'Utterly shocking': Trump sparks new confusion over North Korea sanctions policy

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. will leave in place North Korea-related sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies that were announced on Thursday, and U.S. President Donald Trump has no plans to impose additional penalties on Kim Jong Un’s government, according to two people familiar with the matter. The two people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the issue, spoke on Friday night, hours after Trump threw U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea into confusion, saying on Twitter that he had ordered the withdrawal of “additional large scale” penalties his government imposed against the country. Trump said the new sanctions had been issued on Friday, but the Treasury Department made no such announcement. Treasury announced sanctions against the two shipping companies on Thursday to punish them for alleged violations of existing sanctions against shipments to North Korea. Spokesmen for the White House and the Treasury Department didn’t explain Trump’s midday announcement before the end of the day. Trump has a penchant for making policy on Twitter, catching his own government off-guard. On Thursday, he announced in a tweet that the U.S. should recognize the disputed Golan Heights as Israeli territory, surprising State Department officials. “This is utterly shocking,” John Smith, a former director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at Treasury, which issues and polices sanctions, said in an email. “The president of the United States actively undercut his own sanctions agency for the benefit of North Korea.” Smith left the agency in May. A second former OFAC official, Sean Kane, said in an email that Trump’s announcement was “unprecedented” and “calls any OFAC action into question when no one can be sure whether they’re speaking for the administration.” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement: “President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.” Sanders didn’t specify which sanctions Trump planned to withdraw, and didn’t respond to follow-up questions. One of the two Chinese shipping companies, Dalian Haibo International Freight Co. Ltd., is doing business with a sanctioned North Korean company, Treasury said in a statement on Thursday. The other, Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding Co. Ltd., was sanctioned for “operating in the transportation industry in North Korea,” Treasury said. The U.S. also updated a North Korea shipping advisory, adding dozens of vessels that are believed to have engaged in ship-to-ship transfers of oil with North Korean tankers or exported North Korean coal to evade sanctions. Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, publicly applauded the actions on Thursday. “The maritime industry must do more to stop North Korea’s illicit shipping practices,” he said in a tweet, adding that “everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion.” Trump abruptly ended a summit with Kim in Hanoi last month after the president said the North Korean leader had asked for all U.S. sanctions to be lifted in exchange for the dismantling of the country’s main nuclear facility. Each side has blamed the other, with the U.S. saying North Korea demanded too much sanctions relief and Pyongyang faulting Washington for rejecting its promises to reduce its nuclear program. North Korea has recently demonstrated its frustration with the outcome of the summit. Last week, one of North Korea’s top diplomats, Choe Son Hui, said Kim would decide soon whether to continue to refrain from weapons tests, blaming the breakdown in Hanoi on the America’s “gangster-like” demands. And on Friday, Pyongyang withdrew from a liaison office it established with South Korea last year that allowed the rivals to communicate around the clock. The last time the Koreas used the office for a meeting was Feb. 22. North Korea informed the Seoul government that it was “pulling out with instructions from the superior authority,” South Korea’s Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said. The ministry said in an emailed statement that it regrets the withdrawal and urged the North to promptly return to the office. While South Korean President Moon Jae-in has tried to act as a bridge between Trump and Kim, Choe called her country’s southern neighbor “a player, not an arbiter,” because it was an ally of Washington. North Korea has called South Korea “cowardly” for cooperating with U.S. sanctions, according to its propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri.

north korea
sanctions
donald trump
u.s .
diplomacy
north korea nuclear crisis


26 killed in China after tour bus bursts into flames

Abstract: BEIJING - Twenty six people were killed and 30 injured after a tourist bus caught fire in central China, local officials said. The vehicle burst into flames as it drove through Hunan province Friday with 56 people on board — including 53 passengers, two drivers and a tour guide — according to local authorities. The injured, including five in a critical condition, were rushed to hospital for treatment. The two drivers were detained and an investigation into the cause of the accident is under way, according to a statement posted on the city of Changde’s official social media account on Weibo. Grisly car accidents are common in China, where transport authorities struggle to enforce safety regulations, which are often flouted. Some 58,000 people were killed in traffic accidents across the country in 2015, the latest year for which the data is available publicly. Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 percent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year. In November, at least 13 people died when a bus plunged off a bridge in Chongqing municipality, after the driver got into a fist fight with a passenger who had missed her stop. Search and rescue teams dispatched more than 70 boats, as well as a team of scuba divers and underwater robots, to find the wreckage and retrieve bodies from the water. In February, a van packed with pressurized gas tanks and petrol-filled bottles caught fire and plowed into pedestrians in Shanghai, leaving at least 18 people injured. Authorities concluded that it had been a “traffic accident.”


Tearful Muslims return to Christchurch mosque as New Zealand works to move on

Abstract: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - Muslims prayed at Christchurch’s main mosque on Saturday for the first time since a white supremacist massacred worshippers there as New Zealand sought to return to normality after the tragedy. The Al Noor mosque was taken over by police for investigations and security reasons after alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant attacked Muslims gathered there and at a smaller mosque for Friday prayers on March 15, killing 50 people. But Al Noor was handed back to the local Muslim community on Saturday and began allowing small groups onto its grounds around midday. “We are allowing 15 people at a time, just to get some normality,” said Saiyad Hassen, a volunteer at Al Noor, adding that there was as yet no known plan to fully reopen. Among the first to enter was Vohra Mohammad Huzef, who survived the bloodshed. Huzef, a Christchurch civil engineer originally from India, said two of his roommates were killed and he managed to survive only by hiding under bodies. “I could feel the bullets hitting the people and I could feel the blood coming down on me from the people who were shot,” he said. “Everyone wants to get back in again to give praise and to catch up. This is the central point of our community.” The attacks have shocked a country of 4.5 million known for its tolerance and prompted global horror, heightened by Tarrant’s cold-blooded live-streaming of the massacre. New Zealand came to a standstill on Friday to mark one week since the massacre, with the Muslim call to prayer broadcast across the country followed by two minutes of silence for the dead. The nationwide ceremonies saw poignant scenes of non-Muslims embracing Muslims, Maoris performing the traditional haka war dance, and non-Muslim New Zealand women donning makeshift Islamic headscarves in solidarity. A day earlier, the country outlawed the military-style rifles used in the assault. Police confirmed they had also handed back the Linwood Mosque, the second killing zone several kilometers away, but no plans to allow visitors were announced. An armed police presence will remain at both mosques, as well as others around New Zealand. Workers have rushed to repair bullet-pocked walls and clean blood-spattered floors at the two mosques. At Al Noor, the small groups of visitors removed their shoes and socks and knelt down at a garden tap to wash their feet and faces in ritual pre-prayer ablutions. Some wept quietly as they made their way into the mosque, where bright sunlight streamed through windows and the air smelled of fresh paint. No bullet holes were seen. Men and women then knelt down to pray on a grey padded carpet underlay taped to the floor, with the mosque’s rugs yet to be replaced. Visitors included mosque Imam Gamal Fouda, who arrived draped in a New Zealand flag. The day before, Fouda had delivered an impassioned memorial service at a park next to the mosque that was broadcast nationwide, praising an “unbreakable” New Zealand for uniting in the tragedy’s wake. Around 2,000 people gathered Saturday at the same park to join a “March for Love” procession through Christchurch. Elsewhere in the city were signs of a return to normalcy, with children playing cricket near Al Noor and a previously scheduled 100-kilometer cycling race going ahead as planned. New Zealand, which already has prosecuted two people for distributing the gruesome livestream video of the attack, has now also made it a crime to share the alleged killer’s “manifesto,” NZ media reported. In the document, Tarrant says he carried out the killings in response to what he termed a Muslim “invasion” of Western countries. “Others have referred to this publication as a ‘manifesto,’ but I consider it a crude booklet that promotes murder and terrorism,” Chief Censor David Shanks was quoted as saying.

new zealand
terrorism
guns
violence
mass shootings


754 pass Japanese government's first unified hiring exam for people with disabilities

Abstract: A total of 754 candidates have passed the government’s first unified employment examination for people with disabilities, according to the National Personnel Authority. The examination started early last month and the list of successful applicants was announced Friday. They will start working as civil servants at ministries, agencies or their branches across Japan from as early as Monday. The unified exam was created after several state entities were found to have padded employment numbers for people with disabilities. A total of 8,712 people applied for the exam, meaning only one in about 11.6 people passed. The ministries and agencies initially planned to hire 676 people with disabilities but hired more at the request of the National Personnel Authority. The youngest person to pass the exam was 18 and the oldest was 59. Of the successful applicants, 432 people have mental disabilities, 319 have physical disabilities and three have intellectual disabilities. The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry hired the largest number, at 174, followed by the Justice Ministry with 138, and the National Tax Agency with 90. With the government aiming to employ some 4,000 workers with disabilities for regular and part-time positions by the end of the year, further steps will be required to reach the target.


Otsu turns to AI in bid to help teachers detect signs of school bullying

Abstract: OTSU, SHIGA PREF. - The city of Otsu will begin next month the country’s first attempt to use artificial intelligence to help teachers detect signs of serious school bullying. AI will be used to analyze some 9,000 historical bullying cases reported by local elementary and junior high schools over the six years to this month. The system will also assess cases in which the bullying was only suspected. The city signed an accord with Tokyo-based Hitachi Systems Ltd. on Friday to collaborate on the project. The AI is expected to assist schools in detecting aggression in bullying cases, which can be triggered by a minor issue between students, even when some teachers lack knowledge or experience in identifying warning signs, according to the local education board. Otsu Mayor Naomi Koshi said earlier she expects local schools to “act firmly against (bullying) without solely being dependent on teachers’ experience, by having AI theoretically analyze past data.” Among the factors to be looked at via the AI are the grade-level of students impacted, their gender and the number involved, the timing of the bullying and where it occurred, as well as the students’ academic records. The education board believes the analysis, expected to be completed by October, will make known the characteristics of bullying to help teachers identify cases in their classrooms. In Otsu, the suicide of a 13-year-old boy in 2011 was determined by a third-party panel two years later to have been caused by bullying. Since then, the city’s education board has required each school to report bullying cases within 24 hours.

bullying
artificial intelligence
shiga prefecture


Japan and China to open talks on foreign infrastructure projects amid warming ties

Abstract: Japan and China have agreed to launch talks to facilitate cooperation on infrastructure development projects in third countries amid a recent thaw in bilateral relations, diplomatic sources said Friday. The inaugural meeting is being arranged for April or May in Beijing, before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Japan in June for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, according to the sources. The launch of talks comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is shifting toward conditional cooperation with China despite Xi’s “Belt and Road” initiative to build infrastructure networks in Asia and beyond, which has raised concerns over the possibility Beijing could pull many developing countries into its economic orbit. When Abe visited China last October, he and Xi agreed on the need to discuss how best to cooperate on infrastructure projects in third countries. Kazuya Nashida, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s International Cooperation Bureau, is expected to lead a Japanese delegation for the meeting with senior officials from the China International Development Cooperation Agency, according to the sources. It remains to be seen how much China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, can cooperate in developing infrastructure in third countries, including those along the ancient Silk Road that runs from China to Europe via Central Asia. Critics say some developing countries that have borrowed heavily from China are reeling from excessive debt burdens. Japan has been vigilant against China’s attempts to increase its economic influence in the region even though recent months have seen the two countries warming to each other amid trade friction between Beijing and Washington. Some Japanese government officials say the upcoming dialogue should not be a forum for the giant initiative. “We hope to explore future cooperation in new areas as Japan’s official development assistance to China is set to end in fiscal 2018,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said. Under Abe, Japan has been striving to create a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” an initiative designed to facilitate the flow of goods and people by building quality infrastructure, and to maintain the rules-based order in the region.

xi jinping
shinzo abe
china-japan relations
g20


Denki Groove campaign reveals what Japan truly thinks of celebrities embroiled in drug scandals

Abstract: It doesn’t take much for a celebrity drug scandal to be picked up by domestic news outlets in Japan, so when TV personality Pierre Taki was arrested on suspicion of cocaine use on March 12, it’s perhaps not surprising that TV and print media jumped on the story. Segments featured on morning shows in the wake of the news included an analyst using a bank note to demonstrate how to consume the drug and an awkward attempt at explaining what “acid house” was. The story also dominated social media conversations in Japan, partially because all celebrity scandals generate chat online. However, whereas television grappled with the notion of trying to explain a decades-old music genre, netizens used Taki’s case as a jumping off point to talk about the sillier aspects of such cases, as well as Japan’s place in the world. Once the initial surprise of Taki’s arrest wore off and people dug out CDs from their collections, attention turned to a familiar ritual in the nation’s entertainment industry in such cases. As has been the case with other artists and celebrities arrested for various crimes, the body of work that Taki is associated with has been pulled from stores and upcoming shows by Denki Groove were canceled. Disney even stopped producing new copies of “Frozen,” in which Taki had been the voice of the fictional snowman Olaf. However, Taki’s situation introduced a few new twists. All of Denki Groove’s music also vanished from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, a decision that reinforced the notion that digital media (especially those controlled by private companies) can disappear with the click of a button, unlike CDs. However, this was also a rare example of an artist getting in trouble for drugs in the Twitter and YouTuber age, which has allowed a wide range of users to weigh in on Taki’s situation. The online landscape has changed significantly since pop star Aska was booked for a similar case in 2014 , as have attitudes on social media. Many users haven’t been shy in expressing how they feel about the move to yank works featuring Taki. Some weren’t happy to hear that his art would vanish , while others argued it seemed unfair to those with chemical dependency issues. Online voices have always criticized the strict approach taken in such celebrity scandals, but social media these days has allowed people to be more vocal than ever before. While such things rarely result in actual change, more than 50,000 signed a Change.org petition asking for Taki’s works to be reinstated. Many on Twitter reveled in the irony of NHK airing “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” in place of a drama featuring Taki shortly after his arrest, even though the replacement featured River Phoenix, an actor who himself died of a drug overdose. Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto slammed the decision to pull Taki’s releases. Online outlets were just as feisty in a way previously unseen. Weekly magazine Gendai Business used this as a way to lambast Japan for being 10 years behind the rest of the world , while Litera argued that the reaction to it showed a shift in tune with the globe at large. Electronic-leaning station Block.fm shared a blistering editorial that argued the decision to remove his music wasn’t in line with popular opinion. Buzzfeed Japan poked some fun at the issue, before proving a point by making a quiz that asked respondents whether it was appropriate to remove the works of Western musicians dabbling in drugs (the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, among others). Netizens almost certainly rallied against the decision to pull Denki Groove and Taki-related works, with social media being used as a tool in a way it hasn’t really been utilized in Japan before. Maybe attitudes are changing (stars formerly busted for drugs, including former baseball player Kazuhiro Kiyohara, now admit they are battling addiction ) or platforms allow long-present views to be published. Who knows how other celebrity drug scandals would have unfolded had they occurred in 2019 — there are plenty to consider from other years . As much righteous flak Taki’s arrest received, there were a few other lessons to learn. Plans to release one of Taki’s movies in the near future are still in the works, which certainly wasn’t the case for upcoming features from Hirofumi Arai, an actor arrested on suspicion of rape earlier this year. One online outlet referenced this and noted that entertainment figures in Japan accused of a crime involving abuse or domestic violence are typically blacklisted from the industry. This state of affairs might actually put Japan ahead of the U.S., where artists such as Xxxtentaction, R. Kelly and, most recently, Michael Jackson can still make money from their music despite the serious allegations that have been levied against them. Whatever happens, it’s not all bad news as far as Taki is concerned. At the same time Taki was getting booked, J-pop performer Noriko Sakai (better known as “Nori-P”) made her first appearance on broadcast TV in 11 years after being arrested for drug possession. Time does indeed appear to heal all wounds … even if it takes a little longer in Japan.

pierre taki
cocaine
social media
japan pulse


Idols and agencies in Japan navigate a brand new landscape

Abstract: Television personality Masahiro Nakai made an appearance as a “surprise guest” on the March 10 installment of Nippon TV’s law-related variety show, “ Gyoretsu no Dekiru Horitsu Sodanjo ” (“Line-up Law Office”). Earlier, guest Koji Kato had related an anecdote featuring Shingo Katori, Nakai’s former associate in the idol group SMAP, which disbanded in 2016. Nakai liked the story, referring to Katori affectionately as “Shingo- chan .” It was hardly a big deal but, according to the online news blog Cyzo Woman , the exchange shocked a number of media people. SMAP called it quits when three of its five members, including Katori, decided to leave the company that created them, Johnny & Associates, one of Japan’s most powerful talent agencies. Nakai remained. Industry practice says that when someone quits an agency for any reason, they are informally blackballed by media entities, which means their name shouldn’t be mentioned on the air. Cyzo Woman wanted to know why this form of institutionalized snubbing was not in force at Nippon TV that day. A reporter for a sports tabloid said that Kato is the host of Nippon TV’s morning show “Sukkiri,” and that, in November 2017, he complained about his employer’s treatment of the SMAP members who left Johnny’s. They had appeared at an awards ceremony covered by “Sukkiri,” but the clip with their image contained no indication of who they were in the form of text superimposed on the screen. It was almost as if they didn’t exist. The writer of the Cyzo Woman article suggested that Nippon TV might have regretted this decision, the implication being that when Katori’s name came up naturally in conversation on “Gyoretsu no Dekiru Horitsu Sodanjo,” the producers opted not to edit it out. A person who works in an advertising company also implied that Johnny’s itself had nothing to do with the matter. It was simply Nippon TV exercising sontaku , the not-so-peculiar Japanese habit of “conjecturing” another party’s displeasure about a matter and preemptively ensuring that the matter doesn’t turn into a problem. However, the advertising employee told Cyzo Woman that the Fair Trade Commission is investigating Johnny’s for possible antitrust violations in its handling of former talent, and so all TV stations, not just Nippon TV, are now being careful about how they refer to the three former SMAP members. However, the Cyzo article discusses the matter almost exclusively within the realm of television. The three Johnny’s defectors — Katori, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Goro Inagaki, who have formed a new group called Atarashii Chizu (New Map) — have done well for themselves since leaving the company. Collectively and individually they attract attention on social media, act in movies and appear in advertisements. Katori has made a name for himself as a contemporary artist. In fact, Kusanagi still has a regular TV job as a narrator on NHK’s travelogue, “Buratamori.” The changing situation at Johnny’s also reflects the fact that the agency’s aging founder, Johnny Kitagawa, has been transferring power to new people , but there is also a growing desire among Japanese talent in general to steer their own careers. Granted, SMAP was one of the biggest acts in the history of Japanese showbiz, thus making it possible for Atarashii Chizu to buck the system without committing career suicide. However, their departure paved the way for Johnny’s other popular boy band, Arashi, to announce their own pending hiatus , although what’s notable about Arashi’s decision is that it was sparked by leader Satoshi Ohno, who suggests that rather than being free of Johnny’s he wants out of show business altogether. Now that the gates are open, will there be a stampede? Earlier this month, the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported that 34-year-old Ryo Nishikido was pondering a split from another Johnny’s act, Kanjani Eight. It isn’t clear whether only Nishikido is leaving or Kanjani Eight will dissolve, but television insiders told tabloid Nikkan Gendai Digital that TV producers who work with the group are planning for the day when they are no more. Kanjani Eight has already lost one member in a similar fashion. Subaru Shibutani left the group last year and launched a website on Feb. 28. Apparently, Shibutani had been frustrated as an idol and dreamed of making it as a legitimate musician . He has cited another former Johnny’s charge, Jin Akanishi, as inspiration. In 2014, after studying English in Los Angeles, Akanishi left the company to launch a solo career, and it has been largely successful. He launched his own record label and collaborates with Universal Music. In fact, several former Johnny’s idols have recording contracts with major labels, including Atarashii Chizu. What most don’t have is work on TV, which is still considered vital for celebrity affirmation. Producers of TV drama series depend on Johnny’s because it’s assumed their charges attract maximum viewership. That’s an important consideration for Nishikido, who doesn’t seem interested in a music career. He’s also an actor, and if he leaves Johnny’s it might be difficult to get acting gigs on TV dramas such as Fuji TV’s highly rated police procedural, “Trace,” which ended on March 18. However, movies and theater shouldn’t be a problem. Kusanagi is now attracting attention as a deadbeat father in the film “Makuko.” In the weekly magazine Aera , he admitted that when he quit Johnny’s he was afraid of not being able to find work, so he was relieved when the role was offered to him. In a follow-up to its initial scoop, Shukan Bunshun said that Johnny’s had spread the word that media shouldn’t report on Nishikido’s rumored split from Kanjani Eight, implying it was fake news. For a few days, most media held back on the story, but then another weekly, Shukan Josei, broke the embargo and other weeklies and tabloids followed suit. As Hiroyuki Shinoda remarked in a roundup of weekly magazine stories in the Tokyo Shimbun on March 17, thanks to the internet, Johnny’s cannot control coverage of its operations as effectively as it used to. That may be true but eventually, it seems, even idols get tired of being told what to do.


Planning for new visas faces delays

Abstract: The central government is unsure when it will complete all of its preparations for two new visa categories, with preparatory work unlikely to be concluded before the new permits are introduced April 1. There have been delays in concluding notes on cooperation with China and seven other countries from which workers are expected to arrive, officials said. On Friday, the government held a meeting of officials from relevant agencies at the Prime Minister’s Office. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Sugita instructed participants to step up preparations so that Japan can start the new system without any hitches. He also requested that an expanded version of the government’s comprehensive support measures for foreign workers be drawn up as early as June. Two visa categories will be granted to foreign workers with specific skills. Most of the workers to be accepted from April will fall under the first type of visa for those with lower levels of skill. Under this category, foreign nationals who have passed skill and Japanese-language tests will be allowed to work in Japan for up to five years. Fourteen industries, including nursing care and agriculture, are preparing to accept workers under that visa type. The government estimates that, between the two visa types, up to about 340,000 foreign workers will be accepted over the coming five years. It represents a major policy shift for a country that has basically granted working visas only to highly skilled people with professional knowledge such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. At the meeting, officials from the Foreign Ministry said the first round of Japanese-language tests for applicants will be held in Manila on April 13 and 14. Representatives of the Justice Ministry said it has completed briefings on the visa categories in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures and posted explanatory materials for recipient companies on its website. Participants also said the English and Japanese versions of guides on life and work in Japan will be posted online in April. Still, the government is facing a delay in concluding notes of cooperation over the new visa system with other countries. It aims to complete deals with eight more nations by the end of this month — Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and Mongolia. So far, Tokyo has only concluded an agreement with the Philippines. Officials said Japan is uncertain when it will be able to conclude the notes with some of them, such as China and Vietnam. Work to create foreign-language materials for foreign nationals who will work under the new categories has also been delayed. The Justice Ministry does not know to what extent preparations have been made for opening the planned 100 consultation centers on the issue nationwide. “We haven’t had enough time since the beginning,” a ministry official said. “We can’t say preparations have progressed smoothly.”

immigration
labor shortage
foreign workforce


Japan to make carbon dating of ivory mandatory for trade, tightening controls on oft-criticized market

Abstract: Japan will tighten controls on its internationally maligned ivory market in July, requiring dealers to prove via carbon dating that specimens were legally obtained, the Environment Ministry said Friday. “By shutting down the movement of ivory of unknown origin, the domestic market is moving closer to an effective closure,” Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada said at a news conference. In 1990, international ivory trading was banned in principle under the Washington Convention, officially known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, ivory that remains in its original form and that was obtained prior to the convention taking effect is permitted to be traded in Japan after it is registered with the Japan Wildlife Research Center. Individuals who wish to trade ivory in the country will now have to report how it was acquired, while providing third-party testimony on its provenance. Carbon dating to show the age of ivory will become an absolute prerequisite from July 1, making ivory obtained from recent poaching impossible to register and sell, the ministry said. While the United States, China and other countries have taken steps to close markets, Japan has previously argued its domestic trading has no impact on poaching. The nation’s conservation law was amended in 2017 to mandate that ivory dealers register with the government, but the WWF said the measure did not resolve pressing issues involving ivory. The conservation group said more than 2.4 tons of ivory was unlawfully exported from Japan to China and elsewhere between 2011 and 2016.


Major Mount Fuji eruption would shower about 1.5 cm of ash on central Tokyo: disaster management team

Abstract: A major volcanic eruption of Mount Fuji similar to the one that occurred in 1707 could leave ash 1 to 1.5 cm thick in central Tokyo over 15 days, according to a recent estimate released by a government team. The layer of ash would exceed 3 meters in thickness at the foot of Japan’s highest peak, about 100 km west of central Tokyo, the working team of the central disaster management council said Friday. The team made the estimates using wind data from Dec. 16 to 31 last year as those conditions are considered to be similar to what was seen at the time of the 1707 eruption. Ash from the 3,776-meter mountain is also forecast to accumulate as far away as Chiba Prefecture. The accumulation is seen reaching 1.2 meters in Gotemba in Shizuoka Prefecture, 45 cm in Hadano in Kanagawa and 10 cm in Yokohama. The amount would be 4.5 cm in Tokyo Bay and 1 to 1.5 centimeters in the capital’s Shinjuku Ward. The team said roads will become impassable if the ash accumulation reaches 10 cm. It also said disruptions in aviation could be serious as well. Only 0.2 to 0.4 mm of ash would make it difficult to see signs and indicators on runways, possibly resulting in airport shutdowns. The team will consider how to control traffic, remove and dispose of fallen ash and deal with other problems that would be caused by such an eruption. The measures will be finalized by the end of March 2020 and reflected in local government disaster management plans.

mount fuji
eruption
volcanoes
natural disasters


At Tokyo summit, Malala Yousafzai urges world leaders to expand educational opportunities for women

Abstract: Visiting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai urged world leaders Saturday to further promote the empowerment of women through education and financial support. Her call came on the first day of the joint World Assembly for Women and Women 20 (W20) summit, which was held in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance. “If you want to create a world where all women and girls can shine, where women are driving innovation, or succeed in government and business, our leaders must invest in girls’ education,” Malala said in her opening keynote speech. “This week, I’m asking G20 leaders to commit new funding to girls’ education” and for the development of the “skills that they need to prepare for the future workforce,” she added. In his opening speech, Abe echoed the need to invest in women’s education and made clear his commitment to make it a high priority in the agenda for this year’s Group of 20 summit, to be held in Osaka in June. Speaking of Japan’s commitment to making education accessible for young women in developing countries, Abe said that Japan will “provide high quality education and opportunities for resource development to 4 million women in developing countries by 2020.” “Better education is not just about social policy, but also crucial to sustainable economic growth,” he added, referring to the findings of a World Bank report released last year claiming that the global cost of women who cannot complete 12 years of education amounts to $15 trillion to $30 trillion in lost lifetime earnings. “I will be raising this issue at the G20 to make sure with other leaders that as the G20, we envision a world where all women across the globe can have access to good education for 12 years,” he said. Representatives of the W20 network also submitted to Abe a communique that endorsed previous G20 declarations and made new suggestions on how to improve gender equality and empower women. In the World Economic Forum’s annual World Gender Gap Index in 2018, Japan was ranked 110 out of 149 countries, although it had moved up four spots from the previous year mainly due to narrower wage gaps and an increase in women’s employment. This year’s communique has a particular focus on women and technology, and pushes for the “inclusive and responsible use of all new technologies, including AI … to ensure no woman is left behind,” and touches on the need to “close the digital gender gap” to ensure “women can exercise their digital rights.” The communique also suggests putting governance mechanisms for the G20 in place to make sure the declarations and commitments are being met, as well as removing “systemic legal and social barriers in the labor market.” Other suggestions included encouraging the financial inclusion of women, such as access to investment and promoting entrepreneurship, pushing for life-long learning and gender equality in schools, as well as ending violence against women and girls in all areas of society, including online.

malala yousafzai
education
nobel prize
female empowerment
waw


South Korean airline union demands Japanese civil servant apologize over airport incident

Abstract: SEOUL - A Korean Air Lines Co. labor union has demanded that a Japanese civil servant accused of assaulting an airport worker in Seoul recently directly apologize and offer compensation to the worker, who is a member of the union. The union released a statement Friday expressing “serious regret for the unforgivable behavior” by senior Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare bureaucrat Kosuke Takeda, who has been effectively demoted from his position as the head of the ministry’s wage division since the incident. He is accused of committing violence against the worker at Gimpo International Airport last Tuesday. Calling Takeda, 47, a “labor expert” at the ministry responsible for work-style reform, the statement asked critically why he could treat a worker in another country roughly and with such disdain. The union also warned that if Takeda does not promptly respond to the demand, it will take action to strip him of his civil servant status. According to a statement, Takeda tried to board an aircraft in an intoxicated state, and when the union member held him back for the safety of other passengers, he assaulted the worker. South Korean police earlier said that Takeda was detained Tuesday on suspicion of hitting an airport worker at a boarding gate while under the influence of alcohol. “He was heavily drunk,” police said, adding Takeda admitted the allegations and had made an apology. Takeda, who was in the country for private business, was later released and has already returned to Japan. Takeda, however, has disputed the allegations, saying in a Facebook post Wednesday, “In fact, I wasn’t drunk. I acted disorderly but didn’t hit the airport worker.” He admitted telling the airport worker that he hated South Koreans but said it was because he was angry and there was “no political intention.”

kosuke takeda
south korea
health ministry
gimpo airport


China's military benefiting from Google's work in the country, says U.S. general

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general said on Thursday that the Chinese military was benefiting from the work Alphabet Inc.’s Google was doing in China, where the technology giant has long sought to have a bigger presence. “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “We watch with great concern when industry partners work in China knowing that there is that indirect benefit,” he said. “Frankly, ‘indirect’ may be not a full characterization of the way it really is, it is more of a direct benefit to the Chinese military.” Last year Google said it was no longer vying for a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the U.S. Defense Department, in part because the company’s new ethical guidelines do not align with the project. In June, Google said it would not renew a contract to help the U.S. military analyze aerial drone imagery when it expires, as the company sought to defuse an internal uproar over the deal. At the same time, Google said it has “no plans” to relaunch a search engine in China, though it is continuing to study the idea. Lawmakers and Google employees have raised concerns the company would comply with China’s internet censorship and surveillance policies if it re-enters the Asian nation’s search engine market. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has previously said the company has invested in China for years and plans to continue to do so, but that the company also was continuing to work with the U.S. government on projects in health care, cybersecurity and other fields.

china
google
joseph dunford
censorship
cybersecurity
u.s .


U.S. gun industry dealt blow by Connecticut's top court over Sandy Hook suit

Abstract: HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - Gun-maker Remington can be sued over how it marketed the rifle used to kill 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, a divided Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Gun control advocates touted the ruling as providing a possible road map for victims of other mass shootings to circumvent a long-criticized federal law that shields gun manufacturers from liability in most cases when their products are used in crimes. Gun rights supporters bashed the decision as judicial activism and overreach. In a 4-3 decision, justices reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit against Remington and overturned the ruling of a lower court judge, who said the entire lawsuit was prohibited by the 2005 federal law. The majority said that while most of the lawsuit’s claims were barred by the federal law, Remington could still be sued for alleged wrongful marketing under Connecticut law. “The regulation of advertising that threatens the public’s health, safety, and morals has long been considered a core exercise of the states’ police powers,” Justice Richard Palmer wrote for the majority, adding he didn’t believe Congress envisioned complete immunity for gun-makers. Several lawsuits over mass shootings in other states have been rejected because of the federal law. The plaintiffs in Connecticut include a survivor and relatives of nine people killed in the massacre. They argue that the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used by Newtown shooter Adam Lanza is too dangerous for the public and that Remington glorified the weapon in marketing it to young people, including those with mental illness. Remington has denied wrongdoing and previously insisted it can’t be sued because of the 2005 law, called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Lanza, 20, shot his way into the locked school in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012, and killed 20 first-graders and six educators with a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle, which is similar to an AR-15. He alxso shot his mother to death in their Newtown home beforehand, and killed himself as police arrived at the school. Connecticut’s child advocate said Lanza’s severe and deteriorating mental health problems, his preoccupation with violence and access to his mother’s legal weapons “proved a recipe for mass murder.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, called the ruling a victory for gun violence victims that gives moment to an effort by him and other federal legislators to repeal the 2005 law. “It’s a wow moment in American legal history,” he said. “It will change the legal landscape for this industry, potentially all across the country.” Blumenthal said the ruling reminded him of early court victories against tobacco companies that led them to disclose damaging internal documents and later agree to billions of dollars in legal settlements over sickened smokers.

guns
connecticut
courts
sandy hook
mass shootings
nra


Chinese lawmakers rubber-stamp technology law amid U.S. pressure

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese legislators on Friday endorsed a law meant to help end a costly tariff war with Washington by discouraging officials from pressuring foreign companies to hand over technology. The measure is part of an investment law that aims to address complaints by the United States, Europe and other trading partners that China’s system is rigged against foreign companies despite Beijing’s commitments to treat competitors equally. The 3,000-plus delegates to the ceremonial National People’s Congress rarely do lawmaking work. But their annual session, the highest-profile political event of the year, gives President Xi Jinping’s government a platform to advertise changes aimed at ending a bruising battle with Washington that has disrupted trade in soybeans, medical equipment and billions of dollars worth of other goods. It was unclear whether the measure would mollify U.S. President Donald Trump, who launched the tariff war by raising U.S. duties on Chinese imports in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. Washington has yet to comment on the law. American and Chinese negotiators are in the midst of rapid-fire negotiations aimed at ending the battle. Washington also wants China to roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other technologies. Its trading partners say those violate its market-opening obligations. The official Xinhua News Agency said China’s economy czar, Vice Premier Liu He, talked by phone with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The one-sentence report said they made “further substantial progress” but gave no details. The government said earlier the investment law will prohibit Chinese officials from using “administrative methods to force technology transfers.” The wording of the final version of the law following amendments this week wasn’t immediately released, but state media gave no indication the technology portion had changed. Ahead of Friday’s vote, foreign business groups welcomed the proposed law but said it might have been rushed through the approval too quickly. They said they will need to see how it is enforced to know whether it will improve conditions for foreign companies. The law is “still quite general” and fails to address problems including the potential for unequal treatment of companies, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement Wednesday. It expressed concern about the broad scope of “national security reviews” allowed by the law and the impact of regulations on individual industries. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China earlier expressed concern the focus on “administrative methods” might mean officials are still free to use other tactics to pressure companies to hand over know-how. Chinese officials deny companies are required to hand over technology. But they face pressure, including requirements in industries such as auto manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to work through state-owned partners, which requires them to provide technology to companies the ruling Communist Party hopes will become their competitors. The NPC delegates voted 2,929 to eight, with eight abstentions, in favor of the law — an unusually wide margin even for a powerless legislature that routinely endorses all ruling party policies.


Boeing and airlines face tough and costly path after 737 Max grounding

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 that killed 157 people and led to the plane being grounded worldwide, Boeing and commercial airlines are trying to get a handle on the fallout. Boeing will have to restore confidence in its product, and pay the costs of any modifications, while airlines try to find workarounds to replace the popular aircraft in their lineup of flights. The U.S. on Wednesday grounded the 737 Max 8 and Max 9 models while it continues the search for the cause of the crash, which happened less than five months after a Lion Air plane of the same model went down in Indonesia, killing 189. Both accidents occurred a few minutes after takeoff, a similarity that led authorities around the world to pull the plane out of operation. The cost for Boeing and the airlines will depend largely on the length of time the planes are out of commission. How long any reputational damage will endure will depend on how well and how quickly Boeing deals with the a fix, analysts say. “They will have to convince people to trust them again,” AirInsight’s Michel Merluzeau told AFP. The 737 Max is expected to account for more than 90 percent of Boeing’s planned year-end deliveries, so it will want to keep the ban as short as possible. The company’s shares have fallen 12 percent in the days after Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia, wiping out nearly $30 billion in value, but so far there have been no reports of canceled orders. Boeing has repeatedly said its top-selling 737 Max planes are safe and reliable, but in the wake of the deadly crash in October, it worked on updating its manual and training. And following the Ethiopia Airlines accident, the Federal Aviation Administration said it had ordered Boeing to roll out an update to flight software by April. The Lion Air crash was attributed to the flight stabilization system designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling, the “MCAS,” and the FAA said Wednesday that new evidence and satellite data indicated similarities between the two crashes. At least four U.S. pilots filed reports following the October crash complaining that the aircraft suddenly pitched downward, according to documents reviewed by AFP on a flight safety database. They overcame the problem by shutting off the autopilot. One American pilot who flew a Max 8 on a flight Monday, said while it was “prudent” to ground the planes, he was skeptical about the link between the two crashes. “There are infinite possibilities that could cause the same symptom,” the pilot, who asked not to be identified, told AFP. “Anything can malfunction.” But he said guidance issued by Boeing on the MCAS system following the Lion Air crash was quickly incorporated into domestic operations, so “most U.S. pilots would have been able to troubleshoot” the problem if it arose. Goldman Sachs said that if the problem with the planes is “contained to a software fix, this would likely be a quicker and less costly fix implementation.” But if there is “a more comprehensive design flaw,” it could be a long and costly issue. Ken Herbert, analyst at Canaccord, said the cost for a software fix would be around $500 million. The other major consequence of pulling the planes from service are how the airlines can adjust. There are about 371 Boeing 737 Max aircraft in use worldwide, accounting for a small share of the world’s 27,000 commercial planes, according to Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace expert at Teal Group, who said that “replacing them is a temporary problem.” However, air transport expert Addison Schonland said, “Nobody has ‘extra’ planes.” Airlines will have to juggle to cover their flights, and reimburse customers if they have to cancel, he said. “I suspect recently retired aircraft are coming out of the desert now.” The carriers have the option of leasing replacement jets, and likely would send the bill to Boeing. Canaccord’s Herbert said the “best case” scenario is six to eight weeks, and meanwhile Boeing “will likely be responsible for the operating difference between Maxes and alternative jets, and for any lease costs for new jets, which could amount to $1 billion.” American carrier Southwest has the largest fleet of Max planes in the world, but they make up only 4 percent of its flight program. “We will complete any previously scheduled Max 8 flying with other available aircraft in our fleet,” a Southwest spokesman said. But in Europe, budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle will fill in with other models, such as the long-haul Dreamliner and the short- and medium-haul Boeing 737-800. The airline on Wednesday announced that it would ask Boeing for compensation to cover the additional operating costs.

boeing
737 max
ethiopian airlines
lion air
mcas
southwest airlines
air accidents


Bank of Japan downgrades views on exports and output amid China slowdown

Abstract: The Bank of Japan said Friday that an economic slowdown in China and some other countries is beginning to weigh on exports and production at home. After a two-day meeting, the central bank’s board decided to maintain its monetary policy of asset purchases and ultralow interest rates, measures aimed at lifting stubbornly low inflation. It maintained its headline assessment that the economy is “expanding moderately,” but warned that exports and industrial output have been “affected by the slowdown in overseas economies.” That was a less optimistic view than in January when the board said both exports and production were on an “increasing trend.” Recent data have shown economic expansion waning in parts of Europe and China, with Asia’s biggest economy seeing its lowest growth in nearly three decades last year. Uncertainty over the global economic outlook has led central banks in the United States and the eurozone to freeze plans to hike interest rates. Japan has also been affected. According to one key indicator, the latest expansionary phase, claimed by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be the longest since the end of World War II, may have already ended late last year. The BOJ Policy Board voted 7-2 to maintain a short-term interest rate policy of minus 0.1 percent and long-term yields near zero percent, as well as a pledge to keep rates extremely low for “an extended period of time.” Goushi Kataoka and Yutaka Harada, who have advocated expanding monetary stimulus, dissented. The central bank will also continue purchasing such risky assets as exchange-traded funds. The BOJ has continued aggressive monetary easing since April 2013 in pursuit of a 2 percent inflation target to dispel the country’s deflationary woes. In September 2016, it changed its policy framework from expanding the monetary base to targeting interest rates. But inflation remains below 1 percent as tepid wage gains keep households from spending. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has maintained that upward momentum in prices remains intact, though he has acknowledged that it may take more time than previously thought to reach the target. Kuroda defended the 2 percent inflation target that guides his monetary stimulus program after the government advocated taking a flexible approach to the goal. “There’s no change to the BOJ’s policy of aiming to bring about stable prices while considering the economy, prices and the financial environment overall,” Kuroda told a news conference when asked if he is sticking with the 2 percent target. With policy side effects piling up, there are growing calls for the BOJ to rethink its commitment to 2 percent inflation — which many economists now deem unrealistic. Finance Minister Taro Aso this week joined the fray, saying that things had changed since the BOJ and the government agreed to the target in 2013 and that sticking to it without flexibility could be problematic.

monetary policy
boj
haruhiko kuroda
zero interest rates


Donors team up to expand #MeToo's impact in U.S. workplaces

Abstract: NEW YORK - In an unusual team effort to broaden the #MeToo movement, a group of prominent U.S. foundations is launching a new fund aimed at combating sexual violence and harassment in the workplace. In addition to the foundations’ contributions, some funds are coming from CBS — money initially set aside as an exit package for former CEO Les Moonves that has been redirected due to his firing over sexual misconduct allegations, organizers told The Associated Press. The fund, which claimed pledges of $20 million even ahead of its public launch Thursday, plans to direct most of its grants to programs led by and benefiting the most vulnerable categories of women — low-income workers, migrants, women of color. Among the likely recipients are campaigns led by women of color to bolster the rights of domestic workers who lack standard labor protections and restaurant workers who depend on tips for income. The 11 partners that have signed on so far include the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Conrad Hilton Foundation and the NoVo Foundation. Most of the partners fund a wide variety of causes, while the NoVo foundation has focused on the empowerment of women and girls. Its co-presidents are Peter and Jennifer Buffett; Peter is the youngest son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Pamela Shifman, the NoVo Foundation’s executive director, said the group of donors was inspired by the multitude of women in the U.S. and around the world who engaged in the #MeToo movement. “We’ve seen girls and women step up with such incredible bravery,” Shifman told The Associated Press. “This is about funders stepping up to say, ‘We hear you. We see you.’ “ Since the #MeToo movement emerged in October 2017, scores of powerful men have been toppled by allegations of sexual misconduct, and pervasive abuse has been documented in sectors ranging from Hollywood to the restaurant industry. However, Shifman said, less than 2 percent of foundation giving in the U.S. has focused on gender-based violence. “Calling out individual bad actors doesn’t get to the root of the problem,” she said. “We need to prevent violence in the first place and change the culture.” For now, the new initiative is called the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Safety and Dignity, although there are plans to shift to a pithier name. The fund will be housed at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, with plans to award at least $5 million a year over the next five years. The fund will focus most of its efforts on the United States but also will seek to build international alliances. That was an attraction for the Ford Foundation; combating violence against women and girls is among its top global priorities. The initiative was prompted in part by an appeal in October from a coalition of groups engaged in the #MeToo movement, including Girls for Gender Equity, Justice for Migrant Women, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. The coalition challenged America’s philanthropic sector to allocate $300 million over the coming year to address sexual violence and sexual harassment. One of the groups in the coalition was the National Women’s Law Center, which played a key role in creation of the Times Up Legal Defense Fund after the #MeToo movement caught fire. The defense fund has raised millions of dollars to help financially struggling women litigate their complaints of sexual assault and harassment. Fatima Goss-Graves, the law center’s president, is pleased that the foundations launching the new fund see the potential for capitalizing on the #MeToo movement with broader initiatives. “Moments like this do not happen that often, and they have to be effectively resourced,” she said.

collaborative fund for women 's safety and dignity


At B20 in Tokyo, world business leaders urge stronger cooperation on looming challenges

Abstract: As confidence in free trade appears to be waning mainly due to U.S. foreign policy and Brexit, international business leaders said Friday that stronger cross-border cooperation is needed more than ever to prevent further damage to the principles of globalization. “Our message is very clear. We need a rules-based, free, fair and open international economical order,” said Hiroaki Nakanishi, the head of Keidanren, Japan’s biggest business lobby, at the B20 meeting in Tokyo. “We the business communities of G20 countries must stand united and deliver voices to our political leaders.” The B20 is the business version of the Group of 20 summit. The two-day meeting, which began Thursday, was hosted by Keidanren, also known as the Japan Business Federation, ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit in June. At the meeting, the B20 issued a series of policy recommendations to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, such as promoting digitalization so more people can benefit from cutting-edge technologies, and realizing a low-carbon emissions society. The event also featured panel discussions where businesspeople discussed topics ranging from economics and trade to sustainable development. Participants expressed concerns about the economic risks of ongoing political events, including Brexit and the trade war between the United States and China. “I would say the general observation of course is that global growth is weakening,” said Masamichi Kono, deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Earlier this month, the OECD once again downgraded its global economic growth forecast for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent, following a cut last November. Policies to enhance productivity and facilitate fair competition and free trade need to be thrust forward by the G20 leaders, he said. “G20 can really play a leadership role and I think this is more necessary than ever,” Kono said. Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the political turmoil over London’s split with Brussels has worried many about the future business environment in the U.K. But there are “reasons to be cheerful” because economic and business conditions in the U.K. are actually healthy, Fairbairn said, noting that exports and employment are solid and the U.K. is the center of the financial technology industry. Peter Robinson, who heads the United States Council for International Business, also stressed that the U.S. business community is against the protectionism trend. “It is true we do have economic challenges ahead of us,” such as trade conflict with China, he said. “I just want to assure everybody here that the American business community still believes in open trade, globalization and multilateralism,” Robinson added. He also said the G20 communities need to do everything possible to prevent global recession. A primary short-term focus is reforming the World Trade Organization to help ease the intensifying trade war, saying he hopes that the G20 leaders will cooperate closely on this issue. Business leaders also said it is critical for the private sector to take further steps to facilitate sustainable growth, as the global governing organizations are having a tough time getting the international community to move in the same direction. “We have a challenge that no businessperson has ever had to deal with before. We have to decarbonize the global economy. We have to move to a circular economy … we have to (create) more inclusive growth,” said Paul Polman, who chairs the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce. To do so, Polman said financial markets and investors need to value longer-term benefit rather than pursuing short-term profit.


Microsoft targets video game developers in challenge to Amazon's cloud dominance

Abstract: NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said it is combining elements of its video gaming and Azure cloud computing businesses to court game developers, an action designed to use the strength of its XBox gaming franchise to gain ground on cloud services leader Amazon.com. Microsoft said it will start rolling out “Microsoft Game Stack,” a group of services that lets game developers do things like host multiplayer games and match players of similar skill levels. The services are designed to work for titles played on any device — including those with operating systems from Microsoft’s onetime rivals like Apple and Google. Microsoft competes against Amazon Web Services division to sell those cloud services. But it has been in the console gaming business with its XBox device since 2001 and had 64 million users for its XBox Live online gaming service. Microsoft also owns titles such as the “Halo,” the sci-fi action franchise for the XBox and Windows, as well as “Minecraft,” a game that is popular on mobile devices with operating systems from Apple Inc. and Google Inc. On “any device you’re going to pick up today, consumer gaming is almost surely one of the top engagement and monetization businesses on that device,” Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s executive vice president for gaming, told Reuters. “As we were looking at our place in the gaming business and our place and things like Azure and the other services that Microsoft offers, we were seeing more and more synergy.” Microsoft faces competition in the game space from Amazon, which acquired gaming video service Twitch to let gamers watch each other battle online and GameSparks to provide back-end services to game makers. Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHSMarkit, said Amazon has a lead right now over Microsoft in cloud services for game makers. But Microsoft’s moves on Thursday, many based on its acquisition last year of a company called PlayFab, could help it gain ground. “Microsoft intends to be as agnostic as possible — even supporting other cloud service providers and all platforms — but you have to think that these tools will end with more companies using Azure as a result,” Harding-Rolls said. An example of where Microsoft hopes its own gaming experience will pay off is in matching players of equal skill online, said Mark Russinovich, chief technical officer of Azure. The service requires a technology called machine learning, which Microsoft has refined through its XBox Live service over the years, he said.

microsoft
video games
gaming
amazon.com
twitch azura
obox


Nikkei gains 164 points as yen eases and equities firm up elsewhere in Asia

Abstract: Stocks staged a rally Friday on the Tokyo Stocks Exchange after investor sentiment was lifted by a weakening yen and climbing indexes in other Asian markets. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 163.83 points, or 0.77 percent, to end at 21,450.85. On Thursday, the key market gauge shed 3.22 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 14.34 points, or 0.90 percent, at 1,602.63, after giving up 3.78 points the previous day. The yen’s drop against the dollar on expectations for the Bank of Japan to take a fresh easing step prompted purchases mainly of export-oriented names in morning trading, market sources said. Although the favorable effects of yen selling subsided after the BOJ announced its decision to stand pat on policy at a two-day Policy Board meeting through Friday, brisk performances in Shanghai and other Asian equities kept Tokyo’s market buoyant in the afternoon, the sources said. “Investors here found it safe to buy in view of higher stock prices in other parts of Asia,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. He said players were little surprised by the British Parliament’s vote on Thursday to push back the March 29 deadline for the so-called British exit from the European Union, or Brexit. The market failed to go up further in the afternoon, as “‘selling on a rally’ emerged after the Nikkei rose above 21,500,” Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,434 to 634 in the TSE’s first section, while 68 issues were unchanged. Volume rose to 1.483 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.132 billion shares. The weaker yen lifted Toyota, chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron and other export-oriented names. Employment information service firm Recruit Holdings, cosmetics maker Shiseido and technology investor SoftBank Group were among other major winners. By contrast, Ya-man tumbled 12.76 percent after investors grew disappointed with the health and beauty care equipment maker’s operating profit in November-January, brokers said. Also sold were clothing store chain Fast Retailing, Daiwa House Industry and tech giant Sony. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average grew 120 points to end at 21,240.

nikkei
stocks
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Tripling in value of Binance Coin, the cryptocurrency of the hour, echoes bitcoin's glory days

Abstract: PORTLAND, OREGON - The cryptocurrency boom appears to be alive and well for Binance, the world’s largest digital-asset exchange by trading volume. One of the hottest coins right now is the Malta-based exchange’s eponymous token, Binance Coin, which has more than tripled in value in the last three months to around $15. The surge comes as the broader digital-asset market is little changed in the wake of last year’s collapse that saw the prices of many rivals tumble by more than 90 percent. The coin’s performance is the latest twist in the dramatic rise of Zhao Changpeng, who co-founded the exchange during the 2017 cryptocurrency boom and had run-ins with authorities in Japan and Hong Kong before eventually decamping to the European island nation. “This is the best executing team in crypto,” said Tushar Jain, managing partner at hedge fund Multicoin Capital Management in Austin, Texas. “We expect to hold them for the foreseeable future.” Binance Coin, also known as BNB, is used by holders to pay the fees levied by the exchange for trading. It’s also on the way to becoming a favorite medium of exchange for issuers of initial coin offerings, allowing startups to raise money by listing on one of the most liquid crypto-exchanges with about $1 billion in daily trading volume. What’s made Binance Coin particularly attractive is the company’s practice of tying the performance of the exchange to the amount of tokens in circulation. After an ICO issued 200 million of the coins in July 2017, the company plans to spend 20 percent of its profits each quarter to buy back and destroy Binance Coins — an undertaking that may continue for the next 10 years, Zhao said in an interview. About 50 percent of the coins were allocated to company employees and investors. “We are in the same boat,” said Zhao. “We don’t want the price to drop, to be negatively impacted. We are very much aligned with our investors.” The buyback, which is similar to what many public companies do with their shares, raises a concern that has long hung over the cryptocurrency market since its beginning a decade ago: whether the coins are actually securities. If that is the case, then tokens such as Binance Coin and the exchange would likely fall under the jurisdiction of local regulators, which many members of the crypto-community have sought to avoid. “Personally, I don’t think it’s a security,” Zhao said. “I don’t think that there’s any regulation against destroying assets you have yourself. In the worst case, we can stop the burning process.” Binance has also been developing a public blockchain for the transfer and trading of digital assets that Zhao expects to be launched in two to five months. The network, called Binance Chain, will provide coin traders access to a decentralized exchange that handles transactions through an automated process, eliminating the need for a third party to hold and trade funds. Once Binance Chain is ready for prime time, Binance Coin will be moved to that digital ledger from the Ethereum network, and used to pay various transaction and listing fees. So-called validators, which will support the chain, will be required to hold certain balances on Binance Coins in the future as well, Zhao said. Binance made about $400 million last year, and expects profits of about the same amount, or a little more, which it receives in cryptocurrency, this year, Zhao said. The company doesn’t release audited financial results. In the meantime, the company is seeking to raise the profile of Binance Coin in ways that harken back to the heydays of the crypto bubble. Zhao’s staff as well as 130 volunteers known as Binance Angels are organizing user gatherings called MeetUps to sing the virtues of the coin. Photos of one recent event posted to Twitter show a woman in a Binance T-shirt standing by a poster saying, “Take BNB to the moon.”


Toyota investing $750 million at five U.S. plants, creating 600 new jobs

Abstract: BUFFALO, WEST VIRGINIA - Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday announced it is investing an additional $750 million (¥83.7 billion) at five U.S. plants that will bring nearly 600 new jobs, including the production of two hybrid vehicles for the first time at its Kentucky facility. It marks yet another expansion of the Aichi Prefecture-based automaker’s U.S. presence, bringing the amount it will spend by 2021 to nearly $13 billion. The latest investments are at facilities in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia. Those same facilities were part of a 2017 announcement by Toyota for a $374 million investment to support production of its first American-made hybrid powertrain. Toyota Motor North America executive Chris Reynolds said the investments represent yet more examples of the company’s long-term commitment to build where it sells, irrespective of trade uncertainty due to tariffs. “Our overarching manufacturing principle is if we can sell it here we need to make it here. That’s been true before any tariff uncertainty, it’s true during tariff uncertainty and it will be true after. Our investment cycles go beyond any particular political cycle,” he said during a conference call with reporters. Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz said, “In a time when others are scaling back, we believe in the strength of America, and we’re excited about the future of mobility here in America.” The automaker is spreading the additional investments among several plants. Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, facility will get a $238 million infusion to produce hybrid versions of Lexus ES 300 sedans starting in May and the RAV4 SUV starting in January 2020, the company announced. The RAV4 production doesn’t signal a shift away from sedan production at the sprawling Kentucky plant, Toyota executives said. Instead, it reflects Toyota’s plan to build multiple vehicles at its plants to better insulate each facility from downturns in market cycles. “Unlike some of our competitors, we think there’s value in the sedan market, while it may not be as big as it was,” Reynolds said. The announcement also includes $288 million to increase annual engine capacity at Toyota’s Huntsville, Alabama, facility. The plant will add 450 jobs to accommodate new four-cylinder and V6 engine production lines. Last year Toyota and Mazda Motor Corp. announced plans to build a $1.6 billion joint-venture plant in Huntsville that will eventually employ about 4,000 people. Toyota is also spending $62 million on equipment to boost production of Toyota and Lexus cylinder heads at its Bodine Aluminum facility in Troy, Missouri, as part of its cost-saving New Global Architecture production strategy to share common parts and components among different vehicles. A $50 million expansion and equipment upgrade at a Bodine plant in Jackson, Tennessee, will add 13 jobs and produce engine blocks while doubling the capacity of hybrid transaxle cases and housings. And Toyota will add 123 jobs and spend $111 million to expand its plant and purchase equipment in Buffalo, West Virginia, to double the capacity of hybrid transaxles. Previously, Toyota also announced a $600 million investment at its Princeton, Indiana, plant to increase the capacity of its Highlander SUV and to incorporate the new production strategy, and $170 million to launch the 2020 Corolla on a new production line in Blue Springs, Mississippi.


Itochu wins bigger stake in sportswear-maker Descente in rare hostile takeover for Japan

Abstract: Trading house Itochu Corp. said Friday it has increased its stake in major sportswear-maker Descente Ltd. to 40 percent, succeeding in what, for Japan, was a rare hostile takeover bid. The two firms with over 50 years of business ties were drawn into a takeover battle last month when Descente opposed the tender offer by its top shareholder Itochu to raise the company’s equity stake from around 30 percent to up to 40 percent, a level giving the trading house veto power over crucial management decisions. Unlike in the United States and Europe, hostile takeovers are unusual in Japan and rarely successful. A hostile takeover, as opposed to a friendly one based on a mutual agreement to deepen ties, is accomplished without the consent or cooperation of the target company’s management. Through the tender offer between Jan. 31 and Thursday, Itochu offered ¥2,800 per share, which represented a 50 percent premium on the closing price on Jan. 30. The feud arose partly from differences in views over the overseas strategy of Descente, which sells brands such as Le Coq Sportif, Munsingwear and Umbro, with Itochu objecting to its heavy reliance on its South Korean businesses that generate most of its revenue. The trading house has urged the affiliate to seek revenue growth at home and in China. It has indicated that if the sportswear-maker shows no signs of responding to its request, Itochu will propose ousting Descente President Masatoshi Ishimoto at a general shareholders meeting. But Descente has argued that Itochu’s proposed overseas strategy “is not significantly different from the measures we have already taken” and that it is opposed to any change in top management. Descente, which provides training wear to Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani, was founded in 1935 in Osaka, and its ties with Itochu date back to the 1960s. Itochu helped Descente out of trouble in 1984, when it struggled with excessive inventories at Munsingwear, and in 1998 when its rights to sell Adidas clothes in Japan ended. The Adidas lineup made significant contributions to its sales at the time. But as differences in business practices surfaced, Descente in 2013 appointed Ishimoto as president, marking the first time in 19 years that the sportswear company’s founding family had taken the helm instead of an Itochu-appointed chief. Itochu said the appointment was made “without giving any prior notice to the directors who had been dispatched from Itochu.”

itochu
sportswear
descente
trading houses
acquisitions
mergers


Instagram's first overseas development team to set up shop in Tokyo

Abstract: The head of Instagram says its first development team outside the United States will set up shop in Tokyo this summer to bolster the photo- and video-sharing platform’s services and functions. Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook Inc., aims to strengthen the design and quality of its services by setting up a new team in Japan, where users have sometimes helped create new ways to use the platform, Adam Mosseri said Friday. “Japan was a unique opportunity given how much growth we had here, given how important the market is for the business and given how unique Japan is, culturally, economically … that we thought it was worth the risk,” Mosseri said at a news conference marking his first trip to the country since he took the helm in October. Active Instagram accounts in Japan more than tripled to 29 million as of last September from 8.1 million in June 2015, according to Instagram, which was launched in 2010. The new team will have about 10 members at the beginning, led by Ian Spalter, head of the design division, and add more later. Mosseri said Instagram can help athletes in all kinds of sports entice more fans ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Instagram held a seminar in Tokyo on Thursday with the Japan Hockey Association and advised the members of the national field hockey team about how to effectively use the platform to communicate with fans and show them how attractive the sport is. “We think we can do work to help to make sure that (the Olympics) are a success, both by raising awareness around the Olympics, during the event but also creating a lot of excitement … in the lead up to the summer” of next year, Mosseri said. He said Instagram plans to hold similar events for athletes in other sports. Mosseri was named head of Instagram last October following the resignation of founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

instagram
adam mosseri
tokyo 2020 olympics


New York mayor announces plan to extend shoreline as protection against climate change

Abstract: NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan Thursday to meet the “existential threat” of climate change by extending a section of the lower Manhattan coastline as much as 500 feet (152 meters) into the East River. The Democratic mayor said the $10 billion effort to protect lower Manhattan from flooding by extending the shoreline between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Battery will be funded partly by private development if federal funds are not available. “If there’s federal money in play it probably looks one way,” de Blasio said. “If there’s not federal money in play, we have to get some private money into it and there has to be some development.” Officials have been developing schemes to fortify New York City’s waterfront since Superstorm Sandy destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in 2012. De Blasio said it will cost about $500 million to fortify most of lower Manhattan from future effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and intense precipitation, with grassy berms and removable barriers. But planners determined that protecting the lowest-lying area, including South Street Seaport and the financial district, will require adding more land over several years. De Blasio, who is contemplating joining the crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, said the $10 billion landfill project should be supported by federal funds, but that’s unlikely to happen during the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. “Lower Manhattan is one of the core centers of the American economy,” he said. “It’s where the financial capital of the United states is. The security of lower Manhattan should be a national priority. The fact is it is not. And it’s incomprehensible to me that there’s no sense of urgency from the federal government.” He added, “We can’t afford to bury our head in the sand and that’s right now what our federal government is doing.” The plan to extend the coastline will go through the city’s environmental review process, de Blasio said, but he hopes to avoid “the endless dragging on that usually accompanies something of this scale.” But the prospect of private development on the newly built land is sure to meet resistance from downtown Manhattan community members. City Council member Margaret Chin, who represents the area, said the more resilient future “cannot be paid for by private real estate development that would destroy the waterfront neighborhoods that we are trying to protect.” De Blasio announced the climate resilience plan at a news conference after previewing it in New York magazine . He said a study undertaken by his office and others has determined that if the city does not prepare for climate change, rising seas will expose 20 percent of lower Manhattan to daily flooding by 2100. “This is the existential threat,” de Blasiko said. “This is the core issue we all must face as aggressively as humanly possible.”

climate change
bill de blasio
floods
superstorm sandy
storms
environment


49 dead and four in custody after mosque shootings on 'one of New Zealand's darkest days'

Abstract: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - Shootings at two mosques full of worshippers killed 49 people Friday on what the prime minister called “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.” Authorities charged one person, detained three others and defused explosive devices in what appeared to be a carefully planned racist attack. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the events in Christchurch represented “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence” and acknowledged that many of those affected may be migrants and refugees. In addition to the dead, she said more than 20 people were seriously wounded. “It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Ardern said. Police took three men and a woman into custody after the shootings, which shocked people across the nation of 5 million people. One suspect was charged with murder. Authorities have not specified who they detained, but said none had been on any watch list. A man who claimed responsibility for the shootings left a 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto in which he explained who he was and his reasoning for the attack. He said he was a 28-year-old white Australian and a racist. He said he came to New Zealand only to plan and train for the attack. He said he had acted alone and was not a member of any organization, but had donated to and interacted with many nationalist groups. He said he chose New Zealand to show that even the remotest parts of the world are not free of “mass immigration.” New Zealand is considered a welcoming country for immigrants and refugees. Last year, Ardern announced the country would boost its annual refugee quota from 1,000 to 1,500 starting in 2020. Ardern, whose party campaigned on the promise of raising the intake of refugees, dubbed the planned increase “the right thing to do.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that one of the four people detained was a citizen born in Australia. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Friday night that a man had been charged with murder. He did not mention the other three suspects and did not say whether the same shooter was responsible for both attacks. In the manifesto, the man who claimed responsibility said the mosques in Christchurch and Linwood, a suburb east of the center of Christchurch, would be the targets — as would a third mosque in the town of Ashburton if he could make it there. Ardern alluded to anti-immigrant sentiment as the possible motive, saying that although many people affected by the shootings may be migrants or refugees, “they have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home. They are us.” As for the suspects, Ardern said “these are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.” Bush said police had found two improvised explosive devices in one car. The deadlier of the two attacks occurred at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch at about 1:45 p.m. At least 30 people were killed there. Witness Len Peneha said he saw a man dressed in black enter the mosque and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running from the mosque in terror. Peneha, who lives next to the mosque, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway and fled. He then went into the mosque to try to help. “I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “It’s unbelievable nutty. I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.” He said he helped about five people recover in his home. “I’ve lived next door to this mosque for about five years and the people are great, they’re very friendly,” he said. “I just don’t understand it.” He said the gunman was white and was wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top, giving him a military-type appearance. A video that was apparently livestreamed by the shooter shows the attack in horrifying detail. The gunman spends more than two minutes inside the mosque spraying terrified worshippers with bullets again and again, sometimes re-firing at people he has already cut down. He then walks outside to the street, where he shoots at people on the sidewalk. Children’s screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle. The gunman walks back into the mosque, where at least two dozen people are lying on the floor. After walking back outside and shooting a woman, he gets back in his car, where the song “Fire” by the rock band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown can be heard blasting from the speakers. The singer bellows, “I am the god of hellfire!” and the gunman drives away. The video then cuts out. There was a second shooting at the Linwood Masjid Mosque that killed at least 10 people. Mark Nichols told the New Zealand Herald that he heard about five gunshots and that a Friday prayer-goer returned fire with a rifle or shotgun. Mass shootings in New Zealand are exceedingly rare. The deadliest in modern history occurred in the small town of Aramoana in 1990, when gunman David Gray shot and killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbor.

new zealand
christchurch
terrorism
murder
mass shootings
guns


Astronauts on aborted Soyuz launch blast off successfully for ISS

Abstract: BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN - NASA astronaut Nick Hague and his Russian colleague Alexey Ovchinin, who survived a dramatically aborted Soyuz launch last year, blasted off successfully for the International Space Station on Thursday. The two men, joined by U.S. astronaut Christina Koch, lifted off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at the expected time 1914 GMT. “The Soyuz is now in orbit and the crew are on their way to the International Space Station,” said a commentator on NASA television. The Russian space agency Roscosmos confirmed it had entered orbit. The lift off was closely watched after the two men’s space journey was cut short in October when a technical problem with their Soyuz rocket triggered a launch abort two minutes into the flight. Both men escaped unharmed. It was the first such accident in Russia’s post-Soviet history and a major setback for its once proud space industry. Speaking to reporters ahead of their six-month mission, flight commander Ovchinin said that some faulty components in the launch vehicle had been found and replaced this week. “Yesterday they found some minor malfunctions,” the 47-year-old said on Wednesday. He insisted that the launch vehicle was in good shape. “There are no problems,” Ovchinin said. Hague, 43, said he was looking forward to the flight — his second attempt to get into space. “I’m 100 percent confident in the rocket and the spaceship,” he said. The October abort was caused by a sensor damaged during the rocket’s assembly. Space expert Vadim Lukashevich said last-minute replacements were nothing out of the ordinary. “The Soyuz is an old but reliable machine,” he told AFP. Russia’s space industry has in recent years suffered a lot of mishaps including the loss of cargo spacecraft and numerous satellites. Ovchinin, who spent six months at the ISS during a previous mission in 2016, has been keen to play down the drama of the October emergency landing. The abort was “a little disappointing” after preparations that lasted a year-and-a-half but also “an interesting and needed experience” that tested the depth of the space program’s preparedness, he said. Koch, Hague and Ovchinin’s six-hour flight Thursday will be closely watched for another reason too. SpaceX’s successful test launch to the ISS of its Dragon vehicle has challenged an eight-year monopoly on travel to the space station enjoyed by Russia ever since NASA stopped launches of the Space Shuttle. Speaking to reporters, the trio and their three-man backup crew stressed cooperation rather than competition following the Dragon mission, seen by some as the dawn of an era of commercial space travel driven by businessmen such as Elon Musk who owns SpaceX. Koch, a 40-year-old space rookie, called the SpaceX success a “great example of what we’ve been doing for a very long time.” “And that is cooperating among partners and making things that are very difficult look easy,” she said. There had already been one successful manned launch to the ISS since the failed Soyuz mission. The trio’s arrival will return the orbiting laboratory’s crew to six in all. Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency blasted off to the orbiting outpost in December and are expected to greet their new crew mates early on Friday. During their mission McClain, Saint-Jacques, Hague and Koch are set to perform the first spacewalks of their careers. This week in a lighter moment Hague offered an insight into the specifics of personal grooming aboard the ISS. “In space, we’ll use clippers attached to a vacuum device so that the hair particles don’t float around or get stuck in our vent systems,” he wrote on Twitter. The International Space Station — a rare area of cooperation between Moscow and Washington — has been orbiting the Earth at roughly 28,000 kph since 1998.


How Neolithic cooking changed human language

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Changes to the human diet prompted by Neolithic advances in agriculture played a role in human jaw evolution that allowed people to pronounce the consonants “f” and “v,” researchers say. Their work — which combines linguistics, speech science and paleoanthropology and appears in the U.S. journal Science — indicates that language is not merely a random product of history but was also linked to biological changes at the time. The Neolithic era — spanning from 6,000 to 2,100 B.C. — was when wheat- and barley-based farming took root and animals such as goats, sheep and cows were domesticated. “Language is not usually studied as a biological phenomenon and it does not normally figure in, say, the curriculum of biology,” said Balthasar Bickel, a researcher at the University of Zurich. “If you think about it, however, this is a bit strange, actually, because like the communication system of other animals, language is simply part of our nature,” he stressed. Before the Neolithic era, humans used their teeth to quickly chew the products of hunting and gathering. While the upper incisors covered the lower ones in children, wear and tear led to an “edge-to-edge bite” in adults, prehistoric skulls show — positioning that made it difficult to make certain sounds. If you pull in your lower jaw until your upper and lower teeth touch each other, and then try to pronounce “f” and “v,” it’s very difficult. The sounds are called labiodental consonants, which require the combined action of the lower lip and the upper teeth. Starting in the Neolithic era, hunter-gatherers learned techniques to process food — for example, by milling it and cooking it. “There were chiefly types of gruel or porridge, stews and soups, but also daily products like milk, cheese and yogurt that came about through food processing technologies that led to the softer diets,” said Bickel’s colleague Steven Moran. “And an important thing here was the spread of pottery for preserving food — something that became very important with the introduction of agriculture.” Dental wear and tear was curtailed thanks to the softer diet, and the upper incisors maintained their adolescent position: over the lower teeth, as in today’s humans. Researchers say they spent five years on the study. In the final phase, they studied the history of Indo-European languages and concluded that it was “very likely the labiodentals emerged not much before the Bronze Age, in parallel to development of food processing techniques,” explained another co-author, Damian Blasi. The Bronze Age followed the Neolithic. “Our findings suggest that language is shaped not only by the contingencies of its history, but also by culturally induced changes in human biology,” the researchers wrote. “We can no longer take for granted that the diversity of speech has remained stable since the emergence of Homo sapiens.” Blasi said he hoped that the study would spark a “wider discussion” on how some aspects of language and speech “need to be treated as we treat other complex human behaviors lying between biology and culture.”


Rockets fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv for first time since 2014, Israeli military says

Abstract: TEL AVIV - Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the Tel Aviv area on Thursday, setting off sirens, the Israeli military said, and several explosions were heard. TV footage showed what looked like Israeli interceptor missiles streaking into the sky above Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, and detonating. Despite the apparent activation of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, the military said no rockets were shot down. It said there were no reports of casualties or damage. It was the first time sirens had rung out in the city since the 2014 Gaza war. About 40 minutes after the alarm went up, traffic was flowing normally on Tel Aviv’s main Ayalon highway. The military said two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip and it would provide further details later. Israeli media said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening senior military and security officers to evaluate the situation. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the Gaza Strip, where its dominant Hamas group was engaged on Thursday in talks with Egypt on a long-term ceasefire with Israel. Tensions have been high for the past year along the Israel-Gaza frontier since Palestinians began violent protests near Israel’s border fence that have often drawn a lethal response from the Israeli military. The rocket fire raised speculation in Israel that Palestinian militants opposed to any deal between Hamas and Israel were behind the launchings. Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahalon said on Twitter that Israel “would respond as necessary” to the rocket attack. The anniversary of the Gaza border protests is in two weeks, on March 30 and Palestinian groups have been preparing events and march to mark the date. Around 200 Palestinians have been killed in the demonstrations and about 60 other Palestinians have died in other incidents, including exchanges of fire across the border. Since the protests began, one Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier and another was killed during an undercover raid into Gaza. Fires caused by Palestinian incendiary devices attached to kites and balloons have set ablaze large areas of Israeli forest and farmland along the Israel-Gaza border.

gaza
tel aviv
israel
iron dome
benjamin netanyahu
hamas
palestinians
conflict


Senior prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to leave U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller's team soon

Abstract: WASHINGTON - One of U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller’s top prosecutors will soon leave his post, a Mueller spokesman said on Thursday, confirming a move likely to add fuel to speculation that the Russia investigation is nearing a conclusion. Andrew Weissmann, who orchestrated the prosecution of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, will leave the team “in the near future,” Mueller spokesman Peter Carr said, confirming earlier media reports. The news of his departure broke one day after Manafort was sentenced by a second judge. Manafort is facing 7½ years in prison in two cases brought by Mueller’s team after being convicted of or pleading guilty to a litany of financial and other crimes. Weissmann is in talks to take a teaching position at the New York University School of Law, according to Michael Orey, a spokesman at the university. “Andrew has been involved with NYU Law in the past and we have been talking with him about returning to the Law School following his current commitments,” Orey said. Weissmann, who was in a Washington federal court on Thursday to attend a hearing in the special counsel’s prosecution of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, did not respond to a request for comment. Stone was indicted in January, accused of lying about his communications with associates about the Wikileaks website that released documents that prosecutors said were stolen by Russia and made public to hurt Trump’s 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Stone pleaded not guilty. His trial is set for on Nov. 5.

robert mueller
paul manafort
roger stone
u.s .
donald trump
russia probe
andrew weissman