Trump promises North Korea 'awesome' future ahead of nuclear talks

Abstract: HANOI - U.S. President Donald Trump touted North Korea’s “AWESOME” future if his “friend” Kim Jong Un, whom he meets for a high-stakes dinner later Wednesday, agrees to give up his nuclear arsenal. Trump’s enthusiastic tweet came hours before a second summit in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi to build on the pair’s historic first meeting in Singapore in June. He was encapsulating his belief that only his personal brand of diplomacy and business acumen can break a stand-off with the isolated, nuclear-armed state that has bedevilled U.S. leaders since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Trump, who has previously spoken of “love” between him and the North Korean strongman, predicted that by abandoning nuclear weapons the country will go on to emulate Vietnam — a communist state once locked in devastating conflict with the United States, but now a thriving trade partner. “The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity,” Trump tweeted. At a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, Trump described how construction he’d seen from his motorcade as he drove from Air Force One to his Hanoi hotel late Tuesday underlined that “you really are an example of what can happen.” Trump has torn up the script by embracing Kim and a regime long seen by Washington as the most repressive on the planet. But pressure is intensifying on the president to bring back concrete results. For all the drama, the Singapore summit ended with a vague statement promising to work “towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Since then, Washington and Pyongyang have disagreed even on what denuclearization means. And while North Korea has now gone more than a year without conducting missile and nuclear tests, it has done nothing to roll back the arsenal already built. That leaves Trump facing growing criticism that he is being played by the younger man. On the defensive, Trump said in another tweet Wednesday that opponents in the Democratic Party should “stop talking about what I should do with North Korea and ask themselves instead why they didn’t do ‘it.’ ” The Kim-Trump relationship has turned into the diplomatic equivalent of a Hollywood odd-couple bromance. Before Singapore, they were slinging bizarre insults — Trump calling Kim “rocket man” and Kim calling him a “dotard” in response. With North Korea then busily testing missiles and conducting earth-shaking underground nuclear tests, analysts feared the duo were egging each other on towards a catastrophic confrontation. Now Trump promotes himself as someone who, by daring to do things differently, defused what he said was a near-war situation inherited on taking over the White House. “He’s never had a relationship with anybody from this country, and hasn’t had lots of relationships anywhere,” Trump said of Kim before leaving Washington. The Hanoi summit is more elaborate than the brief first occasion. The White House said Trump and Kim will hold a 10-minute meeting before an approximately 20-minute session without aides, followed by dinner lasting around 90 minutes on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, North Korean officials toured Vietnam’s scenic Halong Bay and a nearby industrial site while Kim spent his second morning in Hanoi inside a hotel preparing for his meetings with Trump. South Korean TV on Wednesday showed a group of North Korean officials, including Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the party’s central committee, taking a cruise ride along Halong Bay and visiting factories in the port city of Hai Phong. The group also reportedly included O Su Yong, director of economic affairs at North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Experts say O’s inclusion in the North’s delegation indicates Kim expects to return home with economic rewards, including partial sanctions relief, following nuclear talks with Trump. On Thursday Trump and Kim are due to meet again, although no details have been released, adding to the impression that much is being decided at the last minute. With Trump’s disgraced former lawyer giving lurid testimony to Congress about alleged illegal activities, and lawmakers trying to stop the president’s controversial use of executive power to fund the construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall, Trump would dearly like to change the news narrative by proclaiming a dramatic win. In fact, critics warn he is so keen to deal with Kim that he could give away too much, too quickly, endangering U.S. allies South Korea and Japan. In Singapore, Trump took his own generals by surprise when he announced a suspension of military exercises with the South — something the North badly wanted. Washington would ideally like Kim to dismantle a key nuclear facility at Nyongbyon, allow in international inspectors, or even hand over a list of all his nuclear assets — something the North Koreans have categorically refused to do. In return, Trump is believed to be considering dangling relief from tough international sanctions. Opening diplomatic liaison offices is another possible U.S. concession. And Trump could well go further by making a joint declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War, which closed with a cease-fire but no peace treaty, is now over. Some analysts fear this hugely symbolic gesture would open the door to a cascade of real-world consequences, upsetting the delicate balance in a region where the U.S. and China are already struggling for influence. But Harry Kazianis, director of Korean Studies at the Washington-based Center for National Interest think-tank, said the gambit might just work. “I think we will see a peace declaration to end the Korean War as the big deliverable coming out of the summit,” he said. “There is no way the Kim regime is going to go down the road of handing over its nuclear weapons to what it considers its mortal enemy. If President Trump is willing to trade what amounts to a piece of paper for some plutonium — and possibly much more — then I think history can be made.” LIVEBLOG: Kim-Trump summit in Vietnam

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Top U.S. government lawyer's presence at North Korea talks points to end-of-war declaration

Abstract: In a potential sign that the U.S. is preparing to reach a deal in Hanoi with North Korea that could include a so-called end-of-war declaration and the opening of liaison offices in both countries, a top State Department lawyer who has handled key issues in East Asia is taking part in negotiations, sources confirmed to The Japan Times on Wednesday. Robert Harris, an assistant legal adviser for East Asia and Pacific Affairs with the State Department, is involved in the nuclear talks with top North Korean officials, two informed sources said on condition of anonymity. Harris did not immediately respond to an email for comment. Harris’ presence at the talks comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were scheduled to have a one-on-one sit-down followed by a “social dinner” on Wednesday, the first day of their two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital, the White House said. On Thursday, the two leaders are expected to engage in full-scale negotiations at Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel, where they could issue a joint statement summarizing the results of the talks, if a deal is reached. There has been growing speculation that the two sides could agree on an exchange of liaison offices, diplomatic posts that are more limited than embassies, but which would mark a step toward more normalized ties, as well as a declaration ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which was temporarily halted with the signing of an armistice agreement. Unlike a formal peace treaty, an end-of-war declaration is a legally nonbinding document and would represent a symbolic end to the Korean War. On Monday, South Korea’s presidential Blue House further fueled speculation about a peace declaration, calling it a “possibility.” And Tuesday, news website Vox, citing three people familiar with the negotiations, reported that a peace declaration and the establishment of liaison offices were part of a tentative agreement. The Japan Times could not independently confirm that report. North Korean officials have in the past reportedly told senior U.S. officials that they see a liaison office as a security assurance of sorts, in that such an office in Pyongyang would make an American surprise attack significantly less likely since U.S. diplomatic personnel would be on the ground. Whatever the case, the declaration, as well as the creation of liaison offices, would still require a keen legal eye to comb over the intricacies of any agreement. One of the sources called Harris’ participation in the talks “a good sign that the declaration was at least a serious possibility, since there are major legal ramifications.” That source also noted that it “could also well apply to liaison offices or other issues.” Still, both sources noted that there are a number of reasons for lawyers to be present for high-level negotiations, and even working-level talks, depending on the issue. “All I can really say for certain is that this U.S. negotiating team appears prepared for the possibility of a serious, detailed deal,” one of the sources said. Jean Lee, a Korea expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, called the revelation “intriguing” and “yet another indication that discussion about an end-of-war declaration is on the agenda.” Lee, who as the former chief of the Associated Press’ bureau in Pyongyang was one of the few Western journalists to work in North Korea on a consistent basis, said a declaration was something Kim desperately wanted at the last summit in Singapore — but didn’t get. She said he had likely assigned his right-hand man, Kim Yong Chol, the North’s former spy chief, “to make sure it was on the agenda this time around.” Lee noted that although a declaration would not amount to a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, since all signatories, including China and the United Nations, as well as South Korea, would need to be involved, the move would be a boon for both Kim and Trump. “A political ‘peace’ declaration between the United States and North Korea would be something both Kim and Trump could claim as a victory,” Lee said. “For Kim, it may also allow him to turn the focus of North Korean ideology away from war and toward rebuilding the economy.” Experts say Kim is likely to be looking to offer just enough concrete moves toward dismantling his nuclear program against a larger backdrop of peace to entice the United States to support an easing of crushing U.N. sanctions, something Pyongyang has repeatedly demanded. But Lee said there are risks in pursuing such an approach, including for the U.S. military presence in South Korea and Japan. “If Kim and Trump declare an end to the war, North Korea will likely pressure the United States to pull back militarily,” she said. “And if the United States refuses, North Korea could use that as a reason to withdraw from its commitments on denuclearization.” LIVEBLOG: Kim-Trump summit in Vietnam

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Train swapping: North Korea's Kim Jong Un reliant on Chinese for summit transport

Abstract: HANOI - When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled into the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang early on Tuesday, his vaunted specialized train was pulled by a red-and-yellow locomotive emblazoned with China’s national railway logo. It was the second time Kim had arrived for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in transport provided by the Chinese, underscoring just how much the young leader’s sudden flurry of international engagements has depended on his larger, more powerful neighbor. When Kim arrived in Singapore last year for his first, historic summit with Trump, it was in an Air China jumbo jet bearing the Chinese flag. With the exception of two summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the border between the two Koreas, every one of Kim’s unprecedented summits with China’s President Xi Jinping and now the second summit with Trump have depended on trains provided by the Chinese. “This is a full service from Xi,” said Nam Sung-wook a former South Korean intelligence official. “Kim couldn’t travel without China’s special treatment.” To travel to his four summits with Xi, Kim’s specially equipped string of train carriages has usually been hauled by matching green DF11Z locomotives, Chinese-made engines sporting the emblem of the state-owned China Railway Corporation, with at least three different serial registration numbers, according to a review of media images. At the time of his first trip to Beijing in March 2018, South Korean media reported that the locomotives were usually used for carrying top Chinese officials, and were connected to Kim’s carriages in the city of Dandong, on the Chinese side of its border with North Korea. The red-and-yellow DF4 engine used when Kim arrived in Vietnam was of a different, older type than the more typical green DF11Z spotted by media pulling the train when it entered China from North Korea on Saturday. It’s not clear when China provided the train engines to North Korea, or under what conditions. Asked about the apparent change in locomotives and whether China had provided them, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had not paid much attention to that issue. “I don’t know whether changing the train has any particular meaning towards your appraisal of the situation,” he told a daily news briefing on Tuesday. China, however, provided a “transport guarantee” for Kim’s train travel, Lu said, without elaborating, likely referring to ensuring his train was able to proceed smoothly across China. Kim’s long, slow journey from North Korea and thousands of kilometers across China to Vietnam is the longest he has taken as leader, with state media running photos of school children studying globes and asking “where is the Dear Leader now?” Media outlets captured rare images of Kim in a private moment, smoking a cigarette during a break on a station platform in China. His train is believed to be armored, and state media images have shown an interior decked out with pink leather chairs and big-screen televisions. That wasn’t enough to impress some Chinese internet users who took to social media to crack jokes about the relative poverty and backwardness of their awkward neighbor, the diesel locomotive lent to Kim a stark contrast to the network of high speed trains in China. “Traveling like this from Pyongyang to Hanoi?” wrote one user on China’s Weibo social media platform, above a picture of an old steam train. “Under sanctions by the Americans for 50 years and poverty-struck North Korea can’t even afford to buy a plane,” wrote another Weibo user. A third complained of a brief period of gridlock around the railway lines in the northeastern Chinese city of Jinzhou as police shut off roads, likely to ensure security as Kim’s train passed through. Kim Han-tae, a South Korean former train engineer who published a book last year on North Korea’s railways, said the Chinese had put in a lot of work to facilitate Kim’s trip. The decision to have the North Korean carriages hauled by Chinese engines was likely a logistical one, he said. “The bottom line is when the train comes from North Korea via China, it has to be run by Chinese to get it to operate on China’s rail system, and of course the engine car has to be Chinese,” Kim said. One of the DF11Z engines used when Kim traveled to Beijing in January is seen in a photograph on a rail spotting website from June 2017, pulling a double-decker passenger train in Beijing. Images on North Korean state media, meanwhile, have shown Kim arriving with different engines than those spotted in Beijing, suggesting the DF111Z trains now commonly associated with his trips are only used in China. LIVEBLOG: Kim-Trump summit in Vietnam

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Half of North Korean defectors suffered violence, but rights is not a top summit issue

Abstract: SEOUL - About half of 451 North Korean defectors questioned in a survey endured physical violence at the hands of North Korean authorities, a rights group has said as leader Kim Jong Un prepared to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for a summit. U.S. lawmakers called Kim the “leader of perhaps the world’s most repressive regime” on Sunday, but analysts say that as in the leaders’ first summit, in Singapore in June, human rights are unlikely to be addressed in their second. Trump and Kim are due to meet in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic Singapore summit, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. On the top of their agenda is the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and what concessions the United States might offer in return for North Korea steps to give up its weapons. North Korea’s poor human rights record is not likely to figure prominently, it at all. The survey, conducted between 2015 and 2018 and released Tuesday by Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group, found that three out of four North Korean defectors had, before they fled North Korea, experienced physical violence or the death of close family members, by execution or starvation, forced repatriation, arrest or detention. About 48 percent of the respondents said they had personally experienced violence perpetrated by the North Korean authorities, including beating, torture, rape and other sexual assault. In a recent interview, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is in Hanoi for the summit, reaffirmed a U.S. commitment to speak out and act against human rights violations, including those in North Korea. “The United States calls out human rights violations each place that we find them, whether it’s the Chinese holding Muslim Uighurs inside of their country in detention camps, the activities in North Korea,” Pompeo said in an interview with CBS News this month. “There is no nation that acts against violations of human rights in the way the American nation does, and President Trump has been at the forefront of doing that,” Pompeo added. But there has been dismay that rights seem to have been relegated down the agenda in dealing with North Korea. In Seoul, protesters tore up photographs of Kim and threw them to the ground on Tuesday. “We are skeptical of the U.S.-North Korea summit without discussing human right issues,” said Ihn Ji-yeon, a leader of the anti-North rally and a spokeswoman for the small Korean Patriots Party. The U.K.’s minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Ahmad, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday the rights situation in North Korea was not getting any better. “Despite some welcome signs on the political track, there has been no improvement in the human rights situation,” he said. U.S. lawmakers also raised North Korea’s human rights violations in a letter to Trump on Sunday. “The Singapore meeting gave Kim- the leader of perhaps the world’s most repressive regime- legitimacy and acceptance on the global stage while effectively undermining our policy of maximum pressure and sanctions,” the U.S. senators from the Democratic Party said. “Meeting the challenge of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, as well as addressing other issues such as North Korea’s systemic, gross violations of human rights, is of concern to all Americans and to our allies and partners.” But South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the Geneva council: “Human rights cannot thrive in the absence of peace.” She said progress toward a “nuclear-free Korean peninsula,” which had started, would have enormous rewards, including an improvement in human rights. LIVEBLOG: Kim-Trump summit in Vietnam

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Simmering tension with Taiwan means China defense budget likely to defy slowing economy

Abstract: BEIJING - A slowing economy is unlikely to crimp China’s 2019 defense budget growth, as Beijing earmarks more spending for modernization and big-ticket items like stealth jets, and focuses on Taiwan after a stern New Year’s speech from President Xi Jinping. The defense spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China’s strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles. In 2018 China unveiled its largest defense spending increase in three years, setting an 8.1 percent growth target for the year, fueling an ambitious military upgrade program and making its neighbors nervous. The 2019 number should be revealed at the March 5 opening of the annual session of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament although in 2017 it was initially not announced, prompting renewed concerns about transparency. China set its military budget at 1.11 trillion yuan ($165.40 billion) in 2018, while U.S. President Donald Trump has backed plans to request $750 billion from Congress for defense spending in 2019. Beijing provides no breakdown of its defense budget, leading neighbors and other military powers to complain that a lack of transparency has added to regional tension. China says it is fully transparent and no threat. Diplomats and many foreign experts say China’s defense numbers probably underestimate true military spending for the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest armed forces, which also runs the country’s space program. China plans to set a lower economic growth target of 6-6.5 percent in 2019 compared with last year’s target of around 6.5 percent, policy sources have said. The government will also announce the economic growth target on March 5. However, the defense budget increase could well surpass that. Influential state-run tabloid the Global Times, which takes a strongly nationalistic line, cited this month an unidentified military expert as saying “a stable 8-9 percent increase from 2018 would be a reasonable prediction.” China still has a long way to go to catch Western forces because the number of advanced weapons now in its arsenal, such as the J-20 stealth fighter, remain limited, the paper said. Xie Yue, a professor of political science at Tongji University in Shanghai and a security expert, said with a weakening economy there would naturally be an expectation for a slower increase in military spending. “It should go down, as the defense budget is connected to economic growth, but certainly factors will probably mean it will still go up, like the South China Sea and Taiwan issues,” Xie said. Xi’s January speech, threatening to attack Taiwan should it not accept Chinese rule, has brought the issue back up the agenda for China’s military thinkers, especially as the island gears up for presidential elections next year. “The Taiwan question can’t keep being put off, passed down through the generations,” wrote retired Chinese Major General Luo Yuan, one of the country’s most prominent and widely read military commentators, on his blog last month. “Our generation must complete our historic mission.” One source with ties to China’s military said the armed forces were itching for a fight over self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, especially after Xi’s speech. “Every day, they’re like ‘fight, fight, fight,’ ” said the source, who regularly meets senior officers. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly warned of the threat from China, and vowed to defend the island and its democratic way of life. The United States has said it is closely watching Chinese intentions towards Taiwan. “Even with just a broom, I would fight against China,” Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told parliament last week. “You would pay a price if you want to annex Taiwan.” The United States again sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Monday. The U.S. military has increased the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China. China’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this year’s military budget. China routinely says spending is for defensive purposes only, comparatively small and that critics just want to keep the country down. “What people are scared of is China getting strong,” said Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant at the China Arm Control and Disarmament Association and another former senior Chinese officer.

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Commercial flights to and from Pakistan, India disrupted as tensions rise

Abstract: NEW DELHI - Several airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, suspended flights to Pakistan on Wednesday after the South Asian nation closed its airspace following heightened tensions with neighboring India. Etihad, flydubai, Gulf Air and SriLankan Airlines also suspended services to the country and flight tracking portals showed Singapore Airlines, British Airways and others were forced to reroute flights. Airlines flying over India and Pakistan to Europe, the Middle East and Asia were disrupted and some flights were routed through Mumbai on India’s western coast, so they could head further south and avoid Pakistan airspace, an Indian government official said. “Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan has officially closed its airspace until further notice,” the Pakistani regulator said in a tweet. Pakistan carried out airstrikes and shot down two Indian military jets on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a war in 1971, prompting leading powers to urge both of the nuclear-armed countries to show restraint. Tension has been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an airstrike on what it said was a militant training base. Mark Martin, founder and chief executive at Martin Consulting India, said about 800 flights a day use the India-Pakistan air corridor, making it “very critical.” “You can’t overfly China, so you have to overfly Pakistan and India and go to Southeast Asia and Australia. Most of the traffic destined for Bangkok and Singapore will have to fly over Iran and then possibly take a detour,” he said. International airlines that normally transit between Indian and Pakistani airspace have been forced to reroute, including flights by Singapore Airlines, Finnair, British Airways, Aeroflot, and Air India, according to online portal flightradar24.com which tracks the movement of planes globally. Qatar Airways said in a statement it has temporarily suspended flights to eight cities in India and Pakistan “due to the ongoing situation on the India-Pakistan border” and that its flights routed over the India-Pakistan airspace may be delayed due to rerouting in the area. Bahrain’s Gulf Air said it had suspended all fights to and from Pakistan due to closure of airspace while low-cost carrier flydubai said it is reviewing its schedule. Emirates and Etihad also said they had suspended some flights to Pakistan. All flights from Kabul to India have been canceled until further notice while India’s state-run carrier Air India has canceled its flights until the first week of March, an airline official in Kabul said. India, earlier on Wednesday, shut several airports in the northern part of the country temporarily, leading to dozens of domestic flight cancellations after Pakistani warplanes crossed a disputed border into the Indian side of Kashmir. Operations at the Indian airports have now resumed. Indian airlines including IndiGo, India’s biggest airline by market share, low-cost rival GoAir and full-service carriers Jet Airways and Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons, were forced to cancel services to at least six cities in northern India due to airport closures. The airlines said on Twitter that flights to cities including Amritsar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Jammu, Leh and Srinagar have been put on hold or temporarily suspended. Airports in the cities of Amritsar, Pathankot, Jammu, Leh and Chandigarh were temporarily closed for commercial flights earlier on Wednesday, sources said.

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'Paradise on Earth': The North Korean promised land that was a lie

Abstract: NIIGATA - Harunori Kojima still remembers the hot tears of joy that warmed his face against the sleet as two Soviet ships set sail in December 1959 from Niigata port. Destination: North Korea, which lured nearly 100,000 Koreans from Japan with fantastical propaganda promising returnees a “Paradise on Earth.” Now 88, Kojima recalls how a brass band piped out patriotic tunes lauding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung as some 1,000 people boarded the ships for a new life. They were part of a grand repatriation program that continued on and off until 1984, carried out by the Red Cross Societies in Japan and North Korea and paid for by Pyongyang. In all, 93,340 people — mainly Koreans but also Japanese spouses — enthusiastically moved to North Korea, blissfully unaware it was a land of no return. Initially reluctant, the Japanese government also backed the scheme, with media touting it as a humanitarian campaign for Koreans struggling to build a life in Japan. But Kojima, who was a communist at the time and helped oversee the repatriation, never went to North Korea himself and now looks back on the scheme with bitterness. “I was actively involved in the project, believing it was something positive. But as a result, I led people into hell,” he said. During Tokyo’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, millions of Koreans moved to Japan, either voluntarily or against their will. When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Koreans remained, reluctant to return to their devastated homeland. They were stripped of their Japanese nationality and became stateless. According to journalist and expert Yoshiaki Kikuchi, Kim’s North — economically better off than the South after the 1950-53 Korean War — wanted to use the mass repatriation to emphasize socialism’s “superiority” over the U.S.-puppet South. Most Koreans in Japan hailed from south of the 38th parallel but South Korean President Syngman Rhee cut them adrift and former colonial ruler Japan offered no help to alleviate their poverty and discrimination. For these reasons, many believed propaganda films portraying an idyllic life in North Korea and submitted to the agents of the General Association of Korean Residents — or Chongryon, the de facto embassy of North Korea in Japan — as they went door-to-door. But the reality in “Paradise” was a far cry from the propaganda. Eiko Kawasaki, now 76, was shocked to see the locals gathered to welcome them in the northeastern port of Chongjin. “The way the local people looked was heartbreaking. Both the men and the women had lifeless faces with darkened, dry skin. All wearing the same humble working clothes,” Kawasaki recalled. She was 17 and had traveled alone, with her family set to follow, convinced by Chongryon propaganda. “They would say North Korea was a wonderful country where we could help build the socialist state and then proudly go home after the North and South were unified,” she said. “They would encourage us to go, saying we were disgraced and bullied (in Japan), unable to get decent jobs.” The agents promised her “at least a three-month supply of rice” and that “a furnished house and beds” would be waiting for her. The reality was starvation and famine. But even though people were hungry, “no one protested,” Kawasaki said, adding: “No one even questioned for what cause they were starving.” She tried to hint to her family not to come in letters, hoping to fool censors who immediately imprisoned and often “purged” anyone who complained. It took her 10 years — and 18 months hiding in China — but Kawasaki eventually escaped back to Japan. Manabu Ishikawa, 60, formerly known as Lee Jay Hak, recalls living off scraps of grain at poultry farms that were considered unfit even for animals. He has never been able to erase the memory of a small girl, maybe nine or 10, dying of starvation on the street. “She was actually smiling … with relief, clutching a piece of bread in her hand,” he said. Ishikawa fled to China in 2001 — his wife and two sons followed later — but many more were not so fortunate. The Chongryon accepts no criticism of the program. “It was a campaign to protect the rights of Koreans in Japan, the freedom to return to their fatherland,” said O Gyu Sang, a historian at the pro-Pyongyang body. “If they had lived without discrimination and had jobs to make a living, not so many would have gone. … Japanese politicians too must have thought it was a good chance to get rid of annoying Koreans.” The effects still reverberate. Last year, five former returnees, including Kawasaki and Ishikawa, sued North Korea and the country’s leader, accusing them of “national kidnapping” and demanding those returnees left in the country be free to travel. The Tokyo District Court is expected to hear the case, lawyer Atsushi Shiraki said. “I dropped my Korean name long ago,” Kawasaki said, partly to stay anonymous and protect her four children still living in the North. “I do not want to die without seeing my family again. But I cannot see them unless North Korea ends its rights violations.”

wwii
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Veteran Japanese journalist Fumio Matsuo, who sought to foster reconciliation between Japan and U.S., dies at 85

Abstract: NEW YORK - Veteran Japanese journalist Fumio Matsuo, known for his efforts in calling for “true” postwar reconciliation between Japan and the United States, died at a hotel in New York state where he was visiting, his family said Tuesday. He was 85. According to local authorities, Matsuo, a former Kyodo News correspondent and an expert on U.S. politics, died of natural causes on Monday. A native of Tokyo, Matsuo joined Kyodo News in 1956 and served as Washington bureau chief in the 1980s. In 2002, at the age of 68, he came out of retirement and returned to journalism, writing articles calling on Japanese and U.S. leaders to pay respective visits to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor in symbolic acts of reconciliation between the former wartime foes. He received the Japan National Press Club Award in 2017 for helping, through his work, the realization of landmark visits to the historic sites in 2016 by then U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. His interest in the United States stemmed from experiencing the Doolittle Raid, which targeted various cities in Japan, including Tokyo, following the nation’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Books Matsuo published included “The Day President Obama Offers Flowers at Hiroshima” in 2009 and “The Accommodating History of U.S.-China Relationship” in 2017.

wwii
barack obama
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World's smallest baby boy, born weighing 268 grams, now healthy and sent home from Tokyo hospital

Abstract: Keio University in Tokyo said Tuesday that a baby with a birth weight of 268 grams had been released from care at its hospital after growing to a weight of 3,238 grams, becoming the smallest boy in the world to be sent home healthy. The previous record holder was born weighing 274 grams in Germany in 2009, the university said, citing the University of Iowa’s registry for the world’s tiniest babies. The smallest girl was born weighing 252 grams, also in Germany, in 2015. There had been 23 babies worldwide who survived after having been born prematurely and weighing under 300 grams, out of whom only four were boys, according to the Tiniest Babies Registry website. The boy from Tokyo was born through an emergency cesarean section in August as his weight did not increase at 24 weeks gestation and doctors determined his life was in danger, the university said. The baby was so small at birth that he could fit in a pair of hands. But after doctors treated him at a neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital, by managing his breathing and nutrition, he grew steadily and was able to be breastfed. He left the hospital last Wednesday, two months after the initial due date. Babies born weighing below 1,000 grams are likely to suffer heart failure, have difficulty breathing or acquire severe infectious diseases due to their underdeveloped organs. The survival rate of such babies in Japan and other developed nations has been as high as 90 percent in recent years. But the rate plunges for babies, especially boys, born at less than 300 grams. “I want people to know that babies can return home vigorous even if they are born small,” said attending Dr. Takeshi Arimitsu.


Japan draws up measures to help public cope with 10-day closures during Golden Week holiday

Abstract: The government said Tuesday it had drawn up measures to minimize the adverse effects of a special 10-day holiday period this spring on people’s daily lives. The move comes as child care facilities, hospitals, banks and other businesses are expected to be closed during an extended Golden Week. This year, with May 1 designated as a one-off national holiday to mark Crown Prince Naruhito’s accession to the throne, the spring holiday period will run from April 27 through May 6. The government plans to call for the introduction of additional subsidies for child care facilities to offer extra holiday services, in addition to requesting that prefectural governments inform the public about hospitals and clinics that will be open during the period. Municipal authorities will be asked to provide information on whether or not they will collect garbage during the holidays, while power, gas and water suppliers will be urged to secure stable services, and banks will be requested to boost manpower on weekdays before and after the holiday period. Concerned about possible long hours for those who need to work during the period and reduced earnings for hourly and daily workers due to fewer workdays, the government will call on companies to consider these factors. The government will also advise elementary and junior high schools to hold additional classes during summer and other extended breaks, if necessary.

holidays
golden week
child care
abdication


Train cancellations and delays surged in Japan over last 30 years, transports ministry data shows

Abstract: Cases of train service disruptions have substantially increased in Japan over the past 30 years, transport ministry data shows. On Monday a power failure paralyzed services on sections of the Chuo and Sobu lines, operated by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), in the Tokyo area during morning rush hour. The incident lead to cancellations of 177 trains and delays of 91 trains, with the number of affected travelers reaching about 280,000. The incident also forced a delay in the start of the day’s entrance examinations at some universities. In fiscal 2017, which ended in March 2018, the number of cases of train service disruptions such as cancellations and delays of 30 minutes or longer rose by 603 from fiscal 2016 to reach 5,934 — about 3.2 times more than the fiscal 1988 level of 1,883, according to the ministry data. Of the total, 2,455 cases, or 41.4 percent, were caused by external factors, such as humans or animals entering the railway tracks or fires breaking out along the tracks, up by more than sixfold from fiscal 1988. Natural disasters, including typhoons, snow and earthquakes, caused 2,022 cases — up more than threefold. The remaining 1,457 cases occurred due to factors on the part of railway operators, such as problems with trains and facilities, rising about 50 percent from fiscal 2016. The share of such cases was relatively small, at about 25 percent, but some of them had serious impacts on passengers. In October 2017, damage to the overhead wire system at Higashi-Washinomiya Station on JR East’s Tohoku Main Line caused a short circuit, leading to large-scale train cancellations and delays that affected some 280,000 people. In the following month, around 126,000 people were affected by train cancellations on Tokyu Corp.’s Den-en-toshi Line, which links Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture. The incident was blamed on overhead line damage caused by faulty connection work. Major disruption cases that have occurred in the current fiscal 2018 include one in which more than 90 trains were canceled last November, after a railway signal about 5 meters tall and weighing about 220 kilograms fell on the tracks at Shin-Sapporo Station on the Chitose Line operated by Hokkaido Railway Co. in Hokkaido Prefecture. Last December some 400,000 people were affected by train cancellations on the Toei Asakusa Line, a subway line run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and those of Keikyu Corp., which links one of its lines to the subway, due to a glitch during work to replace equipment at the train control center of Keisei Electric Railway Co., which also connects a line to the subway. “In the Tokyo metropolitan area, in particular, a problem at a train line operated by one company tends to easily affect services of others in the current situation whereby multiple railway operators share their tracks to mutually allow direct train services,” a transport ministry official said.

accidents trains delays cancellations subways


High-ranking Russian officials visit island disputed by Japan

Abstract: VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA - The Japanese government has lodged a protest with Russia over Tuesday’s visits by senior Russian government officials to Shikotan, one of the four Pacific islands held by Russia and claimed by Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. Tokyo insisted that the visits conflict with its legal standpoint toward the islands, which were seized from Japan by Soviet troops around the end of World War II. The protest was made through diplomatic channels on Tuesday, according to the Foreign Ministry. Sergei Ivanov, special presidential representative for environmental protection and transport, and communications minister Konstantin Noskov visited Shikotan Island to attend a ceremony to mark the operation of an optical fiber communication line between Sakhalin, in Russia’s Far East, and the disputed islands. It is rare for high-ranking Russian officials to visit the island of Shikotan. Ivanov is known to have close ties with Putin. The fiber communication line is intended to improve the unstable and slow internet service on the islands. “This is going to greatly improve the everyday lives of the people on our Russian islands,” Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East. The visit is seen as particularly sensitive as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is believed to be focusing on securing a deal with Russia on a handover of the smaller two of the four disputed islands — Shikotan and the Habomai islet group. “We’ll continue to tenaciously engage in negotiations with Russia under our basic policy to resolve the territorial problem and conclude the peace treaty,” Suga, Japan’s top government spokesman, told a news conference. The dispute over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, has prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities. The islands were seized by the Soviet Union following Japan’s surrender in World War II in 1945. Expectations have been growing in Japan that the island of Shikotan may be returned. Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed last year to accelerate peace treaty talks based on a 1956 joint declaration, which mentions the transfer from Moscow to Tokyo of Shikotan and the Habomai islet group once a peace treaty is concluded.

territorial dispute
russia-japan relations
shikotan
sergei ivanov


After disaster-filled 2018, lessons from 1995 Hanshin quake resonate with foreign nationals and Kobe officials

Abstract: KOBE - The image of a resilient Japan rebounding almost immediately from natural disasters is one that has taken root across the world, but sometimes that image can obfuscate the trauma and the panic of actually living through a disaster. Roxana Oshiro knows this firsthand. She recalled fleeing her Kobe home on Jan. 17, 1995, and joining the frightened throngs of people in the street as the Great Hanshin Earthquake upended the city and its surrounding area early that morning. Originally from Peru, she had been living in the city for four years and spoke little Japanese at the time. As Oshiro recounted for attendees at last week’s inaugural Kansai Resilience Forum in Kobe, organized by the Japanese Government in collaboration with IAFOR, she had never experienced anything as terrifying as what happened that morning. To make matters worse, the one word that Oshiro understood that she repeatedly heard during public announcements was “tsunami.” “I was in a panic when I heard the word ‘tsunami’ and I took it to mean a tsunami is coming,” Oshiro told reporters at the forum. “Because we were close to the ocean, I thought, ‘I have to run, I have to evacuate,’ but I didn’t know where to go.” What Oshiro also didn’t know at the time was that the public announcements were informing people that there was, in fact, no threat of a tsunami. Rather, it was the effects of the magnitude 7.3 earthquake alone that caused such devastation, leaving a total of 6,402 people dead, including 148 foreign nationals in Kobe. Oshiro and Chiaki Kim, who also spoke during the forum, told reporters about their current roles as presenters with Radio FMYY, the world’s first disaster-focused radio station. Both women are part of a team of volunteers formed in the wake of the Kobe earthquake who broadcast information on disaster prevention and relief, as well as a range of other community news and issues in several languages, including Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and English. As Japan gears up for a series of marquee sporting events, including this year’s Rugby World Cup, which will take place in 12 cities nationwide including Kobe, followed by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the country’s disaster relief infrastructure will be tested in the event of a calamity — or calamities. Japan is also set to take in up to 340,000 foreign workers over the next five years from April as it sets about plugging yawning labor gaps due to a declining and aging workforce. In many ways last year proved to be a test case after the nation was hit by a series of deadly natural disasters, including severe flooding, powerful earthquakes and Typhoon Jebi, which shuttered Kansai International Airport for three days, stranding thousands of passengers and staff at the country’s third-busiest airport. Thomas Mayrhofer, general manager of ANA Crowne Plaza Osaka, remarked at the forum that Kansai was “on CNN for eight consecutive weeks” as it dealt with an earthquake in the beginning of the summer and Jebi in early September. But Mayrhofer, who also oversees ANA hotels in Hokkaido, Kobe and the city of Okayama, said that despite the severe blow to the Osaka hotel industry, the city had reacted exceptionally well. The city’s resilience, he said, highlighted the nation’s capabilities. “I think Japan is incredibly strong in preparing, preventing and responding (to disasters),” Mayrhofer said. He also noted that offering shelter during a disaster takes precedence: “A lot of times hotels have been built stronger for longer term use than some local buildings and we have a responsibility to the local community and to our guests to provide shelter.” One area Mayrhofer pointed to that required attention was getting emergency information to tourists and foreign workers in multiple languages, noting that the country’s emergency broadcast system transmits disaster alerts only in Japanese. “I think it’s critical that we have to work with the authorities to try to get this into more than one language,” he said. As an example, Mayrhofer highlighted last June’s 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Osaka. “For foreign tourists it can be devastating … in some cases it’s their first earthquake they have ever experienced,” he said. “The language component and how to communicate immediately during a crisis is something here in Japan where we still have work to be done,” Mayrhofer added. For its part, Kobe has learned from the devastating 1995 quake, especially when it comes to relaying information on disaster prevention, mitigation and relief in multiple languages. Kaori Asada, assistant manager at Kobe’s Crisis Management Office, outlined how the city has taken an active approach to providing aid in times of disaster to its 1.5 million inhabitants, which includes more than 45,000 foreign-born residents, as well as foreign visitors. Beyond pocket-sized disaster prevention cards issued in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese and Portuguese, the city has also posted a list and map of refuge shelters in multiple languages online. Hyogo Emergency Net, meanwhile, transmits emergency information via email and on its website in 11 languages while Kokokuru, a tsunami information website, details how to prepare for an earthquake and tsunami, and what to do in the event of a disaster. Asada also explained how the Crisis Management Office coordinates with community groups in the city who pass on verified information in languages other than Japanese. Since 2014, Kobe also supports simultaneous interpretation on 119 emergency calls. As the resilience forum made clear, natural disasters are a fact of life in Japan, but preparing for and dealing with them are a process that is continually evolving, especially as Japan changes.


'Reconstruction Olympics' theme said not to have gathered momentum

Abstract: AOMORI - Half of 42 municipalities in northeastern Japan hit by a massive earthquake in 2011 said the public is not fully aware of the government’s efforts to showcase the region’s recovery from the disaster through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a Kyodo News survey showed Wednesday. The heads of 21 local governments in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures said in the survey that the “reconstruction Olympics” theme has yet to fully catch on among the public. Asked whether the slogan has gained public attention, two mayors said “it has not” while 19 mayors said “it mostly has not.” Eighteen said “it has a little” and two said “it has.” The remaining municipality — the Fukushima city of Soma — did not answer. “The phrase ‘reconstruction Olympics’ was thought up but no substantial progress has been made and the affected areas feel left behind,” said an official of the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture. “We have limited manpower and cannot spare personnel for Olympic events.” “The sporting event will be held under the banner of the ‘reconstruction Olympics’ but venues are centered on Tokyo,” said an official of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. The Tokyo Organising Committee has promoted projects involving the disaster-stricken areas, such as holding baseball and softball games in Fukushima and starting the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay in the prefecture, which was hit by a nuclear crisis in the wake of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Before the relay, the flame will be displayed in the three northeastern prefectures. The Fukushima city of Iwaki expressed appreciation over the move to highlight the recovery of the affected areas in the Summer Olympics. “Fukushima will be hosting some games and the torch relay will start here. We have been given certain roles to play,” a city official said. Asked what they expect from the Tokyo Games in a multiple-choice question, the biggest group, of 36 mayors, picked “promoting our progress toward recovery,” while 20 mayors, mainly from Fukushima, chose “overcoming reputational damage.” “We want to use the Olympics as a chance to regain sales channels for our farm products,” said an official of the Fukushima town of Namie. Hisashi Sanada, a professor of the anthropology of sport and Olympic history at the University of Tsukuba, said efforts by the central government and the organizing committee to promote reconstruction through the sporting event were “not enough.” “The state needs to explain in detail to municipalities what kind of support it can offer, and the local governments should also rack their brains about how to link (the Olympics) to regional development,” Sanada said.

fukushima
reconstruction
tohoku
survey
iwate
miyagi
2020 tokyo olympics


Accident on Tokyo's Shonan Shinjuku Line that killed one roils morning commutes

Abstract: An accident in Tokyo disrupted several train lines Wednesday morning, leaving potentially thousands of passengers stranded and forcing others to change their routes during rush hour. The accident occurred between Akabane and Ikebukuro stations on the Shonan Shinjuku Line at 8:11 a.m., East Japan Railway Co. said. According to police, the train hit a man, who appeared to be in his 20s, at a railroad crossing. His death was confirmed at the scene. The train and all others on the Shonan Shinjuku Line were halted for about an hour, and several train lines running parallel to it — including the Utsunomiya Line and the Tokaido Line — temporarily suspended operations, affecting around 96,000 passengers, according to JR East. Train services resumed for all of the affected train lines, but significant delays continued to hamper morning commutes. Toyo University delayed the start of its entrance exams, held at its campus in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, by an hour.


Tensions high over Senkakus amid buildup of China's 'second navy'

Abstract: BEIJING - Tensions remain high over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea as Beijing strengthens its coast guard, which is now being called a “second navy” by Chinese media. China’s leadership under President Xi Jinping has maintained its hard-line stance over the islands, claimed by China, while promoting efforts to improve its relations with Japan. When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with Xi in Beijing last October, they agreed that their countries do not represent a threat to each other. In December, there were no reports of any Chinese government ships entering Japanese waters around the islands, called Diaoyu in China, with some observers viewing this as a sign of improving bilateral ties. That marked the first month without such an incident since Tokyo effectively nationalized the islands in September 2012, a move that has lead to routine intrusions by Chinese government ships. Since the beginning of this year, however, there have been several instances of Chinese ships intruding into Japanese waters around the Senkakus. The Chinese coast guard was placed under the control of the Central Military Commission, the highest organ of the country’s military, in July last year. The maritime law-enforcement body had belonged to the State Council until then. The coast guard has recently named Rear Adm. Wang Zhongcai, former deputy chief of staff of the East China Sea Fleet, as its new leader, according to Chinese media reports. Early this month, Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang, the top uniformed officer in China, reportedly instructed three coast guard vessels patrolling in the East and South China seas to be fully prepared for various situations, an apparent sign of the country’s determination to protect its maritime interests. While strengthening its organization, the coast guard is rapidly improving its equipment, including weaponry. The coast guard is “increasingly integrated into the navy,” a diplomatic source said. In 2012, the Japan Coast Guard owned a total of 51 vessels of 1,000 tons or more, while its Chinese counterpart held 40 such ships. The growth of China’s fleet, however, has easily outpaced that of Japan’s since then. As of this year, the number of such large coast guard vessels is seen totaling 145 for China and 67 for Japan. The China Coast Guard is believed to be reusing decommissioned naval vessels after removing large artillery equipment. In a report released in January, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency noted that the Chinese coast guard has become “by far the largest coast guard force in the world.” The report also mentioned the Chinese Navy Marine Corps, warning that its mission “potentially” includes amphibious assaults on the Senkaku Islands. The Chinese Marine Corps is believed to have around 28,000 to 35,000 troops, a roughly threefold rise since an organizational change in 2017. It is also proceeding with the introduction of cutting-edge amphibious vehicles and helicopters. Still, many military experts say that both the size of the force and its equipment remain inadequate. The U.S. report found the Chinese Marine Corps to be “incapable of defeating near-peer or peer countries such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia in amphibious or ground warfare.” Aiming to overcome this disadvantage, the Chinese Marine Corps is believed to be training for actual battles, not only in coastal areas but in inland regions, including deserts. Last spring, some 10,000 Chinese Marines traveled more than 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) in a large-scale exercise to improve long-range maneuverability, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Philip Davidson said in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.

military
senkakus
disputed islands
china-japan relations


Man wanted for alleged murder-robbery arrested in city 300 kilometers away

Abstract: HIROSHIMA - A man wanted for allegedly killing and robbing an elderly man last week in Hiroshima Prefecture was arrested Wednesday in a city about 300 kilometers away, police said. Yukinobu Tomita, 34, was spotted riding a bicycle in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, and detained by local police after being questioned. He was arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death Kazuhiro Uematsu, 86, and stealing cash from him between the evening of Feb. 19 and the early morning of the following day after breaking into Uematsu’s home, which he shared with his 88-year-old wife. Tomita, a resident of Kure, Hiroshima, has admitted to stabbing Uematsu, saying he did so because he was seen by Uematsu, the police said. Uematsu was found collapsed bleeding heavily by his wife on Feb. 20, according to the police. He had been stabbed 10 times, including wounds to his neck and chest. Uematsu’s wallet and cards were found in the home but no cash was discovered, investigative sources said. DNA matching Tomita’s was found in blood traces at the scene, leading to him being put on a nationwide wanted list on Sunday, they said. After the incident, it was confirmed that Tomita was treated with nine stitches to his left hand at a Hiroshima hospital. A man resembling Tomita was captured by security cameras at JR stations in the city of Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture, and in neighboring Okayama Prefecture. On Monday he visited two convenience stores in Osaka and asked a clerk at one of them how to get to Tokyo. Security camera footage showed he was riding a bicycle.

murder
hiroshima
arrest
robbery
yukinobu tomita


Court rejects damages claim against Hitotsubashi University over death of outed gay student

Abstract: A court on Wednesday rejected a damages suit filed against a university in Tokyo by the parents of a graduate law student, who died after he was outed as gay by another student in 2015. The parents sued Hitotsubashi University, claiming the state-run school failed to respond properly to the outing of the 25-year-old that led to his death. But the Tokyo District Court ruled the university had not failed in its responsibility to secure a safe environment for its students, with presiding Judge Masanori Suzuki saying there was no issues with the way professors and staff members had dealt with the situation. The student was exposed as gay by the other student to a group of about 10 peers on messaging app Line in June 2015. Two months later, the student suffered a panic attack in class and left before fatally falling from a university building. He had been asking the university to allow him to switch classes, according to the complaint. The parents had initially sued the other student as well, but the parties have since reached a settlement. During the trial, the parents said the university failed to understand the case as a human rights issue and create a harassment-free environment for its students by properly educating them that mocking sexual minorities is sexual harassment. The university had argued that while it can take measures to heighten awareness, it is impossible to prevent specific acts of harassment. The city of Kunitachi, where the university is located, introduced in April last year an ordinance that states people should not disclose other people’s sexual orientation or gender identity against their will. In Japan, at least one in 11 people identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a survey conducted last October by advertising giant Dentsu Inc., covering 60,000 people aged between 20 and 59 nationwide. Still, discriminatory comments against the LGBT community are not uncommon in the country. Last year, a ruling party lawmaker faced criticism for saying in a magazine article that the government should not offer support to sexual-minority couples because they cannot bear offspring and thus are not “productive.”

suicide
lgbt
lawsuit
sexual minorities
hitotsubashi university


No systematic cover-up of faulty jobs data at labor ministry, investigative panel says

Abstract: A panel investigating faulty jobs data denied Wednesday that there had been a systematic cover-up at the labor ministry, saying top bureaucrats had been unaware monthly labor surveys were “conducted improperly” for almost 15 years. The conclusion reached by the investigative committee was based on a probe that followed a report released on Jan. 22, which was criticized after it was revealed that ministry officials had been involved in its drafting. The first report had said there was no definitive proof of a ministry-wide cover-up. The scandal, which came to light in January, involved sampling irregularities and led to the underpayment of work-related benefits to more than 20 million people, as well as casting doubt over the accuracy of government statistics. “We will make efforts to regain public trust and ensure a similar case does not happen again,” said Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto as he received the report from the panel’s chairman Yoshio Higuchi. Higuchi is also the president of the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training — a think tank affiliated with the ministry. The new report by the panel of statistical experts and lawyers was based on interviews with around 60 ministry officials, and found that multiple officials including senior members of the statistics section were responsible for the improper compilation of data. The report also indicated that there had been insufficient appreciation within the ministry of the importance of public statistics. Opposition parties have slammed the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, claiming the ministry published the faulty data to make the prime minister’s “Abenomics” economic policy package appear more successful than it actually was. “The (new) report is extremely inadequate and regrettable as it puts the blame on lower-ranking officials,” said Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, to reporters. The monthly labor survey serves as a key indicator of the country’s employment conditions, covering over 30,000 business establishments across the country. The data is used to calculate unemployment benefits. In the survey, the ministry is supposed to collect results from all businesses in the country with 500 or more employees. But in Tokyo it had only surveyed a third of around 1,400 such businesses since 2004. The shortage of data from major companies, which usually pay higher wages than smaller firms, meant nationwide wage figures were calculated as lower than they actually were. In January last year the ministry began using software to make it appear that the necessary data had been collected, leading to a sudden rise in wage figures.


Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff questions if Robert Mueller is being kept from probing Trump-Deutsche Bank link

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee said on Sunday he was concerned that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not be investigating President Donald Trump’s ties to Deutsche Bank AG . U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff announced last week a wide investigation into attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election as well as Trump’s financial dealings, including “credible reports of money laundering and financial compromise” related to Trump business interests. Deutsche Bank has lent the Trump Organization hundreds of millions of dollars for real estate ventures and is one of the few major lenders that has given large amounts of credit to Trump after a string of bankruptcies at his hotel and casino businesses during the 1990s. Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he was concerned about whether Mueller had been held back from investigating Trump’s finances. Schiff cited reports that Trump threatened to fire Mueller in 2017 after reports he was trying to get records from Deutsche Bank but backed down after his lawyers received the assurances from Mueller. “If the special counsel hasn’t subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can’t be doing much of a money-laundering investigation,” Schiff said. “So that’s what concerns me, that that red line has been enforced, whether by the deputy attorney general or by some other party at the Justice Department. But that leaves the country exposed,” Schiff said. The special counsel’s office declined comment and Deutsche Bank did not immediately return requests for comment on Schiff’s statements. Trump has denied any cooperation by his campaign with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. Last week, he dismissed Schiff as not having any authority to review his business dealings. The bank, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, was ensnared in a massive Russian money-laundering investigation and was fined heavily by both U.S. and U.K. regulators in 2017 for practices involving Russian accounts.

deutsche bank
money-laundering
robert mueller
donald trump
adam schiff
russia probe


Bill Gates champions African state investment push, says poverty shouldn't be obstacle to excellent health care

Abstract: ADDIS ABABA - Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said Sunday that excellent basic health care that would prevent easily treatable but deadly conditions was achievable even in Africa’s poorest nations. “The good news about health is that by spending modest amounts on the prioritized areas, you can get phenomenal benefits,” he told AFP on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. “You don’t have to get all the way to middle-income before you can run a great primary health care system.” The Microsoft founder mentioned interventions such as vaccines, safe delivery for mothers and the availability of antibiotic drugs as ways to drastically improve health outcomes. Gates, whose foundation has spent around $15 billion in Africa since 2000, on Saturday took part in the launch of an initiative to increase investment — mainly on the part of governments — in the health sector. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who sparked the initiative, called on African nations to put at least 15 percent of their budgets toward health care. In 2016, an average of 7.5 percent of budgets was spent in this sector on the continent, according to AU figures. Gates noted that while efforts to improve health care in Africa have cut child mortality and increased life expectancy, “the numbers are still quite troubling. According to the AU, more than half of all Africans don’t have access to essential health care services, 70 percent of people affected by HIV/AIDS live on the continent and infectious diseases eradicated elsewhere remain key causes of mortality. “If you look at the big killers of children, these are things that we have cheap interventions for, diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria,” said Gates. “The first 10 percent of spending in rich countries gives you 90 percent of the benefit.” He praised Rwanda, which has achieved universal health care coverage despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, as a “fantastic example.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Rwanda halved mortality in children under five between 2005-2010, while the mortality rate due to malaria has decreased nearly 85 percent.

africa
disease
health care
vaccinations
african union
malaria
bill gates


Trading in Venezuela's pain: Colombia border vendors do brisk business in meds

Abstract: NORTE DE SANTANDER, COLOMBIA - With the HIV virus killing him, Giovanni Plaza fled Venezuela and was able in neighboring Colombia to receive desperately needed anti-retroviral medicine for free. Some of his compatriots have not been as lucky — reduced to buying smuggled drugs of dubious quality. Between the dire shortages and hyperinflation plaguing crisis-ridden Venezuela, many people there have few good choices, left to rely on whatever they can find for sale by vendors on the Simon Bolivar bridge that links their country to Colombia. Some of the drugs on offer are spoiled, adulterated, outdated, fakes or even placebos. “I was dying in Venezuela for the lack of proper food or medication, of anti-retrovirals” to combat HIV, Plaza told AFP. He has been fighting the virus for five years. His condition worsened in December when he contracted malaria. That was when he left Venezuela. A storekeeper on Margarita Island, once a sunny Caribbean tourist mecca, he left behind his family, including his 6-year-old son. In the Colombian border town of Cucuta, an American charitable organization, which has helped thousands of migrants fleeing the Venezuelan crisis, was able to help him procure a free supply of anti-retrovirals. “Thank God I’m here, on my feet,” the 24-year-old smiled, wearing a baseball cap and a faded T-shirt. He survives by begging, but considers himself fortunate compared to those who have no choice but to rely on street “pharmacies.” For them, he feels “a lot of sadness, and rage.” The shortage of medicines in Venezuela is severe and getting worse. Thousands of patients suffering from chronic illnesses struggle to obtain treatment, according to NGOs and humanitarian groups that have been sharply critical of the government of President Nicolas Maduro, which has refused to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. On the international bridge, crossed by some 35,000 people a day, a woman in a red beret sells 30 tablets of acetaminophen or paracetamol for 60 cents. At a nearby stall, Jose Alvarez offers pain remedies and sexual stimulants. That “is what sells best,” he said, insisting that his supplies come from wholesalers. The former graphic designer, self-defense instructor and guard arrived in Cucuta two months ago. Most of the vendors are from Venezuela. “There are a lot of people in need who have suffered for want of medicines,” said Alvarez, a native of Valencia, west of Caracas. One client, Maria Acevedo, a mother of three, regularly covers the 70 km (40 miles) between Tachira in Venezuela, where she lives, and Cucuta, to find some of the many products that have disappeared from the shelves back home. “Over there,” said the 26-year-old housewife, “you find nothing in the pharmacies — or else at exorbitant prices.” But the “cure” can sometimes be worse than the disease. Counterfeit or adulterated drugs can provoke cardiac problems, lesions of the liver or kidneys, pulmonary embolisms — even death — according to Colombia’s National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute. “There are mafias dedicated to (selling) fake drugs,” former Colombian health minister Alejandro Gaviria (2012-18), told AFP. “There is no quality control.” The fiscal and customs police have broken up gangs devoted to such traffic, one police source in Cucuta said, speaking on grounds of anonymity. Gaviria said AIDS and cancer patients do not get the complete array of medications they need from street vendors, meaning “they will have no effect.” In the face of the shortages, many Venezuelans are counting on the tons of humanitarian aid that arrived Thursday from the United States at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who at this point has been recognized as the country’s interim leader by more than 40 countries. But President Nicolas Maduro warned that he would prevent the supplies stacking up in Cucuta from entering the country — seeing them as a first step toward an American military intervention. For Giovanni Plaza, standing on the bridge holding a certificate attesting to his HIV status, Maduro’s stance is infuriating. “Let them send this humanitarian aid, which every Venezuelan needs!” he said.

u.s .
medicine
trade
venezuela
colombia
nicolas maduro
hiv
juan guaido
hyperinflation


May seeks more Brexit debates in push for negotiating time as U.K. biz lobby warns of no-deal 'emergency zone'

Abstract: LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May will later this week pledge to give Parliament another chance to voice their opinions on Brexit by Feb. 27, a government source said, as she tries to buy more time to negotiate a new deal with the European Union. As the clock ticks down to Britain’s scheduled exit on March 29, May is trying to persuade the EU to change a deal that was agreed upon between London and Brussels late last year but overwhelmingly rejected by parliament in January. May wants to win over lawmakers in her Conservative Party with changes relating to the Northern Irish border, but the EU has refused to reopen that part of the deal and instead wants May to pursue a compromise with the main opposition Labour Party by agreeing closer U.K.-EU ties. The impasse has left the world’s fifth-largest economy facing an uncertain future, rattling financial markets and businesses about the prospect of a disorderly exit from the bloc that could damage the economy. A government source said May would commit to giving Parliament another debate on Brexit by Feb. 27 with the chance to vote on alternative options, if a deal had not yet been agreed and voted upon by then. Brexit minister Stephen Barclay will meet EU negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday to discuss changes to the part of the exit deal relating to the ‘backstop’, an insurance policy against the return of a hard border between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland. Labour’s Brexit policy chief, Keir Starmer, told the Sunday Times newspaper that his party would seek to use a debate in parliament next week to prevent May from waiting until the last minute to come back with a deal and compel her to present a fresh accord for lawmakers to consider before Feb. 26. “We shouldn’t be put in a position where the clock is run down and the prime minister says it’s either my deal or even worse. That isn’t right in terms of the respect for parliament,” said Starmer. The head of business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry warned that the chances of Britain leaving the EU next month without a deal have increased and the country has now entered “the emergency zone. May is due to update Parliament on her progress towards a deal on Wednesday and then on Thursday to give parliament a chance to express their opinion. May will ask lawmakers to reaffirm that they support her bid to renegotiate the backstop, the source said. May’s opponents are expected to put forward a series of alternative approaches which will be voted upon, although it is not clear yet whether any will have sufficient support to pass, and if they do, whether they will force the government to act. Labour’s plan, which has yet to be published in detail, will be among the options discussed on Feb. 14. An opinion poll published in the Independent newspaper on Sunday showed 53 percent of Briitsh voters would support a delay in Brexit, while 33 percent would back a no-deal Brexit even it that harmed the economy.

northern ireland
eu
u.k .
brexit
theresa may
parliament


Toshiba to cut operating profit forecast by half, Nikkei says

Abstract: Toshiba Corp. is preparing to cut its full-year profit forecast by at least half, hurt in part by higher expenses in its energy business, the Nikkei business daily reported, without saying where its information originated. Operating profit in the year that ends in March may range from ¥20 billion to ¥30 billion ($180 million to $270 million) when the Tokyo-based company posts results Wednesday, far below the ¥60 billion it projected in November, Nikkei reported. Increased costs in sectors like energy are dragging down earnings from core operations and the company will book additional reserves to help adjust to the situation, the report said. In November, Toshiba pulled back from nuclear projects in the U.K. and bailed from a five-year misadventure in trading of liquefied natural gas, paying a Chinese company $806 million to take its interest in a U.S. LNG export venture. There’s also been a drag on profit from its chips systems business, Nikkei reported, while adding that there are some bright spots in point-of-sale systems, railway systems and air conditioning operation. Toshiba will maintain its medium-term plan targeting ¥400 billion in operating profit by the year ending March 2024, aided in part by its further push into the “internet of things,” Nikkei reported. Toshiba spokeswoman Midori Hara said a decision hasn’t been made on a profit revision, and the company plans to release its earnings report on Feb. 13.


German migrant rescue ship renamed after tragic toddler Alan Kurdi

Abstract: MALLORCA, SPAIN - A German migrant rescue ship that operates in the Mediterranean was renamed Sunday after Alan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian refugee boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach at the height of the migrant crisis, sparking global outrage Alan’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, and aunt, Tima Kurdi, attended the renaming ceremony held in Palma on Spain’s Balearic Island of Mallorca. The event was organized by German charity Sea-Eye, which operates the boat formerly known as the Professor Albrecht Penck. “We are happy that a German rescue ship will carry the name of our boy. My boy on the beach must never be forgotten. Our grief for the loss of my wife and sons is shared by many, by thousands of families who have so tragically lost sons and daughters this way,” Abdullah Kurdi said in a statement released by Sea-Eye. Kurdi paid smugglers to take him and his family from Turkey to Greece after the Turkish government would not grant them the exit visas they needed to enter Canada, where Tima lives as refugees. Their September 2015 journey across the Mediterranean ended in tragedy after the flimsy inflatable boat sank in rough seas. Eleven refugees died, including Kurdi’s wife, Rehanna, and their two young boys, Ghalib and Alan — or Aylan as his name was widely transcribed in the anglophone press at the time. The images of Alan, wearing a red T-shirt, blue shorts and black shoes, and lying face-down in the surf, sparked outcry around the world and led to demands that more should be done to protect those making the perilous journey from North Africa to Europe. But the rise of anti-immigrant movements across Europe in response to the spike in arrivals in 2015 has seen governments seek to stem the numbers amid continuing rows over who should take those who do make it. Sea-Eye says it has saved more than 14,000 people from drowning in the Mediterranean in more than 60 missions since it started operating in 2016.

syria
greece
eu
turkey
spain
migrants
mediterranean
marine accidents
sea eye
alan kurdi


Russia 'repatriates' 27 offspring of Islamic State fighters from Iraq

Abstract: BAGHDAD - A Russian official said Sunday that Moscow had repatriated a fresh batch of children whose mothers are being held in Iraq for belonging to the Islamic State group. “Twenty-seven Russian children have been repatriated from Baghdad,” a Russian foreign ministry official said. Thirty other children were sent back to Moscow in late December. The fathers of the children were killed during three years of fighting between the jihadis and Iraqi troops, the official said. IS seized large swaths of Iraq in a lightning 2014 offensive, before the government dislodged the jihadis from urban centers and eventually declared victory in December 2017. The Kremlin announced in early January that 115 Russian children aged below 10 — along with eight aged between 11 and 17 — were still in Iraq. Iraqi law allows detainees to be held with their offspring until the age of 3, but older children have to live with relatives. In November, Kheda Saratova — an adviser to Chechnya’s authoritarian leader, Ramzan Kadyrov — estimated “around 2,000” widows and children of Russian IS fighters were still in Iraq and neighboring Syria. Around 100 women and children — mostly from Caucasus republics — have resettled in Russia so far. Nearly 4,500 Russian citizens had gone abroad to fight “on the side of terrorists,” Russia’s FSB domestic intelligence agency said last year. More than 300 people, including around 100 foreign women, have been sentenced to death in Iraq for belonging to the Islamic State, while others have been sentenced to life in prison. Most of those convicted are Turks or originate from former republics of the Soviet Union.

terrorism
russia
iraq
chechnya
islamic state
caucasus


'Heavy clashes' as U.S.-backed forces make final push against Islamic State's last Syria bastion

Abstract: HASAKEH, SYRIA - U.S.-backed forces were locked in fierce fighting Sunday as they pressed the battle against the last shred of the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” in eastern Syria. The jihadis overran large parts of the country and neighboring Iraq in 2014, but various military offensives have since reduced that territory to a patch on the Iraqi border. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by a U.S.-led coalition, announced a final push to retake the jihadi pocket late Saturday, after a pause of more than a week to allow civilians to flee. An SDF field commander said his fighters were battling their way forward on Sunday morning. “There are heavy clashes at the moment. We have launched an assault and the fighters are advancing,” he told AFP. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said the SDF advanced across farming land, backed by coalition airstrikes and artillery fire. “The battle is ongoing. There were heavy clashes this morning, with landmines going off,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory. The SDF launched an offensive to expel IS from the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor in September. The Kurdish-led alliance has since whittled down jihadi-held territory to a scrap of just 4 sq. km (1 sq. mile) between the Euphrates and the Iraqi border. Up to 600 jihadis could still remain inside, most of them foreigners, according to SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali. Hundreds of civilians are also believed to be inside, he said. But Bali added the extremist group’s elusive leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,was likely not in the last pocket. “We do not think he is in Syria,” Bali said, without adding further details about the whereabouts of the man who declared a cross-border IS “caliphate” in 2014. On the Iraqi side of the border, French members of the coalition on Saturday stood ready to pour fury on any jihadis trying to escape. Dozens of 155-mm shells were lined up ready to be loaded onto three green-and-black Caesar gun-howitzers with a range of 40 km (25 miles). Coalition deputy commander Christopher Ghika last week said Iraqi forces had sealed their border with Syria. Since September, more than 1,270 IS militants, more than 670 SDF fighters, and around 400 civilians have been killed in the fighting, the Observatory says. At the height of their rule, the jihadis imposed their brutal interpretation of Islamic law on a territory roughly the size of Britain. But military offensives in both countries, including by the SDF, have since retaken the vast bulk of that caliphate. On Saturday, Bali said he expected the battle for the last patch of IS territory to be over in days. The jihadis, however, retain a presence in Syria’s vast Badia desert, and have claimed a series of deadly attacks in SDF-held areas. Since December, more than 37,000 people, mostly wives and children of jihadi fighters, have fled out into SDF-held areas, the Observatory says. That figure includes some 3,400 suspected jihadis detained by the SDF, according to the monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information. The SDF holds hundreds of foreigners accused of belonging to the extremist group in its custody, as well as members of their families. They have urged Western governments to repatriate their nationals, but politicians abroad have been reluctant. Relatives at home fear alleged foreign jihadis may end up facing tough justice in Iraq, where Human Rights Watch warned they could face “torture and unfair trials.” On Sunday, a Russian diplomatic source says Russia was repatriating 27 children who mothers are being held in Iraq for belonging to IS. The issue of jihadi repatriation from Syria has come into sharper focus since the United States in December announced its military withdrawal from Syria. That announcement has seen the Kurds warn they may struggle to keep jihadis in jail, and pushed them to seek a new ally in the Damascus regime to prevent a long threatened Turkish offensive. While the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been a key U.S. ally in the fight against IS, Ankara views them as “terrorists.” Syria’s Kurds have largely stayed out of the country’s civil war, instead building semi-autonomous institutions in northern and northeastern regions they control. The conflict has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. The regime has made a military comeback with Russian military support since 2015, and now holds almost two-thirds of Syria.

u.s .
terrorism
syria
kurds
islamic state
syrian democratic forces


Iran cheers U.S. 'dismay' and vaunts military might as revolution turns 40

Abstract: DUBAI - Hundreds of thousands of Iranians held nationwide rallies on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Shah and the triumph of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shiite cleric who led an Islamic Revolution that rattles the West to this day. On Feb. 11, 1979, Iran’s army declared its neutrality, paving the way for the collapse of the U.S.-backed monarch, the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East. State TV showed large crowds defying frigid weather and carrying Iranian flags while chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America,” trademark chants of the revolution. One banner read: “Much to the dismay of America, the revolution has reached its 40th year.” The large turnout in state-sponsored rallies came as Iranians face rising prices, food shortages and high inflation that have triggered waves of protests. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers last year and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, dealing a blow to the country’s economy. Iranian officials said the move amounted to “economic warfare” In a speech at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) square, President Hassan Rouhani dismissed U.S. efforts to isolate Iran, saying U.S. sanctions could not break the Islamic Republic. “We will not let America become victorious. … Iranian people have and will have some economic difficulties but we will overcome the problems by helping each other,” he said in a speech. Iran was determined to expand its military power and ballistic missile program despite mounting pressure from hostile countries to curb Iran’s defensive work, state TV reported Rouhani as saying. Soldiers, students, clerics and black-clad women holding small children flocked to the streets of cities and towns, many carrying portraits of Khomeini and Iran’s current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Regional power Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have viewed Iran with great suspicion since the Islamic Revolution swept the Shah from power, fearing Khomeini would inspire Islamic militants across the region. Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in proxy wars in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

conflict
u.s .
history
iran
hassan rouhani


Saudis don't know where Jamal Khashoggi's body is: foreign minister

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Saudi authorities do not know where dissident Jamal Khashoggi’s body is despite having in custody the Saudi team that murdered him, the kingdom’s foreign minister said in an interview broadcast Sunday. The dissident journalist was dismembered after his murder Oct. 2 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul but his remains have yet to be found. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the murder was carried out by Saudi officials “acting outside their scope of authority” and that 11 people have been charged with the crime. But asked where Khashoggi’s body is, he told CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “We don’t know.” Jubeir said the public prosecutor responsible for the case had sought evidence from Turkey but had received no response. Questioned why those in custody couldn’t tell them where the body was, Jubeir responded: “We are still investigating. “We have now a number of possibilities and we’re asking them what they did with the body, and I think this investigation is ongoing, and I would expect that eventually we will find the truth,” he said. Jubeir was interviewed on Friday, the same day President Donald Trump ignored a congressional deadline for reporting on who assassinated Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post who had been openly critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The CIA has concluded the Saudi operation was likely directed by the powerful crown prince, but the White House has sidestepped that finding amid strenuous denials by Riyadh, a key U.S. ally. A New York Times report Friday said the CIA had intercepted communications of the crown prince telling a top aide in 2017 that he would go after Khashoggi “with a bullet” if the journalist did not return to Saudi Arabia. “I’m not going to comment on reports based on anonymous sources,” Jubeir told CBS. “The crown prince, we know, did not order this. This was not a government-sanctioned operation,” he said.

murder
saudi arabia
donald trump
mohammed bin salman
jamal khashoggi
adel al-jubeir


Tabloid CEO's lawyer denies National Enquirer tried to blackmail Jeff Bezos

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The National Enquirer committed neither extortion nor blackmail by threatening to publish intimate photos of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, an attorney for the head of the tabloid’s parent company said Sunday. Elkan Abromowitz, an attorney for American Media Inc. chief executive David Pecker, said on Sunday a “reliable source” well-known to Bezos and his mistress provided the story about the billionaire’s extramarital affair. Bezos has said AMI threatened to publish the explicit photos of him unless he stopped investigating how the Enquirer obtained his private exchanges with his mistress, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, and publicly declare that the Enquirer’s coverage of him was not politically motivated. Bezos also owns The Washington Post. Bezos’ investigators have suggested the Enquirer’s coverage of his affair was driven by dirty politics, and the high-profile clash has pitted the world’s richest man against the leader of America’s best-known tabloid, who is a strong backer of President Donald Trump. Trump has been highly critical of Bezos over his ownership of The Washington Post and Amazon, and the Post’s coverage of the White House. Federal prosecutors are looking into whether the Enquirer violated a cooperation and nonprosecution agreement that recently spared the gossip sheet from charges for paying hush money to a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with Trump, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday. The people weren’t authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. But asked during an interview with ABC’s “This Week” whether he was concerned the Bezos matter could jeopardize the noncooperation agreement, Abramowitz said: “Absolutely not.” Abramowitz defended the tabloid’s handling of the situation as part of a standard legal negotiation. “I think both Bezos and AMI had interests in resolving their interests,” Abramowitz said. “It’s absolutely not a crime to ask somebody to simply tell the truth. Tell the truth that this was not politically motivated, and we will print no more stories.” Bezos’ affair became public when the Enquirer published a story on Jan. 9 about his relationship with Lauren Sanchez, who is also married. Bezos then hired a team of private investigators to find out how the tabloid got the texts and photos the two exchanged. Bezos’ personal investigators, led by his security consultant, Gavin de Becker, have focused on Sanchez’s brother, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Michael Sanchez is his sister’s manager, a Trump supporter and an acquaintance of Trump allies Roger Stone and Carter Page. Abramowitz would not comment when asked whether Michael Sanchez was the Enquirer’s source but said that “Bezos and Ms. Sanchez knew who the source was.” Michael Sanchez has declined to speak with AP on the record. In a Jan. 31 tweet, he said without evidence that de Becker “spreads fake, unhinged conservative conspiracy theories.” After Bezos on Thursday posted the exchanges with AMI in an extraordinary blog post on Medium.com , several celebrities and journalists posted on social media that they too had been threatened by AMI. Ronan Farrow said he “and at least one other prominent journalist” involved in reporting on the tabloid had “fielded similar ‘stop digging or we’ll ruin you’ blackmail efforts from AMI” and actor Terry Crews alleged the company tried to “silence him” by “fabricating stories of me with prostitutes.” Abramowitz said he didn’t know of any AMI employees blackmailing celebrities or journalists or “committing any crime at all.” In recent months, the Trump-friendly tabloid acknowledged secretly assisting Trump’s White House campaign by paying $150,000 to Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. The company then buried the story until after the 2016 election. Trump’s longtime personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty last year to charges that included helping to broker that transaction. As part of a nonprosecution agreement in that case, AMI promised not to break the law. The deal requires top executives, including Pecker and the Enquirer’s editor, Dylan Howard, to cooperate with federal prosecutors. A violation of the agreement could lead to criminal charges over the McDougal payments.

jeff bezos
washington post
blackmail
donald trump
national enquirer
david pecker


Sen. Cory Booker in Iowa focuses on race relations in initial 2020 White House swing

Abstract: MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA - U.S. Sen. Cory Booker made the nation’s complicated history with race relations and racial disparities a focal point at events in the key state of Iowa during his first 2020 presidential campaign swing over the weekend. Booker, 49, a former Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, frequently discussed incarceration and employment disparities, while also telling his parents’ story of trying to buy a house in an un-integrated New Jersey suburb in the late 1960s with the help of a volunteer civil rights lawyer. Booker’s focus was an overture to the coalition of young, diverse voters who twice elected former Democratic President Barack Obama, while also differentiating his style from that of the first black U.S. president, who rarely discussed race during his campaign. Booker’s emphasis on his personal and mayoral past, as well as his work as a senator on criminal justice issues, may also set him apart in a crowded field of Democratic candidates aiming to take on Republican President Donald Trump in what could be a historic election. There are already four Democratic candidates vying to be the country’s first woman president, including U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a former top prosecutor in the city of San Francisco and the state of California, who would also be the first black woman. “Right here in Iowa, people meeting in barns — white folk and black folk — built the greatest infrastructure project this country has ever seen: the Underground Railroad,” Booker told a packed crowd at a brewery in Marshalltown, Iowa, on Saturday, referring to a network of safe houses used to assist black Americans fleeing slavery states to free states ahead of and during the U.S. Civil War in the 1860s. In Iowa, which hosts the first presidential party-nominating contest, African-Americans make up just 3.8 percent of the population, according to government statistics. But black voters are a crucial Democratic bloc in states like South Carolina, which also hosts an early nominating contest. Booker’s trip to Iowa occurred as prominent Democratic officials in Virginia faced calls to resign due to past racist photos and sexual assault allegations. Booker is set to campaign in South Carolina on Sunday. At a round-table in Waterloo, Iowa, on Friday, two-thirds of the panelists Booker’s campaign assembled were African-American community leaders. A subsequent forum at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids included Iowa City Council member Mazahir Salih, a Sudanese refugee. Diane Lemker, 64, attended the Marshalltown brewery event and plans to participate in next year’s Democratic nominating caucuses for the first time. She liked Booker’s message of unity and inclusivity. “Obama won the caucus in Iowa in 2008 and that’s what set him off — people couldn’t believe that a primarily white state would launch his candidacy and it did,” Lemker told Reuters. Andrew Turner, an up-and-coming Democratic activist and strategist in Iowa who managed successful Des Moines City Council and state auditor races, said he thought Booker hit the right notes on his first trip to the state. “He really got the rising leaders in the party,” Turner said of Booker’s campaign roundtables. “They crushed this.”

barack obama
cory booker
race
democrats
african-americans
iowa
donald trump
2020 u.s. presidential election