May under fire from Tories as hunt for Brexit compromise goes on

Abstract: LONDON - Both Theresa May’s government and the opposition Labour Party said Sunday that their talks represented the best chance of finding a Brexit solution and ending months of deadlock. But even as David Lidington, May’s de facto deputy, said there was common ground between the two sides, a former leader of May’s Conservative Party called on her to end the discussions, pull Britain out of the European Union and then resign as prime minister. Parliament is in recess until April 23, but the negotiations will continue. Lidington told the BBC on Sunday that the talks involved “testing” possible solutions, and both sides will have to make concessions. Lidington said the government believed it would be possible to get “the benefits of a customs union” — which Labour wants — “but still have a flexibility for the U.K. to pursue an independent trade policy on top of that.” He avoided a question about whether the U.K. could sign up to a common external tariff. Neither May nor Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has much room for compromise. On the Labour side, the leader is under pressure to insist on another referendum as the price for supporting any deal. The prime minister, meanwhile, saw little sign over the weekend that rebels in her Conservative Party are in a mood to give ground. Irish Border Instead, former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News that he’d seen signs the EU was ready to give way on the question of the Irish border, and that even if it weren’t, May should take the U.K. out of the bloc without a deal. The prime minister should “aim everything” toward getting the U.K. out of the EU before the May 23 European elections and the departure date of May or June that May had originally planned should “still stand,” he said. Within Labour, too, there are divisions. While most Labour members of Parliament support a second referendum, with the goal of stopping Brexit, a minority who represent seats that voted to leave the EU say that would be a mistake. Corbyn, a lifelong opponent of EU membership, supports this side, but is under pressure. His transport spokesman Andy McDonald told Sky that the best option was seeing if the talks delivered a solution. “I want to see where those discussions and negotiations take us before we can go on to the next stage of this long and awful process,” he said. McDonald said Labour’s concern was that any commitments May made in the talks could be overturned by her successor. Lidington said this was unlikely, because the arithmetic in parliament, which has so restricted May, will be the same for the next prime minister.

eu
u.k .
conservatives
labour
brexit
theresa may
jeremy corbyn
david lidington


Sudan leaders face pressure for transfer to civilian rule

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Sudan’s military rulers faced heavy pressure from protesters and Western governments to hand power to a new civilian government Monday as a mass protest outside army headquarters entered its 10th day. Thousands remained camped outside the complex in Khartoum overnight after protest leaders issued demands to the military council set up following the ouster of veteran President Omar al-Bashir. The organization that spearheaded the months of protests leading to al-Bashir’s fall, the Sudanese Professionals Association, urged the council “to immediately transfer power to a civilian government.” It said the resulting transitional government and the armed forces must bring to justice both al-Bashir and officials from his feared National Intelligence and Security Service. The United States, Britain and Norway urged the military council and other parties to hold talks over the country’s transition to civilian rule. In a joint statement by their embassies on Sunday, they warned against any use of violence to break up the protests and said the “legitimate change” the Sudanese people demanded had not taken place. “It is time for the transitional military council and all other parties to enter into an inclusive dialogue to effect a transition to civilian rule,” they said. “This must be done credibly and swiftly, with protest leaders, political opposition, civil society organizations, and all relevant elements of society, including women.” The military council on Sunday met with political parties and urged them to agree on an “independent figure” to be prime minister, an AFP correspondent at the meeting said. “We want to set up a civilian state based on freedom, justice and democracy,” a council member, Lt. Gen. Yasser al-Ata, told members of several political parties. A 10-member delegation representing the protesters delivered a list of demands during talks with the council late Saturday, according to a statement by the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group. But at a news conference later, the council’s spokesman did not respond to the protesters’ latest demands, although he did announce the appointment of a new intelligence chief of the NISS. Protest leaders have called for the feared intelligence agency, whose chief Salih Ghosh resigned on Saturday, to be restructured and for NISS officials to face prosecution. The foreign ministry said the military council’s chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was “committed to having a complete civilian government” and urged other nations to back the council in order to achieve “the Sudanese goal of democratic transition.” On Saturday, al-Burhan vowed to dismantle al-Bashir’s regime, lifting a nighttime curfew with immediate effect. He also pledged that individuals implicated in killing protesters would face justice and that protesters detained under a state of emergency imposed by al-Bashir during his final weeks in power would be freed. Al-Bashir ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years before he was deposed last week following mass protests that have rocked the country since December. Tens of thousands of people have massed nonstop outside the army headquarters since April 6, initially urging the military to back their demand for al-Bashir’s removal. But his departure in a coup failed to satisfy the protesters, who have called for justice for al-Bashir-era officials. The Sudanese Professionals Association also demanded the confiscation of properties belonging to his National Congress Party and the release of soldiers who sided with their “revolution.” Late on Sunday, the military council said it has set up a committee to register NCP properties and take control of them.

conflict
libya
sudan
democracy
omar al-bashir


Red Cross breaks silence on three staffers snatched in Syria in 2013 and last seen in Islamic State's hands

Abstract: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appealed on Sunday for information on the whereabouts of three employees abducted in Syria more than five years ago and last known to have been held by Islamic State. Breaking its silence on the case, the independent aid agency identified the three as Louisa Akavi, a nurse from New Zealand, and Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes. U.S.-backed forces proclaimed the capture of Islamic State’s last territory in Syria last month, eliminating its rule over a caliphate which it had proclaimed in Iraq and Syria in 2014. “We call on anyone with information to please come forward. If our colleagues are still being held, we call for their immediate and unconditional release,” the ICRC said in a statement. “Our latest credible information indicates that Louisa was alive in late 2018. The ICRC has never been able to learn more details about Alaa and Nabil, and their fate is not known.” The three were traveling in a Red Cross convoy that was delivering supplies to medical facilities in Idlib, northwestern Syria, when it was stopped by armed men on Oct 13, 2013. Four other people abducted with them were released the next day. “Following the fall of the last territory held by Islamic State group, we fear there is an extra risk of losing track of Louisa, though we remain hopeful this period will instead open new opportunities for us to learn more about her whereabouts and well-being,” the ICRC said. Akavi, now 62, joined the ICRC in 1988 and worked in hotspots including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Somalia and Sri Lanka. She has been held longer than anyone in ICRC’s 156-year history, said Dominik Stillhart, ICRC director of operations worldwide. After being moved by IS forces to Raqqa in 2017, she was seen in Al-Bukamal in late 2018, close to the Syrian-Iraqi border near the Euphrates River, the last concrete information on her whereabouts, he said. “What we actually know is that Louisa has been working as a nurse during her abduction which shows her dedication and commitment to the mission and mandate of the Red Cross — caring for people affected by conflict,” he said.

syria
iraq
red cross
hostages
islamic state
icrc
louisa akavi


Iraqi forces kill Islamic State commander and four fighters

Abstract: BAQUBA, IRAQ - Security forces killed an Islamic State commander and four fighters in the Hamrin Mountains area of northeast Iraq on Sunday, the military said. Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition warplanes have been carrying out airstrikes in the area, targeting militant hideouts, for three days. The elite Counter Terrorism Service and the military’s operations command for Diyala province did not name the commander but they said in a statement he was in charge of Islamic State forces in Hamrin. He and four “followers” were killed in the area northeast of Baquba, the provincial capital, on Sunday, it said. Iraq declared victory over the group, which once held large swaths of the country, in December 2017. With its dream of a caliphate in the Middle East now dead, Islamic State has switched to hit-and-run attacks aimed at undermining the Baghdad government. The militants regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range in the northeast, which extends from Diyala province, on the border with Iran, northwest to the River Tigris in Kirkuk province.

conflict
u.s .
terrorism
iraq
islamic state
hamrin
diyala
baqouba


Powerful, deadly storms sweep across U.S. South, spawning twisters and killing at least three

Abstract: NEW YORK - Powerful storms that killed at least three people swept across the South on Sunday after spawning suspected tornadoes that left more than 20 people injured and multiple homes and businesses damaged or without power. One person was killed in northeastern Mississippi when a tree crashed onto his trailer, Monroe County Road Manager Sonny Clay said at a news conference, adding that a tornado had struck. Another 19 were taken to hospitals, including two who were in critical condition. A tornado was reported in the area 140 miles (225 km) southwest of Memphis, Tennessee, at the time. National Weather Service meteorologist John Moore said a possible twister touched down Saturday in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area. No injuries were reported there, but officials said several businesses and vehicles were damaged. Trees were down throughout the hilly city on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. The roof of a hotel in New Albany, Mississippi, was damaged, although the cause was unclear. Mississippi State University’s 21,000 students huddled in basements and hallways as a tornado came near the school’s campus in Starkville. University spokesman Sid Salter said some debris, possibly carried by the tornado, was found on campus, but no injuries were reported and no buildings were damaged. Trees were down and at least some minor damage was reported in residential areas east of the campus. Heavy rains and storms raked the Magnolia State into the night, then moved into Alabama. A possible tornado knocked out power and left damage in Troy, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Montgomery. A mobile home community was damaged, but no injuries were reported. In East Texas, two children were killed when a pine tree fell onto the back of the car in which they were riding in a severe thunderstorm Saturday. The car was on a back country road in Pollok, Texas, about 150 miles (241 km) southeast of Dallas. The tree “flattened the car like a pancake,” said Capt. Alton Lenderman of the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office. The children, ages 8 and 3, were dead at the scene, although both parents, who were in the front seat, escaped injury, he said. The large storm system also knocked out power to thousands and caused flash floods. More than 140,000 customers lost power in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas as of late Saturday. A tornado hit the small Central Texas city of Franklin, overturning mobile homes and damaging other residences, said Robertson County Sheriff Gerald Yezak. Franklin is about 125 miles (200 km) south of Dallas. The weather service said preliminary information showed an EF-3 tornado touched down with winds of 140 mph (225.3 kph). Crews were sent to survey the damage. Two people were hospitalized for injuries not thought to be life-threatening, while others were treated at the scene for minor injuries, Yezak said. Some people had to be extricated from their homes. Downed trees and damage to buildings and a transmission tower were reported, said meteorologist Monique Sellers. Winds of up to 60 mph (96.56 kph) were reported in Cherokee County, Texas, damaging two homes in Alto, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of Houston, but no injuries were reported. The forecast of severe weather forced officials at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, to begin the tournament early Sunday, starting threesomes off the first and 10th tees on the day’s final round in hopes of finishing in midafternoon before the winds and rains begin.


Off the coast of Nigeria's Lagos, ghost ships are a haven for crime

Abstract: LAGOS - The two men in the motorized wooden canoe look around warily as they leave a towering shipwreck in the Lagos lagoon, with the barrels of oil on board barely concealed under rags. The rusting hulk of iron and peeling paint has been battered by the elements and is half-submerged in the water. Sprouts of green shoots on deck indicate how long it has been abandoned. But on closer inspection, the wreck is a working storage facility for stolen or “bunkered” oil, as it is known in Nigeria. “Oladele,” a 30-year-old who did not want to publicize his real name, has plied the waters on his boat since he was 15. He says it’s not the only wreck that stores illegally imported oil brought into the port by the huge tankers delivering petrol and gas, then sold on in neighboring Benin and Togo. “Every ship does it. They will declare 10 tons but bring in 12,” he said. “We will store them in the tanks, deep inside the wrecks, then at night usually, it will be picked up.” Middlemen could typically make at least $80 to $200 a trip for several years. “It’s big business,” he said. Scores of shipwrecks in Lagos’ waterways, coastal waters and on the shores of its beaches have turned parts of its shoreline into a marine cemetery. In Kiri-Kiri, the lagoon corridor, scores of wrecks and discarded ship scrap provide useful cover to hide illicit goods and barrels of oil and gas. From there, the waters offer an easy route up the Lagos coast to Benin and beyond. Expensive scrap metal culled from unmanned wrecks can be sold for thousands of dollars. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, churning out about 2 million barrels a day. But a lack of fully functioning refineries means crude is exported, processed and then imported for use. Much of it is shipped through the narrow marine corridor into Lagos. Hundreds of ships wait for days on the horizon of the Gulf of Guinea to get into the port and discharge their goods. On the way in and out they pass the skeletons of scuttled and abandoned ships, some of which have capsized because of the effects on the tides of the wrecks. Yet there are also suspicions that amid lax marine regulation, companies treat Lagos’ waters as a ship refuse site, avoiding incurring the expense of disposing of old vessels. Experts say the wrecks act as groynes, halting the flow of sand downshore and accelerating erosion. Lack of regulation on the waters has also helped illicit activity thrive, turning the ghost ships into hideouts for sea criminals. Small groups of former crew lounge on several of the wrecks, lodging in dim, disused cabins, keeping watch for anyone seeking to strip the ships of valuable scrap. One crew member, who asked not to be identified, said he and three others had worked shifts to stay in the cabin all day and night for 15 months since the ship capsized. Copper and bronze and the brass from the ship’s propeller could be sold for as much as 20,000,000 naira ($55,000), he said. “People will come and steal valuables that are still here,” he added. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, which polices the country’s waterways, says it is proactive in removing the likely hundreds of wrecks but concede that removing them is expensive. Taibat Lawanson, a professor of urban planning at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), said the price of removal was prohibitive. “Because removing them is so costly, neither the state government nor the federal government takes enough responsibility for their removal,” he said. Small groups of naval officials, some with uniformed T-shirts, others topless in the sun, bask on the upper decks of confiscated ships. Tunji Adejumo, a landscape architect and ecologist at UNILAG, says the navy has become the main monitoring agency on the coastline. “Yet even still, many of these shipping companies are able to avoid culpability for leaving their wrecks in the water,” he said. “These shipwrecks hurt the aesthetics of the coastline. They degrade over time, dumped there but rarely dealt with. And they have serious environmental effects.” In Lighthouse Beach, a mostly quiet get-away lined by large beach houses, a wreck at the very end of the shore has been a landmark for visitors for years. In parts of the waterways, scuba diving and spearfishing capitalize on the wrecks aesthetics and the aquatic life it attracts. Yet many of the wrecks, below sea level and invisible above it, present numerous dangers. A 6 p.m. curfew exists for commercial boats, which is imposed in part to prevent accidents. White flags are hoisted on few of the below-the-water wrecks to warn approaching craft but most have no visible warning signs, meaning riders have to remember where they are. “It can be dangerous riding the boats at night,” said Oladele. “But the curfew also protects all these crazy activities that you would see if you traveled here after dark.”


During book tour, former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama charms British crowd with praise for Queen Elizabeth II

Abstract: LONDON - Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama charmed thousands of Britons on Sunday, telling anecdotes about meeting the “wonderfully warm and funny” Queen Elizabeth II and praising London’s diversity. Obama, the wife of former U.S. President Barack Obama, was in London to promote her best-selling autobiography. “Becoming.” She had the sellout audience — many of whom had traveled hours to attend laughing along within minutes of taking the stage, recounting the furor she caused in 2009 when she breached royal protocol by putting her arm around the queen. “Yikes! Sorry guys,” she joked, explaining she later learned to keep her hands clasped or behind her back to curb her natural instincts. Nevertheless, she had no regrets when it came to the queen: “I don’t know that I could have done anything differently because it was a natural human reaction.” She said she had been touched by the queen’s decision to wear a small pin badge the presidential couple had given her as a gift, and described Britain’s 92-year-old monarch in glowing terms: “That was my experience, that has been my experience: That kind of warmth and graciousness and intelligence and wit — I like her.” Obama’s book tour has so far taken her across North America and Scandinavia. After London, she will go to Paris and Amsterdam. Last month, the book’s German publisher said “Becoming” could become the biggest-selling autobiography ever. “It’s absolutely surreal. I think it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t believe she’s in England as well, I can’t believe we’re going,” said Aisha Chipampe, a 26-year-old corporate finance worker who drove four hours from the northern city of Leeds for the show. Obama, asked by host Stephen Colbert what advice she had for people in Britain about how to stay calm in a time of turmoil — a likely reference to political divisions over Brexit — said London is unique and should treasure its diversity. “This trepidation, the anxiety, it’s everywhere, it’s all over the world,” she said. “I was looking out over the city, London, a beautiful city, and the thing I love about it is it is truly representative of true international diversity, in ways that you don’t see in cities, most cities particularly, even in the United States, and that is a gift,” she said, drawing cheers.

u.s .
barack obama
michelle obama
queen elizabeth ii
london


Michelle Obama charms British crowd with praise for Queen Elizabeth

Abstract: LONDON - Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama charmed thousands of Britons on Sunday, telling anecdotes about meeting the “wonderfully warm and funny” Queen Elizabeth and praising London’s diversity at an event in the capital. Obama, the wife of Barack Obama, who was president from 2009 to 2017, was in London to promote her best-selling autobiography “Becoming.” She had the sellout audience — many of whom had traveled hours to attend — laughing along within minutes of taking the stage, recounting the furor she caused in 2009 when she breached royal protocol by putting her arm around the queen. “Yikes! Sorry guys,” she joked, explaining she later learned to keep her hands clasped or behind her back to curb her natural instincts. Nevertheless, she had no regrets when it came to the queen: “I don’t know that I could have done anything differently because it was a natural human reaction.” She said she had been touched by the queen’s decision to wear a small pin badge the presidential couple had given her as a gift, and described Britain’s 92-year-old monarch in glowing terms: “That was my experience, that has been my experience: that kind of warmth and graciousness and intelligence and wit — I like her.” Obama’s book tour has so far taken her across North America and Scandinavia. After London, she will go to Paris and Amsterdam. Last month, the book’s German publisher said “Becoming” could become the biggest-selling autobiography ever. “It’s absolutely surreal. I think it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t believe she’s in England as well, I can’t believe we’re going,” said Aisha Chibampe, a 26-year-old corporate finance worker who drove four hours from the northern city of Leeds for the show. Obama, asked by host Stephen Colbert what advice she had for people in Britain about how to stay calm in a time of turmoil — a likely reference to political divisions over Brexit — said London was unique and should treasure its diversity. “This trepidation, the anxiety, it’s everywhere, it’s all over the world,” she said. “I was looking out over the city, London, a beautiful city, and the thing I love about it is it is truly representative of true international diversity, in ways that you don’t see in cities, most cities particularly, even in the United States, and that is a gift,” she said, drawing cheers.

u.s .
u.k .
michelle obama
queen elizabeth
becoming


Two politicians temporarily banned from campaigning in Indian election over comments

Abstract: NEW DELHI - India’s election watchdog Monday banned two outspoken politicians from campaigning in the country’s national vote for making provocative speeches which it said could stir communal unrest. The measures came after the Supreme Court called on the Election Commission to get tough on hate speech during the world’s biggest election, which started last Thursday and runs through May 19. Mayawati, a leader for low-caste Dalits, was banned from campaigning for 48 hours for calling on Muslims to vote in a bloc against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yogi Adityanath, firebrand BJP chief minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, was sidelined for three days for his response to Mayawati, comparing the election to a battle between Muslim and Hindu gods. Hindus — who make up the majority community in India — have “no option” but to support the BJP, he added. Both politicians made “highly provocative speeches” which had “the tone and tenor to aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred between different religious communities,” the commission said. Indian politicians are often accused of using hate speech and intimidation to win votes. The Indian campaign has been marked by headline-grabbing declarations by politicians. Adityanath has already waded into trouble by calling Muslims the “green virus” who are set to “engulf the nation.” BJP politician Sakshi Maharaj caused controversy last week by saying he was a “saint” who would put a “curse” anyone who votes against him — while another BJP contender, Maneka Gandhi, said Muslims should vote for her or their future requests could be shunned if she wins. The Supreme Court has in turn called on opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi to explain why he “incorrectly” attributed remarks to the court saying that Modi had “committed a theft” in agreeing a fighter deal with France. The Election Commission — often accused of being ineffective — has been flooded with complaints since campaigning started in March, and the Supreme Court told it to “act very promptly” on potential violations. The watchdog told the court its code of conduct limits the punishments it can mete out, however. “We can’t de-recognize them (parties) or disqualify candidates,” the counsel representing the commission at the hearing on Monday said. The commission sought to counter critics this month by postponing the release of a fawning film biography of Modi. It also ordered a clampdown on NaMO TV, a TV channel dedicated to the prime minister.

india
election
politics
narendra modi
bjp
mayawati


Democratic gains at risk as Muslim-majority Indonesia heads to the polls

Abstract: JAKARTA - Dipping their fingers in halal ink to prevent double voting, Indonesians cast their ballots Wednesday in a bitterly contested presidential election, with the main rival to incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo already threatening to challenge the result over voter-fraud claims. The Muslim-majority nation’s biggest-ever polls — with more than 190 million voters and 245,000 candidates vying for the presidency, parliament and local positions — is largely a referendum on Jokowi’s infrastructure-driven bid to rev up Southeast Asia’s largest economy. But, looming in the background, two decades of democratic gains are at risk of being eroded, analysts said, as the military creeps back into civilian life under Jokowi, and his trailing rival Prabowo Subianto, a former general, eyes reforms that harken back to the Suharto dictatorship. If he loses, Subianto’s camp has already warned it will challenge the results over voter-list irregularities. “It’s high stakes in this election,” said Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We simply don’t know what (Subianto) would do if he won and we don’t know if the institutional constraints in place would contain him.” Voting starts at 7 a.m. Wednesday in easternmost Papua and ends at 1 p.m. at the other end of the country in Sumatra. Ballots will be cast at more than 800,000 polling booths across the volcano-dotted country, from the tip of jungle-clad Sumatra and heavily populated Java island to beach paradise Bali and far-flung Sumbawa. Voters will punch holes in ballots — to make clear their candidate choice — and then dip a finger in Muslim-approved halal ink, a measure to prevent double-voting in a graft-riddled country where ballot-buying is rife. A series of so-called quick counts are expected to give a reliable indication of the presidential winner later Wednesday. Official results are not expected until May. Most polls show the 57-year-old Jokowi holding a double-digit lead over Subianto, 67, setting up a repeat of their 2014 contest, which Jokowi won despite an unsuccessful court challenge over his narrow victory. The race has been punctuated by bitter mudslinging between the two camps, religion-driven identity politics and a slew of fake news online that threatens to sway millions of undecided voters. Jokowi campaigned on his ambitious drive to build roads, airports and other infrastructure, including Jakarta’s first mass-rapid-transit system. But his rights record has been criticized owing to an uptick in discriminatory attacks on religious and other minorities, including a small LGBT community, as Islamic hard-liners become more vocal in public life. “(Jokowi) has chosen pragmatism over principle on issues of Islamism and pluralism,” said Dave McRae, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. Jokowi, a practicing Muslim, blunted criticism that he was anti-Islam by appointing influential cleric Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate. But victory for Jokowi and Amin — known for his disparaging views toward minorities — could be the latest knock to Indonesia’s reputation for moderate Islam. “There is a long-standing track record of very conservative views,” Kevin O’Rourke, an Indonesia-based political risk analyst, said of Amin. “It’s inevitable that will affect policy making.” Subianto — joined by running mate Sandiaga Uno, a 49-year-old wealthy financier — has run on a fiery nationalist ticket. He courted Islamic hard-liners, promised a boost to military and defense spending and, taking a page from U.S. President Donald Trump, vowed to put “Indonesia first” as he pledged to review billions of dollars in Chinese investment. Subianto’s presidential ambitions have long been dogged by strong ties to the Suharto family and a checkered past. He ordered the abduction of democracy activists as the authoritarian regime collapsed in 1998, and was accused of committing atrocities in East Timor. Jokowi’s own Cabinet is stuffed with Suharto-era figures, and he raised eyebrows by agreeing to give civilian government jobs to military brass. But “there is no grand design for Jokowi to bring back military rule,” Laksmana said. Subianto, however, is a military man keen to roll back reforms that ushered in direct presidential elections, analysts said. That has raised questions about what an upset victory for the retired general could mean for a system that is supported by most Indonesians. “Democracy itself would be very much at stake,” O’Rourke said. “This is a low probability scenario, but one with very high impact.” Many Indonesians just want a peaceful power transition — regardless of the winner. “I hope there’s no hostility,” said 53-year-old Untung Sri Rejeki. “No matter who becomes our next president.”

indonesia
elections
joko widodo
prabowo subianto


DNA tests confirm death of Islamic State-linked leader in Philippines

Abstract: U.S. DNA tests have confirmed the death of a Muslim militant commander who helped lead the 2017 siege of a city in the southern Philippines and was considered a key leader of the Islamic State group in the region, officials said Sunday. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said the tests confirmed that Owaida Marohombsar, who was also known by his nom de guerre Abu Dar, was one of four militants killed in a March 14 gunbattle that also left four soldiers dead near southern Tubaran town in Lanao del Sur province. The Philippine military asked U.S. authorities to confirm Marohombsar’s death through DNA tests. Marohombsar helped lead the May 23, 2017, siege of Marawi, which troops quelled after five months of ground assaults and airstrikes that left more than 1,100 people, mostly militants, dead and destroyed the mosque-studded city’s commercial and residential districts. Most leaders of the attack were killed, but Marohombsar survived with a large amount of looted cash and jewelry from Marawi that authorities feared he could use to rebuild the militant’s battered organization and plot new attacks. One regional official, Zia Adiong, said at the time that Marohombsar escaped from Marawi with at least 30 million pesos ($566,000) in stolen money. But troops hunted the extremist leader and his men down across Lanao. “This is another milestone in our campaign to finish and defeat ISIS and local terror groups in the country,” Ano said, using an acronym of the Islamic State group. Ano was the former military chief who supervised the U.S.- and Australian-backed offensive to crush the siege of Marawi, which sparked fears that the Islamic State group was advancing its efforts to establish a foothold in the region. Marohombsar’s killing will make it harder for the Islamic State group to establish a firm presence in the country’s south, Ano said. The southern Philippines is the homeland of the largely Roman Catholic nation’s minority Muslims and the scene of decades-old Muslim separatist unrest. “For now, his group is leaderless. We are monitoring who will replace Dar,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters. A Philippine army brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Romeo Brawner, said troops would pursue the rest of Marohombsar’s remaining fighters, mostly based in Lanao’s hinterlands, not far from Marawi. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte placed the country’s south under martial law to bolster efforts by troops to eradicate militants who survived the Marawi fighting and go after their allied groups in other southern provinces like the brutal Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu province. Marohombsar’s death will likely strengthen the control of Abu Sayyaf leader Hajan Sawadjaan, who is based in Sulu’s jungles, over a number of Islamic State group-linked armed groups in the south. Ano has said that Sawadjaan was installed as the new IS-aligned leader in the southern Philippines but that Marohombsar’s group was adamant to recognize him as its regional leader. A Philippine police profile said Marohombsar was reported to have undergone military and explosives training in Afghanistan in 2005 and returned to the south a few years later and established an armed group called the Khilafa Islamiyyah Mindanao. The group was implicated in the 2013 bombing of a bar in a shopping mall in southern Cagayan de Oro city that left several people dead and wounded. Several more groups in the south pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group the following years, allowing them to consolidate under the IS flag in 2015 and 2016 with then-Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon as their leader and launch the Marawi siege the following year. Hapilon was among the leaders killed by troops in the city.

u.s .
terrorism
philippines
islamic state
abu sayyef
owaida marohombsar
abu dar


After months of delay, Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte signs $71 billion national budget

Abstract: MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday signed a 3.7 trillion peso ($71.5 billion) budget for this year, its largest ever, ending months of impasse that forced the Southeast Asian country to cut its growth target. The Philippines last month cut its 2019 growth target to 6-7 percent from 7-8 percent, reflecting the absence of a new budget and the impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute. In signing the budget, the president vetoed $1.8 billion worth of appropriations, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea told reporters. Vetoed items include non-priority public works, he said. Months of squabbling between the upper and lower chambers of the house delayed the transmission of this year’s national budget to the president. For next year, economic managers will propose a 4.1 trillion peso ($79.3 billion) national budget. The Philippines, among the fastest growing economies in Asia, is aiming for growth of 6.5-7.5 percent in 2020, and 7-8 percent in 2021 and 2022, mainly through an extensive infrastructure overhaul. The Philippine economy grew 6.2 percent in 2018, the slowest in three years, because of weak exports, manufacturing and farm output.

philippines
manila
economy
budget
rodrigo duterte


South Korean leader pushes for another meeting with Kim Jong Un despite nuclear standoff

Abstract: SEOUL - President Moon Jae-in said Monday he will pursue “in earnest” another summit with Kim Jong Un despite the North Korean leader’s recent criticism of Seoul’s self-proclaimed role as a mediator in stalled nuclear talks. Moon has been eager to regain momentum in talks with North Korea since Kim’s second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, in Vietnam in February, failed due to conflicting demands by Pyongyang for sanctions relief and by Washington for sweeping North Korean measures to abandon its nuclear program. Kim said in a speech Friday that he is willing to hold another summit with Trump if the United States changes its calculation and offers a “proper attitude and a methodology,” setting a year-end deadline. While North Korea and the United States have been discussing the North’s denuclearization, U.S. ally South Korea has been taking steps to improve its ties with its old rival. Moon and Kim have held three meetings over the past year, and Moon’s administration has been keen for a fourth, possibly to mark the anniversary of the first one on April 27. Moon, who visited Washington to meet with Trump last week, said Kim’s latest address “set the stage” for a fourth inter-Korean summit, which could be a “stepping stone for an even bigger opportunity and a more significant outcome.” “Now is the time to begin the preparations in earnest,” Moon told a meeting with senior secretaries, noting that as soon as the North Koreans are ready, he is willing to meet Kim “regardless of venue and form.” In his first public remarks since Kim’s address, Moon said he “very much welcomed” that speech, saying it shows Kim’s “unwavering” commitment toward denuclearization and the reopening of negotiations. But Moon did not specifically respond to Kim’s criticism that South Korea is too subservient to the “anachronistic arrogance and hostile policy of the United States,” and that the South’s military persisted in “veiled hostility” by conducting exercises with U.S. forces. Kim said South Korea should not “pose as a meddlesome ‘mediator’ and ‘facilitator’ ” between the North and the United States. North Korea’s state media Saturday issued a commentary criticizing South Korea’s purchase of fighter jets, including two recently delivered F-35A jets from the United States, calling it a “serious provocative act” that could intensify tension on the Korean Peninsula. However, Kim said he remains committed to improving relations with South Korea if it shows its “sincerity by practical action, not by words.” Any significant improvement in ties between the two Koreas could depend on progress between North Korea and the United States on the North’s denuclearization and that looks doubtful, with neither side showing willingness to make concessions. Trump emphasized during last week’s talks with Moon that he is willing to meet Kim again but will not lift sanctions until the North took meaningful steps to dismantle its nuclear programs.

north korea
kim jong un
south korea
summit
moon jae-in


China tech giant Jack Ma encourages workers to rack up overtime hours

Abstract: HONG KONG - Billionaire Jack Ma again encouraged tech workers to embrace the industry’s extreme-overtime culture, defying a growing social media backlash. The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder once more endorsed the sector’s infamous 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week routine as de rigueur for passionate young workers. In a lengthy Sunday blog post, China’s richest man expanded on comments from last week, in which he dismissed people who expect a typical eight-hour office lifestyle. “As I expected, my comments internally a few days ago about the 996 schedule caused a debate and nonstop criticism,” Ma wrote. “I understand these people, and I could have said something that was ‘correct.’ But we don’t lack people saying ‘correct’ things in the world today, what we lack is truthful words that make people think.” Ma’s earlier comments stoked a fierce ongoing debate over tales of programers and founders dying from unrelenting stress. Chinese tech workers protested labor conditions on the online code-sharing community GitHub in March under the banner 996.ICU, which quickly became the site’s most popular topic. “Those who can stick to a 996 schedule are those who have found their passion beyond monetary gains,” he wrote Sunday.


'Gangnam style' sex crime: K-pop scandals uncover dark side of Seoul's flashiest district

Abstract: SEOUL - On a recent weekend night, the dance floor at one of the hottest clubs in Seoul’s swanky Gangnam district held only a few dozen people surrounded by mostly empty tables. A few months ago, the nightclub would have been packed with hundreds of gyrating men and women, and full tables, many costing 650,000 won ($570) or more for a night of drinking and dancing. The world was introduced to Gangnam by the 2012 K-pop hit “Gangnam Style,” a parody of the South Korean high life with a viral tune and amusing dancing that became the first video to reach a billion views on YouTube. But a wave of sex crimes and other illegal activity has revealed a dark underbelly in the district, driving clubgoers and celebrities away. According to police investigators, a network of pop stars, businessmen and cops are alleged to have colluded and enabled tax evasion, bribery, and prostitution at some of Gangnam’s glitziest clubs. Most seriously, some are being investigated over the use of date rape drugs to incapacitate women and assault them, sometimes filmed by hidden cameras. “There aren’t many people coming to Gangnam (clubs) right now,” a worker said at a club that was relatively quiet, despite not being implicated in any of the allegations. “There’s an investigation on.” The scandals have already led to the resignation of four K-pop stars, the closure of one of Gangnam’s most lucrative club, and investigations into at least six police officers suspected of colluding with club operators. President Moon Jae-in called for a thorough investigation, saying the Gangnam club cases suggest possible collusion between police, tax authorities and a new privileged class including celebrities to engage in illegal operations. More than 500 people have been investigated for drug use and sexual assault and more than 200 arrested in a nationwide roundup since Feb. 25. Tax authorities have launched investigations into 21 clubs and host bars for possible evasion. “If we don’t set this right, we cannot call this a just society,” Moon said. The investigations, revolving around two Gangnam clubs, Burning Sun and Arena, began late last year when 29-year-old film art director Kim Sang-kyo says he tried to stop an incident of sexual harassment and was attacked by Burning Sun staff, and then abused by police who instead arrested him. A government commission concluded that police in Gangnam violated Kim’s rights during his arrest, but Kim is still being investigated for sexual harassment and defamation. He denies any wrongdoing. Calls to Burning Sun, which closed down after the scandal broke, were not answered, while a man who answered the number listed for Arena hung up when asked for comment. Arena has also been closed since early March for what it said were renovations. Gangnam police declined to comment. Kim said once he shared his story he began to receive messages from other people who said they had been victimized in Gangnam clubs, and he realized the scope of the problem. “When people saw me raising questions, they said, ‘Why you? Why now?'” Kim said. “‘This has been going on for 10 years, 15 years, and you can’t touch it. You can’t win.’ I’ve heard a lot of people say this, and I think it’s really scary.” The string of scandals gained wider attention when several K-pop stars who had ties to some of the clubs were implicated in crimes unrelated to Kim’s arrest. Singer Lee Seung-hyun, 28, better known by the stage name Seungri, is under investigation for paying for prostitutes in return for favors from foreign businessmen at Arena. He is also accused of embezzlement at another club he was involved with until last year. Lee has denied all wrongdoing, but resigned from his position as a member of the boy band BIGBANG. Lee’s lawyer said this week his client maintains his innocence. At least three other K-pop stars resigned after they were accused by police of sharing illicitly filmed sex tapes. It is not yet clear whether any of the shared videos and photos were taken at either nightclub. One singer, Jung Joon-young, admitted to having shared videos he took secretly while having sex with women. “I am truly sorry. I committed a crime that cannot be forgiven,” Jung read from a handwritten statement on March 21. Besides Seungri, who was an internal director at Burning Sun and previously helped run the club, police are investigating two of the club’s co-presidents and an operating director for various crimes including distributing drugs, assaulting a customer, and bribing police. Investigators have also questioned 15 people and arrested four people with links to Burning Sun on drug charges. At least one club promoter was arrested for distributing illegal sex videos. A man identified as the de facto owner of Arena, surnamed Kang, was arrested in late March, a Seoul Central District Court spokesman said. Kang and other Arena executives are accused of tax evasion by avoiding paying 16.2 billion won ($14.31 million) in taxes between 2014-2017. Kang refused to answer questions on March 25 as he emerged from court. He could not be reached for comment. Authorities are also investigating allegations that club officials provided bribes to police officers. Six officers are now under investigation for possible collusion with the clubs, including a senior superintendent, lawmakers briefed by Police Commissioner General Min Gab-ryong said. The superintendent, surnamed Yoon, admitted playing golf and sharing meals with a man known to be Seungri’s business partner, but denies all allegations of corruption. He is accused of leaking confidential information and accepting bribes, including K-pop concert tickets from singer Seungri, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said. In Gangnam, former patrons and workers lament the impact the scandals have had on the clubs and the broader entertainment industry, a key identity and export for South Korea. Kim Se-rim, 27, said she no longer goes to clubs. “People are like, ‘Why would you go when you know there are so much drugs, GHB, rape going on?'” she said, referring to a known date-rape drug. “And they have a point.”

rape
south korea
sex crimes
prostitution
k-pop
moon jae-in
_asia


Osaka begins trial of smartphone disaster information app for tourists from overseas ahead of G20

Abstract: OSAKA - After a number of natural disasters hit the area last summer, a government bureau in western Japan began trials Monday for a multilingual smartphone-based service to provide overseas tourists with disaster information. The service, operated by the Kinki Bureau of Telecommunications in Osaka, will ultimately provide weather news and evacuation orders in several languages, and will allow foreign embassies to issue messages to their nationals in emergency situations. Sightseeing information will be offered through the service when there is no disaster. Osaka is aiming to launch the service by June, when the city will host the Group of 20 summit. With the upcoming Osaka 2025 World Expo and the increasing number of foreign workers in the country, the government hopes to be better prepared in order to avoid situations such as those seen last year where foreign visitors in disaster-affected areas struggled to gain access to information about transport disruptions. On Monday personnel from the Vietnamese, Peruvian and Filipino consulates gathered at the bureau in central Osaka to confirm trial messages sent to smartphones using the existing news app for tourists, Portable News. Consul General of the Filipino Consulate Patrick Hilado said the system was easy to use, praising the capability it offers to narrow down an intended audience. As fake posts and rumors can spread through social networks during disasters, the bureau plans to limit the sources of information to public institutions and disaster-relief organizations. Osaka and other parts of western Japan were hit by earthquakes, torrential rain and typhoons last year. The city is also a major gateway to key tourist sites such as Kyoto and Nara.

osaka smartphones tourism apps disasters


Quake-hit Kumamoto pledges more housing help three years after disaster

Abstract: KUMAMOTO - The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture said Monday that greater efforts would be made to help resettle those displaced in two powerful earthquakes that struck three years ago in the prefecture and its vicinity, causing disasters that claimed 273 lives. “We will speed up our efforts so everyone can secure housing,” said Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima at a meeting of the prefectural government’s reconstruction task force, noting that over 16,000 people remain in temporary housing in disaster-hit areas. On April 14, 2016 a magnitude 6.5 quake struck the region, followed by a magnitude 7.3 temblor two days later. Fifty people were killed when buildings collapsed on top of them and 223 others died in the aftermath of the disaster, while more than 200,000 residences were destroyed or damaged in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures. A ceremony marking the third anniversary of the first quake was held Sunday at the prefectural government offices, with some 350 people attending. “There is no end to my sorrow, but I would like to live an independent life and help reconstruct our village,” said Keisuke Masuda, 81, from Minamiaso, Kumamoto, at the ceremony, representing families of the disaster victims. Masuda temporarily lived with his son in Tokyo after losing his wife, 79-year-old Fumiyo, and their home in the disaster, but returned to Kumamoto thinking he should be close to her. He now lives alone in temporary housing. By the end of last year, the prefecture had finished demolishing more than 35,600 damaged buildings with public funds, and processing some 3.11 million tons of waste left by the disaster. Still, 16,519 people remain in temporary housing and homes rented out by the private sector, the cost of which is being shouldered by local governments, according to the prefecture.

earthquakes kumamoto disasters anniversaries


Chick hatches on Sado Island from egg of crested ibis gifted to Japan by China

Abstract: NIIGATA - A chick has hatched from an egg laid by a crested ibis, an internationally protected species, which was given by China to a conservation center on Sado Island off Niigata Prefecture, the facility said Monday. The Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center confirmed that one of the eggs laid by 3-year-old Guan Guan had hatched for the first time since she arrived in Japan last October. Officials at the conservation center said they saw the chick Monday morning, adding that the center is trying to hatch the eggs through both artificial and natural incubation. Guan Guan and Lou Lou, a male bird, are crested ibises that were gifted by China for the first time in about 11 years, amid signs of improving relations between Tokyo and Beijing. Guan Guan laid her eggs after mating with another male in Japan, according to the center. Currently, all crested ibises released in Sado are descendants of the birds provided by China. The last Japan-born crested ibis died in 2003, after the country succeeded in the artificial breeding of the rare birds using a pair donated by China for the first time in 1999. The conservation center hopes to diversify the gene pool of the protected birds by artificially breeding them with the involvement of Guan Guan and Lou Lou.

china
niigata
animals
endangered
sado island
creasted ibises


First exam held in Japan for foreign nationals seeking new working visas

Abstract: Gearing up to accept more foreign workers under a pair of new visas launched earlier this month, Japan held its first qualifying exam Sunday for applicants in the country. The exam, which took place at several locations across Japan, focused on checking the knowledge and skills required to work in the country’s hotel industry. The first exam to be conducted overseas, for candidates hoping to work in the nursing care business, was held in Manila on Saturday. Japan created the new visas on April 1 to bring more foreign workers into the country, which is struggling with an acute labor shortage. The step marked a major policy shift from the nation’s traditionally strict immigration rules. Over the next five years, the government expects up to 345,150 foreign migrant workers to acquire a newly created resident status called Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 and work in 14 labor-hungry sectors such as accommodation, nursing care, construction and farming. The visa will enable them to stay for up to five years. About 390 people sat Sunday’s exam, which was held at seven test sites including locations in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. The results will be announced on May 25. The exam involved a paper test concerning knowledge of the service industry and a customer service skill test. Many of the applicants are believed to be students who have experience of working at hotels in Japan as part-time staff. Elma Sulistia Ningrum, a 24-year-old Indonesian living in Saitama Prefecture, said she can speak Japanese and English but that the knowledge test was difficult because she was not familiar with the hotel business. Job seekers will also have to clear a Japanese language proficiency test before applying for the new visa. For the hotel industry, successful candidates will likely be granted visas in the summer at the earliest, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. The government hopes the anticipated influx of foreign workers will ease manpower shortages at hotels — especially those in rural areas — which could lead to a further increase in tourists. Exams for the food service industry are scheduled to be held in Tokyo and Osaka later this month. In the past, Japan limited the issuance of working visas to people with a certain degree of professional knowledge and high-level skills, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. But it decided to loosen restrictions on the entry of foreign workers from April to tackle serious labor shortages amid the graying of the country’s population and its falling birthrate.


Joint study finds curry spices can suppress inflammation in airway cells caused by PM2.5 particles

Abstract: OSAKA - Spices commonly used in curry may be able to curb inflammation caused by pollution-causing fine particles in the air, according to a joint study by Japanese curry roux maker House Foods Corp. and a Kyoto University professor. The study found cloves, turmeric, cinnamon and coriander had the ability to suppress inflammation caused by air pollutant PM2.5 during laboratory experiments using human airway cells, although the study did not involve any humans eating curry containing the spices. “We were able to achieve positive results on a cellular level. There’s a good possibility that consuming the spices will also produce a desired outcome,” said Hirohisa Takano, a professor of environmental medicine at the state-run university. “We have to conduct further research into it.” House Foods, a unit of House Foods Group Inc., said it will conduct additional studies into the health benefits of curry to boost consumption. PM2.5, or particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller, pose great risks to health as they are capable of penetrating people’s lungs and entering their bloodstream, causing strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, pneumonia and other diseases.

pollution
kyoto university
pm2.5
curry
spices
house foods corp .


LGBT couples speak of their suffering in lawsuit seeking marriage for all in Japan

Abstract: In the first oral argument of an unprecedented trial challenging the constitutionality of Japan’s same-sex marriage ban, LGBT couples spoke Monday of their experiences, aiming to highlight the social stigma and discrimination affecting their lives, and called for the government to recognize their right to marry. Thirteen couples of various age groups, from their 20s to 60s, are participating in the suit against the central government, brought simultaneously to district courts nationwide on Valentine’s Day. They are each seeking ¥1 million in compensation, with an additional payment worth 5 percent of the damages sought for each year until the damages payment is complete, as well as funds to cover litigation costs incurred during the process. The couples argue the same-sex marriage ban is in violation of Article 24 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to marry, as it states that “Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes.” In Monday’s hearing, two plaintiffs spoke of the legal issues faced by LGBT couples, such as the lack of rights guaranteed in opposite-sex marriages and the social stigma keeping them from revealing their sexuality. Haru Ono, a breast cancer survivor in her 40s and who has been in a relationship with her partner for 14 years, highlighted the legal problems she faced while undergoing treatment for cancer and a mastectomy surgery three years ago. She recalled that the hospital she attended had denied her partner the right to participate in the hospitalization procedure. Having faced the possibility of death, Ono also worried about parental custody and inheritance issues. She and her partner have been raising three children from previous marriages. Ikuo Sato, 60, who is gay and HIV-positive, complained that the government’s ban on same-sex marriage may deprive lesbian and gay couples of their rights to assist their partners in their final moments, or to attend funerals. “I’m aware I have only 10 years, or even less, to live. And it would be the happiest thing in my life if my partner and I were accepted as a real married couple while I’m still alive,” Sato said. His partner did not appear in the courtroom as he keeps his sexuality a secret due to fear of social stigma, Sato said. The plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that the same-sex marriage ban and the social stigma associated with it affects the mental health of LGBT people and has led many to take their own lives, adding that protection of human rights is the court’s primary responsibility. They also stressed that gender and sexual diversity is respected worldwide and that Japan is the only country in the Group of Seven nations that denies LGBT couples the right to marry. Shigenori Nakagawa, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, suggested that the trial could continue for five years or longer but said he was determined to win the case. Due to court congestion, the date for the next session has yet to be decided.

courts
rights
lgbt
sexuality
marriage
same-sex marriage
parenthood


Candidates nationwide kick off campaigns for unified local elections

Abstract: Campaigns started Sunday for elections for 86 mayors and 294 city assemblies across the country, as well as 11 ward mayors and 20 ward assemblies in Tokyo, as part of unified local polls set for April 21. The voting will follow an earlier set of unified elections, on April 7, for governorships and prefectural assemblies. A total of 161 people have filed candidacies for the mayoral elections. Candidates in 27 mayoral races, or 31.4 percent of the total, have won uncontested because no rivals came forward. The uncontested mayoral races included those in two prefectural capitals — Tsu, Mie Prefecture, and Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. In Tsu, Yasuyuki Maeba won a third term, while Hideto Onishi clinched a fourth term in Takamatsu. The contested votes will be held together with elections for town and village mayors and assemblies across the country, as well as by-elections for the House of Representatives in Osaka and Okinawa prefectures. Major campaign issues in the second leg of the unified local elections include ways to address falling populations and reinvigorate local economies. Three other prefectural capitals — Mito, Nagasaki and Oita — will also have mayoral elections on April 21. In Tokyo, a total of 31 people filed candidacies in elections to lead assemblies in 11 wards, including Chuo and Kita.


Xi Jinping to attend Osaka G20, says Taro Kono, in China leader's first visit to Japan since 2013

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Japan in June to attend this year’s summit of the Group of 20 major economies, in what will be his first trip to the nation since coming to power in 2013, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Monday. “His attendance is scheduled,” Kono told reporters in Beijing after meeting separately with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Kono’s Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. It is also hoped that the visit will be an opportunity for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to hold his first meeting with Xi since a summit in Buenos Aires in November. Kono said he agreed with Wang to work toward the success of the summit, set to be hosted in Osaka, and boost cooperation between the two countries on various global issues. “To stabilize Japan-China relations in the truest sense, positive action by China in the East China Sea is necessary,” Kono added. A dispute over the Japanese-controlled and uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls Diaoyu, remains a source of tension between the two countries. At the outset of the meeting, held at the Zhongnanhai government compound, Li had said, “As neighbors, China and Japan should deepen economic cooperation and cultivate third-country markets for the benefit of not only our two countries but also to ensure a stable recovery in the global economy.” The Japanese minister said he also asked China to lift restrictions on imports of Japanese food that were put in place after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. In November, China removed a ban on rice grown in Niigata Prefecture, more than 200 kilometers away from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and has shown willingness to ease restrictions on other Japanese food proven to be safe based on scientific evaluations. In a blow to Japan’s fishery industry, the World Trade Organization ruled Thursday that South Korea could maintain its import ban on Japanese seafood, reversing an earlier decision that had called for the prohibition to be lifted. Kono and Wang are also believed to have discussed the resumption of talks on a joint gas development project in the East China Sea based on a 2008 bilateral accord that has since stalled. On Sunday, the two co-chaired a high-level economic dialogue aimed at deepening cooperation at a time when global growth is slowing. At the meeting, which was attended by a dozen ministers from both sides, Japan voiced concern over lax protection of intellectual property rights in China. Beijing, meanwhile, called on Tokyo to invest in infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative. Kono told reporters Sunday that the two countries broadly agreed to sign a quarantine pact that is a precondition to bringing an end to China’s import ban of Japanese beef, imposed in 2001 when the first case of mad cow disease was detected in Japan. “It’s an important step” toward lifting the ban, Kono said, noting that the pact would be signed “soon,” but without giving a concrete timeline. Kono said at the meeting, “It goes without saying it’s important that the second- and third-largest economies in the world hold constructive discussions on economic ties.” Six ministers from each country sat together for nearly four hours in a bid to find ways to create a more favorable environment for firms doing business in one another’s country. They dealt with a range of economic issues, including intellectual property theft that has developed into a tit-for-tat tariff war between the United States and China. “We have voiced Japan’s concerns over forced technology transfers and over the protection of intellectual property rights,” Kono told reporters after Sunday’s ministerial meeting. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Beijing encouraged Tokyo to invest in infrastructure projects under Xi’s “One Belt, One Road” development initiative that stretches across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. China also expressed concern over decisions by Japanese telecommunications firms to exclude Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from contracts, amid concerns among some developed countries over security breaches, Kono said.

china
china-japan relations
xi jinping
wang yi
li keqiang
taro kono


Youth turnout a worry in Japan's first quadrennial elections under new voting age of 18

Abstract: The first quadrennial unified local elections to be held after the voting age was lowered to 18 in June 2015 are being hampered by concerns about the youngest voters’ low voting rate. Since most are going through important life changes in April, such as entering college, starting work and moving to new homes, they tend to have little interest in the local elections. In the most recent national elections — the Upper House poll in 2016 and the Lower House poll in 2017 — the turnout for 18-year-olds was higher than for 19-year-olds, apparently thanks to high school efforts to teach the importance of voting. Turnout was tallied at 51.3 percent for the Upper House poll and 47.9 percent for the Lower House poll for 18-year-olds, but 42.3 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively, for 19-year-olds. But because the local elections this year are taking place during spring vacation, after 18-year-olds graduate, many aren’t getting the encouragement from their teachers to go out and vote. The first wave was held on April 7 and will be followed by a wave of municipal elections on April 21. At Nagoya University’s entrance ceremony on April 5, 18-year-old medical student Kiyotaka Matsui said it would be difficult to cast his ballot for the Nagoya Municipal Assembly election two days later. “I am busy now, attending welcome parties for first-year students and deciding which clubs to join,” he said. Regardless of age, average turnout for the unified prefectural assembly elections in both 2015 and 2011 was below 50 percent, compared with 54.7 percent for the 2016 Upper House election and 53.7 percent for the 2017 Lower House election. While candidates for national elections tend to emphasize the policy differences between themselves and their rivals, such differences are less conspicuous in municipal and other local elections. “It is even more difficult for young people, who have less experience voting, to understand the differences,” said Tadashi Mori, professor of politics at Aichi Gakuin University in Nagoya. Furthermore, those who have moved to a different prefecture and changed their resident registration don’t have the right to vote in the new prefecture unless they registered three months before campaigning began. If they leave their resident registration documents in their hometowns, they can cast ballots there. But an 18-year-old from Hyogo Prefecture who entered Chukyo University in Aichi said it’s not worth the trouble. “It’s a hassle to go back to my hometown just for that,” the freshman said. Chiryuhigashi High School in Chiryu, Aichi Prefecture, offers classes to raise political awareness, but the last class for those who graduated this spring was held in November. “I was wondering if they would go to the polls,” said Tsuyoshi Masui, the 50-year-old teacher in charge of the class. On the same day that the graduation ceremony was held at Usui High School in the city of Fukui in March, officials from the Fukui prefectural election administration commission paid a visit. They explained the details of how to participate in early voting for the gubernatorial and prefectural assembly elections before any of the students could move out of the prefecture. In the end, however, it is often the candidates themselves who influence youngsters’ minds and get them to go to the polls. “I was listening to a candidate speaking in front of a train station and I liked the speech,” said Nana Ueno, an 18-year-old from Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, who entered Nagoya University’s School of Humanities earlier this month. “I plan to vote.”

nagoya
teens
elections
local government
students


Preparations for 2020 Tokyo Olympics transforming capital into 'global standard' city

Abstract: Foreign-language signs are increasingly common along streets, cashless payment is becoming available at more shops and restaurants and ashtrays are vanishing from public spaces. Change is afoot in Tokyo. The capital is rapidly transforming into a “global standard” city with these moves ahead of the 2020 Olympics. The use of digital signs is spreading at train stations and commercial facilities in the capital. A Mitsukoshi department store in the Ginza district has adopted two digital sign units that can display information for visitors in four languages. East Japan Railway Co., better known as JR East, has experimented with a digital sign system combined with artificial intelligence, with the view to its full-fledged introduction in time for the 2020 Games. On a trial system installed at Tokyo Station, an AI-based female character called AI-Sakura who is fluent in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean answered visitors’ questions with a smile. The introduction of smartphone-based payment systems, including those from overseas, is also progressing. Department and convenience store chains have been leading the way, and public transportation companies and businesses at major tourist spots are catching up. On Feb. 21, major subway stations run by Tokyo Metro Co. started accepting Alipay, the mobile payment system of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., for sales of subway passes to foreign visitors. In line with the International Olympic Committee’s push to hold a smoke-free Olympics, in the meantime, the government is working to curb indoor smoking under a health promotion law. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is making similar efforts under its own ordinance. Family restaurant chain Saizeriya Co. plans to impose a smoking ban at all outlets by September. Convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co. asked some 1,000 franchise stores in Tokyo last year to remove ashtrays from storefronts. About 70 percent have already complied or said they are willing to do it. Some restaurant chains that have declined to gear up for smoking restrictions are concerned about ruining sales in a country long considered a smoking haven. “It’s uncertain whether a smoking ban would lead to higher sales or an increase in family visitors or simply cause a fall in the number of visitors who smoke,” a senior official with an izakaya (traditional Japanese pub) said. In another move triggered by the 2020 Olympics, major convenience store chains are slated to stop selling pornographic magazines at most stores by this summer.

tech
smoking
rail
tourism
retailers
2020 tokyo olympics
cashless


Tepco begins removing fuel rods from Unit 3 reactor pool at crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

Abstract: FUKUSHIMA - The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant started removing nuclear fuel on Monday from the Unit 3 storage pool, located at one of the reactor buildings damaged by hydrogen explosions in the 2011 disaster at the site. It is the first fuel removal operation by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (Tepco) from the storage pools for the Nos. 1 to 3 units, which suffered meltdowns after losing power following a powerful earthquake and tsunami. The start of the work was delayed by more than four years due to a series of malfunctions of the devices necessary for the operation, and high-level radiation observed in the area also posed a significant challenge, the operator said. Tepco said it plans to remove seven unspent fuel rods from the reactor’s pool, where a total of 566 spent and unspent fuel rods are stored, and transfer them to another storage pool on the premises later this month. The work is planned to be completed by the end of March 2021. There are a total of 1,573 fuel rods, including unspent ones, inside the storage pools at the Nos. 1 to 3 units, and the large amount of spent fuel is a huge obstacle to scrapping the crippled reactors as they will continue to generate heat and high levels of radiation for an extended period. After removing the seven unspent fuel rods that pose a relatively low risk, removal work will be intensified — possibly in June, when the storage pool to which the fuel will be transferred undergoes a regular check as is required by law. The fuel removal was originally scheduled to start in late 2014 but it has been pushed back multiple times. In 2014, Tepco completed fuel removal work from the pool linked to the No. 4 unit, which was offline for regular checks at the time of the accident and had all of its fuel stored in the pool. Unlike the Nos. 1 to 3 units, it did not suffer a meltdown. The utility said it aims to start fuel removal work from pools at the Nos. 1-2 units in fiscal 2023, and has been assessing their surroundings. Among the Nos. 1 to 6 units at the plant, the reactor buildings of the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 units suffered hydrogen explosions after the disaster. On Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toured the Fukushima plant complex and nearby areas to check on reconstruction progress since the 2011 crisis. His visit came after Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada stepped down last week when remarks made by Sakurada were deemed offensive to people affected by the March 2011 disasters. “The government will do its utmost to rebuild (this area), engraving in our heart once again that each minister is in charge of reconstruction,” Abe said following his visit to the nuclear complex — his first since September 2013. Abe said he confirmed “steady progress” in the decommissioning work at the plant but noted that “many challenges” remain. “The state will continue to stand at the forefront of the decommissioning work and the containment of radioactive water (that is accumulating at the plant),” he said.

fukushima
fukushima no . 1
radiation
tepco
nuclear energy
nuclear waste
3.11


Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route featuring massive snow walls opens for season in Toyama

Abstract: TOYAMA - A sightseeing route that includes massive walls of snow running through the Tateyama mountain range in central Japan opened Monday for this year’s tourist season. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, which is closed for most of the winter, connects the town of Tateyama, in Toyama Prefecture, with the city of Omachi in Nagano Prefecture in the Northern Alps by bus and cable car. The sightseeing route is open through Nov. 30 each year, and for a while after it opens in the spring visitors can witness the impressive volume of snow as they walk through the “ Yuki no Otani, ” or “large ravine of snow,” which is created after snow that fell during the winter is removed from the route. Kansai Electric Power Co. said it has started using new battery-powered buses instead of trolley buses to run through one of the tunnels that form part of the sightseeing route. The pathway for tourists walking below the snow walls, which this year extend up to 16 meters high on each side of the road, was closed Monday due to snowstorms. Also on Monday buses linking Bijodaira, at an altitude of 977 meters, and Murodo terminal, at an altitude of 2,450 meters, both in Tateyama, did not run due to bad weather. The operator of the route said it is aiming to attract 1 million visitors this year, an increase of around 20,000 from last year, as the number of foreign tourists in Japan continues to grow.

nagano
snow
tourism
tateyama
northern alps
tateyama kurobe alpine route
omachi


Woman arrested for leaving baby in toilet bowl after giving birth in Saitama convenience store bathroom

Abstract: SAITAMA - A woman was arrested Monday for attempted murder over the abandonment of a newborn baby in a toilet bowl, after giving birth in a convenience-store bathroom in Saitama Prefecture, police said. Yuria Moriizumi, 24, delivered the baby girl in the bathroom of the store in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 24, before leaving her in the bowl with the lid shut. The baby was suffering from hypothermia when found, and was taken to hospital soon after. She is now in a stable condition. “I couldn’t raise the child on my own, and I hadn’t told my parents about the pregnancy,” the unmarried woman said, according to police. Moriizumi was in a car with her family when she complained of stomach pains, so they stopped at the convenience store. The family had not noticed her pregnancy and only became aware of the situation when they took her to a hospital after seeing blood on the car seat once they got back home. The convenience-store manager called police after the discovery of the baby girl, while the hospital treating Moriizumi also notified police.


Okinawa police knew of problems between woman and U.S. serviceman before she was murdered

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - The U.S. military had informed local police in Okinawa in January of concerns about the relationship between a U.S. serviceman and a Japanese woman, and police had apparently been trying to confirm her safety, before both of them were found dead at the weekend. The U.S. Marine Corps on Monday revealed that the dead U.S. serviceman was 32-year-old Gabriel Olivero from North Carolina. According to Japanese authorities, the U.S. military police contacted them in late January and told them there were problems in the relationship between the 44-year-old woman and the man. Police officers met her multiple times in January and February to ensure her safety. When they called her in mid-March, she said there were no issues between the two at that time and that she was doing alright. Olivero and the woman were found dead on Saturday at an apartment in the town of Chatan in Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan. The Foreign Ministry said the same day he fatally stabbed the woman and then killed himself. U.S. Forces Japan has said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was working with local police to probe the deaths. “This is an absolute tragedy and we are fully committed to supporting the investigation,” it wrote in a statement Saturday. On Saturday, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeo Akiba telephoned U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty, asking for cooperation with the investigation and to make efforts to prevent a recurrence, and expressed “extreme regrets,” the Foreign Ministry said.

okinawa
murder
suicide
u.s. military
u.s. bases
stabbings
chatan


Everything you need to know about this one-of-a-kind Golden Week in Japan

Abstract: Japan is poised to celebrate the Imperial succession and the start of a new era on May 1 with a festive extra-long 10-day Golden Week from April 27 through May 6. The string of consecutive holidays, at first glance, appears to be a miniature spring break for children out of school and a summer and winter vacation merged into one for employees who get permission to go. More people will be traveling, eating and shopping during the break, which is expected to benefit businesses. But it is also expected to be a headache for traders in Japan who are concerned the prolonged shutdown of Japan’s financial markets will unsettle the yen. Here is a look at how the rare 10-day break could impact businesses and people’s daily lives. What prompted the government to set up a 10-day Golden Week? It is intended to create a celebratory mood for the Imperial succession, which will see Crown Prince Naruhito ascend the throne on May 1 the day after his father Emperor Akihito abdicates. The annual holiday period dubbed Golden Week normally starts at the end of April and lasts through early May, with some normal working days interspersed throughout. This year, however, most of the days fall on a weekend or national holiday. Starting on April 27 (Saturday), Golden Week will include April 29 (Showa Day), May 3 (Constitution Day), May 4 (Greenery Day), May 5 (Children’s Day) and May 6 (a substitute holiday). That only left April 30 and May 1 and 2 as working days. Therefore the Diet enacted a law in December to designate May 1, enthronement day, as a one-off holiday this year. Since the holiday law stipulates that a weekday sandwiched between national holidays automatically becomes a public holiday, the entire span from April 27 to May 6 became a consecutive 10-day holiday. Why are investors and traders concerned? Because the extra-long Golden Week will cause Japan’s longest stock market shutdown ever, which is expected to cause more turbulence than usual when it reopens on May 7. The Financial Services Agency issued a statement warning market participants to be aware that stock prices might fluctuate and trading volume may substantially increase if major market-moving events occur during that time. Hideo Kumano, executive chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said many are concerned that currency trading will become volatile during the long holiday because Japanese traders will either be absent or fewer in number. He recalled the Jan. 3 flash crash this year, when the yen soared nearly 4 percent against the dollar in a matter of minutes after Apple Inc.’s earnings warning triggered stop-loss sales of the dollar in thin trading on the last day of the New Year holidays in Japan. Will the longer holiday benefit businesses? Yes, especially those in tourism-related industries, such as travel agencies, hotels, restaurants and airlines. Dai-ichi Life Research Institute estimates the extra long Golden Week will push up domestic travel by ¥332.3 billion, or 28.9 percent, to ¥1.48 trillion compared with ¥1.15 trillion last year. JTB Corp., the nation’s leading travel agency, projects that around 24.67 million people will be travelling in Japan or abroad during Golden Week and spend around ¥1.06 trillion between April 27 and May 6. JTB spokeswoman Risa Ogata said more people than in 2018 apparently want to take advantage of the extended holiday. According to a recent online survey conducted by Synchro Food Co., a research company for the food and beverage industry, 63.6 percent of restaurants and other eateries plan to operate as usual during the extended Golden Week. Furthermore, 17 percent said they would operate even on their regular holidays during the period, according to the survey, which was conducted in March and is based on answers from 442 respondents. Is it all cheery news for those businesses? No. Increased demand may lead to problems securing manpower. One izakaya (Japanese pub) chain in Aichi Prefecture cited in the online survey said it was worried that sales will drop if they fail to secure enough part-time workers for this year’s special Golden Week. Will the banks be closed? Yes, but their ATMs will remain in operation. Kumano of the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute believes that since the banks will be closed, more people than usual are likely to line up to withdraw cash from ATMs before Golden week begins. Will there be any impact on hospitals and their patients? Some medical institutions plan to accept patients during the holidays but many small clinics are expected to close. According to a survey by Global Health Consulting, around 85 percent of the 123 hospitals that responded across Japan said they will provide outpatient services or consider staying open during Golden Week. But 8.9 percent said they will be closed throughout the entire period, with another 6.5 percent considering doing the same, the survey said. Of the 110 hospitals that will partially be open, 69.1 percent said they would be open for just two or three days. In Tokyo, for instance, Juntendo University Hospital has announced it will be open on April 30, May 1 and May 2 for outpatients but accept emergency patients 24 hours a day. Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital will also accept outpatients on those days. The decisions came after the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in January urged prefectural governments nationwide to ensure emergency medical treatment and access to health services will be available during the extended holidays. The ministry urged medical institutions to prepare intensive care units for situations in which they need to send patients elsewhere if no beds are available, as well as to set up a system to secure adequate supplies of medicine. Municipalities nationwide are rushing to update their websites on which clinics and pharmacies will be accessible during the holidays. It is worth noting, however, that those who decide to undergo checkups during this special edition of Golden Week might incur an additional fee.

holidays
tourism
emperor akihito
hospitals
imperial family
golden week
abdication
reiwa


G20 broadly agrees world economy will pick up in second half of 2019

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies broadly shared the view that the world economy will pick up in the second half of this year before posting higher growth next year, a Japanese delegation source said Thursday. But some G20 members cited the U.S.-China tariff war, high levels of debt incurred by China and other emerging countries, and a potentially disorderly exit by the United Kingdom from the European Union as risk factors for global growth, the source told reporters after the first day of a two-day meeting in Washington. Finance Minister Taro Aso and Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda led the meeting under Japan’s first presidency of the group, which will culminate in a G20 summit hosted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in late June in Osaka. Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s session, Aso said that despite a slowdown in the second half of 2018, the world economy is likely to gather steam in the latter half of 2019. Aso attributed the optimism to easing global financial conditions propelled by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent decision to pause its credit-tightening cycle, and an improved outlook for the trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Aso briefed his G20 counterparts about Japan’s plan to raise consumption tax by 2 percentage points to 10 percent in October as part of efforts to ensure a sustainable social security system amid the rapid graying of the population. Kuroda referred to a similar global economic outlook and expressed hope that the U.S.-China talks will lead to a deal to end the dispute, which has involved tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s imports. “Such protectionist moves would not be a plus for both sides,” he told reporters separately. Kuroda called for promotion of free trade as a driver of global growth, saying that trade under World Trade Organization rules has made significant contributions to world economic growth. “All G20 members, including both countries, need to make efforts to that end,” he said, referring to the United States and China. In its latest outlook, released Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the world economy will grow 3.3 percent in 2019 — down 0.2 percentage point from its January estimate. The projected growth rate for 2020 was unchanged at 3.6 percent. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the global economy is “at a delicate moment,” and that the expected rebound to 3.6 percent “is precarious and is subject to downside risks” such as trade tensions and issues involving Brexit. “We need to better address unfair trade practices and distortions in the system, including through a WTO system reform,” Lagarde said at a news conference. “We need to avoid self-inflicted wounds, including tariffs and other barriers.” On Friday, the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss global imbalances, the aging society, quality infrastructure, debt sustainability and international taxation, but they have no plan to issue a post-meeting communique, according to the Japanese delegation source. The delegates gathered in the U.S. capital for spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The G20 groups Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.


Monsanto loses appeal in French farmer's poisoning case

Abstract: LYON, FRANCE - A French court on Thursday upheld a guilty verdict against chemicals giant Monsanto over the poisoning of a farmer who suffered neurological damage after using one of its weedkillers, the latest legal setback for the company over its controversial pesticides. Cereal farmer Paul Francois has been fighting Monsanto, a formerly U.S. company that was bought by Germany’s Bayer last year, for the past 12 years. In the first ruling of its kind against Monsanto anywhere in the world, a French court in 2012 found it guilty of poisoning Francois. He said he began experiencing symptoms including blackouts, headaches and loss of balance and memory after inhaling fumes while using the now-banned weedkiller Lasso. Monsanto appealed and lost in 2015 but decided to go a third round. “I won, and I’m happy, but at what cost?” Francois told reporters after the verdict. He denounced what he called years of “legal harassment” by Monsanto, which can still appeal Thursday’s ruling by the Cour de Cassation, a top French appeals court. The ruling, he said, was “a message to the government,” which he urged to ban other toxic pesticides that contain glyphosate, used in Monsanto’s top-selling Roundup. “History will judge them for not acting,” he said, referring to a campaign pledge by President Emmanuel Macron to phase out glyphosate in France, which he backed down on last year. Monsanto is facing thousands of U.S. lawsuits over glyphosate exposure, and last month was ordered by a San Francisco court to pay around $80 million to a retiree suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Francois said he fell ill in 2004 after accidentally inhaling fumes from a vat containing Lasso, a monochlorobenzene-based weedkiller that was legal in France until 2007 but which had already been banned in 1985 in Canada and in 1992 in Belgium and Britain. He argued that Monsanto was aware of Lasso’s dangers long before it was withdrawn from the French market, and sought damages of more than €1 million ($1.13 million) for chronic neurological damage that required long hospital stays. The court in Lyon, southeastern France, rejected the company’s appeal but did not rule on how much Monsanto might have to pay, which will be determined in a separate ruling. It did order the company to pay €50,000 immediately for Francois’s legal fees. In its ruling, the court found that Monsanto should have clearly indicated on Lasso’s labeling and instructions for use “a notice on the specific dangers of using the product in vats and reservoirs.” “The plaintiff’s assumed technical knowledge does not excuse the lack of information on the product and its harmful effects — a farmer is not a chemist,” it added. Speaking after the verdict, a lawyer for Monsanto France, Jean-Daniel Bretzner, said it would probably appeal, since the ruling applied to Lasso’s producer — in this case, Monsanto Europe. Parent company Bayer confirmed it was weighing an appeal. “Supposing that Paul Francois was accidentally exposed to Lasso, by definition such exposure is rare,” it said in a statement. It was the latest conviction against Monsanto involving its weedkillers and pesticides, which have been widely used around the world for years. Last month, a San Francisco court ordered the $80 million pay-out to a retiree who blames its popular Roundup weedkiller, which contains glyphosate, for causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The company said it would appeal as it faces thousands of similar lawsuits in the United States. It had already been ordered last year to pay $78.5 million to a California groundskeeper who attributed his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to using Roundup as well as Monsanto’s Ranger Pro. Monsanto denies that Roundup causes cancer and has challenged findings by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), which classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen” in 2015. But Bayer, which paid $63 billion for Monsanto last year, has seen its stock plunge some 40 percent since the takeover was completed last June, largely reflecting fears of Monsanto’s exposure to lawsuits.

france
u.s .
cancer
monsanto
roundup
bayer
emmanuel macron
paul francois
lasso


India's stricken Jet Airways scrubs international flights and grounds more planes

Abstract: MAHARASHTRA, INDIA - India’s Jet Airways canceled several international flights on Thursday and grounded another 10 aircraft after failing to pay lessors, deepening the woes of the beleaguered carrier. “We have canceled all long-haul west-bound international flights from India from tonight until tomorrow (Friday) morning,” a Jet Airways spokesperson told AFP late Thursday. The cancellations affected five flights, to London, Paris and Amsterdam. Thursday and Friday services to Colombo and Singapore were also canceled but a flight to Kathmandu did run. The west-bound flights were scheduled to start again from Friday afternoon but services to Asian countries were expected to remain suspended on Friday, the spokesman added. The development comes as a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India tries to sell a majority stake in the debt-laden airline to keep it flying. Jet Airways was until recently India’s second-biggest airline but is on the brink of collapse with debts of more than $1 billion. The carrier has been forced to ground the majority of its fleet as it struggles to pay aircraft lessors and staff. On Thursday, it told the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had grounded 10 more planes due to nonpayment. The airline now operates just 16 planes out of a fleet of 119. Its operational fleet is now thought to be below the number required by Indian aviation regulators to fly overseas. Thousands of customers have been stranded in recent weeks after hundreds of flights were canceled, in some cases with little or no notice. The Mumbai-based airline has also defaulted on several loan payments. Last month, creditors injected $218 million of “immediate funding support” into Jet Airways as part of a debt resolution plan. The move saw the State Bank of India-led consortium take control of the struggling airline from founder Naresh Goyal, who stepped down as chairman. The consortium started a stake sale process on Monday, giving prospective bidders until Friday to submit expressions of interest. Any interested parties will then have until April 30 to make a formal bid. A collapse would deal a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pragmatic pro-business reputation during a mega six-week-long election that started on Thursday. Alarm bells for Jet Airways first rang in August when it failed to report its quarterly earnings or pay staff, including pilots. It later reported a loss of $85 million. In February, it secured a $1.19 billion bailout from lenders to bridge a funding gap, but its crisis has deepened. The carrier has been badly hit by fluctuating global crude prices and a weak rupee, as well as fierce competition from budget rivals.

india
airlines
narendra modi
bankruptcy
jet airways


U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue seeking 'very quick' deal on tariff reductions with Japan

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Thursday he was seeking a “very quick agreement” with Japan on tariff cuts for agricultural goods as part of efforts to reach a bilateral trade deal. “I hope we can come to a very quick agreement with Japan over maybe some temporary … provisions and hash out the many other issues that take longer in this area,” Perdue told reporters ahead of the first round of talks next week on what the United States says will be a bilateral free trade agreement. The remark indicates that President Donald Trump’s administration hopes to pursue a deal in stages, leaving services and other sectors for later negotiations. The Trump administration has grown concerned that the recent enforcement of the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement — an 11-member FTA including Japan and Australia — as well as the FTA signed between Japan and the European Union, have put American farmers and ranchers at a disadvantage in the Japanese market. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “understands the criticality with implementation of the TPP and the other 11 countries — he understands that our producers will be at a disadvantage,” Perdue said. According to Japanese government data, the nation’s beef imports from Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand — four members of what is formally called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — jumped more than 50 percent in January from a year earlier after the pact took effect on Dec. 30. The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the TPP in 2017 in light of its preference for bilateral trade deals. In the first round of talks, slated for Monday and Tuesday in Washington, Lighthizer and Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s economic revitalization minister, plan to discuss the scope of their future negotiations. While the United States is calling for a comprehensive pact that would cover a range of areas such as goods, services, investment and currency, Japan is insisting the two governments aim for a trade agreement on goods only. Motegi said in Tokyo that Perdue’s proposal of negotiating tariff cuts for farm products first is “in line with a Japan-U.S. joint statement” issued in September, in which the two countries agreed to start the trade negotiations. The first trade talks are set to be followed by a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on April 26 in Washington.

u.s .
agriculture
trade
tariffs
imports
u.s.-japan relations
sonny perdue