On anniversary, bus firm boss apologizes for 2016 crash in Nagano's Karuizawa that killed 15

Abstract: NAGANO - The operator of a bus involved in a crash that killed 15 people in the ski resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, offered an apology to the victims Tuesday to mark the third anniversary of the accident. Misaku Takahashi, 57, president of the operator ESP, offered flowers at a monument set up near the accident site at around 5 a.m., the time he first heard of the crash. “I mourn the loss of lives and apologize from the bottom of my heart to everyone involved, including the victims’ families and friends,” he said. In the early hours of Jan. 15, 2016, an ESP bus driven by 65-year-old Hiroshi Tsuchiya careened off a road in Karuizawa after hitting a guardrail at a speed of 96 kilometers per hour, killing 15 people on board, including the driver, and injuring 26 others. Takahashi has been under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in injury or death since June 2017. In December last year, relatives of the victims also filed a damages suit against ESP and the president. On Tuesday, Takahashi left the crash site without commenting on the investigation and lawsuit. Karuizawa Mayor Susumu Fujimaki and a dozen officials also offered flowers at the accident site at around 9 a.m. “I have no words thinking about the families’ distress. I would like to strive to make our town free of traffic accidents,” the mayor said. “Our daughter dreamed of having a family full of joy,” said Naomichi and Kumiko Komuro, the parents of Yui, a 22-year-old Waseda University student who was killed in the accident. “We would like those in charge to investigate the cause (of the crash) and prevent similar accidents,” the parents said in a statement released by their lawyer. Meanwhile four men who were aboard the bus and survived the accident visited the site and offered a floral tribute to one of their university friends, Kan Tahara, a 19-year-old student of Tokyo Metropolitan University who was killed alongside the 14 other victims. Among the four mourners was a man who has landed a job related to traffic safety, in hopes of preventing a similar accident. Another man, 24, said “I wanted to spend time with Tahara and talk about the challenges of having graduated and entering the workforce,” he said. Rikuto Oya, 19, was another victim killed in the accident. He was a rugby club member at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. His 53-year-old father, Yoshihiko Oya, looked at the slope where the bus fell down and said, “I have felt empty over the past three years after losing my son.” “I wanted to watch this year’s Rugby World Cup with him,” he added. Naoki Ogi, a specially appointed professor of education at Hosei University, offered flower bouquets to four deceased students who took his seminars. Ogi said he talked to the four in his heart and asked them to “feel relieved” because their family members are “moving on little by little” to get over the tragedy. “I told the (deceased) students to rest assured that their families and the bereaved students are gradually moving on,” said Ogi. Tsuyoshi Ikeda, 75, who lost his niece, Eri, to the accident, said: “She was like my real daughter.” After laying flowers, Ikeda shed tears while grasping at the fence facing the spot of the accident. Eri was a 19-year-old Tokai University student. “It is hard for me to accept the reality,” he said.


Prosecutors seek 18 months for ex-Mitsubishi Hitachi Power executives in landmark plea deal

Abstract: Prosecutors said on Tuesday they are seeking a sentence of 18 months in prison for two former executives of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Inc. for allegedly bribing a Thai official over a power plant project, in a case that became well known for being the country’s first to involve a plea bargain deal. Fuyuhiko Nishikida, 63, and Yoshiki Tsuji, 57, were indicted for allegedly conspiring with a senior company executive to pay 11 million baht ($345,000) in February 2015 to a senior official of the Thai Transport Ministry. It is believed the men were hoping to secure favorable treatment in the delivery of power plant cargo to a local port. Both admitted to the charges during their first hearing at the Tokyo District Court in December. The ruling will be handed down March 1. “The crime was organized and (the two officials) lacked compliance awareness. Both defendants bear responsibility for playing decisive roles,” a prosecutor said in a closing statement. Their lawyers claimed that they had no choice but to meet the Thai official’s request for a bribe and pleaded for leniency as they received no personal gain. “They regret what they did,” one of their lawyers said. Satoshi Uchida, 64 — the senior executive who was then managing the power plant project — has denied the charges and is on trial in separate court proceedings. Last year, the Tokyo District Court offered the plea deal between prosecutors and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power, exempting it from an indictment in exchange for the firm’s cooperation in the executives’ trial. A whistleblower alerted the company of the bribery in March 2015. The firm reported it to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office following an internal probe.

hitachi
whistleblower
plea bargaining
mitsubishi hitachi power systems


Japanese Olympic Committee head Tsunekazu Takeda denies accusation of corruption linked to 2020 bid

Abstract: Japanese Olympic Committee head Tsunekazu Takeda on Tuesday denied an accusation of “active corruption” leveled by French investigators in connection with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Takeda’s denial followed reports last week that French prosecutors have brought a preliminary charge against him for alleged corruption as part of their scrutiny of the bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics and other major sports events. “I will fully cooperate with French authorities in investigating this matter and do my utmost to prove my innocence,” Takeda told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. The latest developments marked a resurgence of a scandal that first emerged in 2016, when French prosecutors said — to the shock of Tokyo officials — that they were inspecting a payment allegedly made by the Tokyo Olympic bidding team to a consulting firm in Singapore immediately before and after the capital’s victory in September 2013. At Tuesday’s news conference, Takeda essentially reiterated his assertion from three years ago that the payments were legitimate, and he sought to dispel suspicion that Tokyo bribed its way into landing the games. But the news conference lasted less than 10 minutes, and Takeda refused to take questions from reporters, who packed a conference room at the JOC headquarters. Naoya Yanagiya, chief communications officer for the JOC, attributed this to the fact that the case remains subject to an ongoing French investigation. Takeda repeatedly cited the JOC’s own probe into the matter, which concluded in September 2016 that the bidding committee’s contract with the consulting firm, Black Tidings, was executed under “legitimate” internal processes every step of the way. “I myself was never involved in any decision-making process regarding the committee’s contract with Black Tidings, and I had no reason to question people who were involved or the process itself,” he said. Takeda added that he duly responded to questions from Tokyo prosecutors, who he said were acting on a request from French authorities, in early 2017. He said that following these questions there was no follow-up from law enforcement authorities in Japan. Separately, French authorities carried out hearings with him in December in Paris, and Takeda said he explained himself in an effort to dispel suspicions. “I’m extremely sorry that this ongoing situation may have thrown cold water on efforts made by those who have dedicated themselves to steadfastly preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and on any positive movement toward the games,” he said. “It is an incontrovertible fact that staff I trust, united as one and with passion, worked toward (the 2020 Olympics bid), and I firmly believe it’s precisely because of their support that we were able to win our bid.” French investigators reportedly suspect that part of the payment made to Black Tidings landed in the pocket of disgraced former world athletics chief Lamine Diack, whose son, Papa Massata Diack, is believed to have close ties with the head of the consulting firm. Having chaired the International Association of Athletics Federations from 1999 to 2015, Lamine Diack was an International Olympic Committee member at the time of Tokyo’s bidding, with perceived influence over African voters.Despite his denials, Takeda, who doubles as the IOC’s marketing head, could be suspended from Olympic duties pending the investigation, The Associated Press reported. Talk of the alleged bribery first made its way into Japan’s national Diet in May 2016, where Takeda, upon being summoned, admitted to a payment of about ¥200 million to Black Tidings. But the money was of no illicit nature, he said, justifying it as due remuneration for consulting services. At the time, Takeda also insisted that he had no inkling of the firm’s alleged ties with Senegalese national Papa Massata Diack, who is believed to be in that country and is wanted by French authorities for charges including complicity in receiving bribes, aggravated money laundering and active corruption. Black Tidings had been vouched for by Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, which had assured Takeda of its “competence” and “past record of achievements,” he told the Lower House Budget Committee in May 2016. The JOC probe into the corruption allegations concluded in September 2016 that there was “no illegal act” related to the payment and that it did not violate IOC ethics rules. But at the time, lawyer Yoshihisa Hayakawa, who oversaw the investigation, admitted during a news conference that the credibility of the JOC probe was not ironclad, saying his team couldn’t access — let alone carry out hearings with — some key figures, including the Diacks, because they lacked the power to conduct compulsory investigations. Masayuki Tamaki, a noted sports journalist, said he doesn’t think the latest allegation will in any significant way disrupt Tokyo’s hosting of the games. Although it is true that the IOC can strip a host city of its right to organize the games in the event of malfeasance, “realistically speaking, there is no way Tokyo will be disqualified from hosting the event, given the economic losses that would arise from such a decision,” Tamaki said. The scandal “may worsen the image of the 2020 Olympics, but it wouldn’t actually interfere with Tokyo’s effort to organize them,” he said. Even if Takeda is officially indicted or found guilty in France, the fallout is unlikely to extend beyond his own downfall, the journalist said, adding that Takeda may be dismissed from his current position as the IOC marketing chair should he be found guilty in France. The questions surrounding Takeda are the latest in a litany of setbacks casting a shadow over Tokyo’s credibility as host of the games. The issues include an ever-swelling budget forecast for the event that reneges on the capital’s original “compact Olympics” pitch, as well as a struggle to devise measures to protect athletes from potentially lethal heat waves.

corruption
joc
scandals
tsunekazu takeda
2020 tokyo olympics
bribes


South Korea and Japan remain at odds over radar lock-on row

Abstract: SEOUL - The defense authorities of South Korea and Japan remained at odds on Monday over an alleged radar lock-on incident involving a Japanese patrol plane and a South Korean warship that has chilled already frosty ties between the two countries. Both sides said after the working-level talks in Singapore that they could not iron out their differences over what happened in the Sea of Japan last month. No date was set for subsequent talks. Tokyo says a South Korean Navy destroyer locked a fire-control radar on a Maritime Self-Defense Force surveillance plane over the sea on Dec. 20. Seoul contends that the warship was merely using radar to search for a drifting North Korean fishing boat, demanding an apology from Japan as it alleges the surveillance plane flew menacingly low toward the ship. Defense officials from the two countries held a video conference on Dec. 27 to discuss the matter. Tokyo and Seoul have both released video of the alleged incident to back their claims.


Smoking rate in Japan has declined by half since beginning of Heisei Era in 1989

Abstract: The proportion of smokers is dropping in Japan, with the figure in 2018 down by half from the rate of 36 percent when the Heisei Era began in 1989. Japan Tobacco Inc. attributes the decline to increasing health awareness, an aging population, tougher smoking regulations and higher cigarette prices due chiefly to tax hikes. According to a survey by Japan Tobacco, the smoking rate among people aged 20 and older fell to 17.9 percent in 2018 from 36.1 percent in 1989. The proportion of smokers among adult men plummeted to 27.8 percent from 61.1 percent. The rates for both men and women have hit their lowest levels since the survey was launched in 1965. The smoking rate has continued falling since peaking in 1966, at 49.4 percent in total and at 83.7 percent for men. Antismoking movements are viewed as one cause of the drop. According to Fumisato Watanabe, head of a center for information on tobacco issues, almost no public and transportation facilities had smoking regulations when he started a movement for nonsmokers’ rights some 40 years ago. In 1987, railway stations started banning smoking in phases. Smoking became prohibited inside trains as well. In 1999, airlines banned smoking on all passenger planes. Under the revised health promotion law that was enacted last July, smoking will be prohibited in principle April 1, 2020, at facilities that many people use, such as offices, restaurants and hotel lobbies. Such facilities will be allowed to set up special rooms, where no food or drink will be served, that can be used exclusively by smokers. Starting this July 1, smoking will be prohibited inside all buildings at schools, hospitals and government bodies. Ordinances with tougher regulations on smoking to prevent secondhand smoke have also been established in some municipalities, including Tokyo and the city of Chiba. Watanabe, 81, said the movement for nonsmokers’ rights began with the wish to prevent passive smoking. “It was good that the law was revised and ordinances were established, although they are still weak,” he said. Smokers have also seen tobacco prices rise. In 1989, the price of a pack of Japan Tobacco’s mainstay Mild Seven cigarettes, the predecessor of the Mevius brand, stood at ¥220. Now the cost is ¥480, due chiefly to tax hikes. Meanwhile, major cigarette makers are now focusing on heat-not-burn products. A Japan Tobacco official said such products smell less and are considered to have lower health risks. Restaurants will be allowed to set up special rooms for smokers using heat-not-burn tobacco products where food or drink will be served. Use of the products is gradually spreading, but it is uncertain whether cigarette makers will be able to attract new customers.

health
smoking
hotels
japan tobacco
hospitals


City hall in Gifu Prefecture is first in Japan to deploy autonomous robots to aid residents

Abstract: GIFU - At its city hall on Tuesday, a local government in central Japan demonstrated an experiment showing robots that can independently guide people to the right information window or teach them how to fill out government forms. Ogaki city in Gifu Prefecture is the first local government in Japan that is attempting to use robots that will autonomously guide people, according to the city, which is looking to integrate them into its services in 2020. “I would like to use robots to increase our services to our residents, and make our municipal office a gathering place where we can have fun,” said Ogaki Mayor Bin Ogawa. At the event, an autonomous robot shaped like a tube guided the mayor from the information counter to the elevator. Ogawa wants the project to be implemented in 2020 when a new government office is set to open. The city government is in the midst of developing an “electronic city hall” that uses robots and artificial intelligence. Last November, it concluded an agreement of cooperation with six businesses, including those in charge of robotic development. The experiment features five different robots. The autonomous ones have touch panels so a person can choose the department he or she would like to go to. The robots will then guide the person to the correct information window. People who wish to apply for a certificate can be helped by robots that verbally explain how to fill out the appropriate application form. Robots in the children’s corner can hold simple conversations with children and read them picture books.


Nissan expands Carlos Ghosn probe to more countries as ousted chairman's deputy comes under scrutiny

Abstract: BEIJING/NEW YORK - Nissan Motor Co. Ltd has broadened its investigation into ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn to include dealings that took place in the United States, India and Latin America, three people with knowledge of the inquiry said. In one aspect of their internal probe, company investigators are looking into decisions made in the United States by Jose Munoz, who led Nissan’s North American operations from 2014 to 2018, the people said. Munoz resigned from the company Friday, less than a week after the company announced he was taking a leave of absence due to the probe. Munoz, Nissan’s chief performance officer, resigned effective immediately, according to a post on his LinkedIn page and a company spokesman. The 53-year-old had reported directly to Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa and was responsible for Nissan’s overall results and strategy. “As the old-time auto executives say, I truly enjoy ‘moving the metal’ and have always considered myself a man of action. It has become clear that the best way for me to continue doing both is to explore new opportunities,” Munoz wrote on LinkedIn. He had been slated to introduce Nissan’s new longer-range Leaf electric vehicle this week at CES in Las Vegas. However, his appearance was abruptly canceled, and the company announced his leave soon after. Nissan had said this month that Munoz, widely seen within the industry as being close to Ghosn, was on leave “to allow him to assist the company by concentrating on special tasks arising from recent events.” Munoz is not cooperating with investigators, two of the people with knowledge of the probe said, both describing his actions as “stonewalling.” One of the sources described Munoz as a “person of interest” in the probe, adding that it was not clear whether he would be accused of any wrongdoing. Munoz did not reply to requests for comment. The people with knowledge of the probe spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. A lawyer for Ghosn, Motonari Otsuru, said in an emailed comment: “I am unaware of this.” Some of the questions put to Munoz relate to dealer franchise rights, one of the sources said. Other questions relate to contracts with parts suppliers and service providers that Munoz approved when he was at the helm of Nissan’s U.S. operations, another source said. The sources said the findings made as part of the probe into Ghosn’s affairs in the U.S. market are being shared with prosecutors. Tokyo prosecutors declined to comment. Nissan has said its internal investigation had uncovered “substantial and convincing evidence of misconduct” by Ghosn and that its scope is expanding. Ghosn, once one of the most celebrated executives in the auto industry and the anchor of Nissan’s alliance with France’s Renault SA, has been charged with underreporting his income. On Friday, he was also charged with aggravated breach of trust, accused of shifting personal investment losses worth ¥1.85 billion to Nissan. In his first public appearance since his Nov. 19 arrest, Ghosn declared his innocence in court on Tuesday, saying he had never received compensation that was not disclosed and that Nissan had not suffered any losses due to a temporary transfer of a personal foreign exchange contract. The transfer had been a temporary measure to prevent him from having to resign and use his retirement funds as collateral, Ghosn said. Sources familiar with the matter have also said Nissan investigators are examining other dealer franchise decisions in several countries where Ghosn played a part in the decision-making to see if there had been any misconduct. In particular, the automaker’s investigators are looking into Ghosn’s role in what Nissan insiders have described as a surprise decision in 2008 to pick a company called Hover Automotive India Pvt. Ltd. (HAI) as Nissan’s partner for marketing, sales, after-sales service and dealer development in India. A different firm, TVS, had been lined up for the role after much research by Nissan management in India when Ghosn personally intervened at the last minute to push for HAI, four Nissan insiders said. They add that in 2012, HAI became Nissan’s exclusive national sales firm in India, despite being relatively inexperienced in distributing vehicles to dealers. Reporters were unable to find a representative for HAI, which according to India’s Registrar of Companies was dissolved as of September last year. TVS did not respond to a request for comment. The probe is also looking at what appear to be outsized payments for Ghosn’s bodyguard services in Brazil, one of the sources said. Ghosn’s lawyer Otsuru did not respond to requests for comment on the expansion of Nissan’s probe into dealings in India and Brazil. A U.S. representative for Ghosn declined to comment. One source also said Nissan is conducting audits of some distribution partners in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia’s Al-Dahana which owns half of a joint venture called Nissan Gulf with the other half held by a wholly owned unit of Nissan Motor. Al-Dahana, a marketing and dealer development firm, is majority owned by Khaled Al-Juffali, vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia’s largest conglomerates. Reports have said that Al-Juffali is the person prosecutors believe arranged a letter of credit for Ghosn over his foreign exchange contract after which a company that Al-Juffali owned received four payments for a total of $14.7 million. Both Ghosn and the Khaled Juffali Company have asserted that the payments were for legitimate business purposes. Asked about the audit, a representative for the Khaled Juffali Co. said the firm stood by its previous statement. Another Nissan executive, Arun Bajaj, senior vice president for human resources and who heads talent development for Nissan’s alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., has also been put on a leave of absence “to assist the company by concentrating on special tasks arising from recent events.” Bajaj is being questioned and is cooperating with both Nissan’s internal investigators as well as prosecutors, the sources said, adding that they expect him to return to work soon. It was not immediately clear what the questions were about. Bajaj did not respond to a request for comment. Ghosn is unlikely to be granted bail and is expected to remain in detention throughout his trial, as is often the case under Japan’s criminal system, Otsuru told reporters earlier in the week. Ghosn’s trial may not begin for another six months, he added.


Rising labor costs biggest threat to Japanese firms in Asia: survey

Abstract: Rising labor costs and shortages of skilled labor are the largest downside risk to Japanese firms operating in Asia, with 76 percent of respondents to an NNA survey calling them their top concerns. Among the 630 respondents at Japanese companies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, India and Australia, 479 cited labor risks as the largest threat. They were asked to select as many choices as they wished from among 13 risk factors that also included taxes and tariffs, political stability and security. “We need to relocate production to other countries if wages continue to rise at the current pace,” a Japanese representative of a manufacturer in Thailand said in the survey conducted from Nov. 26 to Dec. 9. In Singapore, 91 percent said they were concerned about the shortage of skilled workers, particularly technology specialists. Eighty-six percent of respondents in Thailand said they worried about labor costs, as did 84 percent of those in South Korea, 83 percent in Indonesia, and 80 percent in each of Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Overall, 45 percent also chose taxes and tariffs as risks, while another 45 percent saw fluctuations in foreign-exchange rates as a threat and 42 percent singled out legal systems. In China, 77 percent were concerned about rising labor costs as the government is restricting the inflow of workers from rural to urban areas. Also in China, 48 percent pointed to taxes and tariffs as risk factors amid a lingering trade dispute with the United States.

foreign workers
japanese companies
surveys


Nikki Haley and Ivanka Trump among possible World Bank nominees: report

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka are among possible U.S. candidates to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, The Financial Times reported Friday. Kim abruptly announced Monday he was cutting short his tenure as the bank’s president more than three years before his second term was due to end. In addition to Trump and Haley, who stepped down as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations last month, other names being floated include Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Mark Green, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the newspaper reported. Ivanka Trump in 2017 was the driving force behind a $1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women. The Treasury Department said on Friday that it had no comment in potential candidates. The department has received a “significant number of recommendations,” a spokesperson said. “We are beginning the internal review process for a U.S. nominee. We look forward to working with the governors to select a new leader.” Under an unwritten agreement, the United States, which is the bank’s largest shareholder, has always chosen its leader since the institution was founded following World War II. But the success of a U.S. candidate no longer appears completely assured. Kim was the first American nominee to face a contested election for the World Bank presidency in 2012 and the bank’s board has said its selection process will be “open, merit-based and transparent,” implying non-U.S. candidates would not be ruled out. The World Bank Board said Thursday it would start accepting nominations for a new leader early next month and name a replacement for Kim by mid-April.

u.s .
world bank
donald trump
nikki haley
ivanka trump


Trump touts plan to change visas for skilled foreign workers

Abstract: NEW YORK - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans changes to the H-1B program that grants temporary visas for specialty occupations such as technology or medicine, but his administration said later he was referring to changes that were proposed last year. “H1-B (sic) holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship,” Trump said on Twitter. “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S.” It was unclear what Trump meant by a “potential path to citizenship” for H-1B visa holders, who already are eligible to be sponsored by employers for legal permanent residency, which would then make them eligible to become U.S. citizens. When asked about Trump’s tweet, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Michael Bars provided a statement about a formal proposal in December for changes to the H-1B process, which are likely to become final later this year. The proposal is designed to increase by 5,340, or 16 percent, the number of H-1B beneficiaries who hold advanced degrees from American universities. It would also streamline the application process with a new electronic registration system. “These proposed regulatory changes would help ensure more of the best and brightest workers from around the world come to America under the H-1B program,” Bars said. Critics questioned why Trump tweeted about a month-old proposal at a time when he is battling with congressional Democrats over spending legislation to fund the federal government. Trump wants to include $5.6 billion for a wall along the border with Mexico, which he says will stem illegal immigration. Democrats call the proposed wall expensive, ineffective and immoral. The dispute has led to a partial shutdown of the U.S. government that is now in its 21st day. Doug Rand, a former White House official in the Obama administration who worked on immigration issues, said the proposed changes to the lottery selection process were at best modest and at worst could cause chaos. Some immigration experts do not believe the new registration system will be ready in time for the next lottery, which occurs in the spring. “The odds that a complicated new electronic processing system will be effectively launched by DHS in time for the next lottery on April 1 is low probability and has nothing to do with a potential path to citizenship,” Rand said. Throughout his presidency, Trump has sought to stem illegal immigration and to deport more immigrants living in the United States illegally. His administration has also worked to limit legal immigration, including through a proposal that would penalize aspiring immigrants who use public benefits. Trump has also derided visas granted to family members of U.S. residents or citizens as “chain migration,” and backed a Republican proposal in 2017 that would have slashed legal immigration in half. “The devil is in the details, said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a nonprofit group which advocates for pro-immigration policies. He said his group, which was founded by tech executives including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, remains “skeptical of vague pronouncements given the administration’s track record.” U.S. companies often use H-1B visas to hire graduate-level workers in specialized fields including information technology, medicine, engineering and mathematics. But the visa program has also drawn criticism for being used heavily by foreign outsourcing companies that squeeze out American firms.

u.s .
congress
immigration
donald trump
skilled labor


Apple reportedly plans three new iPhones this year

Abstract: NEW YORK - Apple Inc. is planning to release three new iPhone models again this fall, including a successor to the struggling XR, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, quoting people familiar with the matter. The U.S. tech giant plans to introduce some new camera features, including a triple rear camera for the highest-end model and a double rear camera for the two other models, the newspaper said in its digital edition. Apple plans to offer two models with organic light-emitting diode displays and one model with a liquid crystal display, it said, adding that for 2020, the company is considering dropping the LCD model. The paper said the OLED displays on current XS models are considered to provide better contrast than the less expensive LCD displays on the XR and earlier iPhones such as the 7 and 8 models.


Coincheck wins approval to run cryptocurrency exchange a year after massive theft

Abstract: About a year after a massive digital heist that shocked the cryptocurrency industry around the world, Japan’s financial watchdog gave Coincheck Inc. the green light Friday to officially run a virtual currency exchange. Following the Coincheck hacking case in late January that cost the Tokyo-based startup ¥58 billion worth of NEM coins, the Financial Services Agency began inspecting other exchanges, stalling the approval process for newcomers. No new operators were given the OK last year as a result. With Coincheck gaining permission, the FSA will likely proceed with the examination process for other companies. The watchdog has said about 190 firms have shown interest in the exchange business. Virtual currency exchanges are not allowed to operate without registering with the FSA. Those including Coincheck that had been in business before the new regulation took effect in April 2017 were only allowed to operate on a tentative basis. After the Coincheck hack, the FSA ordered Coincheck to improve its management, security and internal controls. “The managerial environment of the cryptocurrency industry changes rapidly. We must make unceasing efforts to improve security and internal control,” Coincheck CEO Toshihiko Katsuya told a news conference Friday. Last April, Monex Group Inc., a major online brokerage, announced plans to acquire Coincheck as it believes crypto-based businesses will be a driver of growth in the future. The Monex group has been running its online financial business since 1999, so it claims to have a plenty of know-how and experience building robust security systems and inner management that it can share with Coincheck.

hacking scandals currencies cryptocurrency coincheck


North magnetic pole's movement forces unprecedented navigation fix

Abstract: OSLO - Rapid shifts in the Earth’s north magnetic pole are forcing researchers to make an unprecedented early update to a model that helps navigation by ships, planes and submarines in the Arctic. Compass needles point toward the north magnetic pole, a point that has crept unpredictably from the coast of northern Canada a century ago to the middle of the Arctic Ocean, moving toward Russia. “It’s moving at about 50 km (30 miles) a year. It didn’t move much between 1900 and 1980 but it’s really accelerated in the past 40 years,” said Ciaran Beggan, of the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, on Friday. A five-year update of the World Magnetic Model was due in 2020 but the U.S. military requested an unprecedented early review, he said. The BGS runs the model with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Beggan said the moving pole affects navigation, mainly in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada. NATO and the U.S. and British militaries are among those using the magnetic model, as well as civilian navigation. The wandering pole is driven by unpredictable changes in flows of liquid iron deep inside the Earth. An update will be released on Jan. 30, the journal Nature said, delayed from Jan. 15 because of the U.S. government shutdown. “The fact that the pole is going fast makes this region more prone to large errors,” Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, told Nature. Beggan said the recent shifts in the north magnetic pole would be unnoticed by most people outside the Arctic. Navigation systems in cars or phones rely on radio waves from satellites high above the Earth to pinpoint their position on the ground. “It doesn’t really affect mid- or low latitudes,” Beggan said. “It wouldn’t really affect anyone driving a car.” Many smartphones have compasses to help to orientate maps or games. In most places, however, the compass would be pointing only fractionally wrong, within errors allowed in the five-year models, Beggan said.


Musk shows off prototype of Mars-bound rocket but says SpaceX to shed 10% of workforce

Abstract: WASHINGTON/LOS, ANGELES - SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has unveiled the first pictures of a retro-looking rocket that may one day carry people to the moon and Mars. Musk posted pictures on Twitter of the Starship Hopper prototype, which awaits its first flight test in Texas in the coming weeks. “Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site. This is an actual picture, not a rendering,” he wrote on Thursday night. The prototype — built in Boca Chica, Texas, along the Gulf Coast — is 9 yards (8 meters) in diameter but is shorter than the future rocket will be. Its first test flights — suborbital “hops” — could come in March or April. An orbital prototype is expected in June. That version will be paired with a massive rocket booster known as the Super Heavy. SpaceX has said the duo could one day transport people from city to city, as well as propel passengers around the moon, to the lunar surface and even to Mars and back. SpaceX currently launches regular supply missions to the International Space Station using its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule. It is now working on a new Dragon crew capsule that could start carrying people to the orbiting outpost later this year. However, just a day after the announcement, SpaceX said it must lay off 10 percent of its more than 6,000 employees. Musk said in a statement: “To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company. Either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organizations. This means we must part ways with some talented and hardworking members of our team.” He added that the trim was “only due to the extraordinarily difficult challenges ahead.” The Los Angeles Times, citing an email sent to employees on Friday, said the company was offering those affected a minimum of eight weeks’ pay and other benefits, including career coaching and assistance with resumes. Also Friday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying 10 communications satellites. SpaceX makes most of its money from multibillion-dollar contracts with NASA and satellite launches. In November it won authorization from U.S. officials to put nearly 12,000 satellites into orbit to boost cheap wireless internet access by the 2020s. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the company was raising $500 million from investors to help launch its satellite internet service. Musk has risen to prominence with a series of ambitious ventures, especially Tesla, which has boosted production of its Model 3 electric car and has continued to enjoy strong demand for the vehicle. Other Musk ventures include OpenAI, Neuralink and the Boring Co., which focuses on infrastructure and tunnels. But Musk has also drawn plenty of criticism over unconventional and at times erratic behavior — after admitting last year that he has been struggling with exhaustion. In an interview broadcast last month, Musk openly mocked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after agreeing to a $20 million fine to settle fraud charges the agency had brought over Musk’s quickly aborted effort to take Tesla private. And in September, he raised eyebrows with an appearance on a podcast with comedian Joe Rogan, which saw him sip whiskey and smoke weed while musing at length about artificial intelligence, colonizing space, and the need to give love a chance. Later that month, he was sued by a British caver who had helped rescue 12 boys trapped in Thailand after Musk called him a “pedo guy” and a “child rapist” after his proposal to use his miniature submarine to extract the boys was rejected.

space
planets
mars
elon musk
spacex
moon


Britain considers ending incarcerating offenders given six-month terms or less

Abstract: LONDON - The British government is considering scrapping jail sentences of six months or less for most crimes in a bid to reduce re-offending and ease pressure on the system, Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said Saturday. The move could see tens of thousands of people convicted of non-violent or non-sexual crimes, such as burglary and shoplifting, spared jail under the plan, Stewart told The Daily Telegraph. In an interview with the newspaper’s magazine, he said that short jail terms are “long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you. “You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation. “They come (into prison), they meet a lot of interesting characters and then you whap them onto the streets again,” he said. “The public are safer if we have a good community sentence . . . and it will relieve a lot of pressure on prisons.” The change will mirror 2010 reforms in Scotland, where judges are now guided by a legal presumption against custodial sentences of less than three months. Re-offending rates there have since fallen to their lowest levels for nearly two decades, and the Scottish government is considering extending it to less than a year. Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, told the Telegraph that government ministers in London “should be congratulated for having the political courage to start the debate.” England and Wales’s prison population has doubled since the early 1990s to now stand at more than 80,000 inmates, official figures show. Meanwhile, more than half of the 86,275 offenders sentenced to immediate custody in 2017 were given sentences of six months or less. The country’s prisons are considered in a state of crisis, with violence and drug use on the rise. Stewart made the eye-catchingly bold pledge last August to resign if he was not able to reform its 10 worst jails within a year. A Ministry of Justice spokesman confirmed that it was “exploring potential alternatives” to prisons for some crimes. “As we have said previously, short sentences are too often ineffective, provide little opportunity to rehabilitate offenders and lead to unacceptably high rates of re-offending,” he said. “But this work is ongoing and we have reached no conclusions at this time.”


Huawei arrests in Poland show how Trump-China tensions test Europe

Abstract: WARSAW/BEIJING - As Poland added to the global scrutiny of Huawei Technologies Co. on Friday with the arrest of a company employee and a local former security agent, the country’s authorities also exposed the division in Europe over policy toward the Chinese technology giant. Huawei is facing increasing pressure across the European Union amid growing concerns that Beijing could use the company’s equipment for spying, something executives have denied. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing European allies to block Huawei from telecom networks amid a wider dispute over trade with China. While there’s little to suggest any political motive, the Warsaw government is a staunch ally of the U.S. and the country is a prototype of Trump-style nationalism and protectionism. Poland relies on the EU for money, though counts on the Americans for security, and U.S. troops are stationed on its soil. The dilemma is that Europe needs to develop its infrastructure somehow. Various countries, including the U.K., France, Germany and Norway, have publicly raised concerns about using Huawei equipment for next-generation mobile networks. But others, like Spain, Portugal and Hungary, have been more welcoming to Chinese involvement. “Europe is facing a challenge when it comes to dealing with Huawei and it shows that the continent doesn’t have the ability to be autonomous,” said Solange Ghernaouti, head of the Swiss Cybersecurity Advisory and Research Group. “Europe is either dependent on China or the U.S.” The Huawei employee detained in Poland is a Chinese citizen responsible for sales to public sector clients, television news channel TVPInfo said on Friday. The other detained person is a former high-ranking official at Poland’s Internal Security Agency who worked at mobile phone operator Orange Polska SA. They will remain in custody for three months. Evidence shows that both men conducted espionage activities against Poland, Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s secret services chief, said in a statement. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in jail, Zaryn said. When he tweeted the arrests in English, he included hashtags for the U.S. Department of State, the FBI and CIA. “For us, this specific investigation concerns two people,” he said later on Friday. “A separate issue is that of threats in the telecommunications industry. These are two separate issues.” Poland’s cybersecurity chief, Karol Okonski, told RMF Radio that ideally the EU and NATO would be “as consistent as possible” on Huawei. He said the country is considering recommending caution toward the company, including potential exclusion from its IT market. Beijing is seeking consular access for Chinese Huawei employee Wang Weijing, state media reported on Saturday. Citing China’s Foreign Ministry, state broadcaster CCTV said Beijing is “closely following” the detention of Wang and has asked to arrange a consular visit “as soon as possible.” The Chinese Embassy in Poland has also asked Warsaw to “effectively ensure the legitimate rights and interests, and humanitarian and safe treatment of the person involved.” A Huawei representative said the company was looking into the matter and declined to comment further. The company said it abides by applicable laws wherever it operates and expects employees to do the same. Security services searched the two suspects’ homes and the offices of Huawei and Orange Polska, the Polish business of French mobile operator Orange SA. Orange spokesman Wojciech Jabczynski said the company handed over an employee’s belongings to the authorities. Wang is a former employee of the country’s consulate in the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk, according to TVPInfo. The accusations add to Huawei’s troubles of late as western governments grow worried that Huawei’s systems could be used by Chinese intelligence. Australia and New Zealand banned Huawei equipment from the planned 5G networks of carriers in the countries and the head of British spy agency MI6 said last month the government needs to decide whether to ban the company. Germany has said it’s considering restricting Huawei’s role in its future telecom infrastructure, while Czech President Milos Zeman said on Friday China is preparing an economically damaging reprisal against his country after authorities issued warnings about Huawei and risks it poses to security. Huawei is also mired in a U.S. case alleging violations of trade sanctions. The U.S. alleges that its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, conspired to defraud banks to unwittingly clear transactions linked to Iran. Meng was released on bail four weeks ago and is living under restrictions in her million-dollar Vancouver home. The company has previously said it does not pose a security threat and that it’s never been asked by any government to build backdoors or interrupt any networks. It has said it would “never tolerate such behavior by any of our staff.” “Huawei’s biggest challenge is to prove to its partners across the world that the quality of its cybersecurity services is second to none and that there’s no possibility of backdoor intrusion,” said Ghernatoui at the Swiss Cybersecurity Advisory and Research Group. “But they’ve failed to do that so far.”

china
u.s .
poland
eu
espionage
huawei
donald trump
police


U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has no signs of cancer after surgery

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose ill health in recent months has sparked speculation about her retirement, is cancer-free after surgery to remove two nodules from her lung, a court spokeswoman said Friday. The recovery of the 85-year-old Ginsburg, the eldest of the nine justices and a stalwart of the court’s liberal wing, is “on track” after her surgery in December, said the spokeswoman, Kathleen Arberg. “Post-surgery evaluation indicates no evidence of remaining disease and no further treatment is required,” Arberg said. “Justice Ginsburg will continue to work from home next week and will participate in the consideration and decision of the cases on the basis of the briefs and the transcripts of oral arguments.” Ginsburg — fondly known as “The Notorious RBG,” a riff on slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G. — missed court arguments for the first time in her more than 25 years on the Supreme Court this past week. On Nov. 7, she took a fall in her office that left her with three broken ribs. X-rays revealed two cancerous nodules on her left lung. They were removed on December 21 at a New York hospital. This was Ginsburg’s third bout with cancer — she was treated for colon cancer in 1999, and a decade later, pancreatic cancer that was caught at an early stage. She is one of four liberals on the court. She has repeatedly said she will only retire when she feels incapable of handling the workload. Her health is closely monitored amid worries on the left that should she die or be forced to retire for health reasons, President Donald Trump — who has already chosen two conservative justices — would get another pick. U.S. media report that the White House is already discreetly working on a shortlist of candidates, should Ginsburg step away from the court. U.S. Supreme Court justices are appointed for life.

cancer
supreme court
ruth bader ginsburg


Florida governor suspends sheriff who 'failed' in Parkland school shooting

Abstract: MIAMI - Florida’s governor on Friday suspended the sheriff who oversaw the response to last year’s Parkland school shooting over failings in his handling of the massacre. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel had “repeatedly failed” and “demonstrated a pattern of poor leadership” following shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Fort Lauderdale airport in 2017. At a press conference, the newly elected Republican went so far as to say the Parkland massacre, which killed 17, “might never have happened had Broward had better leadership in the sheriff’s department.” But Democrat Israel, 62, accused DeSantis of having political motives — arguing that that there were no suspensions following a 2016 shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub, which left 49 dead. “The difference is I spoke out against gun violence,” he said. “This is about politics, not about Parkland,” he added, vowing to fight the “unjustified” suspension in court and the Florida Senate. A commission investigating the school shooting published a report last week lamenting the “abysmal response” of the in-school police officer and a lack of action upon Broward sheriff’s deputies’ arrival at the building. DeSantis named Gregory Tony, a veteran of the police department in Coral Springs, Broward County, as Israel’s replacement. He is the president of Blue Spear Solutions, a private security firm that specializes in providing training for responding to shootings and attacks like that seen in Parkland. Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is awaiting trial, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty for 17 murder charges and 17 attempted murder charges.

guns
florida
mass shootings
police
florida school massacre


U.S. Rep Tulsi Gabbard, who met Syrian dictator, says she will run for president

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran who met dictator Bashar Assad in Syria during that country’s devastating civil war, said Friday that she is launching a U.S. presidential bid. “I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard told CNN. If elected, the 37-year-old lawmaker would be the youngest president in U.S. history. She is the first Hindu member of Congress and its first Samoan American. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve,” she said, citing health care access and climate change among them. Gabbard sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she is able to influence U.S. foreign policy. “There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace,” Gabbard added. “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement.” Gabbard was born in American Samoa and was raised in Hawaii, where she is known to surf. The previous Democratic president, Barack Obama, was also raised in Hawaii, and is the only president who was born in the island state. Gabbard’s announcement comes ahead of what is expected to be a wave of high-profile candidates throwing their hats in the ring. Senator Elizabeth Warren has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential bid, and last week took a high-profile trip to the early voting state of Iowa. Former vice president Joe Biden and progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, whom Gabbard supported over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries, are also mulling entering the race. Julian Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio who served in Barack Obama’s Cabinet as housing secretary, says he will announce his 2020 plans on Saturday. Gabbard drew heavy criticism when she met secretly with Assad in Damascus in 2017 during a fact-finding mission that also took her to the decimated city of Aleppo. She also met with refugees and Syrian opposition leaders. “Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it,” Gabbard said when her trip became public. “I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering.” Gabbard was deployed to Iraq in 2005, and she maintains her role as a member of the Hawaii National Guard. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is also moving aggressively toward an expected presidential bid, filling out key staff positions, traveling to key states and nearing a choice on the location for a campaign headquarters, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. The New York Democrat is expected to make her debut in the leadoff caucus state of Iowa next weekend. Among her stops, Gillibrand plans to headline a Woodbury County Democrats Truman Club gathering at a private home in Sioux City on the evening of Jan. 18. Although the event is expected to be an intimate gathering of only a couple dozen donors and influential activists, it will be hard to avoid the comparison of a recent event Warren held in Sioux City, when she packed 400 into a refurbished downtown theater. Gillibrand is considering a February announcement, according to one person familiar with the discussions, who cautioned that the partial government shutdown could have an impact on the timing. The senator is filling out important campaign staff positions, including recruiting Meredith Kelly, the former spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to head her communications efforts, according to the person. Alexandria Phillips, Gillibrand’s congressional press secretary and a former Hillary Clinton aide, and Jess Fassler, who served as Gillibrand’s Senate chief of staff, will also join the campaign, the person said. Dan McNally, a veteran Democratic operative who managed Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign in 2016, will also come on board. Gillibrand’s team is eyeing Troy, New York, a small upstate city on the Hudson River, as a headquarters, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. All of the people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The selection of Troy, 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Manhattan, could allow Gillibrand to highlight her roots in upstate New York, where she was born and later represented in Congress before being appointed to the Senate. Gillibrand’s representatives didn’t comment Thursday on her choice of headquarters. Others weighing bids include California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Sanders. Other Democrats, including billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, have declined to run in 2020. Gillibrand easily won re-election to the Senate in 2018 with more than $10.6 million in campaign money left over that she could funnel toward a presidential bid. In recent weeks, she has worked to expand her fundraising network and to improve her standing among critical voting blocs, including African-American voters.

u.s .
congress
elections
kirsten gillibrand
tulsi gabbard


U.S. government shutdown enters record 22nd day

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. government shutdown — which has left 800,000 federal employees without salaries as a result of President Donald Trump’s dispute with Democrats over funding a Mexico border wall — entered a record 22nd day Saturday. The Democrats’ refusal to approve the $5.7 billion demanded by Trump for the wall project has paralyzed Washington, with the president retaliating by refusing to sign off on budgets for swaths of government departments. As a result, workers as diverse as FBI agents, air traffic controllers and museum staff did not receive paychecks Friday. The partial shutdown of the government became the longest on record at midnight Friday, when it overtook the 21-day stretch in 1995-1996 under President Bill Clinton. Trump earlier backed off on a series of threats to end the deadlock by declaring a national emergency and attempting to secure the funds without congressional approval. “I’m not going to do it so fast,” he said at a White House meeting. Trump described an emergency declaration as the “easy way out” and said Congress has to step up to the responsibility of approving the $5.7 billion. “If they can’t do it … I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right,” he insisted. Until now, Trump had suggested numerous times that he was getting closer to taking the controversial decision. It was not clear what made Trump change course. But Trump himself acknowledged in the White House meeting that an attempt to claim emergency powers would likely end up in legal battles going all the way to the Supreme Court. Opponents say that a unilateral move by the president over the sensitive border issue would be constitutional overreach and set a dangerous precedent in similar controversies. The standoff has turned into a test of political ego, particularly for Trump, who came into office boasting of his deal-making powers and making an aggressive border policy the keystone of his nationalist agenda. Democrats, meanwhile, seem determined at all costs to prevent a president who relishes campaign rally chants of “build the wall!” from getting a win. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the U.S.-Mexican frontier presents major challenges, ranging from the hyper-violent Mexican drug trade to the plight of asylum-seekers and poor migrants seeking new lives in the world’s richest country. There is also little debate that border walls are needed; about a third of the frontier is already fenced off. But Trump has turned his single-minded push for more walls into a political crusade seen by opponents as a stunt to stoke xenophobia in his right-wing voter base while wilfully ignoring the border’s complex realities. For Trump, who visited the Texas border with Mexico on Thursday, the border situation amounts to an invasion by criminals that can only be solved by more walls. “We have a country that’s under siege,” he told the local officials in the White House. Some studies show that illegal immigrants generally commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States, although not everyone agrees on this. More certain is that while narcotics do enter the country across remote sections of the border, most are sneaked through heavily guarded checkpoints in vehicles, the government’s own Drug Enforcement Administration said in a 2017 report. It said that most smuggling is done “through U.S. ports of entry (POEs) in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor trailers.” Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives and a key figure in opposing Trump’s agenda, said money should be spent in many areas of border security, but not on walls. “We need to look at the facts,” she said. But Trump accused the Democrats of only wanting to score points against him with a view to the 2020 presidential elections. “They think, ‘Gee, we can hurt Trump,'” he said. “The Democrats are just following politics.”


As U.S. government shutdown drags on, where is Sen. Mitch McConnell?

Abstract: WASHINGTON - When President Donald Trump stormed out of a White House meeting with congressional leaders last Wednesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sat there silently, uttering not a word as the talks blew up, according to others in the room. The No. 1 Republican in Congress, who rose to power on his reputation as a master of legislative wrangling, has had little to say in public or private during a partial federal government shutdown that began on Dec. 22 and has no end in sight. Showing no interest in defying his president and Trump’s demand that triggered the shutdown for funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall opposed by Democrats, McConnell has kept a low profile. This posture, allies and opponents said, is about McConnell protecting himself, vulnerable Republicans and their control of the Senate ahead of the 2020 elections. At the core of McConnell’s quiet loyalty to Trump, despite past friction between them, is a calculation that Trump’s popularity with Republican voters makes standing by him, in the long run, politically wiser than responding to short-term worries about the shutdown, aides and experts said. “The leader is prepared to engage, but the leader always wants to be able to look ahead and see the two or three other moves ahead of the immediate move,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said, referring to McConnell. The cost of this long-term focus, Democrats said, is that McConnell has ceded control of the Senate to Trump for the duration of the shutdown fight by pledging to block any shutdown-ending legislation the president would not sign. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who helped negotiate an end to an earlier shutdown, said this of McConnell’s absence from negotiations: “Basically, that’s what’s holding everything up.” Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, is passing shutdown-ending spending bills in her chamber, including one Friday. If McConnell would only put those measures on the Senate floor for a vote, Democrats argue, senators from both parties would support them. That would then pressure Trump, according to the Democrats, to sign the bills into law and reopen government, even if the measures lacked the $5.7 billion in wall funding he is demanding. McConnell has made clear this will not happen. Twice now, House Republican leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise have emerged from high-level White House shutdown talks to address reporters, once with Trump and once with Vice President Mike Pence. While McCarthy and Scalise went to the microphones, McConnell returned unobtrusively to the Capitol. A senior Democratic aide described McConnell’s demeanor in meetings with Democrats about the shutdown as more “subdued” than when he helped end previous shutdowns. One other possible explanation for this, Democrats said, is that McConnell was burned by Trump last month when the president reversed position and rejected a bipartisan, Senate-passed spending bill that would have averted the shutdown. About a quarter of the government closed after Trump rejected that bill, unexpectedly demanding that any measure to restore funding to agencies whose funding expired for unrelated reasons must include more than $5 billion for his wall. Democrats continue to refuse to fund the wall, which they have called immoral, ineffective and expensive. In addition, for all his acumen as a legislative tactician, McConnell in 2017 failed to get the Senate to vote to repeal “Obamacare,” the 2010 health care law that Trump had vowed to end. In the aftermath, Trump publicly criticized McConnell. McConnell’s main concern as he navigates the shutdown drama is likely November 2020, when he will face a re-election contest in his home state of Kentucky. If Trump is the Republican presidential nominee again, the two would be on the same ballot. McConnell won his last re-election bid in 2014 by 16 percentage points. Trump did even better in Kentucky two years later, winning by 30 percentage points. So sticking with Trump is more likely to help than hurt McConnell. “Mitch McConnell backing the president, keeping the Republican conference together behind the president, is very good in Kentucky,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist from Kentucky who has advised McConnell’s last three Senate campaigns and worked on national campaigns. A poll by liberal Public Policy Polling found that in seven states where Republican senators are up for re-election in 2020 — Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina — most voters oppose a shutdown for border funds. Republican senators such as Susan Collins and Cory Gardner may feel pressure to vote to reopen the government, but defying Trump could make them vulnerable to future challenges in party primaries. By blocking Senate consideration of such measures, McConnell helps these senators avoid making expedient short-term votes that could hurt them in 2020, while letting them continue to criticize the shutdown without having to vote against their president. “It would be crippling if the Republicans were running around eating each other alive,” Jennings said.

u.s .
congress
elections
mitch mcconnell
donald trump


U.S. aviation system showing signs of strain from shutdown as screeners, inspectors stay home

Abstract: NEW YORK - The partial government shutdown is starting to strain America’s aviation system, with unpaid security screeners staying home, air-traffic controllers suing the government and safety inspectors off the job. Miami International Airport is providing the most visible evidence yet that the shutdown is at least making air travel less convenient. Facing double the usual number of absences among unpaid TSA screeners, the airport was to close one of its terminals for most of Saturday, Sunday and Monday to make sure TSA can adequately staff the remaining security checkpoints. Meanwhile, the national union representing air traffic controllers — who are also working without pay during the shutdown, entering its 22nd day Saturday — sued the government, claiming they are illegally being denied pay. And aviation-safety inspectors are still off the job, deemed not to be essential enough to keep working during the shutdown. The Transportation Security Administration said that 5.1 percent of screeners were absent on Thursday, up from 3.3 percent on the same date last year. The TSA has 51,000 transportation security officers, who have continued to work because they are deemed essential employees. Screeners represent just 6 percent of government workers who didn’t get paychecks Friday because of the shutdown. Industry officials worry that they are particularly likely to stop showing up because their relatively low pay means they could quickly struggle to pay bills without money coming in. The agency has very few tools to deal with a severe shortage. It has a team of nonessential employees who are trained to screen air travelers, but that is only a stopgap designed to cover for shortages at one or two airports during a natural disaster. January is a relatively light travel period, but industry officials worry what will happen if the shutdown lingers and more TSA employees leave for jobs that include a paycheck. Miami International, the nation’s 25th-busiest airport, with six terminals, planned to close off Concourse G at 1 p.m. for the next three days and shift a dozen flights a day to other terminals. Other major airports said they had no immediate plans to close terminals or take other drastic measures. About 10,000 air traffic controllers under the Federal Aviation Administration continued to work without pay. On Friday, their union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington and asked for an order that its members get paid. Union President Paul Rinaldi said there is already a shortage of controllers, and if current controllers decide to retire — about 1,900 are eligible — the government could be forced to restrict air traffic, creating flight delays. About 3,300 aviation safety inspectors under the FAA were not working — since 2013, they have not been considered essential employees who must stay on the job during government shutdowns. They oversee and certify inspections done by employees of airlines and aircraft-repair shops. An FAA spokesman said earlier in the week that the agency was recalling inspectors and focusing resources on overseeing airline operations. He declined to say how many inspectors are working, but union officials believed it was about 100. “A hundred out of 3,300 is probably not real good odds,” said Stephen Carl, an FAA inspector in Florida. “Please put us back on the job right now. Aviation is not being overseen.” Carl said ongoing investigations have been put on hold by the shutdown. Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security consultant and a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, expected that more TSA agents would fail to show up, creating longer lines and creating a potential target for terrorists at airports. “As the lines slow down and the crowds grow larger, it puts more and more passengers at risk from an attack,” Price said. He added, “The screeners who do come to work will be forced to make up the slack, which erodes their effectiveness even more.” TSA officials said screeners weren’t getting lax about their work. “Security standards have NOT and will NOT be compromised,” tweeted TSA spokesman Michael Bilello. Longer lines would alienate travelers and could push more airports to replace government employees with privately contracted screening agents. Airports in San Francisco and Kansas City already do that, with approval from the Transportation Department. In 2016 — when TSA was understaffed at many airports, creating lines long enough to make many travelers miss their flights — other airports explored hiring contractors. Most dropped the idea after TSA’s performance improved.

congress
aviation
budgets
airports
donald trump


FBI reportedly probed whether Trump secretly worked for Russia

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Law enforcement officials became so concerned by President Donald Trump’s behavior in the days after he fired FBI Director James Comey that they began investigating whether he had been working for Russia against U.S. interests, The New York Times reported Friday. The report cites unnamed former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation. The inquiry forced counterintelligence investigators to evaluate whether Trump was a potential threat to national security, and they also sought to determine whether Trump was deliberately working for Russia or had unintentionally been influenced by Moscow. The Times reports that FBI agents and some top officials became suspicious of Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign but didn’t launch an investigation at that time because they weren’t sure how to approach such a sensitive and important probe, according to the sources. But Trump’s behavior in the days around Comey’s May 2017 firing, specifically two instances in which he seemed to tie Comey’s ousting to the Russia investigation, helped trigger the counterintelligence part of the investigation, according to the Times’ sources. Robert Mueller took over the investigation when he was appointed special counsel soon after Comey’s firing. The overall investigation is looking into Russian election interference and whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Russians. The Times says it’s unclear whether Mueller is still pursuing the counterintelligence angle. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told the Times that he had no knowledge of the inquiry but said that since it was opened a year and a half ago and they hadn’t heard anything, apparently “they found nothing.” Trump has also repeatedly and vociferously denied collusion with the Russians. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, called the Times’ report “absurd” and said Comey was fired for being “a disgraced partisan hack.” She also disputed that Trump had ever been soft on Russia. “Unlike President Obama, who let Russia and other foreign adversaries push America around, President Trump has actually been tough on Russia,” Sanders said.

vladimir putin
russia
espionage
scandals
fbi
robert mueller
donald trump
2016 u.s. presidential election
russia probe


U.S.-led coalition states that it is withdrawing equipment from Syria

Abstract: BAGHDAD - Washington/Qamishli, Syria The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State added to the confusion surrounding the U.S. withdrawal from Syria on Friday by declaring that it had started the pullout process, but U.S. officials later clarified that only equipment, not troops, had exited the country. U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement last month that he had decided to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops there stunned allies who have joined Washington in the battle against Islamic State militants in Syria. Senior U.S. officials were shocked too, among them Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit in protest. U.S. Col. Sean Ryan, a coalition spokesman, said the coalition “has begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria.” “Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troop movements,” Ryan said. After media reports suggesting the departure of U.S. forces had begun, U.S. officials told Reuters that no troops had yet withdrawn and stressed that the battle against Islamic State was continuing as U.S.-backed forces try to capture the group’s last remaining pockets of territory in Syria. The three U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. But the U.S. officials confirmed that equipment was being moved out of Syria, a sign that despite mixed messages from Washington preparations for a withdrawal of troops were proceeding apace. Residents near border crossings that are typically used by U.S. forces going in and out of Syria from Iraq said they had seen no obvious or large-scale movement of U.S. ground forces on Friday. Separately, Syrian state news agency SANA said Israeli warplanes fired a number of missiles toward the Damascus area on Friday, triggering Syrian air defenses that shot down most of them. “The results of the aggression so far were limited to a strike on one of the warehouses at Damascus airport,” SANA quoted a military source as saying. The U.S. decision has injected new uncertainties into the eight-year-long Syrian war and spurred a flurry of contacts over how a resulting security vacuum will be filled across a swath of northern and eastern Syria where the U.S. forces are stationed. On the one hand, Turkey aims to pursue a campaign against Kurdish forces that have allied with the United States, and on the other the Russia- and Iran-backed Syrian government sees the chance to recover a huge chunk of territory. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton suggested on Tuesday that protecting Washington’s Kurdish allies would be a precondition of the U.S. withdrawal. That drew a rebuke from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan who called his comments “a serious mistake”. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been touring the Middle East to reassure allies of Washington’s commitment to regional security, said on Thursday the withdrawal would not be scuppered despite the Turkish threats. The Kurdish groups that control the north have turned to Moscow and Damascus in the hope of striking a political deal that will stave off Turkey and shield their autonomy in the north. Russia, which has deployed forces in Syria in support of the Damascus government, said it had the impression that the United States wanted to stay despite the announced withdrawal of U.S. troops, RIA news agency reported. Maria Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said it was important for Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government to start talking to each other in light of the U.S. withdrawal plans. She also said the territory previously controlled by the United States should be transferred to the Syrian government. “In this regard, establishing dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus takes on particular significance. After all, the Kurds are an integral part of Syrian society,” Zakharova said. Turkey views the U.S.-backed YPG Syrian Kurdish militia as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a 34-year insurgency in Turkey for Kurdish political and cultural rights, mostly in southeastern areas near Syria. A Kurdish politician said a week earlier that the Kurds had presented Moscow with a road map for a deal with Damascus. Syria’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday he was optimistic about renewed dialogue with the Kurds. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of France, which is part of the U.S.-led coalition, welcomed what he believed was a slower withdrawal by the United States after pressure from its allies. “President Macron spoke to him (Trump) several times and it seems that there has been a change that I think is positive,” he said in a television interview on Thursday. In a rare acknowledgment that French troops were also in Syria, he said they would leave when there is a political solution in the country.

conflict
u.s .
syria
turkey
islamic state
donald trump


Many people collecting leaking gasoline feared dead after tanker crashes, catches fire in Nigeria

Abstract: WARRI, NIGERIA - Nigerian police Saturday said many people are feared dead after a gasoline tanker veered off the road, caught fire and exploded as people tried to recover fuel. The vehicle crashed in the Odukpani area of the southeastern state of Cross River, just north of the state capital, Calabar, at about 5 p.m. on Friday. Local residents rushed to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire, triggering the blast. Cross River state police spokeswoman Irene Ugbo said the blast could have been sparked by the clashing of steel containers used to scoop up the gasoline. “I can’t confirm the exact number of casualties,” she said, adding, “The casualties are high.” The injured were taken to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for treatment to varying degrees of burns. One local resident, Akpan Imon, said at least 18 people were killed. “I counted 18 bodies including women and children burnt beyond recognition,” he said. “I believe the casualty level could be more because people from other neighboring communities had thronged the scene.” Another local, Sunday Ibor, said “over 20 bodies” were taken to the local government secretariat. Gasoline tanker and pipeline blasts are common in Nigeria, where despite the country’s multibillion-dollar oil and gas industry, most people live in poverty. Fires and explosions often occur as people try to siphon fuel from pipelines and also following accidents involving fuel tankers on badly maintained roads. In July 2012, at least 104 people were killed and some 50 others wounded as they tried to collect fuel from a gasoline tanker after an accident in the southern state of Rivers. Most were killed in the subsequent fire. In June last year, at least nine people died in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, when a gasoline tanker crashed, triggering a wildfire that gutted more than 50 vehicles.


Two firefighters killed, several people injured by huge gas explosion at Paris bakery

Abstract: PARIS - Two firefighters were killed when a gas leak sparked a huge explosion at a bakery in central Paris early on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. Thirty-seven others were injured in the blast, 10 of them seriously, the office said, after initial reports erroneously said four people had been killed. The powerful explosion blasted out windows and overturned cars, police said. Firefighters pulled injured victims out of windows and evacuated residents as smoke billowed out of the building on Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris. Witnesses described on French television the overwhelming sound of the blast and told of people trapped inside nearby buildings. Silver-helmeted firefighters and red firetrucks filled the street and inspected adjoining courtyards. Debris from a burned car and broken glass littered the pavement. A vehicle from gas company GRDF was stationed nearby. The building is around the corner from the Folies-Bergere theater and not far from the shopping district that includes the famed headquarters of Galeries Lafayette. The explosion came amid heavy security in Paris and around France for “yellow vest” protests expected later Saturday.


Canada takes in fleeing Saudi

Abstract: BANGKOK - An 18-year-old Saudi who says she was abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home left Thailand for Canada, which has granted her asylum, officials said on Friday night. The fast-moving developments capped an eventful week for Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun. She fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel to avoid deportation and then grabbed global attention by mounting a social media campaign for asylum. Her case highlighted the cause of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, where several women fleeing abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum abroad in recent years and were returned home. Human rights activists say many similar cases go unreported. Alqunun was flying to Toronto via Seoul, according to Thai immigration Police Chief Surachate Hakparn. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed his country had granted her asylum. “That is something that we are pleased to do because Canada is a country that understands how important it is to stand up for human rights and to stand up for woman’s rights around the world,” Trudeau said. Several other countries, including Australia, had been in talks with the U.N.’s refugee agency to accept Alqunun. Surachate said: “She chose Canada. It’s her personal decision.” Canada’s ambassador saw her off at the airport, Surachate said, adding that she looked happy and healthy. She thanked everyone for helping her, he said, and added that the first thing she would do upon arrival in Canada would be to start learning English. She already speaks more than passable English, in addition to Arabic. Alqunun was stopped Jan. 5 at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport by immigration police who denied her entry and seized her passport. She barricaded herself in a hotel room and alerted the world to her plight via social media. Her efforts got enough public and diplomatic support that Thai officials admitted her temporarily under the protection of U.N. officials, who granted her refugee status Wednesday. Alqunun’s father arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday, but his daughter refused to meet with him. Surachate said the father — whose name has not been released — denied physically abusing Alqunun or trying to force her into an arranged marriage, which were among the reasons she gave for her flight. He said Alqunun’s father wanted his daughter back but respected her decision. “He has 10 children. He said the daughter might feel neglected sometimes,” Surachate said. Canada’s decision to grant her asylum could further upset the country’s relations with Saudi Arabia. In August, Saudi Arabia expelled Canada’s ambassador to the kingdom and withdrew its own ambassador after Canada’s Foreign Ministry tweeted support for women’s right activists who had been arrested. The Saudis also sold Canadian investments and ordered their citizens studying in Canada to leave. No country, including the U.S., spoke out publicly in support of Canada in that spat with the Saudis. On Friday, Trudeau avoided answering a question about what the case would mean for relations with the kingdom, but he said Canada will always unequivocally stand up for human rights and women’s rights around the world. Canadian officials were reluctant to comment further until she landed safely in Canada. Alqunun had previously said on Twitter that she wanted to seek refuge in Australia. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne met Thursday with senior Thai officials in Bangkok. She later said Australia was assessing Alqunun’s resettlement request. Payne said she also raised Australia’s concerns with Thai officials about Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old former member of Bahrain’s national soccer team who was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017 after fleeing his homeland, where he said he was persecuted and tortured. He was arrested while vacationing in Thailand in November due to an Interpol notice in which Bahrain sought his custody after he was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years in prison for allegedly vandalizing a police station — a charge he denies. Bahrain is seeking his extradition. Al-Araibi’s case is being considered by Thailand’s justice system, she said.

saudi arabia
rights
women
canada
asylum seekers


Malaysia's Pahang state names new sultan, who is expected to be nation's next king

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian state on Saturday announced it has a new sultan, and he is expected to be elected king after the former monarch abdicated following his reported marriage to a former Russian beauty queen. Tengku Abdullah Shah has replaced his father, Sultan Ahmad Shah, as the ruler of Pahang state, a senior palace official was quoted as saying. Local reports said the move was designed to pave the way for Sultan Abdullah to be chosen as the next king of Malaysia by the Council of Rulers, who will chose a new king on Jan. 24. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states. Pahang state is due to provide the next ruler. The country was thrown into shock Sunday when reigning king Sultan Muhammad V abdicated unexpectedly after just two years of rule, following reports that he married an ex-beauty queen in Russia in November during a purported two-month medical leave. The abdication was the first for the country since its independence from British rule in 1957. Royal officials have not commented on the reported wedding, or said what condition prompted the former king to take the leave. Sultan Abdullah Shah, 59, is a popular figure in the sports scene and is currently president of the Asian Hockey Federation and a council member of FIFA, the football’s world governing body. While their roles are ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from Malaysia’s predominantly Muslim Malays, and criticizing them is regarded as offensive. Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military. Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to the Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The king is referred to as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or “He who is made lord.”


Top U.S. Navy officer to meet Chinese counterpart amid military and trade tensions

Abstract: The U.S. Navy’s top officer will meet with his Chinese counterpart in China next week as the two powers seek to tamp down rising military and trade tensions. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson will travel to Beijing and Nanjing from Jan. 13 to 16, meeting with China’s Central Military Commission leadership and People’s Liberation Army Navy commander Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong. “A routine exchange of views is essential, especially in times of friction, in order to reduce risk and avoid miscalculation,” Richardson said in a statement. “Honest and frank dialogue can improve the relationship in constructive ways, help explore areas where we share common interests, and reduce risk while we work through our differences.” The top U.S. naval officer and Shen met previously at the 2018 International Seapower Symposium, hosted by Richardson in the United States. The two have held three discussions via video teleconference, with the most recent occurring last month. This will be Richardson’s second visit to China as chief naval officer. The meeting will come in the wake of an announcement Tuesday by Beijing that its so-called carrier killer anti-ship missile had been deployed to the country’s northwest, just a day after the U.S. Navy sailed a warship past disputed islands in the South China Sea. China’s DF-26 ballistic missile, which reportedly has a range of 3,000 to 4,000 km, was mobilized to the northwest plateau and desert areas, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported, quoting national broadcaster CCTV. While the actual deployment date was not mentioned, the timing of the reports’ release coincided with a U.S. “freedom of navigation” operation (FONOP) near Chinese-held islands in the South China Sea’s Paracel chain on Monday. In the FONOP, which Washington conducts globally to challenge maritime claims it considers excessive, the U.S. Navy sent the Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based USS McCampbell guided-missile destroyer near the islands — a move China blasted as a “provocation.” The Global Times report alluded to U.S. operation, quoting an unidentified expert as noting that the deployment “is a good reminder that China is capable of safeguarding its territory.” “Even when launched from deeper inland areas of China, the DF-26 has a range far-reaching enough to cover the South China Sea,” the expert added. Beijing has constructed a series of military outposts throughout the waterway, which includes vital sea lanes through which about $3 trillion in global trade passes each year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, where the U.S., Chinese, Japanese and some Southeast Asian navies also operate.

china
u.s .
military
trade
disputed islands
south china sea


Russia urges Japan to recognize results of World War II ahead of talks on disputed islands

Abstract: MOSCOW - Russia has urged Japan anew to recognize the results of World War II, including Moscow’s sovereignty over three islands and a group of islets claimed by Tokyo, ahead of a closely watched meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers. The most important condition for seeking a solution to the issue of a bilateral peace treaty is for Japan to fully recognize the outcomes of the war, including Russia’s sovereignty over the territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday. The ministry also said that Russia and Japan need to elevate their relationship to a new level and increase mutual understanding between the people of the two countries. The Russian-held islands off Hokkaido were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. The long-standing territorial dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, are scheduled to hold a meeting in Moscow on Monday. The Kono-Lavrov meeting will be the first since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, at their meeting in Buenos Aires early last month, tapped the ministers to serve as chiefs in the peace treaty negotiations. The meeting is expected to be followed by a summit between Abe and Putin, seen taking place during a visit to Russia by the prime minister later this month. When they met in Singapore in November, Abe and Putin agreed to accelerate the peace treaty negotiations based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration, which stipulated that the Habomai islets and the island of Shikotan be handed over to Japan after the conclusion of a World War II peace treaty.

shinzo abe
wwii
vladimir putin
disputed islands
russia-japan relations
sergey lavrov
taro kono


Okinawa governor says prefecture still intends to go ahead with Futenma referendum

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki has clarified his intention to hold a referendum over the relocation of a key U.S. military base within the prefecture on Feb. 24 as planned — even without the participation of five municipalities whose assemblies have not approved related budgets. He clarified his stance in talks with reporters on Friday after holding a meeting earlier in the day with officials of the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party, both members of the ruling camp in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly. In the referendum, voters in Okinawa Prefecture will be asked to weigh in on the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, also in the prefecture. The assemblies of the cities of Miyakojima, Ginowan, Okinawa, Ishigaki and Uruma have rejected budget plans for the prefectural referendum. The mayors of Miyakojima, Ginowan and Okinawa have revealed plans for their cities not to take part in the vote. On Friday, Ishigaki Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama joined the three in expressing an intention to skip the referendum, saying in a statement: “The Ishigaki assembly’s rejection of the related budget is very grave. It will not be appropriate for the city government to conduct administrative work on the referendum.” Uruma Mayor Toshio Shimabukuro is expected to shortly make the city’s decision on whether to take part in the referendum. “Not executing such administrative work would violate an ordinance on prefectural referendums and a provision of the local autonomy law,” Tamaki said, adding that he may consider urging the cities to take corrective actions under the law. At the same time, the governor said he will continue working to persuade the cities to join the referendum.

military
elections
futenma
air base
u.s.-japan relations
denny tamaki


Merkel might visit Japan in February

Abstract: BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering visiting Japan from Feb. 4 to 5 to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, informed sources said. The two leaders will likely agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation to promote free trade ahead of the summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Osaka in June, at a time when protectionist moves are increasing in the United States and other countries, the sources said Friday. Officials of German businesses are expected to accompany Merkel on her Japan visit, according to the sources. Merkel has visited Japan as German chancellor four times. During her latest visit, in May 2016, she attended the summit of the Group of Seven major industrial countries in Mie Prefecture.

shinzo abe
angela merkel
germany-japan relations


Japan and France agree to hold new maritime dialogue by year-end

Abstract: BREST, FRANCE - The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and France affirmed on Friday the launch of a new bilateral framework to discuss maritime security and environmental issues amid China’s growing assertiveness, with the first meeting likely to be held by the end of the year. In a joint communique released after the “two plus two” security talks in the French northwest coastal city of Brest, the ministers also expressed strong concern over the situation in the disputed East and South China seas and agreed to continue to cooperate toward dealing with North Korea’s denuclearization. “We strongly oppose unilateral actions heightening tension” in the disputed waters, they said in the communique. Tokyo has been mired in a territorial spat with Beijing over the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are called Diaoyu in China and are also claimed by Taiwan, where they are known as Tiaoyutai. The talks between the countries, the fifth of their kind, involved Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya and their French counterparts Jean-Yves Le Drian and Florence Parly. With the aim of realizing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Stategy” based on freedom of navigation and the rule of law, Japan has been boosting cooperation with France, a maritime nation that deploys troops in its Pacific island territories, such as New Caledonia. On the planned “comprehensive” maritime dialogue, Japanese and French officials from ministries concerned will discuss various maritime issues ranging from freedom of navigation and sustainable development to ocean plastic waste. The two countries also agreed during the security talks to regularly hold joint military exercises between the Self-Defense Forces and the French Armed Forces. In separate talks between the defense ministers held the same day, Japan and France agreed on a plan to hold a joint drill in the Indian Ocean that will involve the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle by the end of the year. On North Korea, the two countries reaffirmed the need to demand that Pyongyang comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions over its nuclear and missile development programs, and France agreed to contribute more to crack down on ship-to-ship transfers of goods being used by North Korea to get around U.N. sanctions. The countries also agreed to enhance cooperation on sharing defense supplies based on an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement signed by Kono and Parly last July. Brest hosts one of the biggest French naval ports and the city has a graveyard in which five crew members of a Japanese merchant vessel sunk by a German U-boat in 1916 are buried.

china
european union
france-japan relations
taro kono
takeshi iwaya