Planning group for 2025 Osaka expo looks to design event showcasing Japan's cutting-edge tech

Abstract: A planning committee for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka held its first meeting Friday afternoon, with members emphasizing that the event should be a collaborative effort involving the broader Kansai region and an occasion to showcase Japan’s cutting-edge technologies. Many committee members — composed of government officials, executives from private firms and academics — criticized the nation’s Tokyo-based centralization and touted the expo as an way to break the trend. They stressed that not just Osaka but also neighboring prefectures in western Japan should play active roles in jointly hosting the event. “As a symbol of cooperation within the Kansai region, I hope regions that wish to do so would be … the expo’s satellite locations,” said Hyogo Gov. Toshizo Ido, who represents a coalition of neighboring prefectures, during the meeting at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo. The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo, taking place between May 3 and Nov. 3 on an artificial island called Yumeshima in Osaka Bay, will focus on advanced technologies as well as health and wellness initiatives. Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, also a committee member, said the expo should be a place to offer a look at the future of humanity. “I think it’s important to present something that will make us ponder ‘what is life?’ Perhaps a heart and a brain made of iPS cells,” Yoshimura said, referring to induced pluripotent stem cells capable of turning into any kind of tissue in the body. He also called for deregulation to spark innovation and encourage experimentation in fields like artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. Hiroko Akiyama, a project professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Gerontology, said Japan, where the average life expectancy is over 80 years old, is “a front-runner as a society of longevity” and is in the position to disseminate information about longevity and wellness through the expo. The METI committee will function as a launch pad to actualize the expo’s wider theme, which focuses on designing a future society. A separate working group will conduct hearings including expert testimony and then report back to the committee by summer. At that point, the committee will form a blueprint for the expo using the gathered ideas. Japan must submit the blueprint to the Bureau International des Expositions, the organization overseeing the expo, by May next year and receive approval to officially move forward. “We, as a whole country and with a sense of expediency, will continue to ensure that preparations for hosting the expo are flawless,” said Yoshihiko Isozaki, state minister of industry. Osaka beat Russia and Azerbaijan with its bid to host the expo in November. The city previously held the event in 1970 with 64 million attendees.


Japan's commercial whaling to start in July for the first time in 31 years

Abstract: WAKAYAMA - A local fisheries association in western Japan will resume commercial whaling from July 1 for the first time in 31 years, association sources have said. The move comes after Japan announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in December. An association ship in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, known for its whaling and dolphin hunts, will be joined by four others from private companies. It plans to hunt minke whales in nearby waters for about a week, the sources said Thursday. A convoy of five whaling ships, including the No. 7 Katsu Maru, which belongs to the Taiji cooperative, will depart on July 1 from Kushiro Port in Hokkaido or Hachinohe Port in Aomori Prefecture, where there are facilities for processing whales, the sources said. The Katsu Maru will then leave the fleet and continue hunting Baird’s beaked whales and pilot whales in waters off Chiba Prefecture, where whales are known to be abundant, and other areas until late August. From September to October, the five ships will reconvene to hunt in waters off Kushiro. It is yet to be decided how many whales will be hunted. Yoshifumi Kai, head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association and a member of the Taiji cooperative, expressed joy, saying, “We’ll be able to catch fatty, tasty whales.” Japan halted commercial whaling in line with a moratorium adopted in 1982 by the IWC. Since 1987, it has hunted whales for what it claims is research, a practice criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling. The association’s ship took part in this research. Under the pretext of scientific research, the nation caught 333 whales in the Antarctic Ocean as planned in the latest hunt that ended last year. Having peaked in 1962 at 230,000 tons, annual consumption of whale meat has since trended steadily downward, with an average of 5,000 to 6,000 tons consumed yearly today, according to fishery ministry official Hideki Moronuki. Following its withdrawal from the IWC, Japan will hunt whales within its exclusive economic zone, but not in the Antarctic Ocean, where it has carried out the so-called scientific whaling.


'Golden Bolt': Japan's centenarian sprinter Hidekichi Miyazaki dies at 108

Abstract: Hidekichi Miyazaki, a Japanese centenarian who set the 100-meter sprint world record for the over-105 age category, has died at 108, a local sports official said Friday. Miyazaki, dubbed “Golden Bolt” after eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, died on Wednesday, the official confirmed. The record-breaking athlete was born in 1910 — the year Japan annexed Korea and when the Titanic was still being built. In 2015, he clocked 42.22 seconds in his home city of Kyoto to set a 100-meter world record in the over-105 age category — one for which no mark previously existed — a day after reaching the milestone age. The feat and photos of him striking Bolt’s famous “lightning” pose made international headlines, prompting even the Jamaican sprinter himself to tweet a shout-out to the elder runner. But the aging athlete himself was less than impressed by his achievement. “I’m not happy with the time,” Miyazaki said in an interview right after the performance. “I started shedding tears during the race because I was going so slowly. Perhaps I’m getting old!” He took up running in his early 90s and said he would prepare for races by taking a sneaky catnap.


Foreign workers in Japan triple in decade to record 1.46 million

Abstract: The number of foreign workers in Japan tripled over a decade to a record-high 1.46 million as of October, official data showed Friday, as companies continue to struggle with a labor shortage. As of Oct. 31, there were 1,460,463, foreign workers in Japan, up 14.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the 11th straight year of increase, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The figure, the highest since comparable data became available in 2008 when it stood at around 486,000, is almost certain to rise in the years ahead, as Japan has decided to ease visa restrictions and accept more foreign workers starting from April. The labor ministry attributed the increase to the government’s policy of promoting the hiring of highly skilled workers, students as part-timers, and trainees from developing countries under its technical intern program. By nationality, Chinese accounted for more than a quarter of the total foreign workforce at 389,117, up 4.5 percent from the previous year, followed by Vietnamese at 316,840, up 31.9 percent, and Filipinos at 164,006, up 11.7 percent. By sector, manufacturing hired the largest number of foreign workers at 434,342, followed by retailing at 186,061, and hotels and catering at 185,050, with 230,510 workers categorized under “other services.” The Diet passed new legislation in December paving the way for the country to formally open its doors to blue-collar workers. Under the new visa system to start in April, up to 340,000 foreigners will be issued with work permits over the next five years in 14 sectors including construction, farming and nursing care. It represents a major policy shift for a country that has basically granted working visas only to highly skilled people with professional knowledge such as doctors, lawyers and teachers.


Japan top court upholds 'sterilization' rule for gender change

Abstract: Human rights and LGBT activists on Friday denounced a ruling by Japan’s Supreme Court upholding a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents. The court said the law is constitutional because it was meant to reduce confusion in families and society. But it acknowledged that it restricts freedom and could become out of step with changing social values. The 2004 law states that people wishing to register a gender change must have their original reproductive organs, including testes or ovaries, removed and have a body that “appears to have parts that resemble the genital organs” of the gender they want to register. More than 7,800 Japanese have had their genders officially changed, according to Justice Ministry statistics cited by public broadcaster NHK. The unanimous decision by a four-judge panel, published Thursday, rejected an appeal by Takakito Usui, a transgender man who said forced sterilization violates the right to self-determination and is unconstitutional. Usui, 45, appealed to the top court after he unsuccessfully requested that lower courts grant him legal recognition as male without having his female reproductive glands surgically removed. Despite the unanimous decision, presiding Justice Mamoru Miura joined another justice in saying that while the law may not violate the Constitution, “doubts are undeniably emerging,” according to Usui’s lawyer, Tomoyasu Oyama. The two judges proposed regular reviews of the law and appropriate measures “from the viewpoint of respect for personality and individuality,” according to Japanese media reports. Japan is one of many countries with a sterilization requirement. In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights said 22 of the countries under its jurisdiction still required sterilization as part of a legal gender change, and it ordered them to end the practice. Maria Sjodin, deputy executive director of OutRight Action International, which monitors LGBT rights issues worldwide, said she was unsure if all 22 of those countries have fully implemented the court’s order. She noted that Sweden, which did away with the requirement in 2013, later became the first country to pay damages to anyone forced to undergo sterilization as a requirement for gender change. The Supreme Court decision ends Usui’s legal battle, but he and his lawyer said the opinions in the ruling left them with hope. “I think the ruling could lead to a next step,” Usui told a news conference. Human Rights Watch said the Supreme Court ruling was “incompatible with international human rights standards, goes against the times and deviates far from best global practices.” The New York-based group said the ruling tolerates grave human rights violations against transgender people. The ruling was also criticized by Japan’s LGBT community. A transgender activist and writer, Tomato Hatakeno, tweeted that the decision shows that society’s interests still come before an individual’s right to freedom regarding one’s body. “The ruling suggests that reproductive health is not recognized as a basic human right,” she said. There is a growing awareness of sexual diversity in Japan, but it is often superficial and generally limited to the entertainment industry. In a country where pressure for conformity is strong, many gay people hide their sexuality even from their families because of a fear of prejudice at home, school or work. Obstacles remain high for transgender people. Japan does not legally recognize same-sex marriages. As LGBT rights awareness has gradually grown in recent years, some municipalities have begun issuing partnership certificates to ease problems in renting apartments and other areas, but they are not legally binding. Lawmakers in the conservative ruling party have repeatedly come under fire for making discriminatory remarks about LGBT people. Earlier this year, Katsuei Hirasawa, a veteran lawmaker, was widely criticized for saying that “a nation would collapse” if everyone became LGBT. Last year, another ruling party lawmaker, Mio Sugita, was condemned after saying in a magazine that the government shouldn’t use tax money for LGBT rights because same-sex couples aren’t “productive.” Separately, more than a dozen people with disabilities have filed lawsuits against Japan’s government for having been sterilized against their will under a 1948 Eugenics Protection Law that was in effect until 1996. At least 16,500 people were sterilized without consent under the law, which allowed doctors to sterilize people with disabilities and was designed to “prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants.” Some orphans were also sterilized. The government has maintained the sterilizations were legal.

gender
supreme court
okayama
sexual minorities
gender dysphoria


Filipino man arrested on return to Japan over 2004 gang rape-murder of student in Ibaraki Prefecture

Abstract: MITO, IBARAKI PREF. - A 33-year-old Filipino man on an international wanted list was arrested Thursday for the alleged rape and murder of a university student in Japan in 2004, police said. The man, who had been a minor at the time of the crime and fled to the Philippines, was arrested upon his arrival at Narita airport from Manila. The suspect had expressed his intention to return to Japan and give himself up to Japanese authorities, according to an investigative source. In an interview with Kyodo News in a Manila suburb in September 2017, he admitted to killing the 21-year-old Ibaraki University student. A relative who was present at the interview said he should stand trial in Japan. Police arrested 37-year-old Jerico Mori Lampano, a key culprit in the murder, in September 2017, based on DNA samples from the female victim’s body, before they put the man — who was 18 years old at the time of the crime — and a third Filipino man, who was 19, on the wanted list. This month, the Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Lampano, who pleaded guilty, to life in prison. According to the ruling, the three men raped and killed the student by cutting her throat multiple times on a riverbank in the village of Miho, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Jan. 31, 2004, after abducting her in a vehicle in the nearby town of Ami earlier that day. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with the Philippines, and it is uncertain if Japanese authorities can prosecute the third man.

murder
philippines
sex crimes
ibaraki
ibaraki university
jerico mori lampano


Man armed with knife and hammer attacks policeman in Toyama, site of deadly incident last year

Abstract: TOYAMA - A 22-year-old university student armed with a knife and a hammer attacked a policeman at a police substation Thursday in Toyama, the same city where an attack last year on a police box left an officer and another person dead. Masaki Maeda, a resident of Toyama, visited the substation around 3 p.m. pretending to have brought lost property. He attacked a 30-year-old police officer, Hiroki Yamamoto, on the head with the hammer and cut him with the knife, local police said. The officer, who sustained head injuries, overcame and restrained the attacker. Maeda was arrested for attempted murder. He admitted assaulting the police officer and said he wanted to take the officer’s gun to commit suicide, investigators said Friday. Yamamoto lived at the substation with his family but he was alone at the time of the incident as his family was out. “The officer’s face was covered in blood as he sat astride a man (after overcoming him),” said a farmer in his 70s who went to the scene after hearing police car sirens. In the same city last June, a former member of the Self-Defense Forces stabbed to death an officer in a police box, stole a handgun and shot dead a security guard at a nearby school.


Criminal crackdown urged on illegal image downloads from manga, novels and other works

Abstract: Japan will aim to tighten its grip on copyright enforcement after a government panel on Friday called for making it a crime to download still images from manga, novels and other literary works without permission. The panel’s final report to the Cultural Affairs Agency pointed to the need to crack down on piracy websites and urged the government to consider broadening the scope of punishable acts — now restricted to unauthorized downloads of videos and music — to all materials, including images. It concluded violators should face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to ¥2 million, or both. The agency is expected to submit a bill to amend the copyrights law and impose tighter controls to the Diet session that begins on Monday. The government is expected to target not just websites, but also blogs and social networking services that use pirated materials. The report also called for punishing operators of “leech sites” that provide hyperlinks to piracy sites. The government is expected to propose new punishments later. Some experts have voiced concern about broadening the restrictions as it could affect many people. There are far more images than videos and music, and determining how they were obtained would be difficult. On Friday, a panel member suggested a more cautious approach, saying some images, such as those with text, are sometimes collected as part of intellectual activities. Some experts say the government is avoiding detailed discussions about what types of downloads to regulate in an apparent effort to expedite and finalize the new rules. Damage caused by the Japanese piracy site Mangamura, which was blocked last April, is estimated at about ¥300 billion. The site, which once got over 100 million hits a month, hosted unauthorized copies of popular comic book titles, including “Attack on Titan” and “One Piece.” The government took an emergency step last April by urging internet service providers to block access to three piracy sites including Mangamura. It was the first case of its kind that didn’t apply to child pornography. It initially sought to legislate the blocking of websites hosting pirated content but gave up after opponents said it could be too invasive and require subscribers’ access data.

internet manga books copyright mangamura


Mitsubishi and Panasonic lose permits to hire foreign trainees after violations

Abstract: The Justice Ministry said they have stripped manufacturing giants Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Panasonic Corp. of accreditation to accept foreign trainees under the Technical Intern Training Program, for ordering such workers to perform tasks other than those specified in their contracts and other violations. The violations, which also prompted accreditation to be revoked for two other companies, may cost the firms a chance to benefit from the nation’s new blue-collar visa system aimed at addressing a national labor shortage. The companies will be prohibited from accepting new foreign interns for the next five years, the ministry officially announced Friday, with the reprimand also suggesting that the government is stepping up efforts to curb abuses of technical trainees working under the program. Ministry officials said 28 Filipino workers at Mitsubishi Motor’s plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, were recruited to conduct semiautomatic welding work using pre-programmed machines. Instead they ended up assembling automotive components, in violations that spanned a period of over a decade and were first identified in May last year. The reassignment was in violation of the Technical Intern Training Act, a 2017 law that requires stronger supervision of companies employing foreign nationals under the training program, officials said. Under the law, companies that want to hire foreign nationals as technical trainees are required to obtain accreditation for specific job types. The ministry discovered that such practices had continued since the automaker started hiring foreign welders under the trainee program in 2008, the officials said, adding that the company had falsified the job descriptions for the trainees when it applied for the program. “For years, the company made its workers perform work that differed from what was described in the accreditation application forms,” a senior official at the ministry’s Immigration Bureau told reporters. Authorities discovered the misconduct last May during an inspection after suspicions emerged about abuses in the program. Officials said they deferred penalties to help the trainees affected resolve their individual situations. Of the 27 workers at Mitsubishi Motors who lost their jobs because of the malpractice confirmed by the ministry, three found new jobs. The others returned to the Philippines. A Mitsubishi spokesman confirmed Friday evening that part of its technical training program abused the technical training act, and offered an apology “to all people involved in the program, including foreign trainees.” He said the firm had learned about the revocation just a few hours earlier. Panasonic meanwhile lost permits for 82 Chinese and Malaysian workers hired to assemble electronic devices at its Toyama plant, the officials said. The Justice Ministry says companies found guilty of labor law violations are prohibited from hiring foreign trainees. Panasonic’s spokeswoman Yuka Arii commented in a phone call that the firm was not aware its labor law violation would disqualify it from participating in the technical training program. “We feel deeply sorry,” Arii said. “We have to accept with sincerity our situation and face the reality that we won’t be able toaccept (foreign trainees) for the next five years … and that we may be left without any trainees among our workforce.” The firm is now helping all of its 158 foreign trainees find employment by the end of the year “to ensure they can continue the training,” Arii said. The ministry also punished two other firms. Automotive parts supplier Aisin Sinwa Co., based in Toyama Prefecture, had hired 24 Chinese for casting and metal working but found its accreditation revoked after the ministry determined that a deadly accident at its factory broke safety laws. The revelation resulted in the annulment of its eligibility to hire foreign workers. Meanwhile, the operator of Ibaraki Prefecture-based construction firm Daibari, which employed three Thai nationals to conduct rebar reinforcement work, lost its permit after a local court sentenced the owner for breaking inheritance tax laws. The penalties will likely affect the four companies’ labor-shortage strategies. New visa legislation allowing companies struggling with labor shortages to hire blue-collar workers with “certain skills” takes effect in April. Japan expects to accept 345,000 workers over the next five years mainly from nine Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Welding and electronic assembly jobs are among those offered in 14 industries under the program. Mitsubishi Motors and Panasonic already rely on foreign laborers. But they are likely to face challenges recruiting both unskilled and skilled workers who are expected to enter Japan within a five-year period starting from fiscal 2019, which starts on April 1. In the wake of the violations, the firms won’t have the necessary permission to extend the stays of their current trainees and won’t be accredited to accept new trainees for the next five years. “They will also likely be prohibited from accepting foreign workers under the new legislation,” provided the government enacts the proposed drafts of planned ordinances and regulations that will set conditions for employing migrant workers, the senior official said. The proposed ordinances will specify that firms penalized for violations of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act or other labor-related laws won’t be allowed to accept foreign workers for a five-year period.

panasonic
mitsubishi
justice ministry
mitsubishi motors
foreign trainees
panasonic corp .


Group files petition to ban dress codes in Japan requiring women to wear high heels at work

Abstract: A group fighting gender-based workplace discrimination submitted a petition to the labor ministry calling for a ban on dress codes that force women to wear high heels at work. The petition bearing 18,856 signatures was presented Monday by Yumi Ishikawa, the leader of the group working as part of the #KuToo movement. The petition cites health and other issues. “This is just the first step,” the 32-year-old actress and writer said at a news conference in Tokyo after submitting the petition. “This is a problem that many women believed was a personal issue because (wearing high heels) is generally seen as good etiquette.” The submission coincides with the start of graduate recruitment screening by companies, during which many female applicants wear high heels. The petition to fight gender-based dress codes was born from the #KuToo movement initiated by Ishikawa on Twitter — an amalgam of #MeToo and the Japanese words for shoes, kutsu , and pain, kutsū . The movement began in January when Ishikawa, who works part time at a funeral parlor, tweeted about her frustration with the dress code, which stipulates that women have to wear high heels. The original tweet received over 67,000 likes and nearly 30,000 retweets. 1万人を超えました！ メールアドレスとお名前だけで署名ができます。 問題点: ①性別によって同じ職場で強制される服装が違うこと ②健康を害してまで強制されるマナーとは？ 「厚生労働省宛: #KuToo 職場でのヒール・パンプスの強制をなくしたい！」 https://t.co/q61K5E2TVw @change_jp より — 石川優実@#KuToo署名中👞👠 (@ishikawa_yumi) February 21, 2019 Another member of the group, a 22-year-old university student who wishes to remain anonymous, said she is not opposed to high heels. “But I believe formal flats should become less unnatural,” she said. Wearing high heels could adversely affect health, she said, referring to older women she has met who can no longer wear certain types of shoes. Their feet changed shape from being forced to wear high heels in the office when they were young. “Ideally we’d like a new law, as I believe this is an urgent issue,” Ishikawa said. “I’d like social perceptions to change so that women wearing formal flat shoes becomes standard.” Ishikawa said an official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry told her it was the first time the ministry had received “this many voices” demanding a ban on dress codes that force women to wear high heels. “But we were also repeatedly told how difficult enacting a law to counter gender harassment and discrimination can be,” she said. Japan has a law to prohibit gender-based discrimination during certain phases of employment such as recruitment, promotion, training and renewal of contracts, but there is no reference to dress codes, she said. Similar movements have sprung up in other countries in recent years. In Britain, a receptionist at professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers began an online petition after she was sent home without pay for not wearing 5- to 10-centimeter-high heels in 2015. At the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in France, Julia Roberts and many other actresses walked the red carpet barefoot or in sneakers after a number of women were barred from entering a screening for not wearing high heels the year before.


Air cargo carriers caught in crossfire of Trump-China trade dispute

Abstract: FRANKFURT/LONDON/SINGAPORE - U.S. President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war with China dented air cargo traffic even before FedEx Corp. got dragged into the brawl, as companies worldwide reconfigure their supply chains in the face of increasing tariffs. Global cargo demand fell 4.7 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), equaling a February drop that was the worst in three years, with the biggest declines coming from manufacturing hubs in Asia and Europe. Freight operators are bracing for more disruption as tensions between Washington and Beijing ratchet up, and trade experts warn that declining shipments — worsened by Brexit jitters and simmering tensions in the Middle East — indicate a slowdown in global growth. “If we see a further deterioration and tariff increases, there will be further damage to world trade,” IATA Director-General Alexandre de Juniac said. “It will clearly be a difficult year for world cargo.” The Unite States in May raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports and blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co. After Trump said duties on Chinese goods “could go up very, very substantially,” China accused the U.S. of seeking an “unequal trade deal” and said it would draw up a list of “unreliable entities” that could be targeted for retaliation. On Saturday, China said it will probe FedEx after some Huawei packages were reportedly diverted to the U.S. without authorization. Evidence of the impact from the escalations is piling up. Chinese industrial output, retail sales and investment all slowed in April by more than what economists forecast. In the U.S., retail sales unexpectedly declined in April while factory production fell for the third time in four months. In Germany, business confidence tumbled to the lowest level in four years in May. Goods valued at $6 trillion are exported by aircraft each year, according to the IATA, accounting for 35 percent of the value of world trade. Air freight companies have already seen revenue fall due to declining shipments of high-tech goods such as semiconductor chips and products used in just-in-time manufacturing. United Parcel Service Inc. says weakness on U.S.-China trade routes lowered revenue in the first quarter. Korean Air Lines Co. attributes a “drastic” drop in cargo to trade fears. Data from German airport operators and Deutsche Lufthansa AG show freight volumes weakening this year, and the carrier said it will trim cargo flights to protect profitability. Pieter Elbers, head of the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, said Sunday its cargo declines were roughly tracking those of the industry. Decreases in air shipments can herald broader industrial slowdowns, as they did in 2008, according to Robert Mayer, who studies the cargo business at the Centre for Air Transport Management at England’s Cranfield University. While it is faster than land or ocean freight, air cargo is also more expensive — and therefore less useful during a recession, according to the IATA, while during an economic companies may pay extra to replenish inventories more quickly. Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Nvidia Corp. have all reported slowing shipments of semiconductors. The declines have been aggravated by Washington’s blacklisting of Huawei, a top purchaser of chips. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest chipmaker, called out tepid demand for memory chips and displays, two key air-cargo items. Trump, citing national security concerns, also signed an executive order to restrict U.S. imports of equipment from Huawei and ZTE Corp. Huawei was further blacklisted by the Department of Commerce from doing business with U.S. firms though later was given 90 days before the ban takes effect. The restrictions would further cut the flow of goods from Asia to the West, airlines say. “There will be a fallout on cargo as we go through the year,” Tim Clark, president of Gulf long-haul airline Emirates, said in an interview at the IATA’s annual gathering in Seoul on Sunday. “If it worsens and there is a lot of posturing aero-politically, which is possibly a result of the trade war, that could see an effect on trans-Pacific demand and to an extent European-Asian demand.’ Even as they grapple with U.S.-China tensions, cargo carriers face a host of other concerns that could spell trouble. Britain’s exit from the European Union has pushed some companies to shift or slow production and stockpile goods. Economic turbulence in Turkey and tensions in Iran have cut into regional trade. Asian carriers say failed harvests in the U.S. have reduced air shipments of high-value foods that have become a growing part of their business. As the tariff war grinds on, companies are revamping operations in ways that threaten to permanently shift trade flows. Shoemaker Crocs Inc. says it is building up inventory at a new distribution center in Ohio after boosting air shipments to meet demand for its plastic clogs in the first quarter. Ralph Lauren said it is shouldering higher inventories to reduce the use of air freight. “Freight export volumes from China may not recover to their pre-tariff levels,” Cowen & Co. analyst Jason Seidl said in a May 8 report. “Many shippers have adjusted their supply chains to source goods from South Asia, South America, Mexico and Canada or the U.S.” And even if the U.S.-China conflict calms, carriers with a big presence in Europe and Japan fret that Trump will then turn his fire on automakers like Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp., hitting shipments of lightweight, air-transportable parts. Use of air freight has increased in the industry as cars add digital components, some of which must be flown because they could be damaged if they travel by sea. “We are concerned that the U.S.-China trade war is going to affect everybody,” Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, said in Seoul. “It’s not only going to affect the two countries. Both are such economic powers that whatever they do, it will affect the rest of the economies of the world.”

aviation
trade
tariffs
huawei
fedex
air cargo
donald trump
trade war
freight


Some Boeing 737 Max planes may have faulty parts, says FAA

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday some Boeing Co 737 Max and NG planes may have parts that were improperly manufactured and that it will require their replacement, the latest issue to hit the plane manufacturer. The FAA said up to 148 leading edge slat tracks manufactured by a Boeing sub-tier supplier are affected and cover 133 NG and 179 Max aircraft worldwide. The FAA said a complete failure of a leading edge slat track would not result in the loss of the aircraft, but said a failed part could lead to aircraft damage in flight. Boeing has yet to submit a software upgrade to the FAA as it works to get approval to unground the 737 Max that has been involved in two fatal crashes since October. It did not immediately comment on Sunday.

airlines
boeing
faa
aviation
737 max
air accidents


Japan's business spending increased in January-March amid murky outlook

Abstract: Capital spending by companies rose 6.1 percent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, official data showed Monday, supporting the government’s view that the economy is in a moderate recovery phase despite the uncertain global outlook. Investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building factories and adding equipment and software stood at ¥15.68 trillion. It expanded 5.7 percent in the previous quarter. The data released by the Finance Ministry showed a 10th straight quarterly gain, underpinned by investment by chemical firms to produce cosmetics and auto components as well as machinery makers to expand production of equipment for use in construction. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, seasonally adjusted capital expenditures excluding spending on software rose 1.1 percent. But economists doubt the upward trend will continue as trade tensions between the United States and China intensify, igniting risks to the global economy. Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said investment by domestic firms aimed at streamlining operations in response to the labor shortage appeared to have supported capital spending. “As there are risks, including weak exports arising from an uncertain outlook for the global economy, companies may refrain from investment,” Shinke said. Pretax profits at companies covered in the survey rose 10.3 percent from a year earlier to ¥22.24 trillion, following a 7.0 percent drop the previous quarter. Sales climbed 3.0 percent to ¥372.52 trillion, up for the 10th straight quarter, helped by brisk demand for construction and mining machinery in North America. The figures will be factored into a revision of gross domestic product data for the first quarter of 2019, which is scheduled to be released June 10. Preliminary GDP data showed the world’s third-largest economy unexpectedly grew an annualized real 2.1 percent in the quarter due to a technical reason amid sluggish capital spending and personal consumption. The Finance Ministry surveyed 31,565 companies capitalized at ¥10 million or more, of which 22,926, or 72.6 percent, responded.


Collision sparks fresh debate over allowing huge cruise ships into fragile Venice

Abstract: VENICE, ITALY - A massive cruise ship lost control in Venice Sunday, crashing into a wharf and sparking a fresh controversy over the damage the mammoth vessels cause to one of the world’s most famous cities. Footage posted to social media showed people in the harbor fleeing as the 13-deck MSC Opera, which suffered an engine failure, scraped along the dockside before knocking into a luxury tourist boat. “When we saw the ship bearing down on us, everyone began shouting and running,” a sailor who was on the River Countess tourist boat was quoted as saying by Italian media. “I didn’t know what to do. I got away quickly, jumping to get on shore,” said the man, who was not named. Four tourists were slightly injured in the accident at San Basilio-Zattere in Venice’s Giudecca Canal, port authorities said. The foreigners, aged between 67 and 72 years old, were from Australia, New Zealand and the United States, according to media reports. The incident came just days after a river cruise ship collided with a sightseeing vessel in Budapest, killing seven people and leaving 21 missing. The Opera — which can carry more than 2,500 passengers and boasts a theater, ballroom and water park for children — has suffered mechanical trouble before, in 2011, during a Baltic cruise. “The MSC ship had an engine failure, which was immediately reported by the captain,” Davide Calderan, head of a tugboat company involved in accompanying the ship into its berth, told Italian media. “The engine was blocked, but with its thrust on, because the speed was increasing,” he said. The two tug boats that had been guiding the ship into the Giudecca tried to slow it, but one of the chains linking them to the giant snapped under the pressure, he added. “I could see the prow coming closer, and I thought it would hit my house. The noise was deafening,” one Venetian resident was quoted as saying by Italian media. The accident has reignited a heated row in Venice over the damage caused to the city and its fragile ecosystem by cruise ships that sail exceptionally close to the shore. While gondoliers in striped T-shirts and woven straw hats row tourists around the narrow canals, the smoking chimneys of mammoth ships loom into sight behind the city’s picturesque bell towers and bridges. Critics say the waves the ships create are eroding the foundations of the lagoon city, which regularly floods, leaving iconic sites such as Saint Mark’s Square underwater. “What happened in the port of Venice is confirmation of what we have been saying for some time,” Italy’s Environment Minister Sergio Costa wrote on Twitter. “Cruise ships must not sail down the Giudecca. We have been working on moving them for months now … and are nearing a solution,” he said. WWF Italy described the incident as “an important alarm bell to which it would be madness not to listen. Italy’s Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said the government would come up with a “definitive solution” by the end of June. It is not the first time the government has made such promises. In 2013 it banned ships weighing more than 96,000 tonnes from the Giudecca Canal. The ban was in part a response to the deadly 2012 Costa Concordia disaster, in which the 115,000-ton cruise ship crashed into Giglio island off Tuscany after its captain sailed too close to the shore. But the law was later overturned by a regional court, which ruled that safety or environmental risks had not been proven. Two years ago the government announced that larger ships would be diverted away from the historic center — but failed to follow through on the pledge. MSC Cruises, founded in Italy in 1960, is a global line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva. One of its cruise ships, the MSC Preziosa, collided with a passenger embarkation ramp as it entered port in Venice in 2014, according to the local La Nuova daily. The Opera, built 15 years ago, suffered a power failure in 2011 in the Baltic, forcing some 2,000 people to be disembarked in Stockholm rather than continuing their Southampton, England, to St. Petersburg, Russia, voyage.

italy
tourism
cruise ships
opera
environment
costa concordia
venice
maritime accidents


Facebook must proceed with privacy breach suit linked to Cambridge Analytica, judge rules

Abstract: WASHINGTON/ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - Facebook Inc. must defend itself in a District of Columbia lawsuit accusing the social network of failing to safeguard users’ personal data and allowing a U.K. political consulting firm to mine the information for the benefit of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The decision on Friday by D.C. Superior Court Judge Fern Saddler adds to the pressure on the company to change how it handles subscribers’ personal information. Facebook has said it may cost as much as $5 billion to resolve a Federal Trade Commission probe of its privacy practices. The Menlo Park, California-based company also faces a consumer class action over those practices and investigations in several states. Facebook had argued the court should stay the matter because of other cases, but it now needs to produce documents for the D.C. judge. “We do not believe this lawsuit has any merit and will continue to defend ourselves vigorously,’ Facebook said in a statement responding to the ruling, calling privacy ‘a top priority.’ The case was filed in December by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused Facebook of giving Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan access to the personal information of some 70 million Americans, 340,000 of whom live in the capital. That data were later exploited for the campaign by the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. “We will immediately turn our focus to obtaining all of the evidence proving that Facebook broke District law and did not follow its own policies to protect the privacy of more than 340,000 Facebook users who reside in the District,’ Racine said in a statement. The company’s failure to safeguard that information allegedly violated D.C. consumer protection laws. Racine sought a court order barring Facebook from continuing such practices, plus unspecified monetary damages. Facebook’s attorneys asked Saddler to throw out the case, arguing none of the offending conduct claimed by Racine took place in the district, depriving the court of jurisdiction. They also said Facebook had told its users their information would be shared with third parties. ‘This Court finds that District of Columbia residents’ widespread utilization of, and repeated exchange of personal information through Facebook’s online social networking service, constitute ‘transactions” that would let the suit proceed, Saddler said in the ruling, particularly because the site used the information in its ad-targeting business, potentially generating millions in revenue from D.C. alone. Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google operate similar business models. The judge heard about an hour of arguments at a March 22 hearing. In a separate case, Cook County, Illinois, state prosecutor Kim Foxx is seeking financial penalties for county residents harmed by the Cambridge Analytica scandal and also wants to expose how the social media giant collects and shares user data. That case, in the Chicago area, is currently in the discovery phase. The case is District of Columbia v. Facebook Inc., 2018 CA 008715 B, District of Columbia Superior Court (Washington).

u.s .
u.k .
privacy
social media
facebook
big data
personal information
donald trump
2016 u.s. presidential election
cambridge analytica


Trump 'deadly serious' about Mexico tariffs, White House says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A top White House official said Sunday that President Donald Trump is “deadly serious” about imposing tariffs on imports from Mexico, but acknowledged there are no concrete benchmarks being set to assess whether the U.S. ally is stemming the migrant flow enough to satisfy the administration. “We intentionally left the declaration sort of ad hoc,” Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “So, there’s no specific target, there’s no specific percentage, but things have to get better,” Mulvaney said. “They have to get dramatically better and they have to get better quickly.” He said the idea is to work with the Mexican government “to make sure that things did get better.” On Monday, top officials from the two countries will start meetings in Washington. Mexican Economy Minister Graciela Marquez plans talks with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Two days later, delegations led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard will meet. But Trump played down the effort. “Mexico is sending a big delegation to talk about the Border,” the president tweeted Sunday. “Problem is, they’ve been ‘talking’ for 25 years. We want action, not talk.” Trump claims Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades but that the abuse will end when he slaps tariffs on Mexican imports next week in a dispute over illegal immigration. “America has had enough,” he tweeted. The president said last week that he will impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods on June 10 to pressure the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to block Central American migrants from crossing the border into the U.S. Trump said the import tax will increase by 5 percent every month through October, topping out at 25 percent. But the president has been here before, issuing high-stakes threats over his frustration with the flow of migrants only to later back off. They include his threat earlier this year to seal the border with Mexico. Republicans on Capitol Hill and allies in the business community have signaled serious unease with the tariffs that they warn will raise prices for consumers and hurt the economy. Some see this latest threat as a play for leverage and doubt Trump will follow through. GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, called the tariffs a “mistake” and said it was unlikely Trump would impose them. The president “has been known to play with fire, but not live hand grenades,” Kennedy said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It’s going to tank the American economy,” he said. “I don’t think the president’s going to impose these tariffs.” Mexican officials are due to meet later this week with Secretary of State Pompeo in a bid to come to a resolution. “I think what the president said, what the White House has made clear, is we need a vast reduction in the numbers crossing,” Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Mulvaney, who also appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said Mexico could take various steps to decrease the record numbers of migrants at the border. He suggested the Mexican government could seal its southern border with Guatemala, crack down on domestic terrorist organizations and make Mexico a safe place for migrants seeking to apply for asylum. “There are specific things that the Mexicans can do,” he said. Mulvaney insisted that Trump’s threat is real. “He’s absolutely, deadly serious,” Mulvaney said. Economists and business groups are sounding alarms over the tariffs, warning they will hike the costs of many Mexican goods that Americans have come to rely on and impair trade. But Mulvaney played down those fears, saying he doubts business will pass on the costs to shoppers. “American consumers will not pay the burden of these tariffs,” he said. He also suggested the tariffs were an immigration issue, separate from the trade deal the United States is trying to negotiate with Mexico and Canada. The tariff threat comes just as the administration has been pushing for passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which would update the North American Free Trade Agreement. Several top GOP lawmakers have expressed concerns that Trump’s tariff threat could upend that deal. The chairman of the Finance Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said last week the tariffs would “seriously jeopardize” passage of that agreement, which needs approval in Congress.

u.s .
immigration
trade
mexico
tariffs
donald trump
mike pompeo
mick mulvaney


China central bank urges calm after Baoshang takeover

Abstract: SHANGHAI - China’s central bank sought to calm investors on Sunday after last month’s takeover of Inner Mongolia-based Baoshang Bank, saying regulators are not planning any more such moves for the moment. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) took control of Baoshang on May 24, rattling Chinese markets and prompting the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to inject cash into the banking system. In response to concerns that regulators planned more takeovers of financial institutions, the PBOC said on Sunday that Baoshang was a standalone case. “Everyone, please don’t worry. At present we don’t yet have this plan,” it said in a statement on its website. The PBOC also said it would use various monetary policy tools to stabilize money markets and boost banking system liquidity, but did not mention broader easing. “The PBOC has fully estimated and prepared for the various factors that will affect liquidity in June, and will flexibly use reverse repurchase agreements and the medium-term lending facility in accordance with the cash supply-and-demand situation of the market,” it said in a statement. The central bank has previously pledged more policy support for a slowing economy, but PBOC Gov. Yi Gang has said there is less room for further monetary easing. On Sunday, the PBOC said relatively low reserve requirements for medium- and small-sized banks would boost their liquidity, while a previously announced phased cut to reserve requirements is expected to release 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) in long-term liquidity to medium-size and small banks on June 17. The PBOC said deposit insurance funds and its own funds provided sufficient guarantees for all types of creditors in Baoshang Bank following the takeover, which it said had been triggered by the improper and illegal use of significant bank funds by Tomorrow Holdings, which holds 89 percent of Baoshang’s shares, leading to a serious credit crisis at the bank. All personal accounts and interbank debts of less than 50 million yuan would be guaranteed, the PBOC said, adding that the average guarantee ratio of debts of above 50 million yuan would be “around 90 percent. Chinese regulators issued instructions to banks last week that could see larger creditors facing haircuts of as much as 30 percent, sources told Reuters.


Tokyo stocks extend losses on U.S. sell-off, stronger yen

Abstract: Stocks fell further Monday, bruised by a Wall Street sell-off and the yen’s appreciation. The Nikkei 225 average closed 190.31 points, or 0.92 percent, lower at 20,410.88 after sinking to a five-month intraday low of 20,305.74. On Friday, the key market gauge dived 341.34 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, gave up 13.32 points, or 0.88 percent, to end at 1,498.96 following a 19.70-point drop Monday. The market saw sell orders pile up from the outset of Monday’s trading, after the New York market took a sharp downturn Friday. The yen’s strengthening against the dollar put another damper on investor sentiment, brokers said. The Nikkei and Topix stayed deep in negative territory for the rest of the session, also pressured by a fall in U.S. stock index futures prices in off-hours trading, brokers said. Investors remained risk-averse amid concerns over heightened international trade frictions, brokers said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threat on all imports from Mexico on Thursday and China’s imposition of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods Saturday. Since the Chinese government’s release of weaker than expected manufacturing data Friday, “the view has spread that the U.S.-China trade dispute is taking a toll on the Chinese economy,” Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd., pointed out. “The dollar’s fall close to ¥108 prompted investors to expect that exporting firms would lower their earnings forecasts,” Kuramochi added. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,782 to 312 in the first section, while 46 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.228 billion shares from 1.438 billion Friday. Export-oriented issues met with board selling. The losers included electronic parts supplier Murata Manufacturing, industrial robot producer Fanuc and chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron. Idemitsu, JXTG, Cosmo Energy and other oil names were lower due to a fall in crude oil prices. Technology investor SoftBank Group and drugmaker Takeda fell. Cocokara Fine skyrocketed following the drugstore chain’s announcement that it would start merger talks with peer Sugi Holdings. Also on the positive side were Mitsubishi Estate and job information service firm Recruit Holdings.


Dollar drops below ¥108.30 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar fell below ¥108.30 in Tokyo on Monday as the yen attracted safe-haven buying amid growing concerns over a global economic slowdown. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥108.25-25, down from ¥108.78-78 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1172-1173, up from $1.1142-1143, and at ¥120.94-95, down from ¥121.21-21. The dollar mostly traded between ¥108.10 and ¥108.30, weighed on by the Nikkei 225 average’s continued slide against the backdrop of heightened U.S. trade tensions with not only China but Mexico. The greenback briefly jumped close to ¥108.40 in late afternoon trading. But after the speculative buying by short-term players subsided, the U.S. currency returned to levels around ¥108.20, market sources said. The dollar may not be dampened further by developments in U.S. trade relations with other countries, given little room left for U.S. long-term interest rates to drop, a securities house official said. But a currency broker pointed out that the dollar’s drop below ¥108 is likely, depending on U.S. stock movements.


Mitsui Chemicals to boost polypropylene compound output in Thailand

Abstract: Major chemical products maker Mitsui Chemicals Inc. will boost polypropylene compound output in Thailand to meet a rising global need for lightweight automobiles. Grand Siam Composites Co., its joint venture with a local partner, plans to increase production capacity of polypropylene compounds at a plant in Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok, by 13,000 tons a year with an investment of around ¥1 billion, the company said Friday. Construction is scheduled to be completed in May 2020 and operations will start the following month, it said. The Thai unit’s annual capacity for the product is 140,000 tons after its latest expansion in 2012, according to the company. Demand for polypropylene compounds is growing each year since it can be used to help reduce the weight of automobiles in such vehicle components as bumpers and instrument panels among other parts, the company said. The local unit was established in 1996 and is owned 45.2 percent by Mitsui Chemicals and 46.2 percent by SCG Chemicals Co. under the Siam Cement Group. Mitsui Chemicals also plans to ramp up production capacity for the same compounds in India by 12,000 tons per year in October 2020, according to the company. The company’s global output capacity of polypropylene compounds will total 1.12 million tons annually in the year to March 2021, with Asia accounting for 630,000 tons, or 56 percent of the total, it said.


New Dragon Quest smartphone game, inspired by Pokemon Go, to be released this year

Abstract: Square Enix Co. said Monday it will release a new smartphone game title in its popular role-playing Dragon Quest series this year, enabling players to locate and battle monsters in real-world locations. Dragon Quest Walk, to be available in Japanese on Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating systems, is similar in concept to the smash-hit “Pokemon Go” game in which users catch virtual characters that appear on their smartphone screens based on the player’s location. Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest series and executive producer at game developer Square Enix, acknowledged at an event in Tokyo that he was inspired by the location-based Pokemon Go game released in 2016, calling it “extremely fun” to play. “I hope many players will take their smartphones and go outside for an adventure as a hero,” Horii said. “I think it will push users to go outside for walks and allow them to discover new places.” In the upcoming Dragon Quest title, if a player visits landmarks such as Tokyo Tower or Nagoya Castle, they can advance in the game’s narrative as they encounter new foes. A player can also set a destination in Japan where they can go and take part in battles with monsters and collect items. Since the launch of the first Dragon Quest title in 1986, Square Enix has sold over 78 million units worldwide. The series is famous for its blue onion-shaped mascot character named Slime.


France presses for concessions from Fiat in Renault merger proposal

Abstract: PARIS/MILAN - The French government, Renault SA’s biggest shareholder, wants additional guarantees from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in its proposal to merge the two carmakers as it seeks to avoid job cuts in France and protect national interests, according to sources familiar with the matter. Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann was in Paris over the weekend to discuss the deal, according to the sources, who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential. He met with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who said last week he wants guarantees on preserving jobs, a ministry spokesman said. Fiat Chrysler, which has promised not to close plants, is open to minor adjustments to its plan, the sources said. A spokesman for the French Finance Ministry said Le Maire spoke to Elkann on Friday before the two met again Saturday, and the minister saw Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard on Sunday night. There’s a consensus on the 50-50 ownership structure, the spokesman said. The ministry is still working on the details, he added. France is seeking operational headquarters of the combined company in Paris, and a special dividend for shareholders of Renault, which owns a 43 percent stake in alliance partner Nissan, as well as a French government seat on the new company’s board, the ministry spokesman said. He said Le Maire is also seeking guarantees on the mandate of Senard, who has been tapped to be chief executive officer of the combined company. Le Maire’s office wants Senard to stay in the role for at least four years, one of the sources said. Representatives for Renault and Fiat Chrysler declined to comment. Fiat last week proposed a merger with Renault, structuring the ownership as 50-50 through a Dutch holding company. The deal would add scale to help both companies share costs and resources while tackling an expensive shift to electrification and autonomous driving. Renault shareholders including the French government, which owns a 15 percent stake, would get an implied premium of about 10 percent, while Fiat owners would get dividends to account for its higher equity value. Together, the companies had a market capitalization of about €33.6 billion ($37.5 billion) as of Friday. Nissan Motor Co., Renault’s 20-year alliance partner, is not part of the proposal. Its capital is valued at about $28.6 billion. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is the other member of the alliance, which has been strained by the fallout from the arrest of its leader, Carlos Ghosn, in Tokyo last November. Criticism has emerged in France since the deal was announced, with newspaper Le Monde editorializing over conflicts in the role of banker Societe Generale SA as a Fiat shareholder and Renault adviser. Patrick Pelata, a former COO at Renault, said he doubted whether the €5 billion in annual synergies announced by Fiat and Renault could be achieved, and warned the deal could hurt Renault’s alliance with Nissan.

france
nissan
renault
mergers
fiat chrysler


Special Hello Kitty dessert buffet available at Hilton Osaka

Abstract: OSAKA - A Hello Kitty-themed dessert buffet is now available at Hilton Osaka to mark the key anniversaries of one of the world’s most beloved feline characters and the hotel’s brand. Folk Kitchen on the hotel’s second floor is decorated with Hello Kitty dolls and colorful ribbons while offering 25 kinds of photogenic sweets in the special buffet. The menu includes colorful macarons, mango pudding and peach melba — a dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream. The hotel organized the buffet to mark Hilton’s 100th anniversary and the 45th anniversary of Hello Kitty’s debut. The buffet, which costs ¥3,900 per adult and ¥1,950 per child, will be available until Aug. 31.


Meidensha to produce EV motors in China's Hangzhou in 2021

Abstract: Electrical equipment maker and engineering firm Meidensha Corp. will start producing electric vehicle motors in China in 2021, anticipating growing local demand for emission-free cars. Meiden Hangzhou Drive Systems Co., a wholly owned unit, plans to make 170,000 motors a year, a spokeswoman said Friday. The Chinese subsidiary is the Japanese firm’s first overseas production base for EV motors, she said. The local arm in the eastern coastal city of Hangzhou will start building the plant in November with completion scheduled for July 2020. It is scheduled to start operating in March 2021. Eventually the plant will also produce motors and inverters for plug-in hybrid cars, the spokeswoman said. The Tokyo-based firm said it will inject ¥4.1 billion into the Hangzhou unit with an initial capital outlay of ¥150 million to build the plant.


Boeing embarks on mission to restore tattered reputation with doubtful airlines

Abstract: LONDON/SEOUL - After two fatal crashes in five months involving its best-selling 737 Max jet, Boeing Co. sent a team to reassure airline bosses of its focus on safety at their annual gathering in Seoul. They faced a tough crowd. The International Air Transport Association event began Sunday with an opening ceremony in which sobering news reports on the disasters were beamed onto super-sized screens as the industry group’s head, Alexandre de Juniac, warned that the plane-approval process is damaged and the industry is under scrutiny. Doubts about a speedy resolution to the Max crisis left a shadow over the two-day meeting, aviation’s biggest gathering since the second crash in Ethiopia in March and a key annual forum for top-level discussions. Airline chiefs said Boeing must convince regulators worldwide of the 737’s safety, not just the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, if it is to restore faith in the model. “Unless they get all regulators on board, irrespective of how good or how well they think they’ve fixed the aircraft, it’s not going to work,” Emirates President Tim Clark said in an interview at the gathering. “It’s done enormous damage to the industry, and they have a responsibility to make that good.” The Max was grounded worldwide after the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia killed a total of 346 people. The FAA has said there’s no time frame to sign off on Boeing’s proposed software fix for the jet, leaving airlines struggling to plan for an end to the disruption. While India’s SpiceJet Ltd. predicts the plane may fly again in July, Emirates reckons it could be December and Singapore Airlines Ltd. says it’s impossible to know. “We’re definitely looking to restore confidence,” Christy Reese, Boeing’s vice president of Asia-Pacific commercial sales and marketing, said in an interview in Seoul. A spokesman for the Chicago-based plane maker said the company is focused on supporting customers “in every way possible to ensure complete confidence in the 737 Max and a safe return to commercial flight.” To compound Boeing’s challenges, another problem emerged late Sunday. U.S. aviation regulators said airlines worldwide must inspect 312 of the 737 family of aircraft, including some of the grounded 737 Max model, because they have wing components that are prone to cracking and must be repaired within 10 days. Even if the FAA agrees to Boeing’s safety upgrade, the Max’s reach would be limited if other authorities, especially in Europe and China, fail to clear the jet to fly, and Ed Bastian, chief executive officer at giant U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines Inc., led calls for coordinated regulatory action. Combined approval from officials across the globe affirming that the jet is safe would help restore bruised consumer confidence, Bastian told reporters. Deutsche Lufthansa AG CEO Carsten Spohr echoed the view of the Delta boss. Not everyone is losing patience with Boeing. Panama’s Copa Airlines, which has ordered more than 60 Max jets, said it has no plans to change its purchase. “I have confidence in what they are going to do,” CEO Pedro Heilbron said in an interview. “We’ve been talking for months. How it’s been fixed, what’s been changed. It’s going to be fine.” While different regulators are likely to sign off on the Max at different times, the plane will be back in service in a few months, he said. Whatever the decision by regulators, South Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air said shattered public trust in the Max will take longer to restore. “That will be Boeing’s role,” Seok Joo-lee, the airline’s CEO, said in an interview. Thai Airways International PLC, which is weighing the Max against Airbus SE’s rival A320neo for a fleet deal, echoed those concerns, with Sumeth Damrongchaitham, its outgoing president, saying Boeing will need to convince passengers of the 737’s safety before carriers consider new purchases. “You cannot buy the aircraft and nobody wants to fly it,” he said.


Sudan security forces kill one outside Khartoum's sit-in

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Sudanese military officials said Sunday that troops were attempting to remove “drug dealers and other criminals” from an area located near a protest sit-in in the capital, Khartoum. This comes a day after a Sudanese medical union said one person was shot dead by security forces in the same area, located along the banks of the Nile river. The man, in his 20s, was the third killed in less than a week in the area around Nile street, which the military officials described as “lawless.” On Thursday, security forces killed a 20-year-old man, while the previous day, a gunfight between security forces had erupted near the sit-in, killing a female street vendor by mistake. The area is not far from where tens of thousands of protesters have been camped outside the military’s headquarters, the epicenter of Sudan’s uprising that led to the military overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April. The protesters are now calling for “limited military representation” in a sovereign council that would lead the country as it transitions to civilian rule over a three-year period. The military officials said the Nile street area was being “cleared” by forces mainly from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — better known as Hemedti — who serves as deputy head of the ruling military council. The officials said security agencies have been attempting to carry out a “security plan to clear the area and put an end to such criminal acts.” Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. The Sudan Doctors Committee said in a statement Saturday that at least 11 people were wounded when “regular forces opened fire on Nile Street near the sit-in area.” The statement did not identify which forces were implicated in the fire. The doctors committee is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been spearheading the protests. Amid these increased tensions and deadlocked transition talks, the leading opposition Umma Party warned on Sunday of an attempt to break up the sit-in and called for the military council to resume negotiations with the protesters. “There is no choice except to negotiate… to overcome the conflicts at these critical times that threaten the state and the county’s integrity,” the party said in a statement. Both sides are split over the make-up and leadership of the sovereign council, with the ruling generals refusing to relinquish power. The protesters are represented by the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, an alliance of opposition groups and activists.


Italian navy ship with 100 rescued migrants docks in Genoa

Abstract: BERLIN - An Italian navy ship docked Sunday in the northern port city of Genoa carrying 100 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea, where the number of migrant crossings has picked up in recent weeks. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that 23 minors and 17 women, including a few who are pregnant, were among the migrants. They were rescued Thursday from a dinghy in distress off Libya’s coast. Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said that the migrants would be transferred to five other European Union nations and taken in by the Vatican. Since taking office last year, Salvini has vowed to stop migrants from arriving in Italy. The migrants who arrived in Genoa were from Libya, Cameroon, Somalia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Nigeria, ANSA reported. Paolo Cremonesi, the director of emergency services at the Galliera hospital, said the migrants described suffering while they were at sea for two days and that people on the dinghy with them died. Meanwhile, Dutch sea rescue services said they saved a migrant trying to cross the English Channel on a makeshift raft. The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution, or KNRM, tweeted that the man was picked up Sunday morning near Ijmuiden, west of Amsterdam. Dutch media reported that the man appeared to be a 26-year-old refugee from Eritrea who wanted to reach England. The raft he’d built had no engine and only a sail made from a piece of plastic. It was discovered on a busy shipping route used by freighters.

africa
immigration
italy
eu
libya
refugees
mediterranean
genoa
matteo salvini


Kurds to release 800 Syrians from Al-Hol camp, including kin of Islamic State fighters, official says

Abstract: AIN ISSA, SYRIA - Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria said Sunday they plan to hand 800 women and children, including relatives of jihadis, to their families in the first such transfer from an overcrowded camp. The women and children — all Syrians — are living among the dregs of the Islamic State group in the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp, home to nearly 74,000 people, including more than 30,000 Syrians. They will be released Monday and “taken to their families” at the request of local Arab tribes, according to Abd al-Mehbach, co-chair of the Kurdish administration’s executive council. It is to be the first in a larger wave of releases that aim to empty Al-Hol of its Syrian residents, he said. The next batch is expected to follow the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Hoovered up during a final offensive against the jihadis by a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force, thousands of wives and children of IS fighters have been trucked into Al-Hol from a string of Syrian villages south of the camp in recent months. Their numbers have created a major headache for the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration and have sparked concerns that the camp is emerging as a fresh jihadi powder keg. But “not all of those being released are relatives of IS fighters,” Mehbache said of the group set to leave Monday. Some sought shelter at the camp to escape tough humanitarian conditions in areas leveled by months of fighting, he said. Monday’s group consists of residents from the northeastern city of Raqqa — once the de facto IS capital in Syria — as well as the town of Tabqa, 70 km (43 miles) west, according to Mehbach. Those among them with suspected links to IS will be kept under surveillance by local Arab tribes, who have given guarantees, he said. “It is the (Kurdish) administration’s duty to its people to play a role in the rehabilitation of these women and children, and their reintegration into society,” he added. The IS proto-state was declared defeated on March 23, following a nearly five-year-long offensive against the group. Thousands of foreign fighters are being held in Kurdish-run prisons, while their wives and children languish in displacement camps. Among the hordes of Syrians and Iraqis, some 12,000 foreigners are held in a fenced-off section of the Al-Hol camp, under the watch of Kurdish forces.

terrorism
syria
refugees
kurds
islamic state
arabs
al-hol


Pope in Romania apologizes for history of discrimination against Roma

Abstract: BLAJ, ROMANIA - Pope Francis apologized Sunday to the Roma ethnic minority for their history of discrimination in Europe and paid homage to Romanian Catholics persecuted during communist rule as he wrapped up his third and final day with a message of forgiveness. Francis reached out to the minorities of Transylvania during a deeply symbolic visit to Romania about 20 years after St. John Paul II made the first-ever papal trip to the majority Orthodox country. In his final stop Sunday before heading back to the Vatican, Francis visited a community of Roma, also known as Gypsies, in a newly built Catholic church that was so small organizers asked the clergy to leave to make more room for Gypsy families to get in. There, Francis apologized for the “many experiences of discrimination, segregation and mistreatment experienced by your communities,” a reference to the second-class status of the Roma minority in Romania and throughout Europe, where Roma are more likely to be poor, uneducated and at risk of harassment, according to European Union studies. Francis recently met with members of Roma communities in the diaspora at the Vatican and knows well the hardships they face. “History tells us that Christians too, including Catholics, are not strangers to such evil,” Francis said, in an apparent reference to World War II-era deportation of Roma along with Romanian Jews that is commemorated by a Holocaust memorial in Bucharest. “I would like to ask your forgiveness for this,” Francis said. “I ask forgiveness — in the name of the Church and of the Lord — and I ask forgiveness of you. For all those times in history when we have discriminated, mistreated or looked askance at you … and were unable to acknowledge you, to value you and to defend you in your uniqueness.” Francis has made it a point to use his trips and meetings with foreign leaders to ask forgiveness for past injustices, just as John Paul did. He apologized to indigenous peoples for the colonial-era conquest of the Americas while in Bolivia and during a Vatican meeting with the president of Rwanda, apologized for the failures of Catholics in the Rwandan genocide. Roma are often among the poorest and least educated citizens in Central Europe. Neighboring Hungary, for example, has been warned by the EU about the discrimination of Roma children in education. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights reported last year that 80 percent of the Roma population in Europe is at risk for poverty, and that hate-motivated crime and harassment were preventing their inclusion in society. Francis began the day by beatifying seven Greek-Catholic bishop martyrs in Blaj, a stronghold of the Greek-Catholic Church that was outlawed during communism. The seven bishops had been arrested and imprisoned between 1950 and 1970 for adhering to their faith. Francis held them up as models for the Romanian faithful today, saying they “gave their lives to oppose an illiberal ideological system.” “These lands know well how greatly people suffer when an ideology or a regime takes over, setting itself up as a rule for the very life and faith of people, diminishing and even eliminating their ability to make decisions, their freedom and their room for creativity,” he said. He warned that new ideologies were threatening Romanian families today — an apparent reference to gender issues, gay marriage and other secular trends that Francis has previously blasted as Western “ideological colonization” over others. The hymn-filled Mass followed the Byzantine rite of the Greek-Catholic church, which is loyal to Rome. The liturgy itself was celebrated by a Greek-Catholic bishop, but it marked the first time that Francis had presided over an eastern rite liturgy as pope, the Vatican said. It was celebrated on the symbolic “Field of Liberty,” a huge expanse east of Blaj that was the site of an important nationalist rally in 1848. A century later, communist leaders marking the anniversary at the field demanded that Greek-Catholics join the Orthodox church. Many refused, and thousands of priests were incarcerated in communist prisons, including the seven being beatified Sunday. The Catholic Church’s property was seized. The refusal of the Orthodox church to return those Catholic assets remains a source of tension between the two today. “This is a holy day for all Catholics,” said 50-year old Emanuela Canta, who arrived in the Blaj field early Sunday to get a spot. “I wish we could share the same kind of faith they (the martyrs) had. I wish God could strengthen us and our belief.” Because the seven bishops were declared martyrs, who died out of hatred for the Catholic faith, the Vatican didn’t need to confirm a miracle attributed to their intercession for them to be beatified; a miracle is needed for them to be made saints.

wwii
religion
christianity
vatican
catholic church
romania
pope francis
holocaust
gypsies
roma


World leaders falling short on gender equality pledges, research shows

Abstract: VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - World leaders are failing 1.4 billion girls and women on promises of a fairer future, according to a global index launched at the world’s biggest gender equality conference. The research shows the world is way off track to meet a 2030 deadline for achieving gender equality, with not one country having reached the “last mile.” Japan ranked 21st on the index with a score of 80.6, behind countries such as Australia (85.2) and Italy (81.8), but ahead of the United States, ranked 28th with a score of 77.6, and South Korea at 41st place with a score of 72.6. Some 8,000 delegates from 165-plus countries — from world leaders to grassroots activists — are attending the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver. Speakers include the founder of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, a Nigerian woman kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadis and a Pakistani squash champion who evaded the Taliban by living as a boy. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who describes himself as a feminist, will open the event Monday, launching four days of debates on everything from climate change and gender to women’s political empowerment. Abortion rights will also be a hot issue amid concern over new restrictions imposed by a wave of U.S. states. Katja Iversen, president of Women Deliver, said the world had reached a “tipping point” on gender equality. “(There are) conservative winds — sometimes it feels like a storm — blowing against women’s rights,” she said. But she also saw a “supermomentum” on gender equality and urged everyone to “dream big.” In 2015, world leaders did just that when they placed girls and women at the heart of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promising sweeping transformations by 2030. The new index ranks 129 countries on dozens of SDG targets related to women, be it health, education, violence or work. Denmark, Finland and Sweden topped the list, while Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad came bottom. Nearly 40 percent of girls and women — 1.4 billion — live in countries graded “very poor;” another 1.4 billion in countries graded “poor.” Only 8 percent of girls and women live in countries ranked “good.” No country achieved an “excellent” score, while the global average was “poor.” Philanthropist Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a conference speaker, described the report as “a wake-up call to the world.” But Equal Measures 2030 (EM2030), the partnership behind the index, also noted some surprising success stories. Senegal has a greater proportion of women in parliament (42%) than Denmark (37%), while three in four Kenyan women use digital banking — higher than many wealthier countries. “Many countries with the most limited resources are making huge strides in removing the barriers for girls and women … demonstrating that when it comes to gender equality, governments shouldn’t have excuses for inaction,” Gates said. Researchers said richer countries did not always live up to their promise. Georgia, Malawi and Vietnam had higher scores than expected based on their GDP per head — gross domestic product measures the value of a country’s goods and services — while the opposite was true of the United States, Switzerland and South Korea. EM2030 said the index, which will be regularly updated until 2030, would help advocates to identify gaps and drive change. Another key report to be launched at the conference will look at the future of work and the implications for women of increasing automation, while a third study will examine how to get men to share the burden of unpaid care work. Iversen said investing in women created a ripple effect that also buoyed families, communities, countries and economies. “We have dug deep into the evidence and it really shows that a gender equal world is healthier, wealthier, more productive, and more peaceful,” she said. “If we had gender equality in the work place we could add 26% to GDP — that’s a lot of money,” she added, citing a study by McKinsey Global Institute. Iversen said she was encouraged to see increasing numbers of countries with gender-equal cabinets and more multinationals putting women in leadership positions. But Iversen said it was not about power battles. “Gender equality is also good for men and boys. It’s not women against men, girls against boys. It really is a win-win.”

women
discrimination
u.n . sustainable development goals
equal measures 2030
women deliver


Israel attacks Syrian base hours after hitting other targets

Abstract: BEIRUT - Israel fired missiles onto a Syrian military air base in the country’s center late Sunday, killing a soldier and wounding two others hours after other Israeli attacks in southern Syria killed three soldiers and wounded seven, Syria’s state-run media said. The new wave of Israeli missiles struck the T4 air base in the central province of Homs before midnight Sunday, according to state-run Syrian TV. There was no immediate comment from Israel about striking the air base, which opposition activists said includes positions also manned by Iranian troops and Iran-backed militiamen. Syrian state TV quoted an unidentified military official as saying that one soldier was killed and two were wounded in the air base attack and that an arms depot was hit as well. Israel has attacked the T4 base in the past. Earlier Sunday, Israel’s military confirmed it targeted several military positions in southern Syria, including two artillery batteries, several observation and intelligence posts and an SA2 air defense unit. It said it was responding to two rockets launched from Syria late Saturday, which caused no casualties. The army said one rocket fell within Israeli-controlled territory but didn’t explode. The Syrian state news agency SANA, quoting an unidentified military official, said those attacks struck military positions in the southern region of Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They also caused material damage, the report said. This is the latest such exchange amid heightened tension in the region over Iran’s role in Syria and other parts of the Middle East. Soon after the Sunday morning attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes. “We will not tolerate firing into our territory and will respond fiercely against any aggression against us,” he said in a statement. It was a rare public acknowledgment of Israeli strikes in Syria soon after they happened but is the second in a little over a week, both sparked by claims that fire was directed at Israel from inside Syria. On May 26, Israel said its aircraft had hit a Syrian military post in response to anti-aircraft fire against one of its combat planes. One Syrian soldier was killed, according to state-run media. The Israeli military said that during the Sunday morning strikes, an Israeli aerial defense system was activated due to Syrian anti-aircraft shooting. Israeli media said that sirens warning of incoming rockets were not activated. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli aircraft struck positions and an arms depot belonging to Iranian troops and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters. It said the attacks killed at least 10, including three Syrian troops and seven believed to be foreign fighters. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Observatory, said “until this moment it is not clear if they were Iranians or Hezbollah members.” The attacks came hours after the Israeli military said two projectiles were fired from Syria toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in a move that has not been recognized by most of the international community. The U.S. recently said it recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan. Israel has acknowledged carrying out dozens of airstrikes in Syria against Iranian targets and Tehran’s allies over recent months. For years, Israel has remained largely silent about its attacks against Iran and its Shiite proxies operating in neighboring Syria. But in recent months, military and political leaders have become increasingly outspoken about these activities. Israel says it will not allow Iran, which has sent forces to help President Bashar Assad in Syria’s civil war, to establish a permanent military presence in Syria.

israel
middle east
syria
iran
bashar assad
golan heights


Sudanese forces storm protest camp, at least nine dead: medics

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Security forces stormed a protest camp in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Monday morning and at least nine people were reported to have been killed in the worst violence since the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April. Footage broadcast by al-Hadath and Jazeera television showed chaotic scenes of people fleeing through streets as sustained bursts of gunfire crackled in the air. People rushed to carry away those who had been hit, the footage showed. The main protest group accused the ruling military council of trying to break up the camp, calling the action “a massacre.” But the council said the security forces had targeted criminals in an adjacent area. The protesters and Sudan’s military rulers had been negotiating over who should govern in a transitional period following the overthrow of al-Bashir after months of generally peaceful demonstrations, but the talks have become deadlocked. The Transitional Military Council has offered to let protesters form a government but insists on maintaining overall authority during an interim period. The demonstrators want civilians to run the transitional period and lead Sudan’s 40 million people to democracy. Thousands of young men and women have been taking turns to camp outside the Defense Ministry, the focal point of anti-government protests that started in December. The opposition’s doctors committee said nine people had been killed in Monday’s violence. “The protesters holding a sit-in in front of the army general command are facing a massacre in a treacherous attempt to disperse the protest,” the main protest group said in a statement, urging the Sudanese people to come to their aid. The military council’s spokesman, Lt. Gen. Shams El Din Kabbashi, said the raid targeted criminals and that the protesters were safe. “The protest camp has not been dispersed,” Kabbashi said. “The security forces were trying to disperse unruly (elements) in the Colombia area, near the protest site, and some of these elements fled to the protest site and caused this chaos.” The council was still committed to a political settlement and was ready to resume talks on a civilian transition soon, Kabbashi added. The British Ambassador in Khartoum said in a message on his Twitter account he was “extremely concerned by the heavy gunfire I’ve been hearing over the last hour from my Residence and reports that Sudanese security forces are attacking the protest sit-in site resulting in casualties.” “No excuse for any such attack. This. Must. Stop. Now,” he wrote. The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum also described the attack on the protest camp as “wrong” and said it must stop. “Responsibility falls on the TMC. The TMC cannot responsibly lead the people of Sudan,” the embassy said on its Twitter account. The television footage showed black smoke rising from tents apparently torched by the raiding force. Protesters poured into the streets in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, on the opposite side of the River Nile, after news of the raid spread. Demonstrators blocked roads with rocks and burning tires. Demonstrators, some waving Sudanese flags, hurled stones at security forces, who charged amid sounds of intense gunfire. A video posted on social media showed one protester collapse to the ground, crying in pain after being hit by what appears to be live fire. A witness saw troops wielding batons, including riot police and members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, deploy in central Khartoum and close roads, apparently to try to block people from reaching the protest site. Bridges over the Nile have also been blocked. In Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman, across the Nile, thousands of people took to the streets, blocking roads with stones and burning tires, a witness said. There were no signs of any security forces in the area. Sudan, one of the largest countries in Africa, has long been on a U.S. list of countries that support terrorism, which has hampered foreign investments.


Drugs make headway against lung, breast and prostate cancers

Abstract: CHICAGO - Newer drugs are substantially improving the chances of survival for some people with hard-to-treat forms of lung, breast and prostate cancer, doctors reported at the world’s largest cancer conference. Among those who have benefited is Roszell Mack Jr., who at age 87 is still able to work at a Lexington, Kentucky, horse farm, nine years after being diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his bones and lymph nodes. “I go in every day, I’m the first one there,” said Mack, who helped test Merck’s Keytruda, a therapy that helps the immune system identify and fight cancer. “I’m feeling well and I have a good quality of life.” The downside: Many of these drugs cost $100,000 or more a year, although what patients pay out of pocket varies depending on insurance, income and other criteria. The results were featured Saturday and Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago and some were published by the New England Journal of Medicine. Companies that make the drugs sponsored the studies, and some study leaders have financial ties. Here are some highlights: Lung cancer Immunotherapy drugs such as Keytruda have transformed the treatment of many types of cancer, but they’re still fairly new and don’t help most patients. The longest study yet of Keytruda in patients with advanced lung cancer found that 23 percent of those who got the drug as part of their initial therapy survived at least five years, whereas 16 percent of those who tried other treatments first did. In the past, only about 5 percent of such patients lived that long. “I’m a big believer that it’s not just about duration of life, quality of life is important,” said Dr. Leora Horn, of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She enrolled Mack in the 550-person study. Mack said he had manageable side effects — mostly some awful itching — after starting on Keytruda four years ago. He went off it last winter and scans showed no active cancer; he and his doctor hope it’s in remission. Last year, a smaller study reported five-year survival rates of 16 percent for similar patients given another immunotherapy, Opdivo. “From both studies we’re getting a similar message: When these drugs work, they can have a really durable effect,” Horn said. Breast cancer The risk of this rises with age, but about 48,000 cases each year in the U.S. are in women under age 50. About 70 percent are “hormone-positive, HER2-negative” — that is, the cancer’s growth is fueled by estrogen or progesterone and not by the gene that the drug Herceptin targets. In a study of 672 women with such cancers that had spread or were very advanced, adding the Novartis drug Kisqali to the usual hormone blockers as initial therapy helped more than hormone therapy alone. After 3½ years, 70 percent of women on Kisqali were alive, compared to 46 percent of the rest. Side effects were more common with Kisqali. This is the first time any treatment has boosted survival beyond what hormone blockers do for such patients. Prostate cancer The options keep expanding for men with prostate cancer that has spread beyond the gland. Standard treatment is drugs that block the male hormone testosterone, which helps these cancers grow, plus chemotherapy or a newer drug called Zytiga. Now, two other drugs have proven able to extend survival when used like chemo or Zytiga in men who were getting usual hormone therapy and still being helped by it. One study tested Xtandi, sold by Pfizer and Astellas Pharma Inc., in 1,125 men, half of whom also were getting chemo. After three years, 80 percent of those given Xtandi plus standard treatments were alive, compared to 72 percent of men given the other treatments alone. The other study involved 1,052 men who were given hormone therapy with or without the Janssen drug Erleada. After two years, survival was 82 percent among those on Erleada and 74 percent among those who weren’t. Men now have a choice of four drugs that give similar benefits, and no studies yet have compared them against each other, said Dr. Ethan Basch, a prostate specialist at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center who has no financial ties to any drugmakers. Cost and side effects may help patients decide, he said. Chemo can cause numbness and tingling in the hands and feet and may not be good for men with diabetes who already are at higher risk for this problem. Zytiga must be taken with a steroid; Xtandi and Erleada can cause falling and fainting. Chemo has more side effects but costs much less and requires only four to six intravenous treatments. The other three drugs are pills that cost more than $10,000 a month and are taken indefinitely. “I have patients who refuse to take these drugs because of cost,” Basch said. “Patients have more choice, but it isn’t clear more benefit is being provided” beyond what chemo gives, he said.

cancer
breast cancer
lung cancer
novartis
merck
prostate cancer
opdivo


More blacks got timely cancer treatment after 'Obamacare,' study shows

Abstract: CHICAGO - New research suggests that states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act eliminated racial differences in being able to quickly start on treatment after a diagnosis of advanced cancer. The law that is often called “Obamacare” let states expand Medicaid eligibility and offer subsidies to help people buy health insurance. Yale University researchers used electronic health records on 36,000 patients across the United States to gauge its impact. Before the law, 5 percent fewer blacks were starting treatment within a month of their cancer diagnoses. In states that expanded Medicaid, that difference went away. Results were featured Sunday at a cancer conference in Chicago.

u.s .
medicine
medicaid
cancer
obamacare
african-americans
medicare