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jp0004390
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Thailand's parliament elects pro-army candidate as house speaker
|
BANGKOK - A military-aligned candidate won majority support to become Thailand’s house speaker Saturday, signaling further dominance of the army in the next government, five years after it staged a coup. Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, 80, was named speaker after the House of Representatives voted 258-235 in his favor in the first working session of the lower chamber. Chuan came up against another candidate who was backed by more liberal parties. The pro-military Palang Pracharath Party, which nominated Chuan, is tipped to lead the new government expected to be formed in the next few weeks and headed by the junta leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha, who staged the coup and has served as prime minister since then. The vote for prime minister is jointly taken by the 500-member House and the 250-member Senate, where Prayuth already has the solid support because he helped appoint the lawmakers for the upper chamber. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the anti-military Future Forward Party, was earlier ordered out of the Saturday session after a court suspended him for allegedly breaking election rules. He spoke briefly to acknowledge his expulsion but his attempt to address the assembly drew loud and vehement protests from pro-military lawmakers. Thanathorn pressed on before leaving to a sustained standing ovation from his party members. The applause continued despite the acting speaker telling them to stop. “Enough,” said Acting House Speaker Chai Chidchob. “This isn’t a theater. Stop.” The suspension of Thanathorn was widely seen as a further move to weaken anti-military opposition. The newly formed Future Forward party came from nowhere to become the third largest in the lower house. Its progressive agenda, which includes ending conscription and curbing the military’s role in politics, has rattled Thailand’s traditional ruling elite. In the coming weeks, the Constitutional Court is expected to decide whether to turn Thanathorn’s suspension into a disqualification. The court, like the army, is widely seen as being close to the country’s conservative power brokers.
|
military;rights;thailand;elections;coups
|
jp0004391
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Pakistan's Imran Khan congratulates Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on election victory
|
ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, congratulating him on his party winning a second mandate. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said that during the telephone call, Khan expressed his hope the two countries will work closely together to improve their relations. Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals flared in February when a suicide attack on Indian paramilitary forces in the Indian-controlled portion of disputed Kashmir killed 40 soldiers. India launched an airstrike a few days after on a militant group based in Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the assault. Pakistan and India have fought two wars over the disputed Himalayan region, and their troops have engaged regularly in armed skirmishes along the heavily militarized border.
|
india;pakistan;imran khan;narendra modi;politics . kashmir
|
jp0004392
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
U.S. ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama during Tibet trip
|
BEIJING - China should hold talks with Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad told Chinese officials during a trip to the Himalayan region where he criticized Beijing for interfering in religious freedom. Branstad visited Tibet last week, the first such trip by a U.S. ambassador since 2015, amid escalating trade and diplomatic tension between the two countries. His visit followed the passing of a U.S. law in December that requires the United States to deny visas to Chinese officials in charge of implementing policies that restrict access to Tibet for foreigners, legislation that was denounced by China. Branstad met Chinese government officials and Tibetan religious and cultural figures, and “raised our long-standing concerns about lack of consistent access” to Tibet, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said in an emailed statement on Saturday. “He encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences,” an embassy spokeswoman said. “He also expressed concerns regarding the Chinese government’s interference in Tibetan Buddhists’ freedom to organize and practice their religion,” she said. Beijing sent troops into remote, mountainous Tibet in 1950 in what it officially terms a peaceful liberation and has ruled there with an iron fist ever since. The Dalai Lama fled to India in early 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and Beijing still brands him a dangerous separatist. China says its leaders have the right to approve his successor, as a legacy from China’s emperors. But the 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate monk, who lives in exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, has said that his incarnation could be found in India after he dies, and that any other successor named by China would not be respected. Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. Tibet’s Communist Party secretary, Wu Yingjie, told Branstad how China had made “huge achievements” in “guaranteeing according to law” religious freedom and traditional culture in Tibet, the official Tibet Daily newspaper said late on Saturday. Wu added that he “sincerely welcomed more American friends to visit” the region. China’s Foreign Ministry said last week that China hoped the ambassador would not take any “prejudices” with him on the trip. In December, China criticized the United States for passing the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to promote access to Tibet for U.S. diplomats and other officials, journalists and other citizens by denying U.S. entry for Chinese officials deemed responsible for restricting access to Tibet. The U.S. government is required to begin denying visas by the end of this year.
|
china;rights;tibet;dalai lama
|
jp0004393
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Narendra Modi kept his job, but many Indians worry about theirs
|
NEW DELHI - Asad Ahmed, one of about 1.2 million young Indians entering the cutthroat job market each month, diligently scribbles notes at a computer class in New Delhi. While nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a new five-year term promising to step up his campaign for a “new India,” 18-year-old Ahmed is pessimistic about getting a new job. “There are so many people in Delhi and the competition is intense,” said Ahmed, dressed like the other students in a black-and-white uniform at the three-month community course run in a police station in Old Delhi. “I know this stint may not be enough for me to get a job but I am trying my best.” Modi came to power in 2014 promising jobs, but delivering on that has been a challenge. And as soon as the election euphoria settles, Modi’s government will have to find ways to boost investment and revive manufacturing to create new jobs. Like Ahmed, most of the other 60 students at the government-sponsored “skill development” classes at the Old Delhi police station, all from poor families, were also apprehensive. Nudrat Akram, 19, signed up for the course because her family could not afford to pay for higher education. “I want a job in the retail sector where I can earn 10,000 rupees ($143) a month,” Akram said, as she practiced speaking English with pretend customers. India’s conservative prime minister came to power in 2014 on a pro-business platform, promising to create 10 million jobs a year. The world’s fastest-growing major economy has grown about 7 percent a year since, but jobs have been elusive. The promise was barely mentioned in Modi’s triumphant re-election campaign. Nearly two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion population are of working age, between 15 and 64, but an increasing number are in the unemployed list. No official data has been released for more than two years but a recent leaked report — denied by the government — put the unemployment rate at a 45-year high of 6.1 percent. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private research firm, estimates the jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent in April. “The economy is going to be a huge problem. The government simply cannot create jobs for millions entering the workforce,” said political analyst Parsa Venkateshwar Rao. “Modi will rely on businesses but they are also struggling so he has a real problem on his hands.” Unemployment is particularly dire for women. A Deloitte consultancy report in March said female labor force participation fell to 26 percent in 2018 from 36 percent in 2005 because of poor education and socio-economic barriers. The manifesto of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party promised a $1.4-trillion infrastructure boost to create jobs if it won the election. It offered metro trains for 50 cities and to double the national highway network. But analysts say the government, which has drastically increased its debt over the past five years, will have to borrow huge new amounts to pay for the works. In 2015, Modi launched a Skill India program aiming to train 500 million people by 2022. But the results have been mixed. According to 2018 data, only a quarter of people who joined the program found jobs. “The Skill India mission has not had as much success as say the highway program,” said economist Arvind Virmani. “The real crisis is about job skills and basic education.” India’s rural jobs guarantee program offers work to about 70 million people at a minimum wage for 100 days a year, but there is no equivalent for the growing numbers of urban youth. Experts say the government must consider an urban employment guarantee plan in order to reap the true benefit of its economic growth. At the Delhi classes, 18-year-old Sehar, who uses one name, is worried about helping her poor family, including four younger sisters. Her father, who works at a hospital, is the only earner. “I am the eldest and I want to help my family, it’s not easy to survive in this city.”
|
india;elections;jobs;narendra modi
|
jp0004394
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Thousands march in Hong Kong to commemorate 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
|
HONG KONG - More than 2,000 people marched in Hong Kong on Sunday to mark 30 years since a pro-democracy protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square ended in bloodshed. Demonstrators took to the streets during the afternoon holding yellow umbrellas that had “Support Freedom, Oppose Evil Laws” written on them. Some people carried a black coffin, while others pushed wheeled white crosses and the numbers 6 and 4 — a nod to June 4, 1989, when leaders of China’s ruling Communist Party ordered the military to re-take Tiananmen Square from student-led protesters. Hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed protesters and onlookers were killed late on June 3 and in the early hours of June 4 as a result of the martial action. Commemorations to mark the event are strictly banned in mainland China.
|
china;hong kong;beijing;tiananmen square;prodemocracy
|
jp0004395
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/26
|
China's censors crank up ahead of 30th anniversary of 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
|
BEIJING - It’s the most sensitive day of the year for China’s internet, the anniversary of the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square, and with under two weeks to go, China’s robot censors are working overtime. Censors at Chinese internet companies say tools to detect and block content related to the 1989 crackdown have reached unprecedented levels of accuracy, aided by machine learning and voice and image recognition. “We sometimes say that the artificial intelligence is a scalpel, and a human is a machete,” said one content screening employee at Beijing Bytedance Co., who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to media. Two employees at the firm said censorship of the Tiananmen crackdown, along with other highly sensitive issues including Taiwan and Tibet, is now largely automated. Posts that allude to dates, images and names associated with the protests are automatically rejected. “When I first began this kind of work four years ago there were opportunities to remove the images of Tiananmen, but now the artificial intelligence is very accurate,” one of the people said. Four censors, working across Bytedance, Weibo Corp. and Baidu Inc. apps said they censor between 5,000-10,000 pieces of information a day, or five to seven pieces a minute, most of which they said were pornographic or violent content. Despite advances in AI censorship, current-day tourist snaps in the square are sometimes unintentionally blocked, one of the censors said. Bytedance declined to comment, while Weibo and Baidu did not respond to requests for comment. Sensitive period The Tiananmen crackdown is a taboo subject in China 30 years after the government sent tanks to quell student-led protests calling for democratic reforms. Beijing has never released a death toll but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand. June 4th itself is marked by a cat-and-mouse game as people use more and more obscure references on social media sites, with obvious allusions blocked immediately. In some years, even the word “today” has been scrubbed. In 2012, China’s most-watched stock index fell 64.89 points on the anniversary day, echoing the date of the original event in what analysts said was likely a strange coincidence rather than a deliberate reference. Still, censors blocked access to the term “Shanghai stock market” and to the index numbers themselves on microblogs, along with other obscure references to sensitive issues. While companies’ censorship tools are becoming more refined, analysts, academics and users say heavy-handed policies mean sensitive periods before anniversaries and political events have become catch-alls for a wide range of sensitive content. In the lead-up to this year’s Tiananmen Square anniversary, censorship on social media has targeted LGBT groups, labor and environment activists and NGOs, they say. Upgrades to censorship tech have been urged on by new policies introduced by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). The group was set up — and officially led — by President Xi Jinping, whose tenure has been defined by increasingly strict ideological control of the internet. The CAC did not respond to a request for comment. Last November, the CAC introduced new rules aimed at quashing dissent online in China, where “falsifying the history of the Communist Party” on the internet is a punishable offense for both platforms and individuals. The new rules require assessment reports and site visits for any internet platform that could be used to “socially mobilize” or lead to “major changes in public opinion,” including access to real names, network addresses, times of use, chat logs and call logs. One official who works for CAC said the recent boost in online censorship is “very likely” linked to the upcoming anniversary. “There is constant communication with the companies during this time,” said the official, who declined to directly talk about Tiananmen, instead referring to “the sensitive period in June.” Companies, which are largely responsible for their own censorship, receive little in the way of directives from the CAC, but are responsible for creating guidelines in their own “internal ethical and party units,” the official said. Secret facts With Xi’s tightening grip on the internet, the flow of information has been centralized under the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department and state media network. Censors and company staff say this reduces the pressure of censoring some events, including major political news, natural disasters and diplomatic visits. “When it comes to news, the rule is simple. . . . If it is not from state media first, it is not authorized, especially regarding the leaders and political items,” said one Baidu staffer. “We have a basic list of keywords which include the 1989 details, but (AI) can more easily select those.” Punishment for failing to properly censor content can be severe. In the past six weeks, popular services including a Netease Inc. news app, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s news app TianTian, and Sina Corp. have all been hit with suspensions ranging from days to weeks, according to the CAC, meaning services are made temporarily unavailable on apps stores and online. For internet users and activists, penalties can range from fines to jail time for spreading information about sensitive events online. In China, social media accounts are linked to real names and national ID numbers by law, and companies are legally compelled to offer user information to authorities when requested. “It has become normal to know things and also understand that they can’t be shared,” said one user, Andrew Hu. “They’re secret facts.” In 2015, Hu spent three days in detention in his home region of Inner Mongolia after posting a comment about air pollution onto an unrelated image that alluded to the Tiananmen crackdown on Twitter-like social media site Weibo. Hu, who declined to use his full Chinese name to avoid further run-ins with the law, said when police officers came to his parents’ house while he was on leave from his job in Beijing he was surprised, but not frightened. “The responsible authorities and the internet users are equally confused,” said Hu. “Even if the enforcement is irregular, they know the simple option is to increase pressure.”
|
china;censorship;history;rights;tiananmen square
|
jp0004396
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Two die and nearly 600 taken to hospitals as heat wave roasts much of Japan
|
Unseasonably hot conditions gripped wide areas of Japan on Sunday, with the town of Saroma in Hokkaido setting the highest temperature ever recorded in the country for the month of May. Two men — one in Shimizu, Hokkaido, and the other in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture — died and at least 575 people nationwide were taken to hospitals by ambulance suffering from symptoms that appeared to point to heatstroke, according to data compiled by Kyodo News. The mercury hit 39.5 degrees in the northeastern coastal Hokkaido town at 2:07 p.m. Sunday — the hottest at any observation point in Japan for the month, according to the Meteorological Agency. The previous record, set on May 13, 1993, was 37.2 degrees in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. Temperatures had never before reached 35 C in Hokkaido in May or 38 C at any time of the year in the prefecture. The previous record high temperature recorded there was 37.8 degrees in the town of Otofuke on June 3, 2014, and in the city of Obihiro on July 12, 1924. Temperatures climbed to 38.8 degrees in Obihiro and in the town of Ikeda on Sunday. The agency issued high temperature warnings across wide areas, from Hokkaido to the Kinki region, and called for caution against heatstroke. Hokkaido Railway Co., or JR Hokkaido, canceled the operation of a number of trains, mainly those departing from and arriving at stations in the eastern part of Hokkaido, due to fears of rail distortion by the strong heat wave. On Sunday, temperatures reached 35.8 degrees in Hatoyama, Saitama Prefecture, 35.7 degrees in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, 35.5 degrees in Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, and 35.4 degrees in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, according to the Meteorological Agency. Temperatures rose above 30 degrees also in Chiba, Tottori, Fukuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. The weather agency expects the unusually hot conditions to continue Monday.
|
weather;hokkaido;heat wave;obihiro
|
jp0004397
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Duvets discarded, cushions thrown as teams vie for stop spot in the All-Japan Pillow Fighting Championships
|
ITO, SHIZUOKA PREF. - The Japanese may be known for their neatness, particularly when it comes to making their bed in the morning, but all social norms went out the window Saturday during qualifying for the All-Japan Pillow Fighting Championships in Shizuoka Prefecture. In the small fishing town of Ito, 150 kilometers south of Tokyo, teams gathered from across the region to compete in the event that has been one of the country’s quirkiest since 2013. Started by a group of high school students in Shizuoka, the game is based on the age-old ritual of pillow fighting that occurs at sleepovers or on school trips. The game starts with all five players “sleeping” under duvets on futons before the whistle goes and they leap to their feet and reach for a pillow. A mix between dodgeball and chess, the aim is to protect each team’s king from being hit by pillows while trying to hit the opposition’s king during two-minute sets. One player on each team can also use a duvet as a shield. Saturday’s regional tournament contained 16 teams vying for the qualification for the national competition, which has 64 entrants and is held in February. The teams comprise a wide range of participating organizations, including local businesses, high school basketball teams and local athletic clubs. “Through track and field activities, the team have been in touch a long time,” said Kazuteru Takigawa, who at 75 was the oldest participant on Saturday. “(My team) are all married and brought their children and families today to enjoy a day out.” Team BlancWhite, including 9-year-old Soda Wamanobe — the second youngest competitor — won the tournament. As their prize, the team received an array of local produce as well as the all-important qualification for next year’s nationwide tournament.
|
competition;shizuoka prefecture
|
jp0004399
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Ceremony held to mark 50 years since Tomei Expressway was fully opened
|
A ceremony was held Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the full opening of the 347-kilometer-long (215-mile-long) Tomei Expressway, which connects Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward and the city of Komaki in Aichi Prefecture. At the event, held at the expressway’s Ashigara service area in the town of Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture, participants including Saori Yoshida, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s wrestling, unveiled a commemorative monument with a design of 3,776-meter Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan which can be viewed from the expressway. The Tomei Expressway went into partial service in April 1968 and fully opened on May 26, 1969. Since then, the key artery has continued to support the movement of people and goods. Economic ripple effects from the expressway over the past half century are estimated at some ¥60 trillion, according to Central Nippon Expressway Co. (Nexco-Central) which operates the route. After 50 years, however, the expressway finds itself in urgent need of renovation to some of its facilities, such as tunnels, due to aging. Nexco-Central has launched a large-scale repair program. “We’ll continue making efforts to keep our roads safe so that people can drive without anxiety,” Nexco-Central President Yoshihito Miyaike said at the ceremony.
|
tokyo;anniversary;aichi;tomei expressway
|
jp0004400
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Melania Trump takes part in a digital art session with Japanese students
|
Melania Trump and her host Akie Abe joined dozens of schoolchildren at an interactive digital museum in Tokyo on Sunday where they drew aquatic animals for a digitally projected aquarium that was displayed on a wall. The two first ladies managed to stay perfectly cool in the air-conditioned facility while their husbands played golf under a scorching sun. The U.S. first lady drew a fish for a girl named Julia and wrote underneath it: “Julia, Best Wishes, Melania Trump.” The student’s later lined up for her autograph, which she signed on the back of their individual artworks, along with the message “Be Best!” — her public awareness initiative that advocates against cyberbullying and other well-being issues for children. The 30 students, ranging from third to sixth graders from a Tokyo elementary school, were a bit shy when the first lady, who was wearing a stylish navy-color jumpsuit, first entered the museum. But eventually, one by one, and then in groups, they approached her. “Nice to meet you. Can you show me what you drew?” Melania Trump asked a boy whose name sticker on his chest identified him as Aoi. He showed her a green turtle with yellow feet, which was projected on the wall where it moved around. Akie Abe drew a pink turtle with three little red hearts on the back. She wrote “Peace” on her drawing as well as the new imperial era name, “Reiwa,” which started this month. The two first ladies also toured other exhibits that included the crystal room and the lamp room where they stopped for photo ops. Melania Trump arrived Saturday in Tokyo with her husband for a four-day state visit that is largely ceremonial and aimed at deepening personal ties between the two countries.
|
shinzo abe;akie abe;donald trump;melania trump;mori building digital art museum
|
jp0004402
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Three missing after one ship sinks following collision off Chiba Prefecture
|
YOKOHAMA - Three people remained missing as of Sunday evening after two Japanese cargo ships collided during the early morning hours off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said. The Japan-flagged cargo ships Sensho Maru and Sumiho Maru, both 499-ton vessels, collided about 12 km off Cape Inubosaki in Chiba Prefecture at around 2:10 a.m., and the Sensho Maru sank. Hiraku Fujita, the captain of the Sensho Maru, was rescued, and one of the ship’s crew members was later confirmed dead. But as of Sunday evening the other three were still missing, a local coast guard official said. According to the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Yokohama, a special rescue team discovered the sunken ship lying on the seabed with its starboard side facing up in about 30 meters of water. The regional coast guard office in the port of Choshi said Akira Yano, 72, of Shizuoka Prefecture, was found inside the ship and was later confirmed dead. The remaining missing crew members had been named as Kazufumi Kamimura, 60, of Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Hiroshi Seno, 69, of Akita Prefecture and Saigo Umakoshi, 67, of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. The Sensho Maru, based in Imabari, put out a distress call following the collision. All four crew members aboard the Sumiho Maru, based in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, were safe, the coast guard said. That ship later returned to Kashima port. The Sensho Maru was carrying about 1,300 tons of steel from Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, to Osaka Prefecture, it added. Visibility was poor in the area at the time of the accident due to fog, the coast guard said. An oil spillage was confirmed at the site, it added. The coast guard sent five patrol vessels, a helicopter and a special search-and-rescue unit in a bid to find the missing men, and they were still searching after it got dark on Sunday evening. A separate, specialized unit was working to contain the oil leak, local coast guard official Hiromitsu Kawaguchi said. The captain and the missing crew members are all Japanese, Kawaguchi added. “I’m extremely worried about the missing crew members. I hope they will be discovered safe,” said Fumiko Fujita, wife of the Sensho Maru’s 60-year-old captain who was rescued.
|
collision;chiba;cargo ships;sumiho maru;sensho maru
|
jp0004403
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Damaged or inaccessible Fukushima shrines consider consolidation as way forward
|
FUKUSHIMA - A plan has been forged to establish a new shrine in Fukushima Prefecture as a substitute for the many others that were damaged or made inaccessible by the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis, local authorities have said. The local branch of the Association of Shinto Shrines said earlier this month they plan to build the new place of worship on the grounds of the tsunami-hit Hachiman Shrine by the end of March 2021. The shrine is located in the town of Futaba, one of the host communities of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but it is in an area where radiation levels are relatively low. At least 30 shrines in the prefecture remain badly damaged after the disasters and 44 are in areas where access is restricted due to high radiation levels. Representatives of each of the 74 affected shrines will decide whether to join the project or not. According to the Association of Shinto Shrines based in Tokyo, it is the first case in which a shrine will be built to replace others that have been unable to operate due to a disaster. The move, which is said will bring together deities worshipped at each shrine, is also intended to help preserve traditional performing arts and festivals associated with each community, it said. “The revival of the shrines that have served as local community hubs should offer solace to people affected by the calamities,” said Masahiro Tanji, who heads the Fukushima branch of the association. All of Futaba’s residents continue to live outside the town following the nuclear crisis, one of the world’s worst ever, that resulted in three reactor core meltdowns. But the Hachiman Shrine, located in a coastal district of Nakano, was selected as a candidate site for the project because it experiences lower radiation levels and is located near the site of an envisioned memorial park Fukushima Prefecture is planning to build. The town of Futaba hopes that an evacuation order for Nakano and some neighboring areas will be lifted by next spring, earlier than other parts of the municipality. There are a total of 240 shrines within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima No. 1 plant, which was designated as a no-go zone soon after the nuclear crisis began. Of the 74 struggling shrines, not all are within a radius of 20 kilometers. Many shrines have struggled in the wake of the disaster due to the displacement of parishioners and their inability to secure government reconstruction support due to the principle of separation of religion and government. Their predicament led the shrines to come up with the consolidation plan and their chief priests agreed to go ahead with the project in June last year. While some parishioners have expressed sadness at the change, Hirohisa Takakura, the 57-year-old chief priest of Hachiman Shrine, said “there will be shrines that will rust away and be unsustainable” unless they act. Takakura now makes a 90-minute journey from his residence to the shrine twice a month to clean the grounds. He remembers fondly how, before the disaster, the shrine grounds would become crowded with local residents gathering for the Bon festival dance, but he maintains the only solution is “to move forward.
|
fukushima;disasters;3.11
|
jp0004404
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/26
|
Fukushima aims to boost school-trip visitors with new plan focused on teaching about 3/11 disaster
|
In an effort to increase the number of students visiting for school trips, Fukushima Prefecture has created a series of travel routes it will propose this fiscal year to schools outside the prefecture to provide them with an opportunity to learn about the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent nuclear meltdowns. In the past, educational tours that focused on the 2011 disasters — promoted by the prefecture as “Hope Tourism” — were offered mostly to high school students, while plans focused on history and nature were tailored to children in elementary and junior high schools. By combining the two, the prefecture hopes to provide students with a more comprehensive experience and hopefully dispel any prejudice they may have about Fukushima. The plan also involves having officials visit high schools in other areas to talk about the importance of visiting Fukushima Prefecture. For example, the prefecture proposed to a high school a three-day trip: On the first day, students will visit the Hamadori coastal region damaged by the 2011 tsunami, experience nature and wildlife in the Urabandai region on the second and study history in the city of Aizuwakamatsu on the third. Sites like J-Village, which fully reopened on April 20, along with the Tepco Decommissioning Archive Center in the city of Tomioka and the prefecture-run archive facility on the March 2011 disasters — which is set to open in July 2020 — will serve as central locations for the tours. The prefecture is looking to use such locations to highlight travel routes that will bring visitors to the region and promote them by collaborating with organizations like Fukushima Prefecture Tourism and Local Products Association. “The truth is we haven’t been able to bring back the levels we saw before the disaster. But we’re determined to revive the educational trips that appreciates the local area,” an official at the prefecture’s tourism department said. Before the disaster, the number of annual visitors participating in educational trips from outside the prefecture who stayed overnight was 710,000. In fiscal 2011, that number sharply declined to roughly 130,000. In fiscal 2017, the figure recovered to about 490,000. Most of the trips focus on the history and nature of the Aizu region. A series of routes will take visitors to locations in the city of Aizuwakamatsu including Tsuruga Castle and Nisshinkan, which served as a school in the early 1900s and is now a museum with educational facilities. Another stop will be the Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Museum in Inawashiro. The routes also include the cities of Kitakata and Minamiaizu and the village of Kitashiobara, which will have a focus on experiencing nature. Hope Tourism, which began around 2016, involves having visitors to the Hamadori coastal region learn about the earthquake-triggered tsunami and nuclear disasters and meet people actively involved in helping the area recover. The number of junior and high school students who have taken part has increased from 35 students in fiscal 2016 and about 230 in fiscal 2017 to roughly 600 students in fiscal 2018.
|
education;tourism;disasters;3.11
|
jp0004405
|
[
"reference"
] |
2019/05/26
|
The week ahead for May 27 to June 2
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Monday U.S. President Donald Trump to become first foreign leader to meet new Emperor Naruhito since enthronement on May 1. Trump is then to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss security and trade issues before attending banquet at Imperial Palace. Tuesday Trump to visit Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga at Yokosuka base with Abe. Trump to also address troops during visit to U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base before wrapping up his four-day state visit. Sendai District Court to hand down ruling in case of two women seeking compensation from government over their forced sterilization under now-defunct eugenics protection law, which was effective from 1948 to 1996. It is said to have led to forced sterilization of some 16,500 people. Wednesday New management body of Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to hold second round of meetings. Thursday Japan, Russia to hold meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Tokyo. They are slated to discuss cooperation in regional security and recent developments surrounding North Korea, while Japan is expected to voice its concerns on Russia’s military buildup on a group of disputed islands lying off Hokkaido. Friday Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to release ratio of job offers to job seekers for April. Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry to release unemployment rate for April. Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry to release preliminary industrial production index for April. Cabinet Office to release survey on consumer trends for May. Kanazawa Hyakumangoku Festival, known for big parade with traditional dancing and music on streets of Kanazawa, to run for three days. Saturday Major companies to begin recruitment interviews with senior university students. A severe labor shortage means companies are eager to hire, with 97.6 percent of new graduates this year seeking work successfully finding jobs — second-highest on record. Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo for 2020 Olympics and Paralympics to become operational. Revised criminal procedure law requiring interrogations to be recorded in cases involving prosecutors’ special investigations or lay judge system to take effect. This law was revised amid concerns over a lack of transparency that could lead to forced confessions or evidence tampering. Sunday Emperor Naruhito to attend National Arbor Festival in Aichi Prefecture — his first official duty outside Tokyo since ascending the throne. Gubernatorial election in Aomori Prefecture to take place.
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weekly events;the week ahead;schedule
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jp0004406
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[
"business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Japan, U.S. likely to hold ministerial-level trade talks in run-up to this week's Trump visit
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Japan and the United States plan to hold ministerial-level trade talks as early as this week, with tariffs on agricultural and industrial products expected to top the agenda, according to government sources. The talks will likely be held before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s meeting with President Donald Trump in Tokyo. The two leaders are scheduled to meet next Monday. Before economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sit at the negotiating table, officials of the two countries were to hold working-level talks Tuesday afternoon in Washington, the sources said Monday. As Trump pushes what he calls fair and reciprocal trade, Japan and the United States launched negotiations in April. Since then, Motegi and Lighthizer have met twice. Differences remain in the negotiations, and Abe and Trump, who is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on Saturday as a state guest for a four-day visit, will not likely be able to strike a trade deal. Under such circumstances, the two leaders are unlikely to issue a joint statement following their discussions, according to the sources. To coordinate various polices ahead of Trump’s visit, the first since November 2017, Foreign Minister Taro Kono spoke to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone on Monday night, according to the Foreign Ministry. Their conversation lasted about 20 minutes, the ministry said, without providing further details.
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shinzo abe;u.s .;trade;tariffs;donald trump
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jp0004407
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[
"business"
] |
2019/05/21
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American Airlines asks U.S. court to halt 'illegal slowdown' by mechanics
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DALLAS - American Airlines Group Inc. asked a federal court to halt an “illegal slowdown campaign” by unionized employees, saying the action had disrupted the travel plans of 125,000 passengers in the last three months. Mechanics are taking too long to repair jetliners and refusing to work overtime in an effort to gain leverage in contract talks, American said in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. The alleged slowdown will crimp travel for 3,400 passengers a day if it continues into the summer, the airline said. The lawsuit raises the stakes in a standoff after federal mediators suspended talks last month, saying they didn’t see a way to resolve differences between the two sides. The TWU-IAM Association, which represents 30,000 employees in 12 work groups, is the only major union at American that still lacks a complete contract following the carrier’s merger with US Airways in 2013. American and the union haven’t been able to agree on issues including pay, health and retirement benefits, and limits on outsourcing work. The National Mediation Board is overseeing negotiations between the two sides and will determine the next steps, which could include moving closer to a possible strike. The union didn’t immediately comment. American said its mechanics “en masse” were “taking an inordinately long time to repair aircraft.” The company also said employees refused overtime and maintenance trips, including weeks “with a 100 percent field trip refusal rate” at its Charlotte, Phoenix and Philadelphia hubs. The number of out-of-service aircraft at 7 a.m. each day rose to an average of 44 on May 13 from 36 on Feb. 4, the carrier said. The union and the company had their 17th negotiating session with federal mediators on April 25, according to the filing. American said mechanic productivity should be higher than normal due to the grounding of the Boeing Co. 737 Max. American has 24 of the single-aisle planes, with another 16 scheduled for delivery this year. Regulators barred the plane from flying more than two months ago, following the second deadly crash in a five-month span. “Based on the amount of maintenance that American’s 737 Max fleet would require on a daily basis, the grounding of these aircraft has freed up an estimated 180 man-hours on average of mechanics’ time per night to work on other aircraft,” American said. “As detailed in this complaint, however, mechanic productivity has significantly decreased.”
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u.s .;american airlines;union;dallas;mechanics;twu-iam association
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jp0004408
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[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Taro Aso says no link between Japan's October sales tax hike, speculation over snap election
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Finance Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday that the scheduled consumption tax hike and whether to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election should be considered separately. The tax “has nothing to do with” the question of whether to call an election, Aso, who is also deputy prime minister, told a news conference. He was commenting on speculation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will dissolve the Lower House for a general election to ask voters whether the tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent should be carried out in October as planned, or postponed again. Aso added that the economy will continue to recover thanks to fiscal stimulus after government data released Monday showed surprising growth. “It’s not at all bad,” he said in reference to the 2.1 percent rise in January-March real gross domestic product, apparently rejecting analysts’ view that the headline figure was up due to a technical reason and does not reflect the actual economic situation. “I knew the economy would improve” as the government is implementing stimulus measures under the fiscal 2019 budget, Aso said. The increase in inflation-adjusted GDP for the final quarter of fiscal 2018 marked a second straight quarterly expansion, despite weaker exports amid an economic slowdown in China. It beat market forecasts of slower growth or even a contraction. But the data also signaled sluggish consumption and business investment, adding to the view that the economy will likely be supported by government spending, including on public works projects. Many private sector analysts said the GDP increase was due to a faster decline in imports than exports, which pushed real GDP higher. Aso’s comments came amid market speculation that the consumption tax hike may be postponed in a bid to safeguard growth, and that Abe may call a general election this summer to seek voter approval for such a delay. The government will steer its economic policy while closely watching developments in the U.S. and Chinese economies as well as progress in the execution of the initial fiscal 2019 budget, Aso noted. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko also sounded positive about the economy. Employment and income conditions as well as corporate earnings have remained “extremely firm,” Seko told a separate news conference. “Japan’s economy will remain on a moderate recovering track” with stable capital spending, he said.
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shinzo abe;u.s .;taro aso;gdp;consumption tax
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jp0004409
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[
"business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Trump wants trade deal with Japan in 'weeks,' U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty says
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U.S. President Donald Trump wants trade talks with Japan to be concluded in “weeks,” Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty said Tuesday. In a speech in Tokyo, Hagerty said he hopes “significant progress” toward a deal will be made at a summit between Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday. Trump will visit Japan for four days starting Saturday. Hagerty said the timing of a deal is up to negotiations between fiscal and economic policy minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The ambassador said the U.S. agriculture and livestock industry has fallen into a disadvantageous position in trade with Japan since the 11-country TPP free trade agreement that took effect in December last year. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the TPP.
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shinzo abe;u.s .;trade;tariffs;donald trump;william hagerty
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jp0004410
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[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2019/05/21
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In break with FCC, U.S. Justice Department leans against T-Mobile takeover of Sprint
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WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is leaning against approving T-Mobile U.S. Inc.’s proposed takeover of Sprint Corp., according to a source familiar with the review, even after the companies won the backing of the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The remedies proposed by the wireless carriers Monday don’t go far enough to resolve the department’s concerns that the deal risks harming competition, said the source, who asked not to be named because the investigation is confidential. Opposition to the deal by the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, would mark a rare break with the FCC. The two agencies work side by side on merger reviews and typically emerge on the same page about whether to approve deals. Earlier on Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he would recommend approval of T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion deal for Sprint after the companies offered a package of concessions, including spinning off Sprint’s Boost pre-paid brand, to win regulators’ blessing. The news whipsawed Sprint and T-Mobile shares. Sprint pared gains on the report about the Justice Department’s opposition, then began climbing from session lows when it was reported that T-Mobile’s outside counsel, Rob McDowell, said the Justice Department “will” approve the deal. T-Mobile also bounced back. With Pai’s support, the deal’s fate rests with Delrahim. While the FCC considers whether a merger is in the public interest, the Justice Department’s considers a different standard: whether a deal hurts competition and would raise prices for consumers. The Justice Department and the FCC declined to comment. Sprint and T-Mobile had no immediate comment. McDowell later tweeted that he’s “optimistic about @TheJusticeDept & remaining states green lighting the deal bc conditions should allay their concerns & it’s ultimately good for #consumers.” Attorneys general from more than a dozen states are also investigating the deal and have raised concerns about harm to consumers. The states have signaled they may sue to block the deal even if the Justice Department clears it. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said Monday on the sidelines of a conference in Washington that he had to learn more about the specifics of the companies’ proposed fixes but said he is “skeptical” they would address his objections to the consolidation the deal would entail. “It’s hard to say that our concerns could be alleviated by that kind of tinkering,” Frosh said. “It means that consumers are going to suffer in terms of price, in terms of quality, in terms of opportunities.” T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint would combine the No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers in the U.S., leaving just three national competitors. The tie-up has been widely criticized by consumer advocates and lawmakers for consolidating the market and risking harm to consumers. The FCC and DOJ have never reached different conclusions on a merger, Paul Gallant, a Washington-based analyst with Cowen & Co., said in a note Monday before news emerged of the Justice Department’s dissatisfaction with the deal. “Makan Delrahim has proven to be unpredictable, so we don’t assume anything regarding his ultimate decision,” Gallant wrote. Delrahim shocked many antitrust experts when he sued in 2017 to block AT&T Inc.’s planned takeover of Time Warner Inc. That deal was expected to win antitrust approval because it combined companies in different parts of a supply chain rather than uniting direct competitors. Those deals are typically approved with conditions on how companies operate. Delrahim, in a break with the past, demanded asset sales and later sued the companies to block the deal. He lost on appeal. “I still think the White House’s strong support for beating China in 5G will lead DOJ to clear the deal,” Cowen & Co.’s Gallant said after news emerged that the Justice Department is leaning against the deal.
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u.s .;sprint;telecoms;t-mobile;ajit pai
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jp0004411
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[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2019/05/21
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Huawei mobile users ponder switching brand after Google news
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LONDON/MUMBAI - Time to abandon the Huawei phone? That was what some owners asked after U.S. tech giant Google said it would suspend its business with China’s top mobile maker, threatening future access to Gmail, YouTube and Chrome. Google said on Monday it would comply with an order by U.S. President Donald Trump to stop supplying Huawei, meaning it would no longer be able to offer its popular Android apps to buyers of new Huawei phones. The order to U.S. companies could affect tens of millions of consumers in Europe, its biggest market outside mainland China. “I was absolutely shocked,” Luna Angellica, the Dutch owner of a new Huawei P smart+ contacted by Reuters in London, said after the Google news. She was already “considering saving up” for a rival model, she added. Trump’s move, said to be motivated by spying concerns amid a bitter trade war with China, could at a single blow derail Huawei’s ambitions to overtake Samsung as the world’s biggest phone maker. “I like the phone so much — I’m just kinda scared one day I’ll be forced to buy another phone,” said Anthony Chiringa, who lives in Nairobi and bought his Huawei Y7 for $180 two weeks ago. “Buying a new phone to replace another one will be another expense for me. Rather Huawei should come up with a way whereby the current Huawei users can be able to replace their phones for free,” he said. Emerging economies such as Kenya are key to Huawei’s ambitions as it seeks to sell more low- to mid-priced handsets outside China. India, where Huawei now has only single-figure market share, is also potentially vital. “I was already in two minds about buying the phone,” said Sumeet Lyallpuri, 46, a businessman in Mumbai who had been considering upgrading his existing Huawei to the brand’s P30. “Now if Google updates are not available for Huawei phones, Google Play or apps such as YouTube are not there I wouldn’t want to buy the phone at least for the time being,” he said. Manish Khatri, the owner of a smartphone shop in Mumbai, India’s financial hub, said some customers had been looking for Huawei phones. “Now with Google deciding to have a limited relationship with Huawei I will direct customers to other smartphones brands such as Samsung or Apple,” he said. Huawei said on Monday it would continue to provide security updates and services for its smartphones and tablets that have already been sold. And Google’s team working on the Android operating system told Huawei users on its Twitter @Android account it would comply with U.S. requirements while ensuring “services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device.” Replies to the tweet ranged from frustration to worry. “So because of a US law, you actually punish millions of international users by banning them?” wrote Andreas Benjaminsen, who described himself as an open source enthusiast on @photolsen account. Twitter user Ania K. wrote on @kuleczka1983: “I am very worried … I’m the owner of a P30 Pro. Neither user could immediately be reached for comment. Operators, who tie phones into their networks with mobile line contracts for calls and data, were also racing to determine the impact on their businesses from Google’s decision. “We are reviewing the details of the executive order to understand any potential implications for our customers,” Spain’s Telefonica, Europe’s third largest mobile operator. Hutchison’s British network operator Three told customers that Huawei’s routers and devices would continue working, but also said it was seeking further information. “We are in discussions with Huawei and will provide a further update as soon as we can,” the firm said in statement. Huawei, which is also the global leader in telecoms networking equipment, is embroiled in a long-running row with the United States over the security of its systems and devices. The U.S. administration has said Huawei equipment could be used by China for espionage and Washington has pressed its allies to use other suppliers. Huawei denies the U.S charges. Huawei’s founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, had said before Google’s announcement on Saturday that growth of the Chinese tech giant “may slow, but only slightly” due to recent U.S. actions.
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china;u.s .;google;eu;youtube;cybersecurity;android;huawei;donald trump;5g
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jp0004413
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[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/05/21
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Tokyo stocks follow Wall Street into negative territory
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Stocks turned lower Tuesday, hurt by an overnight drop of U.S. equities. The Nikkei 225 average finished down 29.28 points, or 0.14 percent, at 21,272.45. On Monday, it rose 51.64 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, fell 4.62 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 1,550.30 after gaining 0.67 point Monday. Both indexes declined for the first time in three market days. The Nikkei dipped soon after the opening and stayed in negative territory throughout the morning session, after all three key U.S. stock indexes dropped Monday. The Wall Street slump came as Google and some other companies are reported to be planning to stop dealing with China’s Huawei Technologies after U.S. President Donald Trump, apparently targeting Huawei, signed an executive order last week to ban the use of foreign communications equipment that could seriously jeopardize U.S. national security, brokers said. The Nikkei briefly pared its losses and entered into positive territory in the afternoon, backed by a rise in Shanghai shares, they said. But it fell back later, due to a dearth of positive incentives, while its downside was supported by stability in dollar-yen rates, market sources said. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said the advance of Shanghai equities reflected bullish remarks made by Huawei Chief Executive Officer Ren Zhengfei in an interview with state-run China Central Television. In the interview, Ren said the United States is underestimating the company’s capabilities and that the firm is prepared for the U.S. ban. The Nikkei failed to extend its gain in the afternoon, however, amid growing skepticism about Ren’s bullish view, Otsuka said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,320 to 743 on the first section, while 78 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.254 billion shares from 1.178 billion Monday. Technology companies dropped on selling triggered by the U.S. sanctions on Huawei. They included Sony, Tokyo Electron, TDK and Murata Manufacturing. Shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines dropped for the first time in three trading days. Among other losers were oil distributor Cosmo Energy, apartment rental firm Leopalace21 and online fashion mall operator Zozo. Technology investor SoftBank Group gained 3.53 percent after U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday showed support for the planned merger of fourth-ranking U.S. mobile phone carrier Sprint, which is affiliated with SoftBank, and third-ranking T-Mobile. Other winners included clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing and Kyoei Steel.
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stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
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jp0004415
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[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/05/21
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Dollar almost flat at around ¥110.10 in late Tokyo trading
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The dollar was almost unchanged at around ¥110.10 in late Tokyo trading Tuesday. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.12-12, against ¥110.10-11 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1155-1155, down from $1.1163-1163, and at ¥122.84-85, down from ¥122.91-91. After moving around ¥110 in early trading, the dollar rose to around ¥110.20 later in the morning thanks to a rise in the benchmark long-term U.S. Treasury bond yield in off-hours trading. Toward noon, the greenback slipped below ¥110.20, as the Treasury yield fell back after Reserve Bank of Australia Gov. Philip Lowe indicated that the Australian central bank plans to cut its policy interest rate. The U.S. currency rose back above ¥110.20 in the afternoon, but the strength proved short-lived. “We had both positive and negative incentives (for the dollar),” an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said, citing an upward trend of the long-term Treasury yield as a favorable factor and sluggish U.S. stocks as an unfavorable factor. “I’m keeping a close tab on to what extent the Treasury yield will test its upside after hitting bottom around 2.35 percent recently,” the official said.
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forex;currencies
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jp0004416
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[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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New themed area in Tokyo DisneySea to be named Fantasy Springs
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CHIBA - A new area to open at Tokyo DisneySea in the 2022 business year will be named Fantasy Springs, operator Oriental Land Co. said Tuesday. The themed area will add four new attractions to the park based on popular Disney movies. Two will feature “Peter Pan” while the others will highlight “Frozen” and “Tangled.” The extension includes three restaurants and a new 475-room hotel that will look out over the theme park in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, the operator said. “We’d like this to become the only one of its kind in the world,” Oriental Land CEO Toshio Kagami said at a groundbreaking ceremony held in a tent at the site amid heavy rain and strong winds. Visiting Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Robert Iger said, “We are extremely excited to be adding magic to this world of fantasy and wonder. … I can’t wait to see these new magical worlds come to life.” Approximately ¥250 billion will be invested in the construction, making Fantasy Springs the most costly expansion project at Tokyo Disney Resort, which also includes Tokyo Disneyland, according to the operator. The size of the planned expansion — an extra 140,000 square meters — is the largest in Tokyo DisneySea since its opening in 2001.
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tokyo disneyland;oriental land;tokyo disneysea;walt disney co .
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jp0004417
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[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Japan Post invests in Daiwa Securities to cement ties
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Japan Post Holdings Co. has acquired an equity stake of 1.91 percent in Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Daiwa revealed the deal in a notice Monday for its upcoming general shareholders meeting. According to the notice, Japan Post Holdings had 30 million shares in Daiwa as of the end of March, making it the seventh-largest shareholder of the major securities company. The postal service group is estimated to have spent some ¥16 billion on the share acquisition. Ties between the two companies are strong, with Daiwa having lead-managed the stock listings of the postal holding company and its two financial units, Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance Co., in November 2015. Last week, they announced an agreement to jointly develop asset management products for individual clients. “We decided on the investment in order to fortify our ties with Daiwa,” a Japan Post Holdings official said.
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japan post;shareholders;daiwa securities
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jp0004419
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[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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MUFG president tells investors of bank's plans to shutter 80 more outlets in Japan
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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. President Kanetsugu Mike said core unit MUFG Bank will scrap about 80 more branches in Japan in a bid to further cut costs and improve earnings. He announced the plan at a meeting Monday with investors. Previously, the bank planned to reduce its domestic branches by some 100 from 500 by fiscal 2023. In the business year to March, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial’s real net profit from its core banking operations fell 25 percent from the previous year. Mike said that the Mitsubishi UFJ group will join all forces to push ahead with structural reforms. Mike also said MUFG Bank will likely be able to reduce its duties equivalent to over 10,000 jobs by fiscal 2023, more than the 9,500 jobs earlier estimated, mainly by automating some of its operations through the use of information technology. Banks in Japan have been facing earnings deterioration due to ultralow interest rates stemming from the Bank of Japan’s very accommodative monetary policy. Among other major banking groups, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said last week that it will reduce the number of its domestic branches by 130 by fiscal 2024, more than the earlier planned 100.
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banks;mufg;mizuho;financial results
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jp0004420
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[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Seeing rough road ahead, Ford sheds 7,000 white-collar jobs
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DETROIT - Ford revealed details of its long-awaited restructuring plan Monday as it prepared for a future of electric and autonomous vehicles by parting ways with 7,000 white-collar workers worldwide, about 10 percent of its global salaried workforce. The major revamp, which had been underway since last year, will save about $600 million per year by eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the number of workers reporting to each manager. About 2,300 jobs will be cut in the U.S. through buyouts and layoffs. About 1,500 have left voluntarily or with buyouts, while another 300 have already been laid off. About 500 workers will be let go starting this week, largely in and around the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, just outside Detroit. The layoffs are coming across a broad swath of the company, including engineering, product development, marketing, information technology, logistics, finance and other areas. But the company also said it is hiring in some critical areas, including those developing software and dealing with self-driving and electric vehicles. In a memo to employees Monday, CEO Jim Hackett said the fourth wave of the restructuring would start Tuesday, with the majority of U.S. cuts being finished by Friday. “To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-charging future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision-making and focus on the most valuable work, and cost cuts,” Hackett’s wrote. It’s the second set of layoffs for Detroit-area automakers, even though the companies are making healthy profits. Sales in the U.S., where the automakers get most of their revenue, have fallen slightly but are still strong. In November, General Motors announced it would shed up to 14,000 workers as it cut expenses to prepare for a shift to electric and autonomous vehicles. The layoffs included closure of five factories in the U.S. and Canada and cuts of another 8,000 white-collar workers worldwide. About 6,000 blue-collar positions were cut, but most of the laid-off factory workers in the U.S. will be placed at other plants mainly that build trucks and SUVs. Both companies have said the cuts are needed because the companies face huge capital expenditures to update their current vehicles and develop them for the future. At GM, the cuts brought withering criticism from President Donald Trump and Congress, especially the closing of a small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Trump campaigned on bringing factory jobs back to the industrial Midwest. GM has since announced a possible deal to sell the Lordstown plant to a startup electric vehicle maker, but it hasn’t been finalized. Ford’s white-collar employees had been fearful since last July when the company said the restructuring would cost $7 billion in cash and hit pretax earnings by $11 billion over the next three to five years. Many have been upset that it took so long for the company to make decisions. Factory workers have not been affected by the restructuring thus far, as the company has retooled car plants so they can build more popular trucks and SUVs. The layoffs, while large, weren’t as bad as many had expected. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas predicted 25,000 white-collar job cuts late last year, a number that Ford would not deny. Hackett said in the memo that Ford is departing from past practices and letting laid-off employees stay a few days to wrap up their jobs and say good-bye to colleagues. In the past, laid-off workers would have had to pack up and leave immediately. “Ford is a family company and saying goodbye to colleagues is difficult and emotional,” Hackett wrote. He told workers that under the restructuring, managers now will have seven people reporting to them on average, up from five before changes were initiated. That reduces management bureaucracy by one-third from before the “Smart Redesign” began. Before the restructuring, Ford had 14 organizational layers, but that will drop to nine or less by the end of the year, Hackett’s memo said.
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u.s .;jobs;carmakers;gm;ford;ev;jim hackett
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jp0004422
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/21
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Huawei ban clouds outlook for world's growth engine
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HONG KONG/BEIJING - U.S. restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. threatens to snuff out a nascent recovery in semiconductor demand, a key driver of economic growth in technology powerhouses including South Korea and Taiwan. China dominates purchases from Asian semiconductor exporters and bought 51 percent of their exports in 2017, according to analysis by Citigroup Inc. economists Jin-Wook Kim and Johanna Chua. China and Hong Kong took 69 percent of South Korea’s chip shipments, 56 percent of Taiwan’s, 51 percent of Vietnam’s, 43 percent of Japan’s and 39 percent of Malaysia’s exports, according to the Citi note. Citi’s Asia Semiconductor Leading Index “significantly stalled” in May having shown signs of recovery since January and could worsen from here if trade tensions deepen. “In our view, China’s restocking efforts for electronic goods will likely weaken and be delayed if the tensions and the ban stay longer, which likely will hurt overall demand,” they wrote. Evidence of weaker demand was on display Tuesday. South Korean exports during the first 20 days of the month fell 11.7 percent from a year earlier, pointing to a sixth straight full-month drop, driven by tumbling prices of semiconductors and falling exports to China, the country’s biggest export market. Semiconductor shipments, which account for about a fifth of South Korea’s exports, fell 33 percent, while total exports to China dropped 16 percent. “As trade wars hurt demand in the U.S. and China, Asian electronics manufacturers will feel considerable pain, in our view,” Tieying Ma, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd., wrote in a note. If China buys more South Korean chips instead of U.S. ones, then it could offset some of the negative effects in Asia, Citi noted. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that the Asia-Pacific region is the biggest driver of world economic growth. “It seems that the trade war is increasingly showing signs of becoming a tech war,” Seema Shah, senior global investment strategist at Principal Global Investors, said in emailed remarks. “The further this trend develops, the bigger the collateral damage will be — particularly in Asia and the U.S., but the ripple effect will be significant across the globe.” Meanwhile, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei struck a defiant tone Tuesday against American attempts to block his company’s global ambitions, saying the U.S. “underestimates” the telecom giant’s strength. Ren spoke to Chinese state media days after President Donald Trump issued orders aimed at thwarting Huawei’s business in the United States, the latest salvo in a months-long effort to stop the company’s charge to the top of the leader board in next-generation 5G technology. “The current practice of U.S. politicians underestimates our strength,” Ren said, according to CCTV. “Huawei’s 5G will absolutely not be affected. In terms of 5G technologies, others won’t be able to catch up with Huawei in two or three years,” he said. Last week, Trump declared a “national emergency” empowering him to blacklist companies seen as “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States” — a move analysts said was clearly aimed at Huawei. At the same time, the U.S. Commerce Department announced an effective ban on American companies selling or transferring U.S. technology to Huawei. U.S. internet giant Google LLC, whose Android mobile operating system powers most of the world’s smartphones, said this week it was beginning to cut ties with Huawei in light of the ban. The move could have dramatic implications for Huawei smartphone users, as the telecoms giant will no longer have access to Google’s proprietary services — which include the Gmail and Google Maps apps — a source close to the matter said. But the U.S. Commerce Department on Monday issued a 90-day reprieve on the ban on the transfer of technology by allowing temporary licenses. “The U.S. 90-day temporary license does not have much impact on us, we are ready,” Ren said. Half of chips used in Huawei equipment come from the United States and the other half are made by the Chinese company, he said. “We cannot be isolated from the world,” Ren said. “We can also make the same chips as the U.S. chips, but it doesn’t mean we won’t buy them.” The Huawei confrontation has been building for years, as the company has raced to a huge advantage over rivals in next-generation 5G mobile technology. U.S. intelligence believes Huawei is backed by the Chinese military and that its equipment could provide Beijing’s intelligence services with a back door into the communications networks of rival countries. For that reason, Washington has pushed its closest allies to reject Huawei technology, a significant challenge given the few alternatives for 5G. The battle over Huawei has added to tensions in a trade war that has escalated between the world’s top two economies, with both sides exchanging steep increases in tariffs as negotiations have faltered. Asked how long Huawei may face difficult times, Ren said: “You may need to ask Trump about this question, not me.”
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china;taiwan;trade;south korea;tariffs;huawei;donald trump
|
jp0004423
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Officials say Iran quadruples production of enriched uranium, but levels still under nuclear deal limit
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TEHRAN - Iran quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity amid tensions with the U.S. over Tehran’s atomic program, nuclear officials said Monday, just after President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister traded threats and taunts on Twitter. Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to the 3.67 percent limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it usable for a power plant but far below what’s needed for an atomic weapon. But by increasing production, Iran soon will exceed the stockpile limitations set by the accord. Tehran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to set new terms for the deal, or it will enrich closer to weapons-grade levels in a Middle East already on edge. The Trump administration has deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the region over still-unspecified threats from Iran. Already this month, officials in the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers were sabotaged; Yemeni rebels allied with Iran launched a drone attack on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia; and U.S. diplomats relayed a warning that commercial airlines could be misidentified by Iran and attacked, something dismissed by Tehran. A rocket landed Sunday near the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone of Iraq’s capital of Baghdad, days after nonessential U.S. staff were ordered to evacuate from diplomatic posts in the country. No one was reported injured. Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul said that the rocket was believed to have been fired from eastern Baghdad, an area home to Iran-backed Shiite militias. The Iranian enrichment announcement came after local journalists traveled to Natanz in central Iran, the country’s underground enrichment facility. There, an unidentified nuclear scientist gave a statement with a surgical cap and a mask covering most of his face. No one explained his choice of outfit, although Israel is suspected of targeting Iranian nuclear scientists. The state-run IRNA news agency later quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as acknowledging that capacity had been quadrupled. He said Iran took this step because the U.S. had ended a program allowing it to exchange enriched uranium to Russia for unprocessed yellowcake uranium, as well as ending the sale of heavy water to Oman. Heavy water helps cool reactors producing plutonium that can be used in nuclear weapons. Kamalvandi said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the development. The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog did not respond to a request for comment. Tehran long has insisted it does not seek nuclear weapons, though the West fears its program could allow it to build them. Before Iran’s announcement, Trump tweeted: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!” Trump’s remarks reflect what has been a strategy of alternating tough talk with more conciliatory statements he says is aimed at keeping Iran guessing at the administration’s intentions. He also has said he hopes Iran calls him and engages in negotiations. He described his approach in a speech Friday, saying, “It’s probably a good thing because they’re saying, ‘Man, I don’t know where these people are coming from,’ right?” But while Trump’s approach of flattery and threats has become a hallmark of his foreign policy, the risks have only grown in dealing with Iran, where mistrust between Tehran and Washington stretch four decades. While both sides say they don’t seek war, many worry any miscalculation could spiral out of control. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif soon responded by tweeting that Trump had been “goaded” into “genocidal taunts.” Zarif referenced both Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan as two historical leaders that Persia outlasted. “Iranians have stood tall for a millennia while aggressors all gone,” he wrote. “Try respect — it works!” Zarif also used the hashtag #NeverThreatenAnIranian, a reference to a comment he made during intense negotiations for the 2016 nuclear accord. Trump campaigned on pulling the U.S. from the deal, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Since Trump withdrew the U.S. a year ago from the pact, Washington has re-imposed previous sanctions and come up with new ones, as well as warning other nations they would be subject to sanctions as well if they import Iranian oil. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told journalists in Geneva that Iran should not doubt the U.S. resolve, warning that “if American interests are attacked, they will retaliate.” “We want the situation to de-escalate because this is a part of the world where things can get triggered accidentally,” Hunt said. Meanwhile, Oman’s minister of state for foreign affairs made a previously unannounced visit Monday to Tehran, seeing Zarif, the state-run IRNA news agency said. The visit by Yusuf bin Alawi comes after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said last week. Oman long has served as a Western backchannel to Tehran and the sultanate hosted the secret talks between the U.S. and Iran that laid the groundwork for the nuclear deal negotiations. In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s military intercepted two missiles fired by the Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. The missiles were intercepted over the city of Taif and the Red Sea port city of Jiddah, the Saudi-owned satellite channel Al-Arabiya reported, citing witnesses. The Saudi Embassy in Washington later confirmed the interceptions. Hundreds of rockets, mortar rounds and ballistic missiles have been fired into the kingdom by the rebels since a Saudi-led coalition declared war on the Houthis in March 2015 to support Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news channel denied the rebels had any involvement with this round of rocket fire. Between the two targeted cities is Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba toward which Muslims pray. Many pilgrims are in the holy city for Ramadan. Early Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said the Houthis targeted civilian infrastructure in the kingdom’s border city of Najran, without elaborating. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge such an attack.
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nuclear weapons;iran;iran nuclear deal;donald trump
|
jp0004424
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Iraq caught in the middle of U.S.-Iran face-off
|
BAGHDAD - Scarred by two decades of conflict, Iraq finds itself caught in the middle of a U.S.-Iran tug-of-war, fearing it could pay the price of any confrontation between its two main allies. Analysts say third parties may seek to exploit the latest spike in tensions between Tehran and Washington to spark a showdown that serves their own interests. Iraq “pays a disproportionate tax on Iranian-American tensions and (has) an unenviable frontline position in any future conflict between the two,” said Fanar Haddad, an Iraq expert at the National University of Singapore. During the three-year battle to oust the Islamic State group from Iraqi cities, powerful Iran-backed Shiite militias on the ground effectively fought on the same side as U.S.-led coalition warplanes in the skies. But since Iraq declared victory over the jihadis in December 2017, relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated sharply. In May last year, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and later reinstated tough sanctions. In April, Washington dubbed the Revolutionary Guard Corps a “foreign terrorist organization,” prompting Iran to designate U.S. troops across the region as “terrorists.” Tensions escalated this month, with Washington deploying a carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf over alleged, unspecified Iranian “threats.” The Trump administration last week ordered nonessential diplomatic staff out of Iraq, alleging Iran-backed armed groups posed an “imminent” threat. On Sunday, a rocket was fired into the “Green Zone” of Baghdad that houses government offices and embassies, including the U.S. mission. There has been no claim of responsibility. For Iraqi political analyst Essam al-Fili, the rocket attack was a sign that some sides want to pull Tehran and Washington into a confrontation in Shiite-majority Iraq. “There are those who want to fight Iran with other people’s weapons, and those who want to fight the U.S. with other people’s weapons,” he said. But he added that Iran has “so far favoured restraint in Iraq, a country which is vulnerable on the security front.” Several groups in the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition that battled IS denied any link to the rocket attack, with Assaib Ahl al-Haq chief Qais al-Khazali pointing a finger at “Israeli interests.” Analyst Karim Bitar stressed that “the stakes are so high that Iranian proxies cannot act without an explicit green light” from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard force. Tehran and Washington “know perfectly well that it’s an unwinnable war and that an all-out confrontation would be devastating for both the U.S. and Iran,” said Bitar, an expert at France’s Institute for International and Strategic Affairs. But, he added, “the inflammatory rhetoric of the past few weeks plays right into the hands of Iran’s hardliners” as well as pleasing Saudi Arabia and Israel, “bent on settling old scores with Iran.” Tehran accuses its regional Sunni rival Riyadh and archfoe Israel of pressing the Trump administration to adopt a hard line. But experts doubt the crisis will result in a head-on confrontation with Washington. “There won’t be a direct war. The United States is counting on a collapse of the (Iranian) economy, which could be accompanied by limited airstrikes,” said Iraqi political scientist Hashem al-Hashemi. He said Washington may also urge Israel to carry out airstrikes against Iran’s militia allies in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Meanwhile, memories of American interventions in recent years could also dampen Washington’s appetite for an offensive. “The U.S. foreign policy and security establishment knows full well that attacking Iran would make the Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya wars look like walks in the park,” Bitar said. “So besides some messages that could be sent on the Iraqi arena, unless utter madness prevails, a large, open, direct war is still unlikely.”
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u.s .;middle east;iran;iraq
|
jp0004425
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Venezuela says possibly at least 20 passengers missing after boat sinks in Caribbean
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CARACAS - A small boat carrying at least 20 people from Venezuela sank in Caribbean coastal waters and most of those on board are missing, an official said Monday, in what appeared to be another case of Venezuelans taking risks to escape their country’s humanitarian crisis. The boat left Guiria in Sucre state and was on its way to the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago when it sank Thursday, according to the official from the civil protection agency. The official was not authorized to speak to the media and gave the information on condition of anonymity. Relatives of those aboard the boat have been appealing for information. One of the passengers was apparently rescued by Robert Richards, an American businessman and sailor who said on Facebook that he and his crew rescued a young man from Venezuela who had been in the water for 19 hours. Richards posted photos of the man clinging to debris in the sea and said the boat that sank had been on its way to Trinidad island to buy supplies because the Venezuelan island they came from has “limited food that’s very expensive.” Robert Alcala, a member of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress, said those on board were migrants trying to escape Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis. Last month, a boat carrying Venezuelans sank in the same area. More than 20 people remain missing from that accident. Several million Venezuelans, or at least 10 percent of the population, have left the country after years of dire economic conditions. While the majority of Venezuelan migrants have traveled by land into neighboring Colombia and Brazil, overloaded fishing boats sometimes smuggle people to nearby Caribbean islands.
|
venezuela;caribbean;trinidad;maritime accidents;guiria
|
jp0004426
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
'Hippie' Vashon Island off Seattle sees shift in low vaccine rate
|
VASHON ISLAND, WASHINGTON - Sarah Day is a school nurse with “street cred” when it comes to the polarizing issue of vaccines on an idyllic island in Washington state known for its rural beauty, counterculture lifestyle and low immunization rates. Since she began communal living on Vashon Island more than 20 years ago, the registered nurse has advocated for getting kids their shots against a loud contingent of anti-vaccine parents in the close-knit community of about 11,000 accessible only by ferry, a serene 20-minute ride from Seattle. And it may now be working, thanks to a “perfect storm” of changes being felt on the island, Day said. The Vashon Island School District has seen a significant increase in fully immunized children. The number of kindergartners who received the required set of state-mandated vaccines jumped by 31 percent in the past six years, from 56 percent to nearly 74 percent in the 2017-18 school year, according to the King County Public Health Department. Amid the nation’s highest number of measles cases in 25 years, pro-vaccine advocates are cheering the apparent shift that challenges Vashon’s reputation as a hotbed of highly educated, anti-establishment parents who choose not to vaccinate their children from preventable and potentially devastating diseases. “We’ve been the poster children for the anti-vaccine or vaccine-hesitancy movement for so long,” Day said. She attributes the rising numbers to increasingly visible pro-vaccine information, expanded access to shots and media coverage of measles outbreaks in the Pacific Northwest and New York this year. The island town with deep roots in organic farming has long drawn those who want to escape urban sprawl and others wary of putting chemicals in their bodies, whether in their food or medical care. Kids run barefoot through untamed forests and families still raise fruits and vegetables without pesticides to share in meals in communal houses. It also has its share of city commuters, tourists and million-dollar vacation homes with sweeping views of Mount Rainier, as well as locals pushing the science that vaccines are safe. While the gains are notable, the Vashon school district still has one of the lowest vaccine rates in the U.S. It is far below the 95 percent target that a majority of U.S. schools hover around and is needed for herd immunity, which protects those who haven’t been vaccinated for medical reasons or because they are too young. The majority of Vashon parents say yes to some vaccines, particularly the tetanus shot for their kids who play outside on the forested island. But many still buck the formal schedule of shots recommended by health officials. They may select some but not all and space them out over a longer period of time. Nicky Wilks, who grew up on Vashon and has three young children, said the changing attitude has led some pro-vaccine parents to exclude from gatherings kids who may not have their shots, while teenagers openly mock those who aren’t vaccinated. “That’s the worst-case scenario, when we are creating physical barriers in our community,” Wilks said. He said he isn’t against all vaccines but doesn’t agree that dozens of shots starting at birth are necessary despite health officials’ insistence. Wilks declined to say if his family is fully immunized. Gator Lanphear says he’s “very judgmental” about parents who don’t vaccinate. He said he not only immunizes his twin 6-year-old daughters but instills in them the importance of getting their shots as a heroic act. “They understand that what they did benefits humankind. Yeah, they got their ice cream for it, but they’re also eradicating polio,” Lanphear said. The number of philosophical exemptions in Vashon has decreased dramatically, but there are still 11.6 percent of students whose families elect not to vaccinate. That’s five times higher than the national median rate. Still, Vashon’s progress can’t be discounted because it’s unusual for immunization to increase so steeply in a few short years when there is deep-rooted anti-vaccine sentiment in the community, said William John Moss, an epidemiology professor at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s an important increase, but they still have a ways to go,” Moss said. “That’s a vaccination rate lower than in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.” Day, the school nurse, has worked closely with the new Neighborcare Health clinics, the single largest medical provider on the island. Together, they aggressively remind families when they’re due for vaccines and counsel them on their concerns, whether rooted in scientific evidence or not. “The message is really getting through. I feel like the tide is really turning on the island,” Day said. A two-year-old health center at the high school has been especially successful. It’s partly funded by a county grant that helps cover free shots and services for low-income or uninsured students. About half of the school system’s 1,615 students are registered patients and an additional 43 children who are in private school or homeschooled also use the clinic. Manager Stephanie Keller said the center has received a spike in calls from concerned parents amid a measles outbreak in Washington state that’s affected at least 78 people, including seven reported near Vashon. As of May 17, 880 people have contracted measles in 24 states this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The outbreak prompted Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency and sign a law that eliminates personal or philosophical exemptions for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that’s needed before attending a day care center or school. Parents, however, can still claim a medical or religious exemption. Some critics say the Vashon school system’s data isn’t representative of the population because the island is home to many families who live off the grid. Vaccine advocates argue it’s an important benchmark because numbers from a previous islandwide survey aligned with public school data. And there are other signs, too. The top service provided at the student-based health center is vaccinations, Keller said. “That surprised us,” Keller said. “You think of Vashon as being this hippie place where nobody vaccinates.”
|
u.s .;vaccinations;washington state;measles;seattle;cdc;vashon island
|
jp0004427
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Mass movement: Scientists adopt new definitions of the kilogram, amp, kelvin — and mole
|
PARIS - How we measure the world underwent a quantum leap Monday as scientists adopted new hyperaccurate definitions for units of weight, electricity and temperature derived from the universal laws of nature. The change, on the occasion of World Metrology Day, sees one of science’s most influential objects — a metal cylinder used to define what a kilogram is — retired in favor of an infinitely more precise measurement taken from a quantum ratio. “Le Grand K,” as the platinum-iridium object is known, stood as the world’s benchmark of the kilogram for nearly 130 years before a decision was taken in November to bring several units of measurement into the 21st century. “The kilogram is the last unit of measurement based on a physical object,” Thomas Grenon, director of France’s National Laboratory of Metrology and Testing, said after the decision last year. “The problem is that it’s had a life, it could fluctuate. That’s not good enough, given the level of precision we need today.” Instead of relating to the mass of a singular physical object, the kilogram will now be defined in terms of the Planck constant — the ratio of a frequency of light, on the one hand, to the quantum energy of that frequency, on the other. Energy is intrinsically linked to mass, as Einstein demonstrated with his equation E = mc2. The Planck constant, combined with two quantum phenomena that allow for the creation of electrical power, can be used to calculate mass based on the equivalent mechanical power needed to displace it.
|
electricity;temperature;weight;world metrology day
|
jp0004428
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Fifth migrant child dies after detention by U.S. Border Patrol
|
HOUSTON - The U.S. government says a 16-year-old Guatemalan died Monday at a Border Patrol station in South Texas, the fifth death of a migrant child apprehended by border agents since December. U.S. Customs and Border Protection identified the teenager as Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez. CBP said the Border Patrol apprehended the teenager in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley on May 13. He was found to be unresponsive during a welfare check Monday morning. Carlos was detained for six days at the Border Patrol’s processing center in McAllen, Texas, despite federal law and CBP guidelines generally requiring the transfer of an unaccompanied youth within three days to a facility operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency said Carlos was “due for placement” in an HHS facility at the time of his death. CBP said Carlos reported early Sunday morning that he was not feeling well and diagnosed with the flu. He was prescribed the medicine Tamiflu, then transferred later Sunday to the Border Patrol station at Weslaco, Texas, to prevent his flu from spreading to other detainees. He was not hospitalized. An agency official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said Carlos had last been checked an hour before he was found unresponsive. The FBI is investigating the case. The Border Patrol has faced months of scrutiny over its care of children it apprehends at the border. A 2-year-old child died last week after he and his mother were detained by the Border Patrol. The agency says it took the child to the hospital the same day the mother reported he was sick, and he was hospitalized for several weeks. On April 30, a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy died after officials at an HHS detention facility noticed that he was sick. He was hospitalized in intensive care for several days before his death. After the deaths of two children ages 7 and 8 in December, the Department of Homeland Security ordered medical checks of all children in its custody and expanded medical screenings. John Sanders, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement that his agency was “saddened by the tragic loss of this young man and our condolences are with his family.” “CBP is committed to the health, safety and humane treatment of those in our custody,” Sanders said. Trump administration officials have said they have passed a “breaking point” in the immigration detention system, with the numbers of parents and children crossing the border dramatically exceeding the capacity at facilities. That strain is particularly acute in the Rio Grande Valley, which has more unauthorized border crossings than any other region. The Border Patrol has released photos of adults and children lying in small, military-style tents or on the grass and pavement outside of two of its stations. It also recently opened a 500-person tent near one port of entry and announced plans to open another.
|
u.s .;immigration;mexico;refugees;texas;donald trump;cbp;hhs;carlos gregorio hernandez vasquez
|
jp0004429
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Sea level rise of 2 meters, leading to displacement of millions, 'plausible' by 2100: study
|
WASHINGTON - Global sea levels could rise by 2 meters (6.5 feet) and displace tens of millions of people by the end of the century, according to new projections by leading scientists that double the U.N.’s benchmark estimates. The vast ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contain enough frozen water to lift the world’s oceans dozens of meters. The expansion of water as oceans warm also contributes to sea level rise. But predicting the rates at which they will melt as the planet heats is notoriously tricky. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said its 2013 Fifth Assessment Report that under current emissions trajectories — a “business-as-usual” scenario known as RCP8.5 — sea levels would likely rise by up to 1 meter by 2100. That prediction has since been viewed as conservative, as the levels of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise year on year, and satellites showing accelerated rates of melt-off from massive ice sheets atop Antarctica and Greenland. A group of the world’s leading ice scientists this week released an expert judgement on the situation, drawing on their own experience and observations. While there was still a significant margin of error, they found it “plausible” that under the business-as-usual emissions scenario, sea-level rises could exceed two meters by 2100. The authors said the area of land lost to the ocean could be equivalent to that of France, Germany, Spain and Britain combined and would displace more than 180 million people. “A sea-level rise of this magnitude would clearly have profound consequences for humanity,” they said. The Paris climate deal, struck between nations in 2015, aims to limit global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees C (3.6 F), and encourages countries to work towards a 1.5 C cap. In October the IPCC released a landmark climate report that called for a drastic and immediate drawdown in coal, oil and gas consumption in order to arrest the rapid rise in the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That report, however, did not include revised estimates of sea level rise. Earth has already heated 1 C since pre-industrial times, contributing roughly 3 mm to sea levels each year. The authors of the new study, released Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argue that the IPCC’s sea-level rise prediction was too constrained by focusing on what was “likely” to happen. At wider probabilities — 5-95 percent likelihood — they found that under 2 C of warming, seas could rise 36-126 cm by 2100. If the world warms by 5 C — unlikely but certainly not impossible given projected fossil fuel demand in the coming decades — they calculated a five percent risk of sea levels rising by two meters, topping out at 238 cm. Willy Aspinall, from the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences, said he hoped the study could provide policymakers with a more accurate worst-case scenario “crucial for robust decision-making.” “Limiting attention to the ‘likely’ range, as was the case in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, may be misleading and will likely lead to a poor evaluation of the true risks,” he added.
|
global warming;climate change;greenhouse gases;sea level
|
jp0004430
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
French court tells doctors to resume life support for paralyzed patient
|
STRASBOURG, FRANCE - A French appeals court on Monday ordered doctors to resume giving food and water to a French quadriplegic, lawyers said, some 12 hours after medics switched off the man’s life support against his parents’ will. The fate of Vincent Lambert has renewed a fierce debate over the right to die that has split his family and the country. “The feeding and hydration of Vincent must be restarted without delay,” declared Jean Paillot, a lawyer for Lambert’s parents who launched multiple legal bids to keep his care going. “It’s a huge victory, and only the first.” The 42-year-old former psychiatric nurse has been in a vegetative state since a motorcycle accident in 2008. He has almost no consciousness, but can breath without a respirator and occasionally moves his eyes. His wife, Rachel, and some of his siblings say care should be withdrawn. But Lambert’s Catholic parents, backed by other relatives, say he should be kept alive and have launched a series of legal bids to keep his care going. His doctors in the northeastern city of Reims said earlier this month that they would start withdrawing care after all legal avenues had been exhausted. Earlier on Monday, the medical team stopped feeding Lambert food and water through a gastric tube and was administering sedatives. Lambert’s mother, Viviane, branded them “monsters.” Lambert’s parents filed a last-ditch legal bid to keep him alive at the European Court of Human Rights and appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene. The Strasbourg-based tribunal declared there was no violation of Lambert’s right to life in the medics’ decision, while the French president said the decision on Lambert’s fate did not rest with him. “But it is for me to hear the emotion that has been stirred and to respond,” Macron added in a statement on Facebook. “All the medical experts have concluded that his condition is irreversible.” However, in a stunning twist, the Paris Appeal Court ruled that doctors must respect a May 3 request made by the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the French government that it prevent the euthanasia of Lambert while his case is examined. Euthanasia is illegal in France, but in 2016 a law was introduced giving terminally ill patients the right to be put into continuous deep sedation (CDS) by doctors until death. The law draws a distinction between euthanasia and CDS, making France the first country to legislate in such a way. Lambert’s case has divided opinion in France. “We cannot keep him like this, as a vegetable for decades,” said 70-year-old Parisian Marie-Laure Jean. “There have been court rulings, the doctors have given their advice. We have to let him go.” But pensioner Caroline Lorsin saw the other side: “I’m putting myself in his parents’ shoes. It must be hard for them.” Euthanasia is permitted in various forms in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg and Canada, while assisted suicide, which involves a doctor helping a patient to end their own life, is permitted in several U.S. states.
|
france;euthanasia;disability;emmanuel macron;vincent lambert
|
jp0004431
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
N.Y. bill to let U.S. House see Trump's state returns narrowed
|
ALBANY, NEW YORK - A proposal that would grant Congress access to New York state tax returns filed by President Donald Trump has been revised to address concerns that it could jeopardize the privacy of anyone who files a return in the state. Assemblyman David Buchwald, D-Westchester County, submitted an amendment to his bill this weekend to make it apply only to federal, state and local elected officials and companies in which they have significant ownership. Under a bill approved by the state Senate, state tax officials could release any New York returns if requested by any of three congressional committees. Republicans objected on privacy grounds, but Democrats argued the bill would help Congress circumvent the administration’s refusal to hand over Trump’s federal returns. The Assembly could pass the amended proposal this week. The Senate must also approve the change.
|
u.s .;congress;new york;taxes;donald trump
|
jp0004432
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Nevada judge weighs tossing confession and other defense motions in quadruple killings
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RENO, NEVADA - Lawyers for a Salvadoran immigrant charged with killing four people urged a judge on Monday to dismiss some of the charges and throw out his confession, citing procedural errors. Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman faces murder, burglary and weapons charges in the deaths of four people in northern Nevada in January. His public defenders say the Washoe County grand jury lacked legal jurisdiction to indict him for two of the January killings that occurred in Douglas County. They say prosecutors also failed to provide the necessary supporting evidence to allow the jury to hear testimony that Martinez-Guzman confessed to fatally shooting and stealing from the victims to support a drug habit. “The grand jury in Washoe County exceeded its powers,” said John Arrascada, Washoe County’s chief public defender. “We could be back here in 20 years to address this issue of process. We need to start this case off properly,” he said. “We’re not saying this case cannot at some point be joined, but that’s somewhere down the road.” Federal officials have said Martinez-Guzman, 20, is in the U.S. illegally but they don’t know how or when he crossed the Mexico border. The case has drawn the attention of President Donald Trump, who says it shows the need for a border wall. Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks and Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson, who are co-prosecuting the case, said Monday the defense’s “misguided assertions” aren’t supported by law and could “lead to an absurd result.” Jackson said all district courts in Nevada enjoy statewide jurisdiction in cases involving criminal felonies. He said the gun used in the killings was in Martinez-Guzman’s car when he was arrested in Carson City. “He did all of this while in possession of a revolver he used to kill Connie Koontz, Sophia Renken and Gerry and Sherri David,” Jackson said. “The facts of this case are so intertwined that his possession of the firearm was an act requisite to consummation of the crimes in Douglas County.” Jackson said requiring prosecutors to conduct preliminary hearings in all three jurisdictions would delay justice for the families of the victims for years. Public defender Katheryn Hickman said state law prohibits the introduction of a confession unless it’s supported by independent evidence to guard against suspects admitting crimes they didn’t commit. She said the only accompanying material presented to the grand jury that indicted him on 10 counts was based on hearsay testimony, including statements the Davids’ caretaker gave to police about comments Gerald David made about an earlier burglary when police say the handgun was taken. Hicks said there are certain exceptions when hearsay testimony is allowed, including when the witness isn’t available to testify in court. “We all know Mr. David is unavailable,” Hicks said. “Now the defense is seeking to exclude statements made by the person (David) who he (Martinez-Guzman) made unavailable. It flies in the face of judicial procedure.” Washoe District Court Judge Connie Steinheimer said she expected to rule on the motions before the next status hearing June 24. The trial isn’t scheduled to begin until next April.
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u.s .;murder;immigration;el salvador;nevada;mass shootings;donald trump;wilber ernesto martinez-guzman
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jp0004433
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
After attacks from Trump, U.S. Republican defends his impeachment remarks
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WASHINGTON - Justin Amash, the first Republican in the U.S. Congress to say openly that President Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses, on Monday fired back at critics, including Trump. Standing behind his earlier remarks, Amash issued a string of tweets that challenged some of the most common arguments of those who defend Trump over special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The new Amash tweets followed his earlier remarks on Twitter on Saturday, when he said that the Mueller report on Russia showed that Trump, a fellow Republican, had obstructed justice. “President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct,” the Michigan conservative said then, drawing a broadside from Trump. In his usual caustic style, the president on Sunday tweeted that Amash was “a total lightweight” and “a loser.” In addition, in a case of swift political retribution, Amash drew an election challenge from within his own party on Monday when Jim Lower, a Michigan state legislator who described himself as “pro-Trump,” said he would challenge Amash in the 2020 Republican primary, the Detroit Free Press reported. Amash in his latest tweets said that people who say Trump could not have intended to illegally obstruct Mueller’s investigation relied on several falsehoods, including a claim that there were no underlying crimes. “In fact, there were many crimes revealed by the investigation, some of which were charged, and some of which were not,” Amash wrote on Twitter. Mueller’s investigation led to criminal charges against 34 people, including Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who agreed to cooperate with the probe. Amash also said that bringing an obstruction of justice case did not, as some of Trump’s backers have argued, require the prosecution of an underlying crime. Further, he said, “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the U.S. Constitution’s standard for removing a president from office, does not require corresponding statutory charges. “The context implies conduct that violates the public trust,” Amash said. No U.S. president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of the U.S. Constitution’s impeachment process. Democrats have debated for months whether to start proceedings to remove Trump from office, but no Republican in Congress, other than Amash, has called Trump’s conduct impeachable. While Amash’s remarks made calls in Congress for Trump’s removal bipartisan, there were no signs late on Monday of other Republicans following his lead. A long-time Trump critic, Amash is part of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative House of Representatives faction whose members normally defend Trump. Amash has also signaled he would consider running as a libertarian against Trump in 2020. Amash has been in Congress since 2011 and has faced only one serious primary challenge since then. He beat that opponent by nearly 15 points in 2014. Amash’s new Republican challenger, Lower, posted a photo of himself on Facebook in front of a “Trump 2020” sign. “Congressman Justin Amash tweets yesterday calling for President Trump’s impeachment show how out of touch he is … He must be replaced and I am going to do it,” Lower said, according to the Detroit newspaper. Michigan voters helped put Trump in the White House in 2016 by a slim margin. Democrats gained ground in 2018’s congressional and state elections, making the Midwestern state a key political battleground in 2020.
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u.s .;congress;michigan;robert mueller;impeachment;donald trump;russia probe;justin amash;jim lower
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jp0004434
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Trump tells former White House counsel Donald McGahn to defy congressional subpoena, skip House committee hearing
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump directed his former White House counsel, Donald McGahn, to defy a congressional subpoena Monday, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that maintains McGahn would have immunity from testifying about his work as a close Trump adviser. A lawyer for McGahn said he will follow the president’s wishes and skip a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. Trump’s action, the latest in his efforts to block every congressional probe into him and his administration, is certain to deepen the open conflict between Democrats and the president. Democrats have accused Trump and Attorney General William Barr of trying to stonewall and obstruct Congress’ oversight duties. The House Judiciary Committee had issued a subpoena to compel McGahn to testify Tuesday, and the committee’s chairman, New York Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, has threatened to hold McGahn in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t. Nadler has also suggested he may try and levy fines against witnesses who do not comply with committee requests. William Burck, McGahn’s lawyer, said in a letter to Nadler that McGahn is “conscious of the duties he, as an attorney, owes to his former client” and will decline to appear. Still, Burck encouraged the committee to negotiate a compromise with the White House, saying his client “again finds himself facing contradictory instructions from two co-equal branches of government.” McGahn was a key figure in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, describing ways in which the president sought to curtail that federal probe. Democrats hoped to question him as a way to focus attention on Mueller’s findings and further investigate whether Trump did obstruct justice. “This move is just the latest act of obstruction from the White House that includes its blanket refusal to cooperate with this committee,” Nadler said in a statement. “It is also the latest example of this Administration’s disdain for law.” As he left the White House for a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump said the maneuver was “for the office of the presidency for future presidents.” “I think it’s a very important precedent,” Trump said. “And the attorneys say that they’re not doing that for me, they’re doing that for the office of the president. So we’re talking about the future.” Separately on Monday, a federal judge in Washington ruled against Trump in a financial records dispute, declaring the president cannot block a House subpoena for information from Mazars USA, a firm that has done accounting work for him and the Trump Organization. And a hearing is planned in New York on Wednesday in another case, this one involving an effort by Trump, his business and his family to prevent Deutsche Bank and Capital One from complying with subpoenas from two House committees for banking and financial records. If McGahn were to defy Trump and testify before Congress, it could endanger his own career in Republican politics and put his law firm, Jones Day, in the president’s crosshairs. Trump has mused about instructing Republicans to cease dealing with the firm, which is deeply intertwined in Washington with the GOP, according to one White House official and a Republican close to the White House not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Administration officials mulled various legal options before settling on providing McGahn with a legal opinion from the Department of Justice to justify defying the subpoena. “The immunity of the President’s immediate advisers from compelled congressional testimony on matters related to their official responsibilities has long been recognized and arises from the fundamental workings of the separation of powers,” the department’s opinion reads. “Accordingly, Mr. McGahn is not legally required to appear and testify about matters related to his official duties as Counsel to the President.” The Judiciary Committee still plans on meeting even if McGahn doesn’t show up and McGahn “is expected to appear as legally required,” Nadler said. Trump has fumed about McGahn for months, after it became clear that much of Mueller’s report was based on his testimony. The president has bashed his former White House counsel on Twitter and has insisted to advisers that the attorney not be allowed to humiliate him in front of Congress, much as his former personal legal fixer, Michael Cohen, did, according to the official and Republican. The Justice Department has long held the opinion that close presidential advisers have “absolute immunity” from being compelled to testify before Congress about their work for the president. A federal judge rejected a similar argument in 2008 in a dispute over a subpoena for Harriet Miers, who was White House counsel to George W. Bush. U.S. District Judge John Bates said it was an unprecedented notion that a White House official would be absolutely immune from being compelled to testify before Congress. Miers had to show up for her testimony, but still had the right to assert executive privilege in response to any specific questions posed by legislators, the judge said. But in 2014, under the Obama administration, the Justice Department issued an opinion arguing that if Congress could force the president’s closest advisers to testify about matters that happened during their tenure, it would “threaten executive branch confidentiality, which is necessary (among other things) to ensure that the President can obtain the type of sound and candid advice that is essential to the effective discharge of his constitutional duties.” The House Judiciary Committee voted earlier this month to hold Barr in contempt after he defied a subpoena for an unredacted version of Mueller’s report.
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u.s. congress;robert mueller;justice department;donald trump;don mcgahn;russia probe
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jp0004435
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Battle breaks out for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's computers
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BOGOTA - With Julian Assange locked away in a London jail, a new battle has broken out over what may contain some of the WikiLeaks founder’s biggest secrets: his computers. On Monday, judicial authorities from Ecuador carried out an inventory of all the belongings and digital devices left behind at the London embassy following his expulsion last month from the diplomatic compound that had been his home the past seven years. It came as Sweden announced it was seeking Assange’s arrest on suspicion of rape, setting up a possible future tug-of-war with the United States over any extradition of Assange from Britain. It’s not known what devices authorities removed from the embassy or what information they contained. But authorities said they were acting on a request by the U.S. prosecutors, leading Assange’s defenders to claim that Ecuador has undermined the most basic principles of asylum while denying the secret-spiller’s right to prepare his defense. “It’s disgraceful,” WikiLeaks’ editor in chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Ecuador granted him asylum because of the threat of extradition to the U.S. and now the same country, under new leadership, is actively collaborating with a criminal investigation against him.” Assange, 47, was arrested on April 11 after being handed over to British authorities by Ecuador. He is serving a 50-week sentence in a London prison for skipping bail while the U.S. seeks his extradition for conspiring to hack into military computers and spill secrets about U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hrafnsson, who has visited the Australian activist in jail, said Assange saw his eviction coming for weeks as relations with President Lenin Moreno’s government deteriorated, so he took great care to scrub computers and hard drives of any compromising material, including future planned leaks or internal communications with WikiLeaks collaborators. Still, Hrafnsson said he fully expects Moreno or the Americans to claim revelations that don’t exist. He called Monday’s proceedings a “horse show” because no legal authority can guarantee Assange’s devices haven’t been tampered with, or the chain of custody unbroken, in the six weeks since his arrest. “If anything surfaces, I can assure you it would’ve been planted,” he said. “Julian isn’t a novice when it comes to security and securing his information. We expected this to happen and protections have been in place for a very long time.” A group of Assange’s supporters gathered outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to protest the judicial proceeding. Demonstrators put banners on the railings with images of Assange, his mouth covered by an American flag, and chanted “Thieves! Thieves! Thieves! Shame on you!” Ecuadorian authorities said they will hand over any belongings not given to U.S. or Ecuadorian investigators to Assange’s lawyers, who weren’t invited to Monday’s inventory-taking. Hrafnsson said he didn’t have a full inventory of Assange’s devices Moreno decided to evict Assange from the embassy after accusing him of working with political opponents to hack into his phone and release damaging personal documents and photos, including several that showed him eating lobster in bed and the numbers of bank accounts allegedly used to hide proceeds from corruption. Moreno’s actions immediately were celebrated by the Trump administration, which was key in helping Ecuador secure a $4.2 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund and has provided the tiny South American country with new trade and military deals in recent weeks. “The Americans are the ones pulling the strings, and Moreno their puppet dancing to the tune of money,” said Hrafnsson. Separately on Monday, Swedish authorities issued a request for a detention order against Assange. On May 13, Swedish prosecutors reopened a preliminary investigation against Assange, who visited Sweden in 2010, because two Swedish women said they were the victims of sex crimes committed by Assange. While a case of alleged sexual misconduct against Assange in Sweden was dropped in 2017 when the statute of limitations expired, a rape allegation remains. Swedish authorities have had to shelve it because Assange was living at the embassy at the time and there was no prospect of bringing him to Sweden. The statute of limitations in the rape case expires in August next year. Assange has denied wrongdoing, asserting that the allegations were politically motivated and that the sex was consensual. According to the request for a detention order obtained by The Associated Press, Assange is wanted for “intentionally having carried out an intercourse” with an unnamed woman “by unduly exploiting that she was in a helpless state because of sleep.”
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u.s .;u.k .;ecuador;julian assange;wikileaks
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jp0004436
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[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
'Tortilla movement' seeks to restore Mexico's iconic food
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MEXICO CITY - As Mexico City’s 9 million residents sleep in the predawn darkness, busy hands are already preparing the day’s corn tortillas in the small kitchen of Molino El Pujol, a tortilla shop that is part of a famed chef’s bid to help recover Mexico’s iconic food. As the old tortilla machine roars to life at 5 a.m., a steaming hot mass of lime-treated corn mash is loaded into one end, where it is divided into small portions, flattened and baked. Fresh tortillas come out the other end, letting customers taste a bit of Mexican history that chefs say is being eroded by modern production techniques and modern corns. If the “Pujol” in the shop’s name sounds familiar, it’s because its creator is chef Enrique Olvera, whose Mexico City restaurant, Pujol, is rated among the world’s best restaurants. Why would the star of Mexico’s culinary world open a simple tortilla shop, or tortilleria, which conjures up images here of working class homemakers lining up for their tortillas with cloths that save them a peso on paper wrapping? For the 43-year-old Olvera, it was a logical step, given that he had already started supporting the local farmers who supply his restaurants. His shop is part of a new tortilla movement launched by a handful of chefs, restaurants and organizations to restore and popularize authentic tortillas. And Amado Ramirez, an agronomist who helped Olvera select the native corn varieties in the southern state of Oaxaca, often viewed as Mexico’s culinary cradle, said starting a tortilleria was also an act of nostalgia. “For him, a tortilla shop is about recovering his past,” said Ramirez. “It was stepping back into the time when he would be sent to the street to get tortillas and bring them home for supper.” That memory is part of the childhood of millions of Mexicans. Children would go hand-in-hand with their grandmothers to wait at the local tortilleria for the steaming hot discs of corn. Such scenes are still common in Mexico, but the practice has been eroded by the spread of pre-packaged tortillas, and many chefs say the raw materials are no longer the same. Corn was domesticated — hybridized from the tiny ears of wild teozintle — in Mexico thousands of years ago. Like the French baguette, the list of ingredients for a true tortilla is short: corn, water and lime or calcium carbonate. The corn is slowly cooked or soaked in the lime in a process called “nixtamalization.” Many experts say the quality of modern tortillas suffers from excessive processing and industrialization. The culprits include techniques that bypass the nixtamal process, GMO corn and the addition of preservatives. In big cities many Mexicans have lost sight — or memory — of the taste of authentic tortillas, or the differences between the vast varieties of native corn, which vary in color, consistency and taste. “Mexico took its corn for granted,” says Rafael Mier, director of the Tortilla Foundation, which focuses its efforts on promoting quality tortilla production and informing people of its benefits. Historically, tortillas have been Mexico’s greatest source of energy, though wheat bread has made inroads. “A poor quality tortilla yields poor performance,” said Mier. “Tortillas are a part of Mexico’s culture, national identity, economy and gastronomy.” Other Mexico City “authentic tortilla” shops like Maizajo and Cal y Maiz (Lime and Corn) can appear to be specialty stores catering to Mexico’s upper classes, in part because their distribution is limited to a few shops and restaurants. And they are a drop in the bucket compared to the mass production of giants like Maseca, which uses a dry corn flour tortilla recipe that differs from nixtamal. But tortilla advocates aren’t deterred, even though the costs — and prices — are higher than Maseca, bakery giant Bimbo, or grocery chains that sell packaged tortillas as “loss leaders” to get people inside their stores. The Alliance for Our Tortilla has published a list of 10 commandments for good tortillas, including that they be made by the nixtamal process because cooking with lime breaks down the indigestible outer layer of a corn kernel and releases nutrients. Another factor is the use of locally sourced corn varieties: blue, red or white. Yellow corn in Mexico is generally used for animal feed. Still, many Mexicans find the prices at places like Molino El Pujol prohibitive. Concepcion Reyes, 84, buys her tortillas at a local shop in Mexico City’s San Rafael neighborhood, and says she would never pay the 60 pesos ($3) per kilogram charged at Molino El Pujol. Reyes says she pays 13 pesos per kilogram at her shop, and won’t pay more. Still some people are willing to pay the higher prices — often foreigners who want to taste an “authentic” Mexican tortilla. Molino El Pujol, where the air is scented with the doughy aroma of corn, was opened a year ago in Mexico City’s trendy Condesa district. Customers can order at a wooden counter or sit at benches. The shop offers more than just tortillas, though everything is corn-based. There is a blackboard menu listing a dozen items, including a sweet, thick, corn-dough drink known as atole. Customers can also try the cooked corn tamales with local herbs and beans. But, true to tradition, sometimes the tortillas are just so good that locals will shun the fancy dishes, grab the salt shaker always present at the counter of tortillerias and have a “taco de sal” — a hot tortilla with a dash of salt.
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food;mexico;mexican food;corn
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jp0004437
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Work underway to pull oil from British tanker sunk by U-boat off New York in WWII
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SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK - Work is underway to extract oil from a British tanker sunk by a German U-boat off Long Island during World War II. A team has been at the site of the tanker, named Coimbra, since April 29 and has pumped more than 62,000 gallons (235,000 liters) of oil since May 11, the Coast Guard said in a news release. Initial dive operations found the tanker was leaking small amounts of oil. The Coimbra was carrying more than 2 million gallons of oil when it was torpedoed in January 1942, killing 36 officers and crew members. It now lies 180 feet (54 meters) beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, about 30 miles (48 km) off Long Island’s south shore. The Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are working with a private company, Resolve Marine, to assess and reduce any pollution threats posed by the leak. German U-boats sank 148 petroleum tankers and countless other ships near the U.S. Gulf and East coasts. Some came harrowingly close to heavily populated areas. The one that torpedoed the Coimbra had ventured just hours earlier along the New York City shoreline, bobbing on the surface near Rockaway Beach, Queens, and in view of Coney Island’s Parachute Jump and Wonder Wheel amusement rides, according to “New York at War,” a book by Steven H. Jaffe. The seemingly peaceful scene was a precursor to destruction. As the torpedo slammed into the Coimbra’s hull, it “sent a blinding sheet of fire boiling up into the night sky,” Jaffe wrote. The government censored information on such attacks and counterattacks, asking that any witnesses keep quiet as a matter of national security. But “with the Coimbra’s oil and life preservers washing up on Long Island beaches, and survivors reaching shore, a news blackout was impossible,” wrote Jaffe.
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wwii;u.s .;new york;u.k .;oil;germany;coimbra
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jp0004438
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Trump plans official launch of 2020 re-election campaign in mid-June, sources say
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump, facing a potentially difficult path to winning a second term in November 2020, plans an official rollout to his re-election campaign in mid-June, the four-year anniversary of his first run, sources said Monday. Trump is likely to kick off his campaign with a rally in Florida, possibly on June 15, followed in the days afterward with stops in battleground states, said the sources, who are close to the White House and spoke on condition of anonymity. The date will be close to the four-year anniversary of when Trump rode the escalator at Trump Tower down to a crowd of supporters and announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015. The Trump campaign declined to comment. The president has already been raising money for his re-election and holding political rallies for many months. Trump considers Florida to be something of a second home, since he owns the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach and stays there regularly. He won Florida in 2016. But as is the case for Trump in many battleground states, his victory is not assured there in 2020 and he will likely face a fight to win it again. Since Trump took over as president in early 2017, the U.S. economy has soared with low unemployment and strong growth. Typically presidents with an economy this vibrant would be strong bets for re-election. But Trump’s polarizing presidency has given hope to a host of Democratic contenders that he can be denied a second term. Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, who was vice president to President Barack Obama, has sounded a unifying theme to try to rally Americans behind his candidacy. In second place in the Democratic polls is democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. Trump has dubbed Biden “Sleepy Joe” to try to undermine him, in much the same way as he gave Republican contender Jeb Bush the nickname, “low-energy Jeb” in 2016. Trump tweeted on Monday that China, locked in difficult trade talks with Trump, would like Biden as president. “Looks like Bernie Sanders is history. Sleepy Joe Biden is pulling ahead and think about it, I’m only here because of Sleepy Joe and the man who took him off the 1 percent trash heap, President O! China wants Sleepy Joe BADLY!” he wrote. Trump is expected to stress the strong economy in his re-election effort, but he told the Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton” last week that the economy alone will bore his supporters at his rallies. “If I stood there and talked about the economy for that long a period — let’s say, the economy’s great, unemployment’s low, we’re doing wonderful … they’d start falling asleep,” he said.
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u.s .;donald trump;2020 u.s. presidential election
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jp0004440
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Palestinians to snub U.S.-led economic confab seen as prelude to Trump peace plan
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RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - Palestinians will stay away from a U.S.-led conference in Bahrain next month that the Trump administration has cast as an overture to its own plan for peace between them and Israel, a Palestinian cabinet minister said on Monday. Washington announced the conference on Sunday, describing it as an opportunity to drum up international investment for the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, who have boycotted the Trump administration since it recogniaed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, have shown little interest in discussing a plan on which they had no input and that they anticipate will fall far short of their core demands. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday that his government had not been consulted on the June 25-26 gathering in Manama. After the Cabinet met, Ahhmed Majdalani, the social development minister and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, said: “There will be no Palestinian participation in the Manama workshop. “Any Palestinian who would take part would be nothing but a collaborator for the Americans and Israel,” he said. Shtayyeh reiterated Palestinians’ aspirations for a two-state peace agreement with Israel entailing control of the occupied West Bank and Gaza — currently run by the Islamist group Hamas — as well as East Jerusalem as their future capital. Internationally mediated talks to that end have been stalemated for years. Israel calls Jerusalem its indivisible capital and has said it might declare sovereignty in its West Bank settlements, which are deemed illegal by the United Nations and most foreign governments. U.S. officials have predicted the Manama event will include representatives and business executives from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as some finance ministers. The economic component discussed will constitute an announcement on the first part of the Trump peace plan, U.S. officials have said. But Bashar Masri, a Palestinian businessman and the founder of Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city in the West Bank, said he had turned down an invitation to speak at the conference. “We will not engage in any event outside the Palestinian national consensus,” Masri wrote on social media. “The idea of an economic peace is an old one now being asked in a different way, and just as our people have rejected it in the past, we reject it now.” Israel’s finance minister, Moshe Kahlon, said on Sunday he had yet to receive any invitation to the Bahrain meeting. On Monday, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Israel was open to attending. “We have no problem sending representatives to Bahrain, but the problem, as always, is that the Palestinian side is not genuinely interested in economic benefits,” said Hotovely, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. The Trump administration has said its still-secret peace plan would require compromise by both sides. Since being boycotted by the Palestinians, it has cut back on U.S. aid for them, contributing to economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza. Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement, shunned in the West for its hostility to Israel and locked in a power struggle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah party, also condemned the Bahrain conference.
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u.s .;israel;middle east;palestinians;hamas;mahmoud abbas;donald trump;mohammad shtayyeh
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jp0004441
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Milkshakes become weapon of choice against Brexit-backing populist right
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LONDON - The lowly milkshake has turned into an unlikely weapon of choice for Britons determined to make a splashy statement against the rise of the Brexit-backing populist right. Former U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage became the latest political figure Monday to be doused with the sticky concoction while campaigning for his new Brexit Party in this week’s European Parliament election. Images shared on social media showed a grim-faced Farage — his black suit covered from shoulder to toe — being led away by a bodyguard during a campaign stop in the northern city of Newcastle. The suspected culprit told the Press Association it was a £5.25 ($6.70) banana and salted caramel shake he bought at the local Five Guys hamburger chain store. Paul Crowther, who was detained in handcuffs at the scene, said he threw the shake to protest Farage’s “bile and racism.” “I didn’t know he was in town. I thought this is my only chance,” the 32-year-old was quoted as saying before being detained by the police. He said he had been looking forward to the milkshake, “but I think it went on a better purpose.” First-time offenders in such cases usually pay a small fine. In a tweet, Farage blamed the incident on EU supporters who “have become radicalized, to the extent that normal campaigning is becoming impossible.” The European Parliament election campaign has turned into a test of Britons’ support for Brexit three years after they first narrowly voted to leave the bloc. Farage’s Brexit Party is leading the polls on its promise to get Britain out quickly and by any means. The Remain camp’s milkshake resistance meanwhile has also targeted a far-right leader who is best known by his online alias Tommy Robinson — an adviser to UKIP who once headed the now-banned English Defense League. A clip that went viral this month showed a young man of Asian descent splashing Robinson in the face with a McDonald’s drink in response to something the far-right leader said. Robinson fought back by landing a few punches at the man before being restrained. Meanwhile, UKIP European Parliament candidate Carl Benjamin — known by his social media pseudonym Sargon of Akkad — has been “milkshaked” at least four times this month. A defiant Benjamin showed up to one of his events this week with a McDonald’s cup in his hand. The entire mess prompted McDonald’s to temporarily halt milkshake sales near the site of a campaign event Farage held last week. “We will not be selling milkshakes or ice cream tonight,” a sign taped to the door of the fast food chain’s central Edinburgh restaurant said. “This is due to a police request given recent events.” That decision elicited a controversial comeback from the U.S. chain’s eternal rival Burger King. “Dear people of Scotland,” the @BurgerKingUK account wrote on Saturday. “We’re selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun. Love BK.” It signed the post with the #justsaying hashtag. A flurry of angry comments on Twitter prompted the account to later add: “We’d never endorse violence — or wasting our delicious milkshakes!” A spokesman for Theresa May said on a more sombre note that the prime minister “has been clear that politicians should be able to go about their work and campaign without harassment, intimidation, or abuse.”
|
eu;u.k .;protests;ukip;nigel farage;brexit;theresa may
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jp0004442
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
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Despite Venezuela's upheaval, Maduro touts an anniversary since disputed polls
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CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday celebrated the anniversary of his disputed re-election amid a growing humanitarian crisis and political upheaval. Maduro tweeted that the May 20, 2018, election, was a “victory” for Venezuelans, though the opposition and many countries have derided it as unfair. In a speech at a government-organized rally, Maduro said he is prepared to face the opposition in legislative elections, though he has made similar challenges in the past while dismissing allegations that his re-election was fixed. He referred to a recent effort by Norway to mediate between Venezuela’s opposing factions and said he favored dialogue, though critics accuse him of using past negotiations to play for time. “Why don’t they respond when I make this proposal?” Maduro said of his election offer to the opposition, which is demanding that he step down to make way for a transitional government before elections can be held. Meanwhile, members of a loyalist assembly assigned by Maduro to write a new constitution decided to extend their work until the end of 2020. The assembly rivals the opposition-controlled congress, headed by Juan Guaido, that says Maduro has steered Venezuela toward authoritarian rule and ruined the economy. The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela in a bid to unseat Maduro, compounding the problems of the country’s deteriorating oil industry. Maduro says Guaido is a pawn in a U.S. coup plot. Also Monday, Carlos Vecchio, a government opponent who the U.S. recognizes as Venezuela’s ambassador, met with Pentagon officials at the request of Guaido. The U.S. has insisted “all options” are on the table for dealing with Venezuela’s crisis and Guaido in recent weeks has publicly speculated about the idea of requesting foreign military assistance to help rid Venezuela of Maduro. Even so, the U.S. says it is focusing on diplomatic and economic pressure on Maduro, and there are no indications of any military buildup. Maduro’s re-election to a second six-year term lies at the heart of Venezuela’s political standoff, in which Guaido has sought unsuccessfully to get the military command to support him. The opposition leader’s failed call for a military uprising on April 30 was followed by deadly clashes between police and protesters. Ahead of Maduro’s 2018 re-election, the main opposition coalition refused to field a candidate, saying there was no possibility of a fair vote. The government had previously stacked the electoral council and judiciary with its supporters, and the opposition’s most combative leaders were banned from participating, imprisoned or exiled.
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u.s .;venezuela;nicolas maduro;juan guaido
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jp0004443
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
U.S. education secretary DeVos used personal emails for work and didn't save data properly, probe says
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WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has sometimes used her personal email accounts for government business and has not always properly saved the messages, according to an internal investigation released Monday. The agency’s Office of Inspector General, which was investigating at the request of House Democrats, said it searched the department’s email system and found a “limited” number of messages to or from DeVos’ personal accounts. In total, it said there were “fewer than 100” emails linked to four personal accounts. Most of the emails were from the first six months of 2017, soon after DeVos took office, and most were from a single person, the inquiry found. The person, who was not identified in the report, was writing to recommend candidates for agency jobs. Other emails were from people who congratulated DeVos on her confirmation or offered other job advice. In total, investigators said they identified six emails sent by DeVos on private accounts, including five that involved official agency business. The inquiry concluded there was no evidence of “active or extensive” use of DeVos’ personal accounts. The secretary’s office told investigators it was taking “additional steps to identify and preserve” emails in her personal accounts. A department spokeswoman declined to comment for this story. Under department rules, employees are forbidden from using personal emails for government business except in rare circumstances when their work accounts are unavailable. In those cases, employees are required to forward the messages to their work accounts within 20 days. But in DeVos’ case, the report said, that never happened. “We did not identify any instances where the secretary forwarded emails from her personal accounts to her department email accounts,” the report said. It added that “the secretary’s emails related to government business were not always being properly preserved.” The inspector general’s office urged the department to improve its training on the issue. It said there was no other evidence of irregularities around the use of personal emails. During his 2016 campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly attacked Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over findings that she used a private email server for work while she was secretary of state. At rallies, Trump often called for her prosecution and led supporters in chants of “lock her up!” The Education Department review was requested in October 2017 by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. The inspector general’s office said it was unable to begin work until “well into 2018” because of staffing challenges.
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u.s .;hillary clinton;emails;donald trump;betsy devos
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jp0004444
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
With summer of travel, Trump looks to wrap himself in trappings of presidency as 2020 campaign gears up
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WASHINGTON - Four days in Tokyo. Then it’s off to see Queen Elizabeth before a jaunt to Normandy, France, and perhaps time in Ireland. A return trip to Japan? Why not. And throw in Seoul. Then it’s back to France for President Donald Trump for a summit with world leaders. The homebody president is preparing for a jet-setting summer of travel as he heads into 2020, with an itinerary that will see Air Force One fly more than 36,000 miles (58,000 km) — almost 1.5 times the earth’s circumference — not counting helicopter trips and motorcades. The flurry of international travel is a marked change of pace for a president who likes to sleep in his own bed and rarely strays far from the White House unless it’s to his own properties. The packed calendar is the product of both a concerted attempt by Trump to wrap himself in the trappings of the presidency heading into re-election season and a fluke of the global summit calendar. It will play out as an array of foreign challenges, from Venezuela to North Korea and Iran, confronts a president who ran on an isolationist “America First” platform. “When things are hot in Washington, there’s an appeal to going abroad, being diplomatic, meeting with overseas leaders” and redirecting media attention, said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University. He said White Houses often hope that the images beamed home from such trips will help presidents look more “presidential.” A stream of television footage of Trump with foreign leaders “makes him look like he is the one directing the country, a contrast with the Democrats,” Zelizer said. Trump is set to depart Friday for a four-day state visit to Japan, where he will be the first world leader to meet with the country’s new emperor. He plans to hold a joint news conference with Prime Minster Shinzo Abe and present a trophy at a sumo wrestling tournament. Five days after he gets home, Trump is off for a state visit in the United Kingdom, where he’ll mingle with the royal family and mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day with ceremonies in Portsmouth, England and Normandy. He had been expected to return to Ireland, where he owns a golf course, but that stop was in question because of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s concerns about meeting with the president at a Trump property rather than more neutral territory, according to Irish media. Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said reports of the spat were “a total exaggeration” and he told Irish broadcaster RTE that details of the visit were still being finalized. The end of June will see Trump in Japan a second time. Meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are planned on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, followed by consultations in Seoul with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the state of North Korean nuclear negotiations. Trump returns to France in late August for a Group of Seven summit in the seaside town of Biarritz on the Basque Country coast. Trump is likely to be gone during at least one day of the inaugural Democratic presidential debates, scheduled to be held on back-to-back nights in late June owing to the sizable field of would-be Trump challengers. While his rivals are clamoring for the spotlight on stage, Trump will be abroad, welcomed by red carpets, honored with state dinners and engaging in policy discussions with presidents and prime ministers. It’s a split screen his campaign is eagerly awaiting. “As they squabble in a field of two dozen socialists, President Trump is orchestrating the hottest economy on record, rectifying our trade relations across the globe, meeting with world leaders and pushing America First foreign policy,” said campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany. “All of this while rallying with his supporters across the country. I’d say to the 2020 Democrats, good luck keeping up.” The trips also come as foreign policy is increasingly dominating Trump’s agenda. His administration is promoting a change of government in Venezuela, Trump’s friend Kim Jong Un is firing off missiles in North Korea, and tensions are growing between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. is in an escalating trade war with China, with negotiations to find a solution at their lowest point in months. While Trump’s team believes the pageantry of global affairs offers an advantage to the incumbent, it also brings pitfalls. Trump has at times flouted diplomatic protocol and called into question the U.S. commitment to its alliances like no recent leader. That’s a frequent line of attack from Democrats such as former Vice President Joe Biden, who has made returning to an internationalist foreign policy a centerpiece of his campaign. Already, surveys show global affairs threaten to be a significant political liability for Trump heading into his 2020 re-election bid. Overall, 63 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s job handling foreign policy in a January poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Like other issues, the partisan divide was overwhelming: 76 percent of Republicans approved, while just 8 percent of Democrats said the same. After a pair of whirlwind tours in 2017, Trump has lagged his predecessors in overseas travel and has skipped several world gatherings typically attended by American presidents, sending Vice President Mike Pence instead. Aides often note that Trump agrees to trips ahead of time then complains to them about the pace of travel once they’re under way. Nonetheless, Trump, like other presidents, has often tried to deploy the majesty of presidential travel for political gain, using Air Force One as a backdrop for campaign rallies and playing footage of his meetings with world leaders in tweeted videos. But Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, said he didn’t think the visuals mattered much for Trump. “I don’t think it makes a lick of difference,” he said. While past presidents may have been keen to show off their foreign policy know-how, forge alliances and convey strength, Fleischer said “this cycle is not like that” because Trump’s appeal is driven so much by his personality. Zelizer agreed, noting the unusual stability of Trump’s approval and disapproval ratings. For Trump haters, those emotions “will overshadow any handshakes,” he said, while “for those who love him, I don’t think that’s why.”
|
shinzo abe;osaka;g20;donald trump;2020 u.s. presidential election
|
jp0004445
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Joe Biden visits Tennessee and vows to 'restore' America's soul
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - Former Vice President Joe Biden says eight years of a Donald Trump presidency will “fundamentally” change the character of the country. Biden made the remarks Monday in Nashville during a campaign fundraising stop attended by the state’s top Democrats. Biden says his aim is to restore the soul of the country and he believes that people are more united on major issues than divided. The Democratic presidential hopeful largely ignored his long list of political opponents, but paused briefly to describe the group as “great” while urging the election must result in a change in the political system. Biden is one of the first Democratic presidential contenders to swing through Republican-dominant Tennessee. Another, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, made a stop in March.
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u.s .;joe biden;democrats;tennessee;donald trump;2020 u.s. presidential election
|
jp0004446
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
U.N. alleges possible war crime as Libya gunmen cut water pipeline to besieged Tripoli
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TRIPOLI - Gunmen have cut off the main water pipeline to Libya’s besieged capital, Tripoli, spelling more misery for residents already reeling from weeks of fighting. The United Nations said the water blockage was a possible war crime as Libya’s internationally recognized government accused forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter, which have been trying to capture Tripoli, of being behind the blockage. The group on Sunday raided a station of the Great Man-Made River Project, a pipe network supplying ground water from the Sahara, the company said. The gunmen forced employees to turn off the pipes at the installation 400 km (250 miles) south of Tripoli. The eastern forces of Hifter’s Libya National Army (LNA) launched an assault on Tripoli in early April and are bogged down in southern suburbs by fighters loyal to the U.N.-backed government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj. In past attacks on the pipeline, which was one of former dictator Muammar Gadhafi’s few development projects, it has taken up to two days for households to notice water shortages in the coastal city of 2.5 million people. The Tripoli government blamed a group that also cut the water supplies in 2017, saying its commander, Khalifa Ehnaish, belonged to Haftar’s forces. The LNA denied that. Ehnaish could not be reached. “Considering this was a closure of the valves in an LNA-controlled area, the complicity of Ehnaish with the LNA in orchestrating this cannot be discounted,” said Emad Badi, a non-resident scholar with the Middle East Institute. Fighting in the battle for Tripoli has killed at least 510 people, forced 75,000 out of their homes, trapped thousands of migrants in detention centers, and flattened some southern suburbs. It has also forced the closure of schools, split families on different sides of the front line, and brought power-cuts. The conflict is one of the most serious flare-ups in years of chaos since the 2011 toppling of Gadhafi, and has sharpened Gulf divisions over Libya.
|
conflict;u.n .;libya;war crimes;tripoli;khalifa hifter
|
jp0004447
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Polish sextuplets doing well as mom visits her babies
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WARSAW - A 29-year-old Polish mother who gave birth to sextuplets has been able to leave her hospital bed and visit her babies in another ward, where the infants are said to be doing fine, doctors said Tuesday. The four girls and two boys were born prematurely Monday in the 29th week of pregnancy by cesarean section in Krakow, southern Poland. Dr. Ryszard Lauterbach at the University Hospital said the babies were “born in a condition surprisingly good for sextuplets,” but their respiratory, nervous and digestive systems are immature and require medical care. The sextuplets were a surprise to the family — their mother, Klaudia Marzec, said on TVN24 the family was expecting five babies, not six. “We have made some logistical plans at home for five, but now they will need to be changed,” Marzec said. “Now we just want them to leave hospital in the best condition possible.” They were conceived naturally, the hospital said. The babies, whose individual birth weights ranged from 890 grams (1.96 pounds) to 1,300 grams (2.86 pounds), are in incubators. Doctors say the little ones can breathe on their own but will likely remain in hospital for around three months. Hospital director Marcin Jedrychowski called the operation an “extremely difficult” one that involved up to 40 doctors and medical personnel. The surprise sixth girl had a moment of warm physical contact with her mother before a sixth incubator arrived for her, according to Lauterbach. The boys’ names are Filip and Tymon and the girls are Zosia, Kaja, Nela and Malwina. Their father, Szymon Marzec, said their arrival was a “great joy, but we also have plenty of concerns.” “We are happy that the kids are in the best hands possible, and all that we can give them now is our love and presence near them.”
|
poland;births;sextuplets
|
jp0004449
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/21
|
U.S. aircraft carrier seen as barometer of tensions with Iran
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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Ordered by the White House to the Persian Gulf, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has become a 100,000-ton barometer of the tensions between Iran and the U.S. So far, the Lincoln and its accompanying ships have yet to enter the gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. It has been filmed by the U.S. Navy on Friday carrying out exercises with other American warships in the Arabian Sea, which is over 1,000 km (620 miles) away. While U.S. military officials aren’t publicly explaining the delay, it may be to calm nerves before the ships pass through the strait, a narrow waterway where Iran often shadows American vessels. In December, about 30 Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels trailed the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and its strike group through the strait as Associated Press journalists on board watched. One small vessel launched what appeared to be a commercial-grade drone to film the U.S. ships. Other transits have seen the Iranians fire rockets away from American warships or test-fire their machine guns. The Guard’s small fast boats often cut in front of the massive carriers, running dangerously close to running into them. The Guard has perfected “swarm attacks” on carriers, with bomb-carrying drones and sea-to-sea and surface-to-sea missiles in its arsenal. Iran has increasingly threatened to close the strait if it is unable to sell its own crude oil to the global market as a result of the U.S. pressure campaign following Washington’s withdrawal a year ago from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. Any transit through the strait also carries the risk of a catastrophic mistake by either side spinning out of control. In 1988, a U.S. warship accidentally shot down an Iranian commercial airliner, killing all 290 on board.
|
u.s .;iran;donald trump;persian gulf;uss abraham lincoln
|
jp0004450
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Australia's climate wars set to heat up after coal champion Scott Morrison clinches win
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CANBERRA - Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s surprise victory in Australia’s election was a win for the coal industry and ensures the debate about tackling climate change will continue to polarize the nation. Rather than backing the opposition Labor Party’s plans for sweeping cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, voters fell in behind a conservative government that has refused to legislate its Paris Agreement commitments. Morrison once brandished a lump of coal in parliament as a mark of his support for the industry, and in focusing his energy policy on lowering electricity prices has derided the reliability of wind and solar. “The battle to combat climate change in Australia has suffered a major setback,” said Frank Jotzo, an academic in climate economics and policy at the Australian National University. “Australia could hugely benefit from the worldwide shift from fossil fuels to renewables. My colleagues around the world are shaking their heads in disbelief about the political system’s inability to translate those advantages into reality.” Since coming to power in 2013, the Liberal-National coalition has largely rejected market-driven measures to tackle climate change. It scrapped the carbon price mechanism introduced by the previous Labor government and refused to legislate any measures to penalize greenhouse-gas polluters. As treasurer in 2017, Morrison taunted rival Labor lawmakers in parliament with a lump of coal, saying they were “scared” of the industry and its implications for their policy platform of reducing emissions. The jibe proved prescient. Adani Power Ltd.’s plan to develop a coal mine in Queensland state was hugely divisive during the election campaign and ultimately helped derail Labor leader Bill Shorten’s bid for office. He equivocated on his support for the mine, unable to balance the need to create blue-collar jobs with his environmental pledges. In contrast, Morrison’s support for the project resonated with voters and the coalition picked up crucial seats in the state. The Adani project, first proposed in 2010 and still lacking final environmental approvals from the Queensland state government, would open up a new coal-mining region that could see Australian coal exports double. The fuel generates the bulk of Australia’s power and contributes 60 billion Australian ($41 billion) a year in export income. Despite Australia having huge coal resources, the renewables industry has still found a niche. Industries such as wind, solar and hydro accounted for about 19 percent of Australia’s power generation in 2018, up from less than 10 percent a decade ago. Still, there’s concern the transition to renewables may slow or stall under Morrison. The industry had been preparing for a Labor government, which was targeting a 45 percent cut in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and pledged an additional A$10 billion over five years to support large-scale renewable generation and storage projects. “That’s not now going to happen,” said Stephen Panizza, head of renewable energy at Federation Asset Management in Sydney. “Do we get to the same place anyway? Yes, we do, perhaps just over a longer period of time.” While the coalition does support some renewable energy projects, such as a massive upgrade to the nation’s largest hydro-electric project, it’s also weighing up whether to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize a new coal-fired plant and to keep aging ones operating. That’s despite a Lowy Institute poll released in July showing 59 percent of Australians believe global warming is a serious problem that needs to be combated even if it involves significant costs. Morrison has said Australia will meet its Paris Agreement target to reduce carbon emissions by at least 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 “at a canter,” but has not enshrined the target in legislation. He’s pledged A$2 billion for a new Climate Solutions Fund and promised to plant 1 billion trees by 2050. The response to Morrison’s victory is mixed. The Australian Conservation Foundation condemned the lack of “substantive climate-change policies” proposed by the government and called for the Adani mine to be blocked. Mining industry lobbyists welcomed Morrison’s win, saying it will boost regional jobs. “There is now a clear mandate for resources projects that have lawful approvals to proceed,” including the Adani mine, the Minerals Council of Australia said. Still, businesses operating in Australia need policy certainty on issues including energy and climate change, BHP Group Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said Monday on the sidelines of a Melbourne conference. A deep ideological divide over climate policy has fractured the Liberal Party over the years and contributed to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull being ousted by his own lawmakers in August. While Morrison’s victory gives him a newfound authority to set policy direction, it remains unclear whether he will steer a more moderate line and do more to support renewables. Labor lawmakers vying for the party’s leadership after Shorten announced he would step down are indicating climate change will remain at the heart of future battles to win office.
|
australia;elections;coal;emissions;climate change;scott morrison
|
jp0004451
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Hong Kong leader presses on with extradition bill undeterred by critics
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday that her administration was determined to push through an extradition bill that could see individuals sent back to mainland China for trial, despite mounting opposition locally and internationally. The proposed legislation has stoked mass protests in the former British colony, which was promised a high degree of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. On Monday, the government said it would bypass legislative procedure to expedite the passage of amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which the U.S. State Department last week described as threatening the rule of law in Hong Kong. Opponents had disrupted a succession of legislative sessions meant to scrutinize the bill, with brawls breaking out in the legislative council. “Valuable time for deliberation has been lost,” Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters. “The most serious issue is that we couldn’t see a way forward, how to break this deadlock other than to force me to scrap this bill, but this is unrealistic,” she told reporters. She said the bill would now be sent directly to the full legislature June 12 for a second reading, to try to pass it before the legislature’s summer recess. If the bill is passed, Hong Kong would allow, for the first time, ad hoc extradition requests to countries with no existing extradition treaties, including places like Taiwan, and crucially, mainland China. Taiwan has said the bill would extend China’s reach into Hong Kong, putting at risk any Taiwanese who pass through the city. The Hong Kong government insists the extradition law has safeguards to protect human rights, including the need for all extradition requests to be approved by a local court. During the past week, Beijing has hardened its stance, with senior officials saying the law was urgently needed, though Lam said the initial push for the law had come from her government. Criticism has also poured in from the business, legal, media and diplomatic communities in Hong Kong. More large protests are expected, including on June 4, when the city hosts an annual candlelight vigil for victims of a bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. Lam Cheuk-ting, an opposition Democratic Party lawmaker, criticized the government’s move to fast-track the “evil law.” Lawmakers may still be able to propose amendments to the bill, but critics say the government can choose not to adopt them, given backing from a pro-Beijing majority in the legislature. Pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai, who runs Hong Kong’s tabloid Apple Daily newspaper, said in a talk at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club that the law’s implications were grave. “In one swoop it finishes Hong Kong. It’s a massacre of our freedom, of our legal system, of the free press. Everything,” Lai said.
|
china;hong kong;taiwan;rights;extradition bill
|
jp0004452
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Official count shows Widodo won Indonesian election, but challenger Subianto disputes results
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JAKARTA - The official count from last month’s Indonesian presidential election shows President Joko Widodo won 55.5 percent of the vote, the Election Commission said Tuesday, securing him a second term. The formal result from the April 17 election was almost the same as the preliminary “quick count” results drawn from a sample of polling stations on election day. Widodo’s challenger for a second time, former Gen. Prabowo Subianto, has refused to accept defeat and declared himself the winner last month. Thousands of police and soldiers are on high alert in the capital, Jakarta, anticipating protests from Subianto’s supporters. Subianto has alleged massive election fraud in the world’s third-largest democracy but hasn’t provided any credible evidence. Votes are counted publicly and the commission posts the tabulation form from each polling station on its website, allowing for independent verification. Counting was completed just before midnight Monday and the Election Commission announced the results early Tuesday before official witnesses from both campaigns. “We reject the results of the presidential election,” said Azis Subekti, one of the witnesses for Subianto. “This refusal is a moral responsibility for us to not give up the fight against injustice, fraud, arbitrariness, lies, and any actions that will harm democracy.” Under Indonesia’s election law, Subianto can dispute the results at the Constitutional Court. He and members of his campaign team have said they will mobilize “people power” for days of street protests rather than appeal to the court because they don’t believe it will provide justice. In a video released after results were announced, Subianto again refused to concede defeat but called on supporters to refrain from violence. Police this month have arrested 31 Islamic militants they say planned to set off bombs during expected street protests against the election result.
|
indonesia;elections;joko widodo;prabowo subianto
|
jp0004453
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
'Mother of Satan' bombs show foreign hand in Sri Lanka bombings, investigators say
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COLOMBO - One month after the Sri Lanka suicide attacks that killed more than 250 people, investigators have said the bombers used “Mother of Satan” explosives favored by the Islamic State group that are a new sign of foreign involvement. Detectives said the backpack bombs used in the April 21 attacks on three churches and three hotels were manufactured by local jihadis with Islamic State expertise. They named the explosive as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an unstable but easily made mixture favored by Islamic State militants who call it “Mother of Satan.” It was also used in the 2015 attacks in Paris, by a suicide bomber who hit the Manchester Arena in England in 2017 and attacks on churches in Indonesia one year ago. The Islamic State group has claimed the Sri Lankan bombers operated as part of its franchise. But Sri Lankan and international investigators are anxious to know just how much outside help went into the attacks that left 258 dead and 500 injured. “The group had easy access to chemicals and fertiliser to get the raw materials to make TATP,” an official involved in the investigation said. Sri Lankan detectives say the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), local militants blamed for the attacks, must have had foreign help to assemble the bombs. “They would have had a face-to-face meeting to transfer this technology. This is not something you can do by watching a YouTube video,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Investigators had initially believed that C4 explosives — a favored weapon of Tamil Tiger rebels — were used, but forensic tests found TATP, which causes more burning than C4. Police have also confirmed that 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives found in January in the island’s northwest was TATP. They are checking the travel records of the suicide bombers as well as foreign suspects to see when and where bomb-making lessons could have been staged. “It looks like they used a cocktail of TATP and gelignite and some chemicals in the Easter attacks. They were short of the 100 kilos of raw TATP that were seized in January,” said the investigator. Sri Lankan security forces have staged a series of raids since the bombings. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said Sunday that 89 suspects are in custody. Army chief Mahesh Senanayake said last week that at least two suspects have been arrested in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, underscoring the international link. On April 26, six militants, three widows of the suicide bombers and six of their children were killed at an NTJ safe house near the eastern coastal town of Kalmunai. Police found large quantities of chemicals and fertilizer there that was probably meant to make bombs, authorities said. The government has admitted that Indian warnings of the looming attacks in early April were ignored. But President Maithripala Sirisena has said eight countries are helping the investigation. A U.S. FBI team is in Sri Lanka and Britain, Australia and India have provided forensic and technical support. China offered a fleet of vehicles to bolster the mobility of the security forces tracking down militants. The Sri Lankan who led the attacks, Zahran Hashim, was known to have traveled to India in the months before he became one of the suicide bombers. Moderate Muslims had warned authorities about the radical cleric who first set off alarm bells in 2017 when he threatened non-Muslims. He was one of two bombers who killed dozens of victims at Colombo’s Shangri-La hotel on April 21. Army chief Senanayake said Hashim had traveled to Tamil Nadu state in southern India and been in contact with Islamists there. Hashim, one of seven bombers who staged the attacks, also appeared in an Islamic State group video that claimed responsibility for the attacks. Another bomber who was meant to have hit a fourth hotel, has been named as Abdul Latheef Jameel who studied aviation engineering in Britain and Australia. Authorities in the two countries are investigating whether he was radicalized while abroad. Jameel blew himself up when confronted at a hideout after the attacks.
|
terrorism;sri lanka;islamic state;police;sri lanka attacks
|
jp0004454
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Hong Kong transport authorities approve LGBT ad after backlash over ban
|
HONG KONG - A Cathay Pacific advertisement featuring two men holding hands can now be displayed across Hong Kong’s transport network, after its reported ban sparked a public outcry. The South China Morning Post reported Monday that the city’s airport and MTR train operator had barred the gay-friendly ad from its crowded terminals, citing sources. The news emerged just after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in a landmark first for Asia, placing the island at the vanguard of the region’s burgeoning gay rights movement. By contrast, campaigners have criticized semi-autonomous Hong Kong for lagging behind on equality issues. Neither Cathay Pacific nor the transport authorities directly confirmed or denied the ban, which triggered a massive backlash. LGBT group Big Love Alliance launched a campaign on Monday encouraging Hong Kongers to share on social media photos of themselves holding hands with their same-sex partners or friends at the airport or the MTR. As public pressure mounted, airport authorities said on Tuesday the advert now had their full blessing. The ad is deemed “not in infringement of the Airport Authority’s established guidelines on advertisements displayed in the terminal,” a spokesperson said in a statement. JCDecaux, an agency that handles advertising bookings for the MTR Corporation, also appeared to have reversed course. “We have advised … that the design can be posted at MTR stations,” a JCDecaux spokeswoman in Hong Kong said. Ray Chan, Hong Kong’s first openly gay lawmaker, welcomed the move saying public and media pressure have made transport officials and their advertising agencies “right their wrong.” The city airport is operated by a Hong Kong government body, while the MTR Corporation is majority-owned by the government. Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions and only decriminalized homosexuality in 1991. But a British lesbian won the right to live and work in Hong Kong with her partner in a landmark ruling last year hailed by rights groups. A separate case has been lodged by two Hong Kong men directly challenging the same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional.
|
hong kong;lgbt
|
jp0004455
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
North Korean females tell of slavery and gang rape in China cybersex dens
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LONDON - Tens of thousands of North Korean women and girls — some as young as 9 — are being trafficked into sexual slavery in China as they try to flee poverty and oppression in their homeland, experts on the reclusive state said Monday. The sexual exploitation of North Koreans generates at least $105 million in annual profits for the Chinese underworld, according to a report by the nonprofit Korea Future Initiative, which includes harrowing accounts from trafficked women. “Victims are prostituted for as little as 30 Chinese yuan ($4.30), sold as wives for just 1,000 yuan, and trafficked into cybersex dens for exploitation by a global online audience,” the report’s author, Yoon Hee-soon, said. “Many are sold more than once and are forced into at least one form of sexual slavery within a year of leaving their homeland.” An estimated 60 percent of North Korean girls and women in China are trafficked into the sex trade, according to the report, launched at an event held at the British Parliament. Nearly half are pressed into prostitution, about a third sold into marriage and most others pushed into cybersex, researchers said. No one at the Chinese Embassy in London was immediately available for comment. Gathering information in North Korea is notoriously difficult. Many North Koreans are enslaved in brothels in districts in northeast China with large migrant worker populations, the report said. Trafficking survivors said prostitutes further south, in Shanghai, were branded with tattoos such as lions and butterflies to show ownership and deter abductions by rivals. Interviewees told of women dying from sexually transmitted diseases and abuse. Girls and women enslaved in cybersex dens are usually aged between 12 and 29 but are sometimes younger, the report said. They are forced to perform sex acts or sexually assaulted in front of webcams. A live-stream featuring a young girl can cost $110, researchers said, adding that many subscribers appeared to be South Korean. One woman, referred to as Ms. Choi, told how she was taken to an apartment where she was shocked to see pre-pubescent girls. “(There) was a bed in front of a table with a computer and webcam. Four men . . . gang raped me. When the third man began raping me (I) was bleeding . . . I cannot remember any more.” The report said women forced into marriage were mostly sold in rural areas for 1,000 to 50,000 yuan, and were raped and abused by their husbands. Estimates of the number of North Koreans in China vary between 50,000 and 200,000. China’s policy of detaining and repatriating North Koreans forces them to live in the shadows, placing them at high risk of exploitation, Yoon said. Some are sold by policemen after arrest, while others are duped by traffickers offering to get them to countries where they can claim asylum, the report said. Abductions are also common. Researchers said some trafficking networks stretched into North Korea where “sub-brokers” scour markets, villages and transport hubs for destitute-looking girls to fulfill orders from Chinese pimps and madams. David Alton, co-chairman of Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, said the abuse uncovered by the two-year-long investigation was “horrific. He said the trafficking of North Korean women is tied to China’s one-child policy, which has distorted the country’s gender balance due to the preference for boys. One trafficking survivor, who was repatriated three times before finally escaping to South Korea, told the launch event how pregnant women sent back to North Korea were forced to undergo abortions. The woman said she was sent to a concentration camp where a doctor ripped her baby from her body — without anesthetic — and tore him limb from limb. The London-based Korea Future Initiative urged all states to help North Koreans in China escape and said embassies should accept asylum seekers as refugees.
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china;north korea;rape;u.k .;women;sexual slavery;cybersex
|
jp0004456
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Images show Chinese ships are back in South China Sea to harvest endangered clams and wreck coral
|
WASHINGTON - China’s “most destructive” clam fishing boats have returned to the disputed South China Sea in force over the last six months to harvest endangered giant clams, destroying vast swaths of coral reef, a U.S. think thank said in a study released Monday. Citing satellite imagery since late 2018, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Chinese clam fleets operated frequently at Scarborough Shoal, disputed between China and the Philippines, and throughout the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by Vietnam, China and Taiwan. These fleets typically include dozens of small fishing vessels accompanied by a handful of larger “motherships,” CSIS said, adding, “Now, as then, Chinese authorities are aware of and appear to condone the activities of these fleets.” The clam shells are transported back to Hainan Province, in southern China, where they fetch thousands of dollars each in a thriving market for jewelry and statuary. From 2016 to late 2018, the number of Chinese clam ships operating in the South China Sea dropped sharply, after such harvesters severely damaged or destroyed at least 28 reefs across the contested waterway from 2012 to 2015. In July 2016, an arbitral tribunal that ruled on a case brought against Beijing by Manila found that China had violated its obligations under international law to protect the marine environment. CSIS, however, said the study has not found clear evidence of new clam harvesting in the Spratly Islands, claimed in whole or in part by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.
|
china;oceans;animals;endangered;disputed islands;south china sea;coral
|
jp0004457
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Chinese defense chief close to Xi to attend key Asia security forum next month
|
China’s Defense Minister will deliver a “highly anticipated” speech at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue next month — the first time in eight years that Beijing has sent such a high-level official to the annual security gathering, which will include a speech by the acting U.S. defense secretary. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank said in a statement late Monday that Chinese defense chief Gen. Wei Fenghe, who also serves as State Councillor and is close to Chinese President Xi Jinping, will deliver the speech June 2. Wei will speak on China’s place in the Indo-Pacific region and will take questions directly following his address, which is expected to be a prelude to the country’s new defense white paper due out later this year. IISS Director-General John Chipman said Wei will be leading the Chinese People’s Liberation Army delegation, a shift from prior summits which saw Beijing dispatch only lower level officials. “In a highly anticipated speech, Gen. Wei Fenghe will speak on China’s role in the Indo-Pacific at a pivotal time for the region,” Chipman said in the statement. “His presence at the dialogue provides a unique opportunity for those in attendance to engage with a leading figure within the PLA.” In 2012, Wei was the first officer formally elevated to the highest rank by Xi in the president’s new role as military chief. Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya could also hold his first meeting with his South Korea counterpart on the sidelines of the security forum, Kyodo News reported earlier this month, citing a senior Japanese official. Bilateral tensions have been running high since a South Korean destroyer allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane last December, in addition to friction over long-standing wartime issues. The Shangri-La Dialogue is billed as “Asia’s premier defense summit,” where top officials, military chiefs and leaders from across the region and beyond “engage in open debate and bilateral talks aimed at enhancing their collaboration in response to the Indo-Pacific’s diverse security problems.” The security forum will run from May 31 to June 2 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is scheduled to open the event with a keynote speech on May 31 and U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will deliver a speech. The announcement of Wei’s attendance comes amid Beijing’s protracted trade war with the United States, as well as military tensions with the U.S. in the contested South China Sea. On Sunday, the U.S. Navy sailed a warship near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a strategic flash point in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing, Taipei and Manila, and located just 230 km (140 miles) off the Philippine coast. That operation, which the U.S. said was part of “freedom of navigation operations” that “challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access” to international waterways, was the second FONOP in the South China Sea this month. Experts say it is unusual for the U.S. to conduct more than one such operation in a single month, let alone in roughly the same area. 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;military;south china sea;pla;xi jinping;wei fenghe
|
jp0004458
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Convicted French drug smuggler sentenced to firing squad in Indonesia
|
WEST NUSA TENGGARA, INDONESIA - Indonesia on Monday sentenced a French drug smuggler to death by firing squad, in a shock verdict after prosecutors had asked for a long prison term. The three-judge panel in Lombok handed a capital sentence to Felix Dorfin, 35, who was arrested in September at the airport on the holiday island next to Bali, where foreigners are routinely charged with drug offenses. Indonesia has some of the world’s strictest drug laws — including death for some traffickers. It has executed foreigners in the past, including the masterminds of Australia’s Bali Nine heroin gang. While Dorfin was eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors instead asked for a 20-year jail term plus another year unless he paid a huge fine equivalent to about $700,000. But Indonesian courts have been known to issue harsher-than-demanded punishments. Dorfin was carrying a suitcase filled with about 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of drugs, including ecstasy and amphetamines, when he was arrested. “After finding Felix Dorfin legally and convincingly guilty of importing narcotics … (he) is sentenced to the death penalty,” presiding Judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif told the court. The judge cited Dorfin’s involvement in an international drug syndicate and the amount of drugs in his possession as aggravating factors. “The defendant’s actions could potentially do damage to the younger generation,” Arif added. The Frenchman made headlines in January when he escaped from a police detention center and spent nearly two weeks on the run before he was captured. A female police officer was arrested for allegedly helping Dorfin escape from jail in exchange for money. It was not clear if the jailbreak played any role in Monday’s stiffer-than-expected sentence. Wearing a red prison vest, Dorfin, who is from Bethune in northern France, sat impassively through much of the hearing, as a translator scribbled notes beside him. After the sentencing, he said little as he walked past reporters to a holding cell. “Dorfin was shocked,” said the Frenchman’s lawyer, Deny Nur Indra. “He didn’t expect this at all because prosecutors only asked for 20 years.” The lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence, describing his client as a “victim” who did not know the exact contents of what he was carrying in the suitcase. “If he had known, he wouldn’t have brought it here,” Indra added. In Paris, the French foreign ministry said it was “concerned” by the sentence and reiterated France’s opposition to the death penalty. “We will remain attentive to his situation,” the statement said, adding that seven French people faced the death penalty worldwide. In 2015, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran — the accused ringleaders of the Bali Nine — were executed by firing squad in Indonesia. The Bali Nine gang’s only female member was released from jail last year, while some others remain in prison. The highly publicized case sparked diplomatic outrage and a call to abolish the death penalty. “The death penalty verdict marks another setback for human rights in Indonesia,” Human Rights Watch campaigner Andreas Harsono said Monday. “The Indonesian government’s many pledges about moving toward abolishing the death penalty clearly meant nothing in Lombok.” There are scores of foreigners on death row in Indonesia, including cocaine-smuggling British grandmother, Lindsay Sandiford, and Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman who has been on death row since 2007. Last year, eight Taiwanese drug smugglers were sentenced to death by an Indonesian court after being caught with around a ton of crystal methamphetamine.
|
france;drugs;indonesia;death penalty;bali nine;lombok;felix dorfin
|
jp0004459
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Man accused of murder in Christchurch mosque shootings also charged with terrorism
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WELLINGTON - New Zealand police have charged the man accused of murder in shootings at two Christchurch mosques in March with engaging in a terrorist act, they said Tuesday. In an attack broadcast live on Facebook, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic weapons targeted Muslims attending Friday prayers, killing 51 worshippers and wounding dozens of people. Tuesday’s charge under terrorism suppression legislation was filed against Brenton Tarrant, police said. “The charge will allege that a terrorist act was carried out in Christchurch on 15 March 2019,” Commissioner of Police Mike Bush said in a statement. An additional charge of murder and two more charges of attempted murder have also been filed against Tarrant, so that the suspected white supremacist faces a total of 51 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder. Tarrant’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tarrant is next due to appear in court on June 14, after being remanded in custody in April and ordered to undergo psychiatric assessment to determine if he was fit to stand trial. Police notified roughly 200 family members of attack victims and survivors about the additional charges at a meeting on Tuesday, the statement added.
|
murder;terrorism;new zealand;christchurch;mass shootings;brenton tarrant
|
jp0004460
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Tepco cautioned about employing foreign workers at Fukushima nuclear plant under new visa system
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The government on Tuesday urged the operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to carefully examine the firm’s plan to have non-Japanese work at the complex under a new visa program, citing difficulties in managing long-term health risks. “It is necessary to give very deliberate consideration” to whether non-Japanese who arrive under the new visa program should engage in decommissioning work at the plant, labor minister Takumi Nemoto told reporters. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said last month it plans to accept foreign workers at the facility, which was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disasters in 2011. The minister expressed concern about the ability to conduct long-term health management for foreign workers after they return to their home countries upon expiration of their visas. “It is necessary to establish a safety and health management procedure that is equivalent or more advanced than that for Japanese workers,” Nemoto said. The new visa program, launched this April, is intended to bring in mainly blue-collar foreign workers to 14 labor-hungry sectors including construction, farming and nursing care in aging Japan. Tepco has confirmed with the Justice Ministry that holders of visas under the program are eligible to work at the Fukushima plant. In a set of requests to Tepco, the government has urged the company to take measures to manage the amount of radiation to which workers engaged in decommissioning tasks are exposed. It also requested that the utility study whether it can use native languages for workers who lack general proficiency in the Japanese language and familiarity with the country’s customs during safety training and when issuing safety warnings at workplaces. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has demanded Tepco report back to the ministry on the outcome of its deliberations, although it did not set a deadline. Tepco said it has told dozens of its subcontractors that non-Japanese arriving under the new visa program are able to not only engage in decommissioning work at the plant but also work in building cleaning roles and the provision of food services. To prevent unsafe levels of radiation exposure, Tepco has said foreign workers must have Japanese language abilities that enable them to accurately understand the risks and to follow procedures and orders communicated to them in Japanese. In radiation-controlled areas, workers need to carry dosimeters. On average, approximately 4,000 people work for Tepco subcontractors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant each day. To address exploitation fears under the new visa system, the Justice Ministry has issued an ordinance requiring employers to pay wages equivalent to or higher than those of Japanese nationals.
|
fukushima;fukushima no . 1;radiation;tepco;nuclear energy;foreign workers;mhlw
|
jp0004461
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Japan foreign minister puzzles followers with bizarre 'bacon' tweet
|
Bemused followers of Foreign Minister Taro Kono were left scratching their heads Tuesday after a bizarre tweet about bacon, sparking tongue-in-cheek speculation he could be tweeting classified information in code. “Ah, bacon is in fact ^%£$+*.!%….” Kono tweeted in Japanese from his verified account to his 513,000 followers, prompting confusion and many times the number of retweets and ‘likes’ he usually gets from more orthodox tweets about diplomatic meetings. ああ、ベーコンは、結局、^%£$+*•!%🌀✔️✖️🎶💱 — 河野太郎 (@konotarogomame) May 21, 2019 On Sunday, he tweeted his son had greeted him by “screaming bacon with all his might” when he returned home in the early hours. “What does he want to do?” he tweeted, uploading an image of a sheet of paper on which someone had handwritten the word “bacon” in Japanese. By late Tuesday, his account had reverted to the more mundane, with the minister announcing his attendance at a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. There was no further comment on the bacon affair and ministry officials were tight-lipped on the issue. “We are not in a position to say as it’s his own Twitter account,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. The mysterious tweet lit up Japanese social media, with a rash of users guessing at a “secret diplomatic meaning.” One thought it might be a reference to trade, with U.S. President Donald Trump due to arrive later this week for talks. Others were concerned for the minister’s well-being, with one user saying he had “a breakdown because he’s overworked” and another wondering whether he had been affected by the weather, as heavy winds and rain lashed the Japanese capital. Trump, a prolific Twitter user, baffled his millions of followers just months after taking office when he mysteriously tweeted: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” sparking speculation as to what “covfefe” meant. He later deleted the tweet, replacing it with: “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!”
|
internet;social media;twitter;offbeat;taro kono
|
jp0004462
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Women pass scandal-hit Tokyo Medical University's entrance exam at higher rate than men
|
This year’s pass ratio of female applicants for admission to the scandal-tainted Tokyo Medical University, which had discriminated against women for more than a decade, was slightly higher than that of male applicants, figures released by the university have shown. The pass ratio for women was 20.2 percent, 0.4 percentage point higher than that of men. Last year, the successful ratio for women was only 2.9 percent, while that of men was 9 percent. The surge in the pass rate for both sexes was apparently the result of entrance examination reform. Last year the university admitted it had systematically manipulated scores of female applicants so that it would admit far fewer women than men. Yukiko Hayashi, who in the wake of the scandal became the school’s first female president, had pledged to conduct a “fair and impartial” entrance exam this year. “We usually release such figures around July, but considering the scandal we decided to release the figure early this year for the sake of transparency,” said a university spokesman. According to the figures released Monday, the total number of applicants to the university plunged by over 60 percent, with 470 women and 771 men applying for admission, in what was likely a result of the fallout from the scandal. The medical college started the discriminatory practice based on the belief that women tend to resign or take leaves of absence after getting married or giving birth. The move was said to be aimed at preventing a shortage of doctors at affiliated hospitals. The revelation of the scandal was followed by reports of rampant discrimination against women at many other medical colleges, leading to public outcry. On Tuesday, Tokyo Medical University also said it has issued acceptance letters to 44 applicants who had taken exams within the past two years but were denied entry because of the school’s discriminatory practices. In all, 24 of those receiving the letter have decided to enroll at the university, 16 of whom are women. Under the discriminatory system, female applicants were only able to receive a maximum of 80 points out of 100 even if they answered all questions correctly. Male applicants who had already taken the exam four times or more were also subjected to the discriminatory practice. The medical school reportedly disliked accepting male applicants who had failed a number of times because they also tend to fail the national exam for medical practitioners, which would bring down the university’s ratio of successful applicants and hurt its reputation. A group of lawyers who conducted an internal investigation concluded that the computerized score-deduction system had been effectively in use since at least 2006 and that it had been kept hidden from the applicants.
|
medicine;gender;women;universities;discrimination;tokyo medical university
|
jp0004463
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan to meet in Paris on OECD sidelines
|
SEOUL - The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan are scheduled to hold talks in Paris this week on the sidelines of a gathering of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The talks between Kang Kyung-wha and Taro Kono, slated to coincide with an OECD ministerial council meeting to be held Wednesday and Thursday, come as the two countries remain at odds over wartime labor issues. On Monday, Japan asked South Korea that a third-party arbitration panel be established over South Korean court orders against Japanese firms to compensate laborers made to work during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean government said it will “carefully review” the request, based on a 1965 bilateral accord that addressed issues of property and claims between the two nations. It remains unclear, however, whether Seoul would agree to Japan’s arbitration request. In Tokyo on Tuesday, Kono told a news conference that he hopes to discuss the wartime labor issue with Kang, saying, “I don’t think South Korea wants relations with Japan to further worsen. “They have to accept our request for arbitration. If necessary, we are prepared to dispute the issue under international law.” Last October, South Korea’s top court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to compensate former Korean laborers for forced work. Since then, similar rulings have been passed against other Japanese companies. Japan has called on South Korea to resolve the matter internally in such a way that would not hurt the interests of its firms operating there. South Korea, in contrast, has taken the stance that it is difficult for the government to intervene in judicial decisions due to a separation of powers. The two foreign ministers last held talks in mid-February in Germany.
|
south korea;oecd;wartime labor;south korea-japan relations;taro kono;kang kyung-wha
|
jp0004464
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2019/05/21
|
In joint resolution, LDP and Komeito rebuke lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama over 'war' comment
|
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito on Tuesday jointly submitted to the Diet a resolution rebuking an opposition lawmaker who recently came under fire for suggesting Japan wage war with Russia to regain control over a group of disputed islands. In the resolution, the ruling coalition said the comment made by former Nippon Ishin no Kai lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama “runs counter to pacifism” and “significantly undermines Japan’s national interest,” describing it as “absolutely intolerable.” The pair closed their resolution by urging him to “reflect seriously on” what he said. Tuesday’s move by the ruling bloc followed a sterner measure taken last week by six opposition parties, including Nippon Ishin and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which went as far as to demand he resign as a lawmaker. In their resolution, the LDP and Komeito suggested Maruyama’s remark, although “unjustifiable,” doesn’t warrant a move by the opposition bloc calling for his resignation. “Past resolutions urging a lawmaker’s resignation have all been submitted in response to cases of unequivocal, grave malpractices, and there has been no instance where such a resolution was driven by problematic remarks,” the ruling bloc stated in the resolution. LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai told a news conference Tuesday that “we should be careful in taking away a (Diet member’s) status in a single sweep,” according to Kyodo News. Coming at a time when the LDP itself is grappling with a series of blunders made by its lawmakers, part of the reason for the party’s reluctance to follow in the footsteps of the opposition is its apparent fear that things will “spiral out of control” if a precedent is set for the submission of such severe resolutions over gaffes, said Kazuhisa Kawakami, a professor of political science at the International University of Health and Welfare. The LDP recently had to create a code of conduct in terms of how to avoid making headlines over verbal flubs. Kawakami also said the fact the ruling and opposition blocs didn’t unanimously pursue a resolution seeking Maruyama’s resignation possibly avoided giving Russia a diplomatic advantage. “If Japanese lawmakers made the gesture of an all-out apology by unanimously submitting a motion demanding the resignation of a lawmaker who said something provocative about Russia, that may have created a precedent that could be (taken advantage of) by Russia,” he said. Maruyama, a House of Representatives lawmaker, has been roundly chastised for a remark he made earlier this month as he accompanied former Japanese residents of the disputed islands off Hokkaido on a visa-free trip to one of them. In his conversation with the residents, a reportedly drunk Maruyama at one point provocatively asked, “Do you think there is any alternative to war (to recover the islands)?” His gaffe was quick to trigger a barrage of public criticism, with Nippon Ishin swiftly moving toward stripping him of his party membership. Maruyama, for his part, has so far remained defiant, rejecting any calls to resign.
|
conflict;russia;ldp;diet;gaffes;ruling bloc;hodaka maruyama
|
jp0004465
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Cherry blossom-seekers spur Japan tourism in April to record high
|
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in April rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier to 2,926,700, marking a record high for any month, government data showed Tuesday. The increase was partly due to European, American and Australian tourists who took advantage of the Easter vacation, which started in April this year, as well as the result of effective promotion of the country’s cherry blossoms by the tourism industry, explained the Japan Tourism Agency. But growth in the number of Asian visitors was dented by concerns over the surging cost of airplane tickets and over congestion in tourist spots by domestic travelers caused by the 10-day Golden Week vacation beginning in late April. Golden Week was extended this year because of Emperor Naruhito’s ascension to the throne. The total number of foreign travelers in the January to April period reached 10,980,500, up 4.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. By country and region, the highest number of tourists came from China at 2,895,400, up 10.2 percent, on the back of the easing of visa restrictions in January. The number of visitors from South Korea declined by 4.4 percent to 2,647,400, as did those from Taiwan by 1.0 percent to 1,593,200. There was substantial growth in the number of visitors from Vietnam and Thailand, with rises of 30.3 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively. The government has set a target of attracting 40 million foreign visitors in a year by 2020, when Japan hosts the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. In order to achieve this goal the Japan Tourism Agency will “seriously analyze each market,” Hiroshi Tabata, commissioner of the agency, said at a news conference.
|
tourism;japan tourism agency;inbound tourism;visitors
|
jp0004466
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Emperor Naruhito takes part in rice planting ceremony at Imperial Palace in Tokyo
|
Emperor Naruhito on Monday conducted the first rice planting at the Imperial Palace since he assumed the throne on May 1. Rice farming at the palace in Tokyo was initiated by Emperor Hirohito — posthumously known as Emperor Showa — who was the grandfather of the present emperor. The practice was passed on to Emperor Akihito, the father of the current emperor, who now holds the title of emperor emeritus, and has now been inherited by Emperor Naruhito. The emperor carefully planted rice seedlings so that they will not be blown over by the wind. The rice planting took place in a paddy field near a biology laboratory at the palace. The emperor planted the mangetsumochi glutinous rice variety and nihomasari , a nonglutinous type. The seedlings were grown from unhulled rice seeds planted by the emperor emeritus last month, before his abdication on April 30. Emperor Naruhito will continue rice farming activities, including seeding, planting and harvesting like his father did, sources familiar with the matter said.
|
rice;imperial family;imperial palace;emperor naruhito
|
jp0004467
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Japan shifts toward digital storage of records after Moritomo, SDF and other scandals
|
The government plans to shift toward digital management of most public records by the time the new National Archives of Japan building opens in fiscal 2026, aiming to prevent the record management scandals that have plagued the Abe government. Such scandals include the Finance Ministry’s manipulation of documents related to school operator Moritomo Gakuen, which was able to buy a plot of public land at a steep discount, and the Defense Ministry’s cover-up of daily activity reports written by Ground Self-Defense Force officers during overseas peacekeeping operations. The government adopted a set of measures last July that included severe penalties for manipulating or hiding public records, as well as creating a system to digitally manage documents. “Although regaining lost trust is extremely difficult, we must do it,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told his Cabinet. In a decision March 25, the government stipulated that administrative records should be “systematically managed, with electronic forms used as their originals and authentic copies.” The government is to establish a system that automatically records when documents are stored, the names of the writers, dates of preparation, categorization and other information, and which repeats the process every time a record is modified. As of fiscal 2016, there were an estimated 18.4 million national administrative records, 93.6 percent of which were kept on paper and 6.1 percent electronically. At present, email messages are automatically deleted at some ministries and agencies after a set period of time to secure server capacity. The government will not adopt such a system for managing digital records, to avoid the risk of losing important information on the decision-making process. The paper-based storage of records that are legally required or deemed essential in order to maintain value, such as documents signed and sealed by emperors and Cabinet meeting documents signed by ministers, will remain in place. Continuing advances in electronic technology make it essential for the government to consider how best to store records on a long-term basis, officials said. “Records written on washi (traditional handmade paper) can be stored for 1,000 years,” an official at the Cabinet Office said. “But for electronic (storage), it’s impossible to maintain the same format for 1,000 years.” The government decision thus calls for studies to “realize the long-term stable use” of records. The government will amend its guidelines and rules for record management by the end of fiscal 2019 to facilitate computerized management of administrative records, officials said.
|
shinzo abe;computers;scandals;moritomo gakuen;national archives
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jp0004468
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Shizuoka city advises some residents to evacuate as torrential downpours hit parts of Japan's main island
|
Heavy rain lashed Japan’s main island of Honshu on Tuesday, disrupting rush-hour transport and prompting one city to advise residents to evacuate. The western city of Wakayama was deluged by 55.5 millimeters of rain per hour during the early morning — a record for May — while central Tokyo and central Nagoya recorded 13.5 mm per hour and 23 mm per hour, respectively. The city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture urged some residents to evacuate as river levels rose. The prefectural government issued a mudslide warning for a wider area including Fujinomiya, Shimada, Kakegawa and Fujieda. The Meteorological Agency said a cold front passing Honshu and the inflow of a warm and humid air mass brought the heavy rain. It also warned of high waves, strong winds, lightning and tornadoes along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan. Trains in the Kanto region covering the Tokyo metropolitan area were delayed or suspended, and a ferry service in Tokyo Bay was canceled. The agency expects 180 mm of rain in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Wednesday in parts of Kanto, the Izu island chain south of Tokyo, and the Tokai region that includes Shizuoka Prefecture.
|
weather;hamamatsu;shizuoka;rain;wakayama
|
jp0004469
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Japan's weather agency to extend range of temperature forecasts from seven days to 12
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To allow people to better prepare for upcoming weather, the Meteorological Agency will next month begin offering temperature forecasts for 12 days instead of the current seven. The forecasts will be published on the agency’s official website every day at around 2:30 p.m. starting June 19. The change is aimed at allowing people to brace earlier for the possibility of heatstroke or heat exhaustion, and to assist in planning for farming and travel. Longer-range weather forecasts will be made possible with the use of supercomputers introduced last year. New temperature forecast data will be available for roughly 70 locations across Japan. In addition to the highest and lowest temperatures for the past seven days and upcoming seven days, new information will include such temperatures for eight to 12 days ahead projected on the basis of the average temperatures observed over the previous five days. The use of colors will make it easy to tell when preparation is needed. Days with maximum and minimum temperatures significantly higher than usual will be shown in red, with those slightly higher in orange, those slightly lower in light blue, and those significantly lower in dark blue.
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weather;temperature;meteorological agency
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jp0004470
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[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
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Five injured, including three pedestrians, after five-car crash in central Tokyo
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Five people were injured in a car crash involving five vehicles Tuesday morning in central Tokyo, but none were in a serious condition, local police said. A truck rammed into three pedestrians and hit four vehicles when it entered a crossroad in the capital’s Shinbashi business district at about 9:45 a.m., they said. The male truck driver in his 30s, the male driver of a passenger vehicle in his 40s and three pedestrians in their 20s to 50s were injured, the police said. Investigators suspect the truck ignored a red light and collided into the pedestrians. The truck later hit a car and a bus as well as a truck and a tour bus waiting in the opposite lane. The tour bus was carrying about 40 children from a preschool who were out on a trip. None of them were injured.
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tokyo;traffic accidents;truck;shinbashi
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jp0004471
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[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
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New real-time flood projection system developed by joint Waseda and University of Tokyo team to be tested in Tokyo
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A team led by Waseda University and University of Tokyo researchers has developed a flood projection computer system that they claim is able to provide more accurate real-time estimates than existing ones. The new system will initially be launched for Tokyo’s 23 wards on a trial basis, and the team hopes full-fledged prediction service will start by the beginning of the Tokyo Olympics next year. The new system would help ease flood damage, the team said. Risks of heavy rain on an unprecedented scale have grown recently due to global climate change, the team said. The system, called S-uiPS (Sekine’s urban inundation Prediction System), predicts floods based on detailed urban infrastructure data, including how the sewage system and streets are structured and connected to rivers. Additionally, it uses rainfall monitoring and projection data from the transport ministry and the Meteorological Agency to predict floods in real time, the team said. The new projection system, which shows constantly updated flood map on the screen, can help municipalities and people make critical decisions, the team said. The map shows the result of a simulation with five different colors indicating the projected level of flooding. “I can only think of two places where flooding might kill people: underground spaces and underpasses,” said Masato Sekine, professor at Waseda University and an expert in hydraulics and river engineering. Sekine developed the core components of the program. When it rains heavily, underground spaces have a high risk of being inundated, and drivers can become stuck in flooded railroad or highway underpasses. Thus, judging when the appropriate time to seal underground spaces with watertight doors and to block such underpasses is important, Sekine said. Because S-uiPS maps out a detailed prediction for 30 minutes into the future, it will provide crucial information for the decision-making process, said Sekine. It takes 10 minutes for the program to reflect the necessary calculations, so people will see a simulation of the situation 20 minutes ahead of time. There have been other flood prediction programs, but those programs lack comprehensive inputs regarding how rainwater flow would be affected by urban infrastructure and rivers. They also often apply simplified calculation models. But in order to achieve greater accuracy, the S-uiPS does not simplify calculations, said Sekine, adding that researchers from the University of Tokyo have helped realize the fast processing needed for the real-time projections. Sekine said a massive flood disaster in 2000 that hit the Tokai region, which includes the city of Nagoya, prompted him to pursue the project. “If the same kind of disaster happens in Tokyo, it will be problematic. … I started this because I wanted to somehow contribute to” lessening the risks, said Sekine. The trial of S-uiPS in Tokyo will kick off by the end of June. If local urban infrastructure data is available, the new method can be applied to other cities, the team said.
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disasters;university of tokyo;floods;waseda university
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jp0004472
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[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
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10-year-old Japanese go professional debuts on international stage
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BEIJING - Japan’s youngest professional go player, 10-year-old Sumire Nakamura, debuted in an international match in Beijing on Tuesday in a game that was closely watched in China. Nakamura, who officially entered the lowest professional rank of shodan in April, competed against 27-year-old Wang Chenxing, a Chinese fifth-degree go player. Nakamura, who was beaten by Wang, has drawn a lot of attention in China as a new Japanese star, a woman in her 30s said in Beijing. Nakamura’s game was broadcast live online. China is one of the world’s greatest go nations, along with South Korea. The Tokyo-born Nakamura started playing the board game at the age of 3. She took part in Japan’s national tournament for boys and girls when she was in the second grade. After honing her skills in South Korea in recent years, she is now living in Japan and attending elementary school in Osaka. Nakamura has pledged to make efforts to become a go player who can compete on the world stage. Her 46-year-old father, Shinya Nakamura, is a ninth-degree professional go player.
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go;sumire nakamura
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jp0004473
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[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/05/21
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Man arrested for allegedly threatening to kill member of AKB48 spin-off group
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NIIGATA - A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill a member of a sister group of the popular AKB48 girl band, police said. Kazuki Domoto was arrested Monday for threatening Yuka Ogino, a member of NGT48 based in the city of Niigata, by faxing a letter to a news organization May 9 suggesting he would kill her, according to the police. Last December, two people were arrested for allegedly assaulting another NGT48 member, Maho Yamaguchi, who left the group Saturday. AKS Co., the management company for NGT48, came under criticism for its handling of Yamaguchi’s case as it did not reveal the incident until she referred to it in a Twitter post. The Niigata Prefectural Police said Domoto, who lives in Kyoto Prefecture, has admitted to sending the fax but denied any intention of killing Ogino. The police said a record of the letter’s transmission from a convenience store in Kyoto and security camera footage led to Domoto’s arrest. In addition to several other AKB48 spin-off groups in Japan, there are overseas sister units such as JKT48 in Indonesia, BNK48 in Thailand and MNL48 in the Philippines.
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akb48;idols;ngt48;kazuki domoto;yuka ogino
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jp0004474
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[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/05/21
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Japanese director of hot-spring consultancy handed 15-year prison sentence in China for spying
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BEIJING - A Japanese man convicted of spying by a Chinese court was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday, Sino-Japanese sources revealed the same day. The man, in his 50s, was also fined 100,000 yuan (about ¥1.6 million) by the court in Hainan Province for having illegally obtained state secrets, analyzed them and disseminated them abroad, they said. Since 2015, at least nine Japanese people have been indicted in China for alleged involvement in spying activities, and this marks the seventh time for a court to render a verdict. The man, a director of a hot spring development consultancy company in the city of Dalian in northeastern Liaoning Province, was detained in 2017 along with five other Japanese while assisting in geological assessments of potential sites in Hainan and Shandong provinces. Two of the six were formally arrested later that year for having violated anti-espionage and national security laws, local media reported previously, while the other four were allowed to return to Japan. The authorities had reportedly retrieved a large amount of classified information, including nearly 80 copies of maps, from the pair’s computers and other electronic devices. Of the two who were arrested, the other man, in his 70s, was sentenced last Friday to a prison term of five years and six months by a court in Shandong. The issue of the Japanese detainees in China was raised at the summit level when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Beijing in October 2017 and stated that the Japanese government is not engaged in spying activities in the country.
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china;courts;espionage;onsen;hainan;liaoning;shandong
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jp0004475
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[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/05/21
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Third of Japan's lay judges say experience was stressful, but system viewed positively overall
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One in three citizen judges recently surveyed by Kyodo News said passing judgment on their fellow peers in court was stressful, but a large majority still reflected on their experience as being positive. Of the 342 respondents in the survey conducted ahead of the lay judge system’s 10-year anniversary on Tuesday, 31 percent said they were “stressed to some extent,” and 3 percent felt a “high degree of stress” from the experience. The lay judge system was introduced on May 21, 2009, in order to reflect the opinions of ordinary people. One of the main difficulties cited by respondents was the necessity of seeing photos of dead bodies and other disturbing types of evidence. Some also said it was difficult to take part in court proceedings that would ultimately decide on whether to put a guilty person to death. Of those who said they experienced a “high degree of stress,” one respondent said she felt ill and everything she ate at the time tasted bad. But the survey found that 51 percent still believe citizen judges should be involved in decisions involving possible capital punishment, while 22 percent disagreed and 27 percent said they have no opinion. Approximately a quarter of respondents said their experience of the citizen judge system was not stressful. The survey, conducted by mail or email from March involving people that Kyodo News has come into contact with in its reporting, found 87 percent believe their experiences were “very good” and 11 percent think they were “good to some extent.” It showed 92 percent view the lay judge system as having helped reflect the common sense of ordinary people in rulings, and 84 percent supported the system’s continued use. Only 3 percent said it should be abolished. According to a Supreme Court report released last week, from the system’s initial implementation in 2009 through March this year, about 91,000 people have served as citizen judges, overseeing around 12,000 cases. More than 10 percent of rulings handed down by lay judges were overturned by high courts, the report showed. Asked about how they feel when a ruling made in a citizen judge case is overturned, 40 percent said it is acceptable, while 19 percent said it is not, and 41 percent said they are not sure. Under the system, citizens chosen at random become eligible to act as lay judges. Those selected can refuse to accept a request if court officials deem their reasons sufficient. In principle, six lay judges chosen from among the candidates in a lottery plus three professional judges are on the bench in district court trials for serious crimes such as murder, robbery, arson and rape. If no consensus is reached, a simple majority is required for a defendant to be found guilty, however, at least one professional judge must support the verdict for it to be accepted.
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courts;lay judges;surveys
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jp0004476
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[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2019/05/21
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Ex-Ritsumeikan teacher, a suspect in 2016 Dhaka terror attack fatal to 22, held in Iraq
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DHAKA - A Bangladeshi academic believed to have played a role in planning a July 2016 terror attack in Dhaka that killed 22 people, including seven Japanese, is being detained in northern Iraq, a Bangladesh intelligence official said Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said information received through informal channels suggests that Mohammad Saifullah Ozaki, who once taught at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University, is being held in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah. Ozaki, alias Sujit Debnath, was among 10 Bangladeshi militants who surrendered to the Kurds in the former Islamic State stronghold of Baghouz, Syria, after it fell to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on March 15, according to the information. Aside from the Dhaka attack, he also is believed to have played a role in recruiting Bangladeshi youths to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. On the night of July 1, 2016, five militants stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s posh Gulshan area and took several dozen people, including 18 foreigners, hostage. Twenty hostages, including seven Japanese and nine Italians, were killed as the terrorists sprayed them with bullets indiscriminately and slit their throats. Two policemen were also killed in the incident, as were all the militants.
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terrorism;syria;bangladesh;kurds;islamic state;ritsumeikan university;dhaka attack;mohammad saifullah ozaki;baghouz
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jp0004477
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[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
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After fatal accidents, Abe orders measures to tighten safety for young pedestrians and elderly drivers
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Following a recent spate of accidents in which children have been killed, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday instructed ministers to ensure road safety for preschoolers. Abe also called for measures featuring advanced technology such as automatic braking systems to enhance the safety of vehicles driven by the elderly, amid concern over the number of accidents caused by senior citizens behind the wheel. “In order to protect the lives of children who will be responsible for the next generation, I’d like you to swiftly compile measures ensuring the safety of routes that groups (of children) take on a daily basis,” the prime minister told a meeting involving the heads of education and welfare ministries and police. Earlier this month, a vehicle involved in a collision with another vehicle rammed into toddlers who were walking with their teachers along a road in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, killing two 2-year-olds and injuring 14 others. Last month, a car driven by an 87-year-old driver struck pedestrians and people on bicycles at several crosswalks in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, resulting in the deaths of a 3-year-old girl and her mother, as well as injuries to eight others. “Heartbreaking accidents have continued to occur although measures have been taken,” Abe said, referring to cognitive function tests conducted for elderly drivers under the revised road traffic law. After the meeting, Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, minister in charge of traffic safety, told a news conference that he will launch a working group to tackle the issues based on Abe’s instructions. Shortly after the accident in Otsu, the transport ministry started nationwide safety checks on roads used by young children to go to and from their kindergartens and schools.
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shinzo abe;children;elderly;traffic accidents;mext;mhlw
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jp0004478
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Former U.S. defense chiefs and Ethiopian ex-leader to be decorated in Japan
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Former U.S. defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and Ashton Carter, as well as former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, will be among 142 foreign nationals recognized in this year’s spring awards for notable contributions to relations between Japan and their countries, the government said Tuesday. The list of recipients for the annual decorations was announced a month later than usual to allow for Emperor Naruhito’s ascension to the throne early this month. The 142 foreign recipients come from 61 countries and regions. Hagel, 72, and Carter, 64, who served in former U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, and Hailemariam, 53, will receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. Of the 4,225 Japanese recipients of decorations, 401 are women and 1,984 are from the private sector, both the highest numbers since the honors system was reformed in 2003. Itsuro Terada, 71, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, will be bestowed with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, which is the highest decoration to be given at the ceremony. Jazz trumpeter Terumasa Hino, 76, will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. Former financial services minister Shizuka Kamei, 82, and the chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, 80, are among those who will receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. The award ceremony will be held at the Imperial Palace on Thursday, with the emperor and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.
|
awards;u.s .;chuck hagel;ashton carter;ethiopia;u.s.-japan relations;ethiopia-japan relations;hailemariam desalegn
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jp0004479
|
[
"national"
] |
2019/05/21
|
Who should pay for higher education in Japan? The public, parents or students themselves?
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The powers that be have enacted legislation that will expand support for higher education, including grants and scholarships for college and trade school students from low-income households. Education experts are suggesting it’s time once again to consider who should shoulder the costs. The law coming into force next April will ensure that tuition fees for eligible students at universities, two-year colleges, specialized training schools and professional training schools will be waived or reduced, and scholarships and grants to cover their living expenses will also be provided. “We are aiming for a society where people can seize the future by their passion and effort regardless of their households’ financial situation,” education minister Masahiko Shibayama said as the Diet deliberated the bill. The government plans to pay for this by tapping revenue from the consumption tax hike planned for this October. But considering that people have a stronger desire to see public support for early childhood education than tertiary education, Masayuki Kobayashi, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, suggests that the general public needs to be reminded of the socio-economic benefits of higher education. Speaking before the Lower House Commission on the Constitution and elsewhere, Kobayashi insists that higher education will correct economic and educational disparities beyond generations through increases in income and economic growth based on improved skills and knowledge brought by education. Japan has some of the highest tuition fees for tertiary education among OECD member countries, with costs rising in the past decade, according to the OECD study Education at a Glance 2018. Government spending on tertiary education in Japan accounts for 1.7 percent of public spending, barely better than half the average of 3 percent for OECD countries. Tertiary educational institutions in Japan rely heavily on private funding, as 68 percent of expenditures is privately funded, more than twice the OECD average of 30 percent. Kobayashi classifies educational institutions in various countries by tuition and student aid policies. Japan’s public universities are classified as “low tuition, low aid,” while its private universities are categorized as “high tuition, low aid.” U.S. public universities and community colleges are classified as “low tuition, low aid,” while U.S. private universities are labeled as “high tuition, high aid.” Sweden is classified in the “low tuition, high aid” category. Kobayashi also presents three models and background beliefs for education in terms of cost-sharing for higher education. According to these models, parents sustain higher education based on a paternalistic view in Japanese society, as opposed to the public sustaining higher education in welfare states like Sweden, or students themselves in countries with individualistic societies such as the United States. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, the amount of financial support provided by families as a percentage of the income of university students has declined — from 76 percent in fiscal 1996 to 66 percent in fiscal 2008, and to 60 percent in fiscal 2016, while the percentage of student loans increased from 6 percent to 15 percent to 20 percent in those years. Meanwhile, the number of students who rely on student loans has been rising. The student service organization, an independent institution affiliated with the education ministry, provided a total of around ¥1.02 trillion to more than 1.29 million university and other students in fiscal 2017, a significant surge from roughly ¥200 billion in fiscal 1994 and about ¥500 billion in fiscal 2002. Since fiscal 2010, the amount loaned to students has exceeded ¥1 trillion each year, according to the organization. While student loans were the primary form of student aid, the organization started providing scholarships and grants with no obligation for repayment in fiscal 2017 to meet increasing demand for such assistance, joining efforts by local governments and the private sector. There is concern that a heavy reliance on student loans can be burdensome for individuals in their post-school years. The organization is expected to give out scholarships to some 20,000 students in the current fiscal year through March 2020. Starting in April 2020, about ¥350,000 will be provided on an annual basis to students at national or other public higher education institutions who commute from their family home, and about ¥800,000 for students who live away from home. About ¥460,000 and around ¥910,000, respectively, will be provided to students of private schools. About ¥540,000, the standard tuition fee at national and other public universities, will be waived and private school tuition fees will be reduced by up to ¥700,000. The annual income of eligible households has been set at less than ¥2.7 million for a family of four, while students from families with an annual income of below ¥3.8 million are eligible to receive a partial scholarship. Some national universities have already raised tuition fees prior to the anticipated tax hike. Opposition lawmakers and critics have denounced the aid plan, claiming the scope of recipients needs to be expanded as middle-class families are expected to face a more substantial financial burden in the future. School payment gaps between public and private school students could also widen. “The legislation will cover only limited targets, and needs to be revised,” said Shizuka Iwasaki, a student at the University of Tokyo and the head of a student advocacy group. “I hope (the government) will lower tuition and expand scholarship programs toward free education in a true sense.”
|
u.s .;sweden;taxes;education;universities;students;student loans
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jp0004480
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Facebook removes more pages tied to Russian operators
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LOS ANGELES - Facebook on Monday said it removed more pages, groups and accounts that originated in Russia and were being deceptive about who was behind them and what they were up to. The takedown at Facebook and its image-centric social network Instagram was described as part of an ongoing battle against “coordinated inauthentic behavior” that has blocked numerous fake accounts from around the world. “We found two separate, unconnected operations that originated in Russia and used similar tactics, creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing,” Facebook head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a blog post. He added that the takedowns were based on the deceptive behavior of those behind the accounts, and not the content posted. Ukraine was the focus of 97 Facebook accounts, pages, or groups removed from the social network, according to Gleicher. Fake accounts were used to operate pages and groups, spread their content and ramp up engagement, as well as to get people to visit an outside website. Posts by the account typically involved local and political news; topics including military conflict in eastern Ukraine, civil war in Syria, and Russian politics. Facebook did not disclose identities of those behind the accounts. Pages involved had about 34,000 followers each, and about 86,000 Facebook users had joined at least one of the groups. Only a single dollar was spent on a Facebook ad, which ran more than a year ago. “We identified some of these accounts and Pages through follow-on investigations of the accounts and Pages we removed earlier this year ahead of the elections in Ukraine,” Gleicher said. “We have shared information about our analysis with law enforcement, policymakers and industry partners.” An additional 21 Facebook and Instagram accounts or pages removed focused on Austria, the Baltic states, Germany, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, according to the California-based internet titan. Those accounts posted content related to political issues such as immigration, as well as religion and NATO, Facebook said. The campaign used fake accounts, impersonating other users, and amplified “allegations about a public figure working on behalf of intelligence services,” Gleicher said.
|
russia;cybersecurity;facebook;instagram;fake news;nathaniel gleicher
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jp0004481
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
No rush to cut agriculture tariffs in Japan-U.S. trade talks, top negotiator Motegi says
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Japan’s top trade negotiator said Tuesday there are no plans to cut tariffs on U.S. farm products ahead of a wider bilateral trade deal. “As a rule in trade negotiations, there won’t be an agreement in any particular category before the others,” Toshimitsu Motegi, minister for economic and fiscal policy, told reporters. He made the remark in reference to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s comments last week seeking to prioritize an agreement on farm products to improve the competitiveness of U.S. produce against that of Pacific trade pact members who export to Japan at lower tariff rates. The United States is not part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership whose members include major agricultural producers such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Tokyo and Washington began trade negotiations in mid-April as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to reduce his country’s large trade deficit and increase jobs. Motegi and his counterpart in the talks, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, have agreed to include agriculture and industrial goods as well as digital trade such as e-commerce and music streaming services, a point Motegi said the two recently re-affirmed. While Japan remains wary of granting the United States greater access to its agriculture market without securing lower tariffs for one of its main exports, automobiles, Trump has expressed hope that a deal on farm products will be reached before he visits from May 25 to 28 to meet with Emperor Naruhito.
|
u.s .;agriculture;trade;carmakers;tariffs;u.s.-japan relations
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jp0004482
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Toyota President Akio Toyoda to get honorary doctorate from U.S. college
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NEW YORK - Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda will receive an honorary degree from Babson College in Massachusetts, his alma mater. The honorary degree will be presented May 18 when Toyoda, 63, will give a speech at a graduation ceremony at the U.S. private university, , informed sources said Monday. In June, Toyoda will also mark his 10th year since taking over as president of the major automaker. After graduating from Keio University in Tokyo in 1979, Toyoda obtained his master’s degree in business administration at Babson College in 1982. He entered Toyota in 1984 after working at a U.S. investment bank. Babson College is marking its 100th anniversary this year. Other Japanese alumni of the college’s MBA program, which is focused on entrepreneurship education, include Motoya Katsuya, president of major retailer Aeon Co.
|
awards;u.s .;toyota;carmakers;akio toyoda
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jp0004483
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
'Management by terror': France Telecom ex-bosses go on trial over 2008-2009 suicide wave
|
PARIS - The former chief executive of France Telecom and other ex-bosses went on trial Monday facing unprecedented charges of moral harassment that allegedly prompted 35 employees to take their own lives a decade ago. The wave of suicides, which shocked France at the time, took place from 2008 to 2009 and raised questions about the workplace culture at the former state telecom giant. The company is now known as Orange after being renamed in 2013. Former chief executive Didier Lombard, who helmed the company from 2005 to 2010, several other bosses and also Orange itself are on trial for allegedly overseeing institutionalized harassment at the company. The trial opened at the Paris criminal court nearly seven years after Lombard and France Telecom itself were charged with “moral harassment,” which is defined as “frequently repeated acts whose aim or effect is the degradation of working conditions. “For six months I was given nothing to do,” Yves Minguy, a former IT specialist who joined the company in 1973, told AFP before the trial. “They were putting pressure on us to quit.” He was eventually reassigned to another job, “But one morning, without warning, I was told: ‘Put away your things, you’re going to answer phones at a call center,'” he said. The hearing at the packed courthouse included civil plaintiffs who are relatives of former France Telecom staff who killed themselves. “I was told to get people to leave by any means necessary,” a 59-year-old former manager who gave his named as Claude told AFP, referring to his team of 120 workers. Alongside Lombard, also in the dock on the same charge were the company’s former number two, Louis-Pierre Wenes, and the former head of human resources, Olivier Barberot. Four others face charges of complicity in a trial set to be closely followed by businesses, unions and workforce experts. If convicted, they could face a year behind bars and a €15,000 ($16,800) fine. The trial could last until July 12. Orange itself could be slapped with a €75,000 sanction if found guilty. Despite France’s labor laws, which are some of the strongest in the world, there have been increasing concerns about the consequences of pressure in the workplace, including depression, long-term illness, professional burnout and even suicide. Unions and management accept that 35 France Telecom employees took their own lives between 2008 and 2009. Lombard stepped down as a result of the deaths. Formerly a public company, France Telecom was privatized in 2004, a move that led to major restructuring and job losses. During the investigation, magistrates focused on the cases of 39 employees, 19 of whom killed themselves, 12 who tried to, and eight who suffered from acute depression or were signed off sick as a result of it. In July 2008, a 51-year-old technician from Marseille killed himself, leaving a letter accusing the bosses of “management by terror.” Two months later, a 32-year-old woman jumped out of the window of her Paris office as horrified colleagues looked on. Lombard, who served as chairman and chief executive from 2005 to 2010, also inflamed the situation with remarks that were condemned for being callous. He admitted he had committed “an enormous gaffe” by speaking of a “suicide fad” at the company. And in 2006, Lombard had told staff in now notorious comments: “I’ll get people to leave one way or another, either through the window or the door.” He resigned in March 2010. The investigating magistrates’ summary of charges, a copy of which was seen by AFP, accuses Lombard of putting in place “a corporate policy aimed at undermining the employees … by creating a professional climate which provoked anxiety. Hundreds of people protested outside the courthouse ahead of the trial opening, urging that justice be served for the former executives. “My life today is ruined,” said former France Telecom employee Beatrice Pannier, 56, who joined the company in 1982 and has been on sick leave since she tried to kill herself in 2011. “The moment of truth has arrived.” Patrick Ackermann of the SUD union said he expected that the “former executives are convicted … that they express remorse and they recognize they crossed the line.” The trial marks the first time that representatives from a blue-chip company in France’s CAC-40 stock index have gone on trial for moral harassment.
|
suicides;harassment;jobs;france telecom
|
jp0004484
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Japan stocks take hit as Trump officials say more China tariffs to come this week
|
WASHINGTON - Top U.S. trade officials claimed Monday that China has backtracked on substantial commitments during trade talks with the United States, prompting President Donald Trump to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods that will go into effect Friday. The swift deterioration in negotiations between the world’s two largest economies hit global financial markets as investors faced the prospect of an escalation rather than an end to a 10-month-old trade war. Trump tweeted Sunday that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent by the end of the week, and would “soon” target the remaining Chinese imports with tariffs. The declaration sent stocks and oil prices lower on Monday. The Nikkei 225 stock average shed 1.51 percent Tuesday to mark the first closing below 22,000 in nearly a month, taking a delayed hit after Japan’s financial markets opened following a 10-day market break to mark the ascension of the new emperor to the throne. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been an advocate for tough structural changes in China, said Beijing reneged on commitments it made previously that would have changed the agreement substantially. “Over the course of the last week or so we have seen … an erosion in commitments by China,” Lighthizer told reporters. “That in our view is unacceptable.” Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is expected to be in Washington this Thursday and Friday for further talks. “We’re not breaking off talks at this point. But for now … come Friday there will be tariffs in place,” Lighthizer said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, considered to be less hawkish toward Beijing, said China’s backtracking became clear with “new information” over the weekend. He declined to give specifics and said the U.S. side had originally hoped to conclude a deal one way or the other this week. “They were trying to go back on language that had been previously negotiated, very clear language, that had the potential of changing the deal dramatically,” Mnuchin said. “The entire economic team … are completely unified and recommended to the president to move forward with tariffs if we are not able to conclude a deal by the end of the week.” A spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to queries about the U.S. claims. “We are also in the process of understanding the relevant situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said earlier in Beijing. “What I can tell you is that China’s team is preparing to go to the United States for the discussions. “We still hope the United States can work hard with China to meet each other halfway, and strive to reach a mutually beneficial, win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect.” China has repeatedly said it will make changes to open its economy according to its own timeline, not in response to trade disputes. But recently it has enacted new laws and amended others, moves some see as efforts to address concerns shared by the U.S. and other foreign investors — including those from China’s largest trading partner, the European Union. In March, China fast-tracked the approval of a new Foreign Investment Law and passed it at the annual meeting of the country’s parliament, with Premier Li Keqiang pledging that the government would follow through and enforce the legislation giving protection to foreign firms. Last month, the parliament’s standing committee also amended three existing laws to strengthen trade secrets protections, take further measures to stop forced technology transfers and increase trademark infringement punishments. Trump’s announcement Sunday abruptly ended a five-month truce in a trade war that has cost the two countries billions of dollars, slowed global growth and disrupted manufacturing supply chains and U.S. farm exports. Businesses, while largely supportive of Trump’s tough stance on China, want the tariffs to be lifted. Mnuchin said Monday that the stock market reaction was not affecting U.S. decisions on the trade talks. A person familiar with the negotiations said the latest dispute came after the Chinese side sought to deal with policy changes through administrative and regulatory actions, not through changes to Chinese law as had previously been agreed. “It undermines the core architecture of the deal,” the person said, adding that not codifying the concessions would make it difficult to verify and enforce China’s compliance. While it is unclear which changes to law the United States has demanded, critics argue that even though such amendments are welcomed, they do not provide guarantees because Chinese courts are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party. U.S. officials have acknowledged this, and insist that only tariffs can provide leverage to enforce an agreement. The United States is demanding sweeping changes to China’s economic policies. They include better protection of U.S. intellectual property and an end to forced technology transfers from U.S. companies and cybertheft of American trade secrets. Washington also wants more access to China’s vast markets for U.S. businesses, curbs on industrial subsidies and increased purchases of American products. Another source familiar with the situation said Trump had reiterated to advisers in recent days that he would walk away from a trade deal with China if it was not strong enough. The United States imported about $539.5 billion in goods from China in 2018 and exported $120.3 billion for a record trade deficit of $419.2 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. On Monday, Trump lashed out over the U.S. trade deficit with China. “With China we lose 500 Billion Dollars. Sorry, we’re not going to be doing that anymore!” he tweeted. Trump has said that China was paying existing U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States, but in reality it is mostly U.S. companies importing the goods that pay the tariffs. The United States currently has 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese machinery and technology goods and 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of products ranging from computer modems and routers to furniture, lighting and building materials. Negotiations on removing punitive U.S. tariffs has been one of the remaining sticking points. China wants the tariffs to be removed, while U.S. officials want to keep some, if not all, as part of any final deal, to ensure China lives up to its commitments. Mnuchin, who originally had called the talks in Beijing “productive,” said Washington had been in the process of planning a summit between Trump and President Xi Jinping for a successful deal.
|
china;u.s .;trade;economy;eu;tariffs;trade war
|
jp0004485
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Trump may redefine poverty, cutting Americans from welfare rolls
|
The Trump administration may alter the way it determines the national poverty threshold, putting Americans living on the margins at risk of losing access to welfare programs. The possible move would involve changing how inflation is calculated in the “official poverty measure,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a regulatory filing on Monday. The formula has been used for decades to determine whether people qualify for certain federal programs and benefits. The measure, first set in the 1960s, is calculated at three times the cost of a minimum food diet and adjusted every year as prices rise. In 2018, a family of four making no more than $25,900 was considered impoverished. The figure determines eligibility for a wide swath of federal, state, and non-profit programs, including Medicaid and food stamps. By changing the index the government uses to calculate how much the cost of living rises or falls, the poverty level could rise at a slower rate. One proposal the Office of Management and Budget suggested in the filing is to shift to so-called chained CPI, which regularly shows a slower pace of price gains than traditional measures. Chained CPI shows slower inflation growth because it assumes consumers will substitute less expensive items when prices for specific individual goods increase significantly. “Because of this, changes to the poverty thresholds, including how they are updated for inflation over time, may affect eligibility for programs that use the poverty guidelines,” OMB said in a notice published to the federal register. An administration official said the inflation measure was worth re-evaluating because it has remained unchanged for 40 years, and knowledge of how cost-of-living increases are calculated has increased substantially in that time. The official requested anonymity to describe the internal evaluation at OMB. The possible change appears to be the latest effort by the Trump administration to make it harder to access welfare programs. Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to more strictly enforce current work requirements for welfare recipients, and propose additional, more stringent requirements that could further reduce eligibility. “Millions of able-bodied, working-age adults continue to collect food stamps without working or even looking for work,” Trump said in December. “Our goal is to move these Americans from dependence to independence, and into a good-paying job and rewarding career.” This isn’t the first time a White House has considered using chained CPI to bring down the cost of government programs. President Barack Obama in 2014 proposed switching cost-of-living adjustments in Social Security and other retirement programs to the index. Congressional Democrats responded with an uproar, causing Obama to abandon the proposal in later budgets.
|
u.s .;welfare;poverty;jobs;medicaid;donald trump;omb;food stamps;chained cpi
|
jp0004486
|
[
"business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Japan kicks off Reiwa Era's first energy-saving Cool Biz casual wear campaign
|
The government began the annual Cool Biz campaign on Tuesday to promote workplace energy conservation by dressing more casually. After the 10-day holiday period through Monday to celebrate Emperor Naruhito’s ascension to the throne and commemorate the era change from Heisei to Reiwa, many employees at ministries and agencies arrived without ties or wearing kariyushi traditional shirts from Okinawa. The campaign is aimed at combating global warming. Office workers are encouraged to wear light clothes while the air conditioning is set at 28 degrees to reduce electricity use. Cool Biz runs until the end of September. Many central government officials work without jackets and ties, instead wearing polo shirts, sneakers and even Hawaiian aloha shirts. The Environment Ministry introduced the initiative in 2005 and is likewise promoting a Cool Share campaign aimed at getting people together in air-conditioned common spaces, including commercial facilities and cafes. It is also encouraging people to cultivate “green curtains” by growing shade-producing plants. “Although it is not compulsory, if we reduce the use of air conditioning we will be able to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions,” said Shinji Isobe, head of the Environment Ministry’s lifestyle policy office, who came to work without wearing a tie. Cool Biz has caught on, he said, and he hopes the success will continue. Private companies such as supermarkets and department stores have joined the initiative, with some planning to offer new fashion styles to help people spend the summer more comfortably. Temperatures of 40 or higher were recorded in wide areas of Japan last summer. The ministry is calling on companies to allow workers to continue to dress lightly on warm days in October after the official end of the Cool Biz campaign.
|
climate change;environment ministry;cool biz
|
jp0004487
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Tokyo stocks tumble on trade war worries
|
Stocks suffered a sell-off Tuesday, the first of trading in the new Reiwa Era and after an unprecedented 10-day break, with sentiment battered by rekindled fears of a U.S.-China trade war. The Nikkei 225 average closed at 21,923.72, down 335.01 points, or 1.51 percent, from April 26, the final trading day before the start of Golden Week. On April 26, the Nikkei fell 48.85 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 18.09 points, or 1.12 percent, lower at 1,599.84 after losing 2.35 points April 26. The market met with risk-averse selling from the outset Tuesday, following an overnight tumble on Wall Street stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets threatening to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent, brokers said. Both the Nikkei and Topix showed some resilience late in the morning, helped by a rally in Shanghai stocks. But they went south in the afternoon, weighed by drops in U.S. stock index futures in off-hours trading. Hit by a Chinese media report that Beijing may suspend trade talks with Washington, the market saw its loss expand in late afternoon trading, brokers said. Besides the negative surprise by Trump, weaker than expected earnings announced by Japanese firms before the long holiday contributed to the dive, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. The yen’s appreciation against the dollar also dampened export-oriented stocks, brokers said. “The market’s direction would be determined by developments related to U.S.-China trade negotiations,” said Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc. China and the U.S. are scheduled to start ministerial-level talks in Washington on Wednesday. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,457 to 623 in the first section, while 60 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.564 billion shares, from 1.318 billion April 26. China-linked shares were shunned, including electronic parts supplier Murata Manufacturing, construction machinery maker Komatsu and industrial robot producer Fanuc. Chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron and wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical fell for failing to meet market consensuses on their respective operating profit projections for the year through next March. Among other losers were clothing store chain Fast Retailing and automaker Toyota. Meanwhile, defensives attracted purchases amid a heightened risk-off mood. They included cosmetics maker Shiseido, pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo and daily goods producer Kao. Airline JAL rose after announcing a share buyback plan. Also on the sunny side were mobile phone carrier KDDI and technology giant Sony.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
|
jp0004488
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Dollar drops to around ¥110.65 in Tokyo
|
The dollar fell to levels around ¥110.65 on Tuesday, battered by enhanced selling amid heightened concerns over the U.S.-China trade dispute. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.65-65, down sharply from ¥111.67-67 at the same time April 26, the final trading day before the start of the extended Golden Week holiday period. The euro was at $1.1195-1195, up from $1.1140-1140, and at ¥123.88-88, down from ¥124.48-52. In overseas trading Monday, the dollar fell below ¥111 following U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets threatening to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. In Tokyo, dollar scaled above ¥110.85 in early morning trading but eased later on selling prompted by the Nikkei 225 stock average’s steep fall. After returning to a ¥110.80 range thanks to purchases by European players in the afternoon, the greenback came under renewed selling pressure. A Chinese media report suggesting a possible suspension in U.S.-China trade negotiations put a damper on the dollar, a fund manager said. The United States and China are scheduled to start ministerial-level talks in Washington on Wednesday. “Even if the Trump administration refrains from carrying out the tariff increase, U.S.-China tensions will be left intact until the trade row is fully resolved,” said an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm. “Investors cannot trade the dollar-yen pair actively” as long as the situation surrounding the trade talks remains opaque, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.
|
forex;currencies
|
jp0004489
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Tokyo stocks drop on renewed U.S.-China trade jitters
|
Tokyo stocks sank Tuesday after an extended Golden Week, with China-linked shares sold amid renewed U.S.-China trade tensions. The Nikkei 225 average ended down 335.01 points, or 1.51 percent, from April 26 at 21,923.72. The market had been closed during the unprecedented 10-day holiday through Monday that was extended to celebrate new Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement. The broader Topix finished 18.09 points, or 1.12 percent, lower at 1,599.84. Decliners were led by mining, machinery, and glass and ceramics product issues. Shares were weak throughout the first trading day of the Reiwa Era as risk aversion prevailed following an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that tariffs would be raised on Chinese imports, brokers said. The Nikkei ended below the 22,000 line for the first time in nearly a month. Trump said Washington would raise duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent on Friday, accusing Beijing of reneging on commitments it had agreed to in trade deal negotiations. “It’s a negative surprise. If not for trade jitters, the Nikkei would have risen amid a festive mood on the first trading day of the new era,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. “Investors were concerned that the tariff hike will hit the Chinese economy once again, after it had shown signs of bottoming out recently, and if that happens it will trigger a slowdown in global growth,” Miura added. Although Tokyo stock declines were limited in morning trading, losses widened in the afternoon after Chinese shares turned negative on reports by some Chinese media that Beijing is prepared to temporarily suspend trade talks with Washington. “The risk aversion is expected to continue throughout the week and shares will fluctuate depending on developments in the U.S.-China trade talks” later this week, said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co. U.S. media reported the world’s two largest economies are still set to hold talks in Washington on Thursday and Friday aimed at ending their tit-for-tat tariff war. On the first section, declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,457 to 623, while 60 ended unchanged. Companies with heavy exposure to China drew selling, with industrial robot maker Fanuc dropping ¥670, or 3.2 percent, to ¥20,105 and Hitachi Construction sagging ¥180, or 6.1 percent, to ¥2,770. Semiconductor issues dropped amid worries about global growth triggered by the renewed trade tensions, with Sumco falling ¥58, or 4.0 percent, to ¥1,402 and Screen Holdings diving ¥240, or 4.5 percent, to ¥5,100. Trading volume on the main section rose to 1.56 billion shares from 1.32 billion shares on April 26.
|
china;tse;tariffs;donald trump;trade war
|
jp0004490
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Japan store operator Cainz to set up fund to invest in AI tech in Silicon Valley
|
Do-it-yourself store operator Cainz Corp. will set up a fund in Silicon Valley to invest in startups with artificial intelligence and other technologies, according to President Masayuki Takaya. “We’ll create a foothold in the U.S. West Coast to tap technologies of local startups,” Takaya said in a recent interview. Cainz will launch the $10 million fund later this month, hoping to gain access to sophisticated technologies in a bid to develop smartphone-based services and rationalize its store operations. It is unusual for a Japanese retailer to create an investment fund for such purposes abroad. Cainz will select businesses it will invest in by teaming up with a U.S. investment company that has a deep knowledge of startups with advanced technologies good for use in retailing, Takaya said. Over the coming three years, Cainz will invest ¥10 billion, or about a half of its total investments planned for the period, in technology-related fields, according to Takaya. He also said the company will start a service this year allowing shoppers to easily find products and check stocks at retail outlets through a smartphone app. Takaya is the first Cainz president from outside the founding family. Before he took up the post in March, he served as president of machinery parts trader Misumi Group Inc.
|
retailers;silicon valley;cainz corp .
|
jp0004491
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Naomi Osaka's Mastercard deal underscores Japanese star's magnetic brand appeal
|
Naomi Osaka has added Mastercard Inc. to her endorsement contracts, as the No. 1 ranked tennis player continues to attract sponsors following her wins at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. Osaka, who wore the Mastercard logo on her visor during her first match at the Madrid Open this week, tweeted about the deal, which was confirmed by her talent agency IMG in an emailed statement. It was the tennis star’s seventh corporate endorsement since she won the U.S. Open in September. The Mastercard deal comes a month after Osaka surprised industry watchers by signing up with Nike Inc., switching from the U.S. sports brand’s biggest rival, Adidas AG. Nike has traditionally prohibited tennis stars it sponsors from displaying other brands or logos on its clothing, a barrier IMG broke through with a deal to allow shoulder patches for Chinese tennis star Li Na in 2009. Mastercard will gain valuable real estate on Osaka’s outfit, joining patches on her shirt from instant noodle maker Nissin Foods Holdings Co. and airline ANA Holdings Inc. International brands from Nissan Motor Co. to Shiseido Co. have signed Osaka with an eye toward building their brand globally. Osaka’s mother is Japanese and her father is Haitian American. IMG declined to disclose the terms of Osaka’s Mastercard agreement. Mastercard didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Osaka has won the last two Grand Slams. She became the first Japanese singles player to win one of the four majors when she overcame Serena Williams at the U.S. Open. Her ascent to the top of the women’s game has made her a hot commodity for the world’s top brands. She also has deals with watch company Citizen.
|
tennis;ana;nissan;shiseido;mastercard;nike;adidas;naomi osaka;nissin
|
jp0004492
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Japan's Chiyoda Corp. reportedly to get ¥150 billion bailout from Mitsubishi and MUFG Bank
|
Embattled plant engineering firm Chiyoda Corp. is expected to receive financial aid valued at up to about ¥150 billion from its top shareholder, Mitsubishi Corp., together with MUFG Bank, it was learned Tuesday. The aid will potentially include loans and a capital increase through third-party allotment of preferred shares, according to sources. Chiyoda plans to accelerate efforts to improve its financial standing after losses from a liquefied natural gas plant project in Louisiana forced the company to lower its consolidated net loss estimate for fiscal 2018, which ended in March, to over ¥200 billion. The LNG plant losses came after the company faced difficulties securing workers for the project as workers were hard to find during a rebuilding boom following a hurricane. A large portion of the aid will be provided through the issuance of preferred shares without voting rights to Mitsubishi, which owns an equity stake of more than 30 percent in Chiyoda, the sources said. Chiyoda is expected to remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Chiyoda said Tuesday its group net loss for the year ended in March is projected to have doubled to ¥215 billion from its earlier forecast, prompting it to seek financial support. The company had projected a fiscal 2018 group net loss of ¥105 billion last October. Chiyoda attributed the downward revision to additional costs for the LNG project in Louisiana. It also expects its group operating loss to have expanded to ¥200 billion, from an earlier projected ¥86.5 billion, on revenues of ¥340 billion, down from an earlier forecast of ¥400 billion. The firm was scheduled to announce its fiscal 2018 earnings Thursday. A Mitsubishi official declined to comment on the details “because the matter is under discussion.” The trading firm has helped the engineering company when it faced difficulties in the past, saying it believes Chiyoda has technological prowess in building LNG plants. Chiyoda had said it would compile a restructuring plan by the end of March but postponed the release, saying it was “continuing talks with the main stakeholders and are in the stage of making arrangements.”
|
mitsubishi;lng;mufg;louisiana;chiyoda corp .
|
jp0004493
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Nearly 40% of companies see low retention rate for midcareer hires: survey
|
Close to 40 percent of employers feel they have low retention rates for regular employees hired in the middle of their careers, according to a survey. The survey was conducted online by recruitment agency En-Japan Inc. between late January and late February on companies that have hired midcareer employees over the past three years. Valid responses were received from 693 firms. Of the respondents, 6.9 percent said their retention rate for midcareer employees was “very low” and 29.8 percent answered “low.” On the other hand, the ratios of respondents answering “high” and “very high” were 21.6 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively. Companies that said midcareer hires were likely to quit between six months and a year after being hired accounted for 19.2 percent, while 5.8 percent said such employees tend to leave in less than a month. One in three firms said a midcareer hire was prone to quitting in less than six months. The percentage of respondent companies saying they plan to actively work on retaining midcareer hires stood at 62.5 percent, while 20.4 percent said they will do so for some of their overall employees. When asked to give reasons for working on raising the retention rates for midcareer hires, with multiple answers allowed, 70.6 percent said they do not want to let go of personnel trained by them, 59.5 percent cited difficulties in recruiting new employees and 46.8 percent said they want to avoid lowering workplace morale. Observers say retaining midcareer hires is crucial for many companies, especially in the midst of Japan’s severe labor shortage.
|
companies;labor shortage;surveys
|
jp0004494
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Tough online competition forces Isetan Mitsukoshi to shutter one of its Singapore outlets
|
SINGAPORE - Leading department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. will shut one of its five outlets in Singapore due to tough competition from online retailers. Its local subsidiary, Isetan (Singapore) Ltd., said Monday it will not renew its lease with JB Trustee Pte., landlord of the Isetan Jurong East store in the western part of the city-state. The decision is “part of the company’s ongoing exercise of continuous assessment, realignment and consolidation of its operations to enable better deployment of existing resources among its other business units,” Isetan said in a statement. The lease agreement with the landlord runs through Dec. 22, but the closing date is not confirmed, a local unit spokesman told NNA. Isetan Mitsukoshi’s Singaporean arm operates four other stores in the country — Scotts in the central district, Tampines and Katong in the east and Serangoon Central in the northeast. It said in a financial statement that sales have declined in recent years, recording 121 million Singapore dollars ($88.8 million) in 2018, only about a third of 2014 sales, and booking a net loss of $SG13.7 million. “We recognize that the changing retail landscape and disruptions caused by e-commerce will erode our competitiveness,” Isetan (Singapore) Chairman Toshihiko Nakagome said in a statement in March. The local arm said in April it plans to invest SG$12 million to renovate Isetan Scotts, its flagship outlet, from around the middle of this year for scheduled completion in 2020, converting it into “a lifestyle destination store” as part of a long-term turnaround plan. Isetan (Singapore) also said it refurbished its Tampines and Katong outlets from 2017 through 2018.
|
singapore;e-commerce;retailers;isetan mitsukoshi holdings
|
jp0004496
|
[
"world"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Fighting kills 26 in Syria's northwest, monitor says
|
BEIRUT - Clashes between Syrian regime forces and jihadis Monday killed more than 26 fighters in the country’s northwest, which has seen an escalation in shelling and airstrikes, a monitor said. Eleven pro-government fighters were among those killed in fierce fighting in the northern countryside of Hama province, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Fifteen jihadis, including members of al-Qaida’s former Syrian branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally, the Turkistan Islamic Party, were also killed, the war monitor said. The fighting came as regime forces advanced on two villages and a strategic hilltop in the region, it said. State news agency SANA said Syrian troops launched “intensive operations,” targeting supply lines and areas where armed groups operate in northern Hama and neighboring Idlib. The region held by HTS has faced intensifying bombardment in the past month, prompting a new wave of displacement. On Monday, four civilians were killed in shelling and airstrikes on Idlib and neighboring areas by the Syrian government and its ally Russia, said the Observatory. An AFP photographer in Idlib saw several houses completely destroyed by recent attacks. One man who lost his wife, his daughter-in-law, and his two grandchildren during shelling overnight prepared a pickup truck to relocate surviving members of his family. “I don’t know where I’m going,” he told AFP. More than 140,000 civilians have been forced to flee attacks since February, Refugees International said on Monday. “It is difficult to overstate the urgency of this looming humanitarian disaster if nothing is done to protect these people,” the non-governmental organization said in a statement. Escalated attacks have hit schools and medical facilities, according to the UN. Since 28 April, at least seven health care facilities have reportedly been struck, including four in Hama and three in Idlib, said David Swanson of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Russia and rebel-backer Turkey in September inked a buffer zone deal to prevent a massive regime offensive on the Idlib region, near the Turkish border. But the region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since HTS took full control of it in January. The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
|
conflict;russia;syria;u.n .;al-qaida;bashar assad;idlib
|
jp0004497
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/07
|
Scientists in U.S. develop device that can detect bacteria in minutes instead of days
|
WASHINGTON - The era of doctors prescribing patients powerful antibiotics while they wait for lab reports could soon be numbered, with a new device returning results within minutes instead of days. It was invented by a team at Penn State University, and described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. Co-developed by Pak Kin Wong, a professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, the device uses microtechnology to trap single bacteria cells that can then be viewed under an electron microscope. The approach allows clinicians to determine in as little as 30 minutes whether bacteria is present and its susceptibility to drug treatment — as opposed to the three-to-five days such lab work currently takes. “We currently prescribe antibiotics even when there is no bacteria present,” Wong said. “That is over-prescription. That is one of things we tried to express. Can we quickly determine the existence of bacterial infection?” The researchers’ paper said that in addition to being able to detect whether bacteria is present, the device can begin to classify the type — by determining whether the cells are spherical, rod-shaped, or spiral. “This device determines existence but not what type of bacteria it is,” said Wong. “What we’re working on is a complementary molecular approach such that we can ID the species.” After finding bacteria present, the sample can be exposed to antibiotics to determine whether the strain is resistant, in which case antibiotic intervention would prove ineffective. “Urinary tract infections are the most common bacterial infections,” said Wong. “However, over 75 percent of urine specimens sent to a clinical microbiology laboratory are negative. Rapidly ruling out or confirming the presence of bacteria at a clinically relevant concentration will dramatically enhance patient care.” He added that the team had applied for a provisional patent and could bring their device, which they hope to scale down in size so that it can be used in hospitals and doctors’ offices, to market in three years’ time.
|
medicine;health;science;bacteria;antibiotics
|
jp0004499
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2019/05/07
|
High levels of sunscreen ingredients end up in bloodstream, FDA researchers say
|
BANGALORE, INDIA - The active ingredients of commonly used sunscreens end up in the bloodstream at much higher levels than current U.S. guidelines from health regulators and warrant further safety studies, according to a small study conducted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers and published on Monday. The over-the-counter products originally marketed to prevent sunburn with little regulation are widely used to block radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer, the most common malignancy in the United States. The study of 23 volunteers tested four sunscreens, including sprays, lotion and cream, applied to 75 percent of the body four times a day over four days, with blood tests to determine the maximum levels of certain chemicals absorbed into the bloodstream conducted over seven days. The study found maximum plasma levels of the chemicals it tested for — avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene and in one sunscreen ecamsule — to be well above the level of 0.5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) at which FDA guidelines call for further safety testing. For example, the maximum concentration of avobenzone was found to be 4 ng/mL and 3.4 ng/mL for two different sprays, 4.3 ng/mL for a lotion and 1.8 ng/mL for the cream. Researchers did not name the products used in the study. The effects of plasma concentrations exceeding the FDA’s limit is not known and needs to be further studied, the research team wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The results in no way suggest that people should stop using sunscreen to protect against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, researchers said. “The demonstration of systemic absorption well above the FDA guideline does not mean these ingredients are unsafe,” Dr. Robert Califf and Dr. Kanade Shinkai said in an editorial that accompanied the study in JAMA. “The study findings raise many important questions about sunscreen and the process by which the sunscreen industry, clinicians, specialty organizations, and regulatory agencies evaluate the benefits and risks of this topical OTC medication,” they added. David Andrews, a senior scientist at the nonprofit health and environmental advocacy group Environmental Working Group, called for thorough testing of sunscreen ingredients. “For years the sunscreen chemical manufactures have resisted common sense safety testing for their ingredients and now FDA is proposing that these common ingredients must undergo additional testing to stay on the market,” Andrews said. However, the Personal Care Products Council trade association pointed out limitations of the study and expressed concern that it may confuse consumers. Sunscreens in the study were used at “twice the amount that would be applied in what the scientific community considers real-world conditions,” said Alexandra Kowcz, the group’s chief scientist.
|
u.s .;cancer;fda;sunscreen;bloodstream
|
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