After rebuke from Warmbier family, Trump says comments were 'misinterpreted'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The parents of Otto Warmbier rejected President Donald Trump’s comments that he took North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “at his word” in denying responsibility for the torture and death of their son. Hours after the Warmbiers released their statement, Trump responded with a tweet saying that his comments on their son’s death had been “misinterpreted,” though he didn’t explain how. “We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement released Friday. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.” Trump later took issue with their rebuke, saying in a series of tweets that “I got Otto out” of imprisonment and “Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto’s mistreatment and death.” He added that Warmbier “will not have died in vain.” But while insisting that he held North Korea responsible for the student’s death, he did so without directly blaming Kim — or even mentioning him. After a meeting in Hanoi on Thursday that ended without progress on eliminating North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, Trump told reporters that Kim “felt bad” about the imprisonment and torture of Warmbier, who died shortly after returning to the U.S. in a coma after being detained for more than 17 months. “In those prisons and those camps you have a lot of people, and some really bad things happened to Otto, some really, really bad things,” Trump said. “But he tells me he didn’t know about it, and I will take him at his word.” Warmbier, an Ohio native who studied at the University of Virginia, had traveled to North Korea on a tour. He was pulled away at the Pyongyang airport and charged with crimes against the state for allegedly taking down a propaganda poster in his hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. After lengthy negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, Warmbier was released but died a few days later on American soil. In 2017, Trump took credit for obtaining Warmbier’s release. “Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea,” Trump said at the time. That year, he also labeled Kim a “madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people.” The president had sought to forge a bond with the family as part of the U.S.-led “maximum pressure” campaign on the Kim regime in 2017 and early 2018 that helped lead to the June summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Trump called the family several times during that period, and Vice President Pence also maintained contact with the Warmbiers, media reports said, and the parents were among the guests of first lady Melania Trump at the 2018 State of the Union address, during which Trump cited their son’s death to highlight the cruelty of the Kim regime. But the Warmbiers had been growing increasingly exasperated with Trump’s embrace of Kim since their first meeting, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing a person with close ties to the family. Trump’s comments in Hanoi provoked immediate criticism from human rights advocates and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. “Look, the blood of Otto Warmbier is on Kim Jong Un’s hands,” Republican Sen. Cory Gardner said. “He’s responsible for the death. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.’ Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said the U.S. should “be unflinching and unapologetic in identifying, condemning, and punishing Kim’s human rights atrocities, including the torture and murder of Otto Warmbier.” Some members of Congress compared Trump’s reluctance to criticize Kim with his refusal to condemn Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his alleged role in the murder of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi last year, or to dispute Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that his country interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump win. “Our intel community is telling us what Putin knew about the election, what MBS knew about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and what Kim Jong Un knew about the brutalization and murder of Otto Warmbier,” said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. “And I don’t know why the president would want to come to the aid of people who have done these horrible things.’ After Warmbier’s death, the U.S. government supported his parents in a lawsuit against Pyongyang. On Dec. 24, a U.S. judge ordered North Korea to pay $501 million over Warmbier’s death from apparent torture. A judge said that Warmbier had been used “as a pawn in that totalitarian state’s global shenanigans and faceoff with the United States.” Fred Warmbier described to Fox News in 2017 Otto’s condition when he returned: making an “involuntary, inhuman sound,” “staring blankly into space, jerking violently,” and was blind and deaf, with his head shaved. Doctors in Cincinnati said he had suffered severe brain damage, although they weren’t sure what led to it. North Korea denied mistreating him, saying he fell into a coma that resulted from botulism and a sleeping pill.

otto warmbier
donald trump
north korea
kim jong un
congress
u.s .
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
kim-trump summit


Yasuta Sato, founder and former president of toymaker Takara, dies at age 94

Abstract: Yasuta Sato, the founder and former president of Japanese toy maker Takara Co., died of old age Tuesday. He was 94. Born in Fukushima Prefecture, Sato launched a business in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward in 1953. The company hit the jackpot with the inflatable “Dakko-chan” plastic doll in 1960 and was renamed Takara in 1967. Under Sato’s initiative, Takara released many products that captured the hearts of children, including the smash-hit “Licca-chan” cute doll series, the “Choro-Q,” or Penny Racers, minicar line and the “Game of Life” board game played with a roulette wheel. He retired as supreme adviser to Takara in 2002.


Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris lose appeal in $13 billion Quebec lawsuits

Abstract: LONDON/MONTREAL - Subsidiaries of Japan Tobacco Inc., British American Tobacco PLC and Philip Morris International Inc. were ordered to pay damages of more than 17 billion Canadian dollars ($12.8 billion) after losing an appeal of class-action lawsuits filed by smokers in Quebec. The Quebec Court of Appeal upheld a lower court decision with minor changes, according to a ruling released Friday. The smokers sought damages for addiction and smoking-related diseases, arguing they were never warned of the risks of smoking. The judgment involves class-action suits that were consolidated against the Canadian subsidiaries of British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International, known respectively as Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. (RBH); and JTI-Macdonald Corp. JTI-Macdonald said in a statement it “fundamentally disagrees” with the court’s judgment and that Canadians “have had a very high awareness of the health risks of smoking.” RBH said in a statement that it will try to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. JTI-Macdonald said it would consider that option. “The risks associated to tobacco use have been known in Canada for decades. Consumers were aware and that’s why we think we shouldn’t be held responsible,” said Eric Gagnon, the head of corporate and regulatory affairs for Imperial Tobacco. “Today’s judgment is disappointing.” Ben Stevens, British American Tobacco finance director, told analysts on Thursday that the Canadian cases would likely take years to play out in the courts. While big tobacco companies in the United States have faced lawsuits for decades, the Quebec class action marked the first time tobacco companies went to trial in a civil suit in Canada. “This is a complete and resounding defeat for the tobacco industry,” said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst for the Ottawa-based Canadian Cancer Society. The industry “has engaged in decades of wrongful behavior resulting in vast suffering, disease and death.” The judgment comes as Big Tobacco firms are pouring billions into vaping devices that deliver nicotine through vapor they say is less harmful than smoke, and as smoking rates fall in many countries. The two Quebec suits, called the Letourneau and Blais cases, were filed in 1998 and certified as class actions in 2005. They were consolidated into one before the 2012 start of trial proceedings, which ended in 2014.

japan tobacco
lawsuits
smoking
courts
diseases
canada
health
cancer


Japan's labor minister survives no-confidence motion over data scandal

Abstract: The Lower House has rejected a no-confidence motion against labor minister Takumi Nemoto that was submitted by opposition parties in protest over his handling of the ministry’s release of faulty jobs data. The motion, which called for Nemoto’s resignation, was voted down Friday by the ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the Lower House. The rejection reflects “an understanding that I have done my duties properly,” Nemoto told reporters after the vote. Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan told reporters that the motion was submitted over Nemoto’s inappropriate handling of the scandal. The faulty collection of monthly labor data over nearly 15 years resulted in the underpayment of work-related benefits to more than 20 million people and raised doubt about the accuracy of government statistics. Opposition parties accused Nemoto of involvement in an alleged government attempt to make the prime minister’s Abenomics economic policy package appear more successful by inflating wage data. In monthly labor surveys, the ministry is required to gather results from all businesses in the country with 500 or more employees. But it had only surveyed a third of the roughly 1,400 such businesses in Tokyo since 2004. In January last year, the ministry began using software to make it appear that the necessary data had been collected, leading to a sudden rise in wage figures. Opposition parties also accuse Motoya Nakae, a former Abe secretary, of exerting his influence when the labor ministry changed its methodology for the collection of wage samples, contributing to increased figures for real wages. They also claim that Nemoto is hiding figures that suggest average real wages actually dropped in 2018 from the previous year.


Lower House OKs record ¥101 trillion budget for fiscal 2019

Abstract: The Lower House approved a record ¥101.46 trillion ($913 billion) budget for fiscal 2019 early Saturday, ensuring its enactment before the new fiscal year begins on April 1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition pushed the spending plan through the House of Representatives past midnight, after opposition lawmakers halted deliberations the previous day by submitting a no-confidence motion against labor minister Takumi Nemoto over his handling of a faulty jobs data scandal. The initial general-account budget topped ¥100 trillion for the first time amid swelling social security costs and defense spending, as well as fiscal stimulus aimed at underpinning domestic demand after the second half of a consumption tax hike is completed in October. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito had initially hoped to get the budget through the Lower House on Thursday, but the plan was delayed when the opposition camp tabled a vote of no confidence against Nemoto, calling for his resignation. Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan told reporters Nemoto was being “insincere” in dealing with the revelation that his ministry has been publishing an improperly compiled monthly labor survey for nearly 15 years. Nemoto, who was appointed in October, said he had done his job “to the best of (his) ability.” The motion was voted down by the ruling bloc. The budget will now be sent to the House of Councilors, but it is certain to be enacted before fiscal 2018 ends on March 31 because the Constitution stipulates that decisions by the Lower House take precedence over those by the Upper House. The budget will thus automatically take effect 30 days after the Lower House passes it. The spending plan has already been through twists and turns. Less than a month after being approved by Abe’s Cabinet in December it had to be reworked to include ¥650 million in costs related to the labor data scandal, which caused the underpayment of work-related benefits to more than 20 million people. More than a third of the budget, a record ¥34.06 trillion, will go toward social security programs such as pensions and health care. Government spending on such programs has continued to rise as the elderly make up an increasingly large part of the population. Defense spending will also hit a record high at ¥5.26 trillion, partly because of the government’s purchase of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system and half a dozen F-35A stealth fighters. As part of efforts to alleviate negative economic impacts when the consumption tax is increased from the current 8 percent to 10 percent on Oct. 1, the government has earmarked ¥2.03 trillion in fiscal measures, including a rebate program for cashless purchases and shopping vouchers for households with low incomes or small children.


Russia calls U.S.-Japan security alliance an impediment to peace treaty talks

Abstract: MOSCOW - Russia has stiffened its stance against advancing talks with Japan on a peace treaty, calling Tokyo’s security alliance with the United States a threat and an impediment to improving bilateral ties, diplomatic sources said Saturday. The position apparently reflects Russia’s deteriorating relations with the United States over Washington’s decision to withdraw from a Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty. It is a setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is seeking to resolve a decades-old territorial dispute with Moscow over three islands and a group of islets off Hokkaido and sign a broad agreement on a postwar peace treaty in June when Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Japan for the Group of 20 summit. Russia has been increasingly looking at the U.S.-Japan alliance as a major negative factor for Japan-Russia ties and has requested that Tokyo not side with the United States in imposing economic sanctions on it, the sources said. Abe and Putin agreed in November to accelerate peace treaty talks based on a 1956 joint declaration which mentions the transfer from Moscow to Tokyo of Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — once a peace pact is concluded. But their talks have made little progress as deep divisions remain over the territorial dispute, with Russia stressing that Japan must recognize the acquisition by Moscow of the four islands as the outcome of World War II, while Tokyo maintains the islands were illegally seized by the Soviet Union following Japan’s 1945 surrender. The feud over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, has prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end World War II. Russia has already aired concerns about Japan’s security alliance with the United States, citing the possibility that the U.S. military may be deployed in the territories if they are to be handed to Japan. It also opposes Japan’s plan to install a U.S. land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system that could be used to attack Russia. Tokyo has said the deployment is to counter the threat posed by North Korean missiles. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed wariness about Japan maintaining close ties with the United States in an interview with Chinese and Vietnamese media last month, saying Washington has declared Russia as “its main adversary.” Japan’s military alliance with the United States gives Washington “the right to deploy its armed forces anywhere in Japan and they are already deploying their missile defense system there, which creates risks for both Russia and China,” Lavrov said. “It would be a mistake to ignore the fact that, contrary to the declared goal, this actually worsens the quality of our relations (with Japan),” he said in the interview. U.S. President Donald Trump said in early February the United States is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty struck in 1987 that banned the development and possession of land-based missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). The announcement raised concerns about a new arms race.

shinzo abe
vladimir putin
disputed islands
russia-japan relations


Next era name might draw from classical Japanese literature, say sources

Abstract: Candidates for the new era name apparently include at least one inspired by classical Japanese literature, according to informed sources. In line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wishes, one or more potential era names appear to be based on books written in Japan, the sources said. All of Japan’s past and current era names are believed to be linked to Chinese classics. Possible names for the new era proposed by experts in fields such as Chinese literature, Asian history and Japanese literature have already been presented to the Cabinet Secretariat and are being closely managed by Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuyuki Furuya. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is set to announce the name of the new era on April 1, ahead of Crown Prince Naruhito’s accession to the throne on May 1. The government will hear opinions from an expert panel as well as the speakers and vice speakers of both chambers of the Diet before the Cabinet adopts the new name. Suga is expected to call a meeting this month to set a detailed schedule that will lead to the announcement of the era name and to select members of the panel. The government plans to appoint several women as members, the sources said. A similar advisory panel formed at the time of the 1989 era name change from Showa to the current Heisei had eight members, mainly from mass media and academia. It had only one female member, Yoko Nuita, then the president of the predecessor of the National Women’s Education Center. At a news conference on Friday, Suga said the government has yet to begin discussions on selecting the name.

shinzo abe
royalty
emperor akihito
imperial family
emperor naruhito


Google Maps could point users down the wrong path

Abstract: One could almost be forgiven for thinking that con artists are a dime a dozen in Japan. They’ve been terrorizing elderly folk over the telephone in recent years with their ore-ore sagi (“It’s me” scams) and sending threatening emails that warn recipients their computer has been hacked and compromising information will be published online unless that unfortunate individual pays a ransom in the form of a cryptocurrency. Such activity is a form of phishing in which fraudsters attempt to obtain confidential information such as bank and credit card details by posing as a trustworthy individual or institution when they initiate contact. According to reports in the Nikkei Shimbun and other news outlets in recent weeks, a variation of this tactic has emerged. It’s basically phishing in reverse, where the person being scammed initiates the contact with a fraudster instead of the other way around. Google Maps, it seems, is key to the success of such an approach. Fraudsters use a function on Google Maps that allows them to edit important business details of institutions listed on the web-mapping service such as their telephone number and email address. Cybersecurity experts say virtually anyone can suggest changes to information on Google Maps. Fraudsters typically target a financial institution, adjust the contact information and hope someone takes the bait. Should a person call one of these institutions by accessing it through Google Maps, the inquiry will be answered by a fraudster who will then press the caller to divulge their bank details or credit card information before subsequently attempting to take as much money as possible. In some cases, people who have been deceived into calling the fake number have even been asked to send their ATM card to the “bank” by post. Naturally, victims of such a scam don’t realize they’ve been had until the next time they check their bank balance. It’s a simple scam, but it’s easy to fall for. The first reports of such reverse phishing incidents emerged in India last fall, but domestic media organizations and the authorities are now sounding the alarm. Unfortunately, Google didn’t respond to my request for a comment but they did reply to an Indian newspaper which was one of the first to report it. “Overall, allowing users to suggest edits provides comprehensive and up-to-date info, but we recognize there may be occasional inaccuracies or bad edits suggested by them,” a spokesperson from Google was reported as saying. “When this happens, we do our best to address the issue as quickly as possible. The Google Safety Center outlines tips to help consumers stay safe online.” In other words, you’re on your own. To be honest, the best advice is simply don’t trust Google Maps. Be sure to check the contact information you have for a financial institution is the same online and on Google Maps. If the number provided by Google Maps for a bank branch is a mobile phone number … you should probably treat that listing with suspicion. Google Maps has undoubtedly become an essential tool in navigating cities such as Tokyo by mobile phone and yet it seems to have its own shortcomings. Perhaps it’s time to start lugging those weighty street atlases around Tokyo again?


Reaction to Niigata bullying video reflects changing attitudes in Japan

Abstract: A video of a first-year high school student in Niigata being bullied appeared online in mid-February and quickly became a topic of discussion. The clip shows a group of male students pushing, kicking and eventually striking the victim with a stick, all while throwing insults the victim’s way, too. The attack was broadcast on Instagram Live, which is how others came across it. An article on Nico Nico News dissected the footage and the comments section was soon awash with netizens who were outraged at the actions of the assailants. The anger spilled over to platforms such as Twitter, where users called for any information regarding the identity of those involved. At present, authorities in Niigata have identified the high school the victim is enrolled in as well as those involved. The video struck a nerve with many online and it isn’t hard to see why. Bullying is an ever-present issue that attracts plenty of media attention in Japan, but it’s never resolved in spite of the fact that everyone agrees it’s one of the bigger problems facing the nation’s youth. And as conversations have migrated to social media and allowed a wider number of people to control them, individuals who have actually experienced bullying firsthand can offer their perspective. Social media has changed the way the topic is discussed online and it continues to evolve with each new case, including the Niigata incident. At one point, bullying was not considered to be much of an issue in Japan. According to a site devoted to preventing bullying , the country has experienced four “peaks,” starting in the mid-1980s. During that decade, however, it sounds like most people and media downplayed the negative impact associated with bullying (Twitter users support this view , reflecting on times when teachers didn’t consider it a real thing). When the second peak came in the 1990s, though, the general public started thinking that bullying was no longer acceptable. A greater effort was taken to stop it, including Advertising Council Japan debuting their first anti-bullying commercials . Since then, the government and media have made more overt efforts to stop bullying, including recent news that our future robot overlords are now going to help reduce the number of incidents that occur . However, the real change is happening online. Over the past two decades, a common message board and social media trope features someone reaching out to their old tormentors — or former bullies themselves being confronted by their past sins — to tell them how they were hurt by it. In extreme cases (and, of course, as with most internet lore, you should take it with a certain amount of skepticism), you get something like the story of a person leaving their fiance because they found out they were formerly a bully. It also helps art and stories against bullying generally attract a lot of love, such as a Keyakizaka46 performance or the story of a kid in Turkey getting revenge on bullies by putting glue in their water (netizens lapped this one up). The Niigata incident brought all of these feelings to the fore. People spoke of their own trauma , while others celebrated efforts to make the situation better for their kids . Some Twitter users tried to think up ways to stop bullying — such as fighting back — while others argued that violence of all forms should be avoided . Naturally, plenty of online Sherlocks tried to figure out the names of the people responsible for this specific case of violence. While leaving it up to random people on Twitter to solve cases is probably not a viable solution moving forward, the internet is helping to move the general discussion on bullying in Japan in a way traditional platforms rarely do. Besides being another example of social media shining a light on wrongdoings , a number used this incident as a way to remind others that bullying should be considered a crime and not simply brushed off. Moreover, getting the message beyond school grounds is vital to stopping it. This topic has been written about extensively on the web before, with one sociologist writing an essay on how schools feel like their own self-contained worlds, and that often stops efforts from outside. However, the Niigata case shows that maybe this attitude is changing beyond the internet, as the police are actually involved and the school didn’t try to cover anything up. Although erasing bullying once and for all might be impossible, social media in Japan is offering a space for empathy and applying pressure on everyone to call out violence against others.

niigata
bullying
children
teens
japan pulse


Dealing with gun issues in a nation with few guns

Abstract: Japan’s reputation as a country relatively free of gun crime is borne out by official statistics. In terms of individuals charged with crimes committed using firearms, the 2018 white paper issued by the National Police Agency listed eight homicides in 2017 — all of which involved members of crime syndicates — and five armed robberies (of which two involved gang members). The last year in which the number of homicides by firearms exceeded a single digit was 2014 (with 13 incidents). Apart from crime involving guns, the white paper reported 13 fatalities in 2017, of which 11 were believed to have been suicides. The 2017 body count is all the more amazing, considering that from four years ago, Japan has found itself in the crosshairs of an ongoing gang war. A schism in the nation’s largest crime syndicate, the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, has led to heightened tension, with rival gangs in Tokyo and elsewhere reportedly attempting to form new alliances or exploit the vacuum. Some might be inclined to think that — just like in a Mario Puzo story — Japan’s gang members would “go to the mattresses” (that is, move away from their family homes) and prepare to shoot it out in barber shops, restaurants and apartment elevators. Indeed, a few decades ago, when the Yamaguchi-gumi was previously rocked by internecine violence after a faction rejected the gang’s new boss and broke away to form the Ichiwa-kai, the casualty count over an 18-month period reached 18 dead and 47 wounded. Thanks to tougher laws, declining ranks of aging gang members, full employment and proactive police efforts to crack down on gangs, the past four years have pretty much been a “sitzkrieg” — warfare marked by a lack of aggression. Japan’s Constitution has nothing like America’s Second Amendment, and its current laws regarding ownership of firearms and swords essentially preserved regulations put into force by the Allied Occupation at the end of World War II. An article by MSN News estimated the ratio of firearm ownership in Japan is roughly 0.6 out of every 100 citizens, as opposed to 88.8 out of 100 in the United States. According to the white paper issued by the National Police Agency, the number of legally owned firearms in 2013 totaled 236,979 (including 159,574 shotguns and 32,136 rifles). In 2017, the figure had fallen to 206,306, of which 138,383 were shotguns and 29,506 rifles). Gun ownership in this country is discouraged by draconian regulations. By virtue of owning a shotgun or rifle, you waive your right to privacy; police have the right to appear unannounced at your doorstep to confirm that the firearm is being correctly stored according to stringent regulations (in a sturdy concealed locker) and that its ammunition is stored separately. (Using a firearm to defend one’s family from invaders is out of the question.) The declining number of legally owned firearms has actually become something of a problem because, in addition to fewer people who hunt for sport, some rural residents are being overrun by growing populations of wild boar, monkeys and other animals, which damage crops and occasionally pose a physical threat. As a result, concerns have arisen that Japan might not have enough guns. Whatever feelings — positive, negative or neutral — the average citizen may harbor toward the police, it is safe to say that the notion of being shot dead by an officer of the law exists only in the remote depths of his subconscious, if at all. While certainly not enough to inspire a movement along the lines of Black Lives Matter, however, cases do occur when police officers in Japan draw their sidearms (infrequently), fire off a shot (extremely uncommon), and injure or kill a suspect (extraordinarily rarely). Writing for the December issue of investigative magazine Kami no Bakudan (Paper Bomb), journalist Masakatsu Adachi listed dates, locations and particulars for 18 cases over the previous five years in which a police officer shot and killed, or wounded, a suspect. The incidents were distributed throughout the country, from rural areas such as Niigata Prefecture to two each in Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka. Five occurred in or adjacent to a police box. The number appears to have picked up, with at least seven incidents last year. Behind the increase, Adachi points to a revision in the protocol concerning gun use by police officers issued by the National Police Agency back in December 2001, to the effect that firing a warning shot would no longer be required. This was because officers generally found the factors requiring such a snap judgment were too vague to process when under immediate threat. When the 2001 revision was announced, the Mainichi Shimbun voiced guarded agreement. “With the rapid increase in violent incidents, hesitation in use of a firearm may lead to cases of officers being killed in the line of duty or suffering injuries,” the paper said. “The purpose (of the revision) is to dispel officers’ hesitance toward the use of their firearms out of concern over accidents.” Summing up his article, Adachi wrote: “We should not allow ourselves to forget that police officers, as part of their work to protect public safety, must confront dangers on a daily basis. Nevertheless, they must be able to prove their use of a firearm was justified. After all, power is in the hands of the authorities, leaving citizens with no option but to comply. “The decision by an officer to use his sidearm is not at his or her free discretion but in accordance with the law. Even when gun usage is compliance with the Police Duties Execution Act, such use must be held to the minimum required to achieve the officer’s objective.” Even a country with practically no guns, it seems, must still deal with gun problems.


NHK's restructuring plan sparks concern over influence

Abstract: In a recent post for the progressive website Common Dreams , consumer advocate and one-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader bemoaned public broadcasting in the United States. Created by the government “to provide serious programming without any advertisements,” the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio were designed as alternatives to commercial TV and radio, which, because of economic prerogatives, tended toward entertainment. Public broadcasting was meant to provide information that is edifying and useful. Over the years, however, public broadcasters have been subjected to what Nader calls “continual right-wing antagonism” that has led to leaner government funding, thus forcing stations to depend on “support” from large corporations. Content is carefully curated so as not to upset these corporations, and programming has skewed toward the same mix of music and entertainment you find on commercial stations. In Japan, progressives have criticized public broadcaster NHK in a similar way. Because the government approves NHK’s budget, there’s a suspicion that management tends to avoid content that might offend the authorities. Since the advent of the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2012, these suspicions have become more acute. Allies of Abe were appointed to executive positions . In 2014, NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii said that if the government says go right, then NHK cannot go left. These suspicions were retriggered last month when NHK announced structural changes that will lead to the cancellation or curtailment of certain programs, including the award-winning “ETV Special,” a documentary series on NHK’s educational channel that offers in-depth coverage of social issues, and “Heart Net TV,” a discussion and information show that is often about minority concerns. The weekly magazine Shukan Post added fuel to the fire with a self-described scoop that focused on a protest letter from 72 employees of NHK’s Culture and Welfare Program Section, which is being dissolved. According to Shukan Post, the signatories were “not convinced” by the explanation they received from management about the reasons for the restructuring and were concerned that NHK programming would lose its diversity. Production for all of NHK’s TV stations is overseen by either the News Bureau, which handles news-related programming, or the Production Bureau, which handles dramas, variety shows and information programs. The restructuring affects the Production Bureau, which currently consists of eight sections. These sections will be reorganized into six sections for the purpose of improved efficiency. The present system is vertically-oriented, meaning a top-down type of management. After the change, which goes into effect in June, management will be horizontal, meaning section chiefs can move staff among themselves with relative ease. NHK says the reorganization will not affect content. However, the Culture and Welfare Section will be absorbed by other sections and will thus cease to exist. It is this section that produces “ETV Special” and “Heart Net TV,” which, as one staff member told Shukan Post, cover topics that are sometimes seen to be in opposition to government policy. Shukan Post suggests that one purpose of the restructuring is to cut programming that may irk the administration, and points to decisions made by NHK that some see as indicative of the broadcaster’s desire to curry favor with those in power. Akiko Iwata, a reporter who covers the prime minister’s office at NHK and who is said to be close to Abe, was given NHK’s chairman award in 2017. Hiroko Kuniya, the longtime host of NHK’s nightly in-depth news show, “Close-up Gendai,” who, unlike many NHK on-air talent, asks penetrating questions, was compelled to leave three years ago. Shukan Post notes, however, that the shows produced by the Culture and Welfare Section typically do not earn high ratings, which means in-house support for the protest is mixed. The point of the letter, according to another employee, is “the meaning of public broadcasting.” As Nader might say, it’s not the mission of a public broadcaster to aim for higher viewer share, but rather to provide the public with information they can’t get elsewhere. In its Feb. 23 Media Times column, the Asahi Shimbun examined NHK’s restructuring plan, concluding that the main impetus is the 2013 suicide of an NHK reporter from overwork. NHK determined that the woman’s heavy schedule was caused by a workload imbalance. A horizontal structure would distribute the burden more evenly among employees. Some staff expressed to the Asahi Shimbun their annoyance with media such as Shukan Post and another weekly, Shukan Kinyobi , which claim that restructuring is being carried out to please the government. Former NHK producer Kozo Nagata, who is often critical of his old employer, told the newspaper that while NHK’s political coverage doesn’t always maintain proper distance from those in power, in this instance he thinks reorganization is appropriate. Nagata elaborated on this view during a discussion on the web channel Democracy Times , saying that the NHK establishment has always gravitated toward the government position, while certain sections and programs have not, and he doesn’t see that changing. At the same time, he thinks the broadcaster’s flagship show, “NHK Special,” has become less relevant, recycling the same safe topics. Yoshiyuki Niwa, an associate professor at Tokyo University, told the Asahi Shimbun that NHK is increasingly focused on ratings, an inclination that is just as compromising to journalistic integrity as bowing to power is. What no media outlet mentions is how similar NHK programming has become to that of commercial broadcasters. The Saturday night lineup on NHK-G, a parade of drama and variety shows, is almost indistinguishable from the fare on other stations. Just because NHK hasn’t sold its soul to the government doesn’t mean it hasn’t sold its soul.


Japan Times 1969: Exploding balloons injure eight people

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Friday, March 21 1919 Tokyo buildings damaged by rare gale THE JAPAN TIMES Eight persons suffered burns when toy balloons exploded during a public demonstration for fire prevention co-sponsored by the Yokohama Fire Station. The sudden gale that visited Tokyo on Wednesday evening for over an hour was a rare phenomenon at this season of the year, according to Dr. Okada of the Central Meteorological Observatory. It was caused by the sudden appearance of a small depression about noon that day on the Saku Plain, Nagano Prefecture, which proceeded east at a velocity of 30 miles an hour and passed out to the Pacific, crossing Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures. Tokyo was out of the center of the zone, luckily, and the damage here was limited. Owing to the remarkably rapid progress of the low pressure, the Central Meteorological Observatory had no time to issue a special warning. In Tochigi Prefecture, the violent storm was accompanied by hail and thunder. A newly built primary school in course of construction was blown down by the storm and a bridge over the Tone River at Menuma was badly damaged, stopping traffic. In Kumagae, the storm fanned the sparks from the engine of a passing freight train and set an uncovered freight car on fire, destroying it and the cargo, causing a loss of ¥900. In Mito, the storm caused the failure of the electricity supply for nearly four hours, plunging the whole city into darkness. In Yokohama, a severe hail storm lasted for nearly an hour. 75 YEARS AGO Wednesday, March 8, 1944 Aluminum coins to be replaced by tin THE JAPAN TIMES The 10 sen, 5 sen, and 1 sen aluminum coins now in circulation will, beginning the end of this month, be replaced by those made of tin to economize on the consumption of aluminum which is an important war material. The tin coins of all three denominations will be slightly smaller than the respective aluminum ones, the diameters of the new 10 sen, 5 sen, and 1 sen coins being respectively 19 millimeters, 17 millimeters and 15 millimeters as against the 22 millimeters, 19 millimeters and 16 millimeters of the aluminum coins of the same face value. Therefore, the 10 sen tin coin will be of the same size as the 5 sen aluminum coin, while all the tin coins will be 2½ times as heavy as the aluminum coins of the same value. The 10 sen and 5 sen tin coins have holes of five and four millimeters in the center, and look like the nickel coins of old days. There is no change in the design of the 10 sen and 5 sen tin coins, each bearing the Imperial Crest of the Chrysanthemum at the top and the Imperial Crest of the Paulownia and auspicious clouds below the hole. The new 1 sen coin, however, has the Imperial Crest in the center with an arabesque design of the chrysanthemum on both sides of the Imperial Crest. The new coins are silvery grey in color. The 10 sen and 1 sen coins will make their appearance toward the end of this month, while the 5 sen coin will appear a little later, about the middle of April. The aluminum coins will be left in circulation as at present for some time to come. 50 YEARS AGO Sunday, March 2, 1969 Exploding balloons injure eight people THE JAPAN TIMES Eight persons suffered burns when toy balloons exploded Saturday afternoon during a public demonstration for fire prevention cosponsored by the Yokohama Fire Station. The explosions occurred at about 1 p.m. when an official for the demonstration was distributing publicity balloons to spectators at a plaza in front of the JNR Yokohama Station. Altogether, 10 balloons held by the campaigner exploded one after another. The balloons, each 30 centimeters long and 15 centimeters in diameter, contained hydrogen. The injured persons, including Miyuki Natori, a 9-year-old girl, were taken to a nearby hospital. Police suspected a smoker’s carelessness may have caused the explosion. 25 YEARS AGO Sunday, March 13, 1994 Food Agency issues reminder to mix rice THE JAPAN TIMES The Food Agency has issued a notice to local governments and concerned sectors that they should make sure rice sellers in their areas are mixing domestic and at least 20 percent of Thai rice for sales to consumers. The agency’s notice also banned sales of sets of domestic rice and imported rice in separate bags. It noted the policy is intended to maintain stable supplies and prevent hoarding of domestic rice. If only domestic grain is purchased, the supply will be completely consumed before rice grown this year comes onto the market, the notice said. Blended rice will likely be put on the market as early as next week despite much opposition from consumers and sellers. Consumers say they want freedom of choice and if domestic and imported rice have to be sold in a certain proportion, then they want to have the rice in separate bags so they can cook it in different ways according to the type. Rice sellers likewise say they want to sell the different types separately. Some wholesalers also want to sell sets of foreign and domestic rice instead of blended rice. Japan has imported 721,100 tons of rice since last November, according to the Food Agency. The figure is broken down into 521,000 tons for direct consumption and 200,000 tons for processing. The agency plans to import a total of 1.37 million tons of table rice from March through June. Of the 721,000 tons, Thai rice accounted for 61.9 percent, or 446,400 tons, including all of the 200,000 tons for processing. Imports totaled 148,300 tons from China, 99,400 tons from the United States and 27,000 tons from Australia.

balloons
hydrogen
rice
weather
world war ii
currency
wind


'Empty words': Rights groups say Japan's bill recognizing Ainu as indigenous group falls short

Abstract: Rights groups criticized the government Friday over a recent bill recognizing the Ainu people for the first time as “an indigenous group,” saying that despite the wording, it treats them as a tourist attraction and does not do enough to reverse the historical discrimination they have suffered. Calling the bill “deplorable,” some representatives of the ethnic minority, which has roots in Hokkaido, said the group’s voices and rights have been ignored. The bill, which the Cabinet approved on Feb. 15, says its objective is to “realize a society which will respect the pride of the Ainu,” who also live in parts of Russia. “There has been no apology. … The bill refers to the Ainu as indigenous people but they are empty words,” Yuji Shimizu, chairman of Ainu Kotan no Kai, recently told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, demanding the bill’s “immediate withdrawal and resubmission.” The government is seeking to enact the legislation during the ongoing Diet session, which will end in late June if it is not extended. “There is no content in any of the articles mentioning indigenous rights, in other words the right to self-determination, the right to land, et cetera,” Shimizu said, noting that the government had stripped the Ainu of their entitlements and resources starting in the late 19th century. Beginning with the government’s assimilationist policy in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the ethnic minority has suffered discrimination, spilling over into income and educational disparities. The Ainu have also struggled to maintain their culture and language. Government policy has made it difficult to ascertain the actual number of Ainu. A 2017 Hokkaido survey lists the Ainu population as slightly more than 13,000, but some estimates put it as high as 250,000. A 1997 law replaced the almost century-old assimilationist law and acknowledged for the first time the existence of an ethnic minority in Japan, but it did not call the Ainu an indigenous group. The new bill aims to reverse that. It also comes more than a decade after Japan supported a U.N. declaration in 2007 that confirmed the rights of indigenous people as a group. The bill says it aims to realize a society that will respect the Ainu people, which is a “duty” for both the central and local governments. Municipal projects aimed at preserving Ainu culture and developing their communities will be subsidized by the government. “Positioning Ainu culture at the center for proposals to promote tourism is nothing other than a scheme to sacrifice or exploit living Ainu as a resource for tourism,” Shimizu said, adding he has “very strong reservations and unease about the system of financial subsidies.” A new national Ainu museum and park is scheduled to open in the Hokkaido town of Shiraoi in April 2020, three months before the Tokyo Olympics. It is expected to bring in 1 million visitors. “This is going to feed a few mouths but this is not a typical situation in our Ainu society,” said Satoshi Hatakeyama, chairman of the Mombetsu Ainu Association. “I would like to see actualization of inherent indigenous rights such as the right to fish and to harvest whales.” The bill would also relax restrictions on traditional Ainu salmon fishing and timber collection in national forests for their rituals. However, Mochihiro Ichikawa, a lawyer at the news conference, said this too was for cultural promotion and was not based on collective rights. Article 13 of the Constitution already protects the rights of individual citizens, including the Ainu. But the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is based on the recognition of group rights. “What’s been talked about is the right of the group as a collective and that’s what the Japanese government refuses to acknowledge. The fundamental stance is that they will not recognize collective rights on certain activities,” Ichikawa said. “The new bill is the consummation of the assimilation policy,” he said.


Trump renews attack alleging social media's political bias favoring Democrats

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused social media platforms Facebook, YouTube and Twitter of favoring his Democratic opponents over him and his fellow Republicans. “But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before! #MAGA,” he said in a tweet. MAGA refers to Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. declined comment. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which owns YouTube, did not immediately comment. The president and other conservatives have repeatedly complained that these big tech platforms treat them unfairly. Trump has previously accused Twitter of restricting the visibility of prominent U.S. Republicans, without any providing evidence, and the avid social media user has promised to investigate the company’s practices. Trump and other conservatives say Twitter targets fellow Republicans with a practice dubbed “shadow banning,” limiting the visibility of a Twitter user, including in the platform’s auto-populated dropdown search box. Rep. Devin Nunes of California has sued Twitter over the alleged practice, according to court documents. Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey has said that algorithms have been changed to fix that issue. The Justice Department held a meeting last fall between federal officials and state attorneys general to discuss allegations that conservative ideas are suppressed online, but so far no concrete action has been taken as a result.

social media
democrats
donald trump
facebook
twitter
republicans
google
devin nunes


U.S. to push for comprehensive free trade agreement as it looks to open up Japan's agriculture market

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration will push for a comprehensive free trade agreement with Japan and signaled his eagerness to seek a further opening of the country’s agriculture market. In the Economic Report of the President, Trump expressed his frustration over Japanese tariffs on beef and pork, suggesting that his administration will adopt a tough stance in its trade negotiations with Tokyo, which are slated to be launched shortly. Naming an envisaged pact with the United States as a trade agreement on goods, the Japanese government has said that the upcoming negotiations will mainly target tariff issues. By contrast, the U.S. government is eyeing a more comprehensive FTA with Japan that would also cover the services sector as well as foreign exchange issues. The administration intends to “enter into free trade agreement negotiations with Japan,” said the U.S. report, a major document to be submitted to Congress. Citing Tokyo’s imposition of a variable system of tariffs on beef and pork imports, Trump suggested the United States will demand a further opening of Japan’s agriculture market in negotiations. “A number of international competitors, such as Australia, face much lower Japanese tariffs, so a free trade agreement with Japan could level the playing field for U.S. exporters,” the report said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last month that the two governments were expected to launch trade talks in March, though they may not start until April or May as the United States is currently focused on ongoing trade talks with China. Tuesday’s report said that, beyond agriculture, “Other tariffs and nontariff barriers stand in the way of U.S. goods and services exports to Japan.” It came a week after Lighthizer expressed concern that the recent enforcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership — an 11-member FTA including Japan and Australia — as well as a free trade deal between Japan and the European Union, will put American farmers and ranchers at a disadvantage. According to Japanese government data, the nation’s beef imports from Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand — four members of what is formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — jumped more than 50 percent in January from a year earlier. The CPTPP came into force on Dec. 30. The Trump administration, which prefers bilateral trade deals, withdrew the United States from the original pact in 2017. Aside from agriculture, the report indicated the administration will urge Japan and China to increase the purchase of liquefied natural gas from the United States. “China and Japan are the world’s two largest importers of LNG, and are likely to be attractive future markets in which to increase the U.S. share of LNG deliveries,” it said.

trade
agriculture
tariffs
fta
u.s.-japan relations


Norway aluminum giant Norsk Hydro hit by 'extensive' ransom cyberattack

Abstract: OSLO - One of the world’s biggest aluminum producers, Norway’s Norsk Hydro, said Tuesday it had been hit by a ransom cyberattack of unknown origin, with hackers demanding a ransom. “The situation is quite grave,” Norsk Hydro’s chief financial officer, Eivind Kallevik, said. “This virus is a so-called encryption virus, also commonly known as ransom virus,” he told a press conference. Ransom viruses encrypt files using malware that render them unusable. The hackers then demand a ransom to unlock them. “No sum has been mentioned,” Kallevik said. He said Norsk Hydro was relying on both internal and external resources “to find what you can call a cure for getting this virus out of the system.” Described as “extensive,” the attack began around midnight (2300 GMT) overnight Monday to Tuesday. So far it has had only a limited effect on production. All plants were disconnected from the IT system and some were switched to manual mode. Some plants making aluminium products were impacted on Tuesday, but Hydro’s main aluminum production sites were “running as normal..” “Our main priority now is to ensure safe operations and limit the operational and financial impact,” Kallevik said. The news initially sent the firm’s share price tumbling on the Oslo Stock Exchange, but it closed down 0.7 percent. The identity of the hackers was not known. Norway’s National Security Authority (NSM), tasked with protecting the country from cyberattacks, espionage, sabotage or acts of terrorism, said it was assisting Norsk Hydro. Its operations center, NorCERT, issued a warning about a ransomware program called LockerGoga, public broadcaster NRK reported. “NorCERT informs that Hydro was the target of a ransomware attack (LockerGoga). The attack is combined with an attack against the active directory,” NorCERT reportedly wrote. An active directory centralizes users’ identification and authentification in a company’s IT system. “Right now we are working on several hypotheses, several theories,” the head of NSM’s cybersecurity unit, Bente Hoff, told reporters. The LockerGoga ransomware “is one of the theories,” she added. The attack came hours after Hilde Merete Aasheim was appointed as the company’s new CEO, replacing retiring Svein Richard Brandtzaeg. She became one of the few women to head a major global industrial company.

norway
aluminum
norsk hydro
ransom
cyberattack
malware


Asian business sentiment lingers near three-year low as U.S.-China trade war drags: survey

Abstract: SEOUL - Confidence among Asian companies held near three-year lows in the first quarter as a U.S.-China trade dispute dragged on, pulling down a global economy that is already on a downward path, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey found. The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index tracking firms’ six-month outlook was flat in the March quarter from the previous quarter’s 63, compared with a near three-year low of 58 set in the July to September quarter. A reading above 50 means optimistic respondents outnumbered pessimists, but the latest index still marks one of the five worst since the world started its recovery from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. “Things have not gotten worse but a lot of uncertainty is putting companies in wait-and-see mode,” Antonio Fatas, a Singapore-based economics professor at global business school INSEAD, said of U.S.-China talks on trade relations. “In one week, it looks like they are promising and the week after it looks like they are going nowhere, and so there’s a lot of wait-and-see attitude,” he added, saying the uncertainty is forcing companies to put off investment decisions. A global trade war was cited as the chief business risk by respondents for the third quarter in a row, though by a smaller margin. Higher interest rates emerged as the second-biggest risk, outpacing a slowing Chinese economy. A total of 100 companies from a range of sectors responded to the survey, conducted from March 1-15 in 11 Asia-Pacific countries where 45 percent of the world’s population live and 32 percent of global gross domestic product is generated. The United States and China have put on hold a planned escalation of their trade war pending negotiations, but the much-awaited conclusion of the latest round of talks has also been delayed even though remarks from the two sides have been optimistic. Global agencies including the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have said failure to resolve trade tension could further slow a downward-trending global economy. Regional powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea all saw exports fall last month, with China and South Korea suffering their worst annual declines in overseas sales in around three years. The index staying above the neutral point of 50 suggests companies in Asia are not expecting an imminent global recession, but languishing near multiyear lows indicates companies are exerting caution. “We don’t see a global hard landing as a likely scenario when we look at economic factors such as inflation and credit conditions,” said Young Sun Kwon, an economist at Nomura in Hong Kong. “But there are big uncertainties in politics.” Lessons from the 2008-2009 global financial meltdown have forced countries to strengthen economic defenses, but factors such as Britain’s planned exit from the European Union and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s uncertain path are posing threats. With less than two weeks before the March 29 divorce date, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is still struggling to push a departure deal with the EU through Parliament. In the United States, the Fed has declared a pause in its tightening campaign, but economists foresee at least one more increase later this year despite increasing signs of slowdown in major economies. Respondents to the survey included Canon Inc., Suzuki Motor Corp., Thai Beverage PCL, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and Delta Electronics Thailand PCL.


Government downgrades view on Japanese economy for first time in three years amid China slowdown

Abstract: The government downgraded its headline assessment of Japan’s economy for the first time in three years on Wednesday, citing a slowdown in exports to China, but denied the economy had fallen into recession. In the March edition of its monthly economic report, the Cabinet Office said the world’s third-largest economy is “recovering at a moderate pace while weakness is seen recently in exports and industrial production in some sectors.” It marks a downgrade from its earlier assessment that the economy is “recovering at a moderate pace,” which it had maintained since January last year. The last time the Cabinet Office downgraded its view was in March 2016. But the growth phase that began in December 2012 is believed to be intact, with conditions underpinned by solid private consumption and capital expenditures, which together make up about 70 percent of gross domestic product, a government official said at a press briefing. Earlier this month, a key indicator of economic trends showed that the economy may have already peaked last fall and since entered a recessionary phase, seemingly confirming the views of critics who say the government is overly optimistic. Neither the Cabinet Office’s assessment nor the indicator — the coincident index of business conditions — are conclusive in judging whether the most recent growth phase surpassed the Izanami Boom from 2002 to 2008. That job falls to a seven-member panel of academics and private-sector economists that retroactively determines the length of economic cycles after examining more data, a process that can take more than a year. In its latest report, the Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying it is “almost flat, and weakness is seen in some sectors.” It said exports had a “weak tone” while private consumption is “picking up” and business investment is “increasing,” all unchanged from the previous month. Looking forward, risks including the outlook for China’s economy, where growth has slowed to a nearly three-decade low, and the trade conflict between the United States and China warrant attention, the report said.


Trial of ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn may start in fall: lawyers

Abstract: The trial for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn over his alleged underreporting of remuneration could start this fall, his lawyers said Wednesday. Ghosn, 65, who was released on bail on March 6 after 108 days in detention since his initial arrest in November, is facing two charges — one of violating the financial instruments law by underreporting remuneration and another over aggravated breach of trust in relation to the transfer of private investment losses to Nissan. In the case over the alleged violation of the financial instruments law, Ghosn, his close aide Greg Kelly and Nissan have all been indicted for the underreporting of Ghosn’s remuneration by a total of around ¥9.1 billion ($82 million) in Nissan’s securities reports over the eight years through March 2018. The potential start of the trial was suggested by the Tokyo District Court during talks involving prosecutors and defense lawyers the same day. The court also designated May 23 as the start of the pretrial process for narrowing down points of dispute in the case of alleged aggravated breach of trust, which only involves Ghosn, according to the lawyers. Ghosn allegedly transferred personal losses of ¥1.85 billion from derivatives contracts to Nissan during the 2008 global financial crisis and had the automaker pay $14.7 million to a Saudi businessman who extended credit to him. Ghosn, who was credited with saving Nissan when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, was ousted from the chairman’s post following his arrest on Nov. 19 — but he remains a Nissan director. Kelly, 62, arrested along with Ghosn in November and released on bail the following month, was dismissed from the post of representative director but also remains a Nissan director. The two have denied the allegations.


Number of foreign visitors to Japan rises 3.8% on year in February, as arrivals from China dip

Abstract: The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in February rose 3.8 percent from a year earlier to a record 2,604,300, but the growth in Chinese tourists slowed significantly compared with the previous month, the government said Tuesday. By country and region, the highest number of visitors came from China at 723,600, up 1.0 percent from a year earlier, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. However, the pace of growth slowed from 19.3 percent in January due to a decline in the number of cruise ships making stops in Japan. South Korea was second at 715,800, up 1.1 percent, followed by Taiwan at 399,800, down 0.3 percent, and Hong Kong at 179,300, up 0.5 percent. The number of visitors from Southeast Asia jumped in February, with Vietnam marking a 68.6 percent leap to 39,400, Thailand up 31.4 percent to 107,800, and the Philippines up 28.0 percent to 35,200, according to the agency.

foreign visitors
japan tourism agency
tourism


Trump blockade of Huawei fizzles in European 5G rollout

Abstract: BERLIN - Last summer, the Trump administration started a campaign to convince its European allies to bar China’s Huawei Technologies Co. from their telecom networks. Bolstered by the success of similar efforts in Australia and New Zealand, the White House sent envoys to European capitals with warnings that Huawei’s gear would open a backdoor for Chinese spies. The U.S. even threatened to cut off intelligence sharing if Europe ignored its advice. So far, not a single European country has banned Huawei. “There are two things I don’t believe in,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a conference Tuesday in Berlin. “First, to discuss these very sensitive security questions publicly, and second, to exclude a company simply because it’s from a certain country.” Europe, caught in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war, has sought to balance concerns about growing Chinese influence with a desire to increase business with the region’s second-biggest trading partner. With no ban in the works, Huawei is in the running for contracts to build 5G phone networks, the ultra-fast wireless technology Europe’s leaders hope will fuel the growth of a data-based economy. The U.K.’s spy chief has indicated that a ban on Huawei is unlikely, citing a lack of viable alternatives to upgrade British telecom networks. Italy’s government has dismissed the U.S. warnings as it seeks to boost trade with China. In Germany, authorities have proposed tighter security rules for data networks rather than outlawing Huawei. France is doing the same after initially flirting with the idea of restrictions on Huawei. “The 5G rollout is one of the most complex and expensive technology projects ever undertaken,” said Paul Triolo, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. “The challenge for Europe is to find a way that minimizes the security risks linked to Chinese suppliers but not delay 5G, which is so important to the region.” Governments listened to phone companies such as Vodafone Group PLC, Deutsche Telekom AG, and Orange SA, who warned that sidelining Huawei would delay the implementation of 5G by years and add billions of euros in cost. “We’ve not seen any evidence of backdoors into the network,” said Helen Lamprell, Vodafone’s top lawyer and chief lobbyist in the U.K. “If the Americans have evidence, please put it out on the table.” The pressure has been building for months. The U.S. in February dispatched representatives to MWC Barcelona, the industry’s top annual trade show, who urged executives and politicians to avoid Huawei and its Chinese peers. And this month, the U.S. ambassador in Berlin wrote a letter to the German government saying it should drop Huawei or risk throttling U.S. intelligence sharing. While carriers can also buy equipment from the likes of Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, and Samsung Electronics Co., industry consultants say Huawei’s quality is high, and the company last year filed 5,405 global patents, more than double the filings by Ericsson and Nokia combined. And some European lawmakers have been wary of Cisco Systems Inc., Huawei’s American rival, since Edward Snowden leaked documents revealing the National Security Agency’s use of U.S.-made telecom equipment for spying. Huawei isn’t necessarily safe. In Germany, hard-liners in the intelligence community say the company isn’t trustworthy, and updated security rules the government is drafting could make it harder for Huawei to win contracts. Denmark’s biggest phone company, TDC A/S, declined to renew a contract with Huawei and instead picked Ericsson as strategic partner to develop its 5G network. Across Europe, the Shenzhen-based company is under pressure to allow greater scrutiny of its technology and increase assurances its equipment can’t be accessed by Chinese spies. Huawei has “placed cyber security and user privacy protection at the very top of its priorities,” a company representative said by email. Safeguarding networks is the joint responsibility of vendors, telecom companies, and regulators, he said. So far, there’s little evidence to suggest Europe will shun Huawei. National railway companies in Germany and Austria have bought the company’s equipment, and carriers such as Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica are running 5G test projects with its products. Huawei’s global revenue growth accelerated in the first two months of the year, climbing by more than a third, founder Ren Zhengfei said last week. And the company says sales of its smartphones doubled in Germany during the same period. “We don’t know what the U.S.’s next move is, so it’s not over yet,” said Bengt Nordstrom, CEO of telecom consultancy Northstream. “But whatever market share Huawei may lose in Europe, they’ll win back in China.”

huawei
europe
5g
angela merkel
u.s .
u.k .
espionage
donald trump


'The Netflix of gaming': Google moves to disrupt industry with streaming and its own development studio

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO - Google LLC set out to disrupt the video game world on Tuesday with a Stadia platform that will let players stream blockbuster titles to any device they wish, while also unveiling a new controller and its very own studio. The California-based technology giant said its Stadia platform will open to gamers later this year in the United States, Canada, Britain and other parts of Europe. For now, the Alphabet Inc. unit is focused on working with game-makers to tailor titles for play on Stadia, saying it has already provided the technology to more than 100 game developers. “We are on the brink of a huge revolution in gaming,” said Jade Raymond, the former Ubisoft and Electronic Arts executive tapped to head Google’s new studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment. “We are committed to going down a bold path,” she told a presentation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. shares slid after Google outlined the major push into video games with Stadia. Nintendo dropped as much as 4.6 percent and Sony declined 4.5 percent Wednesday, the biggest intraday drop for both stocks in six weeks. The game industry’s business model of creating a hardware platform, such as Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch, and then charging publishers for the right to access it has come under pressure in recent years. That’s happened as many casual gamers turn to free-to-play mobile titles. “There is no doubt this service makes life even more difficult for established platforms,” Amir Anvarzadeh, a market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors Pte., said in a note to clients. “Google will help further fragment the gaming market which is already coming under pressure by big games which have adopted the mobile gaming business model of giving the titles away for free in hope of generating in-game content sales.” The Japanese companies have responded by creating subscription services and offering content other than games, but Google’s push into the $180 billion industry threatens the long-standing hardware model. The search giant however not only has to provide a smooth lag-free experience, it must also convince publishers to bring their marquee titles. Sony has already rolled out its own streaming service, PlayStation Now, which was released in 2014. But its streaming technology and limited investment in data centers has held back the service, with some users complaining about lag times. Asumi Maeda, a spokeswoman for Sony Interactive Entertainment, said “the game industry heating up is something that should make players happy.” A Nintendo spokesman declined to comment. The Stadia tech platform aims to connect people for interactive play on PCs, tablets, smartphones and other devices. Google also unveiled a new controller that can be used to play cloud-based individual or multiplayer games. Stadia controllers mirrored those designed for Xbox or PlayStation consoles, with the addition of dedicated buttons for streaming live play via YouTube or asking the Google Assistant virtual aide for help beating a daunting puzzle or challenge. CEO Sundar Pichai said the initiative is “to build a game platform for everyone.” “I think we can change the game by bringing together the entirety of the ecosystem,” Pichai told a keynote audience. Google’s hope is that Stadia could become for games what Netflix or Spotify are to television or music, by making console-quality play widely available. Yet it remains unclear how much Google can grab of the potentially massive industry. As it produces its own games, Google will also be courting other studios to move to its cloud-based model. Google collaborated with French video game titan Ubisoft last year in a limited public test of the technology powering Stadia, and its chief executive was in the front row at the platform’s unveiling. A coming new version of blockbuster action game “Doom” tailored to play on Stadia was teased at the event by iD studio executive producer Marty Stratton. “If you are going to prove to the world you can stream games from the cloud, what better game than ‘Doom’,” Stratton said. Streaming games from the cloud brings the potential to tap into massive amounts of computing power in data centers. For gamers, that could translate into richer game environments, more creative play options or battle royale matches involving thousands of players. At the developers conference, Google demonstrated fast, cloud-based play on a variety of devices. But it offered no specific details on how it would monetize the new service or compensate developers. Money-making options could include selling game subscriptions the way Netflix charges for access to streaming television. “I think it’s a huge potential transition in the video game industry, not only for the instant access to games but for exploring different business models to games,” Jon Peddie Research analyst Ted Pollak said of Stadia. “They say it’s the Netflix of gaming; that is actually pretty accurate.” Ubisoft, known for “Assassin’s Creed” and other titles, said it would be working with Google. Its co-founder and chief Yves Guillemot predicted streaming would “give billions unprecedented opportunities to play video games in the future.” An “Assassin’s Creed” title franchise was used to test Google’s “Project Stream” technology for hosting the kind of quick, seamless play powered by in-home consoles as an online service. The reliability and speed of internet connections is seen as a challenge to cloud gaming, with action play potentially marred by streaming lags or disruptions. Google said its investments in networks and data centers should help prevent latency in data transmissions. In places with fast and reliable wireless, internet players will likely access games on the wide variety of devices envisioned by Google, while hardcore players in places where wireless connections aren’t up to the task could opt for consoles, according to Pollak. “I think it is good news for everyone,” Pollak said when asked what Stadia meant to major console-makers Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.


Dollar firmer around ¥111.60 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar firmed to around ¥111.60 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, supported by buying to square positions. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.59, up from ¥111.26 at the same time on Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1344-1348, almost unchanged from $1.1346-1346, and at ¥126.64, up from ¥126.25. The dollar moved around ¥111.30 before gradually scaling to around ¥111.70 in midmorning trading thanks to purchases by domestic importers, according to a currency broker. In afternoon trading, the U.S. currency weakened to around ¥111.50-60 due to selling to lock in gains. But the greenback was underpinned by buying to square positions. Investors held active trading in check to see the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting ending later on Wednesday, said an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm. Although the market believes the Fed will make clearer its “dovish” stance by deciding to slow its pace of interest rate hikes, investors are eager to confirm whether such a decision will actually be made, a Japanese bank official said.


Tokyo stocks turn moderately higher on bargain-hunting

Abstract: Stocks staged a moderate rebound on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, chiefly supported by bargain-hunting. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 42.07 points, or 0.20 percent, to end at 21,608.92, the first finish above 21,600 since March 5. On Wednesday, the key market gauge gave up 17.65 points. The Topix index of all first section issues closed up 4.16 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,614.39, after losing 3.45 points the previous day. Pressured by selling to square positions, stocks moved on a weak tone in most of the morning session, brokers said. The market returned to positive territory in the afternoon thanks to purchases of shares that had dropped markedly in recent sessions. But the rebound lacked vigor amid a dearth of powerful buying incentives, they said. “Investors found it difficult to tilt their positions either way” before the announcement later on Wednesday of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., said. Players were waiting to see how U.S. stocks will react to the Fed’s monetary policy decision, Ichikawa explained. He also said active trading was held in check ahead of the market’s closure Thursday for a national holiday. Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., pointed out that stocks were weighed on by “selling on a rally.” But toward the day’s closing, bargain-hunting and buying to secure rights to receive dividends before the March 27 ex-dividend date gained strength, Shimizu noted. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,371 to 676 in the TSE’s first section, while 91 issues were unchanged. Volume edged up to 1.145 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.104 billion shares. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. jumped 4.08 percent after Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. raised its investment rating and target stock price for the company. Advertising agency Dentsu Inc., chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron and clothing store chain Fast Retailing Co. were also among substantial gainers. By contrast, game-console-makers Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. lost ground after U.S. information technology giant Google LLC announced that it will launch a game streaming service called Stadia in North America and Europe by the end of this year. Other major losers included air conditioner manufacturer Daikin Industries, mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp. and automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average went up 60 points to finish at 21,430.

stocks
tokyo stock exchange
nikkei
topix


Toyota eyes supplying hybrids to Suzuki in broader tie-up

Abstract: Toyota Motor Corp. is considering offering Suzuki Motor Corp. a hybrid system for global sales and enhancing a joint car development project for India, according to an expanded tie-up deal unveiled Wednesday. Under the agreement, Suzuki can sell hybrids developed by Toyota, namely the RAV4 and Corolla Wagon, carrying the Suzuki badge in the European market, the Japanese automakers said. For India, a market where Suzuki has a strong footprint, Toyota and Suzuki plan to jointly develop a multipurpose vehicle under the deal. Toyota and Suzuki agreed in February 2017 to start talks for a business partnership in areas such as environmental, safety and information technologies. They have since been working on the ideas of mutually supplying vehicles and developing electric vehicles mainly for India, a major car market following China, the United States and Japan. The expansion of the business partnership with Suzuki “will help give us the competitive edge we will need to survive this once-in-a-century period of profound transformation,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in a statement. Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki said, “We appreciate the kind offer from Toyota to let us make use of their hybrid technology.” Suzuki has more than a 40 percent share in India but lags behind in development of advanced vehicle-related technology. Toyota has been struggling in the South Asian country and is hoping to boost its presence there through the collaboration with Suzuki.

india
autos
suzuki motor corp .
toyota motor corp .


Rakuten's Hiroshi Mikitani has a new goal for his 17,000 workers: Learn to code

Abstract: TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO - Less than a decade after stunning workers at his tech giant with an edict to learn English, billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani wants to do the same with computer programming. Rakuten Inc. may soon expect its more than 17,000 employees to know how a computer compiles a program and understand the difference between a CPU and GPU (one is the brains of a PC, the other runs the graphics). Underpinning that is a mandatory, entry-level ability to code. Mikitani, a trailblazer in Japan’s internet economy, is considering this dramatic step as his e-commerce empire faces increasing pressure from the likes of Amazon.com Inc. It’s an attempt to keep the skills of employees up to date and answer the question: Do you need to know programming to work in tech? “If you’re working for Toyota, for example, you know how the automobile works — basic structure of the engine, suspension and so forth,” Mikitani said. “So if you work for an IT services company, you need to have the basic knowledge of what’s in the computer.” An ability to write Python code or dissect the differences between fourth- and fifth-generation wireless networks isn’t something that most tech companies would treat as a prerequisite for a nonoperations role. While the World Economic Forum estimates that more than half of workers are going to need significant training by 2022, few seem to be following the lead of companies such as Nokia Corp., which has plans to make familiarity with machine learning mandatory. Thomas Malone, professor of information technology and organizational studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management, thinks that maybe they should. Some amount of programming knowledge could be extremely valuable in helping both managers and rank-and-file go beyond buzzwords to understand what technology can actually do. “We are all living in a world shaped and defined by IT, but many of us have a mental model of technology that’s analogous to disease is caused by evil spirits,” Malone said. “You can give people enough understanding so they know how to ask the right questions.” The minimum set of digital skills already goes beyond productivity software such as Microsoft Office to include collaborative chat applications, customer relationship management databases and social media etiquette. In the coming years, an average employee may also need to know the basics of data science and understand the different flavors of artificial intelligence to get through the day. Rakuten may have a particularly pressing need for answers. Mikitani pioneered e-commerce in Japan when he founded the company more than two decades ago. While it amassed more than 100 million registered IDs, Rakuten has steadily lost ground to Amazon as well as a new breed of upstarts such as Mercari Inc. and Zozo Inc. Instead, it has come to increasingly rely on a disparate portfolio of about 80 different businesses that span banking and insurance to online ads and drone deliveries. Without a market-leading position in any of those areas, Rakuten is building a wireless network that it hopes will tie the services together and convince users to spend more on the platform. Starting in 2018, Rakuten made programming a core part of training for newly hired graduates with about 260 nonengineering recruits taking a six-month course that includes entry-level Java and basic skills for building network architecture. Another 400 new hires coming in April will spend three months in the program, which concludes with a “hackathon” for grads to create their own product and be judged by their co-workers. The company said it doesn’t yet have definitive plans for expanding the training to all employees. Getting it right is a delicate balance. The key is providing enough teaching that people can generalize to real world situations. But there is also the danger of creating busy work and workers getting lost in the details of programming syntax, MIT Sloan’s Malone said. Simply seeing a page of incomprehensible code can provoke an emotional response that is like a mental block for some workers, according to Nobuhiko Shishido, a director at Advanced Programming Educational Association in Tokyo. Getting around that requires tapping into the person’s curiosity and there is no one-size-fits-all approach, he said. “The second someone feels they are being forced to program, it turns to agony,” Shishido said. “The fear of computers is very similar to the fear people have of math.” Mikitani said the company’s experience with what he calls “Englishnization” proves that it can be done. While the two-year process was tough, as employees had to find time for language classes or face possible demotion, Rakuten staff now score way above the national average on English proficiency tests. It also boasts one of the most cosmopolitan workforces in Japan and the majority of its midcareer engineering hires in the country are foreign nationals. Despite the success in globalizing its workforce, Rakuten is still a very domestic company with about 80 percent of its revenue coming from its home market. The Tokyo-based company has made efforts to boost its brand presence overseas, including a 13 percent stake in Lyft Inc. and sponsorship of the FC Barcelona soccer team and the Golden State Warriors basketball team. Mikitani is willing to take the long view when it comes to the coding initiative and a future that is evolving fast, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence and other innovations. “Ten years from now, the world is going to be totally different,” Mikitani said. “Most of the service we do by human will be replaced by AI. And if your managers are not aware of it, it is going to be a big problem.”

rakuten
hiroshi mikitani
it
programming
e-commerce


Italy seizes blocked NGO ship carrying 50 migrants rescued off Libya

Abstract: ROME - Italy seized control Tuesday of an NGO ship it had prevented from landing nearly 50 migrants picked up off the Libyan coast, the interior ministry said. The authorities “are in the process of taking control of the Mare Jonio, escorting the boat into the (southern) port of Lampedusa,” it said. “Questioning of the crew could following in the next few hours,” it added. Hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the action showed “that from here on in Italy has a government which defends its borders and enforces respect of its laws, above all as regards human traffickers.” Salvini had on Monday reiterated that Italy’s ports were “closed” to new migrant arrivals, insisting his hard-line approach to asylum seekers since last summer has effectively stopped departures from crisis-hit Libya. He said the Italian-flagged Mare Jonio had not carried out a rescue operation but instead “aided illegal immigration. “They can be cared for, nourished, clothed, whatever you like, but they won’t get permission from me to step foot in Italy.” As the debate raged over the ship’s fate, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said another dinghy with an unknown number of migrants on board had sunk off Libya, leaving 15 survivors. The Mare Jonio, operated by the Mediterranea collective of aid groups, took shelter from bad weather off the island of Lampedusa early Tuesday, despite being ordered to maintain a distance from the coast and turn off its engine, according to its mission head and captain. “We have people on board who are sick, I have to take them to a place of safety and there are 2-meter (6-foot) high waves. I’m not turning off the engine,” Captain Pietro Marrone told the authorities, according to the Avvenire daily. “The weather conditions were impossible. We had no other choice,” mission head Luca Casarini said. “We are sailing under an Italian flag, they cannot forbid us to disembark,” he added, according to AGI news agency. A 25-year old with suspected pneumonia was evacuated to Lampedusa for medical attention. Salvini, who heads up the far-right League, has repeatedly declared Italian ports closed to NGO rescue vessels, previously leaving several of them stranded at sea in a bid to force other European countries to take their share of asylum seekers. He issued a directive on Monday saying ships rescuing people in areas of the Mediterranean under Libyan responsibility, during operations not coordinated by the command center in Rome, have no right to use Italy as a port of safety. Any infringement of international maritime or Italian law “can be read as a premeditated action to bring illegal immigrants to Italy and facilitate human trafficking,” he said. On Tuesday, he said the ministry was creating a commission of “experts and police” to ensure his directive — which lays down rules about rescues at sea — was enacted. The Italian Refugee Council said it was “extremely concerned” over the directive, which “assumes that Libyan ports can be considered safe and that docking at Tunisian and Maltese ports is possible. “It takes no account of the dramatic reality,” council director Mario Morcone said in a statement. “We act as if the countries with which we share the Mediterranean were the Netherlands, Germany or Sweden. But this is clearly not the case,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio confirmed that the authorities were boarding the vessel which had refused an order to switch off its engine. He accused the ship’s crew of “disobeying an order from the Libyan coast guard by taking on board the migrants. Since Italy’s populist government came to power last year and began a crackdown on rescue vessels, “we have seen an exponential increase in the number of deaths compared to the number of migrants landing,” the refugee council said. Some 152 people have died in 2019 so far, while 471 have reached land in the central Mediterranean.

italy
migrants
libya
matteo salvini
human trafficking
accidents
eu


Mozambique cyclone death toll doubles as flood waters rise

Abstract: MAPUTO - Mozambique’s death toll from flooding in the wake of Cyclone Idai more than doubled as relief workers struggled to deal with the devastation wrought by the storm. The number of dead has increased to 202, Mozambique’s cabinet said, as it declared a national emergency. President Filipe Nyusi said the toll could exceed 1,000. In neighboring Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and that figure could reach 300, according to its government. The storm caused flooding over an area of 394 square kilometers (152 square miles), according to European Union satellite imagery. Already more than 1.5 million people have been affected in the region, the United Nations said. “The situation is likely to deteriorate, and the number of people affected is likely to increase,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. “The immediate priority is search and rescue for people stranded and isolated by flood waters, with priority being given to trauma victims.” The storm disrupted electricity exports from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydropower dam to South Africa, and curbed fuel supplies to Zimbabwe from a pipeline that originates in Beira, which bore the brunt of the cyclone when it made landfall on March 15. While it’s too early to estimate the cost of the devastation, the storm will be “very economically damaging,” said John Ashbourne, an Africa economist at London-based Capital Economics. Mozambique’s worst-recorded flooding occurred in 2000, when Cyclone Leon-Eline struck, killing about 800 people. The country is the third-most vulnerable on the continent to climate change, according to the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. Before forming a tropical cyclone on March 9, the system dumped heavy rains over Mozambique and neighboring Malawi earlier this month, displacing more than 100,000 people and causing more than 60 deaths. The storm then moved back out to the southern Indian Ocean, where warm waters caused it to rapidly strengthen as it once again took aim at Mozambique’s coast. The first incarnation of the storm last week resulted in a temporary halt to coal exports from Vale SA’s Moatize operation, Mozambique’s biggest producer, after railway lines were submerged. Operations have since resumed, the company said by email. In Zimbabwe, Idai swept across the east of the country, destroying roads and bridges in a region that’s recently experienced drought. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country is drawing from “strategic reserves” to send food to affected communities. Relief workers are struggling to provide assistance because of a lack of equipment, said Caroline Haga, spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Helicopters are being used to rescue people stranded in trees and drop water-purification tablets, though their efforts are being hampered by bad weather, she said. “According to the forecast it’s going to be raining for the next four days,” Haga said. “It’s a massive catastrophe. It’s really a race against time.”

mozambique
cyclones
floods
cyclone idai
zimbabwe
africa
disasters


May asks European Union for Brexit delay until June 30

Abstract: LONDON - Britain has asked EU leaders to delay Brexit until June 30, Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament on Wednesday, on eve of an EU summit in Brussels. May said she had written to EU President Donald Tusk “informing him that the U.K. seeks an extension to the Article 50 period to June 30.” “I don’t want a long extension,” she said, warning that a longer delay would mean Britain having to hold European Parliament elections at the end of May. “The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable,” she said. “As prime minister, I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30,” she said. In the letter to Tusk released by Downing Street, May said she intended to bring the Brexit deal she has negotiated with the EU back to parliament even though MPs have rejected it twice by overwhelming margins. “If the motion is passed, I am confident that parliament will proceed to ratify the deal constructively. But this will clearly not be completed before 29 March 2019,” she wrote, adding that the timetable for passing the necessary legislation to allow Brexit was “inevitably uncertain.” “I am therefore writing to inform the European Council that the U.K. is seeking an extension to the Article 50 period … until 30 June 2019.”


'Trump of the Tropics': Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and U.S. president declare special relationship

Abstract: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump heaped praise Tuesday on right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — and received plenty back — in announcing a special relationship that he said could even see the Latin American country join NATO. At a joint news conference on the sun-soaked Rose Garden lawn, Trump and the man dubbed “Trump of the Tropics” let the mutual compliments flow. “I have always admired the United States of America. And this sense of admiration has just increased after you took office and the presidency,” Bolsonaro said. Trump, stressing Brazil’s partnership in the U.S.-led campaign to force hard-left Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, said Bolsonaro was “doing a fantastic job” and had “brought the country together.” For years Bolsonaro was little more than a marginal congressman, but his Trump-like campaign in 2018, promising to combat corruption and crime, and to end politics as usual, propelled him to surprise victory. His hard-right views, including frequent expressions of support for Brazil’s past period of military rule, horrified the left and drove deep divisions in Latin America’s biggest nation. But at the press conference, his condemnation of what he called “fake news” — opponents say he is referring merely to critical reports — and references to deeply conservative social values pleased Trump. “We have many views that are similar,” Trump said. Trump spent much of the news conference discussing efforts to squeeze Venezuela’s authorities, which he warned could face many more sanctions than those already imposed in an attempt to cripple the government’s finances. Brazil, which shares a long border with Venezuela, is important in the strategy. In Bolsonaro, an ex-soldier who idolizes the former leaders of Brazil’s anti-communist military dictatorship, Trump has a ready ally against Maduro. In return, Bolsonaro got one of the main items on his wish list: agreement for Brazil to be given NATO privileges. This “major non-NATO ally” status would ease Brazil’s access to US weaponry and other military links. But in the sunny spirit of the occasion, Trump then went much further, stretching the diplomatic and geographical possibilities to a degree that surprised many. “I also intend to designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally or even possibly, if you start thinking about it, maybe a NATO ally,” Trump announced. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization already has 29 countries. None are from Latin America and none, like Brazil, are located in the South Atlantic. “I have to talk to a lot of people,” Trump said of his idea. Washington has had strained relations with Brazil’s long string of leftist governments but the rise of Bolsonaro, who talks enthusiastically of combating socialists and communists, has opened a new door for the Trump administration. A Trump-Bolsonaro bonding matters for Venezuela and for Washington’s push back against growing Chinese economic influence in South America. It could also have large-scale implications for the future of efforts to slow or reverse global warming: Brazil is home to much of the threatened Amazon rain forest and Bolsonaro, like Trump, is a climate change skeptic. Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, an international deal on cutting carbon emissions. Bolsonaro is toying with following suit. On Monday, Bolsonaro signed an agreement with U.S. companies on technical safeguards to allow commercial satellite launches from Brazil’s Alcantara base. But there are still major sticking points between the two countries, especially on trade, with Trump wanting Brazil to open up to more U.S. products. Whether what a White House official called a new north-south “axis” prospers may depend mostly on the personal relationship between its leaders. For sure, the White House reception left Bolsonaro — until last year a virtual unknown on the international stage — expecting a long friendship. Asked if he would manage to have equally close ties if a Democrat prevented Republican Trump’s reelection in 2020, Bolsonaro said: “I do believe Donald Trump will be reelected fully.” Trump interrupted him — just to show yet again that they were on the same wavelength. “Thank you. I agree,” he said.

brazil
jair bolsonaro
donald trump
nato
media
u.s .