Lack of progress at Trump-Kim summit will have mixed impact on China, South Korea and Japan

Abstract: HANOI - The fruitless U.S.-North Korea summit will have a mixed impact on China, South Korea and Japan, each of which has different strategic interests at stake. The two-day summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un failed to yield any written agreement, sparking concern that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will not be realized in the near future. Foreign affairs experts say that China is not altogether displeased in the outcome, since it is keen to continue playing a pivotal role in East Asia, and that South Korea is disappointed because it will likely face difficulties in deepening economic cooperation with the North amid tight international sanctions on its neighbor. Japan remains threatened by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles without being able to find an opening for breaking the deadlock in bilateral relations, they added. In early 2018, Kim suddenly started pledging to attain “complete” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and putting more emphasis on revitalizing the economy than on bolstering the armed forces. Dogged by the sanctions that have dragged down its economy, North Korea has made diplomatic overtures to China, South Korea and the United States while discontinuing missile and nuclear tests. Since making his first foreign trip as leader to Beijing last March, Kim has held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping four times and thrice with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in addition to his two summits with Trump. Kim’s overtures have been accepted by the leaders, allowing Pyongyang to successfully mend its ties with all three countries. Nevertheless, this time Trump rejected North Korea’s proposals as inadequate, saying it “wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety” without offering “enough” denuclearization measures in return. Analysts say that China — North Korea’s major economic and political ally — is inwardly happy to hear that the Hanoi summit failed to achieve a breakthrough, as maintaining influence over its neighbor is in its security interests. China and the United States have been engaged in a trade war and are divided over security issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea. “As long as U.S.-North Korea talks are stalled, China would try to use North Korea as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from the United States,” a source familiar with Beijing’s thinking said. Trump told a news conference following his summit with Kim, “China has been very helpful. President Xi is a great leader. He’s a highly respected leader all over the world, and especially in Asia. And he’s helped us.” Many diplomats in Beijing expect Kim to visit China soon to meet with Xi. As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Pyongyang, speculation is also rife that Xi will visit North Korea as early as next month. As for the two Koreas, their economic cooperation — including a jointly run industrial park at the North’s border city of Kaesong and tours by South Koreans to its Mount Kumgang resort — has been suspended so far in consideration of the United States. Trump’s commitment not to “give up all of the sanctions,” aimed at preventing North Korea from pursing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, will deprive the South of an opportunity to resume the joint economic activities, which also include a project to connect railways and roads across the inter-Korean border. As the Trump-Kim summit did not solve key issues that lie between the United States and North Korea, inter-Korean ties “cannot but have limits,” said Kim Joon-hyung, a professor of international politics at Handong University in Pohang, South Korea. Under the current circumstances, Kim’s possible visit to Seoul “will not come soon,” although the two Koreas are very eager to strengthen their relations further, a diplomatic source said. Japan has a different set of worries. As denuclearization talks have failed to deliver a substantial outcome, North Korea will continue to have a nuclear arsenal that includes ballistic missiles capable of reaching Japan. Among other East Asian countries, Japan has lagged behind in improving ties with North Korea. Their relations are stuck in a stalemate over the long-standing issue of past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe having stated that tackling the matter is his “life’s work.” Abe insists the abduction issue be resolved before bilateral relations can be normalized. But Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said, “Japan risks being isolated from the four-way discussions and developments between the United States, North Korea, South Korea and China.” “Prime Minister Abe’s primary focus on the abductee issue contributes to this risk to Japan,” he added. Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, said, “Abe prefers regime change not allowing Kim to engage in nuclear blackmail.” Japan’s relations with South Korea have also been deteriorating over matters related to its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, while those with China have been improving.

china
south korea
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
north korea-japan relations
kim-trump summit


Saudi sisters appeal for safe haven as Hong Kong clock ticks down

Abstract: HONG KONG - Two Saudi sisters marooned in Hong Kong after fleeing their family appealed to authorities not to deport them while they seek sanctuary in a third country as the clock ticked down Thursday on their permission to stay. The siblings are the latest example of Saudi women escaping the ultra-conservative kingdom only to find themselves stranded in foreign cities and making public appeals for their safety. The young women, aged 20 and 18, said they made a break from an abusive family during a holiday in Sri Lanka last September, with the intention of heading for Australia. But they only made it as far as Hong Kong. The two women — who use the aliases Reem and Rawan — said they were intercepted by Saudi consular officials at Hong Kong’s airport and had their air tickets canceled. Fearful they might be abducted, they entered Hong Kong as visitors where they say they have had to change locations 13 times to stay hidden. Their passports were later revoked. Michael Vidler, a lawyer for the pair, said city immigration authorities had previously indicated the pair would be “tolerated” until Thursday. As that deadline loomed they issued a fresh appeal on Thursday asking authorities to allow them to remain as “tolerated overstayers” while they seek “emergency rescue visas to a third country. “We are in fear every day we are in Hong Kong,” the two sisters said in a statement posted late Thursday on the Facebook page of their lawyer’ firm. “We want to leave to a third country place of safety as soon as possible. We hope that this will happen soon and that the Hong Kong government will continue to allow us to stay here until then,” they added. Immigration authorities in Hong Kong have so far refused to comment on the case. The city itself has a poor record on refugees, only granting sanctuary to less than 1 percent of claimants. The two women told AFP last week that chronic physical abuse by male family members prompted them to flee. They said they had also renounced Islam, a crime technically punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Their testimony cannot be independently verified and Saudi authorities have yet to comment on their allegations. But many Saudi women who flee overseas have described to media and rights groups of persuasive and coercive tactics used by Saudi officials and family members to pursue those who escape. In the statement on Facebook, Vidler said he was “hopeful” Hong Kong would extend his clients’ stay and that their asylum request in a third country would be granted soon. The Hong Kong sister’s case emerged a month after 18-year-old Saudi Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun drew global attention with her dramatic escape from an allegedly abusive family, eventually gaining refugee status in Canada.

hong kong
deportation
australia
reem
rawan
saudi arabia
asylum


After summit collapse, North Korea's Kim vows to meet Trump again

Abstract: SEOUL/HANOI - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to meet again with President Donald Trump to continue nuclear negotiations after a two-day summit between the leaders collapsed Thursday amid discord over sanctions and conflicting accounts of Pyongyang’s demands. Kim’s pledge was released Friday through North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA in a report that presented a more optimistic outlook than the regime’s top diplomats gave in a rare news conference hours earlier. Kim expressed appreciation for Trump’s “active efforts toward results” and called the summit talks “productive.” North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho previously disputed Trump’s claim that Kim had demanded a complete removal of economic sanctions — which the U.S. president said led him to break off talks. Another top regime diplomat signaled a hardening stance, telling reporters Kim may have “lost the will” to make a deal on his country’s nuclear program. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui told reporters the “U.S. not accepting our proposal is missing an opportunity that comes once in a thousand years.” The KCNA report, however, called the efforts to reduce tensions of “great significance.” Kim has limited options as international sanctions choke North Korea’s faltering economy, and securing some measure of economic support from China would likely be crucial for the regime. The North Korean leader in January made a similar threat to shift toward a “new path” if Trump didn’t lift sanctions and then proceeded to meet the U.S. president. Trump ended the summit early and said Kim “wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.” In exchange, Trump said the North Korean leader had offered to dismantle its main nuclear facility at Nyongbyon. Ri, however, said North Korea had only asked for relief from sanctions enacted in 2016 and 2017. He said that would mean removing sanctions imposed by five of 11 U.N. resolutions against the country. The North Korean offer included shuttering both plutonium and uranium facilities at Nyongbyon under the observation of U.S. experts, Choe said. Nyongbyon is a sprawling complex with dozens of buildings and reactors including plutonium reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities and research centers. It is a crown jewel of the North’s nuclear capabilities. The U.S. presented Kim with evidence of additional secret nuclear sites, surprising the North Koreans, according to Trump. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said that even without Nyongbyon, the country would still possess missiles, warheads and other elements of a nuclear program that were unacceptable to the U.S. Several analysts said North Korea’s demands for partial sanctions relief included all of the key sanctions and would have left the Trump administration little leverage to address other hidden enrichment facilities. “This is basically asking sanctions relaxation on everything. There is not even a value to consider,” the North’s offer, said Shin Beomchul of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. The United Nations sanctions resolutions imposed since 2016 include limits on North’s crude oil import, a ban on North’s exports of key items such as seafood and minerals as well as a cap on North Korean laborers working overseas. Ri told reporters that “first stage” steps such as those Pyongyang proposed are “inevitable” for the process of complete denuclearization. He added that North Korea’s stance “will never be changed” and that “it could be difficult to meet again.” “Chairman Kim got the feeling that he didn’t understand the way Americans calculate,” Choe added. “I have a feeling that Chairman Kim may have lost the will” to negotiate with Trump. The North Korean officials’ hastily arranged news conference was a rare departure for the regime, which usually avoids directly engaging with Western media and communicates through formal statements. They assembled reporters on Friday just after midnight local time. Ri spoke and then Choe, the number two in the ministry, stayed behind afterward for a question and answer session. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, speaking to reporters during a refueling stop in Alaska on Trump’s return, confirmed that the president had been briefed on the North Korean news conference. “We want to make sure we have a good deal, not just a deal,” she said. The summit ended abruptly before a scheduled “working lunch” at Hanoi’s iconic Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel. Reporters were ushered out of a dining room prepared for the two leaders and their aides, and the White House announced there had been a schedule change. Soon after, the two leaders separately departed the hotel and Trump left the country ahead of schedule. Trump received bipartisan praise from U.S. congressional leaders for walking out of the summit. “President Trump did the right thing by walking away and not cutting a poor deal for the sake of a photo op,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky commended the president. “Kim Jong Un now has a long train ride home, and he’ll have time to reflect on the future that is still within North Korea’s grasp,” he said. The summit’s collapse sent global stocks sliding as the future of U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks remained uncertain. While Trump said the meeting ended amicably with a handshake, he hasn’t committed to another summit with Kim.

north korea
kim jong un
donald trump
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
kim-trump summit


Burden falls back on diplomats after Trump and Kim fail to reach deal on North Korea nuclear arms

Abstract: HANOI - The failure of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to secure even a limited deal at their second nuclear summit means any breakthrough now depends on working-level talks that have made little progress since last year. The sudden collapse of talks Thursday highlighted just how large the gulf between the two countries remains, experts said. It also underscored that whatever chemistry Trump and Kim might have, it was not enough to overcome differences that the rushed pre-summit negotiations left unresolved. In the run-up to the summit in Hanoi, Trump downplayed expectations that North Korea would give up its entire nuclear weapons arsenal any time soon. But officials had signaled a limited deal could lead to a declaration ending the state of hostilities that have existed since the 1950-1953 Korean War, the closing of North Korea’s main nuclear facility at Nyongbyon, or opening liaison offices. The two leaders began their summit by expressing optimism and the White House announced they would sign a joint declaration, widely expected to at least reaffirm the general goals agreed to when Trump and Kim met for the first time in Singapore last year. The ceremony, as well as a working lunch, was abruptly canceled. “Not only did the Hanoi summit fail to produce meaningful results, but Trump and his team have clearly squandered the seven months since Singapore to make progress on even modest steps toward the lofty Singapore summit goals,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Trump said no deal was reached because Kim wanted all sanctions lifted in exchange for partial denuclearization. That stance should have been a massive warning flag to the American delegation ahead of the summit, Kimball said. Typically, major summits between world leaders are held only once officials have finalized all the details, something they were unable to do this time. “When you are dealing with a country that is of the nature of North Korea, it is often the case that only the most senior leaders have the capacity to make those important decisions,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on his airplane after departing Hanoi. Optimists clung to Trump’s insistence that the two sides remain committed to talking as a sign there won’t be an immediate return to the threats and tension of the past. Critics, meanwhile, said the summit proved Trump’s diplomacy was based on pageantry that has done little beyond reducing political pressure on one of the world’s most repressive countries. Most analysts agreed, however, that the second summit ending with no or little progress makes it harder for Trump to argue for his reliance on the self-described “special relationship” with Kim. “It does rather undermine the top-down approach, at least for the time being,” said Christopher Green, senior adviser to the International Crisis Group. “Trump isn’t going to be able to spend scarce political capital on another failed summit, so the next steps will have to come from the working level.” After last year’s Singapore summit, lower-level U.S. negotiators sometimes struggled to meet with their North Korean counterparts, and the recent flurry of talks only began after the summit appeared imminent. “The lack of working-level talks in the lead up to the Hanoi Summit undermined the chances of reaching a successful deal,” U.S. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey said on Twitter on Thursday, calling on both sides to “immediately continue their engagement.” Daniel Russel, vice president of Asia Society Policy Institute and former foreign affairs aide to President Barack Obama, said given that “the hard diplomatic work of narrowing differences and exploring options had simply not been done,” it was unsurprising that the two leaders could not close the deal. “At this point it will be no easy matter to persuade North Korea to move quickly, to deal with U.S. negotiators rather than with Trump directly, or to accept that its entire nuclear and missile program must be on the table.” Many critics had feared that driven by a desire to claim a victory, Trump might make too many concessions so analysts said Trump’s decision to walk away from the deal as he described it was the right one and expressed hope that working-level talks could make more progress. “By walking away from the table, Trump is effectively signaling to North Korea that they will have to deal more with (U.S. special envoy for North Korea) Steve Biegun, who faced difficulties in meeting with his counterparts in the months after he was appointed last August,” said Korea Economic Institute Director Kyle Ferrier. Despite disagreements over the details, both sides appeared willing to keep talking, he said. “What is needed now are small steps to keep the diplomatic momentum going.”

north korea
donald trump
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
kim-trump summit


After seizure by Russia and payment of fine, crew of Japanese crab fishing boat released

Abstract: VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA - All 10 crew members of a Japanese crab fishing boat detained by Russian authorities in late January were released Friday and are returning home, according to the consulate-general of Japan in Vladivostok. The captain of the Nishino Maru No. 68 from Shimane Prefecture has been fined for fishing illegally in Russia’s exclusive economic zone. The captain admitted to fishing in the waters without necessary documentation. Russian authorities claimed the illegal fishing caused at least 39 million rubles (¥66 million) in economic damage, and filed a complaint with a court calling for an administrative measure. The boat’s operator paid 39 million rubles for the crew’s release.


Safety of 2,936 children flagged in June still unknown as of November, welfare ministry says

Abstract: The number of children who had not been confirmed safe as of the end of November totaled 2,936, the welfare ministry said in a report Thursday. Some 15,270 children who haven’t received early medical checkups or enrolled in childcare facilities or schools were identified as those whose safety was not confirmed as of June 1 last year. Of them, 2,936 children had still not been confirmed safe by municipal officials by the end of November. The survey was conducted in response to the death of an abused 5-year-old girl in Tokyo last year. Of the children, 2,480, or 84.5 percent of the total, are preschoolers, followed by elementary school students at 263, or 9.0 percent, junior high school students at 147, or 5.0 percent, and children who graduated from junior high school at 46, or 1.6 percent. By prefecture, Tokyo had the most children whose safety was unknown, with 921, followed by Chiba, with 238. Of the children whose safety was confirmed, 143 were found to have been abused and 10 were placed in temporary protective custody by child consultation centers.


Moon vows to work with Japan as South Korea marks 100th anniversary of uprising against colonial rule

Abstract: SEOUL - In a speech Friday marking the 100th anniversary of the launch of a popular uprising against Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule, South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to strengthen cooperation with Japan to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moon’s remarks, at the annual commemoration of the March First Independence Movement, follow a fraying of South Korea-Japan ties over historical grievances, including the issue of “comfort women.” The term comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. “Cooperation with Japan will also be strengthened for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said in his speech at a government ceremony in central Seoul. “We cannot change the past but can transform the future. When Korea and Japan firmly join hands while reflecting on history, the era of peace will approach our side with large strides. When the pain of victims is substantively healed through concerted efforts, Korea and Japan will become genuine friends with heart-to-heart understanding,” he added. The absence of direct criticism of Japan in Moon’s speech suggested he was reluctant to further aggravate tensions in the bilateral relationship. With regard to pro-Japanese collaborators during the colonial era, the president said erasing their vestiges was a “long-overdue undertaking.” But he also said Koreans neither intend to “instigate divisiveness by re-opening old wounds now nor create issues for diplomatic conflicts with a neighboring country.” Also during the speech, Moon indicated his readiness to continue serving as a mediator between the United States and North Korea, one day after talks between the leaders of the two countries, held in Hanoi, essentially collapsed without any agreements. The two-day summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam through Thursday made “meaningful progress,” Moon said, claiming that the two leaders had conversed at length and built more trust. “Importantly, they even discussed the issue of installing liaison offices, an important step toward the normalization of bilateral ties,” the president said. In the event progress is made in North Korea’s denuclearization, he said, the two Koreas will set up a joint economic committee to “produce economic achievements that benefit both South and North Korea.” Moon also expressed hope that progress in inter-Korean ties will lead to normalizing the North’s relations with the United States and Japan, which he said would then lead to a new order of peace and security in Northeast Asia. On March 1, 1919, prominent Koreans opposing Japan’s colonial rule issued a declaration of independence, sparking mass demonstrations across the peninsula. South Korea has designated the anniversary a national holiday. Patriotic sentiment has recently been rising among the South Korean public, due partly to 2019 being a centenary year for several historical events. Among such events, on April 11, the country will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. In line with the centennial events, Moon’s government has decided to pardon about 4,300 people. Various events have also been planned to remember high-profile Koreans, such as Kim Koo, an independence movement leader, and Ahn Jung-geun, a national hero in South Korea who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, Japan’s first prime minister and first resident-general of Korea, in 1909.

moon jae-in
north korea
u.s .
south korea-japan relations


Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki requests three-way talks with Tokyo and U.S. after Futenma 'no' vote

Abstract: Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki called Friday for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to launch trilateral talks involving Washington aimed at reviewing the relocation plan for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, after a referendum confirmed strong opposition against it across the prefecture. Abe did not directly respond to the request, made during a meeting with the governor in Tokyo, but said he intends to continue their talks, Tamaki told reporters after their discussions. The request comes after a prefecture-wide nonbinding referendum held Sunday showed that more than 70 percent of voters rejected the more than 20-year-old plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to a less populated coastal zone in Henoko. The plan originated in an agreement reached by the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996. Tamaki visited Abe to formally report the outcome of the referendum, which asked whether Okinawa residents agreed with the landfill work being undertaken in Henoko as part of the base construction work. The referendum ordinance requires the governor to report the outcome to the prime minister and U.S. President Donald Trump when any of three options — yes, no or neither — are approved by a quarter of eligible voters. “It is extremely significant that the will of people (in Okinawa) urging (the government) to give up the transfer to Henoko was clearly shown for the first time” through the referendum, Tamaki said at the outset of his meeting with Abe. He requested that the prime minister “immediately” stop the construction work. Central government has said it has no plan to stop the work, stating before the referendum that it would proceed with the project regardless of the outcome of the vote. Tokyo maintains the plan is the “only solution” for removing the dangers posed by the Futenma base without undermining the deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. security alliance. “While taking the outcome seriously, we would like to produce results step by step to reduce the burden” on Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan, Abe is reported to have said during the meeting. The governor, who was elected last September on a platform of blocking the relocation plan, also paid a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo so that the outcome would be reported to Trump. Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Young told Tamaki he will convey the result to U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty, according to the governor. In the referendum, 71.7 percent of voters said they were opposed to the plan and some 19 percent said they favored it, with 8.7 percent saying neither. Many Okinawa residents have long hoped the Futenma base would be moved out of the prefecture as they are frustrated with noise, crimes and accidents linked to the U.S. military presence. Opponents of the relocation plan insist the replacement facility will destroy the marine ecosystem off the Henoko coast, which is home to an endangered species of dugong.

okinawa
denny tamaki
futenma
referendums
henoko
u.s .
u.s. bases
nago
u.s.-japan relations


77% of Japanese town and village assembly members are elderly, and only 10% are female

Abstract: Of the 10,956 town and village assembly members in Japan, 8,442, or 77.1 percent, were aged 60 or over as of July 1 last year, a survey showed Thursday. The survey by the national association of town and village assembly chairs covered 927 such assemblies nationwide. The average age of all town and village assembly members stood at 64.2, up 0.7 from a year before, according to the survey. The youngest was Daisuke Nakao, 26, at the assembly of the town of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, while the oldest was Haruo Hanai, 91, at the assembly of the village of Yahiko, Niigata Prefecture. Female assembly members numbered 1,100 — only 10.0 percent of the total, although the proportion had inched up by 0.1 percentage point. The survey also found that 305 assemblies had no female members. Monthly pay for town and village assembly members averaged ¥214,533. Assembly members of the island village of Mikurajima, part of Tokyo, received the lowest salary, at ¥100,000 per month, excluding those of the town of Yamatsuri, Fukushima Prefecture, who are paid per working day.


Abductees' kin disappointed with lack of progress at Trump-Kim summit

Abstract: Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents expressed disappointment Thursday with the apparent lack of progress on the decades-old issue during a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Following a telephone conversation with Trump when he was briefed on the leaders’ Hanoi summit Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that the U.S. president had raised the issue with Kim, but the matter did not come up at a post-summit news conference. The abductions, which were carried out during the 1970s and 1980s, remain one of Japan’s biggest grievances against North Korea and have been a major hurdle to establishing formal diplomatic ties. In phone talks with Abe last week Trump had promised to raise the issue in Hanoi, as he did in the two leaders’ first summit in Singapore last year. “I was hoping for something new, but I knew it would be difficult because denuclearization was the main issue,” said Fumiyo Saito, whose younger brother, Kaoru Matsuki, went missing in 1980 while studying in Spain. “Is all of our work in vain? We are growing old and we can’t wait forever,” the 73-year-old said. Japan officially lists 17 people as abductees, five of whom were repatriated in 2002, and suspects the North’s involvement in many more disappearances. The North maintains that eight of the 17 have died and the remaining four never entered the country. Sakie Yokota, the mother of Megumi Yokota, who disappeared on the way home from school in 1977 at the age of 13, said she has fought long and hard for her daughter’s return. “All we can do now is pray,” she said. Yokota, 83, said she supports Trump’s decision to maintain sanctions on North Korea until Kim agrees to further denuclearization steps. Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group representing abductees’ families, said he hopes the Japanese government will continue to work toward the return of their loved ones. “Prime Minister Abe knows how we feel. I hope he takes every opportunity, no matter how small, to resolve the issue,” said the 80-year-old, whose sister, Yaeko Taguchi, went missing in 1978 when she was 22. “We will never give up,” he said. Abe has expressed a desire to hold his own summit with Kim, but no plans have materialized and communications between Japan and North Korea have been limited to behind-the-scenes meetings between their aides. “We can’t sit around waiting for the denuclearization issue to be resolved. Japan needs to conduct its own negotiations,” said Akihiro Arimoto, whose daughter, Keiko, was kidnapped in 1983 when she was 23. Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, is skeptical about how serious Trump is about helping Abe resolve the abduction issue. Trump’s comments about American university student Otto Warmbier at a press conference are “bad news for the abductee families,” Kingston said, as it shows “how he wants a deal far more than accountability.” Warmbier had been detained in North Korea for more than 17 months and died after being returned home in a coma. “He (Kim) felt very badly. He knew the case very well, but he knew it later,” Trump said, adding, “He tells me that he didn’t know about it, and I will take him at his word.”

abductions
north korea
kim jong un
shinzo abe
fumiyo saito
sakie yokota
megumi yokota
north korea-japan relations


Narita to become first airport in Japan to use facial recognition for boarding instead of document checks

Abstract: NARITA, CHIBA PREF. - The operator of Narita International Airport near Tokyo said Thursday it will introduce in spring 2020 a facial recognition technology-based system that enables passengers to board planes, after check-in, without showing their passports or boarding passes. Narita will be the first airport in the nation to adopt a system that does not require passengers to pause for identification when boarding, according to Narita International Airport Corp. The operator hopes that the system will improve convenience for passengers ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Passengers will first have photos taken of their faces at self check-in kiosks where they enter passport and boarding pass information. High-performance cameras set up at the baggage drop-off counters, safety inspection areas and boarding gates will track the passengers and check their identity against the registered photos as they make their way through the boarding process. While passports and boarding tickets will not be manually checked at such locations, passengers will still have to go through existing procedures at immigration control. Final details of the boarding process when using facial recognition are yet to be confirmed, and it was not clear whether travelers would be able to choose to board using conventional, non-biometric screening. After working out any initial flaws, the airport operator plans to introduce the system first for flights operated by All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, and then for other airlines in stages.

airports
facial recognition
narita international airport
tech
tourism
personal information
2020 tokyo olympics


Hibakusha disheartened after Trump-Kim summit ends without progress on North Korea nuclear arms

Abstract: HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI - Hibakusha in Japan voiced disappointment Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, meeting in Hanoi, failed to agree on denuclearizing North Korea. The two leaders’ failure to reach an agreement means that North Korea’s “nuclear issue will be pushed back,” said Toshiyuki Mimaki, 76, acting chairman of a hibakusha group in Hiroshima Prefecture. Kunihiko Sakuma, 74, head of another hibakusha group in Hiroshima, said that he was “disappointed to see little progress being made on denuclearization and a declaration ending the Korean War.” Sakuma, however, said that he “felt like both the United States and North Korea were thinking that nuclear weapons must be abolished.” “I would like the two sides to meet halfway and hold discussions so they will be able to move forward,” he said. Koichi Kawano, 79, head of a hibakusha group in Nagasaki Prefecture, said he “would have liked it if they had worked out their differences and reached some kind of agreement toward denuclearization, even if it wasn’t 100 percent.” The outcome of the summit is “regrettable,” Kawano said. “While North Korea might not abandon its nuclear weapons easily, Washington and Pyongyang should continue talks to realize a complete denuclearization as soon as possible,” he added. The city of Hiroshima was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. The city of Nagasaki suffered the same fate three days later.

hibakusha
north korea
hiroshima
nagasaki
donald trump
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
u.s .
kim-trump summit


Tokyo 2020 volunteers: Golden opportunity or brazen exploitation by Olympics awash with cash?

Abstract: Unpaid Olympic volunteers do almost everything: guide athletes around, greet dignitaries and translate for lost fans. International Olympic Committee officials acknowledge the games couldn’t be held without them; invariably smiling, helpful and praised by presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. The billion-dollar Olympics are awash with cash. But volunteers work for free. That’s the case next year at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, where about 80,000 volunteers will be needed. Just over 200,000 have applied, with orientation and interviews for residents starting last month. Most don’t seem to mind, thrilled about a once-in-a-lifetime chance and largely unaware that their unpaid labor enriches Olympic sponsors, powerful TV networks, and the Switzerland-based IOC. “To me, it’s very clearly economic exploitation,” said Joel Maxcy, the president of the International Association of Sports Economists and a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Maxcy described a situation in which volunteers assemble the product but “someone else is collecting nearly all of the money derived from those labor efforts.” Volunteers are lured by the powerful Olympic brand, the glamor of being behind the scenes, a sense of altruism and, for younger volunteers, a hope the work might lead to connections and a full-time job. “I’m willing to work for free if I can get a chance to see and talk to Olympians from all over the world in person,” said Yutaro Tokunaga, who attended a recent Tokyo orientation for volunteers. The 26-year-old said his employer is giving him five days of paid leave during the games. Another aspiring volunteer, Masanobu Ishii, said he wanted to convey the spirit of omotenashi , Japan’s brand of hospitality. Volunteers also get involved out of civic duty or patriotism — and the chance to brag to friends. Many older volunteers often don’t need the money. California-based labor economist Andy Schwarz suggested some volunteers would even pay to play. “It’s easy to imagine the Olympics charging for the right to help if the honor were high enough,” Schwarz said. Olympic volunteers typically pay their own lodging and transportation to the host city. They get meals on the days they work, some training and uniforms to treasure. In Tokyo, they will get up to ¥1,000 daily to get to work on the city’s vast transit system. Tokyo organizers also provide some insurance. Almost two-thirds of the applicants for the Tokyo Olympics are Japanese, and almost two-thirds are women. A study done for the IOC on volunteers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics said their value was at least $60 million for 40,000 volunteers. Now, 20 years later, Tokyo organizers will use twice that many. Separately, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will enlist the help of another 30,000 unpaid volunteers. Proponents argue volunteers embody the spirit of the games, harkening to a time almost 50 years ago when Olympic athletes were unpaid amateurs. The IOC champions their use despite some complaints on social media in Tokyo that volunteers are similar to “forced labor.” IOC member John Coates, who heads the inspection team for Tokyo, strongly defended the use of unpaid help. “They don’t have to apply if they don’t want to,” the Australian said. “The economics of it necessitates having to have volunteers. They get trained, they get their uniforms. They are part of something very exciting. … I don’t think there’s a case for paying volunteers.” Almost everyone else working at the Olympics gets paid, many handsomely. Tokyo is spending at least $20 billion (¥2.23 trillion) to organize the Olympics, and organizers have raised $3 billion (¥335 billion) in local sponsorships — twice as much as any previous Olympics. IOC members like Coates receive per diems of between $450 to $900 when they are on Olympic business, and other generous perks like flights and top hotels. IOC President Thomas Bach doesn’t receive a salary but receives an allowance of about $250,000 per year as a “volunteer” president. The IOC typically operates with a $1 billion cash reserve, and had total revenue in the 2013-2016 Olympic cycle of $5.7 billion. It says it returns 90 percent of its revenue to sports federations and national Olympic committees. American network NBC is paying $7.75 billion for the rights to broadcast six Olympics beginning in 2022, an extension on a $4.38 billion contract. Tracey Dickson, who studies volunteerism at Canberra University, said many factors go beyond “the pure economics.” She listed social cohesion and volunteer camaraderie, which she termed “the fellowship of the suffering.” “I can understand the economic argument,” she said. “But if they were being paid it would be (a) real job with real expectations and there’d be a totally different vibe.” “If they are just employees well, they’re just another employee. There’s so much value in that feel-good factor,” she said. The 2016 Rio Olympics had problems finding volunteers. And when the games began, organizers said about 30 percent on any given day failed to show up for work, which organizers said was anticipated. Brazil also lacked a volunteer culture, and entrenched poverty meant that mostly the white and wealthy signed up. Using volunteers also means those with free time are putting it toward the Olympics, rather than other charitable endeavors. Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland who has also served as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, cautioned about using volunteers in mega-sports events if they undercut the market for people who need work. Robinson is now serving with the Switzerland-based Centre for Sports and Human Rights, which was launched last year. “Volunteers can play a role,” Robinson said. “But not if it displaces the potential for people having jobs where the entities can well afford to give people the opportunity to have gainful employment rather than work as volunteers.” David Berri, a sports economist at Southern Utah University, suggested that organizers and Olympic officials should also work for free, or for smaller salaries. “If the volunteers were paid, there would be less money for everyone else,” he said. “The Olympics have learned people will work for free, so they take advantage of this. If they (Olympic officials) really thought this was all OK, they should obviously volunteer to work for free.”

volunteers
2020 tokyo olympics
2020 tokyo paralympics


SDF draws fire for recruitment poster featuring female anime characters in skimpy costumes

Abstract: A Self-Defense Forces recruitment office in Shiga Prefecture has caused a stir by releasing a poster that features female anime characters wearing super-short skirts, which expose what appear to be underwear. Some people have described the image as a form of sexual harassment. The recruitment poster was created by the SDF’s Shiga Provincial Cooperation Office in Otsu and features three female characters from “Strike Witches,” an aerial combat anime series. Two of the three characters appear to be wearing blue underwear under their costumes. Following its release last autumn, the image has been used on the office’s website, Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as at some SDF regional offices across the prefecture, according to the office. In a telephone interview Friday with The Japan Times, a spokesperson for the office rejected the claim that the image constituted sexual harassment, saying: “We only used the existing anime work of Kadokawa Corp.” Asked why the office decided to use characters from “Strike Witches,” the spokesperson said, “We thought that the content appeals to young people. We didn’t really insist on using female characters.” One person who posted online at the Yahoo! Japan News website suggested they thought “images of SDF personnel working hard in disaster reconstruction are cooler,” while another wrote that “they should have used an image featuring a uniform that’s befitting of SDF members.” The Kyoto Shimbun reported the matter in an article Thursday, and quoted an official from the office as saying that what the characters are wearing under the costumes are “meant to be trousers and not underwear, and thus we believe it is appropriate.” The Self-Defense Forces are facing an increasingly severe personnel shortage amid a shrinking pool of young applicants and a robust economy. Last October, to secure more personnel, the Defense Ministry raised the age ceiling for applicants to 32 from 26.

recruitment
poster
shiga
strike witches
self defense forces


Ex-Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems executives convicted of bribes after company struck Japan's first plea bargain

Abstract: A Tokyo court found two former executives of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems guilty of bribing a senior Thai official over a power plant project after the company struck a plea bargain — the nation’s first. The Tokyo District Court on Friday gave suspended sentences of 18 months and 16 months to Fuyuhiko Nishikida, 63, and Yoshiki Tsuji, 57, respectively. The sentences were suspended for three years. As evidence, the court adopted a plea bargain signed by prosecutors and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd. that shields the company from indictment in exchange for cooperation with the investigation and trial. According to the ruling, the pair conspired with the project’s manager, Satoshi Uchida, 64, and paid 11 million baht(about ¥39 million) in February 2015 to a Thai official with the Ministry of Transport to receive favorable treatment when unloading cargo. Thai authorities had told them the company failed to meet the conditions for cargo discharge. The two men admitted to the accusations and their lawyers requested leniency, saying the executives were compelled to meet the demand from the Thai public servant and did not receive any personal gains from the bribe. In handing down the ruling, Judge Tatsuya Tosuke said the two men, who were responsible for transporting equipment, decided to pay the bribe after checking with Uchida. “The amount was large and it was an organized crime, involving many sections such as a sales department,” the judge said. The lawyers have argued it was “not fair” that the three men were the only ones prosecuted. Uchida is also standing trial in a separate case. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power System became aware of the matter in March 2015 after being alerted by a whistleblower. It reported the issue to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office after an internal probe. The Yokohama-based firm entered into a plea bargain agreement last June, shortly after the system was introduced.

plea bargaining
thailand
bribery
mitsubishi hitachi power systems ltd .


Airlines stall in tackling climate change but ANA, United and Delta rated best at managing risks in study

Abstract: OSLO - Airlines are doing too little in the fight against global warming, a study funded by investors with $13 trillion in assets under management said on Tuesday. The fast-growing sector accounts for 2 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions and should do more to manage risks of climate change, the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) said in a review of 20 of the world’s biggest listed airlines. It rated Delta, Lufthansa, United Airlines and ANA Holdings as the best performers at managing the business risks and opportunities of climate change. But all could do more. “Investors have a clear message to the aviation sector: When it comes to carbon performance they must be in it for the long haul,” said Faith Ward, co-chair of the TPI on behalf of the British Environment Agency Pension Fund. “Investors do care … it’s about encouraging disclosure so we can make informed decisions,” she told Reuters. TPI, which seeks to assess the performance of businesses in cutting carbon, groups 40 investors with $13 trillion under management, including BNP Paribas and Legal & General Investment Management. Its research is by the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute. More fuel-efficient planes, wider use of biofuels and ensuring that planes fly at full capacity would help to limit emissions. TPI separately said easyJet and Alaska Air now had the most efficient fleets among the top 20 listed airlines, judged by their emissions per passenger kilometer flown. At the other end of that scale, ANA, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines have the highest emissions intensities, it said. Asked about the data, a Japan Airlines official said: “We are aiming to release our CSR (corporate social responsibility) measures toward 2030 in the next fiscal year.” ANA, Korean and Singapore did not immediately reply to a Reuters’ request for comment. Lead author professor Simon Dietz of the Grantham Research Institute said some airlines had adopted broad industry goals to cap net carbon emissions at 2020 levels, or to halve net emissions by 2050 from 2005 levels. But that focus on net emissions often meant airlines could buy permits to emit carbon dioxide, rather than make cuts themselves. “The issue is that we don’t know how much they are going to reduce their own flight emissions compared to buying offsets,” he told Reuters. Dietz also said there were other effects of aviation apart from carbon dioxide that need more research. Contrails, for instance, may can cause high-level clouds that trap heat. Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, almost 200 governments agreed to cut emissions to help avert more floods, droughts and rising sea levels. They promised to “enhance public and private sector participation” in cutting emissions.

airlines
climate change
ana
united
delta
transition pathway initiative
japan airlines
jal


U.N. Myanmar expert wants tighter checks by Facebook and investors to ensure they back human rights

Abstract: GENEVA - Facebook, Twitter and foreign investors need to do more to ensure they support human rights in Myanmar, the U.N. Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said in a report published on Tuesday. Myanmar has been trying to woo investors and divert attention from the 730,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled the country since 2017, an exodus that a U.N. inquiry blamed on a military campaign with “genocidal intent.” Facebook said this month that it had banned four groups fighting Myanmar’s military after it was criticized for not doing enough to block content fueling the conflict. But Lee’s report said she was concerned that the army and allied armed groups had not been banned. “Contrary to achieving the stated aim of decreasing tensions, this selective banning may contribute to feelings of inequality by ethnic minorities,” Lee said in the report, which she will present to the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 11. “Public institutions linked to the military, its supporters, extremist religious groups, and members of the government continue to proliferate hate speech and misinformation on Facebook,” she wrote. Myanmar denies allegations of mass killings and rape, and says its offensive was a legitimate response to an insurgent threat and that it is welcoming the refugees back. The report also examined the role of military-run conglomerates in Myanmar’s mining industry. Fresh sanctions should be considered on two military-run conglomerates, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), it said. They provided “off-budget financing” to the army and were involved in natural-resource extraction, where Lee said she was continuing to receive reports of human rights abuses.

myanmar
facebook
rights
twitter
yanghee lee
rohingya
u.n .
investments


Rolls-Royce savors blowout demand for Cullinan SUV starting at $325,000

Abstract: GENEVA - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is having a hard time meeting demand for its Cullinan sport utility vehicle, as the high-end British automaker’s biggest-ever model has proved popular with its ultra-rich clientele. Production of the SUV, which starts at $325,000 before customization — and almost all Rolls-Royce customers go for bespoke additions — is booked solid until the fourth quarter of 2019, Chief Executive Officer Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said. “It’s exceeding our expectations,” Mueller-Oetvoes said Tuesday in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. “We have customers that aren’t patient and want their car tomorrow, so we’re doing the occasional Saturday shift to meet demand.” Rolls-Royce, owned by Munich-based premium-auto maker BMW AG, aimed the Cullinan squarely at the SUV-loving American market when it was launched in September. The model is also finding a lot of fans in Russia and Canada, two markets that weren’t as big for the U.K. company before, Mueller-Oetvoes said. “The all-wheel drive is attractive for those markets,” he said.

cullinan
suv
torsten mueller-oetvoes
carmakers
rolls royce
geneva auto show


Bank of Japan board member, a vocal advocate for monetary easing, calls for more stimulus if economy sinks

Abstract: KOFU, YAMANASHI PREF. - Bank of Japan board member Yutaka Harada said on Wednesday the central bank must ramp up stimulus without delay if risks to the economy threaten achievement of its inflation target. Harada, a vocal advocate of aggressive monetary easing, said the nation’s economy was facing growing risks, including from slowing demand in China, simmering trade tensions, volatile stock price moves and weak private consumption. Subdued inflation could heighten views among the public that prices won’t rise much and delay the realization of the BOJ’s 2 percent inflation target, he added. “If the economy deteriorates to the extent that achieving the inflation target in the long term becomes difficult, it’s necessary to strengthen monetary easing without delay,” Harada said in a speech to business leaders in Kofu. A scheduled sales tax hike in October could also hurt the economy and push down prices by weakening demand, he said. The BOJ faces a dilemma. Years of heavy money printing have dried up market liquidity and hurt commercial banks’ profits, stoking concern over the rising risks of prolonged easing. And yet, subdued inflation has left the BOJ well behind its U.S. and European counterparts in dialing back its crisis-mode policies, leaving it with little ammunition to battle any abrupt yen spike that could derail an export-driven economic recovery. Faced with the need to address the rising cost of easing, the BOJ decided last July to allow long-term bond yields to move more flexibly around its zero percent target. To reassure markets that monetary policy will remain loose, it also adopted a new forward guidance pledging to keep rates at very low levels for an “extended period of time.” Harada said he dissented to the July decision on the view the BOJ should commit to keeping rates low “unless prices show stronger movements than currently anticipated,” rather than to the vague time frame. “It’s my view that the conduct of monetary policy should be data-dependent, not calendar-based,” he said, adding that doing so would make the BOJ’s forward guidance more powerful. The BOJ’s nine-member board is split between those like Harada, who sees room to ramp up stimulus, and those who fret about the dangers of protracted easing policy. Harada dismissed calls from financial institutions that the BOJ should raise rates to ease the strain on their profits, saying that withdrawing stimulus now would backfire by hurting the economy and dampening corporate fund demand. “Past episodes of premature monetary tightening worsened the economy, drove down prices and output, and led to declines in interest rates in the longer-term,” Harada said. “Premature tightening was thus part of the reason behind the current difficulties the financial industry faces.” Under a policy dubbed yield curve control, the BOJ aims to guide short-term rates at minus 0.1 percent and the 10-year government bond yield around zero percent.

economy
yutaka harada
inflation
boj
monetary policy


Japan stresses weak link between strength of yen and exports ahead of U.S. trade talks

Abstract: The U.S. says it wants a currency clause in any trade agreement with Japan, but as the two sides prepare to sit down, Japanese officials say there is no need to talk about currencies. Masatsugu Asakawa, the nation’s currency chief, has indicated opposition to a currency clause, saying recently that the link between the yen’s exchange rate and Japanese exports has been “severed.” With U.S. President Donald Trump often focused on exchange rates, Washington got a currency clause in its revamped trade deal with Canada and Mexico and is said to be seeking one from China now. From the American point of view, Japan is next. How the U.S-Japan talks play out on currencies could determine how much freedom the Bank of Japan has during the next economic downturn. A currency clause could tie the BOJ’s hands, preventing it from taking action that might weaken the yen, even indirectly. Asakawa’s statement is part of a strategy to argue that the BOJ’s monetary easing is not aimed at increasing exports, said Bloomberg Economics’ Yuki Masujima. Private economists in Japan and the central bank also say the correlation between the yen’s exchange rate and the nation’s exports has weakened significantly since the global financial crisis. Japan hasn’t directly intervened in currency markets in years. But under Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, BOJ stimulus helped dramatically weaken the yen, so it won’t be easy to convince the U.S. that currencies don’t matter so much anymore. No date has been set for U.S.-Japan talks to begin. Economy minister Toshimitsu Motegi said last week that he wanted them to start as soon as possible. His counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, recently said he feels “real urgency” to start the talks and that he will likely visit Japan this month. The yen-exports breakdown partly reflects Japanese offshoring. In the fiscal year ending March 2017, 24 percent of all goods produced by domestic manufacturers were made overseas, according to the trade ministry. Still, a weaker yen during Kuroda’s tenure has helped drive Japanese corporate profits to record levels. Overseas earnings buy a lot more yen once back home. The resulting cash piles improve competitiveness, giving companies a buffer during downturns and more capacity to raise productivity through research and development. Though rarely stated by the BOJ, a weaker yen is also key to its efforts to return the economy to sustainable growth, partly by supporting inflation. The U.S. is almost certain to stick to its demand for a currency clause, maybe even one that specifically restricts BOJ policy, said Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute’s economic research department. Trump called Japan a currency manipulator during his election campaign and his administration is “unlikely to listen to reason,” Ueno said.

yen
exports
trade
currency
u.s.-japan relations


Japan's moon shot: Toyota and JAXA space agency plan to send rover on lunar mission

Abstract: TOKYO - Toyota is teaming up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a planned mission to the moon, with the auto giant expected to develop a lunar rover, officials and local media said Wednesday. It will be the car manufacturer’s first full-fledged entry into space exploration, after the company jointly developed a small robot sent to the International Space Station. “We are planning to cooperate with Toyota in an exploration mission to the moon,” said a spokesman with JAXA. Details will be announced by JAXA and Toyota on Tuesday next week when the space agency hosts a symposium in Tokyo, the spokesman said. Toyota also confirmed plans to announce a joint project with JAXA “on mobility and a space probe” but declined to comment further. Jiji Press said the car giant is expected to jointly develop a “mobility method” to be used on the lunar surface for the mission. The planned mission is part of renewed global interest in the moon and the announcement comes 50 years after American astronauts first walked on the lunar surface. NASA aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2024. So far, only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384,000-kilometre (239,000-mile) journey and landed spacecraft on the moon. Last month, Israel launched a spacecraft that aims to join them. In 2017, Japan revealed plans to put an astronaut on the moon around 2030.


Carlos Ghosn ditches sharp suits for workman's disguise as onetime auto titan emerges from Tokyo jail

Abstract: The cameras had been massed outside a Tokyo detention center for hours waiting for the shot, but when ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn finally emerged, he was in disguise and almost unrecognizable. The first hint that something was afoot came when a cart was wheeled out of the detention center, with stacks of blankets piled up high. Photographers began snapping and cameras zoomed in as the blankets were piled into a black van parked at the door by police and people in civilian clothes. Were these Ghosn’s things — and where was he? And then suddenly police officers started to file out of the building, all wearing standard issue dark caps as well as the medical face masks commonly seen in Japan during cold and flu season. The phalanx of officers seemed to suggest that Ghosn would soon be emerging behind. But who was that? A short man wearing a light blue cap unlike the others. His work jacket was a similar dark hue to those of the officers, except for some bright orange reflective stripes. Could that be Ghosn? A cacophony of camera shutters clicked as the man calmly strode the few steps from the detention center doors, but most of his face was covered with a medical mask. He turned slightly, and his eyes were visible behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. Only a glimpse, but enough to confirm that the fallen auto titan was now out of detention. He could hardly have looked different from the man who flew around the world on private jets and once threw a lavish party at France’s Versailles Palace. Stripped of his sharp suits, with his trademark bushy eyebrows obscured by his cap and glasses, and a mask covering most of his face, the disguise was almost good enough for him to slip past. Almost. Ghosn said nothing audible as he walked out, his hands empty. He did not acknowledge the media massed at the perimeter of the center’s grounds as he walked toward a silver van that appeared intended to complete the disguise, replete with a workman’s ladder strapped to the top. The man who once headed Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Renault climbed into the minivan — Suzuki brand. A camera zoomed in on him inside, showing his head tipped slightly into his hand, as though he were trying to hide his face. There was no sign of his wife and daughter who were earlier seen entering the detention centre. Several police officers on motorbikes followed behind in an escort as the van pulled away from the center, its destination unclear. The release sparked a furor in the Japanese media and on Twitter, where the sight of a man once hailed as a national hero dressed in a workman’s disguise inspired mirth and confusion. “Mr. Ghosn clad in work clothes is enjoying a ride in a minivan,” joked one Twitter user in Japanese. “Ghosn’s disguise, couldn’t it be a bit better?” asked another.


Company behind Florida migrant children camp drops IPO plans

Abstract: MIAMI - The corporation behind a Florida detention camp for migrant children abandoned its plans to go public Tuesday as controversy grows around policies that lock up children crossing the Mexico border. The chairman of Caliburn International Corp., Thomas J. Campbell, sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it no longer wishes to conduct a public offering. The Virginia-based company said in a press release the reason was “variability in the equity markets,” adding that business continues to grow. Previous filings cited risks of “negative publicity” as something that could affect share price. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which takes custody of children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, announced in December that the facility was expanding from 1,350 to 2,350 beds. Officials said the Homestead detention center in a Miami suburb is one of the largest and the only one run by a for-profit company. The agency offered a press tour last month of the growing facility showing a large room where 144 teenagers slept in bunks. Portable toilets were housed in adjacent tents. The children walked in groups of 10 to 15 in single file, led by a uniformed employee. Caliburn had also previously said it expected to increase its operations in housing children who are taken into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border. It attributed a growth in revenue to new contracts at Homestead and three smaller facilities in Texas. The Obama administration opened Homestead as a temporary shelter for up to 800 migrant teens for 10 months in 2016. Comprehensive Health Services is the company that has been running the facility since then. But it was bought by a Washington private equity company called DC Capital Partners last March before the Trump administration announced a policy that led to more than 2,700 children being separated from their families and placed in shelters. John Kelly sat on the board of DC Capital Partners right before joining the Trump administration, first as Homeland Security secretary and then chief of staff. He also was a member of boards of other companies that are part of the private equity firm’s portfolio. The private equity company formed Caliburn in August by grouping Comprehensive Health Services and three other companies. Caliburn reported total revenue of $785 million in 2017. That does not include two large contracts totaling more than $250 million that the federal government has awarded Comprehensive Health Services since 2018. Federal lawmakers, who toured the center last month, said they were concerned that a for-profit company was chosen to receive more children than any other facility and that some teenagers were being held there for months. The average length of stay at Homestead has gone up since last summer from 25 days last June to 67 days as of December. “While I’m pleased that Caliburn abandoned its plans to go public now, they are still profiting off of the Trump Administration’s inhumane immigration policies,” Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Florida Democrat whose district includes Homestead, said in a statement. “Migrant children are still being locked up in Homestead, and I haven’t received a clear answer why they remain there longer than at a government shelter.” Lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates pressed for the closure of another detention camp in Tornillo, Texas, which shut down in January. On Tuesday, activists who staged a demonstration outside the Homestead detention center condemned the government, saying it is helping a company grow a business out of detaining children. “As children await their freedom, the company is making a lot of money. It is supposed to be a temporary shelter, but this is being run as a business,” said Maria Bilbao, of the organization United We Dream.

florida
ipos
caliburn international
homestead
dc capital partners
john kelly
immigration
donald trump


Ousted Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn released from jail after 108 days of detention, facing uncertain future

Abstract: Ousted Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn was released on bail Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo, ending 108 days of detention that has elicited a global outcry over his treatment and the loss of his posts at three of the most well-known global automakers. The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday confirmed his ¥1 billion bail payment via bank transfer after it rejected a last-ditch effort by prosecutors to reverse the court’s decision on Tuesday to grant his release. But even if he ultimately walks free, restoring his reputation, particularly after a trial that could stretch on for months or even years, will be another matter and the alliance — Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Renault SA — is unlikely to take him back, with Renault’s CEO reportedly saying he won’t be reappointed to the automaker’s board. The court OK’d Ghosn’s bail after previously turning down similar applications in January. Ghosn restructured his legal team in mid-February, appointing attorneys including Junichiro Hironaka, who is known for winning not-guilty verdicts in some of the most high-profile cases in the country, earning him the nickname “Razor” for his shrewdness. It was not immediately clear how Ghosn will spend his days after leaving jail. He is prohibited from contacting Nissan officials linked to his case as part of the deal for his release, including his close aide Greg Kelly, who was also arrested on Nov. 19 and had already been released on bail. Experts credited the legal strategies crafted under Hironaka’s team with securing his conditional freedom. Hironaka said his team clarified specific measures that would be taken to significantly curb the risk of Ghosn tampering with or destroying evidence while out on bail. Other measures agreed to include the restriction of access to computers and phones, as well as a ban on overseas travel. Surveillance cameras will also be set up at his Tokyo residence. Ghosn appeared to be surprised over the conditions, Hironaka said Tuesday evening. “He looked displeased,” he said, adding that his client, though, was happy with the decision itself. The bail agreement does allow Ghosn to travel inside the country but not for more than three days at a time. And if he wants to use a computer, he needs to do so at a lawyer’s office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Hironaka reportedly said. The French-Brazilian auto executive’s prolonged detention has been the subject of criticism particularly from overseas. Under Japan’s legal system, which critics say is skewed in favor of prosecutors, lawyers aren’t allowed to be present during interrogations. And suspects can also be held for months before having to appear before a court, especially when they do not admit guilt. Hironaka reportedly said that if Ghosn was granted bail by the court, he could attend a Nissan board meeting since he hasn’t been dismissed as a director. He was, though, removed as chairman shortly after his arrest. The companies that have ousted Ghosn have distanced themselves from him. Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan’s CEO, downplayed the significance of his release on bail, telling reporters Wednesday morning it will not affect the company’s operation. “I am not in the position to say whether he is guilty or not guilty,” Saikawa said. Ghosn, who was arrested on Nov. 19 at Haneda airport in Tokyo, is accused of falsifying his remuneration for years. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office special investigation team later re-arrested him, alleging that Ghosn engaged in aggravated breach of trust for the alleged transfer of private investment losses to Nissan during the global financial crisis of 2008. Ghosn has denied all of the allegations, which were brought as a result of an internal investigation by Nissan. “I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” he said in a statement.


Tokyo stocks extend losses in thin trading

Abstract: Stocks lost further ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday, hit by selling to lock in profits in thin trading amid investors sitting on the fences to watch developments related to the ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 129.47 points, or 0.60 percent, to end at 21,596.81. On Tuesday, the key market gauge sagged 95.76 points. The TOPIX index of all first-section issues closed down 3.98 points, or 0.25 percent, at 1,615.25, after dropping 8.36 points the previous day. Both Nikkei and TOPIX remained in negative territory throughout the session, pressured by persistent profit-taking while the yen’s weakening against the dollar and Wall Street advance were pausing, brokers said. But active trading was held in check, due to the absence of fresh market-moving factors, they added. New York’s subdued mood “spilled over into Tokyo,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. The New York market ended lower for the second straight session Tuesday after choppy trading despite several strong U.S. economic data and earnings results, with buying sentiment dampened to a certain extent by reported remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that President Donald Trump would reject any trade deal with China that is not perfect. Investors refrained from active trading in Tokyo also in view of the growing possibility of Beijing not making concessions easily in talks over intellectual properties, Kuramochi said. He also suggested that selling to unwind cross-shareholdings could have contributed to the day’s drop. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,291 to 737 in the TSE’s first section, while 105 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1,016 million shares from Tuesday’s 1,106 million shares. Oils were lower, with Showa Shell losing 2.41 percent, Idemitsu 1.83 percent and Cosmo Energy 1.52 percent. Ono Pharmaceutical fell 2 percent after JP Morgan Securities Japan Co. revised down its investment rating and stock target price for the company. Among other major losers were clothing store chain Fast Retailing and semiconductor-linked Sumco. Meanwhile, defense-related issues shot up on a South Korean news report about a possible North Koran move to revive part of its missile program. Ishikawa Seisakusho jumped 6.02 percent and Howa Machinery 5.38 percent. Internet service firm CyberAgent gained 5.96 percent thanks to buybacks. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average fell 160 points to end at 21,590.

stocks
tokyo stock exchange
nikkei
topix


Mizuho's surprise $6.1 billion charge exemplifies risks for Japan banks seeking returns abroad

Abstract: Mizuho Financial Group Inc. announced another round of losses Wednesday on its foreign-bond holdings as part of a surprise writedown that will severely curtail full-year profit, as Japanese banks’ quest to secure yield by investing overseas continues to create turbulence. Mizuho slashed its net income forecast by 86 percent after booking ¥680 billion ($6.1 billion) of charges tied to business restructuring and securities losses. CEO Tatsufumi Sakai said he will forfeit his performance-related pay to take responsibility for the writedown. The charge underscores the challenges faced by banks in Japan as rock-bottom interest rates at home prompt them to look abroad for returns. It also reflects Mizuho’s plans announced in November 2017 to eliminate branches and jobs over a decade, in a bid to counter headwinds including financial technology disruption and tepid credit demand from a shrinking population. “Bank shares were struggling in any case because negative rates were hurting their performance,” said Shinichi Tamura, a Tokyo-based strategist at Matsui Securities Co. “Now this massive impairment loss means Mizuho may be avoided even more, especially by foreign investors.” Mizuho now expects a net income of ¥80 billion for the year ending March, down from ¥570 billion previously. The charge includes ¥500 billion of writedowns on fixed assets tied to factors including software at its retail business and plans to close branches, as well as ¥180 billion of losses relating to the restructuring of securities, such as past investments in foreign bonds. The bank has cut the “negative carry” on its foreign bonds and rebuilt the portfolio to enable stable earnings, said Sakai, 59, at a news briefing in Tokyo. Overseas bonds accounted for about ¥150 billion of the charge, he said, without elaborating. Negative carry refers to returns that fail to exceed the cost of financing the purchase of an asset. “Valuation losses on foreign bonds reflect the risk that Japanese banks take in investing overseas,” said Tetsuya Yamamoto, a senior credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service in Tokyo. Mizuho had the biggest valuation loss on its foreign bonds of the nation’s three so-called megabanks in the year ended March 2018, when Treasury yields were climbing. The bank also plans to improve how it values derivatives, including by more precisely reflecting counterparty risk, it said in a statement. Sakai said the charge was the result of a review that took place since he took on the role of CEO in April last year. He replaced Yasuhiro Sato, under whose watch the bank unveiled plans to cut about 100 outlets and 19,000 jobs over eight to 10 years. Mizuho will announce its next business plan in May, which will resolve a “mismatch” that has arisen over many years in how the bank allocates management resources, it said in the statement. Priorities include digitalization of its retail business, and working more closely with companies seeking to do business in rapidly growing Asian economies.


Singapore's Grab raises $1.5 billion from SoftBank fund

Abstract: SINGAPORE/TOKYO - Leading Southeast Asian ride-hailing provider Grab raised about $1.5 billion from SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, bankrolling its effort to expand into new services across the region. The funding brings the amount of money the company has collected from investors in the past year to about $4.5 billion, it said. SoftBank is already a major backer of the Singapore-based startup, and the latest investment will boost its stake. Grab founder Anthony Tan is battling Go-Jek for leadership in the Southeast Asian market after vanquishing Uber Technologies Inc. in the region last year. He plans to spend a significant portion of the latest proceeds in Indonesia, the home turf of Grab’s rival. Go-Jek has presented the thorniest challenge, with the Jakarta-based startup marching into Grab’s home market of Singapore as well as Vietnam and Thailand. Go-Jek, led by Tan’s Harvard Business School classmate Nadiem Makarim, is also raising additional capital to compete for customers and drivers. Southeast Asia’s two most valuable startups are aiming to expand swiftly in everything from mobile payments to food delivery. Go-Jek raised over $1 billion in its ongoing funding round from a clutch of internet giants including Google, JD.com Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., it was reported last month. Both companies are using the proceeds to shore up their positions in Indonesia and expand around the region, while merging payments with ride-sharing and food delivery to create so-called super apps. “It is an incredibly dynamic market where the consumer class is rapidly digitizing. And within this digitization, we see tremendous opportunities to continue growing our super-app platform,” Grab President Ming Maa said in an interview. Southeast Asia’s best-funded technology startups are raking in billions of dollars of investments. The region’s internet firms raised $9.1 billion from venture capitalists, private equity firms and corporate investors in the first half of last year, headed for an all-time record, a report from Google and Temasek Holdings Pte. shows. The industry raised $9.4 billion in all of 2017, according to the November research. The region’s ride-hailing market is expected to reach $28 billion by 2025 from an estimated $7.7 billion last year, the report shows, underscoring the ambition of Go-Jek and Grab to become Southeast Asia’s super apps. On Wednesday, Maa said his startup had no plans for an initial public offering at this point but was monitoring the impending debuts of Uber and Lyft Inc.


In fresh blow to U.K. auto industry as Brexit looms, Nissan may cut up to 400 jobs at Sunderland plant

Abstract: LONDON - Nissan Motor Co. is considering reducing production at its Sunderland plant in Britain in a move that may claim up to 400 jobs, Sky News reported Tuesday. The Yokohama-based automaker’s move, if realized, is expected to deal an additional blow to the British auto industry amid increasing concerns about a possible no-deal exit of the U.K. from the European Union. Nissan is planning to reduce the number of the plant’s production line shifts to make the Qashqai sport utility vehicle and Leaf electric vehicle from three to two, according to Sky News. The British media organization quoted a Nissan spokesman as saying that the reported plans were “rumor or speculation.” The Sunderland plant, which has some 6,700 employees, is Nissan’s main production base in Europe and Britain’s biggest auto plant. Last month, Nissan withdrew part of its production plans at the plant to shift some output to Japan. German automaker BMW AG has warned that it would move production of its Mini compact car out of Britain in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Didier Leroy has said that a disorderly Brexit would make it difficult for the company to expand the number of vehicle models made at its plant in Burnaston, England, according to the Financial Times’ online edition Tuesday. Honda Motor Co. plans to end its auto production in Britain in 2021.

brexit
nissan
sunderland
sky news
u.k .
carmakers


Japanese road builders to face record ¥60 billion fine for forming cartel to fix asphalt prices

Abstract: The nation’s antitrust watchdog will impose fines totaling nearly ¥60 billion ($536 million) on Maeda Road Construction Co. and seven other major road paving material companies for forming a cartel to raise the price of asphalt, sources said Wednesday. The Fair Trade Commission has started informing the companies, also including Kajima Road Co. and Toa Road Corp., of its decision, according to the sources. If finalized, the fine will be the largest by combined value to have been applied by the watchdog for violations of Japan’s antimonopoly law. Within that total Maeda Construction is expected to face a fine of nearly ¥20 billion, also the largest for one company. The companies, all headquartered in Tokyo, are suspected of forming the price-fixing cartel several years ago. Market prices for asphalt are used as a reference when the central and local governments set bidding prices for constructing roads. An illegal cartel on the price of asphalt could have inflated the cost of public spending on roads, resulting in the waste of taxpayers’ money. The other companies expected to be penalized are Nippon Road Co., Obayashi Road Corp., Taisei Rotec Corp., Seikitokyukogyo Co. and Gaeart Co. As the material has a market size of hundreds of billions of yen and those major companies have repeatedly fixed prices across Japan, the commission applied a rule under the antitrust law to increase the fine by 50 percent, the sources said. The watchdog raided Kajima Road in September 2016 on suspicion that it had set up a cartel in relation to the asphalt supplied in and around the city of Kobe. Further investigations were made in February 2017 when the violation was suspected to have extended nationally. Previously, the largest fine imposed was ¥27 billion in March 2007 for a bid-rigging case over the construction of a garbage incinerator.

fair trade commission
maeda road construction co .
kajima road co .
toa road corp .


Toyota joins rival carmakers BMW and Honda in sounding Brexit alarm bell

Abstract: GENEVA - Toyota Motor Corp. has added its voice to warnings about potential Brexit fallout as the deadline for an agreement on the U.K.’s exit from the European Union looms less than four weeks away. Possible disruption to trade between the U.K. and the EU is Toyota’s “biggest concern,” the company’s Europe chief, Johan van Zyl, said in an interview at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday. BMW AG, which moved forward a planned four-week production stop to coincide with the U.K. leaving the EU, would consider moving some Mini brand production from its plant near Oxford, England, it said in a statement, reiterating previous comments about contingency planning. The company is also stockpiling parts, CEO Harald Krueger told reporters on the sidelines of the event. “We’re working with several scenarios,” Krueger said. “If Brexit is delayed, we’re going to plan flexibly, delay some plans, but we’ve also stocked up our parts in case of a disruption in our supply chain.” The German company has between two days and a week’s worth of supply, depending on the part, he said. A no-deal Brexit is a danger and would force Mini to weigh moving production out of the U.K., board member Peter Schwarzenbauer told Sky News earlier. “We at least have to consider it,” he said. “We cannot absorb 10 percent costs on top of it.” The latest warnings from the global car industry come after Honda Motor Co. said it would shutter its U.K. plant and Ford Motor Co. warned of catastrophic consequences in a no-deal split from the EU, although that extreme scenario appears to be off the table for now. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has promised Parliament that it will be able to vote to extend the exit deadline until the end of June should a deal not be reached, and EU officials signaled they would be open to an extension. Meanwhile, two of May’s ministers traveled to Brussels on Tuesday to seek concessions to help win Parliament’s backing for her divorce deal. In the run-up to Brexit, carmakers with U.K. operations have been trying to limit the pain. Nissan Motor Co. reversed an earlier plan to build the X-Trail sport utility vehicle in northern England, while BMW, which makes the iconic Mini and Rolls-Royce cars in the U.K., said it could move manufacturing elsewhere if tariffs and border checks disrupt business. “We can’t prepare any more than we have” for Brexit, BMW’s purchasing chief, Andreas Wendt, said in an interview in Geneva on Tuesday, adding that the German company is committed to the U.K. market long term. BMW buys about €700 million ($793 million) worth of parts in the U.K, compared with components worth €2 billion that it imports into the country, Wendt said.

toyota
carmakers
bmw
honda
brexit
geneva motor show
u.k .


Crew recording on Amazon cargo jet that crashed in Texas reflects 'loss of control'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Recorded conversations by pilots on a cargo jet carrying packages for Amazon.com Inc. that crashed last month near Houston reveal they began losing control of the aircraft about 18 seconds before it slammed into a shallow bay, investigators said Tuesday. The communications captured on the cockpit sound recorder were “consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft,” according to a press release issued by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB recovered the crash-proof cockpit recorder and another black box storing flight data in recent days and brought them to its lab in Washington for analysis. The press release, offering a first glimpse of what happened on the Boeing Co. 767-300 as it was preparing to land at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport Feb. 23, still doesn’t explain its mysterious, abrupt dive. The second recorder contained detailed data from the accident flight as well as 16 previous ones, but none of its contents was revealed in the NTSB statement. Atlas Air Flight 3591 dove roughly 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) and plunged into a shallow bay as it was descending and preparing to move around a line of storms ahead. The impact shattered the plane and killed all three aboard: two Atlas pilots and one from a regional airline who was catching a ride. There was no emergency radio call from the cockpit. Atlas was one of three cargo carriers flying a fleet of 50 aircraft for Amazon, according to a press release from the online retailer in December. Atlas is owned by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. A video recorded from a jail about a mile from the crash showed the plane’s final five seconds before it smashed into the water, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a briefing Feb. 24. The plane was in “a steep descent, steep nose-down attitude” and there was no evidence the pilots tried to “turn or pull up at the last moments,” Sumwalt said. A separate video from a nearby school showed the plane apparently diving until it disappeared in a cloud bank, according to the Houston Chronicle. The cockpit recorder is about two hours long, but the audio quality is “poor,” the NTSB said. “There are times during the recording when the content of crew discussion is difficult to determine,” the press release said. “At other times the content can be determined using advanced audio filtering.” The NTSB is convening a group of experts to evaluate the recorder’s contents and to produce a transcript, the agency said in its release. “It will be a time-consuming process to complete the transcript,” the agency said. The plane was at an altitude of about 6,200 feet at the time pilots first discussed the unspecified control issue, according to a flight plot provided by tracker FlightRadar24. Around that time, it climbed slightly for a few seconds, then began to drop, according to the website. It went from 5,850 to 1,325 feet, the last position captured by the website, in about nine seconds, which is many times faster than a normal descent rate. Pilots were talking to air-traffic controllers and were being guided to the airport, the NTSB said. The normal route to the airport was being altered so they could fly around thunderstorms, according to a recording released by the website LiveATC.net . The plane’s data recorder captured about 350 parameters, which typically include information on the health of the engines and other aircraft systems, details of the route and speed, and indications of levers and switches activated in the cockpit. Investigators are in the process of validating the data and plan to release more information in a few days. The 767 family of jetliners, which were introduced in 1982, has a solid safety record. There had been only two fatal crashes on the plane through 2017, according to Boeing’s annual aircraft safety summary.

texas
amazon.com
houston
atlas air
u.s .
air accidents


Ohio teen vaccine rebel testifies before U.S. Congress on behalf of preventive medicine

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Ethan Lindenberger spent his first 18 years unvaccinated — defenseless against tetanus, polio, measles. But in December, defying his mother, he went and got inoculated, a rebellion that earned him an invitation to Congress. “I grew up understanding my mother believed vaccines are dangerous, as she would speak openly about her views both online and in person,” the high schooler said Tuesday in testimony before a Senate hearing on contagious disease outbreaks. But Lindenberger, still 18, said he did his own research, became convinced that information in defense of vaccines “outweighed the concerns heavily” of the so-called anti-vax movement, and started receiving the shots he had missed as a child. In recent weeks he has become a hero of believers in modern medicine in the United States, where experts and elected officials still struggle to convince some that their refusal to get themselves or their children vaccinated is fueling several recent outbreaks of measles. Similar dangerous outbreaks have occurred in Brazil, France and Ukraine. Many vaccines are theoretically mandatory for students to attend school in the United States. But 47 out of 50 states allow exemptions either on religious, moral, or personal grounds, including Lindenberger’s state of Ohio. “It was a slow progression to start to see evidence” of the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, he said, adding that he grew intrigued by so many people who “disagreed with my mom” and sought to dismiss her claims online. But he sought out information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, public health organizations and scientific journals. When he showed his mother the articles explaining, for example, that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine did not cause autism, he said she replied: “That’s what they want you to think.” Lindenberger’s defiance of parental guidance earned him the attention of thousands, including members of the U.S. media and Congress. He was soon invited to appear before a panel of senators, several of whom praised his persistence in seeking out the truth. Lindenberger said one of the main challenges now is to counter the online anti-vaccination sites that peddle conspiracy theories. “The sources which spread misinformation should be the primary concern of the American people,” he said.

vaccinations
congress
ethan lindenberger
measles
u.s .


Climate change forcing Arctic seals and whales to shift feeding habits

Abstract: Seals and whales in the Arctic are shifting their feeding patterns as climate change alters their habitats, and the way they do so may determine whether they survive, a new study has found. Researchers harnessed data sets spanning two decades to examine how two species of Arctic wildlife — white whales and ringed seals — are adapting to their changing homes. Both species traditionally hunt for food in areas with sea ice and particularly at so-called tidal glacier fronts, where glaciers meet the ocean. But with climate change melting sea ice and prompting glaciers to retreat, researchers in Norway decided to look at whether and how animals in the affected areas are adapting. “The Arctic is the bellwether of climate change,” the researchers wrote. “With the rapid pace of change rendering genetic adaptation unfeasible,” they reasoned that behavioral and dietary changes “will likely be the first observable responses within ecosystems.” They compared data sets produced by trackers attached to seals and whales over two sets of time periods. For the seals, they compared tracker data from 28 individuals between 1996 and 2003 and then 2010 to 2016; for the whales they looked at data from 18 animals between 1995 and 2001 and 16 animals from 2013 to 2016. The data showed that two decades ago, both species spent around half their time foraging at glacier fronts and eating a diet dominated by polar cod. But ringed seals now spend “significantly higher proportions of time near tidal glacier fronts”; the white whales had the opposite response and have moved elsewhere to look for food. “Tidal glacier fronts appear to be serving as Arctic ‘refugia’ for RS (ringed seals), explaining why this species has increased the amount of time spent near glaciers,” said the study, published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Biology Letters. White whales now “have larger home ranges and spent less time near glacier fronts and more time in the centre of fjords.” The researchers, from the Norwegian Polar Institute and the University of Tromso, speculated that whales have shifted their diet, taking advantage of the fact that climate change is allowing new fish species to move farther north as waters warm. Seals, in contrast, stuck with their old diet but appeared to spend more time searching for the food at the glacier fronts. White whales “tend to be dietary generalists, in contrast with RS (ringed seals) that are more commonly individual specialists,” the study says. The “flexible” response apparently shown by the whales “improves their chances of adapting to warming conditions,” the researchers added. By contrast, the apparent doubling down by the ringed seals on their traditional hunting grounds despite the shifting climate “reflects limited adaptability and resilience.” And that could be bad news for the seals in a changing world, the study warns. “Species and subpopulations that are not able to make such changes are almost certain to decline, perhaps to extinction where refugial areas become too limiting for species survival,” it said.

climate
climate change
seals
whales
oceans
animals


Trump pushes back: White House snubs Democrats' demands on security clearance information

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The White House is pushing back against a demand by House Democrats for information on security clearances for top officials, including the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in an early sign of how the Trump administration plans to resist a slew of probes. “The committee has failed to point to any authority establishing a legitimate legislative purpose for the committee’s unprecedented and extraordinarily intrusive demands,” White House Counsel Pat Cipollone wrote to Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. He called for “negotiations in good faith” rather than “legally unsupportable ultimatums.” The letter was released Tuesday but dated Monday, the same day the House Judiciary Committee demanded documents from 81 individuals, agencies and entities, including the White House, the Trump Organization and Donald Trump Jr. While Trump stormed on Twitter on Tuesday that “the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY” in their demands on “innocent people,” Cipollone’s response hinted at the legal stance the White House will take as Democrats who now control the House gear up multiple investigations and threaten subpoenas if they don’t get the documents they’re seeking. Cipollone has been building a team of lawyers in anticipation of the congressional demands. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, responded to Cipollone that the security clearance system is broken and that the White House’s challenge to the committee’s authority lacks “just plain common-sense.” Cummings opened the investigation into White House security clearances shortly after taking over as chairman of the committee. Kushner and more than 30 other Trump aides lost access to top-secret intelligence in February 2018 because they had been working with “interim” clearances and their background investigations had never been completed. The New York Times reported last week that Trump ordered that Kushner be granted his clearance over the objections of then-White House Counsel Don McGahn. Cipollone said the committee’s demands included examining “the entire investigative files of numerous individuals whom the president has chosen as his senior advisers.”

democrats
jared kushner
pat cipollone
elijah cummings
donald trump
u.s .