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jp0003108
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Trump approved payment of $2 million North Korea bill for care of Otto Warmbier, says report
|
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump approved payment of a $2 million bill presented by North Korea to cover its care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, a college student who died shortly after being returned home from 17 months in a North Korean prison, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post said an invoice was handed to U.S. State Department envoy Joseph Yun hours before Warmbier, 22, was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Warmbier died six days later. The U.S. envoy, who was sent to retrieve Warmbier, signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from Trump, the Post reported, citing two unidentified people familiar with the situation. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Yun also said he could not comment on diplomatic exchanges. But in an interview with CNN on Thursday, he said he was given broad orders to secure Warmbier’s release and he understood the instructions came directly from Trump. “Yes, my orders were completely: Do whatever you can to get Otto back,” he told CNN. Yun said he understood that money had been exchanged in previous releases of U.S. prisoners and was justified as “hospital costs,” but he gave no further details. In another interview on CNN, Yun said the United States did not pay any ransom for American prisoners held by Pyongyang while he was the special representative for North Korea. He left the post in March 2018. The bill was sent to the Treasury Department and remained unpaid through 2017, the Post reported. It was not known if the administration later paid the bill. Representatives for the State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student visiting North Korea as a tourist, was imprisoned in January 2016. North Korea state media said he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel. Reached by phone, Fred Warmbier, Otto Warmbier’s father, declined to comment on the report or to confirm the Post’s account that he had said the hospital bill sounded like ransom. Trump has denied paying North Korea to release hostages. “I got back our hostages; I never paid them anything,” he said at a September news conference. Warmbier’s parents issued a sharp statement in March after Trump said he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s assertion not to have known how their son was treated. The U.S. president also praised Kim’s leadership after their second summit collapsed in February in Hanoi when the two sides failed to reach a deal for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in March. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.” Trump said later he held North Korea responsible for the young man’s death. A U.S. court in December ordered North Korea to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of Warmbier. An Ohio coroner said Warmbier died from a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain. Pyongyang blamed botulism and ingestion of a sleeping pill and dismissed torture claims.
|
u.s .;north korea;torture;north korea nuclear crisis;donald trump;otto warmbier
|
jp0003110
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
NPO seeking open government finds that some Japan ministers' schedules were swiftly binned
|
Records of Cabinet ministers’ schedules, including details of their meetings, were discarded a very short period of time after or even on the day they were created, it has been learned. The revelation came after Access-Info Clearinghouse Japan, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo, made freedom of information requests to some ministries. The NPO is working to promote the disclosure of public information. The guidelines on the management of administrative records stipulate that the storage period for records on ministers’ schedules is less than a year. It is not illegal to dispose of such records on the day they were created. But the NPO is calling for the guidelines to be revised so they are stored for a longer period, pointing out that schedule records are important sources of material for checking whether ministers are abusing their positions. The NPO asked the Cabinet Office and 11 ministries to disclose records of their ministers’ schedules in fiscal 2017 and 2018, as well as related records. The requests came in the wake of a series of scandals related to public records, including one in which the Finance Ministry tampered with those linked to a controversial discounted sale of state land in the city of Osaka to school operator Moritomo Gakuen. In response to the requests, many of the ministries said they did not have or had already discarded such records. The Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said they dumped their records on the day they were created. The Finance Ministry said it disposed of its records after related events ended. Yukiko Miki, head of the NPO, expressed concern, saying: “Information on whom ministers met and where they went represent government activities. Unless such information is preserved as an official record, it will be very difficult to verify such information afterward, and ministers could possibly abuse their positions.” Records of ministers’ schedules should be kept for more than a year, Hiroshi Miyake, a lawyer and former member of the official records management committee at the Cabinet Office, said. “Ministers aren’t qualified to be in their posts unless they have the resolve or enthusiasm to do things that would go down in history,” he added.
|
cabinet;secrecy;access-into clearinghouse japan
|
jp0003111
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Goldman Sachs strategist says Japan is still holding back talented women, 20 years after upbeat report
|
Working women are playing a bigger role in Japan than Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Kathy Matsui thought possible when she penned her first report on womenomics in 1999. Yet the country needs to pick up the pace of change or risk being overtaken by a demographic crisis. Two decades ago, Matsui struck an optimistic note amid general gloom over Japan in her first analysis of women in the economy, setting out how empowered women could bolster flagging growth as the population aged. In a new version out earlier this month, Matsui, now chief Japan strategist, explains how Japanese women continue to trail their peers in other developed countries in many respects, even as they pour into the labor force in ever-increasing numbers. There are now 3 million more women working outside the home than in 2012, yet they earn on average only three-quarters as much as men, partly because so many are in part-time roles. “This country is already on the brink of a demographic crisis,” Matsui said in an interview in Tokyo. “If your sole key resource as a nation is your human capital, you don’t have a lot of options but to leverage every single human being.” Matsui gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a patchy score card in her report — highlighting the slow progress on his pledge to increase women’s representation in leadership, and shortfalls on Abe’s targets for men taking paternity leave and mothers staying in work. Japan, which is set to lose 40 percent of its working-age population by 2055, is already missing out on what could be a 15 percent boost to the economy if women worked to their full potential, according to Matsui. That would entail not only raising the proportion of women in work to match that of men, but having each of them work longer hours. Matsui notes that Japan’s labor participation rate for women has soared to 71 percent — higher than in the U.S. and Europe, even amid blatant gender discrimination in fields from education to politics. Tokyo Medical University made headlines last year when it admitted to excluding women in favor of less-qualified men. And in early April, one of the country’s best-known feminists shocked attendees at the elite University of Tokyo’s entrance ceremony with a blunt speech warning students of the prejudice women would encounter in school and after graduating. Japan offers some of the most generous parental leave allowances in the world, yet few men take advantage of them, and women face barriers to returning to work because of child care shortages. Working mothers suffer because fathers do less housework than their counterparts in other developed countries. Abe, a conservative, jumped on the womenomics bandwagon after he returned to office in 2012, becoming an unlikely champion of working women as he sought to tackle what he has called the “national crisis” of the aging and shrinking population. He pledged, among other things, to put women in 30 percent of management positions in all fields by 2020, though progress toward that goal has been glacial. In politics, only about 10 percent of Lower House lawmakers are female, while Abe has just one woman in his 19-strong Cabinet. “I’m advocating gender quotas in parliament,” Matsui said. “It’s just unacceptable to me that the most important laws and decisions affecting everyone living in Japan are determined 90 percent by one gender.” In 1999, Matsui’s report cited the growing number of women using cell phones, buying computers to access the internet, snapping up luxury goods and even purchasing their own homes as trends on which to base investment decisions. The 2019 womenomics report proffers a different basket of companies that are positioned to benefit from women at work, including in fields such as child care, elderly care and temporary staffing. Matsui also offers a host of recommendations for Abe’s government, corporations and society as a whole — though some of her ideas have fallen on deaf ears for decades. She wants more to be done to break down the barriers between regular and nonregular workers, and an end to a tax system that pushes married women to be housewives. She also calls for looser immigration rules to allow more foreign caregivers. But it’s not only the legal structure that needs to change, according to Matsui. “The government can only do so much and a lot of the kind of heavier lifting needs to occur in the private sphere, not only within or inside corporations, but also within homes,” she said. Values, expectations and media stereotypes have an important role to play, Matsui added. “Because Japan is so much at the forefront of aging and shrinking population, all global eyes are on Japan,” Matsui said. “Is Japan going to be the template that other aging societies will follow? Or will other nations say: ‘Don’t do what Japan did!'”
|
shinzo abe;women;goldman sachs;womenomics;kathy matsui
|
jp0003112
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Japan's Hayabusa2 probe succeeds in blasting out first man-made crater on an asteroid
|
Scientists have succeeded in creating what they called the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid, a step toward shedding light on how the solar system evolved, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday. The announcement comes after the Hayabusa2 probe fired an explosive device April 5 at the Ryugu asteroid, around 340 million kilometers from Earth, to blast a crater in the surface and scoop up material, aiming to reveal more about the origins of life on Earth. Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2 project manager, told reporters they confirmed the crater from images captured by the probe located 1,700 meters (5,500 feet) from the asteroid’s surface. “Creating an artificial crater with an impactor and observing it in detail afterward is a world-first attempt,” Tsuda said. “This is a big success.” NASA’s Deep Impact probe succeeded in creating an artificial crater on a comet in 2005, but only for observation purposes. The JAXA probe photographed the area hit by the projectile from a distance of 1.7 km, according to the agency, which compared images of the asteroid’s surface before and after the shooting of the metal bullet, and determined the presence of a man-made crater measuring about 10 meters across. Masahiko Arakawa, a Kobe University professor involved in the project, said it was “the best day of his life.” “We can see such a big hole a lot more clearly than expected,” he said. JAXA scientists had previously predicted that the crater could be as large as 10 meters in diameter if the surface was sandy, or three meters if it was rocky. “The surface is filled with boulders but yet we created a crater this big. This could mean there’s a scientific mechanism we don’t know or something special about Ryugu’s materials,” the professor said. Rocks had been moved and dislodged from their previous location, while there was a dark area about 40 meters long on the surface, considered to be debris created from the impact. Hayabusa2, which began its descent toward the asteroid Wednesday afternoon, captured images of its surface to determine the existence of the crater. Hayabusa2 shot a copper “impact head” at Ryugu. The agency confirmed a burst of debris caused by the collision. The aim of blasting the crater on Ryugu is to throw up “fresh” material from under the asteroid’s surface that could shed light on the early stages of the solar system. The asteroid is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water from some 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system was born. In February, Hayabusa2 touched down briefly on Ryugu to collect surface samples and found hydrated minerals that will help scientists determine whether asteroids brought water to Earth as hypothesized. The mission, with a price tag of around ¥30 billion, was launched in December 2014 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, and Hayabusa2 reached Ryugu last June. It is scheduled to return to Earth with its samples in 2020. Photos of Ryugu — which means “Dragon Palace” in Japanese and refers to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale — show the asteroid has a rough surface covered with boulders. Although the initial plan was to focus the blast to within 200 meters of the target, the team said they had hit within 10 to 20 meters of it. “There was a very high level of accuracy,” Tsuda said. “We were able to create a crater in the area we had aimed for.” The team will continue to analyze the results and determine whether there is an appropriate area on Ryugu’s surface they can land the space probe on in order to collect a sample of rocks from the asteroid. Asteroids like Ryugu are often likened to fossils holding the preserved traces of the time when the solar system was born. But the effects of solar winds have weathered Ryugu’s surface, making it necessary to dig deep under it in order to collect such materials.
|
space;jaxa;astronomy;planets;asteroids;hayabusa;ryugu
|
jp0003114
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Abe implores EU leaders to avert no-deal Brexit and safeguard Japan's 'gateway to Europe'
|
BRUSSELS - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called on European Union leaders to help the U.K. avert a potentially disastrous departure from the economic bloc without an exit deal. In a meeting in Brussels, Abe and the EU leaders — European Council chief Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker — agreed on the importance of free trade and cooperation toward the success of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Osaka in June. Abe said at a news conference after the talks that Tokyo welcomes the European Union’s recent decision to give the U.K. an extended Oct. 31 deadline to leave the bloc. The prime minister is in Brussels as part of a European and North American tour being conducted to lay the groundwork for this year’s G20 leaders summit. Abe’s Brussels visit follows the April 11 summit in which EU leaders gave Prime Minister Theresa May an additional six months to get U.K. Parliament to endorse the exit terms she struck last year. “A no-deal Brexit is what we have to avoid by all means,” Abe told a news conference in Brussels, with Tusk and Juncker standing at his side. An orderly withdrawal, he said, is necessary because Japanese firms have invested so much in Britain as a European Union member country. The companies, Abe said, need “legal stability” as well as transparency ahead. “We strongly hope that it will be possible for Japanese companies to continue” doing business in the United Kingdom, Abe said through an interpreter. “For Japan, the U.K. is the gateway to Europe,” he said, recalling he has made the same point to Juncker, Tusk and May. “So a smooth Brexit is what we hope for.” Analysts have warned that the negotiations for Britain’s exit have in many cases accelerated the decisions of Japanese firms to leave Britain. The agreement reached between May and European Union leaders during the April 11 summit saved the continent from what could have been a chaotic no-deal departure on April 12. The April 12 deadline was already a delay from an original deadline of March 29. The EU granted the postponements after May failed three times to get Parliament to adopt the divorce deal she struck in Brussels last November. If London remains in the EU after May 22 then British voters will have to take part in European elections — or crash out of the European Union on June 1. Around 1,000 Japanese companies operate in Britain, supporting about 140,000 jobs. But automakers Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have said they are axing production at plants in Britain, while electronics giants Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are scaling back operations. Major Japanese banks are pulling out. While there are specific reasons behind each individual business decision, analysts say the specter of Brexit is haunting Japanese firms across the board. For its part, the EU is a major trading partner and a direct investment destination for Japan. Combined, the 28-member bloc and Japan make up about a third of the world’s economy. The Japanese and European leaders also hailed the entry into force in February of their two-way free trade agreement amid an ongoing U.S.-China trade war, while reaffirming the strengthening of maritime security cooperation between the two sides. The EU and Japan “look forward to intensifying security and defense cooperation in the fields of counterterrorism, cyber and maritime security, and crisis management,” Tusk said in the news conference with Abe. Abe’s trip comes amid concern among some European Union members about the prospect of Beijing gaining a bigger foothold on the continent following Italy’s endorsement in March of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure development initiative, the first member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations to do so. At a summit Wednesday in Rome, Abe agreed with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that they will pursue high-quality infrastructure that can achieve both economic growth and fiscal sustainability.
|
shinzo abe;europe;eu;u.k .;jean-claude juncker;donald tusk;brexit
|
jp0003115
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to visit Saudi Arabia and Africa
|
Foreign Minister Taro Kono will make separate visits to Saudi Arabia and Africa by the end of Golden Week, it was announced Friday. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Kono, who left for the Middle East the same day, hopes to hold talks with dignitaries including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Assaf, the Foreign Ministry said. The foreign minister will voice support for Saudi Arabia’s social reforms, including moves to advance women in society, before ending his visit on Monday. Also, Kono is expected to confirm cooperation between Japan and Saudi Arabia, chair country of Group of 20 summit in 2020, before Japan hosts this year’s G20 summit in Osaka in June. In addition, Kono announced Friday that he will visit the African countries of Angola, South Sudan and Ethiopia from Thursday until May 6 to meet with their leaders. Kono will be the first Japanese foreign minister to visit South Sudan, where the Self-Defense Forces are stationed as part of the command for the U.N. peacekeeping mission. “I hope to discuss mainly support for the peace process,” he said. The minister also showed interest in strengthening cooperation on business initiatives in Africa. Promoting investment in Africa is expected to be a key theme of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD VII, to be held in Yokohama in August.
|
africa;saudi arabia;g20;taro kono
|
jp0003116
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Democratic Party for the People, Japan's second-largest opposition force, absorbs Ozawa's Liberals
|
The second-largest opposition party, the Democratic Party for the People, on Friday absorbed a smaller opposition party in an attempt to bolster its strength ahead of an Upper House election this summer. The DPP, a splinter of the now-defunct Democratic Party, will maintain its name and basic policies after being joined by members of the Liberal Party. The DPP formed last May. “It’s the first step to creating an alternative to take over the reins of government in place of the Liberal Democratic Party (led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe),” Yuichiro Tamaki, who heads the DPP, said at a news conference. “We’ll continue to call on others to join.” With the merger, the Liberal Party will be disbanded. Six of its lawmakers will join the DPP. The DPP now has 40 lawmakers in the more powerful Lower House, up from 37, and the number in the Upper House increased to 24 from 21, coming closer to those of the main opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which has 54 seats in the House of Representatives and 24 in the House of Councilors. However, discussions within the DPP on whether to unite with the smaller party, co-headed by Ichiro Ozawa, who was once a power broker in Japanese politics, lasted about seven hours from Thursday night before reaching the conclusion. Some DPP lawmakers were against the merger and remain alert to the political influence of Ozawa. Ozawa was credited with helping the DP oust the LDP from power in 2009 after 54 years of near continuous rule but later triggered a split in the then-governing party as he and his allies strongly opposed its push for a consumption tax hike. Tamaki will remain as leader of the expanded party. Ozawa’s position has yet to be determined. At the news conference, Ozawa urged Yukio Edano, leader of the CDP, to play an active role in working toward mobilizing forces of all opposition parties. “It would be the best if CDP leader Yukio Edano makes a decision and tries gathering all opposition parties,” Ozawa said.
|
ichiro ozawa;dpp;liberal party;yuichiro tamaki
|
jp0003117
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Number of abandoned homes in Japan edges up to record high of nearly 8.5 million
|
The number of abandoned homes hit a record high of 8.46 million as of Oct. 1, rising by 260,000 over five years, government data showed Friday. Abandoned homes as a proportion of total housing stock also hit a record high at 13.6 percent, up 0.1 point from the previous survey five years earlier. The total number of homes in Japan increased by 1.8 million to 62.4 million, of which 53.7 million were occupied, up 1.6 million from the previous survey, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said. Yamanashi Prefecture had the highest proportion of abandoned homes at 21.3 percent, followed by Wakayama Prefecture at 20.3 percent. The prefectures with the lowest proportions of vacant homes were Saitama and Okinawa.
|
population;housing;buildings;yamanashi;rural life;abandoned homes;akiya
|
jp0003118
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Japanese police officer quits after being busted for driving patrol cars without license
|
SAITAMA - A police officer resigned Friday after it was revealed that she’d been driving patrol cars around the city of Kawagoe since November despite the fact she didn’t have a driving license. “I thought I’d be forced to resign from the Criminal Investigations Bureau if I admitted I didn’t have a license,” the Saitama Prefectural Police quoted the 22-year-old as saying. The police said earlier Friday that the officer, who belonged to the Kawagoe Police Station’s Criminal Affairs Division, had been referred to prosecutors and suspended for six months. Her referral was based on the allegation that she drove police cars four times in Kawagoe from Jan. 10 to 15. The officer, however, apparently got behind the wheel of Kawagoe’s police cruisers some 10 to 20 times before she was found out. Her secret came to light when she was questioned after an accident in the Kawagoe Police Station’s parking lot on Jan. 16. That forced her to reveal that she had been driving with only a motorcycle license. In reports submitted every April and October, the police officer wrote that she had been licensed to drive cars and midsize trucks or other vehicles. “It is extremely regrettable that a police officer has committed such an act,” said Katsuhiko Kondo, chief inspector of the Saitama Prefectural Police. “We will do our best to ensure this type of incident will not be repeated, by doing our utmost when advising our officers.”
|
saitama;police;kawagoe police station
|
jp0003119
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Emperor Akihito performs last official duty outside Imperial Palace ahead of abdication
|
Emperor Akihito took part in an award ceremony in Tokyo on Friday, in what was likely his last official duty outside the Imperial Palace ahead of his abdication next week. He appeared at the ceremony held by the Cabinet Office to present the Midori Prize, which is awarded to recipients who have made significant contributions to conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity in various areas, including science, policy, public awareness and practical action, according to the AEON Environmental Foundation, the founder of the award. The 85-year-old Emperor, who has reigned since January 1989, will step down on Tuesday, becoming the nation’s first monarch to do so in about two centuries. His eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne the following day. The Emperor’s final official duty will be the abdication ceremony at the state hall of the Imperial Palace on April 30. He is expected to deliver his final speech as emperor then. After retiring, he will not engage in any official duties. He already made his last trips earlier this month to the Grand Shrines of Ise, a complex of Shinto shrines in Mie Prefecture, and the mausoleum of his father, Emperor Showa, on the outskirts of Tokyo. He is scheduled to spend his final days as Emperor inside the palace, according to the Imperial Household Agency. Friday’s ceremony is an annual event that has been held since 2007, although it was canceled in 2011 due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region and again in 2016 when another major earthquake caused widespread damage in Kumamoto Prefecture.
|
emperor akihito;imperial family;abdication;reiwa;imperial change;midori prize
|
jp0003120
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/26
|
Japan grants first work permits under new blue-collar visa system to address labor crunch
|
Japan has granted two working permits under the new visa system for blue-collar workers that came into force earlier this month to address the national labor shortage, the Justice Ministry announced Friday. The recipients are two Cambodian women in their 20s who came to Japan to be technical interns in the agricultural field. With the new visa status, they will be employed by a firm in Osaka Prefecture with branches in Wakayama Prefecture, where they have been undergoing technical training. They will be dispatched to Gobo in Wakayama to perform tasks including tilling and sowing. The ministry also granted permission for 18 others to stay in Japan who have come to the country under the lower-skilled trainee program and have applied for the new visas. The officials also said they plan to grant similar visas to another 45 applicants engaged mainly in agriculture. Under the new system, which came into force on April 1, up to 345,000 blue-collar workers are expected to come to the country over the next five years to work in 14 sectors, including construction and agriculture. As a rule, applicants must take tests to check their skills. But given that tests for those who are eligible for the new visas have not yet been introduced for most sectors, or the results are not yet known, the officials recognized the 20 applicants’ skills and experience from the prior technical training. “The foreigners who qualified had previously stayed in Japan as technical trainees and were given exemptions from the tests,” said an official with the Immigration Services Agency, which was upgraded from the Immigration Bureau on April 1 and established as an affiliate of the Justice Ministry. Those who have been granted the new permits can start working after they acquire new resident statuses through the Immigration Agency. None have qualified for the second type of visa, which can be renewed indefinitely as long as the holder is employed. People employed under this category will have higher skill levels than holders of the first type and will be permitted to bring their spouses and children to Japan. The officials also said they had granted licenses to eight organizations outsourced by firms accepting foreign workers under the new visa system to provide support throughout the dispatching process and execute the required procedures. Among them are small and midsize businesses, and public notaries. Such accreditation is mandatory to complete the screening process under the new visa program. So far, 1,176 firms have applied for it, with 1,168 awaiting recognition. The officials stressed they had not rejected any applicants and the working permits were granted only to those who successfully completed the application procedures and required paperwork on time. The officials admitted the time-consuming licensing process, which can take up to two months, is slowing down the procedures. But the immigration officials hope the policy measures introduced under the new visa system will make life easier for foreign blue-collar workers. The government has introduced a 126-point package of policy measures to provide greater assistance, including Japanese-language education programs. The technical trainee program, which many of the applicants have completed, has long been criticized for violating trainees’ rights and for exploiting migrant workers. Shoko Sasaki, 57, who on April 1 assumed the role of the first commissioner of the newly established Immigration Services Agency, said in a meeting with reporters Thursday that the new visa processes for blue-collar workers were going forward “slowly and quietly.” Sasaki said she was looking forward to seeing more companies and organizations getting licensed to provide support for foreign people in the belief that such professional assistance should help prevent potential abuses of the system. “I hope this will gain a foothold in the society,” Sasaki said of the support organizations.
|
immigration;jobs;expats;foreign trainees;foreign workers
|
jp0003123
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/21
|
'Good as gold' not good enough: New labels promote ethical metal
|
PARIS - Forget how many carats — how ethical is your gold? As high-end consumers demand to know the origin of their treasures, some jewelers are ensuring they use responsibly sourced, eco-friendly or recycled gold. Specialized producers now tack a “fairmined” ecologically friendly label on their output, and the Swiss house Chopard last year became the first big name to commit to “100 percent ethical” creations. The Geneva-based firm, which makes the Palme d’Or trophy for the Cannes Film Festival, says it now uses only verified suppliers of gold that meet strict standards to minimize the negative environmental impacts of mining the precious metal. Among the many certificates and standards claiming to codify “responsible” gold mining, two labels stand out: “fairmined” gold — a label certified by a Colombian NGO — and the more widely known “fairtrade,” a label launched by Swiss foundation Max Havelaar. Both support artisanal mines that seek to preserve the environment in terms of extraction methods, along with decent working conditions and wages for the miners. Such production remains limited — just a few hundred kilograms annually. Global gold output, by comparison, totals around 3,300 tons. Concerned jewelers are keen to ensure they can trace the source of their entire supply to an ethical production cycle and to firms certified by the not-for-profit Responsible Jewellery Council, which has developed norms for the entire supply chain. RJC members must adhere to tough standards governing ethical, human rights, social and environmental practices across the precious metals industry. The French luxury group Kering, which says it has bought more than 3.5 tons of “responsibly produced” gold since 2015 for its Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo and Gucci brands, has committed to 100 percent use of “ethical” gold by 2020. “We are trying to maximize the proportion of fairmined and fairtrade gold — but their modest production is in great demand, so the bulk of our sourcing remains recycled gold, (which is) certified RJC Chain of Custody,” said Claire Piroddi, sustainability manager for Kering’s jewelry and watches. Fairmined or fairtrade gold is “about 10 to 12 percent more expensive. But recycled gold barely generates any additional cost premium,” Piroddi said, since it was already refined for its previous life in jewelry or as part of a high-tech product. Going a step further, using only precious metal from electronic or industrial waste is an original idea developed by Courbet, a brand launched just last spring. “We do not want to promote mining extraction or use recently extracted gold, so we sought suppliers who recycle gold used in graphics cards or computer processors. That’s because we know today that more than half of gold’s available reserves have already been extracted,” said Marie-Ann Wachtmeister, Courbet’s co-founder and artistic director. She says the brand’s watchwords are “ethical” and “environmental consciousness.” “In a mine, a ton of terrain might contain 5 grams of gold, whereas a ton of electronic waste might generate 200 grams,” Wachtmeister said. “Clients are also demanding an ecological approach more and more — they are aware of their day-to-day impact and consider the origin of what they wear.” “The issue of supply really resonates with the public at large,” added Thierry Lemaire, director-general of Ponce, a jewelry firm that was established in Paris’s fashionable Marais district in 1886. The company is RJC-certified and uses only recycled gold. “There is a logic to that — if we want to do our work well, then let’s go the whole hog and respect nature. That can be done today because the entire chain has become standardized. Studios such as ours that work for major names on Place Vendome are all certified,” Lemaire said, referring to an upscale square in Paris. He represents the fifth generation of the family controlling Ponce, which produces 45,000 gold rings a year from recycled gold. Working in a pungent atmosphere of heated metal, refiners sit hunched over polishing machines, a large leather hide slung over their knees to catch the tiniest shaving. “Every Friday, we have a great clear-out and go over the workshop with a fine-tooth comb to pick up little bits of (gold) dust and shavings,” Lemaire said. “Nothing is lost. It’s a truly virtuous chain.”
|
pollution;poverty;recycling;luxury goods;gold;jewelry
|
jp0003124
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/21
|
FAA to involve experts from several nations in planned comprehensive review of troubled Boeing Max planes
|
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is planning what it calls a comprehensive multination review of the control systems of the Boeing 737 Max airliner to include experts from nine civil aviation authorities. The review is to begin April 29 and is expected to take 90 days, the FAA announced Friday. The review will “evaluate aspects of the 737 Max automated flight-control system, including its design and pilots’ interaction with the system, to determine its compliance with all applicable regulations and to identify future enhancements that might be needed,” the agency said. That system is suspected to have played a role in the Oct. 29, 2018, crash of a Lion Air flight near Jakarta, killing 189, and in the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane near Addis Ababa, killing 157. Both crashes occurred shortly after takeoff. Boeing Max planes — the aerospace firm’s all-time best-seller — have been grounded worldwide since then, while engineers and investigators seek the exact causes of the crashes. The new review will be chaired by Chris Hart, a former head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, and will include experts from the FAA and NASA. In addition, civil aviation authorities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates will take part. In both the Indonesian and Ethiopian crashes, Boeing’s new anti-stall system known as MCAS has been called into question. It reportedly lowered the crafts’ noses repeatedly despite pilots’ efforts to wrest back control. On Tuesday, Boeing carried out an engineering test flight of a Max plane with an updated MCAS system, considered a key step on the path to re-certifying the plane for flight. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who was on board one recent test flight, vowed to make the 737 Max “one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.”
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u.s .;accidents;boeing;aviation;737 max
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jp0003125
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
U.S. arrests armed member of right-wing militia accused of detaining migrants
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WASHINGTON - The FBI has arrested a member of an armed right-wing militia group accused of illegally detaining migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Saturday. Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 70, was arrested for illegal possession of a weapon. His small but well-armed United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) group says it watches the border, stands guard over people who want to hand themselves in to border patrol and pursues those who don’t. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas described Hopkins, who also goes by the name of “Striker,” as a “dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families.” “Today’s arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes,” he added. Hopkins was said to have been detaining migrants near Sunland Park, New Mexico. In recent months, thousands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, primarily Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence at home. President Donald Trump has described them as a threat to national security, demanding billions of dollars from Congress to build a wall on the southern border. UCP members insist they will patrol the border until the wall is built. “We’re here to assist the border patrol because they are so short handed,” Hopkins told AFP earlier this month. The group — made up mostly of older veterans — enjoys an enthusiastic social media following. They are equipped with tactical gear, rifles and even custom patches. Hopkins could be heard during lengthy radio broadcasts streamed online several times a week. The border vigilante movement is well-established, with the Southern Poverty Law Center documenting “questionable apprehensions of migrants by private citizens” from as far back as 1999.
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guns;u.s .;immigration;rights;refugees
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jp0003126
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Two decades since Columbine massacre, mass shootings have become a feature of American life
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LITTLETON, COLORADO - It has been 20 years since two heavily armed young men in dark trench coats entered a Colorado high school and launched a bloody attack that seared the word “Columbine” into the American psyche, forever transforming the debate on gun rights and school violence. At a memorial service Saturday to mark the anniversary of the massacre in Littleton, Colorado — in which teenage shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 Columbine High School students and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves — there were reflections on grief, loss and healing. “While time may lessen the intensity of the trauma, the incredible memories still remain,” said former Columbine principal Ron Mitchell. “The strength and resilience of this community has given us hope.” The events of that day planted a jarring and lasting sense of vulnerability in Americans’ minds. School shootings, once almost unheard of, have become a tragic feature of American life — requiring all schools to tighten security, forcing even 6-year-olds to take part in traumatic “live-shooter” drills. Places that had always seemed the safest — schools, libraries, even churches and synagogues — no longer seem so. But as folks in Littleton prepared for the official memorial service, there were also signs of a rededication to making things better. Saturday was the third annual Columbine Day of Service, with hundreds of students and teachers donating time and labor to help charitable causes and honor the memory of those who died. “Right after Columbine, people wanted to be better people,” Dawn Anna, mother of 18-year-old victim Lauren Townsend, told The Denver Post. “There was a real change in people’s attitudes.” On Friday, survivors of the massacre joined friends and relatives of the victims at a prayer vigil in a memorial park, lighting candles and laying flowers on plaques bearing victims’ names. One survivor, Amanda Duran, who was 15 at the time of the attack, said she could not believe more has not been done to control gun violence. “You would have thought someone would have come with more gun laws” or required mental health evaluations of would-be gun buyers, she said Friday. “But nothing of that sort happened. So I have just been angry and pissed off.” Her best friend was killed in the shooting. School officials, student leaders and graduates, as well as Colorado Governor Jared Polis, spoke at the official memorial service in Littleton, in a park next to the high school. A recorded message from Bill Clinton, who was U.S. president at the time of the massacre, was played. The shooting sparked a fierce national debate over gun rights and violence. Yet three presidents after Clinton, it seems no closer to resolution. The number of firearms in circulation has continued to grow (now at 393 million in a nation of 326 million people), and mass shootings have become a disturbingly regular part of American life. Since Columbine, an estimated 226,000 children in 233 schools have been exposed to the sight or sound of gunfire, according to a Washington Post investigation. The worst shootings to date were those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut in 2012 (20 young children and six adults were killed) and at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last year (17 dead). But the power of an influential gun lobby and a long tradition of gun ownership have meant that little has been done to improve gun safety. In the meantime, Columbine has taken on an almost mythical dimension in the memories of some. A dark fascination with the killings by Klebold and Harris — whose motives remain somewhat murky — maintains a grip on some, as shown by the recent case of 18-year-old Sol Pais. Police had been warned that the young Floridian, “fascinated” by Columbine, was headed to Colorado and had purchased a gun. Hundreds of schools in the Littleton area were protectively closed Tuesday. But in the end, Pais was found in a remote, mountainous spot west of Denver — having shot and killed herself.
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guns;u.s .;murder;mass shootings;columbine
|
jp0003127
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Airstrikes and explosions hit Tripoli in escalation of offensive by eastern Libyan forces against government
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TRIPOLI - Several airstrikes and explosions shook the Libyan capital overnight, residents said, in an escalation of a two-week offensive by eastern forces on Tripoli, which is held by the internationally recognized government. A Reuters reporter and several residents said they saw an aircraft circling for more than 10 minutes over the capital late on Saturday, and that it made a humming sound before opening fire on several areas. An aircraft was heard again after midnight, circling for more than 10 minutes before a heavy explosion shook the ground. It was not clear whether an aircraft or unmanned drone was behind the strike, which triggered heavy anti aircraft fire. Residents had reported drone strikes in recent days, but there has been no confirmation and explosions heard in the city centre this time were louder than in previous days. Residents counted several missile strikes, one of which apparently hit a military camp of forces loyal to Tripoli in the Sabaa district in the south of the capital, scene of the heaviest fighting between the rival forces. Authorities closed Tripoli’s only functioning airport, cutting air links to a city of an estimated 2.5 million residents. The airport in Misrata, a city 200 km to the east, remained open. The Libyan National Army (LNA) force loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar started an offensive two weeks ago but has been unable to breach the government’s southern defences. If a drone strike was confirmed this would point to more sophisticated warfare. The LNA has so far mainly used aging Soviet-made jets from the air force of Moammar Gadhafi, toppled in 2011, lacking precision firepower and helicopters, according to residents and military sources. In the past the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have supported Haftar with airstrikes during campaigns to take eastern Libya. Both countries flew airstrikes on Tripoli in 2014 during a different conflict to help a Haftar-allied force, U.S. officials said at the time. Since 2014 the UAE and Egypt have provided the LNA with military equipment such as aircraft and helicopters, helping Haftar gain the upper hand in Libya’s eight-year conflict, U.N. reports have established. The UAE even built an air base in Al Khadim in eastern Libya, one such report said in 2017. The airstrikes, which were also filmed by residents in video posted online, came after a day of heavy clashes in southern districts, with shelling audible in the city centre. The violence spiked after the White House said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Haftar earlier in the week. The disclosure of the call and a U.S. statement that it “recognized Field Marshal Haftar’s significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources” has boosted the commander’s supporters and enraged his opponents. Western powers and the Gulf have been divided over a push by Haftar’s forces to seize Tripoli, undermining calls by the United Nations for a cease-fire. Both sides claimed progress in southern Tripoli on Saturday, but no more details were immediately available. A Reuters TV cameraman visiting the southern Khalat Furgan suburb heard heavy shelling but saw no apparent change in the frontline. On Friday, two children were killed in shelling in southern Tripoli, residents said. The fighting has killed 227 people and wounded 1,128, the World Heath organization (WHO) said before the airstrikes. On Thursday, both the United States and Russia said they could not support a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Libya at this time. Russia objects to the British-drafted resolution blaming Haftar for the latest flare-up in violence when his LNA advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli earlier this month, diplomats said. The United States did not give a reason for its decision not to support the draft resolution, which would also call on countries with influence over the warring parties to ensure compliance and for unconditional humanitarian aid access in Libya.
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conflict;terrorism;u.n .;libya;tripoli;khalifa haftar
|
jp0003128
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Jihadis kill more than 60 regime fighters across Syria over 48 hours
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BEIRUT - Jihadis have killed more than 60 Syrian regime fighters in 48 hours, a monitor said Saturday, in some of the deadliest attacks on pro-Damascus forces in recent weeks. Kurdish-led forces in March announced the defeat of the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” in eastern Syria, but the jihadis have retained hideouts there and in other parts of the country as well as the ability to carry out deadly assaults. Since Thursday, IS jihadis have killed 35 pro-Damascus fighters in regime-held parts of central and eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said it was “the highest death toll among regime forces since the caliphate was declared defeated” in the eastern village of Baghouz last month. Regime fighters also came under attack on another front of Syria’s grinding eight-year war, the Britain-based monitor added. On Saturday, jihadis linked to Syria’s former al-Qaida affiliate attacked loyalists outside the northwestern region of Idlib, killing 26 pro-Assad fighters, it said. It was the latest death tally in a civil war that has killed more than 370,000 people since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. President Bashar Assad has managed to claw back around 60 percent of the country with Russian military backing since 2015, but several regions remain beyond the regime’s control. These include a large swathe of northeastern Syria held by Kurdish-led forces who have been fighting IS with the support of a U.S.-led coalition, as well as the region of Idlib held by Syria’s former al-Qaida affiliate. Regime forces in theory control the vast desert that stretches from the capital Damascus to the Iraqi border, but IS is still present there. Since Thursday they have killed 27 troops and allied militiamen, including four Syrian army officers, in the desert east of Homs province, the Observatory said. IS claimed the attacks. The Observatory also said IS fighters killed another eight soldiers and militiamen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Thursday night. That attack targeted a desert village south of the city of Mayadeen on the Euphrates River, upstream from Baghouz. IS swept across a large swath of Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a cross-border “caliphate” in territory that was once roughly the size of the United Kingdom. But after various military operations in both countries, IS lost the last shred of its proto-state on the eastern banks of the Euphrates last month. The U.S.-led coalition has repeatedly warned that the battle against the jihadis is not over. In the northwestern Idlib region, Assad’s forces face Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Idlib was to be protected from a massive regime military offensive by a deal inked in September by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. But the accord has unwound as HTS took full control of the region in January, and the area has come under increasing bombardment. A planned buffer zone around the region was never fully implemented as jihadis refused to withdraw from it. Saturday’s attack by an HTS affiliate on the western edges of Aleppo city killed 21 loyalists. An ambush by HTS-linked jihadis took the lives of five more pro-regime fighters in the northeast of Latakia province. On Friday, Assad urged progress on removing “obstacles” to the stalled Idlib deal ahead of talks to be attended by Russia, fellow ally Iran, and Turkey this week in Kazakhstan. And on Saturday, he met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov in Damascus for talks, including on ways to overcome obstacles resulting from international sanctions imposed on Syria, the presidency said.
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conflict;u.s .;vladimir putin;terrorism;russia;syria;bashar assad;syrian civil war;islamic state;donald trump
|
jp0003129
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Syria's Assad discusses peace talks, renting out key port with Russians
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BEIRUT/MOSCOW - Syrian President Bashar Assad met senior officials from his strongest ally, Russia, in Damascus on Friday and Saturday to discuss upcoming peace talks, renting out Tartus port and trade between the two countries, state media in Syria reported. Russia has helped Assad’s forces to take back most of the country but the eight-year-long war continues. Swaths of the northeast and northwest are out of his control, while sanctions and a fuel shortage are constricting the economy. Moscow has pushed for a political process involving talks on a new constitution and elections as a way to end the conflict, but Assad has played down the possibility that the Turkey-backed opposition or foreign countries might participate. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said late on Friday that Assad had met Moscow’s Syria envoy, Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and several Russian Defense Ministry officials. However, while it said they had discussed the formation of a constitutional committee, which Syria’s opposition last year agreed to join under U.N. auspices after a Russian-hosted peace conference, Syrian state media did not mention it. Syria’s official Sana news agency said meetings had focused on the next round of talks in Kazakhstan involving Syria, its allies Russia and Iran, and the rebels’ backer Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Syria’s war and about half the pre-conflict population of 22 million has been displaced. Russia launched a military intervention to support Assad in 2015, turning the tide of the fighting in his favor. On Saturday, Sana said Assad had met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov to discuss trade and economic cooperation, “particularly in the fields of energy, industry and increasing trade.” The Tass news agency cited Borisov as saying that a contract on renting Tartus port by Russia was expected to be signed soon. In 2017, the Russian parliament ratified a deal with Damascus to cement Russia’s foothold in the country and pave the way for establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria. It was also agreed that Russia would expand and modernize the port’s supply of facilities for its fleet. Borisov said Russia now hoped to sign the deal to rent the port within a week, according to Tass. “We have advanced quite substantially on this issue and hope that the contract will be signed within a week and the port Tartus will be transferred for the Russian business usage,” he was quoted as saying. The Tartus naval facility is Russia’s only naval foothold in the Mediterranean. The Sana news agency said Assad and Borisov discussed mechanisms to overcome obstacles including those “resulting from the sanctions which countries against the Syrian people imposed on Syria.” The United States and European Union imposed tough sanctions on Syria early in the conflict over what they described as atrocities carried out by the government, which it denies. Last week, Syrian state media reported that a fuel shortage which has resulted in rationing and long queues at petrol stations came in the context of difficulty in importing fuel and the halting of a credit line from Iran. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem said on Saturday that “Syria is always coordinating with Iran.”
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conflict;u.s .;vladimir putin;terrorism;russia;syria;bashar assad;syrian civil war;islamic state;donald trump
|
jp0003130
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky set for crushing victory in Ukraine presidential election
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KIEV - Ukraine readied Saturday for a change in leadership as a young comedian appeared set to crush his incumbent rival in presidential polls, delivering a stinging rebuke to the old elite. The 41-year-old TV star Volodymyr Zelensky’s bid to lead Ukraine began as a long shot but all polls predicted he would defeating President Petro Poroshenko in Sunday’s second-round vote. His victory would open a new chapter in the history of a country that has gone through two popular uprisings in two decades and is mired in a five-year conflict with Moscow-backed insurgents in the east. Despite mounting uncertainty Ukrainians are fed up with corruption, poverty and the war that has claimed some 13,000 lives over the past five years. “There is a hope that a simple man will better understand us and dismantle the system that we have in our country,” said Yuliya Lykhota, 29, in an interview in Kiev. “It is very important to raise our people’s spirits.” Others said they doubt the political novice’s ability to enact real change as Ukraine’s sixth president. “I do not believe he will last long once he’s elected,” said Sergiy Fedorets, 62. “He has no support in parliament. He’ll be eaten alive.” Poroshenko came to power after a bloody 2014 uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime, triggering Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. But many in the country of 45 million people feel the promises of the uprising have not been fulfilled. Zelensky has capitalized on popular anger as well as his popularity as the star of the sitcom “Servant of the People,” in which he plays a school teacher who becomes a president. Analysts say his political program is vague at best and it remains unclear who will fill key positions in his government. Ahead of the vote a popular news website, Ukrainska Pravda, published an interview with a therapist who pointed to severe anxiety in the country. “There is not a single person who would not be discussing the situation in the country,” said Oleg Chaban. “People are more tense because they are paying with their lives and expect real change quickly.” Poroshenko, 53, has fought hard to secure re-election but his pleas to forgive him for past mistakes and give him a second chance have fallen on deaf ears. A survey by the Rating pollster showed Zelensky winning 73 percent of the vote against 27 percent for Poroshenko. On Saturday, Poroshenko once again called on Ukrainians to think twice before casting ballots for his rival. “A five-year presidential term is not a comedy that you can easily switch off if it is no longer funny,” he wrote on Facebook. “Neither is it a horror movie that can be easily stopped.” The West has closely watched the race amid concern a new government might undo years of reforms it has backed. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called both Zelensky and Poroshenko on Friday. He “reiterated our commitment to working with whomever the Ukrainian people choose to ensure the success of a secure, prosperous, democratic, & free (country),” Washington’s special envoy, Kurt Volker, said on Twitter. On Friday, the two rivals traded insults in the first and only debate of the campaign at Kiev’s 70,000-seater Olympic Stadium in front of thousands of spectators. Ukrainians said the head-to-head was more about political theatrics and a battle of wits than a much-needed policy debate. Zelensky accused Poroshenko — a tycoon who made a fortune in chocolate before taking office — of enriching himself and failing to end the war in the east. The Ukrainian leader attacked the inexperience of the untested Zelensky, questioning his ability to be a wartime commander-in-chief and saying he would not be able to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also drew attention to Zelensky’s ties to controversial tycoon Igor Kolomoysky. Supporters credit Poroshenko with rebuilding the army and securing an Orthodox Church independent of Russia but he won only just over half of Zelensky’s vote share in the first round of the election last month.
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elections;ukraine;petro poroshenko;volodymyr zelensky
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jp0003131
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Sudan arrests members of party of ousted leader al-Bashir amid investigation into corruption and crimes
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KHARTOUM - Sudanese authorities have arrested several members of the former ruling party of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, an official of his National Congress Party (NCP) said on Saturday. Sudan’s attorney general has also asked the country’s intelligence and national security agencies to lift the immunity of a number of their officers suspected of killing a teacher who died in custody after protests in February, state news agency SUNA said. The moves appear to be part of a widening crackdown on officials from al-Bashir’s administration intended to placate protesters who want the Military Council, which took over after toppling al-Bashir, to hand power to civilians. Attorney General al-Walid Sayed Ahmed also ordered the formation of a committee to oversee investigations into crimes involving public funds, corruption and criminal cases related to recent events, SUNA said, citing a statement from his office. Thirty-nine protesters have been killed since the protests erupted in December, according to official figures. Some opposition groups say as many as 60 died. The teacher who was arrested after protests died due to injuries caused by a “solid object,” according to a medical report cited by the head of a state investigations committee. A regional police chief had initially said food poisoning had caused the death of the teacher, which sparked large protests at the time. Sudan’s public prosecutor has begun investigating al-Bashir on charges of money laundering and possession of large sums of foreign currency without legal grounds, a judicial source said earlier on Saturday. The source said that military intelligence had searched al-Bashir’s home and found suitcases loaded with more than $351,000 and €6 million, as well as 5 million Sudanese pounds. “The chief public prosecutor … ordered the (former) president detained and quickly questioned in preparation to put him on trial,” a judicial source told Reuters. “The public prosecution will question the former president in Kobar prison,” the source added. Al-Bashir has not been questioned yet, said the source. Two of his brothers were also detained on allegations of corruption, the source said. Relatives could not be immediately reached on Saturday for comment about the investigation. Separately, a source in al-Bashir’s NCP said that authorities arrested the acting party head Ahmed Haroun, former first vice president Ali Osman Taha, former al-Bashir aide Awad al-Jaz, the secretary general of the Islamic movement Al-Zubair Ahmed Hassan and former parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taher. The source also said parliament speaker Ibrahim Ahmed Omar and presidential aide Nafie Ali Nafie were under house arrest. Al-Bashir, who is also being sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over allegations of genocide in the country’s western Darfur region, was ousted on April 11 by the military following months of protests against his rule and had been held at a presidential residence. Al-Bashir’s family said earlier in the week that the former president had been moved to the high-security Kobar prison in Khartoum. Hassan Bashir, a professor of political science at the University of Neelain, said the measures against al-Bashir are intended as a message to other figures associated with his rule that they are not above the law. “The trial is a step that the military council wants to take to satisfy the protesters by presenting al-Bashir for trial,” he said. Al-Bashir survived several armed rebellions, economic crises and attempts by the West to turn him into a pariah during his 30-year rule before he was toppled in a military coup. At a sit-in outside Sudan’s Ministry of Defence that began on April 6, protesters stood besides posters of al-Bashir that called on the ICC to put him on trial. The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, leading the protests, has called for holding al-Bashir and members of his administration to account, a purge of corruption and cronyism and easing an economic crisis that worsened during his last years in power.
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corruption;sudan;omar al-bashir
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jp0003132
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Theresa May's party reportedly will tell her to quit before July
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LONDON - A top member of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party will tell her in the coming week that she must step down by the end of June or her lawmakers will try again to depose her, the Sunday Times reported, without citing sources. May survived a vote of no confidence in December and although party rules mean lawmakers cannot challenge her again until a year has passed, lawmaker Graham Brady will tell her the rules will be changed unless she quits, the newspaper said. Brady, who chairs the Conservative Party’s influential 1922 Committee of backbench lawmakers, will tell her that 70 percent of her members of parliament want her to resign over her handling of Brexit, the Sunday Times said. Britain was originally due to leave the European Union on March 29, but that deadline was pushed back to April 12 and then again to Oct. 31 as May failed to break an impasse in parliament on the terms of Brexit.
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eu;u.k .;brexit;theresa may
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jp0003133
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 93rd birthday at Easter service
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LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s oldest and longest reigning living monarch, celebrated her 93rd birthday Sunday by attending the traditional Easter service at Windsor Castle. Elizabeth was accompanied by members of her family, including grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry, and William’s wife, Catherine, at the Easter Mattins service in St. George’s Chapel. Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child imminently, did not attend. The couple, who were married at the chapel in May 2018, posted a birthday greeting to Elizabeth on their official Instagram account. “Happy Birthday Your Majesty, Ma’am, Granny. Wishing you the most wonderful day! Harry & Meghan,” they wrote. Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, in Bruton Street, central London, and became queen in 1952 at the age of 25, meaning she has now reigned for more than 67 years. She has an official birthday in June which is publicly marked with a large parade of soldiers through central London, known as Trooping the Color.
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britain;queen elizabeth;windsor;harry;meghan
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jp0003134
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Total of arrested climate activists passes 750 in Britain
|
LONDON - More than 750 climate change activists blocking roads at some of London’s most famous landmarks have been arrested over the last six days, police said on Saturday, up from a Friday total of 682. The protests, organized by climate group Extinction Rebellion, have for several days disrupted travel through parts of central London, including at Marble Arch and Waterloo Bridge. The activists had also blocked the Oxford Circus shopping district, but by 1700 GMT the roads had been cleared by police and traffic was flowing again. Extinction Rebellion has called for non-violent civil disobedience to force the British government to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025 and stop what it calls a global climate crisis. Twenty-eight of those arrested had been charged with offenses, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick told BBC News that the protests had caused “miserable disruption.” She said there were now 1,500 police officers, up from 1,000 previously, working to clear the roads. On Waterloo Bridge, which connects south and central London, a Reuters journalist said police had cleared away banners and obstructions like bales of hay and even a sofa. But as of early evening, the area was still packed with activists, who remained good-humored. The police reiterated that protests were only allowed to continue at Marble Arch. “I’ve got one message for the protesters and that is: Please, go to Marble Arch where you can protest lawfully. Stop your unlawful protest, and if you don’t want to go to Marble Arch, then go home,” Dick said. On Friday, actress Emma Thompson joined activists at Oxford Circus, at the heart of one of the capital’s most popular shopping districts, to read poetry praising Earth’s bounties.
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u.k .;protests;climate change
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jp0003135
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Western Christians mark Easter at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre church
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JERUSALEM - Hundreds of pilgrims filed into Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Jesus’s resurrection, for Easter celebrations Sunday. Catholics and Protestants marked Easter on Sunday, while Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrated Palm Sunday, with Easter Sunday coming for them on April 28. The church, in the Old City of Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, is built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. A recently renovated ornate shrine within the church surrounds the cave where Jesus is believed to have been interred. Pilgrims from both faiths mingled there in a packed crowd. “Too much of an unruly crowd is not so spiritual,” grumbled Donatella Buhler from Switzerland, there with her children. Polish pilgrim Matthew Novak was more impressed. “It’s really different,” he said. “You can feel the spirit of religion.” Roman Catholic Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated Mass near the shrine and alluded to the pain and violence all around, and to the hope born of faith. “Each of us brings his or her experience of Easter, of death and resurrection,” he said in his sermon. “In the tragic situation we are living, it is this hope that comes to the rescue of a faith that is at odds every day with such great violence.” He did not directly mention Sunday’s series of bomb attacks in Sri Lanka which included strikes on three churches, killing more than 200 people. On Friday, Christians traced the route of the Stations of the Cross through the Old City, passing through the traditional sites of Jesus’s condemnation up to his crucifixion.
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religion;jerusalem;easter;christians;orthodox
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jp0003136
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/21
|
China's top legislature to draw up tighter rules on human gene, embryo trials
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BEIJING - China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, will consider tougher rules on research involving human genes and embryos, the first such move since a Chinese scientist sparked controversy last year by announcing he had created the world’s first “gene-edited” babies. He Jiankui, associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, attracted condemnation from the global scientific community when he said he had used a technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born in November. Chinese authorities launched an investigation into He’s work and said they had halted the kind of research he has been undertaking. Under the draft laws sent to the NPC for review Saturday, medical and human trials will face closer scrutiny and stricter requirements, such as ensuring human subjects are properly briefed, state media outlet Xinhua reported. The rules will also require all future trials to be approved by administrative authorities as well as ethical committees, it said. The report did not specify a timeline for the approval of the regulations, or make specific mention of He’s research. In videos posted online and at last November’s conference where He made his controversial presentation, He said he believed his gene editing would help protect the girls from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Chinese authorities and institutions, as well as hundreds of international scientists, condemned him and said any application of gene editing on human embryos for reproductive purposes was against the law and medical ethics of China.
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china;genetics;biotechnology;he jiankui
|
jp0003137
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Chinese Navy's 70th anniversary celebrations: Mere muscle-flexing or something more?
|
China’s navy will mark its 70th anniversary this week with an array of events, including a massive international fleet review and parade — but is this merely military muscle-flexing or something more nuanced? The Chinese People’s Liberation Army will hold four days of events starting Monday to celebrate the key anniversary . These will include a large-scale naval parade on Tuesday, where Beijing will show off some of its newest warships — including nuclear submarines and destroyers — for the first time. In what Chinese state-run media has touted as a move toward more transparency, Beijing has invited more than 10 countries, including Japan, to take part in the fleet review, while more than 60 countries are sending naval delegations, with more than 30 of them featuring major naval leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has overseen his country’s military buildup , is expected to preside over the fleet review, which comes on the heels of a similar maritime parade last year in the South China Sea that featured a total of 48 vessels and 76 planes, including the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, as well as guided-missile destroyers, nuclear submarines and fighter jets. Amid this context, regional nations and the United States are likely to view this year’s display with mixed emotions, said Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “A stronger PLA Navy does signify a stronger and confident China,” Koh said. “Seen from the economic perspective, it bodes well for the region. But seen from the geopolitical perspective, a stronger PLA Navy would inevitably invoke unease and concerns, given the existing geopolitical flash points around the region that involve China and its neighbors.” For Zhang Baohui, director of Lingnan University’s Center for Asian Pacific Studies in Hong Kong, the event is less about showing off its improving military prowess and more about something all great powers desire. “I believe the intention is to increase China’s prestige by showing its ability to put together a major event that is participated by all regional countries,” Zhang said. “Prestige matters in big ways for great powers. Their rivalries are often over prestige and status.” Pointedly, the United States has decided to mostly sit out the events, sending only representatives from its embassy’s defense attache office in Beijing instead of vessels or top officials. The U.S. snub, a decision apparently made out of concerns that China could have used the presence of American warships to bolster its international standing, comes as Beijing continues to aggressively bolster its presence in the South and East China seas and near Taiwan. In the East China Sea, Beijing is at odds with Tokyo over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyus. It frequently sends government-backed vessels to the surrounding waters. In the contested South China Sea, which includes vital sea lanes through which about $3 trillion in global trade passes each year, it has built up and fortified a series of islets, turning them into military outposts. And near Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province that must be brought back into the fold, by force if necessary, it has conducted so-called encirclement exercises with fighter jets and heavy bombers. But despite growing international scrutiny over its moves in the contested waterways and elsewhere in recent years, Beijing is using this year’s anniversary to reach out to its counterparts across the globe to present a friendlier image. On Saturday, during a news conference ahead of the anniversary events, Vice Adm. Qiu Yanpeng, deputy commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, reiterated Beijing’s boilerplate stance that its armed forces are not a threat and that it will never “pursue hegemony.” “The PLA Navy is always a force of peace, and will never pose a threat to any other country,” Qiu said. “With its growth, the PLA Navy has provided the world with more and more security products.” The point of the naval review, he added, is to show the world China’s “firm determination to safeguard peace and seek development with joint efforts.” Still, he noted, China’s past history of invasions from the sea — some 470 times, he said — pointed to its need for a strong maritime defense. “A strong navy is essential for building a strong maritime country,” Qiu said. The ruling Communist Party’s propaganda arm has also pulled out all the stops for the event, with state-run television creating a daily dose of slick videos touting the power and prestige of the modern Chinese Navy for more than a week ahead of the anniversary. Nanyang Technological University’s Koh said the parade would not only show off the “great strides” the navy has made over seven decades, it would also serve as “a veritable signal of deterrence to perceived and would-be adversaries within China’s neighborhood and beyond … the United States in particular.” As for Sino-Japanese relations, which have warmed in recent months amid a flurry of high-level exchanges, security concerns continue to persist but have been put aside for the sake of stability, observers say. This has been highlighted by Japan’s decision to attend the fleet review while also announcing the deployment to the Indo-Paciifc area of one of its largest warships, the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Izumo helicopter carrier from April 30, said Lingnan University’s Zhang. “I think with improving relations between the two countries, China has become less sensitive to Japan’s presence in the South China Sea,” Zhang said. “This shows that interpretation of intentions is shaped by the overall relations between countries. When relations are good, states tend to have more benign interpretations of others’ intentions and are thus less edgy about what they are doing.”
|
china;east china sea;u.s .;taiwan;military;senkakus;south china sea;self defense forces;china-japan relations;xi jinping
|
jp0003138
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Easter attacks in Sri Lanka kill at least 207, injure scores more
|
COLOMBO - A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing at least 207 people, including dozens of foreigners. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe condemned the attacks — the worst act of violence since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war a decade ago — as “cowardly”, as the government imposed an immediate and indefinite curfew across the entire country of 21 million people. The powerful blasts — six in quick succession and then two more hours later — wrought devastation, including at the capital’s well-known St. Anthony’s Shrine, a historic Catholic Church. At least two of the attacks were confirmed as being carried out by suicide bombers, according to police sources and a hotel official. Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the dead, with Britons and Japanese also injured. A Portuguese man also died, the country’s LUSA news agency reported. An AFP photographer at the scene at St. Anthony’s saw bodies lying on the floor, some draped with scarves and clothes. Much of the church roof was blown out in the explosion, with roof tiles, glass and splintered wood littering the floor along with pools of blood. At the Shangri-La hotel, an AFP photographer saw extensive damage on the second floor restaurant, with windows blown out and electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. The injured flooded into local hospitals, where officials reported hundreds of wounded were being admitted. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts, but documents seen by AFP show that Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches”. “A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,” the alert said. The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalizing of Buddhist statues. The government ordered a nationwide curfew to start immediately and last “until further notice”, and a “temporary” social media ban was imposed “in order to prevent incorrect and wrong information being spread”. The first blast was reported at St. Anthony’s, followed by a second deadly explosion at St. Sebastian’s, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital. “A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there,” read a post in English on the church’s Facebook page. Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the east-coast town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital — the Cinnamon Grand, the Shangri-La and the Kingsbury. An official at the Cinnamon Grand, near the prime minister’s official residence in Colombo, said a suicide bomber blew himself up at people at the hotel’s restaurant. “He came up to the top of the queue and set off the blast,” he said. A police official said that the death toll after the first six blasts was at least 156, including 35 foreigners. Later in the afternoon, two died in a strike at a hotel in the south of Colombo, while a police source said a suicide bomber hit the suburb of Orugodawatta in the north of the capital, killing three and bringing the overall toll to at least 161. President Maithripala Sirisena said in an address that he was shocked by the explosions and appealed for calm. On Twitter, Wickremesinghe wrote: “I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. “I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong. Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation.” The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, described those behind the attacks as “animals” and called on the authorities to “punish them mercilessly”. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences on the “horrible terrorist attacks”, and Pope Francis in his Easter address at the Vatican spoke of his “affectionate closeness with the Christian community, attacked while it was at prayer”. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, Harsha de Silva, said he had been to two of the attacked hotels and was at the scene at St. Anthony’s, where he described “horrible scenes”. “I saw many body parts strewn all over,” he tweeted, adding that there were “many casualties including foreigners”. “Please stay calm and indoors,” he added. Embassies in Colombo warned their citizens to shelter in place, and Sri Lankan Airlines told customers to arrive at the airport four hours ahead of flights because of ramped-up security in the wake of the attacks. Only around six percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups. There have been no attacks in Sri Lanka linked to foreign Islamist groups, despite local media reports that a 37-year-old Sri Lankan was killed in Syria in 2016 while fighting for the Islamic State group. In January, Sri Lankan police seized a haul of explosives and detonators stashed near a wildlife sanctuary following the arrest of four men from a newly formed radical Muslim group.
|
religion;terrorism;sri lanka;ethnicity;sri lanka attacks
|
jp0003139
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/21
|
India's top judge accused of sexual harassment
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NEW DELHI - India’s top judge fought off a sexual harassment storm Saturday after a former Supreme Court staff member accused him of making unwanted advances and hounding her. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the accusations made by a 35-year-old former court assistant were “unbelievable” and an attempt to stop him hearing important cases. Saying judicial independence was at stake, Gogoi, 64, called a special session of the apex court after the woman wrote to 22 Supreme Court judges on Friday, alleging he twice made sexual advances in the office of his official residence in October last year. “He hugged me around the waist, and touched me all over my body with his arms and by pressing his body against mine, and did not let go,” she wrote in an affidavit. “He told me ‘Hold me,’ he did not let go of me despite the fact that I froze and tried to get out of his embrace by stiffening and moving my body away,” the document added. The woman claimed she was dismissed from her job and her family had been harassed after she rebuffed Gogoi’s advances. She also said she was summoned by Gogoi’s wife, who asked her to prostrate herself and rub her nose at her feet to seek forgiveness. “I have taken this unusual and extraordinary step of sitting in court today because things have gone too far,” Gogoi said. “This is unbelievable. I don’t think I should stoop low even to deny these allegations. … There has to be a bigger force behind this.” The chief justice, who is to retire in November after a year as chief justice, said he was scheduled to hear many sensitive cases in coming days and that he would continue his work “without any fear.” “Why do you think a person decides to become a judge? Reputation is all that matters for a judge. If that is also under attack, what is left?” Gogoi said the woman had a criminal background and that the media must act responsibly on reporting the allegations. A New Delhi court is to hear a police application on Wednesday to cancel bail for the woman in a separate criminal investigation. The woman, a married mother of one, has called on the Supreme Court to set up a “special inquiry committee” to look into her accusations. The #MeToo movement has touched several Bollywood directors, actors and media figures accused of sexual harassment. A junior foreign minister was forced to resign last year after several women accused him of harassment. The Supreme Court, one of India’s most respected institutions, has 25 judges appointed by the president, including the chief justice. The court often rules on key policy matters and orders measures taken in public interest. The latest allegations set Twitter abuzz Saturday with a leading women’s rights activist, Kavita Krishnan, saying the judiciary must come clean on the “extremely serious” charges.
|
india;courts;sex crimes;ranjan gogoi
|
jp0003140
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Accident involving bus in Kobe leaves two people dead and at least six injured
|
KOBE - A public bus hit pedestrians on Sunday on a crosswalk near a major railway station in Kobe, killing two people and injuring at least six others. Police said Yusei Nasu, 23, and Rio Yanai, a 20-year-old university student, died in the accident. The city’s fire department said it received an emergency call at around 2 p.m. concerning the accident involving a city-run bus that occurred on a route near JR Sannomiya Station. Police arrested Fumio Ono, the 64-year-old driver, at the scene for negligence resulting in death. “The bus suddenly accelerated and hit people,” Ono was quoted by police as saying. Ono also said he had stepped on the brake pedal after he dropped off all the passengers at a bus stop near the scene, according to the police. The driver was quoted as saying he was supposed to stop at a line immediately before a pedestrian crossing when the vehicle sped up. Ono, who joined Kobe’s transportation bureau in 1986, has decades of experience as a bus driver. In an incident in 2010, a passenger fell as he started his bus, according to the bureau. An official at the bureau said there had been no reported instances in which Ono had confused the accelerator and brake pedals. Ono went to work as usual on Sunday, according to his wife. The accident happened on a prefectural road with four lanes on either side in one of Kobe’s main shopping districts. The bus came to a halt after it smashed into the center divider. “We sincerely apologize that our city-run bus caused a terrible accident,” Naoki Naito, a senior executive of the transportation bureau, said at a press conference. Pedestrians at the accident site were shaken. “I can’t believe such an accident occurred,” said Kaito Otoma, a 20-year-old student who was crossing the road with others when he saw the bus slowly move toward them despite the red light. Otoma said he moved away quickly and was saved but the young woman in front of him was hit. The driver then got off the bus and was speaking frantically on his cellphone, according to the student. “If I had made one wrong step, I would have been a victim, too,” Otoma said.
|
accidents;kobe;traffic accidents
|
jp0003141
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Japan's ruling LDP loses two out of two Lower House by-elections in possible harbinger for July polls
|
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party was dealt a crushing blow Sunday after losing the Lower House by-elections in Okinawa and Osaka, viewed as a harbinger for the Upper House election just a few months away, Kyodo News projections showed. The loss of both national races in the second wave of the unified elections marked a significant setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who doubles as head of the ruling party. It is the first time the LDP has lost a national by-election since Abe’s second term began in 2012, excluding the uncontested Lower House by-election in Kyoto Prefecture in 2016. The by-elections for the No. 3 constituency in Okinawa and the No. 12 district in Osaka were won by freelance journalist Tomohiro Yara, who was backed by opposition parties, and by Fumitake Fujita of Nippon Ishin no Kai, respectively. The House of Councilors election is scheduled for July. The losses revealed dissatisfaction with the administration, said a senior lawmaker from Komeito, the ruling LDP’s coalition partner. But some in the LDP said the losses were expected because of the particular local interests in Okinawa and Osaka. Still, one veteran member said the public’s memory of the losses would fade after the unusually long 10-day Golden Week holiday, suggesting it would have a limited impact on the Upper House election. In Okinawa, home to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, pro- and anti-base candidates vied for the House of Representatives seat left vacant by Denny Tamaki, who is now governor. Yara, 56, is opposed to Okinawa hosting U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. “The relocation to Henoko is not a solution,” Yara said after his victory became certain. The Okinawan people’s will was clearly evident given the results of the election. Tamaki, who supported Yara as his successor in the district, said he wants to solve the Futenma issue as soon as possible through discussions with Tokyo and Washington. The LDP’s Aiko Shimajiri, 54, who used to be minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs, had supported a bilateral plan to move the base from a crowded residential area in Ginowan to the less-populated coastal district of Henoko in Nago, which makes up part of the constituency. The two by-elections were part of a wave of hundreds of other races to pick mayors and assembly members in cities, towns and villages nationwide on Sunday. Abe’s LDP was hoping to build momentum in the run-up to the Upper House poll and mitigate the negative impact of two of his Cabinet members who resigned over controversial remarks. In Osaka, the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, faced off against Nippon Ishin no Kai, which has seen strong local support for its plan to streamline the major western city’s administration by creating a metropolis akin to Tokyo. Fujita, 38, of Nippon Ishin, competed against the LDP’s Shinpei Kitakawa, 32, who was also supported by Komeito, and two other candidates in the Osaka No. 12 district. The by-election was held following the death of former Deputy Environment Minister Tomokatsu Kitagawa. Sunday’s vote comes after Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada stepped down earlier this month over remarks he made deemed offensive to people affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and ensuing Fukushima nuclear crisis. Abe’s effective firing of Sakurada came after deputy land minister Ichiro Tsukada quit on April 5 over remarks that suggested he had acted in the interests of the prime minister’s constituency on a road project. The vote also comes as the outlook for Japan’s economy, which has enjoyed modest growth, has become increasingly uncertain due partly to trade frictions between the United States and China. A close aide to Abe hinted Thursday at the possibility of another delay in the consumption tax hike, scheduled for October from 8 percent to 10 percent, depending on a key quarterly business sentiment survey by the Bank of Japan to be released on July 1. Tax hikes are often unpopular among Japanese voters, but Abe sought approval in a Lower House election in 2017 to use part of the revenue to enhance child care support. In the first round of the unified elections on April 7, the LDP won a gubernatorial race in Hokkaido and a majority of prefectural assembly seats, but the results revealed party divisions in some regional areas.
|
shinzo abe;okinawa;osaka;ldp;elections;lower house;komeito;ishin no to
|
jp0003142
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Abe makes surprise comedy show appearance in bid for public support for June Osaka G20 summit
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OSAKA - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a surprising appearance on a comedy show held at the Namba Grand Kagetsu theater in Osaka on Saturday, seeking support for the Group of 20 summit to be held in the city in June. “I’m Shinzo Abe, I’m real,” the prime minister said on the show run by Japanese entertainment powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo. During the show, comedian Medaka Ikeno was asked by a member of the cast about the G20. “To be honest, I don’t know much about it, but here’s a person who is very familiar with it,” Ikeno said. Then, Abe appeared on the stage, surprising the audience. “You’re impersonating [the prime minister], aren’t you?” a cast member told Abe, and the prime minister replied, “I’m real,” provoking laughter. Abe explained to the audience that discussions will be held on a broad range of issues at the June 28-29 summit among leaders of the 20 advanced and emerging economies, including the United States, Russia and China, as well as Japan. Abe also said he was seeking Osaka residents’ understanding and cooperation since strict traffic controls will be put in place during the summit period. Earlier Saturday, Abe visited Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden to inspect Osaka Geihinkan there, which will be used for the G20 leaders’ dinner during the summit.
|
television;shinzo abe;osaka;g20
|
jp0003143
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Abe sends ritual tree offering to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine for spring festival
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering Sunday to Yasukuni Shrine, which is regarded as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism by other countries throughout Asia. The offering was made on the occasion of a three-day spring festival through Tuesday at the Shinto shrine in Tokyo. But Abe, who has a strong conservative support base, is expected to refrain from visiting the shrine as Japanese-Chinese ties frayed by issues linked to history and territory continue to improve. Yasukuni Shrine is often a source of diplomatic friction. Past visits by Japanese leaders and lawmakers have infuriated both China and South Korea. Abe has not visited the shrine since 2013. Historical issues, however, continue to cast a pall over Japan’s relations with South Korea. In recent months, the two countries have been at loggerheads over the issue of compensating Korean wartime laborers. On Sunday, Abe had a masakaki (tree offering) sent in his name for the spring festival at Yasukuni, which honors convicted Class-A war criminals along with millions of war dead. The tree is used in Shinto-style rituals. Abe regularly sends ritual offerings to the shrine for the spring and autumn festivals. On Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender, he makes a donation. This year’s spring festival comes as Japan is making preparations for the first visit in June by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is expected to attend a Group of 20 summit in Osaka. The South Korean Supreme Court last year ordered Japanese companies to compensate for what Korean plaintiffs say was forced labor during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
|
china;shinzo abe;wwii;yasukuni shrine;history;spring festival;masakaki
|
jp0003144
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Worker influx ignites resort island rent bubble on Miyakojima
|
An influx of construction workers to meet the demands of the tourism boom on the Okinawan resort island of Miyakojima is creating severe apartment shortages, sending rents higher. Take the rent for studio apartments, which combine the living room, bedroom and kitchen into a single room, using Miyakojima and Naha for comparison. The rent for a 25- to 30-sq.-meter unit in the redeveloped northern district of Naha usually costs ¥55,000 to ¥60,000 a month, according to Naha-based real estate company Takechan Home. In Miyakojima, however, the rent for this type of apartment climbs to as high as ¥80,000 to ¥100,000. In some new buildings, room sizes have been reduced to fit in more units. Takechan chief Takao Takeshima called the situation “abnormal.” “This is a social problem that’s happening on the island as a whole,” he said. “I thought apartment demand would meet supply in two to three years, but now I can’t predict when the rent will settle down.” An official from a local real estate company said the occupancy rate is almost 100 percent for the apartments it handles. Driving Miyakojima’s rent bubble is the large labor contingent building the new Ground Self-Defense Force base, schools and other facilities on the island. Due to the surge in tourism, however, Miyakojima is also short on hotels and other accommodations. With more being built across the city, public works projects ordered by the municipal and central governments are making the shortage chronic, prompting businesses to recruit people from outside the island. Hotels and restaurants are also amassing workers, exacerbating the paucity in housing. Miyakojima has become a widely known tourist destination since its exposure on TV and in magazines rose after the January 2015 opening of the Irabu Ohashi Bridge, which links it to the island of Irabu. Since fiscal 2015 began, tourism there has risen by 100,000 to 300,000 people a year, thanks to new flights and port calls by cruise ships from overseas. The total for fiscal 2018 ended in March is expected to top 1.1 million. The tourism boom has led to more workers being employed by the service industry. “Apartment units are occupied regardless of their conditions and distance to the urban area, as soon as they become vacant,” said Isao Sawada, who heads real estate company Jutaku Joho Center in the city of Miyakojima. His company hopes to increase the number of rooms by adding more apartment buildings, but that has proved difficult. “People in construction businesses have asked us to ‘wait for one to two years because we are all tied up,'” said Sawada. The lack of apartments led some people to stay in hotels and guest houses as a stopgap measure. A civil servant in his 50s who was transferred to Miyakojima from Naha said he was aware of the apartment shortages but never thought it would get that bad. “It is affecting my job and life,” he said. After he was notified of the transfer, he began looking for an apartment in the city in early March but couldn’t find one. With the help of a friend, he managed to sign a rental contract for a new apartment. Delays in construction, however, pushed back his move-in day, which was supposed to be on April 1, forcing him to live in a hotel in Miyakojima. “I visited the construction site and found that the work was proceeding very slowly,” he said. “I seemed to have a long way to go before I can move in.” A woman who runs a guest house in the city has received frequent inquiries from companies asking her to accommodate their employees over the last two years. She said allowing them to stay for a long time could encourage them to treat her guest house as their own home, potentially making other guests visiting for sightseeing purposes uncomfortable. She said she thus decided to “let them stay up to a week or so.” Some guests have told her they move from one accommodation to another at the company’s instruction because they cannot secure apartments. At a real estate business in the city, requests to raise rent started pouring in from landlords in October. The requests range between 5 and 15 percent. Some were spurred into action after finding new apartments being rented at higher rates. “Tenants cannot refuse the increase because they have nowhere else to go,” said a man from the real estate business. “We are persuading the owners to consider the timing and pricing.” The Miyako branch of Okinawa Prefecture’s consumer affairs center, meanwhile, received six consultation requests on rent hikes between last December and March. In one case, a tenant was asked by the owner to quickly accept a ¥20,000 rent hike . A prefectural official said the law lets owners demand a higher rent. “It will be up to the court to decide which argument is more reasonable, so we are urging the two sides to settle the matter through talks,” the official said.
|
okinawa;tourism;real estate;construction;miyakojima
|
jp0003146
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/21
|
Aging Japan to see 25% of breadwinners turn 75 or older by 2040: report
|
Japan’s rapidly-aging society will see a quarter of its breadwinners turn 75 or older by 2040, the Nikkei daily has reported, citing a study from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The total number of head-of-households who are 75 years of age or more will mount to 12.17 million by that year, while the number of single-person households will climb to 19.94 million, or two-fifths of the total, the report said. The number of people living alone who are 75 or older will top 5 million, it said. As the number of elderly Japanese people living by themselves increase, the country is increasingly in need of a revamp of its social security system and relevant infrastructure, the report said. The government has been opening the door to more low-skilled foreign workers as the rapidly aging population fuels a labor shortage. With unemployment at just 2.3 percent, near the lowest since the early 1990s, labor shortages are being felt in a range of industries from convenience stores to construction before the Tokyo Olympics next year.
|
labor;social security;jobs;aging
|
jp0003147
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/21
|
87-year-old driver in Tokyo car crash that killed mom, daughter suspected of mistakenly pressing gas pedal
|
No skid marks have been detected on the road in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district where a car crash killed two people and injured eight others Friday, causing investigators to suspect that the driver mistakenly stepped on the gas pedal, police said Saturday. Mana Matsunaga, 31, and her 3-year-old daughter, Riko, died when a car driven by an 87-year-old man rammed into their bicycle. The car also struck another cyclist, injured the driver of a garbage truck and mowed down four pedestrians before coming to a halt some 150 meters after first striking a guard rail. The Metropolitan Police Department has identified the driver as Kozo Iizuka. Both Iizuka and his wife, who was in the car with him, suffered broken bones and were admitted to hospital. The driver was quoted by police as saying the accelerator pedal became stuck. Police have found no evidence that Iizuka is suffering from any serious health problems or was under the influence of alcohol or medication at the time of the accident. In the investigation so far, nothing has been found that could have impeded the movement of the accelerator pedal, they said. In footage from his dashboard camera, Iizuka says,”What’s going on” just before the crash. He is also heard calling his son, saying he ended up running over many people and claiming the accelerator pedal got stuck, the police said. A neighbor of the driver said he saw Iizuka walking with a cane and having trouble parking his car in his garage in recent months. On Saturday, scores of people paid their respects to the victims as the scene of the accident. “I saw the news and brought some sweets and juice,” said Toshiharu Asakawa, a company employee who lives in the neighborhood. “I can’t believe something like this happened on the road I use to commute every day.” A woman in her 60s said she knew Matsunaga and her daughter, whom she noted were living happily with their family in the neighborhood. “Mana was a sweet person and Riko, being a toddler, was very cute. I am at a loss for words to give her family,” she said. Iizuka, after graduating from the University of Tokyo, joined the trade ministry in 1953. He resigned as head of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology in 1989.
|
tokyo;accidents;elderly;ikebukuro;traffic accidents
|
jp0003148
|
[
"reference"
] |
2019/04/21
|
The week ahead for April 22 to April 28
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Monday Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to leave for eight-day trip to France, Italy, Belgium, Slovakia, the United States and Canada. U.S. President Donald Trump to welcome Abe in Washington from Friday to Saturday, during which they will discuss key issues including bilateral trade and recent developments concerning North Korea. Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn to reach end of detention period for latest arrest over alleged misuse of company funds. Tokyo prosecutors are expected to indict Ghosn the same day. Go wunderkind Sumire Nakamura, 10, to make professional debut. Tuesday Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko to visit Emperor Hirohito’s mausoleum in Musashino Imperial Graveyard in western Tokyo to mark forthcoming abdication. Wednesday BOJ to begin two-day monetary policy meeting. Board members expected to keep easing measures unchanged despite signs of economic slowdown. Inflation forecast for fiscal 2021 likely to fall short of 2 percent target. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to visit China as special envoy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Nikai to attend China’s “Belt and Road” forum in Beijing with nearly 40 foreign leaders. Thursday Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum’s main building to reopen after two years of renovations. BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to hold news conference after two-day monetary policy meeting. Nintendo Co. to release earnings for FY 2018. Friday Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry to release unemployment rate for March. Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to release ratio of job offers to job seekers for March. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to release preliminary industrial production index for March. Hitachi Ltd., Sony Corp., ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. to release earnings for FY 2018. Saturday Golden Week holiday to start, this year extended to 10 days to celebrate the Imperial succession. Crowding at major airports and railway stations expected to reach peak as vacationers travel domestically and abroad. Hospitals to offer fewer services and most banks to remain closed during holiday. Japan Trade Union Confederation, nation’s largest labor organization, to hold May Day convention in Tokyo. Sunday Spring Tenno-sho to be held at Kyoto Racecourse.
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weekly events;the week ahead;schedule
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jp0003149
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/07
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Insurance industry to set guidelines to prevent 'genetic discrimination'
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The country’s insurance industry will establish guidelines banning life and medical insurers from collecting or using personal genetic information for decisions regarding eligibility for coverage and premiums to prevent “genetic discrimination,” sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. The Life Insurance Association of Japan has said its member firms do not use genetic information to make decisions about coverage, but people with genetic diseases and private groups supporting them have voiced concerns about discrimination in the absence of laws prohibiting insurers from gaining such data. The industry group will state in its guidelines that its member firms will continue the practice, according to the sources. It will urge insurers not to use data from genetic testing even if people looking to purchase policies voluntarily offer their genetic data, they said. In a 2017 government survey on the use of genetic information involving some 11,000 people, about 300 said they have experienced discriminatory treatment by insurance companies.
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medicine;insurance
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jp0003150
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/04/07
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U.S. Federal Reserve faces politicization under Trump
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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Reserve has regularly faced criticism from Donald Trump, but in recent days the president took matters into his own hands — raising concerns that the Fed is being politicized. Not only did he again urge the Fed to lower interest rates, but he tapped two unconventional loyalists to fill two empty seats on the Fed board. Stephen Moore, 59, is a controversial economist and former Trump campaign adviser. And Herman Cain, 73, previously served as a board member at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank and is the former CEO of a pizza restaurant chain. Cain, a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2012 presidential election, suspended his campaign following allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied. With the 2020 election looming, Trump often praises the health of the U.S. economy — but on Friday he said that he wants it to take off like “a rocket ship.” To make that happen, he urged the Fed to restart its post-financial crisis “quantitative easing” program of buying bonds to add liquidity to the economy. Trump’s moves have alarmed some experts, but he is not alone in thinking the Fed went too far last year; some economists such as Joseph LaVorgna from Natixis think it tightened too much. For Michael Gapen of Barclays Research, the president’s choices “could raise questions about the independence of the Federal Reserve and could be perceived as an attempted politicization of monetary policy.” Tim Duy, economics professor at the University of Oregon and an expert on the central bank, told AFP that he believes “the threats to the Fed independence are at the highest in decades.” Such pressure from the White House has not been seen since the 1970s. On the eve of his 1972 re-election, former president Richard Nixon pressed then Fed chair Arthur Burns to lower interest rates. “Donald Trump is very mad at (Fed chair) Jerome Powell and his colleagues for continuing to raise the interests rates (in 2018) and realizes he has a role to play here. He can appoint whoever he wants to the Fed,” added Duy. At the beginning of his term, Trump had more traditional choices such as Richard Clarida or Randal Quarles, both U.S. Treasury Department economists. Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Friday defended his boss’s approach. “It’s a free country and the president has a lot of well-informed opinions as a successful businessman and investor,” he said. “We are not pressuring. We are not going after their independence but we have our point of view.” Trump replaced Janet Yellen, nominated by Barack Obama to be the first woman Fed chair, with Jerome Powell, a former investment banker who was already on the board of governors. But now Trump blames Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for recommending Powell, according to the Wall Street Journal. “I guess I’m stuck with you,” Trump said saying during a phone call with Powell, the newspaper reported. Most believe it is not legally possible for Trump to get rid of Powell, who can be replaced at the end of his term in three years. Recently Powell, who cautiously avoids commenting on the president’s complaints, insisted that he could not be dismissed by Trump. “So far Fed watchers really believed the Fed was going to be the only agency that would be able to stand the turmoil of Washington and I think we are seeing it’s obviously not true,” Duy said. “It’s a wake-up call,” he said.
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u.s .;monetary policy;federal reserve;donald trump
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jp0003151
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2019/04/07
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China's virtual reality arcades aim for real-world success amid massive growth in market
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SHANGHAI - Chen Jiuxiao puts on virtual reality goggles and is immediately transported to a snow-covered ski slope, down which she slaloms without ever leaving Shanghai. “I felt weightless skiing down the mountain,” Chen, 25, gushes after re-emerging in the material world. “The scenery around me was so authentic.” Chen, a hospitality worker, said she ventured into one of Shanghai’s VR arcades due to word of mouth from her tech-savvy friends. China had an estimated 3,000 VR arcades in 2016, and the market was forecast to grow thirteenfold between then and 2021 to amount to 5.25 billion yuan ($782 million), according to a joint report by iResearch Consulting Group and Greenlight Insights. Add in the profits to be made from headsets, equipment, games and other products, and it’s little wonder that augmented reality and VR industries are excited about China. “Chinese growth in the next five years could see it dominate AR/VR long-term — and not by a small margin,” Silicon Valley consultancy Digi-Capital said in a report last year. “China has the potential to take more than $1 of every $5 spent” in the industry globally by 2022, it added. One key factor is China’s government. Tens of millions of Chinese have become obsessive players of mobile video games, causing concern that China was raising a generation of myopic youngsters addicted to battle games. Authorities imposed curbs last year on the number of new game releases and playing time for youths, rattling the industry and shaving billions off the market value of big players including gaming giant Tencent. But the government is pushing hard for China to become a world leader in next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. VR has been lumped into that favored class, benefitting from a slew of preferential policies. Chen Wei, manager of Shanghai VR arcade Machouse said VR was likely to avoid the fate of mobile video games in China. He cites the relatively high cost of arcade play — up to 70 yuan ($10) or more for a 15-minute game — and of setting up home systems. “It’s hard for minors to get addicted,” he said. The nascent VR games industry suffers from a shortage of high-quality games, however. At a VR amusement park in Shanghai, a new game lands only once every three months, officials there said. Firms such as Tencent remain hesitant to dive in to the arcade scene until the sector reaches critical mass, analysts explained. But the company, along with fellow Chinese giants Alibaba and Baidu, is investing in virtual online shopping and VR entertainment, all of which could trickle down into gaming. Already a number of towns and cities in China have declared themselves incubator zones that are integrating VR into research, manufacturing, education and other spheres, luring in capital, according to Chinese reports. Seekers VR, which is based in the eastern city of Wenzhou and owns a franchised chain of 200 arcades in more than 70 cities across China, is working with the Wenzhou government to establish a college focused on educating students about VR and using the technology in lessons. “There is no dominant competitor in the VR industry since it is so immature, and we will bring more and more opportunity,” said Seekers VR’s CEO Belle Chen. The expected wide-scale adoption in China of ultra-fast 5G networks is expected to further boost VR development, and foster growth in areas such as education and training, said Chen Wei. “There is no better way to learn skills, and at a lower cost, than VR,” he said. “Even though VR is still educating users about what it is, it could explode someday.”
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china;computers;virtual reality;video games
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jp0003152
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/07
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Japanese prosecutors ask judges to question Carlos Ghosn's wife
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Prosecutors in Tokyo have asked judges to question Carlos Ghosn’s wife in connection with funds allegedly misappropriated by the former Nissan Motor chairman, sources said Sunday. Tokyo prosecutors are considering questioning Ghosn’s wife, Carole, over an allegation that part of the automaker’s sales incentive payments to an Omani distributor was channeled to her company for personal use, the sources said. Prosecutors suspect that Carole Ghosn’s company used the money partly to fund the purchase of a luxurious yacht mainly for their family’s use. The prosecutors asked her to meet them for voluntary questioning as an unsworn witness, but the request was turned down, which prompted them to ask judges to question her on their behalf before they open the first hearing on the allegations, public broadcaster NHK reported. Such a request gives judges the power to question on a mandatory basis witnesses who refuse to testify, according to the broadcaster. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment. Meanwhile, Carole Ghosn has flown to Paris to appeal to the French government to help her husband and said the government “should do more for him,” the Financial Times reported on Sunday. “I don’t think they’ve done enough. I don’t think he’s had enough support and he’s calling for assistance,” she told the FT in an interview before boarding a flight out of Japan on Friday. “As a French citizen, it should be a right.” Carole Ghosn also told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in France that her husband had recorded a video interview in English before his detention. “He names the people responsible for what has happened to him. The lawyers have it. It will be released soon,” she told the newspaper. It was separately reported that Ghosn’s defense team plans to show around April 11, the day he was due to hold a news conference, a video message he recorded before his latest arrest. Ghosn was rearrested on Thursday on suspicion he had tried to enrich himself at Nissan’s expense, in another dramatic twist that his lawyers called an attempt to muzzle him. The fresh arrest opens up the possibility that he will be interrogated again without his lawyer present, as is the norm in Japan. The additional charge would likely prolong Ghosn’s trial, which is expected to begin later this year, his lawyer has said, adding that loss of access to Ghosn’s trial-related documents could put his client at a disadvantage in fighting his case. Tokyo prosecutors confiscated Carole Ghosn’s passport and a mobile phone Thursday when they served a fourth arrest warrant on Ghosn in connection with the misuse of Nissan monies paid to the Omani company, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles. It was not clear if her passport had been returned or whether she holds multiple passports. Suhail Bahwan Automobiles allegedly received $15 million between December 2015 and July 2018 and transferred $5 million of it to a bank account of Good Faith Investments, a Lebanese investment firm Ghosn effectively owns. Ghosn has denied all of the allegations. A suspicion emerged that the money was transferred from the Omani distributor to the Lebanese firm through several companies, the sources said. The prosecutors suspect it was an attempt to conceal the flow of the funds before they ended up in Carole Ghosn’s company, they said. Good Faith Investments is also suspected of sending money to a California-based investment firm where Ghosn’s son is CEO. The Tokyo District Court on Friday approved the prosecutors’ request for Ghosn to be detained up to 10 days until April 14. His detention could be extended if approved by the court. Ghosn was first arrested in November and has since been indicted on charges including violating the financial instruments law by underreporting remuneration to regulators for years and aggravated breach of trust in relation to the alleged transfer of private investment losses to Nissan, all of which he has denied. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Saturday that his country respects Japan’s judicial procedures regarding the Ghson case. The French minister was quoted by a Japanese Foreign Ministry official as saying in a bilateral meeting with Kono on the fringe of the Group of Seven gathering in western France that France respects Japan’s “judicial independence” in a reference to Ghosn’s re-arrest Thursday. Le Drian also said France continues to uphold the principle of the presumption of innocence and provide consular protection to Ghosn, according to the Japanese official. Ghosn holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese nationality. Kono later told reporters investigations into the allegations against Ghosn “will not influence bilateral relations.” Information from Reuters added
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france;scandals;nissan;carmakers;renault;carlos ghosn;oman
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jp0003153
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[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/07
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U.K.'s Theresa May, seeking compromise with opposition, warns of greater risk of no-deal Brexit if talks drag on
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LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Saturday that the longer it takes to find a compromise with the opposition Labour Party to secure a parliamentary majority for a Brexit deal, the less likely it is that Britain will leave the European Union. May has so far failed to secure backing for her negotiated agreement with Brussels as some Conservative lawmakers and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government, have voted it down. She has since turned to the opposition Labour Party in a bid to secure a majority for an orderly Brexit, although its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Saturday he was waiting for May to move her Brexit red lines. “The fact is that on Brexit there are areas where the two main parties agree: we both want to end free movement, we both want to leave with a good deal, and we both want to protect jobs,” May said in comments released by her Downing Street office. “That is the basis for a compromise that can win a majority in Parliament and winning that majority is the only way to deliver Brexit.” “The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the U.K. never leaving at all,” she said. May has a plan to enshrine in law a customs arrangement with the EU to win over the Labour Party, and her aides have discussed offering the opposition a place in the British delegation to Wednesday’s EU summit, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. The prime minister has asked EU leaders to postpone Britain’s exit from the bloc until June 30. The EU, which gave her a two-week extension the last time she asked, insists she must first show a viable plan to secure agreement on her thrice-rejected divorce deal in the British parliament. It is the latest twist in a saga which leaves Britain, the world’s fifth-biggest economy, struggling to find a way to honor a 2016 referendum vote to take the country out of the globe’s largest trading bloc. May reiterated on Saturday her hope that lawmakers would approve a deal to allow Britain to leave the bloc as quickly as possible. “My intention is to reach an agreement with my fellow EU leaders that will mean if we can agree a deal here at home we can leave the EU in just six weeks,” she said. One of the most senior Brexiters in her government, the leader of the lower house of parliament Andrea Leadsom, also said there was a risk of Brexit slipping further from grasp. “The vision we had of Brexit is fading away — and we are running out of time to save it,” she wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. Some of May’s lawmakers are warning they will try to oust her if Britain participates in EU parliamentary elections next month and is forced to extend membership of the bloc beyond June, The Observer newspaper reported. The Sunday Telegraph said ministers are discussing whether to resign if a Brexit delay means Britain must field candidates. In a further sign of the ever heavier strains on the Conservatives, more than 100 candidates for upcoming local elections wrote to May warning of the growing anger at the grassroots level and among the public. “Our party and our government have completely lost touch with voters,” the candidates said, according to The Sunday Telegraph. “Let’s be clear: more fudge and a further dilution of Brexit is not the answer.” Opposition leader Corbyn also faces pressure as more than 80 of his lawmakers warned that another vote on Brexit must be a red line in Labour’s talks with the government, The Independent newspaper said.
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eu;u.k .;brexit;theresa may
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jp0003154
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/07
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May has not moved 'an inch' on Brexit, says Labour's legal chief
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LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May has not moved “an inch” on her Brexit “red lines,” Labour’s top legal policy chief Shami Chakrabarti said on Sunday, suggesting there was little hope of a quick breakthrough before an EU summit. “So far, our impression is that Mrs. May hasn’t moved an inch on her red lines … In substance, as yet, there’s been not a jot of movement from the government,” Chakrabarti told Sky News. “It seems to me that this has been left so late in the day. … It’s hard to imagine that we are going to make real progress now without either a general election or a second referendum on any deal she can get over the line in parliament.”
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eu;u.k .;brexit;theresa may
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jp0003155
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/07
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G7 pushes North Korea to continue denuclearization talks with U.S.
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DINARD, FRANCE - Foreign ministers of Group of Seven nations on Saturday pushed North Korea to continue denuclearization negotiations with the United States while vowing to maintain pressure on Pyongyang to encourage it to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. In a communique issued after a two-day meeting in Dinard, western France, the ministers also expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China seas — a veiled criticism of China’s militarization of outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea and its attempts to undermine Japan’s control of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Senkakus are administered by Japan, but claimed by China and Taiwan, which call them the Diaoyu and Tiaoyutai, respectively. Some G7 members touched on China’s expanding global ambitions through its signature “Belt and Road” initiative infrastructure project, a Japanese official said. But the communique makes no reference to the initiative in an apparent effort to demonstrate unity among the group. Italy signed up to the initiative two weeks ago, making it the first G7 member to do so. Critics say President Xi Jinping’s project is intended to draw countries deeper into Beijing’s economic orbit. The G7 meeting came after the breakdown of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February, an outcome that increased uncertainties over security in Northeast Asia. “We encourage the DPRK to avoid any provocations and call for the DPRK to continue discussions with the United States on denuclearization,” the communique said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Washington has said it remains open to dialogue with Pyongyang but North Korea has threatened to withdraw from denuclearization talks with the United States and reconsider a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests. “We regret that the DPRK has not taken concrete, verified actions towards denuclearization, and we urge the DPRK to comply with and fulfill its international obligations, and undertake those actions,” the communique said. To compel Pyongyang to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and related delivery system programs, the G7 is committed to fully enforcing U.N. sanctions and is calling on all states — including China and Russia — to fully implement sanctions, according to the communique. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Japan “fully supports” U.S. diplomatic engagement with North Korea, and that Tokyo “would like to give a push to the U.S.-North Korea process toward achieving the full denuclearization of North Korea.” Kono also said he won the backing from his peers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, plus the European Union, to press North Korea to immediately resolve the issue of its abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s. Kono said the G7’s level of interest in China “has become much higher” since last year’s foreign ministerial meeting in Toronto. He added European countries have stepped up debates on how to deal with China, especially after a visit by Xi to the continent last month. Also in March, the European Commission, the executive branch of the 28-nation union, labeled China “an economic competitor in pursuit of technological leadership and a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance.” As if to reflect such sentiment, the G7 communique said: “We encourage China to participate responsibly in the free and open international rules-based system.” The G7 also shared concerns about Beijing’s industrial strategy, investment practices, inadequate intellectual property protection and other matters that make it difficult to ensure a level playing field for foreign businesses. Among other issues, the G7 ministers demanded that Venezuela urgently hold “new free, transparent and credible presidential elections,” citing the “illegitimacy” of the process that resulted in President Nicolas Maduro’s 2018 re-election. The United States, Japan and European countries support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself interim president, while Maduro is backed by Russia and China. Kono and his European G7 peers, however, were apparently at odds with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who attended the Dinard session in lieu of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, over Trump’s recognition last month of the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory, according to a Japanese official. Trump’s controversial move followed a similar decision last year when his administration relocated the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after recognizing the latter as Israel’s capital. The Dinard session was held to lay the groundwork for the G7 summit slated for Aug. 24 to 26 in Biarritz, France.
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china;east china sea;north korea;senkakus;nuclear weapons;disputed islands;south china sea;group of seven
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jp0003156
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/07
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Euroskeptic lawmaker says Britain should make life difficult if left in EU
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LONDON - Leading euroskeptic Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg said if Britain were to stay in the European Union beyond April 12, the country should become the bloc’s most difficult member and veto a seven-year financial framework. “If we are forced to remain in we must be the most difficult member possible,” Rees-Mogg, leader of the ERG, a euroskeptic group in the governing Conservative Party, told Sky News on Sunday. “When the multiannual financial framework comes forward, if we’re still in, this is our one-in-seven-year opportunity to veto the budget and to be really very difficult.”
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eu;u.k .;brexit;theresa may
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jp0003157
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[
"world"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Prince William spends time embedded in U.K.'s secretive spy world
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LONDON - The name’s Windsor. William Windsor. As one of the most recognizable public figures in the world, Britain’s Prince William would not make as effective a 007 as legendary fictional spy James Bond. But that did not stop the heir to the British throne spending the last three weeks working with the security services, including in Bond’s own foreign intelligence unit, MI6. The Duke of Cambridge ended the top-secret attachment — which also included a week with domestic intelligence service MI5 and cybersecurity agency GCHQ — on Saturday, according to Kensington Palace. “Spending time inside our security and intelligence agencies, understanding more about the vital contribution they make to our national security, was a truly humbling experience,” William said in a statement. “These agencies are full of people from everyday backgrounds doing the most extraordinary work to keep us safe.” The prince, who has a military background, began the secondment at the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) — better known as MI6 — whose spies work around the world gathering information and furthering British interests. William, 36, “got to see first-hand how SIS helps the U.K. identify and exploit opportunities as well as navigate risks to its national security, military effectiveness and economy,” Kensington Palace said. The father-of-three then switched over to the Security Service — MI5 — to observe how counterterrorism teams conduct investigations, including surveillance. The duke finished his foray into spycraft at the communications monitoring agency GCHQ, based in Cheltenham, western England. There he spent time “with those using cutting-edge technology, technical ingenuity and wide-ranging partnerships to identify, analyze and disrupt threats,” the palace added. GCHQ’s head of counterterrorism operations, whose name was given only as David, said the prince had worked “exceptionally hard to embed himself in the team.” He added William had “comfortably held his own amongst some highly skilled analysts and operators.” The prince is no stranger to the world of security. After graduating in 2005 from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, he spent 7½ years in the military, before completing active service as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.
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u.k .;espionage;prince william
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jp0003158
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[
"world"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Rwanda honors those killed in genocide that began 25 years ago
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KIGALI - Rwandans were gathering on Sunday for a solemn commemoration of the lives of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus murdered during the Rwandan genocide, a three-month-killing spree that began 25 years ago. The ceremony marks the beginning of a week of events to honor the dead. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is scheduled to lay a wreath at Gisozi genocide memorial site, where over a quarter a million of people are buried. In the afternoon, officials will join around 2,000 people in a “walk to remember” from parliament to the national soccer stadium, where candles will be lit in a night vigil. At least 10 heads of state were expected to attend, Stephanie Nyombayire, head of communication at the president’s office, told journalists on Saturday. Canadian Governor General Julie Payette and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker were also expected. The 100 days of slaughter began on April 6, 1994, after President Juvenal Habyarimana and his counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi — both Hutus — were killed when their plane was shot down over the Rwandan capital. The attackers have never been identified. The attack mobilized Hutu government soldiers and allied extremist militia, who orchestrated the genocide to exterminate the Tutsi minority. In villages across the densely populated country, neighbor turned on neighbor as men, women and children were hacked to death, burned alive, clubbed and shot. As many as 10,000 people were killed daily. Seventy percent of the minority Tutsi population was wiped out, and over 10 percent of the total Rwandan population. The fighting ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement led by Kagame, swept in from Uganda and seized control of the country. Official policy is to strongly discourage any talk of ethnicity, but the opposition says the tight control of the media and political sphere is also used to stifle dissent, something the government denies.
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genocide;rwanda;anniversaries
|
jp0003159
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/07
|
As political tensions fall, twice as many tourists head to Pyongyang to take part in annual marathon
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SEOUL - Twice as many foreigners as last year gathered in Pyongyang on Sunday for the city’s annual marathon, tour firms said, as reduced tensions see visitor numbers rise in isolated North Korea. The event — part of celebrations for the anniversary of founder Kim Il Sung’s birth in 1912 — is the highlight of the North’s tourism calendar and offers the chance to run or jog through the streets of the tightly-controlled city. Around 950 Westerners entered the event, according to market leader Koryo Tours, compared to some 450 last year when numbers slumped. That brought participation almost back to the levels of 2017, before tensions soared as the North carried out a series of missile launches and leader Kim Jong Un traded threats and personal insults with U.S. President Donald Trump. The same year, Washington also banned its citizens from visiting the North following the death of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student jailed for trying to steal a propaganda poster who died while in a coma days after his release. Several other countries subsequently raised their travel warnings, a combination of events that dealt a significant blow to the North’s tourism industry. The U.S. ban remains in place but more Western tourists signed up for the marathon this time, tour operators said, following a year of high-level diplomacy between Trump and Kim. “As political tensions have subsided, tourism demand has increased,” said Elliott Davies, director at Uri Tours, another operator, adding: “You could plot a graph in this direct relationship.” The vast majority of tourists to the North are Chinese. But some 5,000 Westerners a year also used to visit the North — with about 20 percent of those from the U.S. — seeking unique adventures in one of the most closed countries in the world. The annual race also attracts so-called “marathon chasers” who tick off runs around the world, said Matt Kulesza, a senior tour guide at Young Pioneer Tours. Angel Arnaudov, a 34-year-old engineer from Macedonia, said Pyongyang came onto his “radar” after finishing more than 30 marathons in cities ranging from Tokyo, New York and Copenhagen. “I want to experience the life in North Korea myself and see if it is like they say on TV or different,” he said, adding he would be posting videos on his Youtube channel. For third-time participant Jasmine Barrett, the Pyongyang Marathon was an opportunity to interact with ordinary North Koreans who line the streets to cheer on the runners, offering high-fives and posing for selfies. “I keep coming back because I love to see the smiles on the children’s faces,” the Australian entrepreneur said. “I’d definitely recommend it to others because it’s a great way to see the city and the people who live there,” she added. Tour operators advise visitors to take extra precautions about “what to do and what not to do” when traveling in the North. Simon Cockerell, Koryo Tours’ general manager, said: “This is vital when visiting North Korea and anyone wanting to travel shouldn’t go without a briefing.”
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north korea;tourism
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jp0003160
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Singapore's 'fake news' laws upset tech giants and stoke censorship fears
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SINGAPORE - Tech giants have reacted with horror after Singapore proposed laws against “fake news” allowing authorities to order the removal of content and impose hefty fines, in what critics say is an assault on free speech. A week ago, the government unveiled a bill containing tough measures, including powers for ministers to order social media sites like Facebook to put warnings next to posts that authorities believe to be false, and in extreme cases to take them down. If an action is deemed malicious and damaging to Singapore’s interests, companies could be hit with fines of up to 1 million Singapore dollars ($740,000). Individuals could face prison terms of up to 10 years. Authorities in the tightly controlled country — long criticized for restricting civil liberties — insist the measures are necessary to stop the circulation of falsehoods that could sow divisions in the multiethnic city-state. But press freedom groups condemned the proposals, saying they could stifle online discussion, as did tech companies that have big investments in the ultramodern city. “As the most far-reaching legislation of its kind to date, this level of overreach poses significant risks to freedom of expression and speech,” said the Asia Internet Coalition, an industry association whose members include Facebook, Google and Twitter. Simon Milner, Facebook’s vice president of public policy in Asia-Pacific, said the social media giant was concerned about potentially being compelled to remove content. “Giving people a place to express themselves freely and safely is important to us and we have a responsibility to handle any government request to remove alleged misinformation carefully and thoughtfully,” he said in a statement. The internet is a relatively free space in Singapore, and there are some local alternative news sites, which are typically more critical of the authorities than the traditional, pro-government newspapers and TV. Singapore is among several countries pushing legislation to fight fake news, and the government stressed ordering “corrections” to be placed alongside falsehoods would be the primary response, rather than jail or fines. A government decision can also be appealed to the courts. K. Shanmugam, law and home affairs minister, said in a Facebook post that “the proposed law targets false statements of fact — not opinions, not criticisms. Ultimately, disagreement over truth and falsity will be decided by the courts.” Google, Facebook and Twitter have their Asia headquarters in Singapore, a city of 5.6 million that is popular with expats as it is developed, safe and efficient. But there were already signs of tensions with tech companies as the government prepared to unveil the laws. During parliamentary hearings last year about tackling online falsehoods, Google and Facebook urged the government not to introduce new laws. In November, Facebook refused a request to remove an article linking Singapore to a financial scandal in Malaysia that the government said was untrue — prompting the law ministry to say the firm “cannot be relied upon to filter falsehoods.” Critics say one of the most worrying aspects of the new legislation is that it is up to authorities to decide what is false and what is not. While authorities insist decisions can be appealed, Kirsten Han, the Singapore-based editor of regional news site New Naratif, said most people do not have the resources or will to fight the government. “Even if you are convinced that your Facebook post is in the right, how many average Singaporeans would appeal to the minister, and then spend thousands of dollars to hire a lawyer and file an application in the court?” she said. Human Rights Watch has described the bill as “sweepingly broad.” Other critics note Singapore already has tough laws against sedition, defamation and disturbing racial harmony, that can be used to police the web. But it is not yet clear how the legislation — which is likely to pass easily through parliament, dominated by the ruling party — will be used in practice, and some believe authorities will wield it cautiously. “I think that the government will be very careful in their implementation of the law,” said Professor Ang Peng Hwa, from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Singapore. “I think, in general, there’s a very high level of trust in the government and its institutions by foreign entities, and so I don’t see them … being too trigger-happy about the implementation of this bill.”
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internet;censorship;singapore;google;social media;twitter;facebook;fake news
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jp0003161
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/07
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Sanctions delay plans for North Korean beach resort, analysts say
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SEOUL - North Korea has again pushed back the construction end-date of a massive beach resort — a move analysts say shows the regime is struggling from international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons programs. The eastern seaside strip, known as the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, is intended as a centerpiece of the isolated country’s nascent tourism industry as Pyongyang seeks to develop its economy despite the tough economic measures. The site’s construction has been closely overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, and was initially scheduled to open this April, to mark the birthday anniversary of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung. But in a recent visit to the site, Kim delayed the finish date for the second time, ordering construction to be completed by the same time next year, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. The decision, would allow the workers “to perfectly finish it so that our people would fully enjoy themselves in the impeccable tourist area from the sea-bathing season next year,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The plan was first pushed back last August when Kim extended the project by six months to October 2019. The isolated North is under several sets of sanctions for its weapons programs which analysts say has hampered efforts to secure materials needed to finish the vast beach complex. “North Korea can complete the external construction of the hotels by itself but most of the finishing materials for the interior are imported,” Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP. The economic measures banned imports of some items and Pyongyang was supplying the sanctioned goods with its foreign currency, Cho said, adding: “But that has also dried up.” Satellite images taken by U.S. monitors in December showed the buildings previously under construction were nearing completion. “The North Korean economy has hit a limit with the sanctions,” Cho added. Immediate sanctions relief was a key demand of the cash-strapped North when Kim met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February for a second summit that ultimately broke down. Trump, the former real estate developer turned billionaire, has praised North Korea’s tourism potential, referring to its “great beaches” he said would make ideal locations for condos.
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north korea;nuclear weapons;south korea;tourism;north korea nuclear crisis
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jp0003162
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"offbeat-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/07
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Cracking a cold one: Egg beer draws curious drinkers in Hanoi
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HANOI - Scrambled, fried, or … whipped into beer? It might not be the most conventional way to serve eggs, but a decades-old Hanoi cafe is delighting drinkers with a frothy beer cocktail that has no place on a breakfast menu. The staple menu item at Giang Cafe in Hanoi’s pulsating Old Quarter is made with ice-cold beer topped with creamy egg yolks whipped with sugar and a touch of butter to boost richness. Owner Nguyen Chi Hoa said he came up with the recipe in 1999, curious how the combination might turn out. “I made egg beer just for myself. … I thought it was good, so I decided to give it a try to see if anyone agreed,” he said in his packed terra cotta-tiled cafe. The creamy beer concoction wasn’t such a dramatic departure from his most popular menu item: Vietnamese coffee topped with sweetened egg froth, now enjoyed in cafes across Hanoi among locals and tourists alike. Hoa claims it was his father who came up with the recipe in 1946 as an affordable alternative to the cappuccinos that were sipped by French colonial occupiers, who made them with cow’s milk — a luxury ingredient for most of the population of Vietnam under French rule. “Poor people could also drink egg coffee because they had lots of chickens, so they just cracked an egg, added sugar and mixed it together — then we had egg coffee,” he said in the cafe where black-and-white photos of his family hang on the walls. Hoa didn’t stop at coffee and beer, and he also offers frothy egg drinks made with rum, matcha, chocolate and even Coca-Cola. To keep up with demand for his whipped delights, his daughter cracks 1,000 eggs every morning to be beaten by machine throughout the day. Though many of Hoa’s customers have never heard of egg beer, he said he has won most of them over — especially those from beer-guzzling Germany — and sells up to 20 mugs a day. “It’s very special, it tastes like dessert, plus the beer,” said Malaysian visitor S.T. Lim. In a city better known for its ubiquitous open-air beer markets called bia hoi , Hoa said his unique beer beverage is still met with skepticism by some. But he is hoping to sway them — even beauty-conscious drinkers. “This is very good for your skin, bright skin,” Hoa said with a smile.
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food;vietnam;alcohol;beer
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jp0003163
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/07
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Japan's new Aegis Ashore systems will not be fitted with air defense capabilities
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U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore land-based missile interceptor systems, when introduced by Japan, will not have Cooperative Engagement Capability equipment for air defense, it was learned late Saturday. The CEC equipment enables early-warning planes, Aegis destroyers and others to share positional data on enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and other targets of interception, leading to greater interceptor ranges and quicker responses to threats. Without CEC, Aegis Ashore systems for Japan will be designed solely for defense against ballistic missiles, not capable of defense against warplanes or cruise missiles, informed sources said. Installing the CEC equipment may be considered in the future as it is a desirable feature, but there is no plan to do it at the moment, a source familiar with the matter said. Another source said the CEC equipment would cause additional costs of tens of billions of yen. In terms of cost effectiveness, the Japanese government plans to use existing Aegis destroyers and surface-to-air missiles to deal with attacks on Aegis Ashore units and nearby targets, the source said. The government is looking to deploy Aegis Ashore units in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures. Both face the Sea of Japan, which separates the country from the Korean Peninsula. The envisioned Aegis Ashore units were initially expected to include CEC equipment. A U.S. military source questioned the Japanese plan to limit the use of Aegis Ashore systems at least initially to ballistic missile defense, claiming that it is necessary for Japan to not just respond to the threat of North Korean ballistic missiles but also strengthen its air defense capability to address threats from China. Huge costs associated with the Aegis Ashore system may have discouraged the government from adopting the CEC equipment, observers said. The Defense Ministry has come under fire after revising up its estimate of the introduction costs from about ¥80 billion per unit to ¥134 billion. The government may face further costs related to its selection of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s sophisticated solid-state radar equipment for the Aegis Ashore units.
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military;self defense forces;aegis ashore
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jp0003164
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Emperor and Empress surprise joggers in early morning stroll outside Imperial Palace
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko took a morning walk outside their residence Sunday, viewing cherry blossoms in the outer Imperial Palace grounds in central Tokyo during a rare occasion that surprised joggers and other passersby. It is likely to be their last such stroll during his reign as the 85-year-old Emperor is scheduled to abdicate on April 30. The Imperial couple apparently took a breather amid a hectic schedule in relation to the abdication and the beginning of the Reiwa Era, which will begin with Crown Prince Naruhito’s ascension to the throne on May 1. At around 7:10 a.m., the Emperor and Empress made an unannounced appearance near the Kitanomaru garden park and walked around for about 10 minutes, during which they exchanged greetings with people who were also walking there. The couple, known for their morning strolls, walked the same route and viewed cherry blossoms also in 2017 and 2018. The Imperial Palace grounds are famous for cherry trees, and the blossoms along Inui Street, which was open to the general public from March 30 through Sunday this year, have attracted hordes of people.
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emperor akihito;imperial family;empress michiko
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jp0003165
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2019/04/07
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Portrait book years in the making explores identity from eyes of mixed-race Japanese
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SAGA - Japanese-Belgian photographer Tetsuro Miyazaki’s ongoing project Hāfu2Hāfu, which documents the portraits and thoughts on identity of Japanese mixed-race individuals, is being released after years in the making. Individuals with mixed roots are colloquially referred to in Japanese as hāfu , the Japanese pronunciation of the word “half.” The term most often signifies someone whose ethnicity is half Japanese. The 40-year-old photographer was curious about such individuals and their upbringings, and wanted to explore the nature of what it means to be Japanese for those who are half-Japanese. “There are many who feel isolated because of their appearance or parent’s nationality, despite growing up Japanese,” Miyazaki said. The project features a total of 120 individuals spanning 98 nationalities and all genders, ages, ethnicities and places of residence to present the full experience of what it means to be hāfu. Each portrait in the 152-page book is shot in black and white, with a question printed at the bottom of each raising different topics, such as “How many places do you call home?” or “Do you think the problem of discrimination is improving?” Miyazaki, who was raised in Brussels, was born to a Japanese father from Saga Prefecture and a Belgian mother. “Many treated me like a foreigner based on my name and appearance,” he said. His background in kendo and karate as a child led to him spending six months at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies as an exchange student. There, he practiced kendo five times a week. He soon discovered that the university’s Japanese students were practicing outside of club hours and felt as if he “existed outside of Japanese society.” After graduating, Miyazaki joined a company in the Netherlands but quit his job to pursue photography. He then wrote an article online about hāfu, leading him to gain support for the project. He began the portraits in the summer of 2016 with help from crowdfunding sources and is currently working to reach his goal of documenting and photographing half-Japanese individuals from 192 countries. “We’re not all bilingual. We’re not all models. I’m challenging the stereotype of what it means to be hāfu in Japan,” he said. “I want this project to open discussions between friends and family about identity.”
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belgium;ethnicity;saga;tetsuro miyazaki
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jp0003166
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[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2019/04/07
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Insiders warn of continued exploitation by technical-trainee brokers as Japan launches new visa system
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A whistleblower working for a technical trainee broker in Vietnam has brought to light a series of problematic, exploitation issues at such firms, including illegal spending on extravagant events and fake claims for entertaining expenses that were passed on in fees charged to the trainees. The claims were sent in an email by a Japanese woman who works at a Hanoi-based technical trainee brokerage. “While working here, I sense arrogance toward trainees,” she claimed in the message sent in January to a Kanto-based intermediary group that screens and dispatches technical trainees around Japan. Officials at the brokerage are “oblivious to the circumstances of trainees, including their determination to go to Japan even by borrowing money while leaving their families behind,” the woman wrote. The news comes after Japan introduced new work visas earlier this month in a bid to accept more foreign workers to compensate for labor shortages. The email mirrors warnings by experts that exploitation by unscrupulous labor brokers is likely to remain a serious problem. The unnamed Kanto-based dispatch group also received an email from a Japanese man who works at a different trainee brokerage in Hanoi. The second email mentioned the existence of a group that charges prospective trainees a fee for helping them pass interviews with Japanese companies. “Young people (in Vietnam) usually earn around ¥20,000 to ¥30,000 (per month). We send them to Japan with debt of ¥1 million,” the man wrote in the email. It’s “unacceptable” to force trainees to bear these extra financial burdens, the man stressed. Brokers are banned from demanding over $3,600 (about ¥400,000) in commission fees from trainees, rules that often appear to be ignored. While the existing Technical Intern Training Program has a different purpose from the new visa system, which is to help foreign trainees acquire professional skills that will be useful in their home countries, technical trainee brokers are expected to provide services to those seeking entry to Japan under the new system as well. According to an official with the Kanto group, there are also problems on the Japanese side. Many officials of recipient organizations demand that brokers pay them kickbacks or wine and dine them at expensive restaurants, he said. Such kickbacks are prohibited by law. Under the new system, organizations that accept foreign workers are allowed to conduct recruitment on their own in foreign countries. But those with no offices in target countries have no choice but to rely on local brokers and others. People hoping to work in Japan are “placed in the weakest position,” the official with the Kanto-based firm stressed. “The problem is that they may be forced to cover extra costs with additional loans.” The Japanese government is working to sign memorandums of understanding with nine Asian countries to exclude unethical labor brokers. Under the MOUs, however, the Japanese government will not be able to directly regulate brokers in the partner countries.
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vietnam;foreign trainees
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jp0003167
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Despite divisions, LDP scores key win as Japan votes in nationwide polls
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party got off to a good start Sunday as it heads toward this summer’s Upper House election, winning the key Hokkaido gubernatorial election in the first round of nationwide local polls, Kyodo News projections showed. But the process of choosing candidates also revealed significant divisions in the ruling party as it failed to field a single candidate in other gubernatorial races held the same day due to conflicts within some local chapters. The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito scored a victory in the race in Hokkaido — the only one among Sunday’s 11 gubernatorial elections that pitted a candidate backed by the ruling bloc against a unified candidate for opposition parties. Naomichi Suzuki, 38, a former mayor of the town of Yubari who was endorsed by the ruling bloc, defeated former Lower House member Tomohiro Ishikawa, 45, who was backed by opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, according to Kyodo projections. Ishikawa is a former secretary to Ichiro Ozawa, an opposition party heavyweight, and many opposition leaders visited Hokkaido to support Ishikawa’s campaign. Ishikawa’s defeat is likely to dampen election prospects for opposition parties, which are now preparing for a critical Upper House election set for summer. Elections were also held to pick six mayors as well as assembly members in 41 out of the country’s 47 prefectures and 17 big cities. The final results were expected early Monday. In Fukuoka, incumbent governor Hiroshi Ogawa, 69, beat Kazuhisa Takeuchi,47, who was backed by Finance Minister Taro Aso, and Kiyoshi Shinoda, an independent backed by the Japanese Communist Party. That result is particularly humiliating for Aso, a close ally of Abe, because some LDP members rebelled against him and supported Ogawa during the campaign. Aso’s own election district is in Fukuoka Prefecture. “We couldn’t get him elected and it’s very frustrating. I apologize for it,” Aso told a meeting of Takeuchi’s supporters in the city of Fukuoka on Sunday evening. The first round of nationwide elections came only days after a deputy land minister resigned to take responsibility for remarks he made that special treatment was given to a road project to please Abe and Aso, adding to a series of gaffes and scandals involving ruling lawmakers since Abe took office in 2012. Aso doubles as deputy prime minister. Revitalizing regional economies and stemming population declines were among major issues in the elections as rural areas are seen as benefiting less from the Abenomics policy mix undertaken by the prime minister. The central government has said Japan’s economy is expanding moderately. But recent data have indicated the country has already entered a recessionary phase rather than marking its longest growth streak since the end of World War II, as was previously believed. In Fukui, Shimane, Tokushima and Fukuoka prefectures, the LDP failed to field single candidates, revealing divisions within its local chapters. Gubernatorial races were also held in Kanagawa, Nara, Tottori, Oita and Mie prefectures. Japan will have another round of simultaneous local elections on April 21.
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shinzo abe;ldp;taro aso;elections;hokkaido
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jp0003168
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/07
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Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, among post-Abe candidates, LDP heavyweight says
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Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is among those who may take over the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also serves as LDP president, the party’s secretary-general has said. Suga “has done very well as chief Cabinet secretary in this difficult period,” Toshihiro Nikai said in an interview with the monthly magazine Bungei Shunju. “He is capable enough (of serving as LDP president).” Suga, the country’s longest-serving chief Cabinet secretary, has long been in the public eye, but gained an iconic spot in the popular consciousness after announcing the new era name, Reiwa, at a nationally televised news conference last Monday. Nikai, however, said he does not mean to put Suga forward as a candidate in the next LDP leadership race. The interview is set to be published in the magazine’s next issue, due out Wednesday. Concerning speculation about possible simultaneous elections for both chambers of the Diet, Nikai said it was important to focus on the planned summer Upper House election. However, he said, if Abe decides to hold a double election, the LDP would definitely accept his decision.
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shinzo abe;yoshihide suga;ldp;elections;cabinet;toshihiro nikai
|
jp0003169
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/07
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Toyota's optical sensors might help farmers raise crop yields through quick soil analysis
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Toyota Motor Corp. has started testing a service that analyzes farm soil with optical sensors, allowing farmers to strategically distribute fertilizer to increase crop yields. The experiment in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, uses the automaker’s so-called Toyota Production System, which was developed to maximize production efficiency based on data analysis. By clarifying soil composition and offering suggestions on fertilizer amount and other important factors needed to make the best soil for growing crops, Toyota hopes to make it easier for farmers to pass their expertise down to younger generations. “We hope that digitizing the experiences and intuition of artisan-like farmers, and offering cultivation guidance based on that data, will lead to solving the problem” with farmers lacking successors, said Takeshi Kanamori, head of Toyota’s agriculture support division. In the experiment, a tractor tows an optical sensor inserted into the ground. The sensor measures the amount of light the soil absorbs, which differs according to soil composition, every 50 cm. The data is then combined with GPS data to create a map showing the distribution of 30 soil components related to crop growth, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Through the analysis, Toyota can offer diagnoses and soil improvement plans that can tell clients which crops are best suited for their land and which fertilizers they should use to raise yields. Farmers who want their soil diagnosed usually have to gather samples from several locations in their fields during the offseason and send them out for analysis. In some cases, it can take a couple of months to get the results, which can be too late to make adjustments. By using the new technology developed jointly by Toyota and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, the time required can be shortened to a week or two. In addition, the technology makes it possible for all of one’s farmland to be measured thoroughly, allowing farmers to calculate exactly how much fertilizer is needed. This means the technology can help reduce costs and reduce the impact on the environment. In the experiment, which will be conducted through December, Toyota is providing the new service to a rice farmer in Suzuka and collecting data with Tokai Trading Co., a supplier of agricultural materials in Yokkaichi. They are planning to conduct the experiment in other regions as well. Toyota started developing ways to support farmers in 2011 to contribute to local development. Based on the TPS, it developed a system to manage farm tasks via smartphone, and more than 80 agricultural production corporations now use it. Toyota believes its new soil service will help farmers further improve their efficiency.
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agriculture;toyota motor
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jp0003170
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/07
|
Japan defense chief vows to defend territory in visit to new GSDF base on distant southwest island
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MIYAKOJIMA, Okinawa Pref. - Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Sunday highlighted Japan’s resolve to defend its far-flung territory amid China’s maritime assertiveness by touring a newly opened Ground Self-Defense Force base on Miyako Island. “The Miyako Island camp is on the front lines of our country’s defenses. We are seeing steady progress over the defense of the southwestern region,” Iwaya told GSDF members on the islet located some 290 kilometers southwest of Okinawa’s main island. Miyako Island sits around 210 km from the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which China claims and calls Diaoyu. Chinese government ships have repeatedly entered Japanese waters around the Senkakus, creating tensions. The GSDF is gearing up to fill what is considered a defense vacuum in the waters around Okinawa, with Japanese troops having been stationed only on the prefecture’s main island until recent years. On Miyako Island, a 380-member security unit was deployed to a camp established on March 26. Missile units are also expected to be installed as early as 2020, with the total number of troops there to eventually increase to 700 or 800. Some of the approximately 54,000 residents of the island group have expressed opposition to the GSDF deployment. Iwaya has recently admitted that ammunition, such as mortar rounds, have been in storage on the camp site despite authorities having told locals that only guns and flares are kept. On Sunday, he apologized to Miyakojima Mayor Toshihiko Shimoji and a representative of local residents over the incident. “Our explanation was insufficient. I’m very sorry,” Iwaya said. The ammunition has been temporarily removed from the island to address safety concerns among residents. It will be brought back once an ammunition depot, which is under construction in a different part of the island, is completed, according to the Defense Ministry.
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china;okinawa;military;senkakus;self defense forces;miyako island
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jp0003172
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
U.S. 'not satisfied yet' in China trade talks, says White House official
|
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials are “not satisfied yet” about all the issues standing in the way of a deal to end the U.S.-China trade war but made progress in talks with China last week, a top White House official said on Monday. The United States and China have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff battle since July 2018, roiling global financial markets and supply chains and costing both of the world’s two largest economies billions of dollars. U.S. officials are pressing China to make changes to address longstanding concerns over industrial subsidies, technology transfer and intellectual property rights. The two sides wrapped up the latest round of talks in Washington late last week and will be resuming discussions this week remotely. “We’re making progress on a range of things, and there’s some stuff where we’re not satisfied yet,” Clete Willems, a top White House trade official, told Reuters on the sidelines of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on Monday. He declined to get into specifics on which issues remained unsettled. Last week, President Donald Trump said a deal could be reached in about four weeks. Willems also declined to specify a time-line for the pact, noting: “It should be a good sign for people that we’re not rushing into this we want to get it right and we need to nail down specifics.” Willems said that the two sides were still trying to settle on how to handle existing tariffs. The United States has slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods, and the Trump administration sees those as leverage to ensure Beijing keeps any promises made in the deal. Chinese officials want the levies removed. The United States and China have agreed on an enforcement structure that would give Washington the right to retaliate if Beijing was not honoring the terms of the agreement, Willems said. European Union leaders did not take issues with Chinese trade policy as seriously as they should have in the past, but the United States and the EU are now “working hand in hand” at the World Trade Organization on China’s nonmarket economic policies, Willems said earlier in remarks at the Chamber of Commerce. The United States and the EU want to work together on joint projects that provide market-based alternatives to state-led initiatives “that can come with strings attached,” he said. Next month China is hosting its second summit for its Belt and Road initiative, which envisions connecting China with Asia, Europe and beyond with massive infrastructure spending, but the United States will not be sending high-level officials to the event. Washington views Beijing as a major strategic rival. The United States has said it views the initiative as a way of spreading Chinese influence overseas and saddling low-income countries with unsustainable debt using opaque projects. Willems, who has been a key figure in negotiations with China, said last month he will be leaving the White House in the coming weeks to spend more time with his family after the birth of a new baby.
|
china;u.s .;tariffs;donald trump;trade war
|
jp0003173
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Neo-Nazi website founder must return to U.S. to face suit over anti-Semitic 'troll storm'
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NEW YORK - A neo-Nazi website operator is not excused from returning to the U.S. for questioning under oath in a lawsuit accusing him of orchestrating an anti-Semitic “troll storm” against a Montana real estate agent’s family, a federal judge has ruled. The Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin claims it’s too dangerous for him to travel to the U.S., but Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch ruled Friday that Anglin’s personal safety concerns are “factually unsupported” and no basis for a protective order sparing him from an in-person deposition in the U.S. One of Anglin’s attorneys, Marc Randazza, said in a text message Monday that his client has made it clear to him and to the court that he won’t return to the U.S. Randazza said he expects that Anglin would “willingly” accept a default judgment against him before returning to the U.S. for a deposition by Tanya Gersh’s attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center. “The end result of that will be that the SPLC will get a piece of paper, my client will pay nothing and there won’t even be a decision on the legal merits, at least clarifying the law. Everyone loses,” Randazza wrote. In the lawsuit she filed in Montana against Anglin in 2017, Gersh claims anonymous internet trolls bombarded her family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information, including her 12-year-old son’s Twitter handle and photo. In a string of posts, Anglin had accused Gersh and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an “extortion racket” against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer. Gersh says she had agreed to help Spencer’s mother sell commercial property she owns in Whitefish amid talk of a protest outside the building. Sherry Spencer, however, later accused Gersh of threatening and harassing her into agreeing to sell the property. Anglin, an Ohio native, claims he hasn’t been to the U.S. since 2012. He refuses to disclose his current whereabouts, claiming he gets death threats. But he has said he took up residency in the Philippines sometime before 2010, moved to Greece in 2013 and then moved to Cambodia four days before Tanya Gersh sued him in 2017. Anglin’s attorneys had argued the court can order Anglin’s deposition to take place abroad or by telephone or video conference. Court records show Anglin suggested meeting in Cuba or Venezuela for his deposition — a suggestion that Gersh’s attorneys found dubious. Her lawyers from the Alabama-based law center said Anglin’s request amounted to baseless gamesmanship. “Since the outset of this case, (Anglin) has displayed a pattern of disregard for the authority of this Court and the seriousness of these proceedings,” they wrote in a court filing. Gersh’s attorneys said they recently deposed Richard Spencer “without incident, and without publicizing either the fact of the deposition or its location or timing.” Lynch said he is willing to order that the time and place of Anglin’s deposition be kept confidential. Gersh’s suit accuses Anglin of invading her privacy, intentionally inflicting “emotional distress” and violating a Montana anti-intimidation law. Anglin’s site takes its name from Der Stuermer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda in Nazi-era Germany, and includes sections called “Jewish Problem” and “Race War.”
|
u.s .;anti-semitism;montana;neo-nazis;richard spencer;daily stormer;andrew anglin
|
jp0003174
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
In retaliation for Airbus subsidies, Trump says he'll put tariffs on $11 billion in EU goods
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the European Union, vowing to slap tariffs on billions in EU imports in retaliation for subsidies to aviation giant Airbus. “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!” However, the immediate consequences from Trump’s Twitter outburst 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. Lighthizer’s office published a preliminary list — including items as diverse as aircraft, swordfish, cheeses and liquors — that he said could be subject to additional duties in the future. The EU and the United States have been maintaining a fragile trade truce since Trump angered Europe last year by slapping duties on steel and aluminum imports and threatening new ones on cars. 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. The EU fired back on Tuesday, saying that the amounts claimed by the U.S. were “greatly exaggerated.”
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u.s .;trade;eu;airbus;tariffs;donald trump
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jp0003176
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
France begins debating digital tax for tech giants, defying U.S. ire
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PARIS - French lawmakers on Monday began debating a new tax on digital giants such as Facebook and Apple that has angered the United States, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire boasting that France was proud to be in the vanguard of such a move. The United States has urged its NATO ally to drop the plan, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning last week that it would hurt both the American firms and the French citizens who use them. The legislation, dubbed “Gafa” after Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, comes amid rising public outrage at the minimal tax paid by some of the world’s richest firms. “France is honored to be leading on such subjects,” Le Maire told parliament, saying that the draft constituted a “step … towards a fairer and more efficient taxation for the 21st century.” The debates in the National Assembly are due to last until Wednesday. Responding to the criticism from the United States, Le Maire said France was “determined” to press on with the legislation and would be “sovereign” on fiscal issues. He said it was “unacceptable” that digital giants could make “considerable profits” from user data so that the “profits are made in France but the taxes are imposed abroad. Last month, France unveiled the draft legislation to set a three percent tax on digital advertising, the sale of personal data and other revenue for any technology company that earns more than €750 million ($840 million) worldwide each year. France is seeking to agree the legislation on a national level after a European Union-wide effort was scuttled by low-tax countries such as Ireland, which have wooed big technology firms. But Le Maire insisted that a “good solution in the long term will be a multilateral solution,” vowing not to let up in efforts for an agreement within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
|
france;u.s .;google;apple;facebook;amazon.com;mike pompeo;bruno le maire;digital tax
|
jp0003177
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/09
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Dollar slips through ¥111.30 in Tokyo
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The dollar fell below ¥111.30 in Tokyo trading Tuesday, battered by lower U.S. long-term interest rates. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.26-26, down from ¥111.45-45 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1265-1265, up from $1.1228-1229, and at ¥125.34-34, up from ¥125.14-15. The dollar rose close to ¥111.60 after moving around ¥111.50 in early hours. But the greenback slipped through ¥111.30 in line with the Nikkei 225 stock average’s drop later in the morning. Following a slight rebound, the dollar eased back to levels below ¥111.30 on selling prompted by a drop in U.S. 10-year interest rates in off-hours trading. “Position-squaring selling emerged when the dollar topped ¥111.50,” an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. “But the U.S. currency did not fall further due to a lack of follow-through selling,” the official added. A currency broker said trading became subdued ahead of a European Union summit and the release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting last month, both set for Wednesday.
|
forex;currencies
|
jp0003178
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Nikkei 225 takes moderate upturn on selective buying
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The Nikkei 225 average turned moderately higher Tuesday, supported by buying of individual issues with incentives. The benchmark gauge gained 40.94 points, or 0.19 percent, to end at 21,802.59 after falling 45.85 points Monday. On the other hand, the Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished down 1.38 points, or 0.09 percent, at 1,618.76. It dropped 5.61 points the previous day. After getting off to a weaker start, the Nikkei soon popped into positive territory. But the jump prompted selling on a rally, brokers said. Underpinned by selective buying, the key indicator fluctuated in a narrow range slightly above the previous day’s closing level for most of the afternoon, they added, The Topix failed to become buoyant throughout the session, although it displayed some resilience in the afternoon. The Nikkei’s advance was supported mainly by Sony’s surge, which helped the price index gain some 16 points on a closing basis, a market source pointed out. Investors rushed to buy Sony following a news report that U.S. investment firm Third Point LLC is raising its stake in the technology giant, according to Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. But taken as a whole, Tuesday’s market was “weighed on by individual players’ small-lot selling,” Ota said. “Investors won’t buy in stocks before examining earnings reports” to be released by major Japanese firms from late this month, Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co., said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,318 to 705 in the first section, while 117 issues were unchanged. Volume inched up to 1.105 billion shares from 1.057 billion Monday. Sony rocketed 9.26 percent. Japan Cash Machine and another cash machine maker Glory shot up 8.57 percent and 7.87 percent, respectively, following the government’s announcement Tuesday morning that it will redesign paper currency. Other major winners included industrial robot producer Fanuc and chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron. By contrast, furniture retailer Nitori Holdings sagged 2.21 percent as its consolidated operating profit forecast for the year through February 2020 failed to beat market expectations, brokers said. Also sold were convenience store operator FamilyMart Uny and technology investor SoftBank Group.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
|
jp0003179
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Honda to end car production in Turkey in 2021
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ISTANBUL - Honda Motor Co. will end car production in Turkey in 2021 after the completion of existing manufacturing operations for the Civic Sedan model. The automaker said Monday the move is needed to ensure appropriate production capacity amid developments in the electrification field in the global auto industry. Honda said it will shut down the Turkey plant and provide re-employment and other kinds of support to about 1,100 employees affected by the decision.
|
honda;turkey;carmakers
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jp0003180
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan's IHI finds 7,000 more cases of improper jet engine inspections
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A scandal over improper maintenance work at jet-engine maker IHI Corp. deepened as the company said it has found over 7,000 cases of flawed engine inspections in the process of making engine parts during the two years through January. The latest findings, which also affect parts supplied to Self-Defense Forces aircraft, raised the tally of improper inspections by the Tokyo-based company to over 13,000. IHI said Monday it has found no safety problems due to the improper checks. IHI, a supplier of engines to Boeing Co. and Airbus S.A.S., is among a slew of Japanese manufacturers recently embroiled in scandals over improper quality controls on their products, including Nissan Motor Co. and Kobe Steel Ltd. In an investigation covering 1.8 million engine part inspections conducted at three plants in Tokyo and elsewhere, 7,138 cases were found to have involved uncertified staff such as trainees or were not conducted by inspectors whose names were recorded in documents. About 20 percent of the flawed checks involved defense equipment, including SDF planes, the company said. The heavy machinery maker stated in a news release that the affected products meet the specified size, strength, functions and performance and have no technical problems. The company also said the malpractice took place because employees lacked the awareness to abide by the rules and there were insufficient inspectors to handle the increased workload. “We are considering company-wide measures … to make sure that the same thing will not happen again,” IHI said, noting that it is already training people to become inspectors. In late March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ordered IHI to rectify its jet engine maintenance operations and stick to government-approved methods, after it reported 6,340 improper inspections affecting 209 engines in the two years through January. The number jumped from an initial report in early March, in which the company only confirmed 211 improper checks in engine maintenance work entrusted by airlines. The problem was uncovered earlier this year following an on-site inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. said earlier that IHI told them that no engines inspected by the company had safety issues. The two airlines consign some of their engine repairs and maintenance operations to IHI. The scandal has rocked IHI at a time when it is seeking to strengthen its maintenance business through the construction of a new plant in Saitama Prefecture.
|
scandals;ihi corp .
|
jp0003181
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
In video, ousted Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn claims he's a victim of 'conspiracy'
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In a highly anticipated video released Tuesday, Carlos Ghosn characterizes his ousting from the automaker he led for 20 years as “a conspiracy” by “selfish” Nissan executives afraid to forge ahead in its alliance with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Renault SA. “This is about a plot. This is about conspiracies. This is about backstabbing,” the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman says in the video that according to his lawyers was recorded April 3, the day before his fourth arrest. “I have a lot of respect for Nissan employees,” he says. “I am talking here about a few executives who obviously for their own interest and for their own selfish fears are creating a lot of value destruction … we are talking about people who really played a very dirty game.” According to Junichiro Hironaka, one of his lawyers, Ghosn originally named individuals as masterminds of the conspiracy, but the defense team redacted those names at their discretion after getting consent from Ghosn. The video was aired to journalists a day after Nissan formally expelled Ghosn, who faces charges of financial misconduct and breach of trust, from its board at an extraordinary shareholders meeting. Ghosn appears in the video dressed in a black jacket and white shirt with no tie, maintaining a calm demeanor. He reiterates his innocence but offers no specifics. Hironaka justified that decision, saying it would be inappropriate for Ghosn to comment on the allegations based on speculation and because the prosecutors have not fully revealed their evidence. “I am also innocent of all the accusations that came around these charges that are all biased, taken out of context, twisted in a way to paint a personage of greed and the personage of dictatorship,” Ghosn says. Nissan removed Ghosn from its board, his last remaining tie to the Nissan-Mitsubishi-Renault alliance, on Monday in a vote by its shareholders. Ghosn was relieved as chairman immediately after his arrest in November. The other two automakers had already stripped him of his executive titles. Ghosn stresses his affection for Japan and Nissan, explaining that he came to this nation in 1999 because he “was fascinated with the country” as well as “the challenge of reviving” the automaker, which was struggling at the time. “My love for Japan and my love for Nissan is untainted today after all the ordeal I’ve been through,” he says. At the same time, the former auto titan also expresses his concern for the future of the company, citing sluggish performance and scandals, including tampering with the results of new cars’ carbon dioxide emissions. He says the current executives have elaborated neither on the future of Nissan nor the alliance in spite of Nissan’s “absolutely mediocre performance.” “This becomes very sad and obviously for somebody like me it’s very sickening,” he says. His attorneys said Ghosn recorded himself talking about the case because of the possibility that the prosecutors could bring fresh allegations against him and he might be deprived of an opportunity to tell his side of the story. Both Ghosn and Hironaka denounced prosecutors for sabotaging a planned news conference by arresting him. Hironaka repeated his remarks from last week that Ghosn’s fourth arrest isn’t justifiable as he did not pose a flight risk and was not at risk of tampering with evidence. The prosecutors are taking “cruel steps” to force Ghosn into making a confession, he said. “The arrest and detention of Mr. Carlos Ghosn was carried out … to apply unjust pressure upon Mr. Ghosn,” Hironaka said. The defense team will make a special appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday about the arrest. Ghosn was rearrested last Thursday after the Tokyo prosecutors accused him offunneling some of Nissan’s payments — about ¥500 million — to a Lebanese firm run by his associates through a distributor in Oman for his own personal use. The arrest took place while he had been released on bail, a highly unusual legal practice. The 65-year-old former automaker executive tweeted April 3, the day before his fourth arrest that he would be holding a news conference to “tell the truth about what’s happening.” His wife, Carole, had left Japan following his arrest, telling the French media she did so because she feared for her safety. Hironaka blasted prosecutors last week for treating her like a criminal when they raided Ghosn’s home by confiscating her personal items, such as her cellphone, even though she is not a suspect. “You would be able to imagine how frightening it must have been for (Carole) to come to a foreign country and see her husband who has been in detention,” Hironaka said. Ghosn was arrested along with his close associate, Greg Kelly, in November after being accused of falsely reporting his income for years. He was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated breach of trust for the alleged transfer of private investment losses to Nissan in 2008. Ghosn said he hopes he will get a fair trial, but his lawyers indicated it is unclear whether he will get one.
|
scandals;nissan;carmakers;renault;carlos ghosn
|
jp0003182
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
France reportedly says it won't give special treatment to Carlos Ghosn despite wife's plea
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PARIS - An official of the French presidential office has indicated that the government is unwilling to give special treatment to former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, French radio RTL reported Monday. The official said that Ghosn, rearrested in Tokyo last week on fresh charges of aggravated breach of trust, should be put on trial in the same way as other suspects. The official also reportedly said French judicial authorities are investigating the case just like Japanese authorities and that the government does not have a say in such a judicial matter. The comments came after Ghosn’s wife, Carole Ghosn, sought the support of French President Emmanuel Macron in efforts to have the former Nissan chief, a French citizen, released on bail. In an interview with RTL, Ghosn’s wife 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. She claimed that France has done nothing except for having the French ambassador to Japan accompany her when she left the country last week. She said she hopes Macron will help her husband win release from the Tokyo Detention House. Ghosn’s wife also told RTL that she is ready to return to Japan to be questioned by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office.
|
france;scandals;nissan;carlos ghosn;rtl
|
jp0003183
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan's Asics and Mizuno look to capitalize on Rugby World Cup and Tokyo 2020 Olympics
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Japanese sports equipment firms are looking at the three years through 2021, dubbed the “Golden Sports Years,” as opportunities for growth. These are “three unprecedented years,” Akito Mizuno, president of Mizuno Corp., said of the period during which major world sporting events will be held here, including the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and the 2021 World Masters Games. Asics Corp. aims to use the 2020 Summer Olympics to make its brand “shine,” said Yasuhito Hirota, president and chief operating officer. The company is one of the sponsors of the Tokyo Games. Hirota said Asics will aim to achieve consolidated sales of ¥500 billion in 2020, up 29 percent from 2018. The company “wants to return to world No. 1” in the market for running shoes by pushing its new Metaride series of high-performance models, he said. He also said Asics will make India and Indonesia, where sports are growing in popularity, its priority markets. The company is considering local production in India, he added. Mizuno expressed hopes that the 2021 World Masters Games, which will be mainly held in Kansai, will contribute to his company’s earnings. Noting that the World Masters Games allow anyone to compete, in contrast with spectator-driven events, he said that his company “has high expectations” for the event. Osaka is also set to host the 2025 World Expo. On such events, Mizuno said it is “important to leave a legacy” and make sure the events are “not a temporary festival.” He indicated that his company will work on lowering barriers for participation in sports, including promoting the construction of related facilities.
|
olympics;asics;2020 tokyo olympics;2019 rugby world cup;mizuno
|
jp0003184
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan's Kameda Seika to produce popular Kaki No Tane rice crackers in India
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NEW DELHI - Snack company Kameda Seika Co. will produce its mainstay crispy rice cracker in India starting in June following a better than expected trial sales performance in the world’s second-most populous nation. The investment amount and production capacity for a plant in Haryana state adjacent to the capital has not been disclosed, Tamotsu Katagiri, manager of the corporate planning department, told NNA on Monday. The cracker with roasted peanuts, known as Kaki No Tane in Japan and Kameda Crisps abroad, will be priced at 50 rupees (¥80) for a 70-gram package and 99 rupees for 150 grams, he said. The firm, headquartered in Niigata Prefecture, formed a joint venture, Daawat Kameda (India) Pvt., in the northern state with leading local food maker LT Foods Ltd. in 2017. The venture has since test-marketed the product under the Kari Kari brand imported from China and has seen good responses from local consumers, Katagiri said. Kameda Seika is ramping up its overseas business, aiming to boost the ratio of sales in foreign markets to total sales from 7.5 percent in the year to March 2018 to 14.5 percent in the year to March 2024. India is Kameda Seika’s sixth country to locally manufacture the rice crackers, after Cambodia, China, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
|
india;rice;snacks;kameda seika;nuts;rice crackers
|
jp0003185
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund building a stake to pressure Sony, sources say
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BOSTON/NEW YORK - Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point LLC is building a stake in Sony Corp. to push for changes, the second time in six years it has targeted the electronics maker, according to sources familiar with the matter. Once a market leader in consumer electronics, Sony is now in the midst of a turnaround effort spearheaded by Kenichiro Yoshida, its chief executive who formerly served at its chief financial officer. The maker of the iconic Walkman and Trinitron TV fell behind the likes of Apple Inc. in innovation after the release of the iPod in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007. Sony over the past decade has reinvented itself as an entertainment company with stable revenue from music content and its video game platform. Investors are now searching for its next source of growth as Sony’s gaming business shows signs of slowing, with its popular PlayStation 4 console nearing the end of its cycle. Third Point’s amassed stake in Sony thus far could not be learned. The hedge fund, which has about $14.5 billion in assets under management, is raising a dedicated investment vehicle, targeting between $500 million and $1 billion in capital, so it can buy more Sony shares, the sources said Monday. Third Point wants Sony to explore options for some of its business units, including its movie studio, which the hedge fund believes has attracted takeover interest from the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc., the sources said. The hedge fund also wants clarity on how the semiconductor and insurance divisions fit in with the rest of the company. The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Sony and Third Point declined to comment. Sony reported lower than expected profit in February, dragged down by its previously thriving gaming business, even as a one-off gain related to its acquisition of music publisher EMI pushed the quarterly result to a record high. Third Point last exited a stake in Sony in 2014 with a roughly 20 percent gain after spending a year and a half pushing for Sony to spin off its entertainment division, writing in a letter to investors that the division “remains poorly managed.” Later Loeb changed his tune, praising the company for cutting costs at the entertainment division and having made management changes. Sony’s shares rose more than 8 percent in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon after the report.
|
sony;electronics;investments;hedge funds;third point;video games;daniel loeb
|
jp0003186
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance gets green light to set up shop in Myanmar
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YANGON - Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. has become one of five foreign insurers to obtain initial approval to enter the Myanmar market via a wholly owned subsidiary. The Japanese insurer is expected to set up a subsidiary to start operations in the Southeast Asian country. Dai-ichi Life won in-principle approval along with Hong Kong-based AIA Co., Bermuda-registered Chubb Tempest Reinsurance Ltd., Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. of Canada and Prudential Hong Kong Ltd., according to the Ministry of Planning and Finance’s Financial Regulatory Department. Myanmar announced in January the opening of its insurance sector to foreign firms and released terms and processes to give license approval. In addition to the five foreign companies, the Myanmar government is expected to grant licenses to five other Japanese insurers by mid-May to operate via joint ventures in which their shareholdings are limited to up to 35 percent, according to the regulatory body. The five Japanese companies are two life insurers — Taiyo Life Insurance Co. and Nippon Life Insurance Co.’s regional arm Nippon Life Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., and three nonlife insurers — Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. After nearly half a century of monopoly under the state-backed Myanmar Insurance Co., the government started reforming the insurance sector in 2013 by granting licenses to local firms, and 33 foreign firms have been allowed to set up representative offices since then.
|
myanmar;insurance;dai-ichi life insurance
|
jp0003187
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Mitsubishi UFJ to issue its own digital currency in Japan, called 'coin,' by end of year
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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. plans to put its original digital currency into practical use by the end of this year, according to President Kanetsugu Mike. The major banking group hopes to enable other enterprises, such as retail stores, to use the digital currency, called “coin,” as their own currencies and bearing their own respective corporate names. If businesses in different sectors use the currency, Mitsubishi UFJ “will be able to connect economic blocs,” including customer bases of such firms, Mike said in a recent interview. With competition for cashless payments intensifying, as seen in moves to issue new digital currencies, Mike voiced confidence in differentiating his company from others by providing a payment infrastructure that will enable many companies to participate. Mike also revealed that Mitsubishi UFJ plans to introduce a smartphone app by the end of June that will centrally manage credit cards, reward point services and other functions. Amid a harsh business environment surrounding the banking industry, mainly due to prolonged low interest rates, Mike said Mitsubishi UFJ will treat people accordingly when they take on a challenge in a new area. He indicated that he will continue to change Mitsubishi UFJ’s corporate culture by reviewing its personnel system, including through promoting personnel exchanges among the banking, trust bank and securities arms, and the appointment of younger employees. Mike, who doubles as head of MUFG Bank, assumed the post of president at Mitsubishi UFJ on April 1. He became president of the banking unit in June 2017. “We aim to build an organization that is relied on and trusted globally, and represents innovation,” he said.
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banks;mufg;mufj;coin;cashless
|
jp0003188
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan to mandate alcohol tests for flight attendants and plane inspectors following string of drinking-related incidents
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The transport ministry said Tuesday it will mandate Breathalyzer tests for all flight attendants, engineers and flight operations managers after loosely imposed drinking regulations came under fire for a series of alcohol-related problems at Japanese airlines. Drinking rules for pilots will be applied to flight attendants, prohibiting them from consuming alcohol within eight hours of their flight duties, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said. Further alcohol tests while on duty will also be mandatory, the ministry said, and they are to be relieved of duty if even a very low level of alcohol is detected. While the ministry decided to tighten alcohol regulations for pilots following a string of drinking issues at carriers including Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co., it had been considering introducing drinking restrictions on other personnel. Engineers inspecting aircraft before departure will be subject to the new regulations, while those undertaking hanger work, such as overhauling planes, will be exempted, it said. The transport ministry set up an expert panel in November to review drinking rules for pilots. Drinking by pilots less than eight hours before duty was prohibited even before serious violations surfaced, but the rule has not been strictly implemented by domestic airlines, and Breathalyzer tests were not mandatory.
|
airlines;alcohol;transport ministry
|
jp0003189
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Global warming shrinking glaciers faster than thought, especially in mountains, study finds
|
WASHINGTON - Earth’s glaciers are melting much faster than scientists thought. A new study shows they are losing 369 billion tons of snow and ice each year, more than half of that in North America. The most comprehensive measurement of glaciers worldwide found that thousands of inland masses of snow compressed into ice are shrinking 18 percent faster than an international panel of scientists calculated in 2013. The world’s glaciers are shrinking five times faster now than they were in the 1960s. Their melt is accelerating due to global warming, and adding more water to already rising seas, the study found. “Over 30 years suddenly almost all regions started losing mass at the same time,” said lead author Michael Zemp, director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich. “That’s clearly climate change if you look at the global picture.” The glaciers shrinking fastest are in central Europe, the Caucasus region, western Canada, the U.S. Lower 48 states, New Zealand and near the tropics. Glaciers in these places on average are losing more than 1 percent of their mass each year, according to a study in Monday’s journal Nature. “In these regions, at the current glacier loss rate, the glaciers will not survive the century,” Zemp said. Zemp’s team used ground and satellite measurements to look at 19,000 glaciers, far more than previous studies. They determined that Southwestern Asia is the only region of 19 where glaciers are not shrinking, which Zemp said is due to local climate conditions. Since 1961, the world has lost 10.6 trillion tons of ice and snow (9.6 trillion metric tons), the study found. Melted, that’s enough to cover the lower 48 U.S. states in about 4 feet of water. Scientists have known for a long time that global warming caused by human activities like burning coal, gasoline and diesel for electricity and transportation is making Earth lose its ice. They have been especially concerned with the large ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica. This study, “is telling us there’s much more to the story,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, who wasn’t part of the study. “The influence of glaciers on sea level is bigger than we thought.” A number of factors are making sea levels rise. The biggest cause is that oceans are getting warmer, which makes water expand. The new figures show glacier melt is a bigger contributor than thought, responsible for about 25 percent to 30 percent of the yearly rise in oceans, Zemp said. Rising seas threaten coastal cities around the world and put more people at risk of flooding during storms. Glaciers grow in winter and shrink in summer, but as the Earth has warmed, they are growing less and shrinking more. Zemp said warmer summer temperatures are the main reason glaciers are shrinking faster. While people think of glaciers as polar issues, shrinking mountain glaciers closer to the equator can cause serious problems for people who depend on them, said Twila Moon, a snow and ice data center scientist who also wasn’t part of the study. She said people in the Andes, for example, rely on the glaciers for drinking and irrigation water each summer. A separate study Monday in Environmental Research Letters confirmed faster melting and other changes in the Arctic. It found that in winter, the Arctic is warming 2.8 times faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Overall, the region is getting more humid, cloudier and wetter. “It’s on steroids, it’s hyperactive,” said lead author Jason Box, a scientist for the Danish Meteorological Institute.
|
global warming;glaciers;melting
|
jp0003190
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Florence study proves artist Leonardo da Vinci was ambidextrous
|
FLORENCE, ITALY - An in-depth study of Leonardo da Vinci’s earliest-known drawing has proved that the great Renaissance artist was ambidextrous, Italy’s Uffizi Gallery said on Monday. The scientific and technological analysis also revealed a hidden, previously unknown landscape sketch, also by Leonardo, on the back of the original work. “It is a real revolution in the field of Leonardo studies,” said Uffizi director, Eike Schmidt. The findings were announced a month ahead of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo, with museums around Europe organizing exhibitions and events to celebrate the life of the man responsible for such masterpieces as Mona Lisa. His first-known drawing is dated Aug. 5, 1473 — when Leonardo was 21 — and shows a landscape of the Arno river valley and Montelupo Castle, just outside Florence. Commonly known as “Landscape 8P” from its inventory number, the work has words on the front going from right to left, as Leonardo often used to write, which gives the date. On the back, the brief script goes from left to right, and alludes to an informal contract. A study of the two texts confirmed they were both written by Leonardo and showed he was able to write perfectly using both his left and right hand. “Leonardo was born left-handed, but was taught to write with his right hand from a very young age,” said art historian Cecilia Frosinini. “By looking at his writings, including from this drawing, one can see his right-handed calligraphy is educated and well done.” Using infrared light, the art experts also discovered two different layers of drawing, both on the back and front, with an ink line covering the original charcoal trace in certain places. Not much ink is visible on the back, but the infrared revealed that another landscape depicting a river crossed by a bridge was originally drawn there using a type of charcoal. It was not clear if the artist had rubbed the paper clean or if the charcoal had simply faded over time. “The elements that emerged during this research open up new perspectives on the interpretation of Leonardo’s Landscape 8P and on how the artist (built) the landscape, on his technique and even on his habits and abilities in writing,” Schmidt said.
|
italy;leonardo da vinci;florence;uffizi
|
jp0003191
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Zap cap: Electrical brain stimulation seen boosting memory function in older people
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LONDON - Electrical brain stimulation using a noninvasive cap can help boost older people’s mental scores to those of people 20 to 30 years younger, according to a study published on Monday. The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found that age-related decline in working memory can be reversed by stimulating two key brain areas at a specific rhythm. The findings are early and only relate to healthy volunteers at this stage, but could point to new ways to boost brain function in people with age-related cognitive decline such as dementia and Alzheimer’s patients Using a technique known as electroencephalography (EEG), scientists stimulated the brains of a group of young and old people and were able to modulate the brainwave interactions linked to their working memory. The study involved 42 younger adults aged 20 to 29 and 42 older adults aged 60 to 76, who were all assessed for their performance in a working-memory task. Working memory refers to information retained temporarily for use in immediate tasks such as reasoning and making decisions. Without brain stimulation, the older people were slower and less accurate than the younger ones. This was because the younger ones had higher levels of interaction and synchronization of certain brain wave rhythms, the researchers said — suggesting that targeting these types of rhythms in the older people’s brains might help their function. While receiving active brain stimulation, older adults improved their working-memory test scores to the levels of the younger people. The effect lasted for at least 50 minutes after the stimulation was given, said Robert Reinhart, a researcher at Boston University in the United States who co-led the study. “By using this type of stimulation (we found) we can reconnect or resynchronize those circuits,” he told reporters in a telephone briefing. Reinhart said that the findings opened up new avenues for research but had no immediate implications for use in medicine: “Much more basic science has to be done first.” Neuroscientists agreed that the findings raised interesting questions about how working memory functions, and how it declines with age, but that it would need more research before being developed for clinical use.
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memory;seniors;alzheimer 's;electroencephalography
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jp0003192
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Republicans and Democrats want Robert Mueller to testify about his Russia probe report
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WASHINGTON - Top U.S. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said Monday they want special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress about his investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 election campaign. Two weeks ago, Attorney General Bill Barr cleared U.S. President Donald Trump of colluding with Russia in a four-page summary of the report. But the special counsel’s final report on the investigation — and whether Trump himself was involved in obstructing the probe — remains unreleased. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said he wants Democrats to immediately bring Mueller before the panel to testify about his report. “If you seek both transparency and for the American public to learn the full contours of the special counsel’s investigation, public testimony from Special Counsel Mueller himself is undoubtedly the best way to accomplish this goal,” Collins wrote in a letter to the committee’s Democratic chairman, Jerry Nadler. Nadler said he “fully” agreed, but stressed that Mueller should testify after the full report is delivered to Congress and Barr testifies. He called on Barr to testify before the committee on May 2. “We look forward to hearing from Mr. Mueller at the appropriate time,” Nadler said. It comes amid a heated battle in Washington over what Congress will actually be able to see of the report itself. Democrats are demanding access to the entire, unredacted 400-page text, saying the evidence within could be damning to the president. But Barr has said he will not release key evidence that is part of any investigation by a grand jury, a special panel used by prosecutors in politically sensitive cases. Last week Nadler was among six Democrat committee chairs who wrote to Barr demanding the full report with its underlying evidence be submitted to Congress. In his letter, Collins said Democrats were politicizing the situation by seeking the protected grand jury materials, despite an appeals court last Friday ruling that federal judges do not have authority to disclose such evidence except in specifically authorized situations. Collins wrote that courts have determined that such situations include a formal impeachment inquiry, something Democrats have so far refused to launch. “If you decline to launch an impeachment inquiry, which is your clear legal path to the 6(e) grand jury information, I suggest instead inviting Special Counsel Mueller in to testify before the Committee as soon as possible,” Collins wrote.
|
u.s .;congress;republicans;robert mueller;democrats;donald trump;russia probe;william barr;jerry nadler
|
jp0003193
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Chinese woman nabbed with high-tech gear at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort appears in court
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WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - A Chinese woman charged with bluffing her way into President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort last month, renewing concerns about security at the club, appeared in court on Monday at a hearing to determine whether she will remain in custody, according to U.S. media. The woman, Yujing Zhang, was arrested after giving conflicting reasons for being at the club during one of Trump’s routine weekend visits. According to prosecutors, she was carrying four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive containing what investigators described as “malicious malware.” Prosecutors argued in court that concerns about Zhang’s trustworthiness and the fact that a search of her hotel room turned up a device to detect hidden cameras, five cellphone SIM cards and $8,000 in cash were reasons to keep her in custody, the Washington Post reported. “She lies to everyone she encounters,” the newspaper quoted Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia as saying during the hearing. The FBI is examining whether Zhang has any links to Chinese intelligence or political influence operations, two U.S. government sources told Reuters last week. Zhang told one of the U.S. Secret Service agents who protect the property she was there to use the pool and later told a second agent that she had been invited to a U.N. Chinese American Association event, though club officials determined no such event was scheduled. She was arrested after agents determined she had no legitimate reason to be at the club, a business owned by Trump. Zhang has been charged with making false statements to a federal officer and entering or remaining in a restricted area, charges that carry up to a five-year sentence in federal prison if she is convicted. She is 32 or 33 years old, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida. Congressional Democrats raised questions on Wednesday about security at the club, where Trump is in close and frequent contact with club members and guests. The president brushed off the concerns, calling the incident a “fluke” and praising the Secret Service.
|
china;u.s .;espionage;florida;malware;u.s. secret service;donald trump;mar-a-lago;yujing zhang
|
jp0003194
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Uganda tries to calm fears after kidnapped U.S. tourist and guide are rescued and ransom paid
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KAMPALA - President Donald Trump asked Uganda to find the abductors of a U.S. tourist and her guide to reassure guests of security, even after the East African nation’s leader said the incident is isolated and that the parks are safe. “Uganda must find the kidnappers of the American tourist and guide before people feel safe in going there,” Trump said Monday on Twitter. Kimberly Sue Endicott and local guide, Jean Paul Mirenge, were abducted on April 2 in Queen Elizabeth National Park about 380 km (236 miles) west of the capital, Kampala. The park is a popular tourist destination because of its tree-climbing lions, hippopotamuses, elephants, and over 500 bird species. Trump’s comments came after the vacationer and guide were rescued, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tried to reassure tourists that the country is safe. The state will enhance security in its national parks to deal with “isolated pockets of criminals” such as those who snatched the two last week, Museveni said Monday on Twitter. Tourism is Uganda’s biggest source of foreign currency and authorities estimate its earnings jumped by about a fifth last year to $1.7 billion following a visit by U.S. musician and fashion designer Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West. Endicott and Mirenge were freed Sunday in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo after five days in captivity, but their abductors escaped, Uganda government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said by phone. Police said Sunday evening that the two were in good health. They’ll be given time to partly recover before being interviewed by security officials, Opondo said, without giving further details. A payment was made to secure their release, AFP reported Sunday, citing Mike Walker, manager of Wild Frontiers Safaris, the company that conducted the tour. The abductors had earlier demanded a $500,000 ransom using Endicott’s mobile phone. Authorities aren’t “aware that a ransom was paid,” Opondo said.
|
tourism;kidnappings;uganda;congo;donald trump;kimberly sue endicott;jean paul mirenge
|
jp0003196
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Brexit hangs in balance as May talks with Labour ahead of bid for delay at EU summit
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LONDON - Brexit hung in the balance on Monday as Prime Minister Theresa May tried to coax the Labour Party into agreeing to a divorce deal with a better chance of passage by Parliament, ahead of a crisis EU summit where she will try to delay the April 12 departure. Britain’s exit from the EU has already been delayed once but May is asking the bloc for yet more time as she courts veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour Party wants to keep Britain more closely tied to the bloc after Brexit. May heads to Berlin and Paris on Tuesday to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron and will be phoning other leaders before setting out the case for another delay at Wednesday’s emergency EU summit in Brussels. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom shocked the world by voting by 52 percent to 48 to leave the EU, May warned that Brexit might never happen, but said she would do everything possible to make sure it did. “We have been in touch with the opposition today and technical talks between officials will take place this evening,” a spokesman for May said. Labour’s Brexit point man, Keir Starmer, said earlier that May’s government had so far not shifted from its red lines on Brexit and so no way forward had been agreed. “Both us and the government have approached this in the spirit of trying to find a way forward. We haven’t found that yet. We will continue to do that,” Starmer said. May’s spokeswoman said she wanted Britain to have an independent trading policy — something hard to reconcile with Labour’s demand to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU — and that both sides would need to compromise. The deputy political editor of the Telegraph newspaper, Steven Swinford, said Labour and the Conservative government were still discussing both a customs union and the idea of holding a confirmatory referendum on any deal they agree. Both ideas are anathema to many in May’s party, whose rebels have helped trigger three parliamentary defeats of the withdrawal deal she negotiated with the EU last year. “We all hope that these talks will produce a positive outcome. I’ve said many times before, we can be more, much more ambitious in our future relationship with the U.K.,” EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a news conference with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin. The 2016 referendum revealed a United Kingdom divided over much more than EU membership, and has sparked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British. Yet, more than a week after Britain was originally supposed to have left the EU, nothing is resolved as May, the weakest leader in a generation, battles to get a divorce deal ratified by a profoundly divided parliament. EU leaders, fatigued by the serpentine Brexit crisis, must decide on Wednesday whether to grant May, who has asked for a postponement until June 30, a further delay. The decision can be vetoed by any of the other 27 member states. Without an extension, Britain is due to leave the EU at 2200 GMT on Friday, without a deal to cushion the economic shock. While the EU is not expected to trigger such a potentially disorderly no-deal exit, diplomats said all options were on the table — from refusing a delay to granting May’s request or pushing for a longer postponement. But May is boxed in at home. Brexiteers in her Cabinet insisted on at most a short delay, while Mark Francois, deputy chief of the Conservatives’ hard-line euroskeptic faction in Parliament, demanded she resign and called on the party to vote on forcing her out — even though there is no formal provision to do so before December. As the crisis grinds on, one survey suggested that voters wanted a strong leader willing to force through reform of a political system that has been found badly wanting by Brexit. Research by the Hansard Society found that 54 percent of voters wanted a strong leader willing to break the rules, while 72 percent said the political system needed “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of improvement.
|
eu;u.k .;angela merkel;labour;brexit;theresa may;jeremy corbyn;emmanuel macron
|
jp0003197
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Taliban take credit after Afghanistan suicide blast kills three U.S. troops and contractor
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KABUL - A suicide bomber in a vehicle killed three U.S. troops and a military contractor Monday while targeting their convoy near Bagram Air Base, officials said, after the Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast. The attack is the latest to hit American forces amid an ongoing, U.S.-led drive to forge a peace deal in Afghanistan, more than 17 years after the Taliban were ousted. According to NATO, the blast also wounded three U.S. troops in what is the deadliest attack on American forces in Afghanistan so far this year. Officials did not immediately release the names of those killed, or the nationality of the contractor. “The wounded service members were evacuated and are receiving medical care,” NATO said in a statement. Earlier, the Taliban claimed to have conducted the attack, saying “multiple invaders” had been killed. They added that one armored personnel carrier had been “completely destroyed.” The blast brings to seven the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year. Still, American casualties have fallen dramatically since the end of 2014, when Afghan forces took over from U.S.-led NATO combat troops to secure the country. The U.S. now has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, most of them deployed to train and advise Afghan counterparts. While parts of Afghanistan including Kabul have experienced something of a lull in attacks in recent weeks, U.S. and Afghan forces have stepped up attacks on the Taliban across the country. Bagram, America’s largest air base in Afghanistan, is located about 50 km (30 miles) north of Kabul. Earlier, Bagram district Gov. Abdul Shakoor Quddusi said a car bomber attacked an armored vehicle carrying foreign forces close to a gate to the base. “The area is closed down by foreign forces and we don’t have any information of any possible casualties,” Quddusi told AFP. Afghans, meanwhile, are on high alert for a new round of violence when the militants kick off their expected spring offensive. They typically declare a new fighting season as winter snows melt, and have in the past sought to gain control of district centers and to target government facilities. Taliban leaders are set to meet with Afghan officials in Qatar next week for a fresh round of talks as the US tries to broker a peace deal. Last week, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad called for a “comprehensive and inclusive” intra-Afghan dialogue between the government, women, youth and civil society. The Taliban has until now refused to meet with the Kabul government, accusing it of being a puppet regime. The diplomatic spat between Washington and Kabul came to a head last month when Afghanistan’s national security advisor Hamdullah Mohib accused Khalilzad of a lack of “transparency,” even suggesting the Afghan-born envoy wanted to be “viceroy” of his native country. Washington reacted furiously, with US officials reportedly refusing to attend meetings in which Mohib was present. The outspoken adviser visited eastern provinces when Khalilzad was in Kabul.
|
conflict;u.s .;terrorism;nato;afghanistan;taliban;bagram air base
|
jp0003199
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Leaders of Hong Kong's Occupy rallies found guilty of public nuisance offenses
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HONG KONG - A Hong Kong court found nine leaders of 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations guilty Tuesday on public nuisance and other charges, in a verdict that activists say likely presages more restrictions on free expression in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Those convicted included law professor Benny Tai, retired sociology professor Chan Kin-man and pastor Chu Yiu-ming. Two current lawmakers, one former lawmaker, two student leaders and a political activist were also found guilty. The nine were leaders of the non-violent “Occupy Central” campaign to demand the right of the city’s population to choose its own leader rather than merely approve a candidate picked by Beijing. “Hong Kong courts, by labeling peaceful protests in pursuit of rights as public nuisance, are sending a terrible message that will likely embolden the government to prosecute more peaceful activists, further chilling free expression in Hong Kong,” Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Prior to the verdict’s announcement, Chan said he and the others had no regrets for their actions but were chiefly concerned with the movement’s legacy. While the verdicts will have an impact on the individuals, “we are more concerned about how this movement will be recognized by the people of Hong Kong,” Chan said. Hong Kong’s biggest popular protest in recent years, also known as the umbrella movement, laid siege to government headquarters and paralyzed Hong Kong’s financial district for 79 days. Thousands staked out encampments on major thoroughfares. Several hundred were arrested. The movement fizzled without winning concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections and the pro-democracy movement has struggled to retain a high-profile in recent years. More than 100 supporters, some raising yellow umbrellas that were a symbol of the protests, gathered at the courthouse in the West Kowloon district. Tai said that was a sign the spirit of the protests lived on. “I have the confidence, many people today, with me together, we will continue to strive for Hong Kong’s democracy. And we will persist and we will not give up,” Tai said. Ranging in age from their 30s to 70s, the nine defendants span generations of Hong Kong citizens who have been agitating for full democracy. Tai, Chan and Chu were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Tai and Chan were also found guilty of inciting others to cause a public nuisance, while the other six were found guilty of inciting others to cause a public nuisance, as well as inciting people to incite others to cause a public nuisance. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years. The defendants had all pleaded not guilty, calling the prosecutions politically motivated. They were due back in court for sentencing Tuesday afternoon. Three university students prosecuted in 2016 for their leadership roles in the protests received community service. But Hong Kong judges have since faced mounting pressure from Beijing to hand down heavier sentences to deter future protests. Some fear that central government meddling will erode judicial independence, a bedrock value that undergirds the city’s standing as a global business capital. The former British colony was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997 under an agreement in which China promised it could retain its own laws, economic system and civil rights for 50 years. However, China’s ruling Communist Party under authoritarian President Xi Jinping appears to be growing impatient with efforts by Hong Kong activists to promote greater democracy. The Hong Kong government last year banned a local political party that advocated the territory’s independence from Beijing. Man-kei Tam, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, called the verdicts a “crushing blow for freedom of expression and peaceful protest in Hong Kong.” “The government is increasingly using prosecutions as a political tool to target peaceful activists, abusing the law to silence debate about sensitive issues such as Hong Kong democracy and autonomy,” Tam said. “We urge the government to cease this chilling assault against people legitimately exercising their right to freedom of expression.”
|
china;hong kong;censorship;rights;protests;occupy central;umbrella protests
|
jp0003200
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Australian security adviser told writer and Communist Party critic not to fly to China ahead of detainment
|
CANBERRA/SYDNEY - A security adviser to an Australian prime minister said he warned a Chinese-Australian writer not to travel to China before the blogger and critic of China’s Communist Party was detained on arrival at a Chinese airport in January. John Garnaut was commissioned in 2016 by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to write a classified report on Chinese influence on Australian politics, leading to sweeping laws in 2018 banning covert foreign political interference and a diplomatic rift between Australia and China, its biggest trading partner. Garnaut told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview broadcast on Monday that he advised spy novelist and friend Yang Hengjun not to travel to China after Yang revealed he had been questioned by a Chinese government official in Sydney in 2018 about Garnaut’s investigation. “He was asked about me, what was the nature of our relationship, what was I doing. What was I working on,” Garnaut said. Yang, a 53-year-old visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York and a former Chinese diplomat, did not take Garnaut’s advice and flew to China with his wife, Xiaoliang Yuan, and his 14-year-old stepdaughter. Yuan said she had not seen her husband since they were separated by Chinese officials when they landed at Guangzhou Airport on Jan. 19. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in January that Yang was “suspected of engaging in criminal activities endangering China’s national security.” He is being held in Beijing, where the Australian Embassy has been allowed consular access to him. ABC reported that Yang had yet to be formally charged. The Australian government has urged China to treat Yang transparently and fairly. Yuan is living in Shanghai. She said she is not allowed to leave China and her husband has not seen a lawyer. “I have absolutely no idea whether he is well or even if he is alive or not,” she said through an interpreter. “It gets harder as time passes, mainly because I can’t see him. I would have felt better if the lawyers could see him and verify that he is all right,” she added. A friend of Yang, University of Technology Sydney academic Feng Chongyi, was detained for two weeks in 2017 while visiting China to research human rights lawyers. Feng told ABC that he had been questioned for an entire day in detention about Garnaut’s investigation. Feng said his interrogators had known Garnaut was working for the prime minister. “They knew a lot about him. During the interrogation, they did not hide that they were angry with him,” Feng said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had not seen the ABC report. But Lu said the Chinese government had always opposed any interference in the internal affairs of other countries. “As for activities carried out by Chinese embassies and consulates in other countries, these activities aim at promoting mutual understanding between China and the regions or countries where the diplomatic mission are based, and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship among the people, including serving as the bridge of cooperation between the business community of each other,” Lu said. “I did not see any difference between the activities carried out by Chinese embassies and consulates in other countries and those conducted by foreign diplomatic missions in China,” he added. Elsewhere, Australia’s hard-line immigration minister has been swept up in the deepening saga over alleged Chinese meddling in the nation’s domestic politics Tuesday, delivering another blow to a government facing defeat in next month’s election. An investigation by national broadcaster ABC revealed that Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton met privately in 2016 with Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo to discuss obtaining Australian citizenship. Huang has been at the center of a series of scandals including accusations he bought influence in Canberra with millions in donations to major political parties. He has long denied any wrongdoing. ABC alleged Huang paid a lobbyist thousands of dollars for private access to Dutton, throwing Australia’s governing coalition into the foreign interference saga even as it trails in polls ahead of an expected May 18 election. Huang was eventually denied citizenship on the advice of Australian spy agencies and barred last month from the country on suspicions he is part of a Communist Party influence campaign. Dutton on Tuesday dismissed allegations of interference as “nonsense.” “I have never received a dollar from this individual. I had one meeting with him over lunch. I have never seen him since,” he told reporters. Former opposition Labor Party Sen. Sam Dastyari, who was forced to quit politics because of his ties to Huang, told the ABC that Dutton in 2015 fast-tracked a request for the billionaire’s family to hold a citizenship ceremony. Dastyari said it “blew him away” when Dutton took a few weeks to approve a fast-track request that would typically take months to rubber stamp. Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended his government Tuesday, labelling Dastyari a “disgrace” for “betraying” his country. But former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who last year introduced sweeping reforms to Australia’s espionage and foreign interference laws, said the ABC report was “very concerning.” Turnbull, who was ousted in a party coup late last year by a hard-right faction led by Dutton, likened the latest revelations to the Dastyari case. “Peter Dutton has a lot to explain about this,” he told reporters Tuesday. “He is supposed to be the minister responsible for the domestic security of Australia,” said Turnbull, calling on Morrison to do more. Canberra banned foreign donations as part of its reforms, with China called out as its primary concern. Beijing has dismissed the claims of meddling as hysteria and paranoia.
|
china;censorship;australia;rights;espionage;ccp;columbia university;yang hengjun
|
jp0003201
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Divers who rescued Thai soccer team make fresh discovery in Vietnam cave
|
HANOI - Three divers who helped rescue a Thai soccer team last year have made a fresh discovery in Vietnam, where they explored a tunnel that could expand the footprint of the world’s largest cave. The team was invited to descend into a waterlogged pit in the Son Doong cave in central Vietnam that has never been explored and is believed to connect to nearby chambers. They were forced back at 77 meters (252 feet) because they did not have enough oxygen to push further, but they think the tunnels could be 120 meters deep. If the tunnel connects to another cave, it would make Son Doong “easily the largest cave in the world and it would never be overtaken,” British cave expert Howard Limbert, who helped organize the dive, said Tuesday at a news conference announcing the find. The three divers — Rick Stanton, Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewell — were part of the daring rescue to save 12 Thai soccer players and their coach who were trapped in a cave for eighteen days last year. Stanton — who found the boys on a ledge — said the painstaking task of safely leading the group out of the tunnel alive helped to prepare for the mission in Vietnam. “Our planning and preparation is without parallel,” he said. The team plans to return to Vietnam next year to try to link the tunnel to another cave near Son Doong, which is so big that it has its own ecosystem and weather patterns. The cave in central Quang Binh province was first found by a local forager in 1991, but was not re-discovered for another 19 years because its entrance was hidden by thick surrounding jungle. Only 30 percent of Vietnam’s Phong Nha national park — where Son Doong and a network of adjacent caves are located — has so far been explored. Son Doong is the world’s largest cave by volume, big enough to house a New York city block — including 40-storey skyscrapers — according to Oxalis, which runs tours into the caves. Proposed plans to build a cable car in the area have sparked anger among the Vietnamese public who fear it will harm the area’s wildlife and pristine views. An official said Tuesday there were no plans to move ahead with the project despite offers from several companies. “That is only in theory, in truth, to build a cable car there is no such project yet,” the vice chairman of Quang Binh province Tran Thien Dung said Tuesday. Vietnam’s tourism industry is booming among domestic and foreign travelers alike, but the communist country has come under fire for failing to preserve landscapes as it rapidly expands the sector.
|
accidents;vietnam;thailand;caves;discoveries
|
jp0003202
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Radar images prove Pakistan F-16 shot down, says Indian Air Force
|
NEW DELHI - India’s Air Force presented what it called “irrefutable evidence” Monday that it downed a Pakistan fighter jet in February, as the regional foes offer competing narratives over what happened in the dogfight. Pakistan has repeatedly denied that it lost an F-16 over the skies in Kashmir while a U.S. magazine, citing top defense officials, has also cast doubt on India’s assertion that a jet was shot down. India lost an MiG-21 Bison in the aerial skirmish and its pilot was captured by Pakistan and later returned, cooling one of the most serious military confrontations between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades. But India has long maintained that its pilot first fired on an F-16, sending the damaged jet crashing into Pakistan-administered Kashmir — something Islamabad says never happened. In a news conference Air Vice Marshal R.G.K. Kapoor repeated this assertion, reading out the evidence gathered by India and displaying radar images he said proved the Pakistan jet was struck and crashed. “There is no doubt that two aircraft went down in the aerial engagement on 27 February 2019,” Kapoor said Monday, reading from a prepared statement. India’s Air Force “has irrefutable evidence of not only the fact that F-16 was used” on the day of the dogfight, but that it was shot down by the Indian jet, he added. Kapoor said further “credible information and evidence” backed this version of events but could not be released due to confidentiality concerns. It comes just days after Foreign Policy magazine cited two unnamed senior U.S. defense officials who said that U.S. personnel recently conducted a count of Pakistan’s F-16s and found none missing. The magazine quoted one of the officials as saying that Pakistan invited the U.S. to physically count its F-16 fleet. The dogfight happened after Pakistani aircraft entered Indian airspace a day after Indian aircraft carried out an airstrike on what it said was a “terrorist training camp” in Pakistan. That in turn was in response to a suicide bombing on February 14 in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops and which was claimed by a militant group based in Pakistan. Doubt has also been cast over the success of India’s airstrike, which Amit Shah, president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed killed 250. Pakistan denied that there was any damage or casualties. Independent reporting by multiple local and international outlets who visited the site also found no evidence of a major terrorist training camp — or of any infrastructure damage at all. Pakistan said it shot down two Indian planes and lost none of its own, but India said that it lost only one aircraft. Initially Pakistan said it had captured two Indian pilots but the military later clarified it had just one pilot in custody.
|
conflict;india;kashmir;pakistan;terrorism
|
jp0003203
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Rohingya arrive in Malaysia but hundreds more believed trapped at sea
|
KUALA LUMPUR - Forty-one Rohingya were found in northern Malaysia Monday, police said, the second group of the Muslim minority to arrive in the country within weeks, while about 200 more are feared trapped at sea. Many Rohingya have been seeking in recent weeks to leave by sea from Bangladesh — where they live in squalid refugee camps after fleeing their mostly Buddhist homeland Myanmar — before the monsoon season starts in earnest. Security forces have prevented hundreds from departing for Malaysia with people smugglers on fishing boats. But last month 34 Rohingya arrived in the northern Malaysian state of Perlis, the first group believed to have landed in the country in almost year. On Monday police detained 41 Rohingya men — aged 14 to 30 — who arrived by sea in the same area the last boatload landed, and are hunting for another six believed to have come ashore, local police chief Noor Mushar Mohamad told AFP. About 200 more are thought to be trapped at sea in Thai waters, said the police chief, citing testimony from migrants. “This is definitely the work of human smuggling syndicates working with local syndicates,” he said. “I fear there could be more Rohingya arrivals unless maritime enforcement agencies step up patrols urgently.” Noor Mushar said initial investigations indicated those who came ashore traveled in a large boat before being transferred to smaller craft by local criminal gangs and ferried ashore. According to testimony from one migrant, the Rohingya paid 4,000 ringgit ($975) each, and were dropped off a short distance from the coast and walked to shore, he said. The 41 detained have been handed over to immigration authorities, he said. It was not clear whether they had departed from Bangladesh or Myanmar, or when they had arrived. About 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh following a brutal military clampdown in their home country in August 2017, joining hundreds of thousands already living in crowded camps. The traditional route to Malaysia is by boat from Myanmar or Bangladesh. Refugees arrive either in Thailand and head overland to Malaysia, or arrive directly in Malaysia. But arrivals have fallen markedly since 2015 when Thailand launched a crackdown, which disrupted the lucrative trade and led to smugglers abandoning huge numbers of refugees at sea. Relatively affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favorite destination for Rohingya, where they are a source of labor in low-paying industries such as agriculture and construction.
|
malaysia;myanmar;refugees;bangladesh;rohingya
|
jp0003204
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
As 'Brexodus' gap leaves U.K. short of nurses, Filipino candidates struggle with IELTS English test
|
MANILA - Bracing for life after Brexit, U.K. hospitals badly need more nurses like Filipino Jobie Escalona. But she twice flunked the English language test that is required to get there, in which she was asked to write about topics such as the merits of immigration and computer education in school. With three years experience in a private hospital in Manila, 23-year-old Escalona lost almost 3 months’ salary paying nearly $600 to sit the International English Language Test System (IELTS) tests. Fed up, she was ready to give up on the U.K. and try Canada — one of several other countries short of nurses — until her father persuaded her to take the test a third time. “I was already losing hope,” she said. Finally, in January last year, she passed, having at last got a subject she felt comfortable writing about in the tough written section of the test. Asked to compare team and individual sports, Escalona had little trouble: “I was able to relate to it because I am a swimmer.” But, her tortuous experience doesn’t bode well for the U.K.’s chances of adequately filling the alarming staffing gaps in its health care services. With Brexit looming, the supply of nurses from European Union countries has almost dried up, with lots going home. And of the many foreign nationalities employed in the U.K., Filipinos make up a significant number. As of June last year, 16 percent of nursing jobs in hospitals and community health services were held by foreigners — nearly a quarter of whom were Filipinos. The U.K. is already facing a shortage of 40,000 nurses, and once it leaves the EU, if that ever happens, the gap could widen to 50,000 — enough to staff more than 40 small to medium-sized hospitals — according to a report commissioned by the Cavendish Coalition, a group of health and social care organizations. The staffing crisis is increasing the U.K.’s dependency on hiring from low-cost countries like India and the Philippines, where English is widely spoken, yet the language test has proved to be a major obstacle. Philippine recruitment firm Louis International Manpower Services has received 1,000 job orders for nurses since 2015. It has filled only a quarter of them. “It is not because of the lack of applications, but the English test,” said Lilibeth Villas, documentation officer at the firm. “We have applicants who were interviewed in 2015, but they have not passed the test yet.” Run by the British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment, the IELTS test gauges applicants’ ability to speak, listen, read and write, and is used by employers around the world. Questions in the academic written section asks candidates to write short essays on diverse subjects. Examples given on the IELTS website included interpreting graphs on changes in radio and television audiences, and gender variations between full and part-time students, and discussing the pros and cons of nuclear technology or of regulating car ownership. Many candidates clearly find the weighty topics too daunting. Febin Cyriac, a business development manager at Envertiz Consultancy, a U.K. health care recruitment firm that specializes in bringing in nurses from overseas, started a petition on Change.org in 2014 that asked U.K. regulators to relax their IELTS scores. Working as a nurse himself, Cyriac said there are a good number of Indian or Filipino nurses with many years of experience working in the U.K., but who are only working as assistant nurses in the National Health Service (NHS) and nursing homes. “IELTS is the only barrier for them to practice as a nurse in the UK,” said Cyriac, himself a nurse working in the U.K. Still, the number of Filipinos in the NHS has risen by almost a third in the last two years, according to government figures. Late last year, the pass mark for the writing section was lowered, but there are no immediate plans to make further changes to the test standards, said Andrea Sutcliffe, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Chief Executive and Registrar. “We will continue to carefully monitor the impact of the recent changes. This change is part of a wider review of our overseas registration processes aimed at making it more straightforward and user-friendly for people with the right skills and knowledge to join our register in a timely way,” Sutcliffe said. There is an Occupational English Test (OET), more suited to medical professionals, that foreign nurses can take. If they pass that test they would still have to sit the IELTS, but they would be eligible for a lower pass mark. The OET is more expensive, however, making it unattractive for low paid nurses. A London-based recruitment agency visited Manila recently to find nurses for Cambridge University, East Surrey and Royal Cornwall Hospitals, while there have also been recent hiring drives for hospital trusts in Oxford, Hull and Dudley. Germany, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the other countries hiring Filipino nurses, said Bernard Olalia, head of the government’s Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. In January alone, Olalia’s office received 1,000 job orders for nurses from Saudi Arabia. “There are a lot of markets for our Filipino nurses,” Olalia said, adding that it was understandable if they took jobs in places where the requirements were easier to fulfill. Filipino nurses who were recruited in the 1990s did not have to take the language tests, yet they are still in the NHS and providing good service, said Reydeluz Conferido, who was until recently the labor attache to the Philippine Embassy in London. While there, Conferido called on U.K. officials to review the requirements placed on overseas nurses to see whether they were serving the correct purpose or creating an artificial barrier. “If you really want these nurses, you would do something about your standards,” he said.
|
philippines;u.k .;english;nursing;brexit;ielts
|
jp0003205
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
U.S. sails massive, F-35-laden warship in disputed South China Sea
|
In the latest show of military muscle in the South China Sea, the U.S. has apparently sailed its USS Wasp amphibious assault ship near a strategic reef claimed by Beijing and Manila that lies just 230 km (140 miles) from the Philippine coast. Filipino fishermen near the site known as the Scarborough Shoal initially spotted what appeared to be the massive U.S. vessel on Tuesday, according to ABS-CBN News. It said planes were seen landing and taking off from the ship, some 5 km (3 miles) away from the fishermen’s boat. A video clip shown by the news network appeared to corroborate their account. Contacted by The Japan Times, a U.S. military spokeswoman would not confirm or deny the Wasp’s presence near the collection of outcroppings that barely jut out above water at high tide, citing “force protection and security.” However, the spokeswoman did confirm that the Wasp “has been training with Philippine Navy ships in Subic Bay and in international waters of the South China Sea … for several days.” Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by Taiwan, is regarded as a potential powder keg in the strategic waterway. It was seized by Beijing in 2012 after an extended standoff with Manila. China later effectively blockaded the lagoon, which is rich in fish stocks, and routinely dispatches scores of fishing vessels and government-backed “maritime militia” ships to the area to continue its de facto blockade. The Wasp was taking part in the annual Balikatan U.S.-Philippine military training exercise “that focuses on maritime security and amphibious capabilities, as well as multinational interoperability through military exchanges,” said U.S. Marine Corps Second Lt. Tori Sharpe, a spokeswoman for the exercises, adding that the exercises were “unrelated to current events.” Still, beyond the location of the exercises, the Wasp’s presence alone in the South China Sea was likely to draw Beijing’s attention since this year’s Balikatan exercise was the first to incorporate the Wasp paired with the U.S. Marines Corps’ cutting-edge F-35B Lightning II stealth aircraft. The F-35B is the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the aircraft. “Together they represent an increase in military capability committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Sharpe said. China covets Scarborough Shoal for its strategic significance, experts say, as it would be the crowning jewel in a bid to solidify Beijing’s iron grip over the South China Sea. They say building at Scarborough would create a large “strategic triangle” comprising Woody Island in the Paracel Islands to the northwest and its Spratly islet outposts to the south, giving Beijing the ability to police an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea. The impact of such a strategic triangle — which would bring the entire region under Chinese radar, missile and air coverage — would be tremendous for both the United States’ and Japan’s strategic planning, some experts say, and could be a game-changer in regional power relations. But any decision by China to forcefully take over the collection of outcroppings for land-reclamation purposes would likely be met with resistance by the U.S., the Philippines and others. In an effort to push back against China’s behavior near Scarborough, the U.S. Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of the site in January last year as part of its larger “freedom of navigation operations” (FONOPs) program in the South China Sea and across the globe. Washington has lambasted Beijing for its moves in the South China Sea, including the construction of man-made islands, some of which are home to military-grade airfields and advanced weaponry. The U.S. fears the outposts could be used to restrict free movement in the waterway — which includes vital sea lanes through which about $3 trillion in global trade passes each year — and regularly conducts FONOPs in the area.
|
china;u.s .;vietnam;philippines;military;disputed islands;south china sea;south china sea ruling
|
jp0003206
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
New Zealand defense attache on trial for Washington embassy toilet camera
|
WELLINGTON - One of New Zealand’s most senior naval officers has gone on trial for placing a secret camera in the unisex toilet of the country’s Washington, D.C., embassy. Commodore Alfred Keating has been charged with attempting to make “an intimate visual recording” and is currently on trial in Auckland, local media reported. According to court documents, Keating is alleged to have installed a small camera “in a unisex bathroom on Level 3 of the New Zealand Embassy” in the U.S. capital in 2017. “It had been purposely mounted inside a heating duct unit in the bathroom,” and was only discovered when the panel fell to the floor. The embassy employed around 60 people at the time. “A thick layer of dust on the homemade platform the camera was mounted on indicated the device had been in place for many months.” The camera’s media card had traces of Keating’s DNA and his computer contained the camera’s driver and related software. Ahead of the trial, Keating tried to prevent the public from knowing his identity, arguing it could make it “difficult to obtain future employment” and sully the military’s image. A judge rejected that application. Keating has pleaded not guilty.
|
u.s .;courts;washington;new zealand;toilets;spycams;alfred keating
|
jp0003207
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Indian police confirm deadly Maoist attack on election convoy
|
NEW DELHI - Indian police said Maoist rebels launched a deadly attack on a ruling party campaign convoy in a restive central state Tuesday, just two days before voting starts in the country’s general election. “At the moment we are ascertaining the number of dead,” said Girdhari Nayak, a senior officer from Chhattisgarh state, where the attack occurred. Nayak said the rebels, who have been waging an armed insurgency against the state for decades, detonated a roadside bomb before firing on the convoy of Bharatiya Janata Party officials. The rebels often call for a boycott of elections as part of their campaign against the Indian state. “It was a massive blast … The vehicle was blown apart,” he said. “Immediately after the blast, the Maoists opened indiscriminate firing. One bullet hit the local lawmaker. Firing is underway. Bodies are mutilated.” The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 20 other Indian states, but most active in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Their insurgency has left tens of thousands dead. The Maoists struck in the last national election in 2014, killing seven police in a landmine attack. The year before, in regional polls, 25 Congress party politicians were murdered in an ambush on their convoy by Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh.
|
india;terrorism;elections;rebels
|
jp0003208
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Shaming and humiliation: South Korean women hope for change to law that bans most abortions
|
INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - More than a quarter of a century after the first of her three abortions — illegal in South Korea — Lim is still haunted by her sense of shame. She was 24 and had a boyfriend, but neither was ready to wed. And it was 1993, when sex before marriage was still very much a taboo in the conservative country. Keeping the baby would have meant living with stigma, even if the couple married after the birth, so she chose an illegal abortion. The country’s constitutional court is due to rule Thursday on the legality of the ban, which campaigners say is unfairly applied and targets mostly young, unwed women. “I still remember the disgusted look on the doctor’s face — he kept on clicking his tongue and shook his head,” Lim said. “When I told him it hurt when he inserted a medication, he said it shouldn’t hurt me because I was a woman who had already ‘done everything’. It was humiliating.” Fast forward 26 years, and South Korea remains one of the few developed economies that still bans abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s health is in danger. Women who undergo the procedure can be jailed for a year and fined, while doctors who carry out terminations can be given two years in prison. The law is widely flouted and rarely results in prosecutions, but campaigners say it leaves young women facing being unable to pay for terminations, unsafe procedures, and social isolation. When Lim had her second and third abortions — as a married woman with two children — she says her experience was dramatically different, with pleasant medical staff and her mother even accompanying her to the clinic. “All I had to say was that my husband and I already had two kids,” she said. “The doctor was suddenly very caring — he said to me: ‘Of course, we totally understand.'” Statistics show that as recently as 2011, most South Korean women who had abortions were married, but rights groups say the majority of those charged for undergoing the procedure have been unmarried, including teenagers. They also say many women whose relationships are breaking up fear their husbands or partners could report their past terminations to authorities. In 2017, a high school student told a rally in Seoul she had been forced to halt her education after having an abortion. “My teacher told me if I don’t leave school, he’d report me to the legal authorities,” she said. “He said I’d committed a sin because I fell pregnant as a student.” South Korea comes near the bottom of many OECD gender equality tables and Ryu Min-hee, the lead counsel on the constitutional court case, said that as long as women cannot make their own choices about pregnancy and parenthood, the country “won’t be able to establish an equal society in its true sense.” The day she had her abortion in 1993, Lim — who asked for her full name not to be used to protect her anonymity — stayed in a cheap motel room by herself. She rested there as long as she could and then headed home to her parents, acting as if nothing had ever happened. To this day, aside from her husband, no one in Lim’s life knows about it. “I didn’t dare to share it with anyone,” she said. “My parents would have been very ashamed of me. “This was an era where people would count the (pregnancy) months when a baby was born to figure out whether the baby was conceived before or after the wedding — and call the mother promiscuous if the child was born too fast.” Religious belief is widespread in South Korea, and some of its evangelical mega-churches are among those leading the charge against overturning the ban. “There is nothing in the world that comes before the life of a human being,” a group of mostly Catholic professors said in a statement last year. But Lim says her own experience demonstrates how South Korea’s pro-lifers have been selective about which lives matter. “If the goal of this abortion law is really to protect all lives, then I should have been shamed for undergoing my second and third abortions, as well as my first,” she said. “I just hope no one has to go through what I had to go through in that motel room.”
|
women;south korea;laws;abortions
|
jp0003209
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan debuts safety steps for foreign drivers amid rise in accidents
|
FUKUOKA - With an increasing number of foreign motorists taking the wheel while visiting Japan, numerous traffic safety measures have been introduced to assist them amid a rise in serious accidents. Warning signs in multiple languages and a driver-assistance system catering to foreign tourists are just some of the methods to support visitors who rent cars and travel around the country. Many of the foreign tourists who rent cars come from South Korea and Taiwan, where people drive on the right-hand side of the road, as opposed to the left in Japan. Foreign drivers can also be confused by Japanese road signs that are often different from those at home. With the number of foreign visitors topping 30 million in 2018, their use of rental cars has jumped in recent years. About 1.41 million foreign visitors rented cars at airports in 2017, eight times more than in 2011, when the figure stood at 179,000, the transport ministry said. The sudden leap in the number of international drivers has been linked to a rise in accidents resulting in death or injury, with collisions primarily caused by foreign visitors up from 25 in 2011 to 123 in 2017, according to the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis. Last September, a yellow warning sign in Chinese and another in Korean, both saying “Slow Down,” were installed ahead of a long downward slope on an expressway in southwestern Japan — a section where many foreign visitors tend to brake hard. In Okinawa, the National Institute of Technology Okinawa College has developed a driver-assistance system that instantaneously translates Japanese road signs into other languages. The system is connected to a camera placed on a side mirror of the vehicle and automatically shows the road sign translations on a screen on the dashboard. It can also provide voice warnings in English, Chinese and Korean when the car approaches intersections known for accidents. “I hope the use of this driver-assistance system leads to safer driving,” said Sumika Uehara, a 16-year-old student at the college. “I’d like visitors to bring home only happy memories from their trip.” The school is aiming to put the system into commercial use. The Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau has been distributing free booklets online in seven languages, including English and German, with explanations about Japan’s road regulations. For example, there are illustrations on how to view traffic signals and rules explaining that vehicles going straight or turning left have the right of way. In Tokyo, the All Japan Rent-A-Car Association is planning to develop a smartphone app covering driving etiquette. The Kyushu District Transport Bureau has been handing out magnetic stickers for international drivers that can be placed on the rear of their car to alert other motorists that the driver is not Japanese. “We’re asking local Japanese drivers to take precautions, including keeping a safe distance between cars,” a bureau official said of the stickers.
|
tourism;foreign tourists;drivers;mlit
|
jp0003210
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Exhibition in Fukuoka Prefecture explores origins of Reiwa, name of Japan's next era
|
FUKUOKA - An exhibition exploring the origins of Reiwa, the name selected for the forthcoming era, opened Tuesday at a museum in Fukuoka Prefecture, where poems about plum blossom viewing that inspired the era name are said to have been written. The event, which runs through June 9 at the Kyushu Historical Museum in the city of Ogori, showcases numerous artifacts and poetry that connect Reiwa with the city of Dazaifu in Fukuoka, where a plum blossom viewing party was organized in the year 730 by court noble and poet Otomo no Tabito (665-731). Reiwa, which means “beautiful harmony” and is set to begin on May 1 following an Imperial succession, originates from a line about a pleasant breeze and plum blossoms in “Manyoshu,” Japan’s oldest poetry anthology, which dates back more than 1,200 years. The line, written by an unnamed individual, was taken from the introduction to 32 poems, including a piece by Otomo no Tabito composed at the party held at his residence in Dazaifu. The items on display at the museum include clay pots and accessories used to adorn obi — the sash for kimono — that were unearthed from the site where Otomo no Tabito’s residence is thought to have been located. Replicas of the fifth volume of “Manyoshu” containing the poems that inspired Reiwa are showcased together with commentary, as well as volumes 17 and 19, which include works composed by Tabito’s eldest son, Otomo no Yakamochi, a representative poet of the anthology that he is said to have compiled. On April 29, the museum will organize a lecture on the lives of Otomo no Tabito and Yakamochi in Dazaifu through the lens of “Manyoshu” poems. “I would like visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Manyoshu and feel familiar with the new era name,” said curator Hirokazu Matsukawa.
|
history;poetry;fukuoka;manyoshu;exhibitions;ogori;dazaifu;reiwa;kyushu historical museum;otomo no tabito
|
jp0003212
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan's 10-year cancer survival rate rises slightly to 56.3%, survey shows
|
The 10-year survival rate for patients who were diagnosed with cancer between 2002 and 2005 was 56.3 percent, a survey by the National Cancer Center Japan showed Tuesday, up 0.8 percentage point from the previous survey. The five-year survival rate, covering those who received the diagnosis between 2008 and 2010, rose to 67.9 percent from 67.6 percent in the previous survey, which covered 2007 to 2009, the institute said. The survival rates have been steadily rising since the late 1990s, the survey showed, apparently reflecting improvements in early detection technology and cancer treatments. The 10-year survival rate was calculated based on data of 70,285 people who were diagnosed with cancer and received treatment at 20 medical facilities across Japan. The five-year survival rate covered 140,675 patients at 32 facilities. By type of cancer, the 10-year survival rate for prostate cancer was the highest, at 95.7 percent, followed by thyroid cancer at 84.3 percent and breast cancer at 83.9 percent. Among the worst, pancreatic cancer had a 10-year survival rate of 5.4 percent, liver cancer at 14.6 percent and gallbladder or bile duct cancer at 16.2 percent. As for the five-year survival rate, the figure for prostate cancer was 100 percent, while breast cancer and thyroid cancer saw survival rates of 93.9 percent and 92.8 percent, respectively. Pancreatic cancer had the lowest five-year survival rate at 9.2 percent. When examined according to disease stage, with cases grouped into four categories, six of the 18 types of cancer studied in the 10-year cohort saw a survival rate for the period of over 90 percent for stage 1, or early stage cancer. They included breast, colon and colorectal cancer. But in stage 4, in which the disease had spread to other organs or other parts of the body, the survival rate for breast cancer was 15.9 percent and for colon cancer it dropped to 10.7 percent. The 10-year stage 1 survival rate for liver cancer was 26.3 percent, and for pancreatic cancer it was 29 percent. The survival rates are expected to further improve due to the development of new cancer drugs such as Opdivo, a drug that causes the immune system to attack cancer cells. Such new drugs “will change the way medical treatments are selected and may have a great impact on the survival rates, too,” said Nobuhiro Saruki, head of Gunma Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences. An official with the survey team at the institute said it was necessary to create an early detection system to further improve the survival rate, as retired people tend to skip cancer screenings.
|
medicine;cancer;surveys;national cancer center japan
|
jp0003213
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan-U.K. ties get boost with gift of thousands of cherry trees for British schools and parks
|
LONDON - Thousands of cherry trees will be planted across Britain to celebrate its relationship with Japan, with a high school becoming the first site to get one. The initiative is being organized by Japanese individuals and companies in both countries as a symbol of friendship, and fundraising began in Japan almost a year ago. They’re aiming to plant 4,000 cherry trees across Britain over the next two years. The trees will be distributed to more than 70 parks and public sites, including several of London’s biggest parks and Conwy Castle in north Wales, which was recently twinned with Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. Following the initial fundraising, the project’s aims were expanded to include giving trees to schools with links to Japan. Since last autumn, more than 250 British schools have applied to receive one. Among them was Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School, near Bristol in southwest England, which recently became the first to receive a donated Taihaku (great white cherry). The school has run an annual exchange program to Japan since 1998, with around 20 students taking part every year. The planting was held March 18 to coincide with the yearly visit by students from Hikawa High School in Yamanashi Prefecture. “The program provides tremendous opportunities for Japanese and English students to understand each other’s cultures and to find out how much we have in common,” said Andrew Harris, head teacher at the British school. “The cherry tree is symbolic of Japan. I think it will be a symbol for our students, to remind them of their experiences on the exchange and learning about Japan,” he said. Miho Obi, a teacher at Hikawa High School accompanying the exchange, said it was a “very memorable day” and she hopes the tree will be a sign of friendship. Heidi Potter, chief executive of the Japan Society, which is helping to coordinate the venture, said organizers wanted to involve schools as a way of connecting with communities. “I think it brings the trees very close to people. It’s not just the children but also the families and the local community that will be part of the tree at each school,” she said. Keisaku Sano, head of the project and chairman of the Japan Association, said his hope is that young people will come to have a positive image of Japan after seeing the trees at school. Sano said that due to Brexit, it is now more important than ever to emphasize Japan’s ongoing support for the country. “We want to show Japanese people are here, working and living together with British people,” he said. “We get on very well so we want this project to be a symbol of our friendship and support.” The majority of the trees are due to be planted in 2020, with plans to hold a commemorative ceremony in the spring. The initiative was welcomed by the prime ministers of both countries at a summit in 2017, when Shinzo Abe and Theresa May announced the bilateral Japan-U.K. Season of Culture. The season will last throughout 2019 and 2020 and will feature events promoting cultural ties between Britain and Japan.
|
u.k .;sakura;schools;cherry blossoms;yamanashi;parks;u.k.-japan relations;trees
|
jp0003214
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Abe tells outgoing South Korean ambassador about concerns over bilateral ties
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday expressed his worries about soured relations between Tokyo and Seoul in a meeting with the outgoing South Korean ambassador to Japan. During a courtesy call from the ambassador, Lee Su-hoon, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, Abe expressed his concerns about bilateral ties and asked that they be passed along to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Abe was referring to rulings by South Korea’s top court in favor of Korean plaintiffs in damages lawsuits against Japanese companies over forced wartime labor and recent developments related to surviving former “comfort women.” The term refers to women who provided sex — including those against their will — to Japanese troops before and during World War II. Lee, who is set to be replaced by Nam Gwan-pyo, a former second deputy chief of the National Security Office, told Abe that he will convey the message to the Moon government. Regarding the wartime labor lawsuits, Tokyo has urged Seoul to abide by a 1965 bilateral treaty, which Japan says fully settled all compensation claims. In January, the Japanese government proposed bilateral talks in line with the accord, but the Moon administration has yet to reply to the proposal. In South Korea, there have been moves aimed at undermining a 2015 bilateral agreement meant to resolve the comfort women issue “finally and irreversibly,” including repeated remarks by a top lawmaker demanding an apology from Emperor Akihito.
|
shinzo abe;comfort women;wartime labor;south korea-japan relations;lee su-hoon
|
jp0003215
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Russia deploys surveillance drone to Japan-claimed isles off Hokkaido, report says
|
MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry has deployed a surveillance drone to an artillery division stationed on a group of islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, a Russian newspaper reported Monday. The drone will be used for patrolling coastal areas and surrounding waters, as well as for rescue operations, according to the newspaper, Izvestia. The artillery unit is stationed on two of the four Russian-controlled islands off the coast of Hokkaido, known in Japan as Etorofu and Kunashiri. The Orlan-10 drone, the same type as those sent by Russia to Syria, is able to operate within a 120-kilometer radius for up to 14 hours while transmitting images from a mounted camera, the Russian paper said.
|
russia;drones;disputed islands
|
jp0003216
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/09
|
LDP battling pro-merger and anti-base headwinds in Osaka and Okinawa by-election campaigns
|
Official campaigning began Tuesday for key Lower House by-elections in Osaka and Okinawa prefectures in what is seen as a prelude to the Upper House election this summer. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is competing with opposition candidates seeking to streamline administrations in Osaka and block a controversial government plan to relocate a U.S. military base within Okinawa. The April 21 by-elections coincide with the second batch of local elections to be held simultaneously across the country. In the first round on Sunday, the LDP garnered broad voter support by winning a key gubernatorial race in Hokkaido and a majority of prefectural assembly seats, but party divisions were revealed in some regional areas. The LDP is seeking to contain the impact of the abrupt resignation of a deputy land minister who caused a stir by saying he gave a road project special treatment so as to please Abe and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. After winning both the gubernatorial and mayoral elections Sunday in Osaka, political group Osaka Ishin no Kai aims to maintain its momentum in the by-election in the Osaka No. 12 district, where the seat has been left vacant following the death last year of former Deputy Environment Minister Tomokatsu Kitagawa. Four candidates are vying for the seat, including his nephew Shinpei Kitakawa, 32, fielded by the LDP with support from its coalition partner Komeito, and Fumitake Fujita, 38, of Nippon Ishin no Kai, which is supported by the Osaka Ishin group. The two other candidates are unaffiliated: Shinji Tarutoko, 59, a former communications minister under the government led by the then-Democratic Party of Japan, and Takeshi Miyamoto, 59, a former Lower House member of the Japanese Communist Party. Okinawa, home to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, will see a battle between pro- and anti-base relocation candidates. The by-election in the Okinawa No. 3 district, which includes the relocation site for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was called to fill a vacancy left by Denny Tamaki, who now serves as Okinawa governor and wants to reduce base-hosting burdens on the island prefecture. One of the two candidates is the LDP’s Aiko Shimajiri, 54, a former state minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs who has also gained support from Komeito. She has accepted the base transfer within the prefecture. Another contender, 56-year-old freelance journalist Tomohiro Yara, aligns with Tamaki’s position, arguing that the central government should respect the outcome of a prefectural referendum in February in which more than 70 percent voted no to the Futenma relocation plan. Many Okinawa people are seeking to move the base outside the prefecture. Multiple opposition parties are planning to back Yara, including the Liberal Party, the JCP and the Social Democratic Party.
|
okinawa;osaka;elections;u.s. bases;futenma;nago;henoko
|
jp0003217
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/04/09
|
Japan extends sanctions on North Korea by two years over abductions and nuclear weapons
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Japan decided Tuesday to extend its sanctions against North Korea for two years, maintaining pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize and resolve its past abductions of Japanese nationals. The sanctions approved for extension by the Cabinet before they expire on Saturday impose a total ban on bilateral exports and imports, and forbid the entry into Japan of North Korean-registered ships, as well as vessels that have stopped at a North Korean port. The two-year extension is designed to prod North Korea to take specific steps toward achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as pledged, as well as resolving the abduction issue, a priority for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As the United States continues its dialogue with North Korea over denuclearization, Japan has also made some conciliatory gestures. Abe has expressed willingness to engage with North Korea through direct talks with leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the abduction issue. In March, Japan did not sponsor a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses at a U.N. panel for the first time since 2007. Following missile tests by Pyongyang in 2006, Japan adopted a set of unilateral sanctions, including a ban on imports from North Korea. Tokyo has expanded and extended them several times, in addition to sanctions imposed in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions. Japan officially lists 17 nationals as abduction victims and also suspects North Korea’s involvement in more disappearances of Japanese citizens. The abduction issue has prevented the normalization of diplomatic ties between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
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north korea;nuclear weapons;missiles;sanctions;north korea nuclear crisis;abductions
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