'Beyond the Melting Pot' sociologist and intellectual Nathan Glazer dies at 95

Abstract: Cambridge, MASSACHUSETTS - Sociologist Nathan Glazer, who assisted on a classic study of conformity, “The Lonely Crowd,” and co-authored a groundbreaking document of non-conformity, “Beyond the Melting Pot,” has died. He was 95. Glazer’s daughter, Sarah Glazer, confirmed her father died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Saturday morning. A longtime professor at Harvard University, Glazer, was among the last of the deeply-read thinkers who influenced culture and politics in the mid-20th century. Starting in the 1940s, Glazer was a writer and editor for Commentary and The New Republic. He was a co-editor of The Public Interest, and wrote or co-wrote numerous books. With peers such as Daniel Bell and Irving Howe, he had a wide range of interests, “a notion of universal competence,” from foreign policy to Modernist architecture, subject of one his latter books, “From a Cause to a Style.” A radical in his youth, he was regarded as a founding “neo-conservative,” a label he resisted. His most famous projects were the million-selling “The Lonely Crowd,” primarily written by David Riesman and a prescient 1950 release about consumerism and peer pressure, and the landmark “Beyond the Melting Pot,” which countered the core American myth of assimilation. Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan examined five racial and ethnic groups in New York City — blacks, Italian-Americans, Jews, Puerto Ricans and Irish-Americans — and concluded that even as languages and customs from the old world faded, new styles and traditions emerged that reflected distinct identities. “It was reasonable to believe that a new American type would emerge, a new nationality in which it would be a matter of indifference whether a man was of Anglo-Saxon or German or Italian or Jewish origin,” the authors wrote. “The initial notion of an American melting pot did not, it seems, quite grasp what would happen in America.” The book was published in 1963 to immediate and continuing debate over its refutation of a blended society, over the authors’ belief that blacks’ struggles could not be blamed on discrimination alone and that blacks would eventually achieve the kinds of advances enjoyed by immigrant populations. “Melting Pot” has been widely taught, and remains a standard reference for urban and ethnic studies, whether the subject has been civil rights, education or city politics. Glazer, a chronic re-assessor, questioned his assumptions in a 1970 reissue of the book and after. He had hoped for a post-ethnic, post-racial country, but in a 1997 release, “We Are All Multiculturalists Now,” Glazer resigned himself to multiculturalism, infuriating conservatives but bringing praise from others. “Glazer is a gentleman, always ready to concede, at least rhetorically, the sincerity of his opponent’s feelings,” James Traub wrote in a review published in Slate. Glazer was the last survivor of those featured in “Arguing the World,” a 1998 documentary about four former students at the City College of New York: Glazer, Howe, Bell and Irving Kristol. His many jobs included working in the editorial divisions of Random House and Anchor Books in the 1950s, serving during the Kennedy administration in what is now the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and teaching education and social structure at Harvard. He was married once married to writer Ruth Gay. Glazer is survived by his second wife, Sulochana (Raghavan) Glazer, three daughters, Sarah Glazer, Sophie Glazer and Elizabeth Glazer, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The son of Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants, Glazer was born in New York and raised in working class neighborhoods in the Bronx and East Harlem. He followed a similar path to Kristol and other neo-conservatives — from socialism in his college years to liberalism as a young man to an increasing turn right. He began attracting attention in his mid-20s. Glazer’s work in Commentary was noticed by Riesman, a visiting Yale University professor who thought his “incisive critiques” would be useful for a planned book about social behavior, “The Lonely Crowd,” which sold millions of copies and helped define fears that independence and individuality were being lost in the post-World War II economic boom. Glazer himself would prove unhappy with the new thinking of the 1960s. As a faculty member in 1964 at the University of California at Berkeley, he was appalled by the student Free Speech Movement and condemned its “enthusiastic and euphoric rejection of forms and norms.” He and Kristol soon helped launch a seminal neo-conservative journal, The Public Interest, which Glazer edited from 1973 to 2002. A deep skeptic about the effectiveness of government, Glazer was a critic of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society domestic programs and especially opposed to affirmative action. His 1975 book, “Affirmative Discrimination: Ethnic Inequality and Public Policy,” became a prime text for the “reverse discrimination” movement. He would, characteristically, challenge his own conclusions. In 1998, he filed an amicus brief in support of an affirmative action program at the University of Michigan. While he still believed in a colorblind, merit-based society, he wrote in The New Republic that “the reality is that strict adherence to this principle would result in few African Americans getting jobs, admissions, and contracts.”

history poverty obituary ethnicity sociology


U.K.'s Prince Philip, 97, back to driving but without seatbelt

Abstract: LONDON - Britain’s Prince Philip has been spoken to by the police for driving without a seatbelt — just two days after the 97-year-old survived a car crash. Images published in newspapers on Sunday appeared to show Queen Elizabeth II’s husband behind the wheel of his replacement SUV. The Duke of Edinburgh was pictured driving the new Land Rover Freelander on his wife’s private Sandringham estate on Saturday. The prince was involved in a car crash on Thursday near the country residence in Norfolk, eastern England, in which his Freelander flipped over. The other vehicle involved, a Kia, contained two women and a 9-month-old baby. The crash happened as the royal patriarch pulled out of a side road onto a busy main road. A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman said the force was aware of the photographs taken on Saturday and that “suitable words of advice have been given to the driver.” She said: “This is in line with our standard response when being made aware of such images showing this type of offense.” The prince walked away from Thursday’s crash shaken but uninjured, according to a passer-by who helped him out of the vehicle. The passenger in the Kia suffered a broken wrist and the driver sustained cuts to the knee. In a statement on Friday, Norfolk Constabulary said: “As is standard procedure with injury collisions, the incident will be investigated and any appropriate action taken.”

accidents
u.k .
aging
nobility
prince philip


Deadly Mexican fuel blast poses president's biggest test yet

Abstract: CARACAS/MEXICO CITY - A pipeline explosion north of Mexico City that killed at least 73 people has confronted President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with the biggest crisis since he took office pledging to crack down on graft and fuel theft. Petroleos Mexicanos said its specialists and local officials were working to deal with a fire caused by the illegal tap on the gasoline line in Tlahuelilpan, part of a fuel-theft industry valued at an estimated $3.5 billion. Pipelines were illegally siphoned an average of 41 times a day during the first 10 months of 2018, a 45 percent increase from last year, according to Pemex. Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, said he won’t be stymied in his offensive against fuel-theft gangs. His plan, which involves increasing surveillance along pipelines and more shipments by tanker trucks, led to gas shortages at filling stations across central Mexico. “This is all very painful, but it teaches a lesson,” Lopez Obrador told reporters on Saturday. “Yesterday, it happened in Hidalgo, but this is a constant and permanent risk.” Lopez Obrador said he was canceling appointments to attend to the tragedy and planned to visit towns around the blast. He said he plans to increase shipments of tanker trucks and financial aid to areas affected by fuel shortages. The latest death toll was confirmed by Omar Fayad, governor of Hidalgo, the Associated Press reported, adding at least another 85 were injured and dozens more were missing. A presidential spokesman, Jesus Ramirez, said in an interview that most pipelines had been reopened and would only be closed if illegal taps were detected. Lopez Obrador defended the army despite its failure to clear the site before the blast. He said the army had been right to avoid a confrontation due to the large number of people seeking to make off with a trove of free fuel — a few liters of which are worth more than the daily minimum wage in Mexico. Blaming previous governments for neglecting the population, he said the priority is to eradicate the social problems and lack of opportunities that had made people risk their lives. He rejected suggestions the incident was linked to his policy. Still, Lopez Obrador had vowed to tighten security in sensitive sections of the oil infrastructure, and the ruptured pipeline was not far from a major oil refinery. Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval, who flanked the president at the news conference in the capital, said between 600 and 800 people had gathered around the tap when the explosion occurred. Video showed large, billowing flames spewing from pipeline late into Friday evening. “We won’t fight fire with fire,” Lopez Obrador said “People are good. If they do this it’s because they were abandoned.” One witness described how an almost festive atmosphere among hundreds of local residents filling containers with spilled fuel turned to horror as the blast scattered the crowd in all directions, incinerating clothing and inflicting severe burns. A number of people at the scene said local gasoline shortages since Lopez Obrador launched the drive to stamp out fuel theft had encouraged the rush to the gushing pipeline. “Everyone came to see if they could get a bit of gasoline for their car, there isn’t any in the gas stations,” said farmer Isaias Garcia, 50. Garcia was at the site with two neighbors, but waited in the car some distance away. “Some people came out burning and screaming,” he added. Hidalgo Gov. Omar Fayad said 73 people were killed and 74 people injured in the explosion, which happened as residents scrambled to get buckets and drums to a gush at the pipeline that authorities said rose up to 23 feet (7 meters) high. Fayad said the condition of many of the injured was deteriorating, and that some had burns on much of their body. Some of the most badly injured minors could be transported to Galveston, Texas, for medical attention, he added. Hidalgo Attorney General Raul Arroyo said 54 bodies were so badly burned that they could take a long time to identify. More than 100 people gathered at a local cultural center on Saturday afternoon, hoping to get information about loved ones who disappeared. Officials posted information about DNA tests for identification and a list of people taken to hospital. Pemex’s Chief Executive Octavio Romero told reporters that there had been 10 illegal fuel taps in the same municipality in the past three months alone. Neither he nor the president said exactly when the valves to the pipeline were closed. Relatives of victims stood huddled together, some of them crying, after the massive blast. Much of the rush to siphon off fuel and the chaos of the explosion were captured on mobile phones and began quickly circulating on social media.


Prayer with the pope now just a swipe away with new Click to Pray app

Abstract: VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis swiped a tablet Sunday to launch a new app allowing the faithful to pray with him, and expressed his pain over the car bomb blast in Colombia and the latest Mediterranean migrant tragedy. He presented the Vatican’s latest digital platform, known as the Worldwide Network of Prayer with the pope, during his traditional Sunday address to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square. The new app, called Click to Pray, will inform the user what the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics is praying for, such as world peace or the population of a country hit by a natural disaster, so they can join him. Francis, who once said he was a “disaster” with technology, turned to a priest holding the tablet for him and asked, “Did I do it?” The priest nodded. A Vatican statement said a website, www.clicktopray.org , will allow the faithful to “accompany the pope in a mission of compassion for the world.” Minutes earlier, the pope told the crowd: “Today, I have two pains in my heart. Colombia and the Mediterranean.” “I am thinking of the 170 victims in the Mediterranean. They were looking for a future for their lives and perhaps they were victims of human traffickers. Let us pray for them and for those who are responsible for what happened,” he said. The migrants were believed to have been lost in the Mediterranean in two incidents involving dinghies that left from Libya and Morocco. Speaking of Colombia, he called Thursday’s car bomb at a police academy that killed at least 21 and injured dozens “a terrorist attack.” Colombian President Ivan Duque said the rebel group ELN was responsible.

religion
vatican
apps
pope francis
roman catholic church


Bangladesh arrests suspected arms supplier for deadly 2016 Dhaka cafe attack

Abstract: DHAKA - Bangladesh has arrested a suspected Islamist extremist who supplied weapons and explosives for a 2016 siege that killed 22 hostages, a top police official said Sunday. Eighteen foreigners were among those shot and hacked to death in the 10-hour standoff at the Holey Artisan Bakery, an upmarket cafe in Dhaka, before military commandos stormed the building and freed some two dozen other people. Mamunur Rashid was a key “decision-maker” in Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned homegrown Islamist militant outfit blamed for the attack. The 30-year-old was arrested while traveling on a bus outside the capital Dhaka, said Mufti Mahmud Khan, a spokesman for the elite Rapid Action Battalion. Rashid “supplied money, arms, ammunition and explosives for the attack,” Khan told reporters. “He hid in a neighboring country and tried to reorganize the group. They were also planning to rescue their accomplices from custody.” A former computer operator and Islamic seminary student, Rashid also provided logistical support to Islamists involved in several deadly attacks on religious minorities in the country’s north, Khan said. A court in Dhaka last month put eight militants on trial over the cafe attack. Khan said Rashid was one of the two men charged in absentia, while the other six were already in custody. The Holey Artisan Bakery siege fueled fears over violent Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority nation of 165 million people. The government also launched a nationwide crackdown against extremists immediately after the attack, killing nearly 100 alleged extremists in gunfights including several top JMB leaders. The attack marked a violent escalation from a spate of high-profile murders in the country since 2013, with extremists targeting Bangladeshi atheist writers, rights activists, gays, foreigners and religious minorities. Bangladesh last week banned the release of a film based on the cafe attack, saying it would tarnish the country’s image.


Bangladesh's 'Tree Man' returns to hospital after skin condition worsens

Abstract: DHAKA - A Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for the bark-like growths on his body returned to hospital Sunday after his condition worsened. Abul Bajandar has had 25 surgeries since 2016 to remove the growths from his hands and feet at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Doctors were on the verge of declaring their treatment a success before a sudden relapse prompted Bajandar to flee the clinic in May without notifying staff. But on Sunday he was readmitted to the hospital after his condition deteriorated, with the growths now covering almost the entirety of his hands and feet, the 28-year-old said. “I made a mistake by leaving the hospital. I sought alternative treatment but could not find any. I now I understand I should have stayed and continued the treatment here,” Bajandar said. Samanta Lal Sen, a plastic surgeon at the hospital, said doctors will resume treatment “very soon,” adding the growths have spread to other parts of his body. “I requested Bajandar to return as soon as possible. Now we have to start from the very beginning. We’ll have to conduct more surgeries,” Sen said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had promised free treatment for Bajandar after his plight captured the sympathies of the country. He lived in the hospital’s expensive private cabin with his wife and daughter for nearly two years during his first round of treatment. The father of one suffers from epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare genetic condition also known as “tree-man syndrome.” Sen said that fewer than half a dozen people worldwide have the disease. His hospital also treated a young Bangladeshi girl suffering from the condition in 2017. Doctors declared her surgery a success, but her father later said the growths had returned in even greater numbers, prompting the family to halt treatment and return to their village.

bangladesh
medical
skin
sheikh hasina
tree man


Not 'partners': Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin on collision course over islands at summit talks in Moscow

Abstract: The leaders of Japan and Russia will hold crunch summit talks in Moscow on Tuesday, with the two countries locked in an undiplomatic war of words over disputed islands claimed by both. Simmering tension between Moscow and Tokyo over the islands off the northern coast of Hokkaido, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, has ramped up in recent weeks, with Russia angrily accusing Japan of whipping up tension ahead of the summit and failing to accept it lost World War II. Setting the tone for the talks, a foreign policy advisor for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yuri Ushakov, admitted the meeting would “not be easy.” The then-Soviet Union seized the four islands in the closing days of World War II. The dispute over their sovereignty has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty — a situation both nations have vowed to rectify. During a New Year’s address, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked outrage in Moscow when he spoke of the need to help Russian residents on the disputed islands “accept and understand that the sovereignty of their homes will change.” A furious Russia summoned the Japanese ambassador to complain that Abe’s statements were an “attempt to artificially stir up the atmosphere” over the issue of a possible peace treaty. Moscow also fumed Japan was trying to “disorientate” the public and that the Japanese leader’s statements “flagrantly distort the essence of the agreements” reached by Putin and Abe in Singapore in November, where they vowed to accelerate efforts toward peace. Talks lasting several hours between the foreign ministers of the two countries Monday failed to improve the situation, with Taro Kono and Sergei Lavrov not even appearing together for a joint news conference. And at his own New Year’s news conference, Lavrov said the two countries were “still far from being partners in international relations.” “Why is Japan the only country in the world that cannot accept the results of World War II in their entirety?” he asked. He also lashed out at the pro-Western bias of Japan — the key U.S. ally in the region. “Japan votes not with us but against us on all the resolutions that interest Russia in the U.N.,” Moscow’s top diplomat said. Putin aide Ushakov was clear that the sovereignty of the islands was not up for negotiation. Russia owns the islands legally “according to the results of World War II” and has no plans to hand them over to Tokyo, he said. “This is our land, and nobody is going to give this land to anybody.” Tensions between the pair have been stoked by actions as well as words. In December, Russia said it had built four new military barracks on the islands as it ramps up “military and social infrastructure” there. Moscow has already deployed missile systems on the islands, sparking protests from Japan. James Brown, an expert on Japan-Russia relations at Temple University in Tokyo, predicted Putin would take a softer tone than Lavrov but admitted prospects for the talks were “not promising.” “Whether they can make some real progress is really questionable because the Russian position is very, very clear: They have said so many times now that Japan must recognize Russian sovereignty over the four islands as a result of World War II,” said Brown. “And if Japan does that, they have no basis for their claim to the islands. So it really seems that the gap between the two sides is as wide as ever,” the analyst said. “I don’t really see a pathway to an agreement.” The view from Moscow is scarcely more conciliatory, with independent analyst Vladimir Frolov saying the Russian position has “significantly hardened.” Another political analyst, Fyodor Lukyanov, noted: “It is unpopular in any country to give up even small amounts of territory, but in Russia it would be especially so today given the difficult domestic situation.” “To start a campaign giving away land now would not be timely,” he added, citing social discontent on issues such as pension reform and rising food prices.

shinzo abe
vladimir putin
territorial dispute
japan-russia relations


In Hawaii, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya says Japan is hoping for results from second U.S.-North Korea summit

Abstract: The government Saturday welcomed the planned second summit between the United States and North Korea, expressing hope that tangible results will come from the talks aimed at achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. “We hope there will be more concrete results toward denuclearization than in the first summit,” Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Hawaii. U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February, the White House said Friday. The venue for the talks has yet to be announced. The two countries have remained apart over the process for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program despite Kim pledging to work toward “complete” denuclearization of the peninsula in the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit held in Singapore last June. Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, held phone talks Saturday with Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative to North Korea, confirming close bilateral and trilateral cooperation with South Korea in handling Pyongyang, the ministry said. Japan has maintained that the international community needs to keep the pressure on North Korea to achieve denuclearization, while trying to present a common front with the United States on North Korean issues. Tokyo is expected to ask Washington to bring up the issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s at the upcoming summit. “Progress in the U.S.-N Korea talks would help create an environment in which we can achieve progress on the abduction issue,” a Japanese government source said.


30% in Japan willing to work until early 60s, survey shows

Abstract: With the government trying to raise the working age, 30.7 percent of the respondents to a Cabinet Office survey said they are willing to work for income until they are 61 to 65 years old. The survey, released Friday, asked respondents until around what age they want to be engaged in paid work. Those who are already retired and had no plans to work again were asked to provide their retirement age. Those who were willing to work until they were between 66 and 70 stood at 21.5 percent, followed by 18.8 percent who said they wanted to work until they were between 51 and 60, according to the survey. The survey was conducted on Nov. 1 to 18 through interviews with 5,000 people 18 or older in Japan, with 58.4 percent giving valid replies. With the nation’s population aging and shrinking, the government is trying to increase opportunities for people to work until 70. It is also considering adding an option of starting to receive public pension benefits after 70. Asked to give reasons for their choice, 29.2 percent of those who want to retire at 65 or younger cited the mandatory retirement age at their workplace, 29.0 percent cited difficulty continuing work physically and mentally, and 17.0 percent said they want to spend time on hobbies, volunteer work and other activities. Meanwhile, over half of those who want to work beyond 65 cited economic reasons, with 28.9 percent hoping for a financially comfortable life and 24.9 percent worrying that they will not be able to cover their living costs unless they work. The survey also showed that 67.8 percent thought about life planning after retirement. Asked how about the role of public pension benefits in their postretirement lives, 55.1 percent said they will rely mainly on public pensions, expecting complementary roles for private pensions, savings and other financial resources. The share of those planning to depend entirely on public pensions stood at 23.0 percent, while 15.5 percent said they will live chiefly on private pensions, savings and other financial resources, limiting their reliance on public pensions as much as possible.


A Japanese city plans to ban plastic shopping bags, but can it push its larger neighbors to follow suit?

Abstract: OSAKA - International concern over the environmental damage done by the use of plastic in various forms is now the topic of political and economic discussions across the planet. Dealing with plastic waste, especially in the ocean, is one of the long-term issues that Japan has promised to address at this year’s Group of 20 summits. In the meantime, local governments, NGOs and business groups from Hokkaido to Okinawa are hosting seminars, discussions and conducting public awareness campaigns on the dangers of plastic waste like never before. But the kind of tough legislation that actually bans the use of certain types of plastic consumer products has long been a step too far for most local governments. However last month, Takahiro Katsuragawa, the mayor of Kameoka, a city of 89,000 in Kyoto Prefecture, announced plans for a local ordinance that would ban the use of those ubiquitous single-use plastic shopping bags at the check-out counters of local supermarkets. What raised a lot of eyebrows, however, was that Katsuragawa also went a step further, calling on surrounding cities like Kyoto to pass a similar ordinance in order to battle the growing problem of discarded plastic bags that find their way into the rivers, streams, and waterways that connect Kameoka and Kyoto. The challenge appears to have caught Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa a bit off guard. In a carefully worded reply earlier this month, Kadokawa, generally seen as a very “green” mayor in Japan who supports strong local and national environmental policies and renewable energy, and has traveled to United Nations climate change conferences to support international efforts for global greenhouse gas reductions, said he understood reducing plastic garbage was an international issue. But he indicated he was not in favor of a mayor just suddenly pushing for a resolution that bans plastic bags. If passed by the city assembly, Kameoka’s local ordinance would go into effect by early 2021. It would ban the use of plastic bags at about 760 small supermarkets and convenience stores within the city. Customers would be encouraged to bring their own eco-friendly bag and given paper bags if they don’t have one. Stores that give out plastic bags could be fined. Ordinances banning plastic bags can be found in a number of G20 countries. But Kameoka believes their ordinance, which has the support of most of the current members of the city assembly, would be the first of its kind in Japan. The election for the Kameoka Municipal Assembly takes place Jan. 27 and the plastic bag ban is expected to be one of the main issues for voters. Can Kameoka lead the way for other municipalities? It would be nice to think so. Many mayors and local assemblies are only too aware of the damage done to their natural environments by discarded plastic waste, especially plastic bags. But most would also rather use all means to encourage voters to change their habits voluntarily rather than upset them by passing legislation that forces change upon them. That appears to be Mayor Kadokawa’s current strategy for Kyoto, and he suddenly looks less “green” than he did a few weeks ago. For anyone, tourist or resident, foreign or Japanese, who is appalled by the overuse of plastic bags and plastic wrapping in Japanese stores, no matter where they are located, Kameoka’s efforts are to be applauded. One hopes that Kyoto’s political leaders, who can sound smug and pretentious in their public lectures about the city’s green image, are smart enough to take the hint from Kameoka and courageous enough to enact their own ordinance banning plastic waste sooner rather than later. If the home of the Kyoto Protocol and one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations makes the effort, it might convince other cities in Japan to do the same. View from Osaka is a monthly column that examines the latest news from a Kansai perspective.

kyoto
waste
environment
kameoka
plastic
plastic waste


Masazo Nonaka, world's oldest living man, dies at 113 in Hokkaido

Abstract: KUSHIRO, HOKKAIDO - Masazo Nonaka, who was recognized by Guinness World Records last year as the oldest living man, died Sunday at the age of 113, his family said. Nonaka, born in the town of Ashoro, Hokkaido, on July 25, 1905 — when Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity — died in the early morning at his home there, his family said. “We feel shocked at the loss of this big figure. He was as usual yesterday and passed away without causing our family any fuss at all,” his granddaughter Yuko Nonaka said. Japan is one of the world’s top countries for longevity. The record for oldest man ever is also held by a Japanese: Jiroemon Kimura, who died on June 12, 2013, after 116 years and 54 days, according to Guinness World Records. Nonaka was confirmed the oldest living man last April 10. Nonaka lived at home in Ashoro with his family. The place where he lived was a hot spring inn that he used to run, which was also more than 100 years old. He used a wheelchair but basically did what he could by himself every day. He enjoyed eating something sweet after a meal, watching TV, reading newspapers and soaking in the hot spring bath once a week in recent years, according to his family. His wife, with whom Nonaka had two sons and three daughters, died in 1992. According to Guinness, the oldest person ever to have lived is Jeanne Calment, a French woman, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.


The week ahead for Jan. 21 to Jan. 27

Abstract: Monday Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to leave for four-day trip to Russia, Switzerland. Japan Franchise Association to release convenience store sales for December, whole of 2018. Japan national soccer team to play Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Tuesday Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in Moscow. They will discuss the postwar peace treaty and dispute over the sovereignty of four islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. Japan and Russia still remain far apart on the long-standing territorial issue, and tough negotiations are expected even though Abe’s government aims to strike a basic deal in June. Bank of Japan to start two-day meeting of its decision-making Policy Board. Its monetary easing policy will likely be maintained. But it is expected to cut its inflation forecasts for fiscal 2019 and beyond. Oscar 2019 nominations to be announced. Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or-winning “Shoplifters” by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of the candidates in the foreign language film division. Wednesday Foreign Minister Taro Kono, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to hold talks on sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They will meet for the first time since frictions rose following the South Korean court ruling in late October that ordered a Japanese firm to pay compensation for wartime forced labor and the alleged fire-control radar lock-on by a South Korean warship on a Japanese plane in December. Abe to deliver speech at general meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos. Deliberations to start during the recess of a Diet session on the bill to revise the immigration control law to allow more foreign workers. Finance Ministry to release customs-cleared trade statistics for December, whole of 2018. Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to hold news conference. 86-year-old Japanese alpinist and professional skier Yuichiro Miura to begin his final ascent to the summit of 6,959-meter Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, if weather conditions permit. Thursday Osaka High Court to issue ruling on wage gaps between Japan Post Co.’s contractors and its regular employees doing the same job. Friday Pioneer Corp. to hold extraordinary shareholders meeting in Tokyo to seek approval for a ¥102 billion acquisition plan by Hong Kong-based fund Baring Private Equity Asia. Saturday Ski Jumping World Cup men’s two-day competition to start in Sapporo. Ryoyu Kobayashi, who became the fifth male ski jumper to win six consecutive International Ski Federation World Cup events in January, to participate in the competition. Sunday Yamanashi gubernatorial election to be held. Osaka Women’s Marathon to be held.


With Europe poised to block 'Railbus' merger, is EU competition law outdated in the age of China?

Abstract: BRUSSELS - Are European competition rules obsolete in the face of the Chinese threat? This is the debate in Brussels as the powerful European Commission seems set to veto a blockbuster merger of the train-making businesses of Siemens and Alstom. The tie-up, announced in 2017, was billed as the birth of an all-too-rare European industrial champion — a “Railbus” to match Airbus, Europe’s aviation giant that competes toe to toe with U.S.-rival Boeing. “Do we want … the single market to become a supermarket for all the major powers, China and the United States?” thundered Bruno Le Maire on Monday. “Or do we want Europe to be powerful and sovereign?” demanded the French finance minister, who has led an impassioned campaign to defend the tie-up. This view is echoed in Berlin, which has also lobbied — if less ardently — for the deal. “We need more European champions to stand up to Chinese and American competition,” Peter Altmaier, Le Maire’s counterpart, told the German daily Handelsblatt on Friday. But the road to building a juggernaut is blocked by a formidable obstacle: EU competition law and Margrethe Vestager, the steely commissioner whose job is to enforce it. Since 2014, Vestager has grabbed headlines, facing down the world’s most powerful companies, including iPhone maker Apple, which she ordered to pay €14 billion ($15.9 billion) in back taxes to Ireland. A former Danish minister, Vestager has been celebrated as a hero for thwarting Silicon Valley, but the unexpected turn of the screws on big plans for Europe has come as a shock in Paris and Berlin. In a 25-page manifesto published last week, the powerful German Industry Federation (BDI) demanded a rethink of European competition law in order to get tough on China, whose multinationals are deeply enmeshed with Communist Party power. “While in China, large groups are created through state intervention, EU competition authorities only look at the European internal market as a relevant market for European mergers,” it wrote. Underlined, in tacit reference to the near-doomed merger, was “the example of the Chinese railway giant CRRC, born from the merger of two state-owned companies.” Vestager does not dispute the need to create European champions, just not in defiance of established rules. In a highly exceptional move, the issue was discussed earlier this week by the EU’s 28 commissioners, whose role in antitrust cases is to rubber-stamp what has been decided by Vestager and her teams. Vestager did not deny to her counterparts the need to “face the clear risks of Chinese competition,” according to her preparatory note for the meeting, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. But she also defended existing competition law that “encourages good European champions.” “To be competitive abroad requires competition at home,” she said. According to French Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, the discussion was “frank and open,” a diplomatic euphemism for a row. “We are not naive,” the former French finance minister said after the meeting. “The Commission’s thinking as a whole is not obsolete, we want to take into account the evolution of tomorrow’s economy,” he said. Last year the Europeans agreed on a framework for tracking foreign investment in the EU, to address the concerns of the largest member states about acquisitions, mainly Chinese, in strategic sectors. Nevertheless, there are two opposing visions of competition law in Europe. The first, of liberal-free market inspiration, wants strict enforcement of the rules regardless of political or strategic considerations. Breaking the rules “would weaken our credibility without solving the underlying challenges,” said an editorial in the Financial Times, praising the Danish commissioner’s intransigence. Another camp would like more flexibility in the rules to preserve and promote “Made in Europe,” as argued in an editorial in last Monday’s Le Monde newspaper titled: “Save the European factory.” According to a merger lawyer in Brussels, who asked to remain anonymous, “European rules are not as restrictive as that, but some lawyers in the commission are very young and tend to be extremely zealous in handling cases to cover themselves.” The commission, on the other hand, warns against too much flexibility. “Our aim is to protect fair competition in the EU. Not doing so could also turn against Europeans,” a senior official recently noted, pointing out that Brussels was also responsible for controlling the effects of U.S. mergers on European soil. The prohibition of a merger by Brussels is extremely rare: In 10 years, it has blocked seven mergers and authorized more than 3,000.

china transportation trade eu rail siemens alstom


Amid a challenging financial landscape, Japan's young female investors seek diverse portfolios

Abstract: For years, retail currency investors were known as “Mrs. Watanabes,” a reference to the metaphorical housewife who invests family savings mostly in foreign exchange. Now, a younger generation of women is looking at a wider asset range in which to park investments. Like their elders, kinyū joshi (finance girls), who are largely in their 20s and 30s, face a challenging investment landscape with bank deposits offering minimal, near-zero returns. Unlike their senior counterparts, however, younger female investors tend to be more frugal and averse to overexposure to any one single asset class. For this reason, many of them are tapping a broader asset universe using mobile-based services to keep costs low. While younger female investors account for a much smaller chunk of Japan’s investment base than their seniors do, their increasing appetite for yield represents a significant mobilization of personal capital into global financial markets. “All my savings were in cash, but I thought that’s really scary,” said Haruka Hirokawa, 32, who works at a call center for a domestic life insurer. “I thought it’ll be necessary to diversify my investments globally from now on.” Hirokawa, who has invested about ¥130,000 so far, has put her money into eight trusts, including international equity and multi-asset funds by investing ¥100 per trading day into each trust, for a total of ¥16,000 a month. She constructed her portfolio after meeting like-minded investors through a women’s community that meets regularly to discuss financial matters. Japan’s senior Watanabes were best known for bets on speculative assets with volatile risk-reward ratios, specifically through foreign exchange margin trading. That generation became big players in currency trading in the past decade as they sought to beat meager returns through tactics such as the famous carry-trade. However, the Turkish lira’s sell off in August and its slump against the yen this year forced many to abandon the high-yielding Middle Eastern unit, previously a popular choice for retail investors, and reassess their risk exposure. By comparison, younger Watanabes are building nest eggs through regular and small investments into passive funds. Many take on international exposure by diversifying their holdings through multiple funds, rather than direct investments in underlying assets, said Minako Takekawa, a financial journalist. Driving the shift in female investment habits in Japan is a wider anxiety about retirement in a country where the number of citizens age 65 and older is expected to grow from 28 percent of the population to 36 percent by 2040, according to the government-backed National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. More broadly, Japanese are flocking to new private retirement accounts to secure their own financial future, even with government encouragement. Since opened to the general population in 2017, the new accounts, called “iDeCo,” short for individual defined contribution accounts, have grown more than threefold to over 1 million. They are modeled on the U.S. tax-deferred Individual Retirement Account plans. “The increase in new accounts is prompted by people’s concerns about the future, whether they can make ends meet in their old age,” said Aguri Sagawa, a researcher at Daiwa Institute of Research. More than half of the ¥1.859 quadrillion ($17.19 trillion) in Japanese household assets are still either in bank deposits or cash, compared with 13.1 percent for the United States. Data from the Central Council for Financial Services Information, a public entity, showed that 59 percent of households inhabited by people in their 20s didn’t have any savings in 2017, up from 31.8 percent a decade earlier. However, another survey, from consultancy J.D. Power, showed 26 percent of Japanese in their 20s who didn’t already invest intended to do so, compared with 8 percent and 4 percent for those in their 50s and 60s, respectively. For young investors like Hirokawa, there are still three decades left to build up retirement savings. “Assuming that we’ll only receive 60 or 70 percent (in pensions) of what people are now given when we reach our retirement age, we must increase our assets by ourselves,” she said.


Detroit auto show models — the human ones — embrace their changing role in the #MeToo era

Abstract: DETROIT - Every year at the Detroit auto show, good-looking women — and men — are deployed by the carmakers to present their new vehicles. But with the shock wave created by the #MeToo movement still reverberating across the U.S., there are fewer auto show models of the human variety — and they are not just pretty faces. The “product specialists” still have picture-perfect smiles, but they also can tick off the features of each car and prices with such assurance that the iPads they carry for reference can seem merely decorative. Auto companies are also making sure their fleet of specialists are ethnically and physically diverse. Perched on stilettos, Priscilla Tejeda is working for Toyota. The tall black woman, whose father was a mechanic, is introducing the latest Supra, the brand’s legendary sports car and one of the show’s highlights. She has worked most of Toyota’s events for the past decade as a product specialist. “We talk to the consumers every day and try to answer their questions about the vehicles and maybe narrow down their choices on what they’re looking for,” Tejeda said. “Some come in and don’t know if they want an SUV or a sedan or a truck. We ask them questions about their lifestyle and see what fits best for them,” she said. Of course, Tejeda has heard dumb sexist remarks in the past — “Do you come with the car?” is a classic, she says. But otherwise, she says she has not experienced harassment, and has noticed more respectful behavior toward her since the #MeToo movement began. “Now, it’s more directly about the car,” she says. The new title of product specialist for both women and men working the auto show floor is a tiny step forward in an industry that is still male-dominated. “We know about cars. We’re not just a set of pearls, we’re not just models,” said Emerson Niemchick, a Toyota product specialist whose wife works for its luxury Lexus brand. “There’s obviously a lot of very attractive people doing the auto show but they are trained — they’re very knowledgeable about the vehicles,” he said. “We get to sell them without selling the actual vehicles. It’s fun.” Niemchick and Tejeda both work for Productions Plus, one of the five biggest talent agencies that supply product specialists for the big U.S. auto shows. At the Detroit show, the agency has provided 300 men and women to staff the various stands. In April, it will have 500 at the New York show. Productions Plus recruits product specialists through what it calls “very selective” auditions. The candidates send in an introductory video in which they extol the merits of a car of their choice. They are then called in for interviews with the agency and later with the brands. If they are hired, they go through a weeklong training session in which they are plied with a ton of information about the automaker, the models and the corporate culture. The crash course ends with practical tests, including car trips. Afterwards, the specialists spend a day each month in online training and visiting a dealership. The pay ranges from $200 to $1,000 a day, depending on their level of responsibility. “We’re looking for someone that can deliver a scripted presentation, that can come off the platform and engage on the floor as well,” said Hedy Popson, president of Production Plus. Popson, a former auto show hostess herself, acknowledged that clients often ask for models but her team talks to them “about the brand and a new paradigm.” “That tends to be more of an actor or someone with a marketing background or a sales background. So it’s certainly not excluded (to have traditional) models, but it’s not a modeling job,” she said. “The dynamic has changed.”

toyota
carmakers
detroit auto show
product specialist


Nissan to cut up to 700 contract workers in Mississippi as van and pickup truck sales sag

Abstract: JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Nissan Motor Co. announced Thursday that it’s cutting up to 700 contract workers at its Mississippi assembly plant, citing slowing sales for vans and Titan pickup trucks that it makes there. The move follows Nissan’s December announcement that it’s cutting 1,000 jobs at two Mexican factories. Reports in May indicated the Japanese automaker would cut production by up to 20 percent in North America, citing low profits. Thursday’s move comes after the arrest in Japan of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who led a production expansion in Nissan’s largest market. The company has struggled to sell all those vehicles in recent years, turning heavily to incentives and fleet sales to soak up the excess. Spokeswoman Lloryn Love-Carter said the cuts are unrelated to Ghosn’s ouster as chairman and new managers taking over at Nissan. Nissan has 6,400 direct employees and contract workers who labor side-by-side on production lines in Canton, Mississippi, just north of Jackson. The company has long prided itself on a no-layoff pledge for its direct employees in Canton, and Love-Carter said any affected direct employees would be moved to new jobs. But that doesn’t apply to contract workers, who were cut sharply during the recession. Love-Carter said the company is offering a buyout to workers 55 or older, and that at least some layoffs over the next 60 days could also be averted as workers quit through attrition. “We are doing all we can to mitigate the impact to the associate workforce,” Love-Carter said. The company will reduce production of NV cargo and passenger vans from two shifts to one. It will reduce production of Frontier and Titan pickups from three shifts to two. Sales of the larger Titan fell 5 percent in 2018 to about 50,000, while sales of the smaller Frontier rose 7 percent to 80,000. The Frontier will also face challenges in coming months, as Ford and Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep division introduce new small trucks. Nissan plans a new-model Frontier to be made in Canton, which has a 450,000-vehicle capacity. The company also assembles Altima sedans and Murano SUVs in Mississippi. Love-Carter said production will fall and some jobs will be cut by attrition at Nissan’s 1,600-employee engine factory in Decherd, Tennessee, but that Thursday’s announcement doesn’t affect its 8,400-employee Smyrna, Tennessee, factory. Mississippi officials have pointed with pride to Nissan, the state’s first major automaker. The company says it has invested $3.4 billion in Canton since it opened in 2003, and the company has received what could be more than $1 billion worth of subsidies and tax breaks over 30 years. Nissan went through a bruising union election at the Canton plant in 2017, with workers rejecting United Auto Workers representation. At the time, 3,700 of the workers on the campus were direct Nissan employees. More than 62 percent of those direct Nissan employees voted against the union.


Chinese ambassador to Canada warns against any future Huawei 5G ban

Abstract: OTTAWA - China’s envoy to Canada on Thursday warned Ottawa of possible repercussions if it banned technology firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. from supplying equipment to Canadian 5G networks, the latest blast in a deepening bilateral dispute. Ambassador Lu Shaye, speaking at a news conference, did not give details. Canada is currently studying the security implications of 5G networks, but unlike some allies has not announced a ban on Huawei equipment. “I believe there will be repercussions” if Huawei were to be banned, said Lu, who spoke through an interpreter. He urged Ottawa to make a “wise” decision. Relations between China and Canada turned frosty last month after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, on a U.S. extradition request. China subsequently detained two Canadian citizens, and this month a court retried a Canadian man who previously had been found guilty of drug smuggling, and sentenced him to death. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of arbitrarily using the death penalty and called world leaders to solicit their support. Lu said when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland — who has strongly criticized China’s actions — goes to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week she should not try to rally support. Canada has said little about the review into 5G technology. A Canadian source directly familiar with the case said the study would not be released in the immediate future. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced bills that would ban the sale of U.S. chips or other components to Huawei, ZTE Corp. or other Chinese firms that violate U.S. sanctions or export control laws. The bills specifically cite ZTE and Huawei, both of which are viewed with suspicion in the United States because of fears that their switches and other gear could be used to spy on Americans. Huawei is the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment maker.

china
security
canada
huawei
5g
justin trudeau
meng wanzhou


Japanese consumer prices rose a sluggish 0.9% in 2018

Abstract: Consumer prices rose a sluggish 0.9 percent last year, according to government data published Friday, as the world’s third-largest economy continues its yearslong battle to stoke weak inflation. The annual figure is far below the central bank’s inflation target of 2 percent and comes as the Bank of Japan is reportedly preparing to revise its inflation forecast downward next week. The BOJ will lower its inflation forecast for the year to March 2020 to about 1 percent from the current estimate of 1.4 percent in its quarterly report, reflecting falls in crude oil prices, local media have reported. This would be the latest in a string of downward revisions. In October, the central bank also lowered its inflation forecasts, in the latest sign it had failed to make headway toward its 2 percent target despite years of massive monetary easing. Japan has battled sluggish inflation for many years and the central bank’s ultraloose monetary policy appears to have had limited impact. Low inflation — or even deflation, where prices are falling — is considered bad for the economy, as there is less incentive for consumers to make purchases in the near term because they can expect the prices of goods to stay largely the same or become cheaper in the future. This in turn stunts growth. In an attempt to stoke inflation, the BOJ has implemented an ultralow monetary policy, and BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly said he is not looking for an exit from this strategy, even as other central banks around the world begin raising rates. For the monthly inflation data, prices in rose by 0.7 percent year on year, slightly lower than a 0.9 percent rise in prices in November. With fresh food and energy stripped out, prices rose by even less — just 0.3 percent year on year in December.


China's 2018 growth rate was slowest in decades, analysts say in survey

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in 2018, analysts in an AFP poll said, as the government struggles to contain ballooning debt and a bruising trade war with the United States. And in a sign of the battle Beijing faces in getting things back on track, the survey of 13 economists also forecast expansion in the last three months to be at its weakest since the global financial crisis 10 years ago. The figures are the latest in a long-running trend that have prompted officials to vow they will not let the economy “fall off a cliff” and announce support measures including tax cuts and making it easier for banks to lend. The full-year figure of 6.6 percent would be the worst since 1990, when the economy was hit by outrage over the Tiananmen Square crackdown a year earlier. The October-December rate of 6.4 percent marks the slowest quarter since 2009 and indicates China faces a tough year ahead. “Economic momentum is clearly slowing,” said Raymond Yeung, economist at ANZ bank. Relations with top trading partner the United States deteriorated sharply last year after President Donald Trump hit roughly half of Chinese imports with new tariffs in an attempt to force trade concessions from Beijing. The trade war with the U.S. is on hold for now after President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed a three-month cease-fire while the two sides try to find a resolution. Meanwhile China’s top negotiator is heading to Washington for talks this month ahead of a March deadline to avoid further tariff hikes, while a report said the U.S. is considering lifting some levies in return for reforms by Beijing. While analysts say the standoff has dented confidence — leaving the stock markets battered and the yuan weakened — they attribute most the downturn to government policies to tackle growing debt, financial risk and pollution. The 2018 growth forecast is above the official target of around 6.5 percent but down from the 6.8 percent chalked up in the year before — officials on Friday revised down the 2017 figure. The National Bureau of Statistics will release its official results on Monday. After halting some major infrastructure projects such as subway lines and motorways in the first half of the year to keep a lid on debt, policymakers gradually eased up and encouraged more infrastructure spending in the autumn. “The squeeze on shadow financing activity took a particularly heavy toll on infrastructure investment,” economists at Fitch Ratings wrote in a report, referring to off-the-books loans. Analysts say the credit tightening also made loans harder to come by for some would-be car buyers, which contributed to annual car sales falling for the first time in more than 20 years. It is one of a raft of recent economic indicators that point to a deepening slowdown. Imports and exports fell in December while the manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in more than two years. Chinese officials have announced tax cuts, fee reductions, and cutting red tape, among other measures to stimulate the economy. “We propose to keep the Chinese economy operating in a reasonable range, which means that we allow the economic growth rate to have certain fluctuations,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told academics and businessmen this week. “But it cannot have major ups and major downs, and it cannot ‘fall off a cliff,'” he said. Li vowed to help private businesses and “take advantage of our massive domestic market.” With officials intent on not further inflating the debt bubble, and the export picture dimming, it has reinforced the need for China to rely on its legion of consumers to grow its economy. “We see a fast deceleration on investment and also retail sales, which weigh on the growth slowdown,” said Liu Ligang, chief China economist at Citigroup. “The financial deleveraging made it really hard for the private sectors to get funding,” he said. Exports still drive a significant chunk of China’s economy and Washington’s targeting of cars, machinery, electronics, consumer appliances and other products have led some firms to shift production out of the country. Most exporters sped up their shipments across the Pacific to beat the tariff deadlines, with exports to the U.S. holding up until November. “The trade war with the U.S. should be regarded as a … sword of Damocles for the Chinese economy, but its impact is only really visible in the very last months of 2018,” said Bjorn Giesbergen, senior economist at Rabobank. China’s exports fell 4.4 percent in December and shipments to the U.S. tumbled. “The drag to growth from exports looks set to intensify even after the recent announcement to delay the next increase in U.S. tariffs by 90 days,” said economists at Fitch.


Renault 'actively' looking to post-Carlos Ghosn future with view toward bolstering alliance with Nissan

Abstract: PARIS - French carmaker Renault on Thursday launched the search for a successor to Chairman Carlos Ghosn, only hours after a Tokyo court quashed his appeal for bail as he faces three charges of financial misconduct. Renault said in a statement its governing bodies were now “actively working to find the best solution for the future governance of the group, with a view to preserving the company’s interests and strengthening the Renault Nissan Alliance. The statement comes a day after French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that if Ghosn was prevented from doing his job “for a lengthy period of time, I have always said that we have to move on to a new stage. This is now the case. The French government, which owns 15 percent of Renault’s shares and 22 percent of voting rights, has called for a board meeting “in the coming days. French daily Le Figaro said Sunday was a likely date, but on Thursday no invitations had been sent out to board members who must be informed 48 hours before a meeting. Since his stunning arrest on Nov. 19 the auto tycoon — who still officially heads up Renault — has languished in a Tokyo detention center, facing questioning over allegations he underreported his salary and tried to shift personal losses on to the company. The court had previously refused to release the 64-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian businessman on the grounds that he could present a flight risk and destroy evidence. Last week he was formally charged on two of the counts and his request for bail was denied. Even his own lawyer has admitted he is likely to be kept behind bars until a trial — which could take six months. His legal team said they would now appeal to the Supreme Court. Japanese firms Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors jettisoned him as boss almost immediately after his arrest, but Renault was more cautious and appointed an interim leader while Ghosn fought the charges. With the latest rejection he faces at least a two-month period in pre-trial detention. This can be extended almost automatically by one month at a time.

france
mitsubishi
nissan
renault
carlos ghosn
japan


U.S. government shutdown muddles Canada trade tallies

Abstract: OTTAWA - The Canadian statistical agency said Thursday the U.S. government shutdown is having impacts beyond its borders, stemming data-sharing and forcing Ottawa to suspend publication of trade figures. The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, with about 75 percent of Canadian exports sent to its southern neighbor. Statistics Canada and the U.S. Census Bureau (USCB) share economic data collected by the two nations’ respective customs agencies to produce trade reports. But a partial Washington shutdown started on Dec. 22, which included the closure of the USCB, has halted U.S. data collection and sharing. “This has a direct impact on Statistics Canada’s ability to compile, produce and publish Canadian international merchandise trade data, as Statistics Canada will not receive data on Canada’s exports to the United States for the duration of the shutdown,” the agency said in a statement. The nations trade about 2 billion Canadian dollars ($1.5 billion) worth of goods each day. Statistics Canada has suspended trade reporting from December 2018 onward, until U.S. government workers return to work. The next release of monthly trade figures, for December, had been scheduled for Feb. 5. As the U.S. shutdown moves toward a fifth week, there is no sign of a breakthrough in the impasse between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a border wall with Mexico, which he argues is needed to prevent illegal migration.

trade
canada
donald trump
data-sharing
u.s. government shutdown
uscb
statistics canada


Gloomy forecast for Davos: Crises aplenty to deal with, but few world leaders around to do it

Abstract: MILAN - An array of crises will keep several world leaders away from the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos next week, which takes place against a backdrop of deepening gloom over the global economic and political outlook. Anxieties over trade disputes, fractious international relations, Brexit and a growth slowdown that some fear could tip the world economy into recession are set to dominate the Jan. 22-25 Alpine meeting. The WEF’s own Global Risks Report set the tone this week with a stark warning of looming economic headwinds, in part because of geopolitical tensions among major powers. Some 3,000 business, government and civil society figures are due to gather in the snow-blanketed ski resort, but among them are only three leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized countries: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte. Donald Trump, who stole the Davos limelight last year with a rare appearance by a sitting U.S. president, pulled out of this year’s event as he grapples with a partial U.S. government shutdown. On Thursday, the White House said Trump had also canceled his delegation’s trip to Davos because of the shutdown, now in its 27th day. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been expected to lead the U.S. team, according to two senior administration officials. French President Emmanuel Macron is also skipping the meeting as he seeks to respond to the “yellow vest” protests, while U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May battles to find a consensus on Brexit. Outside the G7, the leaders of Russia and India are shunning Davos, while China — whose president, Xi Jinping, attended the elite gathering in 2017, the first Chinese leader to do so — is sending his deputy instead. That will leave the likes of British Finance Minister Philip Hammond, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and a host of central bankers with the task of trying to reassure business chiefs. “Davos will be dominated by a high level of anxiety about stock markets, a slowdown in growth and international politics,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Markit. “The leadership presence is lower than last year but those who are going … will be seeking to impart a sense of confidence and calm business and investors’ nerves.” Before the U.S. cancellation, a Trump administration official had said the U.S. delegation would also discuss the importance of reforming institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Trump has harshly criticized globalization and questioned U.S. participation in multilateral institutions such as the WTO, calling for a revamp of international trade rules. Davos watchers said the absence of so many top leaders this year did not mean the glitzy forum had lost its status as a global stage for top politicians to present their agendas. “Abe is going to Davos not just as Japanese prime minister but also as chair of the G20. It will be a perfect opportunity to lay the groundwork of upcoming G20 meetings,” said a Japanese government source familiar with international affairs. “Of course there may be inconveniences such as missing opportunities to hold bilateral meetings, but that won’t undermine the importance of Davos,” he said. A Chinese official who has attended Davos regularly but will not go this year said China had never expected to make progress at the meeting on the trade dispute with the United States. “It’s just an occasion for making a policy statement,” he said. The low turnout among major Western leaders may also give more prominence to political personalities who may otherwise be upstaged. Davos will be the first major international outing for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, elected on a wave of anti-establishment and conservative nationalism also seen elsewhere. He said on Twitter he would present “a different Brazil, free of ideological ties and widespread corruption.” For business chiefs, the value of Davos lies not so much in the public sessions but in the networking and deal-making opportunities on the sidelines of the main conference. “It’s the best place to pitch for ideas, build connections and get your brand known,” said Chen Linchevski, chief executive of Precognize, an Israel-based start-up developing software that prevents technical or quality failures at manufacturing plants. “It’s the kind of place where in a few days you meet people you wouldn’t easily meet otherwise,” said Linchevski, who is paying 50,000 Swiss francs (¥5.5 million; $50,000) to attend the event.


Brazil may drop visas for U.S., Australian and Japanese visitors in bid to boost tourism

Abstract: RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil is considering dropping visas for visitors from the U.S., Australia, Canada and Japan to boost its tourism industry, media reported Thursday. Tourism Minister Alvaro Antonio told reporters the measure could be adopted soon, with the aim of tripling annual revenues from foreign tourists to $18 billion, the newspaper O Globo reported. Currently Brazil applies reciprocal visa measures against countries. That means visitors from the European Union and countries such as New Zealand can enter visa-free for short leisure or business trips. But those from the U.S., Australia, Canada and Japan have to pay equivalent visa fees that those countries apply to Brazilians. In the case of Americans, for instance, the cheapest visitor visa is $44, while a visa valid over 10 years is $160. But Antonio said that policy limited tourism from wealthy countries. “These countries have low immigration risk, are good for tourists, good in spending and don’t have consular problems. Our aim is to grow tourism and thereby create jobs and income for Brazil,” he said. Antonio said the plan was being weighed by his experts and the foreign ministry. He also said he was in favor of making it easier for Chinese visitors. Brazil, a vast country of lush nature, sprawling cities and an ethnically diverse population of 210 million, clearly has untapped tourist potential. At the moment it attracts some 6 million foreign visitors a year — on par with Sweden or the Dominican Republic. Its new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has made closer relations with the United States a priority, declaring himself a “friend” of America and an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro has also pledged to tackle chronic crime in his country, which is one of the main concerns for tourists looking to visit Brazil.

u.s .
immigration
australia
brazil
canada
tourism
jair bolsonaro


Nikkei turns sharply higher on yen's fall

Abstract: The Nikkei average staged a strong rally on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, boosted by the yen’s drop against the dollar and higher U.S. stock prices. The 225-issue Nikkei average jumped 263.80 points, or 1.29 percent, to end at 20,666.07, the best finish since Dec. 19. On Thursday, the key market gauge fell 40.48 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 14.39 points, or 0.93 percent, at 1,557.59, after gaining 5.43 points the previous day. Stocks spurted from the outset on purchases activated by the dollar’s rise above ¥109, market sources said. The Tokyo market also got a boost from Wall Street’s extended advance Thursday, which was supported in part by a newspaper report that said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had proposed scrapping some or all tariffs on Chinese imports, the sources said. The Wall Street Journal report suggested that the United States and China are moving closer to each other in their trade negotiations, helping investors turn less risk-adverse, Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., said. The market attracted “futures-linked repurchases heartened by higher stock prices abroad,” Shimizu added. Akira Tanoue, senior investment strategist at Nomura Securities Co., indicated that investor sentiment was lifted by the resilience of Nidec shares after the electronic parts-maker unexpectedly on Thursday issued a profit warning for the year through March, citing rapidly deteriorating earnings in China. But an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm noted that a number of major Japanese companies may report bleak earnings results and forecasts from now on, likening Nidec to “a canary in a coal mine.” Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,538 to 525 in the TSE’s first section, while 65 issues were unchanged. Volume edged up to 1.150 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.148 billion shares. Industrial robot producer Fanuc, construction machinery-maker Komatsu and other China-related issues attracted buying amid worries about the U.S.-China trade dispute receding to some extent, brokers said. Other major winners included clothing retailer Fast Retailing and chip-making equipment-maker Tokyo Electron. Nidec managed to end 1.13 percent lower, after suffering a precipitous fall. Also weaker were cosmetics maker Shiseido and air conditioner manufacturer Daikin. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average shot up 280 points to finish at 20,630.

stocks
nikkei
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Higher stock prices sees dollar firmer around ¥109.40 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar scaled to around ¥109.40 in Tokyo trading Friday, aided by higher stock prices in Japan and abroad. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.36-36, up from ¥108.78-78 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1390-1393, up from $1.1387-1387, and at ¥124.57-57, up from ¥123.87-87. After moving tightly between ¥109.10 and ¥109.20 in early trading, the dollar rose to around ¥109.40 later in the morning, thanks to buying spurred by the 225-issue Nikkei average’s powerful rebound in the wake of an extended rally on Wall Street overnight Thursday, traders said. The U.S. currency lost steam for a while in the afternoon as a wait-and-see mood spread ahead of the three-day weekend in the United States. But the greenback began moving up again in late trading following Chinese stocks’ rise, which generated a risk-on mood, an official at a major brokerage firm said. A Japanese bank official said rises in U.S. interest rates helped the dollar break the ¥109.10 resistance line. Still, players cannot buy the dollar actively as long as the partial government shutdown continues in the United States and the U.S.-China trade dispute goes on, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service company said.


Two contractors for Tokyo-Osaka maglev rail project ordered to partly halt business over bid-rigging

Abstract: SAITAMA - The transport ministry ordered two major contractors on Friday to temporarily suspend part of their business operations after they were fined last year by a Tokyo court for rigging bids for construction work on the Tokyo-Osaka maglev train project. Under the order based on Japan’s construction business law, Obayashi Corp. and Shimizu Corp. are prohibited from engaging in new construction projects for 120 days from Feb. 2. But they can continue to work on projects they have already started. Last October, the Tokyo District Court ordered Obayashi and Shimizu to pay ¥200 million ($1.83 million) and ¥180 million in fines, respectively, for violating the antimonopoly law by colluding with two other major contractors, Kajima Corp. and Taisei Corp., in rigging bids. A separate trial for Taisei, Kajima and two former executives of the contractors will start on Feb. 14 at the Tokyo District Court. The four contractors had been suspended from bidding for projects ordered by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and others for four months from March last year.

corruption
bid-rigging
maglev
obayashi corp .
shimizu corp .


Carlos Ghosn received €8 million in 'improper' payments from Dutch joint venture, Nissan says

Abstract: Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn received nearly €8 million (about ¥1 billion) in “improper payments” from a Netherlands-based joint venture, the car giant alleged Friday, threatening to sue to recover the funds. Nissan said Ghosn entered into a personal employment contract with Nissan-Mitsubishi B.V. (NMBV), a company formed “with the mission of exploring and promoting synergies within the Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors partnership.” “Under that contract, he received a total of €7,822,206.12 (including tax) in compensation and other payments of NMBV funds,” Nissan said, citing an ongoing investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Ghosn. The firm said the contract was signed without consultation with current Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa or Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko. “Nissan views the payments Ghosn received from NMBV to be the result of misconduct and will consider measures to recover from Ghosn the full sum,” the firm said in a statement. The transaction was carried out in accordance with Ghosn’s instructions to Nissan executives and under an employment agreement compiled by an unauthorized person at the venture, Mitsubishi Motors said. Mitsubishi Motors launched the investigation, with the help of Nissan, following the arrest of Ghosn in November for alleged financial misconduct at Nissan. The probe did not find any other misconduct involving Ghosn at Mitsubishi Motors and its affiliate companies, it said. Kei Umebayashi, a lawyer who led the probe at Mitsubishi Motors, told reporters that testimonies of people concerned found that Ghosn created the venture for the purpose of receiving remuneration illegally. The lawyer said such a system to pay Ghosn remuneration from the joint venture could have been prepared before the capital alliance between Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan was officially formed in 2016. He indicated that the acts could constitute corporate embezzlement, although Masuko did not comment on whether a criminal complaint would be filed. “It’s a fact that Mr. Ghosn has misused NMBV,” Masuko told reporters, adding his company is considering filing a damages suit against Ghosn. Since his out-of-the-blue arrest on Nov. 19, Ghosn has been kept in a Tokyo detention center and has made only one public appearance in court, where he passionately rejected the accusations against him. On Friday, Ghosn’s lawyers requested for a second time that a Tokyo court grant him bail. The request came a day after the Tokyo District Court turned down an appeal made by the lawyers to retract an earlier denial of bail. In rejecting the appeals, the court reasoned that Ghosn is a flight risk and could tamper with evidence. His lawyers have vowed to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against his continued detention, but even his lead attorney has told reporters it is unlikely he will taste freedom before a trial — and that could take six months at least. Ghosn faces three formal charges. First, he is accused of underdeclaring his income by about ¥5 billion ($46 million) between 2010 and 2015 in official documents to shareholders, apparently to fend off criticism of being overpaid. Second, he stands accused of continuing this practice for three more years, understating his pay by about a further ¥4 billion. A third, more complex charge relates to allegations he sought to transfer personal investment losses to the firm and paid a Saudi intermediary from company funds to stump up collateral for him. The 64-year-old auto tycoon rejects all the charges, arguing in court that he has been “wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations.” Meanwhile, the allegations continue to stack up against Ghosn — once revered as a corporate genius who saved Nissan from the verge of bankruptcy. He is said to have had luxury houses in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro paid for by the company — plus costly renovations for the first property. It is also alleged one of his sisters received $755,000 for work carried out between 2003 and 2016 as part of a “Global Donation Advisory Council” — a body that never existed, according to sources close to Nissan. Nissan is thought to be looking into other payments, such as donations to universities in Lebanon and a subscription to a yacht club in Brazil for $63,000. Ghosn has been unable to defend himself against these new allegations and they do not form part of the formal charges against him. But the Japanese firm is ramping up its probe into its former leader, and more revelations are likely as it continues. Nissan has also been slapped with formal charges over the affair as they submitted the documents to shareholders that allegedly underdeclared the executive’s income.


Nomura Holding and Carlyle to acquire Okinawa's Orion Breweries, Japan's fifth-ranked beer maker

Abstract: Nomura Holdings Inc. and U.S. investment fund The Carlyle Group will jointly acquire a majority stake in Japan’s fifth-largest beer producer, the Okinawa-based Orion Breweries Ltd., sources said Friday. The acquisition, believed to be aimed at expanding sales channels, would cost billions of yen, the sources said. The beer company’s current top shareholder, Asahi Breweries Ltd., which had a 10 percent stake as of late September last year, will continue to hold shares and cooperate on product development and sales, the sources said. The offerings of Orion Breweries, founded in 1957, are known as a specialty of Okinawa Prefecture. The company posted ¥28.3 billion ($260 million) in group sales and ¥2.3 billion in net profit in the year through March last year. Nomura has set up a ¥100 billion fund to support business succession and management of firms in rural areas. Orion Breweries will be the first company that Nomura has acquired with its own funds since it suspended such activities following the 2008 global financial crisis.

beer
nomura holdings
asahi breweries
carlyle group
orion breweries


In shadow of Ghosn saga, Nissan may scrap chairman role to prevent concentration of power, director says

Abstract: Two months after the arrest of its chairman stunned Nissan Motor Co. and the entire global automotive industry, the carmaker is weighing abolishing the role altogether as it steps up reforms to rebuild its governance. Carlos Ghosn’s downfall — the auto titan is accused of financial crimes that could put him behind bars for decades — saw Nissan swiftly dismiss him as chairman, leaving the carmaker he once saved from the brink of collapse with a leadership vacuum at the board level. While dispensing with a chairman would raise eyebrows in the U.S. and Europe, Japanese law allows companies to operate without one, with some choosing that route as a way of distributing power across top management. “We are digging up everything and clarifying and proposing what we can do better to improve governance,” Keiko Ihara, 45, one of Nissan’s three independent directors, said in an interview in Tokyo. “There is also the debate whether we really need a chairman.” In the wake of the Ghosn scandal, which has also seen Nissan itself indicted, Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa has pledged to address the governance shortcomings that allowed the legendary executive to conceal about ¥9 billion worth of salary and benefits, as well as transfer trading losses to the automaker, according to prosecutors’ allegations. A former model and race car driver, Ihara’s own appointment to the board has been held up as an illustration of questionable governance at 85-year-old Nissan. While prosecutors have focused on Ghosn’s alleged compensation transgressions and the breach of trust charge, the criminal case was brought after an extensive investigation into Ghosn’s behavior by Nissan. Nissan has also accused Ghosn of misusing company funds and hiring his sister on an advisory contract, raising questions about the strength of the carmaker’s corporate-governance procedures. The scandal has also strained the company’s partnership with Renault SA, a union held together by Ghosn for two decades. He is also on the verge of being ejected from the roles of chairman and CEO at Renault, with the French finance minister calling for his dismissal Wednesday, all but assuring the celebrated auto executive will lose his last toehold on power. A concentration of power in the hands of one person set the stage for the misconduct and Nissan lacked the transparency needed to detect it, Saikawa, 65, said shortly after Ghosn’s arrest. Saikawa also said the company would look for a sustainable structure that doesn’t rely on one person. It didn’t nominate an interim chairman after ousting Ghosn on Nov. 22. Nissan wouldn’t be the first scandal-plagued company in Japan to do away with the chairman position. Kobe Steel Ltd. said last year it would abolish the chairman position after the resignation of Hiroya Kawasaki amid revelations about faked data dating back decades. Honda Motor Co. removed the role after a sweeping management overhaul in 2016. Shiseido Co., Denso Corp. and Kubota Corp. also don’t have chairmen. Nissan set up a special committee that includes independent directors Ihara, Masakazu Toyoda and Jean-Baptiste Duzan to work with a third party toward better governance. The group, which plans to hold a meeting on Sunday, is making progress and Nissan is on track to come up with a report on how to improve Nissan’s governance by the end of March, said Ihara. The carmaker is rushing to regain credibility as questions swirl over its relationship with Renault and the future of their alliance. While both firms have repeatedly said they are committed to the pact, Nissan has long been unhappy about what it considers an outsize French role in the partnership. Renault has pushed Nissan to call a shareholder meeting to discuss the Japanese automaker’s governance, a request denied by Nissan, people familiar with the matter said last month. A French delegation including government representatives was in Tokyo this week for discussions over the partnership. Shares of both Renault and Nissan have declined since Ghosn’s arrest, which has also put pressure on Nissan’s bonds. Nissan and Renault are “firmly building the vision within the alliance,” including discussing how to cut costs further, Ihara said. As the car industry faces a tectonic shift toward electrified and autonomous vehicles, probably only “a few” alliances will survive, she said. Ihara started as a director at Nissan in June. She is a professional race car driver, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, British F3 Championship, Super GT and Le Mans Endurance Series. She teaches at Keio University and has been on various government councils and International Automobile Federation committees. At Nissan, Ihara said meetings are taking place daily as the company strives to improve its governance and work on matters such as executive compensation. “Once we can really rebuild the company, we can truly develop,” she said.

nissan
carlos ghosn
corporate governance
keiko ihara


Government may have split up thousands more migrant families than Trump camp admitted

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Government investigators said Thursday that thousands more migrant children may have been separated from their families than the Trump administration has acknowledged. A report from the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office found that family separations were occurring before the spring of last year, when the administration announced its “zero tolerance” policy on the southwest border. “The total number and current status of all children separated from their parents or guardians … is unknown,” according to the report. It could be thousands more because family separations were taking place much earlier, during an influx that began in 2017, investigators found. The administration has identified a little more than 2,700 children who were separated from their families. That figure was released as part of a court case in which a federal judge ordered the families reunited. Despite “considerable” effort by the department to locate all the children who were placed in its care after immigration authorities separated them from their families, officials were still finding new cases as long as five months after the judge’s order requiring reunifications, the report said. Investigators raised concerns about the children who have not been identified because they were not covered by Judge Dana Sabraw’s reunification order. That directive did not apply to “an estimated thousands of children whom (immigration authorities) separated during an influx that began in 2017,” the report said. Most of those children would have already been placed with sponsors before the court case. “There is even less visibility for separated children who fall outside the court case,” investigators concluded. Inaccurate and incomplete information in government files may also be hampering efforts to identify more recent cases of family separations. President Donald Trump rescinded the family separation policy last summer after an outcry. In some cases, toddlers had been separated from their parents and placed into HHS custody. “Zero tolerance” for border crossers, under which everyone who enters the U.S. illegally faces potential criminal charges, triggered the family separations. Children cannot be kept indefinitely with parents or relatives under federal detention. The watchdog’s report found ongoing problems keeping track of children, which could affect their well-being. It said “it is not yet clear whether (HHS’s) recent changes are sufficient to ensure consistent and accurate data about separated children, and the lack of detail in information received from (immigration authorities) continues to pose challenges.” The border continues to be a crucible for the Trump administration, with a partial government shutdown that has dragged on nearly a month over the president’s demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall that congressional Democrats are unwilling to provide. On Thursday, hundreds of mainly Honduran migrants began crossing peacefully into Mexico without the confrontations that marked last fall’s migrant caravans. People simply showed identification bracelets given to them by Mexican officials and walked into the border town of Ciudad Hidalgo. They crossed over the same border bridge where another caravan clashed with Mexican police in October, when migrants tried to push through closed gates and ranks of riot police, leading authorities to fire pepper spray. Mexico has promised to allow people through as long as they are orderly. As in October, there are a lot of children in the latest caravan. Yolanda Sanchez, 28, said she left Colon, Honduras, with her four children. She carried her youngest, a baby just shy of his first birthday. She is travelling with a cousin, her husband and their four children. They hope to reach the United States, to escape poverty after her husband lost his job. “We know that it is going to be difficult, but we just can’t survive anymore” in Honduras, she said. Previous estimates put the caravan at about 1,800 people, including about 100 from El Salvador. But many of the migrants were still travelling through Guatemala, and it was difficult to say how big the caravan would become. The border city of Tijuana was saturated by the first caravan in November, testing the patience of the city’s residents, and Mexico’s new government has since agreed to house third-country migrants while their asylum claims are heard in the United States.

u.s .
immigrants
migrants
u.s.-mexico border
donald trump
hhs
family separations


In 'unexpected' gender role twist, Congo Ebola outbreak hits more women as they head households

Abstract: DAKAR - About two-thirds of patients in Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak have been women, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, calling for more focus on gender in disease control and prevention. The outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s second-largest and has infected 663 people so far, killing 407, according to health ministry data. In past Ebola outbreaks, including the largest, which killed 11,300 people in West Africa in 2014-2016, the proportion of women and men affected was roughly equal, WHO experts said. This is the 10th outbreak recorded in Congo. “This is unexpected,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, calling for more research. “It shows the role of women needs to be taken into account right from the get-go,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Congo is a vast country where social roles vary significantly by region. In the North Kivu province fighting Ebola, women are leaders and often heads of households, said Julienne Anoko, a social anthropologist working for WHO. They are the ones who care for the sick, take them to the hospital if needed, and prepare bodies for burial, all of which expose them to greater risk of infection, she said. Girls often help their mothers with these tasks, and have also been infected at higher rates than boys, she added. Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever with severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding. “Women have lots of social power. They take care of the whole community,” Anoko told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. This contrasts with other countries that have battled Ebola, such as Guinea and Sierra Leone, where it is more common for men to accompany family members to the hospital, she said. The part of Congo where Ebola has struck this time is an active conflict zone, where health workers have had to dodge bullets and been confronted by armed groups. A disputed election has stoked further fear and unrest. Many women have been mistrustful of male responders, but WHO has started to see success in spreading messages about the disease through local female leaders, said Anoko. “We need to increase the involvement of women,” she said. WHO Africa director Moeti, the first woman to hold that position, said gender should play a bigger role in data analysis for outbreaks of all infectious diseases. “I think we really need to take this into account as a core part of our work on outbreak responses,” she said.


Saturn's rings are younger than the planet itself, finding of NASA's Cassini probe shows

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Saturn’s rings are younger than scientists thought and appeared within the last 10 to 100 million years, according to research published Thursday based on findings from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The sixth planet from the sun formed about 4.5 billion years ago, along with the rest of the planets in our solar system, and spent the bulk of its existence without the characteristic rings it is known for today. Astronomers have long believed the rings could be young, and perhaps formed by collisions between the moons of Saturn or by a comet that shattered in close proximity to the planet. Some of these answers have come into sharper focus because of Cassini, an unmanned U.S.-European probe that launched in 1997 and ended in 2017 with a planned death plunge into Saturn’s surface. At the end of its mission, Cassini made 22 orbits, circling between Saturn and its rings, getting closer to them than any spacecraft in history. By studying how the flight path of Cassini was deflected by the gravity of the rings, scientists were able to deduce the rings’ mass and approximate age. “Only by getting so close to Saturn in Cassini’s final orbits were we able to gather the measurements to make the new discoveries,” said lead author Luciano Iess of Sapienza University of Rome. Understanding the rings’ age and mass is “a fundamental goal of its mission,” he added. A lesser mass indicates younger rings because as they age, the rings would attract more debris and grow heavier. The rings are made up of 99 percent ice. The study did not delve into the question of where the rings came from, but supported theories such as a comet or moon collision.


Outrage in Ghana after reporter who helped expose soccer corruption is gunned down

Abstract: ACCRA - A Ghanian undercover journalist who helped expose corruption in African soccer has been shot dead in the capital, triggering widespread outrage and demands for authorities to bring his killers to justice. Ahmed Husein, 34, was gunned down as he returned to his home in the Madina area of Accra on Wednesday night. The reporter was part of a team led by award-winning journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whose probe last year led to the resignation of the head of the Ghana Football Association and the banning of dozens of soccerreferees and officials. Last year Husein filed a complaint with police after a prominent lawmaker from President Nana Akufo-Addo’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) threatened him, once calling on television for supporters to beat Hussein while showing the reporter’s photograph. Police said Husein was shot in the chest and neck. Anas and his Tiger Eye production company said the gunmen fired at close range from a motorbike and he died instantly. Media organizations and journalists in Ghana on Thursday called for more protection and demanded the government fully investigate. “We … are terribly devastated by the dastardly act but remain unshaken in our resolve to pursue nation-wreckers and make corruption a high-risk activity,” said Anas. President Nana Akufo-Addo sent his condolences to Husein’s family and condemned the killing. “I expect the police to bring to book, as soon as possible, the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said in a statement. Information minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah told reporters violence against journalists would not be tolerated but the government is likely to come under pressure over the killing. The murder of a journalist is unusual in Ghana, which ranked 23rd out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2018 World Press Freedom Index — up three places on the previous year. But the revelations about corruption in football rocked Ghana, a country where soccer is the national sport and which prides itself on being a stable democracy in an often turbulent region. The president of the Ghana Journalists Association, Affail Monney, said Husein’s killers “must be made to face the full rigours of law. He also called on Akufo-Addo to get to the bottom of the killing, and urged parliament to “take necessary actions” to improve media and public safety. “This killing, in addition to rampant assault against journalists in recent times, sends a worrying signal that the media are under serious attack,” he told a news conference. International media watchdog the Committee for the Protection of Journalists called for an immediate investigation and for the authorities “to ensure that threats against the press are taken seriously. Husein had made the complaint to police after NPP party member Kennedy Agyapong showed his photograph on a private television channel and promised payment for supporters who took attacked him. “That boy that’s very dangerous, he lives here in Madina. If he comes here, beat him,” Agyapong said, pointing to a picture of Husein’s face. In the undercover investigation into football corruption, Agyapong’s name was also mentioned by implicated sporting officials. Husein’s lawyer, Kissi Agyabeng, said the member of parliament had questions to answer. Agyapong himself rejected claims that he “engineered the killing” of Husein, telling local radio station Neat FM: “He has never offended me. “So, they should go and investigate those he has offended not me. He and his boss (Anas) have offended so many people in this country. “The evil they have been doing will follow them.” RSF has previously condemned threats against Anas after he revealed “threatening calls, intimidatory messages and suspicious vehicles near his home. The reporter, whose other exposes have lifted the lid on graft in the judicial system, is distinctive for wearing hats and face-coverings to conceal his identity. World governing body FIFA last October banned former Ghana FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi for life and fined him nearly $500,000 (€439,000) after he was seen on camera accepting bribes. Nyantakyi was accused of requesting $11 million to secure government contracts. Eight referees and assistant referees were banned for life while 53 officials were subject to 10-year bans. Fourteen officials were exonerated.

murder
soccer
corruption
ghana
reporters without borders
ahmed husein