Toshiba to sell U.S. LNG business to French energy giant Total

Abstract: Toshiba Corp. said Saturday it will sell its U.S. liquefied natural gas business to French energy giant Total SA after a previous deal with a Chinese gas firm was canceled earlier this year. The U.S. LNG business has been a stumbling block to the Japanese electronics- and machinery-maker’s turnaround efforts as it is expected to incur up to ¥1 trillion in losses, sources familiar with the situation said. Toshiba plans to complete the sale of the LNG business by the end of March, subject to U.S. and other regulatory approval. The company expects to book a charge of ¥93 billion in the year ending March 31 in connection with the sale. The business involves processing shale gas produced in Texas into LNG for sale over a 20-year period starting in 2020. The withdrawal from the U.S. LNG business, which Toshiba has categorized as one of its noncore operations, is a major part of its midterm business plan that has been in place since April. In November last year, Toshiba reached an agreement to sell the LNG business to China’s ENN Ecological Holdings Co. by the end of March this year. In April, however, ENN canceled the deal after prolonged regulatory approval procedures in the United States and China.


Mike Pompeo to attend secretive Bilderberg meeting in Switzerland

Abstract: BERN, SWITZERLAND - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday is scheduled to take part in a secretive meeting in Switzerland of global power brokers discreetly discussing issues like Brexit and the future of capitalism. The State Department confirmed Saturday that Pompeo, who is on a four-nation tour of Europe, will take part in the four-day Bilderberg meeting, which kicked off Thursday in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. His participation had not been previously mentioned in the official agenda and he did not figure on the list of some 130 elites from 23 countries participating in the event. Already on the list is U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, who might use the forum to try to drum up support for his yet-to-be-unveiled Middle East peace plan. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and elder statesman Henry Kissinger also figure on the list of participants, as do Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. The group, which has met every year since 1954 and was created as a forum for fostering dialogue between Europe and North America, is this year discussing a range of topics such as climate change, the future of capitalism, the ethics of artificial intelligence, China, Russia and Brexit, the organizers said. The Trump administration has taken strong and controversial stances on a number of the topics on the agenda, including swelling tensions with Beijing, complex relations with Moscow and a more than skeptical attitude to calls to fight climate change. Pompeo himself recently hailed that climate change was helping open new sea routes in the usually frozen Arctic. The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around its perimeters to keep the press at bay. The participants are, meanwhile, held to the so-called Chatham House rule, meaning that participants are free to use the information received, but may not reveal the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker. The secretive nature of the group has given birth to conspiracy theories. Some have warned, for example, that Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one-world government. Pompeo arrived in Switzerland on Friday on the second leg of his European tour, following a stop in Berlin and before traveling on to the Hague and London. On Saturday morning, he and his wife, Susan, had a guided tour of Bern’s Old Town, and on Sunday he is due to meet with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis. Asked why he chose to stay for so long in Switzerland — from Friday afternoon through Monday morning, Pompeo told a group of journalists traveling with him that he is a “big cheese and chocolate fan.”

u.s .
switzerland
henry kissinger
donald trump
brexit
bern
mike pompeo


Captain of vessel that rammed smaller pleasure boat on Danube charged in Budapest court

Abstract: BUDAPEST - The captain of a river cruise ship that collided with a smaller sightseeing vessel was charged Saturday over the accident in Budapest that killed seven South Korean tourists and left 21 people missing. A Budapest court official said the Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn had been charged, but gave no further details. The captain’s lawyer, Balazs Toth, said the court had denied bail. The 64-year-old was detained Thursday for questioning a day after his vessel collided with the smaller boat, the Mermaid, which was carrying mainly South Korean tourists, causing it to overturn and sink within seconds on a busy stretch of the Danube. He was questioned for “endangering waterborne traffic resulting in multiple deaths,” police said at the time. Strong currents have hampered the search for those missing — 19 South Koreans, the second boat’s Hungarian captain and one crew member, preventing divers from reaching the submerged boat. The collision happened on a popular part of the river, from where sightseers can view the city and parliament, which is lit up at night. Larger river cruise boats traveling on the Danube between Germany and the Black Sea typically spend several days moored in the capital. So far it is unclear what caused the accident, in which the 440-foot-long (135-meter) cruise ship hit and sank the smaller pleasure boat Wednesday night. The captain, identified by Hungarian police as C. Yuriy from Odessa, in Ukraine, was “shaken by the consequences of the accident and regrets that he had no way to avoid the accident, and expresses his condolences to the families of the victims,” MTI news agency quoted his lawyers as saying Friday. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Swiss-based Viking Cruises, which owns the larger vessel, said in a statement Friday that it was supporting and cooperating with investigations into the accident. “We are deeply saddened by the incident and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were impacted and as well as to their families,” the spokesman said. “We understand the captain has been charged by the local authorities and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further while the legal process is ongoing.”

accident
hungary
boat
south korea
ukriane
danube


Pope Francis celebrates diversity during Mass in multiethnic Romania

Abstract: SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - On the second day of a visit to Romania, Pope Francis on Saturday celebrated diversity at a Mass attended by tens of thousands of people in a predominantly ethnic Hungarian part of the Transylvania region seen as the highlight of his trip. The open-air Mass was keenly awaited for reasons of both faith and national identity in majority Orthodox Romania, where believers suffered under the postwar decades of communist rule. For Catholics in the Szeklerland area, where some 600,000 ethnic Hungarians comprise a majority of the population, the pope’s visit was seen as welcome recognition of their identity. Under dark skies, a sea of colorful rain coats formed around the hillside of the Sumuleu Ciuc shrine as Francis arrived in a popemobile. In his Mass, Francis celebrated “a people whose wealth is seen (in) its myriad faces, cultures, languages and traditions” and called on pilgrims not to be “afraid to mingle, to embrace and to support each other.” “To go on pilgrimage is to participate in that somewhat chaotic sea of people that can give us a genuine experience of fraternity, to be part of a caravan that can together, in solidarity, create history,” he said. Up to 100,000 people were estimated to have attended the ceremony, which saw the Argentinian pontiff present a golden rose at the large wooden replica of the Madonna — a tradition for popes visiting major Marian shrines. “For us, worshippers, it’s a very beautiful thing to have the pope among us. It’s a once-in-a-life-time chance,” Iosif Orban, a pilgrim, said. Another man, Alexandru Miron, said he walked for about 90 minutes through pouring rain and mud early Saturday to see the pontiff. “Was it worth it? Yes,” he said. Most pilgrims were Romania-based ethnic Hungarians, but organizers had said some 25,000 would also travel from Hungary itself, as well as from Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine, all countries with sizeable Hungarian communities. Having come by train, car and bicycle, thousands of people started gathering late Friday with churches in the nearby small town of Miercurea Ciuc, 215 kilometers (135 miles) north of Bucharest, staying open all night to accommodate them. Between religious chants in Hungarian, they expressed their hopes for the 82-year-old’s visit. “If I meet the pope, I will tell him that Transylvania must be autonomous,” Zoltan, 60, who came from western Hungary and makes an annual pilgrimage to Sumuleu Ciuc, said. Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, who did not attend Saturday’s Mass, has been building ties with the diaspora since he returned to power in 2010 as part of a so-called “national policy” that is seen warily in Romania as an effort to extend Budapest’s reach. Olah Zoltan, a volunteer helping to organize the event, said he wanted more recognition for ethnic Hungarians, such as for them being able to use Hungarian instead of Romanian as their language. “We want greater respect for the rights of the Hungarian minority,” said the theology professor, who works in the central town of Cluj-Napoca. The pope’s Saturday Mass was translated both into Romanian and Hungarian. Over the weekend, the pope was to continue his journey across the country. Later Saturday, he was to arrive in Iasi in northeastern Romania to meet youngsters. Many television channels have been broadcasting his three-day visit live. Francis, on arrival in Bucharest on Friday, praised the “sacrifices” of Romanian emigrants — millions have moved abroad in search of better work opportunities — and urged the faithful to reject “a culture of hate” following nationalist gains in recent European Parliament elections. In Bucharest, thousands lined the streets to wave to Francis as he passed by in his popemobile and there were enough people to fill two cathedrals. He also had a private meeting with Orthodox Patriarch Daniel despite strained relations, and they prayed alongside each other — one in Latin and the other in Romanian. Twenty years earlier, late Pope John Paul II visited Romania, receiving a warm welcome for his perceived role in the fall of communism.

religion
romania
roman catholic
viktor orban
bucharest


U.S. biologists probe deaths of 70 emaciated gray whales

Abstract: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - U.S. government biologists have launched a special investigation into the deaths of at least 70 gray whales washed ashore in recent months along the U.S. West Coast, from California to Alaska, many of them emaciated, officials said on Friday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared the whale die-off an “unusual mortality event,” a designation that triggers greater scrutiny and allocation of more resources to determine the cause. So far this year, 37 dead gray whales have turned up in California waters, three in Oregon, 25 in Washington state and five in Alaska, say officials of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. Five more were found in British Columbia. The most recent dead whale in Alaska was spotted a week ago near Chignik Bay on the Alaska peninsula. Many have little body fat, leading experts to suspect the die-off is caused by declining food sources in the dramatically warming waters of the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea off Alaska. The gray whales summer there, consuming most of a year’s worth of nourishment to pack on the blubber they need to carry them through the migration south to wintering grounds off Mexico and back north to feeding grounds off Alaska. Sea ice has been at or near record lows in the Bering and Chukchi, and water temperatures have been persistently much higher than normal, an apparent consequence of human-caused climate change, scientists say. The conditions the whales encountered last summer could be hurting the animals now as they make their annual migration north, said scientists assembled by NOAA for a teleconference on Friday. “The Arctic is changing very, very quickly, and the whales are going to have to adjust to that,” Sue Moore, a University of Washington oceanographer, told reporters. Lack of sea ice may be reducing supplies of the tiny crustaceans known as amphipods that are the gray whales’ prime food source, Moore said. “The sea ice has been changing very quickly over the last decade or so,” she said. Another theory is that the number of whales has reached the limits of the environment’s natural capacity to sustain further population growth, scientists said on the call. The current estimated population of eastern North Pacific gray whales is about 27,000, the highest recorded by the agency since it began gray whale surveys in 1967, said biologist David Weller. “Keep in mind that carrying capacity is not a hard ceiling, but that it’s a shifting threshold,” said Weller, who is with the agency’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in San Diego. “In some years or period of years the environment is capable of supporting more whales than in other years.” The deaths could be caused by a combination of factors, as in other die-offs, the scientists said. Some whales have detoured into places like San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound, where they face a greater risk of ship strikes and other hazards, said John Calambokidis, a biologist and gray whale expert with the Cascadia Research Collective. “We are seeing lots of live gray whales in unusual areas, some of them clearly emaciated, trying to feed,” he said. More dead whales are expected to wash ashore during the northward migration, the scientists said. The total of dead whales documented probably represents a small fraction of those that have perished in the current episode, they said. The last major West Coast gray whale die-off, in 1999 and 2000, was believed to have been related to an ocean-warming El Nino event. It also triggered an unusual mortality event declaration.

nature oceans whales animals endangered environment


SpaceX says its 60 Starlink satellites will grow harder to see as they reach final orbit

Abstract: WASHINGTON - SpaceX said Friday that the first 60 satellites in its Starlink constellation, which is intended to provide internet from space, will grow less visible from Earth as they reach their final orbit. Elon Musk’s company created a must-see event for space enthusiasts when it launched all 60 satellites simultaneously on May 23 — a series of bright lights ascending through the night sky. Over the past week, several observers have photographed and filmed the line of satellites, which pass over in just a few minutes. But astronomers fear the constellation of broadband-beaming satellites, which could one day grow to as many as 12,000, could ruin scientific observation of the skies from telescopes. Until now, Musk had downplayed the concerns — earning criticism along the way. But on Friday, the company seemed to address the issue. SpaceX announced that “all 60 satellites have deployed their solar arrays successfully, generated positive power and communicated with our ground stations.” But the statement then said that “the observability of the Starlink satellites is dramatically reduced as they raise orbit to greater distance and orient themselves.” The satellites were released all at once by a Falcon 9 rocket at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers). They progressively separated from one another and deployed the solar arrays. In the coming three to four weeks, each will take position in a relatively low orbit of 340 miles (550 kilometers). Scientists had already noted that they were less visible in recent days. Starlink will become operational once 800 satellites have been activated, which will require a dozen more launches.


NASA plans to send equipment to moon from 2020

Abstract: WASHINGTON - For the first time since the 1970s, the United States is planning to send equipment to the surface of the moon in 2020 and 2021, in anticipation of a crewed lunar mission in 2024, NASA said Friday. The U.S. space agency has chosen American firms Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond to send instruments and other scientific equipment to the moon as part of the Artemis program. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has accelerated the timetable for putting humans back on the moon with 2024 the new target date — moved up by four years. Each company has developed lunar landers of different sizes and shapes: one is tall and the other two are more compact. The landers will deliver up to 23 small payloads of equipment provided by NASA. That should include materiel that will gather information to help astronauts later on to land, navigate and protect themselves from radiation. Orbit Beyond will land in Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in a lunar crater, by September 2020, after being launched by one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. Intuitive Machines will try to land by July 2021 in Oceanous Procellarum, a dark expanse on the moon visible from Earth. SpaceX will also facilitate that launch. Astrobotic, which is based in Pittsburgh, will target Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the near side of the moon, by July 2021. It has yet to choose a delivery rocket. NASA awarded the companies $77 million to $97 million each for development of their landers. “Next year, our initial science and technology research will be on the lunar surface, which will help support sending the first woman and the next man to the moon in five years,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Investing in these commercial landing services also is another strong step to build a commercial space economy beyond low-Earth orbit.” The United States last sent a crewed mission to the moon in 1972, the year of the final Apollo mission. NASA regularly sent lunar probes into orbit, but it only has two active missions today: the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ARTEMIS probes. China has meanwhile landed twice on the moon in recent years: in 2013, and in January on the far side. The Chang’e 4 probe and its motorized robot Yutu-2 are the only probes active on the surface right now.


Extinction Rebellion considers using drones to shut London's Heathrow Airport

Abstract: LONDON - Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion have drawn up plans to use drones to shut London’s Heathrow Airport this summer in a campaign to stop the construction of a third runway at Europe’s busiest airport, the group said. The internal proposal, seen by Reuters, emerged against a backdrop of renewed campaigning by environmental groups who argue that expanding Heathrow would be incompatible with Britain’s targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions. “On June 18, we plan to carry out nonviolent direct action to ensure Heathrow Authorities close the airport for the day, to create a ‘pause’ in recognition of the genocidal impact of high carbon activities, such as flying, upon the natural world,” Extinction Rebellion said in a statement late on Thursday. “This is not about targeting the public, but holding the Government to their duty to take leadership on the climate and ecological emergency,” the group said. Heathrow Airport said the use of drones would be a “reckless action.” “We agree with the need to act on climate change, but that requires us to work together constructively — not commit serious criminal offenses just as hardworking people prepare to spend a well-earned holiday with their family and friends,” an airport spokesman said in a statement on Friday. The deployment of drones would mark a significant escalation by Extinction Rebellion, which mobilized thousands of people in a peaceful civil disobedience campaign that brought parts of central London to a standstill for 11 days in April. The British Parliament declared a symbolic “climate emergency” in response to the protests, raising hopes among campaign groups that the government will cancel the third runway as part of more ambitious climate commitments. British security forces have been on alert since December, when Gatwick Airport outside London was forced to cancel flights over several days due to drones near the perimeter. Extinction Rebellion was not involved in that incident, senior members of the movement said at the time. In the internal proposal written by volunteers, activists suggested using drones to force authorities to ground flights at Heathrow Airport while other protesters held picnics. The activists said they would avoid any risk to aircraft by informing the airport of their plans in advance. If the government does not cede to their demands after disruption on June 18, the activists proposed shutting the airport for the first two weeks in July. Extinction Rebellion’s commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience to press for faster cuts in greenhouse gas emissions has spurred offshoots in more than a dozen countries and pushed climate change up the political agenda. Nevertheless, the planned Heathrow action has divided opinion within the movement. Some volunteers believe that governments will only treat the climate crisis with sufficient urgency if faced with large-scale disruption, including to transport networks such as underground railways and airports. Others fear that disrupting air travel may alienate large numbers of people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to the movement’s demands at a time when scientists are sounding increasingly urgent alarms about the risk of climate breakdown. As a self-organizing, highly decentralized movement, Extinction Rebellion volunteers have a lot of autonomy, making it hard to predict whether the drone proposal will win enough support to proceed. Parliament backed the plan to build an $18 billion third runway last year. Heathrow Airport is owned by Ferrovial, Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corporation, among others.

aviation
u.k .
protests
emissions
climate change
environment
heathrow airport


Judge finds U.S. Navy SEAL's fair trial rights violated in war crimes case

Abstract: SAN DIEGO - The military judge presiding over the court-martial of a U.S. Navy SEAL charged with war crimes said on Friday prosecutors who electronically tracked email communications of defense lawyers without a warrant violated the accused’s right to a fair trial. The finding came near the end of a two-day hearing that wrapped up just 10 days before Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is due to stand trial in a case that has drawn the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Gallagher is charged with murdering a helpless, wounded Islamic State fighter in his custody, and with two counts of attempted murder in the wounding of two unarmed civilians, a schoolgirl and elderly man, shot from a sniper’s perch. The charges stem from Gallagher’s deployment as a platoon leader to Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, in 2017. He has pleaded not guilty to those and other charges, including obstructing justice. If convicted, the decorated career combat veteran could face life in prison. Gallagher says he was wrongly accused and that fellow SEAL team members testifying against him, several under grants of immunity, are disgruntled subordinates who fabricated allegations to force him from command. His defense team has filed motions seeking either to dismiss the charges altogether, or remove the lead prosecutor from the case, on grounds of alleged misconduct by the prosecutor and agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). The defense specifically has accused navy lawyers of conducting illegal surveillance of defense attorneys and news media using electronic tracking software secretly embedded in emails sent to the defense. In court, prosecutors have said the email “auditing tools” they used were designed merely to detect the flow of emails without revealing their content, and were aimed at pinpointing the source of leaks from case files sealed by the judge. The judge, U.S. Navy Capt. Aaron Rugh, adjourned the hearing without ruling yet on the defense motions. But Rugh said he had already found the prosecution’s conduct amounted to a violation of the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial under the U.S. Constitution. Even if the judge refuses to dismiss the case, removing the lead prosecutor, navy Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak, would probably result in a lengthy delay. A ruling on the motions could come any time, and momentum seemed to be moving the favor of the defense. At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, the judge unexpectedly ordered Gallagher released from base confinement at a nearby military hospital center in San Diego while he awaits trial. He was transferred there from a military brig at a Marine Corps air station in California in March at the direction of Trump, who cited Gallagher’s “past service to our country.” Trump last Friday said he was considering pardons for a number of service members accused of war crimes, and Gallagher’s case is widely believed to be one of the cases under review.


Virginia employee kills 12 in public building

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A longtime public utilities employee sprayed gunfire “indiscriminately” in a government building complex on Friday in Virginia Beach, Virginia, killing 12 people and wounding six, police said. The gunman was killed after trading fire with responding officers, police Chief James Cervera told a news conference. The chief said the suspect engaged in a long gunbattle with law enforcement officers as police confronted him inside the building. One police officer was wounded in the shootout, but his bullet-proof vest saved his life. The police chief said the suspect was armed with a .45-caliber handgun equipped with a “sound suppressor” device and was reloading his weapon with extended ammunition magazines as he moved through the building. The shooting happened just after 4 p.m., when the gunman entered one of the buildings at the Virginia Beach municipal complex and “immediately began to indiscriminately fire on all of the victims,” Cervera said. Authorities did not release the shooter’s name or speculate on his motives. The building where the shooting took place in Virginia Beach, a city on the East Coast about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Washington, housed the city’s public works and utilities offices. According to the Washington-based Gun Violence Archive monitoring group, Friday’s shooting was the 150th mass shooting in the United States this year, defined as a single event in which four or more people are shot or killed. Despite the scale of gun violence across the nation, gun ownership laws are lax and efforts to address the issue legislatively have long been deadlocked at the federal level.

guns
murder
mass shootings
virginia
police


Saudi king slams Iran's 'terrorist acts' at Islamic summit

Abstract: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Arabia’s King Salman slammed Iran over recent attacks targeting the kingdom, describing the incidents on Saturday in a speech before Muslim leaders gathered in Mecca as “terrorist acts” that threaten global energy supplies. It was the monarch’s strongest words yet since tensions spiked in recent weeks between the two regional heavyweights. The U.S. has sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to deter Iran as tensions run high. The crisis stems from the Donald Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers last year and impose crippling economic sanctions on the country. Speaking to leaders from the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) gathered in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca, King Salman opened the summit with a statement saying the world must fight the sources and funding of terrorism around the world. He then said the alleged sabotage of four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in past weeks represents a “grave danger” to the security of maritime traffic and regional security. He blamed Iranian-backed terrorist militias of being behind a subsequent drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline. “We emphasize that these subversive terrorist acts are aimed not only at the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also on the security of navigation and energy supplies to the world,” King Salman said. Iran, which had a representative present at the OIC summit in Mecca, denies being involved in the incidents. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani had his own message for OIC leaders ahead of the summit, urging them to stay focused on the rights of Palestinians. In a letter published online Friday, Rouhani said Muslim leaders should not let the importance of Palestinian statehood be “marginalized” in the face of the Trump administration’s forthcoming peace plan. Rouhani also complained in the letter about not being invited to the Islamic summit, but expressed his country’s readiness to work with all Muslim leaders to confront the White House’s so-called Deal of the Century. Glimpses of the still undisclosed plan suggest it sidelines or ignores the long-standing goal of Palestinian independence. A meeting next month in Bahrain focusing on the economics of the plan is being boycotted by the Palestinian leadership, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE are attending amid growing ties with Israel in the face of shared enemy Iran. King Salman told OIC leaders that the rights of Palestinians remains a cornerstone issue of the organization, which was formed 50 years ago in response to an extremist arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem, one of Islam’s most sacred sites. He said the mosque remains under occupation and threat. “We reiterate with emphasis the rejection of any measures that infringe upon the legal status of Al-Quds Al-Sharif,” King Salman said, referring to east Jerusalem and the mosque compound. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said any peace deal that does not include an independent and sovereign Palestinian state along 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital will be rejected by the OIC body. “We shall not accept the rewriting of history, exchanging justice with economic benefits and disregarding dignity and legitimacy,” he told the OIC summit. The Islamic summit has drawn political figures and heads of state from countries spanning Africa, the Middle East and Asia. They come with widely varying policies and priorities, but share a common reverence for the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The meeting began after midnight and ran into the early hours Saturday due to evening prayers and daylong fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Saudi Arabia’s effort to bring leaders to Mecca reflects the kingdom’s desire to project a unified Muslim and Arab position on Iran to isolate it internationally. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Tehran regrets “Saudi Arabia’s abuse of its privilege as the host” of the OIC “to sow division between Islamic and regional countries.” The summit follows two emergency Arab meetings the night before in Mecca criticizing Iran’s behavior and influence in countries like Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Presenting a unified stance on Iran faces obstacles within OIC member-states, which includes Iran. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is attending the summit, has sought good ties with both Saudi Arabia and Iran, for example. The leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group told supporters in Lebanon on Friday that the Mecca summits are a Saudi call for help from Arab countries after Saudi Arabia failed to win in Yemen, where the kingdom and its allies have been at war since 2015 against Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels. “It is a sign of failure,” Hassan Nasrallah said. “These summits are calls for help … that express the failure and the inabilities in confronting the Yemeni army, popular resistance and people.”

conflict
saudi arabia
iran
lebanon
king salman
donald trump


Newly found documents lay out Republican plan to boost control via citizenship question in census

Abstract: Austin, TEXAS - Computer files discovered in the home of a Republican operative who died last year contain a blueprint for how the GOP could extend its domination of legislatures in states where growing Latino populations favor Democrats and offer compelling context about a related case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The files from North Carolina redistricting expert Tom Hofeller include detailed calculations that lay out gains Republicans would see in Texas by basing legislative districts on the number of voting-age citizens rather than the total population. But he said that would be possible only if the Census asked every household about its members’ immigration status for the first time since 1950. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on that question within a month. But Republicans who support adding the citizenship question have rarely acknowledged any partisan political motive. The emergence of the documents now could figure heavily in the case the court is considering. To civil liberties lawyers suing to block the question, it is now clear that partisan politics were at work all along. They assert in court filings that Hofeller not only laid out the political benefit for the GOP but also ghost-wrote a U.S. Department of Justice letter calling on the Census Bureau to add an immigration question to next year’s survey. The Justice Department denied the allegations in a statement on Thursday, saying Hofeller’s Texas analysis “played no role in the Department’s December 2017 request to reinstate a citizenship question to the 2020 decennial census.” In that 2017 letter, Justice said it needed citizenship information to protect the voting rights of minorities. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the citizenship question in April and is expected to rule by July whether it will be allowed. “What it would result in is outrageously overpopulated and underpopulated districts,” said Matt Angle, a Democratic redistricting strategist, adding that the resulting maps would harm Texas’ booming Hispanic population with the aim of benefiting Republicans. Many of the state’s top Republicans, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, have publicly expressed support for a citizenship question on the Census. On Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not respond to questions about whether he would endorse using citizenship data to draw new maps, although a spokeswoman said last year that the Census question would provide greater transparency and was dismissive of fears of under-reporting. Opponents contend that many noncitizens and their relatives will shy away from being counted, fearing that law enforcement will be told of individuals’ citizenship status. That could cause undercounts in places with large Latino populations, including parts of Texas, California, Florida and Arizona, and could cost them seats in Congress as well as federal funding. But the political impact of the citizenship question could go beyond an undercount if states use citizenship information to draw the maps for state legislative districts. The concept was introduced in legislation over the last few years in Missouri and Nebraska, where the state constitution already calls for excluding “aliens” from its apportionment. And Alabama has sued the federal government saying it should supply citizenship information. In Texas, Hofeller calculated in his report that about a half-dozen Latino-dominated districts would disappear, including a portion of one in the Dallas area, up to two in Houston’s Harris County and two or three in the border counties of South Texas. “A switch to the use of citizen voting age population as the redistricting population base for redistricting would be advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites,” he wrote. There is a question of whether the switch would be legal. The U.S. Constitution specifies that congressional districts should be based on how many people — not citizens — live there. But it is murkier for many state legislative districts. The case at the heart of Hofeller’s 2015 report was brought by Texas voters who contended it was unfair that noncitizens and minors were counted in making legislative districts because it gave a bigger voice to a smaller number of eligible voters in places with a lot of noncitizens and children. In response, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that states could not be forced to use voting-age citizens as the basis for districting. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with that decision but wrote a separate opinion that seems to invite states to do it on their own. “It instead leaves states significant leeway in apportioning their own districts to equalize total population, to equalize eligible voters, or to promote any other principle consistent with a republican form of government,” Thomas wrote. If a state tried to use a limited population count for redistricting, a lawsuit would be likely. “They’re always trying to argue that only citizens should be counted for drawing the lines. They think it’s to their advantage,” said Luis Vera, a San Antonio-based lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens who has spent decades in court with the state over redistricting battles and said he would sue if Texas switched to citizen-based districts. Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said lawmakers may be reluctant to change which count is used for redistricting knowing they would face legal challenges. He said that even if a switch could be approved under a state constitution, it could run afoul of the federal Voting Rights Act, which bars state and local governments from restricting equal voting access based on race. But Rogelio Saenz, a sociologist at the University of Texas-San Antonio, said he expects it will be considered in Texas, where Democrats picked up 12 seats in the House last year, now giving them 67 of the 150. “The Republican Party is really anxious to gain back those few seats they lost in the last election,” Saenz said.

u.s .
immigration
courts
elections
republicans


Trump to formally announce re-election bid on June 18

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he would formally announce his bid for re-election at a June 18 rally in Florida — a state that was key to his victory in 2016. Trump’s wife Melania, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen will also be part of the evening event in Orlando at the Amway Center arena, Trump said on Twitter. “I will be announcing my Second Term Presidential Run… on June 18th in Orlando,” he said. “Join us for this Historic Rally!” The event is largely symbolic — Trump has made it clear since taking office that he planned to run again in 2020, has held multiple campaign rallies and has already raised tens of millions of dollars. When he speaks to his supporters, he often refers to his six remaining years in power — not the 18 months left in his first term. Trump will launch his campaign against the backdrop of mounting Democratic calls for his impeachment, including by several of the nearly two dozen members of the opposition party seeking to unseat him. For now, the 72-year-old billionaire Republican leader has focused his energy — and fiery criticism — on Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, the 76-year-old former vice president. Biden, a six-term senator before serving as No. 2 to President Barack Obama, has taken a substantial lead in early polling. Trump has referred to him as “Sleepy Joe” — and even “SleepyCreepy Joe.” Biden styles himself, like Trump, as an ardent defender of working class Americans — someone who can win back the Midwestern, white, male blue-collar voters who went for the Republican in 2016. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the White House. Three weeks ago, Trump said the Democratic presidential primary would come down to a race between Biden and independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who lost the nomination to Clinton in 2016. “Looks to me like it’s going to be SleepyCreepy Joe over Crazy Bernie,” Trump tweeted. “Everyone else is fading fast!” In the announcement of his presidential run in April, Biden said Trump had “fundamentally altered the character of this nation.” The scene of Trump’s announcement is no accident: Florida is a major prize for any presidential candidate, and traditionally a battleground state. In 2012, Obama bested Mitt Romney in the Sunshine State by less than 1 percentage point. In 2016, Trump beat Clinton there by a bit more than one point. The election will take place on Nov. 3, 2020.

elections
donald trump
2020 u.s. election


Czech leader Andrej Babis has conflict of interest, preliminary EU report says

Abstract: PRAGUE - The European Commission has determined that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is in conflict of interest because of his business empire placed in trust funds, and the country may lose some EU funding as a result, daily Hospodarske noviny reported on Friday. The findings, if confirmed in further proceedings, could mean that the Czech Republic would have to return an unspecified amount of funding paid to the businesses, the daily said on its website, www.ihned.cz. It would also be a political blow to Babis, who has strongly denied violating any rules. It could close the route to future development funding for the firms, formerly owned by Babis and now in the trust funds that list Babis as their beneficiary. A spokesman for the commission declined to comment on the report and on what he called “ongoing audit procedures.” Babis said in a text message to Reuters he strongly disagreed with the commission’s stance. “This is only a preliminary proposal that will be thoroughly analyzed and the Czech Republic … will make its comments. “Only then the commission will send us a final report. I resolutely reject its position and will fight for its change. “The Czech Republic will certainly not have to return any subsidies. There is no reason for that because I do not violate Czech nor European legal rules regarding conflict of interest.” The finance ministry confirmed it had received a preliminary report, but declined to confirm the conclusions, saying they could change after comments to be supplied by the Czech side. Babis separately faces a criminal investigation in Prague for alleged abuse of 2 million euros in EU subsidies a decade ago. He denies any wrongdoing in that case. The main firm built by Babis over the past 25 years is Agrofert, a conglomerate of some 250 companies that Babis placed in trusts in 2017. It receives tens of millions of euros per year in EU funding, most of it farm subsidies that are not affected by the ongoing probe. The EU halted payments to the Czech Republic late last year to reimburse the national budget for project financing from the EU’s structural funds to Agrofert companies. The finance ministry has said this amounted to 161 million crowns ($6.95 million) so far. Transparency International, a non-governmental organization that initiated the EU probe, estimated the government would have to return about €19 million in EU subsidies which it should claim back from Agrofert. Moreover, TI chief David Ondracka told reporters Agrofert could in the future be cut off from EU and national development funding, investment incentives and public contracts, which could amount to €150 million to €230 million per year. Agrofert said on Friday it had not been contacted in the case and reiterated its stance that it followed applicable laws. Babis’ critics say he has wide-ranging conflicts of interests also because Agrofert owns two national newspapers and a radio station, and because the government is instrumental in setting farming, environmental and other polices that affect the Agrofert business. The opposition Pirate Party said it would seek a vote of no confidence in the minority cabinet led by Babis, but the government currently has a solid base of support in parliament. The leak of the EU report could bolster activists who had already planned a large rally against Babis in Prague on June 4.

eu
corruption
czech republic
andrej babis


Trump says Boris Johnson would do 'very good job' as U.K. leader ahead of state visit

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump, days before his state visit to the U.K., again weighed in on British politics, saying Boris Johnson “would do a very good job” as prime minister. He also referred to Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, as “nasty.” Trump said Johnson, the pro-Brexit front-runner vying to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, “would be excellent” as the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party. “I like him,” Trump said in an interview with the Sun, a London newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. “I have always liked him. I don’t know that he is going to be chosen, but I think he is a very good guy, a very talented person,” Trump said. Trump’s comments come days before he is to arrive in the U.K., and they represent another break with custom not to offer commentary on allies’ internal political contests. Trump also created a stir last July when he said Johnson would make a great prime minister, shortly after the former London mayor quit as foreign secretary in protest against May’s proposed Brexit deal. The president is expected to meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as well as Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, his wife, Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, the duke of Sussex. Yet the upcoming royal reception didn’t stop the president from criticizing Harry’s wife, Meghan — for calling him “misogynistic” and “divisive” during the 2016 presidential campaign. “What can I say? I didn’t know that she was nasty,” Trump said. He nevertheless predicted “she will be very good” as a member of the royal family, and said she hoped she succeeded in the role. The princess, an American actress who married Harry last year and who recently gave birth, is not expected to meet Trump during his visit. Trump said that while he liked Johnson — and the fact “he has been very positive about me” — his words shouldn’t be construed as a full endorsement. “Other people have asked me for an endorsement too,” Trump said. He added that he believed his backing would “help anybody,” and that he also was a fan of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his plan to increase defense spending. Trump said he had not been approached by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who is also among the candidates for the leadership of the Tories. Gove criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord in an interview with the BBC earlier this month, saying “saber rattling of the kind that some have advocated is not the way forward.” Trump said Gove should support pressure on Iran that would benefit the U.K. Earlier this week, Trump said he might meet with Johnson as well as Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage while he was in Britain. May, who repeatedly failed to secure Parliament’s backing for her proposed deal to exit the European Union, has said she will step down on June 7 — after the presidential visit.

u.k .
boris johnson
donald trump
brexit
meagan markle


Record floods breach Arkansas levee and overtop two more in Missouri

Abstract: LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS - Relentless flooding in the central U.S. on Friday inundated communities and damaged or spilled over levees on three major rivers in two states, and authorities discovered the body of a drowning victim at a Missouri lake. The fast-flowing Arkansas River smashed a 40-foot (12-meter) hole in a levee in rural western Arkansas, causing water to spill into a nearby community. In northeast Missouri, a levee was overtopped on the Mississippi River, and another levee was topped on the Missouri River in the central part of the state. Late Friday, the National Weather Service in Little Rock said in a tweet that a levee had failed in North Little Rock and flash flooding was expected. “Move to higher ground and heed the advice of local officials,” the weather service said. The flooding has been building for days because of heavy rainfall upstream. In Arkansas, officials were warning of more potential problems on an already strained levee system. “These levees were not built to sustain this high a flow for this long, and we are seeing problems and there more than likely will be more,” said Laurie Driver, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District. In eastern Missouri, the state Highway Patrol’s Water Division reported that the body of 57-year-old Lane Panasuk, of Butte, Montana, was recovered Thursday evening from Harry S. Truman Lake in Henry County, but the patrol said it did not know why he was in the water. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had warned visitors about high water levels that had closed most of the campgrounds around the lake and a road over its dam. In Arkansas, the levee breached at Dardanelle, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. Yell County officials had anticipated the breach and urged residents in the nearby Holla Bend area to evacuate Thursday. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said crews went door to door to recommend evacuation for about 160 homes. Yell County Emergency Manager Jeff Gilkey told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that rapid currents from the river ripped a 40-foot (12-meter) section from the levee. Aerial video posted by the sheriff’s office Friday showed water pouring through the hole. “There was nothing we could do to stop it,” Gilkey said. National Weather Service data showed a dip in the water level at Dardanelle, likely due to the breach. A flash flood warning was issued early Friday for the area, and forecasters said residents should be prepared for rapidly rising water. Local officials said they were uncertain where the water would end up. “Water is going to do what it wants to do,” Yell County Judge Mark Thone told reporters at a news conference. “We’re just trying to head this off.” The levee breached because of ongoing flooding along the Arkansas River, which began in Oklahoma. Late Thursday night, President Donald Trump approved the Arkansas request for a disaster declaration in 16 counties affected by the flooding. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the declaration will help the state minimize the loss, but added that “this is far from over.” Hutchinson said emergency officials were working on getting ahead of the flooding as it continues southeast, trying to identify and strengthen any other pressure points or weak spots in the levee system. “Obviously the breach in Dardanelle is a sign that there could be more of these breaches that will happen as pressure continues to mount in the coming days,” Hutchinson said. Entergy Arkansas said Friday that it does not anticipate any impact to its nuclear plant near the Arkansas River in Russellville. In Fort Smith, the state’s second-largest city, the river levels held steady at above-record levels Friday. Officials there said they wouldn’t know the extent of the damage until the water receded, which could take days, if not longer. Officials in Missouri issued a mandatory evacuation order for some residents of Howard County, where the Missouri River topped a levee. County Emergency Management Co-Director Bill John said the levee near Petersburg was expected to fail soon, KRCG reported. Levees in Lewis County along the Mississippi River in northeast Missouri were overtopped Thursday, flooding several thousand acres of farmland. Lewis County Emergency Director David Keith said no homes or businesses were impacted. In northeastern Oklahoma, residents forced from their homes by flooding made plans to return as the river recedes. The National Weather Service said Friday the Arkansas River’s level at Tulsa has dropped almost 4 feet from Wednesday’s crest and will continue to recede through the weekend. Forecasters say river levels were also dropping in Muskogee, Oklahoma, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa. Earlier this year, about two dozen levee systems were breached or overtopped during Missouri River flooding that devastated parts of Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.

weather storms disasters floods missouri arkansas


Japan aims to reach deal at G20 summit to reduce amount of plastic waste entering oceans to zero by 2050

Abstract: Japan aims to get an agreement at this month’s Group of 20 summit in Osaka on the reduction of plastic waste inflow to the ocean to zero by 2050, a source close to the matter said Saturday. The government plans to raise the matter as a top agenda item when it hosts the two-day event from June 28 and hopes to assess progress in member countries’ efforts in cutting such waste at a meeting of the U.N. Environment Assembly in 2021, the source said. However, it remains unclear whether an agreement can be reached as the United States is expected to be cautious about such an initiative while European countries could call for a more ambitious goal, the source said. Ahead of the summit, ways to strengthen the monitoring of plastic waste and promoting research, as well as providing financial and technological support to developing countries, will be discussed by G20 environment and energy ministers in Nagano Prefecture on June 15 and 16. About 300 million tons of plastic waste is produced every year, of which 8 million tons end up in the ocean, significantly affecting marine ecosystems, according to the U.N. Environment Program. Many countries are grappling with increasing amounts of plastic waste that degrades into small pieces when exposed to ultraviolet light and abrasion. Pieces measuring less than 5 millimeters in length are called microplastics.

osaka
g20
waste
plastic
plastic waste
_g20news


Acting U.S. defense chief calls out China and urges Asian allies to boost military spending

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan suggested Saturday that China was responsible for a range of destabilizing activities in Asia, stirring already heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies. In a wide-ranging speech in front of regional defence chiefs at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Shanahan called on Asian allies to increase their security spending, while emphasizing the United States’ commitment to the region. He did not specifically name China when making accusations of “actors” destabilizing the region. “Perhaps the greatest long-term threat to the vital interests of states across this region comes from actors who seek to undermine, rather than uphold, the rules-based international order,” Shanahan said in his first major speech since taking over as acting defence secretary in January. “If the trends in these behaviors continue, artificial features in the global commons could become tollbooths, sovereignty could become the purview of the powerful.” His reference appeared to be to artificial islands built by China in the disputed South China Sea, a strategic waterway claimed almost wholly by Beijing. While naming China, Shanahan said it was in Beijing’s interests to have a constructive relationship with the United States. But he added: “Behavior that erodes other nations’ sovereignty and sows distrust of China’s intentions must end.” “Until it does, we stand against a myopic, narrow, and parochial vision of the future, and we stand for the free and open order that has benefitted us all — including China.” Shanahan’s comments come as the United States and China are locked in an escalating trade war and at odds over a range of issues from the South China Sea to democratic Taiwan, which China says is part of its sacred territory. China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is due to address Asia’s marquee security summit on Sunday when he is expected to criticize the United States over its implied support for a democratic Taiwan. Wei, who is also the third-highest-ranked general in the People’s Liberation Army, is the first Chinese defense minister to visit the security conference since Liang Guanglie attended in 2011. On Friday, Shanahan held talks with Wei that both sides called “constructive,” although their teams later reverted to type with critical comments on each other’s defence strategies. Along with the expected warnings aimed at China, Shanahan referred to cooperation between the two countries in areas like military-to-military exchanges, counterpiracy and joint efforts to reduce the “extraordinary threat” posed by North Korea’s military ambitions. Shanahan also called on U.S. allies to contribute more to their own defenses. Burden sharing, from Asia to Europe, has long been a demand of President Donald Trump’s administration. “We need you to invest in ways that take more control over your sovereignty and your own ability to exercise sovereign choices.” For years, American defense secretaries have used the Shangri-La conference’s podium to condemn China for its militarization of outposts in contested areas of the South China Sea and for conducting cyberespionage against U.S. technology programs. But they have balanced their criticism with calls for cooperation, stability and a rules-based order in the region. Shanahan told reporters Friday that the U.S. needs to do a better job of describing its level of commitment to the region, including military exercises, training and other activities. “I do think we have to up our game on talking about interactions,” he said, adding that the U.S. will have a larger presence in the region for various military exercises. “Our responsibility is to show them what we’re actually doing.”

china
u.s .
military
disputed islands
south china sea
budgets
patrick shanahan


North Korea's Kim visits factories linked to missile launches

Abstract: SEOUL - The factories have innocuous names, but analysts say several ostensibly civilian facilities visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently are also used to build ballistic missile launchers and other weapons. On Saturday, North Korea state news agency KCNA released reports of Kim providing “field guidance” at a number of factories and cities, without specifying when the visits occurred. While the reports only mentioned economic elements, the sites help form the core of North Korea’s arms industry, and have played a major role in developing its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology, according to analysts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in California. “This is the heart of North Korea’s defense industry,” CNS researcher Jeffrey Lewis said. “These are the kind of visits we saw in 2016 and 2017 as North Korea moved toward ICBM testing.” Among the sites Kim visited was the February 8 General Machine Factory, which has been used to construct ballistic missile launchers. The machine factory was the site of the July 28, 2017, launch of a Hwasong-14 ICBM, which Kim personally observed. “North Korea has usually tried to hide this facility by not naming it,” Lewis said. “Sometimes it is unnamed; in other cases only the name of the plant manager was given.” KCNA reported that Kim called for a “higher modernization plan” for the factory, while he watched “varieties of daily necessity goods” being produced. In January, Lewis authored a report listing the February 8 plant as one of several sites that North Korea’s leaders had visited in the past without fully disclosing the location or full purpose. In many cases the visits appeared to be linked to efforts to reduce North Korea’s reliance on imported chassis for its missile launching vehicles, the report said. Kim also visited the Kanggye General Tractor Plant and the Kanggye General Precision Machine Plant, according to KCNA. Both of those factories are linked to the defense industry and may have played a role in the missile program, the CNS analysts said. Kim has declared his nuclear force “complete” and announced an end to tests of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. At the same time, however, Kim called for more operational weapons. Negotiations with the United States aimed at convincing North Korea to surrender its existing nuclear weapons and missiles have stalled. In May Kim oversaw the first flight of a previously untested weapon — a relatively small, fast missile experts believe will be easier to hide, launch, and maneuver in flight.

north korea
kim jong un
weapons
nuclear weapons
donald trump


South Korea urges restraint after North's May missile tests

Abstract: SINGAPORE - South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo is fending off calls to step up pressure on North Korea after it test-fired missiles last month. Jeong told an annual security conference in Singapore Saturday that the tests are being investigated and a conclusion is within reach. North Korea itself has defended the launches, saying it was exercising its right to self-defense. The U.S. and Japan say North Korea tested short-range ballistic missiles on May 4 and 9, ending a pause that began in late 2017. Both countries called it a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Jeong says Pyongyang has shown it intends to work toward peace and urged the international community to “assure North Korea that the decision to denuclearize is indeed the right decision.”

u.s .
north korea
military
weapons
nuclear weapons
south korea


Tiananmen Square 'tank man' photographer urges China to open up on what happened in June 1989

Abstract: ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA - The American photographer who shot the iconic image of a man standing in front of tanks at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing says it is time for the Chinese government to come clean about the bloody events of 30 years ago. Jeff Widener was an Associated Press photo editor based in Bangkok when he was called in to help cover a growing student-led pro-democracy movement centered on the square in the center of Beijing. The day after the military crushed the protests on June 3-4, Widener took the shot of an unknown man holding shopping bags facing a row of tanks. The photo of “tank man” became one of the most famous images of defiance of the 20th century. In an interview, Widener said he does not understand why China’s leaders will not admit to errors made and reveal the truth behind the crackdown. “The United States and European countries have made mistakes throughout history and they’ve reconciled those problems,” Widener said. “I think it’s time for China to move forward and just come clean on what happened, report to the family members what happened to their loved ones so that they can put this to rest,” he said. “I think that’s the right, decent thing to do.” The 62-year-old Californian developed a love of photography at a young age, eventually joining AP as Southeast Asia picture editor. Rejected for a journalist visa at the Chinese Consulate in Bangkok, he flew to Hong Kong, where he got a tourist visa through a travel agency, and made it through customs in Beijing with a mobile darkroom in his luggage. With the protests in full swing, he developed a daily routine of riding a bicycle early in the morning to Tiananmen Square, where thousands of students were camped out. His May 30, 1989, photo captured the “Goddess of Democracy,” the students’ version of the Statue of Liberty, facing the portrait of China’s first leader, Mao Zedong, on the massive Tiananmen gate. “So you had this democracy facing off with communism that was quite striking,” Widener said. Soon, the mood began to change. After the government declared martial law, Beijing residents blocked roads to prevent troops — at that time unarmed — from moving toward the square. That enraged party elders, led by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, steeling their determination to end the protests by military means. On the night of June 3, Widener rode to the square with AP reporter Dan Biers, just as the People’s Liberation Army began fighting its way eastward through barricades and crowds of protesters. He suffered a serious head injury from a flying piece of asphalt, but made it back to the AP bureau and his hotel. Widener emerged the following afternoon to find rock-strewn streets, burned-out vehicles and a population dazed by the violence deployed against them by the government. Asked to get a shot of military forces occupying the square, Widener headed to the Beijing Hotel, which had vantage points close to the action, even as gunfire continued to sound in various parts of the city. There, he met Kirk Martsen, an American college exchange student, who would play a key role in the tank man tale. Martsen acted as if he and Widener were old friends, allowing the photographer to slip past security men guarding the hotel entrance. Martsen had a room on the hotel’s sixth floor facing the street, to which he gave Widener access. The problem though, was film. Widener had run out and there was no way to go back to the AP bureau to get more. Martsen went hunting among the frightened tourists in the lobby, returning two hours later with a single roll that would prove crucial in the events that followed. Widener stayed overnight, and early on June 5, he rushed to the balcony upon hearing the sound of approaching tanks. “I started to take a photograph and a guy walks out with shopping bags and I’m thinking to myself, ‘You know, this guy’s going to mess up my photograph,’ ” he said. “I mean, it really was like I wasn’t thinking clearly.” “So I just watched him and waited. But they didn’t shoot him. So I thought, ‘You know, I need a closer shot,’ ” he said. The man moved at least twice to block the tanks and climbed up onto the turret of one to converse with a crew member. Eventually, he was whisked from the scene by two men in blue, whose identities, like that of the man himself, have never been revealed. At least five photographers as well as videographers shot the scene, but Widener’s version became by far the most famous. The photo made him a Pulitzer Prize finalist and was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential images of all time.

china
beijing
demonstrations
tiananmen square
prodemocracy


Illiterate to author: Aging South Koreans embrace written word after being deprived of opportunities in youth

Abstract: SUNCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - Hyper-wired South Korea is the world’s 11th-largest economy, one of its most technologically advanced countries, and the first to launch a nationwide 5G network. But that is a relatively recent transformation. At the other end of the spectrum, many of its elderly are illiterate. Now some are finally learning to read and write, decades after their contemporaries — and some are even becoming published authors. In the first half of the 20th century, the agricultural south was the poorer half of the underdeveloped peninsula, and many children never went to school. According to a 2017 study by the National Institute for Lifelong Education, 67.7 percent of South Koreans age 80 or older were unable to read or write. The phenomenon is significantly more pronounced among women — Korea has been a patriarchal society for centuries, and many families kept girls from school even into the mid-20th century, when the country began its rapid industrialization. “My grandmother used to say a woman with knowledge always ends up rebellious,” said Jang Seon-ja, 75, at a library in Suncheon. “So she forbade me from school.” It is a marked contrast from the present day, when families put enormous emphasis on education and when children — both boys and girls — study for long hours, including extra after-school classes, in a high-pressure contest for the best possible opportunities. Jang is one of 20 grandmothers in a writing class at the library in Suncheon, 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Seoul. Sitting in rows with pencils in their hands, the gray-haired women — from 57 to 89 years old — summon recollections of their mothers and try to put them into words. Since the program began three years ago, they have co-written a collection of memoirs titled “We Didn’t Know How to Write, But We Knew How to Live,” which conveys stories that bear witness to their country’s historical turmoil. More than 7,000 copies have been sold since it was published in February, said library director Na Ok-hyeon, who is seeking an English-language publication and has taken three of the authors on a tour of the U.S. “I was at first worried whether the translation would capture subtle nuance expressed in Korean,” Na said, but added, “Then I saw many with tears in their eyes.” One entry in the book by Kim Young-bun, 80, recalls her family’s flight during the Korean War, when she was 11. “While fleeing, my younger brother died,” she wrote. “Seeing nowhere to lay him to rest, I couldn’t just leave him, so I carried him on my back all day long. “To this day, I cannot forget him.”


The 'other' Tiananmen: 30 years ago, protests engulfed China

Abstract: CHENGDU, CHINA - Karl Hutterer stood on the rooftop of his hotel and watched as Chinese police fired tear gas into the square and truncheon-wielding security forces moved in under the cover of night in June 1989. He was not anywhere near Tiananmen Square. Hutterer was more than 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away in the southwestern city of Chengdu, one of many where thousands of citizens took to the streets during the tumultuous spring that shook China three decades ago. Beijing was the epicenter of student-led protests, with hundreds or possibly more than 1,000 killed by soldiers on June 4, 1989. But Hutterer’s testimony is a reminder that large-scale demonstrations had erupted all around China. “I saw bodies taken, wounded or dead possibly, out of the hospital down the street from the monument,” said Hutterer, then a 49-year-old anthropology professor from the U.S. One person gestured to a spot where someone was beaten to death, he said. According to The Tiananmen Papers, a set of leaked documents that allegedly cover internal Communist Party meetings and reports, protests ignited across more than 100 cities in China at the end of May. “This was a nationwide mass movement — this was a people’s movement — where everyone shared, at a bare minimum, a desire for more freedoms and more rights,” said Andrea Worden, who taught English at the Hunan Medical College in 1989 and witnessed mass protests in central Hunan province. But in part due to the lack of foreign media outside the capital, many stories from the provinces have been lost as Chinese authorities systematically erase and rewrite history, and punish those who question it. “It’s a matter of time before it completely disappears,” Worden said. Between April and June of 1989, citizens from Lanzhou city in northwestern China to southern Guangdong province called for freedom of speech and railed against corruption — galvanized by economic anxiety, government interference in their personal lives, and desire for democracy. But many also reacted to the events transpiring in Tiananmen Square. In Changsha, the capital of Hunan, Worden estimates at least 20,000 students demonstrated on May 17, carrying posters saying “Support the Beijing hunger-strikers.” A few days later in Changchun, northeastern Jilin province, several thousand factory workers marched to support the fasting students in the capital, said Tang Yuanjun, then an engineer at First Automotive Works (FAW) Group who participated in protests. As word spread about troops opening fire in Beijing, people across China braved the streets in solidarity and anger. “It is because of their (the government’s) cruelty that we were not afraid,” said Ding Mao, one of the student leaders at Lanzhou University. “We felt an implacable hatred toward the government for going back on their word with students,” he explained. On the night of June 4, Ding said he led other students to a bridge crossing the Yellow River, where they staged a quiet sit-in. “That night, the whole student body did not sleep,” said another student protester from Lanzhou University, who requested anonymity. “When we heard the news that they had opened fire, we were furious,” he said, estimating that at least several thousand people went out to block roads, bridges, and the railway tracks from troops. Many protesters and residents in the provinces paid a heavy price for their participation in the 1989 demonstrations. Tang, the automobile engineer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “counter-revolutionary” activities. “It felt like the Cultural Revolution, as if that had returned again,” said the 62-year-old, who was released after eight years and later fled to the U.S. by way of Taiwan. In Chengdu, death toll estimates vary from 10 to 300, according to “The People’s Republic of Amnesia,” a book on the Tiananmen protests by Louisa Lim, who drew from leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, a whistleblowing Communist Party member, and eyewitnesses. More than 100 students were taken to the hospital with head injuries, according to The Tiananmen Papers, which found that police had beaten many people with electric prods. Security forces worked on demonstrators “with truncheons and knives until they were motionless,” wrote Hutterer in notes dated June 10, 1989, that combine his own experience and secondhand accounts from friends. “Even people who lay on the ground and pleaded for mercy were clubbed,” he wrote. Thirty years later, Chinese authorities regularly scrub online posts about the Tiananmen protests, or punish efforts to memorialize them. In April, four Chengdu-based activists were handed prison sentences of between three and three-and-a-half years for advertising and selling alcohol with labels commemorating June 4. For the government, June 4 is “a scar it can never reveal,” said the protester from Lanzhou University. While the Tiananmen protests may feel “very distant” for the younger generation, it has left a deep impression on those who experienced it, he said. “No matter what career they have now, or what perspective they hold, or whether or not they still bring it up,” he said, “for our generation, this has left a deep mark in our minds.”

china
history
rights
protests
tiananmen square


A third of Japanese made trips during 10-day Golden Week, survey shows

Abstract: The proportion of people in Japan who made trips, either for the day or overnight, during the country’s unprecedented 10-day Golden Week holiday period between late April and early May stood at 35 percent, a survey by the Japan Tourism Agency has shown. Respondents had seven days off on average during the holiday period, up from 6.2 days a year before, according to the survey results released Friday. The survey showed that 40.7 percent of respondents in their 30s made trips during the period, representing the highest proportion, followed by those in the 40s at 38.3 percent and those in their 20s at 36.4 percent. The proportion was lower among those aged 70 or older, reaching just 27.6 percent, according to the survey. Respondents went on trips 1.74 times on average. When asked about reasons for not taking a trip during the period, with multiple answers allowed, 45.1 percent, the highest proportion, cited traffic congestion, followed by financial constraints at 25.5 percent. The results were based on answers from 2,007 people in Japan aged 20 or older that were collected online from May 10 to May 13.


At Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Japanese defense minister warns that North Korea remains global threat

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Saturday that North Korea remains a threat to global security, urging the international community to work closely to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Iwaya also criticized Pyongyang’s recent firing of short-range ballistic missiles as being in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, while emphasizing that defense authorities should maintain deterrence against North Korea. “We need to remind ourselves of the undeniable fact that there has been no essential change in North Korea’s nuclear and missile capacities,” Iwaya said in a speech at the Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore. Pyongyang fired projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles on May 4 and 9, about two months after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un failed to strike a deal during their second summit in late February. In the wake of the collapse of the meeting in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea have been at a standstill, and Pyongyang has resumed provocative actions against Washington. “The most pressing risk is that the collective resolve of the international community abates” before North Korea takes concrete measures toward complete denuclearization, Iwaya said. “Now is the time to make a concerted effort” to fully implement U.N. resolutions aimed at thwarting North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile ambition, he added, stressing the importance of “robust deterrence” against Pyongyang. Iwaya added that Tokyo is eager to have a dialogue with Pyongyang, saying Japan “seeks to normalize its relations with North Korea through a comprehensive resolution of outstanding issues of concern such as abductions.” Recently, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed willingness to hold a summit with Kim “without conditions” to resolve the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. At the same session on the Korean Peninsula, Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for North Korea, also said Washington will continue talks with Pyongyang despite the missile launches. “President Trump is confident” that Kim will meet the commitments that he made at their first summit in Singapore in June last year, Biegun said. “Through continued negotiations, we can continue to close the gaps that separate our two countries.” Meanwhile, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo voiced concern that tensions on the peninsula may be rekindled, depending on future developments of denuclearization talks. At the Feb. 27-28 summit, Trump and Kim fell short of a deal due to the gap between Washington’s insistence on denuclearization and Pyongyang’s demand for sanctions relief. Kim has sought the easing of international economic sanctions, claiming that his country has already carried out concrete steps toward denuclearization. But the U.S. has argued that the relaxing of economic sanctions requires North Korea to scrap all its nuclear facilities and programs. By provoking the United States, Kim is believed to be trying to gain concessions from Trump, who wants to be able to tout results during his re-election campaign next year, some analysts say.

north korea
singapore
shangri-la dialogue
takeshi iwaya


Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote trips to Fukushima

Abstract: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will launch a campaign to promote trips to Fukushima Prefecture for people who participate in international conferences and other events in the capital, Gov. Yuriko Koike has said. Koike is set to conclude an agreement on the campaign with Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori on Thursday. The campaign, intended to support reconstruction in Fukushima following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdowns, will include providing information on tourist spots and suggesting routes for sightseeing. “Enjoying sightseeing before and after business trips is receiving some attention. I want to meet this demand,” Koike said at a news conference Friday.


Japan and Philippines agree to work toward free and open Indo-Pacific

Abstract: Japan and the Philippines have agreed to work toward achieving a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region by strengthening security cooperation. Japan will also continue to support building infrastructure and promoting the peace process in Mindanao between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday after meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte. “As we are both maritime nations sharing basic values and strategic interests, we will strengthen coordination in tackling important challenges, including the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law,” Abe told a joint news conference held at his office. Facing territorial disputes with China in the East and South China seas, respectively, Japan and the Philippines call themselves “strategic partners.” Abe and Duterte also agreed to cooperate in achieving North Korea’s denuclearization by implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions and resolving the issue of Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Duterte, who assumed his post in 2016, has been seen as taking a conciliatory approach to Beijing despite the territorial row over the Spratly Islands, where China has reclaimed land and built an airstrip and other facilities. He visited China in late April for a forum on Beijing’s massive “Belt and Road” infrastructure development initiative. Abe praised Duterte’s own “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development program, saying Japan will continue to extend assistance. Duterte expressed appreciation for Tokyo’s development assistance, saying, “It’s the gold standard for the Philippines’ development cooperation with partner countries.” Abe said the Philippines has decided to lift restrictions on imports of fishery products from Fukushima Prefecture, which were implemented following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Japan argues that fishery products from Fukushima are safe to eat because they are shipped after clearing strict radiation checks. Some countries have been maintaining a total or partial import ban on the products. In April, the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of South Korea, which has maintained its import ban on fishery products from Fukushima and some other prefectures.

china
shinzo abe
south china sea
philippines-japan relations
rodrigo duterte


Lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama's 'war' gaffe puts spotlight on disputed isles

Abstract: Diet lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama was kicked out of opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai last month over remarks he made during an exchange excursion to one of the Russian-controlled islands off the coast of Hokkaido that Japan claims as its own. Other opposition parties have demanded he resign and the ruling coalition has submitted a rebuke of his behavior to the Diet . He has apologized but refuses to step down, claiming the right of free speech. Maruyama was reportedly drunk when he got into an argument with a member of a visa-free exchange group consisting of former Japanese residents or descendants of the four disputed islands. The argument was about Japan’s and Russia’s respective claim to what the former calls the Northern Territories and the latter the Southern Kurils. Prior to World War II, the islands had belonged to Japan. At the end of the war, however, the Soviet Union invaded and has controlled them ever since. Japan is still negotiating for their return, although circumstances indicate there is no way Russia will give any of them back , despite a joint 1956 declaration implying the two smaller territories might be returned after a peace treaty is signed. It is taboo in Japan for anyone, including media organizations, to accept the idea publicly that the islands will never revert to Japanese sovereignty. Maruyama violated this taboo when he asked Koyata Otsuka, the elderly leader of the Japanese group, if he saw any alternative other than war with Russia for reclaiming the islands. Any suggestion of Japan waging war is forbidden in light of the country’s pacifist Constitution and was particularly unwise given the ongoing negotiations with Russia over the territories. Essentially Maruyama was demanding Otsuka be realistic about the chances of Kunashiri being returned by Moscow: What sort of leverage does Japan have? Maruyama’s question, or at least some form of it, should have been asked by the media a long time ago, and what’s interesting about his faux pas is what it revealed, albeit indirectly, of the futility of Japan’s decades-old scheme to get Russia to capitulate. Most of these revelations came out in reporting by the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, which went into detail about what happened the night of May 11 when Maruyama made his fateful remark. The argument took place at the House of Friendship, a two-story prefab structure more casually referred to as Muneo House, after disgraced Hokkaido politician Muneo Suzuki , who helped build it for the exchange program. The former residents’ group, which was participating in a four-day intergovernmental program to visit graves of ancestors and interact with local Russians, was confined to the building for the night. Maruyama was one of two national politicians accompanying them. Members of some media outlets were also there, but not Shukan Bunshun, which recreated events based on interviews with witnesses. Some members of the group had already been drinking that day since Russian hosts often offer vodka to their guests, and they continued imbibing with alcohol brought from Japan. Maruyama joined the revelry — uninvited, according to Shukan Bunshun — and became rowdy, making off-color comments that offended many in the room. At about 8 p.m., he crashed a media interview with Otsuka and made the war remark. However, according to Shukan Bunshun, the trouble didn’t stop there. Maruyama became more obnoxious, saying he was going to go outside and “buy a woman.” Exchange staff became anxious because Japanese visitors are prohibited from going anywhere on the island without express permission from Russian authorities. The staff had to physically prevent Maruyama from leaving, according to Shukan Bunshun. He objected, arguing that as a Diet member he had immunity and, since Kunashiri is “Japanese territory,” he should be able to go wherever he pleased. A government official told Shukan Bunshun that the staff had to watch him all night. Former Foreign Ministry official Masaru Sato told the magazine that had Maruyama gone out and solicited a woman for sex, he would have been taken into custody by Russian police, which would have caused grave problems for the Japanese government, since Japan doesn’t formally recognize Russia’s legal jurisdiction. This would have led to a diplomatic row adversely affecting the negotiations. The organizers of the exchange told Shukan Bunshun that Maruyama had ruined the visit, which cost the central and Hokkaido governments about ¥27 million. However, this potential disaster pointed to a deeper miscalculation on the part of the Japanese government. In a report published last June by the Mainichi Shimbun , a former Japanese resident from another disputed island in the Northern Territories, said that over the years the attitude of Russian residents to his chaperoned visits have changed from resentment to one of warm welcome because they no longer see former residents as a threat to their existence. “It’s become more like a sister city exchange,” said another Japanese visitor. In related articles that appeared in December and April , the Asahi Shimbun explained the enormous amount of investment Japan has made in the territories in order to curry favor with the Russians. In recent years, however, the Russian government has dramatically increased its own investment in infrastructure and social security for Russian residents, thus demonstrating that they are serious about getting more Russians to move there. At the same time, Russia restricts Japanese access. Outside of the exchange program, it is almost impossible for Japanese to visit the islands. Even the Asahi Shimbun, which has a bureau in Vladivostok, said it dispatched a “temporary” Russian assistant to carry out newsgathering on the islands, implying it couldn’t send its Japanese correspondent. It’s not clear how much the exchange program costs, but professor Masanobu Furuya , who was studying the program , estimated in 2013 the total budget at the time to be around ¥2 billion a year. This figure includes the cost of trips by Russians to Japan — it isn’t called an exchange program for nothing — which is also paid for by Japan. No wonder Maruyama was frustrated.

russia
disputed islands
northern territories
hokkaido
russia-japan relations
hodaka maruyama


Historic justification for Japan's tattoo ban is no longer relevant

Abstract: With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games a little more than a year away, it’s time for Japan to turn the page on tattoos. It’s hard to argue with a straight face in this day and age that tattoos are exclusively used by members of the yakuza and ex-criminals. It’s a no-brainer. Many of the foreign athletes and spectators who are expected to come to Japan for the games have tattoos of various shades, and operators of the country’s numerous hot springs, swimming pools and gyms are facing increasing pressure to welcome them with open arms. Why does Japan fear tattoos so much? According to “Modern Encyclopedia of the Yakuza” (2004), the government in 1720 decided to reduce the punishment on some criminal offenses. Criminals would no longer have their noses or ears removed. Instead, their crimes would be identified with tattoos on the skin, usually the arms. Regional differences existed. In what is now Hiroshima, those found guilty of their first crime received a line across their foreheads. Those convicted of a second crime received a line curving to the left down their foreheads, creating a lopsided cross. A third crime resulted in the addition of another two lines, one descending from the axis of the cross and another smaller line on the right above the horizontal line, completing the kanji character for dog. It’s worth noting at this point that gangsters typically call informants “ inu ” (dog), sometimes referring to the police this way as well. Tattoos were popular with gangsters before and after the war for a number of reasons. Symbolically speaking, however, the act of being tattooed once showed a resolve to sever ties with ordinary society and live in the underworld. It’s like a “Thug Life” T-shirt you can never take off. Some gang members would even have the name of their syndicate and/or the name of their boss tattooed onto their body. The intricate tattoos sought after by gangsters certainly aren’t cheap, so getting them was a way of flaunting one’s wealth. There’s even the issue of endurance, and the more tattoos a gangster has, the more likely they are to be respected by other yakuza. “If you’re a man, your ability to stay still and silently endure pain shows itself at the tattoo parlor,” one retired gangster told me. “It can take a year or two years to get a full body tattoo, which shows you can handle pain, you can commit to a long-term goal and you can be trusted. It’s thought that if you get tattooed down to your ankles and wrists (both of which are highly sensitive), people know you’ll never snitch.” There’s no doubt gangsters used tattoos to intimidate others. “There was a time when you could drink for free if you flashed your tattoos,” the gangster said. “Sometimes, you even got into the movies for free. They scared people. I guess they still do.” According to a National Police Agency study in the early 1990s, 73 percent of all gang members had a tattoo. It’s likely this number has decreased since 1992, when the first anti-gang laws went into effect and gangsters begin hiding their identities. Of the roughly 30,000 gang members left in Japan, an estimated half of them are not “official members.” Obviously, if you want to blend in and pass yourself off as an ordinary businessman, tattoos aren’t a plus. The new generation of gang members doesn’t get tattoos. Criminals are increasingly declining to get tattoos, while the rest of the world is embracing them as body art. Does anyone think U.S. pop star Ariana Grande is a menace to society? There may have been a time when keeping gang members out of the country’s hot springs, swimming pools and gyms was a deterrent and a way of encouraging people to leave the yakuza. It no longer has much of a deterrent effect and if Japan hopes to integrate the roughly 50,000 yakuza that have gone straight since 2011 into society, it needs to allow them to mix with the general population. The forthcoming 2020 Games offers Japan the perfect timing to remove the arbitrary bans that are currently being enforced across the country. If Japan can legalize dancing after midnight, it can learn to live with a little ink.

yakuza
organized crime
crime
tattoos
2020 tokyo olympics


Launch of novelty stationery product sparks debate on tipping in Japan

Abstract: A handful of topics are always guaranteed to spark fierce debate, whether discussed face-to-face or remotely online. They include politics, religion and, er, tipping. Tipping has not been embraced by society in Japan, but it turns out that’s precisely why the topic flared up last month. Stationary maker Hi Mojimoji , a company that creates innocuous goods such as keyboard notes that look like animals , recently unveiled a product called “ Kimo Tip ,” which the company promoted with phrases such as “ Japanese tip style .” These pieces of paper resemble a bank check and come complete with an introductory line saying, “Pay to the order with.” The slips of paper also include messages such as “ I really enjoyed the meal ” or “I appreciate your kindness,” while including a space for users to leave their own personalized notes as well. It’s not clear if Hi Mojimoji envisioned its new product as a radical type of consumer kindness or if it thought it was simply producing a novelty good. However, it quickly became apparent how much netizens hated it. Users on Twitter and various message boards weighed in on how ridiculous the concept was, imagining how a worker in the hospitality sector would more than likely feel irritated at the extra waste they had to clean up or highlighting the ridiculousness of writing an actual monetary amount on what amounts to being an imaginary check . AbemaTV devoted an entire news segment to the debate, complete with a list of pros and cons (the wasted paper, don’t forget about the wasted paper!). However, an online roast-a-thon isn’t complete until the spotlight finally falls on the person responsible for the furor, and it didn’t take long for users to trace the product back to “ Kimo Tip Ojisan .” Atsushi Matsuoka’s Twitter account is now private but before he locked it up, netizens could find posts on his timeline of intricate thank-you arrangements and attempts to justify his novelty creation . By the time Kimo Tip became the talk of the town, the product was quietly removed from Hi Mojimoji’s online store. It’s not the first time the subject of tipping has made headlines recently. Immediately before Kimo Tip appeared on the digital collective’s radar, a popular post was shared on Twitter that detailed a story about their little brother going on a trip to a traditional Japanese inn with the woman he was dating. Seeing as this story was posted on Twitter story, it’s best to reserve judgment on the validity of it. However, the brother apparently left a healthy tip for the staff at the inn upon leaving, as he had requested additional services. His date, though, thought this was foolish, since costs for the services had already been fixed and he shouldn’t have needed to pay extra. The couple broke up shortly thereafter, and the post generated a variety of responses. In the wake of both incidents, another netizen shared a story about Japanese people who left origami for French flight attendants, who promptly threw them away because they didn’t find them useful One woman asked her husband who had lived abroad about tipping, and they replied that tipping isn’t about kindness but about evaluating someone’s service, which made sense to the user (but would spark social media Armageddon in the United States). Excite News wondered if this could lead to stalking. Nobody offered up thoughts on an older art exhibition that displayed chopstick holders that had been folded up and handed over as “tips” to waiting staff, although it was a good chance to revisit it . For the most part, the Kimo Tip debate is just another classic example of netizens finding a goofy product and ripping it apart. Yet it revealed a little tension about tipping in Japan, a country where in most situations people don’t have to leave anything extra. Other times, though, maybe they should? Nobody wants to look like a jerk when it comes to giving people what they deserve (well, some people do), and instances like this stoke old fears that maybe they aren’t giving as much as they should. Just as long as they aren’t leaving pieces of paper with faux feel-good sentiments written on them as a token of their thanks, they’re probably OK.