Abe's poker face: If Japan's leader is wavering on tax hike resolve, how will we know?

Abstract: Twice before, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has backed away from the sort of sales tax hike that toppled at least one predecessor. Now, he faces the same dilemma again. In five months Japan is set to raise the levy to 10 percent from the current 8 percent to help ease the developed world’s biggest debt load. If he postpones the move, it would indicate his Abenomics policies have failed to generate the stable growth he promised more than six years ago. But he could face a similar result if he follows through, buckles the economy and pushes inflation back down to zero. While Abe insists only a downturn like the 2008 financial crisis could force him to reconsider the planned increase, speculation about another postponement is growing after a close ally suggested a course correction was possible. Here are four areas that may offer the first clues as to whether Abe is getting cold feet. Public opinion turns The tax increase has become a political football, with the main opposition parties calling for the plan to be dropped — an idea that may play well with voters in a July Upper House election. A March poll by the Asahi newspaper found that 55 percent of respondents were against the increase, compared with 50 percent in November. Although Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is far ahead in the polls, he might want to neutralize the potential disadvantage. To do that he would need to announce an about-face before campaigning begins, probably in early July. Doing so, however, could force him to abandon the pledges he has made to use some of the revenue to support education and child care for young families, especially those with low incomes. It might also irritate businesses who are pouring resources into managing a complex system of rebates aimed at lessening the tax’s economic effect. Economic data sours Abe ally and ruling Liberal Democratic Party executive Koichi Hagiuda said on April 18 that a third postponement could be possible if the results of the Bank of Japan’s tankan survey in June showed “signs of danger ahead.” The results — one of the nation’s most widely watched economic indicators — are set to be published July 1. Hagiuda later played down the comments as his own personal view. He said that the government had not changed direction and would pay attention to other data, including gross domestic product. The GDP figures, which could show the economy contracted in the first three months of the year, are set to be announced May 20. In a precursor of that figure, the nation unveiled Friday its biggest quarterly drop in factory output in nearly five years. Japan needs to see a strong recovery in industrial production to help drive economic growth in the lead up to the October tax hike. Economists are summoned Watch the company Abe’s keeping. Before announcing a delay to the sales tax hike in June 2016, Abe held a series of seven meetings with renowned economists including Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, who opposed the move. Abe also spoke to Krugman before announcing the first postponement in 2014, in a meeting orchestrated by then-economic aide Etsuro Honda. Honda is a former Finance Ministry official and opponent of the tax hike who was one of the architects of Abenomics. He recently resigned his post as ambassador to Switzerland, potentially leaving him free to return to Abe’s team. Global outlook worsens The tone of the government’s pronouncements on the global economy has also provided key clues to sales tax plans in the past — and Abe has even sought backing for his views when hosting world leaders. In May 2016, Abe tried to persuade the Group of Seven leaders that there was a significant risk of the world economy falling into another major financial crisis if the right policy measures weren’t taken. Days later, he announced a 30-month delay to the tax hike. With global trade volumes already falling at their fastest pace in a decade, he could cite the effects of China’s economic slowdown, or even Brexit, to justify a U-turn.

taxes
shinzo abe
abenomics
economy
ldp
consumption tax


Surprise drop in factory output adds to warning signs for Japan's economy

Abstract: The nation’s factory output unexpectedly fell in March, the government said Friday, in a sign that gross domestic product is more likely to have shrunk during the first quarter. Japan needs to see a healthy recovery in exports and industrial output ahead of a long-delayed sales-tax increase set for October. The Bank of Japan again highlighted the risks from the hike again on Thursday, in guidance on interest rates after its policy meeting, pledging to keep rates extremely low through at least spring 2020 in the face of “high uncertainties.” The nation’s factory output slid 0.9 percent in March from a month earlier, compared with the median estimate of economists of no change, according to data from the trade and industry ministry. Production during the first quarter slid 2.6 percent from the previous three months for the biggest decline in nearly five years. Separately, core inflation in Tokyo — an early indicator of nationwide prices — accelerated to 1.3 percent in April, the highest in four years. Economists had estimated 1.1 percent. Inflation in Tokyo was expected to have benefited as the prices of food and restaurant meals went up at the start of the new fiscal year on April 1. Retail sales rose 0.2 percent in March from the previous month, slightly better than expectations from economists for no change, while the jobless rate ticked up to 2.5 percent. “Key risks to the outlook are U.S. protectionism and political instability in Europe. The former would hurt Japan’s exports that feed into global supply chains, as well as autos,” said Bloomberg economist Yuki Masujima. The reading on the world’s third-largest economy comes a day after South Korea, seen by some as a bellwether for world trade and technology, surprised markets in reporting its biggest contraction of GDP in a decade — signaling that the worst of the global slowdown may not have passed. The global slowdown, trade tensions and Japan’s sputtering growth are all contributing to speculation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might postpone the tax increase for a third time. The last increase, in 2014, sent consumption into a tailspin, triggering a contraction in the economy. Meanwhile, Japan is trying to fend off possible U.S. auto tariffs in bilateral trade negotiations with Washington this week. Abe was scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. The U.S. is pushing to cut its trade deficit with Japan and gain better access to the nation’s agriculture market. Japan is looking for a promise that it won’t be hit by possible U.S. tariffs on autos imports, after Trump last year imposed similar duties on steel and aluminum. After Friday’s data release, Capital Economics estimated that the Japanese economy would shrink 0.6 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months. “Further ahead, we think that a strong rebound in activity in the second quarter is not on the cards,” Asia economist Darren Aw wrote in a note. The median of forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg — taken before the factory output data release — had been for GDP to eke out a 0.1 percent gain in the first quarter. Estimates ranged from a 2.1 percent contraction to 2.0 percent growth. Yet the global economy is still expected to pick up in the second half of the year, BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday, while noting that risks to inflation and the economy were tilted to the downside.

economy
industrial output
gdp
manufacturing
economic indicators


In U.S. talks, Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso opposes linking currency with trade

Abstract: NEW YORK - Finance Minister Taro Aso has pushed back against U.S. efforts to bring yen policy into scope for bilateral talks aimed at striking a trade deal. “We can’t agree to any talk of linking currency and trade policy,” Taro Aso told reporters Thursday in Washington after he met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. This was the first time Mnuchin had spoken directly with Aso about currency in the context of trade, according to a Finance Ministry official who briefed reporters. The official said he believes that talks concerning currencies will be secondary to the trade talks between economy minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that kicked off last week. Aso’s comments came ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday that was also expected to touch on trade and other bilateral issues. Both Aso and Mnuchin clarified their stances on currency policy during Thursday’s discussions, but it’s unlikely that talks on the issue will move forward quickly alongside the trade negotiations between Motegi and Lighthizer, the official said. A U.S. Treasury Secretary spokesperson said in a statement that Mnuchin and Aso had reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Japan economic relationship and discussed preparations for the Group of 20 finance ministers’ meeting in June. They also discussed other issues including China, North Korea, and Iran sanctions, according to the statement. “I think Japan — including the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Japan — will fight to the end against a currency clause,” said Hiroshi Watanabe, president of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs in Tokyo and former currency chief at the ministry. Japan kicked off its bilateral trade talks with the U.S. last week, after more than two years of foot dragging in the hopes that the U.S. would rejoin the successor deal to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. While Motegi has said the two sides are seeking to accelerate talks for a deal, he’s also repeatedly noted that any discussion on currency will be left to the Finance Minister and the Treasury Secretary as per a joint agreement made in 2017. Motegi said Thursday that he and Lighthizer hadn’t discussed currencies this week or the week before. Still, the U.S. Trade Representative has included a provision on currencies in its list of negotiating goals with Japan, and the U.S. has included references to currency in several recent trade deals. It’s also expected to be included in any eventual agreement with China. The United States Mexico Canada Agreement — the revamped NAFTA pact — includes provisions forbidding member states from participating in currency manipulation, and says that each party should “refrain from competitive devaluation, including through intervention in the foreign exchange market.” Lighthizer has said that the agreement is a model for all future trade deals. Watanabe said that if a similar provision was included in the U.S. Japan agreement, it would give ground for the U.S. to criticize the BOJ’s ultraloose monetary policy. “If the currency reference in the USMCA enters the U.S. Japan agreement as it stands, that’s dangerous,” said Watanabe. “The fact that it’s vague isn’t good, you need to think it’s dangerous precisely because it’s vague.”

taro aso
currencies
trade
yen
toshimitsu motegi
u.s.-japan relations
steve mnuchin


Unemployment rate rose to 2.5% in March as Japan's workers sought greener pastures

Abstract: The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.5 percent in March, up 0.2 percentage point from the previous month, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said Friday. The number of jobless people increased by 140,000 to 1.74 million after seasonal adjustment, the ministry said. The growth reflects a rise in the number of people who left their jobs to seek better ones amid a strong employment environment, according to the ministry. The number of those who voluntarily left their jobs rose by 160,000. Of those, the number of men resigning by choice showed a marked increase. The number of employees who left their work for reasons initiated by employers, such as dismissal, decreased by 10,000. Separately, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the ratio of effective job openings to job seekers in March stood at 1.63 after seasonal adjustment, unchanged for the fifth straight month, reflecting lingering labor shortages. The ratio represents the number of jobs available to each applicant registered at public job placement offices across the country. In March, the total number of effective job openings and that of effective seekers both dropped 0.5 percent. The ratio for regular jobs went up 0.01 point to 1.16, hitting a record high for the second consecutive month. The job availability ratio was highest, at 2.14, in Tokyo and Fukui Prefecture, and lowest, at 1.18, in Okinawa Prefecture. In fiscal 2018, which ended in March, the average ratio of openings to job seekers grew 0.08 point from the previous year to 1.62, hitting the highest level since fiscal 1973. The average unemployment rate for fiscal 2018 dropped 0.3 point to 2.4 percent.


Dollar weakens below ¥111.70 in Tokyo ahead of U.S. GDP data and bilateral summit

Abstract: The dollar was softer below ¥111.70 in Tokyo trading late Friday amid a growing wait-and-see mood ahead of the release of U.S. growth data and a Japan-U.S. summit, both later in the day. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.67-67, down from ¥111.83-83 the same time on Thursday. The euro was at $1.1140-1140, down from $1.1154-1154, and at ¥124.48-52, down from ¥124.82-83. The dollar rose to around ¥111.80 on purchases by Japanese importers before cutting the gains due to a slide in the benchmark Nikkei stock average. Market players were awaiting the release of U.S. gross domestic product data for the January-March quarter and the summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, an official at a foreign-exchange margin trading service said. Basically, the dollar-yen pair moved in a narrow range as “active trading was held in check before the 10-day holiday” in Japan starting Saturday, an official at a Japanese bank said. Referring to the Japan-U.S. summit, a currency broker said, “The yen may strengthen if auto tariffs are discussed and a risk-averse mood grows as a result.”


Tokyo stocks end lower on yen's ascent and Dow Jones' fall

Abstract: Stocks ended marginally lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, dragged down by the yen’s rise and an overnight drop in the Dow Jones industrial average. The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 48.85 points, or 0.22 percent, to end at 22,258.73. On Thursday, the key market gauge went up 107.58 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 2.35 points, or 0.15 percent, at 1,617.93, after rising 8.23 points the previous day. The Nikkei lost over 230 points at one point before paring the losses gradually toward the close thanks to repurchases, market sources said. “There was apparently only short covering,” Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., said of the market indexes’ gradual recovery toward the close. In addition, apparent exchange-traded fund buying by the Bank of Japan prevented stocks from falling further, said Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co. In general, a wait-and-see mood remained strong before 10 straight days off from Saturday, Miura said. Otsuka said that market players “didn’t take positions amid worries about movements in foreign exchange rates and overseas stocks during the holiday and earnings announcements after the holiday.” Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,325 to 731 in the TSE’s first section, while 84 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 1.318 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.221 billion shares. Advantest plunged 8.85 percent the day after the maker of semiconductor inspection devices offered a dismal operating profit forecast for the year ending in March 2020. Nintendo dropped 1.32 percent as the game-maker’s operating profit estimate for the year through March 2020 fell short of market expectations. Also sold were control equipment-maker Omron, auto parts supplier Denso and convenience store operator FamilyMart Uny. By contrast, Kyocera, a maker of electronic parts, climbed 4.90 percent on its rosy operating profit projection for the year that ends in March 2020. Other major winners included air conditioner manufacturer Daikin, pharmaceutical firm Astellas and clothing store chain Fast Retailing. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average shed 100 points to end at 22,250.


Japan's Showa Denko to build third plant in Vietnam, eyeing 72% boost to aluminum can output

Abstract: Industrial material maker Showa Denko K.K. is planning to build a third plant in Vietnam and launch operations by 2020, to aggressively boost aluminum can output in the country. The company said Thursday it will build the plant near Ho Chi Minh City and aims to operate it from July next year, expanding its production capacity in the Southeast Asian country by 72 percent to 3.1 billion cans per year. The move comes amid growing local demand for beverage containers. The new plant will mainly produce cans for beer and soft drinks, according to Showa Denko spokesman Junji Kodama. Hanacans Joint Stock Co., a local affiliate of wholly owned subsidiary Showa Aluminum Can Corp., has two factories in Vietnam — one in the northern province of Bac Ninh and the other in the central province of Quang Nam — with a combined annual output capacity of 1.8 billion cans, according to its statement. With the planned third factory in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau, more than 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, the Tokyo-based group can cover Vietnam’s major areas. Domestic demand for cans is estimated to have topped 10 billion in 2018, the spokesman told NNA, adding that it is expected to grow 10 percent annually. Showa Denko aims to strengthen overseas bases for its aluminum can business and improve the profitability of domestic operations under a medium-term management plan that runs to 2021.

showa denko
vietnam
aluminum
manufacturing


Sony posts record net profit for second straight year on solid game and music sales

Abstract: Sony Corp. said Friday it posted a record net profit in the business year ended in March for the second consecutive year, lifted by strong sales of games and music. The electronics and entertainment giant reported a group net profit of ¥916.27 billion ($8.2 billion), up 86.7 percent from ¥490.79 billion. It also logged a record operating profit of ¥894.24 billion, up 21.7 percent from a year ago, on sales of ¥8.67 trillion, up 1.4 percent. For the fiscal year through March 2020, the company expects group net profit to fall 45.4 percent to ¥500 billion, though, with group operating profit of ¥810 billion, down 9.4 percent. Group sales are forecast to rise 1.5 percent to ¥8.8 trillion.

sony
electronics
video games
financial results


Renault to propose merger with Nissan under joint holding firm with equal board representation: sources

Abstract: Renault SA will soon formally propose to partner Nissan Motor Co. that the two merge under a joint holding company, sources with knowledge of the matter said Friday as tensions continue to rise over control of one of the world’s leading auto groups. Nissan is poised to reject the proposal because it is wary that Renault, which already has a 43.4 percent stake in it, will gain further influence over its management, the sources said. It rejected the idea of merging when Renault presented a plan earlier this month. “Now is not the time for doing such a thing,” Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters Friday night in Tokyo, when asked about the proposal. “What is most important is (Nissan’s) business recovery.” Renault wants to bring both together under a new structure that would have an equal number of board members from both sides, according to the sources. The holding company would be headquartered in a third country but would be listed on stock exchanges in both France and Japan, the sources said. The French government, Renault’s top shareholder, has been pushing for a merger with Nissan, looking to retain influence over the alliance, which became the world’s second-largest auto group in 2018 in terms of vehicle sales, sources familiar with the situation said earlier.


Trading house Sumitomo to manage Japan-financed special economic zone near Dhaka

Abstract: Major trading house Sumitomo Corp. will manage a special economic zone financed by Tokyo and expected to open near the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, in early 2022, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the government’s development aid arm. Land reclamation for the economic zone is scheduled to begin in Araihazar, about 30 kilometers from Dhaka, in September, according to Hitoshi Hirata, head of the Bangladesh office of JICA, who spoke at an investment seminar in Tokyo on Wednesday. Sumitomo will establish a special-purpose company with the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority to draw tenants from Japan and run the 300-hectare industrial park, set to be developed in two phases, he said. The initial phase, scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2022, will involve the development of land lots totaling 100 hectares for sale to Japanese companies, Hirata said. A Sumitomo spokesman declined to comment, but the trading giant is expected to confirm the move after the establishment of the joint venture in May, a source familiar with the situation said. The economic zone development will include a 46,000-kilowatt gas-fired power plant, a substation, gas pipelines and a cable telecommunication network. Dhaka will cooperate with Japanese representatives to facilitate swift approval of various applications for local operations, Hirata said. Japan’s government will provide a low-interest loan for the project, but it is unclear how much this will cover of the total cost, expected to be fixed around June, according to Yumiko Horiwaki, a JICA spokeswoman, who responded to an email inquiry on Friday. In 2015 the two countries signed a soft loan of up to ¥133.3 billion ($1.2 billion) for six economic development plans for the developing South Asian nation, including one aimed at facilitating foreign direct investment by setting up the economic zone with a loan of ¥15.8 billion, according to JICA. JICA expects the zone to attract firms from the motorcycle, automobile, home appliance, food processing and electrical equipment sectors, Horiwaki said. Bangladesh depends heavily on clothing for its exports, with the sector accounting for more than 80 percent of the total in the fiscal year to June 2018, according to Dhaka’s Export Promotion Bureau.

trading houses
sumitomo
dhaka
bangladesh
jica
aid


Brokerage house Nomura posts first full-year net loss in a decade

Abstract: Nomura Holdings Inc. posted its first full-year net loss in a decade for the year to March, reflecting losses linked to overseas operations and restructuring. The brokerage house said Thursday that it had swung to a consolidated net loss of ¥100.4 billion from the year-before profit of ¥219.3 billion. The company and its core unit Nomura Securities Co. will skip executive bonuses due to the firm’s poor financial performance. Nomura Holdings “will step up reforms to put it back on a growth path as early as possible,” said Chief Financial Officer Takumi Kitamura. Rivals Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. saw their net profits nearly halve due to stock market weakness late last year. Daiwa’s profit dropped 42.3 percent to ¥63.8 billion, while SMBC Nikko, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., saw its profit fall 45.5 percent to ¥34.7 billion.


Bail conditions may prevent Carlos Ghosn from contacting his wife for a number of months

Abstract: Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn was released from detention late Thursday evening under a bail condition that bars him from contacting his wife without court approval. Experts say he may be unable to communicate with her until the first trial verdict, many months away, unless the Tokyo District Court accepts his defense team’s request to repeal it before then. Ghosn is facing multiple charges of alleged financial misconduct and was released on bail of ¥500 million ($4.5 million). The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that bail conditions be set if a court agrees to a suspect’s release. But defense lawyers are allowed to request modifications regardless of the timing of the first trial. There is a high possibility Ghosn’s lawyers will request that the Tokyo District Court scrap the ban once they have narrowed down the critical points at issue, according to experts. Ghosn’s defense lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, says he “does not believe (the definition of contact) was detailed.” “Restricting communications and contact between my wife and me is cruel and unnecessary,” Ghosn said in a statement after his release. “We love each other very much, she answered all of the prosecutors’ questions in court, and she has done nothing wrong.” Tokyo prosecutors have told the court that Ghosn’s wife, Carole, contacted individuals related to the allegations. His first release, on March 6, was conditional on him not contacting those individuals, but such contact by his wife was not prohibited. The Ghosn case has drawn international attention to the prolonged detentions seen in Japan’s criminal justice system, which some have called “hostage justice.” Critics say the system allows authorities to hold alleged offenders in difficult conditions for long periods of time, in hopes of soliciting admissions of guilt. According to his fourth and latest indictment, Ghosn is accused of having a Nissan subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates pay a total of $10 million to a distributor in Oman between July 2017 and last July, and of having $5 million of that transferred to a savings account at a Lebanese investment firm that he effectively owns. Sources close to the case have said it is alleged that part of the money was then channeled to a company run by Ghosn’s wife, where a portion may have gone toward the purchase of a luxury yacht worth ¥1.6 billion mainly for use by his family. Ghosn was already preparing to defend himself against charges that he violated the financial instruments law, by underreporting his remuneration by ¥9.1 billion in Nissan securities reports presented to Japanese regulators over the eight years through March last year. He has also been indicted over aggravated breach of trust in relation to the alleged transfer of private investment losses to Nissan’s books in 2008, and for allegedly paying $14.7 million in company funds to a Saudi businessman who extended him credit.

carlos ghosn
nissan
courts
corruption
scandals
carmakers
carole ghosn


Convenience store chains issue action plans, softening stance on operating hours amid labor pinch

Abstract: Convenience store operators released actions plans Thursday to address acute labor shortages, which suggest they are becoming more flexible about operating hours. “We will let the owners of (franchise stores) make the final decision” on whether to reduce business hours, said Fumihiko Nagamatsu, president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., at a news conference in Tokyo. The move is a shift from the industry leader’s longtime policy of keeping stores open around-the-clock. FamilyMart Co. and Lawson Inc., which have conducted trials of shorter opening hours at some stores as well as Seven-Eleven, said they are also prepared to leave the decision to their franchise store owners. The industry ministry took the rare step of urging convenience store operators to formulate the action plans on April 5, after finding an increasing number of franchisees were struggling with staff recruitment and rising labor costs. Nagamatsu also said Seven-Eleven will double investment to around ¥120 billion ($1.07 billion) in the business year through February 2020 to introduce self-checkout machines and other measures to assist existing outlets across the country. In order to secure more funds to support franchisees, FamilyMart President Takashi Sawada said it will cut the number of people it plans to hire under its regular recruitment program in fiscal 2020 to 100, down 200 from the current year. “With strong determination, we will cut expenses at our headquarters and use what we save for franchise stores,” he said. Pressure for a review of the industry’s long-held business practices intensified following a dispute between Seven-Eleven and one of its franchisees. The franchisee cut the opening hours of his store in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, in February without approval from Seven-Eleven, and was accused of violating his contract. Convenience stores have been increasingly relying on foreign part-time workers to cover shifts with many owners struggling to secure staff as the country’s population grays. The nation’s antitrust watchdog is also considering new regulations to prevent convenience store operators from forcing franchise owners to open outlets 24 hours a day, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

convenience stores
seven-eleven japan
familymart
lawson
jobs


Judge blocks Trump rule barring tax-funded clinics from referring patients to abortion providers

Abstract: LOS ANGELES/BOSTON - A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday blocked a Trump administration rule that would prohibit taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring patients to abortion providers, according to the state attorney general. The preliminary injunction bars enforcement nationwide of a policy that was due to go into effect on May 3 over the vehement objections of abortion supporters who have decried it as a “gag rule” designed to silence doctor-patient communications about abortion options. “Today’s ruling ensures that clinics across the nation can remain open and continue to provide quality, unbiased health care to women,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement announcing the decision. Washington state was a named plaintiff in the case challenging restrictions proposed by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to its Title X program subsidizing reproductive health care and family planning costs for low-income women. Neither the White House nor HHS immediately responded to requests from Reuters for comment. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima in eastern Washington capped a hearing in which oral arguments were presented by both sides. Ferguson’s statement quoted the judge, in ruling from the bench, as saying, “There is no public interest in perpetuating unlawful agency action.” A federal judge in Oregon earlier this week said he intended to grant a preliminary injunction in a similar but separate lawsuit brought by 20 states and the District of Columbia. Two more lawsuits challenging the Title X restrictions are pending in California and Maine. The restrictions are aimed at fulfilling Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to end federal support for Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides abortions and other health services for women under Title X. Congress appropriated $286 million in Title X grants in 2017 to Planned Parenthood and other health centers to provide birth control, screening for diseases and other reproductive health and counseling to low-income women. The funding is already prohibited from being used for abortions, but abortion opponents have long complained that the money in effect subsidizes Planned Parenthood as a whole. Planned Parenthood provides health care services to about 40 percent of the 4 million people who rely on Title X funding annually, and the organization has argued that community health centers would be unable to absorb its patients. Under the new rule, clinics that receive Title X funding would be barred from referring patients for abortion as a method of family planning. The new regulation also would require financial and physical separation between facilities funded by Title X and those providing abortions. Abortion opponents have argued the plan would not ban abortion counseling but would ensure that taxpayer funding does not support clinics that also perform the procedure.

abortion
women
donald trump
u.s .
pregnancy
courts
rights
familly planning


Russia decries law passed in Kiev giving special status to Ukrainian language

Abstract: KIEV - Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved a law that grants special status to the Ukrainian language and makes it mandatory for public workers, a move Russia described as divisive and said discriminates against Russian-speakers. The law, which obliges all citizens to know the Ukrainian language and makes it a mandatory requirement for civil servants, soldiers, doctors and teachers, was championed by outgoing President Petro Poroshenko. He is expected to sign it into law before he leaves office in the coming weeks after losing re-election last Sunday to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an actor who mainly speaks Russian in public. Ukrainian is the predominant language in western Ukraine, while Russian is predominant in much of the east. Both languages are spoken widely in the capital, Kiev, and a large proportion of the population speak both fluently. Television is often bilingual, with talk show hosts and their guests slipping between the two languages, sometimes asking questions in one and answering them in another. Language has become a much more sensitive issue since 2014, when a pro-Russian president was toppled in a popular revolt and Russia responded by annexing the Crimea region and backing a pro-Russian separatist uprising in the east. The separatists argued in part that easterners were victims of growing discrimination against Russian-speakers. Some Ukrainian-speakers argue that the prominence of Russian is a legacy of the Soviet era that undermines Ukraine’s identity. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of eastern Ukraine’s rebellious regions, prompting calls from Kiev for more international sanctions. The European Union hit out at that move on Thursday, slamming it as an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty that undermines an already-fragile peace agreement. In a joint statement, France and Germany — European guarantors of the 2015 Minsk peace accord — said the Russian decree “goes against the spirit and aims of the Minsk agreement” that aims to bring peace to Ukraine’s volatile east but remains largely unimplemented. The EU imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and has continued to prolong the punitive measures over what it maintains is Moscow’s foot-dragging in respecting the Minsk peace agreement. Poroshenko put promotion of the Ukrainian language at the heart of his unsuccessful re-election campaign. Zelenskiy, who played a schoolteacher-turned-president in a Russian-language comedy series on Ukrainian TV before launching his political career, said Thursday his team will examine the new law to see if the rights of all citizens are respected. “We must initiate and adopt laws and decisions that consolidate society, and not vice versa,” he wrote on Facebook. Zelenskiy said the draft law’s origins during the electoral cycle “made it hostage to political rhetoric,” adding that it is hard to predict the consequences of adopting the law. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the new law will deepen divisions within Ukrainian society and impose severe limitations, including in some cases bans, on the use of Russian in Ukrainian public life. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-friendly opposition, said it violates the constitutional rights of millions of Ukrainian Russian-speakers. The new legislation requires TV and film distribution firms to ensure 90 percent of their content is in Ukrainian and for the proportion of Ukrainian-language printed media and books to be at least 50 percent. Computer software must also have a Ukrainian-language interface although the law also allows the use of English or any other official language of the European Union. Lawmakers gave a standing ovation after the law was passed and sang the national anthem. Hundreds of people with Ukrainian flags had gathered outside parliament to support the law. “This is a historic moment, which Ukrainians have been awaiting for centuries, because for centuries Ukrainians have tried to achieve the right to their own language,” one of the authors of the bill, Mykola Knyazhytsky, said before the vote. The make-up of the parliament has not changed since Zelenskiy’s election win and remains dominated by a coalition supportive of Poroshenko.

russia ukraine language discrimination rights ethnicity


2018 loss of tropical forest nearly as big as England

Abstract: PARIS - Last year humanity destroyed an expanse of tropical forest nearly the size of England, the fourth-largest decline since global satellite data become available in 2001, researchers reported Thursday. The pace of the loss is staggering — the equivalent of 30 football fields disappearing every minute of every day, totaling 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) over the year. Almost a third of that area, some 36,000 square kilometers, was pristine primary rainforest, according to the annual assessment from scientists at Global Forest Watch, based at the University of Maryland. “For the first time, we can distinguish tree cover loss within undisturbed natural rainforests, which contain trees that can be hundreds, even thousands, of years old,” team manager Mikaela Weisse said. Rainforests are the planet’s richest repository of wildlife and are a critical sponge for soaking up planet-heating carbon dioxide. Despite a slew of countermeasures at both the national and international level, deforestation has continued largely unabated since the beginning of the century. Global forest loss peaked in 2016, fueled in part by El Nino weather conditions and uncontrolled fires in Brazil and Indonesia. The main drivers are the livestock industry and large-scale commodity agriculture — palm oil in Asia and Africa, soybeans and biofuel crops in South America. Small-scale commercial farming — of cocoa, for example — can also lead to the clearing of forests. A quarter of tropical tree cover loss in 2018 occurred in Brazil; Congo and Indonesia each accounted for about 10 percent. Malaysia and Madagascar also saw high levels of deforestation last year. Nearly a third of primary forest destruction took place in Brazil (13,500 sq. km), with Congo (4,800 sq. km), Indonesia (3,400 sq. km), Colombia (1,800 sq. km) and Bolivia (1,500 sq. km) rounding out the top five. Madagascar lost 2 percent of its entire rainforest in 2018. “The world’s forests are now in the emergency room,” said Frances Seymour, a distinguished senior fellow at the World Resources Institute, an environmental policy think tank based in Washington. “The health of the planet is at stake, and band aid responses are not enough,” she added. “With every hectare lost, we are that much closer to the scary scenario of runaway climate change.” Globally, forests absorb about 30 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, just over 11 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. Oceans are also a major “sink,” soaking up another 23 percent. Burning or clear-cutting vast tracts of tropical forest not only releases carbon into the atmosphere, it reduces the size of the sponge that can absorb carbon dioxide. One bright spot in the report was Indonesia, which lost 3,400 sq. km of primary forest in 2018 — a 63 percent drop compared to 2016. In 2015, massive forest fires on Sumatra, Borneo and other Indonesian islands levelled 20,000 sq. km and generated health-wrecking pollution over a large swath of Southeast Asia. In Brazil, however, trend lines are moving in the wrong direction. “Our data shows a big spike in forest loss in 2016 and 2017 related to man-made fires,” Weisse said of Brazil. “Shockingly, we are also seeing invasions into indigenous lands that have been immune to deforestation for years.” Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who come into office in January, has vowed to curtail environmental regulations and allow commercial farming and mining on indigenous reserves, which comprise more than 10 percent of Brazil’s territory. The researchers emphasized that Bolsonaro has not been in office long enough to assess the impacts of his policies on deforestation. In response to the report, Brazil’s foreign ministry told AFP the Latin American country was “firmly committed to reconciling agricultural production and environmental preservation.” In West Africa, meanwhile, 70 percent of primary forest loss in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire occurred in protected areas, pointing up the need for stricter enforcement.

forests
nature
climate change
envionment


Up to a million species risk extinction due to human activity, warns draft U.N. report

Abstract: PARIS - Up to 1 million species face extinction due to human influence, according to a draft U.N. report obtained by AFP that painstakingly catalogs how humanity has undermined the natural resources upon which its very survival depends. The accelerating loss of clean air, drinkable water, carbon dioxide-absorbing forests, pollinating insects, protein-rich fish and storm-blocking mangroves — to name but a few of the dwindling services rendered by nature — poses no less of a threat than climate change, says the report, set to be unveiled May 6. Indeed, biodiversity loss and global warming are closely linked, according to the 44-page Summary for Policy Makers, which distills a 1,800-page U.N. assessment of scientific literature on the state of nature. Delegates from 130 nations meeting in Paris from April 29 will vet the executive summary line by line. Wording may change, but figures lifted from the underlying report cannot be altered. “We need to recognize that climate change and loss of nature are equally important, not just for the environment, but as development and economic issues as well,” Robert Watson, chair of the U.N.-mandated body that compiled the report, said, without divulging its findings. “The way we produce our food and energy is undermining the regulating services that we get from nature,” he said, adding that only “transformative change” can stem the damage. Deforestation and agriculture, including livestock production, account for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, and have wreaked havoc on natural ecosystems as well. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report warns of “an imminent rapid acceleration in the global rate of species extinction.” The pace of loss “is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years,” it notes. “Half-a-million to a million species are projected to be threatened with extinction, many within decades.” Many experts think a “mass extinction event” — only the sixth in the last half a billion years — is already underway. The most recent saw the end of the Cretaceous Period some 66 million years ago, when a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid strike wiped out most life forms. Scientists estimate that Earth is today home to some 8 million distinct species, a majority of them insects. A quarter of cataloged animal and plant species are already being crowded, eaten or poisoned out of existence. The drop in sheer numbers is even more dramatic, with wild mammal biomass — their collective weight — down by 82 percent. Humans and livestock account for more than 95 percent of mammal biomass. “If we’re going to have a sustainable planet that provides services to communities around the world, we need to change this trajectory in the next 10 years, just as we need to do that with climate,” noted WWF chief scientist Rebecca Shaw, formerly a member of the U.N. scientific bodies for both climate and biodiversity. The direct causes of species loss, in order of importance, are shrinking habitat and land-use change, hunting for food or illicit trade in body parts, climate change, pollution, and alien species such as rats, mosquitoes and snakes that hitch rides on ships or planes, the report finds. “There are also two big indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change — the number of people in the world and their growing ability to consume,” said Watson. Once seen as primarily a future threat to animal and plant life, the disruptive impact of global warming has accelerated. Shifts in the distribution of species, for example, will likely double if average temperature go up a notch from 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to 2 C. So far, the global thermometer has risen 1 C compared with mid-19th century levels. The 2015 Paris Agreement enjoins nations to cap the rise to “well below” 2 C. But a landmark U.N. climate report in October said that would still be enough to boost the intensity and frequency of deadly heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Other findings in the report include: Three-quarters of land surfaces, 40 percent of the marine environment, and 50 percent of inland waterways across the globe have been “severely altered.” Many of the areas where nature’s contribution to human wellbeing will be most severely compromised are home to indigenous peoples and the world’s poorest communities that are also vulnerable to climate change. More than 2 billion people rely on wood fuel for energy, 4 billion rely on natural medicines, and more than 75 percent of global food crops require animal pollination. Nearly half of land and marine ecosystems have been profoundly compromised by human interference in the last 50 years. Subsidies to fisheries, industrial agriculture, livestock raising, forestry, mining and the production of biofuel or fossil fuel energy encourage waste, inefficiency and overconsumption. The report cautioned against climate change solutions that may inadvertently harm nature. The use, for example, of biofuels combined with “carbon capture and storage” — the sequestration of carbon dioxide released when biofuels are burned — is widely seen as key in the transition to green energy on a global scale. But the land needed to grow all those biofuel crops may wind up cutting into food production, the expansion of protected areas or reforestation efforts.

nature
climate change
animals
endangered


Egypt referendum firms up el-Sissi's grip on power as unrest flares elsewhere in region

Abstract: CAIRO - As mass protests rock other Arab countries, a snap referendum in Egypt has gone against the grain and cemented President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s rule for years to come. The three-day ballot saw constitutional changes sail through that allow the former military chief to stay in power until 2030, boost his control over the judiciary and give the army even greater influence in political life. Amid criticism that el-Sissi has silenced opposition and cracked down on freedoms, officials said more than 88 percent of ballots cast were for “yes.” The government has “made sure Egyptians don’t see any credible alternative to el-Sissi so that they don’t start to imagine an Egypt that is ruled by anyone else,” said Timothy Kaldas, a nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. The vote in the Arab world’s most populous country came on the heels of uprisings that have forced veteran leaders in Algeria and Sudan to step down earlier this month. And Kaldas said after years of turmoil that saw the ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak and his Islamist successor, Mohammed Morsi, stability remains a priority for many Egyptians. “Undoubtedly some still support el-Sissi and believe that he has prevented Egypt from suffering the fate of neighbors,” he said. “For most Egyptians, they believe they’ve overthrown two presidents and seen their quality of life get worse each time, so there’s little faith that a third uprising will improve the situation.” Around 27 million votes were cast, with a turnout rate of 44.33 percent, at the referendum after it was called and held within a matter of days. The amendments prolong el-Sissi’s current term to 2024 from 2022 and allow him to then run for another six-year term. “The country is on the right track and it’s stable… it’s logical that el-Sissi is given his full chance to finish what he started,” said Mervat Abdel Fattah, a housewife in her 50s. After the result state television broadcast images of el-Sissi supporters waving flags and blaring national tunes in Tahrir Square — the site of angry protests that toppled his two predecessors. Analysts put el-Sissi’s thumping victory down to the fractured state of Egypt’s marginalized opposition and the use of state resources to back the changes. The opposition’s lack of political power and the absence of “a unified stance on the referendum” helped el-Sissi to an easy win, said Ziad Aqel, political sociology expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Especially when coupled with “mobilization” at the ballot box by state bodies, he added. While people did take to the streets to celebrate, Aqel said their behavior was “typical” of a political process controlled almost entirely by the state. The New York-based Soufan Center said before the vote that the amendments helped “solidify el-Sissi’s grip” on Egyptian politics. The absence of public opposition to the constitutional changes was “likely a result of the oppressive nature of the Egyptian government,” it said in a report published last week. As army chief of staff at the time, el-Sissi led the military’s overthrow of elected president Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against the Islamist leader’s rule. El-Sissi won his first term as president in 2014, three years after the uprising that toppled Mubarak, and was re-elected in March 2018 with more than 97 percent of the vote, after standing virtually unopposed. His government has been widely criticized by human rights groups for the repression of political opponents, thousands of whom have been jailed. El-Sissi’s security services rely on a policy of silencing dissidents on social networks, which played a key role in the overthrow of Mubarak. Reporters Without Borders says there are 33 journalists in Egyptian jail — accusations authorities deny, saying they have no political prisoners. Egypt’s referendum and its outcome have bucked the trend in neighboring countries like Sudan, where protesters succeeded earlier this month in ousting Omar al-Bashir after 30 years of iron-fisted rule. Now Sudanese protesters are demanding the military, which took power after helping to topple the veteran leader, hand over the reins to a civilian administration. That came little more than a week after an uprising in Algeria forced longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down. Protesters there have since kept up their rallies, calling for a complete overhaul of the country’s political system.

egypt
referendums
abdel-fattah el-sissi
military
_analysis


Instant Democratic front-runner Joe Biden's 2020 bid reshapes crowded White House race

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden entered the 2020 Democratic presidential field on Thursday as an instant front-runner, drawing momentum away from other leading candidates and putting new pressure on underperformers to find ways to stay relevant. Biden, 76, a longtime U.S. senator who served two terms as then-President Barack Obama’s No. 2, announced his bid in a video describing the high stakes of the race to take on Republican President Donald Trump in next year’s election. “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time. But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and let that happen.” Trump responded in a post on Twitter, saying “welcome to the race Sleepy Joe” and slamming Biden’s intelligence. Biden joins U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a self-described “democratic socialist,” atop the 20-candidate field. With Biden positioned to be Sanders’ chief rival, the resulting clash could lay bare the conflict in the Democratic Party between its moderate and progressive wings. Although Biden has yet to lay out policy proposals as a candidate, he backs many causes valued by progressives, including raising the minimum wage, combating climate change, banning assault weapons and free public college. He has not come out in favor of a “Medicare for All” plan advocated by Sanders and others. Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia, says it remains unclear whether Biden can build on his loyal base of support. If that happens, it could come at Sanders’ expense. Given his long-standing support from African-Americans and his partnership with Obama, Biden could also affect the candidacy of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who is widely regarded as a serious contender for the nomination. Biden’s entry also threatens to derail the rise of Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has benefited from a surge of media coverage in recent weeks. And it further presses candidates such as former housing Secretary Julian Castro of Texas, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who have failed so far to register with voters, to come up with ways to stay in the game. “In many ways, this settles the race down rather than shaking it up,” said Jeff Link, a Democratic strategist in Iowa who worked for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. But Biden faces his own challenges, including questions about whether he is too old and too centrist for a party yearning for fresh faces and increasingly propelled by its more vocal liberal wing. Biden failed to gain traction with voters during previous presidential bid in 1988 and 2008. As speculation about his third effort mounted, Biden came under fire for his propensity for touching and kissing strangers at political events, with several women coming forward to say he had made them feel uncomfortable. Biden struggled in his response to the concerns, at times joking about his behavior. But ultimately he apologized and said he recognized standards for personal conduct had evolved in the wake of the #MeToo movement. “Joe Biden is going to regret this decision,” said Matt Gorman, a former official at the National Republican Congressional Committee, an arm of the Republican Party. “His candidacy will not only rehash his very long record in public life, but allow his opponents to subtly argue he is too old and too moderate to be the Democratic standard-bearer.” Obama said in a statement that he has long said selecting Biden to be his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made. Biden on Thursday told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, that he has asked Obama to not endorse him. “Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits,” Biden said. On Thursday, Biden held up the example of the 2017 attack at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that killed a counterprotester as a defining moment for the nation. “It was there … we saw (Ku Klux) Klansmen and white supremacists and neo-Nazis come out in the open … baring the fangs of racism,” Biden said, criticizing Trump’s remarks at the time that there were “very fine people on both sides.” There was no moral equivalence between racists and those fighting such inequality, he said. “In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime,” Biden said. Biden will travel across the country in the coming weeks, kicking off his tour with a visit on Monday to Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, not far from Biden’s home state of Delaware, is a key battleground state and former industrial hub that backed Trump in 2016. The Republican president is seeking to capture the state again even as Democrats saw wins there in the 2018 congressional elections. Biden’s long history in the Senate, where he was a leading voice on foreign policy, will give liberal activists plenty to criticize. He is the only candidate in the field who voted in support of the Iraq War in 2002. As Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, he angered women’s rights activists with his handling of sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas by law professor Anita Hill during the justice’s 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Biden phoned Hill earlier this month to express regret about what she “endured” testifying against Thomas. Hill told the Times that the call left her unsatisfied and that she could not support his presidential bid. He also has been censured over his ties to the financial industry and for his authorship of a 1994 crime act that led to increased incarceration rates. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which backs U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said Biden’s centrist record could be a hindrance. “If Joe Biden positions himself as the political insider from yesteryear who says big ideas like universal childcare, student debt relief and a wealth tax on ultra-millionaires are not possible, he would be an easy foil,” said Adam Green, the group’s co-founder.

democrats
joe biden
donald trump
bernie sanders
u.s .
2020 u.s. presidential election


Bolsonaro says 1,000 penis amputations in Brazil a year due to hygiene is 'ridiculous and sad'

Abstract: RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday expressed horror over the 1,000 penis amputations that he said occur each year in the country due to a lack of basic hygiene, a figure he called “ridiculous and sad.” Speaking with reporters in Brasilia after visiting the Education Ministry, the former army captain despaired at the high number of amputations and said his government must work with vulnerable men to make them more aware of the dangers of unhygienic behavior. “In Brazil, we have 1,000 penis amputations a year due to a lack of water and soap,” he said. “We have to find a way to get out of the bottom of this hole.” Bolsonaro did not specify the source of the number. The Brazilian urology society was quoted as giving that number in an article in a local news magazine in 2017. The Brazilian urology society did not immediately reply to a request for comment. In a video of Bolsonaro’s speech, it is clear the amputations cause him great distress. Bolsonaro is celebrated by his supporters for being a man’s man, but he has also sparked outrage with years of racist and homophobic comments. He once told a female lawmaker she was too ugly to rape, and said the birth of his daughter, after siring four sons, was a “moment of weakness.” It is not the first time he has waded into sensitive topics. In March, he made global headlines after tweeting a video showing one man urinating on another during Brazil’s massive annual street carnival. “What is a golden shower?” Bolsonaro tweeted the day after posting the video, in which a barely dressed partygoer writhes atop a bus shelter, plays with his behind, and then bends over before another man urinates on his head. Critics say Bolsonaro’s often-incendiary tweets show he is more focused on riling his progressive critics than building consensus in Congress for necessary reforms, such as an overhaul of the country’s budget-busting pension system.


Largest uncut diamond in recent history found in Botswana mine

Abstract: TORONTO - Lucara Diamond Corp. has unearthed the largest uncut diamond in recent history in its Karowe mine in Botswana, the Canadian company said on Thursday, beating its own record discovery from November 2015 that it struggled to sell for nearly two years. The 1,758-carat diamond, larger than a tennis ball, weighs close to 352 grams (12.42 ounces), Lucara said in a statement. The stone is second in size only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, recovered in South Africa in 1905. The stone is the latest in a series of high-value recoveries for the company at Karowe. Since introducing its XRT diamond recovery technology, Lucara has recovered 12 diamonds over 300 carats, including a 472-carat and a 327-carat diamond in April 2018. The 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, which Lucara recovered in November 2015, failed to meet its undisclosed reserve price at a June 2016 auction, putting pressure on the company’s shares. British diamond dealer Graff Diamonds finally bought it for $53 million in September 2017. Forbes reported late last year that Graff had created 67 finished gems from the stone.


Death toll in Sri Lanka bombings revised down by over 100 due to 'double counting' of body parts

Abstract: COLOMBO - A dramatic revision of the death toll in Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings, which has been cut by more than 100, is a grim indicator of the power of the deadly blasts. The force of the explosions so badly mutilated bodies that parts of victims were wrongly collated and identified in the initial confusion, officials said. “Many of the victims were badly mutilated. . . . There was double counting,” the Health Ministry said in explaining the new death toll of 253, down from the 359 announced Wednesday. Ministry Director-General Anil Jasinghe said the “very complex nature of the human remains” made it hard for forensic experts to initially compile an accurate toll. “In explosions like this, bodies get badly mutilated. It is not always possible to have complete bodies,” he said. “This is why it was initially difficult to arrive at a precise toll.” The sheer force of the suicide bombings at three churches and three hotels is clear from the damage sustained by the targeted buildings. At St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, north of the capital, the explosion was so powerful it brought down much of the roof, showering the congregation in roof tiles, and sheared the plaster off walls. Authorities are still investigating details on the bombs used in the six attacks, which were followed by two more explosions as police raided addresses searching for suspects. So far, they believe that the attackers did not use C4, the explosive that was the weapon of choice for bombings carried out by the country’s Tamil militants during their deadly decades-long insurgency, which ended in 2009. But the precise nature of the explosives and the size of the bombs is still being worked out. One clue lies in images of one of the men believed to be among the attackers, who was captured on CCTV just before he entered St. Sebastian’s. He is seen carrying what appears to be a full and heavy backpack, before entering the church seconds before a massive blast. Sources close to the investigation said they believe the attackers may have used an explosive less powerful than C4, but packed their bombs with larger quantities of it to render their weapons more deadly. The result was devastating, and Jasinghe said it had taken its toll even on the experienced staff of the country’s forensic morgue facilities. “It has been a very grim task, even for the staff,” he said. “We were overwhelmed and the staff worked around the clock until Thursday to complete the task of autopsies.”

sri lanka
religion
terrorism
mass murder
sri lanka attacks


Xi tells summit that China's 'Belt and Road' initiative must be green and sustainable

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s “Belt and Road” initiative must be green and sustainable, President Xi Jinping said at the opening of a summit on his grand plan on Friday, adding that the massive infrastructure and trade plan should result in “high quality” growth for everyone. Xi’s plan to rebuild the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with huge spending on infrastructure, has become mired in controversy as some partner nations have bemoaned the high cost of projects. China has repeatedly said it is not seeking to trap anyone with debt and only has good intentions, and has been looking to use this week’s summit in Beijing to recalibrate the policy and address those concerns. Xi said in a keynote speech to the summit that environmental protection must underpin the scheme “to protect the common home we live in.” “We must adhere to the concept of openness, greenness, and cleanliness,” he said. “Operate in the sun and fight corruption together with zero tolerance,” Xi added. “Building high-quality, sustainable, risk-resistant, reasonably priced, and inclusive infrastructure will help countries to fully utilise their resource endowments.” Western governments have tended to view it as a means to spread Chinese influence abroad, saddling poor countries with unsustainable debt. While most of the “Belt and Road” projects are continuing as planned, some have been caught up by changes in government in countries such as Malaysia and the Maldives. Those that have been shelved for financial reasons include a power plant in Pakistan and an airport in Sierra Leone, and Beijing has in recent months had to rebuff critics by saying that not one country has been burdened with so-called “debt traps.” Since 2017, the finance ministries of 28 countries have called on governments, financial institutions and companies from “Belt and Road” countries to work together to build a long-term, stable and sustainable financing system to manage risks, China’s finance ministry said in a report released on Thursday. Debt sustainability has to be taken into account when mobilising funds, the finance ministry said in the report, which outlined a framework for use in analyzing debt sustainability of low-income “Belt and Road” nations and managing debt risks. The framework is based on the IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework for Low Income Countries while pencilling in local conditions and development of partner nations, according to the report. The “Belt and Road” initiative will also open up development opportunities for China just as China itself is further opening up its markets to the world, Xi said. “In accordance with the need for further opening up, (we’ll) improve laws and regulations, regulate government behavior at all levels in administrative licensing, market supervision and other areas, and clean up and abolish unreasonable regulations, subsidies and practices that impede fair competition and distort the market,” he said. Xi promised to significantly shorten the negative list for foreign investments, and allow foreign companies to take a majority stake or set up wholly-owned companies in more sectors. Tariffs will be lower and non-tariff barriers will be eliminated, Xi added. China also aims to import more services and goods, and is willing to import competitive agricultural products and services to achieve trade balance. “China will strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination with major economies in the world and strive to create positive spillover effects to promote a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth for the world economy,” said Xi. Visiting leaders include Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan, a close China ally and among the biggest recipients of “Belt and Road” investment, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, which recently became the first G7 country to sign on to the initiative. The United States, which has not joined the “Belt and Road,” is expected to send only lower-level officials, and nobody from Washington, citing concerns over opaque financing practices, poor governance, and disregard for internationally accepted norms. “The United States is not sending high level officials from Washington to the Belt and Road Forum,” a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. “We continue to have serious concerns that China’s infrastructure diplomacy activities ignore or weaken international standards and best practices related to development, labor protections, and environmental protection.”

china
belt and road
xi jinping
development
aid
environment


Trump approved payment of $2 million North Korea bill for care of Otto Warmbier, says report

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump approved payment of a $2 million bill presented by North Korea to cover its care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, a college student who died shortly after being returned home from 17 months in a North Korean prison, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post said an invoice was handed to U.S. State Department envoy Joseph Yun hours before Warmbier, 22, was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Warmbier died six days later. The U.S. envoy, who was sent to retrieve Warmbier, signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from Trump, the Post reported, citing two unidentified people familiar with the situation. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Yun also said he could not comment on diplomatic exchanges. But in an interview with CNN on Thursday, he said he was given broad orders to secure Warmbier’s release and he understood the instructions came directly from Trump. “Yes, my orders were completely: Do whatever you can to get Otto back,” he told CNN. Yun said he understood that money had been exchanged in previous releases of U.S. prisoners and was justified as “hospital costs,” but he gave no further details. In another interview on CNN, Yun said the United States did not pay any ransom for American prisoners held by Pyongyang while he was the special representative for North Korea. He left the post in March 2018. The bill was sent to the Treasury Department and remained unpaid through 2017, the Post reported. It was not known if the administration later paid the bill. Representatives for the State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student visiting North Korea as a tourist, was imprisoned in January 2016. North Korea state media said he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel. Reached by phone, Fred Warmbier, Otto Warmbier’s father, declined to comment on the report or to confirm the Post’s account that he had said the hospital bill sounded like ransom. Trump has denied paying North Korea to release hostages. “I got back our hostages; I never paid them anything,” he said at a September news conference. Warmbier’s parents issued a sharp statement in March after Trump said he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s assertion not to have known how their son was treated. The U.S. president also praised Kim’s leadership after their second summit collapsed in February in Hanoi when the two sides failed to reach a deal for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in March. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.” Trump said later he held North Korea responsible for the young man’s death. A U.S. court in December ordered North Korea to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of Warmbier. An Ohio coroner said Warmbier died from a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain. Pyongyang blamed botulism and ingestion of a sleeping pill and dismissed torture claims.

north korea
otto warmbier
donald trump
torture
u.s .
north korea nuclear crisis


NPO seeking open government finds that some Japan ministers' schedules were swiftly binned

Abstract: Records of Cabinet ministers’ schedules, including details of their meetings, were discarded a very short period of time after or even on the day they were created, it has been learned. The revelation came after Access-Info Clearinghouse Japan, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo, made freedom of information requests to some ministries. The NPO is working to promote the disclosure of public information. The guidelines on the management of administrative records stipulate that the storage period for records on ministers’ schedules is less than a year. It is not illegal to dispose of such records on the day they were created. But the NPO is calling for the guidelines to be revised so they are stored for a longer period, pointing out that schedule records are important sources of material for checking whether ministers are abusing their positions. The NPO asked the Cabinet Office and 11 ministries to disclose records of their ministers’ schedules in fiscal 2017 and 2018, as well as related records. The requests came in the wake of a series of scandals related to public records, including one in which the Finance Ministry tampered with those linked to a controversial discounted sale of state land in the city of Osaka to school operator Moritomo Gakuen. In response to the requests, many of the ministries said they did not have or had already discarded such records. The Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said they dumped their records on the day they were created. The Finance Ministry said it disposed of its records after related events ended. Yukiko Miki, head of the NPO, expressed concern, saying: “Information on whom ministers met and where they went represent government activities. Unless such information is preserved as an official record, it will be very difficult to verify such information afterward, and ministers could possibly abuse their positions.” Records of ministers’ schedules should be kept for more than a year, Hiroshi Miyake, a lawyer and former member of the official records management committee at the Cabinet Office, said. “Ministers aren’t qualified to be in their posts unless they have the resolve or enthusiasm to do things that would go down in history,” he added.

cabinet
secrecy
access-into clearinghouse japan


Goldman Sachs strategist says Japan is still holding back talented women, 20 years after upbeat report

Abstract: Working women are playing a bigger role in Japan than Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Kathy Matsui thought possible when she penned her first report on womenomics in 1999. Yet the country needs to pick up the pace of change or risk being overtaken by a demographic crisis. Two decades ago, Matsui struck an optimistic note amid general gloom over Japan in her first analysis of women in the economy, setting out how empowered women could bolster flagging growth as the population aged. In a new version out earlier this month, Matsui, now chief Japan strategist, explains how Japanese women continue to trail their peers in other developed countries in many respects, even as they pour into the labor force in ever-increasing numbers. There are now 3 million more women working outside the home than in 2012, yet they earn on average only three-quarters as much as men, partly because so many are in part-time roles. “This country is already on the brink of a demographic crisis,” Matsui said in an interview in Tokyo. “If your sole key resource as a nation is your human capital, you don’t have a lot of options but to leverage every single human being.” Matsui gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a patchy score card in her report — highlighting the slow progress on his pledge to increase women’s representation in leadership, and shortfalls on Abe’s targets for men taking paternity leave and mothers staying in work. Japan, which is set to lose 40 percent of its working-age population by 2055, is already missing out on what could be a 15 percent boost to the economy if women worked to their full potential, according to Matsui. That would entail not only raising the proportion of women in work to match that of men, but having each of them work longer hours. Matsui notes that Japan’s labor participation rate for women has soared to 71 percent — higher than in the U.S. and Europe, even amid blatant gender discrimination in fields from education to politics. Tokyo Medical University made headlines last year when it admitted to excluding women in favor of less-qualified men. And in early April, one of the country’s best-known feminists shocked attendees at the elite University of Tokyo’s entrance ceremony with a blunt speech warning students of the prejudice women would encounter in school and after graduating. Japan offers some of the most generous parental leave allowances in the world, yet few men take advantage of them, and women face barriers to returning to work because of child care shortages. Working mothers suffer because fathers do less housework than their counterparts in other developed countries. Abe, a conservative, jumped on the womenomics bandwagon after he returned to office in 2012, becoming an unlikely champion of working women as he sought to tackle what he has called the “national crisis” of the aging and shrinking population. He pledged, among other things, to put women in 30 percent of management positions in all fields by 2020, though progress toward that goal has been glacial. In politics, only about 10 percent of Lower House lawmakers are female, while Abe has just one woman in his 19-strong Cabinet. “I’m advocating gender quotas in parliament,” Matsui said. “It’s just unacceptable to me that the most important laws and decisions affecting everyone living in Japan are determined 90 percent by one gender.” In 1999, Matsui’s report cited the growing number of women using cell phones, buying computers to access the internet, snapping up luxury goods and even purchasing their own homes as trends on which to base investment decisions. The 2019 womenomics report proffers a different basket of companies that are positioned to benefit from women at work, including in fields such as child care, elderly care and temporary staffing. Matsui also offers a host of recommendations for Abe’s government, corporations and society as a whole — though some of her ideas have fallen on deaf ears for decades. She wants more to be done to break down the barriers between regular and nonregular workers, and an end to a tax system that pushes married women to be housewives. She also calls for looser immigration rules to allow more foreign caregivers. But it’s not only the legal structure that needs to change, according to Matsui. “The government can only do so much and a lot of the kind of heavier lifting needs to occur in the private sphere, not only within or inside corporations, but also within homes,” she said. Values, expectations and media stereotypes have an important role to play, Matsui added. “Because Japan is so much at the forefront of aging and shrinking population, all global eyes are on Japan,” Matsui said. “Is Japan going to be the template that other aging societies will follow? Or will other nations say: ‘Don’t do what Japan did!'”

goldman sachs
women
kathy matsui
womenomics
shinzo abe


Japan's Hayabusa2 probe succeeds in blasting out first man-made crater on an asteroid

Abstract: Scientists have succeeded in creating what they called the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid, a step toward shedding light on how the solar system evolved, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday. The announcement comes after the Hayabusa2 probe fired an explosive device April 5 at the Ryugu asteroid, around 340 million kilometers from Earth, to blast a crater in the surface and scoop up material, aiming to reveal more about the origins of life on Earth. Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2 project manager, told reporters they confirmed the crater from images captured by the probe located 1,700 meters (5,500 feet) from the asteroid’s surface. “Creating an artificial crater with an impactor and observing it in detail afterward is a world-first attempt,” Tsuda said. “This is a big success.” NASA’s Deep Impact probe succeeded in creating an artificial crater on a comet in 2005, but only for observation purposes. The JAXA probe photographed the area hit by the projectile from a distance of 1.7 km, according to the agency, which compared images of the asteroid’s surface before and after the shooting of the metal bullet, and determined the presence of a man-made crater measuring about 10 meters across. Masahiko Arakawa, a Kobe University professor involved in the project, said it was “the best day of his life.” “We can see such a big hole a lot more clearly than expected,” he said. JAXA scientists had previously predicted that the crater could be as large as 10 meters in diameter if the surface was sandy, or three meters if it was rocky. “The surface is filled with boulders but yet we created a crater this big. This could mean there’s a scientific mechanism we don’t know or something special about Ryugu’s materials,” the professor said. Rocks had been moved and dislodged from their previous location, while there was a dark area about 40 meters long on the surface, considered to be debris created from the impact. Hayabusa2, which began its descent toward the asteroid Wednesday afternoon, captured images of its surface to determine the existence of the crater. Hayabusa2 shot a copper “impact head” at Ryugu. The agency confirmed a burst of debris caused by the collision. The aim of blasting the crater on Ryugu is to throw up “fresh” material from under the asteroid’s surface that could shed light on the early stages of the solar system. The asteroid is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water from some 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system was born. In February, Hayabusa2 touched down briefly on Ryugu to collect surface samples and found hydrated minerals that will help scientists determine whether asteroids brought water to Earth as hypothesized. The mission, with a price tag of around ¥30 billion, was launched in December 2014 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, and Hayabusa2 reached Ryugu last June. It is scheduled to return to Earth with its samples in 2020. Photos of Ryugu — which means “Dragon Palace” in Japanese and refers to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale — show the asteroid has a rough surface covered with boulders. Although the initial plan was to focus the blast to within 200 meters of the target, the team said they had hit within 10 to 20 meters of it. “There was a very high level of accuracy,” Tsuda said. “We were able to create a crater in the area we had aimed for.” The team will continue to analyze the results and determine whether there is an appropriate area on Ryugu’s surface they can land the space probe on in order to collect a sample of rocks from the asteroid. Asteroids like Ryugu are often likened to fossils holding the preserved traces of the time when the solar system was born. But the effects of solar winds have weathered Ryugu’s surface, making it necessary to dig deep under it in order to collect such materials.

asteroids ryugu jaxa space astronomy planets hayabusa


Abe implores EU leaders to avert no-deal Brexit and safeguard Japan's 'gateway to Europe'

Abstract: BRUSSELS - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called on European Union leaders to help the U.K. avert a potentially disastrous departure from the economic bloc without an exit deal. In a meeting in Brussels, Abe and the EU leaders — European Council chief Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker — agreed on the importance of free trade and cooperation toward the success of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Osaka in June. Abe said at a news conference after the talks that Tokyo welcomes the European Union’s recent decision to give the U.K. an extended Oct. 31 deadline to leave the bloc. The prime minister is in Brussels as part of a European and North American tour being conducted to lay the groundwork for this year’s G20 leaders summit. Abe’s Brussels visit follows the April 11 summit in which EU leaders gave Prime Minister Theresa May an additional six months to get U.K. Parliament to endorse the exit terms she struck last year. “A no-deal Brexit is what we have to avoid by all means,” Abe told a news conference in Brussels, with Tusk and Juncker standing at his side. An orderly withdrawal, he said, is necessary because Japanese firms have invested so much in Britain as a European Union member country. The companies, Abe said, need “legal stability” as well as transparency ahead. “We strongly hope that it will be possible for Japanese companies to continue” doing business in the United Kingdom, Abe said through an interpreter. “For Japan, the U.K. is the gateway to Europe,” he said, recalling he has made the same point to Juncker, Tusk and May. “So a smooth Brexit is what we hope for.” Analysts have warned that the negotiations for Britain’s exit have in many cases accelerated the decisions of Japanese firms to leave Britain. The agreement reached between May and European Union leaders during the April 11 summit saved the continent from what could have been a chaotic no-deal departure on April 12. The April 12 deadline was already a delay from an original deadline of March 29. The EU granted the postponements after May failed three times to get Parliament to adopt the divorce deal she struck in Brussels last November. If London remains in the EU after May 22 then British voters will have to take part in European elections — or crash out of the European Union on June 1. Around 1,000 Japanese companies operate in Britain, supporting about 140,000 jobs. But automakers Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have said they are axing production at plants in Britain, while electronics giants Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are scaling back operations. Major Japanese banks are pulling out. While there are specific reasons behind each individual business decision, analysts say the specter of Brexit is haunting Japanese firms across the board. For its part, the EU is a major trading partner and a direct investment destination for Japan. Combined, the 28-member bloc and Japan make up about a third of the world’s economy. The Japanese and European leaders also hailed the entry into force in February of their two-way free trade agreement amid an ongoing U.S.-China trade war, while reaffirming the strengthening of maritime security cooperation between the two sides. The EU and Japan “look forward to intensifying security and defense cooperation in the fields of counterterrorism, cyber and maritime security, and crisis management,” Tusk said in the news conference with Abe. Abe’s trip comes amid concern among some European Union members about the prospect of Beijing gaining a bigger foothold on the continent following Italy’s endorsement in March of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure development initiative, the first member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations to do so. At a summit Wednesday in Rome, Abe agreed with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that they will pursue high-quality infrastructure that can achieve both economic growth and fiscal sustainability.

eu
brexit
europe
shinzo abe
donald tusk
jean-claude juncker
u.k .


Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to visit Saudi Arabia and Africa

Abstract: Foreign Minister Taro Kono will make separate visits to Saudi Arabia and Africa by the end of Golden Week, it was announced Friday. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Kono, who left for the Middle East the same day, hopes to hold talks with dignitaries including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Assaf, the Foreign Ministry said. The foreign minister will voice support for Saudi Arabia’s social reforms, including moves to advance women in society, before ending his visit on Monday. Also, Kono is expected to confirm cooperation between Japan and Saudi Arabia, chair country of Group of 20 summit in 2020, before Japan hosts this year’s G20 summit in Osaka in June. In addition, Kono announced Friday that he will visit the African countries of Angola, South Sudan and Ethiopia from Thursday until May 6 to meet with their leaders. Kono will be the first Japanese foreign minister to visit South Sudan, where the Self-Defense Forces are stationed as part of the command for the U.N. peacekeeping mission. “I hope to discuss mainly support for the peace process,” he said. The minister also showed interest in strengthening cooperation on business initiatives in Africa. Promoting investment in Africa is expected to be a key theme of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD VII, to be held in Yokohama in August.


Democratic Party for the People, Japan's second-largest opposition force, absorbs Ozawa's Liberals

Abstract: The second-largest opposition party, the Democratic Party for the People, on Friday absorbed a smaller opposition party in an attempt to bolster its strength ahead of an Upper House election this summer. The DPP, a splinter of the now-defunct Democratic Party, will maintain its name and basic policies after being joined by members of the Liberal Party. The DPP formed last May. “It’s the first step to creating an alternative to take over the reins of government in place of the Liberal Democratic Party (led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe),” Yuichiro Tamaki, who heads the DPP, said at a news conference. “We’ll continue to call on others to join.” With the merger, the Liberal Party will be disbanded. Six of its lawmakers will join the DPP. The DPP now has 40 lawmakers in the more powerful Lower House, up from 37, and the number in the Upper House increased to 24 from 21, coming closer to those of the main opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which has 54 seats in the House of Representatives and 24 in the House of Councilors. However, discussions within the DPP on whether to unite with the smaller party, co-headed by Ichiro Ozawa, who was once a power broker in Japanese politics, lasted about seven hours from Thursday night before reaching the conclusion. Some DPP lawmakers were against the merger and remain alert to the political influence of Ozawa. Ozawa was credited with helping the DP oust the LDP from power in 2009 after 54 years of near continuous rule but later triggered a split in the then-governing party as he and his allies strongly opposed its push for a consumption tax hike. Tamaki will remain as leader of the expanded party. Ozawa’s position has yet to be determined. At the news conference, Ozawa urged Yukio Edano, leader of the CDP, to play an active role in working toward mobilizing forces of all opposition parties. “It would be the best if CDP leader Yukio Edano makes a decision and tries gathering all opposition parties,” Ozawa said.

dpp
liberal party
yuichiro tamaki
ichiro ozawa


Number of abandoned homes in Japan edges up to record high of nearly 8.5 million

Abstract: The number of abandoned homes hit a record high of 8.46 million as of Oct. 1, rising by 260,000 over five years, government data showed Friday. Abandoned homes as a proportion of total housing stock also hit a record high at 13.6 percent, up 0.1 point from the previous survey five years earlier. The total number of homes in Japan increased by 1.8 million to 62.4 million, of which 53.7 million were occupied, up 1.6 million from the previous survey, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said. Yamanashi Prefecture had the highest proportion of abandoned homes at 21.3 percent, followed by Wakayama Prefecture at 20.3 percent. The prefectures with the lowest proportions of vacant homes were Saitama and Okinawa.

abandoned homes
housing
yamanashi
population
buildings
rural life
akiya


Japanese police officer quits after being busted for driving patrol cars without license

Abstract: SAITAMA - A police officer resigned Friday after it was revealed that she’d been driving patrol cars around the city of Kawagoe since November despite the fact she didn’t have a driving license. “I thought I’d be forced to resign from the Criminal Investigations Bureau if I admitted I didn’t have a license,” the Saitama Prefectural Police quoted the 22-year-old as saying. The police said earlier Friday that the officer, who belonged to the Kawagoe Police Station’s Criminal Affairs Division, had been referred to prosecutors and suspended for six months. Her referral was based on the allegation that she drove police cars four times in Kawagoe from Jan. 10 to 15. The officer, however, apparently got behind the wheel of Kawagoe’s police cruisers some 10 to 20 times before she was found out. Her secret came to light when she was questioned after an accident in the Kawagoe Police Station’s parking lot on Jan. 16. That forced her to reveal that she had been driving with only a motorcycle license. In reports submitted every April and October, the police officer wrote that she had been licensed to drive cars and midsize trucks or other vehicles. “It is extremely regrettable that a police officer has committed such an act,” said Katsuhiko Kondo, chief inspector of the Saitama Prefectural Police. “We will do our best to ensure this type of incident will not be repeated, by doing our utmost when advising our officers.”


Emperor Akihito performs last official duty outside Imperial Palace ahead of abdication

Abstract: Emperor Akihito took part in an award ceremony in Tokyo on Friday, in what was likely his last official duty outside the Imperial Palace ahead of his abdication next week. He appeared at the ceremony held by the Cabinet Office to present the Midori Prize, which is awarded to recipients who have made significant contributions to conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity in various areas, including science, policy, public awareness and practical action, according to the AEON Environmental Foundation, the founder of the award. The 85-year-old Emperor, who has reigned since January 1989, will step down on Tuesday, becoming the nation’s first monarch to do so in about two centuries. His eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne the following day. The Emperor’s final official duty will be the abdication ceremony at the state hall of the Imperial Palace on April 30. He is expected to deliver his final speech as emperor then. After retiring, he will not engage in any official duties. He already made his last trips earlier this month to the Grand Shrines of Ise, a complex of Shinto shrines in Mie Prefecture, and the mausoleum of his father, Emperor Showa, on the outskirts of Tokyo. He is scheduled to spend his final days as Emperor inside the palace, according to the Imperial Household Agency. Friday’s ceremony is an annual event that has been held since 2007, although it was canceled in 2011 due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region and again in 2016 when another major earthquake caused widespread damage in Kumamoto Prefecture.

emperor akihito
abdication
midori prize
imperial family
reiwa
imperial change


Japan grants first work permits under new blue-collar visa system to address labor crunch

Abstract: Japan has granted two working permits under the new visa system for blue-collar workers that came into force earlier this month to address the national labor shortage, the Justice Ministry announced Friday. The recipients are two Cambodian women in their 20s who came to Japan to be technical interns in the agricultural field. With the new visa status, they will be employed by a firm in Osaka Prefecture with branches in Wakayama Prefecture, where they have been undergoing technical training. They will be dispatched to Gobo in Wakayama to perform tasks including tilling and sowing. The ministry also granted permission for 18 others to stay in Japan who have come to the country under the lower-skilled trainee program and have applied for the new visas. The officials also said they plan to grant similar visas to another 45 applicants engaged mainly in agriculture. Under the new system, which came into force on April 1, up to 345,000 blue-collar workers are expected to come to the country over the next five years to work in 14 sectors, including construction and agriculture. As a rule, applicants must take tests to check their skills. But given that tests for those who are eligible for the new visas have not yet been introduced for most sectors, or the results are not yet known, the officials recognized the 20 applicants’ skills and experience from the prior technical training. “The foreigners who qualified had previously stayed in Japan as technical trainees and were given exemptions from the tests,” said an official with the Immigration Services Agency, which was upgraded from the Immigration Bureau on April 1 and established as an affiliate of the Justice Ministry. Those who have been granted the new permits can start working after they acquire new resident statuses through the Immigration Agency. None have qualified for the second type of visa, which can be renewed indefinitely as long as the holder is employed. People employed under this category will have higher skill levels than holders of the first type and will be permitted to bring their spouses and children to Japan. The officials also said they had granted licenses to eight organizations outsourced by firms accepting foreign workers under the new visa system to provide support throughout the dispatching process and execute the required procedures. Among them are small and midsize businesses, and public notaries. Such accreditation is mandatory to complete the screening process under the new visa program. So far, 1,176 firms have applied for it, with 1,168 awaiting recognition. The officials stressed they had not rejected any applicants and the working permits were granted only to those who successfully completed the application procedures and required paperwork on time. The officials admitted the time-consuming licensing process, which can take up to two months, is slowing down the procedures. But the immigration officials hope the policy measures introduced under the new visa system will make life easier for foreign blue-collar workers. The government has introduced a 126-point package of policy measures to provide greater assistance, including Japanese-language education programs. The technical trainee program, which many of the applicants have completed, has long been criticized for violating trainees’ rights and for exploiting migrant workers. Shoko Sasaki, 57, who on April 1 assumed the role of the first commissioner of the newly established Immigration Services Agency, said in a meeting with reporters Thursday that the new visa processes for blue-collar workers were going forward “slowly and quietly.” Sasaki said she was looking forward to seeing more companies and organizations getting licensed to provide support for foreign people in the belief that such professional assistance should help prevent potential abuses of the system. “I hope this will gain a foothold in the society,” Sasaki said of the support organizations.

immigration
foreign workers
jobs
expats
foreign trainees