Two finalists in U.K. leadership race make pitches to Tory members

Abstract: LONDON - The two finalists in the race to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party — and become the country’s new prime minister — made their first formal pitches to party members Saturday, both vowing to be the right man to deliver the so-called British exit from the European Union. Ex-foreign secretary and former London Mayor Boris Johnson, the runaway favorite of Tory lawmakers, faced off with Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary, at a Conservative conference in central England’s Birmingham. Opening his address with a focus on delivering Britain’s stalled exit from the EU, Johnson told the audience “We need to get Brexit done” and be prepared to leave the EU without a withdrawal deal in place. “I am here to tell you that in all confidence we can turn this thing around,” he said. “I am utterly convinced that with the right energy and the right commitment, common sense will prevail. But just in case it does not, we must prepare to come out anyway.” Johnson has won backing from the Conservative Party’s die-hard Brexiteers by insisting the U.K. must leave the bloc on the rescheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce agreement to smooth the way. Both Johnson and Hunt said they would succeed in seeing Britain out of the EU, a challenge that defeated Prime Minister Theresa May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after repeatedly failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal and will leave No. 10 Downing St. when her successor is selected. Hunt pitched himself as the better negotiator, warning that “catastrophe awaits” if the wrong leader is sent to Brussels for talks with EU leaders. “If we send the wrong person, there’s going to be no negotiation, no trust, no deal, and if Parliament stops that, maybe no Brexit,” he said. “Send the right person, and there’s a deal to be done.” For the party conference in Birmingham, both contenders were given time to make a short speech before answering questions from the host and audience members. The Saturday “hustings” was the first of more than a dozen such party meetings set to take place across Britain in coming days. Johnson refused to comment when asked about a police visit early Friday to the London home he shares with partner Carrie Symonds after a neighbor reported an altercation. The incident dominated news headlines in Britain on Saturday. The Guardian newspaper said neighbors reported hearing screaming, shouting and banging inside the home. The responding officers found all the occupants “safe and well” and no legal offenses were committed, police said. Johnson said the public could judge his character and ambition by his track record as London mayor and his plans for the country. Hunt wrote to Johnson on Friday evening before the altercation became public, effectively accusing him of hiding from questions and avoiding media scrutiny. This latest incident will make that more difficult for him, as reporters are now staked out on his doorstep. “Scrutiny can be uncomfortable,” Hunt wrote in the letter, released to the media. “But if we can’t handle it with friends, we won’t deserve to lead against our opponents.” Johnson and Hunt are the final two from a field of 10 contenders that was winnowed down in a series of votes by party lawmakers. About 160,000 party members across Britain will decide who wins in a vote by mail. The winner of the runoff, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become the new Conservative leader and replace May as prime minister.

eu
u.k .
elections
boris johnson
brexit
theresa may
jeremy hunt


Trump postpones nationwide immigration enforcement sweep

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday delayed a nationwide immigration sweep to deport people living the United States illegally, including families, saying he would give lawmakers two weeks to work out solutions for the southern border. The move came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump on Friday asking him to call off the raids. But three administration officials said scrapping the operation was not just about politics. They said Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders had expressed serious concerns that officers’ safety would be in jeopardy because too many details about the raids had been made public. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about private discussions. “At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “If not, Deportations start!” The operation, which sparked outrage and concern among immigrant advocates, had been expected to begin Sunday and would target people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges. The cancellation was another sign of the Trump administration’s difficulty managing the border crisis. The number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically under Trump, despite his tough rhetoric and hard-line policies. Balancing a White House eager to push major operational changes with the reality on the ground is a constant challenge for the Department of Homeland Security. Trump gave the first public word of the planned sweep earlier last week, saying in a tweet that an operation was coming up and the agency would begin to remove “millions” of people who were in the United States illegally. Later, leaks to the media included sensitive law enforcement details, such as the day it was to begin, Sunday, plus specific cities and other operational details. On Saturday, ICE spokeswoman Carol Danko criticized the leaks in context of their potential impact on ICE personnel, saying in a statement that “any leaks telegraphing sensitive law enforcement operations is egregious and puts our officers’ safety in danger.” Pelosi called Trump on Friday night and the two spoke for about 12 minutes, according to a person familiar with the situation and not authorized to discuss it publicly. She asked him to call off the raids and he said he would consider the request, the person said. It’s unclear what else was said during the call. But in a statement Saturday before the president’s decision was announced, Pelosi appealed to the same compassion Trump expressed in declining to strike Iran because of the potential for lost lives. “The President spoke about the importance of avoiding the collateral damage of 150 lives in Iran. I would hope he would apply that same value to avoiding the collateral damage to tens of thousands of children who are frightened by his actions,” she said. She called the raids “heartless.” Pelosi responded to Trump’s announcement with her own tweet, saying: “Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together.” Halting the flow of illegal immigration has been Trump’s signature campaign issue, but Congress has been unable to push his proposals into law with resistance from both Democrats and Republicans. Bipartisan talks over the immigration system have started and stalled but are again underway among some in the Senate. Lawmakers are considering whether to give $4.6 billion in emergency funding to help border agencies struggling to manage a growing number of migrants crossing the border. The measure passed a Senate committee on a 30-1 vote. But the House is considering its own measure. Funding is running out and Congress is trying to approve legislation before the House and Senate recess this week. Earlier Saturday, Trump hinted the operation was still on, saying the people ICE was looking for “have already been ordered to be deported.” “This means that they have run from the law and run from the courts,” Trump said. Coordinated enforcement operations take months to plan . Surprise is also an important element. ICE officers don’t have a search warrant and are working from files with addresses and must go to people’s home and ask to be let inside. Immigrants are not required to open their doors, and increasingly they don’t. Officers generally capture about 30 percent to 40 percent of targets. The planned operation was heavily criticized by Democratic lawmakers as cruel, and many local mayors said they would refuse to cooperate with ICE. Immigrant advocates stepped up know-your-rights campaigns. Another complication is that ICE needs travel paperwork from a home country to deport someone, so immigrants often end up detained at least temporarily waiting for a flight. ICE was reserving hotel rooms for families in the event the operation went off as planned Sunday. The adult population of detainees was 53,141 as of June 8, though the agency is only budgeted for 45,000. There were 1,662 in family detention, also at capacity, and one of the family detention centers is currently housing single adults.

u.s .
immigration
rights
donald trump
police


Behind the bluster: Britain's Boris Johnson

Abstract: LONDON - Known for his jokes, gaffes and bluster, Boris Johnson has pitched himself as the big personality Britain needs to break the Brexit deadlock and thereby save his Conservative Party from electoral oblivion. The former foreign minister has been dogged by questions about his competence and populist rhetoric, and accused of offering no detailed plan for leaving the European Union. But he has won support among Conservative colleagues terrified that the continued political turmoil over Brexit will provoke a general election that they will lose. His fans say he has the charisma, personality and national presence to beat leftist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage’s insurgent Brexit Party. As a leader of the “leave” campaign during the 2016 EU referendum and a former London mayor, Johnson has proven he can reach beyond the core Conservative vote. But his past quips — including about gay “bumboys,” and Muslim women wearing the face veil looking like “letter boxes” — have sparked intense criticism. His threat to take Britain out of the EU with no deal also alarms many businesses fearful of the economic consequences. Rivals have suggested that on this, he may not be all he seems, noting he has persuaded both hard-line Brexiteers and more moderate colleagues to back him. Diplomats from across Europe view him as an opportunist — although some argue this may help him in the battles to come. Pascal Lamy, the former head of the World Trade Organization and a Johnson family friend, said that he did not seem to have a settled view on Brexit. “The only thing in which Boris Johnson believes is Boris Johnson,” he said. Born in New York in 1964, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has always been ambitious — his sister Rachel said he wanted as a child to be “king of the world.” He first ran for the leadership after the EU referendum, but pulled out when his key ally Michael Gove turned on him to run himself. This time, he has run a disciplined campaign, which began by trimming his famously unruly mop of blond hair. He has focused on cultivating backers in Parliament, and limiting his public appearances has helped him avoid the gaffes that have defined his career. Educated at the elite Eton school and Oxford University, Johnson first worked as a journalist for The Times newspaper but was sacked for fabricating quotes. He later made a name for himself peddling “Euro-myths” about EU regulations while Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. Johnson became famous as a guest on the satirical TV talk show “Have I Got News For You,” where his bumbling, aristocratic persona made him a hit. He became an MP in 2001, but was sacked as Conservative arts spokesman in 2004 for allegedly lying about an extramarital affair — one of many romantic scandals that would dog him over the years. By now known nationwide simply as “Boris,” the row did not stop his election in 2008 as mayor of multiethnic, Labour-voting London. He was re-elected in 2012 and oversaw the London Olympic Games that year, memorably getting stuck on a zip-wire while celebrating Britain’s first gold medal. Johnson has drawn on his experience as mayor, pointing to falling crime, house-building projects and his work with business. But skeptics accuse him of expensive vanity projects such as a doomed “garden bridge.” He returned to Parliament in 2015 as MP for a London suburb, promising to oppose the expansion of Heathrow Airport. But as foreign minister, Johnson missed a key parliamentary vote on the project after hastily arranging a trip to Afghanistan. Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to put him in the Foreign Office when she took power was viewed as a canny move to keep a rival at arm’s length — but risked backfiring. As a journalist, he once wrote about the Commonwealth’s “flag-waving pickaninnies,” among other lurid turns of phrase. In office, he made a major error in suggesting that a British-Iranian woman held in Tehran on sedition charges may have been training reporters. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family strongly denies this and said the comments made her situation worse. After he quit in July 2018 over May’s Brexit strategy, the think tank Chatham House concluded Johnson was Britain’s “least successful” postwar foreign minister. “Where gravitas and grasp of detail were needed Johnson supplied bon mots,” it said.


Trump vows new Iran sanctions, says he wants to be Tehran's 'best friend' if it renounces nuclear weapons

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday pledged to hit Iran with “major” new sanctions as Tehran warned Washington that any attack would see its interests across the Middle East go up in flames. The war of words heated up after Trump had pulled back from military action against Iran in response to its downing of a U.S. reconnaissance drone. That incident, which came after a series of attacks on tankers in the congested shipping lanes out of the Persian Gulf that the U.S. has blamed on Iran, exacerbated already tense relations between the two countries. Iran has denied responsibility for those attacks. Trump, who spent Saturday huddling with his advisors at Camp David, initially told reporters that he was keen to be Iran’s “best friend” — if the country agreed to renounce nuclear weapons. “When they agree to that, they’re going to have a wealthy country. They’re going to be so happy, and I’m going to be their best friend,” he told reporters. Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon and says its program is for civilian purposes. A multinational accord reached by Tehran and world powers in 2015 sought to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief. But Trump left that agreement more than a year ago and has imposed a robust slate of punitive economic sanctions designed to choke off Iranian oil sales and cripple its economy — one he now plans to expand. “We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday,” tweeted Trump, who has also deployed additional troops to the Middle East. “I look forward to the day that Sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again — The sooner the better!” Added Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “When the Iranian regime decides to forgo violence and meet our diplomacy with diplomacy, it knows how to reach us. Until then, our diplomatic isolation and economic pressure campaign against the regime will intensify.” But lest anyone think he was entirely ruling out military action, Trump tweeted Saturday evening that “I never called the strike against Iran ‘BACK,’ as people are incorrectly reporting, I just stopped it from going forward at this time!” • ‘Powder keg’- A top Iranian military official warned Washington against any strikes. “Firing one bullet towards Iran will set fire to the interests of America and its allies” in the region, armed forces general staff spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi told the Tasnim news agency. “If the enemy — especially America and its allies in the region — make the military mistake of shooting the powder keg on which America’s interests lie, the region will be set on fire,” Shekarchi warned. Following his comments, Iran said it had executed a man, a contractor for the defense ministry’s aerospace organization, who had been convicted of spying for the United States. • ‘Trampling’ international law- After the downing Thursday of the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, Trump said the United States had been “cocked & loaded” to strike Iran. But at the last minute, he said he pulled back as the response would not have been “proportionate.” The U.S. president subsequently said he did not want war with Iran, but if it came to pass, there would be “obliteration like you’ve never seen before,” according to excerpts of an interview with NBC conducted on Friday. Tehran insists that the drone violated its airspace — something Washington denies — but a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, told state news agency IRNA that the violation could have been an accident. “Nonetheless, this was an act of trampling international aviation laws by a spy aircraft,” Hajizadeh added. The Pentagon released a map of the drone’s flight path, indicating it avoided Iranian waters, but Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday published maps showing the aircraft inside Iranian territory. “There can be no doubt about where the vessel was when it was brought down,” he wrote on Twitter. After the drone was downed, Trump secretly authorized U.S. Cyber Command to carry out a retaliatory cyberattack on Iran, The Washington Post reported Saturday. It crippled computers used to control rocket and missile launches, according to the Post, while Yahoo News said a spying group responsible for tracking ships in the Persian Gulf was targeted. Iran’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the charge d’affaires of the United Arab Emirates, from where the U.S. drone launched, to protest its decision to “put its installations at the disposal of foreign forces for aggression.” The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has barred American civilian aircraft from the area “until further notice,” and several major non-U.S. airlines were altering flight paths to avoid the sensitive Strait of Hormuz.

conflict
u.s .
military
u.n .
nuclear weapons
iran
nuclear energy
iran nuclear deal
donald trump


Brexit murder plot and other online lies: Study blames Russians for multinational attempt to 'divide, discredit and distract'

Abstract: LONDON - In August 2018, Spanish authorities uncovered a plot by anti-Brexit campaigners to assassinate Boris Johnson, a leading Brexiteer who now is the favorite to be Britain’s next prime minister. Or did they? That story and others like it were created by a network of social media accounts operating from Russia that have attempted to seed false narratives across 30 online platforms, a study by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab has found. The effort employed scores of accounts posting in at least six languages on platforms including Facebook and Twitter, as well as multiple other blogging sites and forums. The aim was to “divide, discredit and distract” Western countries by planting false information about topics ranging from alleged British meddling in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections to Irish paramilitary involvement in the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England last year. The network was traced by following connections to a group of 16 accounts suspended in May by Facebook, which said they were “part of a small network emanating from Russia.” Western officials have warned that countries such as Russia, as well as domestic political groups, are increasingly spreading false or misleading information online in order to disrupt politics and public opinion. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently after the European Union said it had evidence of “sustained disinformation activity by Russian sources aiming to suppress turnout and influence voter preferences” in May’s European Parliament elections. Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s DFR Lab, said the accounts failed to attract a large following — likely due to efforts not to get caught — but the operation is notable for its audacity and sophistication. “This operation was trying to provoke divisions between Western countries,” he said. “It faked everything, from the documents it based its stories on, up to the accounts that boosted them.” Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook, said the accounts and pages removed by Facebook in May had been a small part of “a broader operation that was primarily active on other internet platforms.” “We know that these threats are not limited to a specific type of technology or service. The better we can be at working together, the better we’ll do by our community,” he said. A Twitter spokesman said the company welcomed the findings and had a team “dedicated to identifying and investigating suspected platform manipulation on Twitter, including potential state-backed activity.” The alleged plot to kill Johnson began on Aug. 8 last year when a fake account on Facebook posted a letter purportedly sent by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell to a fellow lawmaker. The letter, written in informal Spanish and with Borrell’s name spelled wrong, says the minister has been informed of a “possible attack on Boris Johnson by radical Brexit opponents who want to stop him from being nominated prime minister” and would alert British authorities. Asked about the authenticity of the letter, a spokesman for Borrell said the document was “fake, fake.” DFR Lab said the operation’s focus on narratives supporting the Kremlin and linguistic errors typical of native Russian speakers supported Facebook’s assessment that the accounts were operated from Russia. “The scale of the operation, its trade craft and its obsession with secrecy indicate that it was run by a persistent, sophisticated and well-resourced organization, possibly an intelligence agency,” DFR Lab said in its report. Other narratives pushed by the network included a screenshot of a tweet allegedly posted and then deleted by former British Defence Minister Gavin Williamson. Pictures of the tweet included in blog posts online show Williamson saying people connected to the Real Irish Republican Army had supplied “a component of the nerve agent” used to poison a former Russian military intelligence officer in the English city of Salisbury last year.

media
russia
elections
social media
cyberattacks
boris johnson
fake news


Lawyer says Sudan court has told telecoms company to end military-ordered internet blackout

Abstract: KHARTOUM - A Sudanese court on Sunday ordered telecoms operator Zain Sudan to restore internet services, a lawyer said, after they were severed nearly three weeks ago when security forces dispersed protesters camping in central Khartoum. Sudan’s military rulers ordered the internet blackout as a security measure but it is harming the economy and humanitarian operations in the African nation of 40 million. The protesters are demanding the military hand power to a civilian authority. Abdel-Adheem Hassan, a lawyer who filed his own case against Zain Sudan over the blackout, said the Khartoum District Court had ordered Zain to “immediately restore internet services to the country.” Sudanese courts do not confirm or deny their rulings to the media. Zain Sudan, a subsidiary of Zain Kuwait and the largest operator in Sudan, was not immediately able to comment on the matter on Sunday. Hassan said a Zain representative had told the court in response to the petition that the company had been ordered verbally by “high authorities” to cut the internet. Sudanese officials could not be reached for comment and it was unclear what impact Sunday’s court order will have. Authorities also restricted access to popular social media sites during 16 weeks of protests against veteran leader Omar al-Bashir earlier this year. Bashir was finally ousted on April 11. The current blackout, which began June 3, has resulted in a “near-total loss of access” for mobile and fixed line connections for most ordinary users, though connectivity had improved from 2 percent to 10 percent of normal levels by last Thursday, said Alp Toker of NetBlocks, a digital rights NGO. “Data indicate that Sudan’s current internet restrictions remain more severe than those observed during the rule of Omar al-Bashir, including those applied in the final days of the regime,” Toker said in an email. The blackout has hampered the speed and effectiveness of humanitarian operations, said Rick Brennan, regional emergencies director at the World Health Organization. Protesters have been demanding that authorities restore internet services as one of their conditions for returning to talks on forming a transitional administration comprising both civilians and military officers. Gen. Salah Abdel-Khaleq, a member of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council, told the BBC Arabic service in an interview this month that internet services would be restored once those talks resumed. The talks were suspended after security forces stormed the protest camp outside the Defense Ministry in central Khartoum on June 3. Protesters put the number of dead from that raid and ensuing violence at 128, and the Health Ministry at 61. The protesters responded to the break-up of the sit-in by declaring a state of civil disobedience, instructing supporters in various sectors of the economy to stay away from work in a move that has partially paralyzed Sudan.

internet
kuwait
military
sudan
omar al-bashir
khartoum


Wife of late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye christens warship bearing his name

Abstract: BATH, MAINE - A Hawaiian delegation brought a tropical flair to a state known for cold weather as a U.S. Navy destroyer bearing the name of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye was christened Saturday at Bath Iron Works. There were flowery leis around the necks of dignitaries and a giant one on the warship itself as Irene Hirano Inouye, the senator’s wife and the ship’s sponsor, smashed a bottle of Champagne on the bow of the future USS Daniel Inouye, which is under construction. The Hawaiian touch was important, she said. “The traditions of the Navy are very special and historic,” she said before the ceremony. “But to truly make it reflect of Dan’s life, and the people on Hawaii, our team had to find ways to bring a little bit of Hawaii to Maine.” Her late husband was a Medal of Honor recipient who broke racial barriers in Congress and represented Hawaii in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat for a half-century until his death in 2012. He lost his right arm in combat in World War II in Italy with the mostly Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He died in 2012. The ship’s motto — “Go For Broke” — was borrowed from the 442nd. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, thanked the ship’s crew for “continuing in the tradition of Sen. Inouye’s service to our country.” “To the crew, I wish you makani olu olu. I wish you all fair winds. Go for broke, as you serve the country on this incredible new ship,” she told them. In the Senate, Inouye served as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who served with him, praised Inouye’s valor, spirit and friendship. Inouye visited Bath Iron Works in 1961, while serving in the U.S. House, for the launching of the USS Leahy, she noted. He was a strong supporter of naval sea power, she said. Irene Hirano Inouye said her husband felt that a strong military is necessary to ensure peace. “He was someone who saw the horrors of war firsthand,” she told the crowd. “Dan always believed that the best way to avoid war to have the strongest military that we could.” Twenty-two protesters were arrested outside the christening on charges of obstructing a public way, police said. The demonstrators numbered about 50 and included members of Maine Veterans for Peace and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. The Hawaiian tradition will continue when the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer is commissioned into service; its homeport will be Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Displaying more than 9,000 tons (8,165 metric tons), the 510-foot (155-meter) ship can easily top 30 knots while simultaneously waging war with enemy ships, submarines, missiles and aircraft. Its combat system uses powerful computers and a phased-array radar to track more than 100 targets. It’s also equipped with ballistic missile defense capability.


After 62 years, Israeli city finally changes name to avoid confusion

Abstract: JERUSALEM - An Israeli city often confused with its famous neighbor, Nazareth, where Christians believe Jesus was raised, has changed its name in the hope of consolidating its separate identity. A poll of over 10,000 residents of Nazareth Illit (Upper Nazareth) overwhelmingly approved the proposal to rename the city Nof Hagalil (View of the Galilee), with Mayor Ronen Plot finalizing the move in a festive Friday meeting. The city received governmental approval six months ago to go ahead with the change, with a committee selecting the name that won residents’ approval, a municipal spokeswoman said Sunday. Nazareth Illit was established in the late 1950s, just 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) and a 10-minute drive from Nazareth, with its name meant to be a temporary fix. “The temporary name became permanent and caused total confusion,” spokeswoman Orna Buhbut said, noting that every single mayor in the city’s 62-year history had attempted — and failed — to change it. Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel, and its population of 75,000 is almost entirely Muslim or Christian. It welcomes crowds of pilgrims each year to visit the site where Christians believe the Archangel Gabriel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary, and where they believe his childhood home was located. Nof Hagalil, with a population of approximately 50,000 — most of them Jewish, many of Russian origin — stands out mostly for its rapid development. Buhbut said that Nazareth and its mayor, Ali Salem, supported the renaming. “Nazareth is a global brand with a history of thousands of years,” she said. Renaming the lesser-known Nof Hagalil is aimed at “bringing an end to the confusion and fixing the historic mistake of giving a city a name that includes that of another city.”

religion
christianity
israel
middle east
jesus
nazareth


Deadly collapse of Chinese-owned building in Cambodia raises questions over hasty development

Abstract: PHNOM PENH - Rescue workers on Sunday picked through the rubble of a collapsed Chinese-owned building in a Cambodian beach town in a desperate search for survivors, after the construction site accident killed at least 17 people. One person was pulled alive from the flattened seven-story building late Saturday, more than 12 hours after it collapsed in the beach resort of Sihanoukville. By Sunday morning rescuers had scoured barely half of the debris of twisted metal, glass and large concrete slabs. The once-sleepy fishing village has seen a Chinese construction boom buoyed by tourists to its dozens of casinos in recent years, with questions raised on the speed of development in a nation notorious for lax safety standards. Three Chinese and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse, which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen blamed on “carelessness” by the construction company. At least 1,000 rescue workers, soldiers, police, medics and Chinese construction experts have been deployed to the site. Some wore hard hats and oxygen tanks as they searched alongside several construction diggers, while the relatives of the injured waited at nearby hospitals for news. Rescuers pulled several bodies from the rubble late Saturday, shooting the death toll up to 17, with 24 injured. A provincial official said “teams have searched about 40 percent of the debris,” prompting concerns the toll will rise. “We fear more bodies are trapped in the debris because the search has not reached the bottom of the building yet,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity. It is not clear how many people were at the site at the time of the collapse, but a local official said earlier there would normally have been about 50 workers on the building site at the time. The southwestern town of Sihanoukville is awash with Chinese investment that has sparked a building frenzy to cater to mainland tourists flooding the town’s city’s casinos, beaches and glitzy hotels. Beijing is pouring investment into Cambodia as part of its behemoth Belt and Road initiative, a sweeping trillion-dollar infrastructure program across Asia, Africa and Europe. Around $1 billion was invested in the Preah Sihanouk province between 2016 and 2018 alone, and there are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under construction in Sihanoukville. Cambodia’s prime minister said victims’ families would be given $10,000 each. “The tragedy of the building collapse in Preah Sihanouk province is painful … for our nation, especially the families of those who lost (their lives),” Hun Sen said. The building was nearly 80 percent complete when it collapsed around 4:00 am on Saturday. The owner of the building, the head of the construction firm and the contractor — all Chinese nationals — have been detained by Cambodian police. A Cambodian landowner has also been held for questioning, and officials said they have launched an investigation. Though accidents are common at construction sites in Cambodia, where safety laws and labor protections are notoriously lax, Saturday’s building collapse is the deadliest in recent memory.

china accidents tourism cambodia gambling development


ASEAN leaders call for restraint at sea and in U.S.-China trade war

Abstract: BANGKOK - Southeast Asian leaders pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed south China Sea Sunday after a new incident and renewed their alarm over the U.S.-China trade war, with one warning it may spiral out of control. The long-raging territorial conflicts and the protracted dispute between the two global economic powerhouses are high on the agenda in the final of two days of meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders. The annual summit, steeped in diplomacy, protocol and cultural color, is being held in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Facing regional predicaments such as the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the leaders took the stage and clasped their hands together in a trademark ASEAN handshake to project unity. Founded in 1967 in Bangkok in the Cold War era, the diverse 10-nation bloc lumps together an absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchies, along with socialist republics and fledgling democracies. This year’s host, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, opened the summit with a call for regional unity and a push for the 10-nation ASEAN bloc to conclude a massive free trade pact with China and five other Asia-Pacific nations to cushion any impact from America’s trade conflicts with China. “The winds of protectionism that are battering the multilateral system remind us that we must hang on ever stronger to one another,” Prayuth said. The U.S., which has pursued bilateral deals over multination trade accords under President Donald Trump, is not included in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, which Prayuth said would encompass the world’s largest free-trade region. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told other leaders on Saturday that the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing “is creating uncertainty. It is taking a toll on global growth and it could hinder the ongoing processes of economic integration.” “The U.S. and China must both take the high road and resolve their differences before the situation spirals out of control,” the usually blunt Duterte said. In their public communiques, the leaders have avoided naming the U.S. and China or specific nations embroiled in controversial issues in a show of their conservative protocols. The leaders, however, could raise thorny issues in a closed-door and informal session. Duterte has said he would raise the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea following the June 9 ramming of an anchored Philippine boat by a larger Chinese fishing vessel in the disputed Reed Bank. The incident sparked an outcry and condemnations in the Philippines after the Chinese crew sailed away while the fishing boat sank at night. Its Filipino crew was rescued by a Vietnamese vessel. Known for his close ties with China, Duterte has backed Beijing’s initial assertion that the collision was accidental. He mocked calls for him to immediately take drastic actions and agreed to a joint investigation of the Reed Bank incident with China, which critics have opposed. In a statement outlining their regional policies, the leaders on Sunday renewed their call for countries involved in the territorial spats to “exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.” Four ASEAN states — the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei — are among six governments locked in the disputes over the strategic waterway aside from China and Taiwan. The ASEAN has been in talks with China to negotiate a nonaggression pact called the “code of conduct” to prevent major armed clashes in the offshore region, which has long been regarded as an Asian flash point. Southeast Asian diplomats have told The Associated Press that the first of three rounds of talks on the proposed pact was expected to be completed this year. The more difficult aspects, including whether the pact should be legally binding and cover the entire disputed region, have been relegated to the final rounds so as not to stall the talks early on. While China has praised the negotiations as a show of Asian nations’ ability to manage their conflicts peacefully, critics doubt if such a code of behavior can make a difference given Beijing’s increasingly aggressive assertion of its claims in the strategic waters. They cite China’s construction of islands on seven disputed reefs in recent years despite it being a party to a 2002 nonbinding regional agreement discouraging such assertive actions. China initially claimed some of the islands would serve as storm shelters for fishermen but Beijing instead installed defensive missile systems there while its naval forces shoo away and warn U.S. and other ships and aircraft that stray near.

china
trade
thailand
disputed islands
south china sea
asean
trade war


Okinawa mourns victims on 74th anniversary of end to one of WWII's most bloody battles

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - Okinawa on Sunday marked the 74th year since the end of the major World War II ground battle that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 local residents, as well as Japanese and American military personnel. The annual memorial service was held in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle. Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki made a “peace declaration,” in which he urged the central government to give up its plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the island prefecture. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also attended the ceremony, told reporters that he will promote the project, saying that the relocation “doesn’t mean a base will be added.” Approximately 94,000 civilians, about a quarter of Okinawa’s population at that time, as well as over 94,000 Japanese soldiers and some 12,500 U.S. troops died in the ground conflict that ran from March through June 1945, according to the prefecture. Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, wants to move the Futenma air base outside of the prefecture. But the central government and the United States have already agreed to relocate the base from a crowded residential district in Ginowan to the less populated Henoko coastal area of Nago. They have said the current plan is the “only solution” to eliminate the dangers posed by the Futenma base without undermining the deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. security alliance. No court has ruled in favor of the prefecture in the legal battle launched against the central government by the late Takeshi Onaga, the predecessor of Tamaki and a staunch opponent of the relocation plan. Tamaki oversaw a prefectural referendum in February on the transfer plan, which demonstrated the depth of local opposition to the base move. More than 70 percent of the voters rejected the plan, although the outcome was not legally binding.

okinawa
wwii
history
military
u.s. bases
futenma
anniversaries


With Olympics on way, activist group's next campaign targets human trafficking in Tokyo

Abstract: As the next Olympic host, Japan has become the focus of a global campaign against child prostitution and exploitation linked to sports, with activists working to shed light on “hidden crimes” they say have a symbiotic relationship with mega-events. Major sporting events attract troves of tourists to host cities, and it is believed criminal organizations follow, looking to cash in by exploiting vulnerable children pushed into the sex trade or by trafficking them into forced labor. Despite its reputation for safety and high living standards, Japan is far from immune, according to It’s a Penalty, a Britain-based activist group. “It does exist here, it is just that it is not talked about,” said Sarah de Carvalho, founder and CEO of IAP, during a recent visit to Tokyo. “If you educate people who are attending the event about the signs to look out for, and that’s labor as well as sexual exploitation, it is happening everywhere. But unless we talk about it we think it is not happening.” Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is among many sports figures who will feature in a campaign video titled “It’s a Penalty” produced by the group. In it, people are encouraged to report crimes and to “say something if you see something.” “Sport has the power to change the world, Tokyo 2020 will be a happy occasion but please be aware millions of children are trafficked and exploited around the world, offenders can be prosecuted either in-country or when they get back home. Your call can save lives,” the athletes will recite in the video. IAP launches campaigns during major sporting events, using them as platforms to educate the general public about the risks faced by children, while equipping people with mechanisms to identify crimes and report anything suspicious. In doing so, it aims to widen the safety net provided by communities, which IAP considers to be the first line of defense. “The reason we run it during major sporting events is … firstly, we know when there is an influx of hundreds of thousands of people that demand increases, but secondly because it is a global problem it provides a platform to get the message out all over the world,” said de Carvalho. According to the United Nations-backed International Labor Organization, there are 24.9 million people who are victims of forced labor, nearly a quarter of whom are children. De Carvalho said during her visit to Japan last month to meet 2020 organizers that crimes against children are a major issue for Japan and that action must be taken. IAP has so far facilitated the rescue of more than 16,800 victims by partnering with police, airlines, sporting bodies and nongovernment organizations during sporting events, including soccer’s 2014 World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. IAP also works with the International Olympic Committee, which has pledged its support. In the campaign around the Super Bowl in February, the NFL’s biggest day each year, the IAP, with the help of 200 or so volunteers, handed out leaflets and wristbands bearing a hotline number to about 300 Atlanta hotels and motels. These efforts led to some 170 arrests by an FBI task force, it said. Government statistics show that 46 human trafficking survivors, both foreign and Japanese, were taken into protective custody in Japan in 2017. Of those rescued, 28 were Japanese, which was then a record, eight were Thais and seven Filipinos. There was also one victim each from Vietnam, Brazil and Mongolia. But those figures may not be a true reflection of the extent of the problem. In response, IAP and its local partners pulled together a list of big-name Japanese stars who were willing to be the faces of the 2020 campaign to promote child protection. In 2016 a campaign video featuring Bolt and other high-profile athletes was shown on international airlines, in hotels and on giant screens at the venues for the Rio Olympics. Mie Kajikawa, head of Sport For Smile, the IAP’s strategic partner in Tokyo, said she would like to see the Tokyo Olympics prove sports have the power to change the world. “We hope to use sports as an effective instrument to combat difficult social problems,” Kajikawa said. De Carvalho said that when light is shed on the dark side of sporting events, it allows people to come face to face with societal problems rather than turn a blind eye to events we are ignorant of or ignore. In Japan, de Carvalho met with senior officials at Narita and Haneda airports, as well as university students and young leaders who expressed a desire to initiate action to help end human trafficking and exploitation. “Japan is a destination, and source and transit country for men and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and for children subjected to sex trafficking,” de Carvalho said while pointing out the scale of the problem. “There are 24.9 million people trapped in modern-day slavery and 5.5 million children are trafficked each year (around the world). “The problem is increasing because of the internet, so people coming in from abroad for an event, sporting fans, they will be targeted.”

children
sex crimes
ngo
human trafficking
sarah de carvalho


Schools urged to modify lunches for religious needs as foreign population grows

Abstract: With foreign residents on the rise in Japan, schools and day care facilities are being called on to give more consideration to the dietary restrictions faced by people with different religious backgrounds. While such restrictions are increasingly being recognized, few schools and day care facilities are offering alternatives such as halal food in lunches served to children. Though government guidelines exist for removing foods that trigger allergies, many schools are having difficulty coping as no such rules exist for religious restrictions. In Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, a Bangladeshi couple pulled their 5-year-old daughter from day care as it did not respond to their special lunch requests. The girl joined the private facility in April 2017. Since day cares in Yokkaichi do not let kids bring their own lunches, the girl’s father repeatedly asked it to remove pork from her lunch because the family is Muslim. But the parents found their daughter had been served fried noodles with pork since January. The principal told them it is better for a child to eat various things and thought the parents agreed, as they “listened with a smile,” the facility said. “I had always been asking that pork be removed. There is no way we agreed to that,” the father said. After he complained, the facility began offering the girl half a banana and soup instead of fried noodles. But the father then complained the amount was insufficient for a child her age. “Considering that children with pork allergies are treated appropriately, it is discriminatory that children with different religious backgrounds cannot lead a normal life,” the father said. The head of the nursery said: “It is difficult to give consideration to one child’s lunch. We don’t know how to deal with the issue specifically unless the municipal government comes up with a policy.” An official from the Yokkaichi Municipal Government said the problem was caused by the facility’s poor understanding of religious customs and its failure to communicate properly with the parents. “Since the number of Islamic children is likely to increase in the future, we should consider taking measures,” the official said. Muslim residents from such countries as Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey are growing in the Chubu region and their number is expected to rise thanks to a change in the immigration law in April that opened Japan’s doors wider to foreign labor. According to a 2017 survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry’s Administrative Evaluation Bureau, of the 20 cities in Chubu with sizable Indonesian and Pakistani populations, the boards of education in 14 of them let elementary and junior high school students bring their own lunches for religious reasons. Only eight take steps to avoid serving religiously prohibited items such as pork in their lunches. Nagoya, which had the largest Turkish and Indonesian populations in Japan as of 2016, has no guidelines on halal-compliant school lunches but lets students bring their own. At Minato-Nishi Nursery School, which is 16 percent Muslim, fish is used instead of meat for such children. The lunches are also cooked in separate pots. Miyuki Enari, a professor at Mie University’s Faculty of Humanities, Law and Economics who is well-versed in foreign labor issues, called for nursery staff and state officials to be educated on religious diversity. “It is better if they have a place to consult or obtain information when they face difficulties coping with such issues,” Enari said. “As Japan becomes more multinational, food choices become more diverse,” said Maryam Ryoko Totani, 51, head of the Children and Women Islamic Association in Nagoya who converted to Islam 23 years ago. “Foreign people will not choose to come to Japan unless the nation has a proper understanding (of diverse customs).”

religion immigration islam schools diversity diets


China's Xi to make three-day visit to Japan from Thursday for Osaka G20 summit

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a three-day visit to Japan from Thursday to attend the Group of 20 summit of leading economies in Osaka, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said Sunday. The Chinese news agency quoted the schedule announcement made by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, but without providing other details. It would be Xi’s first trip to Japan since he came to power in 2013. Much attention is focused on whether there will be a breakthrough in Beijing’s trade tensions with Washington when Xi holds talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the two-day G20 summit. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Xi are expected to hold a bilateral meeting Thursday in Osaka, a day before the start of the G20 summit. The countries are also coordinating to organize a dinner meeting for the two leaders on that day, government officials said. While seeking to further improve bilateral ties, which for several years had severely deteriorated over territorial and historical issues, Japan and China are hoping to organize a visit by Xi to Tokyo as a state guest next spring. The last visit to Japan by a Chinese head of state was conducted by Hu Jintao in November 2010. He attended a meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama. Xi last visited Japan in 2009, when he was vice president of China.

china
shinzo abe
osaka
trade
g20
xi jinping
donald trump


Russia has no plan to hand over disputed isles to Japan, Putin says

Abstract: MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that his country has no plan to hand over four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands to Japan, according to a Russian national television program aired Saturday. In an interview with Putin, a reporter, who claimed to have visited one of the disputed islands, said that children there were showing the Russian flag and asked the president whether those children would face the need to bring down the flag in the future. Putin responded that there is no such plan. The president apparently suggested that he will not make a compromise over the territorial dispute ahead of talks he is expected to hold with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on June 29 on the sidelines of the two-day Group of 20 summit in Osaka. pundits said. The summit kicks off in the city the day prior. The islands at the center of the decades-old territorial dispute are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. They were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II. Asked to give an outlook on the fate of the disputed islands, Putin said there are large-scale projects planned for the development of the Russian Far East, including the islands, and that all of them are slated to be implemented. He also said that Russia will develop airport infrastructure there.

wwii
vladimir putin
history
disputed islands
northern territories
russia-japan relations


Osaka braces for unprecedented security measures ahead of G20 summit

Abstract: OSAKA - Heavy security restrictions go into effect in Osaka this week for the Group of 20 leaders’ summit, with 32,000 police officers in the streets and officials warning visitors and residents of traffic delays, sealed trash cans and lockers in train stations, and restrictions on movement around major hotels. The unprecedented measures for the summit, which is expected to draw 30,000 people, have prompted requests from the Osaka Municipal Government for residents to avoid using their cars and to avoid going out for unnecessary reasons during the event due to the expected impact of traffic restrictions. Nearly 700 Osaka municipal and prefectural schools will be closed on Thursday and Friday, and many school activities on Saturday were canceled due to the security. Many shops and smaller businesses in nine designated security areas (see map) are also likely to voluntarily shut down during the summit period. Some parts of Osaka Castle Park, where the Osaka State Guest House is located and where leaders are likely to gather at some point, will also be closed between June 25 and 29. Police officers from 46 prefectures will be deployed to Osaka for the June 28-29 event. While most of the summit takes place at Intex Osaka near the waterfront, many leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are staying at luxury hotels near major train stations in the northern and central parts of the city. The leaders of 37 countries in all and international organizations are scheduled to attend the summit. Osaka officials warned vehicular traffic in particular is likely to be strongly affected, with extensive roadblocks being set up as VIP limousine motorcades with police escorts move between hotels and the summit location. Areas expected to be most affected include those near JR Osaka and Umeda stations, Osaka Castle, the central Honmachi area, the Namba Station area and Intex Osaka and expressways, especially the Hanshin expressway. There could be severe delays getting to and from Kansai and Itami airports by bus or taxi. Osaka police and city officials are advising everyone to use trains if they need to use the airport between Thursday and Sunday. As of late last week, trains and subways in central Osaka and those going to the airports were expected to be running as usual during this time. But municipal officials warned they could be extra crowded due to the road restrictions. In addition, flight delays at both airports are also possible due to arriving or departing heads of state. Heavy security will also be in place at the immigration and customs areas at Kansai airport. Public facilities like ward offices will be open, but due to possible congestion the city has asked residents to avoid using them this week. The 32,000 police deployed to Osaka for the summit is more than the 23,000 who were used for the 2016 Group of Seven Summit in Ise. Osaka and police officials say the heavy security presence is to prevent a terrorist attack. “One of the advantages of Osaka is that we can convey to the world that it’s a really safe city,” said Osaka police chief Takahisa Ishida said last week at a news conference on G20 security.

shinzo abe
osaka
g20
xi jinping
donald trump


A-bomb museum puts foreign hibakusha in spotlight

Abstract: Whenever Lee Jong-keun speaks to children about his experience as a Hiroshima A-bomb survivor, he begins by showing them a picture of the mushroom cloud. Then the 90-year-old Korean explains that Japanese were not the only people who died. When it reopened in April after a two-year renovation, the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum had set up a new section featuring foreign victims for the first time. Estimates of the foreign deaths caused by the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki range from several thousand to tens of thousands for each, according to the cities. People from the Korean Peninsula, which was then under Japanese colonial rule, are believed to have accounted for the vast majority. Near the museum is a monument that says the lives of “more than 20,000 Koreans” were taken. But Lee’s journey to being able to talk about his experience as a hibakusha was a long one that wound through decades of hiding both his ethnic identity and presence in Hiroshima during the bombing. For years he never clarified he was a victim, or even that he was Korean. Lee, who was born in 1928 in Shimane Prefecture, suffered racial discrimination from his classmates as a student. Using the name Masaichi Egawa after Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names in 1939, he kept his background secret after joining the local railway bureau. Lee was on his way to work there in central Hiroshima when he was suddenly “wrapped in a yellow light” on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945. Then just 16 at the time, he managed to survive the initial blast but his entire body was scorched. In the months that followed, he was seized by the fear of death. Even many years after the war, Lee thought it was “out of the question” to pass on his A-bomb experience to the public and reveal his ethnic identity. But after going around the world in 2012 on a cruise organized by the antinuclear group Peace Boat, he began to feel how important it was to add his voice to the growing number of hibakusha who were speaking out to help abolish nuclear weapons. Lee still lives in Hiroshima and now spends much of his time telling his story to students who are visiting on field trips. He also gives speeches at local schools. “I’m glad that the renovated museum installed the section focusing on foreign victims because the general public is still mostly unaware of their existence,” Lee said. According to the museum, tens of thousands of Koreans, Chinese and Taiwanese were in Hiroshima at the time of the blast, including those were conscripted and those recruited in their homelands. The exhibit also explains that other people, such as students from Southeast Asia and China, German and Russian residents and American prisoners of war, also died. In the new section, three non-Japanese are highlighted on wall panels with big photos above their stories: an elderly South Korean, a student from Malaysia and a German priest. The Korean, Kwak Kwi-hoon, now 94, was conscripted by the Japanese military and came to Hiroshima in September 1944. The bomb exploded while Kwak was on duty about 2 km from the hypocenter. He was severely burned on his head and back and fell into a coma for three days from Aug. 9. Later he came to be known as the plaintiff in a breakthrough Japanese high court ruling that ordered the central government to pay him a medical allowance as part of measures to assist hibakusha. The ruling became final and binding in 2002, and the government began paying him the following year. Since then, several hibakusha abroad have applied for health cards that identify them as survivors entitled to the benefits. As of March 2018, there were 3,123 holders of the card abroad, including 2,241 in South Korea, 667 in the U.S., 95 in Brazil, 31 in Canada and 17 in Taiwan, according to the health ministry. “In the past, Japanese public servants would refuse to deal with me (as a hibakusha), just because I was living overseas,” said Kwak, who lives in Seongnam, near Seoul. “I hope that more people will get to know about foreign victims and survivors.” The city of Hiroshima set up an advisory panel in 2010 to organize a third major renewal plan for the museum, which opened in 1955. The panel met many times to discuss how to display the new exhibit. “We decided to put individual victims into focus, to tell people that not only Japanese people but whoever was there was bombed, regardless of their nationality,” said Hironobu Ochiba, a curator in charge of the section. “We thought it could also help visitors from overseas feel closer to the tragedy.” Foreign visitors to the museum are rising steadily and set an annual record of about 430,000 for the year through March, even though total visits were down by about 160,000 from the previous year at around 1.52 million. Ochiba said the most significant challenge in handing down the stories of the foreign A-bomb victims is insufficient materials, documents and information. “We want to find more materials so that we can introduce various victims from various perspectives,” Ochiba said.

wwii
history
hiroshima
south korea
hibakusha
atomic bombings


Convict arrested in Yokosuka after four days on the run in Kanagawa Prefecture

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A man convicted of assault and theft has been arrested in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, four days after he escaped an attempt to be brought into custody. Makoto Kobayashi, 43, brandished a knife before fleeing in a vehicle when prosecutors and police tried to take him into custody Wednesday. He was apprehended at around 6:40 a.m. Sunday while hiding in a friend’s apartment, according to the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor’s Office. This time, though, he did not attempt to evade capture. Kobayashi was put on a nationwide wanted list Thursday for obstructing officers from performing their duty after the authorities visited his apartment in Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, around 1 p.m. the previous day to detain him. He was later seen driving a car down the Tomei Expressway toward Nagoya. The vehicle was found at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday outside an apartment building in Atsugi, some 7 kilometers away from his home, where a female friend lives, according to local police. Before arriving at her apartment, he stopped at a convenience store in Atsugi, where a security camera captured footage of him with shorter hair and wearing different clothes, the police said. Kobayashi had been sentenced to over three years in prison for previous crimes, including a violation of the stimulants control law. According to police, Kobayashi was part of a group that carried out a total of 105 robberies in 2017 in which valuables worth about ¥38 million were stolen. He told investigators he had used the money for entertainment and living expenses. His sentence was finalized in February after the Tokyo High Court turned down his appeal. He was out on bail while his appeal was ongoing and repeatedly ignored orders to report to authorities after his conviction was decided, the office said. “He told me he would go to prison, so his next visit won’t be for several years,” a 40-year-old manager of a shop which Kobayashi frequently visited, said, revealing his conversation with Kobayashi at the shop around two months ago. “I thought he had intended to pay for his crimes,” the shop manager said, appearing surprised that Kobayashi had fled. After he escaped, police sought information about Kobayashi through his network of friends in a bid to locate his whereabouts. Although he informed the police Friday that he would turn himself in on Saturday, he did not do so, according to an investigative source. On Sunday, Kobayashi’s friend who was with him at the apartment in Yokosuka was also arrested on suspicion of harboring a criminal. “We sincerely apologize for causing great anxiety to residents and school personnel in the area over the incident,” Ryoichi Nakahara, chief prosecutor of the Yokohama prosecutor’s office, said after Kobayashi was arrested.


Japan minpaku offerings up eightfold in year since they were legalized

Abstract: The number of minpaku (private lodging) facilities has increased eightfold since they were legalized a year ago to relieve a hotel room shortage caused by Japan’s record-setting tourism boom, according to data released by the government. There were 2,210 such lodgings when the law took effect on June 15, 2018, and the number had risen to 17,301 as of early June, with nearly half of them offered in Tokyo and Osaka, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. The data also show that the rapid expansion was driven by corporations diversifying into the minpaku business. Around half of the listed lodgings in the country are operated by corporate bodies, according to the agency’s data. Still, some experts say the minpaku business needs to be deregulated as lobbying by the hotel industry put a cap on the number of days minpaku operators can rent their rooms, making it difficult to make a profit. According to the agency, 982 of the facilities have been closed in the past year. Minpaku rentals are limited to 180 days a year. Filtering out illegal facilities continues to be a challenge as the operators can contact potential clients directly via social media. The central government, which aims to boost tourism as a pillar of its growth strategy, expects minpaku to offset the shortage of accommodations ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The number of visitors to Japan in fiscal 2018 ended in March exceeded 30 million. Japan aims to welcome 40 million in 2020. A total of 17,301 minpaku applications had been submitted to local governments as of June 7, about eight times more than when the law went into effect on June 15 last year. Under the law, owners of private houses and condominiums can rent out unused rooms to travelers after registering with their municipalities. While minpaku services were already available with approval under the hotel business act, the new law made it easier to apply to offer such services. The law is aimed at rooting out unauthorized minpaku services operating despite safety and sanitation issues. It was also drawn up to settle neighborhood disputes over guests who are noisy or ignore the local garbage disposal rules. The Japan Tourism Agency has been calling on minpaku operators to register their operations. It has also partnered with operators of platforms, such as Airbnb Inc., to delete and prevent listings of unauthorized minpaku from their websites. In April, the agency started a database for such platform operators that lists registered lodgings. Tourism minister Keiichi Ishii told a news conference Tuesday that measures against illegal minpaku were “improving in efficacy.” But unauthorized accommodations have yet to be eradicated. Authorities have found it difficult to crack down on minpaku run by operators living abroad, or those who book guests through social media. In March, four governments, including the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments, requested the central government to take action against illegal accommodations on the grounds that it was difficult for them to crack down on such services by themselves. While the relevant ministries and agencies are considering ways to cooperate with municipalities, an official of the Japan Tourism Agency is worried such efforts will only lead to “a cat-and-mouse game.”

olympics
tourism
foreign tourists
minpaku
private lodgings


G20 envoys assemble in Nagano to discuss climate change and plastic waste

Abstract: KARUIZAWA, NAGANO PREF. - Environment and energy ministers from the Group of 20 economies gathered in this resort town on Saturday to find innovative ways to combat emissions-driven climate change and eliminate plastic waste. But Thursday’s attacks on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one operated by a Japanese company, also raised fears among the delegates about energy security. “Japan is paying close attention to the situation with great concern,” Minister for Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko told the G20 delegates Saturday afternoon. “It is vital for the international community to respond collaboratively to such incidents from the perspective of ensuring global energy security,” he added. To achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement, which sets a goal of making efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees by the end of this century, developing new environmental technologies will be crucial. On Saturday morning, Seko outlined Japan’s long-term strategy to lower its carbon footprint and contribute to achieving the Paris goals. “We’re aiming for a ‘decarbonized society’ through a virtuous cycle of innovation as an ultimate goal, while taking bold measures towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050,” he told the ministerial meeting. To help meet that goal, Japan is promoting the use of hydrogen fuel, and carbon capture and utilization technologies. The latter initiative aims to capture emissions and store them for disposal or alternative uses. But they have long been controversial due to the technological difficulties involved in making them effective and concerns about their cost performance. International pressure on G20 members to stop using coal is continuing to grow and is creating questions for governments and companies about whether large-scale investment in carbon capture and utilization will be worth the effort — especially if financial institutions are no longer willing to help fund coal mining and the shift to nonfossil fuels continues. However, with recent warnings by the scientific community that the world must do more, and quickly, to reduce emissions to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees, carbon capture and utilization technologies are again being considered by some G20 leaders. Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said carbon capture and storage was needed for Germany to meet its mid-century climate goals. Plastic pollution, especially in marine environments, was another key issue discussed during the Karuizawa meeting, which will wrap up Sunday. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates 300 million tons of plastic waste are disposed of worldwide every year, with 8 million tons ending up in the oceans. Calls for an international treaty banning single-use plastic waste are growing, but the G20 membership is divided on how to address the issue. In Karuizawa, the emphasis was on developing technologies and products to reduce the use of plastic and measures to curb the use of plastic bags in Japan. To that end, Seko said Japan would pursue having all stores charge customers for plastic bags, and that the government was aiming to have the policy take effect by April 2020. Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada added that innovation is the key to solving the problem of marine plastic waste in particular. “To facilitate global innovation, it is vital to share best practices from each country and learn from each other. At this G20 meeting, Japan is proposing to establish a framework to implement voluntary actions by each G20 member as well as share and update their activities,” he told the delegates.

energy
carbon dioxide
g20
climate change
environment
karuizawa
plastic waste


Tanker attacks in Middle East spark concerns among Japanese companies

Abstract: Concerns are growing among Japanese energy and shipping companies over the situation in the Middle East following Thursday’s attacks on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks on the tankers, including one operated by a Japanese shipping company, “have had no immediate impact on crude oil supply,” said an official of oil wholesaler Idemitsu Kosan Co. As of the end of May, Japan had crude oil reserves equivalent to over 200 days worth of consumption in total in the public and private sectors. Crude oil prices stabilized after shooting up following the attacks. Gasoline prices in Japan are “unlikely to rise immediately,” a Japanese oil industry source said. Japan imports about 80 percent of its oil and some 30 percent of its natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway is “a lifeline to Japan,” a senior industry ministry official said. Japanese energy-related companies are collecting information as they brace for a potential situation in which the Middle East will remain unstable over a long period. “We expect anything may happen,” Satoru Katsuno, chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, told a news conference Friday. “We’ll pay close attention to future developments with a sense of crisis and manage risk” with the possibility of a closure of the strait in mind, said Katsuno, who is also the president of Chubu Electric Power Co. Major Japanese shipping firms have taken steps including increasing the number of personnel on lookout aboard ships, as well as ensuring full-speed operations of vessels in waters near the sites of the attacks. “There is nothing more we can do,” said a public relations official at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. “We’ll have to reconsider operating ships in that sea area if the danger increases further,” an official of another major shipping firm said.


Trump says 'it doesn't matter' if Xi agrees to meeting at Osaka G20 summit

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said “it doesn’t matter” if Chinese President Xi Jinping agrees to meet with him later this month during the Group of 20 summit in Osaka to restart negotiations over trade because the United States is collecting billions of dollars in tariffs on goods from the country. “If he shows up, good,” Trump told Fox News on Friday. “If he doesn’t — in the meantime, we’re taking in billions of dollars a month.” He added: “Eventually, they’re going to make a deal, because they’re going to have to. Look, they’re paying hundreds of billions of dollars.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to raise tariffs if Xi doesn’t meet with him at the G20 leaders’ meeting June 28-29. Trump is committed to attending the G20 regardless of whether he meets with Xi, U.S. officials said. Trump said on Wednesday that he had no deadline for China to return to trade talks. Talks with Beijing broke off last month after the U.S. accused China’s leaders of reneging on provisions of a tentative agreement. Trump raised tariffs on about $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 percent, and said he would expand the tariffs to cover another $325 billion in goods — substantially everything the country exports to the U.S. — unless Chinese leaders reverse course. Trump is “optimistic” he can find common ground with China if he’s able to meet with Xi, Kevin Hassett, the departing chairman of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters at the White House. “Communication is certain” between Trump and Xi regardless of whether it turns into a full meeting at the G20, he said. Trump repeated his claim that Chinese exporters bear the burden of the tariffs, disputing the consensus of economists that the costs are largely borne by U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices. “They subsidize their industry, so our people are not paying,” Trump said on Fox. “There’s this big thing about tariffs, ‘Oh, our people pay.’ It’s a lot of nonsense. You know what happens, really? Companies move back.” Trump also again accused China of manipulating the value of its currency, the renminbi, to cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs. “Look, they’re paying hundreds of billions of dollars, I have 25 percent on $250 billion, and they subsidize it,” Trump said. “They’re manipulating their currency in order to pay for it, they’re manipulating their currency lower, eventually that’s going to hurt them very badly and they’re also giving money to these companies.” China made moves to strengthen its currency during the week, and during Trump’s presidency the U.S. Treasury Department has repeatedly refrained from officially accusing China of manipulating the value of the renminbi. While the U.S. has complained for years that China keeps its currency artificially weak through intervention in foreign-exchange markets, the central bank in recent days has acted to underpin the yuan. The People’s Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the currency at higher than market watchers expected for a 10th straight day on Wednesday, the longest run since September.

china
u.s .
osaka
g20
xi jinping
tariffs
donald trump
trade war


Mideast tanker attacks jolt oil-dependent Asia

Abstract: SEOUL - The blasts detonated far from the bustling megacities of Asia, but the attack this week on two tankers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz hits at the heart of the region’s oil import-dependent economies. While the violence only directly jolted two countries in the region — one of the targeted ships was operated by a Tokyo-based company, and a nearby South Korean-operated vessel helped rescue sailors — it will unnerve major economies throughout Asia. Officials, analysts and media commentators on Friday hammered home the importance of the Strait of Hormuz for Asia, calling it a crucial lifeline, and there was deep interest in more details about the still-sketchy attack and what the United States and Iran would do in the aftermath. In the end, whether Asia shrugs it off, as some analysts predict, or its economies shudder as a result, the attack highlights the widespread worries over an extreme reliance on a single strip of water for the oil that fuels much of the region’s shared progress. Here is a look at how Asia is handling rising tensions in a faraway but economically crucial area, compiled by AP reporters from around the world: Why Asia worries The oil, of course. Japan, South Korea and China don’t have enough of it; the Middle East does, and much of it flows through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. This could make Asia vulnerable to supply disruptions from U.S.-Iran tensions or violence in the strait. The attack comes months after Iran threatened to shut down the strait to retaliate against U.S. economic sanctions, which tightened in April when the Trump administration decided to end sanctions exemptions for the five biggest importers of Iranian oil, which included China and U.S. allies South Korea and Japan. Japan is the world’s fourth-largest consumer of oil after the United States, China and India — and relies on the Middle East for 80 percent of its crude oil supply. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster led to a dramatic reduction in Japanese nuclear power generation and increased imports of natural gas, crude oil, fuel oil and coal. In an effort to comply with Washington, Japan says it no longer imports oil from Iran. Officials also say Japanese oil companies are abiding by the embargo because they don’t want to be sanctioned. But Japan still gets oil from other Middle East nations using the Strait of Hormuz for transport. South Korea, the world’s fifth-largest importer of crude oil, also depends on the Middle East for the vast majority of its supplies. Last month, South Korea halted its Iranian oil imports as its waivers from U.S. sanctions on Teheran expired, and it has reportedly tried to increase oil imports from other countries such as Qatar and the United States. China, the world’s largest importer of Iranian oil, “understands its growth model is vulnerable to a lack of energy sovereignty,” according to market analyst Kyle Rodda of IG, an online trading provider, and has been working over the last several years to diversify its suppliers. That includes looking to Southeast Asia and, increasingly, some oil-producing nations in Africa. Geography and politics Asia and the Middle East are linked by a flow of oil, much of it coming by sea and dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, which is the passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Iran threatened to close the strait in April. It also appears poised to break a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from last year. The deal saw Tehran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. For both Japan and South Korea, there is extreme political unease to go along with the economic worries stirred by the violence in the strait. Both nations want to nurture their relationship with Washington, a major trading partner and military protector. But they also need to keep their economies humming, which requires an easing of tension between Washington and Tehran. Conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Tehran looking to do just that when the attack happened. His limitations in settling the simmering animosity, however, were highlighted by both the timing of the attack and a comment by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who told Abe that he had nothing to say to Trump. In Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, the tanker attack was front-page news. The Nikkei newspaper, Japan’s major business daily, said that if mines are planted in the Strait of Hormuz, “oil trade will be paralyzed.” The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper called the Strait of Hormuz Japan’s “lifeline.” Although the economy and industry minister has said there will be no immediate effect on stable energy supplies, the Tokyo Shimbun noted “a possibility that Japanese people’s lives will be affected.” South Korea, worried about Middle East instability, has worked to diversify its crude sources since the energy crises of the 1970s and 1980s. The future Analysts said it’s highly unlikely that Iran would follow through on its threat to close the strait. That’s because a closure could also disrupt Iran’s exports to China, which has been working with Russia to build pipelines and other infrastructure that would transport oil and gas into China. For Japan, the attack in the Strait of Hormuz does not represent an imminent threat to Tokyo’s oil supply, said Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser at S&P Global Platts Analytics. “Our sense is that it’s not a crisis yet,” he said of the tensions. Seoul, meanwhile, will likely be able to withstand a modest jump in oil prices unless there’s a full-blown military confrontation, Seo Sang-young, an analyst from Seoul-based Kiwoom Securities, said. “The rise in crude prices could hurt areas like the airlines, chemicals and shipping, but it could also actually benefit some businesses, such as energy companies (including refineries) that produce and export fuel products like gasoline,” said Seo, pointing to the diversity of South Korea’s industrial lineup. South Korea’s shipbuilding industry could also benefit as the rise in oil prices could further boost the growing demand for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which means more orders for giant tankers that transport such gas.

china
shinzo abe
gas
oil
iran
south korea
shipping
iran-japan relations
hormuz tanker attack


Japanese companies opposed to U.S. slapping additional tariffs on Chinese goods

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies, as well as American and Chinese businesses, have voiced opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $300 billion of Chinese products. Companies such as Epson America Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., as well as U.S. industry groups, expressed their stances before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative holds a hearing starting next week on the proposed tariffs. Epson said it will request the Office of the USTR to remove from the potential list of products subject to additional duties projectors, large format printers, receipt printers and scanners, citing “a detrimental impact on U.S. consumers and businesses.” “While Epson supports the initiatives of the administration and agrees with the need to address unfair trade policies and inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, imposing additional tariffs on these products would not be effective in obtaining the elimination of China’s acts, policies and practices,” the company said in a recent statement. “Instead, the tariffs will only impose additional burdens on U.S. business and consumers,” it said. Epson is among more than 300 companies that will testify before the hearing, which will be held from Monday to Friday, and also on June 24 and 25 at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Sony Interactive Entertainment said that in the hearing, it “will explain how the imposition of additional tariffs on video game consoles imported from China would harm American small businesses, consumers and innovation.” Ranging from video game consoles and smartphones to textiles and footwear, the envisaged levies will cover about 3,800 items. If enforced, the tariffs — together with duties imposed so far — would see nearly all Chinese imports taxed. Nate Bolin, a partner of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP who is counsel to Mitsubishi Chemical, said that in the hearing, the Japanese company will discuss the impact of the proposed tariffs on its U.S. manufacturing operations and workers as well as customers in the United States, such as U.S. manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries. Mitsubishi Chemical “notes that these specialty chemicals are unavailable in sufficient quantities outside of China in order to meet the rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles in the United States,” Bolin said. The American Apparel & Footwear Association, which represents hundreds of retailers and manufacturers, said the additional tariffs will have “a significant, negative and long-term impact on American businesses, farmers, families and the U.S. economy.” “Broadly applied tariffs are not an effective tool to change China’s unfair trade practices,” the group said. “Tariffs are taxes paid directly by U.S. companies . . . not China.” On May 10, the Trump administration raised U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent, in the biggest escalation yet in Washington’s tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing. With the action, the administration now imposes a 25 percent duty on a total of $250 billion in imports from China, in response to alleged intellectual property and technology theft by Chinese companies.

china
trade
tariffs
mitsubishi chemical
donald trump
trade war
epson


Former chemistry teacher Zhong Huijuan becomes richest self-made woman in Asia

Abstract: HONG KONG - Two days ago, Zhong Huijuan wasn’t even the richest person in her family. Now she has become the wealthiest self-made woman in Asia with a $10.5 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The bulk of her wealth comes from her stake in Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group, China’s largest maker of psychotropic drugs, which soared 37 percent on Friday in Hong Kong during its first day of trading. Zhong, a former chemistry teacher who founded Hansoh in 1995, overtook Longfor Group’s Chairman Wu Yajun to claim the self-made title. Zhong is the second-richest woman in Asia, trailing only Yang Huiyan, co-chairman of Country Garden Holdings, who inherited her fortune. The surge in shares puts Zhong’s net worth just above each of the four Mars sisters, whose wealth comes from the candy empire created by their great grandfather, according to the index. Her fortune also far exceeds that of Blair Parry-Okeden, whose grandfather built the Cox Enterprises media conglomerate, as well as Christy Walton, the widow of the second son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Zhong’s wealth has now surpassed husband Sun Piaoyang’s separate $9.4 billion fortune from his pharma firm Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine. The combined net worth for the couple also makes them one of the world’s richest pharma families, rivaling the Sacklers, who made their money selling opioids, and the Bertarellis of Switzerland, who are worth $16.3 billion. Zhong said in the Lianyungang, Jiangsu-based company’s listing ceremony that government support plays an important role in the drug maker’s success. Health care spending in China has surged to 5.9 trillion yuan ($852 billion) last year from 3.5 trillion yuan in 2014, and is projected to top 9.4 trillion yuan in 2023, Hansoh said in a prospectus for the offering. The company researches and produces drugs in areas such as oncology, cardiovascular and diabetes, according to the filing, and gets almost half of its revenue come from cancer treatments. Zhong graduated with an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Jiangsu Normal University in July 1982 and taught chemistry at Yan’an middle school in Lianyungang in the early 1990s, according to the All-China Women’s Foundation.


Ikinari Steak restaurant operator Pepper Food Service Co. to quit Nasdaq

Abstract: NEW YORK - Japan’s Pepper Food Service Co., which runs the Ikinari Steak restaurants, said Friday its American depositary receipts will be delisted from the U.S. Nasdaq stock market by autumn. Pepper Food made its Nasdaq debut in September last year, becoming the first Japanese restaurant chain to do so. The company aimed to increase its awareness in the United States through the listing. Pepper Food has judged that “it does not make business sense to remain listed on the Nasdaq market” as the company is struggling in the United States, the company said. The company will stay listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section. Following its success of the chain in Japan, Pepper Food opened its first Ikinari Steak outlet in New York in 2017 and increased the number of restaurants there, However, it announced in February a plan to shut seven of its 11 outlets in New York due to a decrease in the number of customers. The remaining four have been converted into Pepper Lunch restaurants, another Pepper Food chain. Pepper Food incurred a consolidated net loss in 2018 due to special losses mainly caused by the closure of restaurants in the United States.

restaurants
tse
stock market
listing
nasdaq
ikinari steak
pepper food service co .


Company in China-Taiwan group forgoes assistance to Japan Display, leaving bailout up in the air

Abstract: A Taiwanese company that is part of a consortium planning to offer bailout funds to struggling Japan Display Inc. has decided to forgo providing the funds, sources said Saturday. The move deepens uncertainty over whether the maker of smartphone screens and Apple Inc. supplier can be rebuilt. The company was awaiting an investment of up to ¥80 billion ($737 million) from the Chinese-Taiwanese consortium starting later this month. But the consortium, which groups China’s Harvest Tech Investment Management Co., Taiwanese panel-maker TPK Holding Co. and a Taiwanese fund, did not give notice by Friday, as had been expected, that it had formally decided on the capital injection. It was not immediately clear which entity decided to back out of the plan. Japan Display incurred a group net loss for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2018 through March, posting red ink of ¥109.43 billion on sales of ¥636.66 billion, down 11.3 percent from a year earlier, because of falling demand from its main client Apple. Japan Display has started negotiations to secure alternative investors, according to the sources. The manufacturer was established in 2012 following the merger of the display operations of Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. with support from state-backed fund INCJ Ltd. It struck a bailout deal in April this year with the consortium, under which the ¥80 billion was to be invested through the issuance of common shares and convertible bonds with share acquisition rights. As part of its restructuring, Japan Display has decided to cut 1,200 jobs, a quarter of its total workforce in Japan, and suspend operations at its plant in Ishikawa Prefecture from July to September in an effort to lower fixed costs.

china
smartphones
taiwan
apple
financial results
japan display


Nissan weighs giving some seats on planned oversight committee to Renault

Abstract: Nissan Motor Co. is considering giving its alliance partner Renault SA some seats on planned oversight committees after the French automaker expressed discontent with the envisioned governance reform, people close to the matter have said. Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said earlier last week that he was unhappy with Nissan’s proposed measures to improve corporate governance and that the company, which has a 43 percent stake in the Japanese firm, would abstain from voting on the proposal at the general shareholders meeting on June 25. Nissan is seeking to establish committees to oversee executive nominations, compensation and audits, but Renault’s discontent has clouded the outlook for its monthslong efforts to reform its management structure after the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. The automaker is now considering having Renault executives as members of the nomination and audit committees, the sources said Friday. Following Ghosn’s arrest last November, differences have surfaced between the two carmakers over how to strengthen their alliance. Renault and the French government — the carmaker’s top shareholder — apparently want to retain influence over Nissan, while some Nissan executives feel that the structure of the alliance is unfair. Nissan holds a 15 percent stake in Renault without voting rights.


Bus with technology that automatically stops vehicle after detecting health problems with driver to debut

Abstract: Japanese truck and bus maker Hino Motors Ltd. said Friday it will roll out a bus with technology capable of automatically stopping the vehicle if it senses something is wrong with the driver, the first introduction of such a system for a commercial vehicle in the world. A camera will monitor the driver’s posture to detect any unnatural positions, including the angle of the head or leaning heavily to one side. The system stops the bus immediately if the driver is detected in an unusual position and not reacting when the vehicle crosses a lane marking while traveling at 60 kph or faster. The S’elega model with the new technology will be released in Japan on July 1. Buses produced by the Toyota Motor Corp. subsidiary are currently equipped with an emergency switch that the driver or a passenger can press to stop the vehicle. According to the transport ministry, serious accidents caused by drivers suddenly faced with an emergency health condition while driving have been on the rise in recent years.

accidents
toyota
safety
carmakers
camera
hino motors


No more hapless husbands or housework-burdened moms: Britain bans 'harmful' gender stereotypes in ads

Abstract: LONDON - Hapless husbands and housework-burdened moms are being banished from British advertising as a crackdown on “harmful” gender stereotypes came into force Friday. Under new rules, advertisements must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm or serious or widespread offense. Examples include depictions of a man failing to change a diaper or a woman to park a car, or ads that suggest women are solely responsible for cooking and cleaning. Complaints will be assessed by industry watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority. It doesn’t have the power to impose fines, but British broadcasters are bound by the terms of their licenses to comply with its rulings. The watchdog, which has previously banned ads for suggesting it is desirable for young women to be unhealthily thin, said it won’t ban all stereotypes, such as women cleaning or men doing home-improvement jobs. The authority said its aim is to remove those that are harmful, such as ads that contrast “caring” girls and “daring” boys or mock men for carrying out stereotypically “female” tasks. “Put simply, we found that some portrayals in ads can, over time, play a part in limiting people’s potential,” Advertising Standards Authority Chief Executive Guy Parker said. “It’s in the interests of women and men, our economy and society that advertisers steer clear of these outdated portrayals, and we’re pleased with how the industry has already begun to respond.”

u.k .
women
discrimination
men
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