France calls on Japan to respect Carlos Ghosn's legal rights on sidelines of G7 meeting

Abstract: DINARD, FRANCE - France’s top diplomat, meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Kono, has urged Japan to ensure consular protection and the presumption of innocence over the case of Carlos Ghosn. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday he talked about the Ghosn case with Kono on the sidelines of the meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in the French resort of Dinard. Their talks came a day after the Tokyo District Court ruled that Ghosn must remain in custody until at least April 14 following his re-arrest last week. “I of course spoke about the Ghosn case with my colleague,” Le Drian told reporters after the end of the G7 meeting. “I told him two things: That France respects completely the sovereignty and independence of the Japanese judiciary. And I also reminded him of our attachment to the presumption of innocence and the full rights of consular protection.” Ghosn spent 108 days in detention in Tokyo Detention House before being dramatically released on bail March 6. But his re-arrest last week came as authorities look into new allegations that Ghosn transferred some $15 million in Nissan funds between late 2015 and mid-2018 to a dealership in Oman. In an interview with French television recorded just before his latest arrest, the businessman, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities, called on the French government “to defend me” and press the Japanese authorities to respect the presumption of innocence. Ghosn had long been lauded as the architect of the alliance between Renault and Nissan — and later Mitsubishi Motors — before his shock arrest in Tokyo in November.

carlos ghosn
taro kono
jean-yves le drian
nissan
scandals
carmakers


Florida team bags huge female python by using tracking devices on males

Abstract: MIAMI - Researchers in Florida using a new approach to combating a destructive invasion by enormous pythons have captured one of the biggest ever, a 17-foot-long (5.2 meters) specimen large enough to eat a deer, they said. The female snake is longer than a one-story building is high, and weighs 140 pounds (64 kg). It is one of the biggest pythons ever caught in southern Florida, according to a post on the Facebook page of the Big Cypress National Preserve. The researchers found the enormous reptile by using male pythons fitted with radio transmitters, allowing them to track the male and locate breeding females, according to the post. “The team not only removes the invasive snakes, but collects data for research, develops new removal tools and learns how the pythons are using the preserve,” the park said. The 17-footer was found to contain 73 developing eggs. The reptiles have no natural predators in Florida and multiply rapidly, posing “significant threats to native wildlife,” the researchers said. The snakes can decimate native wildlife, killing small animals like rabbits, birds and opossums, and even eating creatures as large as alligators and adult deer. The Burmese python is considered an invasive species since it first appeared in the area in the 1980s. With anywhere from 30,000 to 300,000 pythons now in southern Florida, the U.S. Interior Department banned their importation in 2012. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has sponsored hunting programs to target the reptiles. But such efforts have failed to slow their spread, and the commission in 2017 held hearings around the state to seek creative ideas for containing the monstrous creatures. Among the ideas to emerge: introducing snake-killing Australian terrier dogs, stringing barbed wire around trees to protect birds, or using drones fitted with infrared sensors to conduct aerial surveillance. Another idea — introducing mongooses, which are famed in Asia for their ability to kill cobras — came from one Victoria Olson of Fort Lauderdale. “They have been successful in Puerto Rico & The US Virgin Islands to eradicate snakes and yes, they can kill a python,” she said, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper of Fort Lauderdale. Pythons are not known as being particularly brainy. Since some have choked to death on golf balls they thought were eggs, one man suggested setting out hundreds of fake eggs. Asked about such ideas, a state wildlife spokeswoman noted diplomatically that public input is greatly valued. But, she told the Sun-Sentinel, “we want to give each suggestion the time for evaluation it deserves.”


Pakistan says it has intelligence of new Indian attack this month and has alerted UNSC

Abstract: KARACHI, PAKISTAN - Pakistan has “reliable intelligence” that India will attack again this month, its foreign minister said, drawing condemnation from New Delhi, which described the claim as irresponsible. Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s comments came after tensions over a February standoff between the arch enemies had appeared to ease. He said on Sunday that an attack could take place between April 16 and 20, adding that Pakistan had told the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council of its concerns. “India rejects the irresponsible and preposterous statement by the foreign minister of Pakistan with a clear objective of whipping up war hysteria in the region,” a spokesman for India’s foreign office said in a statement. “This public gimmick appears to be a call to Pakistan-based terrorists to undertake a terror attack in India.” The foreign office said India reserved the right to respond firmly and decisively to any cross border militant attack, accusing Pakistan of being complicit in such attacks on India. A suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14. The risk of conflict rose dramatically on Feb. 27, when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base inside Pakistan. The following day Pakistan shot down an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot, who was later released. Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to protest against any “misadventure,” Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said in a tweet. “We have reliable intelligence that India is planning a new attack on Pakistan. As per our information this could take place between April 16 and 20,” Qureshi told reporters in his hometown of Multan. He did not elaborate on what evidence Pakistan had or how he could be so specific with the timing, but he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had agreed to share the information with the country. Khan blamed India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “whipping up war hysteria” over claims that India shot down a Pakistani plane during the February standoff. The Indian air force had displayed pieces of a missile that it said was fired by a Pakistani F-16 before it was downed. Satellite images showing little sign of damage have also case doubt on the success of Indian air strikes on a camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group in northwestern Pakistan. The standoff led Pakistan to close its airspace but most commercial air traffic has since resumed and major airports have opened. As strains between the two neighbors apparently eased, Pakistan said on Friday it would release 360 Indian prisoners this month. The first hundred were released on Sunday. Because relations are so rocky, prisoners who have completed jail terms, many of them fishermen convicted of straying into each other’s territory, often languish in prison for months, if not years, afterwards. “These are 100 Indian fishermen released from jail as a goodwill gesture by Pakistan,” Saad Edhi, an official with Pakistan’s largest charity, the Edhi Foundation, told Reuters at Karachi’s Cantonment Railway Station on Sunday. “They are going to Lahore from where they will be released into India across the Wagha border crossing.”

pakistan
india
unsc
shah mahmood qureshi
terrorism
kashmir
conflict


Kidnapped U.S. woman and driver reported freed in Uganda after ransom is paid

Abstract: KAMPALA - A U.S. tourist and a safari guide kidnapped by gunmen in a Ugandan national park have been recovered safe and sound after a ransom was paid for their release, a safari firm said on Sunday. The pair were hauled from their safari vehicle by four gunmen around dusk on April 2 as they drove through the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Mike Walker, manager of Wild Frontiers Safaris, said U.S. tourist Kimberly Endicott and experienced guide, Jean-Paul Mirenge, were “back safe.” “Ransom paid and people exchanged,” he told AFP by text. Referring to the ransom amount Walker said he did not know the “precise amount yet.” Police had said the kidnappers used Endicott’s mobile telephone to demand a ransom of $500,000 for the release of the pair. Asked about the ransom, police spokeswoman Polly Namaye would not confirm directly but referred AFP to the tour company, saying it was “an authority on its own.” She credited the safe recovery of the pair “to the untiring efforts” of the search teams who were drawn from the police, military and the wildlife authority. “The victims of last week’s kidnapping have been recovered alive,” Namaye said. The Ugandan police’s tourist protection force had deployed a special response unit working alongside soldiers and wildlife rangers in the hunt for the kidnapped pair. Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the East African nation’s most popular wildlife reserves, runs along the border with conflict-wracked regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the famous Virunga national park, the oldest in Africa. Numerous militia groups and armed gangs roam eastern DR Congo. Virunga suspended all tourism activities last year after a ranger was killed and two British tourists kidnapped. The Britons and their driver were freed two days after the attack. The park reopened in February. Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo wrote on Twitter that Endicott and Mirenge, were rescued “by Uganda security forces in the DRC.” He added that “the kidnappers have escaped and operations continue.” Queen Elizabeth park is about 150 km (90 miles) north of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, famous for gorilla trekking. Uganda is home to more than half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. In 1999, Rwandan rebels killed eight foreign tourists and four Ugandans there, inflicting an enormous blow to Uganda’s tourist industry. The rebels were part of a militia group that was involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide before fleeing to the jungles of DR Congo. Tourism is a key industry for Uganda, as a major earner of foreign currency. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit each year.

kidnappings
uganda
queen elizabeth national park
mike pompeo
kim endicott


U.S. attorney general pressed to provide proof Russia probe didn't incriminate Trump

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Two weeks after he cleared President Donald Trump in the Russia meddling investigation, Attorney General Bill Barr faces mounting pressure to show the full evidence behind his decision. Allegations last week that the U.S. justice chief played down serious evidence of illegal obstruction by Trump in special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report are fueling demands that he release the entire, unexpurgated document to Congress. “He is a biased person,” Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said of Barr in an interview Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “He’s a biased defender of the administration, and he’s entitled to be a defender of the administration, but he is not entitled to withhold the evidence from Congress,” Nadler said. News reports, citing unnamed members of Mueller’s staff, said Barr ignored the summaries that Mueller’s team prepared for public release, and instead issued his own on March 24, in which he peremptorily cleared the president of any wrongdoing. And Barr now says he will not release key evidence given to Mueller’s grand jury, a special panel used by prosecutors in politically sensitive cases. Democrats suspect the evidence could be damning to the president — setting up a legal and political showdown. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that Barr alone will decide what to release, and he bridled at the Democrats’ demands. “If we give the Democrats all 400 pages unredacted, that’s not going to be the end of the inquiry. And they’re going to want another thousand pages that went into making that,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is a show by the Democrats.” The Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee this week prepared to subpoena the full report, a move Barr and the White House will almost certainly contest. And on Thursday, Nadler demanded that Barr turn over all communications between his office and Mueller’s, following the reports that Mueller’s staff were unhappy with the way Barr presented their conclusions. At stake is the president’s ability to put the Russia probe behind him and look to 2020 for re-election. Trump, who declared a “complete and total exoneration” when Barr announced Mueller’s conclusions, said this week that Democrats “are fighting hard to keep the Witch Hunt alive.” “This is the highest level of Presidential Harassment in the history of our Country!” he tweeted. On Tuesday, members of Congress might get their first chance to press Barr in public about the Mueller report, when he appears before the House Appropriations Committee in a hearing nominally focused on the Justice Department budget. In his four-page summation of the 22-month investigation on March 24, Barr said that Mueller found no evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government in the 2016 election, and that there was insufficient evidence to charge Trump with obstruction. Yet Barr also conceded that Mueller did compile evidence of obstruction, and quoted the special counsel as saying that “while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Suspicions are deep among Democrats that Barr took advantage of his position to clear Trump and now wants to keep the most damaging parts of the report secret to protect the White House. Trump chose the veteran Republican lawyer to lead the Justice Department after firing his predecessor Jeff Sessions, whom the president resented for recusing himself from oversight of the Russia probe. In June 2018, with Sessions’s job already known to be imperiled, Barr sent an unsolicited legal memo to the Justice Department and White House strongly criticizing the Mueller investigation and its impingement on the president’s prerogatives. Then a Washington corporate attorney, Barr declared — without knowledge of the internal work of the Russia probe — that “Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived” and based on “a novel and legally unsupportable reading of the law.” The memo came to light in December only after Trump had sacked Sessions and chosen Barr to replace him. So far, Barr has held firm to his stance that he will release this month more of the Mueller report, but a version stripped of evidence and of testimony given to Mueller’s grand jury. The grand jury material is essential. As often done in such high-profile cases, Mueller used the panel of citizens to develop and hear the evidence and depose key witnesses behind closed doors. Grand-jury evidence is usually kept secret by law unless a prosecutor ultimately decides to level charges in the case. Democrats argue that Congress, in its constitutional responsibility to enforce the law against the president, has the right to review any evidence against him of wrongdoing, even that of a grand jury. On Friday, the Justice Department, commenting on a fresh ruling in a case on grand-jury secrecy, signaled its stance against that. “The Department of Justice will continue to defend the long-established tradition of protecting grand jury information,” said spokeswoman Kelly Laco.

russia probe
donald trump
robert mueller
jerry nadler
justice department
u.s .
william barr


France awaits results from Emmanuel Macron's 'Great National Debate'

Abstract: PARIS - Over three months, France’s “Great National Debate” has led to 10,000 local meetings, around 2 million online contributions and 100 hours of presidential talking. On Monday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe begins trying to make sense of it all. The debate was launched in January by President Emmanuel Macron as a response to protests by “yellow vest” demonstrators whose nationwide revolt over living standards created the biggest crisis of his time in office. By inviting voters to take part, Macron had twin objectives: anger could be channeled away from the streets and into town hall meetings, while he could soften his image by showing he was open to listening. “I intend to transform anger into solutions,” he declared in an open letter to the country on Jan. 13, referring to the protests which had seen crowds block roads and repeatedly riot on the Champs-Elysees. “Your proposals will help build a new contract for the nation,” he promised. After a shaky start, when the chief organizer had to step down due to an outcry over her salary, most observers see the exercise so far as a qualified success for the 41-year-old centrist. The number of contributions demonstrated a level of enthusiasm that looked uncertain at the start, while the president has visibly enjoyed meeting voters at campaign-style events in community centers around the country. “He loves it,” one adviser said on the sidelines of the first event which saw him hold court for 6½ hours in a show of stamina that left many participants exhausted. His catastrophic approval ratings in late 2018 have crept back up, meanwhile, with recent polls showing around 30 percent of voters holding a positive view of the former investment banker. But Macron and his government are now expected to deliver results having built up expectations about an exercise that has been dismissed as the “Great National Bla-bla” by many opponents. “Nothing will be the same as before,” government spokesman Sibeth Ndiaye marshalled again Sunday, underlining how the debate has been billed as a watershed in Macron’s presidency. At an event in Paris on Monday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is set to lay out the first wave of conclusions in the presence of ministers, experts and members of the public. A polling firm and three political consultancies have attempted to crunch all the data from the internet, public meetings and 16,000 books which have been left open in mayors’ offices around the country to record grievances. Insiders in Philippe’s office have stressed the difficulties of listening to a highly polarized country that looked on the edge of an insurrection in mid-December. “There are a few things which jump out, but the reality is that there are big disparities in opinion on most subjects,” one aide said. Experts have pointed out other flaws: The preponderance of gray hair at many public meetings suggests older people are over-represented, while most “yellow vests” have boycotted proceedings. A front-page cartoon in the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in January showed two demonstrators taking part in a debate — but only to decide which blade to use as they put Macron in a guillotine. Philippe said Friday that the government listened “to everything that the people had to say, in their great diversity, and sometimes in their great complexity.” Macron is expected to try to turn the feedback into policy changes with a major speech planned in the middle of the month. “Every debate has given him some new ideas. But he hasn’t made his mind up yet,” an aide said last week on condition of anonymity. “He’s going to consult some more. But ultimately he’ll decide on his own, and perhaps at the last minute.” He has given little away publicly, but he has stressed that widespread demands for tax cuts must be accompanied by reductions in public spending. He has also ruled out reintroducing a special tax for the wealthy which he scrapped early in his term in a bid to encourage investment and job creation. Reintroducing it has been one of the main demands of the “yellow vests” who continue to mobilize every Saturday, but in far smaller numbers than at the start of the year. A referendum could also be on the cards, possibly to validate plans to reduce the number of national lawmakers and change the voting system for some seats. “France is not a round-table or a political brain-storming session,” the center-right Le Figaro newspaper wrote last week, expressing growing impatience with the debate format. “Everyone now — citizens, lawmakers, even ministers — expects decisions,” it added.

france
emmanuel macron
edouard philippe
yellow vests


Turkish leader Erdogan's election setback dents hopes for major reforms

Abstract: ISTANBUL - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s losses in local elections have dented investors’ hopes that Turkey will adopt painful reforms they say are needed to stabilize the economy as he moves to shore up his political base. Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP), in power nationally since 2002, lost control of the capital, Ankara, and the business hub of Istanbul in the March 31 polls, initial results showed. The AKP has demanded recounts in both cities. Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law, is expected this week to announce to jittery foreign investors the structural reforms he hopes will revive an economy plagued by high inflation and a fragile currency. State-owned Anadolu news agency said the announcement will be made Wednesday. After a currency crisis last year that saw the lira lose nearly 30 percent of its value, economists say Turkey needs to make long-term commitments to increase exports, relieve debt-laden companies and free up the central bank to do its job. Erdogan, who campaigned hard ahead of the vote, said on election night the AKP will now refocus on the economy. But many analysts are skeptical about the chances for a comprehensive reform plan, especially after the elections, and fear the AKP will opt instead for short-term stimulus measures that fail to tackle, and may even exacerbate, deeper weaknesses. “The AKP base want more pro-growth measures, they want more fiscal measures, they want lower inflation. It is exactly what they (the AKP) did before the elections and it will have to continue if (Erdogan) wants to remain popular,” said Guillaume Tresca, senior emerging markets strategist at Credit Agricole. “I would not expect concrete reforms, it will be just words.” At the heart of Turkey’s economic malaise are years of cheap foreign funding that drove a construction-driven boom. Once the lira collapsed, firms could not pay off debts and that exposed their lenders and employees to default and bankruptcy. As the economy tipped into recession last year, the lira stabilized and inflation dipped a bit from a 15-year high of 25 percent, offering some relief. But a series of ad hoc measures have stoked investors’ concerns that Turkey is not fully committed to letting its currency float freely or to allowing the central bank to keep interest rates high — at 24 percent since September — for as long as needed to bring inflation down from 20 percent. To help hard-pressed Turks this year, the government launched discount fruit and vegetable stands and extended tax cuts on some goods. To tackle a lira meltdown last month, it ordered banks to choke off lira funding to a London foreign-exchange market and tapped into central bank reserves. “It looks like the Erdogan instinct is to survive,” said Nihat Bulent Gultekin, a former Turkish central bank governor and now a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “I don’t think they have any long-term objectives. It would require a constant focus on the economy for an extended period of time.” Albayrak has given few details of the coming reforms, saying only that they will address a wide range of issues. The lira has settled down in recent days after its pre-election volatility and analysts say Albayrak’s reforms will help determine whether volatility returns. “The market expects concrete measures to address economic imbalances accompanied by a specific timetable,” said Piotr Matys, emerging markets Forex strategist at Rabobank. Moody’s said “the credibility and effectiveness” of reforms will be key to Turkey’s credit profile, which the ratings agency downgraded in August. “There is a risk that the government will embark on even more expensive stimulus programs as it begins to recognize the extent of the economic downturn,” it said. Investors and economists say Ankara needs a plan to recapitalize banks dealing with corporate restructuring and non-performing loans, which could more than double this year. It should also boost competitive export sectors such as auto and textile manufacturing in order to lower its annual current account deficit, which leaves the economy reliant on speculative foreign inflows, they say. “We need to provide the right training and the right subsidies to the right sectors,” Selva Demiralp, professor at Istanbul’s Koc University, said. The reforms would take time and “there will be a price to pay because when the production structure is changing some people will be unemployed,” she said. That may be hard to swallow for Erdogan and Turks in general who would not welcome a recession that lasts beyond the second half of 2019, when economists currently expect a return to growth. Unemployment has already risen above 13 percent. Although an unlikely option for Erdogan, who has repeatedly said Turkey does not need the International Monetary Fund, Matys of Rabobank said the reforms should ideally be overseen by the IMF to restore investor confidence. “A PowerPoint presentation (by Albayrak) with slides claiming that the economy is rebalancing quickly and a few bullet points may not prove sufficient to restore confidence among investors,” he said.

elections
recep tayyip erdogan
turkey
economy


Netanyahu plays pre-election Trump card, vowing to annex settlements

Abstract: JERUSALEM - Palestinians voiced alarm while Israelis weighed the gravity on Sunday of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sudden election promise to annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Some Israeli commentators saw the right-wing leader’s pledge on Saturday, as Tuesday’s national ballot approaches, as mainly a bid to siphon votes from ultranationalist rivals long advocating annexation. But after years of resisting far-right calls to formally put West Bank land captured in the 1967 Middle East war under permanent Israeli hold, Netanyahu could be counting on support for a dramatic shift from his close ally, U.S. President Donald Trump. “Who says that we won’t do it? We are on the way and we are discussing it,” Netanyahu, asked why he had not extended Israeli sovereignty to large West Bank settlements, told Israel’s Channel 12 News. In March, Trump broke with decades of international consensus by recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory Israel captured from Syria. That followed his December 2017 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the U.S. Embassy’s move to the holy city last May. Asked in an interview on Friday on Israel’s Channel 13 why he wasn’t pressing Trump now to approve a West Bank settlement status change, Netanyahu replied: “Wait until the next term.” Taking Netanyahu at his word, Palestinians seeking statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem called his settlement annexation remarks a violation of international law regarding occupied territory. “His declaration is not just in the heat of … electioneering campaigns,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestine Liberation Organization official. “This is the end of any chances of peace.” A spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, said “the response to (Israeli) crimes and foolishness will be met by popular resistance, armed resistance and by all our might. But Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the New Right party and author of a plan to annex parts of the West Bank, suggested Netanyahu was simply trawling for votes. “For the past 10 years, Netanyahu has blocked applying Israeli law to even a centimeter of land,” Bennett tweeted. In the settlement of Karnei Shomron, spice shop owner Yehezkel Shaul said he believed Netanyahu’s annexation pledge, calling him “the most reliable and honest person. At the local high school, Harel Levi, 18, was not so sure. “It’s an election promise and he’ll find some excuse later,” Levi said. Settlements, which Israel’s B’Tselem rights group said cover about 10 percent of the West Bank, are one of the most heated issues in efforts to restart peace talks, frozen since 2014. After decades of settlement-building, more than 400,000 Israelis now live in the territory, according to Israeli figures. The West Bank is home to some 2.9 million Palestinians, the Palestinian Statistics Bureau says. A further 212,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Palestinians and many countries consider settlements to be illegal under the Geneva conventions, which ban settling on territory occupied in war. Israel disputes this, arguing that the status of the West Bank is still disputed. But unilateral annexation would be far harder to justify, even among allies. Trump’s predecessors as president publicly discouraged the expansion of settlements, arguing that they made it harder to negotiate a viable Palestinian state, viewed by administrations from both U.S. parties as Israel’s likeliest route to peace. Palestinians argue that Washington did not do enough in practice to press for settlements to be curbed. Most peace plan scenarios foresee Israel negotiating to keep some settlements in return for giving other land to the Palestinians. Annexation could take that off the table. Netanyahu’s annexation promise was met with skepticism by Shaqued Morag, director of Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlements group that closely monitors their expansion. “So we must ask, why has Netanyahu said this now?” Morag said. The answer, she told Reuters, was that Netanyahu feared for his political survival and “the times dictate he makes these extreme declarations that he has no intention to follow through on. Israel Katz, the acting foreign minister and a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, said its “great fear” was a split in the right-wing vote that would result in a second-place finish behind the centrist Blue and White faction. Katz said Likud had to ensure it emerges as the biggest party, to put Netanyahu in the best position to get the nod from Israel’s president to try to put together a governing coalition. No one party has ever won a ruling parliamentary majority on its own in an Israeli election.

elections
settlements
jerusalem
palestinians
benjamin netanyahu
west bank
donald trump
israel
golan heights
hamas


Thousands of Sudanese protesters stage second day of sit-in outside al-Bashir's compound

Abstract: KHARTOUM - Thousands of protesters held a sit-in outside Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s residence in central Khartoum on Sunday, and crowds chanting anti-government slogans filled several main streets, witnesses said. Sudan has seen sustained protests against al-Bashir and his National Congress Party since Dec. 19. Security forces have fired tear gas, stun grenades and live bullets to disperse protesters and dozens have been killed during demonstrations. Al-Bashir has refused to step down, saying that his opponents need to seek power through the ballot box. On Sunday evening, dozens of demonstrations took place in the Sudanese capital, eyewitnesses said. Protesters marched in several streets of central Khartoum, setting fire to car tires and blocking a main road, a Reuters witness said. Demonstrators also blocked a bridge that connects Khartoum and Khartoum North. No police officers or other security forces personnel could be seen, eyewitnesses said. Sudan earlier suffered a total power blackout, the ministry of water resources, irrigation and electricity said without explaining the cause of the outage. Electricity was later restored in some areas. Since the sit-in began outside of the presidential residence on Saturday, security forces had fired tear gas several times in an attempt to clear the protesters, but thousands remained on Sunday. Apparently emboldened by the success of similar but much larger protests in Algeria, which forced ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down last week, Sudanese activists called for Saturday’s protests. The demonstrations marked the anniversary of the 1985 military coup that overthrew autocratic President Jaafar Nimeiri after mass protests against his rule. The protesters urged the military to side with them once more in their bid to push al-Bashir out of power. The compound which houses the presidential residence is the most heavily guarded in Sudan. It is also home to the defense ministry and the headquarters of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service. On Saturday at least one person died during protests in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, state news agency SUNA said without providing detail on the cause of death. The person killed was a laboratory doctor who succumbed to his injuries, according to a statement from an opposition doctors’ committee. Medical staff have played a prominent role in the protests. SUNA said other civilians and police officers were wounded on Saturday in Omdurman, the scene of protests late into the evening that subsided by Sunday morning. The sit-in outside the compound appeared to mirror 2011 Arab Spring protests, in which demonstrators in Cairo and other Arab capitals camped out in public squares for days to demand a change in rule. Police and security forces on Saturday blocked all bridges leading to the capital’s center from Khartoum North and Omdurman, across the River Nile to the north and west respectively, in what appeared to be a bid to prevent the sit-in from swelling. They remained closed on Sunday, causing major traffic jams. Hundreds of people were crossing into Khartoum from Omdurman via Victory Bridge by foot on Sunday morning, a Reuters witness said, as cars stood at a standstill for hours.


Give us a strong leader and reform the Brexit-fatigued system, Britons say in survey

Abstract: LONDON - British voters want a strong leader who is willing to break the rules and force through wide-scale reform after three years of Brexit crisis pushed confidence in the political system to a 15-year low. The 2016 referendum revealed a United Kingdom divided over much more than EU membership, and has sparked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British. Yet more than a week since the United Kingdom was originally supposed to leave the EU on March 29, nothing is resolved. It remains uncertain how, when or if it ever will. Research by the Hansard Society found that 54 percent of voters want a strong leader who is willing to break the rules, while 72 percent said the system needs “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of improvement. Confidence in the system at the lowest level in the 15-year history of the survey, lower even than after the 2009 expense scandal when lawmakers were shown to have charged taxpayers for everything from an ornamental duck house to cleaning out a moat. “Opinions of the system of governing are at their lowest point in the 15-year Audit series — worse now than in the aftermath of the MPs’ expenses scandal,” according to the Hansard Society. “People are pessimistic about the country’s problems and their possible solution, with sizeable numbers willing to entertain radical political changes.” Just a quarter of people had confidence in lawmakers’ handling of Brexit. The survey was conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12 by Ipsos MORI.

brexit
surveys
hansard society
u.k .
u.k. parliament


Britain plans social media regulation to battle harmful content

Abstract: LONDON - Britain proposed new online safety laws on Monday that would slap penalties on social media companies and technology firms if they fail to protect their users from harmful content. Easy access to damaging material particularly among young people has caused growing concern worldwide and came into the spotlight in Britain after the death of 14-year-old schoolgirl Molly Russell, which her parents said came after she had viewed online material on depression and suicide. Governments across the world are wrestling over how to better control content on social media platforms, often blamed for encouraging abuse, the spread of online pornography, and for influencing or manipulating voters. Global worries were recently stoked by the live streaming of the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand on one of Facebook’s platforms, after which Australia said it would fine social media and web hosting companies and imprison executives if violent content is not removed “expeditiously.” In a policy paper widely trailed in British media, the government said it would look into possibly using fines, blocking access to websites and imposing liability on senior tech company management for failing to limit the distribution of harmful content. It would also set up a regulator to police the rules. TechUK, an industry trade group, said the paper was a significant step forward, but one which needed to be firmed up during its 12-week consultation. It said some aspects of the government’s approach were too vague. “It is vital that the new framework is effective, proportionate and predictable,” techUK said in a statement, adding not all concerns could be addressed through regulation. Facebook said it was looking forward to working with the government to ensure new regulations were effective, repeating its founder Mark Zuckerberg’s line that regulations were needed to have a standard approach across platforms. Rebecca Stimson, Facebook’s head of U.K. public policy, said any new rules should strike a balance between protecting society and supporting innovation and free speech. “These are complex issues to get right and we look forward to working with the government and parliament to ensure new regulations are effective,” Stimson said in a statement. Prime Minister Theresa May said that while the internet could be brilliant at connecting people, it had not done enough to protect users, especially children and young people. “That is not good enough, and it is time to do things differently,” May said in a statement. “We have listened to campaigners and parents, and are putting a legal duty of care on internet companies to keep people safe.” The duty of care would make companies take more responsibility for the safety of users and tackle harm caused by content or activity on their services. The regulator, funded by industry in the medium term, will set clear safety standards. A committee of lawmakers has also demanded more is done to make political advertising and campaigning on social media more transparent. “It is vital that our electoral law is brought up to date as soon as possible, so that social media users know who is contacting them with political messages and why,” said Conservative Damian Collins, who chairs the parliamentary committee for digital, culture, media and sport. “Should there be an early election, then emergency legislation should be introduced to achieve this.”


Students among 11 civilians killed in Yemen capital, U.N. says

Abstract: SANAA - The United Nations called Monday for an investigation into the deaths of 11 civilians including students in Yemen’s capital, where rebels accused a Saudi-led coalition of carrying out a deadly airstrike. Scores more civilians were wounded in Sanaa on Sunday, according to a statement released by the U.N. that did not specify the cause of the casualties. An AFP reporter on the ground said the injuries appeared to be the result of an explosion near a school in the city. The coalition, which regularly carries out airstrikes against the rebels, denied conducting any raids on Sanaa on Sunday. Five students were among the dead, according to the U.N., whose humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, voiced alarm at the “terrible, senseless deaths and injuries.” “Every effort must be made to understand the circumstances that led to this tragedy,” she said. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, locked in a war with Saudi Arabia and its military allies backing the government, on Sunday accused the coalition of bombing that they said killed more than 13 people and wounded 90. The coalition, which has come under international pressure over its airstrikes in Yemen, accuses the rebels of routinely using civilians as human shields. The World Health Organization estimates nearly 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened to prevent the defeat of the government in the face of a rebel offensive. Human rights groups say the real death toll is several times higher. The conflict has pushed millions of Yemenis to the brink of mass starvation, in what the U.N. has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.


Hospital hit as fighting in northwestern Syria strains truce, leaving at least 13 dead

Abstract: BEIRUT - Syrian government forces and insurgents exchanged a barrage of rockets on Sunday in the country’s northwest that killed at least 13 people and hit a government-run hospital, activists and government media reported. The violence strained a fragile months-old truce negotiated between Russia and Turkey that averted a government offensive on Idlib and surrounding areas, the last major rebel stronghold in the country. The region is home to some 3 million people, including many displaced from other battles in the civil war. The head of the local hospital in government-held Massyaf said insurgent shelling killed a rescue worker and four other people. Maher Younis told the state-run Ikhbariya TV that five children who were arriving at the hospital and two dentists were wounded. One of the wounded told Ikhbariya from her hospital bed that the missile landed when she and her mother were arriving to do some medical tests. “We only felt a big bang. I was wounded in my hand and my mom in her leg,” she said, without giving her name. Hospitals and civilian infrastructure have frequently come under fire over the course of the eight-year civil war, and rights groups say government forces have targeted medical facilities on several occasions. The government denies targeting such facilities and says the rebels use them for military purposes. The rebels do not have precision missiles, and mainly rely on homemade or outdated arms. The U.N. says close to half of all hospitals and primary health care facilities in Syria are either partially functional or not functional due to damage inflicted by the war in the last eight years. The insurgent fire came amid heightened tensions following days of government fire on villages and towns on the edge of the enclave. Opposition-allied first responders known as the White Helmets said government shelling killed at least eight people, including one child, in Saraqeb and Nairab towns in eastern Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at nine. The activist-run Shaam news agency said the shelling in Saraqeb hit civilians who were visiting a local government office. On Thursday, the U.N. said there has been an “alarming spike in civilian casualties and new displacement,” with increased fighting and intensification of airstrikes in the truce area. It said in March alone, 90 civilians were reportedly killed, nearly half of them children, and over 86,500 people were displaced in February and March, compounding an already precarious humanitarian situation on the ground. Russia, which backs President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, which supports opposition factions, reached the truce deal in September. It set up a demilitarized zone on the edge of the rebel-held enclave which was to be cleared of militants. But since the deal, al-Qaida-linked militants have expanded their presence in the enclave, seizing land from other armed groups. The government so far has kept up limited military pressure. Experts say government forces are focused on opening key highways that pass through Idlib, linking northern Syria to the capital, Damascus. Opening the highways was one of the key provisions in the September deal. Separately on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for the dismantling of a remote camp for displaced people along the Syria-Jordan border. “We support the (Rukban) camp to be dismantled as soon as possible,” Lavrov said. Rukban has a population of over 40,000, whom the U.N. says are stranded in dire conditions. The last aid delivered there was two months ago. U.N. officials say most of the camp’s residents want to leave but fear for their security and need more safety guarantees. The camp lies near a U.S. military base and within a de-confliction zone set up between Washington and Moscow. Russia has accused the U.S. of denying humanitarian access to the camp, allegations the U.S. denies. The U.N. has been facilitating talks between the Syrian government, Russia and residents of Rukban to “build confidence,” said Hedinn Halldorsson, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. At least 400 Rukban residents left Sunday toward shelters provided by the government in the central Homs province. A total of 1,660 have left since March 24, Halldorsson said.

syria
russia
turkey
idlib
bashar assad
conflict
al-qaida


Escalating Libya conflict prompts international alarm and pullout of U.S. forces

Abstract: TRIPOLI - The U.S. on Sunday appealed for an “immediate halt” to a military offensive by Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter, as fighting raged near Tripoli despite a U.N. call for a cease-fire. Hifter’s forces and the U.N.-backed unity government exchanged airstrikes Sunday, three days after Hifter launched an offensive to seize the capital. The unity government said the fighting had killed 21 people, while the United Nations said there had been “no truce” despite calls for a two-hour pause in fighting for civilians and the wounded to flee. Oil-rich Libya has been riven by chaos since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011 that killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, as rival administrations and armed groups have battled for power. Hifter’s offensive has threatened to plunge the country into a full-blown civil war and once again derail tentative diplomatic efforts to find a solution to Libya’s woes. “We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Hifter’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Sunday. “This unilateral military campaign against Tripoli is endangering civilians and undermining prospects for a better future for all Libyans,” he added. Pompeo stressed that there is “no military solution to the Libya conflict,” and urged all parties to return to “political negotiations” mediated by the U.N. After a pause overnight on Saturday, fierce fighting flared Sunday morning south of Tripoli between Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army and forces backing the internationally recognized Government of National Accord. As the clashes raged in the rural area of Wadi Raba and the destroyed international airport south of the capital, a spokesman for pro-GNA forces announced a counteroffensive. Colonel Mohamed Gnounou told reporters on Sunday forces had launched operation “Volcano of Anger” aimed at “purging all Libyan cities of aggressor and illegitimate forces,” in reference to Hifter’s fighters. The LNA said it had carried out its first air raid on a Tripoli suburb, defying international calls for a cease-fire. The unity government’s health ministry said Sunday at least 21 people had been killed and 27 wounded since the fighting began, without specifying whether civilians were among the dead. Hifter’s force said Saturday that 14 of its personnel had been killed, while the Libyan Red Crescent reported the death of one of its doctors. Emergency services spokesman Oussama Ali said rescuers “have not been able to enter” the battle zones. The U.N.’s Libya mission UNSMIL said it was “still hoping for a positive response” to its earlier call for a pause, after a two-hour window it had set for a humanitarian truce passed with no apparent let-up in the fighting. U.N. Security Council on Friday called on Hifter’s forces to halt their advance, warning it would further destabilize Libya. But on Sunday Russia blocked proposals for the council to adopt a formal statement, diplomats said, instead insisting that all Libyan forces be urged to stop fighting. Moscow is a key supporter of Hifter, along with Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. military said Sunday it had temporarily pulled an unspecified number of its troops out of Libya “in response to security conditions on the ground.” Analysts say Hifter has been buoyed by a series of successful operations that have brought all of the east and much of southern Libya under his control. A field marshal who served under Gadhafi and now backs an administration in eastern Libya opposed to the GNA, Hifter was counting on a swift battle to capture Tripoli. But some experts say he miscalculated. “To date, Hifter’s operation has mostly failed to go according to plan, and it has now galvanized western Libyan forces against him,” said analyst Wolfram Lacher. “He now faces the prospect of a protracted war south of Tripoli, or of a decisive defeat,” said Lacher, a researcher with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Hifter’s offensive came as U.N. chief Antonio Guterres visited Libya on Thursday, ahead of a planned U.N.-backed conference aimed at uniting Libya’s rivals and paving the way for elections. Envoy Ghassan Salame has insisted the U.N. was “determined” to go ahead with the April 14-16 conference.

libya
conflict
tripoli
gna
u.s .
u.n .
khalifa haftar


North Korean leader's 'field guidance' trips highlight economic focus ahead of parliament meeting

Abstract: In a possible signal of what to expect at a key meeting of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament later this week, state media reported Monday on leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to a recently remodeled, modern-looking department store. The report was the fourth of a Kim visit to an economic-related project in five days. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Kim “provided field guidance” at the Taesong Department Store in Pyongyang just ahead of its opening. Pictures showed Kim wearing a Mao suit, accompanied by a coterie of cadres, touring the facilities of, if not for their presence, what could have been a department store in virtually any Asian nation. In his visit, Kim touted the project as an example of how his regime is providing North Koreans with quality goods on par with the West. “Now that the modern department store has been completed, it has become possible to provide citizens of the capital with different varieties of more quality foodstuffs, clothing, footwear, household articles, sundry goods for daily use, school things and goods for cultural use,” he was quoted as saying. Kim also reportedly emphasized that “quality daily necessities and mass consumption goods should be procured and sold in abundance for the convenience of the people so as to satisfy their daily growing desire and wish.” The report came ahead of two key events this week that could shape any progress in U.S.-North Korea talks: a summit between U.S. President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington on April 11 and a session of the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, in Pyongyang the same day. The Moon-Trump meeting and convening of the assembly come after the second summit between Trump and Kim in less than a year fell apart in Hanoi over a failure to reconcile North Korean demands for sanctions relief with U.S. demands for Kim to give up his weapons of mass destruction. North Korea has since warned that it is considering halting talks and may rethink a freeze on missile and nuclear tests, in place since 2017, unless Washington relents and makes concessions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that while he is “confident” there will be a third Kim-Trump summit, the U.S. remained firm that crippling economic sanctions on the North would not be lifted until it relinquished its nuclear weapons. “President Trump has been unambiguous,” he said. “Our administration’s policy is incredibly clear: Economic sanctions, United Nations Security Council sanctions, will not be lifted until we achieve the ultimate objective that we set out now almost two years ago.” Still, Moon is widely expected to try to convince Trump to offer some limited easing of sanctions as a sign of goodwill, including allowing inter-Korean projects such as the reopening of the Kaesong industrial complex and tourism to Mount Kumgang. Moon plans to ask Trump to grant “reciprocal measures” to the North after the U.S. reportedly hinted that it could be open to offering “relief from certain sanctions” that could be immediately restored if Pyongyang resumed its nuclear activities — a so-called snapback mechanism. Last April, the North Korean leader announced a “new strategic line,” under which his country would suspend nuclear and longer-range missile tests and mothball its main atomic test site, while also shifting its focus to building up its moribund economy. But in the months since, Kim has made little progress in kick-starting the North’s economy as the country remains under strict U.N. and unilateral sanctions. It is unclear how the Trump administration will react to any push by Moon to ease sanctions, even targeted attempts to loosen the chokehold on the country. John Delury, a North Korea expert and professor at South Korea’s Yonsei University, called Kim’s apparent doubling down on his new strategic line “a positive thing for the North Korean people” and for peace and denuclearization diplomacy. “But to make use of it, US-ROK would have to let go of the coercive diplomacy/ one shot illusion, in favor of conflict resolution, arms control, economic cooperation,” he wrote Monday on Twitter. “The temptation now is to think: aha! We’ve got him! He wants development. He showed his hand in Hanoi… He needs sanctions lifted! Let’s hold, even up, the pressure til he comes begging to give us his nukes!” Delury added. “But in the immortal words of Vlad Putin, the North Koreans would sooner eat grass,” he wrote, adding that until cooperation replaces coercion, “real” and “sustainable” progress was unlikely.

north korea
kim jong un
south korea
moon jae-in
kim-trump summit
nuclear weapons
u.s .
north korea nuclear crisis
donald trump


Report says Beijing targeted Chinese-Australian writers about secret inquiry into political meddling

Abstract: SYDNEY - Beijing agents pressured two Chinese-Australian authors to provide information about a secret Canberra inquiry into Chinese meddling in domestic politics, local media reported Monday. Yang Jun, a novelist and democracy advocate, and Feng Chongyi, a Sydney-based university professor and former newspaper publisher, were reportedly interrogated over the classified probe. The pair are both friends of John Garnaut, a former journalist who was heading up the inquiry. Relations between the two nations have been fraught in recent times over fears of Chinese interference, and as Beijing flexes its muscle in the Pacific islands which Canberra views as its backyard. A joint investigation published Monday by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and national broadcaster ABC found China had waged an intelligence operation to gain details of the probe ordered in 2016 by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Yang, an Australian citizen whose pen name is Yang Hengjun, has been detained in China since traveling there in January, accused of endangering state security. Monday’s report coincided with a plea from his wife for Australia to do more to secure his release. Australian media have reported that Yang was a former Chinese diplomat, although that has been denied by Beijing. The ABC report said Chinese agents had previously intercepted and questioned Yang in Sydney in 2018 when he was on his way to meet with Garnaut. Garnaut told ABC that a Chinese official asked Yang “about me . . . what I was doing, what I was working on.” Yang’s wife, Xiaoliang Yuan, has been banned from leaving China but she spoke to the ABC from Shanghai to urge Australia to help free her husband. “I think at least the Australian government officials should care for its citizens’ wellbeing when they are overseas, should show their concern,” she was quoted as saying. Feng, a permanent Australian resident, told ABC he was questioned about Garnaut when he was detained for several days during a trip to China in 2017. “They knew a lot about him (Garnaut). During the interrogation, they did not hide that they were angry with him,” Feng said. Andrew Hastie — who chairs Canberra’s intelligence and security committee — told the ABC the government has had “multiple briefings” from domestic intelligence agency ASIO and other agencies that “foreign interference is being conducted in Australia at an unprecedented level.” “There are several authoritarian states who are involved in foreign influence across the globe. But in Australia the Chinese Communist Party is probably the most active,” he added. “China is seeking to influence our elites, particularly our political and business elites, in order to achieve their strategic objectives.” The inquiry led Australia to pass sweeping reforms to espionage and foreign interference laws, with China singled out as a focus of concern.

australia
yang jun
feng chongyi
john garnaut
china
espionage


Cathay Dragon A330 makes safe emergency landing in Taiwan

Abstract: TAIPEI - A Cathay Dragon flight from Taiwan to Hong Kong made an emergency landing on Monday from where it departed after experiencing a “technical issue” shortly after take-off, the carrier said. Cathay Pacific, the parent company of Cathay Dragon, said flight KA451 from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong made an “air return” and landed safely back at the southern Taiwanese city. An official with Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration said the emergency was caused by a “technical failure on one of the engines” and denied Taiwanese media reports of a bird strike. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak with media, added an investigation was now under way. The Apple Daily newspaper cited local aviation officials as saying the plane’s right engine emitted smoke during take-off and that local residents nearby said they had heard an explosive sound. But Cathay said the safety of the aircraft, crew or its 317 passengers onboard were “at no time” at risk. “There was no indication of an engine fire on the aircraft, however, due to the technical issue, loud noises and sparks were reported coming from the engine exhaust prior to the engine being shut down as per operational procedures,” Cathay said. The carrier said the aircraft was an Airbus A330 and said arrangements were being made to get passengers on new flights.

taiwan
cathay pacific
aviation
airbus
airlines


Bangladesh deploys border guards to island near Myanmar for first time since 1997

Abstract: DHAKA - Bangladesh on Sunday deployed heavily armed border guards to an island near its southern border with Myanmar for the first time in 20 years, officials said. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) distributed images showing dozens of troops carrying assault rifles disembarking at Saint Martin’s island, a small island in the Bay of Bengal that has caused diplomatic tensions between the neighbors. The BGB said the troop deployment was part of “regular activities” to ensure border protection and curb drug trafficking. But the force’s lieutenant colonel, Sarker Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman, told AFP it was the first time since 1997 their men had landed there. “After more than 20 years we felt we should deploy,” he said. The deployment comes just two months after Bangladesh’s foreign ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador in Dhaka to protest the inclusion of Saint Martin inside their territory in some maps printed inside the Southeast Asian country. He was also summoned in October last year, after a Myanmar government website depicted the island as within Myanmar’s territory. Ties between the neighbors have soured since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown on the Rohingya minority in Rakhine, a troubled western state bordering Bangladesh. The brutal operation has forced some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh since August 2017, transforming parts near the border into the world’s largest refugee camp. Muslim-majority Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of perpetrating genocide against the Rohingya, who share some cultural and linguistic similarities with Bangladeshis in the country’s southeast.

bangladesh
myanmar
military
rohingya
rakhine
conflict
saint martin 's


China to relax residency curbs and boost infrastructure to bring more people into cities and revive growth

Abstract: BEIJING - China will relax residency curbs in many of its smaller cities this year and increase infrastructure spending, the state planner said Monday, in a fresh push to boost the urban population and revive slowing economic growth. The National Development and Reform Commission said it aims to increase China’s urbanization rate by at least 1 percentage point by the end of this year. The latest push is part of its longer-term goal of bringing 100 million people into the cities over the five years to 2020. In 2018, 59.6 percent of China’s population lived in urban areas. “This will provide strong support for maintaining sustained and healthy economic development and overall social stability,” the NDRC said in a notice on its website. The NDRC will scrap restrictions in cities of 1 million to 3 million on coveted household registration permits for out-of-towners, which include migrant workers and college graduates. For cities of 3 million to 5 million, which include many provincial capitals, such restrictions will be “comprehensively relaxed,” although the NDRC did not provide specifics on such moves. Such permits, known as hukou , have been used to control internal migration in China for many years. Without a permit, a resident of a city is denied access to many public services, such as education and health care. These restrictions have often been blamed for pushing migrants to the margins of society in China’s cities. Under China’s multiyear crackdown on the country’s property investment bubble, internal migrants are also often categorized as speculative buyers and have been subject to local purchase curbs, adding to pressures on these communities. The Financial News, a newspaper controlled by China’s central bank, on Monday called for local governments to prepare policy plans to prevent fluctuations in the property market that negatively impacted consumer rights and financial stability. But critics in the real estate and securities industries say any easing of these policies could undermine authorities’ efforts to control property speculation. The NDRC added Beijing will guide policy banks to step up credit support to fund key urban projects, as well as encourage commercial banks to “properly boost” their credit support for such projects. The NDRC will also support the launches of real estate investment trusts, to help the development of the rental housing market.

national development and reform commission


Fighting against the tide, 'floating temple' is symbol of battle to save Thailand's eroding coastline

Abstract: SAMUT CHIN, THAILAND - As sea waters slowly rose around his temple and his neighbors fled inland, Thai abbot Somnuek Atipanyo refused to budge and is today a symbol of the fight to restore the country’s fast-eroding coastlines. A dangerous combination of climate change, industrial farming and rapid urbanization are endangering the Gulf of Thailand’s coasts, stripping away precious mangrove trees and leaving some buildings like Somnuek’s surrounded by sea water. In the 30 years since the waters started encroaching, most of his neighbors in the fishing village of Samut Chin moved several hundred meters inland to rebuild their wooden homes. Standing in his saffron robes near his monastery on stilts — dubbed the “floating temple” — the 51-year-old monk points out to sea at the spot where the local school once stood. “This temple used to be in the middle of the village,” he tells AFP in Samut Chin, about an hour south of Bangkok. “If we moved it, people wouldn’t even know there had ever been one here,” he says of the temple, accessible only by a small footbridge today. These shores were once protected by extensive mangrove forests — the Gulf of Thailand boasts some of the largest in the world — a natural defense against coastal erosion thanks to their extensive roots that stabilize the shoreline. But it’s a been a losing battle to preserve them. Mangrove forests have been cleared for extensive development of shrimp and salt farms, along with new houses and hotels that have popped up thanks to a development boom in recent decades. Thailand lost almost one third of its vast coastal mangrove forests between 1961 and 2000, according to a report from the nation’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and the U.N. Environment Program. Climate change is also having an impact: stronger waves and more ferocious monsoons have wiped out mangroves in the Gulf of Thailand, which is especially vulnerable because its waters are so shallow. “The waves and tides are higher than before,” said Thanawat Jarupongsakul, who advises Thailand’s government on its policy to combat erosion. Asian and Caspian coastlines are the two areas in the world most affected by coastal erosion, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Nature. It’s a global problem: tens of thousands of square kilometers of land have been lost from coastal erosion around the world — between 1984 and 2015 the equivalent of the surface area of Haiti was lost, the study said. In Thailand a quarter of the country’s shores — or about 700 kilometers (500 miles) — are eroding, some “severely,” according to data shared with AFP by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. Now there is a push to restore Thailand’s precious mangrove ecosystem through a national voluntary tree replanting scheme, including near Somnuek’s island monastery. On a recent sunny afternoon, scores of people spent the day wading chest-deep in the sea to replant mangrove trees. Clad in headscarves and hats, they gingerly reach down into the water to plant young saplings along lines of bamboo poles that help offer some protection against the waves. “This project is called ‘Planting a forest in people’s hearts,'” said Wason Ditsuwan, who runs the program. Set up in 2016 by Bangkok city authorities, the project has so far replanted 84 acres of mangroves across the country. Wason is hoping his project will succeed where others have failed. Nearly 10 years ago, government adviser Thanawat helped residents in Samut Chin replant mangrove trees but some areas were too far gone to recover. “Even if you plant a lot of mangroves, it cannot help,” he said. Another strategy is to drill pylons of cement into the seabed — and on the shoreline itself — to act as a substitute for the mangrove roots. This has proven successful so far in the tourist town of Pattaya further along the coast, where the pylons have helped to reclaim several meters of beach. But it’s a race to keep up with rapid development along the shore, Thanawat said. As for Somnuek’s stretch of coast, though further erosion has stopped for now, there is little hope his temple will ever see dry ground again. But the flooding has brought one unexpected advantage: dozens of tourists that flock to the so-called floating temple for Instagram-worthy selfies. “The fight against coastal erosion has brought fame,” village head Wisanu Kengsamut said.

temples
thailand
climate change
forests
environment
_asia


Philippine foreign minister says U.S. will remain nation's 'only military ally' as China threatens isle

Abstract: MANILA - The U.S. will remain the Philippines’ only military ally, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said, amid an increased Chinese presence near a disputed island in the South China Sea. The U.S. is “the only world power that is a bastion of democracy and human rights, is and will remain our only military ally. We don’t need any other,” he tweeted Sunday. Relations are improving between the U.S. and the Philippines, which shifted toward China after President Rodrigo Duterte took power in 2016. More than 7,000 soldiers from the Philippines and the U.S. are participating in this year’s annual joint military drills, which are taking place despite Duterte’s 2016 call for a split with Washington. The Philippine leader has questioned whether the U.S. would defend his country if China seizes disputed reefs and shoals in the sea. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured in March that a defense treaty would apply if Philippine vessels or planes are attacked in the waters. Locsin’s comments were made in response to a Twitter user’s suggestion the Philippines ignore the International Criminal Court after the U.S. moved to revoke the travel visa of prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. They came days after Duterte — in a rare rebuke to China — warned that if it did not “lay off” the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, where more than 200 Chinese ships have been spotted in recent months, we would order his soldiers to defend it with “suicide missions.” Locsin also tweeted that he “would not regret” climate change and rising sea levels if it covered the waters’ disputed reefs and “exposes the foolishness of taking and weaponizing them.”

philippines
military
china
south china sea
u.s .


Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan to open first probe into child sexual abuse within its ranks

Abstract: FUKUOKA - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan said Monday it will open an internal investigation into claims of sexual abuse among its ranks against children in the country. The probe would be the first of its kind in Japan. The standing committee of the bishops’ conference decided Thursday at a meeting in Tokyo that it will quickly launch an “in-depth investigation” into all 16 dioceses in Japan. Five reports of sexual abuse were made when the entity conducted questionnaire surveys in 2002 and 2012 throughout its dioceses. The Roman Catholic Church has been facing accusations of child sexual abuse and cover-ups around the world. It has also faced condemnation for not acting quickly enough. Thousands of people, possibly more, are thought to have been abused worldwide by priests over many decades. Details of the upcoming probe in Japan, including the starting date and the specific process, will be decided later, with the bishops’ body considering seeking cooperation from external parties. The five cases of abuse reported in the past will likely be revisited, as in-depth interviews with the victims and punishment of the perpetrators were not undertaken when the questionnaire surveys were conducted. The Japan Times’ own reporting from September 2014 uncovered alleged cases of abuse of students by staff at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo beginning in 1965. At least one of those cases was later investigated by Japanese police and the Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Tokyo, according to a Jan. 31, 2014, letter signed by the headmaster at the time. St. Mary’s is run by the Brothers of Christian Instruction, a Catholic order founded in France in the 19th century that has schools on every continent. It was not immediately clear if any of those cases were among the five likely to be revisited. The decision to run the investigation comes about a month after the Roman Catholic Church held the unprecedented “Protection of Minors in the Church” conference, where Pope Francis recognized sexual abuse of minors as a “widespread phenomenon” and called for an “all-out battle” to defeat it. The pope is scheduled to make his first official trip to Japan in November. Last December, in his traditional Christmas address to the Curia, the Vatican’s central administration, the pope pressed predatory priests who have sexually abused children to turn themselves in “to human justice, and prepare for divine justice.”

children
catholic church
christianity
pope francis
teens
sex crimes
child abuse
st. mary 's international school


Cases highlight female students' risk of sexual harassment by alumni when seeking jobs in Japan

Abstract: A series of cases this year in which female students were sexually harassed when seeking help with job-hunting from employed male alumni suggest the issue is a growing problem, and have prompted concern among recruitment experts and police. Students looking for jobs in Japan commonly contact alumni of their university to gain insight and advice about companies where they are interested in working, often meeting them in person and, in some cases, at bars or restaurants in the evening. “I’ve been able to overcome the incident, but there are many who will be scarred for the rest of their lives,” said a 22-year-old woman, who graduated from university in March, of an experience she had while job-hunting as a student. In the spring of 2017 the woman was introduced to a male employee from a company where she was hoping to work, who asked to meet her in the evening as he was “busy” during the day. The two went out for dinner and drinks, where the man plied her with alcohol, forcibly kissed her and asked her to come to his place. “It was all big talk and I honestly wanted to leave,” she recalls. “But he started saying he had a say in recruitment, and that made me feel I should not leave immediately,” she said. In February a male employee from major construction company Obayashi Corp. was arrested after allegedly committed an obscene act with a female student at his home, while another from major trading house Sumitomo Corp. was arrested in March on suspicion of raping a female student after getting her drunk. The man was dismissed from Sumitomo Corp. The two people involved in the Obayashi incident had met through an app designed to connect students and alumni more easily for meetings. Alumni register their alma mater and employer, and students can search for alumni according to the company in which they are interested. Such job-hunting apps are becoming an increasingly common avenue for securing meetings with alumni for advice. But there are warnings from those in the recruitment industry that while user registrations may be rising, some employees have been found to be using such services as dating apps. Career consultant Akemi Ueda, who runs a consultancy firm catering to women, acknowledged the challenges that may face students who would prefer to meet female employees instead. “Students can acquire more useful information from female employees,” she said. “But not only are there not as many women in the workforce, many are often busy with child care and don’t have time to meet.” She recommends female students meet male alumni during the day in open spaces, such as at a cafe, to be safe. Many corporations in Japan are strengthening controls over sexual harassment, but analysis shows that those in place for job-hunting students are still severely lacking. “Employees should be trained to understand that sexual harassment toward female students is unacceptable,” said Ueda.

students
sexual harassment
jobs
universities
women
sex crimes


Quarter of Japan's adults under 40 are virgins, at least when it comes to the opposite sex

Abstract: About a quarter of people aged 18 to 39 in Japan were estimated to have had no experience of heterosexual intercourse as of 2015, higher than the 20 percent seen more than two decades ago, a team of Japanese and Swedish researchers said Monday. Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Karolinska Institutet wrote in an article in U.K. medical journal BMC Public Health that the percentage of people with no such experience had risen among men to 25.8 percent in 2015, from 20.0 percent in 1992, and among women to 24.6 percent from 21.7 percent, based on data from a fertility survey conducted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (NIPSSR). The study polled people at random and covered only heterosexual experience, so presented no data on same-sex experience. The researchers said the “lack of sexual experience may be involuntary,” citing unstable job and income conditions among men as potential reasons behind the trend. The team found that around 80 percent of women and men aged 25 to 39 who reported having had no such experience in the study responded that they wished to get married at some point in their lives. “Further research is needed on the factors contributing to and the potential public health and demographic implications of the high proportion of the Japanese population that remains sexually inexperienced well into adult age,” the team said. The proportion grew smaller with age, but among people aged 35 to 39, 9.5 percent of men and 8.9 percent of women had no experience of heterosexual intercourse — nearly double the figure seen in 1992. Analyzing data from 2010, the team also found that inexperience correlated with unemployment, temporary or part-time work and low income among men between 25 and 39. In particular, the proportion without experience jumped when annual income fell below ¥3 million ($27,000). Japan’s total fertility rate stood at 1.43 in 2017 — among the lowest in the world — and NIPSSR has predicted that the country’s population will fall to 88 million in 2065 from the current 126 million.

national institute of population and social security research


Osaka leaders win in elections to swap roles, but merger prospects unclear

Abstract: OSAKA - Osaka voters appear to have done little to shift the political landscape from where it was before going to the polls Sunday, allowing Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) leaders to swap positions as governor and mayor. The Osaka Ishin-backed gubernatorial candidate, former Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, 43, beat Tadakazu Konishi, 64, who was backed by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. Former Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, 55, beat the Akira Yanagimoto in the Osaka mayoral race. Yanagimoto was also backed by the LDP and Komeito. Osaka Ishin captured a majority in the prefectural assembly election held the same day, but failed to get a majority in the municipal assembly. Osaka Ishin’s double-victory is likely to give momentum to the party’s drive for a local referendum on its proposal to merge the 24 wards of the city of Osaka and thereby reduce administrative costs. In 2015, Osaka Ishin managed to initiate a referendum on the same merger proposal, but voters rejected it by a narrow margin. Still, that hasn’t stopped the party, which has been working to get a similar referendum on the ballot — only to be met with strong opposition from Komeito, the second-largest party in the municipal assembly. This prompted Matsui and Yoshimura to simultaneously resign and seek to swap positions through Sunday’s votes, an unusual tactic meant to drum up support for the merger plan. Following their victories, Matsui and Yoshimura told reporters that the people of Osaka had spoken and voted for them to continue their efforts to merge the city’s wards. Despite a majority in the prefectural assembly, Osaka Ishin almost certainly has to tie up with Komeito to form a majority in the city assembly. That in turn could once again lead to a standoff over the merger plans between the two parties. “There is no doubt there is opposition to the merger plan among people in Osaka city. Many don’t understand what it is. So we have to have a polite discussion about it,” Matsui said. “But Komeito also has to look at the results of the election and think about how they are going to accept them.” As governor, Yoshimura said his role will also be to continue to push for the merger. He added that it’s success would help ignite a larger debate nationwide. “An Osaka merger could influence discussion in other cities around Japan on improving local growth. They may not adopt a merger plan like the Osaka plan. But it’s important that they think more about ways to grow their regional economies,” Yoshimura said. Having failed to secure a majority in the city’s assembly could put a damper on Osaka Ishin’s quest for a municipal merger, regardless of their victory in the prefectural assembly, where 88 seats were up for grabs. The party won 51 seats there. To merge the wards, a local referendum would need to be initiated with support from a majority of both the municipal and prefectural assemblies. Prior to the elections, Osaka Ishin had a plurality in both assemblies and had to cooperate with Komeito in order to form a majority. Komeito has remained staunchly opposed to Osaka Ishin’s efforts to eliminate the city’s 24 wards and create four large semiautonomous wards and do away with the current city council structure. Osaka Ishin claims the merger is necessary to reduce costs and improve bureaucratic services. The LDP, Komeito and other opposition parties say the plan is costly and offers no clear benefits. The party’s failure to capture a majority of municipal assembly seats could also likely impact the fortunes of Nippon Ishin no Kai, the national branch of Osaka Ishin, as Upper House elections loom in July. Sunday’s results could also affect what has been a cordial and cooperative relationship among Matsui, Yoshimura, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, much to the irritation of the Osaka LDP chapter. With the failure of Osaka Ishin to capture local majorities, the LDP is looking to build momentum in order to challenge Nippon Ishin candidates in July. At a news conference Sunday night, Osaka Ishin Secretary-General Yutaka Imai echoed the comments made by the party’s winning candidates. He said the results reflected the will of the Osaka people and that other parties, especially Komeito, need to pay attention to how the majority voted. “It was tough election as we were up against candidates supported by all of the major parties, from the LDP to the Japanese Communist Party. But this election was not only a judgment on the merger plan but also the Osaka Ishin reforms of the past 10 years,” Imai said.

elections
osaka ishin no kai
hirofumi yoshimura
ichiro matsui


Osaka Ishin now firmly in control across prefecture, piling pressure on Komeito to back merger

Abstract: OSAKA - A newly energized Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) emerged Monday following strong victories in Sunday’s local polls that gave it the governorship, the Osaka mayor’s office, the prefectural assembly and an increase in municipal assembly seats just two shy of a majority. With Osaka Ishin now firmly in control of the local political scene, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito officials, reeling from their losses, are wondering if Sunday’s results will translate into losses for their own candidates in Upper House elections set for July. At the same time, Osaka Ishin officials made clear Sunday and Monday that they will increase the pressure on former coalition partner Komeito, in particular over the question of whether to merge Osaka’s 24 wards into four semiautonomous zones and do away with the current structure of the city council. Osaka Ishin has long championed the move while Komeito, along with the LDP, have opposed it. “The key will be, how does Komeito take the election results? We’ll explain the Osaka merger in a polite way, but they need to take into account how Osaka voters have spoken,” said former Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who heads Osaka Ishin and on Sunday won the election to become Osaka mayor. Komeito officials acknowledged that Osaka Ishin had scored an impressive victory. “We have to accept that voters’ hopes for Osaka Ishin are high,” said Shigeki Sato, Komeito’s prefectural chapter head and a Lower House member, early on Monday. He added that he wanted a fair and just discussion on the merger issue. The final count in the gubernatorial election showed that Osaka Ishin-backed former Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, 43, defeated LDP- and Komeito-backed Tadakazu Konishi, 64, by over 1 million votes. Osaka Ishin also won 51 of the 88 prefectural assembly seats. In the mayoral election, Matsui, 55, defeated LDP- and Komeito-backed Akira Yanagimoto, 45, who has now lost the mayoral race for the second time, having been beaten by Yoshimura in 2015. While Osaka Ishin did not quite capture a majority in the 83-seat municipal assembly, the party won 40 seats. LDP and Komeito assembly members are also aware that Matsui is extremely close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Sunday’s results were a notable triumph for Matsui. With the city needing cooperation and financial support from the central government for the Group of 20 Summit in June, the 2025 World Expo, and a possible integrated casino resort, he will negotiate with Tokyo and is well-placed to have top LDP and Komeito officials in Tokyo pressure their Osaka chapters to change their stance on the merger issue. While the main issue on Sunday was Osaka Ishin’s merger push, part of the party’s success may be in the way it promoted Matsui and Yoshimura to voters as successful international diplomats who are responsible for winning the expo, and the party itself as economic innovators putting forward policies that have greatly boosted tourism to a region not traditionally seen as being as popular with overseas visitors to the same extent as Tokyo or Kyoto. LDP officials scoffed at such suggestions during the campaign, saying Osaka’s expo win was due to diplomatic efforts by LDP leaders like Abe and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko — who was born in Osaka and represents a district in Wakayama in the Upper House. For the local LDP, Sunday was a shock. Among those who lost their seats to new Osaka Ishin members was Mitsuyoshi Hanaya, the LDP prefectural chapter’s secretary-general. Hanaya had been the party’s most visible opponent of Osaka Ishin’s merger efforts. “Our efforts at the local level were weak. It’s clear the Osaka merger plan has no merit. We aren’t changing our stance of fighting it,” said Hirotoshi Kawashima, vice secretary-general of the LDP’s Osaka municipal assembly chapter, late on Sunday. The results were also bad news for one of the most powerful national LDP officials, Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai. Prior to last month’s decision to hold a gubernatorial and mayoral election alongside assembly elections, Yanagimoto, the LDP and Komeito’s mayoral candidate, had been slated to run in July’s Upper House election. He was aiming to replace his uncle, Takuji Yanagimoto, a member of Nikai’s faction. The younger Yanagimoto remains a potential LDP candidate for the Upper House despite his defeat on Sunday. But how he will fare against an opponent from newly confident Osaka Ishin’s national party, Nippon Ishin no Kai, is uncertain. A connection with Nikai, who kicked off campaigns for Yanagimoto and Konishi but saw a Japanese Communist Party candidate defeat an eight-term LDP incumbent in his hometown of Gobo, Wakayama prefecture, could also prove to be a liability with Osaka’s younger urban voters.

osaka
komeito
osaka ishin no kai
elections
ldp
ichiro matsui
hirofumi yoshimura


Prince Hisahito tells junior high school entrance ceremony of new students' hopes to broaden perspectives

Abstract: Prince Hisahito, the 12-year-old grandson of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, attended the entrance ceremony for a junior high school affiliated with Tokyo’s Ochanomizu University on Monday. The son of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, who will be second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne following the abdication of the 85-year-old Emperor on April 30, made a pledge as a representative of about 110 new students at the ceremony, saying, “We’d like to develop our individual abilities and broaden our possibilities and perspectives.” Currently, the prince is the only male Imperial family member of his generation. Prince Akishino will become first in line to the throne after his elder brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, succeeds the Emperor on May 1. “From now on, I’d like to lead a fulfilling student life,” the young prince, wearing a navy blue uniform, told reporters before the ceremony, which was attended by his parents. Prince Hisahito, who attended Ochanomizu University Elementary School, is the first member of the Imperial Family in the postwar era not to enroll in Gakushuin Primary School, associated with Gakushuin University, which was established in the 19th century as a school for aristocrats. Most Imperial family members have attended schools associated with the university. After graduating from Ochanomizu University Junior High School, Prince Hisahito will advance to a high school not affiliated with the women’s university, as its high school only accepts female students. As the Imperial House Law stipulates that only males with male lineal descent from emperors can ascend the throne, there will be only three heirs — Prince Akishino, 53, Prince Hisahito, and Prince Hitachi, 83, the younger brother of the Emperor — after the upcoming Imperial succession.

prince hisahito
emperor akihito
ochanomizu university
prince akishino
abdication
imperial family
royalty
emperor naruhito


Bridge linking Miyagi Prefecture's disaster-hit Oshima Island with Kesennuma is opened

Abstract: KESENNUMA, MIYAGI PREF. - A bridge connecting Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture with a nearby island in the Pacific Ocean went into service Sunday. The bridge to Oshima was built as a lifeline for its residents. When the island’s ferry port was damaged during the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, people living on the island were isolated for around three weeks. The Miyagi Prefectural Government spent some ¥6 billion constructing the 356-meter-long bridge. On Sunday, Oshima residents and others crossed the bridge during a ceremony to mark its opening. Recalling his bitter experience in connection with the 3/11 disaster, Yuichi Hatakeyama, a 71-year-old resident, noted that his wife was scheduled to enter a hospital in Sendai that day. Due to the disruption of ferry services, however, she was not hospitalized until about three weeks later, he said. Hatakeyama said that he had been “extremely worried” that her symptoms could worsen. “I’m now full of emotion to see the much-awaited completion of the bridge,” he added. A tourism-related facility is slated to open on the island next year. “I want many people to visit the scenic island,” said Kesennuma Mayor Shigeru Sugawara. A total of 33 people lost their lives on Oshima during the disasters. As of the end of February, the population on the island stood at 2,447.

miyagi prefecture
kesennuma
3.11
natural disasters


Judge clears father accused of sexual assault against daughter, saying court cannot establish victim's incapacity to resist

Abstract: NAGOYA - A father accused of sexually assaulting his daughter in Aichi Prefecture in 2017 has been found not guilty because the court was unable to establish that the victim’s ability to resist intercourse with him was diminished, it has been learned. The ruling was handed down by the Nagoya District Court’s Okazaki branch on March 26. The defendant had been indicted on a charge of forced sexual intercourse on the basis of reduced mental capacity to resist, relating to incidents involving his daughter at his workplace in August 2017 and at a hotel in September 2017. In the trial prosecutors had sought a prison term of 10 years, alleging that the victim “had been sexually assaulted since she was in her second year of junior high school and felt unable to resist due to guilt as her father pays for her vocational school tuition.” The defense argued that the “sex was consensual and that she’d had the capacity to resist.” Presiding Judge Hiromitsu Ukai acknowledged that the victim, who was 19 when the incidents took place, “had sexual intercourse against her will and that she was in a state of being deprived of intention and will to resist the attack.” At the same time, however, the judge said: “The violence she had sustained when she previously refused sex wasn’t sufficient to provoke fear, and it is difficult to establish that she was fearful of violence and couldn’t resist.” The ruling also noted that she had consistently denied the advances and avoided encounters with help from her brother, determining that “it is difficult to say she was in a subordinate relationship that she was forced to comply.” The defense attorney said the trial was based on the principle that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. “We will consult with a higher prosecutor’s office and act accordingly,” said Masako Chiku, a prosecutor at the Nagoya District Public Prosecutor’s Office.


The week ahead for April 8 to April 14

Abstract: Monday Nissan to hold extraordinary shareholders meeting to dismiss former chairman Carlos Ghosn and former director Greg Kelly, close aide of Ghosn, from its board and pick Renault SA Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard as director. Finance Ministry to release preliminary balance of payments statistics for February. Cabinet Office to release survey on consumer trends for March. Cabinet Office to release monthly “economy watchers” survey for March. Tuesday Campaigns to start for House of Representatives by-elections in Osaka No. 12, Okinawa No. 3 constituencies. Focus is on whether candidate backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party can secure victory in Okinawa district where U.S. marine air base is being built under central government’s controversial relocation plan. Results could impact House of Councilors’ election in summer. Wednesday Bank of Japan to release preliminary corporate goods price index for March. Cabinet Office to release machinery orders data for February. Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko to mark 60th wedding anniversary. Lawmakers, business leaders to hold event to mark 30th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s enthronement. Communications ministry to allocate frequencies for 5G mobile wireless services. 5G technology will enable 100 times faster data transmission than 4G networks. Trial operation is scheduled to start this year with commercial services expected in 2020. Government to lift mandatory evacuation order in part of the town of Okuma that hosts Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crippled by March 2011 quake and tsunami disaster following decline in radiation level. Former residents will be allowed to return for first time since disaster struck. Thursday Fast Retailing Co., operator of Uniqlo casual clothing chain, to release earnings for December-February quarter. Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of Group of 20 nations to hold two-day meeting in Washington D.C. They are expected to discuss international cooperation to address possible slowdown in global economy amid U.S.-China trade tensions and uncertainty over Brexit deal. ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating to begin in Fukuoka with top-level skaters from six nations of Japan, Russia, United States, France, Canada and Italy. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu will skip competition due to ankle injury. Saturday 500 days to go until Tokyo Paralympics. Sunday Campaigns to start for mayoral elections in five prefectural capitals.