Stepping down, Theresa May's legacy sunk by Brexit

Abstract: LONDON - Theresa May had a mission to fight Britain’s “burning injustices” through strong and stable leadership — but her legacy as prime minister will be anything but. The Conservative premier’s turbulent time in office was swamped and ultimately sunk by her legacy-defining battle to secure a Brexit divorce deal. It eroded her authority and led to her announce last month that would step down as leader of her party on June 7. She will remain as Britain’s prime minister until her successor takes over. May won praise for her determination and ability to survive a rolling three-year political crisis since the referendum vote to leave the European Union. But her approach to the Brexit endgame, refusing to accept MPs’ trenchant opposition to her deal before belatedly opening ultimately futile negotiations with the Labour main opposition, left May politically adrift. In a forlorn bid in March to appease the most ardent euroskeptic MPs in her party, May, 62, offered to resign if they finally approved her deal. But several dozen rebelled anyway, consigning it to a third defeat in Parliament and leaving her premiership mortally weakened. She was forced by her party to agree to set out a timetable for her departure, but asked for time to give lawmakers a fourth chance to vote on the agreement in early June. However, her own MPs’ patience ran out and May was forced last month to name the date of her departure, triggering the fevered leadership race to replace her. “She has failed,” said Simon Usherwood, from the University of Surrey’s politics department. “There’s very little to commend her. “She doesn’t really have a legacy.” May’s last major act before starting the leadership contest was to welcome U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom she had an up-and-down relationship, on a state visit to Britain. Symbolic of May’s diminished authority, the U.S. leader joked with leadership candidates about who would replace her while she stood beside him at a press conference. The daughter of a Church of England vicar, May was born on October 1, 1956 in Eastbourne — a seaside town in southern England where her father was a chaplain at the local hospital. She has described herself in interviews as a “goody two shoes” whose Protestant faith defined her upbringing. She listened to cricket matches on the radio with her father and knew that she wanted to become a politician when she was just 12. May studied geography and met her husband Philip at Oxford University before joining the Bank of England. The two never had children and May devoted herself to a life of public service that saw her become Conservative Party chairwoman in 2002. May made her first splash by telling their annual conference to change the Conservatives’ image as “the nasty party” if they wanted to unseat then-popular Labour premier Tony Blair. But a 2010-16 stint as home secretary saw May adopt isolationist rhetoric that included a vow to create “a really hostile environment for illegal migration.” She became prime minister in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum which swept away her predecessor David Cameron. She took office pledging to fight the “burning injustices” in British society, but made little headway as her entire premiership became dominated by the Brexit drama. Despite having made a cautious case to stay in the EU, May embraced the cause with the mantra “Brexit means Brexit.” Her promise to leave the EU’s institutions and end free movement of workers delighted euroskeptic MPs, but caused dismay among many pro-Europeans. The splits in her Conservative Party became a serious problem after a disastrous snap election in June 2017, when she lost her parliamentary majority. May was forced to strike a deal for support with Northern Ireland’s pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party, and since then has struggled to keep her party and its allies together. Naturally reserved and reliant on her husband and a few close aides, she often says she is just quietly “getting on with the job.” But in the 2017 election, the leader struggled to engage with voters and was dubbed the “Maybot” after churning out the same answers and “strong and stable” soundbytes over and over again. May was written off several times before announcing on May 24 that she would step down. Columnist Matthew Parris — a former Conservative MP — called her the “zombie prime minister” for her ability to stagger on despite multiple attacks. She survived a no-confidence vote, the resignations of a string of high-profile Brexit supporters, notably former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, and has endured constant sniping from MPs on the sidelines. But ultimately her closed style of leadership and Brexit gridlock in Parliament doomed her premiership. “It’s hard to think of a Tory politician who would have been the perfect PM in such circumstances,” Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, told AFP. “But it’s just as hard to think of anyone who would have been much worse than her.”


Labour narrowly denies Brexit Party its first seat in Parliament

Abstract: PETERBOROUGH, ENGLAND - Britain’s opposition Labour Party narrowly held on to a parliamentary seat in eastern England on Friday, seeing off a challenge from Nigel Farage’s insurgent Brexit Party to win by fewer than 700 votes. The Brexit Party, which only was launched in April, swept to victory in the United Kingdom’s European Parliament election last month, riding a wave of anger over Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to deliver Brexit on time. It had hoped to replicate that success by winning its first seat in the British Parliament at the election in Peterborough, which supported Brexit by 61 percent to 39 percent in the 2016 referendum. Labour candidate Lisa Forbes won with 10,484 votes, while the Brexit Party, who were the bookmakers’ favorite, came second on 9,801 votes. May’s governing Conservatives came third with 7,243 votes. “Despite differing opinions across our city, the fact that the Brexit Party have been rejected here in Peterborough shows that the politics of division will not win,” Forbes said in her victory speech. Almost three years since Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union, lawmakers remain at loggerheads over how, when or even whether to leave the EU. May is quitting after failing to get her Brexit deal approved and the prospect of a “no-deal” exit has become central to the battle to replace her. Forbes, who backed remaining in the EU in 2016 but said she respects the result of the referendum, said May’s successor should restart government talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn that failed to find a way through the deadlock on Brexit. “They should reach out straight away to the other parties,” she told Sky News. “I’ll support a deal that won’t make our constituents poorer, that protects their jobs, protects living standards.” Labour, which along with the Conservatives saw its support slump at the European elections as voters expressed their frustration over the Brexit deadlock, is divided over whether to unequivocally support holding a second referendum. Corbyn has so far only said the option of another Brexit vote should be kept on the table, along with a national election. The prospect poses a dilemma as many of the party’s supporters backed Brexit. Asked whether she would support holding another referendum, Forbes said. “If there is an impasse in Parliament that we just can’t get through, it may be that we end up there in the future. … I’d like to see a deal.” The Peterborough election was triggered when Labour’s Fiona Onasanya became the first member of Parliament to be ousted in a recall petition, after she was jailed for lying about a speeding offense. She had won the seat from the Conservatives in 2017’s general election with a majority of just 607 votes. Despite failing to win the seat, the Brexit Party’s lead over the Conservatives will increase the pressure on those running to replace May to pursue a cleaner break with the bloc. Several of the candidates have warned of the threat from the Brexit Party if an election were held before Britain leaves the EU. Frontrunner Boris Johnson has said the Conservatives face “political extinction” at the next national election if Brexit does not happen by the current deadline of Oct. 31. Farage played a leading role in the campaign to leave the EU and his Brexit Party supports quitting the bloc without a deal. “Two parties have been ruling this country for decades, that is not happening anymore,” the Brexit Party’s Peterborough candidate Mike Greene told Sky News after the result. “The party has only been going 7 weeks,” he added. “Of course we have made a breakthrough. … In an election, you will see more of the same and you will see us getting more seats all over the country.”


Putin says Russia prepared to drop New START nuclear arms treaty, warns of 'global catastrophe'

Abstract: MOSCOW/LENINGRAD, RUSSIA - President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia is prepared to drop a nuclear weapons treaty with the U.S. and warned of “global catastrophe” if Washington keeps dismantling an international arms control regime. Speaking to heads of international news agencies at an economic forum in the city of St. Petersburg, Putin said Washington shows no genuine interest in conducting talks on extending the New START treaty, which caps the number of nuclear warheads well below Cold War limits. “If no one feels like extending the agreement — New START — well, we won’t do it, then,” Putin said. “We have said a hundred times that we are ready (to extend it). There is no formal negotiating process.” The treaty was signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Prague in 2010. It will expire in 2021. Together with an agreement known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, New START is considered a centerpiece of superpower arms control. Moscow suspended participation in the INF treaty in March after President Donald Trump’s White House announced it would ditch the key agreement over alleged Russian violations of the terms. Putin accused Washington of eroding the global arms control regime by pulling out of the bilateral Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and then dropping out of the INF treaty in February. Putin said the potential implications of letting New START treaty expire would be huge, suggesting it could fuel a nuclear arms race. “If we don’t keep this ‘fiery dragon’ under control, if we let it out of the bottle — God forbid — this could lead to global catastrophe,” Putin said. “There won’t be any instruments at all limiting an arms race, for example, the deployment of weapons in space. This means that nuclear weapons will be hanging over every one of us all the time.” Putin said he was puzzled by the absence of a global discussion. “Will anyone think about it, speak up, show some concern? No — total silence.” Putin said he discussed the issue with Trump during their phone talks in early May. “Donald told me that he is also concerned,” Putin said, adding that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom he hosted the same month, also spoke “in a similar vein.” “If they think like this, then it is necessary to take practical steps towards joint work,” the Kremlin chief said. Putin said all nuclear powers — both officially recognized as possessing nuclear weapons and not — should take part in future talks. “We have to create a broad platform for discussions and decision-making,” Putin said. “That could be the light at the end of the tunnel.” Pompeo and Trump have called for the START treaty to be expanded to include China, which has rejected the idea. Trump’s domestic rivals in the Democratic Party have also voiced concern over the lack of negotiations. In a letter to Trump on Wednesday, senior Democrats in Congress urged him to extend New START through to the end of 2026. “We believe that a decision to forego the benefits of New START by failing to extend the agreement would be a serious mistake for strategic stability and US security,” said the letter signed by eight lawmakers, including Eliot Engel, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At the same time, the Russian president said Moscow would not be afraid of shelving the treaty because it was developing a new generation of weapons that will “ensure Russia’s security” in the long term. “When it comes to creating hyper(sonic) weapons, we have overtaken our competitors.” Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst with the Moscow-based Institute of Political and Military Analysis, said Putin apparently meant what he said. “It appears that New START will not be extended,” he said. Khramchikhin said he feared only a major crisis — comparable to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 — would prompt countries to negotiate new arms control deals. “I just don’t see any other options.”

china
u.s .
vladimir putin
russia
nuclear weapons
arms race
donald trump
inf
new start


Putin says Russia hasn't meddled in U.S. vote and never will

Abstract: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reaffirmed his staunch denial that his government meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, adding that Moscow has no intention of interfering in any future votes, either. Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with chief executives of international news agencies in St. Petersburg, the Russian leader said that “we didn’t meddle, we aren’t meddling and we will not meddle in any elections.” Putin and other Russian officials have hotly denied any interference with the U.S. vote to help Donald Trump win the presidency, even though U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller has uncovered evidence of a Kremlin operation to interfere with the 2016 vote. He charged 12 Russian military intelligence officers with breaking into Democratic Party emails, and also indicted other Russians who used phony social media accounts to spread divisive rhetoric and to undermine the U.S. political system. Putin insisted that “we don’t have and never had any plans to interfere in U.S. domestic politics,” but added that the Russian government can’t stop private citizens from expressing their views about developments in the U.S. online. “How can we ban them from doing that?” he said. “Do you have such a ban with regard to Russia?” The president added that President Barack Obama’s administration had ignored a Russian offer to agree on a set of rules regarding modern communications. During his meeting, Putin also warned that the U.S. reluctance to start talks on extending a key arms control pact raises the threat of an uncontrollable arms race, but emphasized that Moscow has no plans to send troops to shore up Venezuela’s embattled leader Asked about Trump’s tweet earlier this week that Moscow had informed Washington it had “removed most of their people from Venezuela,” Putin said that Russian experts come and go to service Russian-made weapons bought by Caracas. “We aren’t building any military bases there, we aren’t sending troops there, we have never done that,” Putin said. “But we have fulfilled our contract obligations in the sphere of military-technical cooperation and we will keep doing that.” The Russian leader said the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela have hurt ordinary people, and warned Washington against using force to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Russia has staunchly backed Maduro, while the U.S. and several dozen other nations have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido and recognized him as interim president, asserting that Maduro’s re-election last year was illegitimate. Putin said “the crisis in Venezuela should be settled by the Venezuelan people,” noting that “through dialogue, consultations and cooperation between various political forces, the Venezuelan people themselves must decide whether Mr. Maduro should stay in power or not.” The Russian leader said he feels “absolutely neutral” about Guaido, describing him as a “nice person,” but added that his leadership claim has created a precedent that could “lead to chaos across the world.” “Let them elect U.S. presidents, British prime ministers and French presidents like that,” he said. “And where will all that lead? I would like to ask those who support it: Are you mad?” Putin issued a stern warning about the danger of a new arms race. He accused the United States of shunning talks on extending the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty that is set to expire in 2021. Putin noted that while Russia has repeatedly signaled its intention to begin discussions on extending the pact, Washington has been unresponsive. “We have said a hundred times already that we are ready, but no one is talking to us,” he said. The New START that was signed in 2010 by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Putin added that Russia has surged ahead of others, developing an array of new nuclear weapons that will help ensure its security for “a long historic perspective,” but he voiced concern about the “complete dismantling of arms control mechanisms.” Putin also criticized the U.S. withdrawal from another key arms pact, the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, rejecting Washington’s claims of Russian violations of the agreement. Citing those alleged violations, the U.S. has formally suspended its obligations under the INF that bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,410 miles), setting the stage for the treaty to terminate later this year. Russia, which has denied any breaches, has followed suit. While criticizing the U.S. moves, Putin said that his latest phone call with Trump “encouraged certain optimism.” He said that Trump shared his concern about the arms race and suggested that the money spent on new weapons would be better used for other purposes. The Russian leader noted that arms control talks should eventually involve other nuclear powers. “As of now, the talks between us as the countries that have the most powerful nuclear arsenals are the most important, but I believe that all nuclear powers — both official and unofficial — should be brought in,” Putin said.

u.s .
vladimir putin
russia
venezuela
elections
nicolas maduro
st. petersburg
donald trump
inf
start


Finland's new female-powered, climate-focused government sworn in

Abstract: HELSINKI - Finland’s new center-left coalition government has been sworn in, with the country’s first Social Democratic prime minister in 16 years assuming office along with a climate issue-focused Cabinet where women are in the majority. The 19-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Antti Rinne — a former finance minister and trade union leader — was approved Thursday in the 200-seat Eduskunta legislature, after which President Sauli Niinisto appointed it. Eleven of the Cabinet members are female, reflecting Nordic gender equality in the nation’s politics. With the Social Democrats in power in Sweden since 2014, and social democratic parties in Finland and Denmark scoring general election wins in the past few months, the political tide has turned to the left in the Nordic countries — overcoming strong populist movements in each nation. Rinne’s Social Democratic Party, the Center Party, the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s Party of Finland clinched a coalition deal Monday after weeks of intensive talks. The five parties muster a comfortable 117 seats in the Parliament. Their 182-page government program pledges to make the nation of 5.5 million “a sustainable society socially, economically and ecologically” with strong emphasis on environmental and climate change issues. “We (the government) are determined to tackle the challenge of climate change. But it needs to be done in a socially fair way,” Rinne told reporters at the Cabinet’s first news conference. The best election result ever by the Greens — which increased its lawmakers by five seats to 20 and has gradually evolved to be a mainstream political operator instead of a niche player — gave environmentalists a strong say in government formation talks and the Cabinet’s polices. The party, whose key supporter base is young, educated women in big cities, received three key Cabinet portfolios — the posts of foreign minister, interior minister, and environment and climate affairs minister. “This is a great day for the Greens in Finland and the green movement worldwide. Finland now has a situation where sustainable development and tackling climate change are the basis of the government program,” said elated Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, the party’s chairman. Haavisto, 61, is a veteran green activist, two-time presidential candidate and a former U.N. special envoy with a long experience in global crisis-solving and third-world development issues, particularly in Africa. After eight years of tight austerity policies by previous center-right governments, Rinne’s Cabinet pledges to boost public spending by some €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion). The money will be allocated to education, infrastructure investments, social services and military, among other things, to be covered largely by tax hikes and possibly the sale of public assets. Sharing a 1,340-km (832-mile) border with Russia, Finland is a member of the European Union but remains militarily nonaligned and doesn’t belong to NATO — a policy it shares with Nordic neighbor Sweden. The new government stresses Finland is not currently facing any military threat, but it keeps open the option of seeking NATO membership. One of the government’s main defense decisions will be picking a successor to Finland’s 64 F-18 Hornet fighter jets — a multibillion-dollar investment decision to be taken in 2021. Finland takes over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency from current chairman Romania on July 1.

rights
eu
women
finland
climate change
antti rinne


Jihadis kill 11 regime forces in Syria's northwest, says monitor group

Abstract: BEIRUT - Jihadis in northwestern Syria on Thursday launched an attack on government forces killing at least 11 fighters, a war monitor said, following a series of regime advances in the area. The deadly assault in a northern strip of Hama province, comes amid an escalation in violence in parts of the country’s northwest held by Syria’s former al-Qaida affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Damascus and its ally Russia have since late April ramped up deadly airstrikes and rocket fire on the region, and fighters have clashed on its edges. Thursday’s attack by HTS militants and allied jihadi groups in the village of Jibeen, follow a series of regime advances in the region in recent weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. “The insurgents are launching a counterattack,” Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP. He said at least five jihadis were killed in ensuing clashes. State news agency SANA said that militants launched rocket attacks on a number of villages in northern Hama, destroying homes. Syrian state television said that Syrian troops thwarted the assault on the villages of Tal Maleh and Jibeen. Meanwhile, regime airstrikes pounded the neighboring province of Idlib and nearby areas on Thursday, as battles raged, the Britain-based Observatory said. One civilian was killed in the bombardment, according to the monitor. More than 300 people have been killed by regime airstrikes and shelling in the area since late April, according to the Observatory. The bombardment has also displaced nearly 270,000 people in May alone, according to the U.N. A total of 24 health facilities and 35 schools have been hit in the latest escalation, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian office. Analysts predict that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his allies will continue to chip away at the area, but not unleash a major assault that would create chaos on Turkey’s doorstep. The conflict in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people since it started in 2011.

conflict
syria
al-qaida
bashar assad
hama
hts


From loss to liberation: Germany's evolving postwar attitude

Abstract: BERLIN - When Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked the Allies for the D-Day invasion and the “liberation” of Germany in World War II, she might have raised some eyebrows internationally. To those at home, the statement was unremarkable. There is no denying that the machine guns and howitzers firing at the Allied forces landing in Normandy 75 years ago were manned by German soldiers. But over the decades, Germans’ attitudes toward the war have evolved from a sense of defeat to something far more complex. While the leaders of France, Britain, the United States and Canada went to England to commemorate the troops’ sacrifice and duty on Wednesday, Merkel listened quietly. After the ceremony was over, she told reporters that she considered her invitation “a gift of history.” When those other leaders went to Normandy for ceremonies on D-Day itself on Thursday, Merkel was back in Berlin, holding a regular meeting with governors and discussing bilateral relations with the prime minister of Kosovo. As the generation that elected Adolf Hitler and fought his genocidal war dies away, most Germans today see World War II through the prism of guilt, responsibility and atonement. And almost all agree that the defeat of the Nazis was a good thing. That hasn’t always been the case. Many Germans who survived World War II had supported Hitler and the Nazi race ideology that led to the murder of 6 million Jews in Europe — and they were devastated by the downfall of the Third Reich. “After 1945, Germans first referred to the end of World War II as ‘collapse,'” said Johannes Tuchel, director of the German Resistance Memorial Center. Their children, however, were faced with rebuilding the country from the ground up from the total defeat of the Nazis, and they saw potential rather than defeat. “In the 1950s, it became ‘hour zero'” — a new beginning, Tuchel said. After the country was back on its economic feet, younger Germans started to question their elders, culminating in the “1968 movement” in which students confronted their parents with the atrocities committed during the Third Reich. Out of that era has grown today’s complex attitude. “It has been a process to the point today where it is seen as Germany’s liberation from the Nazis by the Allied forces,” Tuchel said. In 1985, then-West German President Richard von Weizsaecker called the Nazi defeat Germany’s “day of liberation” in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the war’s end. His words were supported by most Germans, and to this day it is often cited by politicians and taught in schools. Merkel praised his speech when he died in 2015, calling it “a necessary, clear statement that was significant for our German self-image.” Another key moment came in 2004, when Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder marked the 60th anniversary of Col. Claus von Stauffenberg’s failed attempt to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb. Schroeder called von Stauffenberg a hero — erasing the Nazis’ “traitor” label that had lingered after the war. Merkel, who at 64 is the first chancellor born after World War II, has taken the new German self-image even further. On Tuesday in Portsmouth, the embarkation point for the Allied force that invaded Nazi-occupied France in 1944, Merkel called D-Day a “unique, unprecedented military operation that eventually brought us in Germany the liberation from National Socialism,” the Nazi political movement. She noted that the war’s end brought Germany’s rebirth as a leading European democracy, saying it was D-Day that set in motion the “reconciliation and unification of Europe, but also the entire postwar order that has brought us more than 70 years of peace.” Unlike the many grand monuments to the Soviet and western Allied troops who fought against the Nazis, German tributes to its troops are typically understated. Fallen soldiers are commemorated in humble memorials on village squares across the country listing the names of the dead — often grouping the casualties of World Wars I and II. A vast majority believe it is essential for Germany to keep alive the memory of the country’s inglorious past. On Thursday, the top-selling Bild newspaper published a front-page picture of U.S. President Donald Trump, British Queen Elizabeth II, Merkel and others looking upward, with an inset picture of a D-Day veteran re-creating his Normandy parachute jump with an American flag in tow. Its headline: “The world celebrates its liberators.”

wwii history germany anniversaries d-day


Khartoum residents in 'state of terror' after bloody crackdown by military

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Fearful Sudanese hid indoors Thursday as heavily armed paramilitaries roamed the capital following a crackdown on protesters that authorities admitted had left dozens dead and prompted the African Union to suspend Khartoum. Members of the Rapid Support Forces, who rights groups say have their origins in the Janjaweed militias of Darfur, deployed on the streets in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and rocket launchers, witnesses said. “We’re living in a state of terror because of sporadic gunfire,” a resident of south Khartoum told AFP. He said he was “afraid for (his) children to go out in the street,” even though the situation was not quite as bad as in previous days. As international condemnation mounted, a health ministry official told AFP that “the death toll across the country had risen to 61,” including 52 killed by “live ammunition” in Khartoum. But it denied doctors’ claims that more than 100 people had been killed in the crackdown on protesters that began with a raid on a long-running sit-in outside the army headquarters on Monday. The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said Wednesday that 40 bodies had been pulled from the Nile, sending the death toll soaring to at least 108. The committee, which is part of the protest movement and relies on medics on the ground for its information, warned the figure could rise. The military ousted longtime president Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule, but thousands of demonstrators had remained camped out in front of the army headquarters calling for the generals to cede power to civilians. Despite several initial breakthroughs, talks between the ruling military council that took power after Bashir’s ouster and protest leaders collapsed over who should head a new governing body. Some life had returned to the streets of the capital on Thursday, with limited public transport operating and only a few cars on the roads. A small number of shops and restaurants were open on the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday. But in Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum, a resident said there was a “feeling of terror” about “many military vehicles with all these weapons. “We hope that this situation will end quickly so normal life resumes,” he told AFP. At Khartoum’s airport relatives of travelers stayed late into the night waiting to see if their flights would arrive, following a slew of cancellations over the past few days. Internet blackouts continued to beset the city. In a harsh move the African Union suspended Sudan on Thursday, demanding a civilian-led transition authority to resolve the ongoing crisis. “The AU Peace and Security Council has with immediate effect suspended the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective establishment of a Civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from the current crisis,” the AU posted on Twitter. The AU had urged the ruling generals to ensure a smooth transition of power, but the brutal crackdown to disperse protesters saw pressure mount on it to hold those responsible for the violence to justice. The United Nations and the British Embassy announced they were pulling nonessential staff and their families from Sudan, and the United States warned its citizens to exercise “extreme caution” amid the ongoing uncertainty. Despite the heavy presence of security forces on Khartoum’s main streets, the groups that spearheaded the demonstrations against Bashir made a fresh call on Thursday for civil disobedience. “The revolution continues and our people are victorious despite the terrorism and violence of the militias,” the Sudanese Professionals Association, the group that initially launched the anti-Bashir campaign, posted on Twitter. It urged an “indefinite strike and civil disobedience,” warning against calls for violence. In the northern suburb of Bahri, connecting and smaller roads in the neighborhood were blocked by protesters putting up makeshift barricades made from rocks, bricks and tree trunks. The protesters blamed the bloody crackdown on the “militias” of the military council. The Rapid Support Forces have been singled out by protesters. Heavily deployed in the streets of the capital, some residents seemed wary of the paramilitaries as they moved around the streets. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as “Himediti,” said he was on the side of the “revolutionaries,” but warned he would not “allow chaos,” referring specifically to the barricades put up in some neighborhoods. The ruling Military Council issued a statement hitting out at the “campaign organized on social media aimed at spreading lies and fabricating accusations.” It claimed the RSF “refused to carry out the orders of the former regime to expel demonstrators from the sit-in by force.”

conflict
u.n .
u.k .
sudan
omar al-bashir
darfur
khartoum
mohamed hamdan dagalo


Warhead to counter North Korean threat has problems

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Raytheon Co.’s project to develop a new interceptor warhead for America’s ground-based missile defense system is estimated to increase in cost by almost $600 million because of “major design concerns” since the contract was awarded, according to congressional auditors. The company received a $1 billion contract in May 2017 for the project, which is unsuccessful so far and at least two years behind schedule, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Thursday. It is the watchdog agency’s most detailed assessment of problems for the improved warhead, which it said is supposed to respond to “advancements in the North Korean missile threat.” The program has “encountered design, systems engineering, quality assurance, and manufacturing issues,” the GAO said. It said Raytheon is using commercial off-the-shelf hardware and reused components from navy missile interceptors that the GAO previously raised concerns about. The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency accelerated work on Raytheon’s Redesigned Kill Vehicle by producing it even while it was still in development and by “reducing the number of necessary flight tests to produce and field” new interceptors, the GAO said. The $600 million increase is the amount the Missile Defense Agency estimated “it would cost to recover” from the “performance issues the program discovered in late 2018 concerning the reuse” of parts and components, said Cristina Chaplain, the GAO official who supervised the new report. “These issues greatly unsettled the program and drove” the expected two-year delay. Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble had no immediate comment. The Missile Defense Agency is requesting $412.4 million in the next fiscal year for continued research on the warhead. Michael Griffin, the Defense Department’s head of research and engineering, last month issued a rare “stop-work” order to Boeing Co., which manages the U.S. missile-defense system, after “receiving recent test results” that indicated “the current plan is not viable,” according to Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb. The Pentagon has “initiated an analysis of alternative courses of action,” she said. The new version of the interceptor would be used in the $34 billion system intended to detect an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile from an adversary such as North Korea or Iran, dispatching a missile to crash into it and destroy it. The Redesigned Kill Vehicle is intended to greatly improve the reliability of the current warhead. The warheads deployed when the system was declared operational in late 2004 were found to have occasional reliability problems that led to failures in intercepting mock targets in tests. Even before the stop-work order, the new version wouldn’t have its first flight test until fiscal 2022 or attempt its first test interception until fiscal 2023. The agency had anticipated placing interceptors tipped with the warheads into silos starting in fiscal 2025 to expand the current field of 44 based in California and Alaska. More broadly, the GAO said the Missile Defense Agency has “delivered a significant integrated capability for defending the United States, meeting a goal set by the secretary of defense in March 2013 to increase the inventory of ground-based interceptors by December 2017.” But it said progress has been hampered by delays with the new warhead and in starting operations of a site in Poland because of construction problems.

military
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis


West Point cadet killed when military vehicle flips at training site

Abstract: WEST POINT, NEW YORK - One cadet from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, died and 22 cadets and soldiers were injured on Thursday when a tactical vehicle carrying them flipped over during a training mission, officials said. The accident occurred near the Camp Natural Bridge, a summer training site for cadets, the academy said. Video from a news helicopter showed the vehicle overturned with its wheels up in a heavily wooded area. Twenty 20 cadets and two U.S. Army soldiers were injured, West Point said in a statement. The injuries ranged from a facial abrasion to a broken arm, said Col. Brett Venable, the commander of Keller Army Community Hospital. Officials did not say what caused the accident. “Today was a tragic day for the West Point community and our United States Army,” Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, the superintendent of the academy, located on the Hudson River about 50 miles north of New York City, said at a news conference. The two U.S. Army soldiers were operating the vehicle, taking the West Point cadets through mountainous terrain on the way to a training area, Williams said. The soldiers were in a cab and the cadets, who are seniors due to graduate in 2020, were in the bed of the vehicle under a soft canopy, said Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, an Army spokesman. Officials provided no details on the cadet who died. “So sorry to hear about the terrible accident involving our GREAT West Point Cadets,” President Donald Trump said on Twitter. “We mourn the loss of life and pray for the injured. God Bless them ALL!” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement saying the accident “is made all the more heart-wrenching as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day today, a day where we remember those who gave their lives for our country. Last year, 16 U.S. service members died in training accidents in nonhostile environments, while 15 died in hostile action, according to figures from the Pentagon.

u.s .
new york
military
traffic accidents
west point
andrew cuomo
donald trump


African Union suspends Sudan until civilian-led authority is established

Abstract: ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) suspended Sudan on Thursday, demanding a “civilian-led transitional authority” to resolve an entrenched and bloody crisis. Calls for the AU to take action had mounted after Monday’s crackdown on protesters who had camped outside army headquarters in Khartoum. Sudanese authorities admitted dozens were killed when security forces stormed the lengthy sit-in. But an opposition-linked doctors’ group said Wednesday that 40 bodies had been pulled from the Nile, sending the death toll to at least 108. In handing down its suspension the Peace and Security Council, the AU’s conflict-resolution body, said transferring power to a civilian-led authority was “the only way to allow the Sudan to exit the current crisis.” Thousands of demonstrators had remained defiant after long-time president Omar al-Bashir was ousted by the military. They took to the streets calling for the generals to cede power to civilians. The AU had been strongly supportive of the protesters and had urged the military council to ensure a smooth transition, warning they risked suspension otherwise. The organization reiterated this ultimatum in May, giving the military a new 60-day deadline, despite pressure from some African nations for a longer timeline. But the brutal dispersal of protesters — condemned by among others the United Nations, U.S. and Britain — changed that calculation, pushing the AU into acting sooner, analysts said. “I think this outbreak of violence has caused them to bring this forward,” said Elissa Jobson, head of Africa regional advocacy for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank. “I would say it was a clear condemnation of that.” Sudan joins a handful of African nations in recent years to be suspended from the 55-member AU, a move that bars them from all summits and meetings. Egypt was suspended in 2013 when the army overthrew the elected president, Mohammed Morsi, and Burkina Faso was barred in 2015 for its own military coup. Patrick Kapuwa, the chairman of the Peace and Security Council, said “punitive measures” would also be imposed on those standing in the way of a peaceful transfer of power in Sudan. The AU does have the power to impose sanctions on member states but rarely does so, and the suspension is unlikely to affect the day-to-day functions of Sudan’s military council. “But it still has a really, really big symbolic effect,” Jobson said. Expulsion by the AU and threat of punishment is keenly felt by member states. Zimbabwe’s military went to great lengths to show its ousting of long-serving leader Robert Mugabe in 2017 was not unconstitutional and avoid its own censure from the AU, Jobson said. A strong AU stance can also guide how nations and governments outside Africa choose to engage with regimes on the continent in times of crisis. “It will galvanise international condemnation of this act (by Sudan). And if the continent is behind it, it gives it much more weight and particularly allows Western countries to take a bigger stand,” Jobson said.


French leader of long-overlooked D-Day force gets his due

Abstract: CALVADOS, FRANCE - France honored Thursday the officer who led a small yet symbolic French force that stormed the Normandy beaches alongside Allied forces 75 years ago, a feat long overlooked in the country’s standard narrative of its liberation from Nazi Germany. The blue-grey granite sculpture of Capt. Philippe Kieffer was inaugurated at Ouistreham, the target of his 177 men at Sword Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. They were embedded with British troops who gave the Free French fighters the privilege of being the first to disembark on home soil after four years of Nazi occupation. “Hi, Dad,” Dominique Kieffer, the captain’s daughter, said in a trembling voice in front of dozens of French Navy commandos and British soldiers and veterans in Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Also present was Leon Gautier, one of just three surviving members of the so-called Kieffer Commandos, who got a hearty round of applause at the ceremony. Gautier had met earlier in the day with President Emmanuel Macron, who was to oversee a graduation ceremony later Thursday for the latest Kieffer recruits. “There were only a handful of them, certainly, but it was a handful of brave men,” Macron told a crowd of some 3,000 veterans and others in Colleville Montgomery. “They were almost nothing more than a symbol, but how powerful a symbol for France’s honor.” Philippe Kieffer was a banker with no military experience but excellent English — he had studied in the U.S. — when he headed for London at the start of the war to volunteer his services. He eventually convinced Charles de Gaulle and British leaders to let him create an elite force of French soldiers to carry out covert raids across the Channel. Their bravery earned them a key role in the D-Day landings, attacking German positions to clear a path for troops on the beach to meet up with British paratroopers who had landed further inland. The gains came at the cost of 10 men dead the first day alone, and only 24 escaped being killed or wounded at the end of the Normandy campaign. But the daring assault was long relegated to a footnote in mainstream accounts of the Allied campaign in Normandy, largely because de Gaulle was furious they took part in an operation he was excluded from. De Gaulle refused even to meet with Kieffer’s forces after he landed at Normandy a few days later, and despite continued raids until the end of the war, the unit was unceremoniously disbanded in 1946. In 2008 France re-activated the Kieffer commando, whose members are the only French soldiers allowed to wear their green berets folded to the right, in the British fashion. “Now we talk more about them, and everyone in Normandy knows them, but it’s true they had to wait a long time to be honored, they waited a long time for the Legion d’Honneur,” France’s highest decoration, Dominique Kieffer said. Certain survivors of the D-Day campaign didn’t get a Legion d’Honneur until 60 years later. “They would come here and do their own remembering, they didn’t need the honors. And my father was a very humble man,” Dominique Kieffer said. “But now that things have been made right, it’s time to forget all that and start fresh, so young people can perpetuate their memory — that’s the important thing.”

france
wwii
u.k .
allies
d-day
emmanuel macron
charles de gaulle
kieffer commandos
philippe kieffer


Outcry as ASEAN predicts 'smooth' Rohingya return to Myanmar

Abstract: YANGON - An ASEAN report predicting half a million Rohingya refugees will return to Myanmar in two years has left observers incredulous for glossing over army atrocities, ignoring an ongoing civil war in Rakhine state and failing to mention the persecuted Muslim minority by name. The leaked report, penned by the Southeast Asian bloc’s “Emergency Response and Assessment Team” (ASEAN-ERAT) and seen by AFP, is expected to be released in the coming weeks. It gives a glowing assessment of Myanmar’s efforts to entice Rohingya refugees back from Bangladesh, where some 740,000 have taken shelter in fetid, overcrowded camps. Claiming to root out insurgents, Myanmar’s military drove the Rohingya from Rakhine and over the border in a 2017 crackdown, the latest in several waves of persecution. Evidence of widespread murder, rape and arson prompted U.N. investigators to call for the prosecution of top Myanmar generals for “genocide.” The two countries signed a repatriation deal in November 2017 but so far virtually no Rohingya have volunteered to return out of fear for their safety and rights. The “Preliminary Needs Assessment for Repatriation in Rakhine State, Myanmar,” works off the basis of 500,000 Rohingya returning. That is the official number of refugees given by Myanmar, well below figures from Bangladesh and the U.N. The word “Rohingya” is not used in the report, which instead refers to the community as “Muslims.” It claims automated rather than manual processing of returnees would mean repatriation will be “completed in a little more than two years.” The report praises Myanmar on efforts to ensure “smooth and orderly” returns, echoing the Southeast Asian country’s view that delays in repatriation are due to bungled paperwork by Bangladeshi officials. Bangladesh puts the blame for the setback on Myanmar and says no refugees have yet volunteered to return. Amnesty International said it was “astonishing” the report failed to mention the military atrocities that drove the Rohingya out, the continued segregation of those who remained or ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine. The rights group last week accused the military of committing new “war crimes” in the state as it battles against ethnic Rakhine rebels. “It’s ludicrous to think that returns in this context could be safe, voluntary or dignified,” the group’s Myanmar researcher Laura Haigh said. An estimated 400,000 Rohingya still live in Rakhine often in conditions Amnesty has likened to “open-air prisons,” languishing in camps or villages for years with scant access to health care or education. The ASEAN report dismissed the movement restrictions as “short-term inconveniences” and also said local communities “felt safe” around Border Guard Police (BGP) units accused of helping drive the Rohingya out. ASEAN-ERAT could not immediately be reached for comment. The 10-nation bloc normally sticks to diplomatic niceties and refuses to interfere in the internal affairs of member states although Malaysia has openly condemned Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya. Critics accuse Myanmar of playing for time by choosing to bring in ASEAN on the issue of repatriation — a bloc more sympathetic than the West or the UN. But ASEAN will not “enhance the (global) credibility of the process in a significant way,” said Soe Myint Aung from the Yangon Centre for Independent Research (YCIR). The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a preliminary probe into military abuses against the Rohingya The U.N. refused to comment on the report before receiving it officially.


Empress Emerita Michiko to undergo heart exam

Abstract: Empress Emerita Michiko will undergo a heart exam after a blood test earlier this week showed a higher risk of heart failure, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday. The 84-year-old former empress has experienced shortness of breath more frequently during her morning walks since the beginning of this year. She will undergo further tests at the Imperial Household Hospital, according to the agency. In August 2015, the former empress had a computed tomography scan of her coronary arteries at the University of Tokyo Hospital after suffering from frequent chest pains. She was later diagnosed with myocardial ischemia, a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to some parts of the heart, but was told no surgery was needed. Although the obstruction of a blood vessel in myocardial ischemia can occur temporarily due to stress or aging, it can also be evidence of more serious heart disease. The agency said it has carefully monitored her condition, and the empress emerita abstains from intense physical exercise and avoids stressful situations. Emperor Emeritus Akihito, 85, underwent coronary-artery heart bypass surgery in 2012 after developing symptoms similar to his wife’s and being diagnosed with angina. Since he abdicated in late April, the imperial couple have retired from all official duties and have been leading a quiet life. On May 24, they attended a piano concert in Tokyo directed by renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa, the agency said.


Hundreds in Hiroshima region evacuate amid downpours as rainy season begins in much of Japan

Abstract: Heavy rainfall hit parts of western Japan beginning early Friday, causing more than 800 people to evacuate their homes and disrupting train services throughout the region. In Hiroshima Prefecture alone, 775 people had fled to shelters as of 10 a.m. Friday, while dozens more in Yamaguchi and Ehime prefectures had also sought refuge. No injuries have been reported in those areas, where more than 200 people were killed due to torrential rains last July. The Meteorological Agency said total rainfall in the half-day period through Friday morning exceeded 200 millimeters in the village of Umaji, Kochi Prefecture, and 170 mm in the town of Taragi, Kumamoto Prefecture. Municipal governments in the cities of Hiroshima, Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, and Shunan and Uwajima in Ehime issued evacuation advisories, and the government issued a Level 4 warning for heavy rain and floods — meaning a mandatory evacuation for all residents in specific areas. The government launched the five-level warning system, designed to give residents a clearer idea of the situation, on May 29 after many people were slow to evacuate and fell victim to the floods in western Japan last summer. Level 1 indicates people should be on alert, Level 2 means people should make sure they know how and where to evacuate to, Level 3 means elderly people should start evacuating, Level 4 means all residents should evacuate immediately and Level 5 means there is a high possibility of disasters occurring. In Hiroshima, Sanyo Line services were suspended for about two hours from 6 a.m. after parts of the track flooded. Some 15,000 people were affected, with 23 trains suspended or delayed, West Japan Railway Co. said. Sanyo Shinkansen services and several Japan Railway and private train lines in the region were also temporarily suspended. The weather agency also said the rainy season appears to have started in wide areas of eastern, central and northeastern Japan on Friday. It declared the season has already started in Okinawa, the Amami region of Kagoshima Prefecture and southern Kyushu. The Meteorological Agency projected a maximum of 200 mm of rain would fall in Shikoku in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Saturday, as well as 120 mm for southern Kyushu, Kinki and Tokai, and 100 mm for northern Kyushu.

weather
yamaguchi
rain
floods
meteorological agency
hiroshima prefecture


Kyoto University researchers begin trial to treat condition that can lead to cervical cancer

Abstract: KYOTO - A Kyoto University research team said Thursday that it has begun a trial to administer a treatment to patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, the preceding stage of cervical cancer. The team aims to commercialize the treatment in three years if its safety and effectiveness are confirmed. Infection with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the main cause of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The trial started on the heels of the discovery by Masatoshi Hagiwara, a professor at the university, of a low-molecular compound, named FIT-039, that works to prevent the proliferation of HPV. The team started to administer the compound in April to healthy women in menopause with a single dose in order to check for side effects. The team will then assess the effect of the therapy by giving it to patients with mild to moderate cervical intraepithelial neoplasia for two weeks. The compound comes in the form of a tablet so patients can administer it themselves by inserting it into the vagina. Cervical cancer can be prevented by vaccinations in about 70 percent of all cases. But the government stopped recommending the vaccination in June 2013 after concluding that reports of chronically adverse reactions were likely being caused by the vaccines. As a result, a number of younger women developed the disease. “I hope the treatment will become one of the options to prevent cervical cancer,” said Junzo Hamanishi, a lecturer at Kyoto University Hospital.

medicine
kyoto university
disease
cancer
cervical cancer
hpv


Putin says Japan's military cooperation with U.S. is getting in the way of peace talks with Russia

Abstract: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he wants to conclude a postwar peace treaty with Japan but that the process is challenging due to Tokyo’s military cooperation with Washington. Speaking in a meeting with news agencies, Putin said Japan needs to take heed of Russia’s security concerns, although he acknowledged it has the right to defend itself. Putin made the remarks ahead of his planned summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Osaka later this month, dampening expectations for a breakthrough in ongoing talks on a treaty and a long-standing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of four Russian-held islands off the coast of Hokkaido. Abe initially hoped for a broad agreement with Putin on securing the return of at least the two smaller islands when he hosts the G20 summit. But rounds of bilateral talks have failed to bridge differences over the territorial dispute that has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty. Putin said the two nations should build trust before a decision on such an issue can be made. Japan maintains that the former Soviet Union illegally seized the islands following Tokyo’s surrender in World War II. Russia, meanwhile, claims the seizure was a legitimate outcome of the war. The islands are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. Russia has been concerned about the U.S. military presence in Japan and the prospect of a dispatch of troops to one of the disputed islands if any are returned. Touching on Moscow’s worries, Putin drew a comparison with ongoing work to build a replacement facility for a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, with opposition from its governor and local residents failing to stop it. He said his country’s national security will be affected if a U.S. military facility is built elsewhere in Japan. Putin also covered other topics in the meeting attended by representatives of news agencies. As tensions have risen between Russia and the United States over arms control, Putin said the United States’ exit from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and its decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987 have “undermined the basics” of the international security architecture. Regarding the New START treaty that is set to expire in February 2021, Putin said Russia is ready to extend it. He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Signed in 2010, the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms seeks to limit the possession of deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers.

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


Remains of Japan ASDF pilot found, two months after F-35A fighter crash off Aomori

Abstract: Remains of the pilot of an Air Self-Defense Force F-35A stealth jet fighter that went missing off Aomori Prefecture on April 9 have been retrieved from the ocean, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday. The remains were found Wednesday and identified as those of Maj. Akinori Hosomi, an ASDF public relations officer in Tokyo said. Both Iwaya and the ASDF declined to reveal further details, citing privacy and the wishes of the bereaved family. On Monday, the Defense Ministry terminated search and rescue activities. The ministry has retrieved part of the jet’s flight recorder but its data was lost. The ministry is now analyzing the cause of the crash by using radar data and communication records from three other F-35A fighters that were conducting a joint exercise about 135 km off Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture. The ministry plans to use a waterproof camera to search the ocean area where the remains were found, although it believes it is unlikely that anything offering clues regarding the cause of the accident will be found, Iwaya said. “It’s truly regrettable we lost the excellent pilot who had a bright future ahead. … I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family,” Iwaya told reporters. The advanced fighter that crashed was one of the first 13 F-35As deployed in Japan. The crash was the first involving an F-35A anywhere in the world, drawing the attention of military experts around the world. Since the accident, the ASDF has suspended operations of the remaining 12 F-35A jets at the Misawa base, but the ASDF reportedly plans to resume flights soon. Japan plans to procure a total of 147 F-35 jets, 105 of which are expected to be F-35As. The state-of-the-art fighters cost more than ¥10 billion each. The jet involved in the accident was one of nine F-35As that were assembled and checked by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. prior to their delivery. The remaining four were assembled and checked in the U.S. The F-35 stealth fighter, produced by U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp., was jointly developed by nine countries including the U.S., the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and Canada.

self defense forces
aomori
asdf
f-35a
air accidents


Japan to restart commercial whaling on July 1 after three-decade hiatus

Abstract: SAPPORO - A fleet of vessels will depart from Kushiro, Hokkaido, on July 1 as Japan resumes commercial whaling following a three-decade hiatus after the government announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission in December, a local fishery source said Friday. A fleet of five vessels belonging to six whaling operators — from Hokkaido’s Abashiri, Miyagi Prefecture’s Ishinomaki, Chiba Prefecture’s Minamiboso and Wakayama Prefecture’s Taiji —which have been conducting the last round of Japan’s so-called scientific whaling around Abashiri port since June 1, will embark on the mission. Whaling operators are making final arrangements with relevant bodies to hold a ceremony the day they set sail from Kushiro, where they will commence their activities for around a week. Each vessel will then separately fish for Berardius whales off Minamiboso and other areas until around the end of August. They are expected to regather in Kushiro in September before embarking to hunt minke whales until October. Japan halted commercial whaling in 1988 in line with a moratorium adopted in 1982 by the IWC. But it has hunted whales for what it claims are research purposes ever since, a practice criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling. Japan will hunt whales in nearby waters and within its exclusive economic zone but not in the Antarctic Ocean, where the country has carried out the so-called scientific whaling. Around 200,000 tons of whale meat was consumed in Japan each year in the 1960s, but the figure has fallen to around 5,000 tons in recent years, according to government data.

whaling hokkaido abashiri environment iwc


Chemical firm hit for punishing worker who took paternity leave with transfer halfway across Japan

Abstract: Chemical producer Kaneka Corp. faces allegations of harassment after an employee returned from paternity leave to find that he — and, one presumes, his family — was being transferred to a different branch in another part of the country. Condemnation on social media was swift, with many criticizing the company for its management style. In an interview with Business Nikkei.com , the employee and his wife revealed the sequence of events that led to this firestorm. The employee, whose name has not been disclosed, started his paternity leave on March 25 and returned to work on April 22. On April 23, the employee had a meeting with his boss, who informed him that he was being transferred to the company’s Kansai branch, effective May 16. The employee asked for some time to talk the matter over with his wife before giving a definite answer, but his request was turned down. At the time, the employee and his wife had just moved into a new house, found a slot for their young daughter in a day-care facility (a miraculous feat in and of itself for many working couples in Tokyo) and the employee’s wife was about to return to her own workplace full time. “It was the worst possible timing for a transfer,” the employee’s wife told Business Nikkei. “It wasn’t about getting transferred per se, as that’s just part of working for an organization, but we needed time to digest the information and plan out the logistics. The company wasn’t even willing to give us that.” After weighing his options over Golden Week, the employee decided to hand in his resignation and asked for two weeks’ paid vacation to get his affairs in order. Kaneka refused this request and the employee was told to vacate his desk by the end of May after handing over all his duties to another employee slated to replace him. The employee’s wife posted updates of the family’s situation on Twitter , which very quickly went viral. Initially, the wife refrained from mentioning the company by name, but she did include Kaneka’s corporate slogan — “making wishes come true with chemistry” — in one post and netizens were quick to make the connection. “Kaneka, what about making the wishes of the employees come true?” one Twitter user said in a post that was later taken down. According to Japan’s labor law, Kaneka’s decision to transfer the employee was not entirely illegal. However, the company was in less of a position to deny him a two-week vacation. In an interview with Business Nikkei, former lawyer Hajime Takehana said domestic corporations are mandated by law to grant employees paid vacation days and have little say over when employees take them. What’s more, employees who are leaving a company are certainly within their rights to take any vacation days they may have left prior to their last day at the workplace. Responding to a question from Business Nikkei, Kaneka’s public relations department issued a statement saying that the company would refrain from commenting on the matter until it could confirm that the employee in question had been formally employed by Kaneka and that he had received an order for a transfer immediately upon his return from paternity leave. On June 4, Business Nikkei published excerpts of an internal email that was sent from Kaneka’s president, Mamoru Kadokura, to the company’s employees. In the email, Kadokura claims the comments on social medial “lack factual precision” without being specific about which comments were inaccurate. And although Kadokura acknowledges the employee had been asked to transfer, he says the order was not a miseshime , or a punishment dished out publicly that serves as a warning to others. Kadokura says that the employees are the “most important stakeholders” of the company and that this incident was the result of miscommunication. In recent days, an online backlash against the couple has developed . According to reports, the employee’s wife had posted a tweet in January that said her husband was about to quit his job and start his own company. She took this post down and didn’t mention it during her interview with Business Nikkei, although she wasn’t able to stop screenshots of the deleted tweet from later appearing online. “They really don’t deserve our sympathy,” one commenter said. There was also speculation Kaneka had found out about its employee’s start-up plans and had been waiting for an opportunity to retaliate . On the whole, though, Twitter users have largely supported the couple, especially those who see the incident as a reflection of a much larger problem that exists in Japanese society today. “Kaneka’s management is adding fuel to the fire by ignoring the fact that this isn’t a legal issue, it’s a moral one,” Twitter user kaikaburi@kannaload wrote. The fiasco has hurt Kaneka’s corporate image and its stock price and, by the end of the week, the controversy reached the highest level of government . Over the past few years, Japanese companies have been struggling to uphold a family-friendly image and many have started to encourage male employees to take paternity leave. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed a desire to increase the rate of paternity leave from 5.14 percent, as of 2017, to 13 percent by 2020. “But what happens after we take that leave and come back?,” asked one anonymous commenter on Nikkei Business. “It’s scary to think about the consequences.” Unfortunately, the incident at Kaneka perhaps represents a cautionary tale of taking an employer at their word.

harassment
paternity leave
japan pulse
kaneka
company transfers


Rugby World Cup organizers offer refunds to those affected by mix-up between Yokohama and Aichi

Abstract: The organizing committee for the Rugby World Cup 2019 said Friday it has offered refunds or equivalent seating to customers who bought semifinal tickets listed for the wrong venue on the official ticketing website. During a 2½ hour period Wednesday, the semifinal scheduled for Oct. 27 at International Stadium Yokohama was erroneously advertised on the site as taking place at City of Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture. While the error was displayed, 346 ticket account holders bought a total of 911 tickets for the incorrectly listed match, the organizers said. “Customers who purchased tickets have since been offered the choice of receiving either the same ticket quantity and price category for (the semifinal) at International Stadium Yokohama or a complete refund,” the organizers said Friday in a statement. The venue mix-up was the result of human error during maintenance of the official site. Online sales were temporarily suspended while the problem was fixed.

rugby
yokohama
rugby world cup
2019 rugby world cup
international stadium yokohama


Tokyo court awards damages over noise pollution from Yokota base but rejects demand to have flights curtailed

Abstract: The Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling and ordered the government to pay damages for noise caused by aircraft taking off and landing at the U.S. military’s Yokota base in Fussa, western Tokyo, but rejected the plaintiffs’ demand that flights be halted at night and early in the morning. The state was ordered to pay a total of ¥769 million to the plaintiffs, who live near the base, for past noise pollution from the facility. Presiding Judge Shigeru Nakanishi said that the noise levels at or above 75 on the Weighted Equivalent Continuous Perceived Noise Level, an internationally recognized measurement of aircraft noise, “went beyond socially tolerable limits.” But the court rejected the plaintiffs’ demand that the government pay for future noise damage, with the judge saying, “There is potential for the base’s use status to change, depending on the domestic and international situation.” “Even if it were limited to an extremely short span, it cannot be said that there is necessity or rationality to it,” he added. The ruling touched upon low-frequency sound damage from the U.S. Air Force’s CV-22 Osprey aircraft deployed to the Yokota base in October last year. “A large-scale investigation by the Japanese government and the release of the results are desirable,” the judge said. “The ruling was disappointing,” Toshimi Nakajima, acting head of the plaintiffs group, said at a news conference. “Everything would be resolved if the flights are halted and the illegal sound pollution is eliminated.” In a similar lawsuit over noise from the Atsugi military base in Kanagawa Prefecture, the Supreme Court in 2016 ruled against a halt to late-night and early-morning flights and damages for future noise pollution.

u.s. military
noise pollution
yokota air base


Japan passes law to beef up checks on hiring of workers with disabilities after quota scandal

Abstract: The Diet on Friday passed a bill to strengthen monitoring of the hiring of disabled workers after government ministries and agencies were found last year to have inflated their hiring figures to meet legal quotas for national-level public bodies. The revised law on promoting the employment of people with disabilities gives the labor ministry the power to urge state organs and municipalities to take corrective action if it finds they have reported false employment rates of disabled workers. Public institutions and private businesses will also be required to retain documents such as photocopies of disability certificates, which would be reviewed by the ministry. The new measures introduced under the amended law will be implemented in stages by April next year. The government has said it will employ about 4,000 people with disabilities by the end of this year to meet the quota and had already hired over 2,500 as of April. But it is facing difficulties retaining them as about 130 people have already left. Under the new law, state organs and municipalities will create plans covering two to five years for the promotion of the inclusion of workers with disabilities and report once a year on their progress. The central and local governments will also be obliged to notify labor authorities when terminating the employment of workers with disabilities so they can quickly receive support to secure another job. The law was amended after a government panel in October found 3,700 people, including those retired and even dead, were inappropriately counted as part of the total workforce at 28 of the 33 national administrative entities it surveyed. The actual percentage of people with disabilities in the workforces of national-level public bodies, including staff at the Diet and courts, as of June 2018 stood at 1.22 percent, far below the legal quota of 2.5 percent. As for the number of people with disabilities working at private-sector companies, a labor ministry survey showed it topped 500,000 for the first time as of June 1, up 7.9 percent from the previous year. The growth came as the legally obliged proportion of workers with disabilities on payrolls was raised from 2.0 percent to 2.2 percent in April 2018, according to the ministry. Only 45.9 percent of all companies met the legal standard

courts diet jobs scandals disability bureaucracy


Former Kat-tun idol Junnosuke Taguchi, facing marijuana charge, falls to knees and apologizes after release on bail

Abstract: Junnosuke Taguchi, a former member of Japanese all-male idol group Kat-tun, was released on bail Friday after he was charged with possessing marijuana. Taguchi, 33, and his partner Rena Komine, 38, who faces the same charge, each posted bail of ¥3 million the same day and were released from a police station in Tokyo. According to the indictment, Taguchi and Komine, a former actress, had about 2.2 grams of marijuana on May 22 at the Tokyo apartment they shared. Taguchi, dressed in a black suit and tie, fell to his knees outside the police station and apologized. “I promise I will never touch illegal drugs including marijuana and become involved in crime,” Taguchi said, adding he will suspend his showbiz activities and focus on regaining the public’s trust. Both Taguchi and Komine have admitted to allegations against them, according to investigators. Last month, the health ministry’s Narcotics Control Department arrested them and confiscated some smoking paraphernalia — believed to be rolling papers and a grinder — from the apartment. On Wednesday, Tokyo prosecutors indicted both Taguchi and Komine on the charge. Kat-tun was created by major entertainment agency Johnny & Associates Inc. and released its debut CD in 2006, but Taguchi left the group in March 2016 to pursue a solo career.

marijuana
kat-tun
idols
junnosuke taguchi


Sapporo mother and boyfriend sent to prosecutors over death of 2-year-old girl

Abstract: SAPPORO - A mother and her boyfriend in Sapporo were referred to prosecutors Friday on suspicion of assaulting her 2-year-old daughter, who was pronounced dead at a hospital Wednesday. The suspected abuse of Kotori Ikeda occurred despite a child welfare official interviewing her mother last year following a tip and a police officer meeting with the mother and the girl in mid-May, according to investigative sources. Rina Ikeda, 21, and her boyfriend, Kazuya Fujiwara, 24, are suspected of assaulting Kotori between early May and Wednesday at Ikeda’s home and other locations, local police have said. Ikeda called an ambulance at around 5 a.m. Wednesday saying her daughter was ill. Kotori showed no vital signs while she was being taken to a hospital, according to the police. The police suspect Kotori had not been fed properly and could have been regularly abused, as multiple bruises were found on her body. She weighed less than 10 kilograms, below the average weight of a girl of her age at 12 kg, according to the police. The case comes at a time when the government is trying to boost the role of child consultation centers and their cooperation with the police in the early detection of child abuse following the death of a 5-year-old girl over alleged parental abuse last year in Tokyo. In the Sapporo case, a child consultation center received a tip last September that the girl was being left extensively at a day care and may have been neglected. But it concluded there was no neglect after a worker met with the girl and her mother at their home. The girl appeared to have been very attached to her mother at the time, according to investigative and local officials. The center received another tip in April that the child was constantly screaming and crying but it was unable to meet or contact the mother. A police officer then met with Kotori and her mother on May 15 and found a wound on her face and a bandage on her foot, but the wound did not appear serious enough to suspect abuse, the police said. Ikeda had said the wound was the result of Kotori tripping, they said. The police suspect Kotori was subjected to serious physical abuse after the meeting with the police officer as fresh bruises were found at the time of her death.

sapporo
hokkaido
child abuse
kotori ikeda


Japan's adoption rules changed to allow older kids' ties to biological parents to be severed

Abstract: The Diet on Friday passed a revision to increase the upper age limit at which a child can be adopted under a special system that allows ties to their biological parents to be severed. Formerly, children’s ties to their biological parents could only be cut before the age of 6, but under the revised law children 14 and younger are now eligible. The special adoption program is aimed at providing a stable, nurturing environment for children who cannot be raised by their biological parents because of economic difficulties or a history of abuse in the home. Unlike regular adoptions where legal connections with biological parents are retained, the special program allows the children to be legally registered to their adoptive parents, with the previous ties erased. Before the changes, various systemic factors made it difficult for adopted children’s ties to their biological parents to be cut. The new rules aim to rectify the problem and help children feel an increased sense of belonging with their new families. The revision to the Civil Code expanded the scope of children subject to the program, with elementary and junior high school students living in foster homes now eligible. The amendment will take effect within one year of promulgation. Children aged 15 to 17 can also be subject to the special program if they lived with their prospective adoptive parents before the age of 15 and agree to be adopted. “The raised age limit for children who can be adopted (under the system) would give them a better chance of being nurtured in a healthy home atmosphere,” said Hiroyasu Hayashi, professor of social welfare at Japan Women’s University. “It would also have a positive effect in their psychological development, with children having a stronger sense of self-affirmation and belonging to their adoptive family,” he added. “Developing a parent-child relationship becomes difficult when a child is older,” Hayashi said, pointing to the need to provide support measures after adoptions, such as counseling. The special program maintains the minimum age for at least one of the adoptive parents at 25. Some experts have voiced concern with the changes as children adopted under the system could be closer in age to their adoptive parents compared to the previous situation. The legal revision also divided the current procedure to adopt children under the special program into two steps — with the first stage examining the need for adoption in view of abuse and biological parents’ consent and the second checking whether foster parents are suited to raise adopted children. The amendment stipulated biological parents cannot pull out of an agreement if two weeks have passed since they gave their first-stage consent. Previously, they could cancel the adoption at any time. The revision to the procedure is aimed at easing the burden on adopted children and their adoptive parents. It is also expected to lead to a reduction in the number of cases in which biological parents leave children at foster homes even after canceling an adoption agreement.


Japanese government paper calls for review of handling of plastics

Abstract: In an annual report released Friday, the government stressed the need to review the handling of plastics by offering successful examples of municipal and corporate efforts to reduce plastic waste. “The time has come when we must rethink how we deal with plastics on a daily basis,” the government said in its 2019 white paper on the environment, a recycling-oriented society and biodiversity, which was approved at Friday’s Cabinet meeting. The reference comes at a time when awareness of the issue of marine plastic has been increasing across the globe. The white paper introduced the case of Toyama Prefecture, which was quick to launch a campaign to abolish the free distribution of plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other shops. When this campaign started in 2008, the proportion of shoppers in the prefecture carrying their own bags stood at 10 to 20 percent. The proportion now comes to as high as about 95 percent. The white paper also touched on Coca-Cola (Japan) Co.’s efforts to make plastic bottles lighter in weight and Seven & I Holdings Co.’s campaign to collect plastic bottles at its retail stores for recycling. Seven & I Holdings and Coca-Cola announced plans earlier this week to use bottles made purely from recycled plastic bottles collected at Seven & I retail stores for a new beverage. The project is billed as the world’s first in which a tie-up sells a product using a recycled bottle made from bottles collected by those same companies. Among other companies, Kirin Beverage Co. will introduce bottles made purely from recycled plastic for some products from mid-June.

recycling
environment
toyama
plastic waste
coca-cola ( japan ) co .


Number of newborns in Japan fell to record low while population dropped faster than ever in 2018

Abstract: The number of newborns in Japan hit a record low of 918,397 in 2018, staying below the 1 million mark for the third year in a row, a government survey showed Friday. The rapidly aging country posted the largest margin of decrease in its population at 444,085 since comparable data became available in 1899, with the number of births falling 27,668 from the previous year and the number of deaths rising 22,085 to 1,362,482, according to the health ministry. The total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime — fell 0.01 point to 1.42, clouding prospects for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to achieve its goal of increasing the rate to 1.8 by March 2026. The total fertility rate has been hovering around 1.4 since 2012 after hitting a low of 1.26 in 2005. The rate fell below 2.00 in 1975, a large decline from 4.54 in 1947. The average age for Japanese women to give birth to their first child stood at 30.7 for the fourth straight year. The number of babies born to women between ages 30 and 34 fell more than 10,000. Okinawa was the only prefecture where births outpaced deaths. Among Japan’s 47 prefectures, it had the highest birth rate, 1.89, followed by Shimane’s 1.74 and Miyazaki’s 1.72. The lowest was in Tokyo, with 1.20. “We will implement policies that will help mothers who want to give birth and raise children,” said an official at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. Japan’s birthrate declined after people started to marry late or not marry at all. But research has shown that most youths wish to marry in the future under the right circumstances. According to a recent survey by a group that strives to make child-rearing easier for families, 73.5 percent of nearly 3,000 respondents said they feel it is difficult to have two children. In the online survey, conducted in late May by 1more Baby Oendan, 82 percent of them said the hurdle to having two children is mainly economic. Experts say the obvious steps that Japan needs to take include identifying and removing potential hurdles that discourage people from marrying young and having families — such as unstable jobs and low levels of income, as well as various costs associated with giving birth and raising children. The government has pledged to stem the population decline by expanding support for child care and education. With little major progress seen as a result of such steps, however, some politicians are apparently blaming women for the stagnant numbers. Among them is Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yoshitaka Sakurada, a gaffe-prone former Olympics minister who found himself in hot water recently by urging women to have “at least three children.”

children
population
birthrate
aging
fertility rate
parenthood


Aso and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discuss global risks amid U.S.-China trade spat

Abstract: FUKUOKA - Finance Minister Taro Aso met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday to discuss issues of global economic concern amid the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China. “We discussed the ongoing close cooperation between the U.S. and Japan across a number of economic and security issues,” Mnuchin said in a tweet. Aso and Mnuchin held talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the city of Fukuoka. The meeting comes as their countries have been discussing a bilateral trade agreement, with U.S. President Donald Trump urging Japan and other countries to help reduce U.S. trade deficits. Japanese officials said prior to the meeting that Aso would explain Japan’s stance that the issue of global current account imbalances should be addressed through multilateral policy coordination, rather than through a bilateral trade deal. Aso and Mnuchin also likely discussed sanctions on North Korea for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning it from testing ballistic missile technology, according to the officials. Mnuchin said Saturday he was not planning to touch on the inclusion of a provision to prevent competitive currency devaluation in a trade pact. Japan’s position on the matter has remained unchanged, with no intention to discuss it, since Mnuchin proposed such a provision last year. The Bank of Japan has maintained easing measures for years to ensure the world’s third largest economy fully rids itself of deflationary pressure. The yen has remained relatively weak as a result of the policy, helping support exports. Such an agreement could restrict monetary authorities from intervening to stem excess volatility and disorderly movements in the currency market.

trade
u.s.-japan relations
finance minister taro aso
treasury secretary steven mnuchin


Carlos Ghosn's lawyers surprised to hear Renault board has started legal proceedings based on audit

Abstract: PARIS - Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers said they were surprised to hear that the board of Renault SA has started proceedings against their client based on an audit report. Ghosn has not had a chance to respond to any of the questions raised by this report, Jean-Yves Le Borgne and Francois Zimeray, lawyers for the former boss of Renault, said in a statement Sunday. “Shockingly, for several months, elements of this ‘audit’ have been circulating in the media without Mr. Ghosn ever receiving it,” they said. They said Ghosn is willing to provide “all necessary clarifying information as long as he is given the opportunity to express his view.” Renault and its partner, Nissan Motor Co., led an audit at their jointly-owned RNBV subsidiary which confirmed the existence of financial “deficiencies,” Renault said Tuesday, in particular regarding €11 million ($12.5 million) of expenses, most of which were linked to Ghosn. The relationship between Renault and Nissan has been strained by the fallout from the November arrest of Ghosn in Tokyo. He denies the allegations, which range from falsification of documents to diverting millions of dollars from Nissan for his personal use. The €11 million of spending that is being questioned includes Ghosn’s air travel and other items, as well as gifts to nonprofit organizations, the statement said.

courts
corruption
scandals
nissan
carmakers
renault
carlos ghosn


Panic over 'gunfire' at D.C. pride parade sends people running

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Panic caused by a mistaken belief that a gun had been fired during a pride parade in Washington, D.C., sent people running through the streets of the nation’s capital Saturday evening, city officials said. Police said some of the people who ran sustained minor injuries and seven were taken to hospitals. “As the officers were going to the scene, there was a crowd of people going away from it and some of the individuals in the crowd said there was a man with a gun and that someone had fired a shot,” said Guillermo Rivera, a commander with the Metropolitan Police Department. The man was taken into custody and is facing a gun possession charge, Rivera said. City officials said no shots were fired. “There is NO Active Shooter at Dupont Circle. There are injuries from people running from what they thought were gunshots. But there is NO ACTIVE SHOOTER at Dupont Circle,” Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety, said in a tweet posted shortly after the incident. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted that she had been briefed by police and there were “no shots fired.” She said fire department personnel were “on the scene to treat minor injuries / due to reports of a shooting.” Elizabeth Hernandez, 19, was among the thousands celebrating LGBTQ pride in the city when she said she heard “pop, pop” and suddenly barricades were being tossed over and a crowd of people starting running frantically from the area. “Everything fell and everyone said ‘Run!’ ” Hernandez, of Falls Church, Virginia, said. She ran down the block and was pushed into a restaurant, where she went into a bathroom with a group of fellow revelers. Ashley Smith, the president of Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes the event, said he saw people running toward him from Dupont Circle. “We cannot allow this incident, until we know all the facts of it, we cannot allow this incident to ruin the pride celebration going on this weekend,” Smith said. “We’re very focused on wanting to make sure we continue to have a great event for the rest of the weekend.” He said the group spends extensive time planning security procedures. Rivera said police felt they had an “adequate amount of resources on the ground, which is why we were able to respond so quickly.”


Recently refurbished German sailing ship, built in 1883, sinks after collision

Abstract: HAMBURG, GERMANY - A collision between a vintage sailing ship and a container vessel in Germany injured five people and sunk the wooden ship which had just been restored at a cost of €1.5 million ($ 1.7 million), police said. The 43 passengers and crew aboard the No. 5 Elbe were rescued after it collided with the Cyprus-flagged container ship Astrosprinter on the Elbe River at Stade, near Hamburg, early Saturday afternoon. The 37-meter-long (121-feet-long) pilot schooner, built in 1883, was Hamburg’s last remaining seagoing ship from the era of wooden ships and could be rented for harbor excursions, media reports said. The ship had just been renovated over eight months in a Danish shipyard where it received new outer wooden planks and a new stern.

germany
hamburg
marine accidents
river elbe


Sudan protesters launch general strike after crackdown by military

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Shops were closed and streets were empty across Sudan on Sunday, the first day of a general strike called by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) had called on people to stay home starting Sunday, the first day of the work week, in protest at the deadly crackdown last week, when security forces violently dispersed the group’s main sit-in outside the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum. The protesters say more than 100 people have been killed since the crackdown began last Monday. The protesters hope that by bringing daily life to a halt they can force the military to hand over power to civilians. The military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir in April after four months of mass rallies but has refused demonstrators’ demands for an immediate move to civilian rule, instead pushing for a transitional power-sharing arrangement. Troops from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been deployed in several parts of Khartoum and its sister city, Omdurman, and there are long lines of vehicles waiting to get fuel in several areas in the capital. The internet remains cut off in Khartoum and other types of communications have also been restricted, with reports of mobile network services heavily disrupted. Security forces removed barricades from the main roads and opened the sit-in area outside the military’s headquarters for the first time since the dispersal. The SPA urged protesters to avoid clashes with the RSF. Protesters have accused the RSF, which grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias used by al-Bashir in the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s, of leading the nationwide crackdown. The SPA has called for the force to be disbanded. The Sudan Doctors’ Committee, the medical affiliate of the SPA, said at least four people were killed Sunday, including a young man who was shot dead by the RSF in Khartoum’s Bahri neighborhood. Two died of their wounds after RSF forces beat them and a fourth was shot dead in Omdurman, it said. The committee says 118 people have been killed since Monday. The military-run Health Ministry has offered a lower tally at 61 people killed across the country, including 49 civilians and three security force personnel in Khartoum. The World Health Organization said Saturday 784 had been wounded in Khartoum since Monday. The actual number of wounded, however, could be higher as not all cases are reported or recorded, WHO said.


Huge crowds form in Hong Kong to protest planned China extradition law

Abstract: HONG KONG - Huge crowds of protesters thronged Hong Kong on Sunday as anger swelled over plans to allow extradition to China, a proposal that has sparked the biggest public backlash against the city’s pro-Beijing leadership in years. Tens of thousands of people marched in blazing summer heat through the narrow streets of the financial hub’s main island in a noisy, colorful demonstration calling on the government to scrap its planned extradition law. The city’s pro-Beijing leaders are pushing a bill through the legislature that will allow extraditions to any jurisdiction with which it does not already have a treaty — including mainland China for the first time. Coffee shop owner Marco Ng said he was closing his store to join the march. “Our city matters more than our business,” the 26-year-old said. “If we don’t speak out, then there’s no way that the government will listen to our concerns.” “The people’s voices are not being heard,” added 18-year-old student Ivan Wong. “This bill will not just affect Hong Kong’s reputation as an international finance center, but also our judicial system. That has an impact on my future.” The proposed law has sparked an opposition that unites a wide demographic, setting off the largest demonstrations since 2014 pro-democracy protests brought parts of the city to a standstill for two months. In recent weeks lawyers have held somber marches dressed in black, anonymous senior judges have given critical media interviews and the city’s two main legal groups — the Law Society and the Bar Association — have urged a rethink. Business figures are also rattled with multiple chambers of commerce and commercial groups expressing alarm, adding to criticism from the United States, Canada, former colonial power Britain and many European governments. Online petitions have been gathered by groups as diverse as stay-at-home mums, students, nurses and horse racing fans. Hong Kong’s leaders, who are not popularly elected, say the law is needed to plug loopholes and stop the city being a bolt hole for mainland fugitives. They say dissidents and critics will not be extradited and have urged quick passage of the bill in order to extradite a Hong Kong man who is wanted in Taiwan for murdering his girlfriend. But critics fear the law will entangle people in China’s opaque and politicized court system and say the government is using the Taiwan case as a Trojan Horse. The proposed law has been fast-tracked through the city’s legislature which is dominated by pro-Beijing members and on Wednesday it will receive its second reading. The government says it plans to have the law on the statute book by late July. Previous sessions in Legislative Council have descended into chaos with rival lawmakers scuffling. Sunday’s march was seen by organizers as an attempt to showcase how wide the opposition to the bill is ahead of the second reading. The backlash creates a headache for the city’s appointed leader, Carrie Lam, who has staked her political reputation on the bill passing. Pushing through the legislation could spark more protests or even a return to the unrest of 2014 — but backtracking might embolden opponents and anger Beijing. Several senior Communist Party leaders in China have voiced support for the bill. In recent weeks Lam’s administration has made some key concessions. They have removed nine economic crimes from a list of extraditable offenses and said only crimes that carry seven years or more in jail will be considered, up from three. Requests will only be considered from China’s top prosecuting authority. Those steps have received a cautious welcome from some business groups, but others have seized on the concessions as tacit admission that China’s courts are not impartial. Many protesters Sunday said they no longer trust the Hong Kong government to stick to its commitments that Beijing critics would not one day end up getting sent to the mainland. “This government is not elected . . . they are only acting for those who gave them power,” Johnny Yuen, a 57-year-old construction worker, said. “Dignity is something we are going to have to fight for ourselves.” Suspicion of China was worsened by a series of high profile disappearances of people who later appeared in mainland detention, including a group of dissident publishers and a billionaire who disappeared from a top hotel. Meanwhile, trust in the city’s leadership to withstand political pressure from Beijing has fallen further after the failure of the 2014 protests to win any concessions, the imprisonment of protest leaders and the banning of some critical lawmakers from taking office or standing for election.

china
hong kong
protests
extradition bill
hong kong extradition protests