Buying of technology-linked shares helps Tokyo stocks end on a firmer note

Abstract: Stocks closed marginally higher after mixed trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, thanks to a ripple effect of an overnight rally on Wall Street led by technology buying. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 18.42 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 21,627.34, the best finish since March 5. On Wednesday, the key market gauge gained 42.07 points. The market was closed Thursday due to a national holiday. The Topic index of all first-section issues closed up 2.72 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,617.11, after rising 4.16 points the previous trading day. The Tokyo market got off to a firmer start after active buying of technology issues let the New York market turn up to snap its two-day losing streak Thursday. But later in the morning both the Nikkei and Topix gauges came under increased selling pressure amid the yen’s strengthening against the dollar and sank into negative territory, brokers said. In the afternoon, unabated buying interest, chiefly in technology stocks, helped prevent the market from bowing deeper to selling, also induced by drops in long-term interest rates. In addition, the market’s downside was supported by buying on a dip, brokers said. Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., pointed out that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest “super-dovish” move pushed down the dollar against the yen to spur futures-linked selling. He was referring to the Fed’s indication after its policy-setting meeting through Wednesday that there will be no interest rate increase this year. “The market’s upside was heavy due also to falls in Chinese stocks,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,392 to 653 in the TSE’s first section, while 95 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 1.36 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.14 billion. Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron fared well along with electronic parts makers TDK and Kyocera. Also bought were automaker Suzuki, optical equipment maker Olympus and technology investor SoftBank Group. By contrast, Eisai tumbled 16.55 percent with allowable single-day point losses following its decision to stop a late-phase clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Its peers Astellas, Takeda and Shionogi also met with selling. Lower long-term interest rates battered mega-bank groups including Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average sagged 90 points to end at 21,340.


Dollar tumbles below ¥110.80 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar traded below ¥111.80 in Tokyo Friday, weighed down by lower U.S. long-term interest rates and Japanese stock prices. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.77-77, down from ¥111.59-59 at the same time on Wednesday. The market was closed on Thursday for a national holiday. The euro was at $1.1387-1388, up from $1.1344-1348, and at ¥126.14-14, down from ¥126.64-64. In early trading, the dollar moved around ¥110.70-80 after falling below ¥110.60 in overseas trading in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s release Wednesday of projections that there would be no interest rate increase in 2019. The dollar firmed close to ¥110.90 in midmorning trading thanks to purchases by domestic importers. But the greenback slipped through ¥110.70 in line with a drop in the Nikkei stock average, before scaling back above ¥110.80 on position-squaring buying in the afternoon. Players retreated to the sidelines in later hours to see the outcome of a two-day summit meeting of the European Union from Thursday on Britain’s exit from the EU, traders said. An official of a major securities firm said that the market will continuously be clouded by the no-deal Brexit possibility.


Energy giants have spent $1 billion on lobbying and public relations since Paris climate deal reached: watchdog

Abstract: PARIS - The five largest publicly listed oil and gas majors have spent $1 billion since the 2015 Paris climate deal on public relations or lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the landmark accord’s goals, a watchdog said Friday. Despite outwardly committing to support the Paris agreement and its aim to limit global temperature rises, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and Total spend a total of $200 million a year on efforts “to operate and expand fossil fuel operations,” according to InfluenceMap, a pro-transparency monitor. Two of the companies — Shell and Chevron — said they rejected the watchdog’s findings. “The fossil fuel sector has ramped up a quite strategic program of influencing the climate agenda,” InfluenceMap Executive Director Dylan Tanner said. “It’s a continuum of activity from their lobby trade groups attacking the details of regulations, controlling them all the way up, to controlling the way the media thinks about the oil majors and climate.” The report comes as oil and gas giants are under increasing pressure from shareholders to come clean over how greener lawmaking will impact their business models. As planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions hit their highest levels in human history in 2018, the five companies wracked up total profits of $55 billion. At the same time, the International Panel on Climate Change — composed of the world’s leading climate scientists — issued a call for a radical drawdown in fossil fuel use in order to hit the 1.5 C warming cap laid out in the Paris accord. InfluenceMap looked at accounts, lobbying registers and communications releases since 2015, and alleged a large gap between the climate commitments companies make and the action they take. It said all five engaged in lobbying and “narrative capture” through direct contact with lawmakers and officials, spending millions on climate branding, and by employing trade associations to represent the sector’s interests in policy discussions. “The research reveals a trend of carefully devised campaigns of positive messaging combined with negative policy lobbying on climate change,” it said. It added that of the more than $110 billion the five had earmarked for capital investment in 2019, just $3.6 billion was given over to low-carbon programs. The report came one day after the European Parliament was urged to strip Exxon Mobil lobbyists of their access, after the U.S. giant failed to attend a hearing where expert witnesses said the oil giant has knowingly misled the public over climate change. “How can we accept that companies spending hundreds of millions on lobbying against the EU’s goal of reaching the Paris agreement are still granted privileged access to decision-makers?” said Pascoe Sabido, Corporate Europe Observatory’s climate policy researcher, who was not involved in the InfluenceMap report. The report said Exxon alone spent $56 million a year on “climate branding” and $41 million annually on lobbying efforts. In 2017 the company’s shareholders voted to push it to disclose what tougher emissions policies in the wake of Paris would mean for its portfolio.


Seven-Eleven begins trial of shorter business hours as convenience stores grapple with Japan's labor crunch

Abstract: Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has launched an experimental program by shortening business hours at some of its directly run outlets across the country in order to consider whether to revise its policy of operating stores 24 hours a day. The major convenience store chain operator, a unit of Seven & I Holdings Co., has introduced three sets of business hours — 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., 6 a.m. to midnight, and 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. — through the trial, which started Thursday evening and will be carried out over a few months. As part of the trial, an outlet in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward closed at 1 a.m. on Friday. A customer, a 26-year-old civil servant who came to the outlet to buy alcohol said, “I’m sad because I thought the store is open 24 hours a day.” He added that he will shop at a different store from now on. After closing for four hours for cleaning and restocking, the outlet opened again at 5 a.m. The latest move by Seven-Eleven, the industry leader, came after company President Kazuki Furuya suggested earlier this week the possibility of allowing shorter business hours depending on each store’s situation. Owners of the chain’s franchise stores are stepping up a campaign to persuade the chain to allow their outlets to adopt shorter operating hours. Twenty-four-hour convenience stores are struggling to stay open around the clock as an industry that has continually expanded now finds itself at the sharp end of a labor shortage. Although the debate has focused on labor issues, it has also raised doubts over the future of the convenience store industry amid an aging population, slow economic growth and fresh competition from online marketplaces such as Amazon Prime. “The question is, how much demand is there for 24-hour service in an age when online shopping is expanding?” said Takayuki Kurabayashi, a Nomura Research Institute partner who specializes in consulting for the retail industry. Japanese convenience stores began expanding in the 1970s as their 24-hour accessibility proved to be a perfect match with the country’s dense population and late-night work culture. The brightly lit konbini are ubiquitous and an essential part of modern Japanese life, offering everything from neckties to packaged bento for city workers. Residents of rural areas rely on the stores for parcel and ATM services, or even as lifelines during natural disasters. The franchise system promoted a nationwide expansion that took the total number of stores to roughly 58,000 last year, a majority operated by the big three: Seven-Eleven, originating in the U.S. but now Japanese-owned; FamilyMart, Uny Holdings Co.’s convenience store arm; and Lawson, a subsidiary of trading house Mitsubishi Corp. For years, the franchise model shielded operations from the direct effects of Japan’s labor crunch. But now, the tightest labor market more than 40 years is hurting store owners, who pay salaries after handing over royalty fees. A union of convenience store owners said they have been finding it increasingly hard to hire enough employees. Many owners said they work long hours themselves to keep their stores open 24 hours — a requirement in most franchise contracts. “At the time of the agreement, we could not foresee the current labor shortage or spike in minimum wages,” said Mitoshi Matsumoto, a union member who owns a Seven-Eleven store in Osaka, referring to the deal he and his wife signed with the company. Struggling to keep the store running after his wife’s death last year, he began closing it for a few hours at night, and was threatened with a fine. His pleas to management and lawmakers drew widespread sympathy in a country in which “work-life balance” has become a buzzword and employers have come under fire for cases of death by overwork. Even the pro-business Nikkei newspaper wrote an editorial saying stores should be allowed reasonable working hours even if consumers suffer slight inconveniences. Roy Larke, who analyses the retail industry as editor of JapanConsuming.com, said he sees the sector as saturated and consolidation inevitable. “We do have too many convenience stores now, sometimes literally next door to each other. There are probably around 10 percent too many,” he said. Katsuhiko Shimizu, spokesman for Seven & I Holdings, which also owns general merchandise chain Ito-Yokado, disagreed. “There’s room for innovation,” he said, citing the company’s efforts to incorporate more automation and artificial intelligence in processes ranging from stocking to check-out. Chains are also testing new formats such as outlets that combine drugstores, dry cleaners and even gyms. FamilyMart has opened some such stores with the country’s largest discount chain, Don Quijote, to inject excitement. Analysts warn against underestimating a sector known for maintaining high margins and rarely discounting, helped by constant product renewals and staples like ¥100 coffees. They also say it’s too early to predict the outcome of Japan’s online grocery delivery race, which is just getting started. Although Amazon’s grocery and same-day delivery services are considered threats, convenience stores are also launching online platforms; their affiliations with traditional supermarkets and logistics networks are seen as advantages. “It’s not clear-cut whether Amazon will be overwhelmingly powerful here,” said Larke. “Especially in food, it doesn’t have the game to itself.” Convenience stores, like other Japanese businesses, have also been expanding abroad. But Nomura Research’s Kurabayashi warned that those foreign markets, including China, are also aging. “What’s happening in Japan is eventually going to happen elsewhere in Asia,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time.”

consumers
convenience stores
lawson
seven-eleven
labor shortage


Siemens talking with Mitsubishi Heavy and other Asian firms over fate of large gas turbine business

Abstract: LONDON/MUNICH - Siemens AG is exploring a variety of options regarding its large gas turbine business by seeking an Asian partner, including a possible deal with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. The German company has held talks with Mitsubishi Heavy and other firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Options range from a full or partial sale of the division to a joint venture, the people said. No final decisions have been made and Siemens may still decide to keep the unit, they said. Siemens shares advanced as much as 2.6 percent following the report, the most in more than a month. “The situation on the global market for fossil power-plant technology remains unchanged,” the company said in a statement, declining to comment on talks about the turbine business. “Siemens began tackling these challenges back in early 2015.” A spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy declined to comment. Siemens has been considering options for the large gas turbine business, which forms the largest part of its power and gas division, since at least last June, when people familiar with the matter said the German engineering company was considering a potential sale. The global market for gas turbines has collapsed as renewable energy has become cheaper. Siemens announced in 2017 it would cut 6,900 jobs in its power and gas division to respond to that shift. The power and gas division will be renamed gas and power on April 1, reflecting the company’s new structure. Siemens announced last year that it was shrinking the number of operating divisions and that it would focus on factory software and energy distribution, attempting to get the jump on newer technologies that had been disrupting its core business.

mitsubishi heavy industries ltd .
siemens ag


Victory over Islamic State won't be declared until Baghouz enclave is searched, cleared: U.S.-led force

Abstract: BAGHOUZ, SYRIA - U.S.-backed Syrian forces were sweeping on Thursday through the final enclave that had been held by Islamic State fighters, and said they would declare the group defeated once a search for hidden mines and jihadist holdouts was complete. “Our forces are still conducting combing and search operations and as soon as they are finished we will announce the liberation,” Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said in a note to journalists. Bali told Reuters the operation included sweeping for mines and combing for fighters still hidden in trenches and tunnels dug beneath Baghouz, the last patch of Islamic State territory. The last clashes reported by the SDF were on Tuesday, indicating that major fighting is over in the last big battle of a five year international campaign against a self-proclaimed caliphate that once comprised a third of both Iraq and Syria. The SDF, backed by U.S. air power, swept on Tuesday into a camp where hundreds of fighters had been making their last stand with thousands of civilians, many their own wives and children. The situation in Baghouz appeared calm for a second consecutive day, a Reuters journalist in Baghouz said. Warplanes with the U.S.-led coalition, including drones, could be seen overhead. A news outlet with close ties to the Syrian Kurdish-led authorities, Hawar, reported that the operation was now finished and Islamic State defeated. But an SDF denial swiftly made clear it was not quite prepared to declare victory yet. A propaganda video carrying the mark of an Islamic State news outlet and distributed among online followers of the group on Thursday showed footage from inside Baghouz and a fighter calling for Muslims in Western countries to stage attacks. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said another 2,000 women and children had arrived late on Wednesday at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria that has received tens of thousands of people who have poured out of the shrinking Islamic State territory. “These women and children are in the worst condition we have seen since the crisis first began. Many have been caught up in the fighting and dozens have been burnt or badly injured by shrapnel,” Wendy Taeuber, IRC’s Iraq and northeast Syria country director, said in a statement. “We are expecting another 3,000 to arrive soon and we are very worried that they may be in even worse shape.” A report issued by the United Nations’ population fund, the UNFPA, on Thursday said “it is estimated that around 7,000 people are still inside” Baghouz, without elaborating. The al-Hol camp is now holding more than 72,000 people, including more than 40,000 children, IRC said. The total number of deaths on the way to it or shortly after arriving now stood at 138, the overwhelming number of them babies and infants. Of the 1,248 pregnant women and girls in the camp, up to 15 percent were younger than 18, the UNFPA said. Though the defeat of Islamic State at Baghouz ends its grip over populated territory, it remains a threat, with fighters operating in remote territory elsewhere and capable of mounting insurgent attacks. The U.S. military has warned that Islamic State may still count tens of thousands of fighters, dispersed throughout Iraq and Syria, with enough leaders and resources to present a menacing insurgency. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to Jerusalem, told reporters victory was “close. He was proud of “the work that the United States did, the Department of Defense did, that the folks fighting down in the Euphrates river valley did,” he said. “The threat from radical Islamic terrorism remains. We need to finish out the last few square meters there, in Syria. Still work to do.” The Pentagon’s internal watchdog released a report last month saying Islamic State remained an active insurgent group and was regenerating functions and capabilities more quickly in Iraq than in Syria. The group could resurge in Syria within six to 12 months and regain limited territory without sustained pressure. The United States believes Iraq is the location of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who stood at the pulpit of the great medieval mosque in Mosul in 2014 to declare himself caliph, sovereign over all Muslims.

conflict
u.s .
terrorism
syria
refugees
islamic state
mike pompeo
syrian democratic forces
baghouz


Mississippi governor signs 'heartbeat' abortion law, prompting threatened suit

Abstract: JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation — a measure that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights called the measure “cruel and clearly unconstitutional” and said it would sue Mississippi to try to block the law from taking effect on July 1. Bryant’s action came despite a federal judge’s decision last year striking down a less-restrictive law limiting abortions in the state. After a bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol, Bryant told reporters that he’s not worried about lawsuits. “They don’t have to sue us. It’s up to them,” Bryant said. “If they do not believe in the sanctity of life, these that are in organizations like Planned Parenthood, we will have to fight that fight. But it is worth it.” Mississippi is one of several states that have considered bills this year to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is found. Abortion opponents are emboldened by new conservatives on the Supreme Court and are seeking cases to challenge the court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A federal judge in 2018 struck down a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, saying it is unconstitutional. “Lawmakers didn’t get the message,” Hillary Schneller, staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement Thursday. “They are determined to rob Mississippians of the right to abortion, and they are doing it at the expense of women’s health and taxpayer money. This ban — just like the 15-week ban the governor signed a year ago — is cruel and clearly unconstitutional.” The law that Bryant signed Thursday says a physician who performs an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected could face revocation of his or her Mississippi medical license. It also says abortions could be allowed after a fetal heartbeat is found if a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life or one of her major bodily functions. The House and Senate both rejected efforts to allow exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Georgia and Tennessee are among the states considering similar bills. Kentucky’s law banning abortion after the detection of a heartbeat was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union when Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed it on March 14, and a federal judge temporarily blocked it. A federal judge on Wednesday also blocked another Kentucky law that would ban abortion for women seeking to end their pregnancies because of the gender, race or disability of the fetus.

abortion
mississippi
planned parenthood
phil bryant
center for reproductive rights


Pollution danger mounts as toxic cloud paralyzes Houston's refinery row after four-day fire

Abstract: HOUSTON - Now that the four-day fire is out at a Houston-area chemical storage complex, the real danger has emerged. Cancer-causing benzene is wafting across the eastern suburbs of the fourth-largest U.S. city, shutting roads, schools and industrial plants, and disrupting everyday life. A major oil refinery in the heart of North America’s most important fuel-producing region told workers to stay home and the cities of Deer Park and Galena Park told everyone to shut their windows and stay inside. The Texas National Guard deployed about 20 troops to assist with air monitoring, Maj. Joshua Amstutz said in an email. Toxic fumes detected hours before dawn have panicked Houstonians normally accustomed to orange flares from the warren of refinery and chemical plant smokestacks that stretch to the eastern horizon. Even when the chemical fire erupted Sunday and sent a black anvil of smoke a mile above the city, many residents were nonchalant. But with the fire at Intercontinental Terminals Co.’s storage complex extinguished, the situation is actually more treacherous because the pools of naphtha and other crude-oil byproducts at the site are no longer burning off — and are free to evaporate at ground level. “It’s making the dangers worse for the communities near the site,” said Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University. “The fires that had been burning had been burning off many of these air toxins and wafting them into a plume higher into the sky, where it was able to spread and disperse into broader regions.” Police barricaded roads in Deer Park, 18 miles (29 km) east of downtown Houston, after a brief overnight flare-up at Intercontinental’s facility, where fire crews continue to douse several charred storage tanks with water and foam to cool the smoldering remnants. Royal Dutch Shell PLC told workers at its nearby 275,000 barrel-a-day Deer Park refinery to stay at home or remain inside if they’ve already arrived at work. The refinery’s operations are normal, said Ray Fisher, a Shell spokesman. “This is a real risk to human health, not theoretical,” said Elena Craft, senior director for climate and health at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Benzene is a known carcinogen, and no amount is safe to breathe. We urge everyone, especially pregnant women, to be vigilant.” The benzene levels detected “are below those that represent an immediate risk,” Intercontinental said in a statement. The company notified “surrounding municipalities and out of an abundance of caution Deer Park Emergency Operations Center has called for shelter in place precautions immediately for all of Deer Park.” Before the fire, Intercontinental’s tank farm could hold as much as 13 million barrels of oil products and chemicals along the Houston Ship Channel. The black smoke plume that towered over Houston posed no risk to residents, local official said. When ignited, benzene “just burns into carbon dioxide and water, just like anything else,” said Dr. Stephen Harding, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Once you’ve controlled the fire, you’ve now got damaged tanks containing the benzene which may be leaching into the air, now that it’s no longer being burned off.” Part of State Highway 225, which many workers use to get to work at nearby refineries and terminals, has been shut down. The highway closure affects an 8-mile stretch through the heart of refining and chemical country, snarling traffic all over the east side of Houston. Workers at LyondellBasell Industries NV’s Houston refinery continue to operate the facility, according to Kimberly Windon, a company spokeswoman. Petroleo Brasilerio SA didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on the status of its refinery in the suburb of Pasadena. “We know this is concerning, especially to residents in the area of the shelter in place,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in a statement. “We are continuing to monitor to verify if this is a short-term, one time exposure or a longer exposure. At the level of benzene we are seeing now for the current duration it should not cause symptoms even in the area impacted.” The Deer Park Independent School District, La Porte ISD and Galena Park ISD have canceled school for Thursday.

pollution
environment
chemicals
houston
refineries
fire
intercontinental terminals co .
naptha


Florida man pleads guilty to mailing bombs to prominent Trump critics, CNN, Clintons

Abstract: NEW YORK - A Florida man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending a wave of pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump, attacks that harmed no one but created fear as the devices turned up, day after day, at locations across the country. Cesar Sayoc sobbed as he entered the plea before a federal judge in New York. “I’m truly sorry,” he said. He faces the possibility of a life sentence on 65 criminal counts, including using weapons of mass destruction and illegal mailing of explosives with intent to kill. Sayoc had been scheduled to go on trial this summer on charges that he mailed rudimentary bombs to 16 targets, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and the actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. He has been held without bail since his late-October arrest at a South Florida auto parts store. At the time, he had been living in a van covered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces. The bombs began turning up weeks before the hotly contested midterm elections, contributing to an already tense political environment. The hunt for the bomber began Oct. 22 when a device was discovered in a mailbox at an estate in New York City’s northern suburbs owned by the billionaire George Soros, a liberal political activist and frequent subject of conspiracy theories. A device addressed to the Clintons was discovered the following day, followed a day later by a slew of homemade pipe bombs found at the homes or offices of prominent Democrats. One, addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, was sent to CNN in New York. Over several days, investigators tracked the packages to a mailing center in Florida. Prosecutors said the evidence against Sayoc includes DNA linking him to 10 of the explosive devices and fingerprints on two of them. Without a plea deal, Sayoc faced charges carrying a potential penalty of mandatory life in prison. Others targeted by the mailings included former Vice President Joe Biden, California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

hillary clinton
joe biden
bill clinton
cnn
donald trump
mail bombs
cesar sayoc


Jared Kushner's use of message apps, wife Ivanka Trump's email activities draw scrutiny in Congress

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a powerful White House aide, did not preserve all of her official emails as required by federal law, and her husband, Jared Kushner, used a messaging application to conduct U.S. business outside government channels, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said on Thursday. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a letter to the White House that the use of private email accounts and the messaging application WhatsApp by senior administration officials raises “security and federal records concerns.” Cummings said that Trump’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told the committee that Trump doesn’t preserve official emails she receives in her personal account if she doesn’t respond to them. Cummings says that appears to violate the Presidential Records Act. But just hours later, Lowell issued a letter of his own disputing Cummings’ characterization. Lowell said he was referring to Trump’s email use before September 2017 and that he told committee staff that now “she always forwards official business to her White House account.” The dispute arose as Cummings also released information about Kushner’s use of WhatsApp and raised questions about personal email accounts used by other former senior White House aides to discuss a proposal to transfer U.S. nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. Cummings’ letter says Lowell told his staff that Kushner uses WhatsApp to conduct official U.S. government business including by communicating with “people outside the United States.” When asked whether Kushner had ever used WhatsApp to discuss classified information, Cummings said Lowell responded, “That’s above my pay grade,” and referred questions to the White House and the National Security Council, according to Cummings’ letter. Lowell said Kushner archives the messages he sends by taking screenshots of them and forwarding that record to his official White House email account or the National Security Council. In his response letter Thursday, Lowell stressed that he didn’t say whether Kushner used WhatsApp to communicate with foreign leaders or officials. He said he also informed the committee that Kushner complies with all protocols involving classified information. CNN reported last year that Kushner was communicating with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman using WhatsApp. In a statement Thursday, White House deputy press secretary Steven Groves said the White House will review Cummings’ letter and “provide a reasonable response in due course.” The House committee’s investigation comes after Ivanka Trump last year dismissed any comparison to the use of private email by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which prompted an FBI investigation and inspired the “Lock Her Up” chant at then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. While the top U.S. diplomat, Clinton sent thousands of emails using a private server set up at her home in Chappaqua, New York. The FBI found classified information in some of the emails that were sent or received on the nongovernment system, but federal authorities declined to pursue charges against Clinton. Last year, The Washington Post reported that Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails about government business from a personal email account to White House aides, Cabinet members and her assistant. The newspaper said many of those communications, during the early months of the administration, violated federal public records rules. In a previous written statement, Lowell spokesman Peter Mirijanian has acknowledged that Ivanka Trump used private email while transitioning to a position in the White House but said that the emails were retained “in conformity with records preservation laws and rules.” He also noted that “there was never classified information transmitted” using her private email account. In an interview with ABC News last year, Ivanka Trump defended her use of a private email account, saying: “All of my emails are stored and preserved. There were no deletions.” In his letter, Cummings also singled out former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, questioning whether they preserved documents related to a proposal to transfer nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. That proposal is under investigation by Cummings’ committee, which is looking into information from whistleblowers who have said they witnessed “abnormal acts” within the Trump National Security Council involving senior White House officials who were pushing the plan. The committee found that McFarland used an AOL account to discuss the effort pushed by Trump friend Tom Barrack. It cites a Feb. 6, 2017, email between McFarland and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Bannon also received a Jan. 29, 2017, email from Barrack that Cummings said was a pitch of the plan sent to inform “Bannon’s official work relating to developing ‘broader Middle East policy.'” Cummings is asking the White House whether these communications were properly preserved. Robert Giuffra, a lawyer for McFarland, declined comment. A representative for Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

congress
democrats
emails
whatsapp
donald trump
jared kushner
steve bannon
ivanka trump
elijah cummings


White House snubs congressional Democrats' demands for records of secretive Trump-Putin talks: reports

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The White House has rejected a request by Democratic lawmakers to provide information about President Donald Trump’s communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports on Thursday. The White House sent its denial in a letter to Congress, according to reports by The Hill newspaper and CNN. U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings, the chairmen of the House of Representatives Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees, respectively, had asked the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in early March for documents and interviews about Trump’s conversations with Putin. The lawmakers expressed concern about media reports that Trump seized notes on at least one meeting with the Russian leader and tried to destroy records about those talks. In his response, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said a president’s communications with foreign leaders are confidential and protected by executive privilege. “The president must be free to engage in discussions with foreign leaders without fear that those communications will be disclosed and used as fodder for partisan political purposes,” Cipollone wrote in the letter to the committee chairmen, according to The Hill. The request for information about communications with Putin followed the powerful House Judiciary Committee’s demand for documents from a who’s who of Trump’s turbulent world, targeting 81 people, government agencies and other groups in an investigation of possible obstruction of justice or abuse of power.

u.s .
congress
vladimir putin
russia
democrats
donald trump
adam schiff
elijah cummings
pat cipollone


In defiance of U.S., aide of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrested for leading 'terrorist cell'

Abstract: CARACAS - President Nicolas Maduro’s regime on Thursday defied the U.S. to arrest a top aide of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognizes as the crisis-hit country’s interim leader. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol accused the aide, Roberto Marrero, a 49-year-old lawyer who serves as Guaido’s chief of staff, of leading a “terrorist cell” bent on attacking the government’s leadership with the help of Colombian and Central American mercenaries as well as “acts of sabotage on public services to create chaos.” He said weapons and foreign cash were found in a pre-dawn raid on Marrero’s home. He added that Marrero’s 34-year-old bodyguard, Luis Paez, was also arrested and faced the same charges and a search was on for “identified” collaborators. Later, Maduro said he would “not be afraid to fight terrorist groups to put them in jail.” The development triggered alarm internationally. The United States, the European Union, and a grouping of Latin American nations plus Canada, all denounced Marrero’s arrest and demanded his immediate release. The United States has repeatedly warned Maduro’s government against arresting Guaido or his close aides, saying it would face unspecified repercussions. US President Donald Trump reiterated this week he was considering “all options” at his disposal to see Maduro dislodged and Guaido installed in power, implying military action if he deemed it necessary. A U.N. spokesman Thursday expressed “concern” at the arrest, urging “all actors in Venezuela to take immediate steps to lower tensions and refrain from any action that could lead to further escalation.” The arrest was denounced earlier Thursday by Guaido as a “vile, vulgar kidnapping.” He said “we won’t be intimidated.” One opposition lawmaker who is a neighbor of Marrero’s and whose home was also searched, Sergio Vergara, told reporters that Marrero had yelled out during his arrest that SEBIN intelligence officers had planted two assault rifles and a grenade in his place as a pretext. “The United States condemns raids by Maduro’s security services and detention of Roberto Marrero, Chief of Staff to Interim President @jguaido. We call for his immediate release. We will hold accountable those involved,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter. “Maduro has made another big mistake. The illegitimate arrest of Roberto Marrero, Interim President Juan Guaido’s aide, will not go unanswered. He should be released immediately and his safety guaranteed,” added National Security Adviser John Bolton. Maduro and Guaido both claim to be Venezuela’s legitimate leader but Maduro, 56, retains the loyalty of the military brass and has control of state apparatus. Guaido, 35, declared himself interim president on January 23 and has the backing of the U.S. and more than 50 other countries. So far their power struggle has hit an impasse, with Maduro railing daily about the U.S. “imperialists” trying to dislodge him and Guaido touring the country to rally supporters and pledging he’ll be taking over “very soon.” Maduro’s forces have reinforced obstacles blocking a border bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia to prevent Guaido’s supporters trucking in U.S. aid. Extra shipping containers and concrete blocks have been moved into place on the bridge. Vergara said Thursday’s raid, which occurred around 2 a.m. , was carried out by around 15 officers of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service. He said he was thrown to the floor and his own place “ransacked” for around two hours before the officers went a short distance to bang on Marrero’s door and enter his apartment. “The dictatorship is abducting citizens,” Vergara said. The Lima Group, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Peru, issued a statement “calling for Nicolas Maduro’s illegitimate and dictatorial regime to immediately release Mr. Marrero” and leave Vergara alone. “We demand the end of harassment of Venezuelans upholding democracy and the systematic practice of arbitrary detention and torture in Venezuela,” said the statement issued by Peru’s Foreign Ministry. The United States has cautioned Maduro against laying a finger on Guaido or National Assembly deputies, threatening unspecified repercussions. In January, Bolton tweeted: “Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela’s democratic leader, Juan Guaido, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response.” The United States this month withdrew all its diplomats from Venezuela. In just over a month, on April 28, increasingly harsh U.S. sanctions on Venezuela will intensify to a critical level with a ban on all oil sales to the United States, Venezuela’s main crude buyer. The step is expected to worsen already dire economic conditions ravaging Venezuela, a once-wealthy South American nation that has become impoverished under Maduro.

venezuela
nicolas maduro
juan guaido
roberto marrero


As 'Car Wash' graft probe continues, former Brazilian President Michel Temer arrested on corruption charges

Abstract: RIO DE JANEIRO - Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling graft probe that has roiled Latin America’s largest nation and shows no sign of slowing. Judge Marcelo Bretas issued an arrest order for the ex-president as well as former Cabinet minister and Temer ally Moreira Franco and eight others. According to prosecutors, construction company Engevix paid Temer bribes in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the city of Angra dos Reis in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro state. Prosecutors said in a statement that one Engevix executive said in plea bargain testimony that he paid more than $300,000 in 2014 to a company owned by a close Temer associate, Col. Joao Baptista Lima Filho. An arrest warrant was also issued for Lima Filho. While the charges against Temer were narrow, prosecutors told reporters that the former president and several associates had been engaging in pay-for-play deals involving kickbacks since the 1980s that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. “This is a criminal organization that has been up until now led by Michel Temer,” said Fabiana Schneider, one of the prosecutors. In his arrest order, Bretas wrote that arresting Temer was necessary to make sure he didn’t destroy evidence. The case is one of 10 criminal investigations into Temer, a career politician known for his ability to wheel and deal behind the scenes in the capital, Brasilia. “Justice was created for all and everyone must respond for his own actions,” President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who ran on promises to crack down on endemic corruption, told reporters while on a state visit to Chile. Temer was taken into custody in Sao Paulo, where he lives, and taken by plane to Rio de Janeiro, where he would be processed. “It is evident the total lack of foundations for the arrest, which serves only to display the former president as a trophy to those that, under the pretext of fighting corruption, mock the basic rules of the constitution,” Temer lawyer Eduardo Pizarro Carnelos said in a statement. Bretas, the judge, is overseeing the Rio portion of a massive corruption probe involving kickbacks to politicians and public officials. Since launching in March 2014, the so-called Car Wash investigation has led to the jailing of top businessmen and politicians, including former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom Brazilians universally call Lula. Former Judge Sergio Moro, who oversaw many Car Wash cases and became an internationally known anti-corruption crusader, stepped down at the end of last year to become justice minister. Many worried that Moro’s absence could hurt the investigations. And the Car Wash probe has suffered a handful of recent defeats, including a decision by the Supreme Court to allow some corruption cases involving campaign finance, which figured heavily in the probe, to be tried by electoral courts. This week, Moro himself suffered a setback when the speaker of the lower Chamber of Deputies in Congress slammed a tough-on-crime bill the former judge put forward and said it would only be considered after a major reform to the pension system. Bretas’ decision to arrest Temer will go a long way to answering questions about the future of the probe. “If Lula and Temer can go to jail, who cannot?” said Carlos Melo, political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “There are several formerly high-ranking politicians not in office at the moment, which makes them more exposed to police investigations.” Temer, who was vice president, came to the presidency in 2016 after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and ousted from office for mismanaging the federal budget. Rousseff and allies in her Workers’ Party accused Temer of orchestrating her ouster, which he denied. From the get-go, Temer’s administration was hit with several scandals, including some involving the president himself. Temer’s approval ratings were routinely below 10 percent, and he was frequently booed. In the course of less than two years, three times the attorney-general charged Temer, twice with corruption and one with obstruction of justice. Because he was a sitting president, he could only be tried if two-thirds of the lower chamber in Congress agreed. Temer twice mustered enough support in Congress to avoid prosecution and his term ended before the third case proceeded far enough for Congress to vote. Temer, 78, left office on Jan. 1 and no longer has the partial immunity that helped him avoid prosecution. Asked about looming cases against him in December, Temer said he wasn’t worried and did not believe he would be arrested. “I’m calm. I am not the least bit worried,” Temer said. “Those (charges) are such absurd things that a more objective and less passionate mind will see that and will say, ‘those allegations are irrelevant.’ “


Trump tweets U.S. recognizes Israel sovereignty of Golan Heights

Abstract: JERUSALEM - President Donald Trump abruptly declared Thursday the U.S. will recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy that gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election. The administration has been considering recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the strategic highlands, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, for some time and Netanyahu had pressed the matter with visiting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just a day earlier. U.S. and Israeli officials said Wednesday they had not expected a decision until next week, when Netanyahu is to visit the U.S. But in a tweet that appeared to catch many by surprise, Trump said the time had come for the United States to take the step, which Netanyahu warmly welcomed as a “miracle” on the Jewish holiday of Purim. “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” Trump tweeted. The U.S. will be the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as disputed territory occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between Israel and Syria. Attempts to bring Israel and Syria to the table have failed. It was not immediately clear how a U.N. peacekeeping force in the Golan might be affected by the U.S. move. That force’s mandate expires at the end of June. There had been signals a decision was coming. Last week, in its annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase “Israeli-occupied” from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it “Israeli-controlled.” Pompeo had brushed questions about the change aside, insisting even earlier Thursday that there was no change in policy. However, in comments to reporters ahead of a Purim dinner with Netanyahu and his wife at their Jerusalem home, Pompeo hailed the shift. “Tonight, President Trump made the decision to recognize that that hard-fought real estate, that important place, is proper to be a sovereign part of the state of Israel,” he said. Netanyahu, who is embroiled in a fierce re-election campaign ahead of April 9 voting, smiled broadly while delivering his own remarks. “We have the miracle of Purim,” he said. “Thank you President Trump.” Netanyahu has for weeks been stepping up longstanding Israeli requests for the U.S. and others to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan. He has bolstered Israel’s traditional argument that the area has for all practical purposes been fully integrated into Israel by accusing Iran of trying to infiltrate terrorists from Syria into the plateau. “At a time when Iran seeks to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel, President Trump boldly recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu tweeted. Trump’s announcement came as Pompeo was wrapping up a two-day visit to Jerusalem during which he lauded warm ties with Israel, met with Netanyahu on at least three separate occasions and promised to step up pressure on Iran. Pompeo’s events with Netanyahu included a visit to the Western Wall that made him the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Jewish holy site with any Israeli leader and appeared to further signal the Trump administration’s support for Israel’s control of the contested city. Trump has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv, prompting the Palestinians to sever ties with the administration. Pompeo’s presence also appeared to signal Trump’s support for Netanyahu the political candidate. Netanyahu, facing a tough challenge from a popular former military chief and reeling from a series of corruption allegations, has repeatedly sought to focus attention on his foreign policy record and strong ties with Trump. “The Trump administration is absolutely endorsing Netanyahu,” said Alon Pinkas, former consul general of Israel in New York. “It’s very rare for a secretary of state to come visit an Israeli prime minister without any apparent diplomatic reason justifying it, without a peace process, without any regional agenda.” Pompeo said his trip had nothing to do with politics or U.S. policy on Jerusalem, although for decades American officials refrained from visiting the Western Wall with Israeli leaders to avoid the appearance of recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the city’s most sensitive holy sites. Israel captured east Jerusalem and the Old City in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. “I’m going to stay far away from the decisions that the Israeli people will make here in a few weeks,” Pompeo told reporters. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for the U.S. secretary of state to comment on Israeli domestic politics.” The Old City is home to the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where tradition says Jesus was entombed and resurrected. Pompeo, a Christian, also stopped at the church. Next to the Western Wall is a hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The spot, which once housed the biblical Jewish Temples, is the holiest site in Judaism and today is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. The competing claims to the site are a frequent source of tension and lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he said it did not determine the city’s final borders. But the gesture was perceived as unfairly siding with Israel and prompted the Palestinians to cut contacts with U.S. officials. The Palestinians have already rejected a planned Mideast peace initiative by the administration. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Pompeo’s visit added additional obstacles to peace hopes. “While they are claiming to be trying to solve the conflict, such acts only make it more difficult to resolve,” he said. While previous secretaries of state have traditionally met with the Palestinians when visiting the region, Pompeo has no such talks planned.

u.s .
israel
syria
benjamin netanyahu
palestinians
iran
golan heights
donald trump
mike pompeo


In apparent nod to conservative activists, Trump to order colleges to back free speech or lose research funds

Abstract: NEW YORK - President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday requiring U.S. colleges to protect free speech on their campuses or risk losing federal research funding. The new order directs federal agencies to ensure that any college or university receiving research grants agrees to promote free speech and the exchange of ideas, and to follow federal rules guiding free expression. “Even as universities have received billions and billions of dollars from taxpayers, many have become increasingly hostile to free speech and to the First Amendment,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony. “These universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans.” The order follows a growing chorus of complaints from conservatives who say their voices have been stifled on campuses across the U.S. Joining Trump at the ceremony were students who said they were challenged by their schools while trying to express views against abortion or in support of their faith. Several free speech groups raised concerns about the order, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which took issue with “the partisan nature of the administration’s rollout of this executive order.” Trump initially proposed the idea during a March 2 speech to conservative activists, highlighting the case of Hayden Williams, an activist who was punched in the face while recruiting for the group Turning Point USA at the University of California, Berkeley. He invoked the case again Thursday, noting that Williams was hit hard “but he didn’t go down.” Under the order, colleges would need to agree to protect free speech in order to tap into more than $35 billion a year in research and educational grants. For public universities, that means vowing to uphold the First Amendment, which they’re already required to do. Private universities, which have more flexibility in limiting speech, will be required to commit to their own institutional rules. “We will not stand idly by to allow public institutions to violate their students’ constitutional rights,” Trump said. “If a college or university doesn’t allow you to speak, we will not give them money. It’s very simple.” Enforcement of the order will be left to federal agencies that award grants, but how schools will be monitored and what types of violations could trigger a loss of funding have yet to be seen. White House officials said details about the implementation will be finalized in coming months. Many colleges have firmly opposed the need for an executive order. Following Trump’s speech, Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California, said many schools are “ground zero” for the exchange of ideas. “We do not need the federal government to mandate what already exists: our long-standing, unequivocal support for freedom of expression,” she said. “This executive order will only muddle policies surrounding free speech, while doing nothing to further the aim of the First Amendment.” The American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 college presidents, called the order “a solution in search of a problem.” “No matter how this order is implemented, it is neither needed nor desirable, and could lead to unwanted federal micromanagement of the cutting-edge research that is critical to our nation’s continued vitality and global leadership,” said Ted Mitchell, the organization’s president. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has spoken against a government answer to campus speech issues, issued a statement that only briefly mentioned free speech, and instead largely focused on another part of the order dealing with transparency in college performance data. Her statement said students “should be empowered to pursue truth through the free exchange of all ideas, especially ideas with which they may not agree. Free inquiry is an essential feature of our democracy, and I applaud the president’s continued support for America’s students.” The order was supported by conservative groups including Turning Point USA, which has pushed for action on the issue. In Trump’s speech, he specifically thanked Charlie Kirk, the group’s founder, who has pushed for action on the issue. On Twitter, Kirk called the order “historic,” adding that while harassment by campus faculty is not uncommon, “it ends today!” The top Republican on the Senate education committee, Sen. Lamar Alexander, said he supports the push for free speech but criticized Trump’s approach. “I don’t want to see Congress or the president or the department of anything creating speech codes to define what you can say on campus,” said Alexander, R-Tenn. “The U.S. Constitution guarantees free speech. Federal courts define and enforce it. The Department of Justice can weigh in.” Debate over campus free speech has flared in recent years following a string of high-profile cases in which protesters shut down or heckled conservative speakers, including at UC Berkeley and Middlebury College in Vermont. Republicans called hearings on the issue when they controlled both chambers, but proposed legislation backing campus speech never made it through committee. Some colleges leaders have said they worry the order could backfire. If a speaking event threatens to turn violent, for example, some say they might have to choose between canceling the event for safety and allowing it to continue to preserve federal funding. Some say it could force religious universities to host speakers with views that conflict with the universities’ values. Still, the order has gained support from some religious institutions including Liberty University, a Christian school in Virginia whose leaders say they denounce censorship of either the left or right. Separate from the free speech requirement, the order also calls for several measures meant to promote transparency in the student loan industry and in how well colleges prepare students. By January 2020, Trump is directing the Education Department to create a website where borrowers can find better information about their loans and repayment options, and he’s calling on the agency to expand its College Scorecard website to include data on the graduates of individual college programs, including their median earnings, loan debt and their default rates. Trump, a Republican, also is asking the Education Department to prepare a policy that would make sure colleges “share the financial risk” that students and the federal government take on with federal student loans.

media
censorship
universities
donald trump


As EU approves delay, over 2 million rush to sign 'Stop Brexit' petition

Abstract: LONDON/BRUSSELS - More than 2 million people have signed an online petition urging the government to cancel Brexit, with support rocketing in the wake of Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement Wednesday. Whatever she hoped to achieve from her address to the nation, in which she blamed members of Parliament for the impasse in the Brexit process and told those who voted to break with the EU she was on their side, it is unlikely she expected a slew of celebrities to urge their social media followers to oppose her plan. Parliament’s petitions website repeatedly crashed as the number of signatures shot up — fueled by endorsements from singer Annie Lennox, actor Hugh Grant, science broadcaster Brian Cox and comedian David Mitchell. “The rate of signing is the highest the site has ever had to deal with,” the House of Commons Petitions Committee said on Twitter. “Between 80,000 and 100,000 people have been simultaneously viewing the petition,” it said, “nearly 2,000 signatures are being completed every minute.” The tally passed 1 million shortly before 3 p.m. London time Thursday after the link to the petition went viral on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. It passed 2 million just after 10:35 p.m. while EU leaders were locked in talks with May at a summit in Brussels, negotiating a delay to the divorce date. “The government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is ‘the will of the people,’ ” the text of the petition says. “We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now, for remaining in the EU.” Any petition exceeding 100,000 signatures is eligible for debate by Parliament. It is then up to a special Petitions Committee comprised of rank-and-file lawmakers to decide whether one should be held. “I’ve signed. And it looks like every sane person in the country is signing too,” Grant wrote on Twitter. “National emergency. Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU.” Underlying data showed the most signatories coming from areas that supported remain in the 2016 referendum, including Edinburgh, London, Bristol and Cambridge. But there were also thousands of supporters in Leave-supporting areas such as northeast England, the Midlands and Wales. Figures also showed signatories in countries around the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, suggesting not all may be U.K. voters. May’s office made clear that she has no intention of revoking Article 50 and keeping Britain in the EU. “We have said probably 12,000 times in this room — and she has probably said thousands of times herself — that is something she is not prepared to do,” May’s spokeswoman, Alison Donnelly, told reporters at a briefing in Parliament. European Union leaders agreed Thursday to delay Brexit until May 22 if British lawmakers approve the withdrawal deal brokered with the bloc. If the House of Commons fails to approve the withdrawal agreement that May reached with Brussels, the EU leaders will offer a much shorter delay until April 12 for Britain to decide whether to leave without a deal. May has requested a delay until June 30. Britain had been due to leave the 28-member bloc on March 29, but the House of Commons has twice overwhelmingly rejected the divorce deal over worries that it could trap Britain into a permanent customs union with the European Union. Parliament voted last week against Britain leaving without a deal amid fears that doing so will create severe economic disruption. European Council President Donald Tusk said in a news conference the EU had “unanimously” agreed on its response to Britain’s request for a delay, giving an extension until May 22, the day before European Parliament elections start, if the divorce deal is approved by British lawmakers next week. Tusk said he met with May several times Thursday “to make sure that the U.K. accepts the extension scenarios, and I’m pleased to confirm that we have reached an agreement on this.” May told reporters, “I’m still working on ensuring that Parliament can agree a deal so that we can leave in an orderly way.”

trade
eu
u.k .
referendums
brexit
theresa may


South Korea's Moon draws fury at home over language gaffe in Malaysia

Abstract: SEOUL - What is the difference between “good afternoon” and “good night”? In South Korea’s cutthroat politics, it can be a furious political row and the foreign minister apologizing to parliament. South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Malaysia earlier this month and greeted his audience at an afternoon press conference with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad using the phrase “selamat sore.” The line is more commonly used in Indonesia — although the neighbors’ languages are so similar they are generally mutually intelligible. At the time, Mahathir smiled and appeared amused, while senior Malaysian senior ministers laughed. But Moon’s South Korean critics slammed him for not using the correct Malaysian greeting, “selamat petang.” And his use of that phrase, meaning “good afternoon,” at a dinner beginning at 8 p.m. — rather than “selamat malam,” or “good night” — triggered another round of fury in Seoul. Opposition lawmakers and newspapers lined up to excoriate Moon, with headlines calling it a “diplomatic disaster.” The Korea Times assailed the “incompetence” of the presidential protocol team on Friday. “The absence of a protest from the host country does not excuse the unbelievable carelessness,” it added, saying it was one of a series of incidents demonstrating a “serious lack of professionalism and ethics” in the Blue House. South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has apologized to parliament, admitting that her ministry had made a “painful mistake.” “I apologize for causing concerns,” she told the national assembly on Wednesday. But an aide for the Malaysian prime minister’s office said that “selamat sore” was usable in Malaysian too. “We were happy and amused when the president said it,” he said. “Personally, it is a non-issue.”

malaysia
south korea
language
moon jae-in


'Ordinary people' in focus as over 1 billion Asians set to vote in elections

Abstract: BANGKOK - Rights over land and forests, a push for LGBTQ equality and getting more women on the ballot are some of the top election issues in Thailand, India and Indonesia as more than 1 billion people prepare to go to the polls, including many first-time voters. The candidates’ platforms reflect a growing concern in those countries over widening economic inequality and the marginalization of minority communities, analysts say. In Thailand, which will hold a general election Sunday — its first since the military seized control in 2014 — candidates for prime minister include a transgender woman, a former student activist and a human rights campaigner from the rural northeast. A total of 52 million Thais age 18 and above are eligible to vote, of whom 14 percent will do so for the first time. The contest broadly pits the party of junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha against populist parties loyal to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. But there are also several newly formed parties in the race, some of them campaigning for greater rights for farmers and minorities. Pauline Ngarmpring of the Mahachon Party is Thailand’s first transgender candidate for prime minister, and she has made rights for LGBTQ people and sex workers among her priorities. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 40-year-old billionaire who is a favorite with young voters, has spoken about economic inequality in the country, which has the world’s biggest income gap, according to a 2018 report by Swiss investment firm Credit Suisse. And at the Commoners’ Party, founder Kittichai Ngamchaipisit is a social activist who has campaigned against land acquisitions for industry and a forest reclamation policy that has led to the eviction of indigenous people. “Our party has its roots among the poor and marginalized communities who have been affected by mining and large dams,” said Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn, a member of the party’s policy working group. “The interests of ordinary people have been ignored for so long in politics. We felt our voices needed to be heard, and that the only way to do that is to participate in the political process.” When about 190 million Indonesians go to the polls on April 17, they will be voting in a rerun of the 2014 race, when current President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo went up against retired Gen. Prabowo Subianto. Surveys in the lead-up to this election show the president holding a double-digit lead over his challenger. One issue getting more attention this time is the role of women in politics, said Diego Fossati, an assistant professor at the department of Asian and international studies at City University of Hong Kong. “Candidates from both camps have been very active in appealing directly to women, and female voters have responded, for example by establishing groups of volunteers,” Fossati said. “However, because party lists rarely feature female candidates in top positions, it appears unlikely that this higher mobilization will translate into more parliamentary seats for women,” he added. Indonesian women held about a fifth of the seats in the national parliament last year, as compared to about 12 percent in 1990, according to World Bank data. While that figure is in line with the 20 percent average for Asia, it is lower than the 24 percent global average, and well below Indonesia’s own minimum quota of 30 percent for female political candidates, introduced in 2003. In India, where the general election will be held in seven stages starting April 11, about 900 million citizens are eligible to vote. High on the agenda is forest rights, after the Supreme Court last month stayed an earlier ruling ordering the forced evictions of nearly 2 million indigenous people whose land claims were rejected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The 2006 law aimed to improve the lives of impoverished tribes by recognizing their right to inhabit and live off forests where their ancestors had settled. But government data showed that, so far, about half the claims have been rejected. Forest rights activists say the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has failed to implement the law or defend it in court. The leader of the main opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, has made land and forest rights a focus of his campaign. Analysts say that may have helped Congress win recent elections in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In the same way, the FRA could be a deciding factor in nearly a quarter of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in the upcoming national election, according to the nonprofit network Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA). “We saw that FRA was a major issue in the state elections, with many tribal groups insisting that candidates commit to recognizing their forest rights if they are elected,” said Tushar Dash, a researcher at CFR-LA. “Denial of forest rights will have a major impact on the election across the country,” he said. In many indigenous areas, communities are clear about their main demand, said Ramesh Sharma, a campaign coordinator at land rights group Ekta Parishad. “They say: ‘No land, no vote. Give land, get vote.’ “

indonesia rights women thailand elections


As Indian election looms, mystics are split over outcome

Abstract: MUMBAI - Transgender mystic Zoya Lobo turns over three oracle cards, studies them for a minute and then looks up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will definitely win India’s general election this summer, she proclaims. Clairvoyant Larra Shah also predicts a victory for Modi owing to his “extremely powerful aura.” But astrologer Raj Kumar Sharma thinks opposition leader Rahul Gandhi will win because his party’s moon sign is Virgo. Vedic astrology is big business in Hindu-majority India, and stargazers are making a host of predictions for elections starting next month in the world’s biggest democracy, with their many followers hanging on every utterance. Some 900 million voters are registered to cast ballots in the vote in April and May, which will see Gandhi’s Congress party seek to dislodge Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power. Shah, 49, a celebrity holistic healer who practices tarot reading, says most of them will plump for Modi, who is himself a devout Hindu. “When it comes to tarot cards Modi is like the emperor or the magician, where the power of self-knowledge — of spiritual balance, of karma — is in perfection,” she explained. “Rahul Gandhi is more like the devil because he’s always confused. There is a conflict there because he is a Gemini, so has a dual personality,” Shah added. Modi, 68, and the right-wing Hindu nationalist BJP swept to power five years ago by winning 282 out of 543 seats, forming the country’s first majority government in almost three decades. Shah expects Modi to be returned to power, but with a vastly reduced majority. Pre-election polling suggests an even closer contest, with many forecasting that neither party will win the 272 seats needed for a majority. Lobo also has a prediction that hits closer to home for her — a 35 percent chance that Modi will do something to help India’s 2-million-strong transgender community. Indians consult soothsayers for advice on a raft of subjects, from whom to marry to whether to buy a house or strike a business deal. Many businessmen, Bollywood actors and politicians have personal astrologers scrutinize their stars closely to determine auspicious days on which to hold functions, release a movie or make political announcements. For the election, Sharma says the planets are aligning in favor of Congress — based on the birth dates of the parties and their leaders — and that it will be able to persuade smaller, regional parties to join them in a coalition. “Congress’ moon sign is Virgo, and at present a favorable Jupiter mahadasha (period) is happening for them, while the BJP’s moon sign is Scorpio,” he explained. “Rahul Gandhi’s favorable period has started and his moon is more powerful than Narendra Modi’s moon,” he added, “so my prediction is very clear: Rahul Gandhi will either become the prime minister or will make the prime minister with the support of his party.” He sees the elections being “extremely volatile” because they were declared at an inauspicious time — when the sun was setting instead of rising. He also says that the election period may witness more violence between India and Pakistan.

india
rahul gandhi
elections
narendra modi


Imam says New Zealand is broken-hearted but not broken as nation mourns victims of mosque massacres

Abstract: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - New Zealanders observed the Muslim call to prayer Friday in reflecting on the moment one week earlier when 50 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques were slain — an act that, an imam told the crowd of thousands, had left the country broken-hearted but not broken. In a day without precedent, people across New Zealand listened to the call to prayer on live broadcasts while thousands, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, gathered in Hagley Park opposite the Al Noor mosque, where 42 people died. “New Zealand mourns with you. We are one,” Ardern said. The call to prayer was observed at 1:30 p.m. and followed by two minutes of silence. Hundreds of Muslim men at the park sat in socks or bare feet. One man in the front row was in a Christchurch Hospital wheelchair. Al Noor’s imam, Gamal Fouda, thanked New Zealanders for their support: “This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology. … But, instead, we have shown that New Zealand is unbreakable. We are broken-hearted but we are not broken. We are alive. We are together. We are determined to not let anyone divide us,” he added as the crowd the city estimated at 20,000 people erupted with applause. Later in the day, a mass funeral was held to bury 26 of the victims at a cemetery where more than a dozen already have been laid to rest. Friday’s burials included the youngest victim, 3-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim. The observance came a day after the government announced a ban on “military-style” semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines like the weapons that were used in last Friday’s attacks at the Al Noor and nearby Linwood mosques. An immediate sales ban went into effect Thursday to prevent stockpiling, and new laws would be rushed through Parliament that would impose a complete ban on the weapons, Ardern said. “Every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned,” Ardern said. The gun legislation is supported not only by Ardern’s liberal Labour Party but also the conservative opposition National Party, so it is expected to pass into law. New Zealand does not have a constitutional right to bear arms. Hundreds of New Zealanders contacted authorities to hand in their guns within hours of Ardern announcing the ban, police said Friday. In the first 20 hours after the ban took effect, nearly 500 people had called a special hotline set up by police for people to arrange the gun hand-ins, Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny said. More than 1,000 people also notified police online that they wanted to give up their guns. But while the gun reform has wide support among both the governing and opposition political parties, some critics expressed their disgruntlement by filing “vexatious” forms online, Penny said. Among those attending Friday’s observance was Samier Dandan, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association in Sydney and part of a 15-strong delegation of Muslim leaders who had flown to Christchurch. He said his pain couldn’t compare with that of the families he had been visiting who had lost loved ones. He was inspired by their resilience, he said. Al Noor’s imam said workers have been toiling feverishly to repair the destruction, and some offered their services for free. He expects the mosque to reopen by next week.

guns
immigration
australia
new zealand
christchurch
mass shootings
brenton tarrant


Troubled Chinese man kills six with car, shot dead by police

Abstract: BEIJING - A car rammed into a crowd in central China on Friday, killing six people and injuring seven others, and the driver was fatally shot by police, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The injured were taken to a hospital following the early morning incident in Zaoyang City in Hubei Province, CCTV said. China has suffered a spate of similar incidents in recent months. Last September, 11 people died and dozens were injured when a car struck a crowd in a public square in the central Hunan province city of Hengdong. Police detained the driver, a man in his 40s, and described him as a “vengeful repeat offender” who had daggers in his car and intended to “cause serious damage.” In late November, a car plowed into a group of children crossing a street in front of an elementary school in the northeastern Liaoning province, killing five people and injuring at least 19. The driver said he “chose his victims at random” and had reportedly been contemplating suicide due to domestic troubles before the tragedy occurred.


New Zealand marks one week since mosque massacre with prayers, scarves

Abstract: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - New Zealanders prepared for nationwide prayers on Friday to mark one week since a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch killed 50 worshippers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will lead thousands of mourners expected to gather at a park in front of the Al Noor mosque, where most of the victims died, for a prayer followed by two minutes of silence. Ardern, who has labeled the attack as terrorism, announced a ban on military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles under tough new gun laws on Thursday. The prime minister is expected to be accompanied in the Christchurch prayers with community leaders and other foreign dignitaries. The Muslim call to prayer will be broadcast nationally across all free-to-air TV and radio stations. Armed police have been guarding mosques around New Zealand since the attacks. Police said there would be a “heightened presence” on Friday to reassure those attending weekly prayers. Candlelight vigils continued until late on Thursday across the country, while government officials worked through the night to prepare the mosque and the bodies of the deceased for a mass burial that expected after the prayers. “All the bodies are washed. We finished around 1.30 a.m. this morning. It was our duty. After we finished there was a lot of emotion, people were crying and hugging,” said a body washer in Christchurch who gave his name as Mo. Newspapers across the country ran full-page memorials with the names of the victims, and a call for national mourning. “A call to prayer … in unity there is strength,” New Zealand Herald said on its front page. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist who was living in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island, has been charged with murder following the attack. He was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5, when police said he was likely to face more charges. Twenty-eight people wounded in the attacks remain in hospital, six in intensive care. Most victims were migrants or refugees from countries such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand’s population, a 2013 census showed, most of whom were born overseas. On social media, New Zealanders of all religions were being encouraged to wear headscarves on Friday to show their support for the Muslim community. The #headscarfforharmony movement was trending on Twitter on Friday, with people posting photos of themselves in the Muslim attire.

terrorism
new zealand
christchurch
hate crimes
mosque massacre


Blast at pesticide plant in eastern China leaves 47 dead, over 600 injured

Abstract: SHANGHAI - An explosion at a pesticide plant in eastern China has killed 47 people and injured more than 600, state media said on Friday, the latest casualties in a series of industrial accidents that have angered the public. The blast occurred on Thursday at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park in the city of Yancheng, in Jiangsu province, and the fire was finally brought under control at 3 a.m. on Friday, state television said. Windows in buildings as far as about 6 kilometers (4 miles) away were blown out by the force of the blast, which caused a magnitude 2.2 seismic shock. Survivors were taken to 16 hospitals, with 640 people being treated for injuries. Thirty-two of them were critically injured, it said. The fire, at a plant owned by the Tianjiayi Chemical Co., spread to neighboring factories. Children at a kindergarten in the vicinity were also injured in the blast, media reported. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but the company — which produces more than 30 organic chemical compounds, some of which are highly flammable — has been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past, the China Daily said. President Xi Jinping, who is in Italy on a state visit, ordered all-out efforts to care for the injured and to “earnestly maintain social stability,” state television said. Authorities must step up action to prevent such incidents from happening and find out the cause of the blast as quickly as possible, Xi added. “There have recently been a series of major accidents, and all places and relevant departments must fully learn the lessons from these,” the report cited Xi as saying. The Jiangsu environmental protection bureau said in a statement late Thursday that the environmental monitoring station in the area had found no abnormal concentrations of toluene, xylene or benzene. Concentrations of acetone and chloroform outside the perimeter of the explosion zone were also within normal limits, it added. Jiangsu will launch inspections on chemical producers and warehouses, according to an emergency notice published by official media on Friday. The notice, published on the news website of Jiangsu province’s Communist Party, said the government would shut down any chemical firms found not complying with regulations on dangerous chemicals. Public anger over safety standards has grown in China over industrial accidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires that have marred three decades of swift economic growth. In 2015, 165 people were killed in a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin. The explosions at Tianjin, one of the world’s busiest ports and not far from the capital, Beijing, were big enough to be seen by satellites and register on earthquake sensors. Despite repeated pledges by the government to tighten safety, chemical plants in particular have been plagued by disasters. In November, a series of blasts during the delivery of a flammable gas at a chemical manufacturer killed 23 people.


Pyongyang abruptly withdraws staff from inter-Korean liaison staff

Abstract: SEOUL - North Korea on Friday abruptly withdrew its staff from an inter-Korean liaison office, Seoul officials said. The development will likely put a damper on ties between the two Koreas and complicate global diplomacy on the North’s nuclear weapons program. Last month, the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Vietnam collapsed due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. Seoul’s Unification Ministry said that North Korea informed South Korea of its decision during a meeting at the liaison office at the North Korean border town of Kaesong on Friday. The North said it “is pulling out with instructions from the superior authority,” according to a Unification Ministry statement that didn’t say whether the withdrawal of staff will be temporary or permanent. According to the South Korean statement, the North added that it “will not mind the South remaining in the office” and that it will notify the South about practical matters later. Chun Hae-sung, Seoul’s vice unification minister, told reporters that South Korea plans to continue to staff the Kaesong liaison office normally and that it expects the North will continue to allow the South Koreans to commute to the office. He said Seoul plans to staff the office with 25 people on Saturday and Sunday. The South Korean statement called the North’s decision “regrettable.” It said South Korea urges the North to return its staff to the liaison office soon. The liaison office opened last September as part of a flurry of reconciliation steps. It is the first such Korean office since the peninsula was split into a U.S.-backed, capitalistic South and a Soviet-supported, socialist North in 1945. The Koreas had previously used telephone and fax-like communication channels that were often shut down in times of high tension. The town is where the Koreas’ now-stalled jointly run factory complex was located. It combined South Korean initiatives, capital and technology with North Korea’s cheap labor. Both Koreas want the U.S. to allow sanctions exemptions to allow the reopening of the factory park, which provided the North with much-needed foreign currency. In the first punitive steps since the summit, the United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies it says helped North Korea evade sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, The Treasury Department also issued an updated advisory that listed 67 vessels that it said had engaged in illicit transfers of refined petroleum with North Korean tankers or were believed to have exported North Korean coal. The department identified the newly sanctioned firms as Dalian Haibo International Freight and Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding. The U.S. sanctions prohibit U.S. dealings with the designated companies and freezes any assets they have in the United States. “The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related U.N. Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk,” he said. The latest sanctions showed there is some “leakage” in North Korea sanctions enforcement by China, but it is mostly abiding by U.N. resolutions, a senior U.S. official told reporters.

north korea
nuclear weapons
south korea
north korea nuclear crisis


Okinawa Gov. Tamaki's plea for one-month suspension to work on Henoko base rejected by Tokyo, escalating tensions over Futenma relocation

Abstract: Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya rejected on Friday a request by Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki for a one-month suspension of land reclamation work in the Henoko district of northern Okinawa Prefecture, further deepening tensions over the controversial project to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the prefecture. Later the same day, the Okinawa Prefectural Government filed a new lawsuit against the central government’s temporary nullification of a decision by the prefecture to withdraw its earlier permission for reclamation work in the Henoko district. The lawsuit is likely to further intensify political tensions between Tokyo and Okinawa, which hosts a large number of the U.S. military bases and units despite strong anti-military sentiment among many local residents. “We’d like to steadily proceed with the work so that the Futenma base can be returned as soon as possible,” Iwaya said Friday morning during a media briefing. The central government is now expected to continue its land reclamation efforts for construction of the new base, pouring further earth and sand into the sea off the coast of the district on Monday. Iwaya confirmed that the Defense Ministry will proceed with the plan, dependent on weather and other conditions. “Without relocation to Henoko, the Futenma base will remain fixed at its current location. That’s something we must absolutely avoid,” Iwaya said. Tamaki — who was elected last year on a platform of strongly opposing the Futenma relocation project — met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday in Tokyo. During the meeting, Tamaki had proposed that the construction work on the Henoko project be suspended for one month to allow more time for talks between Tokyo and Okinawa. Responding to the lawsuit filed Friday afternoon, a Defense Ministry spokesman promising to complete the relocation project. “We will continue dialog, through various opportunities, and try to win the understanding of the local population,” said Hajime Aoyagi, press secretary for the Defense Ministry, after the Okinawa Prefectural Government filed the lawsuit at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court. “We will then try to realize the relocation and reversion of the Futenma base as soon as possible by progressing (with construction works) on the step-by-step basis,” he said. Futenma air station is located in the densely-populated area of Ginowan, in central Okinawa, where local residents say it causes intense noise pollution and increases the risk of accidents. Nonetheless, a majority of Okinawa residents oppose Tokyo’s plan to relocate the base within the prefecture, saying other parts of Japan must share more of the burden in hosting U.S. military bases. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly expressed his determination to build an alternative base in the Henoko area. Officials in Tokyo argue that removing the Futenma base from the prefecture would reduce the U.S. military’s deterrence power, and could send the wrong message to China. Beijing regularly dispatches ships to the waters in the East China Sea surrounding the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing. The territorial dispute over the islands, known as Diaoyu in China, are seen as a potential flash point for a military conflict between Japan and China.


In graduation comments, Princess Kako wishes for sister's happiness

Abstract: Princess Kako, the 24-year-old granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo on Friday, and expressed her wish for her sister’s happiness. In written answers to questions from the media, Princess Kako commented on the postponement of the marriage between her sister, Princess Mako, 27, and Kei Komuro following reports that Komuro’s family was involved in a financial dispute. “I would like my sister’s wishes to be met, as I believe the important detail is how they feel about each other,” she said. Regarding her own marriage prospects, the princess wrote, “I wish to get married in time, at a point that isn’t too late. My ideal partner would be someone with whom I can be relaxed.” The princess, the younger daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, appeared for the press in a black gown, cap and white high heels ahead of the graduation ceremony. “I feel grateful that I could lead a wonderful school life,” she said. In written answers to questions from the media, the princess said she will devote herself to performing her official duties from now on and will not enter graduate school. “It is not about what I want to do, but about addressing the official duties that have been asked of me,” she said. “I do have dreams, but I would like to keep them to myself.” Asked about the abdication of the Emperor, who is 85, on April 30 and the ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne of her uncle, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, on May 1, the princess said she will be as supportive as she possibly can while performing her duties. Princess Kako’s brother, Prince Hisahito, 12, will become second in line to the throne after the abdication. Her father, who is 53, will become the Crown Prince and will receive the title Koshi Denka. The princess entered Gakushuin University in Tokyo in April 2013, and transferred to ICU in April 2015, where she majored in psychology. She spent nine months at Leeds University in Britain from September 2017.

imperial family
princess kako
princess mako
kei komuro


How many times do we have to die before we are dead?

Abstract: When are you dead? It’s not an easy question to answer. In fact, of the two great certainties in life, death and taxes, the former is actually harder to work out than the latter. One way to define death is to look for behaviors and organs that have stopped working. But that doesn’t necessarily mean someone is dead. The heart can stop temporarily and start up again. The body may be completely unresponsive but revive later. There are thousands of accounts of people “coming back to life” after being wrongly pronounced dead or, worse, buried alive. Physicians distrust using the activity of heart and lungs as indicators of death, and over the past 100 years or so have turned to the concept of brain death. These days many countries use loss of function of the brain stem as their definition of death. This is the situation when the body can no longer carry out actions controlled by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing, on its own. It can still leave us with some very troubling decisions to make. I remember a tragic case in the United States where a 33-year-old Texan woman, Marlise Munoz, suffered a stroke and was declared brain dead. However, she was 14 weeks pregnant and even though the fetus was not thought to be alive, doctors kept her on a life-support machine that artificially ventilated her. An awful legal battle ensued and, in the end, the life-support was withdrawn. Many similar cases make the news, often when there is a conflict between what the doctors are saying about the patient, and what the family want desperately to believe. Now new research has made our understanding of the end of life even fuzzier. We know that more than 1,000 genes not only remain active in cells of dead bodies, but that some genes actually switch on when the body is dead. By studying mice who have just died, scientists have now found that cells in the kidney, heart and liver continue to operate even 24 hours after death. “The study certainly opened our eyes to how parts of the body continue to provide an environment for molecular activity in the hours after death,” says Sandrine Claus from the University of Reading, United Kingdom. “It was particularly interesting to note that the heart was one of the organs that saw the most activity over 24 hours after death when we traditionally think of the heart ‘stopping’ at the point of death.” The most widely accepted description of death is permanent cessation of the critical functions of the organism as a whole. But this definition immediately begs the questions: What is “critical’? And what does it mean to say “the organism as a whole”? We know that cells continue to produce compounds for a day after death, so it looks like we need a new definition. “If cells continue to display molecular activities, the irreversible nature of death may be what characterizes the condition,” Claus tells me. Claus’ colleague Alain Oregioni says it’s not too much of a stretch to think that cells will go on working independently as long as they have energy and enough warmth for chemical reactions to happen.”We were amazed to find that even after a mouse is dead, most of its cells are active and still fighting to compensate for lack of oxygen,” he says. “Understanding these changes could help improve both organ transplants and forensic investigations in the future.” These discoveries are part of a new field, called thanatometabolomics — from Thanatos, the name given to the personification of death by the ancient Greeks. Oregioni also says that death is more than just the end of living: It is also an irreversible state. But since sometimes animals (including humans) can be revived after the blood circulation has stopped for some time, the study of thanatometabolomics — cell activity that continues after death — may be able to work out more precisely were the boundary is between resuscitation and irreversible death. “This could be done for each organ, which would be useful for transplants,” Oregioni says. “It is also possible that the information gathered would then help improve resuscitation of a whole organism.” It could mean that scientists and doctors have to record multiple times of death. For example, a pathologist might use rigor mortis to determine how long someone has been dead. The temperature of the body can also be correlated to the time since death. To be more precise, however, we could look at cellular and genetic activity. Some organs may remain “alive” long after their body has irreversibly died.