the bank, which the Republican bought with a former KGB agent as his business partner. Taylor issued a statement to WLOS-TV and The Citizen-Times saying he bought the stock years ago but wasn’t a bank officer and knew of no wrongdoing. His statement said he signed a contract to sell his shares; it didn’t say whether the transaction was complete. A man who answered a phone listing for Taylor Tuesday declined to talk.
|
russia;money-laundering;republican;kgb;charles taylor;commercial bank of ivanovo
|
jp0002990
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Green machines? Flying taxis could slash emissions for long journeys
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LONDON - Futuristic electric flying taxis like those in the movie “Blade Runner” could offer a more sustainable — and much faster — way to travel long distances than traditional car journeys, academics at the University of Michigan said on Tuesday. Several firms are working to develop car-size vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOLs) that can lift passengers above congestion, cruise at over 100 miles per hour (160 kph) and land in small spaces within crowded urban centers. The vehicles could slash greenhouse gas emissions in half for three people on a 100-km (62-mile) trip, said researchers, though much of the savings come by assuming passengers will be more willing to share their space than they are in cars. “It was very surprising to see that VTOLs were competitive with regard to energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in certain scenarios,” said Gregory Keoleian, from the university’s Center for Sustainable Systems, in a statement. “VTOLs with full occupancy could outperform ground-based cars for trips from San Francisco to San Jose or from Detroit to Cleveland, for example.” Academics working with researchers at the carmaker Ford found that VTOLs require a large amount of energy to take off and climb but they were more efficient than cars once cruising. As a result, they produced more emissions than land vehicles over short trips of the type that account for most journeys but were more efficient over longer distances, according to the study in the journal Nature Communications. Researchers also argued that each seat in a flying taxi is likely to be sold separately, as is the case with planes, meaning they would normally be fully occupied, unlike cars, which have an average occupancy of about between one and two people. A flying taxi holding one pilot and three passengers could make a 100-km trip in about 27 minutes, said the researchers. It would produce about 52 percent less greenhouse gas per passenger than two gasoline-powered vehicles making the same journey by road, they calculated, and 6 percent less than two electric cars. However, if the VTOL had just one occupant, the emissions savings would be reduced to 35 percent compared to one petrol car and would be 28 percent higher than one electric vehicle. Despite the appeal of flying cars, it is “a fantasy” to imagine they could offer sustainable mass transport, said Jemilah Magnusson of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. “A much more efficient and easier way to improve the state of long-distance car travel is to provide public transit options and to provide incentives for people to not drive solo in their cars,” she said. The University of Michigan study did not offer a timeline of when to expect VTOLs to take passengers on their first flights.
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transportation;energy;emissions;airplanes
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jp0002991
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
'Flight shame' over climate concerns has Swedes rethinking air travel
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STOCKHOLM - Saddled with long dark winters at home, Swedes have for decades been frequent flyers seeking out sunnier climes. But a growing number are changing their ways because of air travel’s impact on the climate. “ Flygskam ” (flight shame) has become a buzz word referring to feeling guilt over the environmental effects of flying, contributing to a trend that has more Swedes opting to travel by train to ease their conscience. Spearheading the trend is Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who initiated the movement of school strikes over climate change. She refuses to fly, traveling by rail to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the climate summit in Katowice, Poland. A growing number of public figures have vowed to #stayontheground, including Swedish television skiing commentator Bjorn Ferry, who said last year he would only travel to competitions by train. And 250 people working in the film industry signed a recent article in the country’s biggest daily, Dagens Nyheter, calling for Swedish film producers to limit shoots abroad. An anonymous Swedish Instagram account created in December has been shaming social media profiles and influencers for promoting trips to far-flung destinations, racking up more than 60,000 followers. “I’m certainly affected by my surroundings, and (flight shame) has affected how I view flying,” said Viktoria Hellstrom, a 27-year-old political science student in Stockholm. Last summer, she took the train to Italy, even though the friends she was meeting there went by plane, as that would have been her second flight within a few weeks. “The only way I could justify going there was if I took the train,” she said. The Scandinavian country’s location far north — it is 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from the northernmost town of Kiruna to France’s Cote d’Azur — as well as its robust standard of living, the popularity of charter trips and the rise of low-cost airlines have all contributed to making Swedes big flyers. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg last year found that Swedes’ per capita emissions from flying between 1990 and 2017 were five times the global average. Emissions from Swedes’ international air travel have soared 61 percent since 1990, their study said. Swedes’ concerns rely on solid data — the Swedish Meteorological Institute said last week that the average annual temperature was rising twice as fast in the country as the global average. In March, the World Wildlife Foundation published a survey indicating that nearly 1 in 5 Swedes had chosen to travel by rail rather than by air in order to minimize their environmental impact. The trend was most noticeable among women and young people. A survey published Tuesday in Sweden’s leading travel magazine, Vagabond, said 64 percent of those who traveled abroad less last year did so because of climate reasons. National rail operator SJ reported a 21 percent boost in business travel this winter, and the government has announced plans to reintroduce night trains to major European cities before the end of its mandate in 2022. The number of domestic flight passengers was projected to be down by 3.2 percent in 2018, the transport authority said in its latest figures from September, though the number of passengers on international flights rose 4 percent. So far the “flight shame” trend hasn’t had the same traction among Sweden’s neighbors, although Finland has spawned its own version of the expression, calling it “ lentohapea .” Other parts of the developed world may not have a word that is quite as catchy, making do with #flyingless or #stopflying, but average carbon dioxide emissions of 285 grams per air kilometer — compared with 158 for cars and 14 for trains — have given many pause. Fausta Gabola, a French-Italian student in Paris, is no longer sure that she should take up an offer to study in Australia on a scholarship. “It’s my dream to go there,” she said. “I applied without thinking too much about it and now I have a dilemma. I would feel like a hypocrite if I went.” French political scientist Mathilde Szuba said any no-fly decision effectively puts distant countries out of reach. “There is no easy substitute for flying,” said Szuba. “You can’t go to faraway places without taking the plane.” Back in Sweden, some experts say that changing travel patterns are not always a direct result of “flight shame.” Frida Hylander, a Swedish psychologist, said shame, and the fear of being shamed, is a powerful motivator, but she also cautioned against overstating its importance. Other factors are at play, Hylander said, citing as an example Sweden’s unusually hot summer last year, which caused massive wildfires and may have sparked wider concerns about climate change. “You should exercise caution when pointing to one single factor,” Hylander said. A new flight tax introduced in April 2018 may also have played a role, she said, as well as the bankruptcy of regional airline NextJet, which led to the closure of a number of domestic flight routes for several months.
|
transportation;sweden;emissions;travel;airplanes
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jp0002992
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Japan's wholesale prices up for second straight year in fiscal 2018
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Japan’s wholesale prices rose 2.2 percent in the just-ended fiscal year, gaining for the second straight year on the back of crude price markups in the first half of the fiscal year, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. The size of the increase in the central bank’s Corporate Goods Price Index — a gauge of prices of goods traded between companies — for fiscal 2018 compares with 2.7 percent growth in the previous fiscal year. Oil and coal products saw their prices jump 13.8 percent, followed by a 7.2 percent gain in the prices for electric power, gas and water, and a 5.7 percent increase in scrap and waste prices. Those for information and communications equipment declined 1.3 percent. Prices for oil and coal products are one of the major factors affecting wholesale prices in Japan, which imports most of the crude oil consumed in the country. Export prices grew 0.8 percent while import prices advanced 6.5 percent, both in yen terms. In March alone, wholesale prices climbed 1.3 percent from a year earlier, increasing for the 27th straight month, following a revised 0.9 percent rise in February. By item, prices for pulp and paper products rose 5.2 percent due to solid demand for cardboard boxes to send purchased goods to consumers amid a growth in e-commerce. Prices for ceramic products gained 3.2 percent while oil and coal product prices rose 2.9 percent. Oil-related prices in Japan rose as expectations for a trade deal between Washington and Beijing to end their tariff spat pushed up crude oil prices, according to a BOJ official. Prices for nonferrous metals decreased 2.3 percent from a year earlier but gained 1.4 percent from the previous month, on hopes for an economic recovery in China supported by Beijing’s massive economic stimulus to support the world’s second-largest economy, the official said. In yen terms, export prices rose 0.2 percent from a year before, while import prices climbed 2.5 percent.
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boj;economy;economic indicators
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jp0002993
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Japan's core machinery orders log first rise in four months
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Seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in February rose 1.8 percent from the previous month, up for the first time in four months, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday. Private-sector orders, excluding those for ships and power equipment — closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending — came to ¥836.7 billion. A large-scale order in the manufacturing industry helped lift the overall figure. The February result, which followed a 5.4 percent drop in January, was weaker than the median estimate of a 2.5 percent rise by the 19 economic research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press. The Cabinet Office kept its basic assessment unchanged, saying machinery orders are stalling. Although machinery orders stopped falling, it is unclear whether capital spending will remain firm amid growing uncertainties over the course of the global economy. Machinery orders “increased from the previous month, but an improvement in business sentiment has not been confirmed,” a Cabinet Office official said. Orders from manufacturers gained 3.5 percent, the first increase in four months, buoyed by the large-scale order in the shipbuilding industry. Orders also expanded from oil and coal producers, as well as metal products makers. Core orders from nonmanufacturers fell 0.8 percent, down for the second straight month. Information service and leasing companies were sluggish. Overall machinery orders, including those from the public sector and abroad, advanced 5.4 percent to ¥2.355 trillion.
|
economy;machinery orders;economic indicators
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jp0002994
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Dollar eases below ¥111.20 in Tokyo
|
The dollar edged down below ¥111.20 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, as investors turned risk-averse in view of a looming U.S.-European Union trade war. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.18-18, down from ¥111.26-26 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1265-1266, almost unchanged from $1.1265-1265, and at ¥125.25-26, down from ¥125.34-34. In the wake of the United States and the European Union showing their readiness to slap fresh tariffs on each other over subsidies to aircraft makers, the dollar slipped through ¥111.10 in early in the morning. The greenback strengthened above ¥111.20 in midmorning trading thanks to purchases by domestic importers. In the afternoon, the U.S. currency fluctuated between ¥111.10 and ¥111.20. Dollar-yen transactions lacked vigor prior to major overseas events later on Wednesday, including an EU summit on Brexit, the European Central Bank’s policy-setting meeting, the release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting last month and the announcement of the U.S. consumer price index for March, a currency broker said.
|
forex;currencies
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jp0002995
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Tokyo stocks fall amid fears of EU-U.S. trade war
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Stocks lost ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday, battered by overnight falls in U.S. and European equities due to growing worries about an escalation of trade tensions between the United States and the European Union. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 115.02 points, or 0.53 percent, to end at 21,687.57, after gaining 40.94 points on Tuesday. The TOPIX index of all first-section issues finished down 11.10 points, or 0.69 percent, at 1,607.66. It fell 1.38 points the previous day. The Nikkei average gave up over 230 points as soon as the opening bell rang, as sell orders had piled up after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to impose additional tariffs on European imports as retaliation for subsidies to Airbus SAS. The EU promptly responded, saying it is readying a list of tariffs to counter subsidies to Boeing Corp. The Tokyo market was also dampened by the yen’s strengthening against the dollar and other major currencies in the wake of the International Monetary Fund’s downward revision in its World Economic Outlook, market sources said. Stocks cut some of the initial losses after the wave of selling. But both Nikkei and TOPIX indexes remained in negative territory throughout Wednesday’s session. “Investors backed off as they were reminded of the existence of confrontation between the United States and the EU, which they had forgotten,” said Hideyuki Suzuki of SBI Securities Co. Suzuki also noted that players have begun bracing for the upcoming 10-day holiday from April 27 in Japan by holding in check active buying of declined shares. Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc., attributed Wednesday’s drop to futures-linked selling. He also said trading volume was relatively low before a spate of earnings announcements by Japanese firms later this month. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,572 to 485 in the TSE’s first section, while 83 issues were unchanged. Volume inched up to 1.12 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.10 billion shares. Japan Post Holdings sagged 2.88 percent after the Finance Ministry started preparations for releasing part of its shareholdings in the company as early as September. Technology giant Sony, pharmaceutical firm Astellas and chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron were among other major losers. By contrast, Suruga Bank shot up 16.25 percent on a media report that it is in talks with electronics retailer Nojima, bank group Resona Holdings and other two firms for financial assistance. Also on the sunny side were technology investor SoftBank Group, optical equipment maker Olympus and clothing store chain Fast Retailing. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average shed 40 points to end at 21,700.
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stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
|
jp0002996
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Rakuten, Booking.com and Expedia raided by Japan's antitrust watchdog over lodging price policy
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Japan’s antitrust watchdog on Wednesday raided the offices of Rakuten Inc. and two other online booking operators, alleging they hurt fair trade by requiring accommodation providers to offer their lowest prices on their platforms, according to a source close to the matter. The Fair Trade Commission’s probe comes amid its closer scrutiny of allegedly obscure business transactions involving providers of digital platforms and the sale of products and services via search engines and e-commerce sites, among other avenues. According to the source, Tokyo-based Rakuten, U.S. firm Expedia Group Inc. and Dutch outfit Booking.com B.V. have for several years allegedly urged clients to set accommodation prices the same as, or lower than, those offered on rival websites and on hotels’ official sites. Rakuten said it “will fully cooperate with the investigation.” In August 2016, the commission conducted a similar on-site probe of Amazon Japan, on suspicion it signed contracts with suppliers under which they agreed to make their product lineups and prices competitive, or at least match those on rival online retailers. The commission terminated its probe in June 2017 once the company retracted such conditions, without ruling whether antitrust law had been violated. In March last year, the commission again raided Amazon Japan for allegedly violating the antitrust law by having suppliers shoulder part of the costs covering discounts the retailer applied to goods. That investigation is ongoing. Airbnb Inc.’s office in Japan also came under investigation by the commission, in October 2017, for allegedly requesting homeowners advertising short-stay properties on its site do so exclusively. The probe ended a year later after Airbnb said it will remove the requirement. More recently, the commission launched in February a survey of transactions involving information technology giants including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Google LLC to investigate whether their market dominance may be hurting competition. Meanwhile, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party started its own investigation in March, questioning senior officials of Amazon, Apple, Facebook Inc. and Google as it seeks to compile proposals for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to ensure fair competition.
|
internet;hotels;rakuten;fair trade commission;antitrust;expedia;booking.com
|
jp0002997
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Carlos Ghosn's wife willing to return to Japan for questioning in Tokyo court
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The wife of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn is ready to appear in a Tokyo court for questioning, according to a lawyer for Ghosn. Lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said Tuesday that questioning of Carole Ghosn may be conducted within the month. When her 65-year-old husband was rearrested April 4, Tokyo prosecutors asked her to meet with them for voluntary questioning, but she left Japan the next day, according to sources and French reports. The prosecutors have since requested the Tokyo District Court to call her. The lawyer’s remark came after the wife indicated her willingness to return to Japan for questioning, during her recent interview with French radio RTL. In the interview, she denied she had fled Japan. Then she criticized the Japanese judicial system by saying that her husband has been treated like a criminal though his trial has not begun yet, and that the principle of assumed innocence has not been respected. Ghosn was served a fresh arrest warrant for allegedly funneling Nissan money to himself via a car distributor in Oman. The surprise move came as a blow to Ghosn, who was released on bail less than a month ago and planned to give his own news conference Thursday. Ghosn’s son, Anthony Ghosn, denied Tuesday he has received money paid by the automaker to an Omani distributor and then allegedly redirected to him and his family by his father. In an email response to a Kyodo News query, Anthony Ghosn, who is CEO of U.S. investment firm Shogun, said he “has not received any money from Good Faith.” He was referring to a firm called Good Faith Investments, via which some of the funds in question were allegedly transferred to Beauty Yachts, a company headed by Ghosn’s wife. A senior official of the Omani distributor, an acquaintance of Carlos Ghosn’s, was listed as chief of the investment company, which was effectively owned by Ghosn. Part of the Nissan funds are believed to have been eventually transferred to Beauty Yachts, which apparently purchased a yacht, named Shacho — “president” in Japanese — for use by Ghosn’s family. Based on analysis of internal Nissan documents, including emails, prosecutors found an amount of money — identical to that transferred to GFI — was channeled to Beauty Yachts, sources said. Japanese prosecutors have requested help with the investigation from the United States and have sent a team there.
|
courts;scandals;nissan;carmakers;carlos ghosn;carole ghosn
|
jp0002998
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Seven-Eleven Japan to open its first stores in Okinawa on July 11
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Leading convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will open its first outlets in Okinawa Prefecture on July 11. Opening stores in Okinawa, the only prefecture in which Seven-Eleven Japan does not have a presence, means the company will have outlets in all of the nation’s 47 prefectures. Seven-Eleven Japan said Tuesday it plans to open around 10 shops in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, and some other outlets outside the city. The company plans to increase the number of stores in Okinawa to some 250 within the next five years. Rival chains FamilyMart Co. and Lawson Inc. already run stores across the country, including Okinawa. Seven-Eleven Japan, which operates over 20,000 stores in Japan, announced its plan to enter Okinawa in June 2017. Problems with production and deliveries had prevented the company from opening stores there.
|
okinawa;convenience stores;seven-eleven japan co .
|
jp0002999
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Japan's Docomo, KDDI, SoftBank and Rakuten get mobile phone 5G bands ahead of 2020 launch
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The telecom ministry allocated mobile phone frequency bands for superfast 5G services to three major mobile carriers and the e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. on Wednesday, ahead of an expected full-scale launch in 2020. After reviewing operational plans by NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corp., SoftBank Corp. and Rakuten, an advisory council to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications approved the allocation of 5G frequencies. The ministry issued certificates later in the day. After conducting trials later this year, the mobile phone carriers plan to start a commercial rollout from 2020, with the 5G technology enabling users to send and receive data some 100 times faster than the current 4G networks allow. Rakuten plans to begin running 4G services in October while constructing a network that is capable of delivering 5G telecommunications. Overseas, competition has been heating up for 5G services, which are touted as enabling smartphone users to download a two-hour film in just three seconds, with U.S. and South Korean mobile carriers both claiming to be the world’s first to have launched commercial 5G operations. U.S. telecommunications conglomerate Verizon Communications Inc. started offering the services in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis on April 3, while South Korea’s three major mobile carriers also enabled it for some celebrities on the same day. In addition to benefiting smartphone users, the superfast mobile networks are expected to help enable autonomous driving and other technological breakthroughs. For example, medical equipment could be remotely controlled by an off-site doctor thanks to the high-speed data transmission capabilities and lower latency experienced with the new technology. The “internet of things,” a concept in which a wide range of devices are connected to the internet via wireless networks, may also be boosted by the 5G technology, as it enables an enormous number of simultaneous data transmissions. Competition among nations and telecom firms is growing fierce, with each looking to take the lead on developing and utilizing 5G networks. Regarding equipment, the three major Japanese mobile phone carriers and Rakuten have said they will refrain from using products made by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co., a leader in the field of next-generation wireless services, as well as those of another Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE Corp. The Japanese companies have taken the position due to a decision by the government in December to effectively exclude the two Chinese firms from public procurement, reflecting U.S. concerns that their products may facilitate spying and lead to potential disruptions to communication networks.
|
internet;smartphones;docomo;softbank;phones;rakuten;kddi;internal affairs ministry;5g
|
jp0003000
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2019/04/10
|
More than 100,000 migrants encountered at U.S. southern border in March: data
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WASHINGTON - U.S. officers arrested or denied entry to over 103,000 people along the border with Mexico in March, a 35 percent increase over the prior month and more than twice as many as the same period last year, according to data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday. The steady increase in migrant arrivals, which has been building over the past several months, is driven by a growing number of children and families, especially from Central America. Children and people traveling as families made up 67 percent of those arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents between official ports of entry in the month of March, officials said. In March 2018, the same category made up one third of arrests. U.S. President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the rising number of Central American migrants attempting to cross the southern border, and his ire has been directed at his own officials, Congress, and Latin American countries, who he says have not done enough to stop their citizens from traveling to the United States. On Sunday, Trump’s top homeland security official, Kirstjen Nielsen, said she was stepping down, and a senior administration official said other agency leaders had not done enough to crack down on the surge in immigration. Immigration experts believe more migrants are likely to attempt to cross in the coming months, as numbers typically peak around May.
|
mexico;migrants;donald trump;u.s. border;kirstjen nielsen
|
jp0003001
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Trump claims he's not looking to reinstate family separations, blames Obama for policy
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WASHINGTON - Facing bipartisan pushback on his immigration shake-up, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s not looking to revive the much-criticized practice of separating migrant children from their families at the southern border. At the same time, he suggested the policy had worked to deter migrants from coming into the U.S. Immigration experts say his policies and practices are contributing to the surge of migrants. Last summer the administration separated more than 2,500 children from their families before international outrage forced Trump to halt the practice and a judge ordered them reunited. “We’re not looking to do that,” Trump told reporters before meeting with Egypt’s president at the White House. But he also noted: “Once you don’t have it, that’s why you see many more people coming. They’re coming like it’s a picnic, because let’s go to Disneyland.” The potential reinstatement of one of the most divisive practices of the Trump administration was just one aspect of the upheaval evident at the Department of Homeland Security this week following the resignation of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. With talk that more top officials were likely to be pushed out, Republicans expressed public and private concerns about the shake-up orchestrated by the White House and cautioned that leadership changes wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem. As for the separation of children, Trump declared that he was “the one that stopped it” and said his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was the one who had divided family members. The administration is allowed to separate children under certain circumstances including the health and welfare of the child and a parent’s criminal history. This is why children were separated under the Obama administration. At hearings across Capitol Hill, lawmakers grilled administration officials on whether the practice would resurface despite last year’s outrage and evidence that separations were likely to cause lasting psychological effects on the children. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said his committee would take a look at the staff shake-up at Homeland Security. The Maryland Democrat said he was deciding whether to call in Nielsen. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said there was a serious problem going on between the White House and Homeland Security. “If everybody’s sitting around waiting for a shiny new wonder pony to ride in and solve it, we’re going to be waiting a long time,” he said. People familiar with the immigration discussions within the administration said family separation was one of many suggestions that Trump and his aides were eying to tackle the problem of an ever-growing number of Central American families crossing into the U.S. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A senior administration official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said the White House would move forward with a new regulation that would challenge a longstanding agreement limiting how long children can be detained, hoping to spark a legal fight that would land in the Supreme Court. The official was not authorized to speak for attribution. The White House also was weighing a tougher standard to evaluate initial asylum claims, a “binary choice” that would have migrant families choose between remaining with their children in detention until their immigration cases are decided or sending their children to government shelters while the parents remain in detention. It also is considering clamping down on remittance payments that Mexican nationals send home. Amid the turmoil, Trump told reporters he was not “cleaning house” at the agency despite a number of staff changes. He said his choice to be the department’s new acting director, Kevin McAleenan, would do a “fantastic job.” But at the same time that Trump was speaking, the senior official was describing DHS to reporters as a large and unwieldly civilian bureaucracy that needs leadership that can deal with career officials resistant to the president’s agenda, including many who were responsible for implementing some of the very policies Trump seeks to roll back. Top Republicans in Congress expressed concern over vacancies at Homeland Security and cautioned Trump about more churn after the resignation of Nielsen. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, made both a public and private plea to the White House not to dismiss career homeland security officials. He said he spoke to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney but added that he would only know if Trump heard the message “if they don’t get fired.” At a Senate Homeland Security Committee meeting on border issues, child welfare and border officials warned there wasn’t room or capability to start separating children on a large scale again. Children who cross the border alone are cared for by the Department of Health and Human Services, and most of the children are teenagers. But last summer, HHS started receiving babies and toddlers, and there was not enough space to house them, said Jonathan White, the career civil servant tasked by Health and Human Services with helping to reunify children. “It also bears repeating, separating children from their parents entails significant risk of psychological harm. That is an undisputed scientific fact,” White told senators. “We have made improvements to our tracking, but we do not have the capacity to receive that number of children, nor do we have any system that can manage the mass trauma.” Both Republican and Democratic leaders deplored the idea of separating families. “I hope members of the administration are actually listening,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R- Wis., the committee chairman. He added that he had spoken with Mulvaney about moving a permanent Homeland Security nominee through quickly. While Trump disputed any departmental upheaval, his outside allies launched a public campaign urging him to nominate former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to replace Nielsen. Kobach would almost certainly face an uphill battle to be confirmed by the Senate. Conservatives also pushed former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for the job. Both men’s names also have been tossed about for a possible immigration czar who would coordinate immigration policy across federal agencies.
|
barack obama;immigrants;migrants;donald trump;u.s. border;family separations
|
jp0003002
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/10
|
Young entrepreneur aims to send 3D-printed rockets to space, has launchpad at Canaveral
|
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO - To see Tim Ellis hunched over his laptop, alone in a room at a major space industry conference in Colorado, you can hardly imagine that he might be the next Elon Musk. But Relativity Space, the company he founded in December 2015 with the vision of launching 3D-printed rockets, has grown from 14 to 80 employees in one year and will recruit another 40 this year. At age 28, Ellis has lured several industry veterans, including from SpaceX, the U.S. market leader for launches that was founded by billionaire entrepreneur Musk. Relativity Space has raised $45 million so far, Canadian satellite operator Telesat has entrusted it with the launch of part of its future 5G satellite constellation and the U.S. military has given it a launchpad at Cape Canaveral. And Ellis, who six years ago was still studying for his masters in aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California, now sits on the White House’s National Space Council along with former astronauts and the heads of the largest American aerospace groups. “I’m the youngest person by more than 20 years, and we’re the only venture capital backed start-up,” Ellis told AFP during the 35th annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, a major annual event for the space industry that will welcome 15,000 participants from 40 countries. Dozens of start-ups have announced plans in recent years to build small and medium-size rockets to launch small satellites. Many will probably fail before having made their first rocket, but that’s the game, Ellis explained. “The notion in Silicon Valley is you’re going to take tons of big bets, where lots of them will totally lose money. But the ones that succeed will pay for all of the losers — and in a huge outcome, if it’s the next Google or the next SpaceX,” he said. Relativity Space, which like SpaceX is based in Los Angeles, has so far printed nine rocket engines and three second stages for its rocket model, called Terran 1, whose first test flight is scheduled for the end of 2020. With its large 3D-printing machines, the start-up claims that its rockets will require 100 times fewer parts than traditional rockets. “We’ll only be experts in like two or three (technological) processes,” he said, compared to traditional manufacturing with complex supply chains. “It’s far easier.” Only the electronics are not 3D-printed. “It’s much cheaper, because of the labor reduction in the automation with 3D-printing,” said Ellis, who will charge $10 million for a launch, at least at first. “Also, it’s more flexible,” he said: eventually, Relativity Space will adapt the size of the fairings of the rockets to the requirements of individual customers, depending on the size of their satellite. Speed is the other advantage: “Our target is to get from raw material to flight in 60 days,” Ellis said. If Relativity Space succeeds in this feat — which it has not yet demonstrated — it would revolutionize the launch industry. Today, a satellite operator can wait for years before having a place in the large rockets of Arianespace or SpaceX. The Terran 1 will be 10 times smaller the SpaceX Falcon 9, able to place a 1,250 kg (2,755 pounds) payload into very low orbit (185 km or 115 miles above the Earth’s surface). This could be suitable for a constellation of small satellites for telecommunications or imaging the Earth, but also for one of the largest customers in space: the U.S. military. This is another reason for the young executive’s arrival in Colorado Springs: meeting senior Pentagon officials. “I rarely wear a suit, but I will for the military,” Ellis said.
|
nasa;white house;spacex;3d printers;tim ellis;relativity space
|
jp0003003
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/10
|
U.S. aid chief: Deadly Congo Ebola outbreak 'far from contained'
|
WASHINGTON - The deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is far from contained, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green said on Tuesday. “In the last week we have seen a number of signs that the outbreak is far from contained. There’s a long way to go,” the top U.S. aid official told a U.S. congressional hearing. The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 600 people. But as the country grapples with the aftermath of Dec. 30 elections marred by fraud allegations, aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they seek to contain the outbreak, the most severe in Congo’s history. Green said there is enough money to fight the outbreak, and that the United States is pushing for more vaccinations and the production of more vaccines. He said he is in close contact with international health officials.
|
congo;vaccinations;epidemic;ebola;u.s. aid;mark green
|
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