Unique genetic adaptation lets deep-sea fish see color in darkness

Abstract: WASHINGTON - While people and other vertebrates are color blind in dim light, some deep-sea fish may possess keen color vision to thrive in the near total darkness of their extreme environment thanks to a unique genetic adaptation, scientists said on Thursday. Researchers analyzed the genomes of 101 fish species and found that three lineages of deep-sea fish, living up to about a mile (1,500 meters) below the surface, boast a specialized visual system to allow for color vision in inky blackness. Having acute vision could provide tremendous advantages to these fish as they search for food and mates and try to avoid becoming another creature’s dinner in the exotic dark world of the ocean depths, the planet’s largest habitat. “Their eyes are certainly much more sensitive, so we believe their vision in the depths would be very good,” said evolutionary biologist Zuzana Musilova of Charles University in Prague, one of the researchers in the study published in the journal Science. Vertebrates use two types of photoreceptor cells in the retina to see: light-sensitive so-called rods and cones. The cones are employed in bright-light conditions and perceive colors. The rods are used in dim light, not geared to detect colors. Rod cells contain a single type of photopigment — pigments that react to a certain wavelength of light — called rhodopsin. The researchers found 13 species from the three lineages of deep-sea fish that had a proliferation of genes controlling rhodopsin, apparently letting the fish use rods to detect colors. One species, the silver spinyfin, had 38 copies of the rhodopsin gene, rather than the usual one. The spinyfin, with a bright silver body, has an almost circular body shape and large eyes. Other fish with this visual system include the extremely elongated tube-eye fish and the bioluminescent lanternfish. “They very likely are able to see color purely by rods, which is unique among vertebrates,” Musilova said. These fish are smallish, up to a foot (30 cm) long, eating plankton and shrimps at depths mostly between one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile (400-1,200 meters). Residual surface light reaches down to about six-tenths of a mile (1,000 meters). Light also emanates from bioluminescent creatures common in the deep ocean including the anglerfish, which has a glowing lure attached to its head to attract prey.


Scientists liken Anglo-Saxon burial site, possibly first for Christian royals, to King Tut's tomb

Abstract: SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, ENGLAND - An underground chamber discovered accidentally by road workers appears to be the site of the earliest Christian royal burial ever found in Britain, archaeologists say, calling it the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The chamber, uncovered between a road and a railway line in the southeastern English village of Prittlewell in 2003, turned out to be a 1,400-year-old tomb. New details were published Thursday about the finding, which archaeologists say is the most important Anglo-Saxon burial discovery in more than 70 years. Treasures that were unearthed at the site include a golden belt buckle, the remnants of a harp-like instrument known as a lyre, gleaming glassware and an elaborate water vessel from the eastern Mediterranean — perhaps Syria. Researchers say the luxury items indicate the chamber’s occupant was a man of high standing, possibly a prince. Two small gold-foil crosses that were found at the head of the coffin suggest a Christian burial. “There are luxury imports that have come from as far away as Syria. Some of the raw materials might have even come as far away as Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent,” said Liz Barham, a senior conservator at Museum of London Archaeology who worked on the dig. “This is a really rich burial. It’s a statement, it’s a theatrical statement being made about the family, about this person.” Sophie Jackson, director of research and engagement at Museum of London Archaeology, said the discovery is “our equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb.” While the identity of its occupant is unknown, locals have nicknamed him the “Prittlewell Prince.” Fragments of tooth enamel — the only human remains uncovered — revealed he was over 6 years old, and the size of the coffin suggests he was about 5 feet 8 inches tall (173 centimeters). Jackson said the “best guess” is that it was Seaxa, brother of King Saebert, the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity. She said the burial came at a time when Christianity was vying in Britain with older pagan beliefs. “They would have been just on the transition between having pagan burials with all your gear, but also having these crosses,” she said. The Anglo-Saxons were descendants of Germanic tribes who gradually invaded England by sea starting in the fifth century, after the collapse of the Roman Empire. They came to rule the country until the Norman conquest in 1066. Dozens of artifacts will go on show Saturday at Southend Central Museum, which lies near the burial site and is located about 40 miles (60 km) east of London.

england
king tut
seaxa
king saebert
anglo-saxon
prittlewell


Life in a moon colony: First, dig a tunnel

Abstract: NAPLES, ITALY - As space agencies prepare to return humans to the moon, top engineers are racing to design a machine capable of digging underground colonies for the first lunar inhabitants. “Space is becoming a passion for a lot of people again. There are discussions about going back to the moon, this time to stay,” Colorado School of Mines professor Jamal Rostami said at this year’s World Tunnel Congress in Naples. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump wants NASA to put humans back on the moon by 2024, and the agency is also drawing up plans for a “gateway” station to serve as a platform for astronauts traveling to and from the lunar surface. Billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are among those feverishly competing for military, civil or commercial launches, with Musk’s SpaceX leading the race on building rockets ready to fly in time. But the harsh conditions on the surface of the moon mean that, once up there, humans need to be shielded from radiation and freezing temperatures in structures that maintain atmospheric pressure in a vacuum. They also need protection from meteor strikes. “Imagine something the size of my fist as a piece of rock coming at 10 to 12 kilometers per second (6 to 7 miles per second) — it can hit anything and would immediately destroy it,” Rostami said at the meeting in southern Italy. “So every plan for having a habitat on the moon involves making a trench, creating a structure and covering it with some sort of regolith, which is the soil on the moon. Our idea is to actually start underground, using a mechanism we already use on the Earth, a tunnel boring machine, to make a continuous opening to create habitats or connect the colonies together,” he added. Analysis of images of the lunar surface show lava tubes capable of housing large cities underground, said Rostami, director of the Earth Mechanics Institute at the Colorado college. But getting something as vast as a tunnel boring machine up there will be no easy task. “Weight is an issue. It’s pretty expensive to take a kilogram of material from the Earth to the moon. Our machines are hundreds of tons of mass, so it’s not feasible to take the machines as they are,” he said. “We have to convert the design, where all the components are optimized, weigh much less, and perform better.” The machines also have to become fully automated and repairs must be reduced to a minimum, a particular challenge when dealing with tools that would see a lot of wear and tear as they ate through rock and dirt. There is also the question of how to power them. With a machine 4 meters in diameter needing 2,000 kilowatts of energy, experts are debating whether it is possible to use small nuclear power plants to fuel a lunar version, he said. There may be 1,000 people living in outer space by 2050 — either in orbit or on the moon — according to the American United Launch Alliance, which estimates this initial space exploration will cost $2.7 trillion. Despite some talk of the first space residents using mining tools like lunar tunnel boring machines to dig for precious minerals, Rostami said their priorities would lie in extracting something even more precious. “We’re not talking about gold. The first target is water. We know there is trapped water at the lunar poles, where the temperature is as low as minus 190 degrees Celsius (minus 310 Fahrenheit).” “One of the ideas being discussed is of heating the part in permanent shadow, evaporating the water and capturing it,” said Rostami, who has launched the world’s first master’s degree and Ph.D. in space resource engineering in Colorado. “Another idea is to mine it, and take it to a facility and let it thaw. The material extracted along with the water can then be used to 3D print buildings in the colonies,” he said. One thing is sure: The future lunar tunneling machines will undergo rigorous pilot testing on Earth first “because once it’s deployed, that’s that. It’ll be very difficult to make any drastic changes.”


Coca-Cola spent €8 million to influence health research in France, Le Monde reports

Abstract: PARIS - U.S. beverage giant Coca-Cola paid more than €8 million ($9 million) in France to health professionals and researchers in a bid to influence research, according to an investigation by French newspaper Le Monde published on Thursday. The newspaper said the aim of the funds was to have research published that would divert attention away from the detrimental effect of sugary drinks on health. Le Monde, in its front page story, said Coca-Cola paid more than “€8 million to experts, various medical organizations and also sporting and event organizations.” It said in France, as elsewhere, the financing fell under communication or sponsorship and not as authentic scientific work. Coca-Cola has been under a similar spotlight before, after the New York Times in 2015 reported that the company gave financial backing to scientists who argued that having more exercise is more important to avoiding obesity than cutting calories. In the outcry that followed that report, the firm promised to improve transparency and publish on its site the names of experts and activities it finances in the United States. It did the same for France in 2016 following pressure from the NGO Foodwatch and it is this data that has been intensely analyzed by Le Monde. Le Monde said that as in the U.S., the company’s financing is aimed at “making people forget the risks that come with consuming its drinks.” In a separate report, the Journal of Public Health Policy said Coca-Cola added multiple clauses to ensuring the research it funds produces the desired result. These include preventing results that displease the company being published by reserving the right to break contracts without giving a reason.


Montenegro convicts pro-Russian politicians of 2016 coup plot

Abstract: PODGORICA - A Montenegro court on Thursday handed jail sentences to two opposition politicians and a dozen others, including Russians and Serbians, over an alleged 2016 plot to topple the government and halt its bid to join NATO. Pro-Russian opposition leaders Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic were given five years behind bars for being part of a criminal organization whose aim was to “violently overthrow” the government and “prevent Montenegro from joining NATO,” Judge Suzana Mugosa said. The heaviest sentences, 12 and 15 years, went to two alleged Russian spies tried in absentia. Authorities first arrested suspects on the eve of October 2016 elections, the night before the group was allegedly planning to stage their takeover. At the time, the pro-Russian coalition was the main rival against then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in October 2016 elections. Djukanovic, who has run the small Balkan state almost continuously since 1991, was later elected president in 2018. Moscow, which had opposed the tiny Balkan state’s efforts to join NATO at the time, has rejected allegations of its involvement as “absurd. The other people convicted were a Montenegrin and nine Serbians, including a former police general and anti-NATO activist who received eight years in jail. Since the trial opened a year and a half ago, Montenegro’s opposition has decried it as a government-backed “witch hunt” aimed at destroying their political camp, known as the Democratic Front. Speaking at his party’s headquarters after the ruling, Mandic called the verdict a “complete farce” engineered by the Djukanovic family. “All those who attack us will suffer severe consequences and accountability,” he added. Knezevic, 39, added that “the judge did not show a single proof against the Democratic Front.” The politicians are expected to appeal the ruling. In the years since the alleged coup attempt, Montenegro joined NATO and the government has continued its negotiations for accession to the European Union. The opposition’s Democratic Front coalition remains weakened. Political analyst Sergej Sekulovic noted that prosecutors have recently shifted “in the direction of minimizing Moscow’s official role in this case.” The ruling nevertheless “strengthens the position of the government, which from the beginning has held an identical position to that of the prosecutor,” he added. British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt continued to point the finger at Moscow. “Guilty! Conviction of 2 Russian intelligence officers for failed coup attempt in Montenegro another example of Russia’s outrageous attempts to undermine European democracy,” he wrote in Twitter. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus called the conviction “a clear victory for the rule of law, laying bare Russia’s brazen attempt to undermine the sovereignty of an independent European nation. Observers say the months-long trial still left many questions unanswered. The weapons that the plotters allegedly planned to use were never shown in court. According to the indictment, dozens of cases of automatic weapons and three cases of ammunition were thrown into a lake in a neighboring country. Prosecutors later said a Serbian who provided the weapons ultimately destroyed them at the request of Montenegrin justice. “Without these weapons, the story of a violent overthrow of power is unconvincing,” Dragan Soc, a lawyer and Montenegro’s former justice minister, told AFP ahead of the ruling. One of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Serbian national Aleksandar Sindjelic, also reversed his testimony about a Russian-funded plot. In March he told a Serbian television channel that there had been no “plan of violence in Podgorica,” only an anti-NATO “protest. The court did not bring him back to the witness stand, saying his reversal was expressed outside any judicial framework.

u.s .
russia
nato
eu
u.k .
serbia
coups
montenegro
milo djukanovic


U.S. ex-intelligence analyst charged with leaking al-Qaida info to reporter

Abstract: ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA - A former government intelligence analyst has been charged with leaking classified documents about military campaigns against terrorist group al-Qaida to a reporter. Daniel Everette Hale, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested Thursday morning. An indictment in Alexandria, Virginia, charges him under the Espionage Act with counts including obtaining and disclosing national defense information, as well as theft of government property. According to the indictment, Hale worked as an intelligence analyst for the Air Force and later as a contractor assigned to the government’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The indictment says Hale began communications with a reporter in 2013 while at the Air Force and continued communications after going to NGA. According to the indictment, Hale provided 11 Top Secret or Secret documents to the reporter and his online news outlet. Those documents were later published either in whole or in part. They include a secret memo outlining a military campaign against al-Qaeda overseas, a top secret intelligence report on an al-Qaida operative, and a secret PowerPoint slide “outlining the effects of the military campaign targeting Al-Qaida overseas,” according to the indictment. At an initial appearance Thursday afternoon in the federal courthouse in Nashville, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern ordered Hale released under pretrial supervision pending his next hearing, which is May 17 in Alexandria. One of Hale’s attorneys — Jesselyn Radack, who specializes in representing whistleblowers — said the investigation of Hale had essentially lay dormant for five years up until Hale’s arrest. She said the Trump administration is continuing and escalating what she called “a toxic trend” started under the Obama administration of aggressively prosecuting legitimate whistleblowers. “If you look at the charges, what he’s accused of is classic whistleblowing,” Radack said. “He contacted a reporter about a matter of extreme importance that’s been shrouded in secrecy.” Court papers do not identify by name the reporter who allegedly received the leaks, but details in the indictment make clear that Jeremy Scahill, a founding editor of The Intercept, is the reporter who received them. The indictment states that many of the classified documents were disclosed in an October 2015 news article. On October 15, 2015, Scahill published an article on The Intercept titled “The Assassination Complex” that relies on “a cache of secret slides that provides a window into the inner workings of the U.S. military’s kill/capture operations at a key time in the evolution of the drone wars.” The story says the documents “were provided by a source within the intelligence community who worked on the types of operations and programs described in the slides.” Scahill’s book, “Dirty Wars,” was published in 2013, and the indictment indicates Hale and Scahill met while Scahill was promoting the book at a Washington, D.C., bookstore. The book reported on the use of drones to attack and kill targets like al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, among other things. The indictment states that Hale listed his work with drones on kill and capture operations on his resume and quotes Hale in a text message to a friend stating that Scahill “wants me to tell my story about working with drones.” Betsy Reed, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief, issued a statement Thursday saying they do not comment on matters related to anonymous sources. She did say the documents described in the indictment “detailed a secret, unaccountable process for targeting and killing people around the world, including U.S. citizens, through drone strikes. They are of vital public importance.” She criticized the Trump administration for following the path of the Obama administration in aggressively prosecuting leaks and using “the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers who enable journalists to uncover disgraceful, immoral, and unconstitutional acts committed in secret by the U.S. government.” John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement that the indictment is the “latest step in the Department’s efforts to stop the leaks of information that could damage the national security. We have brought four cases in the last two years and have secured three convictions thus far.” The Eastern District of Virginia, where Hale will be prosecuted, has been a frequent location over the years for cases involving leaks and whistleblowers. Prosecutors in Alexandria have filed criminal charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and against former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, though both so far remain overseas despite U.S. efforts to obtain their extradition. In 2015, a judge imposed a 3 ½ year sentence on former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who was convicted of exposing government secrets to a New York Times reporter. In 2013, another former CIA man, John Kiriakou, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking a covert officer’s identity to a reporter. Kiriakou’s indictment in 2012 prompted then-CIA Director David Petraeus to issue a statement reminding his agency’s employees of the need for secrecy in their work. “When we joined this organization, we swore to safeguard classified information; those oaths stay with us for life,” he said at the time. In 2015, Petraeus pleaded guilty in federal court in North Carolina to a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information. He was sentenced to probation.

u.s .
espionage
al-qaida
whistleblowers
intercept
donald trump
jeremy skahill
daniel everette hale


Billions in dirty cash helped fuel Vancouver's housing boom

Abstract: VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Vancouver penthouses, ski chalets at Whistler, and holiday retreats in Persian Gulf islands are among the thousands of properties identified in a dirty-money probe that estimates more than 7 billion Canadian dollars ($5 billion) was laundered through British Columbia last year. The startling findings from two reports released by the provincial government Thursday illustrate how a torrent of suspicious cash has fueled casinos, luxury car sales and real estate in the Pacific Coast region. “The amount of money being laundered in B.C. is more than anyone predicted,” Finance Minister Carole James told reporters Thursday, referring to the western Canadian province. In real estate alone, an estimated C$5 billion may have been laundered last year in the province — equivalent to 4.6 percent of all transactions by value in that period, according to one of the reports. In the Vancouver region, where housing prices rose more than 70 percent in five years, “I certainly believe that money laundering played a part,” James said. Such a share of transactions is “sufficiently large to have an observable impact on real estate prices,” the report said. It estimated that dirty money pushed B.C. home prices 3.7 percent to 7.5 percent higher than they would be in the absence of laundering. A string of investigations commissioned by Premier John Horgan’s government have slowly been revealing in recent months how Vancouver and the surrounding area has become a hub for dirty money, tax evasion, and a place to park foreign cash of unknown origin — no questions asked. Previous reports had revealed how casinos for years were accepting millions in cash often stuffed into hockey bags and suitcases, how gangsters paid auto leases with proceeds of crime, and most recently, how a thriving gray market in Vancouver-to-China luxury car exports sent millions of dollars in sales-tax refunds to overseas buyers. But those pale in scale and scope to the latest findings in real estate, a sector that by some estimates accounts for a third of British Columbia’s gross domestic product and is likened to “the oil” of its economy. Among the numbers revealed in the second report released Thursday, led by independent investigator Peter German, who had earlier probed the casinos, were: One B.C. property in five is bought in cash; over the past two decades C$212 billion in property has been bought in cash. The true owners can’t be identified for the vast majority of C$28 billion in B.C. residential property held by legal entities. More than 25 properties worth C$34 million have owners listing addresses in countries subject to trade sanctions. The anecdotal examples are just as staggering: A C$3.5 million Persian Gulf island estate acquired with funds allegedly embezzled from a $90 million loan fraud in India. A luxury car reseller “known to police” who owns three Vancouver homes worth C$8.6 million with multiple layers of mortgages with inexplicably declining interest rates. Hundred of properties where mortgages were registered and repaid in rapid succession — in one case a single property had 29 mortgages — which the report called a “red flag for money laundering.” A student with a registered office at a rented office who bought 15 units in the same condo for C$29 million. While public scrutiny until now has focused on the role of Chinese money — both legal and illicit — particularly in the Vancouver area, the latest investigation shows the region has been open to all. “Greater Vancouver has acted as a laundromat for foreign organized crime, including a Mexican cartel, Iranian and Mainland Chinese organized crime,” the German report said. “The region has acquired an unenviable reputation for serving as a site for money laundering, drug trafficking, and capital flight.” The provincial government is planning to establish a public registry of beneficial property owners by next year that it says will peel back the anonymity that enables such activity. It is also continuing to plead with the federal government for more resources and new regulations to better monitor cash transactions and suspicious activity, Attorney General David Eby said. “The party is over,” Eby told reporters Thursday. “It may be spring but winter is finally coming for those who rely on bulk cash transactions in their business model.”

china corruption canada wealth money-laundering vancouver


More than 1,000 guns seized at posh Los Angeles mansion

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - A weapons cache of more than 1,000 firearms and ammunition was seized in a raid on a multimillion-dollar mansion in an upmarket neighborhood of Los Angeles, law enforcement authorities said Thursday. The seizure came following an anonymous tip that firearms were being sold illegally out of the home, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) said. The house, which is mostly hidden from the street by high hedges, is located in the exclusive Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, near the famed Playboy Mansion and less than a mile from the home of music industry power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce. A law enforcement source said the home belongs to Cynthia Beck, who has three children with Gordon Getty, the son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Beck reportedly has had a longtime relationship with Girard Damien Saenz, the man who amassed the weapons and who was arrested at the home on suspicion of possessing, selling and manufacturing assault weapons. Saenz, 57, who has not yet been formally charged, was released Thursday morning on $50,000 bail. Video footage taken by local television stations showed Los Angeles police officers and ATF agents inspecting large piles of handguns and rifles outside the house. Photos taken at the scene also showed boxes of ammunition stacked on a table inside the large house, which was cluttered with the weapons. “It was a hoarder’s heaven,” the law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in describing the scene. The local ABC news station said some of the guns were modern while others dated back 50 years or more. A few were even collectibles from the Civil War, it said. Ginger Cobrun, a spokeswoman for the ATF, said that Saenz had a collector’s license but such a license does not allow a person to deal in firearms. She said investigators are still processing the evidence before deciding what charges to file and whether they will be at the state or federal level. “We will be tracing all the firearms to find out where they were purchased and who they were purchased by originally,” she said. “We will also be using ballistics to determine if some of the guns were used in crime.” Los Angeles police lieutenant Chris Ramirez told reporters at the scene that it was “beyond comprehension” for someone to have so many weapons, especially in such a posh neighborhood. “I’ve never seen so many weapons in my career of 31 years,” he said. “It’s kind of astounding.” Authorities said it took some 30 law enforcement officers more than 15 hours — beginning at 4 a.m. on Wednesday — to clear the house and remove the weapons. “Pursuant to an anonymous tip, ATF and LAPD became aware of an individual conducting illegal firearms (transactions) outside the scope of the federal firearm license that the individual possesses,” Cobrun said, adding that there was no reason to “believe the public is in any danger.” Beck, who is said to be living in Europe, could not be reached for comment. The Times said Beck and Saenz together own several properties in the Los Angeles area and an office building in San Francisco.

celebrities
guns
u.s .
murder
los angeles
police


Trump says he's 'surprised' by Senate subpoena of his son, Don Jr.

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said the Senate Intelligence Committee’s subpoena of his son, Donald Trump Jr., came as a surprise, one day after reports that the Republican-led panel had called on his son to again answer questions. “I’m pretty surprised,” Trump said at an event at the White House, calling his son “a good person.” Congressional sources on Wednesday said that the committee, which is among those investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, had issued a subpoena to Trump Jr. to appear again before the committee to discuss his previous testimony. The sources said discussions have been underway for months between the panel and Trump Jr. regarding his possible testimony. Trump Jr. had appeared before the panel previously to answer questions from committee staff, according to a congressional source. The subpoena was issued now because senators want to question him themselves, the sources said.

u.s .
congress
donald trump
donald trump jr .
russia probe


AP was there: U.S. celebrates 1869 transcontinental railroad completion

Abstract: PROMONTORY, UTAH - The May 10, 1869, completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was a pivotal moment in the United States, ushering in a period of progress and expansion nationwide. The presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in remote Promontory, Utah, to mark the occasion, driving a ceremonial last spike to connect their rail lines. The Baltimore Sun, relying on telegraphed dispatches by other cities and The Associated Press, published the following article on the event and how it was celebrated across the U.S. It first appeared on May 11, 1869. AP is reprinting it in honor of the Transcontinental Railroad’s 150th anniversary. ___ COMPLETION OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. Official Announcement — Telegraphing the Hammer Strokes — Rejoicing and Congratulation — Ringing of Bells and Other Demonstrations. PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah, May 10, noon. — To the Associated Press: The last rail is laid. The last spike is driven. The Pacific railroad is completed. The point of junction is 1,086 miles west of the Missouri river, and 690 miles east of Sacramento. LELAND STANFORD, Central Pacific Railroad T.C. DURANT, SIDNEY DILLON, JOHN DUFF, Union Pacific Railroad ___ THE NEWS RECEIVED IN NEW YORK NEW YORK, May 10. — The last spike in the Pacific railroad was driven today at five minutes past 3 o’clock P.M., New York time. San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Plaister Cove, the end of the cable, were connected with Promontory Point by telegraph, and the hammer strokes on the last spike were duly transmitted according to arrangement. When the news was received in New York a hundred guns were fired in the City Hall Park, and Mayor Hall forwarded a congratulatory message to the Mayor of San Francisco. A commemorative celebration had previously been held in Trinity Church, at which a telegram forwarded by the Chamber of Commerce to the Chamber in San Francisco was read, and an address delivered by Rev. Dr. Vinton. After prayer and reading of portions of the Episcopal service, the organ pealed and chimes rung as the large congregation left the church. Flags on the city hall and on many public and private buildings were displayed all day in honor of the great event. ___ FREE TRADE AND THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. A meeting of the American Free Trade League of New York was held at Cooper Institute tonight at which many of the prominent members of the organization were present. David Dudley Field called the assemblage to order, and Howard Potter presided. Addresses were delivered by William Cullen Bryant and Edward Atkinson, and the following resolution was adopted: “Resolved, That in the opening of the great Pacific railroad today, connecting New York and San Francisco, we recognize a pledge, not only for one country, one constitution and one destiny, but with a due regard to the revenue, for the freest sort of trade with all countries and all continents.” ___ RINGING THE BELLS IN PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia, May 10. — At 2:30 o’clock P.M. precisely, Philadelphia time, the news was received of the driving of the last spike of the Pacific railroad. Word was sent to the mayor, and in a few minutes the bells in Independence Hall and the various fire stations were rung, drawing crowds into the streets under the impression that a general alarm of fire was being rung. The people soon ascertained the reason of the ringing of the bells, and flags were immediately displayed everywhere. A large number of steam fire engines ranged in front of Independence Hall with screaming whistles and hose carriage bells ringing. Joy was expressed in every face at the completion of this great work of country. The sudden flocking of the people to the State House reminded one of the reception of the news of the surrender of Lee’s army, when a similar scene was enacted. ___ THE REJOICEING AT CHICAGO. Chicago, May 10. — The celebration of the completion of the great inter-ocean railroad connection today was the most successful affair of the kind that ever took place in Chicago, and probably in the West. It is entirely impromptu, and therefore almost every man, woman and child in the city did their part toward making it a success. The procession was unique in appearance and immense in length, the lowest estimate putting it down at seven miles. During the moving of the procession, Vice President Colfax received the following dispatch: “Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10. — Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Vice President: The rails were connected today. The prophecy of Benton is today a fact. This is the way to India. “G.M. DODGE, “JOHN DUFF, “SIDNEY DILLON, “T.C. DURANT.” This evening Vice President Colfax, Lieut. Governor Bross and others addressed large audiences at Liberty Hall, in which they spoke eloquently of the great era which this day marks in the history of our country. During the evening there was general indulgence in fireworks, bonfires, illumination, &c. ___ THE CELEBRATION ELSEWHERE. There was great rejoicing over the event at Scranton, Pennsylvania, where cannon, bells and whistles of locomotives were employed to give eclat to the occasion. In Buffalo, New York, a large gong was attached to the telegraph wire, and at 2:41 P.M. by the time of that city began to ring out the hammer strokes. The crowd sung the Star-Spangled Banner, and jubilee speeches were made by the orators. Omaha dispatches say that telegrams from Echo City report that the troubles of the railroad laborers near Piedmont were amicably settled.

transportation
u.s .
history
rail
newspapers
utah
promontory
transcontinental railroad


Syrian troops snub cease-fire and seize northwestern fortress town from rebels in Idlib

Abstract: BEIRUT - Syrian government troops captured a northwestern village known for its medieval fortress on Thursday as they move deeper toward Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold, activists and pro-government media said. The latest wave of fighting that began last week is the most serious challenge yet to a cease-fire in the region, brokered by Russia and Turkey in September. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war-monitoring group, said government forces captured the village of Qalaat al-Madiq after insurgents pulled out. Idlib-based activist Alaa Moadamani confirmed the village’s capture. The pro-government Syrian Central Military Media said troops took Qalaat al-Madiq and two smaller nearby villages. Government troops had been holding the nearby fortress, which also carries the name of Qalaat al-Madiq. The village, near the Orontes River, is a gateway to the fertile plain of al-Ghab, a breadbasket for the central province of Hama. The village was built on the site of the ancient city of Apamea and the fortress overlooking it was built during Muslim rule in the 12th century. Thursday’s push came a day after Syrian troops took the nearby village of Kfar Nabudah— which activists called Idlib’s first line of defense The latest offensive, which began April 30, has raised fears of a wider government push on Idlib, which is home to about 3 million people, many of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria. The U.N. says over 150,000 people have been displaced recently within the enclave. The government appears to be trying to secure access to a major highway that cuts through the rebel-held enclave. The highway was to reopen before the end of 2018, following the cease-fire agreement between Russia and Turkey, but it remains closed. Rasheed al-Ahmed, a pharmacist from Kfar Nabudah, said all the village’s residents fled to the north, settling in camps along the border with Turkey. He said the government troops, aided by Russian forces, entered the village in droves with aircraft overhead. Neighboring villages were also emptied, he said, amid the fast-moving offensive. “People are living between trees and in farms,” al-Ahmed said, adding he secured his family a place in Atmeh near the border. “It is a deplorable situation.” The activist-operated Thiqa news agency filmed a group of civilians living between olive trees where they spread out rugs to sleep and sit on. The civilians hung their few belongings on plastic bags on the tree branches. Moadamani, the Idlib-based activist, said “people are terrified as more flee their homes,” adding that many who fled were sleeping in their cars.

conflict
russia
syria
turkey
idlib
hama
qalaat al-madiq


Putin hails military might as Russia, and breakaway Ukrainians, fete WWII Victory Day

Abstract: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin vowed to ensure Russia’s military strength as the country on Thursday marked World War II Victory Day, an event that has become increasingly important over his two-decade rule. The president’s speech to thousands of soldiers and veterans on Red Square came at the start of an annual parade that sees hundred of pieces of military hardware roll through the streets of Moscow. “The lessons of the past war are relevant once again. We have done and will do all that is necessary to guarantee the high capabilities of our armed forces,” Putin said. Those in the modern Russian army remember the “oath” of Soviet soldiers who fought Nazi Germany, he added: “I die but I will not surrender. Putin asked the crowd to observe a minute’s silence as the Kremlin clock chimed under gray skies. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, 88, and Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, who has been a vocal supporter of Putin, were at the commemoration along with Russian dignitaries. The two-day public holiday to celebrate the 1945 victory comes amid heightened tensions with the West and fears of a new Russia-U.S. arms race. Parades and celebrations took place in towns and cities across Russia, from the European exclave of Kaliningrad to the Far Eastern Sakhalin island, near Japan. In a later television interview, Putin said such events were not intended to “sabre-rattle or frighten anyone” but rather “honor the victors.” In Moscow, flag-waving crowds lined the streets to catch a glimpse of tanks and personnel. Among them were children dressed in miniature military uniform, a practice that has become popular in recent years but also sparked controversy. Victory Day paraphernalia including replica soldiers’ caps and toy weapons have been available to buy in Russian supermarkets in the days leading up to the event. Thousands in the afternoon took part in the “Immortal Regiment” march, carrying pictures and medals of relatives who fought in the war. Victory Day parades only became an annual event after the collapse of the USSR and the Immortal Regiment tradition began in 2012. Since then the march has been heavily promoted in state media and city services offer to print out pictures of Soviet soldiers free of charge. Almost half of Russians said they were planning to attend a Victory Day event this year, according to state pollster VTsIOM. In recent years Moscow has stepped up military activity abroad, intervening on behalf of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria’s civil war and backing separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Around 750 personnel took part in a Victory Day parade at the Russian airbase in Syria’s Hmeimim on Thursday, the defense ministry said in a statement. Russia has also said it would build up its military presence in the Arctic, seeking to assert its influence in the strategic region. State television broadcast marches from around the former USSR, including from the unrecognized republic of Lugansk — a Ukrainian breakaway region run by the Moscow-backed separatists. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has cost some 13,000 lives over the last five years.

wwii
vladimir putin
russia
syria
ukraine
bashar assad


Venezuela opposition lawmaker seeks refuge in Argentine Embassy after colleague's arrest

Abstract: CARACAS/BUENOS, AIRES - A Venezuelan opposition lawmaker sought refuge at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas on Thursday, according to an Argentine foreign ministry source and a Reuters witness, a day after the arrest of a top figure in the opposition-controlled legislature. Richard Blanco of the Brave Peoples’ Alliance party had entered the embassy on Thursday morning, said the Argentine official, who asked not to be identified. “He (Blanco) is there as a guest, we can confirm that,” the official said. On Wednesday, Edgar Zambrano, the opposition-run National Assembly’s vice president, said he had been arrested by intelligence agents. Venezuela’s information ministry, Argentina’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Caracas did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Blanco and Zambrano are among 10 opposition lawmakers stripped of parliamentary immunity by the Supreme Court this week. The crackdown came after they joined opposition leader Juan Guaido in rallies last month to spur a military uprising against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency in January, arguing Maduro’s 2018 reelection was illegitimate. About 50 countries, including the United States and much of Latin America, have recognized Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader. Maduro’s government has so far avoided arresting Guaido, which would likely provoke a strong backlash. But the recent measures suggest the ruling Socialist Party is seeking to isolate him by pursuing key political allies. “We take it as a given that the regime is going to keep escalating its repression,” Guaido said at a news conference. He also called for Venezuelans to take to the streets on Saturday for fresh protests against Maduro. Zambrano was arrested on Wednesday by agents from the SEBIN intelligence service who used a tow truck to drag away his vehicle with him inside. He tweeted that he was being taken to the SEBIN headquarters in Caracas. Authorities have not confirmed where he was being detained. The move drew swift condemnation from opposition leaders and the United States, which argues Maduro is a dictator who has undermined the rule of law. “We will continue to use the full weight of the U.S. government to hold accountable those who subvert democracy and the Venezuelan constitutional order, and threaten the safety of the duly-elected National Assembly of Venezuela,” a senior White House official said on Thursday, on condition of anonymity. The decision to strip legislators of their immunity and to arrest Zambrano was condemned as “unconstitutional” in a statement on Thursday by the Lima Group, a regional bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Canada. Other Guaido allies have already been jailed or fled to the embassies of sympathetic nations. Lawmaker Marianella Magallanes, who was among those whose immunity was taken away this week, sought refuge in the Italian Embassy on Wednesday. Guaido’s chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, was arrested in March and remains in jail. Last week, Leopoldo Lopez — Guaido’s political mentor — moved into Spain’s diplomatic residence after escaping house arrest to appear alongside Guaido during his call for the military to rise up. The United States has slapped sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and several top figures in Maduro’s government in a bid to pressure Maduro to step aside so Guaido can take office and call new elections. This week, it removed sanctions on a former Venezuelan general it said broke with Maduro last week. But Maduro retains control of the military and state functions. He has branded Guaido a U.S.-backed puppet seeking to oust him in a coup.

u.s .
argentina
venezuela
nicolas maduro
juan guaido
edgar zambrano
richard blanco


Shark attack kills surfer off France's Reunion, marking 11th fatality since 2011

Abstract: RéUNION, FRANCE - An attack by a shark has killed a surfer off France’s Indian Ocean island of Reunion, the latest fatality in increasingly dangerous waters, emergency services said on Thursday. The surfer, a man aged 28, lost a leg in the attack and was pronounced dead on being brought back to the port of Saint-Leu in the west of the island, emergency services told AFP. The “surfer was accompanied by three friends who tried to take him back to land but did not manage,” said Olivier Tainturier, a senior local official in the nearby town of Saint-Paul. A sharp increase in shark attacks on Reunion since 2011 has been dubbed locally the “shark crisis” and prompted authorities to step up alert systems. It is the 24th shark attack recorded since 2011 on the island, which is French territory, and the 11th one to result in a fatality. As after previous attacks, operations have started to catch sharks in the waters of the incident. Before the latest attack, the local authorities had urged the “greatest vigilance” among beach users as more people flock to the coast at a season when there are high numbers of the highly aggressive bull shark.


Chelsea Manning freed from U.S. jail after refusing to testify in WikiLeaks case

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was freed from a U.S. jail on Thursday after two months in custody — but faces a possible return to the lockup as soon as next week, a support group said. Manning was jailed in early March for refusing to testify in a grand jury investigation targeting the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Her leak years earlier of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made her a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists, and her actions helped make WikiLeaks a force in the global anti-secrecy movement. A judge in March ruled Manning in contempt of court and ordered her held not as punishment but to force her testimony in the secret case, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in the Alexandria, Virginia federal court, just outside Washington, said at the time. The support group, the Sparrow Project, said in Thursday’s statement that Manning was released after 62 days, following the expiry of the grand jury’s term. “Unfortunately, even prior to her release, Chelsea was served with another subpoena. This means she is expected to appear before a different grand jury, on Thursday, May 16,” Sparrow Project quoted Manning’s legal team as saying. “It is therefore conceivable that she will once again be held in contempt of court,” and returned to the Alexandria Detention Center possibly as soon as May 16, the legal team said. “Chelsea will continue to refuse to answer questions.” Manning has previously said she had “ethical” objections to the grand jury system and had answered all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago. Manning was ordered to testify earlier this year for an investigation examining actions by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010, according to her own description, inadvertent court revelations and media reports. At the time Manning, a transgender woman then known as Bradley Manning, was a military intelligence analyst. She delivered more than 700,000 classified documents into WikiLeaks’s hands. The documents exposed cover-ups of possible war crimes and revealed internal U.S. communications about other countries. Sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison, she was released in May 2017 after the commutation of her sentence by President Barack Obama.

u.s .
censorship
wikileaks
surveillance
u.s. domestic spying
chelsea manning


Descendants of Chinese railroad builders in U.S. work to preserve their memory

Abstract: OGDEN, UTAH - Michael Kwan can’t help but think about what life was like on a daily basis for his great-great-grandfather in the 1860s, working 12-hour days in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range on the Transcontinental Railroad that would reshape the American landscape. “You’re not talking about 12 hours sitting at a desk or sitting on a bench. You’re talking about 12 hours of lifting and hammering and blowing things up,” said Kwan, a judge in Salt Lake City. “And I complain when my trainer says we’re going to add 10 pounds.” Kwan and other Chinese Americans are pushing for these workers — some of whom lost their lives building the Western portion of the railroad — to get more than a token mention in history books. This week marks 150 years since the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and several days’ worth of events are planned. Kwan, who is president of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, and his group are participating as part of a drive to be more involved in railroad celebrations and long-term projects. “We haven’t really pushed the envelope and insisted that these contributions be recognized until fairly recently,” Kwan said. On Thursday, group member Margaret Yee helped tap a ceremonial spike alongside Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and a descendant of Union Pacific’s chief engineer on the project at an event in Ogden. Several thousand people attended the anniversary celebration, which featured a pair of restored 1940s-era steam engines. “They say the Chinese built the railroad, the railroad built America,” Yee said. During a brief presentation, Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz hailed the laborers who put in 12-hour days in brutal conditions to build the railroad by hand, saying their work “changed America forever.” “Travel that took six months to go from New York to San Francisco at the risk of your life literally turned into a 10-day excursion in relative comfort,” he said. The Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association was to be in remote Promontory Summit on Friday for a photo re-enactment of the hammering in of the final golden spike of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. The group of descendants is also raising money for a statue of a Chinese railroad worker at Golden Spike National Historic Park. Like previous years, they are sponsoring this week’s Golden Spike Conference, which includes theatrical productions and panels, including one with Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang. Michael Solorio feels fortunate that his family was able to determine that his maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Lim Lip Hong, worked as a foreman on the Central Pacific Railroad while thousands of other workers remain nameless. A junior at Stanford University, it is not lost on him that he is attending a school founded by Central Pacific Railroad President Leland Stanford, who profited from Chinese labor. “It feels kind of weird to know that this school stands because of the labor of my great-grandfather and many others like him put in,” Solorio said. “Even after all this work was put in to make the railroad, there continued to be real intense racism against the Chinese.” The 20,000 Chinese immigrants who worked on the Central Pacific portion, from California to Utah between 1864 and 1869, accounted for about 90 percent of that railroad’s workforce, said Stanford University professor Gordon Chang. Other groups including the Irish, Mormons and former slaves navigating Reconstruction also helped work on the entire railroad. Chinese laborers were often the most exploited. They contended with racism, pay disparity and dangerous tasks in grueling terrain. At high elevations in the Sierra Nevada range, they were ordered to blast through solid granite using nitroglycerine. Some suffered brutal deaths in explosions. Avalanches also took lives. “Their bodies weren’t recovered till next spring. Sometimes they would be uncovered as the snow melted with their work tools still in their hands,” Chang said. There is no definitive data on the death toll among Chinese workers. While some reports back then suggest about 150 died, Chang believes deaths numbered in the hundreds. In his book “Ghosts of Gold Mountain,” he points to newspaper articles that mention the shipping of remains or “bone boxes” to China and of Chinese groups in America keeping their own census records. Clamoring for recognition for them has gotten louder in recent years. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor inducted the Chinese railroad workers into their Hall of Honor. New York Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat, introduced a resolution in March that would honor them and renewed a call for an honorary postage stamp. Chang, as director of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, has gone further in ensuring that Chinese laborers and their sacrifices are embedded in the historical narrative. The project has amassed a treasure trove of oral histories, letters, periodicals and other materials since 2012. Chang said he was surprised when hundreds of people attended a project showcase at Stanford. “I think it indicates there’s a tremendous interest and curiosity and hunger for this,” Chang said. Max Chang, a board member of the Golden Spike foundation, which has been helping plan anniversary events, has been giving volunteer presentations on Chinese workers at elementary and middle schools throughout Utah. The Salt Lake City native is not a descendant, but it always bothered him that Chinese laborers were “a really small footnote” in history classes. “I had to do a lot of research to make sure I got the story right,” he said. “I’m just a parent who wants to make sure my children and grandchildren will eventually know the story of the Chinese railroad worker.” He is in talks with Utah education officials about making the lessons a permanent part of history classes. Kwan, of the descendants group, said education can help dispel the tendency for people to see Asian Americans as not fitting the image of what is “American.” “We’ve been here for more than 150 years and we have contributed every step of the way,” Kwan said. “That’s the dream: Have people stop asking us where we’re from.”

china
transportation
u.s .
history
immigration
rail
ethnicity
discrimination
transcontinental railroad


During periodic U.N. rights council review, North Korea denies political prison camps exist

Abstract: GENEVA - North Korea, facing fierce criticism of its rights record at the United Nations on Thursday, denied the existence of political prison camps in the country. In rare remarks at the U.N. Human Rights Council, diplomats from Pyongyang defended leader Kim Jong Un’s regime against a barrage of accusations, notably from Western states. “There are still some that persistently insist that political prison camps are operated in our country,” said Pak Kwang Ho, a councilor at the central court of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). “There is no such thing as a political prisoner, or a political prison camp, in the vocabulary of the criminal law and the criminal procedure law of the DPRK,” he added. The North was appearing at its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a session during which nations face human rights scrutiny every five years. While the United States and North Korea have both cut ties with regular rights council business, both still join the UPR. “The human rights situation in North Korea is deplorable and has no parallel in the modern world,” said Mark Cassayre, charge d’affairs at the U.S. Mission. He called on Pyongyang to “immediately dismantle all political prison camps (and) release all political prisoners.” Cassayre also accused the North of holding 80,000 to 120,000 people “in deplorable conditions,” some for “merely possessing a religious text” Miriam Shearman, Britain’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva, called on North Korea to “take immediate action to cease the practice of forced labor.” Pak countered that the court-mandated labor performed by inmates at designated “reform institutions . . . is not forced labor.” He insisted that convicts sentenced to carry out labor work for eight hours a day, with Sundays and holidays off. U.N. investigators have previously accused the North of “systematic, widespread and gross” human rights abuses, which was denounced by Pyongyang as a smear campaign to tarnish its international image. A landmark 2014 report by a U.N. Commission of Inquiry documented rampant human rights abuses in the North, ranging from rape, torture and extrajudicial killings to the operation of political prisons. The regime is estimated to have up to 120,000 North Koreans in the camps, where many detainees are said to have been jailed merely for being related to individuals deemed to be a threat to the state, rather than being convicted of internationally recognized criminal offenses.


Taiwan says China has stepped up infiltration efforts with fake news and election meddling

Abstract: TAIPEI - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen said on Friday that China has stepped up its efforts to infiltrate and gain influence in Taiwan and she asked national security agencies to counter Beijing’s efforts. Tsai, speaking to reporters after a national security meeting, said China’s influence operations included attempts to interfere with elections and fake news campaigns. She did not detail specific incidents but said Taiwan’s national security agencies would be finding ways to tackle China’s moves. Tsai said Taiwan would deter military aggression in the Taiwan strait, vowing to boost defense capabilities, including upgrading military equipment and the recently launched program to build submarines locally. “The Chinese Communist Party continues to demonstrate provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait, destroying the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai said. Her comments follow a spike in cross-strait tensions last month when China’s military staged extensive drills with warships, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft around the island. Taiwan scrambled jets to monitor the drills, which a senior U.S. official at the time described as “coercion” and a threat to regional stability. Beijing suspects Tsai is pushing for the island’s formal independence and has steadily stepped up political and military pressure. Any formal independence move is a red line for China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Tsai has says she wants to maintain the status quo with China but will defend Taiwan’s security and democracy. The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously backed legislation supporting Taiwan as members of the U.S. Congress push for a sharper approach to relations with Beijing.

china
taiwan
hacking
espionage
tsai ing-wen


Dreams of economic revival after Mahathir's return fade in Malaysia

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - A year ago, Malaysian land surveyor Muhammad Nur Aliff had high hopes that a shock election victory by 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad could be the catalyst for reform and revival in a country hobbled by sky-high public debt and corruption. But polls show that such optimism has been steadily eroded since the election upset, in which the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) was removed from power for the first time in 60 years and replaced by Mahathir and the patchwork Pakatan Harapan coalition. Mahathir, who inherited a debt-laden economy, has focused much of his administration’s attention on cleaning up public finances following a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving state fund 1MDB and former Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib is facing charges but denies any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, deep divisions within the ruling coalition have curbed efforts to boost government revenue, attract investment or create jobs. Support for the government fell to just 39 percent in March, sharply down from the 66 percent rating in August 2018, according to a survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center. Mahathir also saw his popularity plunge to 46 percent from 71 percent over the same period, although he says he doesn’t put much faith in these numbers. Worryingly for Mahathir, Merdeka Center said Malay Muslims, who make up around 60 percent of Malaysia’s 32 million people, were largely more critical of his administration. Most of the poorest people in the country are Malay and for decades they have been the beneficiaries of subsidies and other affirmative action policies pushed by UMNO. Many in the majority community were also angered when Mahathir appointed an ethnic Chinese finance minister and an attorney-general from the Malaysian-Indian minority, and said cash handouts to Malays could be reduced. Pledges to end the death penalty and rescind oppressive laws such as the colonial-era Sedition Act were also unpopular with traditionalists. “Many young people placed a lot of hope in this new government, but we haven’t seen anything that we had hoped for,” said Aliff, 28, protesting in the capital last week with hundreds of other Malays. “We want to ensure a better future for young people, especially young Malays.” Following protests by Malays and a series of by-election defeats for the ruling Pakatan coalition this year, many of these planned policies have been put on the back burner. In recent months, Malaysia has rolled back efforts to abolish the death penalty and revoke repressive security laws, as well as reversing plans to ratify two U.N. human rights treaties, after pro-Malay groups raised objections. But UMNO and members of the opposition Islamist party PAS have been quick to remind voters of what they describe as Mahathir’s failure to uphold Islam and protect Malay interests. “Pakatan is unpopular with the Malay-Muslim electorate,” said Adib Zalkalpi, a Malaysia director with political risk consultancy Bower Group Asia. “UMNO and PAS have formed a credible opposition front to challenge the government by exploiting communal sentiments.” Reform ambitions are also hampered by fractures within Pakatan, a coalition of parties that was aligned in its goal of removing Najib and UMNO, but doesn’t seem to agree on much else. “Everyone is working in silos. Everyone has a general idea of the problems we face but there really are no discussions going on,” said a senior government source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic. “We don’t have a common narrative to counter the opposition’s racial rhetoric.” Mahathir says accusations the coalition is dysfunctional are false. “Our attention is directed at correcting all the mistakes of the previous government. That has taken much of our time,” he told reporters Thursday. Business sentiment has cooled after initial optimism that followed Pakatan’s electoral win, due mainly to a lack of consensus on the way forward for the economy, according to an April survey of 250 businesses by Ipsos Business Consulting. “The continued lack of clarity on economic policies may lead to increased level of anxiety among the businesses and further intensify the fear of an economic slowdown,” the firm said its report. Investors in the survey also expressed concerns over currency fluctuations and slowing economic growth. The ringgit currency has slumped this year and stocks are underperforming regional rivals. Malaysia has had to fill a revenue shortfall stemming from a populist measure to scrap a goods and services tax last year, while efforts to turn around struggling state entities that burden the Treasury, including long-suffering Malaysia Airlines, have faltered. In March, Malaysia’s central bank cut its 2019 economic growth forecast to 4.3-4.8 percent from 4.9 percent on expectations of a significant drop in export expansion due to slowing global growth and the U.S.-China trade war. On Tuesday, Bank Negara Malaysia became the first central bank in the region to cut its benchmark interest rate, in a move to support the country’s economy. Mahathir has mended ties with China, reaching a cut-price $11 billion rail link deal, which is a welcome investment boost. But with Malaysia’s debt-to-GDP ratio around 50 percent, public support waning and a unstable ruling coalition, it will become increasingly difficult for Mahathir to boost economic growth and win back disillusioned voters. “With exports likely to remain in the doldrums, GDP growth in Malaysia looks set to slow to a post-financial crisis low this year. The government’s recent policies will make the downturn even worse,” Capital Economics said Wednesday in a research note.

malaysia
debt
corruption
development
najib razak
mahathir mohamad


U.S. seized North Korean cargo ship in Indonesia in April for violating sanctions

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has seized a North Korean cargo ship used to supply coal to the isolated nation in violation of international sanctions, law enforcement officials said Thursday. The seizure of the vessel, detained last month in Indonesia, comes at a delicate moment between the two countries. It was announced hours after the North Koreans fired two suspected short-range missiles in an apparent sign of trouble for nuclear disarmament talks. It also follows a Pentagon decision to suspend efforts to arrange negotiations on recovering additional remains of U.S. service members killed in the North during the Korean War. The Justice Department said the ship, the Wise Honest, is one of North Korea’s largest bulk carriers and for several years had been used to deliver Russian coal to North Korea. Payments for maintenance and equipment for the vessel were made in American dollars through unwitting U.S. banks, a violation of sanctions that bar North Korean citizens or entities from the U.S. financial system. Officials say North Korea sought to conceal the vessel’s purpose by listing in shipping documentation different countries for its nationality and the origin of the coal. “This sanctions-busting ship is now out of service,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department’s top national security official. According to a civil complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, the ship was intercepted and seized by Indonesian authorities on April 2, 2018. At the time, it was about 2,800 miles south of Nampo, North Korea, where it had been photographed a month earlier. The complaint says that after taking the load of coal, the ship sailed south with it toward Indonesia. The vessel has since been taken into custody by the U.S.

u.s .
north korea
indonesia
sanctions
coal
wise honest


Three Thais accused of insulting monarchy have disappeared, rights groups say

Abstract: BANGKOK - Three Thai activists facing charges of insulting the monarchy have disappeared after reportedly being arrested in Vietnam, rights groups said on Friday, months after two exiled critics of the military and monarchy turned up dead. Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, denied the three activists were in Thai custody, as has been reported by the Thai Alliance for Human Rights. Chucheep Chiwasut, who broadcasts political commentary to Thailand from exile, and fellow activists Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Thapthai were reportedly turned over to Thai authorities by Vietnam on May 8, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “Vietnam’s alleged secret forced return to Thailand of three prominent activists should set off alarm bells in the international community,” Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams said. London-based Amnesty International said Chucheep had long faced charges of lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy. Siam and Kritsana were also under police investigation for lese majeste, the rights group said. Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code says anyone who insults the king, queen, heir or regent faces punishment of up to 15 years in prison. The U.S.-based Thai Alliance for Human Rights first reported that Chucheep, also known as Uncle Sanam Luang, had been sent back to Thailand. “Uncle Sanam Luang and two others were apprehended … a month ago. But they were just transferred to Thailand on May 8 from Vietnam,” the alliance’s Piangdin Rakthai said in a YouTube video. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit denied the report. “Vietnam has not coordinated transfers. We have not received any request. If there is, it would be through the foreign ministry and police,” Prawit told reporters. Human rights groups have accused the ruling military of applying the lese majeste law more widely since a 2014 military coup as a way to silence critics. In January, the bodies of two exiled critics of the military and royal family, Chatcharn Buppawan, 56, and Kraidej Luelert, 46, were along the Mekong River border with Laos. Their bodies had been stuffed with concrete, apparently to make them sink. The military said at the time it had no information about the bodies. Activist Surachai Danwattananusorn, 78, who operated an online radio station critical of the junta and monarchy from Laos, disappeared in December. His whereabouts are not known. “We are worried about the situation,” Piangdin said in his video. “There have been disappearances and deaths of political activists who are against the military government and criticize the monarchy.”

murder
censorship
rights
thailand
royalty
king maha vajiralongkorn
thai royalty


In happy Bhutan, the prime minister is a doc on Saturdays

Abstract: THIMPHU - It is a Saturday in Bhutan and Lotay Tshering has just completed urinary bladder repair surgery on a patient at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital. Tshering is no ordinary doctor. He is prime minister in the Himalayan kingdom, famous for measuring citizens’ Gross National Happiness. “For me it’s a de-stresser,” said Tshering, who was elected prime minister of the nation of 750,000 people last year in only its third democratic election since the end of absolute monarchy in 2008. “Some people play golf, some do archery, and I like to operate. I am just spending my weekends here,” the 50-year-old said. No one at the hospital bats an eyelid as Tshering, wearing a faded lab coat and Crocs, walks through the busy corridors. Nurses and hospital attendants continue with their jobs as normal. The Buddhist kingdom is in many ways a case apart, benchmarking itself on happiness instead of economic growth. One of the pillars of Gross National Happiness is conservation of the environment. Bhutan is carbon-negative, and its constitution mandates that 60 percent of the country remain forested. It is also big on ecotourism and charges a daily fee of $250 per visitor in the high season. The capital, Thimphu, has no traffic lights, the sale of tobacco is banned and television was only allowed in 1999. Archery competitions, with liberal amounts of the firewater, are a national craze. Phalluses painted on houses to ward off evil are a common sight. But the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” also has its problems, among them corruption, rural poverty, youth unemployment and criminal gangs. Tshering, who trained in Bangladesh, Japan, Australia and the United States, began his political career in 2013, but his party failed to make headway in that year’s election. After losing, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck commanded him to lead a team of doctors and travel with the monarch’s entourage to far-flung villages to provide free medical treatment. Now as prime minister, he spends Saturdays treating patients referred to him and Thursday mornings offering medical advice to trainees and doctors. Sunday is family time. Back in the prime minister’s office, a lab coat hangs on the back of his chair. This, he said, serves as a reminder of his election pledge to focus on health care. Patients don’t have to pay directly for health care in Bhutan, but Tshering says that much more remains to be done despite important strides in medical treatment. While the country has seen major improvements in life expectancy, a reduction in infant mortality and the elimination of many infectious diseases, the number of lifestyle diseases there — including alcoholism and diabetes — is on the rise. “We must now slowly put more focus on secondary and tertiary health care,” Tshering said. At the hospital, Tshering’s patient, a 40-year-old man named Bumthap who underwent a five-hour bladder repair surgery, said he was pleased with the results. “Now that I have been operated on by the prime minister, who is considered one of the best doctors in the country, I feel more relieved,” he said. Politics, the prime minister said, is a lot like being a doctor. “At the hospital I scan and treat patients. In the government, I scan the health of policies and try to make them better,” he said. “I will continue doing this until I die and I miss not being able to be here every day,” he added. And on the days when he drives his car around Thimphu — instead of using his official chauffeur — an-all-too familiar urge takes hold of him. “Whenever I drive to work on weekdays, I wish I could turn left towards the hospital.”


Japan enacts legislation making preschool education free in effort to boost low fertility rate

Abstract: Japan enacted legislation Friday that will make preschool education free as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to expand child care support and boost the country’s birthrate. The government will use revenue from the planned consumption tax hike in October to run the education program, which is expected to cost ¥776 billion per year. The bill, which secured Lower House approval in April, was passed by the Upper House on Friday, amid criticism from some opposition lawmakers that the government should first focus on reducing the number of children on waiting lists for nursery school spots before making preschool education free. Under the program, the government will make preschool education free for all children between 3 and 5 years old starting in October. Day care services will also be made free for children up to 2 from low-income households. If parents send their children to preschools that are not authorized by local governments, maximum monthly subsidies of ¥37,000 per child will be given for those between 3 and 5, and ¥42,000 for those aged 2 and younger. School meals will not be covered. “The financial burden of education and child-rearing weighs heavily on young people, becoming a bottleneck for them to give birth and raise children. That is why we are making (education) free,” Abe told a Diet session on Thursday. Abe’s administration has been encouraging greater participation by women in the workforce amid a deepening labor crunch, while trying to reduce the number of children on waiting lists for day care facilities. The nation’s fertility rate — the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime — stood at 1.43 in 2017, according to government data. Abe changed how the revenue from October’s planned consumption tax hike — to 10 percent from 8 percent — will be used, prioritizing child care support over improving the country’s tattered finances. While ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions have raised uncertainty about the outlook for the nation’s export-driven economy, Abe is expected to go ahead with the tax hike barring an economic downturn on the scale of the financial crisis triggered by the 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The Diet also passed a bill to cut the financial burden of higher education on students from low-income families that are exempted from residence tax payments. Under a system to be launched in April 2020, entrance and tuition fees will be waived or reduced at public and private universities. At national and public universities, standard entrance fees are about ¥280,000, while tuition comes to around ¥540,000 per year. In addition, students from tax-exempt families will receive grant scholarships that can be used to buy textbooks, pay for transportation or cover living expenses. In an example case, the government said that if students come from a family of four with an annual household income of less than ¥2.7 million, they can take advantage of all the system’s benefits.

children
population
education
universities
schools
consumption tax
preschools


Happy hour is over: MUFJ bank executive takes aim at Japan's 'nominication' drinking culture

Abstract: It’s time to stop drinking with the boss after work. That’s the message of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. banking unit executive Saiko Nanri, who wants to change Japan’s long-standing culture of drinks between managers and employees. Companies have long encouraged such parties to give workers the chance to break down barriers with their bosses in an informal setting. Some see the alcohol-fueled bonding sessions as a way to relieve stress and advance their careers, while others feel obliged to attend. The practice is so ingrained that it sparked the term “nominication” — from “ nomu ,” the verb for “to drink,” and “communication.” Nanri, 49, has told her team that she won’t hold the gatherings, saying they’re unproductive and unfair to parents of young children. “It’s not as if I have any special knowledge to share with my staff by drinking with them every day,” she said in an interview. Her stance reflects how some workers are calling into question old work habits blamed for hindering productivity and discouraging women from remaining in the workforce. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to tackle a labor shortage in the rapidly aging nation by making workplaces more flexible and reducing overtime. Some women in particular often resent having to entertain their superiors after a long working day. “This dated practice shuts out working mothers, along with fathers who want to help out more at home, and foreigners who are used to a better work-life balance,” said Kumiko Nemoto, a professor at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies who has written about gender inequality in the workplace. “Stopping nominication is the first step to increasing diversity, performance-based promotion and open communication during work hours.” Because many companies don’t have formal evaluation systems, managers often use the occasions to assess employees, according to Nemoto. That means not attending could have consequences for career advancement in a country that ranks among the lowest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for women in management positions and on boards. A mother of two teenage daughters, Nanri wants to improve staff interactions during the daytime, and urges her team to spend time with friends and family at night. Feedback has been positive, she said, with parents in particular telling her how they appreciated not feeling excluded by skipping team drinks. Some would rather not be invited out in the first place. “Younger staff aren’t as keen to socialize with bosses as the older generation were,” said Hiroki Tahara, a human resources consultant. Saori Yano, 24, used to work at a job-placement company in Tokyo where she and colleagues took turns going out with their manager several times a week after finishing work at around 10 p.m. “He said he would listen to us over drinks because he was too busy during work hours, but usually we’d end up listening to his bragging,” she said. Millennials are also showing less interest in year-end office parties, known as bōnenkai , or “forget the year gatherings” — many firms’ biggest and booziest events. More than half of people in their 20s are at least indifferent to the occasions or dislike them, with the main reason being an aversion to socializing with the boss, according to a survey conducted last November by Neo Marketing Inc. Not all analysts are critical of nominication. Kazuaki Yamauchi, a senior associate professor at the University of Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture, said the practice is necessary to foster smooth communications. Yamauchi did a study in 2011 based on interviews with about 30 business owners that laid out best practices he says still apply for after-work functions, ranging from seating arrangements to drinking advice and who should pick up the tab. “Alcohol can be a lubricating oil,” he said. Nanri, one of the first female executives at Japan’s biggest bank, wasn’t always opposed to team bonding after hours. When she joined MUFG’s predecessor in 1992, she used to play golf with her bosses and do everything she could to fit into the male-dominated culture. After giving birth and returning to work, she found it hard to adjust to her new routine. “I was shocked at how early I had to leave the office to get to the school on time,” she said. “I didn’t have a role model and didn’t know what the best practice was as a working mother at a bank.” She eventually made the adjustment, rising to the post of corporate communications head, overseeing about 100 employees. Last year, she became just the second woman at MUFG to reach the rank of executive officer, and in April she was appointed head of the financial institutions division. Nanri hopes that younger women will have an easier time. She said her effort is just a “small attempt” at sparking changes in how to communicate. Her approach isn’t company policy, “but if it works, I’ll recommend it to other departments.”

women
jobs
mufg
mufj
drinking
saiko nanri


Japan health ministry orders Ono Pharmaceutical to add warning to Opdivo cancer drug after death

Abstract: The health ministry said Thursday that a patient taking the cancer drug Opdivo has died and that it has ordered the manufacturer to add a warning on the package insert about a serious side effect. The patient was among 11 who experienced pituitary disorders after being treated with Opdivo, which is made by Ono Pharmaceutical Co. The medicine, which stimulates the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells, was developed based on research by Kyoto University professor Tasuku Honjo. He was jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the research. The 11 patients experienced abnormalities in the pituitary gland, which produces growth and other hormones. The current package insert calls on recipients to take regular pituitary tests while taking the medicine. Ono Pharmaceutical said that, given the drug’s effect of strengthening the body’s immune response, the possibility cannot be ruled out that its use triggered the dysfunctions. While a link between the death and the drug has not been established, a spokesperson for the firm acknowledged that there had been deaths in the past in which the administration of Opdivo could not be ruled out as a cause, and that the warnings on the package insert were being revised. At a news conference announcing the firm’s financial results, Ono Pharmaceutical President Gyo Sagara said that Opdivo is currently administered in 17,000 to 18,000 cases each year, adding that the firm plans to expand the sales of the drug.

medicine
cancer
tasuku honjo
opdivo
ono pharmaceutical


Japanese law revised to improve enforcement of child custody handovers

Abstract: The Diet enacted a legal revision Friday to enable a child to be handed over to a parent who has been awarded custody, even if the other parent refuses to abide by a court order to do so. Before the revision, the civil implementation law had no clear stipulation regarding child custody handovers. Court officials had to rely on a clause related to asset seizures to enforce court orders, a tactic that was criticized for treating children as property. The legislation originally required a parent living with a child to be present when the child was handed over to the other parent. With the revision, however, the law allows custody transfers to take place in the presence of just one parent, rather than both. The revision removes this requirement to prevent parents without custody rights from thwarting child handovers by pretending they are not at home. In consideration of the children’s feelings, the revision requires in principle that parents with custody rights be present during handovers. The amended law urges courts and enforcement officials to make sure handovers do not adversely affect children’s mental or physical well-being. The new rules will take effect within one year of promulgation. Parliament also enacted an amendment to legislation implementing the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty providing a framework allowing the return of a child abducted by a parent living in another country. The amendment was drafted in response to international criticism that handovers of children from Japan cannot be carried out smoothly, although the country joined the treaty which is designed to prevent cross-border parental abductions of children after the breakup of international marriages. Japan maintains a system of sole custody, and in a large majority of cases, when a dispute reaches court, mothers are awarded custody after divorce. It is not unusual for children to stop seeing their fathers when their parents break up. The civil implementation law was also amended to allow Japanese courts to obtain information on debtors’ finances and property. The change is aimed at helping authorities seize money and property from parents who fail to meet their court-ordered child support obligations and from people who do not compensate victims of crime. The revision also bars members of crime syndicates from acquiring foreclosed real estate properties in public auctions.

children
hague convention
parental child abduction
divorce
child custody


In rare overseas trip, Suga agrees Japan will work closely with U.S. over North Korean missiles

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed Thursday to closely coordinate their response to North Korea’s recent launches of projectiles. Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Washington, Suga said he briefed Pompeo about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s intention to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without preconditions to try and resolve the issue of Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s. It is rare for a chief Cabinet secretary, who is responsible for crisis management, to leave Japan. Suga’s last official overseas trip was to Guam in 2015. Suga and Pompeo also agreed to jointly seek a swift resolution to the abduction issue, and to effect the full enforcement of U.N. sanctions on North Korea in tandem with the international community to force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The two ministers discussed their “close alliance” and reaffirmed bilateral commitment to the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, according to the U.S. State Department. In a separate meeting, Suga and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, also discussed how best to deal with Pyongyang. “We agreed to closely coordinate between Japan and the United States at various levels over analysis and responses,” Suga said in reference to Pyongyang’s recent launches of what appeared to be multiple projectiles, including short-range missiles. The Pentagon confirmed Thursday’s projectiles were ballistic missiles, according to a U.S. government official. At the meeting, Suga and Shanahan also agreed to continue pushing for the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa Prefecture as part of the realignment of American troops in Japan. “The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of the peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Suga said. “Japan, through increased defense capabilities, will contribute to strengthening deterrence and response capabilities of the alliance.” He affirmed with Pompeo and Shanahan the stepping up of preparations for President Donald Trump’s state visit to Japan in late May, and in their cooperation on realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific. On Friday, Suga — in charge of the abduction issue as well as measures to reduce Okinawa’s burden in hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan — was expected to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the White House. Suga’s three-day visit to Washington and New York through Saturday will include a Friday symposium on the abduction issue at the U.N. headquarters, and a meeting with finance and business leaders in New York.

okinawa
u.s .
north korea
yoshihide suga
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
abductions
mike pompeo


Magnitude 6.3 quake hits off coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, injuring one man and disrupting transportation networks

Abstract: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.3 hit off Kyushu on Friday, injuring a man and disrupting some local transportation networks, authorities said. The 8:48 a.m. quake occurred at a depth of about 20 kilometers under the seabed off Miyazaki Prefecture. It measured a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in the city of Miyazaki and Miyakonojo, also in the prefecture, while minor jolts were felt in wider areas of western Japan, the Meteorological Agency said. In neighboring Oita Prefecture, a 79-year-old man who was trimming trees when the quake struck was taken to a hospital after falling from a stepladder. His condition is not life-threatening, local authorities said. The agency warned that another strong quake measuring up to lower 5 could strike the region within a week, but dismissed concerns that Friday’s seismic activity could immediately trigger a mega-quake along the Nankai Trough, which extends southwest from central Japan along the Pacific coast. The government says there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of a magnitude 8 or 9 Nankai Trough quake — capable of generating a devastating tsunami resulting in an estimated death toll of up to 300,000 people — occurring within 30 years. Friday’s quake briefly suspended shinkansen services on Kyushu, causing delays of up to around 15 minutes, according to the operator. A speed limit of 50 kph was set on some expressways. No problems were reported on runways at airports in Miyazaki, Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures after safety checks, airlines said. Kyushu Electric Power Co. said no abnormalities were detected at its Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, where two reactors are in operation. In the city of Miyazaki many elevators at commercial and residential buildings were halted by the quake, according to maintenance companies. A water pipe burst in the city, while some 150 households in Ebino, Miyazaki Prefecture, were temporarily left without power. The central government set up a liaison unit at the crisis management center of the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo to gather information about the temblor.


Japan Mint to issue commemorative gold and copper coins to honor new emperor

Abstract: The Finance Ministry said Friday that it will issue two types of coins commemorating the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito. The new coins will have denominations of ¥10,000 and ¥500. The ¥10,000 coin will be made of gold and the other mainly of copper. The gold coin will be sold via mail order from Japan Mint for ¥140,555, while the copper one will be available for face value at financial institutions nationwide. The obverse face of the gold coin features an embossing of a phoenix and auspicious clouds, symbols of the emperor. The obverse face of the copper one shows the imperial throne, consisting of a seat on a curtained octagonal dias, to be used in Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony in October. The reverse sides of both feature the chrysanthemum crest of the Imperial Family and a Japanese cherry birch and beach rose, symbols of the emperor and the empress, respectively. The Japan Mint will issue 50,000 gold coins and 5 million copper coins, with 30,000 of the gold ones combined with copper ones to form sets priced at ¥142,593 each. The mint will accept applications for the gold coins and the two-coin sets for about three weeks starting July 11. A lottery will be held if demand exceeds supply. The copper coins are scheduled to become available in October. Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne on May 1 after his father, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, abdicated the previous day.

finance ministry
coins
japan mint
emperor naruhito


Sporting events and Brexit offer Dublin the chance to grow ties with Tokyo, Irish ambassador says

Abstract: While Japan and Ireland may view each other as fierce rivals at the Rugby World Cup when they face off in Shizuoka Prefecture in September, Ireland sees the sporting event and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as opportunities to expand contacts — a prelude to further efforts to strengthen bilateral ties that are expected to grow in importance if the U.K. leaves the European Union. Ireland is pinning its hopes of strengthening the bilateral relationship on a chance to offer Japan a stable and secure platform for trade and investment within the EU, Paul Kavanagh, Ireland’s ambassador to Japan, said Friday. “We see opportunity post-Brexit for Irish relations with Japan,” Kavanagh said during a courtesy visit to The Japan Times’ head office. The ambassador said Brexit is undermining certainty, potential and stability in relations with other EU members and regions while Ireland’s membership has helped it become “more open, more international, more global, less isolated.” He believes Ireland can serve as a platform to trade freely within the single market, he said. “We present to Japan an attractive partner for trade and investment and research and study,” he said. Should Brexit happen, Ireland will be the only primarily English-language country in the union, which would create educational and business opportunities for Japan, he added. Kavanagh said Ireland is investing some $25 million in developing a state of the art “Ireland house” in Tokyo, both as a platform to strengthen the cultural ties and to promote projects in other sectors. He added that Ireland is planning to establish a direct flight connecting the two countries. He believes Ireland has strong potential to attract investment from Japan in fields such as technology, health care services, clinical trials and financial services. In 2017 the two countries celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations. Kavanagh, who in the 1990s served as director of the United Nations Information Center in Tokyo and returned last year after his assignments as ambassador to France, China, the United Arab Emirates and the Persian Gulf, said he observed the Imperial succession with interest. Ireland’s president has sent letters to both Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Emperor Naruhito, asking the latter to visit. One of the highest-profile visits between Ireland and Japan occurred in 1985, when the emperor emeritus and his wife, who were then crown prince and crown princess, visited Ireland. They returned for a four-day visit in 2005.


JAXA finds 10 more artificial craters made on Ryugu asteroid by Japan's Hayabusa2 probe

Abstract: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday that 10 smaller, man-made craters had been found on an asteroid in addition to the larger crater its Hayabusa2 space probe produced last month as part of its mission to gain insight into the origin of life and the evolution of the solar system. When the asteroid explorer fired a metal object at the Ryugu asteroid on April 5 to create a crater in a world first, scattered fragments of the impactor made other craters, about 1 meter in diameter each, JAXA said. The newly discovered craters along with the initial one found earlier — which is about 10 meters in diameter and 2 to 3 meters in depth — are expected to help the agency examine the surface of the asteroid and estimate its age, according to JAXA. The agency will continue to investigate the surface of Ryugu, around 340 million kilometers from Earth, in the hope that by June it will have found a suitable site for Hayabusa2 to collect more surface samples following the first such procedure in February. Launched in December 2014 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, Hayabusa2 reached Ryugu last June and is scheduled to return to Earth around the end of 2020 after completing its mission.

space jaxa astronomy planets asteroids hayabusa ryugu


12 injured after minibus slides down mountain slope in Gunma without driver

Abstract: MAEBASHI, GUNMA PREF. - Twelve people were injured Friday in Gunma Prefecture when their minibus slid 20 meters down a mountain slope while the driver was outside, police said. The bus was carrying a group of middle-aged trekkers who had come to the area to climb Mount Eboshidake. Police initially said four people had been seriously injured and 10 had sustained light injuries but later corrected the numbers to two and 10, respectively. After stopping in a parking lot at the entrance to the mountain trail in the village of Nanmoku, however, the bus started moving at around 2:50 p.m. while the driver was outside and the vehicle apparently went off the road, the police said. The police arrested the 66-year-old driver, Isao Ebihara, on suspicion of professional negligence. The driver said he left the bus in neutral and might have failed to pull the parking brake fully, police said. Mount Eboshidake is popular around this time of year, when its azaleas are in full bloom.

accidents
gunma prefecture
mount eboshidake


Japanese man jailed for two years in Ecuador for attempt to smuggle insects and spiders to Hokkaido

Abstract: QUITO - A 26-year-old Japanese man was sentenced to two years in prison in Ecuador for attempting to smuggle a massive haul of insects and arachnids out of the country, officials said Thursday. The defendant was arrested at Quito airport in March with 248 spiders, cockroaches, wasps, bees and butterflies in his suitcases, the environment ministry said in a statement. Identified only as Hirokazu S., the smuggler was also fined $4,000 and ordered to make a public apology in a national newspaper, the ministry said. Ecuador, a relatively small corner of South America that is home to around 17 million, is one of the most biodiverse nations on the planet. Authorities have banned the capture and sale of all wild animals, but illegal trade persists throughout the Amazon region. The defendant intended to bring the creatures, five of which are indigenous to Ecuador and some of which were still alive, to Hokkaido. The man said at the trial that since he had obtained permission to take some butterflies with him, he thought there would be no problem taking other insects. The man’s lawyer said they plan to appeal to a higher court, telling reporters that prosecutors have not proven the actual value of the insects.