Hackers or state actors could use 'deepfake' medium with devastating consequences

Abstract: WASHINGTON - If you see a video of a politician speaking words he never would utter, or a Hollywood star improbably appearing in a cheap adult movie, don’t adjust your television set — you may just be witnessing the future of “fake news.” “Deepfake” videos that manipulate reality are becoming more sophisticated due to advances in artificial intelligence, creating the potential for new kinds of misinformation with devastating consequences. As the technology advances, worries are growing about how deepfakes can be used for nefarious purposes by hackers or state actors. “We’re not quite to the stage where we are seeing deepfakes weaponized, but that moment is coming,” said Robert Chesney, a University of Texas law professor who has researched the topic. Chesney argues that deepfakes could add to the current turmoil over disinformation and influence operations. “A well-timed and thoughtfully scripted deepfake or series of deepfakes could tip an election, spark violence in a city primed for civil unrest, bolster insurgent narratives about an enemy’s supposed atrocities, or exacerbate political divisions in a society,” Chesney and University of Maryland professor Danielle Citron said in a blog post for the Council on Foreign Relations. Paul Scharre, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank specializing in AI and security issues, said it is almost inevitable that deepfakes will be used in upcoming elections. A fake video could be deployed to smear a candidate, Scharre said, or to enable people to deny actual events that had been captured on authentic video. With believable fake videos in circulation, he added, “people can choose to believe whatever version or narrative that they want, and that’s a real concern.” Video manipulation has been around for decades and can be innocuous or even entertaining, as in the digitally aided appearance of Peter Cushing in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in 2016, 22 years after his death. Carnegie Mellon University researchers last year revealed techniques that make it easier to produce deepfakes via machine learning to infer missing data. In the movie industry, “the hope is we can have old movie stars like Charlie Chaplin come back,” said Aayush Bansal. The popularization of apps that make realistic fake videos threatens to undermine the notion of truth in news media, criminal trials and many other areas, researchers point out. “If we can put any words in anyone’s mouth, that is quite scary,” said Siwei Lyu, a professor of computer science at the State University of New York at Albany who is researching deepfake detection. “It blurs the line between what is true and what is false. If we cannot really trust information to be authentic, it’s no better than to have no information at all.” Rep. Adam Schiff and two other lawmakers recently sent a letter to National Intelligence Director Dan Coats asking for information about what the U.S. government is doing to combat deepfakes. “Forged videos, images or audio could be used to target individuals for blackmail or for other nefarious purposes,” the lawmakers wrote. “Of greater concern for national security, they could also be used by foreign or domestic actors to spread misinformation.” Researchers have been working on better detection methods for some time, with support from private firms such as Google and government entities like the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which began a media forensics initiative in 2015. Lyu’s research has focused on detecting fakes, in part by analyzing the rate of blinking of an individual’s eyes. But he acknowledges that even detecting fakes may not be enough if a video goes viral and leads to chaos. “It’s more important to disrupt the process than to analyze the videos,” Lyu said. While deepfakes have been evolving for several years, the topic came into focus with the creation last April of video appearing to show former U.S. President Barack Obama using a curse word to describe his successor, Donald Trump — a coordinated stunt from filmmaker Jordan Peele and BuzzFeed. Also in 2018, a proliferation of “face swap” porn videos that used images of Emma Watson, Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities prompted bans on deepfakes by Reddit, Twitter and Pornhub, though it remained unclear if they could enforce the policies. Scharre said there is “an arms race between those who are creating these videos and security researchers who are trying to build effective tools of detection.” But he said an important way to deal with deepfakes is to increase public awareness, making people more skeptical of what used to be considered incontrovertible proof. “After a video has gone viral it may be too late for the social harm it has caused,” he said.

deepfakes computers internet fraud hoaxes


Bypassing U.S. regulators, Takeda takes its dengue shot to the tropics first

Abstract: CHICAGO - A new vaccine for the dengue virus is taking a potentially risky road to prevent the mosquito-borne disease that infects nearly 400 million people each year. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. plans to seek approval for the experimental vaccine first in countries where the virus is endemic, rather than starting with the United States or Europe, whose rigorous reviews are often used as a benchmark worldwide, company executives said. The strategy mirrors one used by Sanofi SA, which licensed the world’s first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, in endemic markets in 2015 before attempting to get approval from Western regulators, and forecast up to $1 billion in annual sales. But the drugmaker failed to hit that target. In late 2017, Sanofi disclosed that Dengvaxia could increase the risk of severe dengue in children who had never been exposed to the virus, triggering a government investigation in the Philippines, where 800,000 school-age children had already been vaccinated. Fallout from Sanofi’s vaccine has raised the bar for demonstrating the safety of future dengue vaccines. Takeda officials are banking on a different result, hopeful that their approach will help avoid the setbacks that Sanofi experienced. On Tuesday, Takeda said its vaccine was effective at preventing all four types of dengue, meeting the main goal of its late-stage clinical trial. The company said no significant safety concerns have emerged, raising hopes it may be the next viable vaccine for the tropical virus that kills up to 25,000 people each year. Takeda will first seek approval in each of the eight countries where its clinical trial took place: Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka. “We’re still expecting to go first to dengue-endemic countries with a dossier because we think this is where the vaccine’s most important use is,” said Derek Wallace, who runs Takeda’s global dengue vaccine program. The success of TAK-003 is crucial to Takeda’s vaccine ambitions as the Japan-based drugmaker integrates its $59 billion purchase of Shire PLC. “The global business was predicated on global products and a global pipeline,” Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, president of Takeda’s vaccines business, said in a telephone interview. Under pressure to cut costs after the Shire deal, Takeda needs a strong performance from both its dengue and norovirus experimental vaccines to prove the viability of the global vaccines business. “Once those two programs declare themselves, we’ll then map out what our future looks like,” Takeda research chief Andy Plump said in an interview last month. Venkayya said he is encouraged by the results so far. Dengue experts have questioned whether Takeda’s vaccine may pose similar risks to Dengvaxia, and the results released on Tuesday were not detailed enough to provide answers. Takeda executives said they had taken steps to ensure their vaccine did not run into the same issues. Takeda’s TAK-003 is based on a dengue 2 virus, with genes from the remaining three dengue viruses added in. Dengvaxia is based on a yellow fever virus with dengue genes added in. Takeda hopes the all-dengue design will trigger a more robust immune response. Unlike Sanofi, Takeda researchers took blood samples from all 20,000 trial participants before they received the vaccine. That should allow them to see differences in the vaccine’s performance in people who had a previous dengue infection versus those who had not, according to dengue experts. Takeda delayed the release of its trial results for several weeks to characterize the immune responses of all participants. The company expects some of that data will soon be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Earlier this month, Sanofi vaccines chief David Loew told FiercePharma that the company regretted launching Dengvaxia in emerging markets before it was reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency. It was the first time Sanofi had taken such an approach with a vaccine, he said. “Other regulatory authorities often look to the FDA and EMA for their own guidelines,” Loew said via email. To share its data with endemic countries and answer questions on Dengvaxia, Sanofi took part in a three-day meeting hosted by the World Health Organization and the Dengue Vaccine Initiative in July 2015. Regulators from seven countries where dengue poses the biggest threat, including the Philippines, were there. Dengvaxia has since won European approval for people living in endemic areas who have a documented prior infection. The vaccine is also under FDA review. Dr. Joachim Hombach, senior health adviser in WHO’s vaccine department, said that governments in dengue-endemic countries in Latin America and Asia are now “highly sensitized” to the potential risks in the wake of Dengvaxia. “We will be looking at this very carefully,” Hombach said of Takeda’s data. Takeda is undeterred. The company plans to file in the U.S. and Europe within a year of filing in dengue-endemic countries, Venkayya said. Takeda and dengue experts are already planning ways to review the latest vaccine data with those regulators. The Global Dengue & Aedes-Transmitted Diseases Consortium, a group funded in part by drugmakers that work closely with WHO, scheduled a meeting for early March in Bangkok with regulators from at least six countries to take a first look at Takeda’s results, said Dr. In-Kyu Yoon, director of GDAC. Yoon said the meeting will be paid for by the International Vaccine Institute, funded largely by charities and the Korean government. He plans to ask countries whether they want a joint regulatory review similar to the one Sanofi attended in 2015. “Right now, there is clearly some caution,” Yoon said.

dengue virus
disease
takeda pharmaceutical
sanofi


'Inkjet' solar panels poised to revolutionize green energy

Abstract: WROCLAW, POLAND - What if one day all buildings could be equipped with windows and facades that satisfy the structure’s every energy need, whether rain or shine? That sustainability dream is today one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to Polish physicist and businesswoman Olga Malinkiewicz. The 36-year-old has developed a novel inkjet processing method for perovskites — minerals for a new generation of cheaper solar cells — that makes it possible to produce solar panels under lower temperatures, thus sharply reducing costs. Indeed, perovskite technology is on track to revolutionize access to solar power for all, given its surprising physical properties, some experts say. “In our opinion, perovskite solar cells have the potential to address the world energy poverty,” said Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin, a professor at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, an institution on the cutting edge of solar energy research. Solar panels coated with the mineral are light, flexible, efficient, inexpensive and come in varying hues and degrees of transparency. They can easily be affixed to almost any surface — laptop, car, drone, spacecraft, building — to produce electricity, including in the shade or indoors. Though the excitement is new, the mineral perovskite has been known to science since at least the 1830s, when it was identified by the German mineralogist Gustav Rose while prospecting in the Ural Mountains. It was named after the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski. In the following decades, synthesizing the atomic structure of perovskite became easier. But it was not until 2009 that the Japanese researcher Tsutomu Miyasaka discovered that the perovskite class of minerals can be used to form photovoltaic solar cells. Initially the process was complicated and required ultra high temperatures, so only materials that could withstand extreme heat — like glass — could be coated with perovskite cells. This is where Malinkiewicz comes in. In 2013, while still a Ph.D. student at the University of Valencia in Spain, she figured out a way to coat flexible foil with perovskites using an evaporation method. Later, she developed an inkjet printing procedure that lowered production costs enough to make mass production economically feasible. “That was a bull’s-eye. Now high temperatures are no longer required to coat things with a photovoltaic layer,” Malinkiewicz said. Her discovery quickly earned her an article in the journal Nature and media attention, as well as the Photonics21 Student Innovation award in a competition organized by the European Commission. The Polish edition of the MIT Technology Review also selected her as one of its Innovators Under 35 in 2015. She went on to cofound the company Saule Technologies — named after the Baltic goddess of the sun — along with two Polish businessmen. They had to assemble all their laboratory equipment from scratch, before multimillionaire Japanese investor Hideo Sawada came on board. The company now has an ultramodern laboratory with an international team of young experts and is building an industrial-scale production site. “This will be the world’s first production line using this technology. Its capacity will reach 40,000 square meters (430,000 square feet) of panels by the end of the year and 180,000 square meters the following year,” Malinkiewicz said at her lab. “But that’s just a drop in the bucket in terms of demand.” Eventually, compact production lines could easily be installed everywhere, according to demand, to manufacture perovskite solar panels that are made to measure. The Swedish construction group Skanska is testing the cutting-edge panels on the facade of one of its buildings in Warsaw. It also inked a licensing partnership with Saule in December for the exclusive right to incorporate the company’s solar cell technology in its projects in Europe, the United States and Canada. “Perovskite technology is bringing us closer to the goal of energy self-sufficient buildings,” said Adam Targowski, sustainability manager at Skanska. “Perovskites have proven successful even on surfaces that receive little sunlight. We can apply them pretty much everywhere,” he said. “More or less transparent, the panels also respond to design requirements. Thanks to their flexibility and varying tints, there’s no need to add any extra architectural elements.” A standard panel of around 1.3 square meters, at a projected cost of €50 ($57), would supply a day’s worth of energy to an office workstation, according to current estimates. Malinkiewicz insists that the initial cost of her products will be comparable to conventional solar panels. Perovskite technology is also being tested on a hotel near Nagasaki. Plans are also afoot for the pilot production of perovskite panels in Valais, Switzerland, and in Germany under the wings of the Oxford Photovoltaics venture. “The potential of the technology is clearly enormous,” said Assaad Razzouk, the CEO of Singapore-based Sindicatum Rewable Energy, a developer and operator of clean energy projects in Asia. “Just think of all the buildings one could retrofit worldwide!”


Egypt unveils more than 40 mummies found to be over 2,000 years old

Abstract: TUNAH AL-GABAL, EGYPT - Egypt on Saturday unveiled over 40 mummies dating back to the Ptolemaic era at a burial site in the center of the country, noting they are more than 2,000 years old but remain in “good condition.” Journalists clambered down a ladder and through an underground chamber beneath the sandy soil of Tunah Al-Gabal, 260 km (160 miles) south of Cairo, to glimpse the recent finds. Archaeologist Rami Rasmi said 12 children and six animals were among the more than 40 mummies, while the rest were adult men and women. The remains were found laid on the floor or in open clay coffins in the crumbling chamber in Minya governorate. While mummification is mostly associated with ancient Egypt, the practice continued under the kingdom founded by Ptolemy, a successor to Alexander the Great, which lasted from 323 BC to 30 BC. The Minya graves, discovered during an excavation that started in February last year, are in a communal tomb “probably belonging to a petty bourgeois family,” the antiquities ministry said. Archaeologist Mohamed Ragab said two tombs were discovered 9 meters underground and contained more than six rooms. The presence of mummified pets — mostly dogs — showed how important they were for the dead. “These animals were so dear to their owners that they buried them . . . in their tomb,” Ragab said. Shards of pottery and pieces of papyrus found at the site helped researchers to determine its date, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said. Ancient Greek rulers reached the height of their power between the conquests of Alexander the Great and the rise of the Roman Empire.


Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of Ukraine's new orthodox church, enthroned during Kiev ceremony

Abstract: KIEV - The leader of the new independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was enthroned in a ceremony in Kiev on Sunday, formalizing a break with the Russian Orthodox Church that has enraged Moscow. During the three-hour event in the gold-decked 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral, Metropolitan Epifaniy became head of the church, having been elected by bishops last year. The 40-year-old is a critic of Moscow’s religious influence in Ukraine and has helped organize humanitarian aid for the Ukraine Army in its struggle against Russian-backed separatist movements. President Petro Poroshenko, who had promised an independent church ahead of this year’s presidential election, attended the ceremony along with other top officials. Last week, he finally confirmed he was running for re-election in the March 31 poll. Poroshenko described Sunday’s ceremony as the “completion” of the process to create the church, in comments carried by Ukrainian TV channels as part of a live broadcast. The new church will be independent of the state, he said. For more than 300 years, the patriarch of Moscow controlled part of the Ukrainian church. Kiev now considers this influence unacceptable given its ongoing war with Russia-backed rebels in the east that has already killed around 13,000 people. The Russian-controlled branch of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine has denounced the establishment of a unified church, breaking ties with the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the issue. The Constantinople patriarch’s decision to recognize the Ukrainian church’s independence from Russia was a huge blow to Moscow’s spiritual authority in the Orthodox world.

ukraine
ukrainian orthodox church
religion
metropolitan yepifaniy


Russia follows U.S. in pulling out of INF nuclear arms pact

Abstract: MOSCOW - Following in the footsteps of the U.S., Russia will abandon a centerpiece nuclear arms treaty but will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday. President Donald Trump accused Moscow on Friday of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with “impunity” by deploying banned missiles. Trump said in a statement that the U.S. will “move forward” with developing its own military response options to Russia’s new land-based cruise missiles that could target Western Europe. Moscow has strongly denied any breaches and accused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in explaining that Washington on Saturday formally suspended its treaty obligations, said in a statement that Russia’s “continued noncompliance has jeopardized the United States’ supreme interests.” He said the treaty will terminate in six months unless Moscow returns to “full and verifiable compliance.” The collapse of the INF Treaty has raised fears of a repeat of a Cold War showdown in the 1980s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent. Such weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they only take a few minutes to reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. After the U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw, Putin said Russia would do the same. He ordered the development of new land-based intermediate-range weapons, but emphasized that Russia won’t deploy them in the European part of the country or elsewhere unless the U.S. does so. “We will respond quid pro quo,” Putin said. “Our American partners have announced they were suspending their participation in the treaty, and we will do the same. They have announced they will conduct research and development, and we will act accordingly.” The U.S. has accused Russia of developing and deploying a cruise missile that violates provisions of the pact that ban production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). Trump’s move also reflected his administration’s view that the pact was an obstacle to efforts needed to counter intermediate-range missiles deployed by China, which isn’t part of the treaty. NATO allies have strongly backed Washington and urged Moscow to save the treaty by returning to compliance. Russia has rejected the U.S. claims of violation, charging that the missile, which is part of the Iskander-M missile system, has a maximum range of 480 kilometers (298 miles). Russian officials claimed the U.S. assertions about the alleged breach of the pact by Moscow were intended to shift the blame for the pact’s demise to Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday released a satellite image of what it described as new production facilities at the U.S. missile maker Raytheon’s plant in Tucson, Arizona, noting that their expansion began in 2017 as the Congress authorized spending for the development of intermediate-range missiles. “The character and the timing of the works provide an irrefutable proof that the U.S. administration had decided to pull out of the INF treaty years before making unfounded claims of Russian violations,” it said. Putin has argued it makes no sense for Russia to deploy a ground-based cruise missile violating the treaty because it has such weapons on ships and aircraft, which aren’t banned by the pact. Speaking Saturday in a televised meeting with his foreign and defense ministers, Putin instructed the military to work on developing new land-based weapons that were previously forbidden by the INF treaty. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that they would include a land-based version of the Kalibr ship-based cruise missile and a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile. Putin emphasized that such new weapons won’t be deployed unless the U.S. does so. “Russia will not station intermediate-range weapons in Europe or other regions until similar U.S. weapons appear in those regions,” he said. The Russian leader said Moscow remains open to talks with Washington, but added it would be up to the U.S. to take the first step. “Let’s wait until our partners are mature enough to conduct an equal and substantive dialogue on those issues,” he said. At the same time, Putin told his ministers that he would like to review the progress on building other prospective weapons that don’t fall under the INF treaty, including the intercontinental Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle and the Poseidon underwater nuclear-powered drone. He noted Shoigu’s report that a key stage in testing of the Poseidon was completed several days ago. The drone is designed to carry a heavy nuclear weapon that could cause a devastating tsunami wave. The Russian leader last year unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons, including the Avangard and the Poseidon, saying that they can’t be intercepted. Putin also noted during Saturday’s meeting that he would like the military to prepare a response to the possible deployment of weapons in space. The Pentagon’s new strategy unveiled last month calls for a new array of space-based sensors and other high-tech systems to more quickly detect and shoot down incoming missiles. Putin instructed the military to make sure the research and development works on new weapons don’t swell military spending. He said the military must reconfigure the existing defense budget to find money for the new weapons. “We must not and will not be drawn into a costly arms race,” he said.

russia
nuclear
vladimir putin
donald trump
defense
u.s .


China disciplines 80 officials linked to major vaccine scandal

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s corruption watchdog on Saturday said it has disciplined more than 80 officials linked to a major vaccine scandal last summer that inflamed public fears over the safety of domestically produced drugs. Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology — a major Chinese manufacturer of rabies vaccines — was slapped with a $1.3 billion fine last October after it was found to have fabricated records. Four officials from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), including a deputy director, have been handed over to prosecutors, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement Saturday. The brief statement did not say what they were alleged to have done. The graft watchdog also said it would “seriously deal with” more than 80 other provincial or local officials from multiple government organizations, without offering details. These officials have already been fired or demoted, it said. Authorities earlier said the faulty rabies vaccines did not enter the market. But the case provoked outrage from customers fed up with recurring product-safety scandals, particularly in the drug sector. The drug company’s chairwoman and 14 employees were arrested after the scandal came to light last July, while more than a dozen national, provincial and local officials were sacked.


There's a radical plan to make South Korea's legislature 50% female

Abstract: SEOUL - Some South Korean women are so frustrated by the country’s stubborn gender pay gap that they are seeking a radical shift: equal political representation. A proposal recently introduced to the National Assembly seeks to fill half the body’s seats with women — compared with 17 percent now. Under the measure, parties that fail to put forward female candidates in at least 50 percent of the districts they contest would face fines. While few expect the measure to pass this session, the bill is fanning an already intense debate over gender and political representation in South Korea. Supporters are wiring money to the office of the bill’s author, Park Young-sun, and posting screen grabs of the bank transfers, accompanied by the hashtag #남녀동수법 (#malefemaleequalnumberlaw). “Our society is a male-centric one,” Park, who represents a western Seoul district, said via email Wednesday. “There have been a variety of movements pushing for gender equality, but it’s still not enough.” The backlash has been almost as strong, with some men attending discussion groups to criticize the proposal and what they see as feminist overreach. The debate could have ramifications for President Moon Jae-in, a progressive who vowed to make South Korea a “safer place for women to live in” after helping impeach the country’s first female leader, conservative Park Geun-hye. Although the promise helped Moon’s popularity among women — with 48.5 percent of women in their 20s approving of his performance — only 29 percent of men of the same age group express support, according to Real Meter. The bill has 16 sponsors, including four male legislators. South Korea has long lagged other developed economies in terms of pay equity and women’s participation in the workforce. The country has the worst gender pay gap among the 36 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The gap extends into politics, with women holding about 17 percent of South Korea’s assembly seats, according to statistics from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. That compares to 48.2 percent in Mexico, 39.6 percent in France and 23.7 percent in the U.S. Park said her bill was inspired by France’s parite legislation passed in 2000 and Mexico’s gender quotas for political candidates. Currently, South Korea’s Fair Election Law requires at least one woman to be nominated for each constituency and recommends that female candidates make up at least 30 percent of the total slate in running in an election. South Korea already fares better than neighboring Japan, which has the second-largest gender wage gap in the OECD. Just over 10 percent of the members of the Lower House are women, and only one out of its 19 Cabinet ministers is female. Still, the proposal has touched a nerve among some younger men, particularly those age 25 to 29 who already lag women in employment. The criticism was strong enough for one male lawmaker supporting the proposal, Pyo Chang-won, to host a seminar to “listen to men in their 20s” at the National Assembly on Wednesday. The few dozen men who attended told him they were concerned about “reverse sexism” and complained that South Korean feminism was “going too far.” “The men in our generation cannot empathize with the discrimination that women say they feel,” Choi Jung-won, 27, told the gathering. “The government is being unfair by giving women more say.” The bill’s sponsor, Park Young-sun, said she hoped the debate would spur policies to increase female representation in parliament, even if the legislation didn’t pass. “I don’t agree that this is reverse sexism,” she said. “There should be qualified people in politics, but women who are qualified aren’t given the chance. So I want to make sure that chance is given.”


Japan Post to sell commemorative stamps for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Abstract: Japan Post Co. will release commemorative stamps for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on March 12. The ¥82 stamps featuring the Olympic mascot Miraitowa, the Paralympic character Someity and an image of the new National Stadium, will be available until May 13 at post offices across the country and on Japan Post’s website. The stamps come in sheets of 10 — of which there will be 1 million — and will be priced at ¥920, which includes a donation of ¥100 to be used for preparing and managing the Summer Games. The Olympics and Paralympics will run for around two weeks each from July 24 and Aug. 25 in 2020. Tokyo previously hosted the Summer Games 1964.


Abe fears resignation domino effect could bring him down again if he lets labor minister quit, sources say

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is defending embattled labor minister Takumi Nemoto for fear of a domino effect that may be sparked off if he resigns, sources say. Abe’s previous administration was short-lived, ending in September 2007 after seeing one Cabinet minister resign after another due to scandals. To prevent a repeat of such a scenario, Abe is trying to emphasize that the labor ministry’s statistics debacle is a long-term endemic issue that goes back before his Liberal Democratic Party regained power from the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan in 2012. “Wrong handling has continued for a long time. We bear responsibility for failing to recognize it, and I take that seriously,” Abe told the Diet on Thursday. Nemoto has been under fire after it was revealed late last year that his ministry failed to follow the proper procedure to gather labor survey data. The monthly labor survey is used as the basis to decide benefits, including unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. As a result, it emerged the government failed to pay a total of more than ¥56 billion ($512 million) to more than 20 million people. It also led to the government taking the unusual step of revising a regular draft budget already adopted by the Cabinet. Abe and Nemoto have a close relationship. Both were elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993. Some LDP members say Abe’s administration has few choices but to dismiss Nemoto, stressing the need to mitigate the negative impact of the scandal ahead of the House of Councilors election in summer. But the prime minister has refused to listen, reiterating that Nemoto should play a leading role in working out preventive measures. In Abe’s previous administration, which lasted a year from September 2006, several ministers resigned over gaffes and inappropriate use of political and other funds. One even committed suicide. The LDP took a crushing defeat in the House of Councilors election in July 2007. Abe resigned two months later. The current Cabinet also has scandal-tainted ministers. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso has stayed on despite a Finance Ministry scandal in which officials falsified records related to a questionable land deal with a school operator once linked with Abe’s wife, Akie. Regional revitalization minister Satsuki Katayama was forced to correct political funds reports due to her office’s sloppy management of the funds. “On no account will Nemoto quit. If he resigns, a question naturally arises as to why Aso does not also leave,” said an executive in Komeito, the LDP’s ally in the ruling coalition. Another ruling coalition lawmaker reiterated that concern his resignation could trigger a domino effect meant Abe would refuse the opposition’s request. So far, the statistics scandal has not affected public support for Abe’s Cabinet in any visible way, according to recent opinion polls by media organizations.


Seven die in overnight fires in Niigata and Aomori prefectures

Abstract: NIIGATA/AOMORI - Seven people died in separate house fires in Niigata and Aomori prefectures on Sunday, according to police officials. Four people were found dead after a fire gutted a house early Sunday in the city of Niigata, and three others died in a fire in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. The fire department in Niigata received an emergency call shortly after midnight Saturday. Satoshi Miyashita, 60, and four other people lived in the house. Police believe the four victims resided at the residence. One of the inhabitants, 19-year-old Tsumugi Miyashita, was taken to a hospital after the blaze, police added. In the city of Hachinohe, three people died after a fire burned down a three-story home. Yasuomi Kurata, 71, and his 69-year-old sister Keiko were pronounced dead at a hospital, while the other victim is believed to be Kurata’s 94-year-old mother Fumie. Kurata’s 63-year-old brother was taken to a hospital, the local police said.


Rethinking the media's coverage of 'theatrical crime' in Japan

Abstract: Ten minutes after midnight on Jan. 1, Kazuhiro Kusakabe drove a rental car into pedestrians on Harajuku’s famed Takeshita-dori, injuring nine people. The 21-year-old college student drove around 140 meters the wrong way on the one-way street before crashing into a building, forcing him to flee the scene on foot. Police officers found Kusakabe in a nearby park, took him in for questioning and then later arrested him on charges of attempted murder. Fortunately, no one died in the attack. Kusakabe purportedly told investigators he had driven from Osaka and intended to kill the people he struck. He had only gotten his driver’s license a month before the attack. The vehicle contained a 20-liter tank of kerosene and a high-pressure washing device. Kusakabe told investigators he had intended to die in a fiery crash near Meiji Shrine after spraying visitors with the liquid in the hope that they would also be set on fire. Kusakabe has reportedly told investigators that he planned the crime as “revenge for Japan’s death penalty system,” but much of what he has said didn’t make sense. NHK said he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation to determine whether or not he is fit to stand trial. The incident was reminiscent of Tomohiro Kato’s attack in Akihabara in June 2008, when he drove his vehicle into a crowd before going on a stabbing spree that left seven people dead and 10 injured. More recently, 22-year-old Ichiro Kojima killed a 38-year-old man on the Tokaido Shinkansen last June during a stabbing rampage. He told investigators he wanted to spend the rest of his life in prison. And on Jan. 24, 22-year-old Masaki Maeda attacked a police officer with a hammer and knife at a police box in the city of Toyama. According to wire reports, the student told investigators he wanted to steal the officer’s gun and commit suicide. In order to kill himself, it appears he was willing to kill others. The crimes above were all carried out by young people wishing to be put behind bars, commit suicide or die in the act of committing a crime. Criminologists typically call such cases “theatrical crimes,” or incidents in which a suspect commits a crime in a public space to generate as much attention as possible. Yuji Yoshikawa, a former detective at the Metropolitan Police Department who specializes in juvenile crime and now works as a crime prevention consultant, believes the growth of social media has encouraged more young people to commit theatrical crimes. “A new breed of discontented youth, often men in their early 20s, has emerged in step with social media,” Yoshikawa said during an interview last year. “In everyday life, these men are often withdrawn and have suicidal impulses. They’re either attracted by the idea of committing suicide in a blaze of glory and mayhem, or they may simply crave attention. The idea that subsequent reports on their crimes would spread feeds this fantasy.” Milling around the crime scene on Takeshita-dori with a throng of reporters earlier this year, I thought back to what Yoshikawa had said. By reporting heavily on such theatrical crimes, media organizations are perhaps part of the problem. They provide a platform for attention-seeking criminals to gain notoriety and also unwittingly assist in carrying out the desired action. Is there a better way to report on theatrical crimes without ultimately inspiring another incident at a later date? The price of admission to the show is presently too high. By making sure to examine the individual circumstances behind such crimes in subsequent reports, it may be possible to help prevent them in the future instead of unintentionally calling for an encore.

crime
kazuhiro kusakabe
tomohiro kato
ichiro kojima
masaki maeda


Japanese crab boat seized by Russian authorities for allegedly fishing inside EEZ

Abstract: MATSUE, SHIMANE PREF. - Russian authorities have seized a Shimane Prefecture-based Japanese crab boat with 10 crew members in the Sea of Japan for allegedly fishing illegally in Russia’s exclusive economic zone, prefectural officials said Saturday. The incident involving the Nishino Maru No. 68, owned by a company in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, occurred Wednesday, according to the officials. The crab boat left port on Jan. 26 The Japanese Consulate General in Vladivostok said the fishing boat was taken to Nakhodka, 90 kilometers (about 60 miles) east of Vladivostok. Consular officials are gathering further information. In late January 2009, a crab boat from Tottori Prefecture was seized by Russian authorities for allegedly fishing illegally inside Russia’s EEZ. All 10 crew members were released in early February of that year after making paying a fine to Russian authorities.

russia
eez
shimane prefecture
vladivostok
fisheries


Government to present new era name to Emperor and Crown Prince before April 1

Abstract: Emperor Akihito and Crown Prince Naruhito will be informed of the new Imperial era’s name before it is made public April 1, informed sources said Sunday. The government thinks it is best to inform them beforehand because Emperor Akihito will sign a decree recognizing the new era name prior to its promulgation and implementation on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne, the sources said. The officials overseeing the process are considering having Prime Minister Shinzo Abe present the name directly to both the Emperor and the Crown Prince once it has been decided on, according to the sources close to Abe. They will seek advice from the Cabinet Legislation Bureau to set a specific reporting procedure so as not to raise any constitutional questions on how the proceedings are handled, the sources said. The Constitution bans the Emperor from being involved in political affairs. Under the 1979 Era Name Act, a new era’s name must be stipulated in a government decree. In determining what the next era will be called, the government will follow the same procedure used in 1989 to decided the Heisei era, according to the sources. The new name will be adopted at a Cabinet meeting April 1 this year after it is selected. The government will obtain opinions from experts and the heads of both chambers of the Diet to make its decision. The selection process will not involve the current or the new Emperor. At the time of the 1989 name change from Showa, the government divulged the new Heisei era name to Emperor Akihito through the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency before making it public. This time, the government decided to announce the new era name a month before the Imperial succession, even though some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and the Japan Conference, a Shinto-linked conservative group backing Abe, called for it to be announced after the enthronement. The idea of reporting the new era name to both the Emperor and the Crown Prince beforehand was devised partly as a response to concerns among conservatives that a prior announcement may defy the tradition of assigning only one era name to each Emperor.

emperor akihito
imperial family
reiwa
emperor naruhito


Feared or celebrated, Amazon's Alexa is star of Super Bowl ads

Abstract: An android child struggles to control his emotions. Robots threaten to take away human jobs. And a voice-activated device ponders its own existence. These dark themes were explored by this year’s Super Bowl commercials, with brands such as TurboTax, Olay and Sprint capitalizing on fears that technology is encroaching on our lives. The unspoken subject of many of the ads: Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, an increasingly ubiquitous digital assistant sold by one of the world’s most powerful companies. Amazon had its own commercial, where it poked fun at Alexa. The ad featured rejected ideas for the technology — including a microwave, dog collar and hot tub — and even depicted a massive power outage triggered by Alexa. Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos also made an in-person appearance at the Super Bowl, where he was spotted with National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Super Bowl’s advertisers benefited from a close game, with the New England Patriots only securing a safe lead over the Los Angeles Rams in the final minutes. The Patriots won the game 13-3. The sponsors included companies seeking to disrupt the TV industry itself. Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube TV slapped its brand on the game’s kickoff show, and Hulu and Netflix both aired commercials. The Olay skin-care brand presented another tech-horror scenario. As a home intruder closed in, Sarah Michelle Gellar couldn’t unlock her phone’s facial recognition technology because Olay had transformed her skin. Google’s spot, meanwhile, promoted its language-translation service. Tech wasn’t the only theme of the night. Brands such as Bud Light and Kraft used a mix of humor and famous faces to get their message out. The game’s key first-quarter commercials included Chance the Rapper and the Backstreet Boys pitching Doritos and Christina Applegate with a new M&M’s chocolate bar. Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel debuted a new trailer for “Avengers: Endgame” between the coin toss and kickoff — a key slot for advertisers. This year’s ads were mostly from big brands, but a few newcomers bought commercials — including Bumble, which tapped Serena Williams to promote the dating app. Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi and Avocados from Mexico were some of the veteran advertisers returning this year. Anheuser-Busch nabbed one of the first slots of the game to tout Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer, a brand it acquired in 2016. The spot featured mermaids named Bonnie and Vivian pitching the product in front of sharks. The Super Bowl remains the biggest showcase for ads, even though the game’s audience peaked in 2015. Last year’s contest drew 103.4 million viewers, the smallest amount in nine years. The Rams-Patriots showdown was a low-scoring game, keeping things close. Blowout Super Bowls in past years have been blamed for hurting advertisers late in the game. In the second quarter, Bud Light provided a new installment in its medieval-times series. But in a twist, the Bud Light knight is killed in a joust and a birdlike creature from HBO’s “Game of Thrones” breathes fire on the scene and HBO teases its upcoming final season. HBO tweeted about the collaboration: “When you play the @GameOfThrones, you either drink a @budlight or end up like @TheBudKnight.” With fewer people watching traditional TV, broadcaster CBS Corp. streamed the game on more platforms than ever before. It was on CBS Sports’ website and mobile app, as well as the CBS All Access subscription service. Before the game started, the NFL addressed its race problem head on. A spot featuring Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech aired before the coin-toss ceremony, which included King’s daughter, Bernice, and congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. Another spot played during the game highlighted the NFL’s efforts on racial justice. A controversy over players protesting during the national anthem has dogged the NFL in recent years, with some blaming it for hurting ratings. President Donald Trump criticized the demonstrations, and the league has struggled to deal with the uproar. Colin Kaepernick, who started the protest by kneeling during the anthem, remains a free agent. CBS, which broadcast the game from Atlanta, sold 30-second commercials for $5.1 million to $5.3 million, people familiar with the matter said last month. That was roughly the same price as last year, when Comcast Corp.’s NBC sold them for $5.24 million, according to research firm Kantar Media. One thing that might have helped lift ratings: Los Angeles and Boston are two of the largest TV markets, pitting the recently relocated Rams against one of the biggest dynasties in NFL history. T-Mobile also addressed technology’s hold on society, but focused on the lighter side. The carrier aired short spots showcasing the modern texter’s plights. As part of the pitch, the company offered free tacos and Lyft rides to T-Mobile customers Tuesday. Microsoft Corp. also attempted to stress tech’s positives. It aired a spot featuring kids with disabilities playing video games with the Xbox’s adaptive controller.


D-Day for Aussie banks as inquiry report into misdeeds set for release

Abstract: SYDNEY - The Australian government is due to release on Monday the final recommendations of the independent inquiry that exposed systemic wrongdoing in Australia’s financial sector last year, likely leading to sweeping changes to the country’s banking industry. The big banks, insurers, pension funds and regulators who oversee the financial industry are bracing for a brutal summary of their misdeeds and weaknesses, and a list of tough recommendations including possible criminal charges. The Royal Commission was a quasi-judicial independent body led by a former high court judge that was tasked by the government, reluctantly at first, with investigating financial sector misconduct following a string of banking scandals. For 11 months its public hearings shocked the country and wiped more than 60 billion Australian dollars ($43.4 billion) from the country’s top financial stocks as investors factored in the prospect of tougher regulation, higher compliance costs and thinner margins. Regulators were also grilled by the commission’s barristers about why they seemed reluctant to crack down on wrongdoing and closed investigations with little more than a mildly worded press release. “There will be nothing positive in the recommendations because the banks have clearly breached various obligations in the laws, and obligations to good customer service,” said Matthew Wilson, a banking analyst at Deutsche Bank. The Royal Commission cannot directly order prosecutions or penalties. Rather, it will deliver a list of recommendations for the government to consider. Among other things, analysts expect the inquiry will recommend tougher enforcement of responsible lending laws, an end to certain conflicted commissions paid to financial advisers, and limits to executive bonuses. Its report will likely hang over an election campaign expected in May. The centre-left Labor party, which most polls expect will win, says it expects to adopt all the recommendations. Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who initially dismissed opposition calls for a banking inquiry as a “populist whinge,” has said he also expects to take up most of the recommendations. But he has warned against overreaching and cutting off credit flows, a likely battle-line for the government as it fights for electoral survival. Though the final report goes public around 0510 GMT, the inquiry has already pushed out executives and prompted billions of dollars of customer remediation payments. The most affected company, by headcount, has been financial planner AMP Ltd., which saw its CEO, chairwoman, chief lawyer and three directors leave following evidence its board doctored a supposedly independent report to a regulator. AMP’s shares have more than halved, the biggest decline among the large institutions, amid concerns about retirees pulling funds from the 170-year-old firm. The company, which has denied wrongdoing, issued a profit warning on Jan. 25. The “Big Four” banks — Commonwealth Bank of Australia , Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank — plus AMP have already committed to pay more than A$2 billion to wronged customers. “What will the business look like going forward?” said Sean Sequeira, chief investment officer at Alleron Investment Management. “Will it just be an infrastructure-style stock without any growth going forward, hampered by regulation? It’s quite possible.”

banks
australia
scandals
amp
scott morrison


Xi and Trump may meet in Vietnam at month's end to seal trade deal, Hong Kong paper reports

Abstract: SINGAPORE - U.S President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are considering a meeting on Feb. 27 and 28 in the coastal city of Da Nang, Vietnam, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday, citing a person familiar with the discussions. The newspaper said Trump mentioned this possibility when a Chinese trade delegation visited Washington last week for trade talks, and that he looked forward to meeting Xi once or twice to finalize a trade deal with China. The Chinese foreign ministry said that Xi would keep in touch with Trump through various means, according to the newspaper.

trade
singapore
donald trump
xi jinping
china
u.s .


Lunar New Year holiday to be litmus test of Chinese shoppers' resilience

Abstract: China’s consumers have cut back on purchases of everything from Apple Inc.’s iPhones to Swiss watches as the trade war with the U.S. hits the economy. Landing just days after hundreds of local companies issued profit warnings and multinationals sounded the alarm about softening demand, the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday will provide the next litmus test of the resilience of the Chinese shopper. The seven-day holiday period, which for many starts Monday, sees hundreds of millions of people travel within the country to see relatives, fly overseas to take vacations — and open their wallets to buy gifts. In 2018, Chinese spent 926 billion yuan ($137 billion) at restaurants and stores ringing in the Year of the Dog. This year’s celebration is the first to take place during a trade war with the U.S., and as China’s 1.4 billion people prepare to welcome the Year of the Pig, the data don’t bode well. The trade fight has dragged on China’s stock and property markets, and gross domestic product in the final quarter of 2018 rose at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis. Companies selling to middle-class consumers will be the most vulnerable this holiday as wealthier Chinese continue shopping but the more budget-conscious cut back, said Adam Xu, a partner in Shanghai with consulting firm OC&C, who advises retail and consumer companies on their China strategy. “The slowdown in growth is happening and most likely in the mass part of the market,” Xu said. With Chinese consumers in the global spotlight, here’s the outlook for some industries that count on them spending to ring in the New Year holiday. Demand for jewelry has traditionally climbed during the holiday because gold is seen an auspicious gift from older generations to younger ones. These days, it’s not just the weak economy that has the bling industry feeling the holiday blues. Nikos Kavalis, London-based director of research firm Metals Focus Ltd., said buying “will not be what it used to be 10 years ago because a lot more Chinese consumers nowadays choose to travel abroad rather than go to their hometown.” Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. is expecting no sales growth this year compared with the New Year holiday in 2018, according to Managing Director Kent Wong. The company is trying new product designs to inspire consumers to splurge. “We believe some discretionary purchases, especially for those high-price products, will be hit by the market conditions,” he said. Many of the big luxury brands say that China’s rich are still shopping hard. French fashion giant LVMH on Jan. 29 reported strong demand for its spirits and leather goods from Chinese consumers. “The trend of last year continues in January because Chinese New Year is very close now,” Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Premium goods are popular purchases during the festive season, and the weeklong holiday will be an indication of just how resilient the biggest spenders are. There have already been pockets of weakness. Exports of Swiss watches to China slumped in December and Swatch Group AG reported Thursday that China contributed to a slowdown in the fourth quarter. Chinese consumers account for a third of global duty-free spending, and the economic slowdown has weighed on travel companies. The Lunar New Year could be key to turning things around. More than 400 million Chinese tourists are likely to travel domestically during the holiday, about 4 percent more than last year, according to Citigroup. Seven million Chinese will head to overseas destinations, an 8 percent rise from last year. With the yuan down over the past year, tourists may be heading to more affordable destinations in Asia. Duty-free operators like Japan Airport Terminal Co. could benefit, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report published on Jan. 22. Casino operators count on the holiday to bring in tourists from China’s mainland. Last year, Macau had more than 900,000 visitors during the New Year break, about 40 percent more than the average week. Average hotel rates were about 2,000 patacas ($247), almost four times the usual price. Weakness in China’s property and manufacturing sectors has dampened the annual outlook for the world’s largest gaming destination. Analysts expect Macau’s 2019 casino revenue to decline about 1 percent from last year, according to a Bloomberg survey. In November, they had been estimating 5 percent growth. Tourists are still going to be flocking to Macau this holiday, according to Lawrence Ho, chief executive officer of casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. The operator just launched a new stunt show and a Ferrari exhibition in its resorts. “This Chinese New Year we will definitely see business growth,” Ho said, adding that all of the company’s hotels in Macau are fully booked for the holiday period. Holiday purchases will account for about one-quarter of total sales for Kweichow Moutai Co., producer of China’s favorite baijiu liquor, Chairman Li Baofang told Xinhua News Agency in December. Chinese shoppers buy the company’s drinks as gifts and for toasts at the family table. But the economic slowdown is hurting demand for spirits heading into the Lunar New Year holiday. Demand for premium baijiu products has weakened from two months ago, according to a report published by China International Capital Corp. on Jan. 23 that said prices for premium liquor had dropped by 20 percent from October. “The momentum of consumption in China has been slipping off, that’s for sure,” Takeshi Niinami, chief executive officer of Japan’s Suntory Holdings Ltd., said during a TV interview from Davos.

lunar new year
shopping
economy
chinese new year


PayPay to launch second rebate campaign valued at ¥10 billion

Abstract: Japan-based smartphone payment service provider PayPay Corp. says it will launch another campaign Feb. 12 to give its users reward points worth a total of ¥10 billion. The campaign by the joint venture between SoftBank Group Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corp. will provide shoppers with reward points equivalent to up to 20 percent of purchase amounts. A user can receive points worth up to ¥50,000 over the campaign period. The campaign will run until May 31, but it will end early if the total rebate amount reaches ¥10 billion. PayPay will cap such points at ¥1,000 per payment, aiming to encourage users to make more payments using the service at frequently visited locations such as convenience stores and drugstores. Users will get a 20 percent rebate for payments using a bank account, 19 percent with a Yahoo credit card and 10 percent with other types of credit cards. The first such campaign was launched in December. PayPay planned to continue the program for four months, but it lasted only 10 days due to payments with large purchase amounts, such as for home appliances. “I want customers to use the service many times over a longer period,” said PayPay President and Chief Executive Officer Ichiro Nakayama.


Dollar tops ¥109.80 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar rose above ¥109.80 in Tokyo trading Monday, supported by higher stock prices and buying to adjust positions. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.83, up from ¥108.93 at the same time on Friday. The euro was at $1.1442, down from 1.1446, and at ¥125.68, up from ¥124.69. The dollar was hovering between ¥109.40 and ¥109.50 in the early morning. But the Nikkei stock average’s healthy advance lifted the U.S. currency close to ¥109.60, traders said. Strong U.S. economic data released Friday as well as the solid stock market allowed investors to boost buying of the dollar by selling the safer yen, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. In the afternoon, the dollar topped ¥109.80, as many players moved to buy the greenback for position adjustment, traders said, adding that a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates in off-hours trading also facilitated dollar buying.


Tokyo stocks buoyed by weaker yen

Abstract: Stocks rose on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, aided by the yen’s weakening against the dollar following the release of strong economic data in the United States. The 225-issue Nikkei average advanced 95.38 points, or 0.46 percent, to end at 20,883.77. On Friday, the key market gauge added 14.90 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 16.70 points, or 1.07 percent, at 1,581.33, after losing 2.86 points the previous session. A wide range of issues attracted purchases from the outset, after the Dow Jones industrial average on the New York Stock Exchange rebounded Friday on strong jobs and manufacturing data for January released by the U.S. government and the Institute for Supply Management, respectively. Given those figures, investors turned less concerned about the course of the U.S. economy, brokers said. After the initial spurt, stocks lost upward momentum due to a lack of fresh buying incentives. But the market remained buoyant throughout the day’s trading thanks to the weaker yen, they said. “Moves to ‘sell on a rally’ became visible as the Nikkei neared 21,000,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. The Nikkei cannot retake the psychologically important threshold this week “unless the Dow gains 200 to 300 points and the dollar hits ¥110,” he added. Even if the benchmark index breaks the 21,000 line, it could be pushed back soon by selling amid the spread of “a sense of achievement” among investors, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. Rising issues overwhelmed falling ones 1,888 to 203 in the TSE’s first section, while 36 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.33 billion shares from Friday’s 1.42 billion shares. Electronics giant Hitachi jumped 4.11 percent in the wake of its upward revision of earnings forecasts for the current business year to March. Drugmaker Eisai rose 3.07 percent on its brisk April-December earnings. Other major winners included chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron and game-maker Nintendo. Meanwhile, Sony plunged 8.07 percent due to disappointing earnings figures for April-December. Honda lost 3.48 percent as the automaker’s net profit estimate for the year to March failed to beat a market consensus. Also on the minus side were clothing retailer Fast Retailing and industrial robot producer Fanuc. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average rose 130 points to end at 20,850.

stocks
yen
tokyo stock exchange
nikkei
topix


Nissan deals Brexit blow as Theresa May launches new working group to look for a plan B

Abstract: British Prime Minister Theresa May is launching a new working group to look for a plan B on Brexit, but the leader’s latest initiative comes too late to stop businesses such as Nissan Motor Co. from ditching key commitments to the U.K. The automaker cited ongoing doubts about the U.K.’s split from the European Union in its decision to scrap plans to make the X-Trail sport utility vehicle at the Sunderland plant, its biggest auto factory in the country. May’s government had previously gone out on a limb to safeguard Nissan’s investment in the U.K., offering assurances in a private letter. “We appreciate this will be disappointing for our U.K. team and partners,” Nissan Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said in a statement Sunday. “The continued uncertainty around the U.K.’s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future.” Business Secretary Greg Clark described Nissan’s decision as “a blow to the sector and the region.” U.K. ministers are considering withdrawing a £60 million ($78 million) support package for Nissan, The Times reported, citing an unnamed government official. Nissan’s move is another setback for the British car industry, which reported a 46 percent drop in investment last year as carmakers delayed decisions on upgrading machinery and factories amid mounting concern about the impact of a hard Brexit. Nissan two years ago agreed to make the SUV in Sunderland after winning government pledges for access to the EU. Sunderland voted 61.3 percent to 38.7 percent to leave the EU. “It is a massive psychological blow as well as an economic blow,” Liberal-Democrat Party leader Vince Cable said on “Sophy Ridge on Sunday” on Sky News before Nissan confirmed the decision. “I think Brexit is clearly a major factor. It may be one of several but it is certainly a major factor and it’s not just for Nissan, the same calculations are being made throughout the current industry.” The U.K. government is warning that the Brexit negotiations are likely to go down to the March 29 deadline, with the threat of a chaotic no-deal split casting a shadow over businesses. The X-Trail model was to be made in the U.K., as announced in 2016, after Nissan and the U.K. government reached a deal on future investment, which the company said would secure and sustain the factory’s 7,000 jobs.As time runs short to secure a Brexit deal, May is expected to return to Brussels within days in an attempt to rewrite the most difficult chapter in the agreement she drafted with the EU last year — on the Irish border backstop plan. May is seeking a seemingly impossible compromise between the minimal changes that Brussels says it will consider, and the radical rewrite that euroskeptics in her Conservative Party are demanding. On Monday she will launch a new government working group intended to unite the feuding pro- and anti-Brexit factions within the party, according to May’s office. The body will explore “alternative arrangements” for avoiding a hard border with Ireland, after Parliament voted to reject the so-called backstop plan last week. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the technology already exists to replace the proposed backstop, which critics fear will tie the U.K. into the EU’s customs rules indefinitely. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Javid said border enforcement officials told him currently available technological systems mean there is no need for checkpoints and other infrastructure on the U.K.’s land border with Ireland after Brexit. But one of the EU’s most senior Brexit officials slapped down the idea in a tweet that she said was “fact-checking” British policy. “Can technology solve the Irish border problem?” Sabine Weyand, the EU’s deputy chief negotiator, wrote on Sunday. “Short answer: not in the next few years.” There’s no sign that the standoff will end soon, whatever the cost for businesses. The government expects negotiations to go down to the wire, leaving the threat of a chaotic no-deal split that casts a shadow over companies right up to next month’s deadline. “It’s inevitable that in these types of negotiations things do get decided close to the last minute — that’s when the maximum political pressure is,” Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss told BBC Radio 5 Live. Truss insisted that the “threat of no deal” must be maintained to get the EU “on board,” and also because it’s already helping to bring Parliament closer to a consensus. Her comments suggest the final eight weeks until March 29 — the U.K.’s scheduled exit day — will be fraught with tension


SoftBank's giant debt burden looks worse than it actually is, analysts say

Abstract: As SoftBank Group Corp. continues its transformation into a giant investment fund, some analysts are increasingly watching a metric more familiar to lenders as they judge its creditworthiness. And by that gauge, they say, its massive debt pile looks manageable. SoftBank’s loan-to-value ratio, its net interest-bearing debt over the value of its investment portfolio, is less than 20 percent, according to separate calculations by Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. The company’s own goal is to keep it under 35 percent, a level that Daiwa considers conservative. SoftBank, which controls the world’s biggest investment vehicle in the almost $100 billion Vision Fund, has been suggesting so-called LTV as a better measure of its leverage since at least mid-2017, when it was included in an earnings presentation. That isn’t to say concern about the company’s debt has disappeared. The major global credit assessors rate the group at junk, and its bond risk is among the highest for Japanese borrowers. But the metric has taken on more importance since the initial public offering of SoftBank Corp. finally scythed the telecom business off from the holding company. Even if the ratio climbed to 70 percent, it would be reasonable because that’s the standard proportion of a company’s capital that a Japanese bank will lend against, said Toshiyasu Ohashi, Daiwa’s chief credit analyst. “It’s precisely because they are quite cautious about their own financial situation that they can do big money investments,” he said. Ohashi puts the ratio at 17.7 percent in January, based on net debt of about ¥4.5 trillion at SoftBank Group. SMBC Nikko analyst Kentaro Harada put the figure at “below 20 percent” in a report last month, and called it “easily at a level appropriate for its current credit ratings.” The gauge is more commonly used to measure lending risk by comparing the size of a loan against the value of an asset. It is used at private equity firms, to which SoftBank has been compared, and is also often used by mortgage lenders. On a consolidated basis, its debt comes to about ¥16.6 trillion, including the burdens of Sprint Corp. and other companies under the SoftBank umbrella. The cost to insure its bonds against nonpayment using credit default swaps is one of the highest among Japanese companies, at 224 basis points, according to CMA data. Another risk, analysts say, is what SoftBank does with the ¥2.35 trillion in cash from the telecom IPO that’s helping suppress its loan-to-value ratio. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son has said a second Vision Fund would certainly come, although some analysts are becoming less sure of that. “If there is a Vision Fund II, and if it’s a similar size to the first one, it will be a big financial burden,” SMBC Nikko’s Harada wrote in his report. “The potential size and timing of the launch will be watched carefully.”


Nissan to name Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Carlos Ghosn on board, sources say

Abstract: At an extraordinary board meeting on Tuesday, Nissan Motor Co. is set to decide that the new chairman of Renault SA will replace Carlos Ghosn as a member of the automaker’s top management, sources said Monday. Final approval of the nomination of Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard is expected at a Nissan extraordinary shareholders meeting to be held in mid-April. Senard, CEO of French tire giant Michelin, was named as chairman of Nissan’s alliance partner in late January as the two automakers work respectively on a management revamp more than two months after their former boss Ghosn was arrested over alleged financial misconduct. In a related development, Nissan held the second meeting of its special committee for improving its corporate governance, which was set up in the wake of Ghosn’s arrest on Nov. 19. Ghosn was ousted from the post of chairman later that month. Lasting for more than five hours, the meeting of the seven-member panel, comprised of Nissan’s external directors and business experts, held hearings with Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, statutory auditor Hidetoshi Imazu and other executives to look into why the Japanese automaker could not prevent Ghosn’s alleged misdeeds, including long-running understatements of his pay in financial reports. The committee is set to hold another meeting on Feb. 15 and make a set of proposals to Nissan by the end of March. Saikawa returned to Japan after attending a two-day meeting through Friday in Amsterdam with members of the alliance, which also involves Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “We had good future-oriented discussions,” Saikawa told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday, referring to his meeting with Senard. Saikawa and Senard held a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a two-day conference among executives of the alliance. It was the first such conference since the Senard-led management team was launched at Renault on Jan. 24 following the resignation of Ghosn. Nissan and Renault have been vying for leadership since Ghosn’s arrest. “It was difficult to have talks with the top leader of Renault’s board. But now, we’ve taken a new step,” Saikawa said, signaling an eagerness to mend his company’s ties with Renault, Nissan’s top shareholder. Saikawa declined to comment on whether he had talks with any French government officials in France after the meetings he attended in the Netherlands. The French government, the biggest shareholder of Renault, is calling for the strengthening of the relationship between Nissan and Renault, possibly through business integration.

nissan
renault
jean-dominique senard
carlos ghosn
hiroto saikawa
carmakers


Panasonic cuts fiscal 2018 sales and operating profit outlooks amid China-U.S. trade war

Abstract: Panasonic Corp. said Monday it reported a 19 percent drop in third-quarter operating profit and cut its full-year earnings outlook, citing slower demand for home appliances and factory automation equipment in China amid an escalating Sino-U.S. trade war. The electronics company posted an operating profit of ¥97.6 billion for the October-December quarter, down from ¥120.1 billion a year ago. That was far below the average ¥122.35 billion estimate of eight analysts, according to Refinitiv data. Panasonic cut its operating profit forecast for the year ending in March to ¥385 billion from ¥425 billion. The outlook compared with the ¥420.25 billion average of 18 analyst estimates, according to Refinitiv data. The company said its automotive business will likely post weaker sales in China, where car sales last year slipped 2.8 percent to 28.08 million units, the first contraction in 28 years. It also said sales of its home appliances, such as air conditioners, have fallen in China and other Asian markets. A bright spot amid the otherwise bleak earnings is that Panasonic’s energy division, which includes the battery business with U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc., posted an operating profit of ¥16.5 billion, its first profit in three quarters. Panasonic, the exclusive battery cell supplier for Tesla’s current production models, saw its profits squeezed early last year by the U.S. firm’s initial production delays for the mass-market Model 3 sedan. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he sees higher demand for the Model 3, analysts are now concerned demand in the United States for both the midrange and long-range versions has largely been exhausted. Tesla expressed optimism last month that it would post profits in every quarter in 2019, but the winding down of a U.S. tax subsidy this year will make all Tesla cars more expensive and could hurt sales.


Thousands join in Istanbul protest in support for Turkey hunger strikers

Abstract: ISTANBUL - Thousands of protesters Sunday joined a rally in Istanbul called by a pro-Kurdish party to show support for hunger strikes against prison conditions of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan. The protesters gathered at a square in Bakirkoy on the European side of Istanbul, with police tightening security measures. “I am saluting my friends resisting in prisons. They are our honour, they are not alone,” Fahit Ulas, a supporter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). “If needed we will sacrifice our bodies for this cause. We have no fear,” he added. Some 250 prisoners all over Turkey have launched hunger strikes in support of HDP lawmaker Leyla Guven, who wants to pressure the Turkish government to allow Ocalan to hold regular meetings with his lawyers and family members. Ocalan, one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul since his 1999 capture. The 55-year-old Guven was jailed in January 2018 for her criticism of Turkey’s military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia. Last week, a Turkish court in Kurdish majority city Diyarbakir freed her under judicial supervision. Guven, who entered the 88th day of her hunger strike on Sunday, launched the protest move on November 8 while in jail. She told AFP in an interview on Wednesday that she would press on with the hunger strike at home. Garo Paylan, an HDP MP who joined the Istanbul protest, said choosing a hunger strike was a “last remedy,” hoping Guven’s demand would be met as soon as possible. “We want this demand to be fulfilled before any death,” he told AFP. In 2012, hundreds of Kurdish prisoners ended a 68-day hunger strike after Ocalan urged them to do so. The HDP party remains under the scrutiny of Turkish authorities, which accuse it of links to the PKK. Several of its MPs are behind bars, including former party leader Selahattin Demirtas.

istanbul
turkey
abdullah ocalan
pkk
kurds


Trapped in shrinking Syria holdout, Islamic State turns to human shields

Abstract: BAGHOUZ, SYRIA - On a rooftop near the front line with the Islamic State group’s collapsing caliphate in eastern Syria, a U.S.-backed fighter and his comrades sip tea as they await orders to restart the battle. The Syrian Democratic Forces halted their ground assault on IS’s final shreds of territory last week, saying the jihadis are increasingly using civilians as human shields to block the advance. In the desert hamlet of Baghouz, held mostly by the SDF, 22-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed points toward a dirt mound separating areas under their control and the jihadis. “Since we arrived to this point almost six days ago we haven’t moved forward,” explained the young fatigue-clad man from the nearby town of Hajin, who joined the SDF just five months ago. “The fighting has stopped as we wait for the remaining civilians to leave,” he said. Just a few dozen meters away, on the other side of the dirt berm, trucks, motorcycles and cars driven by IS fighters zip along the front line and out toward white tents farther away, surrounded by women wearing long black robes. “These are all Daesh houses,” said Mohammed, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “Sometimes we see women coming to take wood” from nearby palm trees, he said. The streets of Baghouz, which the SDF entered two weeks ago, are lined with the burned-out skeletons of cars and bullet-pocked buildings, some of them completely destroyed. SDF fighters group in clusters around some of the structures, tending small fires and exchanging small talk and cigarettes. Others perch on balconies and roofs with a view over the other side. On one terrace, a fighter uses binoculars to a get a closer look at jihadis just a stone’s throw away. As the SDF, with air support from the U.S.-led coalition, ramped up its offensive in recent weeks, thousands of civilians have poured out of the beleaguered jihadist-held pocket. More than 36,000 people, mostly women and children from jihadi families, have fled since December via humanitarian corridors opened up by the SDF, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That figure also includes some 3,100 jihadis, the war monitor added. But while hundreds of people a day reached SDF-held territory early last month, the flow has slowed to a trickle. Recent arrivals say there are still many civilians and foreign fighters in the besieged pocket of territory. With the final push paused, the eerie quiet is only broken by intermittent gunfire and the occasional roar of a coalition airstrike or artillery fire targeting jihadi positions. In the neighboring village of Al-Shaafa, the SDF’s spokesman for the Deir Ezzor region said the assault has been put on hold to protect civilians. “The jihadists are using the civilians as human shields to block our advance,” Adnan Afrin told AFP. That has forced women and children, including members of fighters’ families, to remain close to the battle. “They are putting the civilians on the front lines,” he said, adding that airstrikes and artillery continued to target positions further back, “where the jihadists are concentrated. IS has shown a pattern of trapping civilians among its fighters in order to slow offensives as its cross-border “caliphate,” proclaimed in 2014, has withered under multiple offensives. As the jihadis withdraw, they leave minefields and booby traps to slow their attackers and prevent civilians from escaping. To help protect those that remain cornered, the SDF is pushing to open new “safe corridors” to help civilians escape before the U.S.-backed force delivers the final blow, said Afrin. And while SDF leaders prefer not to speculate on when the battle against the jihadists will finish, they are clear it will end by military means. “We do not negotiate with terrorists,” Afrin said.

syria
islamic state
u.s .
terrorism
kurds
syria democratic forces


Syria regime says U.S.-led coalition hit its forces in the east, prompting self-defense rebuttal

Abstract: DAMASCUS - A Syrian military official says the U.S.-led coalition has attacked an army artillery position in eastern Syria, wounding two soldiers and destroying a cannon. Spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition Col. Sean Ryan said Sunday the partner forces acted in “self-defense” after coming under fire from the western side of the Euphrates River. Ryan said an investigation is underway. U.S.-led coalition forces, with their local Kurdish-led partners, are battling the remnants of Islamic State group on the eastern banks of the Euphrates, while government troops and allied forces are now positioned on the other side after dislodging IS from there. Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted the unnamed military official as saying the attack late Saturday was followed by a foiled incursion by IS militants.

syria
euphrates river
islamic state
conflict


Colombia's ELN rebels free cash-transport helicopter crew but keep the money

Abstract: BOGOTA - Colombia’s ELN rebels have freed three civilian helicopter crew members captured more than three weeks ago, the country’s high peace commissioner said on Sunday. The men — Maxwell Joya, Carlos Quiceno and Julio Diaz — were taken hostage by the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Jan. 11, in the Hacari area of northeastern Norte de Santander province. They appear to be in good health, the commissioner said in a statement. The rebels said last month they had burned the helicopter and taken the nearly $550,000 in cash they found aboard. Local media reported the chartered helicopter was hired to securely transport the cash. President Ivan Duque reactivated Interpol red notices, similar to an international arrest warrant, against ELN leaders after a car bombing in Bogota claimed by the group killed 21 police cadets in January. Several of the group’s top commanders are in Cuba, participating in long-stalled peace talks with the government to end more than five decades of fighting. The rebel leaders in Cuba have said they will not leave unless Duque complies with conditions agreed to by his predecessor for their return home in the case of a breakdown in talks. Though the ELN claimed responsibility for the Bogota bombing in a statement, calling it a legitimate act of war, the negotiators said they had no prior knowledge of the attack. The 2,000-strong guerrilla group, founded in 1964, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. The ELN is believed to be holding 14 more hostages. Duque has repeatedly said talks will not begin again until all captives are freed. Cuba previously hosted negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, which demobilized in 2017 and is now a political party.


WHO and vaccine group back 'critical' cervical cancer shots

Abstract: LONDON - A vaccine given to girls to protect them against a virus that causes cervical cancer is a “critical” health tool and access to it should be scaled up as swiftly as possible, especially in poorer countries, cancer experts said Monday. Figures from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) showed an estimated 570,000 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2018, making it the fourth most common cancer in women globally. Each year, more than 310,000 women die from cervical cancer. The vast majority of deaths are in poorer countries where rates of immunization against the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes it are low. In wealthy countries, some anti-vaccine campaigners also persuade parents to refuse the shot for their children, leaving them at risk, IARC said. “Unfounded rumors about HPV vaccines continue to unnecessarily delay or impede the scaling up of vaccination,” IARC’s director Elisabete Weiderpass said in a statement. She said IARC was committed to fighting cervical cancer and “unequivocally confirms the efficacy and safety” of HPV shots. Britain’s GSK makes an HPV vaccine called Cervarix, which targets two strains of the virus, while Merck makes a rival shot, Gardasil, which targets four strains. In a separate statement addressed to the WHO last week, the GAVI vaccines alliance also urged greater support for HPV shots, saying it aimed to immunize 40 million girls in poorer countries against HPV by 2020. This would avert an estimated 900,000 deaths, GAVI said. IARC said reducing the cost of vaccines in poorer countries would play a vital role in increasing access to them. It said it was working with the generic drugmaker Serum Institute of India to develop an HPV shot that “could provide a high-quality alternative at a lower cost.”


A more conservative U.S. Supreme Court takes up Louisiana's abortion clinic law

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The outcome of a fight over a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers could signal whether a fortified conservative majority on the Supreme Court is willing to cut back on abortion rights. The high court is expected to decide in the next few days whether the state can begin enforcing a law requiring doctors who work at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. It was passed in 2014, but has never taken effect. The Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Texas three years ago. But the court’s lineup has changed since then. Two appointees of President Donald Trump have joined the bench and Justice Anthony Kennedy has retired. Kennedy voted to strike down the Texas law. The law was to have taken effect on Monday, but Justice Samuel Alito issued a brief order last week that pushed back the effective date at least to Thursday because, Alito said, the justices needed more time to consider an emergency appeal from Louisiana abortion providers. Alito handles those appeals from Louisiana. The issue before the court is whether the law may be enforced even as appeals over its validity continue, so the impending vote may not be the justices’ last word on the matter. But it is expected to be a window on the court’s views of abortion rights. A vote to allow the law to take effect “will be a really good sign that the modified Court will not police states or lower courts’ compliance with” the Texas decision or an earlier ruling in 1992 that reaffirmed a woman’s right to an abortion that the court first announced in the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, University of California, Irvine law professor Leah Litman wrote on the progressive Take Care blog. Abortion opponents have been awaiting that signal since Trump’s election, particularly after he promised during the 2016 campaign to appoint “pro-life justices.” Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first appointee, took the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who opposed abortion rights. The president’s second pick, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, replaced Kennedy. The current situation bears some resemblance to the court’s shift on a particular abortion method that its opponents call partial-birth abortion. In 2000, the Supreme Court struck down Nebraska’s ban on the procedure by a 5-4 vote. Seven years later, the court upheld a federal partial-birth abortion ban by an identical vote. The makeup of the court had changed, with John Roberts replacing William Rehnquist as chief justice and, crucially, Alito taking Sandra Day O’Connor’s place on the bench. O’Connor voted to strike down the state law; Alito voted to uphold the federal ban. In the majority opinion that upheld the federal law, Kennedy wrote that the law did not impose an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to an abortion, the standard laid out in the 1992 abortion-rights ruling, and that it was sufficiently different from the Nebraska law that had been struck down in 2000, even though neither law contained a provision allowing the method to be used if a doctor decided it was necessary to preserve the mother’s health. Rachel Morrison, litigation counsel for the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, said the court also could find differences between Texas and Louisiana in the situations confronting women seeking abortions in the two states. The court’s ruling invalidating the Texas law “does not mean that all admitting privileges laws are per se unconstitutional or that there is sufficient evidence that Louisiana’s law will lead to the closure of a large number of abortion clinics in Louisiana,” Morrison wrote on her group’s website. Differences in the two state laws were at the heart of last year’s 2-1 ruling by the federal appeals court in New Orleans that upheld the Louisiana measure. The appeals court rejected a trial judge’s conclusions at least one and possibly two of the state’s three abortion clinics would have to close and, at most, two doctors would remain authorized to perform abortions in Louisiana. In January, the full appeals court voted 9-6 not to get involved in the case, setting up the Supreme Court appeal. The appellate ruling “brazenly ignored recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent squarely on point,” said Nancy Northup, head of the Center for Reproductive Rights. The group represents the clinics in court fight. More alarming to abortion rights supporters is that high court action allowing the law to take effect could provide a road map to lower courts that are considering, or may soon weigh, other state efforts to restrict abortion. Judges will be able to whittle away at abortion rights “by distinguishing away any decision favorable to reproductive justice, and refusing to meaningfully scrutinize any law that affects abortion access or abortion providers,” Litman wrote. The case is June Medical Services v. Gee.

louisiana
abortion
donald trump
neil gorsuch
brett kavanaugh
u.s. supreme court


Erdogan says he cannot understand U.S. 'silence' over Jamal Khashoggi murder

Abstract: ISTANBUL - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused the United States of maintaining a “silence” on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who killed by a Saudi hit team in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. “I cannot understand America’s silence. … We want everything to be clarified because there is an atrocity, there is a murder,” Erdogan told an interview with state-run TRT television. “The Khashoggi murder is not an ordinary one.” Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and Saudi regime critic, was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. He visited the consulate to obtain paperwork for his upcoming marriage to a Turkish woman. Turkey says Khashoggi was killed by a team of 15 Saudis who strangled him at the kingdom’s diplomatic mission. Riyadh, after denying the killing for two weeks, eventually described it as a “rogue” operation but denied any involvement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The case has caused strains in the kingdom’s ties with Washington. Turkish officials are seeking answers from Saudi Arabia to a number of questions including who ordered the hit, and the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body. Unhappy with Riyadh’s cooperation in the investigation, Ankara has also called for an international inquiry. A U.N. judicial expert investigating the murder met last week with Turkish authorities in Ankara and Istanbul and carried out inspections outside the Saudi Consulate. Eleven men are on trial in Saudi Arabia accused of involvement in the murder with the attorney-general seeking the death penalty for five of the defendants.

jamal khashoggi
murder
recep tayyip erdogan
turkey
mohammed bin salman
saudi arabia
u.s .
donald trump


Soak the rich: U.S. Democratic contenders vie to be the toughest on taxing the wealthy

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The last Democrat to win a U.S. presidential election, Barack Obama, ran in 2012 on a platform of raising taxes for top earners to nearly 40 percent. Now a new crop of Democratic presidential hopefuls is signaling that they want to go even further. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is floating a 2 percent tax on all assets of people with a net worth of more than $50 million — a moonshot plan that could face legal challenges for hitting investments, homes and cars, not just income. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is pitching a steeply higher inheritance tax on large estates. Others targeting higher income earners include California Sen. Kamala Harris, who has proposed rolling back the recent GOP tax cuts for wealthier families to pay for tax rebates for middle- and lower-income earners. The eruption of high-end tax proposals is a shift for Democrats, who have traditionally not centered their presidential bids around tax hikes — particularly at this early stage of a campaign. It underscores the party’s march to the left and candidates’ desire to tap into the Wall Street-rattling energy of liberal voters. “If you’re looking for a bumper sticker, ‘tax rich people’ is a pretty good bumper sticker,” said Howard Glickman of the centrist Tax Policy Center. Beyond its messaging power, taxing the wealthy also gives Democratic contenders a way to propose paying for their sweeping progressive agendas. Sanders put it simply last week: “We need additional revenue if we’re going to provide health care for all, rebuild our infrastructure, make public colleges and universities tuition-free.” The rush to tax the rich has prompted criticism from others eyeing the White House — namely billionaires Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican who is considering running as a Democrat, and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is mulling an independent run for president. Schultz says he was driven from the Democratic Party by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the rising star who’s issued her own call for a 70 percent income tax rate on people making more than $10 million. Democratic strategists worry Schultz could peel off a small but vital slice of affluent voters and help President Donald Trump get re-elected in a three-way race. But to progressive Democratic contenders, the criticism from billionaires like Schultz proves their point. “The billionaires are writing the rules around here. And guess what: all those rules favor the billionaires,” Warren said in an interview. Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to cast the Democratic tax proposals as damaging to an economy that has steadily grown since Trump took office. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a senior GOP member of the tax-writing Finance Committee, described Warren and Sanders’ tax plans as playing off “the politics of personal envy.” He predicted economic blowback from reversing the current tax laws muscled through by Republicans in 2017. The $2 trillion tax bill Trump signed into law was a boon for many wealthy Americans, with low-and middle-income Americans receiving smaller cuts. While many Democrats have previously backed higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans, they’ve rarely made the issue such an early focal point of their campaigns. Obama shied away from tax increases during his first run for office, as did almost every Democratic nominee since Walter Mondale in 1984 pledged to raise voters’ taxes and lost to President Reagan in an historic landslide. But polls now show that voters are happy to see higher-end taxes, to a point. In April 2018, Gallup found that about 6 in 10 Americans thought the wealthy didn’t pay their fair share of taxes. A Fox News poll last week found 7 in 10 Americans supported raising taxes on people making more than 10 million dollars a year and 65 percent on those making more than $1 million. But support plunges when family income drops, with only 44 percent backing higher taxes on those making more than $250,000. “What’s happened sometimes in these debates is the ‘on the wealthy’ gets left out in some people’s minds,” said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. “The question is to what extent you can control the interpretation” of tax increases. Democrats seem to have learned that lesson, at least with the 70 percent rate from Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and a Warren proposal that would only hit an estimated 75,000 households in the United States — the upper echelon of U.S. wealth. “It’s clear that the people they’re targeting are the very, very, very well-off,” said Alan Viard of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. But Viard and other critics warn that the higher Democrats go, the less revenue they may actually get. That’s because the wealthy can shift around assets to avoid new levies. And Warren’s proposal, because it taxes more than income, may not comply with the Constitution, which was amended to allow the federal government to tax income, not wealth. Glickman said that Warren’s tax may be the most politically viable, because it targets such wealthy individuals. But it may be the toughest to implement. Several European countries have recently eliminated wealth taxes because they are so hard to administer, and the value of the mega-rich’s holdings so hard to pin down, Glickman said. Economists advising Warren’s campaign project it will raise $2.75 trillion over 10 years, but Glickman was skeptical. “When that much money is at stake, rich guys are going to go out and hire really smart tax lawyers,” he said. While Warren has enthusiastically embraced her tax plan’s impact on the wealthy, Harris’ early messaging has focused more on boosting middle-income earners with a $500 a month refundable tax credit to households earning less than $100,000 a year. Harris would pay for this partly by eliminating the Trump tax cuts for households earning more than $100,000. That could be politically risky because this group, while comfortable, is largely not the mega-rich.

democrats
taxes
wealth
elizabeth warren
bernie sanders
u.s .
2020 u.s. presidential election