77% of Japanese firms say they don't discriminate against foreign workers in terms of pay

Abstract: Nearly 80 percent of companies pay their foreign employees equal or higher wages compared with their Japanese staff, a think tank survey showed Wednesday. The Japan Research Institute said corporate managers generally welcome the new visa system to accept more foreigners staff — mostly for blue-collar work — that began in April, but wage gaps are still seen at small and midsize companies, and many firms still have no plans to hire foreigners. The institute found that 77.1 percent paid the same or similar wages to non-Japanese, while 1.8 percent paid them higher wages than their Japanese counterparts. But it also found 6.0 percent paid foreign workers less than their Japanese employees, and 11.8 percent paid them the minimum wage or just above. The government released ordinances in March requiring employers to pay non-Japanese similar or higher wages than Japanese nationals to ease concerns about labor exploitation. The institute’s findings are based on responses between Jan. 26 and Feb. 22 from 1,039 companies across the nation, of which 41.0 percent currently employ foreigners. Some 41.4 percent of the companies said they have never hired foreigners, and 12.7 percent said they once had foreign staff members but no longer do. Among the companies that have never hired foreigners, 26.0 percent said they would offer jobs to Japanese people first, and 24.6 percent decided not to because of the more complicated procedures required in personnel affairs management, the survey showed. Small and midsize companies facing revenue difficulties have a backward attitude toward wage increases for their foreign workers, the institute said. “If companies become reluctant to raise wages, they would not only risk losing the global race to attract foreign workers but face challenges in sustaining their operations in the future,” it said. Regarding training for foreign workers, 55.5 percent said they are not doing anything, and 29.4 percent offer some form of training programs.

foreign workers
wages
jobs
expats
small businesses


'White-coated drug dealers': 60 people charged in illegal prescription opioid crackdown

Abstract: CINCINNATI - Federal authorities said Wednesday they have charged 60 people, including 31 doctors, for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other dangerous drugs. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman of Cincinnati described the action as the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers. Robert Duncan, U.S. attorney for eastern Kentucky, called the doctors involved “white-coated drug dealers.” Authorities said the 60 includes 53 medical professionals tied to some 350,000 prescriptions and 32 million pills. The operation was conducted by the federal Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force, launched last year by the Trump administration. Authorities said arrests were being made and search warrants carried out as they announced the charges at a news conference. They didn’t immediately name those being charged. U.S. health authorities have reported there were more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017, for a rate of 21.7 per 100,000 people. West Virginia and Ohio have regularly been among the states with the highest overdose death rates as the opioid crisis has swelled in recent years. Among those charged was a Tennessee doctor who dubbed himself the “Rock Doc” and is accused of prescribing dangerous combinations of drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone, sometimes in exchange for sex, authorities said Others include a Kentucky doctor who is accused of writing prescriptions to Facebook friends who came to his home to pick them up, another who allegedly left signed blank prescriptions for staff to fill out and give to patients he hadn’t seen, and a Kentucky dentist accused of removing teeth unnecessarily and scheduling unneeded follow-up appointments. A Dayton, Ohio, doctor was accused of running a “pill mill” responsible that that allegedly dispensed 1.75 million pills in a two-year period. Authorities said an Alabama doctor recruited prostitutes and other women he had sexual relations with to his clinic and allowed them to abuse drugs in his home. Most of those charged came from the five strike force states of Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. One person each was also arrested in Pennsylvania and Louisiana. “The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug crisis in American history, and Appalachia has suffered the consequences more than perhaps any other region,” U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement in Washington.


U.S. and China working to sign new trade agreement in May, says report

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. and Chinese officials are tentatively working to finalize a new trade agreement, with a signing ceremony expected as soon as late May, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper also said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was expected in Beijing for a new round of face-to-face talks that could begin the week of April 29. Lighthizer’s office did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. During shuttle diplomacy in recent months, U.S. and Chinese officials have alternated between projecting optimism and warning that success in their fraught talks is not guaranteed. But a key U.S. demand — a binding enforcement mechanism to prevent Beijing from backsliding on its commitments — has been virtually agreed, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this month. The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade since last year, weighing on both countries’ manufacturing sectors and unnerving global stock markets. To help reduce Beijing’s soaring U.S. trade surplus, Chinese officials have offered to increase purchases of American farm goods and energy exports. But analysts say it remains unclear how far China will go in meeting U.S. demands for fundamental changes in industrial policy that could weaken the communist party’s hold on power.

china
trade
robert lighthizer
tariffs
u.s .
donald trump
steve mnuchin
trade war


Japan's consumption tax hike could be delayed again if June data looks 'risky,' Abe aide says

Abstract: A close aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday hinted at the possibility that the planned consumption tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent in October could be delayed, depending on a key economic indicator to be released for June. If the Bank of Japan’s tankan survey of business sentiment for June “shows a risky outlook,” Koichi Hagiuda, executive acting secretary-general of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, said during an online TV program. “We would not take the people toward a cliff. There could be a different development.” Abe has twice pushed back a plan to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent after the previous hike to 8 percent from 5 percent in 2014. The government has maintained that it will raise the tax unless Japan’s economy faces a shock on the scale of the global financial crisis triggered by the 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. From time to time, there has been speculation that Abe could put off the planned hike again amid the weak tone of the Japanese economy due partly to a slowdown in exports to China, its largest trading partner. On the TV program, Hagiuda admitted that the world’s third-largest economy is “slightly deteriorating.” Although the government maintains that Japan is in the longest economic expansion period since the end of World War II, a key government indicator of economic trends showed in March that the economy may have peaked last fall and already entered a recessionary phase. Also in the month, the government downgraded its headline assessment of Japan’s economy for the first time in three years in its monthly economic report. The Japanese central bank will release the quarterly business confidence survey on July 1. Hagiuda, a House of Representatives member, said it is still possible for the government to delay the tax hike, but he added that the it would have to seek a response from voters in that case. However, he brushed aside the possibility of the Lower House being dissolved to coincide with the upcoming Upper House election in July, citing tight scheduling due to a Group of 20 summit in late June in Osaka.


Ruling LDP calls for law to prevent tech giants strong-arming vendors in Japan

Abstract: The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday urged the government to consider a new law obliging technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC to disclose contract terms with vendors using their sites. The set of proposals compiled by the LDP urged the government to require the tech giants, also including Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc., to clarify the rules of transactions and to notify the vendors in advance when they intend to change them. The panel of the party’s Research Commission on Market Competitiveness Policy also requested that they respond appropriately to any complaints from vendors. Concerns have been raised that the tech groups are abusing their dominant position with regards to smaller companies using their platforms, and that they are collecting customers’ personal data without gaining sufficient consent or disclosing how the information will be used. The latest move comes a day after antitrust watchdog Japan Fair Trade Commission said its survey showed that some 50 percent to 90 percent of vendors using sites run by Amazon, Apple, Google, Rakuten Inc. and Yahoo Japan Corp. said their contracts have been changed without prior negotiations. The poll showed that 93.2 percent of suppliers on the e-commerce site run by Rakuten said they have experienced unilateral contract changes. Similar responses were collected from 81.4 percent of vendors for Apple, 73.8 percent for Google and 72.8 percent for Amazon. Among venders whose items failed product screenings, 64.0 percent of those on Amazon.com, 70.0 percent of those on Rakuten and 85.7 percent of those on Yahoo Japan said that they had received no explanations on the reasons for the rejections. Nearly 70 percent of Amazon and Rakuten vendors expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of explanations. The internet survey was conducted between Feb. 27 and March 26, collecting 867 responses. The JFTC said it will continue its probe, holding interviews with the large tech firms. The commission has already raided the Japan offices of some platforms such as Amazon, which allegedly violated antitrust laws by having vendors shoulder part of the costs to cover discounts it applied to goods. The commission also said in a separate survey that of some 2,000 consumers polled, 75.8 percent “have concerns” about the way the tech companies collect and manage personal information and data. The government is expected to soon compile new rules to ensure more transparent transactions between platform providers and vendors.

amazon google facebook apple trade rakuten yahoo e-commerce


Light rail system involving Mitsubishi unveiled in Australian capital

Abstract: CANBERRA - A new light rail system built in part by an international consortium that includes Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. was unveiled in Australia’s capital Canberra on Thursday, with 300 locals making the first “preview” trip. The 12-km-long network, consisting of 13 stops in the city’s north, will officially open to the public on Saturday with free travel over the weekend. Mitsubishi is part of the eight-company consortium, Canberra Metro, which was selected to work with the Australian Capital Territory government in a public-private partnership in 2016. MUFJ Bank Ltd. also participated in the consortium as financial adviser. Speaking at a news conference following the plaque unveiling, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the new public transport system marks the moment Canberra “grows up” to develop into a city with a “real public transport system.” “This is the largest public transport infrastructure project ever undertaken by the ACT government and it’s been an important project for our city,” Barr said. The light rail will run at a top speed of 70 kph with trains arriving every six minutes during peak periods. Construction of the 707 million Australian dollar (¥56.7 billion) project began in July 2016, with the original date of completion listed as December 2018. However, construction delays forced the operational date to be pushed back. Canberra Metro CEO Glenn Stockton said delivering a complex piece of infrastructure to a regional city proved to be particularly challenging. “There was no rail knowledge and experience here in the ACT so we had to bring specialists in and build up that knowledge locally,” he said. Given its lack of large-scale public transport systems, Canberra has a strong car culture, and it remains to be seen how locals will adapt. The Canberra Metro consortium consists of companies from Australia, Britain, Germany, Japan and Spain.

rail mitsubishi australia canberra mufj mufg


Tokyo stocks turn broadly lower on apparent profit-taking

Abstract: Stocks surrendered to selling to lock in profits almost across the broad on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, brokers said, forcing the benchmark Nikkei average to snap its five-session winning streak. The 225-issue Nikkei average dived 187.85 points, or 0.84 percent, to end at 22,090.12, after rising 56.31 points on Wednesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 15.71 points, or 0.96 percent, at 1,614.97. The index added 4.22 points the previous day. Getting off to a mixed start following a modest pullback on Wall Street on Wednesday, the Tokyo market went south as investors apparently moved to cash in gains from the recent rally. Both indexes kept sinking in the afternoon, pressured by persistent profit-taking activities and the yen’s strengthening against the dollar, brokers said. In addition, “selling to square positions hit the market” ahead of the Easter weekend overseas including Good Friday, said Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co. As the Nikkei gained some 590 points in the past five sessions, investors’ shift to the sell side was a “natural move,” a brokerage official said. Given a pause in the advance of U.S. equities, investors found it inadvisable to buy Tokyo stocks amid the dearth of trading incentives, Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc., said. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,907 to 192 in the TSE’s first section, while 42 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1,188 million shares from Wednesday’s 1,270 million shares. Pharmaceuticals met with selling after U.S. drug maker Pfizer fared poorly overnight along with other health care names. Major losers in the sector included Takeda, Shionogi and Daiichi Sankyo. Japan Tobacco was downbeat after announcing weak domestic cigarette sales in March. Technology investor SoftBank Group continued to slide, electronics and entertainment giant Sony lost further ground, and paper manufacturer Oji Holdings fell back. On the other hand, automakers including Toyota, Honda and Suzuki kept attracting buying after the first round of Japan-U.S. trade talks ended in Washington on Wednesday without any negative news about the Japanese auto industry. Clothing store chain Fast Retailing extended its winning streak to a 10th session. Cosmetics maker Shiseido and construction machinery maker Kubota rose on selective buying. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average fell 160 points to end at 22,110.


Dollar eases below ¥111.90 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar weakened below ¥111.90 in Tokyo trading Thursday, hurt by a downturn in Tokyo stocks. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.84-84, down from ¥112.01-01 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1271-1271, down from $1.1317-1317, and at ¥126.03-04, down from ¥126.72-73. After moving above ¥112 in the early morning, the dollar fell below ¥111.90 in the wake of the benchmark Nikkei stock average’s dismal start, snapping its five-session rally. Although the greenback showed some resilience as the dip prompted repurchases, it was pressured by a drop in U.S. long-term interest rates in off-hours trading in the afternoon. “Investors stepped up moves to square positions ahead of the special 10-day holiday in Japan from April 27,” said an official at major Japanese bank. An official at a major securities firm noted a continued “risk-on” mood. But a foreign exchange report by the U.S. Treasury Department “looms ahead,” a currency broker pointed out.


Amazon to close domestic marketplace business in China, say sources

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO/SHANGHAI - Amazon.com Inc. plans to close its domestic marketplace in China by mid-July, people familiar with the matter said, focusing efforts on more lucrative businesses selling overseas goods and cloud services in the world’s most populous nation. Amazon shoppers in China will no longer be able to buy goods from third-party merchants in the country, but they still will be able to order from the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan via the firm’s global store. Amazon expects to close fulfillment centers and wind down support for domestic-selling merchants in China in the next 90 days, one of the people said. The move underscores how entrenched, homegrown e-commerce rivals have made it difficult for Amazon’s marketplace to gain a foothold. Consumer insights firm iResearch Global said Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Tmall marketplace and JD.com Inc. controlled 81.9 percent of the Chinese market last year. “They’re pulling out because it’s not profitable and not growing,” said analyst Michael Pachter at Wedbush Securities. Ker Zheng, marketing specialist at Shenzhen-based e-commerce consultancy Azoya, said Amazon had no major competitive advantage in China over its domestic rivals. Unless someone is searching for a very specific imported good that can’t be found elsewhere, “there’s no reason for a consumer to pick Amazon because they’re not going to be able to ship things as fast as Tmall or JD,” he said. Amazon’s customers in China will still be able to purchase the firm’s Kindle e-readers and online content, and the company’s local website, amazon.cn , will continue to exist, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing unit that sells data storage and computing power to enterprises, will remain as well. The withdrawal of the world’s largest online retailer — founded by Jeff Bezos, who later became the world’s richest person — comes amid a broader e-commerce slowdown in China. Alibaba in January reported its lowest quarterly earnings growth since 2016, while JD.com is responding to the changing business environment with staff cuts. It also follows the Chinese e-commerce retreat of other big-name Western retailers. Walmart Inc. sold its Chinese online shopping platform to JD.com in 2016, in return for a stake in JD.com, to focus on its bricks-and-mortar stores. Similarly, the country appears to factor less in the global aspirations of fellow U.S. tech giants Netflix Inc., Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Wedbush Securities’ Pachter said. Amazon bought Chinese online shopping website Joyo.com in 2004 for $75 million, re-branding the business in 2011 as Amazon China. But in a sign of Tmall’s dominance, Amazon opened an online store on the Alibaba site in 2015. Amazon is still expanding aggressively in other countries, notably India, where it is contending with local rival Flipkart.


Japan's Aisin Seiki forms auto parts joint venture in China

Abstract: NAGOYA - Japanese auto parts maker Aisin Seiki Co. said Wednesday that it has established a joint venture to produce automatic transmission system parts in Anqing, eastern China, with local firm Anhui Ring New Group Co. Aisin is set to invest a total of ¥10 billion in the new firm, Aisin (Anqing) Auto Parts Co., which will produce aluminum die-cast parts, such as transmission cases, from August 2020. The move reflects growing demand for automatic transmission systems for passenger cars in China. In China, Aisin currently manufactures aluminum die-cast parts at three plants. The new company, with an annual output capacity of 700,000 units, will supply the parts to Aisin’s automatic transmission factories in eastern China. Aisin (Anqing) Auto Parts is capitalized at 237 million yuan (¥4 billion), with 85 percent from Aisin. The joint venture will have some 150 employees when it starts production.

aisin seiki
china
anhui ring new group
carmakers


Japanese and other automakers tout SUVs at New York auto show

Abstract: NEW YORK - Automakers on Wednesday gathered at this year’s New York International Auto Show where Japanese carmakers unveiled all-new sport utility vehicles amid growing demand for light trucks over passenger vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp. introduced its 2020 Highlander, a midsize family-friendly SUV that ushers in the model’s fourth generation, while Subaru Corp. came out with a redesigned version of the Outback, its top seller in the United States last year. “The Outback is our largest selling vehicle, so we have high plans for this vehicle over time (and) are very confident that this new model is going to continue where the older model left off,” Tom Doll, CEO of Subaru of America Inc., told reporters. Other automakers like Hyundai Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG joined the SUV segment. Hyundai introduced the Venue, its most affordable SUV meant for younger consumers keen on design and add-on technologies. “This vehicle is aimed at an entirely new segment for Hyundai, entry SUV shoppers who live in urban centers,” said Sangyup Lee, Hyundai’s vice president of design. Ford’s Lincoln rolled out its new crossover, the Corsair, for the luxury SUV segment. Mercedes-Benz unveiled its seventh model for the same segment with the 2020 GLS, the German brand’s largest SUV. In the United States, “light trucks” including SUVs and pickup trucks accounted for 69 percent of auto sales in 2018, up 4 percentage points from the year prior. Passenger cars have been losing market share for the past seven years, capturing only 31 percent in 2018, according to Cox Automotive. “Light trucks will continue to be popular in the U.S., though the relative health of the economy can impact their sales rate during an economic cycle,” Karl Brauer, analyst at Cox Automotive, said. Light trucks have shown increased popularity over the years due to relatively low fuel prices and open space design. However, an influx of new models could threaten the market with over-saturation, leading to price cuts and falling profits. The market also faces trade uncertainties that cloud the long-term sales outlook. “Competitive pressures are strong and will force automakers to look at all options of SUV-like vehicles with different intended purposes like on-road and off-road,” said Jeff Schuster, analyst at LMC Automotive. “The market is getting to the point of near saturation but there is space to fill still with SUV types.” The two-day media preview at the New York International Auto Show started on Wednesday. The auto show will be open to the public from Friday through April 28.

suv carmakers toyota subaru hyundai ford daimler


Philip Morris says it doesn't want you to buy its cigarettes, but will IQOS help it survive?

Abstract: NEW YORK - How can a company that tells people explicitly not to buy its products survive? That’s a question for Philip Morris International Inc., which recently unveiled a campaign to “unsmoke” the world. The Marlboro maker reports first-quarter earnings on Thursday, giving investors the latest data on just how fast cigarette volumes are falling. With its public push to discourage smoking, Philip Morris isn’t fighting that trend. Instead, it’s ramping up focus on its IQOS heat-not-burn device, already sold in about 44 countries. “It makes financial sense because the new business is more sustainable, a better product for consumers. I’ve never seen where there is a better product for consumers and the company ended up in a worse situation financially,” said Chief Operating Officer Jacek Olczak. “IQOS and combustible (cigarette) volumes, they are 100 percent correlated. We’re not afraid of cannibalization.” Philip Morris, which hasn’t sold in the U.S. since a 2008 split from sister Altria Group Inc., has been leaning into anti-smoking at a time when the drop in cigarette volumes is accelerating. Globally, volumes are falling at about 3 percent to 4 percent annually, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Shea said. The “Unsmoke” campaign sums its mission up thus: “If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you smoke, quit. If you don’t quit, change.” Still, anti-smoking advocates say the company’s new marketing is a far cry from it giving up on cigarette sales altogether. “Their actions tell a different story than their words,” said Caroline Renzulli from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Her group photographed a billboard in Indonesia showing a new brand, and says ads there feature the word baru , which means new — a sign that Philip Morris is still putting some resources into traditional tobacco. Around 214,000 Indonesians die from tobacco-related disease annually, and Philip Morris controls about 34 percent of the cigarette market there, according to the group’s website. Philip Morris Bold was registered in Indonesia in January, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. When asked about the registration, Olczak said the company sometimes needs to change labeling on its cigarettes, such as to accommodate new health warnings, and that in general it has reduced new brand launches. The company doesn’t yet sell IQOS in Indonesia, though plans to test it in the future, he said. “In all markets where we have IQOS we have put product introductions to zero,” Olczak said. When asked if the company would ever separate IQOS from the cigarette business, Olczak said: “I don’t have to think about this today,” adding that “it’s a nice problem to have for the future.” It might make sense. Declining businesses with liabilities are sometimes managed through spinoffs, and Philip Morris faces lawsuits in Israel, Canada and Nigeria that claim “billions” of dollars in damages related to tobacco use and exposure, according to its filings. Altria took steps last year to hedge against Big Tobacco’s troubles — taking stakes in Juul Labs Inc. and Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group Inc. For Philip Morris, it’s banking its future on IQOS. Though sales are going well in some countries, it’s still trying to court the World Health Organization to embrace its push to help adult smokers switch. It’s also seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell IQOS in the U.S. If it succeeds, Altria has an agreement to market it. A separate application from Philip Morris also seeks to market it in the U.S. as a reduced-risk product. Olczak himself says he couldn’t quit smoking until six or seven years ago. He had a child and his wife was very unhappy with his cigarette use, so he tried an IQOS prototype, which he says finally helped him kick the habit. The company is ready to put a “human touch” on the issue, telling anecdotes about how relieved some children were to see their parents quit cigarettes thanks to IQOS, he said. The decline in cigarette volumes in many countries hasn’t spooked Philip Morris investors — shares have jumped about 30 percent this year. And cigarette sales are growing in places such as Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Turkey, the company’s most recent annual report shows. In Indonesia, they were flat. In some countries, Olczak said, a reduction in illegal trade has resulted in volume increases. Roberto Pozzi, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, questions what Philip Morris will do if alternative products aren’t as profitable as expected. Unlike Altria, the company doesn’t have investments in wine and cannabis. “They say the margins are similar to traditional cigarettes for IQOS, but they don’t publish the data,” Pozzi said. IQOS does have better margins, because of taxes, Olczak said. It’s taxed favorably compared with cigarettes in many countries, such as Japan. But margins could be hurt if regulators decide to do otherwise, the company has said in regulatory risk statements. Philip Morris is also working on other devices, such as IQOS 2, which has a carbon heat source at the tip that generates heat without an electric system. It has been launched as a test in the Dominican Republic. Further commercialization plans are under way, but have yet to be announced. Another possible path, Olczak said, is using the product as a medical device, or for nicotine replacement therapy.

philip morris
iqos
marlboro
smoking
indonesia
health


Notre Dame to get temporary wooden cathedral during rebuilding

Abstract: PARIS - Catholic worshippers feeling orphaned by the fire that ravaged part of Notre Dame will be welcomed in an “ephemeral cathedral” of wood in front of the Paris monument until it reopens, Notre Dame’s chief priest said Thursday. Speaking to France’s CNews television channel Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said, “We mustn’t say ‘the cathedral is closed for five years and that’s it.'” To give the faithful somewhere to congregate next to Notre Dame, he suggested: “Can I not build an ephemeral cathedral on the esplanade (in front of Notre Dame)?” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had backed the idea and agreed to give over part of the esplanade to the church for a wooden structure, he said. Chauvet said the wooden “cathedral” would host priests who could address some of the millions of tourists who throng the original 850-year-old Gothic cathedral each year. On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron said he aimed to rebuild Notre Dame within five years. The government said it would launch an international architecture contest to replace the burning steeple which came crashing down during Monday’s inferno, along with a large part of the roof. Chauvet said the surrogate “cathedral” would be erected quickly, as soon as the esplanade reopens after work to secure the cathedral is completed. The fire is believed to have been accidentally triggered by restoration work which was being carried out on the steeple.

notre dame
paris
fires
architecture
religion
history


Scientists spur some activity in brains of slaughtered pigs

Abstract: NEW YORK - Scientists have restored some activity within the brains of pigs that were slaughtered hours before, raising hopes for some medical advances — and questions about the definition of death. The brains could not think or sense anything, researchers stressed. By medical standards “this is not a living brain,” said Nenad Sestan of the Yale School of Medicine, one of the researchers reporting the results Wednesday in the journal Nature. But the work revealed a surprising degree of resilience among cells within a brain that has lost its supply of blood and oxygen, he said. “Cell death in the brain occurs across a longer time window than we previously thought,” Sestan said. Such research might lead to new therapies for stroke and other conditions, as well as provide a new way to study the brain and how drugs work in it, researchers said. They said they had no current plans to try their technique on human brains. The study was financed mostly by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The 32 brains came from pigs killed for food at a local slaughterhouse. Scientists put the brains into an apparatus in their lab. Four hours after the animals died, scientists began pumping a specially designed blood substitute through the organs. The brains showed no large-scale electrical activity that would indicate awareness. Restoring consciousness was not a goal of the study, which was aimed instead at exploring whether particular functions might be restored long after death. After six hours of pumping, scientists found that individual brain cells in one area of the brain had maintained key details of their structure, while cells from untreated brains had severely degraded. When scientists removed these neurons from treated brains and stimulated them electrically, the cells responded in a way that indicated viability. And by studying the artificial blood before it entered the treated brains and after it emerged, researchers found evidence that brain cells were absorbing blood sugar and oxygen and producing carbon dioxide, a signal that they were functioning. They also found that blood vessels in treated brains responded to a drug that makes vessels widen. Sestan said researchers don’t know whether they could restore normal whole brain function if they chose that goal. If such consciousness had appeared in the reported experiments, scientists would have used anesthesia and low temperatures to quash it and stop the experiment, said study co-author Stephen Latham of Yale. There is no good ethical consensus about doing such research if the brain is conscious, he said. Researchers are now seeing if they can keep the brain functions they observed going for longer than six hours of treatment, which Latham said would be necessary to use the technology as a research tool. Christof Koch, president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, who didn’t participate in the study, said he was surprised by the results, especially since they were achieved in a large animal. “This sort of technology could help increase our knowledge to bring people back to the land of the living” after a drug overdose or other catastrophic event that deprived the brain of oxygen for an hour or two, he said. Unlike the pig experiments, any such treatment would not involve removing the brain from the body. The pig work also enters an ethical minefield, he said. For one thing, it touches on the widely used definition of death as the irreversible loss of brain function because irreversibility “depends on the state of the technology and, as this study shows, this is constantly advancing,” he said. And somebody might well try this with a human brain someday, he said. If future experiments restored the large-scale electrical activity, would that indicate consciousness? Would the brain “experience confusion, delusion, pain or agony?” he asked. That would be unacceptable even in an animal brain, he said. In a Nature commentary, bioethicists Stuart Youngner and Insoo Hyun of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland said if such work leads to better methods for resuscitating the brain in people, it could complicate decisions about when to remove organs for transplant.


Elusive molecule, first in the universe, detected in space

Abstract: PARIS - In the beginning, more than 13 billion years ago, the universe was an undifferentiated soup of three simple, single-atom elements. Stars would not form for another 100 million years. But within 100,000 years of the Big Bang, the very first molecule emerged, an improbable marriage of helium and hydrogen known as a helium hydride ion (HeH+). “It was the beginning of chemistry,” said David Neufeld, a professor at John Hopkins University and co-author of a study published Wednesday detailing how — after a multidecade search — scientists finally detected the elusive molecule in space. “The formation of HeH+ was the first step on a path of increasing complexity in the universe,” as momentous a shift as the one from single-cell to multicellular life on Earth, he said. Theoretical models had long since convinced astrophysicists that HeH+ came first, followed — in a precise order — by a parade of other increasingly complex and heavy molecules. HeH+ had also been studied in the laboratory, as early as 1925. But detected HeH+ in its natural habitat had remained beyond their grasp. “The lack of definitive evidence of its very existence in interstellar space has been a dilemma for astronomy for a long time,” said lead author Rolf Gusten, at the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn. Researchers knew where to look. Already in the 1970s, models suggested that HeH+ should exist in significant quantities in the glowing gases ejected by dying sun-like stars, which created conditions similar to those found in the early universe. The problem was that the electromagnetic waves given off by the molecule were in a range — far-infrared — that is canceled out by Earth’s atmosphere, and thus undetectable from the ground. So NASA and the German Aerospace Center joined forces to create an airborne observatory with three main components: a massive 2.7-meter telescope, an infrared spectrometer and a Boeing 747 — with a window-like square cut away from its fuselage — big enough to carry them. From a cruising altitude of nearly 14,000 meters (45,000 feet), the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, avoided 85 percent of the atmospheric “noise” of ground-based telescopes. Data from a series of three flights in May 2016 contained the molecular evidence scientists had long sought, interlaced in the planetary nebula NGC 7027 some 3,000 light-years away. “The discovery of HeH+ is a dramatic and beautiful demonstration of nature’s tendency to form molecules,” said Neufeld. In this case, it did so despite inauspicious circumstances. Even though temperatures in the young universe fell rapidly after the Big Bang, they were still in the neighborhood of 4,000 degrees Celsius, a hostile environment for molecular bonding. Helium — a noble gas — also “has a very low proclivity for form molecules,” Neufeld explained. Its union with ionized hydrogen was fragile, and did not persist for very long, replaced by progressively more robust and complex molecular bonds. Heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen — and the many molecules they gave rise to — were formed later still by the nuclear reactions that power stars.


Doctors use HIV in gene therapy to fix babies' 'bubble boy' disease

Abstract: NEW YORK - They were born without a working germ-fighting system, every infection a threat to their lives. Now eight babies with “bubble boy disease” have had it fixed by a gene therapy made from one of the immune system’s worst enemies — HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A study out Wednesday details how scientists turned this enemy virus into a savior, altering it so it couldn’t cause disease and then using it to deliver a gene the boys lacked. “This therapy has cured the patients,” although it will take more time to see if it’s a permanent fix, said Dr. Ewelina Mamcarz, one of the study leaders at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Omarion Jordan, who turns 1 later this month, had the therapy in December to treat severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, or SCID. “For a long time we didn’t know what was wrong with him. He just kept getting these infections,” said his mother, Kristin Simpson. Learning that he had SCID “was just heartbreaking … I didn’t know what was going to happen to him.” Omarion now has a normal immune system. “He’s like a normal, healthy baby,” Simpson said. “I think it’s amazing.” Study results were published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The treatment was pioneered by a St. Jude doctor who recently died, Brian Sorrentino. SCID is caused by a genetic flaw that keeps the bone marrow from making effective versions of blood cells that comprise the immune system. It affects 1 in 200,000 newborns, almost exclusively males. Without treatment, it often kills in the first year or two of life. “A simple infection like the common cold could be fatal,” Mamcarz said. The nickname “bubble boy disease” comes from a famous case in the 1970s — a Texas boy who lived for 12 years in a protective plastic bubble to isolate him from germs. A bone marrow transplant from a genetically matched sibling can cure SCID, but most people lack a suitable donor. Transplants also are medically risky — the Texas boy died after one. Doctors think gene therapy could be a solution. It involves removing some of a patient’s blood cells, using the modified HIV to insert the missing gene, and returning the cells through an IV. Before getting their cells back, patients are given a drug to destroy some of their marrow so the modified cells have more room to grow. When doctors first tried it 20 years ago, the treatment had unintended effects on other genes, and some patients later developed leukemia. The new therapy has safeguards to lower that risk. A small study of older children suggested it was safe. The new study tried it in infants, and doctors are reporting on the first eight who were treated at St. Jude and at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco. Within a few months, normal levels of healthy immune system cells developed in seven boys. The eighth needed a second dose of gene therapy but now is well, too. Six to 24 months after treatment, all eight are making all the cell types needed to fight infections, and some have successfully received vaccines to further boost their immunity to disease. No serious or lasting side effects occurred. Omarion is the 10th boy treated in the study, which is ongoing. It’s sponsored by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the Assisi Foundation of Memphis and the federal government. “So far it really looks good,” but patients will have to be studied to see if the results last, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped develop the treatment. “To me, this looks promising.” Rights to it have been licensed by St. Jude to Mustang Bio. Doctors say they have no estimate on what it might cost if it does become an approved treatment. They say they also hope to try it for more common problems such as sickle cell disease.

hiv
gene therapy
disease
bubble boy disease
scid
genetics
u.s .
st. jude


Firefighters saved Notre Dame from 'chain-reaction collapse' in blaze, says official

Abstract: PARIS - Notre Dame Cathedral would have burned to the ground in a “chain-reaction collapse” had firefighters not moved as rapidly as they did to battle the blaze racing through the beloved landmark building, a French government official said Wednesday. The firefighters acted aggressively to protect wooden supports in the twin medieval bell towers from the flames, averting a bigger catastrophe, said Jose Vaz de Matos, a fire expert with France’s Culture Ministry. “If the fire reached this wooden structure, the bell tower would have been lost,” de Matos said at a news conference. “From the moment we lose the war of the bell towers, we lose the cathedral, because it’s a chain-reaction collapse.” Monday’s fire destroyed most of the lead roof of the 950-year-old architectural treasure and caused its spire, which was added in the 19th century, to collapse. An initial fire alert was sounded at 6:20 p.m., as a Mass was underway in the cathedral, but no fire was found. The second alert was sounded at 6:43 p.m., and the blaze was discovered on the roof. No one was killed in the fire, after firefighters and church officials speedily evacuated those inside. Firefighters acted bravely and as fast as they could to save the cathedral, said senior fire official Philippe Demay, denying that there was any delay in their response. Despite extensive damage, many of the cathedral’s treasures were saved, including Notre Dame’s famous rose windows, although they are not out of danger. Paris Firefighters’ spokesman Lt.-Col. Gabriel Plus said that even though they are “in good condition … there is a risk for the gables that are no longer supported by the frame.” Firefighters removed statues inside the gables, or support walls, above the rose windows to protect them, and took care not to spray water too hard on the delicate stained glass, Plus said. Scaffolding erected for a renovation of the spire and roof that was already underway must be properly removed because of its weight and because it is now “crucially deformed,” he added. The cathedral is still being monitored closely by firefighters and experts to determine how much damage the structure suffered and what needs to be dismantled to avoid collapse. “The experts are scrutinizing the whole of the cathedral, part by part, to identify what is weakened, what will need to be dismantled or consolidated,” Plus said. Nearly $1 billion has pledged for the restoration, while a vow by French President Emmanuel Macron to finish it in five years has been challenged as being wildly off track. He said the renovations would be completed in time for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. “We will rebuild the cathedral to be even more beautiful, and I want it to be finished within five years,” Macron said. Experts have said, however, that Macron’s ambitious goal appears insufficient for such a massive operation. Even Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, while supporting the government timeline, acknowledged Wednesday that it would be difficult. “This is obviously an immense challenge, a historic responsibility,” Philippe said in an address. Prominent French conservation architect Pierluigi Pericolo told Inrocks magazine it could take triple that time. “No less than 15 years … it’s a colossal task,” said Pericolo, who worked on the restoration of the 19th century St.-Donatien Basilica, which was badly damaged in a 2015 blaze in the French city of Nantes. He said it could take between two to five years just to check the stability of the cathedral that dominates the Paris skyline. “It’s a fundamental step, and very complex, because it’s difficult to send workers into a monument whose vaulted ceilings are swollen with water,” Pericolo told France-Info. “The end of the fire doesn’t mean the edifice is totally saved. The stone can deteriorate when it is exposed to high temperatures and change its mineral composition and fracture inside.” Notre Dame’s rector said he would close the cathedral for up to “five to six years,” acknowledging that “a segment” of the structure may be gravely weakened. Pledges of nearly $1 billion have been made by ordinary worshippers and wealthy magnates, including those who own L’Oreal, Chanel and Dior. Presidential cultural heritage envoy Stephane Bern told broadcaster France-Info that 880 million euros ($995 million) has been raised since the fire. The government was gathering donations and setting up a special office to deal with big-ticket offers. Criticism already has surfaced in France from those who say the money could be better spent elsewhere, on smaller, struggling churches or on workers. Philippe also said an international competition will be held to see if the spire should be rebuilt. “Should we rebuild the spire envisaged and built by Viollet-le-Duc under the same conditions … (or) give Notre Dame a new spire adapted to the technologies and the challenges of our times?” he said. Teams brought in a huge crane and delivered planks of wood to the site Wednesday morning. Firefighters were still examining the damage and shoring up the structure. Macron called a special Cabinet meeting Wednesday on the fire, which investigators believe was an accident possibly linked to renovation that was already underway on the cathedral. The Paris prosecutor’s office said investigators have still not been able to look inside the cathedral, because it remains dangerous. About 30 people have already been questioned in the investigation. Among them are workers at the five construction companies who were involved in renovating the church spire and roof. Neighborhood merchants who depend on tourism to Notre Dame expressed worry about their future. Since the fire, the island that houses the cathedral has been closed to the public and its residents evacuated. “No one is talking about us,” said Patrick Lejeune, president of an association that represents about 150 employees. Bustling streets are now “totally closed. I don’t have access to my office,” he said. The island is considered the heart of Paris, with all distances in France measured from the esplanade in front of Notre Dame. Later Wednesday evening, bells will toll at cathedrals around France in honor of Notre Dame.

fires
notre dame
paris
france
emmanuel macron


White House and Justice officials discussed Robert Mueller report, say media

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. Justice Department officials had numerous conversations in recent days with White House lawyers about the conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the New York Times and ABC News reported on Wednesday. Mueller on March 22 submitted his report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on his investigation into whether the campaign of Republican Donald Trump worked with Moscow to sway the election in his favor, and whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice with actions to impede the inquiry. The New York Times, which cited people with knowledge of the discussions between the department and Trump’s lawyers, said the talks had assisted the president’s legal team as it prepared a rebuttal to a redacted version of the full report scheduled to be released on Thursday morning. The Justice Department declined comment. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow also declined comment. Barr so far has sent a letter to Congress describing what he called a summary of the main conclusions of the investigation. In his letter to lawmakers, Barr said Mueller did not find that members of Trump’s campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia. Barr said he determined there was not enough evidence to establish that Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice, though Mueller did not exonerate Trump on obstruction. Barr said he would hold a news conference at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Thursday to discuss the Mueller report, along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel in May 2017.

robert mueller
william barr
donald trump
rod rosenstein
u.s .
democrats
russia probe


Canada wants simulator training for Boeing 737 Max fix, not just tablet tutorials

Abstract: MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Canada’s transport minister on Wednesday called for pilots to get flight simulator training to learn how to use new software on the troubled Boeing 737 Max, saying U.S.-suggested computer tutorials are not enough. The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since mid-March, when one of the jets crashed in Ethiopia — the second such deadly incident in a matter of months. The U.S. aerospace giant has since proposed a fix to the plane’s MCAS anti-stall system, which has been implicated in both the Ethiopia crash and one in Indonesia last October. “We have made it clear that safety will be the guiding factor in the resumption of these flights,” the Canadian minister, Marc Garneau, told a press conference in Montreal. “Simulators are the very best way from a training point of view to go over exactly what could happen in a real way and to react properly to it,” he said. Garneau went farther than a group of experts appointed by U.S. aviation regulators, who have suggested that computer and classroom instruction are enough. “From our point of view, it’s not going to be a question of pulling out an iPad and spending an hour on it,” Garneau said. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a draft report that Boeing’s proposed fix to the 737 Max was “operationally suitable.” But the actual software fix has not yet been formally submitted to the FAA. Because the 737 Max is substantially similar to prior versions of the aircraft, pilots are not currently required to undergo extensive additional training. But the report added the MCAS to the list of items that require “aided instruction,” such as videos or computer-based tutorials.

canada
boeing
737 max
mcas
faa
u.s .
ethiopian airlines
air accidents


Life of Alan Garcia, former Peru president once touted as the country's JFK, cut short by his own gun

Abstract: LIMA - Alan Garcia was the charismatic chameleon of Peruvian politics, once popular enough to be elected president twice. But his terms were filled with ups and downs and he eventually became caught up in the Odebrecht bribery scandal that rocked Latin America. Garcia, 69, fatally shot himself in the head on Wednesday at his home in Lima as police waited in another room to arrest him in the Odebrecht case, which has ensnared three other former Peruvian presidents. Garcia had denied the corruption allegations that had long dogged him until the end, saying he was victim of political persecution. “Others might sell out, not me,” he told journalists in some of his last public comments on Tuesday, repeating a phrase he used often as his foes became ensnared in the bribery investigation into Brazilian builder Odebrecht in recent years. The son of an accountant and a schoolteacher, Garcia became one of Latin America’s greatest orators and governed Peru as a firebrand leftist from 1985-1990. He remade himself as a champion of foreign investment and free trade to win another five-year term in 2006. Garcia benefited from his family’s connections with Victor Raul Haya de La Torre, the founder of Apra, which was once Peru’s largest and most powerful political party. After earning a law degree in Lima and studying political science in Madrid, he won a seat in Congress and in 1985 became Apra’s first president at age 36. He had promised to bring historically excluded Peruvians into the political fold and extend the country’s vast minerals wealth to the millions who lived in desperate poverty. He once enjoyed tremendous support — near 90 percent at his height — and was touted as Peru’s John F. Kennedy. But the popularity soon began to crack. In June 1986, security forces killed hundreds of rioting guerrilla inmates in Lima jails, putting in doubt Garcia’s reputation as a defender of human rights. His approval sank further when he tried to nationalize banks in 1987 and refused to pay foreign debt, alienating the business class and sparking a deep recession. The end of his term was marred by an escalating war with Shining Path guerrillas, hyperinflation surpassing 2,000,000 percent and accusations of widespread corruption. In July 1990, he left office in disgrace. Garcia was down but not out. After spending nine years abroad to avoid corruption probes, he eventually returned to Peru and charmed his way back into politics by convincing voters he had returned older and wiser. He ran and lost the 2001 presidency but succeeded in re-creating his image. This time, Garcia promised, he would avoid the mistakes of his first presidency and would control spending, attract investment and handle insurgent rebels with a heavy hand. In 2006, Garcia again ran for the presidency and eked out a win, defeating Ollanta Humala, who had spooked investors and was closely connected in many voters’ minds with the socialist politics of Venezuela’s late former president, Hugo Chavez. In his second term, a visibly pudgier Garcia oversaw explosive economic growth. He brought billions of dollars of mining and energy investment to Peru and is credited with opening its economy to the world. The country became a darling of global investors under his watch but his popularity continued to sink after he left office in 2011, in part due to thousands of pardons his government granted to drug traffickers in his second term. Garcia, who had six adult children, ran for president again in 2016 but came in a distant fifth in a race of 10. He resigned as president of Apra and urged members to revamp the party without him. Garcia was one of nine people whom a judge had ordered arrested in connection with the bribery investigation into Odebrecht on Wednesday. But he shot himself after police arrived to arrest him and died at a hospital hours later. President Martin Vizcarra, who Garcia had accused of trying to silence him, ordered Peru’s flags to be flown at half staff.

alan garcia
peru
odebrecht
scandals
corruption
suicide


Trump security adviser unveils new U.S. sanctions to pressure Cuba, Maduro regime, targeting remittances

Abstract: MIAMI - U.S. national security adviser John Bolton announced a series of new sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela on Wednesday as the Trump administration sought to boost pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the countries that support him. Bolton, in a speech to an association of veterans of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, said the United States was adding five names linked to Cuba’s military and intelligence services to its sanctions blacklist, including the military-owned airline Aerogaviota. Bolton said Washington planned new limits on remittances to Cuba and changes to end the use of transactions that allow Havana to circumvent sanctions and obtain access to hard currency. He also announced new sanctions on Venezuela’s central bank to prohibit its access to dollars. “Under this administration, we don’t throw dictators lifelines. We take them away,” Bolton said. Bolton’s announcement of the new sanctions came just hours after the Trump administration said it was lifting a long-standing ban against U.S. citizens filing lawsuits against foreign companies that use properties seized by Cuba’s Communist government since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. The major policy shift, announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, could draw hundreds of thousands of legal claims worth tens of billion of dollars. It is intended to intensify pressure on Havana at a time Washington is demanding an end to Cuban support for Venezuela’s Maduro.

cuba
remittances
john bolton
venezuela
nicolas maduro
bay of pigs
aerogaviota
donald trump


Emperor Akihito visits Grand Shrines of Ise to report his April 30 abdication to ancestral deities

Abstract: ISE, MIE PREF. - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited the Grand Shrines of Ise in Mie Prefecture on Thursday to report his upcoming abdication to the ancestral deities of the Imperial family enshrined there. The couple have been on a three-day trip to Mie Prefecture since Wednesday. It will be their last trip to a region outside of Tokyo during the Emperor’s reign. The Emperor, clad in a morning suit, and the Empress, wearing a long dress, offered prayers at the shrine during the Shinetsu no Gi ritual, one of a series of rituals held for the Imperial succession. For the occasion, the Emperor brought with him the Imperial sword and jewel, two of the family’s three sacred treasures, which play a key role in the succession. The last treasure, a mirror, is kept at the shrine. The regalia, called Sanshu no Jingi, will be passed on to 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito after he ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, a day after Emperor Akihito abdicates. The Imperial Couple last visited the shrine in March 2014, and this is their fifth visit since the Emperor was enthroned in January 1989 upon the death of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa. The couple are scheduled to visit the Musashino Imperial mausoleum on the outskirts of Tokyo, where the late Emperor is buried, on Tuesday and take part in various official events until the end of the month. Emperor Akihito will deliver his last speech as Emperor on April 30. In 2016, the Emperor indicated his wish to step down in a rare video message, citing his concern that he might not be able to fulfill his official duties due to his advanced age. The following year, the Diet enacted one-off legislation to enable him to abdicate and become the first Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years.

emperor akihito
grand shrines of ise
abdication
mie
imperial family
shinto


Growth in number of foreign visitors to Japan slowed, but topped 30 million for first time in fiscal 2018

Abstract: The estimated number of foreign visitors in the fiscal year through March hit 31.62 million, up 6.2 percent from the previous year, government data showed Wednesday. Visitors from Asian neighbors helped lift the number but growth slowed from the 19.9 percent rise seen in the previous fiscal year due to a number of natural disasters, including earthquakes and torrential rains that hit the country last summer, an official at the Japan Tourism Agency said. The figure for March alone was estimated at 2.76 million, up 5.8 percent from the year before, marking a record high for the month, according to the agency. The government has set a target of attracting 40 million foreign visitors annually by next year, when Japan hosts the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. To meet that goal, the government has eased visa rules, expanded airports for budget airlines and promoted private lodging services to address an accommodation shortage. The agency also said spending by foreign tourists in the January-March period rose 0.5 percent from the previous year to ¥1.12 trillion ($10 billion), still far from the government target of ¥8 trillion for all of 2020. Chinese travelers spent the most at ¥402.1 billion, followed by Taiwanese at ¥150.1 billion, South Koreans at ¥147.9 billion and those from Hong Kong at ¥80.7 billion. Spending per visitor in the three-month period fell 5.9 percent to ¥143,206, the data showed. By country, Australians ranked first in average spending per visitor at ¥234,972, followed by Chinese at ¥207,235 and Vietnamese at ¥194,310. Hiroshi Tabata, commissioner of the agency, said at a news conference that the tepid spending could be attributed to slowing growth in the number of foreign visitors. In particular, there was a drop in the number of tourists from South Korea after the natural disasters, the agency official said. “It’s important for us to find new potential tourists, promote visits by them to rural areas and get them to stay longer in Japan. We’re planning more efforts with all that in mind,” Tabata said.

japan tourism agency
tourism
foreign tourists


Patients doing well after landmark 2017 retina transplants via donor iPS cells in Japan

Abstract: OSAKA - A Japanese team reported Thursday that five patients with a severe eye disease were doing well after they received in 2017 the world’s first transplant surgeries using induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells, from donors. As part of a clinical research program, the patients received the transplants of artificially grown retinal cells made from donor iPS cells as a treatment for wet-type age-related macular degeneration, which can often lead to blindness. The first transplant was performed in March 2017. In the surgeries, a fluid containing retinal cells was injected into the patients’ eyes. The transplanted retinal cells became firmly fixed, and one patient whose body rejected the transplant to a mild extent was able to overcome it by taking medications, according to project leader Masayo Takahashi, a researcher at the government-backed Riken institute. Of the five, four have maintained their level of visual acuity after the operations, while one experienced an improvement in their vision. “We think we were able to ensure the safety (of the treatment). We’d like to begin new clinical trials to find out for what type of symptoms the treatment would be highly effective,” Takahashi said in the first detailed report on the patients’ post-surgery recovery. The first patient, a man living in Hyogo Prefecture, experienced increased levels of fluid in his retina due to the rejection, but the administration of steroids contained it, according to the team, which involved Riken and the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital. The trials used iPS cells stocked at Kyoto University designed to lower the risk of rejection. Shinya Yamanaka, one of two people awarded a 2012 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for the discovery that cells could be reprogrammed into iPS cells, heads iPS research at the university and is working to adapt the treatment for many types of illnesses and injuries. Compared with using iPS cells taken from patients themselves, using stocked donor cells can cut down the cost and time to culture cells for transplants, according to the team. Of the five, the second patient suffered a swollen retina after undergoing the transplant, the team said in January last year. But the group concluded it was part of surgical complications rather than a rejection of transplanted iPS cells. In 2014, Takahashi and others succeeded for the first time in the world in transplanting into a woman retinal cells grown from her own iPS cells.

ips
disease
masayo takahashi
riken
shinya yamanaka


Database of Japanese buried in Australia during WWII completed

Abstract: CANBERRA - A comprehensive, bilingual database of Japanese nationals who died in Australia during World War II and were buried in a war cemetery in the country’s east has been completed, researchers announced Thursday. The Cowra Japanese War Cemetery Database project will be open to the public from early May, and includes the names, causes of death and in many cases, intimate details, of almost all of the approximately 524 people buried at the cemetery in the small town of Cowra in the state of New South Wales. Located roughly 300 kilometers west of Sydney, Cowra is considered the spiritual home of Japanese in Australia, due to its wartime past and modern-day efforts to promote peaceful relations between the two countries. Project leader Keiko Tamura of Australian National University described the database as a “labor of love” as it involved Tamura and her team going through thousands of digitized internment documents and records held by the Australian National Archive. “Going through individual records was as if we were accompanying each of their journeys through time and space to the last resting place in Cowra,” the research associate said at a news briefing held at the Japanese Embassy in Canberra. “We never met those people and we don’t know how they look, but their lives started to take more concrete shape in front of us. It was as if we were opening a book and going through pages of this book,” she said. Tamura said one of the original goals of the database was to highlight the war cemetery as the final resting place of 292 civilian Japanese who were living in Australia and the Pacific prior to the outbreak of war, and not just prisoners of war. “The Cowra cemetery has been strongly associated with the breakout,” she said, referring to a 1944 incident in which 1,104 captured Japanese soldiers attempted to escape from a prisoner of war camp in Cowra. About 230 soldiers who died in the breakout are also buried in the cemetery. “When (contemporary) visitors see graves which belong to elderly or young children they are puzzled and wonder how they could be involved in the breakout,” Tamura said. Japanese civilians living in Australia and the Pacific region during World War II were held as “enemy aliens” in internment camps across the country for the duration of the war and sent back to Japan in 1946. Tamura said the civilians buried at the cemetery generally died from illness and there was “no so-called ill-treatment” in the camps. Over half of the graves at the Cowra Japanese War Cemetery belong to Japanese soldiers, and include POWs and airmen who died or were captured across Australia and the Pacific. Bodies of soldiers who died outside of Cowra were reinterred in 1964 when the war cemetery was officially opened. The researcher said many families of Japanese soldiers who died as POWs do not know where their loved ones were buried and hopes the database will provide people with the opportunity to find their relatives. “Until now, nobody knew anything about their lives and their final years. Now we can glimpse their journeys through this database,” she said. Bill West, mayor of Cowra Shire Council, also said he hoped the database would help families in Japan locate their loved ones and show the remains of Japanese soldiers are being well cared for in Australia. “To see the final resting place is being looked after, is being cared for with the respect and dignity that they deserve, is very important (to the families),” he said. West, who was involved in the 2015 return of the remains of Imperial Japanese Army soldier Michiaki Wakaomi to Japan, described the moment when the soldier’s family found his grave in Cowra as “overwhelming.” The Cowra Japanese War Cemetery Database will be open to the public beginning May 10 at www.cowrajapanesecemetery.org


Abe has abandoned June timeline for Japan-Russia peace treaty, says source

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given up on reaching a broad agreement on a Japan-Russia peace treaty when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June amid persisting differences over how to settle a long-standing territorial dispute, a government source said Thursday. Instead, the two leaders may agree on visa-free travel between the Russian-held region where the four disputed islands are located and Hokkaido when they meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, the source said. Abe had been hoping to secure a promise from Putin to hand over two of the islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. But with the chances of an immediate breakthrough looking slim, Abe has opted to revert to his earlier strategy of conducting joint economic activities with Russia on the islands while the countries continue negotiations, the source said. The islands off eastern Hokkaido were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan’s 1945 surrender brought an end to World War II. Japan has opposed Russia’s position that it legitimately acquired the islands as a result of the war. Putin has voiced concern that returning the two smaller islands — Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — would clear the way for the United States, Japan’s top security ally, to deploy troops to the region. Japan, meanwhile, has rebuffed Russia’s demand for recognition of its sovereignty of the four islands as a condition for signing a peace treaty. With such a wide rift in the negotiations, a senior Japanese official said, “It’s unlikely that we’ll have some kind of agreement at the G20 summit.” The countries are instead considering the establishment of a system of visa-free travel between Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East and Hokkaido, a move Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed in January in a meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Kono. Kono is planning to visit Moscow in mid-May to continue talks with Lavrov, with the two slated to meet again later in that month. Japan hopes that by holding the meetings in quick succession, the countries can keep the momentum in the negotiations going. Abe has been widely seen as eager to secure a political legacy by resolving the territorial dispute and signing a peace treaty with Russia during his final term in office through September 2021. He agreed with Putin in November to accelerate the talks based on the 1956 joint declaration that mentions the return of Shikotan and Habomai once a peace treaty is concluded. The islands cover about 5,000 square kilometers and adjacent waters contain rich fishing grounds. Nearly 17,000 Russians reside on the islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan, while the Habomai islet group is uninhabited. Shikotan and the Habomai group account for only 7 percent of the total landmass of the disputed islands.

russia
shinzo abe
vladimir putin
disputed islands
hokkaido
northern territories
russia-japan relations


Foreign Minister Taro Kono to visit Moscow in mid-May for Japan-Russia peace treaty talks

Abstract: Foreign Minister Taro Kono plans to visit Moscow in mid-May for a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to advance postwar peace treaty talks that have stalled over a territorial dispute, a Japanese government source said Wednesday. The two-day visit from May 11 has been scheduled in the hopes of making progress in the negotiations ahead of a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka. The two foreign ministers last met in February in Munich. Japan and Russia have been unable to sign a peace treaty more than 70 years after the end of World War II, as they remain at odds over the sovereignty of Russian-controlled islands off the coast of Hokkaido, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. Japan maintains the Soviet Union seized the islands illegally following Japan’s surrender in 1945, while Russia argues it legitimately acquired them as the outcome of the war. The foreign ministers are also expected to hold another meeting less than a month later to coincide with security talks involving the countries’ defense ministers to be held over two days from May 30. By holding meetings in quick succession, the government hopes to push the negotiations forward so that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can reach some kind of agreement with Putin at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Separately, another source said the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is in the final stages of arranging the first of a series of regular exchanges with the United Russia party for mid-May in Tokyo. The LDP aims to build trust with the Russian ruling party in order to assist Abe’s efforts in the negotiations on the territorial dispute. A United Russia delegation for the exchange events, possibly including close aides to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, also head of the party, is expected to visit Japan on May 14 to 18, the source said. Members of the mission are expected to meet with LDP heavyweights, including Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, and may also take a trip to Kyoto. At their meeting in Moscow in April last year, Nikai and Medvedev signed a pact on LDP-United Russia exchanges, under which the two parties would discuss Japan-Russia relations and pressing international issues and conduct mutual visits by their members. Abe and Putin agreed last November to accelerate their talks based on a 1956 joint declaration that mentions the return of the smaller two of the four islands — Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — once a peace treaty is concluded, but so far there has been little progress.

taro kono
russia
sergey lavrov
vladimir putin
northern territories
shinzo abe
ldp
disputed islands
russia-japan relations


Gold coins marking Japan's era name change from Heisei to Reiwa go on sale for ¥1.3 million

Abstract: A Tokyo department store on Thursday began selling pairs of commemorative gold coins marking Japan’s upcoming change from the Heisei Era to the Reiwa Era. One set of the solid gold koban coins is priced at ¥1,296,000 and is being sold at the Nihonbashi branch of the Takashimaya department store chain. “It looks good with two era names lining up side by side. I will not buy them today, though, because of the price,” said Tomoe Shida, 70, from Tokyo’s Ota Ward, as she looked inside a case containing the coins. Koban coins were widely used in the Edo Period (1603-1868). The newly minted versions are oval-shaped, about 8 cm long, some 4.4 cm wide and weigh around 60 grams. “I hope people will enjoy seeing the two era names lining up in the last phase of Heisei,” a department store official said. The Takashimaya Co. outlet is also selling 100-gram gold bars, each engraved with either Reiwa or Heisei, at ¥864,000 each. Era names are used for the length of an emperor’s reign. Japan will welcome the Reiwa Era upon Crown Prince Naruhito’s ascension to the throne one day after his father, Emperor Akihito, abdicates on April 30.


Tepco says foreign workers on new visas can work at crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant

Abstract: The operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant plans to allow foreign nationals to work at the complex through a new visa program that started earlier this month, company officials said Thursday. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. has told dozens of its subcontractors that foreign workers coming under the recently adopted program, which is intended to address Japan’s acute labor shortage, may engage in the work of decommissioning the plant. They may also take up work cleaning buildings and providing food services, the company said. To prevent unsafe levels of radiation exposure, Tepco said foreign workers must have Japanese-language abilities that allow them to accurately understand the risks and follow procedures and instructions communicated to them in Japanese. In controlled radiation areas, workers need to carry dosimeters. On average, approximately 4,000 people work for Tepco subcontractors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant each day. Tepco is also considering accepting workers from overseas at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, the officials said. The company aims to reboot reactors at the complex, which have been suspended following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and have been undergoing renovations to improve safety. “The decision to hire foreign workers under the new visa system is up to our subcontractors and we have not set a target figure” for such employees, said a Tepco official. “We will manage the situation as a company that places orders” for laborers. The new system was implemented on April 1 to bring in mainly blue-collar foreign workers to 14 labor-hungry sectors including construction, farming and nursing care. Tepco has confirmed with the Justice Ministry that holders of visas under the latest plan are eligible to work at the Fukushima plant. To address exploitation fears under the new visa system, the Justice Ministry issued an ordinance requiring employers to pay wages equivalent to or higher than those of Japanese nationals. Every person working at the plant has a limit on how much radiation they may be exposed to, but due to the complex nature of secondary employment arrangements, oversight is proving to be a challenge. In May last year, six people in the government’s foreign trainee program were found to have engaged in construction work at the Fukushima plant despite Tepco’s ban on program participants working at the complex. The six were hired by one of the utility’s subcontractors. The Justice Ministry does not allow foreign trainees working under the program, which is aimed at transferring skills to developing countries, to engage in decommissioning work as the skills acquired would have no application in their home country. The internship program is often criticized as a cover for companies to import cheap labor.

tepco
foreign workers
fukushima
fukushima no . 1
radiation
immigration
nuclear energy


Abe and Trump to talk on April 26 in Washington, followed by golf and Melania's birthday celebrations

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump plan to hold talks on April 26 in Washington, sources familiar with bilateral relations said Wednesday. Abe is expected to celebrate U.S. first lady Melania Trump’s birthday on that day and play golf with the president outside the capital on April 27, the sources said. Abe and Trump are likely to reaffirm the need for the international community to fully enforce U.N. sanctions on North Korea to compel it to denuclearize. They are also expected to discuss trade following the launch this week of new negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement. The leaders are likely to coordinate a planned trip by Trump to Japan from May 26 to 28 as well. If the trip is realized, Trump would likely become the first foreign state guest to meet with Crown Prince Naruhito after he accedes to the throne on May 1 following the abdication of his father Emperor Akihito the previous day. Besides the May visit, Trump plans to make another trip to Japan in late June for the Group of 20 summit to be held in Osaka.


Chilean suspect quizzed over Japanese ex-girlfriend's disappearance in France

Abstract: SANTIAGO - Chilean authorities on Wednesday questioned a man suspected of involvement in the 2016 disappearance of his Japanese ex-girlfriend in France. Nicolas Zepeda was interviewed by the public prosecutor in Santiago on Wednesday morning before leaving the Justice Center just after midday without speaking to reporters. He is the only suspect in the disappearance of Japanese student Narumi Kurosaki, then 21, in eastern France. Chilean prosecutors met with French investigators on Tuesday ahead of Zepeda’s questioning. Attorney General Tania Sanchez said only that proceedings had been carried out at the request of French authorities. French authorities suspect that Zepeda murdered Kurosaki, a student from the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture who was studying in France at the time of her disappearance. She went missing after dining and returning with Zepeda to the dorm of her university in Besancon, eastern France, on Dec. 4, 2016. Kurosaki’s body has not been found and Zepeda has denied the allegation in a statement submitted to Chilean authorities. France is hoping to provide sufficient evidence to see Zepeda arrested and extradited to face a murder charge. A Chilean judge had previously denied a request to arrest and extradite Zepeda, citing insufficient evidence. Investigators in France believe the 28-year-old Zepeda suffocated her in a jealous rage. He returned to Chile before French police issued an arrest warrant. Kurosaki was last seen hours before her disappearance having dinner with Zepeda in a restaurant in Ornans, near Besancon. Fellow students in her dormitory reported hearing terrified cries and banging noises later that same night, Besancon public prosecutor Etienne Manteuax said in November. No trace of blood was ever found in Kurosaki’s room and Zepeda denies any involvement in her disappearance.

chile
france
narumi kurosaki
murder
tsukuba university
nicolas zepeda contreras


Amazonian tribe in Ecuador fends off Big Oil in court

Abstract: PUYO, ECUADOR - Ecuador’s indigenous Waorani tribe won its first victory Friday against Big Oil in a ruling that blocks the companies from entering ancestral Amazonian lands for oil-exploration activities. After two weeks of deliberations, a criminal court in Puyo accepted a Waorani bid for court protection in Pastaza province to stop an oil-bidding process after the government moved to open up around 180,000 hectares for exploration. The lands are protected under the Ecuador Constitution, which establishes the “inalienable, unseizable and indivisible” rights of indigenous people “to maintain possession of their ancestral lands and obtain their free adjudication.” Crucially, however, the wealth in the subsoil is owned by the state. The constitution also enshrines the need for prior consultation on any plans to exploit the underground resources, given the probable environmental and cultural impacts on tribal communities. The state reached an agreement with the Waorani over oil exploration in 2012, but the tribe’s leaders say they were duped. The judges ordered the government to conduct a new consultation, applying standards set by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose. The ruling “has created a significant precedent for the Amazon,” said Lina Maria Espinosa, an attorney for the plaintiffs, outside court. “It has been demonstrated that there was no consultation and that the state violated the rights of this people, and therefore of other peoples.” The Waorani, who number around 4,800, also inhabit other Amazonian provinces.

amazon ecuador oil courts rights ethnicity


Japan denounces WTO ruling in favor of South Korean ban on some Japanese seafood

Abstract: GENEVA - Tokyo on Friday denounced a recent World Trade Organization ruling that supported a South Korean ban on imports of some Japanese fishery products introduced in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. “Japan is deeply concerned that the appellate body report dismissed the panel’s findings founded on solid scientific evidence,” Junichi Ihara, Japan’s representative in Geneva, said at a meeting of the global trade watchdog’s dispute settlement body. The WTO’s appellate body for dispute settlement on April 11 ruled in favor of South Korea’s import ban on fishery products from Fukushima and seven other prefectures, reversing an earlier decision. It said the initial decision “erred in its interpretation and application” of WTO rules on food safety, but did not look at details related to the amount of radioactive contaminants in Japanese food products or the level of protection South Korean consumers should have. Calling the appellate body’s judgment “extremely regrettable,” Ihara argued that it “could have a negative impact on perceptions of the safety of Japanese foods and on those seeking to export their products to countries such as Korea.” The ruling is final, as the appellate body is the highest authority in the WTO’s dispute-settlement mechanism.

food
trade
fukushima no . 1
radiation
3.11
south korea-japan relations


Weak South Korean economy and cooling North Korea ties threatening Moon Jae-in's political future

Abstract: SEOUL - South Korea’s Moon Jae-in has staked his presidency on tackling two big challenges: North Korea and the economy. Both are proving to be stubborn foes. The country’s gross domestic product contracted 0.3 percent in the first quarter — the biggest decline in a decade — the Bank of Korea said Thursday. The blow came just two days before the president was expected to mark the first anniversary of his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — with an event snubbed by the North Koreans. “Not only the data today but also latest data showed that the economy is performing worse than expected. It won’t get any easier,” said Park Sangin, a professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration. “It is a very burdensome situation for the Moon Jae-in administration.” Moon’s policy double-whammy comes as he prepares to enter the third year of his single five-year term. The setbacks threaten to accelerate his shift to lame-duck status ahead of legislative elections next year — a fate that has befallen every democratically elected leader of Asia’s fourth-largest economy and made it more difficult to advance their agendas. The economic structural problems, including a slowdown in nearby China and weakening global demand for semiconductors, were going to present any South Korean leader with problems. So, besides pledging to make himself the “jobs president,” he threw himself into convincing Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump to stop threatening each other with war and come to the negotiating table. The peace push helped for a time offset a series of economic setbacks, pushing Moon’s approval rating to 83 percent in the wake of his historic April 27, 2018, meeting with Kim on their militarized border. But his support has slipped as talks between the U.S. and North Korea faltered. On Friday, his approval rating slipped to 44 percent from 48 percent a week earlier, according to Gallup Korea. His disapproval rating rose to 47 percent from 42 percent, outpacing the approval rating for the first time in four weeks. More than a third of those who were unhappy with Moon’s performance cited the lack of ability to resolve the issues related to the economy and people’s livelihood, while 16 percent cited his “excessive” focus on improving relations with North Korea, according to the weekly survey. Trump’s decision to walk away from his Feb. 28 meeting with Kim without a deal left Moon exposed to new criticism. The conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party has grown more emboldened as its own support rate inches up, opposing Moon’s appointments in parliament and mounting a protest against his North Korea policies last week that organizers say drew 20,000 people. Meanwhile, Kim has turned up his criticism of Moon, calling on him to stop acting like an “officious mediator” as North Korean state-media escalates complaints over U.S.-South Korean military exchanges. The North Koreans won’t be attending a series of artistic performances being held Saturday to celebrate the first anniversary of Moon and Kim’s agreement to achieve a “comprehensive and epochal improvement” in ties between the former foes. There have been some bright spots for Moon, including his government’s much-lauded handling of a wild fire earlier this month that killed only one person despite consuming 1,760 hectares (4,340 acres) of occupied land. Such successes have helped make Moon’s support more resilient than his predecessors. But South Korea’s economy will continue to vex the president. The contraction comes even as Moon’s administration ramps up fiscal support, with an extra budget announced this week that came on top of a record budget already in place for 2019. Exports, which account for about half of South Korea’s GDP, are on course for a fifth-straight monthly decline amid weak demand from China, the nation’s biggest market. And public displeasure has mounted over Moon’s support for sharp minimum-wage hikes, which have been blamed for helping hold the jobless rate at its highest level in about nine years. Some supporters of Moon’s North Korean policies are urging the president to prioritize economic reforms. “It’s good to continue to play a facilitator’s role, but now he really has to accomplish something,” said Park Won-suk, a former lawmaker at the progressive Justice Party. “For the citizens, accomplishment is about the economy, the issues related to their livelihood. The presidential office and the president should focus on those issues.”

south korea
north korea
moon jae-in
kim jong un
jobs
gdp
u.s .


Russian agent Maria Butina sentenced to 18 months in U.S.

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Maria Butina, the only Russian arrested and convicted in the three-year investigation of Moscow’s interference in U.S. politics, was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in prison. The leader of a small Russian gun rights group, the 30-year-old Siberian native used her ties to the National Rifle Association to build a network of powerful Republican contacts. She had admitted one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without registering — an “espionage-lite” charge the U.S. has used before against alleged Russian spies. Prosecutors said that although she worked openly and was not tied to any Russian intelligence agency, she was sending back reports to a high-level Russian government official and posed a threat to the United States. “I humbly request forgiveness. I’m not this evil person depicted in the media,” she told the court in Washington before her sentence was announced. Dressed in a dark blue pajama-like prison uniform, her long red hair pulled behind her shoulders, Butina’s voice broke as she addressed the court in fluent, Russian-accented English. She told the court she had only wanted to work toward better U.S.-Russian relations and would have registered as a foreign agent if she had known it was required by law. Moscow expressed outrage over the treatment of Butina, who was given credit for nine months already served and will be deported when she is released. “The accusations brought against her, intended to influence the internal political process in the United States, are totally invented and fabricated,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Our compatriot was condemned just because she is a Russian citizen,” it added. Butina’s case played out against a backdrop of tension between Moscow and Washington over what U.S. intelligence says was a concerted effort by Russian spies to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, using hacking and social media manipulation to help President Donald Trump to victory. Special counsel Robert Mueller charged 25 Russians with conspiracy for those activities, but, with all of them believed to be in Russia, none have been arrested. U.S. prosecutors acknowledged that Butina had nothing to do with those cases but alleged that she was part of a “spot-and-assess” operation to identify potential recruits. A gun rights campaigner who attended NRA events and invited top gun lobby officials to Russia, she lived as a graduate student in Washington with her boyfriend, a Republican and NRA activist. Her activities brought her in contact with top Republicans, including Trump at a rally in 2015, where she was chosen to ask the then-candidate about U.S.-Russian relations. Butina sent regular updates to her handler Alexander Torshin, at the time a senior Kremlin politician and central bank deputy governor who had accompanied her to NRA conventions. “There is no doubt that she was not simply a graduate student,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson told the court. “She was simultaneously trying to make contacts … for the benefit of the Russian Federation.” Steven Hall, the CIA’s former chief of Russian operations, said her operating in the open was simply an innovative tactic in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “broader hybrid-warfare influence operation.” “She’s part of the Kremlin’s plan to try to weaken the United States and the West,” he said. Butina’s lawyer Robert Driscoll, a prominent Republican attorney, said she had broken no law besides the registration statute, and would not have been pursued had she been of a different nationality. It remained to be seen whether Butina’s sentencing would impact the case of Paul Whelan, an American corporate security expert arrested while in Moscow for a wedding late last year and accused of espionage. Some Russian experts said his arrest was retaliation for that of Butina, although Whelan’s brother, David, has said he doesn’t believe the cases are related. But before Butina’s sentencing Hall, who is no longer with the CIA, said Washington “has to take into account that they do have an American over there, and we have a Russian here.” “So is there not a deal to be had?” he said.

russia
espionage
corruption
2016 u.s. presidential election
russia probe
marina butina


Oldest human footprint found in the Americas confirmed in Chile, researchers say

Abstract: SANTIAGO - A 15,600-year-old footprint discovered in southern Chile is believed to be the oldest ever found in the Americas, according to researchers. The footprint was first discovered in 2010 by a student at the Universidad Austral of Chile. Scientists then worked for years to rule out the possibility that the print may have belonged to some other species of animal, and to determine the fossil’s estimated age. Karen Moreno, a paleontologist with the Universidad Austral who has overseen the studies, said researchers had also found bones of animals near the site, including those of primitive elephants, but determined that the footprint was evidence of human presence. Moreno said this was the first evidence of humans in the Americas older than 12,000 years. “Little by little in South America we’re starting to find sites with evidence of human presence, but this is this oldest in the Americas,” she said.


Egyptologist in Canada presents theory of two-queen rule before Tutankhamun

Abstract: MONTREAL - Tutankhamun, the boy king of ancient Egypt, came to power only after two of his sisters jointly held the throne, according to an Egyptologist at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM). Researchers have known for more than half a century that a queen had reigned before Tutankhamun, whose intact tomb was discovered in 1922, sparking global interest in Egyptology. Some thought she was Nefertiti, the sister and wife of Akhenaten, who proclaimed herself “king” following his death. Others believed it to be the eldest daughter Princess Meritaten. UQAM’s Valerie Angenot says she has now conducted an analysis based on the study of symbols that revealed two daughters of Akhenaten seized power at his death, when their brother Tutankhamun, age 4 or 5 at the time, was too young to rule. Akhenaten had six daughters before having his son later on, who had a frail constitution and was plagued by illness throughout his life. Akhenaten married Meritaten to prepare her to one day rule, but some inscriptions also indicate he was grooming another daughter, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, for rule. They jointly ascended to the thrown under a common name, according to Angenot. Her work was presented at American Research Center in Egypt annual conference in Alexandria, Virginia, where she said it was well received. “Egyptology is a very conservative discipline, but my idea was surprisingly well received, except for two colleagues who fiercely opposed it,” she said, adding she hoped it could advance knowledge on succession issues in Ancient Egypt and of the Amarna Period. Earlier in the week, Egypt said archaeologists had uncovered an ancient tomb with mummies believed to date back about 2,000 years in the southern city of Aswan. The Antiquities Ministry said the tomb is from the Greco-Roman period, which began with Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. It is located near one of Aswan’s landmarks, the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, who lobbied for Muslim rights in India and who was buried there after his death in 1957. The statement said archaeologists found artifacts, including decorated masks, statuettes, vases, coffin fragments and cartonnages — chunks of linen or papyrus glued together.


China police smash $30 million fake Lego ring

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese police have dismantled a ring accused of manufacturing some $30 million worth of counterfeit Lego sold across the country, authorities said. Police earlier this week raided the premises of Lepin — a Chinese toymaker manufacturing Lego knockoffs in the southern city of Shenzhen — arresting four people, Shanghai police said on Friday. “In October 2018, the Shanghai police found that Lepin building blocks available on the market were extremely similar to that of Lego,” the statement said. The toys were copied from Lego blueprints and sent to a factory in Shenzhen to be manufactured before they were sold all over China. “Across more than 10 assembly lines, over 90 molds had been produced … (police seized) some 630,000 completed pieces worth more than 200 million yuan ($30 million),” the statement said. Images from the Tuesday raid — posted on official law enforcement social media accounts — showed molds and boxes that looked remarkably similar to lines produced by the Danish toy giant. A “Star Wars” knockoff is called “Star Plan,” while sets released in conjunction with the new “Lego Movie 2” have also been copied and sold under the name “The Lepin Bricks 2.” The counterfeit products could be a safety concern for consumers, said Lego’s China and Asia Pacific Vice President Robin Smith, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Foreign companies have long complained about lax intellectual property enforcement in China where counterfeiting is rampant. In an attempt to end its trade war with Washington, Beijing has pledged to clamp down on intellectual property infringements. The knockoffs are popular in a price-conscious market: a small city-themed Lepin set retails for $3 a box, whereas similar Lego sets start at $15. A check by AFP showed that the imitation sets were still available on e-commerce platform Taobao on Saturday afternoon. The Danish toy giant in February opened its first flagship store in Beijing — which features replicas of the Forbidden City made of plastic bricks — and has two other shops in Shanghai. Lego has in recent years seen renewed popularity thanks to premium collectors’ editions and a movie tie-up.