Clinic founder aims to show Japan's hospitals how to become better workplaces for women

Abstract: Many female doctors at large hospitals operating around the clock have no choice but to put their careers on hold when they become pregnant or give birth, and eventually end up quitting without being able to gain further experience. To change this, Chizuko Kuwae, 66, an obstetrician and gynecologist who has been raising awareness of the issue for more than a decade, set up her own clinic in Hachioji in western Tokyo in June to provide a place where such women can continue working. After graduating from Shinshu University in Nagano Prefecture, Kuwae worked at a number of large hospitals in Tokyo. After having two children, she went on to become head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Medical Center and the National Hospital Organization Disaster Medical Center. “More than a decade ago, when I entered my 50s and my children had grown up, I looked around and realized that only a few lucky female doctors were still working,” Kuwae said. “My husband told me, ‘You’ve kept running all this time, but look behind you. Nobody seems to be following you.'” At the time, she said, it was normal for female doctors to work the night shift even after giving birth, and doctors were not expected to have any time off. “I managed to raise my children with my husband, but many female doctors reluctantly left their jobs because their children were frequently sick or they had to care for their parents,” she said. Considering the hard work and obstacles women face in continuing their medical careers, Kuwae said she was always contemplating when to quit. She even thought of giving up on having children, but her husband, Hideo, 66, who was a high school teacher at the time, offered to take on the bulk of the child-rearing duties. “I still cry when I think of the hectic work schedule and putting my children through lonely times back then,” Kuwae said. “I don’t want younger doctors to feel the same way.” In 2006 she submitted a written request to the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology demanding workplace improvements for obstetricians and gynecologists so mothers can continue to work as doctors. “I made a point that changes would be beneficial for male doctors too, and that it would help increase the number of young doctors who want to become obstetricians and gynecologists,” Kuwae said. “I just didn’t want to let experienced female doctors stop working.” Following Kuwae’s proposal, the society set up a committee to support female doctors and Kuwae became its head. The committee surveyed obstetricians with 10 years of experience and found that only 45.6 percent of the women were still working at maternity facilities, versus 77.6 percent for men. After more than a decade, Kuwae notes that modest improvement has been made but the fundamental problem remains. “Basically, doctors are expected to be ready to work 24 hours a day, and the situation still is virtually all or nothing,” she said. “It’s true that there are people in decision-making positions who have an old-fashioned way of thinking.” She says there is a vicious circle of people quitting, making the work tougher for the remaining doctors. Even if those who leave want to return after raising children or caring for their elderly parents, they are already at a disadvantage because they didn’t gain any medical experience during those times. “Women working in the medical field — whether they are doctors, nurses or midwives — experience childbirth exactly when they are moving up the career ladder,” Kuwae said. “If they weren’t required to work the night shift or be on call during those crucial phases in their lives, they wouldn’t have to quit.” Since she knew through her nearly 30 years working in large hospitals that it would be difficult to reform them, she decided to set up a clinic after devising a way to streamline doctors’ tasks without lowering the quality of medical care. Minamino Green Gables Clinic has a staff of 30, with 26 women. There are two full-time doctors — Kuwae and a woman with three children — plus a part-time doctor. Another working mother is expected to join the team later this year as a physician. At the clinic, doctors with small children are exempt from night duty or being on call but continue to conduct gynecological operations and cesarean sections to maintain and improve their medical skills. “If female doctors continue working while raising children, they can gain experience and may be able to conduct high-risk surgeries or work in large hospitals after their children grow up,” Kuwae says. “The period when women have to reduce their working hours is short, so I want to provide a place where they can keep working instead of quitting.” She also plans to install a system where the nurses and midwives share all the tasks in the clinic, including those related to outpatients, hospital patients and surgery. “These tasks are usually divided among different groups of staff in larger hospitals, but if all the staff can share the work, people can cover for someone who takes leave to care for a sick child or to attend children’s events,” Kuwae said. The clinic is reducing the workload by sharing patients’ data digitally, as well as by installing equipment that allows patients’ vital signs to be monitored from any room in the building. Kuwae said she was concerned about recent revelations that several medical universities had manipulated their entrance exams and scores to favor men because female doctors often quit or take long leaves of absence after marriage or childbirth, leaving hospitals short-handed. “First, I’m frustrated that people studying to become doctors are deprived of opportunities because of gender,” Kuwae said. “Second, I’m frustrated because not many people seem to be aware that there is an extremely high need for female doctors.” She said doctors who have gone through pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing can make use of those experiences to sympathize with patients, which will be beneficial to the hospitals that hire them. “Medical treatment involves interpersonal relationships. The hospitals are missing the mark by not giving female doctors chances,” she said. “They should definitely change their way of thinking.”

medicine
gender
women
doctors
hospitals
obstetricians
chizuko kuwae


Japanese software lets cancer and ALS patients get their voices back

Abstract: Sapporo radio personality Kazuya Yonezawa takes to the airwaves once a month, speaking to his listeners in a calm and low voice. But the 60-year-old’s words aren’t coming from his vocal cords. They are being reconstructed by a speech synthesis software called Voistar. Yonezawa has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the debilitating disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS weakens the muscles and gradually deprives the body of all motor skills, including speech. But thanks to technology that can reconstruct voices taken away by disease or surgery, patients like Yonezawa can resume communicating in computer-generated voices that sound strikingly similar to their own. That allows Yonezawa to do his radio show each month, tapping away at his keyboard to mainly discuss his battle with ALS and current events. Before he was diagnosed, Yonezawa was known for having a talkative personality. “I’ve come to realize how precious verbal communication is,” he said. Rather than stick to a script, he improvises during the show and tries to interview guests as well. Voistar users read out 40 to 1,000 text samples and record the audio data before their conditions worsen or before laryngectomies. Based on that data, the software analyzes their voice tone and speaking patterns so their keyboard strokes can be rendered as natural speech when they start using it. Satoshi Watanabe of Human Techno System Tokyo Co., which sells the product, recalled the moment in 2007 when he was contacted by Izumi Maki, a professor at Osaka University of Arts who was dealing with hypopharyngeal cancer. Maki wanted to continue his lectures in his own voice after surgery to remove his larynx. When the software was completed and Maki tried it, his voice came out with a Kansai dialect similar to his own. This was well-received by his students, and the professor even used the software to give a speech at his son’s wedding. “We were a chatty couple, and we were even able to have arguments, thanks to the software,” his wife Keiko, 69, said. Voistar costs anywhere from ¥360,000 to ¥950,000, depending on data capacity, and is spreading by word of mouth. “We want to keep improving the software to make it more financially accessible, and reconstruct people’s speech as naturally as possible,” Watanabe said. Similar software is available free on the Internet. MyVoice reconstructs speech by combining 124 pre-recorded sounds. It was developed by occupational therapist Musashi Honma, 56, of Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, and systems engineer Takaki Yoshimura, 53, of Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. Both have speech impediments. “For some,” Honma said, “recording their voices empowers them to keep fighting.”


Top South Korean Navy official cancels planned visit to Japan amid strained ties

Abstract: SEOUL - The commander of the South Korean Navy’s First Fleet has called off a planned trip to Japan next month amid strained bilateral ties over alleged low-altitude flybys by Japanese patrol planes, the South’s Yonhap news agency has reported. Rear Adm. Kim Myung-soo was slated to visit the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Maizuru District facility in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, in February under a bilateral exchange program in which senior officers visit each other’s countries in alternate years. “It is our turn to send our naval officer to Japan,” a military official was quoted Sunday as saying on condition of anonymity. “But we have notified Japan of our decision not to send any this year.” On Saturday, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo denounced the recent alleged flybys near South Korean naval vessels, calling them a “serious provocation.” South Korea alleges that Japanese patrol planes deliberately flew at low altitudes near South Korean naval vessels three times this month. The accusations follow a dispute between the two sides over whether a South Korean Navy destroyer locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol aircraft in the Sea of Japan last month. Also Saturday, a Japanese government source said that the Defense Ministry plans to cancel a port call by a helicopter carrier in South Korea this spring. The MSDF had planned to dispatch several vessels — including the Izumo helicopter carrier — to Busan to take part in a joint exercise that was set to be held when defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its regional partners meet in the South Korean port city, the source said.


Japanese government starts building sea wall for new U.S. base in Okinawa's Henoko

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - The government began constructing a new sea wall Monday in Okinawa as part of a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture, the local defense bureau has said. The move is expected to draw fresh backlash from the Okinawa Prefectural Government, which has persistently opposed the Japan-U.S. plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less populated coastal zone of Henoko in Nago. Under the plan, some 157 hectares of land will be reclaimed to construct a V-shaped runway. The sea wall, which will be 135 meters long and located on one side of the planned landfill site, is the eighth area in which the central government has started construction work. The move came after a meeting of experts assessing the environmental impact of the base relocation concluded last Tuesday that the fresh work would not affect corals inhabiting the area. Multiple areas on the eastern side have been found to require additional seabed reinforcement work, but they are located apart from the construction site for the latest sea wall. With the Okinawa Prefectural Government unlikely to approve the reinforcement work, the state has set out to build a sea wall on unaffected areas first. The central government also plans this spring to start building a new 515-meter-long sea wall next to the one for which construction began Monday, and to use both sea walls as piers for vessels transporting soil and sand for landfill work. The Okinawa government, which wants the base to be moved out of the island altogether, is seeking an immediate halt to sea wall construction. It aims to demonstrate its opposition to the planned base transfer by holding a prefectural referendum on the matter in February. After decades of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, many Okinawa residents are fed up with the noise, crimes and accidents linked to their presence. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration claims the plan is the only solution to remove the dangers posed by the base without undermining the deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. security alliance.


Japan's Narita airport to extend runway hours for first time ever from October

Abstract: CHIBA - Narita International Airport will extend the operational hours of one of its runways from October as part of efforts to boost the services that can be offered via the major international gateway, officials said Monday. The extension of the hours for landings and takeoffs, the first such move since the airport’s opening in 1978, was finalized after the last town that had opposed the proposal eventually accepted the plan. The current hours for incoming and outgoing flights — basically from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. — will be prolonged to midnight on the main runway as Tokyo hosts the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. With approvals by the town of Yokoshibahikari and the city of Sammu in Chiba Prefecture, all nine surrounding municipalities have agreed with the extension now scheduled to begin late October. “It is inevitable,” Haruhiko Sato, mayor of Yokoshibahikari, told reporters. “I will try to explain things to residents in the town.” The town and the city said in December they were opposed to the extension, citing concerns such as noise. But the operator of the airport later promised it would shoulder part of the necessary costs for noise reduction measures. The nine municipalities, the infrastructure ministry and Narita International Airport Corp. will soon formally sign an agreement on the extension of hours for the 4,000-meter runway, according to the officials. Sammu Mayor Hiroaki Matsushita, who spoke to the media after discussing the issue with assembly members on Friday, said it was a “wrenching decision.” The airport, which is situated inland, plans to build a third runway in the 2020s.

airlines
aviation
tourism
airports
narita international airport


Ruling bloc-backed candidate Kotaro Nagasaki wins Yamanashi gubernatorial election

Abstract: KOFU, YAMANASHI PREF. - Former House of Representatives member Kotaro Nagasaki won the Yamanashi Prefecture gubernatorial election Sunday with support from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc. Nagasaki, 50, who ran as an independent but with recommendations from the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, defeated three other candidates including incumbent Hitoshi Goto, 61, who was backed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People. The latest poll marked the first face-off between ruling and opposition camps in 2019. Through the year quadrennial unified local elections are set to be held in April, followed by the triennial poll for the House of Councilors in the summer. The Abe administration is apparently hoping that victory in the Yamanashi race will serve as a spur for the ruling camp to win other key elections during the year. LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai said Nagasaki’s victory marked “an auspicious beginning of the election year.” During his election campaign, Nagasaki criticized the prefectural administration led by incumbent governor Goto for having been brought to a standstill, pointing to the fact that an increasing number of young people are leaving Yamanashi. He called for the implementation of policies to develop industry and improve the quality of education in the prefecture. He pledged to revitalize the regional economy with state subsidies and promote tourism through a maglev train project, via which Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) plans to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027. To support Nagasaki during the campaign period, the LDP sent many senior lawmakers to Yamanashi, including Nikai and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Nagasaki’s expected victory comes despite criticism of the Abe administration, and following revelations that the labor ministry released faulty jobs data for more than a decade resulting in people being underpaid in work-related benefits. The two other candidates were Hitoshi Hanada, 57, backed by the Japanese Communist Party, and former Upper House member Harunobu Yonenaga, 53. Nagasaki won 198,047 votes, while Goto secured 166,666, Yonenaga 17,198 and Hanada 16,467. Voter turnout was 57.93 percent, up 16.08 points from the previous election in 2015.


In annual policy speech, Abe omits passage on ties with South Korea

Abstract: Breaking with precedent, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday removed from his annual policy speech a paragraph outlining his vision for Japan’s ties with South Korea, in a possible reflection of the neighbors’ increasingly tumultuous relationship. On the day that marked the opening of this year’s 150-day regular Diet session, Abe delivered his seventh policy speech since his return to power in December 2012. In the speech Abe afforded South Korea only a passing reference, as he stressed the importance of “closely coordinating with the international community, in particular Washington and Seoul,” to deal with nuclear-armed North Korea. The speech — delivered each year at the start of the ordinary Diet session — was a departure from previous policy addresses that have seen Abe dedicate a whole paragraph detailing his desire to promote what he had often called “future-oriented” relations with Seoul. The intention behind the omission was unclear, but Abe’s speech came on the heels of surging tensions between Tokyo and Seoul. Late last year, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that several Japanese companies must compensate South Koreans over wartime forced labor, sparking stern protest from Japanese officials. Tokyo also said earlier this month that it would discontinue working-level talks with Seoul over the flare-up of a so-called “radar lock-on” spat, after both sides failed to reconcile amid weeks of recriminations. To be sure, Abe’s shifting rhetoric on South Korea was already evident in his speech last January, when he jettisoned the conventional description of the country as Japan’s “most important” neighbor. At the time, Abe’s administration had been furious over South Korea’s sudden demand for an apology over wartime “comfort women” — a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. Tokyo saw the move as Seoul’s effective desertion of a 2015 bilateral agreement that had been said to resolve the long-standing issue “finally and irreversibly.” As part of his push to “settle Japan’s post-war diplomacy” conundrum, Abe’s speech also saw him reiterate an eagerness to “accelerate” talks with Russia to solve a territorial dispute that has festered since the end of World War II and sign a formal peace treaty. He emphasized that “President (Vladimir) Putin and I have shared the strong belief that we have to put an end to this matter before the turn of a generation” — although Abe pocketed little from his meeting last week with the Russian leader in Moscow. The prime minister also said his trip to Beijing last October, the first official visit since returning to power, “completely put Sino-Japanese relations back on their normal trajectory,” renewing his vow to take the Asian giants’ bilateral ties to a “new stage.” On North Korea, Abe said he will “break the shell of mutual mistrust” and pledged “decisive” action to achieve the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. “I won’t miss out on any opportunity,” he said, adding that he is open to meet Kim Jong Un face-to-face. His goal, Abe said, is to “settle the unfortunate history with North Korea and normalize diplomatic relations.” On the domestic front, Abe apologized for the recent emergence of a data mismanagement scandal within the labor ministry, assuring the public of a “swift” and “smooth” refund of employment-related benefits that went underpaid as a result of the error-laden statistics. The yearslong lapses, which date back to 2004, “undermine trust in the public safety net system,” Abe acknowledged, vowing to conduct a “thorough review of what happened to restore trust in government statistics.” Opposition parties have already seized on the data scandal, fiercely criticizing what is shaping up to be a potential headache for the Abe administration despite hopes for a scandal-free Diet session ahead of July’s pivotal Upper House election. Abe, meanwhile, doubled down on his commitment to forge ahead with a legally bound consumption tax hike set for this October — something he had already delayed twice — from the current 8 percent to 10 percent. But, apparently mindful of the July poll, the prime minister sought to impress on the public economic progress he claimed was made by his “ever-evolving Abenomics” program. Highlighting it as the first policy topic in the speech, Abe cited figures he says point to increased tax revenues and dwindling child poverty. He also made sure to remind voters that the impact of the tax hike will be mitigated by measures, including special coupons, and that part of revenue from the 2 percentage-point raise will be used to finance free preschool education for children aged 3 to 5. “After realizing nine-year, free education, covering elementary through junior high schools, this will be the first major educational reform in 70 years,” Abe said. As usual, the prime minister relegated his longtime ambition of amending the Constitution to the very end of his speech, merely expressing hopes that “each political party will deepen discussions” at a Diet panel tasked with debating revision — apparently to avoid inviting too much attention and scrutiny to the highly divisive topic. Monday’s policy speech was the last such address before the current Heisei Era ends on April 30 when Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate. In previous policy speeches at the start of the ordinary Diet session, Abe either began or concluded his address with anecdotes commending prominent historical figures. This year, however, he took the opportunity to pay tribute to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, reflecting on how the pair diligently took it upon themselves to visit areas decimated by natural disasters and to encourage local residents to persevere. “Heisei is an era that demonstrated the resilience of the Japanese people, and how powerful their bonds with each other can become,” Abe said.

diet
south korea
policy speech
prime minister shinzo abe


Japan Foreign Minister Taro Kono urges Seoul to keep promises as historical flashpoints fray ties

Abstract: Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Monday urged South Korea to make good on promises made in bilateral pacts related to the issues of wartime labor and “comfort women,” as diplomatic relations between the neighbors become increasingly frosty. The term comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. The issue of wartime labor flared up again as a source of diplomatic friction late last year, when South Korea’s top court ruled in favor of South Korean plaintiffs seeking compensation for labor they claimed they were forced into carrying out during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. “We will strongly urge South Korea to firmly keep its promises made internationally,” said Kono as he delivered a foreign policy speech laying out the government’s vision and priorities at the opening of a regular Diet session. Kono specifically mentioned a bilateral pact sealed in 1965 to settle issues related to financial claims, as well as another agreement in 2015 that was supposed to solve the issue of comfort women “finally and irreversibly.” Comfort women included many South Korean women, as well as women from other countries. The speech coincides with Japan’s push for consultations with South Korea to solve the disputes. Tokyo maintains that the issue of compensation over wartime labor was settled under the 1965 agreement, and that the South Korean court rulings are “a breach of international law.” However, Seoul says it must respect decisions reached in South Korean courts as a matter of the separation of powers, cautioning Japanese leaders against politicizing the issue. Bilateral ties have shown no signs of improving, with Tokyo and Seoul trading barbs over an incident in which a South Korean navy vessel allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese Self-Defense Forces patrol plane. Subsequently, Seoul has accused the SDF of making low-altitude flights over South Korean naval vessels. In the speech, Kono apparently drew a contrast between South Korea and Japan’s other Asian neighbors such as China. Sino-Japanese relations have been thawing, against the background of heightened U.S.-China tensions over trade. In October, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese leader in nearly seven years to make an official visit to China. “It’s extremely important to build stable relations with China from a broad perspective,” Kono said, as he expressed hope for further bilateral exchanges not only at the government level but also between citizens of the two countries. Still, Japan cannot accept unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and “will continue to take a calm and resolute approach to the situation,” Kono said. Chinese coast guard ships are often spotted sailing in waters around the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, with Beijing laying its claim to the uninhabited territories which it calls Diaoyu. On North Korea, Japan will maintain a united front with the international community to make sure Pyongyang abolishes all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible” way, according to Kono. As part of a diplomatic initiative, Abe has been seeking to create a “free and open” Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law and freedom of navigation, and by improving infrastructure across the region. Kono said Japan will work closely with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations toward realizing the goal. After traveling to a total of 63 countries and regions since taking his current post in 2017, Kono stressed the need to boost his country’s diplomatic profile abroad. He called for Japan to increase its political engagement in the Middle East, and for better use of soft power, as Japan’s cultural influence — through its food, anime, video games and other assets — proves a valuable diplomatic tool.

china
north korea
south korea
comfort women
diplomacy
wartime labor
south korea-japan relations
taro kono


Last Yokkaichi pollution suit plaintiff dies of bronchial asthma at age 87

Abstract: YOKKAICHI, MIE PREF. - Yukikazu Noda, who was the only surviving plaintiff in one of four major pollution lawsuits in Japan, died of bronchial asthma at a home for the elderly in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, on Friday. He was 87. In September 1967, Noda, a Mie native, and eight other asthma patients filed a damages suit against six companies claiming that sulfurous acidic gas emitted from their factories at a newly built petrochemical complex in Yokkaichi had caused their illnesses. In July 1972, the Yokkaichi branch of Tsu District Court found the firms responsible and ordered them to pay compensation. The ruling became final. Noda had been raising awareness about the Yokkaichi’s air pollution problems, a by-product of the country’s economic growth, since around 2000.

pollution
courts
obituary
mie
yokkaichi
yukikazu noda


Back in blue: Restoration of Nagasaki's famous Peace Statue marking atomic bombing begins

Abstract: NAGASAKI - A statue commemorating the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki began undergoing restoration Monday, with the city hoping to unveil it in its original blue in late March ahead of the August anniversary of the attack. The Peace Statue, a 9.7-meter bronze sculpture of a seated man by the late artist Seibo Kitamura, was erected in 1955 near ground zero and was last re-painted over a period of approximately five months from October 1999. Every year, the city of Nagasaki holds a ceremony in front of the statue to mark the Aug. 9, 1945, bombing carried out in the final stages of World War II. The attack killed an estimated 74,000 people in the city by the end of that year and followed closely the atomic strike on Hiroshima on Aug. 6. Workers have so far erected fences around the statue, and the city said it will set up scaffolding to completely cover the work with sheets by mid-February. The monument will then be spray-painted to bring it back to its original blue, since the current paint has faded due to weathering. Workers will also mend cracks in the statue’s foundation. The sculpture of the seated man has its right arm pointed to the sky, representing the threat of an atomic bomb being dropped, and his left arm is extended horizontally, symbolizing peace. The statue’s eyes are closed in mourning for the victims of the bombing, according to the city.

nagasaki
atomic bombings
statues
seibo kitamura


Nagasaki educators rethink A-bomb teachings to broaden students' perspectives on WWII

Abstract: NAGASAKI - Ideas are shifting about what constitutes the nebulously named concept of “peace education” in Nagasaki, the second city ever to suffer an atomic attack, as its educators look to create a new approach to learning about their city’s difficult history. Educators say too much emphasis has been placed on relaying the brutal reality of A-bomb strikes to new generations, resulting in students forming a myopic view of the incidents rather than questioning and debating everything that culminated in the use of atomic weapons toward the end of World War II. The program of so-called peace education has aimed to inform and educate children about war, but has used traditional, textbook-driven teaching techniques that may have failed to give students an understanding of the A-bomb strikes in the wider context of the war. The key word is dialogue, educators say — conducting conceptual experiments that question the meaning of peace and war by getting children to react, express opinions and discuss less-considered viewpoints. Students are asked to consider, for example, the moral implications of being a brilliant scientist during wartime. They are asked to mull over such questions as: “If the government demanded that you work on the development of a weapon of mass destruction, would you accept the task?” This was an actual question posed by a teacher in a workshop at Yamazato Junior High School in Nagasaki. True accounts of scientists who were involved in the U.S.-led Manhattan Project during the war were used to make the activities feel real. Third-year students, 32 in all, took turns playing the role of the scientists: arguing for taking part in the bomb program, wanting to but being conflicted, saying no but being conflicted, and rejecting it outright. Some argued that they could not assist a program that would result in taking so many lives, while others made the case that weapons of mass destruction are necessary to bring the war to an end. Some students argued that the scientist’s choices might have been limited. “I was completely against it at first, but if you turned this down, your future as a scientist might have been over,” said Ryosuke Ashida, a 15-year-old student who took part in the experiment. Masahiro Yamakawa, 48, chief director in charge of the Nagasaki Board of Education’s school division, said, “It was a first step in getting students to talk about peace in their own words.” Revisions to the education program were launched after a survey was conducted on third-year junior high school students in the city in 2016. As many as 94 percent of the respondents knew Aug. 9, 1945, was the date for the A-bombing of Nagasaki, but only 72 percent knew the date for Hiroshima, 14 points lower than a similar survey in 1991. “Because there has been special emphasis given to relaying the experiences of Nagasaki atomic bomb victims, there has been a lack of study from a broad perspective,” said Yamakawa. Starting in the current school year, educational booklets on the topic have been substantially revised to get rid of the textbook-like descriptive tone. More photos and diagrams have been included with the mind-set of stirring students’ imaginations, educators say. Students are now required to do “investigative learning” by preparing advance questions for the annual lectures given by A-bomb survivors. Reiko Hada, 82, a hibakusha from Nagasaki who gives talks on her experience at around 60 schools in and outside the prefecture each year, said, “I felt like there was a passiveness to children in Nagasaki.” So when she went to elementary schools that had introduced interactive dialogue about the attacks, she said she was surprised to see so many students raising their hands to ask questions. “I want them to take home what they learn about the atomic bombs and to discuss it with their families and friends,” Hada said. More than 70 years have passed since the attacks, and both the teachers and their pupils are from generations that do not have any direct experience with war. Schools must continue their efforts through trial and error, teachers say. “I always ask myself whether peace education has not become just a customary thing,” said Shizuka Taniguchi, 53, a teacher in charge of the program at Mikawa Junior High School in the city. “For the children, the war is something that occurred in the distant past. We want them to gain the power to think of it, even a little, as something that is relevant to their life.”

wwii
history
nagasaki
education
schools
atomic bombings
peace education


Three areas in Japan to bid to host casino resorts, but many others remain reluctant: survey

Abstract: The city and prefecture of Osaka and two other prefectures in western Japan plan to apply to host newly legalized casino resorts, but dozens more are reluctant to do so amid concerns over public safety, a Kyodo News survey has found. The survey, conducted in November and December, covered all of the nation’s 47 prefectures and 20 major cities that are eligible to apply for the so-called integrated resorts encompassing casinos, hotels and conference rooms. The government aims to have such resorts, to be built in up to three locations, start operating by the mid-2020s. Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka, which will bid jointly, plus Wakayama Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture said they expect the facilities to create jobs and bring other positive economic benefits. The local governments have already finished selecting candidate sites. Nagoya, meanwhile, said it is considering making an application and is looking for a suitable location. Five local governments — the prefectures of Tokyo, Hokkaido, Ibaraki and the cities of Chiba and Yokohama — also said they are considering the possibility, but many are still in the research stage. Tokyo and Yokohama, which are seen as attractive areas for hosting casinos by resort operators, said they are weighing up the pros and cons, while Hokkaido, a popular tourist destination, said the city of Tomakomai could be a leading candidate site. A total of 17 local governments said they are “undecided” on the matter, leaving room for a bidding race for hosting casino resorts to heat up in the future. Forty local governments said they will not apply. Miyagi Prefecture cited concerns over possible deterioration of public safety and an increase of people saddled with gambling debts, while Shimane Prefecture said it is promoting tourism by “taking advantage of nature and history.” Japan ended a ban on casino gambling through a law that was enacted last July, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government hoping that such facilities will lure more overseas visitors and boost regional economies outside Tokyo. But the idea has been controversial, with critics saying it will lead to an increase in gambling addiction. Under the law, the central government plans to select locations for casino resorts by assessing potential economic impacts and other factors after local governments submit their project plans. As part of efforts to tackle addiction, people living in Japan will be charged a ¥6,000 ($55) entrance fee for casinos and face limits on the number of visits, while foreign visitors will be able to enter free of charge.

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Japan-U.S. law enforcement fingerprint data-sharing pact kicks off, raising privacy concerns

Abstract: Earlier this month, Japan and the United States began sharing fingerprint data among their law enforcement agencies under a bilateral agreement. The little-known agreement, negotiated in 2014 by the administrations of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then-U.S. President Barack Obama, is intended to strengthen cooperation on fighting terrorism and organized crime by allowing their national databases to be cross-referenced. While the agreement allows Japan’s National Policy Agency and American law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to work more closely together, human rights advocates fear the data might be abused. Here are the key points behind the issue: What is the agreement’s main purpose? The agreement is intended to prevent and fight serious crimes and terrorism in both countries. It is also aimed at securing international travel by allowing both to identify whether arriving individuals have been fingerprinted over “serious crimes.” What constitutes a “serious crime?” The agreement defines the term as “an offense punishable by death, life imprisonment or deprivation of liberty for a maximum period of more than one year.” The agreement’s annex lists 34 different crimes that fall under its scope. These include terrorism, murder and manslaughter, rape, assault and white-collar crime like racketeering, bribery or corruption, embezzlement, cyberattacks, data theft and intellectual property offenses. Child pornography and trafficking or possession of illegal narcotics and firearms are also included. Trafficking in or smuggling of people is also listed as a serious crime. How does the agreement work? The NPA, FBI or DHS can request the fingerprint data of an individual for prevention, detection and investigation of serious crimes only if there is just cause to inquire whether the person will commit, or has committed, a serious crime. An automated fingerprint identification system will be installed in both countries, and the queried party’s database will automatically respond if there is a match. What happens if there’s a match? If there’s a match, the confirmation response will be followed by fingerprint data to allow the other party to confirm it. The inquiring party can also receive the name of the person whose fingerprints match along with other information, including arrest and conviction records. If there’s a match but the country that made the query doesn’t follow up with a request for further information, the other country can request an explanation as to why the initial query was made. How many fingerprints are currently in the databases in both countries? The NPA says the FBI has fingerprints from about 75 million people and the DHS has the prints of nearly 230 million people. Japanese authorities have the fingerprints of nearly 11 million people who have been taken into custody. There are nearly another 380,000 latent fingerprints taken in cases that remain unsolved. What are the concerns about the deal? In April 2014, after the U.S. and Japan signed the agreement but before the Diet ratified it, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations raised several concerns in a statement. The group questioned the need to forge a new agreement, citing the existence of similar accords between Tokyo and Washington. One is a 2002 agreement on legal assistance in criminal matters; the other is a 2004 revision to a law designed to expedite bilateral cooperation on fingerprinting information. The governments of the U.S. and Japan say the purpose of the new agreement that took effect this month is logistical, in other words, to reduce the waiting periods that follow after an inquiry by one party or the other is made. The Japanese bar association also complained that the scope of offenses defined as “serious crimes” is too broad, and that allowing such sensitive data to be shared could lead to fingerprints being used to achieve objectives different from the agreement’s intended purpose. Should we be worried? According to the bar association, there was only one case in which American authorities asked Japan for fingerprint information between 2010 and 2012. However, concerns about privacy remain. This could be caused by administrative mistakes — including scenarios where the prints of someone acquitted of a serious crime aren’t removed from the two databases.

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SpaceX to build Mars ships in Texas, not Los Angeles, in wake of layoffs

Abstract: HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA - SpaceX said Wednesday that it will build test versions of its Mars spaceship in south Texas instead of the Port of Los Angeles in another blow to the local economy that comes days after the company announced massive layoffs. The decision was made to streamline operations, the Hawthorne, California-based company said in a statement. SpaceX won approval last year to lease 19 acres at the port’s Terminal Island. It planned to erect a new facility to do work on the interplanetary spacecraft, now called Starship, and its launch vehicle, the Super Heavy, which would be the largest rocket ever built. The port facility would have allowed the giant craft to be barged or shipped to launch sites. It could have added about 700 jobs to the area. SpaceX now won’t proceed with that option. SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that development of Starship will continue in Hawthorne but prototypes will be built in south Texas. The company has a launch facility in Boca Chica near Brownsville, where one prototype of the spacecraft already has been assembled. “We are building the Starship prototypes locally at our launch site in Texas, as their size makes them very difficult to transport,” Musk said. SpaceX will continue using its existing port facilities to recover its reusable Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft, which arrive by water. Southern California officials have talked about luring high-tech operations to boost the waterfront and create a “Silicon Harbor.” “While we are disappointed that SpaceX will not be expanding their operations at the Port of Los Angeles, we are pleased that they will continue their recovery operations here,” port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. “Our ongoing work with SpaceX and other advanced technology companies is important to our efforts to advance the port through innovation and new technologies.” Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino said he felt crushed by the decision, but “I feel confident that other innovators will see the huge value they get in San Pedro.” Last Friday, SpaceX announced it would lay off 10 percent of its roughly 6,000 workers, most of them at its Hawthorne headquarters. The company said it needs to become leaner to accomplish ambitious and costly projects such as the Starship and Starlink, which would create a constellation of satellites to provide space-based broadband internet service. Development costs for those two projects have been estimated at up to $10 billion each.

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Admitting that female employees earn 29% less than men, Citigroup vows more diversity for top roles

Abstract: BANGALORE, INDIA - Citigroup’s female employees earn 29 percent less than their male counterparts, the Wall Street bank revealed on Wednesday, while announcing targets for appointing more women and minorities to senior roles. The median pay for Citi’s women employees globally was just 71 percent of the median for men, while that for minorities in the United States was 93 percent of the median for nonminorities, the company said, citing an internal analysis. The third-largest U.S. bank also said it would hire more women globally and black employees in the United States to senior roles. By the end of 2021, it wants at least 40 percent of roles at assistant vice president level through to managing director level to be held by women, and 8 percent of such roles in the United States to be held by black employees. Currently, more than half of Citi employees globally are women and over 45 percent of its U.S. workforce are minorities, the company said. “We know we need a comprehensive approach to our diversity initiatives to make the progress we want to see,” Sara Wechter, head of human resources at Citi, wrote in a blog post citi.us/2De3pG8 . Citi, along with other Wall Street banks and financial companies, has been under pressure to disclose how much less it pays women than men. A 15-year study by the Washington-based Institute for Women’s Policy Research found last year that American women earn an average of 39 percent less than men but that this figure rises when taking account of time off for family or childcare.

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Plastics and consumer goods makers announce $1.5 billion pledge to rein in waste

Abstract: FRANKFURT, GERMANY - Global companies including BASF, DowDuPont, Procter & Gamble and SABIC have formed an alliance to fight plastic waste, pledging to spend $1.5 billion over the next five years. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), unveiled by its 28 founding companies on Wednesday, convened amid reports of a worsening environmental crisis from about 8 million tons of plastic waste that end up in oceans every year, which has triggered bans on some single-use plastic products. Current alliance members have committed more than $1 billion to the project over the next five years, while money that additional members will pledge should take the five-year budget to about $1.5 billion, a spokesman said. The funds will be spent on waste collection infrastructure mainly in Africa and Asia, on technology for recycling and re-use of waste, on educating governments as well as local communities, and on cleaning up highly polluted areas. The alliance endplasticwaste.org/answers, currently made up of plastics makers for the most part, said about 90 percent of global marine litter comes from just 10 rivers and over half of the land-based plastic litter leaking into oceans originates from five Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. AEPW counts none of China’s major plastics and chemical groups — Sinochem, ChemChina and Sinopec — among its members but the spokesman said discussions to enlist Chinese players were continuing. IHS Markit said in an October report that 59 percent of global plastic waste comes from packaging. Amid rising consumer concern over plastic waste, consumer goods heavyweights such as Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Unilever and Henkel have individually pledged to make their packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 over the last two years. Procter & Gamble and Henkel are currently the only branded consumer goods makers among AEPW members but the alliance’s spokesman said more would likely join over the next few weeks. The location of the alliance’s headquarters had not yet been decided and the search for a chief executive was ongoing, the spokesman added.

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pollution
africa
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aepw
proctor & gamble
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Yen likely to hit 80 to the dollar in next Japan recession, former BOJ official says

Abstract: The yen is likely to reach its strongest level against the dollar in more than six years if Japan enters a recession, which could come as early as the fall of this year, a former central bank official has said. “I don’t think it will hit the 70s, but the 80s is quite likely,” said Hideo Hayakawa, former chief economist at the Bank of Japan, in an interview on Tuesday. The BOJ would be powerless to stop such a move, though it could slow it down by introducing a negative lending rate, one of the few policy options it has left, said Hayakawa, a consistent critic of the BOJ’s current stimulus policies. Analysts’ median yen forecast for the end of 2019 is 108. They see it at 105 at the end of 2020. The currency hasn’t been in the 80s since before Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda took over the BOJ in early 2013. Still, Hayakawa’s comments echoed those of another former BOJ executive, Kazuo Momma, who last week said the yen could hit 100 in the months ahead and that there would be little the BOJ could do little about it. The yen has surged in recent weeks as investors reacted to slowing global growth and indications the Federal Reserve will move more cautiously on further interest rate increases. A strong currency cuts into the profits of Japanese exporters in yen terms, leaving fewer resources for the capital investment and wage growth needed to support a sustainable economic recovery. After nearly six years of stimulus under Kuroda, the BOJ is widely believed to have depleted its policy arsenal. Unlike its global peers, it still hasn’t begun to return to pre-crisis policies that would give it the tools needed to counter the yen’s rise or an economic downturn. Now Japan is likely to hit a recession sometime between the fall of 2019 and the end of 2020, partly due to a sales-tax increase scheduled for October this year, said Hayakawa. While the recession isn’t expected to be severe, it would tip some struggling regional banks into the loss column, he said. That would give the BOJ a stronger reason to help the banks, which have long complained about the central bank’s rock-bottom rates cutting into their profits, according to Hayakawa. A negative lending rate — a ‘direct subsidy’ in which the BOJ pays banks to borrow — would be the only realistic option, he said.


Elon Musk quotes 'bargain' price to tunnel through Australian mountain and ease Sydney's traffic

Abstract: SYDNEY - Australia could become a test ground for another of Elon Musk’s massive infrastructure projects after the maverick billionaire tweeted a “bargain” price to build a tunnel through a mountain to solve Sydney’s traffic woes. Musk in 2017 made a Twitter pitch — and followed through with the offer — to build what was the world’s biggest battery in an Australian state to solve its severe energy crisis. The entrepreneur behind electric carmaker Tesla has most recently turned his sights on tackling city traffic via low-cost tunnels created by his Boring Company, and in December unveiled a sample project near Los Angeles. So when an Australian politician tweeted at Musk on Wednesday about the costs of drilling through a mountain range north of Sydney, he responded quickly. “I’m a lawmaker in Sydney, which is choking with traffic. How much to build a 50km tunnel through the Blue Mountains and open up the west of our State?,” asked New South Wales state MP Jeremy Buckingham. “About $15M/km for a two way high speed transit, so probably around $750M plus maybe $50M/station,” Musk replied late Wednesday, with his response liked more than 22,000 times on Twitter. He has more than 24 million followers on the social media platform. Another billionaire, Mike Cannon-Brookes, who founded Australian software startup Atlassian, weighed in on the exchange, saying the estimated price tag “sounds like a bargain for Sydney.” The population of the Sydney region has grown by around 25 percent since 2011 to reach 5.4 million, out of a national population of 25 million, and road congestion is a major concern. There was no indication the exchange of tunnel tweets would lead to any quick action, but it could bring some needed positive publicity for Musk. Musk has risen to prominence with a series of ambitious ventures, particularly Tesla, but has also drawn plenty of criticism for some volatile behavior. He waged a public battle with a rescuer who helped save a group of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand last year, calling him a “pedo guy” after the Brit slammed his idea of building a mini-submarine to save them as a public relations stunt. Meanwhile, riders who have tested out Boring’s prototype tunnel — where cars are lowered by lifts then slotted into tracks and propelled along at high speeds — have complained of a bumpy journey.

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U.S. criminal probe into Huawei reportedly in 'advanced' stages

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Authorities in the United States are in the “advanced” stages of a criminal probe that could result in an indictment of Chinese technology giant Huawei, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said Wednesday that the Justice Department is looking into allegations of theft involving trade secrets from Huawei’s U.S. business partners, including a T-Mobile robotic device used to test smartphones. The Justice Department declined to comment on the report and Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. The move would further escalate tensions between the U.S. and China after the arrest last year in Canada of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of the company’s founder and remains under house arrest, awaiting proceedings. The Meng case has inflamed U.S.-China and Canada-China relations. Two Canadians have been detained in China since Meng’s arrest and a third has been sentenced to death on drug-trafficking charges — moves observers see as attempts by Beijing to pressure Ottawa on the case. Huawei, the second-largest global smartphone maker and the biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, has for years been under scrutiny in the U.S. over purported links to the Chinese government. Speaking in a rare media interview Tuesday, its reclusive founder, Ren Zhengfei, forcefully denied accusations that his firm engaged in espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. The tensions come amid efforts by President Donald Trump to get more manufacturing on U.S. soil and to slap hefty tariffs on Chinese goods for what he claims are unfair trade practices by Beijing. In a related move, lawmakers introduced bills to ban the export of American parts and components to Chinese telecom companies that are in violation of U.S. export control or sanctions laws — with Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE the likely targets. “Huawei is effectively an intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese Communist Party whose founder and CEO was an engineer for the People’s Liberation Army,” said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, one of the bill’s sponsors. Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in the same statement: “Huawei and ZTE are two sides of the same coin. Both companies have repeatedly violated U.S. laws, represent a significant risk to American national security interests and need to be held accountable.” The bills specifically cite ZTE and Huawei, both of which are viewed with suspicion in the U.S. because of fears their switches and other gear could be used to spy on Americans. Both have also been accused of failing to respect U.S. sanctions on Iran. The legislation is the latest in a long list of actions taken to fight what some in the Trump administration call China’s cheating through intellectual property theft, illegal corporate subsidies and rules hampering U.S. corporations that want to sell their goods in China. In November, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled an initiative to investigate China’s trade practices with a goal of bringing cases to court over alleged theft of trade secrets. At that time, Washington had announced an indictment against Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd. for stealing trade secrets from U.S. semiconductor company Micron Technology relating to research and development of memory storage devices. Jinhua, which has denied any wrongdoing, was put on a list of entities that cannot buy goods from U.S. firms. Last year, Trump reached a deal with ZTE that eases tough financial penalties on the firm imposed for helping Iran and North Korea evade American sanctions. Trump said his decision in May to spare ZTE came following an appeal by Chinese President Xi Jinping to help save Chinese jobs. In Germany, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported that the government is actively considering stricter security requirements and other ways to exclude Huawei from building fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. Handelsblatt, citing government sources, said government officials were discussing setting security standards that Huawei could not achieve, effectively blocking its participation. Changes to the German telecommunications law were also under consideration as a last resort, the paper said. The deliberations would mark a shift from the German government’s position in October, when it told lawmakers it saw no legal basis to exclude any vendors from an upcoming 5G auction despite warnings from Washington. The government told lawmakers in a more recent response that the security of 5G networks was “extremely relevant,” and would guide its upcoming decisions, Handelsblatt reported. U.S. officials have briefed allies that Huawei is ultimately at the beck and call of the Chinese state and warned that its network equipment may contain “back doors” that could open them up to cyberespionage. Germany’s Deutsche Telekom announced in December that it would review its vendor strategy, and France’s Orange said it would not hire the Chinese firm to build its next-generation network in France. The shift by the national market leaders, both partly state-owned, followed Huawei’s exclusion on national security grounds by some U.S. allies, led by Australia, from building their 5G networks.

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U.S. agency 'ignored' Constitution in OK'ing Trump's Washington hotel lease, watchdog says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The General Services Administration improperly “ignored” the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments provision outlawing foreign gifts when it green-lit President Donald Trump’s management of his Washington, D.C., hotel after his 2016 election, the agency’s inspector general said Wednesday. In a 47-page report, GSA watchdog Carol F. Ochoa concluded that the “president’s business interest” in the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office building site in Washington raised emoluments issues that “might cause a breach of lease.” But GSA lawyers “chose not to address those issues,” Ochoa said in her report. “As a result, GSA foreclosed an opportunity for an early resolution of those issues” and left the lease “under a constitutional cloud.” The inspector general’s report did not say whether Trump had violated the Constitution and did not recommend canceling the lease, but urged a legal review, which the GSA has promised. “The agency agrees with the report’s single recommendation and will take action consistent with that recommendation,” GSA General Counsel Jack St. John wrote in response to the report. Trump won rights to lease the federal government’s Old Post Office site in 2012 and opened it as a luxury hotel in October 2016. Though Trump gave up day-to-day management of the Trump Organization when he entered the White House in 2017, he held onto his corporate ownership and earnings, including the Washington hotel. Almost immediately, the hotel just blocks from the White House became a magnet for lobbyists, interest groups and foreign officials looking to curry favor with the newly elected president. The Kuwaiti and Philippine embassies have thrown parties there, and a public relations firm working for Saudi Arabia spent nearly $270,000 on food and rooms. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the new Democratic chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the inspector general’s report was “devastating” and “proof” that Trump should have divested from his business before assuming office. Trump is also being sued by attorney generals for Maryland and the District of Columbia who contend that the earnings Trump receives from the Washington hotel violate the emoluments provision. The case is now before a federal appeals court. Two other federal lawsuits also target Trump on the basis of the emoluments clause. It was not clear from the GSA’s response to the report how the agency would proceed if its legal review finds that Trump’s lease violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bans gifts to federal officials from foreign governments and U.S. state governments. St. John, the GSA general counsel, said the agency “will take action” consistent with the inspector general’s recommendation about the lease “in the future.” Trump Organization officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The White House referred questions to a GSA spokeswoman, who did not go beyond St. John’s response. In his letter to Ochoa, St. John emphasized that the report “found no undue influence, pressure, or unwarranted involvement of any kind by anyone, including the Executive Office of the President.” But the inspector general noted that soon after Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, GSA officials met with the president’s two adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, and “strongly encouraged” that their father divest his ownership of the hotel. One of the officials told the investigators that he did not have leverage to force the president to divest and the issue remained unresolved. The next month, GSA asked the Trump Organization for its own analysis of the hotel lease, specifically a section that would prevent elected officials from being allowed to be a party to the terms of the lease. According to the inspector general, the Trump Organization argued that the section was not a problem because Trump had agreed to the lease before he was elected. Last week, federal rangers opened up the Old Post Office site inside the hotel despite the 25-day government shutdown that closed other national park sites in Washington and across the country. The GSA said the decision to keep the post office site open was “unrelated to the facility’s tenant.”


Dollar marginally higher above ¥108.70 in late Tokyo trades

Abstract: The dollar was marginally firmer above ¥108.70 in Tokyo trading late Thursday, supported by repurchases. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥108.78-78, up from ¥108.60-61 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1387-1387, down from $1.1393-1393, and at ¥123.87-87, up from ¥123.74-75. In early trading, the dollar moved around ¥109.00-10, carrying over its strength from overnight trading overseas where the U.S. currency was supported by higher U.S. stock prices, traders said. The greenback fell below ¥108.90 later in the morning due to selling by domestic importers and the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average’s downturn to negative territory, traders said. Thanks to buybacks, the dollar was buoyed to around ¥109 toward noon. The dollar weakened gradually versus the yen in afternoon trading, before falling below ¥108.80 in late hours in line with a drop in long-term U.S. interest rates, traders said. According to a think tank official, dollar purchases were short-lived as currency market traders were paying attention to the ¥109 line as a resistance level for the dollar after it tumbled from the threshold on Jan. 3. “A wait-and-see mood grew, with the Brexit problem expected to be prolonged further,” although yen sales were seen amid a risk-on mood after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government survived a no-confidence vote Wednesday, a currency broker said.

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Nikkei ends slightly lower amid dearth of trading factors

Abstract: The key Nikkei average closed moderately lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, after struggling for direction amid a dearth of fresh trading factors. The Nikkei 225 sagged 40.48 points, or 0.20 percent, to end at 20,402.27. On Wednesday, the key market gauge dropped 112.54 points. Meanwhile, the Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 5.43 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,543.20. It retreated 4.95 points the previous day. The market got off to a higher start following a continued rise on Wall Street and maintained strength for a while. But hit by selling on a rally, the Nikkei sank into negative territory around midmorning. In afternoon trading, the key yardstick fluctuated narrowly around the previous day’s closing level amid a dearth of fresh incentives, while the Topix remained in positive territory, brokers said. “Trading was lackluster” with participants retreating to the sidelines ahead of announcements of earnings results by major Japanese companies later this month, said Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co. Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc., forecast that the Nikkei would be confined within a tight range between 20,000 and 20,500 due to a lack of powerful market-moving factors before the full-fledged earnings season begins. “A risk-averse mood receded for the time being” after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government survived a no-confidence vote Wednesday, said Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. But investors refrained from active trading as they found it necessary to keep watching the Brexit problem, Ota added. Despite the Nikkei’s weakness, rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,366 to 682 in the TSE’s first section, while 80 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.148 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.209 billion shares. Retailer Ryohin Keikaku ended 2.72 percent lower on loss-cutting selling, brokers said. Semiconductor-related Tokyo Electron and clothing store chain Fast Retailing were also among major losers. By contrast, megabank groups including Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui attracted purchases after U.S. financial giant Goldman Sachs fared well on the New York Stock Exchange the previous day. Other winners included cosmetics producer Shiseido and automaker Suzuki. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average sagged 80 points to 20,350.

stocks
nikkei
tokyo stock exchange
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Carlos Ghosn scandal leaves room at Renault's helm — and begs questions about Nissan alliance's future

Abstract: PARIS - Behind bars in Japan, Carlos Ghosn has already been stripped of his leadership roles at Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. — leaving questions for Renault, the third carmaker in the alliance, over who should steer the French company. In the wake of the allegations of financial misconduct against Ghosn, tensions are also running high between Renault SA and its Japanese partners. What lies ahead for Renault, a company which Ghosn grew into an industrial behemoth as part of the powerful alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi? Who could replace Ghosn? Ghosn is still Renault’s CEO — but with even his own lawyers acknowledging he could remain in jail awaiting trial for months, a replacement is needed. “It’s a foregone conclusion,” a source close to the matter said. A former senior executive said Renault was “in the process of recruiting Ghosn’s replacement,” while a third source said: “There will be a replacement, we just need to be a little patient.” Thierry Bollore, Renault’s chief operating officer, has temporarily taken the reins and would be Ghosn’s natural heir. Choosing Bollore, a Frenchman with plenty of experience in Asia, would allow for some continuity in a company that has been badly rocked by the Ghosn affair. But several other names are also circulating, including Didier Leroy, executive vice president at Toyota, and Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard. Senard’s posting at the top of the tire-making giant is coming to an end in May and he is well-liked by the French government, which with a 15 percent stake is Renault’s biggest shareholder. One plausible scenario would see him become chairman of the board, while Bollore would remain on as chief operating officer. Groupe PSA chief Carlos Tavares, whom Ghosn ousted from Renault in 2013 for daring to hint that he wanted to run the firm, is also being discussed as a possible successor. Several senior French officials have been dispatched to Tokyo for talks with Nissan chief Hiroto Saikawa, which could speed up the naming of Ghosn’s replacement. A change in structure? Until his arrest Ghosn was simultaneously CEO of Renault and the alliance, as well as board chairman at Nissan and Mitsubishi. Several sources that say it will not be necessary for his replacement at Renault to also lead the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which is based in the Netherlands. Renault’s CEO role could even be split between an executive general manager and a board chairman, in a structure used by other French companies partly owned by the state. One industry insider said it was “normal” for the recruitment process to take time, adding that “the streets are not overflowing” with potential leaders of firms this large. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stressed that “there is a pilot in the plane” in Ghosn’s absence in the form of Renault’s temporary leadership. Can the alliance survive? Ghosn had been seen as the glue binding together the complex three-way structure that makes up the world’s top-selling auto company. Nissan says the alleged financial misconduct came to light through a company whistleblower — a source of angst at Renault, which has denounced what it called a “deliberately orchestrated destabilization campaign.” The documents passed to investigators have targeted figures close to Ghosn including Mouna Sepehri, Renault’s head of legal affairs and communications. Resentment has long been brewing in Japan over the structure of the alliance, which some say gives Renault an undue share of Nissan’s profits. Some within the French company suspect Nissan of seeking to tip the balance of power within the alliance to the detriment of Renault, which currently holds 43 percent of its Japanese partner after saving it from collapse in the early 2000s. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa dismissed this as “absurd,” saying: “Look at the evidence. It’s serious.” He insisted he was committed to the alliance and had no immediate plans to seek to change its structure. One Paris source suggested changes would be necessary in the top ranks of Nissan for the Franco-Japanese partnership, forged in 1999, to continue. Another source said it was inevitable that there would be “battles for influence” and “score-settling,” but insisted the alliance would live on to see another day.

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nissan
carmakers
renault
carlos ghosn


Airbus spends $300 million on new Alabama plant for A220 jetliner

Abstract: MOBILE, ALABAMA - Airbus SE expanded its industrial presence in the United States on Wednesday, starting construction on a new assembly plant for the Canadian developed A220 jetliner, 18 months after agreeing to buy the plane in the midst of a U.S.-Ottawa trade dispute. The European plane-maker said it would invest $300 million and create 400 jobs in the plant, to be built in the port of Mobile alongside an existing assembly line for its best-selling A320 passenger jet, which already employs 700 people. Alabama and the city of Mobile would provide a total of some $26 million in state and municipal incentives to support the development, officials said. Speaking to an audience of Alabama politicians and aerospace workers, Chief Executive Tom Enders hailed a “day of pride” for Airbus at a ceremony peppered with patriotic U.S. references and highlighting other investments in helicopters and satellites. There has been an increase in aerospace investment in the southeastern United States, where U.S. rival Boeing Co. has a plant assembling long-haul 787 Dreamliners in South Carolina. Airbus plans to use the Mobile site to assemble the 110-130-seat A220 for U.S. airlines, which have ordered 250 of the planes including 135 since Airbus took control last July. The decision to produce some A220’s in the United States was initially seen as a trade boost for Canada after Boeing accused its developer Bombardier Inc of dumping the foreign-made jet at low-ball prices to win a deal with Delta Air Lines Inc. Although Boeing ultimately lost its trade case, Airbus said it still made sense to serve U.S. demand from the Alabama site. “The United States is one of the largest markets for us and this is our largest industrial base in the U.S. We have the skills and employees and it is the logical thing to do,” Airbus Americas CEO Jeff Knittel said. Airbus plans to build 4 A220s a month in Alabama with the first jet to be delivered in 2020. The Montreal base for the aircraft is running at some 2.75 A220 jets a month with plans to raise capacity to 10 a month by the mid-2020s. The Alabama production line for the larger A320, which opened in 2015, produces 4.5 aircraft a month and this could rise to five a month by the end of the year, Knittel said. Airbus first studied using the Mobile site for a proposed tanker for the U.S. Air Force, sweetening the bid with an offer to build commercial freighters. Airbus lost out to Boeing in 2011 after a long and politically charged contest.


Hitachi pulls plug on U.K. plant due to investment shortfall, in latest blow for Japan's nuclear export ambitions

Abstract: The Hitachi Ltd. board decided Thursday to suspend a plan to build two nuclear reactors in the U.K. after facing difficulties in finding investors to help finance the ¥3 trillion ($27.5 billion) project. The freezing of the project in Anglesey in Wales would mean that all major overseas nuclear projects involving Japanese companies have seen setbacks amid the government’s efforts to promote exports of nuclear technology. Hitachi said it will book a special loss of ¥300 billion in the year ending in March, and cut its net profit outlook for the year to ¥100 billion from its previous forecast of ¥400 billion. “We’ve reached limits in further investing (in the British nuclear project),” Hitachi President Toshiaki Higashihara said at a news conference, noting that the Japanese conglomerate will focus on domestic business over nuclear power operations “in the years ahead.” Higashihara said he cannot rule out restarting the project but that the prospects of doing so are unclear. He denied that the political turmoil regarding the Brexit deal affected the decision-making. The project, which Hitachi joined in 2012, was part of the conglomerate’s strategy to expand its nuclear power business abroad, amid dimming prospects for new reactor demand in Japan in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns that was triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. Hitachi’s Japanese rivals are facing more or less the same situation. Toshiba Corp. decided in 2017 to exit its nuclear power businesses outside Japan after incurring huge losses in the United States, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is considering withdrawing from a nuclear project in Turkey amid ballooning safety-related costs, according to company sources. Hitachi had planned to secure ¥2 trillion from the British government and financial institutions, but the prospects of raising the rest has proved problematic. Hitachi has said it also wants to remove its wholly owned unit, Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd., which oversees the project, from its group structure, amid growing business uncertainties. By reducing its stake in Horizon, Hitachi is hoping to avoid adverse business repercussions for its entire group. It acquired Horizon from two German companies in 2012. In December, Hitachi Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi said the company told the British government it “can’t go any further” with the current construction plan. Hitachi and the British government had aimed to start construction of the advanced boiling water reactors in 2019, and to begin operations by 2025.


Lawyers for Ghosn appeal Tokyo court's denial of request for bail

Abstract: Lawyers for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn petitioned a Tokyo court Thursday to appeal a decision issued earlier this week that denied his request for bail, but the court rejected the bid later the same day. Ghosn has been detained for nearly two months since his initial arrest on Nov. 19 by Tokyo prosecutors for alleged financial misconduct. It appears unlikely, however, that Ghosn will be granted bail before the start of his trial, according to his chief lawyer, Motonari Otsuru. Given the complexity of the case, which also involves documents in both Japanese and English, it could take at least six months for the trial to begin, he has noted. In Ghosn’s first public appearance since his arrest, at a Tokyo court hearing on Jan. 8 to seek an explanation for his prolonged detention, the ousted chairman said, “I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations.” Last week, Ghosn was freshly charged with aggravated breach of trust over the transfer of derivatives losses from his private asset management company to Nissan’s books, as well as for payments allegedly made from a subsidiary of the Japanese automaker to a Saudi acquaintance of the former chairman in connection with the handling of the losses. Ghosn was initially indicted in December for underreporting his remuneration during the five years from fiscal 2010. In addition to breach of trust, he was charged last week with underreporting his remuneration in the three fiscal years through March last year.


Pregnant Meghan laughs off 'fat lady' comment on charity visit

Abstract: LONDON - A stranger’s comment on one’s growing stomach may not always be welcome but a pregnant Meghan, Britain’s Duchess of Sussex, took it all in her stride on Wednesday when a pensioner called her “a fat lady. Prince Harry’s wife, who told well-wishers this week she is six months pregnant, laughed off the remark, meant as a compliment about her growing baby bump. On a visit to animal welfare charity Mayhew, of which she is a patron, Meghan was being introduced to pensioners who have benefited from the organisation’s animal therapy program when an elderly woman named Peggy took a more casual approach to speaking to a member of the royal family. “Lovely lady, you are, may the good Lord always bless you,” Peggy told the duchess. “And you’re a fat lady,” she added, smiling and looking at Meghan’s tummy. “I’ll take it,” Meghan replied, laughing along with others. Meghan said last week she would become patron of Mayhew and three organizations dedicated to causes close to her. On her first visit to the charity as patron, she met beneficiaries, staff and several dogs, some of which she held in her arms. The 37-year-old also planned to attend the premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s “Totem” show on Wednesday evening, an event aimed at raising awareness and funds for Harry’s Sentebale charity.

charity
prince harry
u.k. royals
meghan
mayhew


Warming and deforestation threatening coffee species, including Ethiopia's Arabica, scientists warn

Abstract: LONDON - Climate change and deforestation are putting more than half the world’s wild coffee species at risk of extinction, including the popular commercial coffees Arabica and Robusta, scientists warned on Wednesday. Research published by experts at Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew found that current conservation measures for wild coffee species are not enough to protect their future. Aaron Davis, head of coffee research at Kew, who co-led the work, said that among coffee species threatened with extinction are some that could be used to breed and develop the coffees of the future, including some that have resistance to disease and that can withstand worsening climatic conditions. He said targeted action is urgently needed in specific countries, particularly in Africa, and in forested areas that are being hit hard by climate change. “As temperatures increase and rainfall decreases, the suitable area for growing … diminishes,” Davis said. He noted the findings are not just important for coffee drinkers: “There are many countries which depend on coffee for the … bulk of their export earnings. It’s estimated there are 100 million people producing coffee in farms around the world.” The researchers, whose work was published on Wednesday in the journals Science Advances and Global Change Biology, said their findings are a concern for Ethiopia in particular. Ethiopia is the natural birthplace of wild Arabica coffee and is Africa’s largest coffee exporter. Around 15 million Ethiopians are involved in coffee production, and annual exports have an estimated value of a $1 billion. Using computer modeling, the researchers projected how a changing climate would affect wild Arabica in Ethiopia. They found what they described as “a bleak picture” for the species, with the number of locations where it grows decreasing by as much as 85 percent by 2080. In 2017, the team then looked at the influence of climate change on coffee farming, showing that up to 60 percent of the land used for Ethiopia’s coffee production could become unsuitable for use by the end of the century.

global warming
coffee
ethiopia
deforestation
% arabica
kew


European robot re-creates the walk of a 290-million-year-old creature

Abstract: WASHINGTON - How did the earliest land animals move? Scientists have used a fossil skeleton and preserved ancient footprints to create a moving robot model of prehistoric life. Evolutionary biologist John Nyakatura at Humboldt University in Berlin has spent years studying a 290-million-year-old fossil dug up in central Germany’s Bromacker quarry in 2000. The four-legged plant-eater lived before the dinosaurs and fascinates scientists “because of its position on the tree of life,” said Nyakatura. Researchers believe the creature is a “stem amniote” — an early land-dwelling animal that later evolved into modern mammals, birds and reptiles. Scientists believe the first amphibious animals emerged on land 350 million years ago and the first amniotes emerged around 310 million years ago. The fossil, called Orabates pabsti, is a “beautifully preserved and articulated skeleton,” said Nyakatura. What is more, scientists have previously identified fossilized footprints left by the 3-foot-long (90-cm) creature. Nyakatura teamed up with robotics expert Kamilo Melo at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne to develop a model of how the creature moved. Their results were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The researchers built a life-size replica of the prehistoric beast — “We carefully modeled each and every bone,” said Nyakatura — and then tested the motion in various ways that would lead its gait to match the ancient tracks, ruling out combinations that were not anatomically possible. They repeated the exercise with a slightly scaled up robot version, which they dubbed OroBOT. The robot is made of motors connected by 3D-printed plastic and steel parts. The model “helps us to test real-world dynamics, to account for gravity and friction,” said Melo. The team also compared their models to living animals, including salamanders and iguanas. Technology such as robotics, computer modeling and CT scans are transforming paleontology, “giving us ever-more-compelling reconstructions of the past,” said Andrew Farke, curator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California, who was not involved in the study. Based on the robot model, the scientists think the creature had more advanced locomotion than previously thought for such an early land animal — closer to scampering than to slithering. “It walked with a fairly upright posture,” said Melo. “It didn’t drag its belly or tail.” University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas R. Holtz, who was not involved in the study, said the research suggests “an upright stance goes further back than we originally thought.” Stuart Sumida, a paleontologist at California State University in San Bernardino and part of the initial team that excavated Orobates fossils, called it “an exciting study.” Sumida, who was not involved in the robot project, said the work provided “a much more confident window in to what happened long ago. It isn’t a time machine, but Nyakatura and colleagues have given us a tantalizing peek.”

animals
robots
paleontology
dinosaurs
evolutionm nature


Deadly Boko Haram attack in northeast Nigeria sends thousands fleeing

Abstract: LAGOS - Thousands of people have fled a remote town in northeast Nigeria, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday, after Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base and torched aid buildings. Monday’s attack in Rann, in Borno state, has been blamed on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram, which has carried out similar raids against troops since July last year. The upsurge in violence has forced tens of thousands of people to flee, including internally displaced people (IDPs) who have returned home after previous attacks. Last week, the United Nations said there had been a “massive displacement” of more than 30,000 people after ISWAP strikes in and around Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, in northern Borno. Military and humanitarian sources on Tuesday told AFP seven people were killed in Rann, including three soldiers. But the medical charity’s emergency program manager, Hugues Robert, said they were told the death tally was higher — and that some 10,000 people had fled to the border. “The figures we got yesterday from people who have been there … were 14 people died,” he told AFP by phone from Geneva. Rann, which is is some 175 km (110 miles) northeast of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, has now been hit three times since March last year. The first attack killed three aid workers and saw three others kidnapped. Two of the three were later executed. The last attack happened in early December. More than 27,000 people have been killed in northeast Nigeria since the Islamist insurgency began in 2009, while some 1.8 million people are still homeless. An MSF nurse who had been to Rann to assess medical needs after the attack said the town was eerily silent, “like a graveyard. “The town has been devastated and I was devastated to see it,” Isa Sadiq Bwala was quoted saying in a statement. “Many parts of the town have been burnt.” MSF’s base, office and pharmacy were completely gutted by fire and its equipment store was still burning. Other humanitarian organizations’ buildings were looted and burnt. Staff members were safe but there was a “long line” of civilians heading to Cameroon, he added. “Some had donkeys but many were just carrying their belongings. The ones I spoke to said they were leaving because they were too afraid to stay,” said Bwala. “There is not much left for them to stay, anyway. Their homes are gone and I don’t know what they would live on. The market was burnt and looted — food stores also,” he added. Some 35,000 IDPs were staying in Rann at the time of the attack, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Many of those who fled went to the nearby town of Bodo. “Our team in Bodo estimates that some 8,000 people arrived yesterday and we expect several thousand more may come today,” Robert said in a separate statement. “We are preparing to assist 15,000 people with food, water and medical care over the coming days.” The new arrivals, many of whom Robert said were shocked and distressed, are likely to further stretch resources in the impoverished region. Vulnerable children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers spent the night in the open because of a lack of shelter, he added. “The people of Borno continue to pay the price for this merciless conflict. All the warring parties must respect the safety of civilians,” he added. There is wider concern about the impact of the violence on relief operations, particularly in isolated locations such as Rann, which is often cut off by flooding or bad weather. The U.N. has said some 260 aid workers have recently had withdraw from northern Borno because of the fighting.

terrorism
boko haram
nigeria
islamic state
borno
iswap
rann


Brazilians split over Bolsonaro's easing of gun laws, but many want to have firearms at home

Abstract: SAO PAULO - Silvana Tavares, a long-time sports shooter who is a vendor in a firearms store in Sao Paulo, says she has never brandished a weapon at anyone, and she does not want to kill anyone. But she is determined to keep a gun at home. “Nobody goes into a gun shop thinking they’re going to kill,” said Tavares, who is a supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro’s looser gun ownership laws. Vera Ratti, who owns the store where Tavares sells guns, is also a fan of the right-wing leader’s new approach to the fight on crime, which he signed into law on Tuesday. “From the start of humanity, people have to defend themselves. Here in Brazil, that’s part of our culture,” she argued. “Criminals look for easy targets. The fact that there could be guns in a shop, in a home — that could deter them.” But not everyone is on board for the weakened restrictions — the fulfillment of a campaign promise by Bolsonaro, a far-right former paratrooper who has pledged a hard line on crime. Edson, a 36-year-old taxi driver, already has a gun — one bought illegally, for which he doesn’t have a permit. He said he has used it once to wound someone, and he carries the scars of three bullets. Despite all that, he is against guns being more freely available to all. In his view, the decree will not solve Brazil’s chronic violent crime problem. The country recorded nearly 64,000 murders in 2017, many of them gun-related. “We have to invest in education. We’re so far behind in that that even if the government focused all its efforts on it today, it would take 30 years to make a difference,” he said. For him, Edson said, his gun is about survival because he lives in a dangerous neighborhood. But more guns, he said, “will only bring violence.” Others who, like Edson, have been on the receiving end of violent crime were more welcoming of Bolsonaro’s measure, which makes it much easier for those over the age of 25 with no criminal record to buy up to four guns.. “I think this decree is a good idea because I myself was a victim of a robbery last week,” said Ricardo, a 43-year-old shop owner who declined to give his last name. “The thugs pointed a gun at my head and I couldn’t defend myself. So I agree with it.” The decree does not extend to carrying weapons — concealed or otherwise — in public, which remains restricted to police, public or private security personnel, and the military. What it does do is broaden the scope of who can legally possess firearms and make them more readily available. At Ratti’s gun shop, there is a small, three-lane shooting range where Tavares — who came third in a state shooting championship — and others practice their aim. Luis, a 50-year-old private security employee, says between firing off rounds at the range that guns will not necessarily become more commonplace, as buying one is not financially within everyone’s reach. A minimum price for a handgun is around 4,000 reais, or about $950. On top are the costs of the permit and administrative checks. “People who don’t like chocolate aren’t going to start eating it just because a shop has a sale,” Luis said. In the streets of Rio de Janeiro, opinion also was polarized. “I don’t have a gun, or the right to carry one. But I want to have one at home as soon as it’s possible,” said Douglas Rodrigues, a parliamentary assistant. Daneille Santiana, a 25-year-old aviation student, was pessimistic about the decree’s possible consequences. “I think it will create more violence because a lot of people will use this occasion to get a gun to lord over other people under the pretext that they have the power,” she said.


Experts doubt claim by witness that 'El Chapo' paid Mexican ex-president $100 million bribe

Abstract: MEXICO CITY - Did the world’s most famous drug lord really pay Mexico’s ex-president a $100-million bribe not to arrest him? The claim, made by a witness Tuesday at the trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, stretches credibility, experts say — starting with the fact that it would take a truck to transport that much cash. Colombian drug trafficker-turned-state witness Alex Cifuentes surprised the courtroom in New York—- and caused a firestorm of controversy in Mexico — when he alleged that “El Chapo” had paid the bribe to then-president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012. But while there is no doubt that Mexico is awash in all the ingredients of the story — drug money, corrupt officials, powerful kingpins — there are many reasons to doubt it, according to people who know the murky nexus of politics and narcotics. “It would have been the biggest bribe in all of history. I’ve been with DEA (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) for 31 years, I’ve seen bribes of millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars, but certainly not a bribe like that,” said Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA. “Once when I was working undercover in Panama, I borrowed $1 million from the CIA to flash to these drug traffickers from Bolivia and Colombia. They were all in $100 bills, and I needed a huge suitcase to put that stuff in. So you would have needed a truck for $100 million. What did they do, drive up… and give it to the president?” After Cifuentes made the accusation, Pena Nieto’s supporters rushed to argue that the former president (2012-2018) was the one who made sure “El Chapo” was re-arrested after his brazen prison escape in 2015, then extradited to the United States. Partisan politics aside, there is something to that argument, Vigil said. “If I had taken a bribe from Chapo Guzman, the last thing I would have done is extradite him to the United States,” he told AFP. “Would you have extradited Chapo Guzman if you had taken money from him? He would come here (to the U.S.) and start immediately making allegations against you.” There are several reasons to question Cifuentes’s story. For one thing, he is testifying as part of a plea deal, in exchange for a softer sentence. He also provided no proof, and admitted he was unsure about key details, including the amount and the date. Then there is the fact that the information comes second-hand: Cifuentes said “El Chapo” is the one who told him the story, in which he purportedly gave the money to a woman named “Comadre Maria” to give to the president-elect shortly before he took office. But “El Chapo” would hardly be the first drug trafficker to brag about huge bribes supposedly paid to high-ranking officials, said Vigil. Both Guzman’s stories and Cifuentes’s have shown a certain flare for drama as they have emerged in court. On Wednesday, Cifuentes testified that “El Chapo” was once tortured by army soldiers who dangled him upside-down from a helicopter to find out where his drugs were. The source of the story? Guzman’s own version, as told to a film producer whom he wanted to make a movie about his life. Finally, there is the fact that the bribe story emerged during questioning by Guzman’s own lawyers — who have sought to portray their client as a scapegoat for corrupt officials and the man they say wields the real power in the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. If there is any truth to the story, there should be evidence somewhere, said Raul Benitez, a professor at Mexico’s largest university, UNAM. “Normally, when drug traffickers give money to politicians or businessmen, they record the handover, because that’s how they blackmail the person if they need to,” he said. “You can’t hide $100 million. There would have to be a bank transfer or real-estate or jewels, and the drug traffickers would need proof for it to work.” Then again, anything is possible when it comes to corruption in Mexico, said journalist Jose Reveles, who has written books on the country’s multi-billion-dollar drug-trafficking business. “No drug cartel operates without official protection,” he said. “It’s possible some government officials could have lied and said they were representing the president, or that the kingpins really do have access to the president. Everything is possible. We know this country is rife with corruption from top to bottom.” He urged Mexico’s new government, led by anti-establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to investigate the bribe accusation. But he is not optimistic the truth will come out, he said. “This idea of things being revealed as true, false or half-true exists in other countries. Not in Mexico,” he said. “Here, total concealment is the rule.”

mexico
enrique pena nieto
joaquin el chapo guzman
alex cifuentes
brides