Overcrowded church was a blessing in disguise for Sri Lankan family who survived bombing

Abstract: NEGOMBO, SRI LANKA - When Dilip Fernando arrived at St. Sebastian’s Church in the Sri Lankan seaside town of Negombo on Easter Sunday, it was so crowded he went elsewhere for Mass. The decision probably saved his life. Shortly after he left, a massive bomb ripped through the church as worshippers observed the Christian holiday. Dozens died there on a day of carnage across Sri Lanka that saw at least 290 people killed in eight blasts. On Monday morning, Fernando returned to the church in the town to see the damage at the site where he and his family narrowly escaped death. “I usually come to services here,” the 66-year-old retiree said as around three dozen security personnel stood outside the church. “Yesterday me and my wife arrived at 7:30 a.m. but it was so crowded there was no place for me. I didn’t want to stand so I left and went to another church.” But seven of Fernando’s extended family, including in-laws and his two granddaughters, decided to stay, sitting outside because the church was so crowded. And it was there that they saw a man they believe was the suicide bomber behind the deadly explosion. “At the end of the Mass they saw one young man go into the church in with a heavy bag,” Fernando said. “He touched my granddaughter’s head on the way past. It was the bomber.” The family wondered why he was entering the church with Mass nearly over, Fernando said, adding that the man had looked to be around 30 and “very young and innocent,” according to his relatives. “He was not excited or afraid. He was so calm.” Shortly after the man entered the church, there was a massive blast. “They heard it and quickly ran away, they were so afraid. They called me immediately to ask if I was inside the church, but by then I was in a different church.” He said no one in his family had been killed or injured, but that the community had been devastated by the attack. “I’m so lucky because normally I would go to this church. We are relieved, we were so lucky but we’re really sad for the whole village,” he said. “There are going to be huge funerals in this village soon.” But he added that Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic community, a minority that makes up just 6 percent of the population, will not be intimidated. “If the church was open this morning then I would have gone inside. We are not afraid. We won’t let terrorists win, no way.” And he said that he hopes the attack will not trigger revenge killings. “Revenge is useless. It’s the responsibility of the government to control this, not us.” He criticized the government, which has acknowledged there was information warning of attacks before Sunday’s blasts. “An attack like this should have been avoided,” he said. Around the church, Negombo appeared to be waking up as normal, after the lifting of an overnight nationwide curfew at 6 a.m. A steady stream of people were walking or moving on streets on bicycles and motorbikes or in tuk-tuks. Outside the church, Fernando and other bystanders looked at the damage to the church, which had been renovated just a month earlier. “It was looking so beautiful. We were so happy,” he said. “The priest was awarded for the job he had done. But now this has happened, it’s terrible.”

religion
christianity
terrorism
islam
sri lanka
negombo
sri lanka attacks


North Korea's Kim heads to Russia to revive old friendship

Abstract: PYONGYANG - On the neighboring mound to Mansu Hill, where giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il look out over North Korea’s capital, stands the Liberation Tower. The star-topped stone obelisk has a bronze Soviet Union flag at its base and a panel showing Soviet and Korean troops going into battle together against the Japanese. The ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, once its most important ally, go back decades. And after years of abeyance, current leader Kim Jong Un — the son and grandson of the chiefs immortalized on Mansu Hill — is looking to revive links with nuclear negotiations with Washington deadlocked and as he seeks a counterbalance to China. Kim is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok this week, reportedly on Wednesday and Thursday. Few details have been released, but the summit — the first between the two neighbors’ leaders since Kim Jong Il met Dmitry Medvedev eight years ago — comes less than two months after the Hanoi meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump broke up without reaching agreement on the North’s nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang last week launched a blistering attack on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding he be removed from the negotiations. Kim has met Chinese President Xi Jinping four times in the space of a year but is now looking for wider international support in the standoff, analysts say. Moscow has already called for international sanctions on the North to be eased, while the U.S. has accused it of trying to help Pyongyang evade some of the measures — accusations Russia denies. After the Hanoi summit, Russia’s ambassador to the North, Alexander Matsegora, said Pyongyang was disappointed by the outcome. In its state media, when Kim “departed from Pyongyang the purpose was the second summit and when he returned he returned from an official visit to Vietnam,” he said. “It means that it was not the result they wanted to get.” Washington should offer concrete concessions rather than “only promises, which are nothing,” he added. “It is not acceptable.” The inscription on the monument in Pyongyang proclaims that “the great Soviet Union military” had “liberated Koreans from Japanese oppression” and their “heroic” deeds “will shine for 10,000 generations and more.” In fact the Soviet Union only declared war on Japan on Aug. 8, 1945, after the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. The destruction of the city and the follow-up strike that reduced Nagasaki to a post-atomic hellscape forced Japan’s surrender, ending World War II and Tokyo’s colonial rule over the peninsula. But Pyongyang’s official history gives the U.S. barely any credit for its role in that conflict, and blames it for the division of the Korean Peninsula, glossing over an agreement to do so between Moscow and Washington. The Soviets later installed Kim Il Sung as the North’s leader. An exile who fought as a guerrilla against Japanese forces in occupied China, he had fled to the Soviet Union, where records show his son Kim Jong Il was born — although Pyongyang insists his birthplace was a secret camp on the sacred Mount Paektu. Moscow was a crucial backer of Pyongyang and main aid provider during the Cold War, while Russian became a compulsory foreign language in the North’s schools — Kim Jong Il is said to have been a fluent speaker. That legacy will help the two leaders cement their relationship, said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul. “Kim Jong Un’s role model has always been his grandfather, not his father,” he explained. “Many believe he has a romanticized view on the North’s shared past with the Soviet Union, largely because of his romanticized view of his grandfather.” The Soviet Union began to reduce funding to the North as it began to seek reconciliation with Seoul in the 1980s, and Pyongyang was hit hard by the demise of the Eastern bloc. China has since stepped in to become the isolated North’s most important ally, its largest trading partner and crucial fuel supplier. Now Kim could be looking to balance Beijing’s influence, analysts say. During the Cold War his grandfather was adept at exploiting the rivalry between Beijing and Moscow to extract concessions from both. “It’s part of the North’s juche — self-reliance — ideology not to rely on a single ally,” said Jeong Young-tae, an analyst at the Institute of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Pyongyang has a group of experts on diplomacy who have been in their post for decades. They’ll know how to play the game if it ever becomes necessary for Pyongyang to play off its allies against each other.”


Chinese workers demand release of labor rights activists

Abstract: BEIJING - Some 100 Chinese workers suffering from a work-related disease have signed a petition demanding the release of three prominent activists in southern China amid a crackdown on labor activism. Wei Zhili and Ke Chengbing, editors of a labor rights news site that reported on the workers’ cases, were arrested last month for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a broad charge that Chinese authorities often use to sweep up activists and dissidents. Yang Zhengjun, editor-in-chief of the iLabour news site, has been in police detention since January. “They’re not guilty — they have caring hearts and because of that they face pressure from the government,” said Gu Fuxiang, one of the workers who signed the petition. “I’ve been thinking, this isn’t what my country is about. They should look after us.” Hundreds of migrant workers, mainly from central Hunan province, protested last year for compensation in Shenzhen after contracting silicosis, a deadly lung disease, when they helped transform the southern city from a market town into one of China’s biggest tech hubs. When workers were ignored by the government and pressured to stop protesting, the three labor activists were there for support, said Gu. Their petition, which is posted online, urges the Shenzhen police to release the three labor activists and is addressed to the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions. “The iLabour editors’ care and support for us, and their kindness and righteousness, is genuine,” read the letter, which was signed and fingerprinted by the workers last week. Many said they were surprised and confused when they heard news about the arrests. “I really sympathize with them, I don’t understand why they were arrested for helping us,” said Wang Haijun, another worker who has late-stage silicosis. Last week, the workers attempted to travel to Shenzhen by train to hand the letter to authorities but were stopped at train stations and prevented from boarding. Gu said he has had police visits in recent days, noting the sensitivity of the issue. According to family members of Wei and Ke, citing local police, the two activists were moved on Saturday to “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL), a form of detention that allows authorities to hold people for serious crimes, such as endangering national security. Authorities “are using RSDL to continue to hold them,” said Wei’s wife Zheng Churan, who is also a prominent feminist activist. “They’re no longer in police custody and their whereabouts are unknown, so anything can happen to them,” she said. “We are very scared.” “We have seen some of the reasons for using RSDL, and it’s not appropriate for (Wei and Ke’s) supposed crime,” Zheng added. Police in Shenzhen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese government has been tightening its grip on labor activism across the country over the last year. Factory workers from welding machinery company Jasic Technology and activists were arrested in July after they tried to form their own union. The following month, a group of student protesters from prestigious Chinese universities supporting their efforts were rounded up. More than 40 people related to the Jasic case remain in detention. “I think that the Jasic dispute last year made the authorities very nervous because it effectively brought together workers, labor rights groups, Maoist groups and students in a united cause which represented a potential threat to the Communist Party,” said Geoff Crothall, a spokesman for China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based labor rights group. “By going after activists, however, they will not stop worker protests,” he added. “These protests will continue for as long as the government allows employers to disregard and violate labor law with impunity.”

china
censorship
labor laws
rights
protests
jobs


Anger erupts as Malaysian woman is cleared of murdering Indonesian maid she allegedly tortured

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian woman has reportedly been cleared of murdering her Indonesian maid, who was allegedly tortured and forced to sleep outside with a dog, causing activists on Monday to criticize the “shocking” decision. Adelina Sau died in February last year after being found outside her employer’s home on the northern Malaysian island of Penang with her head and face swollen and covered in wounds. Many Indonesian maids opt to work in more affluent Malaysia and tales of abuse are common, but the horrific nature of Sau’s case generated headlines and sparked diplomatic tensions between the neighbors. Her employer, S. Ambika, was charged with murder — an offense that carries a mandatory death sentence in Malaysia — shortly after the 21-year-old was rescued, only to die in a hospital. But the High Court in Penang dropped the murder charge against her last week, local media reported, without saying why. Prominent Malaysian human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen called the decision “shocking and unacceptable.” “This was one of the most public and harrowing abuse cases ever recorded and yet the attorney general’s chambers somehow saw fit to drop the charge,” Paulsen, a member of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, said. Steven Sim, an MP from the area where Sau died, said the court decision was “as tragic as the death of Adelina.” Sim said he had contacted the attorney general, Tommy Thomas, who had vowed to look into the case. In Indonesia, Wahyu Susilo, executive director of NGO Migrant Care, condemned the acquittal and described it as “far from justice.” He said the employer may have been cleared due to a failure to get key witnesses, such as Sau’s parents, to testify at the trial, and called on Jakarta to lodge a protest. Her murder caused anger in Indonesia, with the foreign minister branding it unacceptable. Allegations of maid abuse, ranging from overwork to beatings and sex attacks, are a regular diplomatic flash point between the Southeast Asian neighbors.


As Japan's banks snub personal stamps, hanko makers pin hopes on growing foreign population

Abstract: With Japan’s foreign population expected to grow in light of the new visa statuses introduced this month, makers of hanko (personal seals) see a new opportunity for business. The traditional seals are still required to conduct various kinds of transactions in Japan, from purchasing cars and houses to opening bank accounts and confirming registration documents. Their use, however, is getting phased out at major banks, and the government is allowing a larger portion of their administrative procedures to be completed online without them. Hankoya.com Inc., an Osaka-based company that sells personal stamps online, began offering a service last November that transcribes foreign clients’ names into kanji with similar pronunciations. After receiving an order, the company creates a stamp with the kanji that is sent to the customer together with an explanation of the characters. One seal it made uses the four kanji 奉流駒凛 to spell Brooklyn. It says the characters represent “respect and dignity.” Other examples on the firm’s website include 亜流敏 for Alvin and 栗洲泰能 for Cristiano. A Hankoya.com official said personal stamps for foreign people are selling well and offering the company a new source of income. According to an organization in Nagoya that supports foreign trainees, there are companies abroad that make personal seals for people moving to Japan. But since most use roman characters or katakana, they tend to bloat to the size of corporate hanko. In recent years, major banks have started to launch services that do not require hanko to complete. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. fully adopted the signature authentication system in business 2018. Customers can register their signatures in a digital form that includes data on the strength and direction of their pen strokes. The data is used to confirm identification, eliminating the need to carry their hanko around for such procedures as opening bank accounts. In September 2016 MUFG Bank started offering a way for people to open accounts without using personal seals. Instead, they send the bank an image of their driver’s license using a smartphone app. Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, took a different route by adopting a palm vein recognition system in May 2017. The government, too, is moving away from the trusty hanko. In March, the Cabinet approved a so-called digital-first bill aimed at making all administrative procedures paperless in principle. “Currently, more than 90 percent of the documents that need to be submitted to the government, including real estate registration applications and tax documents, can be done online,” said lawyer Hiroshi Miyauchi, 58, a member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association who is well-versed in contracts that use electronic signatures. “It’s a hassle to use hanko and personal seals are easy to counterfeit,” Miyauchi said. “As the number of foreign people is increasing, companies should take this opportunity to seriously think about whether they really need hanko.” Still, Shachihata Inc., a major hanko maker in Nagoya, is confident Japanese society and the business world will retain the use of hanko. “Even with the increase in foreign people, our established culture will not be easily forgotten,” a Shachihata official said.

hanko
banks
expats
foreign trainees
hankoya.com


Abe likely to use upcoming big events to distract Japanese public from election routs, experts say

Abstract: The Liberal Democratic Party’s defeat in two by-elections on Sunday is likely to prompt the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to use upcoming diplomatic events to deflect domestic attention from recent political setbacks, as he looks ahead to a key Upper House election in the summer, experts said Monday. Sunday marked the first time the ruling LDP has been defeated in a by-election for national representatives since Abe returned to power in 2012, with the exception of one Kyoto race in 2016 where the ruling party lost by default. The weekend’s losses added to a recent string of political headaches for Abe, including the gaffe-triggered resignations of two high-ranking officials including former Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada, further strengthening the view that Abe faces an uphill battle as he heads toward the July poll. “This is a very disappointing result. As we brace for the summer Upper House election each and every one of the LDP’s lawmakers must take this result seriously, and straighten themselves out so we can secure victories,” Abe told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. Going forward, the Abe administration is likely to take full advantage of the positive political events on the horizon to distract voters from memories of its recent mishaps, in hopes of maximizing the odds of the LDP prevailing in the July election, experts have said. “The most likely government strategy will be to maximize the benefits it can gain from the rising celebratory mood that will come with the (May 1) transition to a new era and the Group of Seven summit (in June) — not to mention (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s expected state visit to Japan” next month, said Norihiko Narita, a professor emeritus of political science at Surugadai University. Political observers have noted that LDP losses in the recent by-elections bode ill for the Abe administration, regardless of efforts by party officials to minimize the fallout. The by-elections in Okinawa and Osaka were largely seen as a bellwether to the LDP’s standing in the key July poll, which has significant implications for Abe’s longtime ambition to revise the post-war Constitution. Soon after the results poured in, high-level officials in the LDP reportedly sought to downplay the severity of the losses by attributing them to the politically “unique” nature of Osaka and Okinawa constituencies — a not-so-veiled attempt to dissociate them from a national trend. In Okinawa’s No. 3 constituency, opposition-backed freelance journalist Tomohiro Yara emerged victorious by riding a wave of local resistance to the government’s plan to relocate a U.S. military base. In the No. 12 district of Osaka, meanwhile, Fumitake Fujita of conservative opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai beat an LDP-backed candidate by successfully taking advantage of surging local support for the party’s push to reform the city’s administrative structure. It is true those unique factors inherent to each region played a part in triggering the LDP’s twin losses, said Yu Uchiyama, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo. But the results — coupled with the fact that key LDP-backed candidates were also defeated in Fukuoka and Shimane in gubernatorial elections earlier this month — suggests “the Abe administration’s grip on power in regional areas is now destabilizing,” Uchiyama noted. “Just how much its support base is waning is open to further analysis,” he said. Serving as a distraction during the final campaign phase for Sunday’s by-elections was Koichi Hagiuda, an Abe sidekick who sent a shock wave through Japan’s political epicenter of Nagatacho by abruptly floating the possibility that Abe may shelve, for the third time, a consumption tax hike slated for October depending on the strength of the economy. In order for the hike to be postponed, “a public mandate must be sought,” Hagiuda reportedly said on an internet broadcast last week, reigniting speculation that Abe, political gambler that he is, may go ahead with a “double election” by dissolving the Lower House to coincide with the pre-scheduled July poll. Sunday’s election losses might make the Abe administration less confident about surviving an unpopular tax hike. But at the same time, experts are skeptical that Abe will really go ahead with postponing the measure, describing such a move as too risky. “The government will likely continue to calibrate, until the very last minute, whether voters will simply welcome the shelving of the tax hike or consider it irresponsible … That’s a tough call,” Uchiyama said. Narita, too, voiced skepticism, saying that many smaller retailers have already moved toward introducing the cashless payment systems needed for consumers to qualify for “reward point” refunds, effectively nullifying the effect of the tax hike — a measure encouraged by the government. Given their investment, backing off from the hike now has a high likelihood of backfiring, the professor said. Meanwhile, the Osaka by-election has cast renewed attention on the idiosyncratic relationship between the Abe administration and opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai. It wasn’t until Saturday, a day before the election, that Abe joined the campaign trail in Osaka to deliver a speech supporting LDP-backed Shinpei Kitakawa, who eventually lost to Ishin-backed Fujita. Experts say Abe’s apparently lukewarm backing of Kitakawa, as was shown by his eleventh-hour appearance in Osaka, points to his unwillingness to antagonize conservative Ishin, whose support he sees as essential to constitutional revision. “At a time when early voting is increasing, the prime minister making an appearance on the last day of campaigning isn’t as effective as before,” Narita said, noting that Abe’s actions suggest he may have sought to create merely the veneer of support for Kitakawa.

shinzo abe
nippon ishin no kai
osaka
ldp
elections
diet
scandals
local government


Reform promotion panel to propose expanded use of original surnames for nursery teachers and care workers

Abstract: A government panel plans to include in a set of recommendations a proposal calling for nursery teachers and others to be allowed to continue using their original surnames at work after marriage. The Regulatory Reform Promotion Council is discussing expanding the range of professions involving national vocational qualifications in which people are allowed to continue using their original surnames after marriage. The recommendations are part of measures aimed at empowering women set to be compiled as early as May, in line with a policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Among holders of national vocational qualifications, lawyers and certified public accountants are allowed to continue using their original surnames. But license registration under original surnames is not currently allowed for nursery teachers and care workers. Many in these professions are women, and have to change their registered names after marriage. Satsuki Katayama, minister for regulatory reform and minister for women’s empowerment, has indicated she is willing to review the current restrictions in a bid to create a workplace environment friendly to women. In the meantime, the envisaged expansion of the use of original surnames may influence discussions on introducing a system that would allow married couples to use their original names after marriage, pundits said. Conservatives supporters of the Abe administration tend to oppose the dual-surname system, claiming it could lead to the collapse of what they see as Japan’s traditional family system. If nursery teachers and care workers are allowed to keep using their original surnames after marriage, momentum for promoting discussions on the dual-surname system may weaken further, sources familiar with the situation said. “Expanding the use of original surnames is like a double-edged sword,” said a member of the regulatory reform panel, which is headed by Hiroko Ota, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.


Record six women secure mayor jobs in Japan's local elections, though two won uncontested

Abstract: A record six women have secured city mayoralty in this year’s quadrennial unified local elections. On Sunday, the second and final round of the elections took place. There were mayoral elections in 59 cities (including three prefectural capitals, Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture, Nagasaki and Oita), 11 of the 23 special wards in Tokyo, and 66 towns and villages. Additionally, there were municipal assembly elections in 294 cities, 20 Tokyo wards, and 282 towns and villages. Of the six women, two incumbents — Yukari Kaneko, 60, mayor of the city of Suwa in Nagano Prefecture, and Noriko Suematsu, 48, mayor of the city of Suzuka in Mie Prefecture — secured their second and third terms, respectively, because no challengers had come forward by April 14 when the elections were announced, so they won by default. The other four women won the mayor position in Sunday’s elections. Of them, Akemi Fujita, 48, won her first term in the poll in the city of Kamo in Niigata Prefecture. Ritsuko Fujii, 65, also secured her first term as mayor of the city of Shunan in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Noriko Kawai, 63, mayor of the city of Kizugawa in Kyoto Prefecture, won her fourth term. Two women competed in the election in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The winner was Mai Ito, 49, who secured her first term. In the previous unified local elections in 2015, four women, then a record high, won city mayoralty. In the 294 city assembly elections held nationwide, a record number of 1,239 women won a seat, equivalent to 18.4 percent of the total number of seats up for election, also a record high percentage. In the mayoral elections in the three prefectural capitals, Kiichiro Sato, 61, mayor of the city of Oita; Yasushi Takahashi, 53, mayor of Mito; and Tomihisa Taue, 62, mayor of the city of Nagasaki won their second, third and fourth terms, respectively. Taue managed to beat three rivals. He drew broad-based support for his campaign pledge to promote the construction of facilities for international conferences and exhibitions in Nagasaki. Sato and Takahashi both defeated Japanese Communist Party-linked candidates. Voter turnout came to 45.10 percent in the Mito election, 47.33 percent in the Nagasaki poll and 27.72 percent in the Oita election. Osaka Ishin no Kai, a regional political party in Osaka Prefecture, fielded candidates in the mayoral elections in three cities in the prefecture, and won two of them, in the cities of Ikeda and Yao. Of the mayoral elections in Tokyo, Kita Ward Mayor Yosota Hanakawa, 84, won his fifth term. He is the oldest of all incumbent city and ward mayors in Japan. Toshima Ward Mayor Yukio Takano, 81, secured his sixth term. Vote counting will be conducted Monday for some mayoral and assembly elections in Tokyo. In the second round, mayors of 27 cities, including Tsu and Takamatsu, the capitals of Mie and Kagawa prefectures, respectively, and 55 towns and villages, and members of the municipal assemblies in 104 cities, towns and villages were elected uncontested. In the first round on April 7, gubernatorial elections were held in 11 prefectures, mayoral elections in six ordinance-designated major cities, and assembly elections in 41 prefectures and 17 ordinance-designated cities. Osaka Ishin won the Osaka gubernatorial election and the mayoral election in the city of Osaka.

kyoto
women
elections
local government
hyogo
ashiya


Cosplaying eccentric Mac Akasaka of the Smile Party snags seat in Tokyo ward assembly

Abstract: He clambers out from under the table, wearing a pink Hooter’s tank top while sporting fluffy angel wings and a halo, before bowing deeply toward the camera and taking a seat. “People of Tokyo — have you been smiling lately!?” he says suddenly, breaking into a wide grin and striking a pose. This is Makoto Tonami, 70, better known as Mac Akasaka of the Smile Party, at a campaign broadcast shown on public broadcaster NHK ahead of the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Mac Akasaka | KYODO On Sunday, after years of campaigning in national and local elections, Akasaka finally won an assembly seat on the assembly for Minato Ward in Tokyo. Akasaka is known for his eccentric campaign broadcasts that have captured viral attention, in which he has dressed up as a variety of colorful characters — including Mohandas Gandhi, an angel and “Superman” — all while promising to bring smiles to people’s faces through his policies. The campaign broadcasts are punctuated with his signature calls for people to “smile!” “Smile therapy is my lifework,” said Akasaka during an interview with the Japan Times after the Tokyo gubernatorial race in 2012. In his manifesto for this year’s vote, his campaign promises included tripling the number of elderly care facilities as well as paying a monthly allowance of ¥30,000 to Minato residents aged 65 and over, as well as young people who have not yet completed their final year of junior high school. Mac Akasaka (second from left) walks in the Nanba district of Osaka in March 2014 to support Toru Hashimoto, who was running in the Osaka mayoral election. | KYODO Responses to Akasaka’s win have been varied, with some taking to Twitter to post stills from Akasaka’s past election broadcasts and congratulating him on his win while one Twitter user, going by the handle @mtkfmtkf, jokingly tweeted “This guy really won a seat? Minato residents — what are you even thinking.” Despite the goofy costumes and his eccentric campaign speeches, Akasaka graduated from the prestigious Kyoto University before working at major trading company Itochu Corp. for over 20 years according to his website. After his stint at Itochu, he set up his own trading business specializing in rare metals — experience he has promised he would apply to his career as a politician.

tokyo
elections
local government
minato ward
mac akasaka


Abe leaves for Europe, U.S. and Canada with Osaka G20 and China's 'Belt and Road' on his mind

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe embarked Monday on an eight-day European and North American trip hoping to rally support to jointly tackle global issues such as free trade as chair of this year’s Group of 20 summit. With China seeking greater influence with its “Belt and Road” infrastructure scheme in Europe, Abe is expected to push Japan’s own initiative — highlighting its aim of helping other nations build “high-quality” infrastructure that supports economic growth and ensures fiscal sustainability. But Abe will also try to strike a balance in such discussions amid a recent thaw in Japan-China ties, as Tokyo prepares for President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Japan as China’s leader for the G20 summit in Osaka in late June. “I will exchange views on major topics thoroughly with my foreign counterparts and coordinate efforts toward making (the summit) a success,” Abe told reporters at Haneda airport in Tokyo before leaving for the six-nation trip. The prime minister will travel aboard the new government Boeing 777-300ER that entered into service earlier this month. The plane, primarily used by the prime minister and the Emperor, is more fuel efficient and has a longer range than the previous government aircraft, a Boeing 747 that entered service in 1993, as well as in-flight Wi-Fi. Abe will visit France, Italy, Slovakia and Belgium before traveling to the United States and Canada. The prime minister will return to Japan on April 29, the day before Emperor Akihito’s abdication. One overarching theme of the G20 summit under Japan’s presidency will be the state of the world economy, Japanese government officials say, reflecting heightened trade friction between the United States and China and the threat posed to free trade. With roughly two months to go to the summit Abe hopes to exercise his leadership in coordinating views among the G20, the diverse membership of which has often led to divisions. Abe chose France as his first stop, hoping to work closely with Paris — the holder of this year’s Group of Seven presidency. In a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Abe is expected to express readiness to provide support for the reconstruction of the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral, according to Japanese officials. On the second leg of the trip, Abe hopes to get Italy’s support for achieving a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region, a concept being pushed by the United States as well as Japan, when he meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The visit follows Rome’s endorsement of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative in March, becoming the first G7 member to do so and raising concern in the group of leading industrial nations as well as within the European Union about the prospect of China getting a stronger foothold within the 28-member bloc. Abe will be the first Japanese prime minister to visit Slovakia, where he is scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday with leaders from the Visegrad Four — Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Eastern Europe is seen as a key area for China’s envisaged expansion. “European countries are paying attention to Chinese moves and we want to convey our stance (on infrastructure development) and also hear their views too,” a Japanese official said. In Brussels, Abe will sit down for talks with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to make sure that both parties are united in pursuing free and rules-based trade, now that an economic partnership agreement between Japan and the bloc has come into force. The leaders may also discuss Brexit after the European Union gave the U.K. until Oct. 31 to leave, with Tokyo wary of the potential negative impact to Japanese companies operating in the country. Abe will then travel to the United States and meet with President Donald Trump on Friday to reaffirm cooperation in achieving North Korea’s denuclearization. Trade is likely to be another key item on the agenda, with Trump eager to address his country’s hefty trade deficit with Japan and the second round of talks on a bilateral trade agreement expected to take place before the two leaders meet. The prime minister may play golf with Trump and celebrate first lady Melania’s birthday. His visit to the United States comes about a month before Japan is due to receive the Trumps as the first state guests of the new Imperial era of Reiwa, which will run from May following the ascension of a new emperor. In Canada, the final destination of his trip, Abe will seek to deepen bilateral economic and security ties further in a meeting Sunday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

china
shinzo abe
europe
u.s .
trade
canada
g20
belt and road
prime minister shinzo abe


One Japanese national killed, four others injured as Sri Lanka attacks rock expat community

Abstract: One Japanese national was killed and four others injured in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday. The attacks left at least 290 dead and more than 500 injured. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that Tokyo “never tolerates” such violence, and is “determined to combat terrorism” by cooperating with the Sri Lankan government and internationally. The dead Japanese national was a woman identified as Kaori Takahashi, a local resident whose age was not immediately known, according to a Kyodo News report quoting unnamed government sources. One of the four injured was reportedly a worker at the Japanese Embassy in Colombo, and another was Kazukiyo Yajima of telecom carrier KDDI Corp., according to Kyodo News. A spokesperson for KDDI Corp. confirmed to The Japan Times that one of their workers was injured at a local hotel and was hospitalized as of Monday afternoon. He was able to speak and walk despite his injury, the spokesperson said. The worker had been visiting Sri Lanka together with 10 other KDDI workers on a business trip. Churches, luxury hotels and other sites were hit by explosions in the nine bombings. At least 35 foreigners are counted among the dead, including Takahashi, according to Kyodo News. Local police have reportedly arrested 13 suspects in connection with Sunday’s bombings. Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene described the blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists, although there was no immediate declaration of responsibility, according to AP. During the news conference in Tokyo, Suga declined to identify any of the five Japanese victims, saying the government had yet to gain the consent of their families. “It is extremely regrettable to see such serious damage” to the local Japanese community in Sri Lanka, Suga said. “We feel a strong sense of indignation,” he said. According to the Foreign Ministry, a total of 767 Japanese were living in Sri Lanka as of October 2017, 365 of whom reside in Colombo. The Japanese population there is much smaller than that of many other Asian cities. In Sri Lanka, there were 89 offices belonging to Japanese firms as of October 2017 — placing the nation 50th among all countries where Japanese companies have offices. Japan’s government has dispatched a special unit to Sri Lanka to gather information related to the victims and attackers from local investigative authorities, according to Suga. The bombings could deal a blow to the country’s tourism industry, which had been recovering following the end of a 26-year-long civil war in 2009. Major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. said it had confirmed by Sunday night the safety of all tourists staying in Sri Lanka via its tours. The company said it was weighing whether to proceed with upcoming tours during the 10-day Golden Week holiday that begins this Saturday. The Tokyo office of Sri Lankan travel agency Yathra Travels Ltd. has already seen several cancellations among the roughly 100 people who had signed up for tours during the holiday period, an agency official said. The company said it is considering changing itineraries to ensure the safety of tourists.

terrorism
yoshihide suga
sri lanka
sri lanka attacks


Gold tub at Japanese resort recognized by Guinness as world's heaviest

Abstract: SASEBO, NAGASAKI PREF. - An 18-carat gold bathtub weighing 154.2 kilograms at a Japanese hot spring resort has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the heaviest on the planet, the resort’s operator said. The tub worth ¥800 million measures 1.3 meters in diameter, large enough to allow two adults to relax, Huis Ten Bosch Co. said Monday. “This gold bathtub outclasses all others in the world, and we hope our customers enjoy it and increase their luck,” the company said. The tub was made by Tokyo goldsmiths while the resort’s hot spring facility was undergoing a renovation. The tub, which Guinness confirmed to work properly for practical use, is located in a reserved space and can be used by up to four people for ¥5,400 per hour. The resort, known for its salty, brown-colored spring water, has various themed baths and reserved private baths.

nagasaki
guinness world records
gold
sasebo


U.S. may back commercial use of Yokota base during 2020 Tokyo Olympics, top officer says

Abstract: A top commander of U.S. Forces Japan backed the idea Monday of allowing commercial aircraft to use the U.S. military’s Yokota Air Base, located in the suburbs of Tokyo, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. “We will support it a hundred percent” if the State Department approves specifics for it, said Brig. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, deputy commander of U.S. Forces Japan, at a group media interview in Tokyo. Japan’s government has requested that the U.S. Air Force base be open for partial use by commercial aircraft on a temporary basis, to address traffic demand expected to surge throughout next year’s games. The commander said nothing had been decided yet concerning the possible military-civilian use of the Yokota base, but suggested that the two countries are discussing requirements for the plan at working-level talks. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to start studying the possibility of allowing civilian aircraft to use the Yokota base, but the plan has not progressed since that time.

tokyo
u.s. military
u.s. bases
2020 tokyo olympics
yokota air base


Hiroshima bone marrow donors dwindling with age amid lack of registration volunteers and education

Abstract: Following renowned swimmer Rikako Ikee’s announcement of her leukemia diagnosis, public interest in donating bone marrow has increased, especially in Hiroshima Prefecture, which has more than its fair share of patients as a result of the atomic bombing in 1945. In Hiroshima, though, the eligible donors are getting older, forcing officials to hammer out plans to find new donors. Bone marrow provides blood-forming cells for individuals with such diseases as leukemia. In the prefecture, a little over 60 percent of all donors are in their 40s or 50s, with the ratio of those in their 20s or 30s below the national average. The age limit is 55, so when a donor reaches that age, his or her data are automatically deleted. As of the end of February, there were 8,873 registered bone marrow donors in Hiroshima. Nearly half (47.9 percent) are in their 40s, and the ratio combined with those in their 50s is 63.3 percent — surpassing Japan’s average of 56.6 percent. Donors in their 30s constitute 23.3 percent of the total, and donors in their 20s amount to 12.6 percent. Those ratios are 4 points and 2.5 points, respectively, below the national average. In Hiroshima, there are only 7.3 registered donors per 1,000 people between the ages 25 and 54, which is also below the national average of 8.9. Kazushi Noda, director of Hiroshima Donor Bank, in Minami Ward, said donor registrations are sluggish because there are only 10 volunteers who can help with the procedures and only three fixed donation stations where people can register in the prefecture. Some said that awareness of bone marrow donation must be spread through education. “It’s not that young people are not interested in learning about leukemia. They just don’t have many opportunities to learn about it,” said Noriko Hirohata, a 69-year-old public relations official at a local branch of the Japan Marrow Donor Program. “They’d feel more comfortable with registering as donors had they learned about it through high school and college and experienced donating blood first.” Ikee announced her leukemia diagnosis in February. After that, 374 people in Hiroshima Prefecture signed up to become donors the same month. The total in fiscal 2018 was expected to be about 1,100, nearly double the total from the year before. An age-based breakdown of the donors has not been disclosed, but one official who wished to remain anonymous said many were in their 20s. “I want to launch a seminar encouraging bone marrow donor registrations alongside blood drives at universities and companies,” Noda said. “I also want to hold more information sessions about donor registration throughout the prefecture. In order to do that, I hope more volunteers join.” The prefecture plans to host marrow-donation workshops to increase the number this fiscal year, recognizing the lack of volunteers as a problem.

hiroshima
leukemia
organ donation
rikako ikee


Former LDP lawmaker Tsuyoshi Tabata referred to prosecutors over alleged rape while woman slept

Abstract: NAGOYA - Police on Monday referred a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker to prosecutors following an allegation of forced sexual intercourse involving a woman he was dating in December, according to investigative sources. Tsuyoshi Tabata, 46, a former Bank of Japan employee who has served three terms in the House of Representatives, has reportedly admitted to the allegation, said to have involved the woman at her home while she was sleeping after they had dinner together in Nagoya on Christmas Eve. The former lawmaker is also suspected of having committed an offense by taking photos of the woman, who is in her 20s, with his mobile phone while she was naked, the sources said. Tabata resigned from the LDP in February and from the Diet in March after facing criticism from both the ruling and opposition camps over the alleged assault.

ldp
rape
diet
scandals
sex crimes
tsuyoshi tabata


More than 40 million people work in artisanal mining, digging precious ore by hand: report

Abstract: LONDON - More than 40 million people around the world work in artisanal and small-scale mining where minerals including gold, diamonds and cobalt are dug up often by hand, a report by the World Bank and development organization Pact said on Wednesday. Increasing demand for metals and rising prices have triggered a boom in small-scale mining in recent years, mainly in poorer countries in South America, Africa and Asia. These mines are a vital source of income for communities, but many operate outside the law and leak chemicals into rocks, soil and rivers. Working conditions can be appalling, and the metal and stones dug up are often smuggled across borders on a vast scale, sometimes by criminal operations. Billions of dollars worth of gold is being smuggled out of Africa, a Reuters investigation found this week. The World Bank and Pact said too little was known about how many people worked in small mines and previous estimates, which were often far lower than 40 million, tended to be partial or rely on outdated data. “It’s time to shine a light on this vital sector so we can accelerate investments in people and communities for greater equity and sustainable economic growth,” Riccardo Puliti, the World Bank’s head of energy and extractives global practice, said in a statement. The report said 16.3 million people worked in small-scale mining in South Asia, of which 12 million were in India, and 9.8 million people in East Asia and the Pacific, of which 9 million were in China. Another 9.9 million people worked in sub-Saharan Africa, the report said, with 2 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo and between 1 and 1.5 million each in Sudan, Ghana and Tanzania. Just over 2 million people work in the industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.9 million more in the Middle East and North Africa and 100,000 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, it said. Thirty percent of the workers globally were women, the report found. Minerals mined in small-scale and artisanal mines include gold and diamonds, used for jewelry and investment, and tin, tungsten, tantalum and cobalt consumed in industry, electronics and batteries that power electric vehicles.

pollution
smuggling
world bank
gold
diamonds
pact


Marijuana pioneer Uruguay to be first in Latin America to export for medicinal use

Abstract: NUEVA HELVECIA, URUGUAY - Already the first country in the world to legalize recreational use of marijuana, Uruguay now aims to go further by becoming the first in Latin America to export it for medicinal purposes. It has taken a year to get to this point but in Nueva Helvecia — 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the capital, Montevideo — the first harvest is ready to be sent abroad. Employees of the U.S. company Fotmer — the only one currently licensed to export — are cutting and drying the plant before it is exported to Europe, Canada and Australia. In taking this step, Uruguay is joining the ranks of medicinal marijuana exporters dominated by the United Kingdom, which according to United Nations data from 2016 had cornered more than two thirds of the market. The Netherlands (16.4 percent) and Austria (8.7) are the other major players although a growing number of countries are investing in producing medical marijuana, which is legal in around 30 countries worldwide. “Uruguay has been visionary,” said Jordan Lewis, 46, one of Fotmer’s owners. “The market is growing” and Lewis believes Uruguay — a country in which cannabis can be bought in pharmacies — could lead the way. This year, Fotmer aims to produce 6 tons of medicinal marijuana but Lewis’ ultimate goal is to reach 400 tons a year in return for a $15 million investment. It has installed 18 greenhouses in Uruguay covering 30,000 square meters (320,000 square feet). The plants can grow to 2 meters (6.5 feet)high after which employees such as 33-year-old Santiago Bardanca prune them and separate stems and flowers into colored boxes. “It takes between five and 10 minutes” for each person to process a plant, Bardanca told AFP. Fotmer employs 150 people in peak season when the plants are harvested. That is an intense and stressful time that lasts just a few days as employees work in shifts to ensure a 24-hour operation. The whole process is tightly regulated as the flowers and extract which the plants produce are mostly destined for the pharmaceutical industry. “Our aim is to become the main provider of medical marijuana” in the world, taking advantage of Uruguay’s liberal laws surrounding the drug, added American Lewis, a veterinarian by profession. Starting with 10 plants, he jumped at the opportunity afforded him by the South American country to run his own business dealing in a plant he has studied extensively and whose economic potential he considers huge. Through cloning, he now has 10,000 plants. A 2017 study by U.S.-based Grand View Research has estimated the global market for medical marijuana could reach $55.8 billion by 2025. The flowers are sent to countries such as Germany — one of 21 European Union nations where medical marijuana is legal — while other chemical components are used in specific remedies, says Lewis. In the production process, each area is strictly separated. To pass from one room to another, employees must pass through a pressurized area in which connecting doors can only be opened one at a time. Workers must even change clothes, shoes and masks when moving between the different production areas to reduce the risk of contamination. “This is hyperparanoia,” said Fotmer’s scientific director, Asim Beg, but necessary given “this is a medicine like any other medicine.” The production process involves cutting the plants at exactly the right moment, then leaving the flowers for six days to dry and another six to “stabilize,” during which time the chemical components reach their final state. It then takes two days to pack the final product. “The plant’s entire life is monitored from plantation to sale,” said Beg, adding that it is a pharmaceutical industry requirement. Each packet weighs around 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) and will be sold for between $9,000 and $21,000 on the international market, where prices range from $3 to $7 per gram. The first packages will be heading to Germany. “It’s very emotional,” admits Lewis.


BOJ vows to keep rates super-low for at least a year, and trims Japan growth and inflation forecasts

Abstract: The Bank of Japan told investors it would keep interest rates at superlow levels for at least one more year, indicating a time scale for anticipated rate stability for the first time and seeking to dispel uncertainty over its commitment to ultraloose policies as the economy comes under fresh pressures. The bank’s decision to give more specific policy guidance to financial markets comes amid signs that weaker global demand and Sino-U.S. trade tensions are taking an increasing toll on Japan’s export-reliant economy. The move puts the BOJ in line with the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, which have been forced to pause efforts to scale back crisis-mode policies due to heightening uncertainty over the global economic outlook. “The BOJ intends to maintain the current extremely low levels of short-term and long-term interest rates for an extended period of time, at least through around spring 2020,” it said in a statement announcing its decision to keep policy settings steady. Previously, the BOJ had not offered specifics on how long it would maintain very low rates, saying only that it would be “for an extended period of time.” BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank was ready to adjust policy swiftly if necessary to sustain momentum needed for the economy to achieve its 2 percent inflation target. “It’s likely to take some more time to hit our target,” Kuroda told a news conference. “The economy is maintaining momentum to achieve our price target. But that momentum lacks strength.” In fresh projections released Thursday, the BOJ slightly cut its economic growth and inflation forecasts. It now sees growth of 0.9 percent in the next fiscal year beginning in April 2020, down from 1.0 percent projected in January but still above the expectations seen in a recent Reuters poll of economists. It also forecast consumer inflation would hit 1.6 percent the following year, conceding that price growth will fall short of its target for at least three more years. Core inflation in March was 0.8 percent. As widely expected, the BOJ maintained its short-term rate target at minus 0.1 percent and that of long-term yields at around zero percent at a two-day meeting that ended on Thursday. It also reiterated it will keep buying assets such as government bonds and exchange-traded equity funds. “The fact the BOJ tweaked its forward guidance to include overseas economies signaled its caution over the economic outlook,” said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. “As the global economy slows further, the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates later this year or early next year. The BOJ may be forced into further easing around the same time.” The BOJ said it had decided to clarify its guidance to show its resolve to maintain powerful easing, as it was likely to take more time for prices to pick up. The bank also announced steps to make its monetary easing framework more sustainable, such as expanding the type of collateral it accepts for supplying funds to financial institutions. Slowing global demand and trade tensions have hurt exports and business sentiment, adding to headaches for BOJ policymakers who are clinging to the hope that overseas demand will recover and help the economy later this year. In the quarterly outlook, the BOJ stuck to its view that the economy will continue to expand moderately as a trend. But it said it would be vigilant to various uncertainties such as the effect of a sales tax hike scheduled for October and overseas economic developments. Years of heavy money printing have failed to fire up inflation to the BOJ’s target and left it with little ammunition to fight the next recession. Prolonged easing has also added to stresses on regional banks, already facing slumping profits due to a graying population and an exodus of borrowers to big cities. Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities, said the fact the BOJ did not ramp up asset purchases showed it was aware of the growing side effects of prolonged easing. “The BOJ is worried that consumer prices may not rise even after risks posed by overseas economies recede,” he said. “It’s saying it will continue to keep policy easy but there are limits to what more it can do, both in terms of duration and the kinds of tools available.”

boj
inflation
economy
monetary policy
economic indicators
negative interest rates


SoftBank and Google parent tie up on flying 5G stations for phone services using balloons and drones

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO - Mobile phone carrier SoftBank Corp. and Google LLC parent Alphabet Inc. said Thursday they will jointly set up airborne mobile phone base stations, using balloons and aircraft in the stratosphere, to cover wider areas for next-generation 5G wireless services. SoftBank’s year-old HAPSMobile and Alphabet’s Loon, which spun out last July from the research incubator of the Google parent, have been trying separately to fly networking equipment at high altitudes to provide high-speed internet in spots where ground-based towers are unreachable. Loon carries the gear with a large balloon, while HAPSMobile uses a large drone. Despite internet coverage gaps in rural areas or during natural disasters, mobile network operators, governments and other potential customers have yet to demonstrate much enthusiasm for buying airborne technologies. Also competing to fill the coverage gaps are several billionaire entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. Each is backing separate early-stage ventures that want to beam internet from satellites in near-Earth orbit. Under their tie-up deal, HAPSMobile Inc. will invest $125 million in Loon to build a telecommunications network some 20 kilometers above ground, they said. HAPSMobile plans to introduce the system in 2023. The companies have described their partnership as a “long-term” tie-up between one of Japan’s top three wireless carriers and one of the world’s biggest tech companies. “The system can offer internet access even in times of natural disasters, including earthquake and tsunami, and enhance connectivity in remote islands, mountains and in developing countries,” HAPSMobile CEO and President Junichi Miyakawa told a news conference in Tokyo. HAPSMobile aims to transmit a signal, via its unmanned aircraft, that can cover 200 kilometers in diameter. Solar-powered and with a wingspan of 75 meters, the airplane can remain for six months at a time in the stratosphere, where weather is mild throughout the year and there is little change in wind speed. Initially, HAPSMobile plans to offer the system to mobile phone carriers in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, where internet connectivity is still limited. It eventually seeks to expand the service to Japan, where demand to connect various devices and sensors for use in the manufacturing and farming sectors is growing. In the deal, Loon will also have the rights to invest the same amount of $125 million in HAPSMobile. The two companies will also collaborate in sales related to each other’s aerial telecommunications networks, in addition to developing products jointly. “We are very excited about the airplane’s capability and what it can do for global connectivity,” Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth said. “We are poised for an exciting new era for global connectivity.” Loon has conducted trial launches of balloons carrying base stations in Africa. Facebook Inc. and Airbus S.A.S. are also trying to offer similar stratospheric telecommunications system. HAPSMobile emerged from technology developed by drone-maker AeroVironment Inc, which owns 10 percent of the SoftBank subsidiary. Fifth-generation services started in South Korea and the United States this month, while a trial 5G service will begin in Japan this fall. The superfast services enable smartphone users to download a two-hour film in just seconds.

internet smartphones google drones tech softbank phones balloons 5g alphabet


Japan's info protection panel considers beefing up protections for internet users' data

Abstract: Japan is moving closer to requiring companies to stop using personal information for such purposes as advertising if requested by consumers, a government plan showed Thursday. The proposal was part of an interim report issued by the government’s Personal Information Protection Commission, which is discussing revising the private information protection law in 2020. It would be the first amendment to the law, which entered took into force in May 2017, since a clause saying it must reviewed every three years was added later that year. The commission plans to solicit public opinion on the plan because Japan is considering strengthening regulations against corporate IT giants like Amazon.com and Google LLC, given consumers are becoming increasingly anxious their personal data is being collected without consent. “It is necessary to consider ways to expand the scope of personal rights” regarding when to suspend the use of personal information by companies, the interim report states. The panel is expected to continue talks on whether to include “the right to be forgotten” in the next amendment. That feature allows individuals to have internet firms remove past images or search results related to them. The right has already been introduced in parts of Europe. Personal data including names, birthdates and addresses are collected by a range of companies through legitimate means and have widely been used for marketing purposes in Japan. At present, companies respond to consumer requests to remove personal data on a voluntary basis. But if the commission’s proposal is approved, such actions will be mandatory. Those targeted by the envisioned regulation include not only Japanese firms, but also the global IT giants known as the big four — Google, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon. The panel is also considering ways to apply the law to companies based overseas. Firms such as Amazon and Google have thrived by using such data to tailor their services to individuals while fanning concerns about loss of privacy. Japanese officials have been looking into whether an existing law can be used to penalize the operators of such platforms for mishandling personal data they collect from users. In October, the commission ordered Facebook to improve its protection of such information. The European Union has already introduced tough regulations on how to handle personal information to protect people against online technology giants.

internet
google
privacy
apple
amazon
facebook
big data
advertising
personal information


Boeing abandons outlook and sees $1 billion in extra costs due to 737 Max debacle

Abstract: BANGALORE, INDIA/SEATTLE/PARIS - Boeing Co. on Wednesday abandoned its 2019 financial outlook, halted share buybacks and said lowered production due to the grounding of its fastest-selling 737 Max jet after two fatal plane crashes in five months had cost it at least $1 billion so far. The world’s largest planemaker is facing one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history following the disasters on Lion Air in Indonesia on Oct. 29 and another on Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, which together killed all 346 on board. Chicago-based Boeing is now reckoning with a blow to its reputation and the financial cost of getting the planes back in the air. It met sharply lowered Wall Street profit estimates, largely due to stopping deliveries of the 737 Max jets and a slowdown in production. The production slowdown alone has cost it $1 billion so far, the company said, because the lower rate means the plane-maker has to pay more for parts, which are priced according to the volume Boeing buys. Boeing also booked unspecified charges related to developing a Max software fix and pilot training. Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg told analysts on a conference call that Boeing has confidence in its software fix and expects a certification flight with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in the “near term” after completing more than 135 test and production flights. “The timing of return to service for that Max will continue to be paced by ongoing work with global regulators and our customers,” Muilenburg said. “If there’s something that we can do to make airplane development programs or the certification process better and safer, we will pursue it.” A fuller picture of how Boeing plans to repair its image with the flying public and stem further financial damage will not emerge until the end of the second-quarter as 737 production cuts did not begin until mid-April. Investors are also looking for details on how the Max crisis will hit development of Boeing’s all-new 777X twin-aisle jetliner and a potential new midmarket airplane, known in the industry as NMA, which is central to its fight with arch-rival Airbus SE in the lucrative longer-haul market and also is expected to lay the industrial foundation for an eventual 737 replacement. Muilenburg said the company did not see any changes to the underlying certification process for 777X in light of the Max reviews, and continues to work “in parallel” on plans for NMA, although he stressed the 737’s return was a higher priority. Boeing said on Wednesday it sped up production of its 787 Dreamliner to 14 aircraft per month from 12 in the first quarter, while the 777X remained on track for flight testing this year with delivery in 2020. Boeing shares rose 1.5 percent. The crashes caused regulators worldwide to ground the 737 Max and triggered investigations into the aircraft’s development by federal transportation authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice. Although safety experts have raised some questions over crew performance in both crashes, attention has focused on anti-stall software known as MCAS, which Boeing has acknowledged was a common link in the separate chains of events leading to both crashes. Muilenburg insisted on Wednesday that “there was no surprise or gap or unknown here or something that somehow slipped through the certification process.” “We know exactly how the airplane was designed. We know exactly how it was certified,” he said. “We’ve taken the time to understand that. That has led to the software update that we’ve been implementing and testing and we’re very confident that when the fleet comes back up, the Max will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.” Boeing cut production of the jets following the Max grounding to 42 aircraft per month, down from 52, and its operating cash flow in the first quarter was around $350 million lower than a year earlier. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Boeing told some 737 Max owners it was targeting U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval of its software fix as early as the third week of May and the ending of the grounding of the aircraft around mid-July as it resumes building 52 aircraft per month. Boeing also took an impairment charge at its Boeing Capital financing unit and removed 210 aircraft from its order backlog to reflect concerns about customer credit quality. It did not disclose the name of the airline involved but the move came days after India’s Jet Airways halted operations after lenders rejected a plea for emergency funds. Boeing said it would issue a new financial forecast when it has more clarity around the issues surrounding the 737 Max. In January, it said it expected full-year revenue of $109.5 billion to $111.5 billion and core earnings per share between $19.90 and $20.10. The company repurchased $2.3 billion of its shares in the latest quarter, all of which occurred prior to mid-March. Boeing bought back $9 billion of its stock last year. First-quarter operating cash flow declined to $2.79 billion, from $3.14 billion, missing the Wall Street’s average estimate of $2.82 billion. Revenue fell 2 percent to $22.92 billion, below analysts’ average estimate of $22.98 billion. Excluding certain items, Boeing said its core earnings fell to $3.16 per share, in the quarter from $3.64 per share, a year earlier. That matched analysts’ average estimate.

airlines
boeing
stocks
ethiopian airlines
737 max
lion air
air accidents
dennis muilenburg


Deutsche Bank handing over Trump loan documents in New York probe, source says

Abstract: NEW YORK - Deutsche Bank has begun to provide documents on financing for some of President Donald Trump’s projects to New York State authorities, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Wednesday. In mid-March, New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenaed the German bank, demanding records related to loans and lines of credit granted to the Trump Organization. The money was intended to finance projects such as Trump hotels in Washington, Miami and Chicago, another source told AFP last month on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether Deutsche Bank had provided all the documents requested. “We remain committed to cooperating with authorized investigations,” a bank spokesman told AFP, while declining to comment on a CNN report that the company was handing over the documents. James’ office also declined comment on the status of the documents regarding financing for the Trump Organization, the holding company that has been run by Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. since he entered the White House. New York authorities also wanted records related to the Trump Organization’s failed attempt in 2014 to buy the Buffalo Bills football team, the source said on condition of anonymity. James demanded the information from Deutsche Bank after Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress, saying among other things that Trump wildly inflated his net worth in order to secure loans from Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank was one of the few major banks to continue to lend to Trump following the bankruptcies of his casinos and other businesses in the 1990s. The German bank in recent years has loaned Trump more than $300 million. That put the bank at the center of investigations and congressional scrutiny. When opposition Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January, they sought information on interest rates granted to the Trump Organization, as well as details on a huge Russian money laundering case that earned Deutsche Bank a $630 million fine in January 2017.

u.s .
new york
deutsche bank
donald trump
trump organization
russia probe
michael cohen
new york state


Dollar nearly unchanged around ¥111.80 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was almost unchanged around ¥111.80 in Tokyo trading late Thursday after its early gains were erased by selling on a rally. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.83-83, against ¥111.81-81 the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1154-1154, down from $1.1216-1216, and at ¥124.82-83, down from ¥125.41-43. The dollar briefly rose to around ¥112.20 on a rise in the benchmark Nikkei stock average. But the currency was later pressured by selling to square positions ahead of a meeting between Finance Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin later on Thursday, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said. “There was a sense of caution among market players against the possibility that Aso and Mnuchin will discuss a currency clause,” an official at a foreign exchange trading service firm said, referring to a proposed provision under a potential Japan-U.S. trade agreement designed to prevent competitive currency devaluations. Market players reacted little to the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep both short- and long-term interest rates extremely low until at least spring 2020 and a news conference by BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. The BOJ’s decision “had only a limited impact” on currency trading, the foreign exchange trading service firm official said. Kuroda’s press conference “gave no incentives,” an official of an asset management firm said.


Tokyo stocks rebound on rosy earnings and Bank of Japan decision

Abstract: Stocks rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday as investor sentiment was brightened by robust corporate earnings reports and the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep interest rates low. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 107.58 points, or 0.48 percent, to 22,307.58, its highest finish since Dec. 3. Wednesday, the key market gauge dropped 59.74 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 8.23 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,620.28, after falling 10.92 points the previous day. Buying of companies with strong earnings supported the market, brokers said. The central bank’s decision to keep both short- and long-term interest rates extremely low until at least around spring 2020 also served as a tailwind for Japanese shares, they said. The BOJ’s decision “prompted short covering,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. The decision pushed up domestic demand-oriented names, said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co. But he said that the BOJ’s move “wasn’t so surprising and its effect is unlikely to last long.” Brokers said that a wait-and-see mood remained strong ahead of Japan’s 10-day holiday from Saturday. “Foreign investors apparently had no interest” in trading in Tokyo, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said, indicating that individual players led Thursday’s advance. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,578 to 489 in the TSE’s first section, while 73 issues were unchanged. Volume inched up to 1.221 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.213 billion shares. Hitachi Chemical Co. shot up 9.77 percent on news reports that parent Hitachi is considering selling the core unit. Kao Corp. climbed 5.25 percent the day after the daily goods manufacturer announced plans to buy back up to 7 million of its shares. Also on the plus side were chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron and technology investor Softbank Group Corp. By contrast, Nissan Motor Co. sagged 1.77 percent the day after downgrading its operating profit forecast for the year ended last March. Food producer Kikkoman Corp., pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma Inc. and clothing store chain Fast Retailing Co. were among other major losers. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average went up 180 points to end at 22,350.


Trump's Fed pick Stephen Moore draws fire from Democrats over sexist remarks; Republicans silent

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK - Stephen Moore, the economic commentator that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will nominate to the Federal Reserve Board, is drawing new fire from top Democrats for his comments denigrating, among other targets, women and the Midwest. But Republicans, whose 53 to 47 majority in the U.S. Senate gives them the final say on whether Moore’s pending nomination is confirmed, have not weighed in since news surfaced this week documenting Moore’s long history of sexist remarks, some of which he says were made jokingly. As a Fed governor, Moore would have a say on setting interest rates for the world’s biggest economy. Some economists and Democratic lawmakers have questioned his competence, citing his support for tying policy decisions to commodity prices and his fluctuating views on rates. This week though, it is his comments about gender and geography that are drawing criticism. “What are the implications of a society in which women earn more than men? We don’t really know, but it could be disruptive to family stability,” Moore wrote in one column in 2014. In 2000, he opined that “women tennis pros don’t really want equal pay for equal work. They want equal pay for inferior work.” The New York Times among others has documented many other instances where he expressed similar viewpoints. It’s just added evidence that Moore is unfit for the Fed job, vice chair of the joint economic committee, Carolyn Maloney, told Reuters. “Those include his reckless tendency to politicize the Fed as well as his bizarre and sexist comments about women in sports that came to light this week,” she said. Republicans, she said, “should also take note that Moore has said capitalism is more important than democracy. That’s a dangerous comment that further confirms my belief that Moore shouldn’t be allowed on the Fed Board.” Maloney earlier this month sent a letter urging Republican Sen. Mike Crapo and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown to oppose Moore’s nomination. Crapo and Brown are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate banking committee, which would be Moore’s first stop in any confirmation hearings. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Charles Schumer, both Democrats, have also publicly criticized Moore as well as businessman Herman Cain, who withdrew his name from consideration for the Fed this week amid mounting objections. Cain said he stopped the process because he realized the job would mean a pay cut and would prevent him from pursuing his current business and speaking gigs. The Senate banking panel’s 13 Republican members, contacted by Reuters about their views on Moore’s suitability for the Fed role after his derisive commentary about women came to light, all either did not respond or declined to comment. But Brown on Wednesday blasted Moore for comments he made in 2014 calling cities in the Midwest, including Cincinnati, the “armpits of America.” Brown demanded an apology. “It would be your job to carefully consider monetary and regulatory policies that support communities throughout the country — even those you apparently consider beneath you,” Brown wrote in a letter to Moore. “Based on your bias against communities across the heartland of our country, it’s clear that you lack the judgment to make important decisions in their best interest.” On Wednesday, Moore told Reuters his earlier remarks on women were not in accord with his current views. “I DO regret writing that column 17 years ago and it does not reflect my feelings today,” he said, referencing a column on his dim view of women’s participation in the game of basketball. His views on the Midwest also had improved, now that Trump is in office. “I’m writing a column about Ohio right now as a matter of fact. Trump is making Ohio great again. It’s a wonderful renaissance. Was just in Cleveland a few weeks ago and the vitality is back.”

u.s .
women
exchange rates
discrimination
federal reserve
democrats
donald trump
stephen moore


J-Power and other firms to scale down coal-fired power plant project in Yamaguchi Prefecture

Abstract: Electric Power Development Co., also known as J-Power, said Wednesday that it will scale down a project to build a coal-fired thermal power plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture with two partners. J-Power, Osaka Gas Co. and Ube Industries Ltd. made the decision in light of international criticism of coal-fired power generation, which emits large amounts of carbon dioxide. The three had planned to build a power plant with a total output of 1.2 million kilowatts in the city of Ube, with operations expected to start in 2026. Osaka Gas intends to withdraw from the project. J-Power and Osaka Gas each hold a 45 percent stake in Yamaguchi-Ube Power Generation Co., a joint company that was created to run the envisioned power plant. Osaka Gas decided to withdraw after assessing business risks associated with environmental regulations from 2030, President Takehiro Honjo told a news conference, citing concerns about the profitability of the plant. J-Power and Ube Industries are now considering halving the planned output to 600,000 kW, and switching to newer equipment with lower carbon dioxide emissions. The two companies will obtain a new environmental assessment for the project, with the hope of starting operations at the plant in the late 2020s. In January this year, Kyushu Electric Power Co., Tokyo Gas Co. and Idemitsu Kosan Co. said they had scrapped plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Chiba Prefecture.

energy
coal
emissions
osaka gas
j-power
ube industries


Carlos Ghosn released from detention center, days after his fourth indictment

Abstract: Despite facing the most serious charges yet in his ongoing legal saga, former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn was granted bail for the second time on Thursday by the Tokyo District Court and was released from the Tokyo Detention House. Thursday’s bail was set at ¥500 million, which was already paid by Ghosn. Earlier in the day prosecutors filed an objection but the court rejected it. The court made the decision partly because it determined there was no risk of evidence tampering, legal experts have said. “He had already established, after a great deal of time and effort on the part of his lawyers, that he was not a risk to escape or to tamper with evidence or witnesses,” said Stephen Givens, a Tokyo-based corporate lawyer. It is not immediately clear what his new bail conditions are, but Kyodo News reported that they will include Ghosn not being allowed to see his wife Carole Ghosn — a striking restriction. Media reports have suggested her involvement in the latest accusation against him, and allegations that she may have attempted to tamper with evidence. She is not subject to any charges and has denied any wrongdoing. Domestic media this week reported that prosecutors had sought, unsuccessfully, to block Carole Ghosn from seeing Carlos Ghosn during his detention. They also claimed she had contacted key witnesses in connection to the latest allegation while she was in France earlier this month, according to the media reports. It’s possible the defense team may have offered such conditions in order to play down court concerns that Carlos Ghosn may try to suppress evidence by conspiring with his wife. Ghosn was indicted Monday on a charge of misappropriating the company’s money for personal use, for which he had already been rearrested earlier this month while on bail. Specifically, he is accused of expropriating a Nissan subsidiary’s payments to a distributor in Oman. Prosecutors claim part of the money, about ¥560 million, had been sent to Good Faith Investments, a Lebanese firm he effectively controlled, for his own interest. Prosecutors also believe some of the money reported to have flowed to the Lebanese company was transferred to a firm in the Virgin Islands headed by Carole Ghosn, a Lebanese and American citizen, as well as a firm established by the couple’s son in the U.S., according to reports by Kyodo News. Ghosn’s defense team filed a request for bail on the same day as the latest indictment, which is his fourth. Legal experts, including Givens, said the latest allegation is the most serious Ghosn has faced so far.Ghosn was previously granted bail in March. On March 6, he left the Tokyo Detention House, where he had spent 108 days in confinement, after paying ¥1 billion in bail. The former Nissan chairman has been accused of underreporting his income and causing the firm damage by transferring obligations on his personal investment losses. Since his initial arrest on Nov. 9, he has maintained his innocence. Ahead of the March bail, Ghosn’s defense team had already offered to accept strict conditions in exchange for his release, such as an obligation to inform the court if he planned to travel domestically for more than three days. In addition, the conditions said he would only be able to use a computer at the office of one of his lawyers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Ghosn was rearrested on April 4 in connection with the latest charge. The prosecutors justified the arrest with the argument that Ghosn may attempt to destroy evidence connected to the accusation. His defense team was outraged by the arrest, in particular the prosecutors’ early morning raid in which they confiscated documents that Ghosn was preparing for his upcoming trial and his wife’s personal items, including her cell phone and passport. Rearresting an individual who has been released on bail is a highly unusual move, according to legal experts interviewed by The Japan Times. “In theory, as long as there isn’t imminent risk of him fleeing or being rearrested, the court has to grant bail,” said Yoshikazu Tagami, a corporate lawyer in based in Tokyo and an executive officer of Bengo4.com , Inc., a legal portal site. “It wouldn’t make sense if he were not released on bail.”

courts
scandals
nissan
carmakers
renault
carlos ghosn


With Final Edition model, Mitsubishi Motors to end Pajero SUV sales in Japan

Abstract: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday it will end sales of Pajero sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, in the domestic market after finishing production in August following a slump in sales. The same day the automaker said it had started selling 700 units of the Pajero Final Edition in Japan, priced at ¥4.53 million, while continuing overseas sales of the model in more than 70 countries. The all-wheel drive vehicle, first released in 1982, contributed to an SUV boom in Japan during the early 1990s, with its global popularity boosted by 12 Dakar Rally victories. As of March, Mitsubishi Motors had sold more than 640,000 units of the Pajero in Japan, it said. But recent domestic sales of the car fell short of 1,000 units per year due partly to stricter emissions regulations in the country, and it was superseded by the automaker’s other fuel-efficient SUVs such as the Outlander and Eclipse Cross. Mitsubishi Motors joined the alliance between Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault SA after Nissan acquired a 34 percent stake in the Pajero producer in October 2016.


Toyota to end production of Mark X luxury sedan

Abstract: NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will end production of its Mark X luxury sedan in December. Mark models have been the face of Toyota sedans since the 1968 debut of the Mark X’s predecessor, the Corona Mark II. Around 4.67 million Mark model cars have been sold so far. The Mark X was introduced in 2004 as the successor to the Mark II, but it has faced sluggish sales due to slowing demand for sedans in recent years. On Wednesday, Toyota released two special edition Mark X models. The two-wheel-drive version starts at ¥3,331,800, while the four-wheel-drive model starts at ¥3,489,480.


Canon expects net profit to drop 21% in 2019 amid China slowdown

Abstract: Canon Inc. said Wednesday it now expects its group net profit in 2019 to dive 20.9 percent from a year earlier to ¥200 billion ($1.79 billion), lowering its outlook due to weak sales of camera products amid an economic slowdown in China. The company had earlier projected ¥240 billion in net profit for the year. It also cut its consolidated operating profit to ¥274 billion from ¥325 billion, on sales of ¥3.85 trillion against an earlier forecast of ¥3.9 trillion. Canon said the digital camera market continues to shrink, while touching on growing concern over the outlook for the global economy stemming from trade stagnation. The camera and office equipment maker said it revised down its global sales plan for interchangeable-lens digital cameras to 4.2 million units from a previously projected 4.7 million. “We feel personal consumption in China has declined,” said Executive Vice President Toshizo Tanaka in a news conference, adding that demand for high-end models in the Chinese market has been slowing. “There was an enormous negative impact in the first quarter through March,” Tanaka told reporters. Camera manufacturers are suffering a market contraction as improved photo functions on smartphones eat into demand for entry-level digital cameras, and even for some single-lens reflex cameras. Canon said it will launch new products in the digital camera market in a bid to recover sales. Tanaka said sales and profits are expected to pick up in the second half. In the January to March period, Canon said its group net profit plunged 45.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥31.3 billion, with group sales down 10.0 percent at ¥864.47 billion.

earnings
electronics
chinese market
canon inc .


Hitachi considers selling Hitachi Chemical

Abstract: Hitachi Ltd. is considering selling core subsidiary Hitachi Chemical Co., it was learned Thursday. According to sources with knowledge of the matter, Hitachi is in contact with several businesses and investment funds to select a buyer of the unit. The company is set to accelerate the negotiations, and will sell the unit by the end of March next year if an agreement is reached, the sources said. The electronics giant plans to enhance its profitability mainly by focusing on “internet of things” technologies, as well as electricity and other energy-related operations. As part of the moves, Hitachi said last December that it will acquire Swiss heavy machinery-maker ABB Ltd.’s power grid business. On Wednesday it announced a plan to buy JR Automation Technologies LLC, a U.S. robotic system integrator. Meanwhile, Hitachi is speeding up the consolidation of group companies that are unlikely to generate synergies. Based on that policy it has sold Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., which makes semiconductor-making equipment, and car navigation system maker Clarion. Hitachi Chemical, in which Hitachi holds around 51 percent ownership, has strengths in lithium-ion battery and semiconductor materials and is one of the world’s major players in those fields. But Hitachi apparently sees little benefit from continuing to hold the unit in light of its growth strategy, the sources said.


U.N. evacuates 325 detained African migrants as war reaches Tripoli

Abstract: TRIPOLI - The United Nations refugee agency evacuated 325 African refugees on Wednesday from Qasr Ben Gashir detention center in southern Tripoli because of deteriorating security and escalating violence. The refugees — mainly Eritrean, Sudanese and Nigerian — were taken to a detention center in Zawiya, a town west of the Libyan capital, where they were at “reduced risk,” the UNHCR said in a statement. The latest evacuation, which followed a protest and violence at the facility on Tuesday that left 12 injured inmates needing hospital care, brought to 825 the number of refugees and migrants transferred farther from clashes in the past two weeks. The agency called for the release of the remaining 3,000 in custody. “The dangers for refugees and migrants in Tripoli have never been greater than they are at present,” said Matthew Brook, UNHCR deputy chief of mission in Libya. “It is vital that refugees in danger can be released and evacuated to safety.” More than 3,600 jailed migrants have been trapped in the capital since forces from the east of the country started an advance to capture it, the United Nations says. Earlier, Libyan officials opened the doors of a detention center for illegal migrants in Tripoli, but frightened Somalis and other sub-Saharan Africans told Reuters they had decided to stay there for fear of getting caught up in fighting engulfing the capital. “We don’t want to leave. … We have no place to go,” said a 20-year-old migrant who gave his name as Daoud, sitting on a mattress in a packed warehouse where 550 migrants have been held. His pregnant wife sat with other women in a different room also lacking air conditioning, trying to endure the sweltering heat. In the quieter eastern Tajoura suburb, the manager opened the gate of his detention center housing migrants from sub-Saharan countries such as Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan and some Arab countries. Everyone stayed, surviving on one meal of pasta a day. On a good day, they get two. Large parts of Libya have been lawless since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, and the country has become the main transit point for hundreds of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East attempting the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Officials have been accused in the past of mistreating detainees who are held by the thousands as part of European-backed efforts to curb smuggling. At the Tajoura detention center, authorities have not supplied any food or water since before fighting started last week, said Nour Eldine Qarilti, the director. “We have not received any assistance from all international organizations,” he told Reuters. “Some local NGOs still support us with simple needs but it’s not enough.” Hundreds of migrants lay on mattresses, their few belongings packed in plastic bags or wrapped in towels. Laundry was hanging from the ceiling. Others were using a kitchen to cook lunch for others for a small fee. According to the United Nations, Libya is now hosting more than 700,000 people who have fled their homelands, often trekking through the desert in pursuit of their dream of crossing to a better life in Europe. They then try to find smugglers to put them on boats. But with Italy and France helping to beef up the Libyan Coast Guard, most now get caught before reaching Europe. According to one U.N. report last December, migrants and refugees in Libya suffer a “terrible litany of violations” by a combination of state officials, armed groups and traffickers. “These include unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, gang rape, slavery, forced labor and extortion,” it said.


EU to curb trans fats from 2021 to boost heart health

Abstract: BRUSSELS - The EU adopted a regulation on Wednesday to curb trans fat amounts in products like snack food as part of efforts to fight heart disease and strokes in Europe. Industrially-produced trans-fatty acids, like margarine and some hardened vegetable fats, are popular among food producers because they are cheap and typically have a long shelf life. But given their link to cardiovascular disease, trans fats have also been blamed for more than 500,000 deaths annually, according to World Health Organization figures. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, set the limit from April 2, 2021, at two grams of industrially produced trans fats per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of fat in food. It said the regulation also requires wholesalers to notify retailers of any food that contains more than the limit. “The measure aims at protecting consumers’ health and providing Europeans with healthier food options,” the Commission said in a statement. The European Food Safety Authority and other bodies have conducted studies pushing for the lowest possible consumption of trans fats. In May last year, the WHO unveiled a plan to eliminate the use of trans fats, extending progress in wealthier countries to those in poorer ones.

europe
health
eu
heart disease
diets
trans fats


Speak your mind: Brain implant translates thought into speech

Abstract: PARIS - People unable to communicate due to injury or brain damage may one day speak again, after scientists on Thursday unveiled a revolutionary implant that decodes words directly from a person’s thoughts. Several neurological conditions can ruin a patient’s ability to articulate, and many patients currently rely on communication devices that use head or eye movements to spell out words one letter at a time. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco said they had successfully reconstructed “synthetic” speech using an implant to scan the brain signals of volunteers as they read several hundred sentences aloud. While they stress that the technology is in its early stages, it nonetheless has the potential to transpose thoughts of mute patients in real time. Instead of trying to directly translate the electrical activity to speech, the team behind the study, published in the journal Nature, adopted a three-stage approach. First, they asked participants to read out sentences as an implant on the brain surface monitored neural activity while the acoustic sound of the words was recorded. They then transformed those signals to represent the physical movement required for speech — specific articulations of the jaw, mouth and tongue — before converting these into synthetic sentences. Finally, they crowd-sourced volunteers to identify words and sentences from the computerized speech. The recordings are uncanny: a little fuzzy, but the simulated sentences mimic those spoken by the volunteers so closely that most words can be clearly understood. Although the experiment was conducted only with people who could speak, the team found that speech could be synthesized from participants even when they only mimed the sentences. “Very few of us have any idea of what’s going in our mouths when we speak,” said Edward Chang, the lead study author. “The brain translates those thoughts into movements of the vocal tract, and that’s what we’re trying to decode.” This could potentially open the way for an implant that can translate into words the brain activity of patients who know how to speak but have lost the ability to do so. The sentences used in the study were simple declarative statements, including “Ship building is a most fascinating process” and “Those thieves stole thirty jewels.” Gopala Anumanchipalli, co-author of the study, said the words used would add to a database that could eventually allow users to discern more complicated statements. “We used sentences that are particularly geared towards covering all of the phonetic contexts of the English language,” he said. “But they are only learned so they can be generalized from.” The researchers identified a type of “shared” neural code among participants, suggesting that the parts of the brain triggered by trying to articulate a word or phrase are the same in everyone. Chang said this had potential to act as a starting point for patients re-learning to talk after injury, who could train to control their own simulated voice from the patterns learned from able speakers. Writing in a linked comment piece in the same journal, Chethan Pandarinath and Yahia Ali, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, called the study “compelling.” “With continued progress, we can hope that individuals with speech impairments will regain the ability to freely speak their minds and reconnect with the world around them,” they wrote.

language disability surgery brain implants