Japan to open up job fields for foreign graduates from universities

Abstract: The immigration agency said Tuesday it will increase the number of business sectors that foreign nationals are allowed to work in after graduating from universities or completing postgraduate studies in Japan, in the latest effort to lure more laborers to the country. Under a revised Justice Ministry notification that is set to take effect Thursday, foreign graduates will be able to work at restaurants, retail shops and factory production lines under the Designated Activities status of residence. Up to now, such graduates have usually acquired the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa to work in fields such as engineering and accounting, according to the Immigration Services Agency. The status has not permitted work in the services sector and at factories on the grounds that they are irrelevant to their expertise. But the agency has now decided to allow holders of the Designated Activities visa to engage in such work. Under the plan, the revised Designated Activities visa will be issued on condition that the students will be ensured full-time employment and equal or higher wages compared with Japanese colleagues. They must also have a high level of Japanese-language proficiency. Prior to the change, the Designated Activities visa has been issued to people such as those serving as household employees for diplomats. The latest move comes as domestic companies are seeking to hire foreign workers with strong Japanese-language abilities on the back of a surge in the number of foreign tourists to the country. The agency believes that the expanded job opportunities will boost the number of foreign workers in the country by thousands a year. Japan is stepping up efforts to bring in more workers from abroad to cope with a chronic labor shortage due to the country’s rapidly graying population and low birthrate. New visa statuses were introduced last month to bring in blue-collar workers to labor-hungry sectors.

language
universities
foreign workers
students


Fabled Orient Express train may return to Europe's rails again

Abstract: PARIS - It conjures up the atmosphere of rail travel from a bygone golden age, steaming through Europe experiencing top-notch cuisine and the company of fellow passengers who could be writers or spies. And who knows, maybe a mysterious murder along the way deep in the night . . . The last true Orient Express traveled from Paris to Istanbul in 1977, drawing the curtain on almost a century of taking travelers on the fabled route from Western Europe to the shores of the Bosphorus in Turkey. The train also entered popular culture, playing a central role in celebrated books and movies, not least Agatha Christie’s 1930s novel “Murder on the Orient Express,” which has inspired several films. The brand name was acquired by the French rail operator SNCF, which has now, at huge expense, restored original Orient Express cars and is mulling re-launching the service. SNCF is this week exhibiting seven original cars at Gare de l’Est station in Paris, which have been returned to their original splendor after seven years of restoration. Three are dining cars that were used on the actual Orient Express in its heyday; the four others were used on routes run by the company in the south of France and other European routes. The cars display the height of luxury, with plush armchairs for seats, immaculately varnished wooden tables and art deco fittings. SNCF picked up the brand from Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits after the Orient Express service stopped in 1977, but barely exploited it until it began restoring the cars from 2011. “To restore them, we went into our archives to find the original plans or samples of tissues and so forth,” said Guillaume de Saint Lager, the executive director of Orient Express. “We used exceptional experts.” For SNCF Chief Executive Guillaume Pepy the display at the Gare de l’Est could be the start of a new beginning for the Orient Express. “It is clearly a big investment, some €14 million ($15.6 million), but it is an investment in railway heritage,” said Pepy. “They are a shop window for the expertise of the SNCF in preserving heritage.” After intense research, the SNCF found historic Orient Express cars in a siding in Poland close to the border with Belarus and can now boast a set of 16 cars — including nine sleeping cars and four saloon cars. SNCF last year sold 50.1 percent in the company holding the rights to the Orient Express brand to the French hotel group Accor, which wants to open luxury hotels under the name. Meanwhile, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express — a privately owned luxury train first established by an American entrepreneur in the 1980s — currently plies a route between Calais in northern France, Paris, Verona in Italy and Venice. An exhibition at Paris’ Museum of the Arab World in 2014 on the Orient Express proved a smash hit and encouraged SNCF to restore the cars. “Our aim is to have the Orient Express on the rails all around Europe,” said Pepy. But whether a re-launched Orient Express will again steam between Paris and Istanbul remains to be seen. “We need to look at the state of the carriages and see under what conditions they could travel again and how they could be brought in line with the security specifications that exist in Europe,” Pepy said. “We are doing the technical work now and hope we can have a positive decision this summer,” he added.


Diet OKs revisions to transportation law to ensure safety of self-driving vehicles

Abstract: The Diet on Friday enacted legislative revisions aimed at creating systems to ensure the safety of self-driving vehicles. The revisions to the Road Transport Vehicle Act, approved unanimously by the House of Councilors at a plenary session, call for the applying of vehicle safety standards to self-driving equipment necessary to check the surroundings, including cameras and radars. Under the revised law, special certification will be granted to auto safety inspection business operators capable of undertaking maintenance work for self-driving equipment. The original law did not have provisions that assumed vehicles would ever be self-driving. The revisions also require automakers to provide technical information necessary to carry out inspections of self-driving equipment. For operations to update programs installed in automobiles through the internet and other means, a permit system will be created so that abuse can be prevented. The legal revisions come at a time when the government aims to realize so-called Level 3 self-driving, in which the driver controls the vehicle in emergencies and on expressways, as early as 2020. Also by around the same time, it plans to introduce Level 4 automated driving, which does not require a driver in the vehicle, for transportation services in limited places including sparsely populated areas. The transport ministry plans to consider specific conditions under which self-driving equipment can be used, such as driving speeds, routes and weather conditions. Following a series of scandals last year in which automakers cheated on pre-shipment inspections of finished vehicles, the revised law has a provision allowing the government to order problem automakers to take corrective action, thereby virtually preventing them from mass production until adequate measures have been taken.

transportation diet carmakers self-driving


U.S. won't seek cap on car exports from Japan in trade deal despite report, Tokyo's negotiator says

Abstract: Japan’s top trade negotiator said Friday he has been assured the United States will not ask Japan to cap its automobile exports as part of a bilateral trade deal. Toshimitsu Motegi, minister for economic and fiscal policy, said that he had spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer following a report by Bloomberg News that U.S. President Donald Trump is set to demand that Japan and the European Union “limit or restrict” their auto imports into the United States. “Japan has maintained that it is against measures that distort fair and open trade practices,” Motegi told a news conference. “Of course, that includes restrictions on exports — in other words, volume caps. (Lighthizer) confirmed that the United States will not seek such measures,” he said. The exclusion of an auto cap would be a relief for Japanese automakers, which have come under pressure as Trump presses for a reduction in the U.S. trade deficit with Japan. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Trump will sign an executive order within the week giving Japan and the European Union 180 days to agree to reduce their exports of automobiles and car parts in return for the United States delaying new auto tariffs that are set to take effect Saturday. Trump is scheduled to visit Japan starting May 25 with an itinerary that will include talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Motegi said there are no concrete plans to hold working-level talks on a bilateral trade deal ahead of Trump’s trip. But a person familiar with the negotiations said Lighthizer may instead accompany Trump to meet with Motegi. Japan has struck an agreement with the United States aimed at not escalating trade tensions. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday that when Japan and the U.S. agreed last year to open bilateral trade talks, the U.S. pledged not to impose auto tariffs while talks were under way. In February, the U.S. Commerce Department submitted its Section 232 national security report to the White House. The agency was investigating whether imports harmed U.S. national security by weakening American automakers’ ability to invest in future technologies. The Commerce Department’s specific recommendations have not been revealed. “Prime Minister Abe confirmed directly with President Trump that while trade talks are going on no actions will be taken against the spirit of the joint statement, and additional tariffs will not be imposed under Section 232 on cars or car parts,” Suga said. The U.S. imported $191.7 billion in passenger vehicles and light trucks in 2018 with more than $90 billion of those imports coming from Canada and Mexico, which are duty-free under the three-way trade deal that replaced NAFTA. Passenger cars are now subject to a 2.5 percent U.S. tariff but Trump has threatened to raise that to 25 percent, arguing that the EU and other countries have higher barriers to U.S. auto exports.

u.s .
trade
toshimitsu motegi
carmakers
tariffs
donald trump


Employment rate for Japan's college graduates close to record high at 97.6% amid labor shortage

Abstract: The employment rate for job seekers who graduated from universities this spring stood at 97.6 percent, government data showed Friday, in the latest sign of a widespread labor shortage amid a graying population. The employment rate for fiscal 2018, which ended in March, was the second-highest on record after the 98.0 percent figure marked the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The government began recording such statistics in 1997. The latest figure marked the first fall in eight years. Employment demand remained strong among companies on the back of the labor shortage, an education ministry official said. In the job market for new graduates, the number of job openings substantially exceeded that of job seekers. The proportion of job seekers among university graduates rose 0.7 point from the previous year to a record 76.0 percent. Of the job seekers, some 10,700 students were unable to find a job, according to the survey, which covered 4,770 new graduates of 24 national or public universities and 38 private universities. The labor ministry said it will continue to provide support for the job seekers. On the slight fall in the employment rate, a labor ministry official pointed to some students who graduated without taking a job in order to try applying for their top-choice companies again. By gender, the employment rate for male students fell 0.2 point to 97.3 percent, while that for female students declined 0.8 point to 97.8 percent. Employment rates stayed high across the country. The Kanto region covering greater Tokyo logged 98.1 percent, down 0.4 point. By region, the rate also declined in the Chubu, Chugoku-Shikoku and Kyushu regions. On the other hand, the rate climbed to record highs in the Hokkaido-Tohuku and Kinki regions. Overall, there is no change in the favorable trend for employment, the labor ministry said. A separate survey by the education ministry showed the employment rate for job seekers who graduated from high schools rose 0.1 point to 98.2 percent at the end of March, marking the ninth consecutive year of increase and standing just below the record 98.3 percent recorded in fiscal 1990, when Japan was experiencing an economic bubble. Of new high school graduates, the employment rate of men remained unchanged at 98.5 percent, while that of women climbed 0.2 point to 97.6 percent. By prefecture, the rate was highest in Fukui, standing at 99.9 percent, and lowest in Okinawa, at 92.9 percent. Of a total 1.06 million high school graduates in March, the survey covered 187,342 new high school graduates who were seeking jobs, of whom 183,891 took up the jobs. Facing a tight labor market, major firms are changing their employment policy to hire university graduates year-round. Keidanren, the powerful business lobby also known as the Japan Business Federation, said last month it will no longer expect its member companies to adhere to the custom of offering jobs to college seniors in October each year to allow the new recruits to start working from the following April, when the new business year starts. The government has already introduced a series of steps to make up for a severe labor shortfall due to the nation’s rapidly graying population, such as bringing in more foreign workers and promoting women’s participation in the labor market. Still, Japan is expected to face a shortage of 6.44 million workers in 2030, according to an estimate by Chuo University and Persol Research and Consulting. Amid the backdrop of the labor shortage, the government on Wednesday urged companies to secure employment for workers up to the age of 70 through a host of options such as continued employment after reaching retirement age, support in finding new jobs at other firms, financial assistance for freelance contracts and entrepreneurship support.

jobs
universities
high schools
mext
mhlw


Video game rivals Microsoft and Sony team up in the cloud

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - Longtime video game console rivals Microsoft and Sony on Thursday announced an alliance to improve their platforms for streaming entertainment from the internet cloud. Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform will be used by the two rivals to support game and digital content streaming services, according to a statement from the companies. The Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox have for years battled as the two leading video game consoles, with exclusive titles often used as weapons to win the loyalty of players. Sony and Microsoft will also collaborate on semiconductors and artificial intelligence, potentially combining the Japanese company’s sensors and chips with the U.S. computer titan’s cloud systems and artificial intelligence. “For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas,” said Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. “I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content.” He added that Sony’s mission is to evolve the PlayStation platform into one that uses the internet cloud to provide players top-quality entertainment experiences any time, at any place. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in the statement that the tie-up “brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.” The partnership between the makers of Xbox and PlayStation consoles comes as Google works to disrupt the video game world with a Stadia platform that will let players stream blockbuster titles to any device they wish. The Stadia platform will open to gamers later this year in the United States, Canada, Britain and other parts of Europe. Google is focused on working with game-makers to tailor titles for play on Stadia, saying it has already provided the technology to more than 100 game developers. The Stadia tech platform aims to connect people for interactive play on PCs, tablets, smartphones and other devices. Google’s hope is that Stadia could become for games what Netflix and Spotify are to television and music, by making console-quality play widely available. Streaming games from the cloud brings the potential to tap into massive amounts of computing power in data centers. For gamers, that could translate into richer game environments, more creative play options or battle royale matches involving thousands of players. The Microsoft-Sony deal stopped short of any specific plans or services to counter the Google Stadia offering.

microsoft
sony
video games
kenichiro yoshida
cloud
stadia
azure


Boeing says it has completed software update for 737 Max jets and seeks FAA certification flight

Abstract: DALLAS/BANGALORE, INDIA - Boeing Co. said Thursday it has completed a software update for its 737 Max jets, which have been grounded worldwide since March after they were involved in two fatal crashes. The announcement is a sign of progress for the aircraft-maker’s efforts to get its best-selling jetliner back in the sky after a grounding that has already lasted more than two months. The airplane manufacturer said it was providing additional information to address requests from the Federal Aviation Administration including details on how pilots interact with controls and displays in different flight scenarios. Once the requests are addressed, Boeing will work with the FAA to schedule its certification test flight and submit final certification documentation, the company said. The FAA is planning a meeting on May 23 in Fort Worth, Texas, with air regulators from around the world to update them on reviews of Boeing’s software fix and new pilot training. The aviation regulator said Boeing had not yet submitted its final software package to the agency for approval. Once that package is finalized, the FAA will schedule a flight test of the 737 Max’s new software by its pilots, the agency said. The FAA sees an uncertain timeline for its review of the software update. On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell said he expected Boeing to make its formal submission for its software update in the next week or so. The 737 Max was grounded following a fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 on board just five months after a similar crash of a Lion Air flight killed 189 people. The company hopes the software upgrade and associated pilot training will add layers of protection to prevent erroneous data from triggering a system called MCAS, which activated in both crashes. Boeing said it has completed associated simulator testing and its engineering test flight and developed training and education materials, which are now being reviewed by the FAA, global regulators and airline customers so that the jets can be returned to service. To date, Boeing has flown the 737 Max with updated software, for more than 360 hours on 207 flights, the company said. Boeing rose to session highs on the news. Since the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet, the shares slid 18 percent through Wednesday, the biggest decline on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

u.s .
boeing
faa
ethiopian airlines
737 max
lion air
air accidents


Huawei ban seen clouding U.S.-China trade talks and tech sector

Abstract: WASHINGTON/BEIJING - A U.S. bid to block China’s Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology threw into question prospects for sales at some of the largest tech companies and drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, further ratcheting up tensions over trade. Shares of Huawei’s U.S. suppliers fell on fears the Chinese firm would be forced to stop buying American chips, software and other components after the Trump administration banned it from buying U.S. technology without special approval. Huawei, the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, said that losing access to U.S. suppliers “will do significant economic harm to the American companies” and affect “tens of thousands of American jobs.” “Huawei will seek remedies immediately and find a resolution to this matter,” the company said in a statement. The U.S. crackdown, announced on Wednesday, was the latest shot fired in a U.S.-China trade war that is rattling financial markets and threatening to derail a slowing global economy. Trade talks had looked close to collapsing in the past week after a dispute over Chinese changes to a draft text prompted the United States to hike tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing to retaliate with higher duties on U.S. products. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the United States should avoid further damaging relations between the world’s two largest economies, and accused Washington of “trade protectionism.” “China will take all the necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese firms,” Gao told reporters. The Foreign Ministry also announced the formal arrest of two Canadian citizens who were detained shortly after Canada arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in December. Meng faces extradition to the United States on charges that she conspired to defraud global banks about Huawei’s relationship with a company operating in Iran. She and the company deny the charges. While China has made no specific link between the detentions of the two men and Meng’s arrest, experts and former diplomats say they have no doubt it is using their cases to pressure Canada. The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it was adding Huawei and 70 affiliates to its “Entity List,” which bars them from buying components and technology from U.S. firms without government approval. It later revised the number of affiliates down to 68. The order includes non-U.S. Huawei affiliates in Canada, Japan, Brazil, the U.K. and Singapore. Requests for approvals for transactions will be reviewed under a “policy of presumption of denial,” which suggests obtaining permission will be very difficult. Huawei was the world’s third largest purchaser of semiconductors last year, accounting for 4.4 percent of global market share, behind only Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Inc., according to Gartner, a research firm. U.S. lawmakers have long feared that the firm’s equipment could be used to spy on Americans, and Democrats and Republicans lined up in support of the Trump administration’s move. But leading analysts downgraded their assessments for several U.S. microchip companies on Thursday. Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Christopher Rolland, who said he believed Huawei had built up a one-to-two-year supply of U.S. components, cut price targets on several microchip companies, including Xilinx Inc. Shares of Xilinx closed down 7.3 percent while those of rival chipmaker Qualcomm Inc fell 4 percent. As negotiations toward resolving the trade war stalled last week, the United States ramped up the pressure by raising tariffs on a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent, prompting China to retaliate with higher duties on a revised list of $60 billion worth of U.S. products. President Donald Trump, who has embraced protectionism and accused China of engaging in unfair trade practices, has threatened to put 25 percent tariffs on a further $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. Walmart Inc. said prices for shoppers would rise because of higher tariffs on Chinese goods even as the world’s largest retailer reported on Thursday its best comparable sales growth for the first quarter in nine years. Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs told Reuters the company would seek to ease the pain, in part by trying to buy from different countries. With few options left for levying its own tariffs, China could opt for other ways to pressure the United States, including blocking corporate mergers and other deals. “There’s other things they can do, and M&A would certainly be one thing,” said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst with Bernstein. The United States wants to see significant changes in China’s approach to intellectual property rights and state subsidies as part of any trade deal, and Beijing is insisting that all tariffs be eliminated. The two sides are also at odds over how much more U.S. goods China would buy and how “balanced” the text of the draft trade agreement would be, Chinese state media said. Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Huawei case was a significant complication to the resolution of the trade dispute. “Every step by the United States makes it much harder for the Chinese not to push back,” he told reporters and analysts.

china
u.s .
trade
tech
tariffs
huawei
donald trump
trade war


Dollar rises to around ¥110 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar rebounded to around ¥110 in Tokyo trading Friday, helped by a jump in Tokyo stock prices. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.72, up from ¥109.45 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1177, down from $1.1208, and at ¥122.64, down from ¥122.68. The Tokyo stock market’s rebound pushed the dollar above ¥110 for the first time since May 10. The dollar took a downturn in midmorning trading following a Chinese state media report that Beijing is little interested in resuming ministerial-level trade talks with Washington for now. After slipping through ¥109.60, however, the greenback showed resilience. “The drop below the threshold prompted repurchases,” a Japanese bank official said. “Some investors moved to buy back the dollar in view of the Chinese yuan’s fall,” another bank official said.


Tokyo stocks rebound on continued Wall Street rally

Abstract: Stocks staged a solid rally on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday in the wake of U.S. equities’ continued advance overnight. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 187.11 points, or 0.89 percent, at 21,259.09. On Thursday, it sank 125.58 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 16.70 points, or 1.09 percent, at 1,554.25, after losing 6.60 points the previous day. Stocks spurted from the outset, with sentiment brightened by Wall Street’s three-day rally on a rosy U.S. business outlook shown by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia as well as strong housing starts and building permit numbers for April, brokers said. Brisk earnings reports by Cisco Systems and Walmart also pushed up the Dow Jones Industrial Average markedly on the New York Stock Exchange. The Tokyo market, however, lost steam toward noon, pressured by Shanghai stocks’ weak performance following a U.S. presidential order effectively banning domestic firms from using telecommunications gear of China’s Huawei Technologies Co. In the afternoon, the market failed to go up further, although its downside was supported by repurchases by foreign investors, brokers said. “Investors refrained from tilting their positions either way amid persistent uncertainties over U.S.-China trade talks,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co. Ichikawa pointed to a Chinese state media commentary indicating Beijing’s reluctance to continue the negotiations. “Players took to the sidelines to brace for a possible downturn on Wall Street Friday,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,705 to 377 in the TSE’s first section, while 58 issues were unchanged. Volume dropped to 1.349 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.461 billion shares. Technology giant Sony rocketed 9.89 percent, after announcing on Thursday a share buyback plan and a tie-up with Microsoft Corp. in cloud-based gaming and content steaming services. Daio Paper shot up 5.90 percent thanks to the paper mill’s forecasts of substantial profit rises for the current business year through next March. Other winners included apartment rental firm Leopalace21 and network integrator Net One Systems. On the other hand, home and housing construction materials seller Nice Holdings extended its losing streak. Among other losers were online fashion mall operator Zozo and metal producer Mitsui Kinzoku. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average went up 220 points to end at 21,270.


Nissan to offer navigated highway driving system with hands-free component starting in fall

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday that from this fall it will start offering a system that allows navigated highway driving and hands-off single-lane driving, in the automaker’s latest push toward self-driving vehicles. Nissan said its Skyline sedan for the Japanese market can be equipped with the new driver assistance system, the first of its kind in the world. Aiming to revive its sluggish earnings, the automaker is seeking to enhance the quality and brand image of its vehicles with next-generation technologies under a medium-term business plan unveiled Tuesday. “No other company has this technology of a navigated highway driving system with hands-off single-lane driving,” Nissan Executive Vice President Kunio Nakaguro told a news conference at the carmaker’s headquarters in Yokohama. Tetsuya Iijima, general manager of Nissan’s autonomous drive development, said it would not be easy for other carmakers to commercially offer a more sophisticated assistance system for the moment. To use the new system, drivers will need to first set their destinations in the navigation system before entering the highway. Once on the highway, the system will assist drivers with changing lanes until the highway exit is reached. It will also allow hands-off driving while cruising in a single lane. Drivers will need to place their hands on the steering wheel when changing lanes to pass slower vehicles. Navigated highway driving relies on 3D high-definition maps, cameras, radars, sonar and GPS data for 360-degree, real-time information on the surrounding environment and to determine the vehicle’s precise location. Carmakers and technology companies such as Google LLC and Tesla Inc. are developing self-driving vehicles not only to reduce road deaths but create new businesses such as ride-hailing services based on autonomous taxis. Audi AG has put a high-end A8 on the market that can, under certain circumstances, take full control of a vehicle away from the driver, while Daimler AG and BMW AG said in February they will jointly develop vehicles capable of automated driving on highways and during parking.

nissan
carmakers
self-driving
tetsuya iijima


Toyota considers offering self-driving technology to ride-hailing firms in Asia

Abstract: NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. is considering offering autonomous driving technologies to ride-hailing firms, sources close to the matter said Thursday, in its latest push to become a company offering not only cars but also various mobility services. The automaker is planning to supply a new driverless system to be developed with U.S. ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. to companies such as Grab Taxi Holdings Pte Ltd. of Singapore and ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.’s Ola of India, the sources said. Toyota said last month it will jointly invest $1 billion in Uber’s new subsidiary to develop autonomous vehicles, together with SoftBank Group Corp. and auto parts supplier Denso Corp. SoftBank Group is the biggest shareholder in Uber and has also invested in Grab and Ola. Toyota is also a stakeholder in Grab, which has a wide range of businesses across Southeast Asia. The latest move signals Toyota’s desire to stretch the scope of its business and take the initiative in offering advanced mobility services, including developing self-driving technologies that could eventually lead to driverless taxis. Toyota and SoftBank Corp., the mobile phone unit of SoftBank Group, announced last year they will jointly develop services using self-driving vehicles and other advanced automotive technologies. SoftBank Group has also invested in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. But the Japanese group believes it is difficult to supply new technologies developed by a U.S. firm to a Chinese company as the two countries have been increasingly at odds over technology transfers and other trade practices, the sources said.

toyota softbank carmakers self-driving uber


Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa won't be charged over Ghosn's underreported pay, sources say

Abstract: Prosecutors have decided not to indict Nissan Motor Co. CEO Hiroto Saikawa for his involvement in the alleged underreporting of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s remuneration, sources close to the matter said Friday. A man in Tokyo had filed a complaint, alleging that Saikawa violated the financial instruments law as he was aware that Ghosn’s remuneration was being underreported for two years through March 2018 in Nissan’s securities reports presented to Japanese regulators. Saikawa’s name was cited in the financial reports as representative since fiscal 2016. The prosecutors made the decision not to indict the 65-year-old on April 26, the sources said. Ghosn, along with former Nissan director Greg Kelly, has been indicted for allegedly understating the former chairman’s remuneration for the eight years through March 2018 by around ¥9 billion. According to investigative sources, Saikawa admitted to prosecutors in December to have signed a company document that promised payment to Ghosn following his retirement. That remuneration was not written in the securities reports. Saikawa, who succeeded Ghosn as president and chief executive officer in April 2017, was quoted as telling investigators that he signed the document “without thinking deeply” because he thought the matter was already agreed upon by Ghosn and Kelly. Nissan as a company has also been indicted on the charge of violating the financial instruments law by underreporting the remuneration. Following his arrest in November last year, Ghosn was removed from the chairmanship posts at Nissan and at partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. The 65-year-old has also been replaced as CEO of Renault. Ghosn, who also faces other charges of financial misconduct, has continued to claim he is innocent via interviews and a video message, blaming Nissan executives for conspiring against him.

corruption
scandals
nissan
carmakers
carlos ghosn
hiroto saikawa


Japan's Seven-Eleven and Lawson to discount foods close to expiration in bid to cut waste

Abstract: Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and Lawson Inc. said Friday they will start discounting rice balls and lunch boxes that are close to their expiration date in order to reduce food waste, a large issue in the country due to the 6 million tons of edible food discarded annually. The convenience store operators will offer customers enrolled in the chains’ point programs shopping credits worth 5 percent of the value of purchases as an incentive for buying such products. They have been selling products at list price and had all but banned franchise store owners from offering discounts. The move by the companies to embrace discounts is also expected to benefit outlets struggling with rising payroll costs at a time of severe labor shortages, which is occurring against the backdrop of a rapidly graying population. At 7-Eleven stores, edible foods that have expired would normally go to waste, with 85 percent of the cost for disposal paid by the store operators, the Nikkei business daily said. The Fair Trade Commission ordered Seven-Eleven Japan in 2009 not to hinder franchise store operators from selling items nearing their expiration at a discount, but operators say they could not get the headquarters’ approval to cut prices most of the time. The cost of giving shopping points to customers will be shouldered by the companies. “In the end, it’s better to sell out all the products,” Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu told reporters. Industry leader Seven-Eleven will start giving points to purchasers of any of the around 500 items targeted — mainly lunch boxes, rice balls, noodles and bread — which are generally set to expire in four to five hours. The initiative will be launched from this fall at around 20,000 stores nationwide. In a similar move, Lawson said it will start a trial at its stores in Ehime and Okinawa prefectures to offer rewards of 5 percent of the price in points to customers who buy from 4 p.m. or later rice balls and lunch boxes nearing expiration. In the trial running from June 11 to Aug. 31, Lawson will also separately donate 5 percent of the proceeds of sales of items close to expiration to entities supporting child-rearing. The company will consider expanding the discount system to stores nationwide based on the outcome of the experiment. “We will try to cut food loss by 50 percent by 2030 from the current levels,” Takemasu told a news conference. “It will be beneficial to customers, the environment and our store owners who had to carry the costs to discard unsold items.” Lawson said its 2,500 stores discarded around 44,000 tons of edible food in the year through March 2018. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, around 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted globally every year. Government data in fiscal 2016 showed 6.43 million tons were wasted in the country, with over half of it by the commercial sector. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in January urged industry groups of convenience stores and supermarkets not to overproduce seasonal sushi rolls, the first such request by the ministry, after images showing a massive amount of the discarded product were picked up on social media, sparking controversy. “It is extremely important from a social standpoint to decrease food loss,” industry minister Hiroshige Seko told a news conference Friday in reference to the Seven-Eleven’s move. “I would urge them to aim for mutual prosperity with the (store) owners.”

food
waste
convenience stores
lawson
7-eleven
fair trade commission
seven-eleven japan


After fleeing regime and Russian bombs, Syrian families shelter in olive groves near Turkey border

Abstract: ATMEH, SYRIA - Families who fled Syrian government and Russian strikes in northwestern Syria are sleeping in an olive grove near the Turkish border without enough food and no place else to go. They are some of the 150,000 people who have escaped an upsurge in violence in the last major Syrian rebel stronghold in the last few weeks. It marks the most intense escalation between President Bashar Assad and his rebel enemies since last summer, with dozens killed in the shelling of insurgent territory. “The house fell in over my children and grandchildren at night … but God saved them, they emerged from the rubble,” said a 70-year-old woman who gave her name as Aziza as she spoke under the shade of an olive tree. Aziza’s family is one of scores who fled targeted parts of southern Idlib and northern Hama province and are now living in the olive groves at the Turkish border. There is no room for them at the nearby camp for the displaced in the town of Atmeh. Aziza fled her town of Kfar Nabuda with 17 relatives nearly two weeks ago, taking nothing with her, as the warplanes flew overhead. The exodus has left many towns and villages empty. Some have made makeshift tents by stringing sheets between the olive trees. Infants sleep under mosquito nets suspended from the branches. One of the shelters was equipped with a kitchen stove. The jihadist Tahrir al-Sham is the dominant insurgent faction in the northwest. Rebels launched a counterattack this week to counter ground advances by Syrian government forces. Air strikes have struck a dozen health facilities and violence has destroyed at least 10 schools, the U.N. humanitarian affairs office says. The attacks have included the worst barrel bombing in 15 months, the U.N. regional humanitarian coordinator says. The Syrian government says it is responding to attacks by al-Qaida-linked militants. Much of the bombardment has hit a buffer zone agreed in September under a Russian-Turkish deal that spared the region and its 3 million residents from a full-blown assault. Ankara, which backs some rebels, has deployed forces into the region in agreement with Russia. They are stationed at a dozen positions, one of which was hit by shelling from Syrian government territory. Turkey has called on the Syrian government to stop the attacks. Still, Abu Abdo al-Khani said Ankara’s deal with Moscow had failed to help his family. “We were supposed to be within the secure zone, where is it?” Khani, 30, said. “Where are (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and his guarantees to protect us?” Khani’s family fled the town of Khan Sheikhoun on foot through the countryside. He said they had received some blankets and water in the olive field. “We haven’t showered in 15 days. … We’re living under the trees at the border, who would accept such a life?”

russia
syria
refugees
turkey
al-qaida
bashar assad
idlib
hama


Nine Islamic State militants killed in southwest Pakistan raid

Abstract: QUETTA, PAKISTAN - Pakistani security forces killed nine Islamic State militants during an hours-long raid near Quetta in the restive southwest of the country that has been hit by repeated jihadist attacks this month, officials said on Thursday. Four members of the security forces were wounded in the operation, which started early on Thursday morning in a mountainous area called Qabu Koh-e-Mehran in the Mastung district, 29 miles (47 km) from Quetta city. “Nine bodies (of Islamic State militants) have been brought to hospital from Mastung,” Waseem Baig, a spokesman for Civil Hospital Quetta, told Reuters. Security forces acted after a sudden surge in militant assaults across Pakistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Five police officers were killed in the latest attack, on Monday night in Quetta, which was claimed by Islamic State. “We acted on intelligence reports of a Daesh hideout,” a senior official of the Counter Terrorism Department of Baluchistan police told Reuters, requesting anonymity for security reasons, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “A sizable cache of arms and ammunition including rocket launchers, several suicide vests were also been recovered during the raid.” Various Islamist militant groups as well as separatists fighting the central government are active in mineral-rich Baluchistan, with frequent attacks on gas and transport infrastructure and security posts. On Saturday, the Balochistan Liberation Army, which seeks greater autonomy for Pakistan’s poorest province, claimed responsibility for an attack on a luxury hotel in the Indian Ocean port of Gwadar, one of the focal points of the $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor.


Casualties reported as Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit Sanaa

Abstract: SANAA - The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several airstrikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil installations. The Sanaa strikes targeted nine military sites in and around the city, residents said, with humanitarian agencies reporting a number of casualties. Rubble filled a populated street lined by mud-brick houses, a Reuters journalist on the scene said. A crowd of men lifted the body of a women, wrapped in a white shroud, into an ambulance. Houthi-run Masirah television quoted the Houthi health ministry as saying six civilians, including four children, had been killed and 60 wounded, including two Russian women working in the health sector. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said two hospitals it supports in Sanaa took in 48 injured and four dead people as a result of the strikes. Preliminary reports indicated five children were among those killed, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen said. A coalition statement carried by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV, said the Sunni Muslim alliance struck military bases and facilities and weapons storage sites with the aim of “neutralizing the ability of the Houthi militia to carry out acts of aggression. “The sorties achieved its goals with full precision,” the coalition said. It had urged civilians to avoid those targets. A later statement said “the possibility of an accident” had been referred to a body set up by the coalition to investigate claims. One resident reported a strike near a densely-populated district, where flames and clouds of smoke could be seen. A car was half-buried under rubble and twisted metal on a street lined with bystanders. “There was an airstrike near us, in the middle of an area packed with residents between Hael and Raqas (streets),” Abdulrazaq Mohammed told Reuters. “The explosion was so strong that stones were flying. This is the first time our house shakes so much.” Sanaa has been held by the Houthi movement since it ousted the internationally recognized government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power there in late 2014. The coalition has previously targeted suspected drone and missile storage sites in the city. Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister on Thursday accused Iran of ordering Tuesday’s armed drone attack on two oil pumping stations in the kingdom. “The terrorist acts, ordered by the regime in Tehran and carried out by the Houthis, are tightening the noose around the ongoing political efforts,” Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted. The Houthis said they were responsible for the attack, which did not disrupt oil output or exports. The group denies being a puppet of Tehran or receiving arms from Iran, and says its revolution is against corruption. The head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee denied that Iran directed the strike and said the movement manufactures its drones locally. Tehran also denies providing arms to the Houthis. “We are not agents for anyone,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi told Reuters. “We make decisions independently and do not take orders for drones or anything else.” The coalition described the drone attack as a “war crime. The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that the Western-backed coalition, of which it is a main member, would “retaliate hard” for any Houthi attacks on coalition targets. The Sanaa airstrikes and renewed fighting in Yemen’s Hodeida port that breached a U.N.-sponsored truce in the Red Sea city, could complicate peace efforts to end the four-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. The coalition, which receives arms and intelligence from Western nations, intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore Hadi’s Aden-based government. The warring parties agreed last December at U.N.-sponsored peace talks on a ceasefire and troop withdrawal deal in Hodeida, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis that became the focus of the war last year. The pact, the first major breakthrough in over four years, stalled for months amid deep suspicion among all parties, but special envoy Martin Griffiths secured some progress when the Houthis started withdrawing from three ports last Saturday. Pro-coalition troops are expected to pull back as well under the deal once the two sides work out details for a broader phase two redeployment in Hodeida, the main entry point for Yemen’s commercial and aid imports and the Houthis’ key supply line.

conflict
yemen
saudi arabia
sanaa
msf
houthis


Standing tall: First black African woman scales Everest

Abstract: KATHMANDU - A South African mountaineer reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday, becoming the first black African woman to conquer the world’s highest mountain, her expedition organizer and her government said. Saray N’kusi Khumalo, a 47-year-old e-commerce executive, scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain after three failed attempts that were foiled by bad weather and a deadly earthquake in 2015. “With her birth in Zambia, Rwandan bloodline and now a South African, this sister of Africa has achieved her goal of becoming the first black woman from Africa to summit Mount Everest,” her expedition organizer, Summits with a Purpose, said on Facebook. Mira Acharya, a Nepal tourism department official, confirmed Khuwalo’s ascent, but did not say if she was the first black African woman to do so. However, Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks hiking agency, which provided local support to Khumalo, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the record feat was one “hundred percent” true. “Congratulations to iMbokodo (strong woman) Saray Khumalo for being the first Black African Woman to reach the top of the world by conquering Mount Everest,” South Africa’s government said on Twitter. “Bosso ke wena!” it added, which means “you are the boss” in the local Sesotho language. Khumalo, who has conquered five mountains, including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Elbrus in Russia, uses her expeditions to raise funds for children’s education and libraries in Africa. She also dedicates her quests to “women and girls, daughters of the African soil who dare to dream,” Khumalo says on her website. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains. The climbing season ends in May and hundreds of climbers are currently on Everest. In 2003, Sibusiso Emmanuel Vilane, a South African park ranger, became the first black person to summit Mount Everest, according to Himalayan archives that record major climbs. Everest, which straddles the Nepal-China border, has been climbed by nearly 5,000 people since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953, according to a post by Everest blogger Alan Arnette.

africa
mount everest
south africa
nepal
mountaineering
saray n'kusi khumalo


Imaging black hole like listening to broken piano, scientist Katie Bouman says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. computer scientist Katie Bouman, who became a global sensation over her role in generating the world’s first image of a black hole, has described the painstaking process as akin to listening to a piano with missing keys. Testifying before Congress on Thursday, the postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics also suggested that the technology developed by the project could have practical applications in the fields of medical imaging, seismic prediction and self-driving cars. A photo released last month of the star-devouring monster in the heart of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy revealed a dark core encircled by a flame-orange halo of white hot plasma. Because M87 is 55 million light-years away, “This ring appears incredibly small on the sky: roughly 40 microarcseconds in size, comparable to the size of an orange on the surface of the moon as viewed from our location on Earth,” said Bouman. The laws of physics require a telescope the size of our entire planet to view it. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration spent over a decade building an Earth-spanning computational telescope that combined signals received by telescopes working in pairs around the world. Because there are a limited number of locations, the telescopes are able to capture only some frequencies, leaving large gaps in information. “As an analogy, you can think about the measurements the EHT makes a bit like notes in a song; each measurement corresponds to the tone of one note,” said Bouman. “Observing the black hole with the Event Horizon Telescope is a bit like listening to a song being played on a piano with over half of its keys broken.” The approach led to numerous gaps that could be filled with infinite possibilities consistent with the data. “But just as your brain may still be able to recognize a song being played on a broken piano if there are enough functioning keys, we can design algorithms to intelligently fill in the EHT’s missing information to reveal the underlying black hole image,” she concluded. While the images were captured in 2017, the final result had to be independently validated by four EHT teams working around the world to avoid shared human bias. The four images they produced varied slightly, but they all contained the same basic structure. “Seeing these images for the first time was truly amazing and one of my life’s happiest memories,” recalled Bouman, who maintained a broad smile throughout her testimony. The final image, released to the public on April 10, was a composite of the four images further tuned by algorithms designed to eliminate human preferences. Bouman said she first began working on the EHT as a graduate student studying computer vision at MIT and found the problem shared striking similarities with work she had done on brain imaging based on limited data from an MRI scanner. “Thus, although the project was well outside of my core area, and I had no background in astrophysics let alone black holes, I hoped that I might be able to make a difference.” She also hailed the early-career scientists who had come to the project from various fields and ranged from post doctorates to undergraduates whose work was vital to the project. “However, like black holes, many early-career scientists with significant contributions often go unseen,” she said.


I.M. Pei, a pillar of modern architecture, dies at 102

Abstract: NEW YORK - I.M. Pei, the pre-eminent U.S. architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died in New York, his sons’ architecture firm said Thursday. He was 102 years old. From the controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris to the landmark Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, the Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. Pei Partnership Architects confirmed Pei’s death. The New York Times, citing Pei’s son Li Chung, said the architect had died overnight Wednesday into Thursday. “Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep,” Pei, with his owlish round-rimmed glasses, told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. “I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning,” he said. “A lasting architecture has to have roots.” His work earned the 1983 Pritzker Prize, considered architecture’s Nobel. Of his nearly 50 designs in the United States and around the world, more than half won major awards. Born in China in 1917, banker’s son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the U.S. at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he received a master’s degree in architecture in 1946. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1954. In one standout undertaking, he deftly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, opened in 1978. The stunning concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 50-foot (15-meter) waterfall. It was “a composition of angular stone forms … that remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington,” said a New York Times review 30 years after its unveiling. French President Francois Mitterrand was so impressed that he had Pei hired to build a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum. The project was deeply controversial in Paris and Pei endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, but his creation is now an icon of the French capital. “I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris,” Pei later said, confessing that “after the Louvre, I thought no project would be too difficult.” Other well-known and characteristic Pei projects — often graceful combinations of geometric planes — include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo in Koka, Shiga Prefecture; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. He brought drama to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and Raffles City in Singapore. His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate technology and indigenous building principles in a blend that would open the way to a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 to great fanfare. The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world seeking inspiration. “Islam was one religion I did not know,” he told the Times the year of the opening. “So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia.” Pei dedicated energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of U.S. government panels including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts. He dedicated the $100,000 prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on the condition they return home to design and build. In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position. He was also one of 12 naturalized U.S. citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986. In 1988, Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d’Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. U.S. president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In addition to his museum oeuvre and contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on moderate and low-income housing. “His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise,” wrote the Pritzker jury that bestowed to him in 1983 architecture’s most prestigious prize. “His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry,” the committee wrote. “His tact and patience have enabled him to draw together peoples of disparate interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment.”


Nancy Pelosi says Trump needs Congress OK for any military action on Iran

Abstract: WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned the Trump administration against taking military action in Iran without authorization from Congress, as the U.S. weighs how to respond to rising tensions in the Middle East. “The responsibility in the Constitution is for Congress to declare war,” Pelosi said Thursday. “So I hope that the president’s advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way.” Pelosi said that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force — or AUMF — enacted by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would not cover actions taken against Iran. She said that, like President Donald Trump, she opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and she welcomed reports this week that the president had “no appetite” for war, a characterization offered by Republican Sen. Mitt Romney. “I like what I hear from the president that he has ‘no appetite’ for this,” she said. “Even though some of his supporters are rattling sabers.” Trump suggested Thursday he wasn’t looking for a military confrontation even as his advisers warn Iran against any provocation. Tensions have been rising with the Islamic Republic over U.S. allegations that Tehran may be preparing an attack on U.S. military forces in the region or on commercial shipping. “I hope not,” Trump told reporters on Thursday after he was asked about going to war with Iran while greeting Swiss President Ueli Maurer for a meeting at the White House. Congressional leaders and Intelligence Committee chairmen from both chambers were briefed Thursday by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the National Security Agency’s Paul Nakasone, according to a congressional aide. Leaving the closed-door meeting, Pelosi said there will be a briefing for all House members next week. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and one of the president’s allies on domestic issues, said he worries that the recent moves by the administration risk dragging the U.S. into a war with Iran. “There are people who do want a war for regime change and they don’t mind putting all the people so close together that there might be a skirmish that leads to war,” Paul said. “I think that would be a terrible tragedy.” Paul is a co-sponsor of legislation introduced by Democratic Sen.Tom Udall that would “limit the use of funds for kinetic military operations in or against Iran.” He is the only Republican sponsor of that bill. Other Republicans said they were comfortable giving the White House more leeway to respond to perceived threats. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Trump was trying to head off a debate about the use of military force altogether by deterring hostile actions from Iran and Iranian-backed combatants in the Middle East. He said he believes that the administration will act in a “thoughtful” way. “There’s no action that’s being taken,” McCarthy said. “What has transpired today is the administration is trying to make sure there is not. It’s sending a very clear message to Iran.” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said U.S. forces have the right to protect themselves if attacked and that questions about congressional authorization would not be relevant in this situation. “If Iran attacks us, they’re going to get hit hard,” Rubio said. “If they don’t attack us, there’ll be no war. It’s up to them.” Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said recent Iranian action in the Persian Gulf is “cause for concern.” Thornberry, who has been briefed by Central Command officials and intelligence staff over the last two weeks, said sending a signal to Iranians not to attack Americans “seems like the prudent thing to do.” He said he’s not concerned that the Trump’s administration’s response could be politically motivated. Sen. Richard Durbin, a member of Democratic leadership, said he voted against the Iraq war because he wasn’t convinced of the intelligence, and he fears the U.S. could be heading toward a repeat. He also warned that miscalculation when tensions are high could lead to fatalities, followed by calls for retribution. The Illinois Democrat said Trump has surrounded himself with advisers “who believe that getting tough on a military basis with Iran is in our best interest. I do not.”

conflict
u.s .
congress
iran
mitt romney
nancy pelosi
donald trump
marco rubio


French anesthetist charged with killing nine patients in resuscitation scam

Abstract: STRASBOURG, FRANCE - An anesthetist in the French eastern city of Besancon is suspected of poisoning patients during surgery to trigger heart failures and then heroically bring them back from the brink of death. On nine occasions, prosecutors allege he failed and people died. Investigating magistrates have found evidence linking Dr. Frederic Pechier to 24 out of 66 suspicious incidents that happened during surgical proceedings at the clinic where he practiced, Besancon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux told reporters on Thursday. “Mr. Pechier appears as the common denominator for these unfortunate and serious events that seem related to an acute conflict with other anesthetists or surgeons at the Saint-Vincent clinic,” Manteaux said. He added that Pechier was suspected of injecting lethal doses of potassium chloride or anesthetics in perfusion bags during benign surgeries. The 47-year-old physician has denied any wrongdoing but the prosecution has asked that he be kept under arrest ahead of trial, where he will face a life sentence. “The charges rest on a beam of concordant elements,” Manteaux said, acknowledging that the case rests on circumstantial evidence since the doctor was not caught in the act. Pechier was “omnipresent” in handling the resuscitation of patients after suspicious heart failures and the doctor’s colleagues found he was suspiciously fast in diagnosing anesthetic overdoses, the prosecutor added. He said Pechier was the only physician present during all the incidents where traces of poison were found or when overdoses were diagnosed. The incidents were more numerous during periods of “intense conflict” between Pechier and his colleagues, Manteaux said. Pechier has admitted criminal acts were committed at the clinic but said he was not responsible for them, according to the prosecutor. “Doctor Pechier rejects all the charges brought against him,” Pechier’s lawyer, Randall Schwerdorffer, told reporters. “We challenge anybody to show us any evidence.”


New Trump immigration plan would overhaul green card system, target 'top talent' instead of kin

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Setting aside some of his hard-line rhetoric on illegal immigration, President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wanted to recruit “top talent” to America as he unveiled his latest efforts to reform residency laws after years of setbacks and stalemates. “We discriminate against genius,” Trump said of current policies, which he contended excessively favor family based immigration. “We discriminate against brilliance. We won’t anymore once we get this passed.” The latest effort, spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, focuses on beefing up border security and rethinking the nation’s green card system to favor people with high-level skills, degrees and job offers instead of relatives of those already in the country. The proposed shift to a more merit-based system prioritizing high-skilled workers would mark a dramatic departure from the nation’s largely family-based approach, which officials said gives roughly 66 percent of green cards to those with family ties and 12 percent based on skills. The president’s plan, unveiled in a Rose Garden ceremony, has yet to be embraced by his own party — let alone Democrats — and faces dubious prospects in a divided Congress. The show of magnanimity comes as Trump seeks to put a softer facade on the signature campaign issue from his first campaign as he eyes his 2020 re-election. “Our plan is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker,” Trump said, adding that it contrasts with what he called Democrats’ support of “chaos.” Efforts to overhaul the immigration system have gone nowhere for three decades amid deep partisan divisions. Prospects for an agreement seem especially bleak as the 2020 elections near, though the plan could give Trump and the GOP a proposal to rally behind, even as Democrats signaled their opposition. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s emphasis on merit-based immigration is “condescending” because families have merit, too. The plan does not address what to do about the millions of immigrants already living in the country illegally, including hundreds of thousands of young “Dreamers” brought to the U.S. as children — a top priority for Democrats. Nor does it reduce overall rates of immigration, as many conservative Republicans would like to see. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Dreamer immigrants were not included in Trump’s new plan because past proposals involving them have failed. In briefings Wednesday, administration officials said the plan would create a points-based visa system, similar to those used by Canada and other countries. Under the new plan, the U.S. would award the same number of green cards as it now does. But far more would go to exceptional students, professionals and people with high-level and vocational degrees. Factors such as age, English-language ability and employment offers would also be considered. The diversity visa lottery, which offers green cards to citizens of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S., would be eliminated. As part of the plan, officials want to shore up ports of entry to ensure all vehicles and people are screened and to create a self-sustaining fund, paid for with increased fees, to modernize ports of entry. The plan also calls for building a border wall in targeted locations and continues a push for an overhaul to the U.S. asylum system, with the goal of processing fewer applications and removing people who don’t qualify faster. While the officials insisted their effort was not a “political” plan, they nonetheless framed it as one they hoped Republicans would unite behind, making clear to voters what the party is “for.” “I don’t think it’s designed to get Democratic support as much as it is to unify the Republican Party around border security, a negotiating position,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham a close ally of the White House. The plan drew immediate criticism from Democrats as well as immigration activists, who remain deeply skeptical of Trump after past negotiation failures. Democrats and some Republicans tried crafting a compromise with Trump last year that would have helped young Dreamer immigrants and added money for border security. But those talks collapsed over White House demands to curb legal immigration and a dramatic Senate showdown in which lawmakers rejected three rival proposals that aligned with the “four pillars” immigration plan Trump unveiled that year. Lisa Koop, director of legal services at the National Immigrant Justice Center, also criticized the various planks of the proposal, including its failure to address those brought to the U.S. illegally as children who are currently protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, which Trump has tried to end. “A plan that forces families apart, limits access to asylum and other humanitarian relief, and doesn’t contemplate a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and other undocumented community members is clearly a political stunt intended to posture rather than problem-solve,” she said.

u.s .
congress
republicans
lindsey graham
immigrants
democrats
donald trump
green cards
jared kushner
daca


Boris Johnson slim, trimmed and ready to fight for power

Abstract: LONDON - For a man who has made his name as a comical shambles, cracking jokes on talk-shows and scruffing up his famous blond mop, Boris Johnson is taking a deadly serious approach to his work. At 54, the former foreign secretary has lost weight, trimmed his hair and hired a campaign manager to win the support of his peers and plot his path to Number 10 Downing Street. On Thursday, Johnson announced he will stand as a candidate to succeed Theresa May when she formally quits as leader of the Conservatives and U.K. prime minister. According to bookmakers, party members, and those who have watched his career closely, Johnson stands a very good chance of winning. “It is a rough rule of thumb that the more trouble the Conservative Party is in, the more likely its members are to turn to Boris Johnson,” said Paul Goodman, editor of the ConservativeHome website. And the Tories are in existential peril. For decades, they have thought of themselves as the natural party of government. Now the Conservatives are disastrously divided by Brexit. ‘Change the atmosphere’ Nigel Farage, the leader of the newly formed Brexit Party, is stealing euroskeptic votes away from them, and polls suggest he could even win this month’s European Parliament elections. That will send a wave of panic through the Tory party at the damage Farage could do to their hopes of retaining power nationally. The Tories will feel they need a savior to replace May, someone who can defeat both Farage and Labour’s socialist leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who proved himself a capable campaigner in the 2017 election. According to a ConservativeHome survey of 1,100 Tory supporters last month, Johnson is the preferred candidate for 32 percent of party members, with his next nearest rival, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, on 15 percent. If the Tories think they need “someone who can change the atmosphere” rather than a managerial figure, they’re more likely to opt for Johnson, according to his biographer, Andrew Gimson. Like President Donald Trump, Johnson’s populist appeal could make the difference in a hard-fought general election campaign. Rocky record Johnson is a proven winner who has defeated the Labour Party twice in naturally left-wing London to become the mayor. According to Gimson, this will be a reassuring prospect for Conservative politicians worried that the party’s disarray over the so-called British exit could see them lose their seats in Parliament at the next election. Goodman said Johnson’s appeal will be based on his “star quality,” name recognition and “strong qualifications” as a Brexit campaigner. But nothing is certain. The next leadership election is likely to be the most contested in history, with more than 20 potential candidates currently jostling for a run. That makes it highly unpredictable. A Johnson leadership would also carry risks for the Tories. Since fronting the Brexit campaign three years ago, he has been a hate figure for those dejected pro-Europeans who voted to remain in the bloc. The campaign was hugely contentious and the country remains bitterly divided. That suggests almost half of voters could have a reason not to support him. Johnson has also been prone to making major public gaffes — his life-long role as an entertainer with a joke always at the ready landed him in hot water as foreign secretary. When he tried to run for the leadership in 2016, Michael Gove, who was coordinating his campaign, quit and stood as a rival because he just didn’t believe Johnson was capable of running the country. If Johnson were to become prime minister, it would be a dramatic political turn-around. A year ago, he was fighting in vain inside May’s divided cabinet to deliver the kind of quick, clean Brexit that he believed would be a faithful reflection of the public’s 2016 vote to quit the European Union. After leading the Vote Leave campaign, Johnson knew he would get the blame if Brexit went wrong and felt responsible for seeing the project through. But he failed. In July 2018, Johnson resigned as foreign secretary, one of the most prestigious positions in government, and a job that he loved. For months afterwards, Johnson cut a dejected and somewhat lonely figure in Westminster. He split from his wife amid reports of a string of affairs, and struggled to make a major impact in Parliament with his interventions in the Brexit debates. Johnson and his team decided to take a consciously low profile, shunning media interviews and preferring instead to concentrate on setting out policy positions in columns for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. He ranged far beyond Brexit, proposing ideas on issues such as health and crime, as part of a careful plan to re-set his public image for a run at the leadership. One of Johnson’s weaknesses in the past has been a failure to win enough support in Parliament. Unless he can convince Tory MPs to put his name on the ballot paper that then goes to the party’s wider grass-roots membership, he has no chance of becoming leader. And this time, Johnson’s not taking chances, according to one person familiar with his plans. Johnson has hired James Wharton, a former Tory MP and minister as his campaign coordinator, to help woo supporters in the House of Commons and professionalize his office. Johnson also remains close friends with Lynton Crosby, the Conservative election strategist who helped him win those two mayoral elections and delivered an unexpected majority victory for David Cameron as prime minister in 2015. Although Crosby has no formal role with Johnson, the pair speak daily and are likely to join forces when the campaign gets under way. Johnson has been touring the country, entertaining local party gatherings with speeches over dinners, and meeting voters. One MP arrived in Johnson’s office recently for a face-to-face meeting. But the Tory was disheartened to see a wall chart divided into 15-minute slots, each containing the name of one of his colleagues who would be meeting the candidate later. For Johnson’s team, who are more used to handling gaffes and mishaps, being criticized for being too organized is a something they are happy to take.

united kingdom
boris johnson
brexit
tories


Poland's ruling Law and Justice party could suffer in EU elections due to pedophilia scandal

Abstract: WARSAW - A Polish documentary on clergy pedophilia that has shocked the devout country could deal a blow to the chances of the ruling conservatives in this month’s European Parliament elections, given the party’s close ties to the Catholic Church, analysts said Thursday. With Poland’s two main political forces — the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and the European Coalition, a group of opposition parties led by the liberal Civic Platform (PO) — currently polling neck and neck, the film could effectively swing the outcome of the ballot, observers said. “This whole affair may tilt the balance in favor of the opposition” in the May 26 EU election, political analyst Stanislaw Mocek said. He says the PiS, in power since 2015, could pay dearly for its close ties to the Catholic Church, “a symbiosis that has suited both sides,” at least until now. Posted on YouTube last Saturday, the “Tell No One” film by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski has been viewed more than 17 million times. The two-hour documentary includes hidden camera footage of victims who are now adults confronting elderly priests about the abuse they suffered decades earlier. Local media have also been busy publishing witness accounts, commentary and new revelations of child sex abuse by the clergy. Bishops have come under fire for not responding effectively to cases of abuse, and there have been demands for an independent commission of inquiry to shed light on the issue. Mocek believes that a shift of 1 or 2 percent of votes away from the PiS because of the pedophilia scandal could prove decisive. Warsaw-based Catholic theologian Stanislaw Obirek said that both the PiS and the episcopate were “in panic mode.” He believes next month’s visit by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, a Maltese-based Vatican expert on pedophilia among the priesthood, may result in a series of resignations by Polish bishops. “Now Archbishop Scicluna is coming and his visit will result in important changes. These won’t be cosmetic changes. Many bishops will leave,” the former Jesuit said. Scicluna spent 10 years as a Vatican prosecutor investigating cases of pedophilia among the priesthood, making a name for himself with his determination. Arturo Sosa, the leader of the Roman Catholic Jesuit order the Society of Jesus, said in Warsaw on Wednesday that the root of the church’s problems — both in Poland and abroad — lies in the inordinate power the clergy wields over believers and to a lack of transparency within the institution. The ruling conservatives appear not to be wasting any time in seeking damage control, having announced plans to raise the prison terms for pedophilia to a maximum 30 years and the age of consent from 15 to 16. The EU member’s parliament has already examined the bill, which could become law in the next few days as the PiS commands an absolute majority. But government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska rejected as “absurd” suggestions that the bill has anything to do with the EU electoral campaign. She said the penal code changes have been in the works for more than 10 months. Still, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin acknowledged that the public debate over pedophilia “may have certain electoral consequences.” Influential and controversial priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, the founder of a media empire, denounced what he called a “smear campaign” inspired by “hatred” of the church. He said that if the purpose of the fight against pedophilia is really the pursuit of good, then “we would also be citing the percentage of people guilty of these crimes in other social groups and showing that the percentage among priests is low.” Nevertheless, Obirek believes that the church is “on the verge of fundamental change.”

religion
children
poland
eu
elections
sex crimes


Trudeau calls Chinese arrests of two Canadians 'unacceptable'

Abstract: PARIS - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday called the arrest of two Canadians in China “unacceptable” and vowed to stand up to Beijing over the detentions. “We will consistently and always stand up for Canadians, particularly these Canadians who have been arbitrarily detained,” he told a news conference in Paris after China said it had formally arrested the pair on national security grounds. “What we are always focused on is doing things that will help Canadians (who are) being detained. That will not change,” Trudeau said, when asked if he planned to talk to President Xi Jinping over the issue. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig is “suspected of collecting state secrets and intelligence” while businessman Michael Spavor is suspected of “stealing and illegally offering state secrets” abroad, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday. “The Chinese government is not following the same kind of rules that the large majority of democracies follow,” Trudeau told reporters at the Canadian embassy after holding talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. “We will continue to defend these Canadians and we will continue to say clearly to China that its actions are unacceptable,” he added. Though no link has been officially made, the detention of Spavor and Kovrig is thought to be in retaliation for Canada’s Dec. 1 detention on a U.S. extradition request of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei who is accused of violating Iran sanctions.

china
canada
huawei
meng wanzhou
michael kovrig
michael spavor


Iran envoy in Tokyo accuses U.S. of 'unacceptable' escalation in tensions

Abstract: Iran accused the United States Thursday of an “unacceptable” escalation of tensions and said Tehran was showing “maximum restraint” despite Washington’s withdrawal from a nuclear deal with world powers. Tensions were already high after President Donald Trump walked away a year ago from the accord, which eased international sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. But tensions have ratcheted up, with the U.S. deploying an aircraft carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf over alleged threats from Iran. “The escalation by the United States is unacceptable,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Tokyo, where he is holding talks with Japanese officials. “We exercise maximum restraint … in spite of the fact that the United States withdrew from JCPOA last May,” Zarif said earlier, referring to the agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He added that Tehran remains “committed” to the deal, and said continuing assessments showed Iran was in compliance with the multilateral agreement. Later, Zarif told reporters there was “no possibility” of negotiations with the United States to reduce spiraling tensions, describing U.S. pressure as an “act of suicide. Zarif’s comments came after the U.S. on Wednesday ordered non-emergency staff evacuated from its Baghdad embassy due to an alleged “imminent” threat from Iranian-linked Iraqi militias. Two major pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq rejected suggestions the embassy personnel were at risk. Nasr al-Shomari, a military commander for the Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba, told AFP the claim was “a pretext” by Washington to create “an uproar” in Iraq. But the move added to growing fears that the long-time rivals could be on course for conflict despite both sides stressing they have no desire for war. Trump, however, predicted Iran would “soon” want to negotiate. “I’m sure that Iran will want to talk soon,” the president tweeted. He also blasted media reports of White House turmoil over Iran, saying “there is no infighting whatsoever. Different opinions are expressed and I make a final and decisive decision.” Zarif late Thursday dismissed Trump’s prediction of talks, telling reporters: “I don’t know why President Trump is confident.” Opponents of Trump say hardliners led by national security adviser John Bolton, who has long advocated toppling the Iranian government, are pushing the country into war. According to Iranian state media, Zarif is set to visit China on Friday for discussions on “regional and international issues,” including the 2015 nuclear deal with global powers. Despite international skepticism, the U.S. government has been pointing to increasing threats from Iran, a long-time enemy and also a rival of U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia. Senior State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the threat came from Iraqi militia “commanded and controlled” by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “It is directly linked to Iran, multiple threat streams directly linked to Iran,” said one official. “This is an imminent threat to our personnel,” said a second official. Washington says it has received intelligence on possible attacks by Iranian or Iranian-backed forces, possibly targeting U.S. bases in Iraq or Syria. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday insisted the showdown with the United States was a mere test of resolve. “This face-off is not military because there is not going to be any war. Neither we nor them (the U.S.) seek war,” he said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed that sentiment, saying in Sochi, Russia: “We fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran.” World powers have rushed to urge calm and U.S. allies continued to show skepticism over Washington’s alarm bells. But U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had recently met with Pompeo and shared “the same assessment of the heightened threat posed by Iran..” “As always we work closely with the U.S.,” he tweeted. Britain’s defense ministry meanwhile said Wednesday that they have “long been clear about our concerns over Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region” — while still not confirming any new imminent danger. Some observers speculate Tehran is seeking to retaliate over Washington’s decision in April to put Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on a terrorism blacklist — a move designed to stymie their activities across the Middle East. But since the first U.S. warning on May 5, the only incident has been a still-mysterious “attack” Monday on tankers anchored off Fujairah, an Emirati port located at the strategically crucial entrance to the Gulf. One or more vessels incurred light hull damage, but what caused the damage and who was behind it remain unknown.

u.s .
iran
iran nuclear deal
javad zarif
donald trump
mike pompeo
john bolton


Preseasoned omega lambs and fitbit cows: New Zealand responds to alternative protein threat

Abstract: WINDWHISTLE, NEW ZEALAND - At Dave Harper’s family farm in New Zealand’s scenic Canterbury region, a painstakingly bred flock of lambs is grazing not on grass, but on a field of herbs selected to unlock healthy omega-3 fatty acids in the animals’ meat. Known as Te Mana lambs, they are part of an effort by the island nation to future-proof its agricultural sector from the threat of meat and dairy substitutes based on synthetic proteins or plant-based alternatives. Aimed at occupying a similar niche as premium wagyu beef, each Te Mana lamb has a unique number and has been tracked, weighed and scanned since birth. “We’ve got to tell our story better, and we can’t do that unless we collect the information. … Everything’s got to be right,” said Harper, whose farm hosts the lambs for their final few weeks grazing on chicory herbs after being brought down from the mountainous high country. The lambs have received millions of dollars in government funding in a joint venture with the meat company Alliance Group. Both want to cut the country’s dependence on shipping bulk commodities and move up the value chain into luxury products with burnished ethical, environmental and health credentials. New Zealand relies on agricultural farming and processing for 8 percent of its GDP — among the highest in the OECD — so it has a lot to lose as synthetic food gathers momentum. With an ideal climate, plenty of arable land and a long farming history, New Zealand is the world’s top dairy exporter and ranks second and seventh for sheep-meat and beef exports. “I see this as both an opportunity and threat to New Zealand, depending on how we react to this emerging reality,” New Zealand Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Animal welfare, labor standards, environmental management and food safety systems must be the best in the world.” Disruptive threat The global market for meat substitutes is predicted to reach $6.4 billion by 2023, according to research firm Markets and Markets — still a tiny fraction of the multitrillion-dollar traditional meat market but growing quickly. Asia, New Zealand’s top agricultural export market, is the fastest-growing region. High-profile investors are pouring in. Vegan burger maker Beyond Meat Inc., which counts Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Leonardo DiCaprio among its backers, saw shares surge after its initial public stock offering, reflecting ravenous investor demand. Impossible Foods, which makes a meatless plant-based burger and is backed by celebrities such as Serena Williams and Katy Perry, this week announced it had raised $300 million ahead of a possible initial public offering. Dairy is also at risk, particularly in the ingredient business, which relies on products such as milk powder and dairy-protein casein in everything from cakes and cookies to salad dressing and chewing gum. San Francisco-based Perfect Day plans to roll out dairy-like ingredients based on yeast cultures within the next two years. Ripple Foods is selling a milk substitute, derived from yellow peas, throughout the United States. New Zealand’s Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, has taken note. It made a modest investment — it has not disclosed the exact value — in U.S.-based Motif, a startup using fermentation technology to create ingredients that mimic milk and egg proteins. “We’re trying … to position ourselves so if this was to take off and become a huge demand, that we’re well placed to try and tap into it,” said Judith Swales, head of Fonterra’s consumer and food-service business. “We can’t say that we don’t see an increasing rise in veganism and vegetarianism.” After safety scares in China and criticism from environmentalists at home, Fonterra has also introduced a “trusted goodness” seal to its products, which it says reflects increased efforts to improve traceability and ensure that its grass-fed status and animal welfare meet independent standards. Changes coming Still, many animal and environmental advocates say damage from industrial agriculture is unavoidable. Complaints include the removal of male “bobby” calves from their mothers, methane emissions from animals, and chemical and agricultural runoff polluting New Zealand’s once-pristine rivers and lakes. The government has introduced new requirements for the agriculture sector to slash methane emissions by 10 percent in the next decade, drawing a vocal backlash from farmers who say they have already improved practices significantly. The industry is banking on its clean, green image to capture a niche global pool of consumers willing to pay a premium for ethically produced real meat and dairy. “There’s going to be people who don’t always want to have the synthetic stuff and having the organic, outdoor pasture fed stuff is definitely going to have a huge part of that market,” said entrepreneur Craig Piggott. His agricultural tech startup, Halter, has won backing from Silicon Valley venture capitalists, some of whom also invest in synthetic proteins. North Island-based Halter is in the trial phases of a device, worn around a cow’s neck, that allows farmers to monitor cattle health from an iPad, much like a human fitness tracker. The device can help to share information with consumers. It also uses noises and vibrations to direct livestock away from waterways without the need for farmhands, dogs or fences. Other agricultural projects, from milk powder with immune-enhancing probiotic properties to farm management and product tracing software, are attracting government research and funding through the Ministry of Primary Industries. The partly state-funded Primary Growth Partnership plans to spend 726 million New Zealand dollars ($478 million) on innovative projects in agriculture and horticulture. Te Mana lambs received NZ$12.5 million from the fund for the decade they took to develop with the help of a full-time geneticist and a handful of farmers working to develop a new niche for one of New Zealand’s most famous foods. “There are some big changes coming,” said Harper, 57, one of the farmers. “We’re going to see more changes in the next 10 or 15 years than we’ve ever seen before.”

food
agriculture
animals
new zealand
meat


Australian 'larrikin' ex-Prime Minister Bob Hawke dies at 89

Abstract: SYDNEY - Bob Hawke, a transformative and charismatic left-wing lawmaker with a “larrikin’ streak who served as Australian prime minister from 1983 to 1991, died on Thursday aged 89, his family said. “Today we lost Bob Hawke, a great Australian — many would say the greatest Australian of the postwar era,” his wife and former biographer, Blanche d’Alpuget, said in a statement. While others may have struggled to dismiss a reputation for boisterous, if well-meaning, behavior, silver-haired Hawke said it helped him win favor with working-class voters. Prime Minster Scott Morrison hailed Hawke’s ability to speak to all Australians. “Bob Hawke was a great Australian who led and served our country with passion, courage, and an intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger,” he said on social media. Hawke’s death comes ahead of a Saturday general election, with his opposition Labor party narrowly ahead in the polls. “The Australian people loved Bob Hawke because they knew Bob loved them, this was true to the very end,” Labor party leader Bill Shorten said in a statement. Hawke earned his reputation as a “larrikin,” or loveable rogue, in part due to his world record for drinking a “yard,” or 1.4 liters, of beer in 11 seconds while at Oxford University. Robert James Lee Hawke, a former trade union leader, was first elected to Parliament in 1980 and was named leader of the center-left Labor Party less than a month before a snap general election in 1983. Voters embraced Hawke and Labor won an unlikely landslide against a conservative government led by Malcolm Fraser, who had been in power for nearly a decade. Hawke became Australia’s 23rd prime minister. “I regard Bob Hawke as the best Labor prime minister this country has ever had,” former conservative leader John Howard, who served as Fraser’s treasurer, said this year. Inheriting an economy languishing in recession and with double-digit unemployment and inflation, Hawke embraced economic deregulation that belied his connections with Australia’s largest trade unions. Hawke won support from the political left to float the Australian dollar, remove controls on foreign exchange and interest rates and lower tariffs on imports within months of his inauguration. The reforms triggered a wave of economic growth, allowing Hawke to introduce universal health care, strengthen social security for poor families and enact stronger environmental legislation. Within months of Hawke becoming prime minister, Australia won sailing’s America’s Cup in 1983, ending 132 years of U.S. dominance over the oldest trophy in world sport. Hawke led the celebrations, famously sticking up of anyone who might over-do the revelry, declaring on television: “Any boss that sacks a worker for not turning up is a bum.” Australia also made its mark on the international stage under Hawke, who shifted diplomatic priorities away from Britain, fostering closer ties with the United States, China, Japan and Southeast Asia. He also spearheaded international efforts to impose economic sanctions on South Africa over apartheid. Hawke was riding high in opinion polls by the mid-1980s and won re-election in 1987 despite an economic downturn. He won a fourth election in 1990 to become Australia’s longest-serving Labor prime minister, but his popularity began to wane amid a recession. Paul Keating, Hawke’s treasurer and the architect of Labor’s economic policies, pressured him to step aside as his position weakened. However, with no sign that Hawke would retire, Keating challenged him for the leadership in 1991. Hawke saw off the first challenge but eventually lost to Keating a few months later in a party-room coup. He quit politics three months later. Hawke divorced his wife of nearly 40 years, Hazel Masterson, after leaving politics and public life and married his biographer, Blanche d’Alpuget. He appeared as a media commentator and was in demand as a public speaker.