Number of flu patients nationwide hits second-highest level since 1999

Abstract: The number of influenza patients per medical institution in Japan in the week through last Sunday hit the second-highest level since the survey started in 1999, the health ministry has said. The average number of flu patients at some 5,000 medical institutions across the country that are regularly monitored grew by 15.37 from the previous week to 53.91, following the record high of 54.33, marked in the previous year, the ministry announced Friday. The total number of flu patients during the week is estimated at some 2.13 million, up by some 495,000 from the previous week. By prefecture, Aichi saw the greatest number of patients per institution, at 81.86, followed by Saitama, at 70.03, Shizuoka, at 69.42, Ibaraki, at 68.05, and Fukuoka, at 67.18. In all of the nation’s 47 prefectures except Aomori, Akita and Shimane, the number of patients topped the alarm level of 30, which suggests a possible outbreak of the disease.


Tokyo students learn about whale-eating culture

Abstract: During a lecture given by a nonprofit organization on Friday, students at Nishisugamo Elementary School in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, learned about Japan’s traditional culture of eating whale meat. Some 40 fifth-graders at the school listened attentively to the lecture, which featured topics including the historical relations between Japan and whales. “They are huge. I’ve never seen such a thing before,” a child said while watching a video of minke whales caught during a research whaling program in the Antarctic Ocean. The students learned that the country’s whale-eating culture dates back to ancient times. For school lunch, they ate fried whale meat and miso soup which also contained whale meat. The lecture took place after the government decided last month to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission. After 31 years, fishery groups are slated to resume commercial whaling in July. “The number of young people who have never eaten whale meat is increasing,” said Yuriko Shiraishi, head of the organization, Umi no Kuni Nippon, which means “Maritime Country Japan” in Japanese. “We hope to convey whale-eating culture to children through school lunches,” she said. The NPO provides food education centering on fish.


Amid deteriorating ties, Japan plans to cancel participation of Izumo carrier in South Korea joint exercise

Abstract: The Defense Ministry plans to cancel a port call by its Izumo helicopter carrier in South Korea this spring amid growing tensions between the two countries over alleged risky moves by each of their militaries, a Japanese government source said Saturday. The Maritime Self-Defense Force was to dispatch several vessels, including the Izumo, to Busan to take part in a joint exercise to be held when defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its regional partners meet in the South Korean port city, the source said. Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya also indicated Japan’s reduced contribution to exchanges with South Korean defense authorities. While stressing the need for maintaining such exchanges, Iwaya told reporters in Oita Prefecture that Tokyo will “judge from time to time which way is the most appropriate.” A senior ministry official said “There’s no sign of improvement in relations with South Korea. Defense cooperation is likely to be restrained for the time being.” Japan and South Korea have remained in dispute over whether a South Korean Navy destroyer locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol aircraft in the Sea of Japan on Dec. 20. The Japanese ministry concluded Monday that South Korea’s denial is baseless and that it cannot continue bilateral defense talks on the incident. In a separate case, South Korea released photos Thursday claiming that a Japanese patrol plane flew at a “threatening” low altitude over a South Korean Navy ship in international waters the previous day. The standoff added to bilateral tensions triggered by the recent rulings by South Korea’s top court that ordered Japanese firms to compensate for wartime labor by Korean workers.


Amid tensions with Japan, South Korea to boost world awareness on wartime sex abuses

Abstract: SEOUL/DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - South Korea is committed to advancing relations with Japan but will step up efforts to share with the world its experience of Japanese wartime atrocities, including sexual violence against its women, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in an interview. Kang said South Korea was seeking to host an international conference on sexual violence in conflict in the first half of this year. “We feel we have a lot to contribute to the discussion because we have the history of the ‘comfort women’ and the victims,” she said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The two Asian neighbors share a bitter history stemming from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, the use of wartime labor at Japanese companies, and the abuse of comfort women — many of them Korean — who provided sex to Japanese soldiers in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will. “The conference is not to address (the comfort women) issue per se, but to make sure that their historical experience is not lost, and (is) registered in the international efforts to really come to terms with this issue,” Kang said. The rows over wartime history have long been a stumbling block in relations between South Korea and Japan, two U.S. allies engaged in global efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Kang said that despite a “very difficult history,” Seoul would take a “two-track approach” to resolve the historical disputes while boosting cooperation on North Korea and security. “There is a fundamental sense of lack of justice on the part of the victims,” Kang said. “And as we manage the past in a way that addresses the concerns of the victims, we also have to move along these many other tracks of collaboration.” The feud has deepened in recent months after South Korean courts ordered Japanese firms to compensate former laborers, and Tokyo accused a South Korean destroyer of having locked a radar on a Japanese surveillance plane. Japan maintains that the issue of wartime labor was fully settled in 1965 when the two countries restored diplomatic ties, and has called the court rulings “unthinkable.” Japan requested diplomatic consultations on the issue of wartime labor on Jan. 9, asking South Korea to respond within 30 days. Kang said that Seoul would reply after considering “all elements,” based on the position that it respects the court decisions, but it has the victims “first in mind.” But she said the country has no intention of revisiting the 1965 diplomatic treaty, dismissing recent suggestions made in local media that South Korea may propose discussing all unresolved issues involving the treaty. Under the deal, South Korea received a package of $300 million in economic aid and $200 million in loans from Japan in exchange for Seoul considering all pre-treaty compensation issues settled. The money was spent to rebuild its infrastructure and economy, ravaged by the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korea, under a former conservative administration, previously agreed to refrain from raising the comfort women issue in the international community, including the United Nations, as part of a 2015 deal with Japan under which Tokyo apologized to victims and provided ¥1 billion ($9.11 million) to a fund to help them. Kang, who was appointed by liberal President Moon Jae-in in June 2017, has, however, said the 2015 pact failed to address the victims’ concerns, and in November the government said it would shut down the Japanese-funded foundation.

history
comfort women
wwii
south korea-japan relations


French skier killed in Japan avalanche

Abstract: A French man has been killed in an avalanche while skiing on a mountain, local police said Saturday. Marc-Olivier Gariou-Pouillas, 49, was skiing off-piste on Mount Ogenashi in the city of Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, about 200 kilometers north of Tokyo, on Friday afternoon when an avalanche occurred, according to police. “His two friends saw him engulfed by the avalanche and called for help,” Myoko police spokesman Takahiro Chiba said. “The ski resort patrol there and other skiers managed to dig him up. … A police helicopter airlifted him to a hospital but he was pronounced dead,” he said. The avalanche was some 300 meters long and 30 meters wide, he added. Gariou-Pouillas had been on a skiing trip in Japan since mid-January with two other Frenchmen, according to police.

ski
marc-olivier gariou-pouillas
accidents


Earthquake rattles Kumamoto Prefecture town

Abstract: KUMAMOTO - A magnitude 4.4 earthquake jolted Kumamoto Prefecture on Saturday afternoon, but no tsunami warning was issued, the Meteorological Agency said. The temblor, which struck at 2:16 p.m., occurred at a depth of around 10 kilometers, with the town of Nagomi registering a lower 5 on the Japanese earthquake intensity scale of 7, according to the agency. Local authorities said no injuries had been reported as of 2:30 p.m. the same day. “The span of the tremor was very short, and nothing fell from shelves,” said a Nagomi Municipal Office worker. On Jan. 3, the town was hit by an earthquake measuring a lower 6 on the scale. The agency warned local residents about possible aftershocks over the next week or so. According to Kyushu Electric Power Co., no abnormalities have been detected at its two nuclear plants in the prefectures of Saga and Kagoshima.


Weather agency warns of heavy snowfall across Japan as cold air masses approach; two deaths reported

Abstract: KYODO - Heavy snowfall is expected across Japan over the weekend as the weather agency issued a warning Friday for many regions on the Sea of Japan coast as well as some mountainous areas on the Pacific side. The Meteorological Agency said that with strong cold air masses approaching the archipelago, even some low-lying areas near the Pacific coast could see snow. The agency asked people to be aware of icy roads and disruption of public transportation. At around 8 a.m. Saturday in Hiji, Oita Prefecture, a truck slipped on a road covered with snow. The accident blocked traffic and more than 20 vehicles were stuck until around 1:30 p.m. In Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, Seishichi Saito, 76, was found dead around 3:45 p.m. The lower part of his body was buried in snow, and police believe he fell off the roof of his garage while clearing snow that had accumulated there. At that time, about 80 centimeters of snow had fallen on the road near the structure. Meanwhile, near Mount Tanigawa in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, an avalanche hit a group of three climbers on Saturday afternoon and one of them, a 29-year-old male corporate worker, was reported missing. The other two climbers did not sustain any injuries. Police said the three had lost their way in a blizzard. Some locations along the Sea of Japan could also see thunderstorms and tornadoes, the agency said. A cold air mass with a temperature of minus 39 degrees Celsius or lower at an altitude of 5,000 meters will pass over eastern Japan, while another of minus 33 or lower will cover western Japan, the agency said, noting that the expected temperatures are around 10 degrees lower than average. Up to 70 centimeters of snowfall is expected in some places in eastern Japan before 6 p.m. Saturday, while even some areas on the southwestern main island of Kyushu could have up to 30 cm of snow over the same period, the agency said.


Isle dispute with Russia tied to base issues, argues author Koji Yabe

Abstract: There seems to be little chance that Russia will ever give back any part of the four islands it seized from Japan at the end of World War II, but the Japanese government, as well as some mainstream media, continues to act as if the possibility exists. Prior to last week’s meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which showed no meaningful progress on the matter or on a proposed peace treaty , either, Kyodo News reported that the government will continue to work on retrieving the islands , which Japan calls the Northern Territories and Russia the Southern Kurils, although one Japanese official admitted they could only hope for two. In that regard, Putin’s concern is whether the U.S. military will put facilities on any land returned to Japan. The Sankei Shimbun quoted Lt. Gen. Jerry Martinez, the senior U.S. military representative in Japan, as saying that there are no plans to put bases on any of the islands “ at the moment .” This use of qualified statements by the U.S. and Japan characterizes media discussions on their security alliance, which is why it’s difficult to understand what’s going on. Author Koji Yabe has written several books about the U.S.-Japan alliance, and the latest, “ Shitte wa Ikenai 2 ” (“You’re Not Supposed to Know 2”), was published in November. Since then, he’s been making the rounds to promote it, including a session at the Japan Press Club, but the mainstream media has avoided talking about his findings. Yabe acknowledged this lack of coverage when he appeared on Bunka Hoso’s “Golden Radio” program on Jan. 9, and it’s easy to see why other media outlets don’t book him given the subject he discussed: Why the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa, is not coming back to Japan. Right now, a replacement air base is under construction in the Henoko coastal district of Nago, and the government’s explanation in the face of local protests to halt construction is that without Henoko they cannot close Futenma, which is in the middle of a city that doesn’t want it. Yabe says there is actually no guarantee that the Futenma air base will close, even if Henoko is completed. Yabe says the agreement with the United States to close Futenma states that it will happen “in 2022 or later.” This “later” is an example of the U.S. military keeping its options open. It may find it still has use for Futenma sometime in the future. Yabe contends that the agreements that legally define the alliance are based on the idea that the U.S. military can change its mind at any time, and the Japanese government thinks it must honor those decisions. Any assurances the U.S. military makes in response to requests from Japan are not, in fact, assured, because in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), concluded in 1960, security matters are to be decided mutually based on the terms of SOFA “and other agreements.” Yabe says one such agreement, nichibei gōdō iinkai gōi , codifies a “joint committee” made up of bureaucrats from both sides who meet behind closed doors to reach decisions that don’t need to be approved by the Japanese legislature. Moreover, the committee has no obligation to publicize those decisions. They can decide anything in secret. This protocol is at play in the government’s recent purchase of Mageshima, an island off the coast of Kyushu, for field carrier landing practice, which, since 1991, has been carried out by the U.S. on remote Iwo Jima island. According to a Jan. 16 report in the Tokyo Shimbun , the proposed field move to Mageshima concerns the residents of nearby Tanegashima, who worry about the noise. The government, not wishing to repeat the problems associated with Henoko, hasn’t said anything publicly about Mageshima. The Tokyo Shimbun says the U.S. has been demanding a permanent field carrier landing practice facility closer to the main archipelago for a long time, and the government has been negotiating with the owner of the island, a Tokyo-based developer, for years. However, even if field carrier landing practice moves to Mageshima it doesn’t mean the island will replace other bases. It will just increase U.S. military presence on Japanese soil. Professor Hideki Uemura of Ryutsu Keizai University told the Tokyo Shimbun that the government’s priority in the matter is to satisfy the demands of the United States. Local people’s demands are “secondary.” In an article written for the Dec. 9 issue of the Gendai Shinsho online business publication, Yabe says this protocol applies to the Northern Territories issue as well. After clearly stating that the return of all four islands to Japan is impossible, he goes on to say that the government is now trying to make the public believe it is working on the return of two islands in accordance with a Soviet-Japan joint declaration made in 1956. This scheme will also fail because Putin knows that Japan will never secure assurances from the U.S. military that it will not place facilities on the islands if they are returned, a condition that Russia says is non-negotiable. However, Yabe thinks the government, meaning the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, hopes to draw out the negotiations until this June when Abe and Putin are to meet again, so as to convince voters that there is still a possibility of the return of something just before this summer’s general election. In an interview with the Tokyo Shimbun on Jan. 21, Russian Ambassador Mikhail Galuzin dismissed speculation that any of the islands would ever come back to Japan, although he did leave the door open to visa-free access and fishing rights, but only if Japan “adjusted its relationship” with certain parties, meaning, obviously, the United States. As Yabe said at the end of the Gendai Shinsho article, Japan can never negotiate with other countries in good faith about its strategic interests until it changes its subordinate status vis-a-vis the United States. Before it tries to repossess four islands it lost more than 70 years ago, it needs to regain sovereignty over the rest of the country.


Clamor grows for Heisei Era memories online as abdication approaches

Abstract: A lot of people online appear to be feeling anxious ahead of the Emperor’s abdication. Some simply don’t like change, and this upcoming transition represents the biggest change their lives have ever known. So when the Yomiuri Shimbun published an article online that included predictions on what the new era would be called, people on social media and message boards such as 2chan responded en masse . According to a poll conducted by Sony Life Insurance, most respondents chose “heiwa” (“peace”), with “wahei” (which also means “peace”) finishing second. The sample size of the survey was small but it was enough for many to lampoon the news online, even noting that “heiwa” is also the name of a company famous for producing pachinko machines . Beyond creating an easy opportunity to crack jokes online, the topic highlights some of the tension surrounding the transition. Accordingly, netizens are increasingly looking back at what’s transpired over the past 30 years, with some of the bigger discussions online to date this year focusing on wistfulness or even identifying Heisei’s goofier aspects . By and large, the internet has always worked as a historical database of sorts and in Japan it’s no different, offering everything from commercial compilations to quizzes on one’s knowledge of the cartoon “Hamtaro.” However, the collective sense of nostalgia has felt more pronounced in recent times, starting with J-pop superstar Namie Amuro’s retirement from show business and continuing on to touch on all corners of pop culture. This would partially explain the reaction to Twitter user @makotoppo104’s post on “skeleton goods” from the 1990s such as a turquoise Nintendo 64 you can see into or the iMac G3. This relatively simple template — ”remember this thing?” — received over 67,000 “likes” and more than 38,000 retweets. It also inspired others to share memories and photos of transparent hardware, from Game Boys to Tamagotchi . And, like all trends, it looks set to come back as companies realize people might actually be willing to buy a video game console that looks unfinished again. Moreover, the nostalgia hasn’t stopped at video game consoles and forgotten Apple products. Morning show “Zip!” did a feature on “retro toys” such as Furby, the once-buzzed-about toy that inspired people online to recall their own experiences with the unnerving mechanical pets. Did you know that before MP3 players and streaming services existed, you actually had to put all your favorite songs on some sort of physical device ? Netizens do . Even the news last December that services for pagers would end in September inspired a bit of nostalgia for technology I’m not sure anyone has thought much about in the past decade. The nostalgia reached a peak in mid-January when NHK aired a show called “ Heisei Net History .” It’s exactly as the title implies — the show looked at the history of the internet in the mid-’90s and beyond, moving between segments looking at the evolution of cellphones to how video site Nico Nico set the pace for most online culture (fittingly, all of the looks toward the future took on more paranoid tones, from fake news to deep fakes ). The program featured a hashtag , which prompted viewers to comment along with the show and share their own memories (and memes ) of the early web that was being covered by the national broadcaster. The nostalgia has now reached its ultimate form — advertising copy. A “creative school” geared toward millenial women called She posted an ad on Instagram riffing on a bunch of Heisei staples, from “Sailor Moon” to Tamagotchi. It reached Twitter and hit users in the feels. It wasn’t the first agency to use the era for promotion and it certainly won’t be the last, but the reaction to it is a good example of just how effective it can be at the moment. Everyone wants to look back on times they perceived to be simpler (even if they weren’t) and most of Japan’s recent social media lookbacks are pretty harmless, especially compared to conservatives in the United States’ current “back-in-the-day” mind-set that conceals layers of racism and sexism. It’s also completely understandable given the upcoming transition. So spend a little more time getting sappy about “Dance Dance Revolution” or your Heisei signifier of choice — the next generation will have plenty of time to build their own nostalgia in the future.


Stung by Cambridge Analytica debacle, Facebook backs election integrity and AI initiatives in Germany

Abstract: MUNICH, GERMANY - Facebook has launched German initiatives to defend election integrity and examine the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), its operations chief said on Sunday, seeking to convince skeptics it is serious about privacy and democracy. The world’s largest social network had a tough 2018 as it was buffeted by revelations that U.K. consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its U.S. users to target election advertising. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been grilled by lawmakers on the data lapses and, according to newspaper reports, U.S. regulators are discussing fining Facebook for violating a binding agreement to protect the privacy of its users. “We are not the same company that we were in 2016 or even a year ago,” Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the DLD Munich technology conference. “We have a fundamentally different approach to how we run our company today.” In Germany, Facebook is relatively less popular among users than in other Western countries, partly due to privacy concerns dating back to its history of Nazi and Communist rule in the 20th century. Sandberg said Facebook had struck a new partnership with Germany’s federal cybersecurity office to help to uphold the integrity of elections and would also commit $7.5 million toward research into the ethics of (AI) at the Technical University in Munich. Facebook uses AI to spot and remove terrorist content and hate speech before it is reported to its 30,000 moderators, said Sandberg, adding it is also important to ensure that the technology is managed to prevent bias. “We have to get this right; this is too important,” she said.

cambridge analytica
facebook
ai
germany . elections
mark zuckerburg


Japanese firms circumventing traditional hiring timetable to find quality recruits

Abstract: It’s a rite of spring: Major corporations hire fresh university graduates en masse every April, starting them all at the same salary with assurances of rising pay and lifetime employment. But lately, some companies, including Rakuten, SoftBank and Line Corp., are breaking with that tradition, signing up new employees with coveted technical skills months earlier — and paying them more than other new recruits. As competition for workers grows in Japan’s shrinking labor pool, traditional seniority and group dynamics are giving ground to the more individualized, merit-based employment system found in the West. It is a welcome sign for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government and the central bank, which have been pushing for a more flexible labor market that would boost wages and revive consumption. Takashi Murakami, a 23-year-old producer at Mercari, which developed a popular flea market app, said seniority-based pay and lifetime employment are relics. “I’m grateful that the company seems to value me with pretty good pay,” he said. “I already got a pay hike after joining the company, which motivated me to work even harder. Merit-based pay is more fitting to the times.” In recent years, Mercari said, it has been hiring college students throughout the year to grab workers with needed skills. The company even offers jobs to some second-year or third-year students. Mercari also has a program called “Mergrads” to provide internships and training to improve new graduates’ skills. And since April, it started offering higher pay to some job candidates with skills in information technology engineering and computer programming, said Ayano Okuda of Mercari, who is in charge of hiring new graduates. She declined to discuss the company’s pay scale. “The competition is surely heating up,” she said. “We judge each individual’s ability and offer them attractive salaries reflecting their skills.” For decades, traditional spring hiring underpinned the economy and provided a clear corporate and social ladder, grounded in — and reinforcing — the cultural emphasis on loyalty and conformity. Under Japan’s often choreographed business practices, Keidanren, the largest business lobby, had a “voluntary” timetable that many companies followed: Start recruiting new employees on March 1, begin job interviews with fourth-year students on June 1 and informally offer jobs on Oct. 1 — six months before graduation. Labor ministry data show the entry-level salary stands at about ¥200,000 ($1,775) a month, compared with roughly ¥30,000 in 1968, or ¥130,000 in today’s money. Demand for workers is stronger now than it has been in decades; there are 1.62 jobs available per applicant, nearly a 44-year high. In response, Keidanren decided to ditch its timetable guidelines by spring 2021, meaning member companies are expected to follow them until then. But more companies, particularly in “new economy” industries such as technology and e-commerce, have adopted much more flexible hiring practices, including offering select employees higher pay. Internet advertising firm CyberAgent Inc. scrapped its uniform starting pay scale in April. Now it offers annual starting salaries ranging from ¥4.5 million ($40,000) to ¥7.2 million ($64,000) or more for IT engineers, who account for about 40 percent of its 5,000-person workforce. “We face stiff competition in securing able workers,” said Yuko Ishida of CyberAgent. That means some young, incoming employees are paid more than their older co-workers. CyberAgent pays exclusively based on ability without taking seniority into account, Ishida said. “Our competitors are also offering better salaries for high-quality workers, so we believe we can attract able workers by offering appropriate salaries,” she said. Although some say Japan is long overdue for a shift toward a more flexible, merit-based employment system, it could upset long-standing social order. “If it spreads throughout corporate Japan, it would mean a collapse of Japan’s employment system,” said Hisashi Yamada, a senior economist at Japan Research Institute and an expert on labor issues. “That would cause a disparity among workers, causing uneven distribution of work and loss of motivation among those who feel left behind,” he said. To sustain long-term growth, he said, companies will need to balance maintaining “in-house order” with rewarding performance and valued skills, while the government must step up efforts to make Japan’s job market more flexible.


France downplays Renault-Nissan merger idea amid tensions over lopsided alliance built by Ghosn

Abstract: PARIS - France’s finance minister said there is no plan to remodel the two-decade alliance between Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., whose architect, Carlos Ghosn, remains in jail two months after he was arrested in Japan on allegations of financial crimes. “No shareholding re-balancing or modification of cross shareholdings between Renault and Nissan are on the table,” Bruno Le Maire told Journal du Dimanche in an interview published late Saturday. France wants “solid and stable” governance at the helm of Renault, he said. Tensions are simmering on both sides of the partnership because of its lopsided structure. While Nissan has outgrown Renault in sales and profits, the Japanese company has far less influence, owning a 15 percent non-voting stake in Renault, which in turn has a 43 percent holding of Nissan. The French government owns 15 percent of Renault. A French delegation including Martin Vial, a Renault director designated by the French government, visited Japanese officials including Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa in Tokyo last week. The participants relayed France’s intention to possibly put the two carmakers under one holding structure, as well as Renault’s wish to appoint Nissan’s next chairman, Nikkei newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. According to people close to the delegation, the discussions focused on ways and ideas to cement the Renault-Nissan alliance, with the creation of a holding company being one of the options. The people emphasized that no proposal was made during the meeting and it’s too early to discuss concrete plans, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. While Nissan wants to maintain the partnership, it will likely resist any push toward a full merger of the two carmakers, another person familiar with the matter said. A Renault spokesman declined comment. An email sent to a Nissan spokesman went unanswered Sunday. Ghosn had been pushing for a closer integration between the two carmakers before his arrest, including a possible merger that Bloomberg reported last year, but Nissan has resisted a combination unless it would gain clout in more areas. Ghosn is accused of financial crimes that could put him behind bars for decades. The auto titan has been indicted for understating his income at Nissan by tens of millions of dollars and transferring personal trading losses to the carmaker. Nissan also claims that Ghosn misused company funds, including for homes from Brazil to Lebanon, and hired his sister on an advisory contract. Nissan is weighing abolishing the chairman role as it steps up reforms to rebuild governance. The scandal has also strained the company’s partnership with Renault, a union held together by Ghosn for two decades. Last month, Renault said it planned to name a new director to the board of Nissan and safeguard power within their alliance. “Renault wants to exercise the possibility to name its directors and this will be done at a shareholders’ meeting,” Vial, who is also head of the agency that holds the French government’s stake, said in an interview on BFM Business. Earlier, Nissan CEO Saikawa rebuffed the French carmaker’s demand for a meeting of all shareholders to discuss Nissan’s governance, something it would need to do to change its board representation. Nissan’s special committee for improving governance met for the first time Sunday, and said it will make some proposals by the end of March. Committee Chairman Seiichiro Nishioka also said that having too much power concentrated on one person may have resulted in a problem for the carmaker. Ghosn is also on the verge of being ejected from the roles of chairman and CEO at Renault, with the French finance minister last week calling for his dismissal.

france
renault
nissan
mergers
carlos ghosn
japan
bruno le maire
hiroto saikawa


Fourth-quarter figures drag China's 2018 growth to a 28-year low of 6.6%

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s economy cooled in the fourth quarter under pressure from faltering domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs, dragging growth in 2018 to its lowest level in nearly three decades and pressuring Beijing to roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown. Growing signs of weakness in China — which has generated nearly a third of global growth in recent years — are fueling anxiety about risks to the world economy and are weighing on profits for firms ranging from Apple to big carmakers. Policymakers have pledged more support this year to reduce the risk of massive job losses but have ruled out a “flood” of stimulus like that which Beijing has relied on in the past, which quickly juiced growth rates but left a mountain of debt. “The government has means to support the economy. They can expand infrastructure spending and they can cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio. So we don’t need to worry about capital spending,” said Naoto Saito, chief researcher at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo. “But the problem lies in consumption. As the U.S. and China clash on many fronts, consumer sentiment appears to have been hurt. Until now, solid wage growth has been supporting consumption, but now there appears to be a sense of vague anxiety about the future.” Fourth-quarter gross domestic product grew at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis, easing to 6.4 percent year on year as expected from 6.5 percent in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. That pulled full-year growth down to 6.6 percent, the slowest annual pace since 1990. GDP in 2017 grew a revised 6.8 percent. With support measures expected to take some time to kick in, most analysts believe conditions are likely to get worse before they get better, and see a further slowing to 6.3 percent this year. Some China watchers believe actual growth is already weaker than official data suggest. Despite a raft of policy easing steps so far, December data released along with GDP showed continued weakness across broad areas of the economy at the end of last year. Factory output picked up unexpectedly to 5.7 percent from 5.4 percent, but it was one of the few bright spots, along with a stronger services sector. While regulators have been fast-tracking construction projects, most of the gain appeared due to higher mining and oil production. Reuters calculations showed average daily steel output hit its lowest level since March as producers cut output amid shrinking profit margins. Despite the slowing economy, Chinese officials also pledged to continue with a crackdown on air pollution that has weighed on the industrial sector. Other data Monday showed that investment and retail sales continued to languish, while the jobless rate edged higher. Fixed-asset investment rose 5.9 percent in 2018, the slowest in at least 22 years, as a regulatory crackdown on riskier financing and debt weighed on local government spending early in the year. Property investment is also looking wobbly, with analysts waiting to see if Beijing will risk loosening restrictions on homebuyers that have kept a potential housing bubble in check. Chinese consumers are clearly feeling the pressure. Though retail sales growth picked up marginally in December to 8.2 percent, the consumer strength gauge is around the weakest in 15 years. Auto sales in the world’s biggest car market shrank for the first time since the 1990s. Officials recently pledged to boost consumer demand for big-ticket items from cars to appliances. But gains in disposable income are slowing, while household debt is on the rise. Other data in recent weeks showed exports and imports unexpectedly shrank last month, while falling factory orders point to a further drop in activity in coming months and more job shedding. Some factories in Guangdong — China’s export hub — have shut earlier than usual ahead of the long Lunar New Year’s holiday as new business dries up. Even if China and the United States agree on a trade deal in current talks, which would be a tall order, analysts said it would be no panacea for China or its exporters. Demand is weakening globally, not just in the United States. Net exports actually dragged on China’s growth by 8.6 percent last year, Reuters calculations based on official data showed. Trade negotiators are facing an early March deadline and Washington has threatened to sharply hike tariffs if there are no substantial signs of agreement. White House officials have given markedly different views on progress so far. Liu He, China’s vice premier and lead negotiator, is due to visit Washington for the next round of talks at the end of the month. To free up more funds for lending, particularly to vulnerable smaller firms, the central bank has cut the amount of reserves that banks need to set aside as reserves (RRR) five times over the past year, and guided borrowing costs lower. Further RRR reductions are expected in coming quarters, but most analysts do not see a cut in benchmark interest rates yet, as policymakers wait to see if earlier steps begin to stabilize activity. More forceful easing could also pressure the yuan and aggravate high debt levels, with money going into less efficient or speculative investments as it often has in the past. The government may unveil more fiscal stimulus during the annual parliament meeting in March, including bigger tax cuts and more spending on infrastructure projects. Some analysts believe it could deliver 2 trillion yuan ($295.13 billion) worth of cuts in taxes and fees this year, and allow local governments to issue another 2 trillion yuan in special bonds largely used to fund key projects. China has ample room for policy adjustments, statistics bureau chief Ning Jizhe said Monday. Still, some analysts do not expect the economy to bottom out convincingly until summer.

china
economy
tariffs
consumption
gdp
u.s .


U.S.-China trade talks making scant progress on make-or-break intellectual property problem

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Ever since negotiators from the United States and China sat down in Beijing after a Christmas meltdown in global markets, Donald Trump has sought to calm investors and claim his trade talks are making great strides. But that glosses over a more uncomfortable reality. According to people close to the discussions, the two sides have so far made little progress on the issue that any deal Trump strikes with China may ultimately be judged on: ending what the U.S. has dubbed decades of state-coordinated Chinese theft of American intellectual property. China’s alleged IP theft and its related practice of forcing foreign companies to hand over technology to gain access to its market formed a large part of the agenda for the three days of talks in early January. Yet the discussions amounted more to an airing of grievances than constructive negotiations, according to participants and others briefed on the talks. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish spent much of the time citing a U.S. report used to justify the tariffs imposed on some $250 billion in Chinese goods, one person present at the talks said. Chinese officials responded by repeating long-standing denials of any wrongdoing and asked the U.S. for proof. The lack of progress in discussions on structural issues such as IP was confirmed by Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, in a meeting with lawmakers last week, according to congressional aides. His office declined to comment. China’s Ministry of Commerce and the National Intellectual Property Administration didn’t immediately respond to faxes sent outside regular business hours. As Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepares to send top economic emissary Liu He to Washington for talks on Jan. 30 and 31, the IP stalemate gets to the heart of Trump’s trade wars and questions over his ability to turn the leverage he’s created with tariffs into meaningful Chinese policy changes. It also points to the potential political fallout. “Any trade deal worth making will clearly address China’s rampant IP theft and forced technology transfers, both for the good of the American economy and American workers, as well our national security,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, a leading Republican proponent of taking a tough line on China. Likewise, Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, said any deal will have to “directly address the basis for the tariffs, which includes China’s practices on IP theft and technology transfer.” “Anything less,” Wyden said, “would leave American workers and employers vulnerable to China’s predatory practices.” Trump and his aides have themselves portrayed the protection of U.S. IP as an existential one for the American economy. In a speech last November, Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser, called out Beijing’s march “to acquire the technologies and intellectual property of the world by any means necessary” and control artificial intelligence, robotics and other emerging industries. Or, as he put it, “the kinds of industries going forward where our sons and daughters and their children will find the good jobs at good wages.” The tussle over China’s treatment of IP gets at one of the central complaints levied by foreign companies either doing business in China or competing with increasingly aggressive Chinese rivals: that China’s rapid rise has as much to do with a state-coordinated campaign to sprint up the value chain as it does with reforms over the past 40 years. That is part of the reason business groups who have otherwise opposed Trump’s tariffs have been more willing to back his approach to China and are now insisting that any deal must tackle IP issues to be meaningful. “We have not been particularly enamored of the tariff route that the administration has gone with. But there is no question that these are serious issues,” said Charles Freeman, a top Asia executive for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We agree with the diagnosis. Just not the prescription.” A big priority for many industries may be a short-term deal to de-escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies, said Jimmy Goodrich, of the Semiconductor Industry Association. But “it would be a shame to see the leverage created only be used to get minimal outcomes.’ China publicly denies the U.S.’s claims regarding IP theft and the forced transfer of technology. It insists that it has lived up to the commitments it made when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, including by establishing special IP courts. Beijing has also, in recent months, unveiled other measures to appease the Trump administration. Days after Xi and Trump agreed to a tariff truce on Dec. 1, Chinese officials issued a proposed new IP law that would ban companies caught stealing technology from issuing bonds or accessing other financing. Earlier this month, the government said it would accelerate the passage of a new foreign investment law that includes administrative measures to protect the IP of foreign companies and ease pressure on them to transfer technology to local partners. China has also emphasized an increase in trademark enforcement cases, with 31,000 investigations conducted in 2018 and big foreign brands such as Lego, Alfred Dunhill and New Balance among the beneficiaries. Still, international business groups remain skeptical. While the draft foreign investment law would nominally give international companies the same national treatment as domestic rivals in IP matters, “the very name ‘Foreign Investment Law’ maintains the distinction between Chinese and foreign companies,” said Mats Harborn of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Erin Ennis, a senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said that while the proposed IP law is an improvement, it still falls short by not including criminal penalties such as jail time. It also doesn’t address the myriad regulations and other ways in which regional governments and Chinese companies force foreign companies to hand over IP. “Some of this is in the weeds,” Ennis said. “But that’s where the problems are happening.”

china
trade
intellectual property
tariffs
u.s .


Year of reckoning follows men (and one specific woman) to annual Davos extravaganza

Abstract: SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN - These are uncomfortable times for the archetypal men of Davos — and at least one woman. Established in 1971 to support a global, capitalist vision of the future, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this year also offers a reminder of the public humbling of some of its most visible champions. Dozens of the assembled business leaders and exemplars present and past have been brought low by a wide range of misconduct allegations, including sexual harassment, mismanagement and financial misconduct. This year, Carlos Ghosn will sit out the forum in a Tokyo detention center, accused of misusing corporate funds at Nissan Motor Co., charges he denies. Sir Martin Sorrell, another fixture of the past decade, is not on the list of attendees. He quit his WPP advertising agency in April after allegations he misused company funds. Others are returning, scandals be damned. Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg will be back for at least the 11th consecutive year, dogged by a slew of questions about her role in a number of controversies. Bridgewater’s Greg Jensen, who has vociferously denied allegations of sexual harassment, is also on the attendee list, along with Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, who was recently arrested but not charged in a sexual assault in Minnesota. “At Davos they are both reflecting and setting the culture,” said Davia Temin, whose crisis consultant company has tallied more than 1,000 people, mostly men, accused of harassment and other misdeeds in the last year. That same list includes more than two dozen men who are present or past Davos attendees. “They reflect the culture of leadership, and sometimes looking in the mirror helps to spur the discussion.” While embodied by a few high-profile attendees, the whole global business community represented in Davos has faced widespread charges of bad practices, including sexism and harassment, insufficient privacy protections, hostile work environments, and a growing chorus of ageism complaints. Some of the 3,000 executives, celebrities, world leaders and reformers will this week be looking for solutions: the second most popular “learning track” this year addresses human capital issues, which would include harassment, according to one attendee who is preparing her schedule. (Cybersecurity is the most popular.) “The starting point to anything and everything Davos has ever done, at least according to our research, is some sort of criticism of capitalism or the global elite,” said Marcus Geisler, a consumer sociologist and a marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. This year, MeToo and other corporate misdeeds join climate change, inequality and other issues where Davos has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, he said. This year the forum has at least five sessions designed to look at the challenges and opportunities for women in the marketplace or society — panels such as “The Big Picture on Women in the Workforce,” “Women in the New World of Work,” and “Violence Against Women.” The phrase MeToo, however, is absent from the 111-page agenda. Women will comprise 22 percent of the attendees this year, little changed from 21 percent last year, according to WEF data. It’s a marked improvement over 2014, when women made up just 15 percent of attendees. In may ways, the WEF breakdown mimics the broader global opportunity for women, where gender parity in pay and power is still probably a century away, according to an annual WEF study released last month. But even if women aren’t gaining much in their overall numbers at Davos, the women attending are more powerful than in the past as women gain higher corporate and government roles, said Pat Milligan, senior partner and global leader of When Women Thrive at Mercer. “Five years ago you had to work really hard to find women leaders, now there are great women leaders,” Milligan said. The repercussions for alleged misconduct have at least one tangible impact on this year’s forum. Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, a Davos fixture for at least 11 years, seems to be making concessions that reflect repercussions from his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of meddling in U.S. elections. After spending much of the last year under U.S. economic sanctions, Deripaska may still attend the World Economic Forum this year. Either way, his annual rowdy party, where executives and world leaders rub elbows with scores of attractive Russian women, is reportedly on hiatus.

davos
world economic forum
women
# metoo


Australia's solar and wind boom looks to power past grid woes in 2019

Abstract: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Australia’s wind and solar boom looks set to power through 2019 following a record year, despite grid constraints and extra scrutiny from network operators to make sure new projects don’t spark blackouts like ones that hit two years ago. Abundant wind and sun, falling turbine and panel costs, and corporate demand for contracts to hedge against rising power tariffs have attracted dozens of international developers looking to build wind and solar farms Down Under. Even though the developers have met with flip-flops on energy policy, a strained grid that has trouble integrating intermittent renewable power, and unexpected hook-up costs, they still see Australia as a growth market. “We believe that we have a great future in Australia, because we have the right answers,” said Xavier Barbaro, Chief Executive of France’s Neoen, whose biggest market is Australia. Companies like Neoen, its compatriot, Total-Eren, India’s Adani, U.S. utility AES Corp and Germany’s Sonnen are expanding in Australia, looking to fill a gap as ageing coal-fired plants are retired over the next two decades. “Confidence is high as the industry enters 2019, with unprecedented levels of construction activity under way,” said Anna Freeman, a director at the Clean Energy Council, an industry group. Australia generates nearly 20 percent of its electricity from renewables. This is forecast to jump to 75 percent over the next 20 years. A total of 14.7 gigawatts of large-scale solar and wind projects worth 20 billion Australian dollars ($14 billion) were under construction or reached financial close last year, more than double 2017’s record, according to the Clean Energy Council. This rush of projects, with no clear guidance on where they best fit, led to an “element of anarchy,” but that is changing, said Simon Currie, founder of advisory firm Energy Estate. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the energy council and network companies are working out clear guidelines on where to build plants and how to connect them to the grid. “We’re moving from what was an opportunistic-based approach … into something that will be much more planned,” said Currie, whose company wants to develop Australia’s biggest renewable energy hub, with 4 GW of wind, solar and pumped hydro capacity in New South Wales. Renewable projects added to the grid have grown from 22 with 1.2 GW of capacity in 2013 to a record 45 projects with 2.9 GW added in 2018, AEMO said. There are 114 more applications representing 15.9 GW pending, indicating plenty of potential congestion ahead. The biggest challenge is that developers are all vying to connect to a grid running 5,000 km (3,100 miles) from Queensland in the north to South Australia and Tasmania. This grid was designed to deliver power mainly from always-on coal-fired plants near three big mining areas, while wind and solar farms generate intermittent power from more remote sites, where network capacity can be limited. To keep the grid stable, equipment such as “synchronous condensers” or batteries need to be added, which can increase costs by at least $20 million for a condenser alone. Batteries could be much higher. Developers who failed to account for these issues have run into delays on project approvals or grid hook-up, bringing unanticipated costs, which in one case, led to the collapse of engineering firm RCR Tomlinson last November. A Clean Energy Council survey of senior executives in December found grid connection is the biggest industry concern heading into 2019, Freeman said. U.K.-based solar investor Octopus Investments said grid issues were what took it two years to choose its first investment in Australia. The Darlington Point solar farm is about to begin construction and will be the country’s largest. “The grid is the biggest issue where assets fail in our project filter,” Octopus Managing Director Sam Reynolds told Reuters, declining to name projects the company rejected. Developers and project lenders said they need to consider grid congestion, which can curtail power that gets to the network from any one plant; intermittent wind and solar power, which affects current flow; and transmission losses, called marginal loss factors (MLFs). “There’s a bit of nervousness around MLFs, curtailment, and then there’s construction and commissioning risk,” said Stephen Panizza, head of renewable energy at Federation Asset Management. MLFs measure energy lost over power networks and have been increasing, with renewable projects being on the outer reaches of the grid, weakening returns for some operators. Another factor is the cost of the extra technology to keep current steady on the grid as more intermittent power is added. In November, France’s Total-Eren agreed to buy a synchronous condenser to secure a connection agreement so it could build the A$330 million Kiamal solar farm in Victoria. Delays due to talks with AEMO about the condenser, however, led to Total-Eren losing one of its power purchase agreements (PPAs). Total-Eren’s Asia Pacific director, Michael Vawser, says other projects will face the same trouble. “I do think there are other projects … caught off-guard by new grid regulations that will lose their PPAs through delays in being allowed to connect to the grid,” Vawser told Reuters in an interview in November. Neoen, which has built 1 GW of wind and solar farms and the world’s biggest battery in Australia over the past four years, said in a recent prospectus it had collected €14 million ($16 million) in damages from a contractor building three solar farms because of hook-up delays. Despite the challenges, Neoen, Total-Eren and their rivals are still scouring Australia for more opportunities. “Australia is still an attractive market for us,” Vawser said.


Davos billionaires keep getting richer — as world's have-nots just keep getting poorer

Abstract: LONDON/DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - The global elite descending on Davos are richer than ever. A decade after the financial crisis poured flat champagne on the World Economic Forum, gold-collar executives set to gather there this week have bounced back, and then some. David Rubenstein has doubled his fortune since 2009. Jamie Dimon has more than tripled his net worth. And Stephen Schwarzman has increased his wealth six-fold. It’s a remarkable showing given the economic and political tumult of the past decade, from Lehman Brothers to Brexit to Donald Trump. The fortunes of a dozen 2009 Davos attendees have soared by a combined $175 billion, even as median U.S. household wealth has stagnated, a Bloomberg analysis found. The data illustrate the ever-widening gap between the true haves—those in the 0.1 percent—and the have-nots of a global economy. Data from UBS and PwC Billionaires Insights reports show that global billionaire wealth has grown from $3.4 trillion in 2009 to $8.9 trillion in 2017. Central bank actions to fight the financial crisis—record low interest rates and bond-buying programs—have underpinned this ballooning wealth by driving up the prices of stocks and other assets. “Ten years ago, ironically at the lows of the market, what you wanted to own was capital and if you did own capital you did incredibly well,” said Michael Hartnett, Bank of America Corp.’s chief investment strategist. It means the Davos Man—the conference remains overwhelmingly male—exerts more authority and visibility than ever. Dimon is returning to the WEF with JPMorgan Chase & Co. larger and more profitable than ever. Schwarzman—recognizable in his tan winter coat over suit—has built Blackstone Group LP into the world’s largest alternative asset manager with $457 billion of assets as of last Sept. 30, up from $95 billion at the end of 2008. And Davos remains as popular as ever. The forum—titled Globalization 4.0—is expected to host 3,000 people. This year, George Soros is hosting a dinner at which he will speak and Dimon’s JPMorgan is throwing a cocktail party. Bill Gates will be present again, as will billionaire Carlyle Group co-founder Rubenstein, who hosts a show on Bloomberg Television and whose fortune has doubled over the past decade. Billionaire success was difficult to envisage a decade ago, when the gathering was marked by fear, anger and bitterness. “Everyone I spoke to says it’s the grimmest Davos they’ve ever been to,” academic Kenneth Rogoff said at the 2009 meeting. “The mood has been very depressed.” The intervening years have given attendees plenty of reasons for cheer. Business owners and financiers have benefited from the longest bull market in history while the benefits from an era of cheap money and recent U.S. tax cuts have largely flowed to the wealthy. Wealth inequality around the world is “out of control” and doing particular harm to women, anti-poverty campaigner Oxfam warned Monday. Oxfam, which has for years been trying to bring attention to the issue ahead of the World Economic Forum, said in a report that billionaire fortunes increased by 12 percent last year — the equivalent of $2.5 billion a day — while the 3.8 billion people who make up the world’s poorest half saw their wealth decline by 11 percent. “This is not inevitable, this is unacceptable,” Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International’s executive director, said in an interview. In the report, which is based on figures from Credit Suisse’ Wealth Databook and Forbes’ annual list of billionaires, Oxfam said the number of billionaires has almost doubled since the financial crisis a decade ago yet tax rates on the wealthy and corporations have fallen to their lowest levels in decades. Oxfam said making taxes fairer will help address many of the world’s ills. It said getting the world’s richest 1 percent to pay just 0.5 percent extra tax on their wealth could raise more money than it would cost to educate the 262 million children out of school, and provide lifesaving health care for 3.3 million people. It also suggested governments look again at taxes on wealth such as inheritance or property, which have been reduced or eliminated in much of the developed world and barely implemented in the developing world. Even as the meeting’s reports and agendas have repeatedly flagged inequality as one of the chief risks to a stable society, the global economy’s bifurcation has only quickened. “The financial crisis was the kind of event that shakes things out, but it didn’t happen 10 years ago,” said Anand Giridharadas, author of “Winner Takes All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.” “The same rigging that caused the crisis ensured the losses were socialized.” For those with minimal or no assets, it’s been a more challenging decade. Wages have stagnated and while equity markets have risen, fewer U.S. adults are invested in the stock market than in 2009. Compensation for chief executive officers in America’s largest firms is now 312 times the annual average pay of the typical worker, compared with about 200 times in 2009, 58 times in 1989 and 20 times in 1965, according to a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute. The recent turmoil in the stock markets means some attendees may have discomfiting flashbacks to 2009. U.S. stocks in 2018 had their worst year since the financial crisis while oil ended the year mired in its steepest quarterly slump since 2014. And plenty of risks loom this year, from the U.K.’s impending exit from the European Union to U.S.-China trade talks and the continuing showdown between President Donald Trump and Congress over the budget. It’s possible this means the Davos pow-wow has peaked. Bank of America’s Hartnett detects a transition in which “Joe Six Pack” will benefit relatively more as central banks withdraw easy money, populist politicians win at the ballot box and nationalism tops globalization. “Wall Street has done worse lately while Main Street has done better,” he said. “You’re going to be in that world for the foreseeable future and I can only see that world accelerating.” If the last decade is any guide, don’t bet on it.

davos
world economic forum
wealth
inequality


Don't hijack Brexit, British trade minister warns Parliament

Abstract: LONDON - Parliament can’t be allowed to hijack Brexit, Trade Minister Liam Fox said in a warning to lawmakers who want to take more control over Britain’s departure from the European Union. With just weeks to go before Britain is due to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May was to return to Parliament on Monday to set out how she plans to try to break the Brexit deadlock after her deal was rejected by lawmakers last week. As she tries to navigate a way through competing visions for the future, ranging from a second referendum to staying in the EU, May told ministers Sunday she was looking for ways to make the so-called Northern Irish backstop more acceptable to her Conservative Party and Northern Irish allies. The Sunday Times reported May was seeking a treaty with Ireland to remove the contentious backstop arrangement, but German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was unclear how any bilateral talks could help the EU’s deal with London. Time is running out for a parliamentary agreement on Brexit, Britain’s biggest shift in foreign and trade policy in more than 40 years, but so far there is little that unites a divided Parliament beyond its rejection of May’s deal that envisages close economic ties with the EU, at least in the medium term. Fox, a Brexit supporter, told the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show” that May’s divorce agreement with the EU was still the best basis for a deal and warned lawmakers against trying to take more control of Britain’s departure. “Parliament has not got the right to hijack the Brexit process because Parliament said to the people of this country: ‘We make a contract with you, you will make the decision and we will honor it,’ ” Fox said. “What we are now getting are some of those who were always absolutely opposed to the result of the referendum trying to hijack Brexit and in effect steal the result from the people.” Britain voted with a 52 percent majority to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum that exposed deep divisions across the country that persist almost three years on. The main opposition Labour Party is pressing for a new election and for May to rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. No deal is effectively the default position, which would mean trading under World Trade Organization rules. After seeing her deal rejected by a majority of more than 200 lawmakers last week, May has opened talks with other parties to try to find a way to break the deadlock. But with Labour refusing to take part until May rules out no deal, some lawmakers fear those talks will change little and instead have said they will launch attempts next week to force the government to change course. Several are trying to make sure Britain does not “accidentally” leave without a deal on March 29, a scenario many businesses say would be catastrophic for the economy. “What happens when you have a hung Parliament is that power does pass from government … to Parliament and that’s what we are seeing play out,” Nicky Morgan, a Conservative former minister, told Sky News, referring to the ruling party’s lack of an overall majority. Morgan said she was backing a bill that would force the government to extend Article 50, which triggered Britain’s two-year talks to leave the EU, if it cannot get an agreement approved by Parliament by the end of February. Dominic Grieve, another Conservative lawmaker, is also looking at ways to stop Britain from leaving without a deal. With much of the focus now on Labour, its Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, said there were only two options that could find majority support: a future close economic relationship with the EU, or a second referendum, and that it was increasingly likely Article 50 would be extended. “We’ve arrived at phase three and therefore we need to be realistic about what the options are,” Starmer told the BBC. “Let’s … reduce it to the options that are at least capable of getting a majority, and that is a close economic relationship and a public vote.”

trade
liam fox
eu
theresa may
u.k. brexit


Tokyo stocks rise on brisk U.S. equities

Abstract: Stocks rose Monday, supported by a continued rise on Wall Street late last week. The Nikkei 225 average rose 53.26 points, or 0.26 percent, to end at 20,719.33, a level unseen since Dec. 19. On Friday, the key market yardstick jumped 263.80 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 8.78 points, or 0.56 percent, higher at 1,566.37. It gained 14.39 points Friday. The Nikkei gained over 220 points briefly on hefty purchases in early trading before being pressured by profit-taking, market sources said. Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd., said Monday’s rise came as U.S. equities continued to gain Friday on hope for progress in U.S.-China trade talks. But the Tokyo market’s topside grew heavy in the morning after Bloomberg reported that the United States and China were making little progress in their trade negotiations on intellectual property protection, Kuramochi pointed out. The market met with “selling of export-oriented names and futures-linked selling” following a pause in the yen’s weakening against the dollar traced to the news report, he said. “Selling emerged after the Nikkei approached 21,000,” said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. Tabei suggested that the Nikkei would unlikely to rise above the threshold until players see the results of the Bank of Japan’s two-day monetary policy meeting that ends Wednesday and two days of ministerial trade talks between Washington and Beijing that start Jan. 30. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,432 to 633 in the first section, while 63 issues were nchanged. Volume edged down to 1.127 billion shares from 1.150 billion Friday. Tokyo Tatemono ended 6.12 percent higher after the real estate company announced on Friday a share buyback plan. Higher crude oil prices lifted oil companies JXTG, Idemitsu, Showa Shell and Cosmo Energy. Also on the plus side were semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron and Takeda Pharmaceutical. By contrast, clothing retailer Fast Retailing, air conditioner manufacturer Daikin and daily goods producer Kao were downbeat.

stocks
nikkei
topix
tokyo stock exchange


Dollar rises to above ¥109.50 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar was firmer above ¥109.50 in Tokyo trading Monday, supported by an advance in U.S. stocks late last week. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.57-58, up from ¥109.36-36 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1385-1386, slightly down from $1.1390-1393, and at ¥124.75-77, up from ¥124.57-57. The dollar was around ¥109.60-70 in early trading, carrying over its strength from overseas trading Friday, where the U.S. currency rose to around ¥109.90 on the back of higher U.S. stocks. Toward noon, the U.S. currency rose to around ¥109.70 after a sense of relief spread among currency market players after the release of Chinese gross domestic product data. Players were relieved that the Chinese growth data were not as weak as expected, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. But the U.S. currency weakened against the yen in the afternoon as trading lacked incentives for the dollar to test its upside after the release of the Chinese data, the official said. “The dollar is prone to selling by Japanese exporters when it approaches ¥110,” an official of a think tank affiliated with a brokerage firm said. While trading was already thin due to the closure of the U.S. market Monday, a wait-and-see mood prevailed in late hours as British Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to set out her next steps for Brexit on Monday, traders said.


Japan considers applying domestic privacy rules to global tech giants

Abstract: A communications ministry panel says Japan should consider a legal revision so it can impose “secrecy of communications” rules on overseas-based technology giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.com. The panel of experts released the finding Monday in a draft list of issues related to applying domestic privacy protection rules to global information technology giants. The draft calls for studying ways to enforce the rules on global tech businesses, including requiring them to station agents in Japan. The panel is due to finalize the draft by June and submit it to a special commission under the ministry’s Information and Communications Council, with the intention of getting the telecommunications business law revised during fiscal 2020. Under the law, domestic companies are already banned from viewing or leaking the content of emails and other communications without users’ consent. But global firms with key server computers, data centers and other facilities outside Japan are not covered by the rule. There are concerns about lack of transparency in their use of personal location, shopping and other data for expanding businesses. Late last year, the government compiled a basic policy on regulating global technology giants. The Fair Trade Commission is considering a compulsory investigation of them under the antimonopoly law.

privacy
apple inc .
amazon.com inc .
google inc .
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Babies wanted: Nordic countries crying out for kids as demographics put region in same sinking boat as Japan

Abstract: OSLO - “Norway needs more children! I don’t think I need to tell anyone how this is done,” Norway’s prime minister said cheekily, but she was raising a real concern. Too few babies are being born in the Nordic region. The countries were long a bastion of strong fertility rates on an Old Continent that is rapidly getting older. But they are now experiencing a decline that threatens their cherished welfare model, which is funded by taxpayers. “In the coming decades, we will encounter problems with this model,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg warned Norwegians in her New Year’s speech. “There will be fewer young people to bear the increasingly heavy burden of the welfare state.” In Norway, Finland and Iceland, birth rates dropped to historic lows in 2017, with 1.49 to 1.71 children born per woman. Just a few years earlier, their birth rates hovered close to the 2.1 level required for their populations to remain stable. In Japan, it is estimated that the population will have shrunk 16 percent by 2045 compared with 2015 because of its graying population and declining birth rate. Some prefectures, like Akita, Aomori, Yamagata and Kochi, are expected to see population drops of 30 to 40 percent. “In all of the Nordic countries, birth rates started dropping in the years after the 2008 financial crisis,” University of Oslo sociologist Trude Lappegard said. “The crisis is over now but it’s still falling.” From Copenhagen to the North Cape, from Helsinki to Reykjavik, demographics across the Nordics reveal two things: There are fewer large families, and women are waiting longer before having their first child. There’s no single explanation, but financial uncertainty and a sharp rise in housing costs are seen as likely factors. In the long term, this means there will be fewer people of working age to pay taxes that fund the generous state welfare systems. These systems pay for, among other things, lengthy parental leaves, which in Sweden can last up to 480 days. Experts present differing diagnoses and prescriptions to remedy the situation. In Norway, one economist concerned about the effect the slowing demographics will have on economic growth has suggested giving women 500,000 kroner (€50,000, $58,550) in pension savings for each child born. Another has suggested that, on the contrary, women in Norway who reach the age of 50 without having had a child should be paid 1 million kroner, since children also cost society a lot. Finnish municipalities have already decided to loosen their purse strings to encourage residents to get busy under the covers. The town of Miehikkala, home to 2,000 people, is offering €10,000 for each baby born and raised in the municipality. “The number of childless individuals is growing rapidly, and the number of women having three or more children is going down. This kind of fall is unheard of in modern times in Finland,” said Anna Rotkirch, a family sociologist at the umbrella organization Finnish Family Federation. In Denmark, Copenhagen has meanwhile turned its attention to men, who are in less of a hurry to become parents than women, with a campaign aimed at raising awareness about how sperm quality declines with age. The Nordic region already boasts a wealth of family-friendly initiatives, such as flexible working hours, a vast network of affordable day care facilities and generous parental leave systems. But when all that is still not enough to encourage people to have more children, immigration can be a lifeline — or a threat, depending on the point of view. Sweden may have a falling birth rate, but it still comes in second in the EU behind France with 1.85 children born per woman in 2016. That is largely due to Sweden’s decades-long history of immigration: Immigrant women tend to have more children than the average Swede. With 2.6 children per woman in recent years, the town of Aneby in southern Sweden has one of the highest rates in the country, a phenomenon attributed to the fact that it opened its doors to immigrants two decades ago. “Aneby welcomed around 225 Eritreans in the early 1990s and just after that (it took in) refugees from the Balkans. 1994 was a demographic record for the town,” local official Ola Gustafsson said. But population growth among minorities has also fueled fears. A former justice minister in Norway, Per-Willy Amundsen of the populist far-right, made headlines when he called for family allowances to be reduced after a third child. His stated goal was to stop Somalis who, he said, had a higher “birth production” rate than “ethnic Norwegians.”

norway children finland population sweden denmark immigration depopulation


No politics please for Baghdad bikers aiming to unite Iraq

Abstract: BAGHDAD - Roaring along Baghdad’s highways, the “Iraq Bikers” are doing more than showing off their love of outsized motorcycles and black leather: They want their shared enthusiasm to help heal Iraq’s deep sectarian rifts. Weaving in and out of traffic, only the lucky few ride Harley Davidsons — a rare and expensive brand in Iraq — while others make do with bikes pimped-up to look something like the “Easy Rider” dream machines. “Our goal is to build a brotherhood,” said Bilal al-Bayati, 42, a government employee who founded the club in 2012 with the aim of improving the image of biker gangs and to promote unity after years of sectarian conflict. That is why the first rule of his bikers club is: You do not talk about politics. “It is absolutely prohibited to talk politics among members,” Bayati said as he sat with fellow bikers in a shisha cafe, a regular hangout for members. “Whenever politics is mentioned, the members are warned once or twice and then expelled. We no longer have the strength to endure these tragedies or to repeat them,” he said, referring to sectarian violence. With his black bandana and goatee, the leader of the Baghdad pack, known as “Captain,” looks the epitome of the American biker-outlaw. But while their style is unmistakably U.S.-inspired — at least one of Bayati’s cohorts wears a helmet emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes — these bikers fly the Iraqi flag from the panniers of their machines. The Iraq Bikers — who now number 380 — are men of all ages, social classes and various faiths. One of their most recent events was taking party in Army Day celebrations. Some are in the military, the police and even the Popular Mobilization Forces, a grouping of mostly Shiite militias which have taken part in the fight to oust Islamic State from Iraq in the last three years. “It is a miniature Iraq,” said member Ahmed Haidar, 36, who works with an international relief agency. But riding a chopper through Baghdad is quite different from Route 101. The bikers have to slow down at the many military checkpoints set up around the city to deter suicide and car bomb attacks. And very few can afford a top bike. “We don’t have a Harley Davidson franchise here,” said Kadhim Naji, a mechanic who specializes in turning ordinary motorbikes into something special. “So what we do is we alter the motorbike, so it looks similar … and it is cheaper.”


Total lunar eclipse set to woo sky-watchers from Sunday night to Monday

Abstract: WASHINGTON - An unusual set of celestial circumstances comes together Sunday for sky-watchers in Europe, Africa and the Americas, where a total lunar eclipse may be glimpsed, offering a view of a large, red moon. The full moon will appear bigger than normal because it is closer to the Earth — about 222,000 miles (358,000 km) away — which earns it the nickname “super moon.” Other monikers include a “Wolf Moon,” a traditional way of coining an eclipse in the month of January, and a “Blood Moon” because of its rusty, red color. Hence the name for this year’s event: a “super blood wolf moon.” At the peak of the eclipse, and if the night skies are clear of clouds, Venus and Jupiter should be shining brightly in the night sky. — Monday at 0334 GMT, or 4:34 in the morning in France or 10:34 p.m. in Quebec, the partial eclipse will begin as the moon passes into Earth’s shadow. — In the United States, the edge of the moon will begin to fall into shadow at about 7:33 p.m. on the West Coast and 10:33 p.m. on the East Coast, according to NASA. — From 0441 to 0543 GMT: for an hour and two minutes, the moon will be entirely in Earth’s shadow. But the moon will not be invisible: it will appear tinted in hues of red, orange and pink. – At 0651 GMT, the moon will be completely out of the Earth’s shadow. Where is it visible from? Europe and West Africa will have a good view of the eclipse, but not all the way until the end. Eastern Europe will see the beginning of totality, but not the end. North Africa and West Africa should see the end of totality, but will miss the final phases of the eclipse. The entire eclipse should be visible in North America, Central America and South America, as well as France, Belgium and Spain. That is, as long as the view is not obscured by clouds. If conditions are cloudy where you are, NASA recommends checking out a live stream of the eclipse at www.timeanddate.com/live/ During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears red because the light of the sun no longer directly illuminates it, since Earth is passing in between the moon and sun. “The color is due to Rayleigh scattering — where the sun’s blue light is scattered off molecules in Earth’s atmosphere — which also happens at sunsets,” explained the Royal Astronomical Society of Britain. “The sun’s red light is scattered much less by air, and is bent by Earth’s atmosphere in a process called refraction, traveling all the way through it to light up the moon’s surface.” Total or partial lunar eclipses happen at least twice a year on average, Florent Deleflie, an astronomer at the Observatory of Paris-PSL, told AFP. It’s just that they are not visible everywhere. It’s a rare event when a total lunar eclipse is visible on so many parts of the Earth’s land mass, as is the case Monday. Europeans last saw a total lunar eclipse in July 2018. The next chance for a glimpse at a lunar eclipse will be in 2022, but the entire continent won’t be able to see the totality of a lunar eclipse again until 2029. North Americans may get their next glimpse of a blood moon in 2021 along the West Coast and 2022 on the East Coast.

lunar eclipse
sun
europe
africa
america
earth
nasa


Rudy Giuliani admits Trump pursued Moscow tower throughout 2016, raising collusion questions

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump pursued a business deal to erect a tower bearing his name in Moscow throughout 2016, his attorney said on Sunday, raising new questions for congressional investigators looking into possible ties between the president and Russia. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he may have continued to pursue the project and had discussions about it with his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, until as late as October or November 2016, when Trump was closing in on his election victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton. “It’s our understanding that they (the discussions) went on throughout 2016,” Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Probably up to, could be up to as far as October, November,” he said. “But the president’s recollection of them is that the thing had petered out quite a bit.” The Moscow deal ultimately did not materialize but Giuliani’s remarks suggest that Trump’s discussions about the project with Cohen may have dragged on months longer than had been publicly known. “That is news to me. And that is big news,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also said on “Meet the Press.” “It’s remarkable that we’re two years after the fact and just discovering it today.” An investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign has loomed large over the Trump presidency amid media reports of his team’s connections with Russia. On Friday, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who leads the investigation, took the rare step of disputing elements of a BuzzFeed News report that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow real estate deal. Trump has denied the BuzzFeed article’s claim and Giuliani backed him: “I can tell you his counsel to Michael Cohen throughout that entire period was: ‘Tell the truth.’ ” Trump has repeatedly condemned the Mueller probe as a “witch hunt” while denying any collusion with Moscow. Russia also denies any interference in the U.S. elections. Warner, whose panel is conducting its own Russia probe, said the possibility that Trump pursued a business deal with Russia until as late as the 2016 election increases the need to know about his dealings as president with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. “That raises a whole host of questions that the American public needs an answer to and the Congress needs an answer to,” Warner said. Cohen pleaded guilty in November to charges he lied to Congress when he testified that the discussions ended in January 2016. Instead, Cohen said they actually continued until that June, after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination. Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison for lying to lawmakers, is expected to testify before the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7. The House and Senate intelligence committees also want to hear from Cohen. The president has provided written answers to questions from Mueller on the Moscow project, according to Giuliani. “Our answers cover until the election. So any time during that period, they could have talked about it,” he said.

rudy giuliani
moscow
donald trump
michael cohen
robert mueller
russia probe
vladimir putin
2016 u.s. presidential election
trump tower


Social media users flip #10yearchallenge to spotlight changes caused by war and climate change

Abstract: BEIRUT - The #10YearChallenge — posting a new photo of yourself next to an old one — is being repurposed by social media users to highlight more serious issues than aging faces, from climate change to the devastation of war. The trend started on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with users including celebrities Jennifer Lopez and Ellen DeGeneres posting their current profile pictures next to one from 10 years ago. But users quickly flipped the theme to photos spotlighting global concerns including climate change and the destruction wreaked by war in countries including Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Others took to social media to post side-by-side photos of melted glaciers and changes from the ocean floor, highlighting the impacts of climate change. The real #10yearchallenge ? Climate change. According to @IPCC_CH #SR15 , we have just over 10 years to #ActOnClimate before we cause irreparable damage to our planet. Take our free course on #ClimateAction and become a part of the solution. Enroll now! https://t.co/puzQgIiUoQ pic.twitter.com/Ujz7kEAnoH — The SDG Academy (@SDG_Academy) January 14, 2019 View this post on Instagram #Coral #PhotoChallenge A 10 year photo challenge that REALLY matters. . Coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate all around the globe. They need our help. We are dedicated to saving ALL life on our planet, including corals. . One Life, One Love, One Planet www.PlanetLoveLife.com . . . #planetlovelife #seathelove #lovelife #coralreef #corals #reef #protectwhatyoulove #10YearChallenge #10yearphotochallenge #coralrestoration #savetheplanet #ocean #cleanseas Planet Love Life さん(@theplanetlovelife)がシェアした投稿 – 2019年 1月月16日午前11時20分PST One user posted photos purporting to show Syria in 2009 and 2019 to illustrate the impact of the nearly eight-year-old civil war that has killed half a million people and forced more than half the country’s population from its homes. Syria’s #10YearChallenge 💔 pic.twitter.com/8rK74DERaP — Muniba Mazari (@muniba_mazari) January 16, 2019 “While the internet is bombarded with celebrities posting #10yearchallenge pictures, they seems to ignore the fact that their own elected govt has destroyed, cultural & residential areas of great value in past 10 years,” posted the user. Nazanin Boniadi, an Iranian actress and human rights activist who has fought against her country’s ban on women attending soccer games, posted images of her fight for human rights in Iran. My kinda #10yearchallenge . Still at it and I don’t plan to stop. #Humanrights #Iran pic.twitter.com/sJb3JfaL7M — Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi) January 18, 2019 “My kinda #10yearchallenge. Still at it and I don’t plan to stop. #Humanrights #Iran,” she wrote. Some members of the LGBT+ community used the hashtag to speak about their personal challenges and struggles in society over the years, among them the transgender campaigner and filmmaker Fox Fisher. Look at this sad face 10 years ago. Shows how lost I was. So happy that life got better. Trans people never stop being trans so please support them. #10YearChallenge #DecadeChallenge pic.twitter.com/XKL5M7ITRY — Fox Fisher 🧜 (@theFoxFisher) January 17, 2019 “Look at this sad face 10 years ago. Shows how lost I was,” Fisher posted. “So happy that life got better. Trans people never stop being trans so please support them. #10YearChallenge #DecadeChallenge.”

social media
climate change
instagram
twitter
conflict
lgbt
sexuality


Thousands of Colombians march against violence after car bomb kills 20

Abstract: BOGOTA - White flags and balloons filled streets nationwide as thousands of Colombians marched on Sunday to express outrage at violence after a car bomb blamed by the government on ELN rebels killed 20 police cadets and injured dozens. President Ivan Duque and other political leaders hugged police officials on route to Bogota’s main Bolivar Square as tearful protesters chanted “no more terrorism” and handed flowers to security personnel. In last Thursday’s attack, the deadliest in 16 years, a gray Nissan Patrol SUV carrying about 80 kg (176 lbs) of the high explosive pentolite, broke through checkpoints onto the grounds of the General Santander School in the capital before it detonated, also damaging hundreds of apartments nearby. Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group has been blamed for the attack, prompting Duque to request Havana capture and extradite 10 rebel commanders in Cuba for peace talks. The driver of the car, ELN explosives expert Jose Aldemar Rojas, was also killed in the blast, authorities said. On Sunday, police officers lined the streets emotionally overwhelmed by the flood of support for their fallen comrades, cadets between 18 and 23 years old. “It fills my heart to see so many marching and supporting us,” said a tearful Javier Sosa, dressed in olive green uniform. Nuns holding white daisies and handkerchiefs marched alongside police singing “a united Colombia will never be defeated.” The bombing has heightened fears that a new wave of attacks had been launched in the Andean nation as a reaction to the right-wing president’s stance. Duque, who took office in August, pledged during his election campaign to toughen the fight against the group and drug-trafficking crime gangs that kill and kidnap civilians. “This is a symbol of patriotism, public spirit and union,” Duque told Reuters as he marched. “Today we’re here as ordinary citizens to reject terrorism and violence. We’re honoring the memory of those heroes, of those boys who were vilely murdered.” The ELN, formed by radical Catholic priests in 1964, has not claimed responsibility or issued a public statement, but Duque’s demand to arrest its peace negotiators makes it almost impossible for talks to restart. Cuba has sidestepped Duque’s request and said it will abide by the rules set out before talks began. The negotiation protocols provide security guarantees for guerrilla leaders to return to Colombia and protection from military attacks for an agreed period. Composed of some 2,000 fighters and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, the ELN began peace talks with the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos in early 2017, but they were suspended by Duque until the group frees its hostages and stops attacks. The latest incident was the deadliest car bomb attack since the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked Bogota’s upmarket El Nogal social club in 2003, killing 36. Car bombs were frequently used during decades of civil war but the worst of the violence, which killed some 260,000, ended in 2016 when peace was signed with FARC.


Clashes erupt in Athens as tens of thousands protest Macedonian name deal

Abstract: ATHENS - Clashes broke out between police and a group of masked protesters in Athens on Sunday as tens of thousands demonstrated against a name change deal with neighboring Macedonia that the Greek parliament is due to ratify in days. The violence flared as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attempts to face down a political storm over his championing of a landmark agreement with Macedonia aimed at ending a 27-year dispute with Athens over the country’s name. Twenty-five police officers were hurt in the protests, according to a statement from the Greek citizens’ protection ministry, while a first aid station said two protesters were hospitalized with breathing difficulties. Police estimates put the number of demonstrators at 60,000, while organizers said 100,000 people had arrived for the rally, with hundreds of buses bringing demonstrators, especially from the region of northern Greece that also claims the Macedonia name. Scuffles broke out after about 30 masked youths tried to force the closure of the parliament building, throwing stones and other projectiles. Riot police responded with volleys of tear gas, dispersing the crowd outside the legislature. The masked youths then set upon journalists at the scene, smashing the equipment of photographers and cameramen, according to an AFP reporter. According to the government “the incidents were provoked by extremists, members of the Golden Dawn, who attempted to enter parliament. “They attacked police with bits of wood and clubs, sending dozens of wounded to the hospital,” said a statement from Tsipras. A wide range of Greek political parties, from the far-right Golden Dawn to the Socialists, oppose the accord to rename Macedonia the Republic of North Macedonia. But it could nonetheless be approved by the required 151 deputies in the 300-seat parliament in the coming days. Flag-waving demonstrators had created a sea of blue and white on Syntagma square near the parliament, while much of the city center was closed to traffic and some metro stations shut as a precaution. “There is only one Macedonia, the Greek Macedonia,” read a sign in Greek and English held by Christina Gerodimoun, in her 30s, at the protests. “This government is a government of traitors,” she said in reference to a coalition led by Tsipras, who brokered the deal with Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev in June. The crowd was monitored by nearly 2,000 police, equipped with drones and helicopters, a police source said. Macedonia’s parliament approved a constitutional revision to change the country’s name 10 days ago. But for the deal between the two leaders to go through, the change must also be approved by Greek lawmakers. Macedonia is a former Yugoslav republic, but for most Greeks, Macedonia is the name of their history-rich northern province made famous by Alexander the Great’s conquests. Tsipras termed the agreement a “historic step” toward normalizing relations between the two countries. He urged “progressive forces” to support the name change, in an interview with Afghi, a daily published by his Syriza party. Tsipras’ ruling coalition fell apart over the deal a week ago, but he then narrowly won a vote of confidence, setting the stage for parliament to vote on its ratification. Although political parties did not officially join the demonstration, some deputies turned up to express their individual positions, and Golden Dawn’s website urged members to attend. “I came out of patriotic duty,” conservative representative Fotini Arabatzi from the northern district of Serres told Skai radio. Former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the protest was “a demonstration for democracy, for Greece and for our rights.”


Turkey is ready to take over security in Syria's Manbij, Erdogan tells Trump

Abstract: ISTANBUL - Turkey is ready to take over security in Syria’s Manbij without delay, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call on Sunday, the Turkish presidency said. Erdogan said an attack that left four U.S. personnel dead last week in Manbij was an act of provocation aimed at affecting Trump’s decision last month to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Manbij is controlled by a militia allied to the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG, who last month invited Syrian President Bashar Assad into the area around the town to forestall a potential Turkish assault.

turkey
syria
manbij
recep tayyip erdogan
donald trump
ypg
bashar assad
u.s .
kurds


Hard terrain slows rescue of Spanish boy trapped in borehole for week

Abstract: MADRID - Rescuers in southern Spain said Sunday that the frantic effort to reach a 2-year-old boy who fell into a narrow, deep borehole seven days ago has again been slowed by difficult terrain. Provincial authorities said that a drill used to create a vertical shaft parallel to the waterhole has hit a rocky patch. There has been no contact made with Julen Rosello, who fell into the 110-meter (360-foot) deep shaft a week ago during a family meal in the countryside northeast of Malaga. At just 25 cm wide (10 inches), the borehole is too narrow for adults to enter. The only sign of the toddler search-and-rescue teams have found so far is hair that matched his DNA inside the hole. Rescuers hope to find him at a depth of 72 meters (236 feet), where a soil blockage has hampered efforts to go deeper. A specially made cage has arrived at the site, ready to lower mining rescue experts down the shaft. The experts then hope to dig a horizontal tunnel to the spot where they believe the boy is trapped in the borehole. Angel Garcia, the leading engineer coordinating the search-and-rescue operation, said on Saturday that the horizontal tunnel would take at least another 20 hours to excavate. People across Spain have been gripped by the plight of the boy and his family, as the rescue attempt has suffered agonizing delays due to the rocky terrain.