Extinction Rebellion climate activists want you to give up hope — or wake up

Abstract: PARIS - The Extinction Rebellion, a network of climate activists who use civil disobedience to spotlight inaction on global warming, is rooted in the conviction that humanity has dug its own grave and has one foot dangling over the edge. The fledgling movement’s growing ranks, already spread across several dozen countries, believe that homo sapiens — perhaps not so “wise” after all — is doomed to terrible suffering, or worse. A clear-eyed reading of science, they say, reveals that our appetites and ecological footprint have tipped Earth into a rare period of mass extinction from which humans are not exempt. They see claims to the contrary as tantamount to climate denial. “It is really about waking people up to the fact that this is an emergency situation,” said Sara Arnold, a 32-year designer and entrepreneur who has helped to lead campaigns in Britain, including one Sunday disrupting traffic around London Fashion Week. “We want people to start to digest the reality of climate change.” The sister Sunrise Movement in the United States, which champions the ambitious Green New Deal put forward by progressives in Congress, also calls for a WWII-scale response. Whether it’s time to panic about the threat of runaway global warming may depend less on Earth systems than human ones. Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at current rates will eventually lead to an unlivable hothouse planet. Where they disagree is on society’s willingness to curb that carbon pollution, the effectiveness of the tools available to do so, and our capacity to adapt to changes already in the pipeline. “People imagine that we’ll find a solution in the future, that we still have time,” Doug McAdam, a professor of sociology at Stanford University, told AFP. “A lot of people don’t see it as the crisis it so clearly is.” Getting real, in other words, about the impact of deadly heatwaves, flooding and superstorms made worse by rising seas also means not overestimating humanity’s ability to confront and stem the tide. Assurances from governments, think tanks and NGOs that the crisis is manageable and a solution within reach are rejected as false hope based on wishful thinking or lies. “Our first demand to government is that they tell the truth about the ecological emergency we’re facing,” said Liam Geary Baulch, one of the Extinction Rebellion activists who — in their first public action last October — lay down in rush-hour traffic outside Parliament and glued themselves to the entrance of government offices. Why has this new wave of climate militants emerged now? One reason is impatience: despite much high-level hand-wringing and 24 U.N. climate conferences, the problem continues to outstrip efforts to rein it in. “On climate change, we have to acknowledge that we have failed,” 16-year old Greta Thunberg, a kindred spirit from Sweden who has inspired high school strikes in half-a-dozen countries, told the global ruling class at Davos last month. “We have had 30 years of pep talks and selling positive ideas. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work,” she added. “If it did, emissions would have gone down by now. They haven’t.” Science, meanwhile, has delivered a steady drumbeat of bad news: The most common refrain in climate science has long been “worse than previously thought. Not coincidentally, Extinction Rebellion emerged in the wake of a massive U.N. report warning that only a rapid, wholesale transformation of society and the global economy will stave off climate catastrophe. These mostly young activists differ from others pushing for rapid and deep change in at least three crucial ways, they say. To start, they reject what they see as the false optimism of mainstream climate action groups. “Adults keep saying, ‘We owe it to young people to give them hope,’ ” Thunberg said at the Davos power gathering. “But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic.” For the Extinction Rebellion, that means allowing oneself to be emotionally overwhelmed by the bleak tidings from science, the second key difference. Received wisdom says that a deep dive into climate gloom only makes people throw up their hands in despair — which is why grim U.N. and NGO reports are often leavened with hopeful messages that ring hollow. “We need to grieve about the lives that have already been lost due to climate change, human or otherwise,” said Baulch. “Grieving” is the gateway to the “XR” worldview, and once that psychological threshold is crossed there’s no turning back. “Today, I see pretty much everything through the lens of climate change,” said Arnold, who admits to having second thoughts about her fashion rental business. “There is no point in sharing clothes if we are all going to go extinct.” Finally, there is the willingness to put oneself in harm’s way in the tradition of the major civil disobedience campaigns of the 20th century. “Rebellion is justified once the establishment fails,” Gail Bradbrook, a scientist and Extinction Rebellion founder says in the hour-long lecture delivered hundreds of time over the last six months in community centers, churches and universities across Britain. “When a government fails to protect the lives and livelihoods of its citizens — as in the case of climate change — the people have the right to rebel.”

davos
u.n .
climate change
environment
green new deal
extinction rebellion
sunrise movement


Venezuela military backs Maduro and goes on 'alert' for border violations

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuela’s military reaffirmed its support for embattled President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday and said it was on “alert” for border violations following threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, who urged them to back opposition leader Juan Guaido. “The armed forces will remain deployed and on alert along the borders … to avoid any violations of territorial integrity,” said Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, reading out a statement in a public appearance alongside top commanders. “We reiterate unrestrictedly our obedience, subordination and loyalty” to Maduro, he added. Maduro, 56, faces calls to quit as his country struggles with shortages of food and medicine. The military high command has so far maintained its public backing for Maduro — seen as key to keeping him in power. Guaido, leader of the Venezuelan legislature, has declared himself acting president and is appealing to military leaders to switch allegiance to him. He posted a series of tweets calling by name on senior military leaders commanding border posts to abandon Maduro, whom he has branded illegitimate over the socialist leader’s disputed reelection last year. He is backed by the United States and some 50 other countries. The United States has sent food and medical aid for Venezuela, currently stockpiled over the border in Colombia, but the military has so far refused to let it enter the country. Last week, Guaido said the aid would enter Venezuela this coming Saturday, regardless of the military opposition. Bringing in aid is crucial to Guaido’s challenge to Maduro’s authority. The 35-year-old has offered military commanders an amnesty if they abandon Maduro. On Tuesday, he sent an identical Twitter message to 11 generals saying: “On February 23 you have to choose between serving Maduro or serving the homeland. Let in the humanitarian aid.” Trump has refused to rule out U.S. military action in Venezuela. He raised the pressure on Monday, issuing a warning to the Venezuelan military. He told them that if they continue to support Maduro, “you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything.” Padrino rejected Trump’s threat, branding the U.S. president “arrogant.” Maduro’s government says the aid is a smokescreen for an invasion. If foreign powers try to help install a new government by force, they will have to do so “over our dead bodies,” Padrino said. Although sitting on the world’s biggest oil reserves, Venezuela is gripped by a humanitarian crisis. It has suffered four years of recession marked by astronomical hyperinflation that the International Monetary Fund says will reach 10 million percent in 2019. An estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015. Guaido says 300,000 people face death without the aid but Maduro denies there is a humanitarian crisis. Padrino said the military would not be “blackmailed” by “a pack of lies and manipulations” and accused Trump and Guaido of portraying “supposed humanitarian aid” as a clash between the armed forces and the people. Maduro announced on Monday that 300 tons of Russian aid would reach Venezuela on Wednesday. He previously announced the arrival of aid from China, Cuba and Russia, his main international allies. The military has placed freight containers and tankers across the Colombian border bridge the aid would need to cross. Guaido urged supporters to write to the 11 generals “from the heart, with arguments, without violence, without insults,” expressing why they should support the opposition. The army previously announced a “special deployment plan” for the 2,200-km (1,370-mile) border with Colombia. Besides shortages of basic necessities, Venezuelans face failing public services such as electricity, water and transport. The opposition has plans to open two more aid collection centers this week in Brazil and the Dutch island of Curacao, just off Venezuela’s northern coast. Guaido has already enlisted the support of 700,000 people to help bring in the aid on Saturday, but has said he wants a million to have signed up by then. On Tuesday he thanked France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany for pledging “more than $18 million for the humanitarian aid.” France has also sent 70 tons of medicines and food. Maduro has dismissed the humanitarian assistance as “crumbs” and “rotten and contaminated food,” while laying the blame for economic hardship on U.S. sanctions. The government also said on Monday it will stage a concert on the Colombian border Friday to Saturday, when Richard Branson has said he will hold a pro-aid concert just over the frontier.

u.s .
russia
military
venezuela
colombia
nicolas maduro
humanitarian aid
donald trump
juan guaido


Trump denies asking Matthew Whitaker to change hush-money probe and tap recused ally to take over

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump denied a New York Times report that he asked then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to intervene in a federal investigation of hush-money payments to the president’s alleged former mistresses during the 2016 election campaign. “No, I didn’t,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of fake news out there.” The Times reported earlier in the day that Trump had asked Whitaker whether U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan, a Trump ally the president appointed to the position, could be put in charge of the investigation. Berman had previously recused himself from the investigation, citing a conflict of interest. Whitaker was asked during a congressional committee hearing whether he ever had any conversations about reassigning or firing anyone with the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is handling the probe into the hush-money payments. Whitaker didn’t answer. Trump has fumed to advisers about a raid by federal prosecutors of his lawyer and former fixer Michael Cohen in April 2018, and those close to Trump have feared the investigation into Cohen could extend deeper into Trump’s business. In August, Cohen admitted he made illegal campaign contributions at the behest of Trump and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in connection with the hush-money payments. In November, Cohen plead guilty to lying to Congress and admitted that he spoke with Trump and Russian officials as late as June 2016 about a potential business deal in Moscow that Cohen told Congress had ended months earlier.

u.s .
scandals
donald trump
michael cohen
matthew whitaker
geoffrey berman


French murder suspect could be linked to 40 unsolved cases, police say

Abstract: PARIS - French investigators have identified around 40 unsolved disappearances and other cold cases potentially linked to a former soldier who was arrested last year and charged with two murders in southeast France. Nordahl Lelandais has already confessed to the killing of a hitchhiking soldier in April 2017, and the abduction and murder of an 8-year-old schoolgirl in August 2017. He has also been charged with the sexual assault of two second cousins, both minors. After just over a year of reviewing Lelandais’s background and movements, police say he could be connected with around 40 unsolved cases, mainly in the Rhone-Alpes region. “At this point, Nordahl Lelandais hasn’t been formally and legally implicated in any of these cases,” Jean-Philippe Lecouffe of the national gendarmerie military police force told journalists at its headquarters outside Paris on Monday. Most of the cases are unsolved disappearances, while fewer than a dozen involve minors, said Lecouffe, who didn’t rule out the possibility that more cases might come under review. He did not disclose the specific cases under review, but they may include the 2011 disappearance of a man at the Elements electronic music festival near the Albertville ski resort, French media reported. A second party-goer went missing at the same event the year after, reports said. At the same time Lecouffe said the review had determined Lelandais probably was not involved in the 2003 disappearance of 24-year-old Belgian chef Adrien Mourialme, who was working in a restaurant on the banks of the picturesque Lake Annecy before he went missing in July 2017. A source close to the inquiry later told AFP the review had also ruled out Lelandais’s involvement in a famously unsolved murder case near the Alpine village of Chevaline in 2012, when a British-Iraqi family and a cyclist were gunned down in broad daylight. No motive has been found by police in that case despite exhaustive investigations in Britain, France and Iraq.

france
murder
serial killers
nordahl lelandais


Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg active questioner in first argument since surgery

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an active participant as she sat for her first U.S. Supreme Court argument since she underwent lung cancer surgery two months ago. Ginsburg, 85, climbed three steps to the court’s bench with no apparent difficulty as the hour-long session began. She waited barely a minute before asking the first of five questions she posed in the patent case. The justice’s presence offered reassurance to liberals worried about any prospect that she might have to step down and give President Donald Trump a third Supreme Court vacancy to fill. Ginsburg had been working from home while recovering from the operation. She missed two weeks of arguments in January — a first for her — but is taking part in those cases by using the briefs and transcripts, court officials have said. She attended a private conference at the court with her fellow justices on Friday. The court has an abbreviated schedule this week, with only two 60-minute arguments. In the Tuesday case, the issue is whether federal agencies, such as the U.S. Postal Service, can use an administrative system set up by Congress in 2011 to challenge previously issued patents. Ginsburg asked questions of both sides. She asked Beth Brinkmann, the lawyer for a company trying to protect a patent against a Postal Service challenge, why Congress would “want to leave a government agency out of this second look.” Later she suggested to Justice Department lawyer Malcolm Stewart that his argument might give the government “two bites of the apple” because it would be able to press similar arguments against a patent in federal court. Doctors discovered the growths on Ginsburg’s lung through tests performed after she fell and broke three ribs. Ginsburg was discharged from the hospital Dec. 25. The court said in January that Ginsburg’s recovery was on track and there was no evidence of remaining disease. She has already survived bouts with colon and pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, has said on several occasions that she intends to stay in the job as long as she can do it “full steam.” The last time a member of the Supreme Court missed any extensive time on the bench was the 2004-05 term, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist missed 44 arguments while battling thyroid cancer. Rehnquist died in September 2005 and was replaced by John Roberts.

u.s .
cancer
u.s. supreme court
ruth bader ginsburg


Andrew McCabe says 'Gang of Eight' lawmakers didn't object when FBI opened Trump probe

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said congressional leaders — Republicans and Democrats — didn’t object when he informed them in 2017 that the bureau was opening a counterintelligence investigation into President Donald Trump. “That’s the important part here,” McCabe said in an interview Tuesday on NBC’s “Today Show.” “No one objected. Not on legal grounds, not on constitutional grounds and not based on the facts.” McCabe said he briefed those leaders — known as the “Gang of Eight” — about the Trump probe in the days after the president fired FBI director James Comey in May of 2017. McCabe has said officials began the investigation out of concern that Trump may have been colluding with Russia. The “Gang of Eight” has special clearances to hear classified intelligence information. At that time, it included Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It also included the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence panels. The lawmakers’ staffs had no immediate response Tuesday to the assertion by McCabe, who is promoting a book defending his time at the FBI and disputing the reasons he was fired just over a day before he was due to retire and collect a pension. McCabe has said he was present when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein brought up the idea of wearing a wire to secretly record Trump as well as the possibility of invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove the president from office on the grounds he was unfit for office. The Justice Department has disputed McCabe’s depiction of the conversations. Trump has been tweeting his outrage over McCabe’s assertions, saying on Monday that he and Rosenstein “were planning a very illegal act, and got caught.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he intends to subpoena Rosenstein and McCabe for a hearing to explore allegations they discussed ways to remove Trump from office, which Graham described as an attempted “administrative coup.’ On Friday, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to the panel’s Democratic chairman, Jerrold Nadler of New York, asking that the committee request testimony from McCabe and Rosenstein.

u.s .
congress
mitch mcconnell
nancy pelosi
donald trump
chuck schumer
kevin mccarthy
andrew mccabe
russia probe


Eighth British MP quits Labour, saying party is 'infected' with 'anti-Jewish racism' under Corbyn

Abstract: LONDON - Joan Ryan has become the eighth member of Parliament to resign from the U.K.’s main opposition Labour party. Ryan, a lawmaker elected from Enfield North, wrote in a tweet late Tuesday that she was resigning over concerns about anti-Semitism allegations within the party. Seven other Labour lawmakers quit Monday over leader Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to Brexit and a row over anti-Semitism, saying the party had been “hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left.” In a letter posted on Twitter, Ryan accused the Labour Party of being “infected” with “anti-Jewish racism” since Corbyn became its leader in 2015. She alleged that the issue did not exist before Corbyn’s election as Labour leader. Corbyn, a supporter of Palestinian rights and critic of the Israeli government, has previously been accused by some of failing to tackle anti-Semitism in the party. He denies the allegation. Ryan, who was first elected as a member of Parliament in 1997, will now be joining an independent breakaway group. The seven lawmakers who quit the party Monday will continue to sit as members of Parliament under the banner “The Independent Group.” Corbyn has cemented a shift to the left in Labour, taking control of a party that, under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, moved to the center to win and retain power for 13 years.

eu
u.k .
anti-semitism
u.k. parliament
labour
brexit
jeremy corbyn


Mexico leader's austere, unguarded air travel routine proves security headache

Abstract: MEXICO CITY - Accompanied only by five unarmed aides and a small collection of amulets, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador makes police and flight attendants alike tremble when he embarks on air travel, always in economy class. Lopez Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, stops for photos with everyone, allowing them to kiss, hug or even grab him by the waist. “Of course, whatever photos you like,” said the smiling president to a woman trying to snatch a photo with her smart phone as he walked to the plane ahead of a trip to Sinaloa, the dangerous drug-trafficking state made famous by narcotics kingpin Joaquim “El Chapo” Guzman. AMLO’s acquiescence sparked a near stampede as others swirled around the president looking for their own memento. All the while, there was no security to push back the throngs. Mexico’s leftist leader has done away with the thousands of military escorts looking after the president and sent them to work “for the benefit of the people.” The presidential jet, a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 bought for $218 million, is now on sale in California. AMLO traveled to Sinaloa on a cramped Embraer Jet. “How can I board this plane when there’s so much poverty in Mexico,” AMLO had said about the Boeing Dreamliner. Now he travels with a small retinue of aides headed by Daniel Asaf, a restauranter of Lebanese origin and former candidate for Mexico City’s legislature. In fact, none of AMLO’s aides are security specialists, instead they are defined by their “loyalty.” Three women and two men spent most of the trip to Sinaloa shoving back reporters and asking travelers to move away after taking a selfie. The security services may be in a fluster but AMLO is the most popular president in the country’s history with an 80 percent approval rating, according to the last Mitofsky poll. Part of that popularity came from his campaign promises to reduce his own salary and those of the government’s top officials. However, Mexico City’s airport police are less impressed with AMLO’s humble availability. “When he has to cross the entire airport, it’s the worst,” said an airport police officer who wished to remain anonymous. “People pounce on him. If one day someone wants to do something to him we won’t be able to stop them because he doesn’t like being guarded. “He can’t continue like this, he has to use the VIP room.” On this journey, AMLO was heading to one of a part of Mexico infested with drug traffickers and violent gangs. But he has no fear of being attacked, believing himself protected by an assortment of talismans. “I have a lot of protection, this is a shield,” he told AFP, holding up an image of the “Sacred Heart” of Jesus. Among his other protective amulets, AMLO carries a four leaf clover and a dollar given to him by a Mexican migrant. For some passengers, having the president on their flight gives them a feeling of security. Carmen Diaz, a 52-year-old housewife traveling to Sinaloa for a party, said she would have “never expected” to find herself on a flight with the president. Although she worried it would be unsafe due to the number of people aboard, “it’s the opposite because they’re watching the flight closer.” But for air stewardess Alejandra Martinez, the flight is a headache. “It’s awful that he’s come on my flight. People are ignoring the (safety) instructions, they’re leaving their seats even during turbulence and the press don’t understand that their cameras could become projectiles if something unexpected happens,” she said. “I hope he never travels with my family.” Upon landing at the Culiacan airport in Sinaloa, AMLO was met by throngs of supporters and angry widows of police officers killed in the fight against drug traffickers. After all the commotion of his humble journey, AMLO had no time for the waiting masses, and was whisked away by the local governor’s security detail.

airlines
security
poverty
mexico
crime
andres manuel lopez obrador


Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as Justice Department No. 2

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as the next deputy U.S. attorney general, the White House said Tuesday night, the latest shuffle in the Justice Department at a time when it faces close scrutiny over its Russia investigation. Rosen, currently deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, would succeed Rod Rosenstein, who appointed a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign. Rosenstein is expected to step down by mid-March, a Justice Department official said on Monday. Attorney General William Barr welcomed the choice of Rosen, saying in a statement that he had 35 years of experience at the highest levels of government and in the private sector. “His years of outstanding legal and management experience make him an excellent choice to succeed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has served the Department of Justice over many years with dedication and distinction,” Barr said. Rosen’s nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He previously served as general counsel in the Transportation Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) but does not have experience as a prosecutor or Justice Department official, which is unusual for a deputy attorney general candidate. The Justice Department oversees the nation’s law enforcement and various federal investigations, including the U.S. Special Counsel’s Office probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump’s presidential campaign. Rosenstein gained national attention after Trump’s former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the Russia investigation, leaving his then second-in-command to oversee U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team. Trump, who repeatedly criticized Sessions over the probe that he calls a “witch hunt,” ousted Sessions in November. Rosenstein, who stopped overseeing Mueller’s probe on Nov. 7 when Trump named Matt Whittaker acting attorney general, had been expected to leave soon after Barr assumed office. The U.S. Senate confirmed Barr last week. Rosen was nominated to be a federal judge by Republican President George W. Bush in 2008, but did not get a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate, which was under Democratic control at the time. He was rated “well qualified” by the nonpartisan American Bar Association. Thomas Yannucci, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis who has known Rosen since 1982, described him as an able legal administrator who will be committed to ensuring the independence of the Justice Department. “No one’s going to push Jeff around. He’ll be committed to doing his job,” Yannucci said. Rosen has supported Republican candidates in past elections, although he has not donated money to Trump, federal records show. Rosen contributed $7,545 to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and $100 in April 2015 to Marco Rubio, one of Trump’s rivals for the Republican nomination in the 2016 campaign. Rosen was a key figure in efforts to rewrite fuel efficiency regulations and set drone policy. He served as the Transportation Department’s general counsel from 2003 through 2006 and OMB’s general counsel from 2006 to 2009.

donald trump
rod rosenstein
russia probe
william barr
jeffrey rosen


Over 10 people feared 'buried' in avalanche at Swiss ski station

Abstract: GENEVA - An avalanche at a ski station in the Swiss Alps buried several people on Tuesday, regional police said, as local media reported that more than 10 people may have been covered. The avalanche on the Plaine-Morte ski track in Crans-Montana in southern Valais canton occurred in the early afternoon and left “several people buried,” local police said in a tweet. Officers said rescue teams were at the scene. A local newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, quoted the head of Crans-Montana’s municipal government, Nicolas Feraud, as estimating that “between 10 and 12 people” remained buried under the snow. There was no official confirmation of any deaths. “We are shocked and hope for good news about these people,” Feraud was quoted as saying. The paper also quoted one unidentified witness as saying that four people had been pulled out of the snow but their condition was unclear. Four helicopters were searching for possible victims above the avalanche area, which covered roughly 400 meters (1,300 feet) of ski track, according to Le Nouvelliste. In a statement, the Crans-Montana resort (CMA SA) said it was unable to confirm any victims. Plaine-Morte, at an elevation of about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), is the highest ski track at Crans-Montana. Crans-Montana’s website had listed the risk of an avalanche at two on scale that runs from one (lowest risk) to five. Tuesday’s avalanche was unusual in that it affected a designated ski track, while the vast majority of deadly avalanches in the Alpine nation hit people skiing off-piste. Traffic is higher than normal at ski resorts across Switzerland this week because of midterm school holidays.

mountaineering
switzerland
mountains
swiss alps
avalanches


Trump wants North Korea to denuclearize but says 'I'm in no rush'

Abstract: WASHINGTON/SEOUL - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he wants North Korea to end its nuclear program, but he is in no rush and has no pressing time schedule for Pyongyang to ultimately denuclearize. Trump is meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the second time on Feb. 27 and 28 in Vietnam. Speaking to reporters at a White House event, Trump said sanctions against the Asian nation would remain in place in the meantime and noted Pyongyang has not conducted nuclear or rocket tests recently. “I’m in no rush. There’s no testing. As long as there is no testing, I’m in no rush. If there’s testing, that’s another deal,” he said. “I’d just like to see ultimately denuclearization of North Korea,” he also said. Earlier on Tuesday Trump spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in about the summit and he plans to talk to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. Moon told Trump in the call that his country is willing to open economic engagement with North Korea if it will hasten Pyongyang’s denuclearization, Moon’s office said. Since Trump and Kim first met in June last year, there has been little progress in talks between the two countries, while Moon and Kim have forged ahead with multiple summits of their own, as well as promises of inter-Korean cooperation on everything from reducing border tensions to launching a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics. But plans for economic projects, such as allowing South Korean tourists to visit the North, have been on hold while the United States keeps its sanctions in place. Moon told Trump he was ready to undertake anything from reconnecting rail and road links between the two Koreas to other inter-Korean economic cooperation to help on denuclearization, according to a statement from Moon’s spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. “We’re determined to take up that role if President Trump asks, if that’s the way to lessen the U.S. burden,” Moon said. Moon said it was Trump’s “leadership and firm resolve” that had brought difficult negotiations with North Korea thus far, according to the statement. He also said Trump is “overcoming diplomatic failures over the past 25 years that did not accomplish any outcome through negotiations but only strengthened North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities.” Moon’s praise echoes Trump’s own assessment of his efforts. He recently said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

shinzo abe
u.s .
north korea
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
south korea
sanctions
donald trump
moon jae-in


Taiwan leader says country will not accept any deal that destroys democracy

Abstract: TAIPEI - Taiwan will not accept any deal that destroys its sovereignty and democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday after the island’s opposition Kuomintang said it could sign a peace deal with China if it wins a presidential election next year. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered stinging losses to the China-friendly Kuomintang in mayoral and local elections in November. The Taiwan president’s comments came after she said Tuesday she will run for re-election as the island’s leader in 2020, despite her sagging popularity. “I’m confident about my re-election in 2020. Protecting #Taiwan’s freedom & democracy whilst building a brighter future for my 23 million fellow citizens is a goal worth fighting for,” she said in a Twitter post. Tsai, who took office in May 2016, was forced to step down as chief of the DPP after the November elections. The island nation’s first female leader, Tsai had earlier told CNN that she wanted to “complete” her vision for Taiwan in an interview on board her presidential jet. “It’s natural that any sitting president wants to do more for the country and wants to finish things on his or her agenda. And it’s quite natural for a president seeking another four years to complete his agenda or her agenda,” she said in the interview that aired Tuesday. Tsai, 62, won a landslide victory two years ago to defeat the ruling Kuomintang, which oversaw an unprecedented thaw in cross-strait ties but began to unnerve many voters with its perceived cosiness to the mainland. The result rattled Beijing because Tsai has refused to acknowledge that the self-ruled island is part of “One China.” She reached out to the mainland’s leadership after her election to seek talks but was rebuffed. Instead, Beijing cut communication with her administration, stepped up military drills and poached several of Taiwan’s dwindling diplomatic allies. Her popularity at home has waned considerably, primarily a backlash to domestic policies such as much needed public-sector pension reforms and a push for gay marriage rights that incensed and galvanized conservatives. Her ratings fell as low as 15 percent after she stepped down as head of the DPP following a series of major defeats in the November local elections. Tsai said she is “confident” about her reelection prospects, despite calls from some senior DPP members asking her not to stand again in early 2020. “This is something I have prepared for,” she told CNN. “It’s again another challenge. Being president, you’re not short of challenges. At good times you have challenges of one sort, and in bad times you have challenges of another sort.” Tsai blamed the election setback on what she called a “difficult reform agenda” pushed by her government, rather than the frosty cross-strait relations. “You get attacks, you get criticism, the people don’t feel the result of the reform so much when you’ve just started,” she said. The embattled leader’s popularity has rebounded somewhat after a bellicose New Year’s speech by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, describing Taiwan’s unification with the mainland as “inevitable.” Tsai delivered her own riposte, saying Taiwan would never relinquish its hard won democratic freedoms, a response that led to a boost in her ratings. Her main challengers will be from the opposition Kuomintang, with several of its heavyweights already indicating their interest in running, including former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu, who lost to Tsai in 2016.

china
taiwan
rights
elections
tsai ing-wen


North Korea's Kim to travel to Vietnam by train; Trump summit at Government Guesthouse: sources

Abstract: HANOI - Vietnam is preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to arrive by train for his summit in Hanoi next week with U.S. President Donald Trump, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning said on Wednesday. It could take Kim at least two and a half days to travel the thousands of kilometers through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned Feb. 25 arrival. Kim’s train will stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will disembark and drive 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car, the sources said. Trump and Kim will meet in the Vietnamese capital on Feb. 27-28, eight months after a historic summit in Singapore in June — the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader — at which they pledged to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Negotiations have made little headway since then and there is growing expectation that this time they need to reach a more specific agreement. Separately, three other sources with direct knowledge of the summit preparations said the preferred location for the meeting between the leaders is the Government Guesthouse, a colonial-era government building in central Hanoi. All five sources said the plans were subject to change. The sources were not authorized to speak to the media because of the sensitivities surround the secretive North Korean leader’s travel plans. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the summit organizing committee on Tuesday that security during the summit was “top priority,” Vietnam’s government said on its website on Wednesday. The Metropole Hotel, opposite the Government Guesthouse, will be a backup location for the summit, two of the sources said. On Saturday, a witness saw Kim Jong Un’s close aide, Kim Chang Son, visiting the Government Guesthouse and the Metropole and Melia hotels in the center of the capital. Kim could possibly stay in the Melia hotel during his visit, one of the sources said. Asked whether Kim would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way through the country, or for any other details of the trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of the situation. “China and North Korea have a tradition of high-level mutual visits. As for the situation you mentioned, I have no grasp of it,” Geng told a daily news briefing. He did not elaborate. Travel by train has been a favorite mode of transport for Kim Jong Un, as it was for his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung. North Korea experts have remarked on how Kim Jong Un’s overseas visits, such as his state visit to China in January, are reminiscent of Kim Il Sung. “(His father) Kim Jong Il was very reclusive. He didn’t like meeting foreign delegations, and he didn’t really enjoy going to foreign countries,” said Thae Yong Ho, North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain, who defected to South Korea in 2016, on Tuesday. “But Kim Jong Un is a bit like Kim Il Sung. He really likes overseas activity,” said Thae. Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited Vietnam twice, in 1958 and 1964. In 1958, Kim Il Sung went from Pyongyang to Beijing by plane, then from Beijing to Guangzhou by train, then he appears to have crossed the border from China to Hanoi by plane, South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported on Tuesday citing archived Chinese media reports. In 1964, Kim Il Sung visited Vietnam using a Vickers Viscount aircraft provided by China that was the personal plane of Lin Biao, Mao Zedong’s second-in-command, Kyunghyang reported.

china
u.s .
north korea
vietnam
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
donald trump
kim-trump summit


Leadership styles: Hanoi barber celebrates North Korea-U.S. summit with free Trump and Kim haircuts

Abstract: HANOI - For those who like to push the cutting edge of style, two of the world’s most talked-about haircuts are now available for free, in Vietnam. In honor of an upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27 and 28, a Hanoi barber is offering free haircuts to anyone wanting to copy their distinctive locks. “I feel happy with this haircut because people will think I look like the leader of North Korea,” said nine-year-old To Gia Huy, whose hair had been moulded to perfectly match the slicked-back top and shaved sides of Kim’s unique coiffure. Tuan Duong Beauty Academy is running the promotion until Feb. 28 as thousands of officials and journalists descend on the Vietnamese capital for the second summit between Trump and Kim, after their historic first meeting in Singapore last June. “I was doing this for fun only but was surprised at how people have responded,” said Le Tuan Duong, who owns the salon. “I love peace. I hate war so much. So many people in my family have died, so I support this summit very much,” said Duong, who lost two of his uncles during the Vietnam War. Le Phuc Hai, 66, said he was relaxing by a nearby lake when Duong asked if he would like to get his hair cut, and dyed, like Trump’s. Hai agreed, out of curiosity. “I’m not afraid of this bright orange hair color because after this promotional campaign, the hair salon owner said he would return my hair to normal,” Hai said. “I like Donald Trump’s haircut. It looks great and it fits my age,” said Hai. Although warmly welcomed by some, publicity stunts at the expense of the North Korean leadership have the potential to get hairy. North Korea is very sensitive about anything that could be construed as an insult to the dignity of its “supreme leadership,” a phrase it uses to refer to the ruling Kim family. In 2014, officials from the North Korean Embassy in London complained to a barber who had used the phrase “Bad Hair Day?” under a photograph of the portly Kim to offer discounts on haircuts. Huy, the nine-year-old Kim lookalike, said he was happy with his haircut though none of his schoolmates would be able to pull off the look. “No one in my class is as fat as me,” Huy said.

u.s .
north korea
vietnam
kim jong un
donald trump
kim-trump summit


Two crew members rescued after ASDF fighter jet crashes in Sea of Japan

Abstract: The two crew members of an Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jet were rescued Wednesday morning after their aircraft crashed into the Sea of Japan off the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture during training. The fighter, based at the Tsuiki Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture, disappeared from radar at around 9:20 a.m., two minutes after a distress signal from the aircraft was received, the ASDF said. Its last confirmed location was about 130 kilometers northeast of the base. One of the crew members was holding a smoke candle when they were found in a search operation by the ASDF at around 10:10 a.m., the ASDF said, adding that neither had sustained significant injuries. The plane had left the base with two other fighters at 8:48 a.m. for an air-to-air combat exercise, the ASDF said. In comments before a Diet committee, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya apologized for “causing anxiety to local residents” near the base, saying that the ministry will take measures to prevent a recurrence of such crashes. The ASDF set up an investigating committee to look into the cause of the mishap and began emergency safety checks on all fighter jets it operates. The F-2 is derived from the U.S. F-16 fighter jet and is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. for the ASDF.

air self-defense force
yamaguchi
f-2 figher aircraft


Local governments in Japan see chance for EVs to be 'batteries on wheels' during emergencies

Abstract: With Japan being prone to natural disasters, hopes are high that electric vehicles and their plug-in hybrid equivalents could play a key role as “batteries on wheels” when emergencies strike. Automakers in the nation are forging agreements with an increasing number of local governments to allow such automobiles to be used for free in the event of an emergency. Nissan Motor Co. concluded agreements with Tokyo’s Nerima Ward and the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, last September and November, respectively, to provide such EVs for rent-free use. Next month it plans to hold an event in which participants will stay overnight in EVs, using electricity stored in their batteries. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which signed an EV lending pact with Kyoto Prefecture in 2012, is positive about joining forces with other local authorities as well. After the huge earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture in April 2016 and the massive earthquake in Hokkaido in September last year, the company supplied EVs to affected areas as power sources. Local governments are also making their own preparations. Nerima Ward has created a registration system for residents’ EVs that would be loaned out in emergencies. “Electricity stored in vehicles can also be used at home in times of emergency,” a senior Nissan official said. “A fully charged electric vehicle can supply power to a standard household for two to four days,” the official added. After the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the Tohoku region in March 2011, EVs were used as batteries at aid stations and shelters while gasoline-powered vehicles had to wait in long lines to get fuel. In Tokyo, widespread blackouts occurred in the wake of the 2011 disaster. A Nerima Ward official said, “People can get electricity that meets their minimum needs from electric vehicles.” But Japan faces challenges over how to promote the use of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, with their sales remaining slow partly due to their high sticker prices. Such vehicles accounted for only about 1 percent of the total passenger car sales in the country in 2017, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

batteries
carmakers
disasters
local government
ev


Japanese researchers extend life span of flies, offering hope for slowing aging in humans

Abstract: A group of Japanese researchers have pinned down a way to activate autophagy, a key metabolic function in cells, leading to a slower aging process and longer life span in a non-human study. The findings, published in the online edition of the U.K. science journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, raise hopes that the method could be applied to extend healthy human life expectancy. The research team was led by Tamotsu Yoshimori, a professor of cell biology at Osaka University. Autophagy, a process which breaks down unwanted proteins and pathogens, is known to decline with age, according to the researchers. Their study on fruit flies and mice found that the autophagy inhibitor Rubicon, a type of protein, increases in volume with age. When they suppressed Rubicon activity in fruit flies, also known as vinegar flies, the insects’ autophagy was activated. This resulted in a 20 percent increase in average life expectancy, improvement in motor functions, and a reduction in protein accumulations conducive to neurodegenerative disease development. The researchers also used genome editing technology to render the Rubicon in mice inactive. The amount of proteins which could cause Parkinson’s disease decreased in the mammals, they reported. They said measuring the volume of Rubicon and inhibiting the protein’s activities with medicine had the potential to treat age-related diseases. Yoshimori studied under Yoshinori Osumi, an honorary professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who won the Nobel Prize in 2016 for discovering the mechanism of autophagy.

medicine
health
animals
aging
osaka university
insects
yoshinori osumi
tamotsu yoshimori


Japan says ready to take steps over wartime labor spat with South Korea

Abstract: Japan is prepared to take various measures against South Korea, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Wednesday, as relations between the two countries have further deteriorated over the issue of compensation for wartime labor. “We are ready to take a range of countermeasures should they become necessary,” Kono told a Lower House budget committee session. His remarks came after lawyers for South Korean plaintiffs said last week they would start the process of liquidating seized assets of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. In October, South Korea’s top court ordered the steel-maker to pay compensation for wartime forced labor during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, a ruling that Tokyo has described as a breach of an accord inked with Seoul decades ago. Japan has criticized the order based on the view that the two countries settled the issue of compensation “finally and completely” with the 1965 pact. Tokyo has been urging Seoul to launch consultations to resolve their dispute, while threatening to take countermeasures as calls on the government to take a harder stance have been growing among ruling party lawmakers. Raising tariffs on South Korean imports is seen as one option. Escalating diplomatic friction further, South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang recently called for an apology from Emperor Akihito to resolve a separate dispute over the issue of “comfort women,” a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II.

wwii
wartime labor
south korea-japan relations
taro kono


Ahead of North Korean summit, Abe vows to coordinate with Trump on abductions issue

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he will closely coordinate with President Donald Trump on efforts to settle the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea ahead of the second summit between the U.S. leader and Kim Jong Un, set for next week. Abe, who met with family members of abduction victims Tuesday, told a Diet committee that he will ask Trump to convey to the North Korean leader his view on how to settle the abduction issue. “I want to closely coordinate our policies (with Trump) to resolve North Korea’s nuclear, missile and — most importantly — abduction issues,” the prime minister said. Abe and Trump were expected to talk via phone later in the day. When Trump met with Kim for the first time in Singapore in June, he took up the abduction issue at Abe’s request. The two are scheduled to meet again on Feb. 27 and 28 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Abe also reiterated his resolve to secure the return of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. “The Abe administration will take action decisively, (so as) not to miss out on any opportunity,” he said. In a meeting between Abe and some family members of abduction victims a day earlier, Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group representing abductees’ families, called for a quick resolution to the issue, and explained to the prime minister the group’s recent message for Kim. The message, sent Sunday, advised the North Korean leader that the group would not oppose diplomatic normalization if all the abduction victims were immediately returned. Sakie Yokota, the mother of abductee Megumi Yokota, who has long been a symbol of the kidnappings, said it would be better and quicker for the prime minister to meet with Kim in person to convey the wishes of the families and the government. Tokyo officially considers 17 Japanese nationals as having been abducted by the North, and suspects the country’s involvement in many more disappearances. Five of the 17 returned home in 2002, but Pyongyang maintains that eight have died and the other four never entered the country. However, an unidentified Japanese official recently said that Pyongyang had backtracked on this, confirming that Minoru Tanaka, one of the 17 victims, is currently living in Pyongyang with his wife, and that Tatsumitsu Kaneda, who Tokyo believes was abducted, is also in the country.

north korea
kim jong un
abductions
north korea-japan relations
donald trump
prime minister shinzo abe
kim-trump summit


Japan transport ministry to ease huge costs for retired SDF pilots hoping to move into airline jobs

Abstract: The transport ministry said Tuesday it will revise a system that currently costs retired Self-Defense Force pilots millions of yen to secure their commercial pilot’s instrument rating certification, amid predictions there will be a shortage of airline pilots by around 2030. The current system requires a former SDF pilot to pay around ¥4.5 million ($40,680) in training costs to qualify for the certification. Due to the cost, only one or two of some 50 SDF pilots retiring every year pursues a career with a commercial airline. Under the proposed changes, airlines will run training for the certificate alongside courses for other qualifications at their own cost after the pilots join. The measure is expected to help reduce the time needed before the pilots can start flying for commercial airlines. As of January 2018, the number of pilots at Japanese airlines stood at around 6,500, of which roughly 5 percent were from the Self-Defense Forces, according to the ministry. It has also taken other steps to ease the expected pilot shortage. These include boosting the student quota at Civil Aviation College, the sole public training school for pilots in Japan, by 50 percent from the 2018 academic year.

airlines
self defense forces
pilots
asdf
mlit


South Korea research near disputed Takeshima islets ratchets up tensions with Japan

Abstract: SEOUL/TOKYO - South Korea has conducted maritime research and collected samples near disputed islands, triggering a protest from Japan on Tuesday after it was brought to Tokyo’s attention — a development that could further deteriorate relations between the two countries. A paper has shown that South Korean researchers in 2012 conducted a state-funded survey in waters around the pair of islands controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo, and took sediment samples from sea floor. The Japanese government alleged the activity violated the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. “If (South Korea) conducted any scientific research in Japan’s territorial waters or exclusive economic zone without our prior consent, it’s unacceptable,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news briefing on Tuesday. “We’ve already lodged a strong protest.” Seoul has been conducting seabed and other surveys in search of natural resources around the islands, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. Most recently, Suga said, a South Korean research vessel entered Japanese territorial waters near the islets last Friday, as well as between Sunday afternoon and Monday. The research paper was published in the March 2018 edition of a journal issued by a U.S.-based body on limnology and oceanography. Its authors include researchers at Seoul National University and an institute under the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The researchers surveyed the circulation of nitrogen on the sea floor and used mud samplers in multiple locations in the waters around the islets, according to the paper. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the islands belong to South Korea historically, geographically and in terms of international law, brushing aside Tokyo’s claim. The development comes at a time of strained diplomatic relations between the countries due to wartime issues related to Japan’s 1910 to 1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, as well as a December incident in which a South Korean destroyer allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ aircraft in the Sea of Japan. On Friday, an annual ceremony aimed at highlighting Japan’s claim of sovereignty over Takeshima will be held in Shimane Prefecture. The region lays claim to the islets and has held the annual Feb. 22 ceremony since 2006, as it incorporated the islands on that day in 1905 following approval by the Japanese government. The central government will send Hiroshi Ando, a Cabinet Office parliamentary vice minister, to the annual Takeshima Day ceremony in the prefectural capital Matsue.

disputed islands
south korea
takeshima
dokdo
south korea-japan relations


Education ministry to review smartphone ban for elementary and junior high school students

Abstract: The education ministry will consider reviewing a ban on elementary and junior high school students carrying smartphones and other mobile phones at school, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said Tuesday. “We’ll consider reviewing the notice (that included the smartphone ban) in the light of changes in the social environment surrounding schools and the situations of students and pupils,” Shibayama told a news conference. In the January 2009 notice, the ministry said that mobile phones are not directly required for educational activities and so taking them to elementary and junior high schools should be prohibited in principle. For high schools, the notice said that the use of mobile phones should be limited while a ban on carrying them should be considered as an option. A decade after the notice, the ministry now considers that the ban “does not fit with the times,” taking into account the spread of mobile phone and smartphone use and the need for communication tools in the event of disasters. The ministry plans to proceed with the review by gathering input from schools and parents. Regarding smartphone use at school, the education department of the Osaka Prefectural Government announced Monday its decision to allow elementary and junior high school students in the prefecture to bring smartphones to school. The department unveiled draft guidelines that permit students to bring smartphones to school only when their parents give them permission to do so. A strong earthquake hit the northern part of Osaka Prefecture in June last year, causing parents to become anxious about their children commuting to school in the morning. After the quake, the department received requests for students to be allowed to carry smartphones at school.

smartphones
schools
elementary schools
masahiko shibayama


Number of foreign visitors to Japan rises 7.5% to 2.69 million in January

Abstract: The estimated number of monthly foreign visitors to Japan increased 7.5 percent in January from a year earlier to a record 2,689,400, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday. Regarding locations from where the visitors hailed, those from South Korea were the most numerous at 779,400, down 3 percent from a year earlier, followed by those from China at 754,400, up 19.3 percent, Taiwan at 387,500, up 10.5 percent and Hong Kong at 154,300, down 3.9 percent. The number of visitors from Vietnam and Australia rose significantly in the period, marking increases of 27.8 percent to 35,400 and 16.0 percent to 81,100, respectively.


Two former classmates ordered to pay ¥37 million in damages over bullied Japanese boy's suicide

Abstract: OTSU, SHIGA PREF. - The Otsu District Court on Tuesday ordered two former classmates of a boy who killed himself in 2011 at the age of 13 to pay damages totaling about ¥37.5 million, recognizing that their bullying of the victim was the cause of his death. “The assault by the two former classmates had escalated, and as the student’s relations with friends collapsed … he felt a strong sense of isolation and started to think he wanted to die,” presiding Judge Shigeyasu Nishioka said when handing down the ruling. The boy, from Otsu, took his own life on the morning of Oct. 11, 2011, by jumping from the condominium where he lived. He was in his second year at a junior high school in the city. The boy’s parents in 2012 filed a damages suit against three former classmates and their guardians, seeking a total of about ¥38.5 million on the basis that their son’s death was a consequence of their actions. The bereaved parents also sued the Otsu Municipal Government for damages. During the hearing, the family argued there had been “harsh bullying,” saying the classmates had forced the boy to eat a dead bee and constantly told him to die. The defendants admitted to some of the actions they were accused of by the family, but claimed they had thought they were just playing together. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ demand for damages from a third classmate. It cannot be said that the other classmate had participated in the bullying in an integral manner alongside the other two students, the judge said. The court also stopped short of recognizing breach of duty of supervision by guardians of the students. The judge said that violence against the victim “started escalating” in the second semester of their second year of junior high school. It was “foreseeable” that the boy might take his own life as he was made to feel a sense of helplessness and despair through repeated acts to pressure him psychologically, the judge said. The entire ordeal had been long, the boy’s father told a news conference, adding that the family was satisfied with the ruling and that he was thankful many other former classmates gave evidence to help prove his son was bullied. About a year after the victim’s death, local police referred two of the three students to prosecutors for alleged assault while sending the third boy — who was 13 at the time of the abuse and thus exempt from criminal prosecution — to a child welfare center. A third-party investigation committee set up by the city concluded in 2013 that bullying was the direct cause of the suicide. In 2014, the Otsu Family Court acknowledged the allegation and ordered the two found culpable in this week’s ruling to be placed under the supervision of a juvenile probation officer, while exempting the third. The city’s education board initially found no connection between the suicide and bullying, but some students were later found to have stated in a school survey that the boy was told to “practice killing himself.” The bereaved parents and the municipal government reached a settlement in 2015, with the city agreeing to offer an apology and pay ¥13 million in compensation. The high-profile case led Japan to enact a law in 2013 obliging schools to establish guidelines to prevent bullying. Bullying is a major social issue nationwide. Elementary, junior and senior high schools in Japan reported more than 410,000 cases in fiscal 2017. Ten of the 250 students who took their own lives had been bullied at school, according to education ministry data.


Japan and Tepco again ordered to pay damages to Fukushima nuclear disaster evacuees

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A district court Wednesday ordered the state and the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to pay a combined ¥419 million ($3.78 million) in damages to evacuees from the 2011 nuclear disaster. The order by the Yokohama District Court was the eighth such decision against Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and the fifth against the central government. Most of the 175 plaintiffs were forced to evacuate from Fukushima to Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, following the disaster, which was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. They had sought a combined ¥5.4 billion from the utility and the state. Presiding Judge Ken Nakadaira said the nuclear accident was preventable as the state could have foreseen as of September 2009, based on a projection by experts, that a massive tsunami similar to one that occurred in the ninth century could strike the area again and cause a complete power blackout at the plant. He said it would have been “possible by the end of 2010” to implement steps such as installing emergency power generators that would have prevented damage to core reactors as well as hydrogen explosions that led to the release of massive amounts of radioactive materials outside the plant. Nakadaira also criticized the state for its assessment before the disaster that Tepco’s anti-tsunami measures were adequate, saying it was a serious “mistake and failure.” The ruling awarded compensation to 152 of the 175 plaintiffs, of whom 50 had evacuated voluntarily and 125 were forced to do so. They had each demanded ¥350,000 per month and compensation of ¥20 million for psychological damage due to “the loss of their hometown” in addition to compensation already paid by Tepco. The ruling was the eighth among approximately 30 similar suits filed by more than 10,000 evacuees. The state became a defendant together with Tepco in six cases and was exempted from compensation claims in only one ruling, which was handed down by the Chiba District Court in September 2017. The Fukushima No. 1 plant spewed a massive amount of radioactive materials after the tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, flooded the facility, causing multiple meltdowns and hydrogen explosions at the complex. At the Yokohama court, the plaintiffs argued that the state and Tepco could have anticipated the accident based on data including the government’s 2002 long-term assessment of major quakes. They also claimed the nuclear operator neglected to take precautionary measures and that the government failed to order the utility to do so. The state and Tepco countered that they could not have foreseen a tsunami on such a scale. Following the Fukushima crisis, which was said to equal the severity of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, some 160,000 people fled at one point. Over 32,000 people remained evacuated outside of the prefecture as of January this year.

fukushima
fukushima no . 1
courts
radiation
tepco
nuclear energy
disasters


Tokyo court raises sentence to 12 years for man who kept teenage girl captive for two years

Abstract: The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for abducting a teenage girl and keeping her in captivity for two years, rejecting his appeal and nullifying a lower court ruling that had given him a nine-year jail term. Prosecutors had said the earlier decision in March last year was too light considering the vicious nature of the crime and had also appealed the ruling. They had demanded a 15-year prison term for Kabu Terauchi, who lured the girl into his car while she was on her way home from her junior high school in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on March 10, 2014. The high court acknowledged that Terauchi, 26, is able to take full criminal responsibility for his actions. “It was an extremely cunning crime with the victim’s mind being manipulated by calling the girl by her name, which he confirmed in advance,” presiding Judge Atsuo Wakazono said in handing down the ruling. Terauchi had appealed last year’s decision by the Saitama District Court, with his lawyers claiming that it was wrong for it to rule that he was fully competent to be held criminally liable due to schizophrenia. While the lower court determined the physical confinement was moderate in nature as Terauchi left a window unlocked and sometimes left the girl alone when he went on trips, Wakazono said the man psychologically controlled the girl, now 18 years old, and the mitigating aspects of her confinement should not be taken into account. According to the ruling, Terauchi held her captive first at his apartment in Chiba and later in another apartment in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward until March 2016, causing her to suffer a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. The girl escaped from his apartment in Tokyo on March 27, 2016, after she found the door unlocked and made an emergency call to police from a public telephone at Higashi-Nakano Station. After her escape, Terauchi slashed his throat with a box cutter in an apparent suicide attempt. He was found in Shizuoka Prefecture and arrested after being discharged from the hospital.


Japan's Supreme Court rejects man's damages claim against ex-wife's partner over adultery

Abstract: The Supreme Court Tuesday rejected a damages claim brought by a man in his 40s against his former spouse’s then-lover, infidelity with whom led, he claimed, to he and his wife’s divorce. At the top court’s Third Petty Bench, presiding Judge Yuko Miyazaki said that it is impossible to demand, without special circumstances, that a divorced spouse’s then-extramarital partner pay damages for mental pain from the divorce. The ruling does not affect the right to claim damages against a spouse and his or her lover over infidelity itself within three years after detecting the affair. In the case, the man living in eastern Kanto filed a ¥4.95 million damages claim in 2015 against his former wife’s partner in an adulterous relationship. The couple, with two children, divorced earlier that year after the wife’s affair came to light in 2010. The Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision ordering the extra-marital partner to pay ¥1.98 million in damages. The highest court ruled that whether to divorce is essentially a matter between a married couple, and that the adulterous partner should not bear direct responsibility for the couple’s breakup. However, the court noted that it is possible to claim damages against such a partner who has intervened in a married couple’s relationship with the aim of causing them to divorce.

courts
marriage
divorce
supreme court
family law
adultery


Video of Niigata high school student being bullied goes viral on social media

Abstract: NIIGATA - A video of a first-year high school student in Niigata Prefecture being attacked by a group of schoolmates was posted online and went viral on social media, school officials said Tuesday. The video shows a male student who attends private Niigata Seiryo High School being kicked and hit with a stick by other male students from the same school, including a boy who was expelled last year. School officials say the school was notified about the video, taken Friday evening at a nearby beach, by someone outside the school. The two-minute, 20-second video also contains footage of the student, who was crouching, being pushed onto the road and repeatedly kicked. It includes comments by multiple students jeering as they say, “He’s bleeding, it’s great,” and, “The guy had a face like he’d been punched from the beginning.” “It is really regrettable that something like this has happened,” said Haruki Hada, the school’s principal. “We will provide thorough guidance to all of the students.” The student who was attacked has reported the incident to the police. The Niigata Prefectural Government asked the high school Monday to conduct an investigation and report back.

niigata
bullying
social media
schools
high schools
video
niigata seiryo high school


Airbus warns of no-deal Brexit and says it has spent tens of millions preparing

Abstract: LONDON - Airbus said on Sunday it would have to make “difficult decisions” about future investment if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal, adding it had already spent tens of millions of euros in preparations. “There is no such thing as a managed ‘no deal,’ it’s absolutely catastrophic for us,” Senior Vice President Katherine Bennett told the BBC’s Andrew Marr. “Some difficult decisions will have to made if there’s no-deal (…) we will have to look at future investments.” She said Airbus had already spent “tens of million of euros” on preparing for Brexit, for example on stockpiling parts and securing IT systems.


Lack of diversity slammed as retailers and fashion brands still struggle with racial insensitivity

Abstract: NEW YORK - Retailers and top fashion brands like Gucci and Prada keep apologizing for products that smack of racial insensitivity. The big question is: Why does it keep happening? Experts say many of these fashion companies live in a sort of bubble and lack the diversity in their staff that could vet their fashions. They also blame the increasing pressures facing the industry to push products from the design board to the stores and online in weeks rather than months without taking time to thoroughly review products. “There is such pressure on speed that there is no time for consideration,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of Metaforce, a marketing firm. “When you are moving this fast, there is no time for perspective.” Just as quickly as mistakes are made, so too are they amplified over social media as shoppers take to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to voice complaints. In the latest example, Katy Perry’s fashion line this week pulled two types of shoes — which featured protruding eyes, nose and red lips — that critics likened to blackface. The singer and company said they were saddened that it was being compared to blackface and had envisioned the designs to be a nod to “modern art and surrealism.” Last week, Gucci removed a sweater from the market after complaints that the oversized collar designed to cover the face resembled blackface makeup. In a statement posted on Twitter, Gucci offered a mea culpa and said that it planned to turn the incident “into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond.” The latest blunders followed apologies from Italian designer Prada, which said in December it was no longer selling a line of accessories that featured a character with brown skin and exaggerated red lips. And last year, Swedish retailer H&M pulled an ad that featured a black child donning a sweatshirt with the words “Coolest monkey in the jungle.” Experts say companies are not keeping up with the pace and complexity of global expansion. “The fact is, all retailers live in a global village today, whether they realize it or not,” said Sonia Lapinsky, managing director in the retail practice at AlixPartners, a global consulting firm. “And even if massive, global movements like the diversity movement and other ‘woke’ movements don’t yet seem to be of the highest importance to all retailers, in every segment and in every corner of the planet, those that think that way are most likely doing so at their long-term peril.” Adheer Bahulkar, a partner at consultancy A.T. Kearney, agreed, saying brands need to pay attention to issues that might not be noticed within their own culture but that are “highly sensitive in another culture.” Acknowledging their mistakes, some companies are now trying to rectify the problem. Gucci, for instance, announced last Friday it will hire a global director for diversity and inclusion, a newly created role. It also is promising to launch a scholarship program to cultivate diverse design talent. The announcement came after Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri met in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood with Dapper Dan, a well-known African-American designer, and other community members to hear their perspectives. Prada said Wednesday it is creating a diversity council to “elevate voices of color within the company and fashion industry at large.” It said two Americans, artist Theaster Gates and film director Ava DuVernay, will chair the council. The group will work to develop “diverse talent” and develop more opportunities for students of color, the luxury fashion house said. “Prada is committed to cultivating, recruiting and retaining diverse talent to contribute to all departments of the company,” Miuccia Prada, CEO and lead creative director at Prada, said in a statement. In the aftermath of its sweatshirt controversy, H&M put together a diversity and inclusion team headed by insider and lawyer Annie Wu with people from different departments. Last November, the company hired former Viacom executive Ezinne Kwubiri as head of inclusion and diversity for North America. “We must admit that there is some truth in the fact that we have maybe been too centralized and that we need to challenge ourselves in an open and constructive way to get everyone, everywhere to be more culturally sensitive, racially aware and more critical of how the outside world might see what we do,” Wu said in a corporate blog post last spring. Still, putting some controls on the design team requires a balancing act, particularly with design-led fashion firms. It has to be done without hurting the creativity of the team, Lapinksy says. Lapinsky predicts that offensive designs will continue to pass through the layers of designers and merchandisers until companies really see a big hit at the bottom line. Wendy Liebmann, founder and CEO of WSL Strategic Retail, a retail consultancy firm, said diversity training and a new way of thinking has to be “embedded in the culture.” “It can’t be at arm’s length,” she said.


Bill Gates backs taxing capital gains as best way to tap big fortunes and get wealthy to pay more

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Bill Gates is concerned about the high budget deficits being run by the U.S., and said if taxes are ultimately increased to make up the shortfall, then it’s appropriate for wealthy people to pay much higher taxes. “We only collect about 20 percent of GDP and we spend like 24 percent of GDP. So you can’t let that deficit grow faster than the economy,” the world’s second-richest man said during an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” broadcast on Sunday. Proposals have circulated recently for the richest Americans to again face a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent, as they did during much of the 1970s before it was lowered by President Ronald Reagan. But Gates said that approach didn’t work well in practice. “Even when that rate was high, the actual collection because of ways people could defer wasn’t — never got above 40 percent, actually,” the Microsoft Corp. co-founder said. “If you go about doing this additional collection, of course you want to be progressive, you want the portion that comes from the top 1 percent or top 20 percent to be much higher,” he said. “The big fortunes, if your goal is to go after those, you have to take the capital gains tax, which is far lower at like 20 percent, and increase that.” Taxing capital gains income and ordinary income at the same rates “would get rid of a lot of complexity, because whenever those rates vary, you want to make one look like the other,” said the philanthropist, whose net worth is estimated at $97.2 billion. Hedge funds tend to try to shift their tax liabilities over to the capital gains column. “And so, you would simplify that,” Gates said.

u.s .
taxes
gps
wealth
cnn
bill gates
fareed zakaria


Huge demand for final Heisei Era coins forces Japan Mint to hold lottery

Abstract: OSAKA - The Japan Mint had to hold a lottery after it was overwhelmed with demand for a proof coin set engraved with the final year of the Heisei Era. Some 210,000 orders were placed for the set of six coins engraved with Heisei 31 during last month’s sales period, officials said Monday. The mint usually make 30,000 sets for these annual releases. Following the deluge of orders, the mint decided to increase production to about 50,000 sets. Even so, it appears that approximately 160,000 collectors will be left empty-handed after the lottery, which took place last Thursday. Some of the sets are already being sold online by the recipients. A name is given to the era of each reigning emperor and is widely used in calendars, media and official documents. The Heisei Era, meaning “achieving peace,” will end April 30 when Emperor Akihito abdicates in his 31st year on the throne. Mint officials said the situation was unexpected and apologized for failing to satisfy demand. They are now worried they will again be swamped with orders for other commemorative coin sets this year dated Heisei 31. The coins in last week’s set, priced at ¥7,714, are minted in such a way that the motifs have a dazzling, reflective quality.


Japan's machinery orders dipped again in December, showing firms' reticence amid risks

Abstract: Core private sector machinery orders fell slightly in December, signaling a more cautious stance by companies toward spending amid risks to the global economy, government data showed Monday. The orders, which exclude those for ships and from electric utilities because of their volatility, dropped 0.1 percent from the previous month to ¥862.6 billion. It was the second consecutive decline following a 0.02 percent drop in November. The Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment of the orders, seen as a leading indicator of capital spending, from “stalling in their recovery” to simply “stalling.” Robust capital spending has been one of the main drivers of the Japanese economy as firms have rushed to boost capacity and productivity. The economy grew an annualized real 1.4 percent in the final quarter of 2018, recovering from a series of natural disasters that hit Japan last summer. But risks, including heightened trade tensions between the United States and China, appear to be sapping some of that appetite. “Judging from the latest data, it’s hard to expect machinery orders to begin increasing again soon,” a government official said in a news briefing. Orders from the manufacturing sector fell 8.5 percent to ¥361.8 billion amid shrinking demand from the oil and coal industries and machinery manufacturers. From the nonmanufacturing sector, orders grew 6.8 percent to ¥496.6 billion on the back of increased orders from telecommunications and financial firms. Total orders, including those from the domestic public sector and abroad, fell 18.6 percent to ¥2.32 trillion. For all of 2018, core orders rose 3.6 percent to ¥10.51 trillion.

machinery orders
economic indicators
capital spending


Sharp takes wraps off new RoBoHoN, with apps aimed at getting families and firms used to 'life with robots'

Abstract: Sharp Corp. on Monday released three new models of its RoBoHoN humanoid robot with a wider range of use for families and corporate clients. The new lineup — two walking models and one that remains seated — focuses more on family users with small children, who can experience “life with robots,” the company said during an event in Tokyo. The number of apps that can be loaded on the robots will gradually increase to 46 from the current 30, the company said. These include an app that sends an image taken by the robot of a family member returning home to a user’s email address. Users can try real-time monitoring of their homes through the app for an extra monthly charge of ¥300 plus tax. Another app allows children to program a sequence of speech and movements for the robot, such as having it say hello and then sit down. Children can learn how to program a series of commands working toward an overall goal, a company official said. Another app enables users to remotely control home appliances using voice commands, tapping “internet of things” technology. “We have until now regarded the robot as a partner to individual customers and provided apps and services that would be suitable to them,” Miho Kagei, who heads the product planning department at Sharp’s consumer electronics unit, said during the event. “But from now on, we want to offer them especially to families with children.” One of the two walking models can tap into mobile phone networks. It carries a pre-tax price tag of ¥180,000. The other walker, which relies on Wi-Fi, is priced at ¥120,000. The seated model sells for ¥79,000. Users must also pay a monthly fee of ¥980 for each model. “The prices are not very high considering that the robot can be used by all family members,” said robot designer Tomotaka Takahashi. “I hope the robot will be integrated into our lives.” For corporate clients, Sharp will add an app that allows the RoBoHoN to provide guidance about products and exhibits in stores, showrooms, museums and other facilities. Using another app, the robot can act as a receptionist in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. Pre-orders began Monday at the company’s Cocoro Store . Sales will start Feb. 27.

children smartphones robots apps sharp robohon


U.K. concludes it can mitigate security risk from Huawei equipment use in 5G, FT reports

Abstract: BANGALORE, INDIA - The British government has decided it can mitigate the risks arising from the use of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in 5G networks, the Financial Times reported on.ft.com/2DLcuFG on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the conclusion of Britain’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC). The conclusion reached by Britain would “carry great weight” with European leaders, the FT reported, citing a source. “Other nations can make the argument that if the British are confident of mitigation against national security threats then they can also reassure their publics and the U.S. administration that they are acting in a prudent manner in continuing to allow their telecommunications service providers to use Chinese components as long as they take the kinds of precautions recommended by the British,” the source told the newspaper. Huawei, along with another Chinese network equipment company ZTE Corp., has been accused the United States of working at the behest of the Chinese government. The United States has said their equipment could be used to spy on Americans. Huawei has repeatedly denied the claims. Earlier this month, the chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence service said Britain should avoid relying on a monopoly provider of equipment in new 5G mobile networks, but that there were no easy answers to concerns about using Huawei. Separately, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in December and faces possible extradition to the United States. Last month, she was charged with wire fraud that violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. Huawei and NCSC did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

europe
u.s .
security
u.k .
huawei
5g
ft
meng wanzhou


Dollar firms to ¥110.50 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar firmed above ¥110.50 in Tokyo trading Monday amid receding worries about U.S.-China trade negotiations. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.55-56, up from ¥110.31-32 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1306-1306, up from $1.1278-1279, and at 124.99-¥125.00, up from ¥124.42-43. In early trading, the dollar topped ¥110.50 with buying outpacing selling amid renewed hopes for progress in settling the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington. But the U.S. currency failed to go higher, despite a sharp rebound for the Nikkei 225 stock average. Although the Nikkei’s robust performance underpinned the dollar, only a marginal rise in U.S. interest rates reflecting Federal Reserve officials’ “dovish” remarks and dismal economic data made the greenback’s topside heavy, market sources said. A lack of fresh incentives due to a three-day weekend in the United States forced the dollar-yen pair struggle for direction in the afternoon, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. A securities firm official said investors will remain hopeful about the outcome of the U.S.-China negotiations but cannot be totally optimistic until details emerge.


Tokyo stocks rebound sharply on brisk U.S. equities

Abstract: Stocks staged a strong rally Monday, with buying sentiment boosted by the latest sharp upturn on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 average soared 381.22 points, or 1.82 percent, to end at 21,281.85, its best finish since Dec. 17. On Friday, the key market gauge fell 239.08 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ended 24.67 points, or 1.56 percent, higher at 1,601.96. It gave up 12.52 points Friday. Stocks surged from the outset on hefty purchases induced Wall Street’s exuberance last Friday that was a reflection of renewed expectations for progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations, market sources said. After the end of two days of ministerial trade talks between the U.S. and China in Beijing on Friday, the White House announced that negotiations would continue in Washington. In the broad-based rally on the Tokyo market, “cyclical shares, in particular, drew buying,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. Ichikawa also pointed out that investors rushed to buy shares related to China on speculation that Washington will refrain from raising tariffs on Chinese imports on March 1, the deadline for the current trade war truce. Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., attributed Monday’s jump to buybacks, saying Japanese stocks are lagging behind European and U.S. equities. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,908 to 180 in the first section, while 41 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.190 billion shares from 1.277 billion Friday. Among the upbeat China-linked issues were industrial robot producers Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc, and construction machinery maker Komatsu. Bridgestone shot up 4.93 percent after announcing a share buyback plan. Other rubber and petrochemical products makers also attracted robust purchases. Fast Retailing and Softbank Group were firmer. By contrast, Tokyo Gas and Olympus sank on selective selling.

stocks
nikkei
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Toyota-SoftBank venture to start taxi ride-sharing trial in Tokyo

Abstract: A joint venture set up by Toyota Motor Corp. and SoftBank Corp. will launch a trial taxi ride-sharing service for business commuters using a smartphone app next week in Tokyo. The autonomous vehicle service venture, called Monet Technologies Inc., will provide the service for customers commuting to the Marunouchi business district in central Tokyo from Feb. 26 to March 22 to collect data for future vehicle services, the companies said Monday. Customers need to enter the places of departure and destination on the smartphone app to use the service and a minivan can carry up to four passengers who travel to neighboring destinations. A similar service will also be offered during the test period for parents working in the area to drop their children off at day care, Monet said. SoftBank holds a 50.25 percent stake in the venture, while Toyota holds the rest. Monet said separately it will tie up with 17 municipalities, including Yokohama and Nagoya, to offer bus ride-sharing services. Ride-sharing services are only available in limited areas in Japan due in part to regulatory barriers. Toyota aims to launch services using autonomous vehicles in 2020. The automaker hopes to use such vehicles for restaurant, convenience store and office operations.

joint venture
ride-sharing
toyota motor corp .
softbank corp .


Eurostar trains delayed and 1,800 evacuated from homes as WWII bomb is made safe in Paris

Abstract: PARIS - Several Eurostar trains heading for London were canceled or delayed Sunday in Paris, and 1,800 people temporarily evacuated from their homes, as bomb disposal experts made safe a World War II bomb, police said. The bomb was discovered on Feb. 4 on a construction site close to the Paris ring road, near the Porte de la Chapelle, in the north of the capital. Specialists moved the bomb from its original site Sunday morning and destroyed it in a controlled explosion nearby. Trains in and out of the Gare du Nord, the Paris station where the Eurostar trains arrive from Britain, were severely restricted, and part of the A1 motorway and the ring road were closed.


U.S. cannot back Syrian forces who align with Assad or Russia, U.S. general warns Kurds

Abstract: BAGHDAD - The United States will have to sever its military assistance to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling Islamic State if the fighters partner with Syrian President Bashar Assad or Russia, a senior U.S. general said on Sunday. The remarks by Army Lt. Gen. Paul LaCamera, who is the commander of the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, underscore the tough decisions facing the SDF as the United States prepares to withdraw its troops from Syria. Syrian Kurdish leaders have sought talks with Assad’s state, hoping to safeguard their autonomous region after the withdrawal of U.S. troops currently backing them. They fear an attack by neighboring Turkey, which has threatened to crush the Kurdish YPG militia. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as indistinguishable from the Kurdish PKK movement that has waged an insurgency inside Turkey. But LaCamera warned that U.S. law prohibits cooperation with Russia as well as Assad’s military. “We will continue to train and arm them as long as they remain our partners,” LaCamera said, praising their hard-won victories against Islamic State militants. When asked if that support would continue if they aligned themselves with Assad, LaCamera said: “No.” “Once that relationship is severed, because they go back to the regime, which we don’t have a relationship with, (or) the Russians … when that happens then we will no longer be partners with them,” LaCamera told a small group of reporters. President Donald Trump’s surprise December decision to withdraw all of the more than 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria has triggered deep concern among U.S. allies about the risk of a resurgence of Islamic State. With U.S.-backing, the SDF has routed Islamic State and is on the verge of recapturing the final bits of its once sprawling territory. But Islamic State still has thousands of fighters, who, now dispersed, are expected to turn to guerrilla-style hit-and-run attacks. On Friday, the four-star U.S. general overseeing U.S. troops throughout the Middle East, Gen. Joseph Votel, told Reuters that he backed supporting the SDF as needed as long as it kept the pressure on Islamic State militants. But LaCamera’s comments make clear that the SDF may have to choose between backing from Assad, Russia or the United States. Kurdish forces and Damascus have mostly avoided combat during the war. Assad, who has vowed to recover the entire country, has long opposed Kurdish ambitions for a federal Syria. Earlier on Sunday, Assad warned the United States would not protect those depending on it, in reference to the Kurdish fighters. “We say to those groups who are betting on the Americans, the Americans will not protect you,” he said without naming them. “The Americans will put you in their pockets so you can be tools in the barter, and they have started with (it).” Reuters has reported that Trump’s decision was in part driven by an offer by Turkey to keep the pressure on Islamic State once the United States withdrew. But current and former U.S. officials warn Ankara would be unable to replicate the SDF’s success across the areas of Syria that the militias captured with U.S. support including arms, airstrikes and advisers. Brett McGurk, who resigned in December as Trump’s special envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, warned last month that the SDF could not be replaced as the provider of stability in areas of Syria formerly held by the militant group. He also cautioned that Turkey, a NATO ally, was not a reliable partner in the fight in Syria. “The Syrian opposition forces (Turkey) backs are marbled with extremists and number too few to constitute an effective challenge to Assad or a plausible alternative to the SDF,” McGurk wrote.

u.s .
russia
syria
turkey
bashar assad
islamic state
ypg
donald trump
joseph votel
syrian democratic forces


U.K. teen who joined Islamic State gives birth in Syrian refugee camp

Abstract: LONDON - A teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but now wants to return to Britain on Sunday gave birth in a refugee camp, as European governments grapple with what to do with returning jihadis ahead of a U.S. troop pullout. Shamima Begum, whose fate has stirred controversy ever since she and two friends fled London to join the terror network in 2015 aged just 15, told Sky News she had delivered a boy. “I just gave birth so I’m really tired,” the 19-year-old said as she made a renewed appeal to be allowed back into Britain with her newborn baby. “I’m afraid he might even die in this camp. I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I’ve been through,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I left. I just was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back,” she added. Her case comes as European nations struggle with how to deal with jihadis eager to return home following the disintegration of Islamic State’s “caliphate” in eastern Syria. U.S. President Donald Trump again demanded on Saturday that they take back hundreds of captured IS fighters. Trump said on Twitter that the United States was asking Britain and other continental allies “to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The demand came as he prepared — ahead of the pullout of U.S. troops — to declare the group’s caliphate destroyed, with U.S.-led Arab and Kurdish forces close to capturing its last Syrian territorial holdout. “The U.S. does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe,” Trump added. “Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!” Begum previously gave birth to two other children after marrying in Syria. Both children died. Leading politicians, including interior minister Sajid Javid, have vowed to prevent her return, pointing to her lack of remorse for joining the terror group. Begum told Sky News she was aware of Islamic State’s brutal tactics, including conducting beheadings, but did not regret going to Syria. “I knew about those things and I was OK with it at first,” she said. “They take care of youn… you’re living under Islamic law. “I don’t regret it because it’s changed me as a person, made me stronger, tougher.” The teenager, who said she had had no contact with British officials, added the government should not block her homecoming because she was “just a housewife” while there. “I never made propaganda, I never encouraged people to come to Syria. “They don’t really have proof that I did anything that is dangerous,” she said. Europe has long been grappling with how to respond to foreign fighters, and their supporters or dependents, caught in Syria. However the looming U.S. departure has created a deadline for those governments whose citizens joined IS and have now been captured by the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Britain’s government appears split on the issue. Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general — the country’s chief legal adviser — told the BBC on Sunday that it was “obliged, at some stage at least, to take them back. He noted it was “a matter of international law and domestic law. However, writing in The Sunday Times — under the headline “if you run away to join ISIS, I will use all my power to stop you coming back” — Javid insisted the government should strip “dangerous individuals of their British citizenship. He said Britain had already exercised this power more than 100 times. “In considering what actions need to be taken now, I have to think about the safety and security of children living in our country,” Javid wrote. Other European countries that have chosen to leave the jihadis in SDF detention are now being forced to confront the situation. “All German citizens — including those who are suspected of fighting for the so-called Islamic state — have a fundamental right to travel back into Germany,” a German foreign ministry source said Sunday. Belgian justice minister Koen Geens told Flemish broadcaster VRT there was the need for a “European solution” to the issue, but appeared irked by Trump’s blunt call. “It would have been nice for friendly nations to have these kinds of questions raised through the usual diplomatic channels rather than a tweet in the middle of the night,” he said in Dutch.

u.s .
terrorism
syria
u.k .
islamic state
donald trump
syrian democratic forces
shamima begum