Pompeo warns allies that permitting Huawei products could hinder cooperation with U.S.

Abstract: BUDAPEST - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned U.S. allies Monday against deploying equipment from Chinese telecoms gear manufacturer Huawei on their soil, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to “partner alongside them.” The United States and its Western allies believe Huawei Technologies’ apparatus could be used for espionage, and see its expansion into central Europe as a way for the firm to gain a foothold in the EU market. “We want to make sure we identify (to) them the opportunities and the risks of using that equipment,” Pompeo told reporters during a visit to the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Hungary was the first stop in Pompeo’s trip to central Europe, which will also include Slovakia and Poland, part of an effort to make up for a lack of U.S. engagement in the region that has opened the door to more Chinese and Russian influence, administration officials say. Washington is concerned in particular about the expansion of China’s Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of telecoms equipment, in Hungary and Poland. Huawei denies engaging in intelligence work for any government. It says its technologies serve 70 percent of Hungarians and that it cooperates with most telecoms providers in Hungary, including state-owned enterprises. “We have seen this all around the world, it also makes it more difficult for America to be present,” Pompeo said. “If that equipment is co-located where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them.” Pompeo announced plans for a defense cooperation agreement with Hungary, one of the European governments most enthusiastic about Chinese investment. But he said he had discussed “the dangers of allowing China to gain a bridgehead in Hungary” in talks with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. Budapest’s nationalist government, largely isolated politically in the European Union like that of Poland, hopes to buy mid-range air defense capabilities from the United States. In Poland, where Pompeo is set to arrive Tuesday, the government is considering banning Huawei from participating in the development of 5G capabilities after arresting a Chinese employee of Huawei and a former Polish security official on spying allegations last month. Both men have denied wrongdoing. It is also lobbying Washington for an increased military presence on its soil. Slovakia, which Pompeo is planned to visit before Poland, is looking to buy F-16 fighter jets. Pompeo’s tour includes a conference on the Middle East, hosted by Poland, where Washington hopes to build a coalition against Iran. He is also expected to voice concerns about energy ties with Moscow, and urge Hungary not to support the TurkStream pipeline — part of the Kremlin’s plans to bypass Ukraine, the main transit route for Russian gas to Europe. Hungary gets most of its gas from Russia and its main domestic source of electricity is the Paks nuclear power plant where Russia’s Rosatom is involved in a 12.5 billion-euro ($14 billion) expansion. It is also one of the EU states that benefit most from Chinese investment. Hungary’s Szijjarto brushed off U.S. concerns, saying Budapest was fulfilling its obligations to western allies as a member of the NATO military alliance. “When it comes to cooperation with Russia or cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, that does not harm us being reliable as a NATO ally,” he told a joint news conference with his U.S. counterpart. Pompeo discussed international concerns over the rule of law in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban is pressuring courts, media and non-governmental groups, during meetings in Budapest. “So many of the concerns that are voiced are things that have happened in the absence of America being engaged,” he told reporters.

huawei
mike pompeo
espionage
hungary
china
security


Air New Zealand flight reportedly turned away from China due to reference to Taiwan

Abstract: SYDNEY - An Air New Zealand plane on its way to Shanghai was forced to return to Auckland after several hours in the air Saturday because paperwork for the flight included a reference to Taiwan, Stuff reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The problem related to documentation from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority which was included as part of Air New Zealand’s application to allow the aircraft to land in China, the report said. Officials in Beijing had warned the airline to remove any references which suggested Taiwan was a state, however the issue was not resolved, according to the report. In an emailed statement the Auckland-based carrier said a Boeing Co. 787-9 Dreamliner that entered its fleet late last year and was not yet certified to fly to China was “unfortunately assigned” for the Shanghai flight. As the original application had lapsed, a fresh one was submitted, it added. “As is required, the application includes a list of destinations the airline operates to, including Taipei,” Air New Zealand said, without elaborating. China has waged a campaign to force global businesses to conform to its world view if they want to stay in its good graces, including a demand to refer to Taiwan as Chinese territory. The democratically governed island has been a central issue among the territorial disputes, especially after the Trump administration’s growing ties with the island’s President Tsai Ing-wen, who was elected from a pro-independence party. Some airlines, including American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc., Hawaiian Holdings Inc., Qantas Airways Ltd., Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG cooperated with China’s wishes on reference to Taiwan before a deadline last year. China and New Zealand were quick to downplay the controversy. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying blamed the flight’s temporary deployment hiccup as a reason for the denial of authorization to land in China, citing news reports she read online, according to the ministry’s website. “This airplane failed to obtain a landing permit with its destination and decided on its own accord to return en route,” she said. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in comments aired on a television channel, dismissed concerns the returned flight was a sign of strains between the two countries, adding the temporary plane wasn’t registered. “That was a consequence,” she said. China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the nationalist Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan after the civil war defeat in the 1940s. China’s Communist Party regards the island as its territory to be taken by force if necessary.

air new zealand
new zealand
china
taiwan
airlines
jacinda ardern


China's space debris cleanup may be cover story for arms against U.S. satellites, Pentagon says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - China is developing sophisticated space capabilities such as “satellite inspection and repair” and debris cleanup — “at least some of which could also function” as weapons against U.S. satellites, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The increase in what’s essentially orbiting garbage that could damage or destroy a satellite “has implications for policymakers worldwide and is encouraging the development of space debris removal technology,” the agency said Monday in an unclassified publication on threats to U.S. satellites. But “this technology is dual-use because it could be used to damage another satellite,” it said. Of about 21,000 large objects in space that are least 10 cm (4 inches) in size that are tracked and cataloged in Earth’s orbit, only about 1,800 are active satellites, according to the defense agency. The rest is debris, including parts of spacecraft. More than a third of all recorded debris is from two events: China’s use of a missile in 2007 to destroy a defunct satellite and the accidental collision between a U.S. communications satellite and a defunct Russian one in 2009. From 1998 through 2017, the International Space Station, which is in low Earth orbit, maneuvered at least 25 times to avoid potential orbital collisions, the intelligence agency said.

china
space
satellites
pentagon
weapons
u.s .


Vietnamese prime minister says being chosen to host second Trump-Kim summit is a positive sign

Abstract: HANOI/PYONGYANG - The choice of Vietnam as host of this month’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shows the Southeast Asian nation is headed in the right direction, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Tuesday. Last week, Trump said he would hold his second meeting with Kim in Hanoi on Feb. 27 and 28. That follows an unprecedented summit in June last year of the two leaders in the wealthy city state of Singapore. “This important event has shown that Vietnam’s investment environment is good, that Vietnam’s development model is going in a right direction and especially that the security and safety in Vietnam is wonderful,” Phuc told government officials at the Hanoi Stock Exchange. “Vietnam will demonstrate its international role and do its best to let the word ‘Vietnam’ ring out.” As Vietnam prepares for the summit, its reform model is being widely touted as the economic path for impoverished and isolated North Korea to follow. Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said North Korea could follow the example of Vietnam, adding that Trump believed Pyongyang could replicate Hanoi’s path to normal relations with Washington and to prosperity. Vietnam’s foreign minister arrived in North Korea on Tuesday and is expected to stay until Thursday. No further details of his schedule have been released by his North Korean hosts.

vietnam
donald trump
north korea
kim jong un
u.s .


Vietnamese woman flees during immigration checks at Narita airport

Abstract: The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau said Sunday that a Vietnamese woman fled during immigration checks at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture. The immigration bureau and the Chiba Prefectural Police are searching for the woman, 22, on suspicion of illegally entering Japan. According to the bureau, the woman arrived at Narita from Hanoi aboard a VietJet Air flight on Saturday morning. The woman told airport officials that she came to Japan to work under a technical training program. But as her technical trainee visa is valid only until May and her work contract has expired, the bureau was questioning her about the circumstances. The woman fled when she was briefly left unattended while being transferred to a facility for immigration checks from a different facility on Sunday morning. “The incident is very regrettable and we take it very seriously at a time when the government is strengthening border control measures in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,” said Hiroyuki Maeda, head of the general administration division at the immigration bureau’s Narita branch office. “We’ll take thorough preventive measures,” he added.


Tepco to deploy robot for first contact with melted fuel from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster

Abstract: The owner of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant is trying this week to touch melted fuel at the bottom of the plant for the first time since the disaster almost eight years ago, a tiny but key step toward retrieving the radioactive material amid a ¥21.5 trillion ($195 billion) cleanup effort. Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. will on Wednesday insert a robot developed by Toshiba Corp. to make contact with material believed to contain melted fuel inside the containment vessel of the unit 2 reactor, one of three units that melted down after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. “We plan to confirm if we can move or lift the debris or if it crumbles,” Joji Hara, a spokesman for Tepco said by phone Friday. Tepco doesn’t plan to collect samples during the survey. The country is seeking to clean up the Fukushima disaster, the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl, which prompted a mass shutdown of its reactors. Tepco will bear the bulk of the costs and faces the uphill task of removing the melted fuel in the reactor buildings. Because of the high radioactivity levels inside the facility, only specially designed robots can probe the unit. The Toshiba machine weighs about 1 kilogram and is equipped with a camera, thermometer and dosimeter, and has tongs that can check the solidity of deposits and lift roughly 2 kg, according to Hara and the company’s website. Japan aims by March 2020 to determine how to collect melted fuel from at least one of the three reactors and start retrieving it in 2021, according to a government road map. Decommissioning of the plant is estimated to take 30 to 40 years. Tepco is also planning a survey inside the containment vessel of the No. 1 unit sometime between April and September, which may include collecting a small portion of deposits, according to Hara.

tepco
robots
fukushima
fukushima no . 1
toshiba
energy
radiation
nuclear energy
nuclear waste


Kyōgen actor Nomura Man and two noh actors honored with French Order of Arts and Letters

Abstract: PARIS - Kyōgen actor Nomura Man and two noh actors were honored Sunday with the French Order of Arts and Letters for their contribution to promoting Japanese performing arts in France. Nomura, 89, received the rank of officer, the second of the award’s three degrees, while noh actors Umewaka Minoru, 70, and Asami Masakuni, 77, were made knights, the third degree. The awards were bestowed at a ceremony in Paris after they gave performances held as part of Japonismes 2018, a Japan-themed cultural event launched last summer in France to commemorate the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. “Today, I was on stage with my child and grandchild. I am deeply moved to receive the order and at a loss for words,” Nomura said. Kyōgen and noh comprise nōgaku , one of the traditional styles of Japanese theater, with the former performed between noh pieces as a comic interlude.


Four Chinese ships sail in Japanese waters near Senkaku Islands

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - Four Chinese government ships sailed for about two hours in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Monday, according to the Japan Coast Guard. It was the first such intrusion since Jan. 18 and the fourth this year. The four ships — the Haijing 1306, the Haijing 2306, the Haijing 2501 and the Haijing 33103 — entered Japanese waters at a location north-northwest of Uotsuri, the largest island in the Senkaku chain, between around 10:05 a.m. and 10:20 a.m., according to the Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. They all left the waters at a point west-southwest of the island between around 11:45 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. The Japan-administered islands are also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu.

senkakus
disputed islands
china-japan relations


Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano urges party to gird for Lower House poll

Abstract: Yukio Edano, leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told senior officials of the party’s local chapters on Monday to speed up the selection of candidates for a possible House of Representatives election this year. “If the Lower House is dissolved, we’re determined to respond to the challenge,” Edano said at a meeting of the CDP’s local leaders and election campaign managers. Edano issued the instruction after ruling coalition executives recently suggested the possibility of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolving the Lower House for an election on the same day as the triennial election for the House of Councilors this summer. “Whenever (the prime minster) loses patience and dissolves (the Lower House), we will work hard to make big strides and change the political current in a significant way,” Edano said. Regarding strategy for the unified local elections in April and the Upper House election, he urged local officials to approach voters who express a sense of distrust in existing politics and have avoided voting, seeing them as a new source of support. Referring to Abe’s description on Sunday of the government of the former Democratic Party of Japan, a predecessor of the CDP, as a “nightmare,” Edano said that the DPJ government may have been a nightmare for the Liberal Democratic Party — which was ousted from power by the DPJ — but that there were many good achievements by the DPJ government, including a drop in the number of suicides. Noting that concerns over old age and child care are growing under the Abe government, Edano said this is not a frightening dream but reality getting worse.

yukio edano
lower house
elections
cdp
dpj


Japan demands South Korean speaker retract call for Emperor's apology to 'comfort women'

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced a top South Korean lawmaker’s comments about Emperor Akihito as “extremely inappropriate,” ratcheting up already high tensions between the two neighbors. Abe told the Diet on Tuesday that Japan asked South Korea to apologize for National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang’s remarks last week describing Emperor Akihito as “the son of the main culprit of war crimes.” Moon made the statement in a Bloomberg interview Thursday in which he urged an imperial apology to resolve a dispute over the “comfort women.” The term comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. “When I read these remarks, I was really surprised,” Abe told lawmakers during the Lower House Budget Committee meeting in Tokyo. “Our country immediately conveyed to South Korea via the diplomatic route that Speaker Moon’s comments were extremely inappropriate and most regrettable. We protested strongly and called for an apology and a retraction.” Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga also told a news conference the same day that the remarks “were extremely inappropriate and deplorable,” adding Tokyo has lodged a “stern protest” with Seoul and demanded an apology through diplomatic channels. The South Korean government has told Japan that the report did not reflect Moon’s “true intentions” to seek an improvement in bilateral ties, according to Suga. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday that Moon’s remarks were intended to emphasize the suffering of the victims and that the country was committed to “future-oriented” ties. “Japan needs to show sincerity for honor, dignity and to heal the emotional pain of the victims based on a victim-centered approach,” the ministry said. The ministry confirmed Tuesday that it had received Japanese requests for an apology Sunday and Monday, but didn’t immediately respond to Abe’s latest remarks. The row comes at a time when bilateral ties have increasingly chilled over wartime issues related to Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945, as well as disputes over military activities. A standoff over the comfort women issue has been intensifying after South Korea said in November last year that it will dissolve a Japanese-funded foundation set up under a 2015 agreement designed to finally and irreversibly settle the issue. The South Korean assembly speaker’s interview came before the 85-year-old Emperor abdicates on April 30, the first living Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years. Bilateral ties have also soured over South Korean top court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for wartime labor, and a dispute over a South Korean navy vessel’s alleged locking of a fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane in December. Emperor Akihito expressed his “deepest regret” on May 24, 1990, over the “sufferings” Koreans experienced during Japan’s colonial rule. Addressing an Imperial Palace banquet for the visiting South Korean president, Roh Tae-woo, the Emperor said: “I think of the sufferings your people underwent during this unfortunate period, which was brought about by my country, and cannot but feel the deepest regret.” The Emperor’s statement was apparently aimed at putting an end to the long-standing dispute between the two countries over South Korea’s demand for a “clear-cut apology” by the emperor for the colonial rule. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono had cautioned Moon against making divisive remarks, without publicly demanding an apology. “We don’t yet know how South Korea will deal with this, but we expect a sincere response,” Kono told the Diet on Tuesday. Moon was in Washington, where he met with Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Sullivan on Monday. They pledged to strengthen trilateral cooperation with Japan, the State Department said. “It only takes one word from the prime minister, who represents Japan — I wish the emperor would do it since he will step down soon,” Moon said in the Bloomberg interview. “Isn’t he the son of the main culprit of war crimes?”

south korea
comfort women
emperor akihito
moon hee-sang
wwii
history


Half of new slots at Haneda airport to be given to Japanese and U.S. airlines

Abstract: Japanese and U.S. airlines will be allocated about half of the roughly 50 slots to be created at Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year, transport minister Keiichi Ishii said Tuesday. Japanese airlines will be given 12 daily slots and U.S. airlines will be given another 12, Ishii said, while indicating that the remainder will be allocated in accordance with the government target of attracting 40 million foreign travelers to Japan in 2020. “We will use (the new slots) to expand the number of visitors to Japan and enhance Japan’s international competitiveness,” he said at a news conference. Japan plans to introduce new flight paths over central Tokyo in the spring of 2020 to create the new arrival and departure slots at Haneda, which was already the world’s fourth busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic in 2017, according to Airports Council International. As many local residents are concerned about noise and objects falling from aircraft, the transport ministry has been holding a series of briefing sessions on the expected impact of the planned increase in flights at Haneda. “We will make use of formal procedures and decide (on the plan) after gaining local consent,” said Ishii. Last month, Japan reached a basic agreement with the United States to manage new routes for commercial flights in U.S. military-controlled airspace over part of Tokyo and surrounding areas. The agreement enables Japan to expand annual arrival and departure slots for international flights at Haneda from the current 60,000 to 99,000 before the 2020 games. The airspace, just west of the airport, has been controlled by U.S. forces since the postwar period. The flight restrictions have forced numerous commercial flights in and out of the airport to detour or fly at certain altitudes to avoid it, causing air traffic congestion. The tiered airspace, currently controlled by the U.S. military headquartered at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, has different levels at altitudes between about 2,400 and 7,000 meters and stretches over Tokyo and eight other prefectures. Under the deal, Japan will control the new routes that will go through part of the airspace. Located about 15 kilometers from central Tokyo, Haneda airport resumed hosting international flights in 2010 and has rapidly expanded services in recent years under the government policy of promoting tourism.


Overseas bookings skyrocket as 10-day Golden Week offers Japan rare chance to enjoy longer trips

Abstract: Reservations for travel overseas are surging for this year’s 10-day Golden Week period, during which the Imperial succession is set to take place, according to a JTB Corp. official. As of late January, the number of overseas reservations in the period from April 27 to May 6 had jumped 2.5-fold from a year before, the official said. Many package tours have already sold out at leading travel agencies, which are rushing to arrange additional tours using chartered flights. This year’s Golden Week includes 10 straight days of vacation including May 1, which has been designated as a one-off national holiday for when Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne, following Emperor Akihito’s abdication April 30. At H.I.S. Co., the number of reservations for overseas trips during Golden Week had more than tripled from the previous year as of mid-January. Golden Week trips usually go on sale after the New Year’s holidays. This time, however, “trips to popular destinations were mostly sold out in mid-November last year,” an H.I.S. official said. For those without any workdays during this year’s Golden Week, it is easier to plan ahead and fix travel dates earlier than usual, the official said. Reservations have increased for trips to distant locations such as Europe and the United States, which tend to be avoided during short holiday periods. At H.I.S., bookings for trips to Cairns, Australia, saw the largest growth from the previous year, up elevenfold, followed by those to New York and Los Angeles, which both jumped sevenfold. Package tours to popular destinations “sold out immediately, including those that we’ve offered additionally,” even though they tend to be more expensive than last year partly due to the longer duration, the H.I.S. official said. At JTB, package tours to Europe, the United States and Australia are popular. Luxury cruise ship tours to destinations such as Hong Kong and Taiwan are sold out. Cruise ship tours usually draw older people, but this year “we’ve seen many reservations from (young) families,” thanks to the unusually long holiday period, a JTB official said. Nippon Travel Agency Co. had enjoyed a 3.6-fold increase in overseas trip reservations as of late January. Eager to take advantage of the rare business opportunity, the company is rushing to arrange additional package tours to Italy, Spain and other European destinations that are popular this year, as well as those to traditionally popular holiday resorts such as Hawaii.


Nagoya firm Jtekt develops gnarly skateboard bearings ahead of sport's Tokyo Olympic debut

Abstract: Jtekt Corp., a Nagoya-based parts manufacturer affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., has developed an upgraded version of Ninja, the brand name for its bearings used for skateboards, ahead of skateboarding making its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games. By making use of its technological prowess in the manufacture of industrial robot bearings, the firm says it succeeded in creating skateboard bearings that can rotate at higher speeds while maintaining durability. The new type is already being tested by Kihana Ogawa, a 17-year-old skateboarder hoping to take part in the 2020 Games after representing Japan in last year’s Park Skateboarding World Championships. “I hope that skateboarding will attract attention at the (2020) Olympics, so that more people will become aware of the power of bearings,” said Yasuhiro Sakamoto, 47, head of the firm’s development team. A bearing is a component that supports the axis of rotation in machines, including vehicles, wind turbine generators and bullet train wheels. In skateboards, two bearings — each measuring 2.2 cm in diameter — are installed in each of their four wheels. Jtekt began selling skateboard bearings under the Ninja brand name in 1996, taking on a market dominated by overseas firms. Ninja gradually gained popularity among Japanese skateboarders, including top-class athletes, and they asked the firm to develop a new version that can spin faster to increase skateboards’ top-end speed. Most skateboard bearings are made of steel, but Jtekt used ceramic, which is harder and produces little friction. The product development team managed to make the wheels turn faster by reducing deformation in the inner wheel parts. This reduced friction caused by rotation. They also designed a wheel shape that is more resistant to landings after jumps by calculating the co-relationship between friction and the pressure on the wheels. “(My skateboard) is now speedier than before, so the level of my performance is higher,” says Ogawa, who has been testing the new bearings since last May. “I want to brush up my powerful skateboarding skills further.” Jtekt plans to put the new product on sale this spring. It is also considering accepting orders for adjustments for top-class skateboarders to meet their individual needs.

jtekt
skateboarding
bearings
kihana ogawa
2020 tokyo olympics


Visitors to Sapporo Snow Festival hit record 2.74 million thanks to weather and Chinese New Year tourists

Abstract: SAPPORO - The annual Sapporo Snow Festival, one of the nation’s largest winter events, attracted a record-high 2.74 million visitors thanks to good weather and an influx of Chinese vacationers during the Lunar New Year period, organizers said Tuesday. The event, held since 1950, was staged from late last month through Monday in Hokkaido’s capital city, overlapping with this year’s weeklong Chinese New Year holidays, which began Feb. 4. The record figure showed that both domestic and foreign visitors were “back completely” after a major earthquake in the prefecture last September caused declines in the number of tourists, according to the organizer. On Tuesday, tourists were able to watch the demolition of the snow and ice sculptures. This year there were some 190 exhibits, including those featuring women’s world No. 1-ranked tennis player Naomi Osaka and Helsinki Cathedral, the latter commemorating the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland. “It must be so hard to bring these sculptures down as I can see how thick they are. I feel sad in a sense that they have to be destroyed,” said Shiho Ono, 30, from Kanagawa Prefecture, as she watched demolition work at the Odori site in the city center. On Sept. 6 last year, Hokkaido was hit by a magnitude 6.7 quake that killed 42 people. The earthquake also caused a prefecture-wide blackout.

sapporo
sapporo snow festival
weather
hokkaido
china
tourism


Japan's temples turn to social media, video streaming and apps to lure visitors

Abstract: Temples across the country, including in the Chugoku region, are increasingly turning to mobile apps, videos and social media to entice visitors. Some temples even offer an app that adds up points each time an individual visits, while others livestream Buddhist services for people unable to attend in person. The Nichiren sect of Buddhism unveiled a free app called Gassho no Akashi , which translates roughly as Proof of Putting Palm to Palm in Prayer, in November. The app lists the sect’s temples and how to access them. When a user visits one of the temples in person and clicks on the button to check in on the app, mileage points are added and pictures of the main temple and others appear. Five points are awarded for a first-time visit to a temple. A point is added if the person visits the same temple again. Points can be exchanged for goods — prayer beads for 1,500 points, ¥1,000 worth of prepaid cards or incense sticks for 800 points and a mobile phone strap for 300 points. About 5,000 Nichiren-sect temples can be searched on the app, including 76 in Hiroshima Prefecture, 36 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, 163 in Okayama Prefecture, 67 in Shimane Prefecture and 40 in Tottori Prefecture. A 35-year-old female office worker from Naka Ward, Hiroshima, who earned points at Kokuzen Temple in Higashi Ward said it was her first time visiting the temple. “I saw the app and I was surprised to learn there are many Nichiren-sect temples around my house,” she said. Yoshiaki Okamoto, a 72-year-old priest at Kentoku Temple in the city of Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture, hopes the app will spark interest in temples located in depopulated areas. The app was created as part of the 800th anniversary, in 2021, of the birth of the priest whose teachings form the sect’s basis. “I would like to raise the degree of recognition of Nichiren-sect temples in the area,” said Koetsu Watanabe, a 54-year-old priest at Myofu Temple in Naka Ward and the leader of a Nichiren sect prefectural temple office. “I hope many young people will visit the temples to offer prayers.” More temples are livestreaming their religious services, including Saifuku-ji, a temple from the Jodo Shinshu sect, in the city of Higashihiroshima. It is targeting followers who have difficulty visiting the temple for various reasons, including the elderly. The temple started the streaming service in 2012. In 2014 it created an account on YouTube and has uploaded videos of sermons by guest lecturers from around the country. So far, about 50 sermons have been uploaded. Those videos have been viewed about 8,500 times. “I would like to deepen the connections with followers who are unable to visit for various reasons,” said Akira Negoro, the temple’s 46-year-old priest. “By protecting the heritage but trying something new, I hope the initiative will pique young people’s interest.” Shosei Sugawara, a 60-year-old priest at Sairaku Temple in Oda, Shimane Prefecture, who was invited to Saifuku as a guest lecturer last April, said he was nervous thinking that people outside the temple would be listening to his sermon. “But I am thankful it made more connections with people,” he said. Many temples also upload photos of religious events from season to season. Saizen-ji, a temple located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, for example, posts photos of special celebrations, including a market featuring homemade goods every fall, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. “I would like to promote the temple’s appeal by making information accessible,” said Kumiko Yoneda, a 44-year-old guardian of the temple. “I want people to know that everyone is welcome at temples, where people can get peace of mind by worshiping the Buddha.”

social media
streaming
apps
buddhism
hiroshima
religion


Japan's flamboyant 'Prince of Green Juice' arrested for alleged tax evasion

Abstract: A flamboyant entrepreneur known as the “Prince of Green Juice” was arrested for alleged tax evasion on Tuesday. Tokyo prosecutors raided beauty and diet product company Media Hearts Co., which President Yuta Misaki set up in 2007, over the evasion of about ¥180 million in taxes in the year to September 2015 and in the year to September 2017. Two other individuals were also arrested for allegedly helping him. The 29-year-old Misaki earned his moniker by changing public perceptions of aojiru (green-leafed vegetable juice), which he began marketing in 2014, from a bitter-tasting health regimen for the elderly into a trendy drink for young women. Misaki has frequently appeared on TV and internet programs as the so-called Prince of Green Juice. He also has a strong social media presence, which he has used to flaunt his wealth, including posts saying he made ¥100 million monthly, that he bought a villa and that he was late catching a plane because he had bought armfuls of luxury goods in Europe. He also complained on Twitter last December that Japan was “mean” to the rich, and moved to Malta that month to avoid paying taxes in Japan. “Tax authorities force brilliant high earners to leave for overseas by throttling them and bullying them,” he told Kyodo News. “I did not evade paying taxes,” Misaki said in response to the allegation. Prosecutors allege that Misaki dodged about ¥40 million in consumption tax and around ¥140 million in corporate tax by padding the company’s advertising expenses. Go Kato, 34, a company executive, and Yumiko Naito, 49, an outsourcing services operator, were arrested on suspicion they were accomplices. Media Hearts, which sells beauty and diet products for young women, had ¥12.1 billion in sales for the year through September 2017, compared with sales of ¥1.8 billion the year before.

juice
taxes
tax evasion
media hearts
yuta misaki


Not so much obliged: More Japanese women buying Valentine's chocolates for themselves, not colleagues

Abstract: More and more women in Japan are abandoning the tradition of giving obligatory chocolates to male coworkers on Valentine’s Day, instead using the occasion to treat themselves. The trend reflects shifting societal norms and consumer attitudes in the country, creating new opportunities and challenges for the chocolate industry. A week before Feb. 14, the seventh floor of Tokyo’s Ginza Mitsukoshi department store was packed with women peering into displays showcasing the exotic chocolates on offer. Hitomi Nakada, a shopper in her 40s who was visiting with a friend, says she buys herself something every Valentine’s Day. “It’s a must! I love chocolate, and some of these brands are only available this time of the year.” Valentine’s Day is big business in the country, where women have traditionally given the men in their lives — husbands and boyfriends, fathers, friends, coworkers — a box of chocolates. According to the Japan Anniversary Association, the domestic market for the occasion is estimated to be worth ¥126 billion ($1.1 billion) this year. While that still narrowly edges out Halloween, it’s a 3 percent drop from last year. The association partly attributes the decline to the growing perception that for bosses to expect a gift from their workers is an abuse of power. Last year, confectioner Godiva Japan Inc. drew attention on social media for putting out a full-page newspaper advertisement signed by President Jerome Chouchan calling for an end to obligatory chocolate-giving, or giri choko . Looking back, Chouchan says he put out the ad to make sure the giving was done in the right spirit. “Our question is whether the occasion is a happy moment for the givers. That is very important for us. So, if you really enjoy giri choko … we would like you to continue.” “However, if you feel bad in giving chocolate by obligation, we do not suggest you to continue. That’s the purpose of this ad: always be happy in selecting and giving chocolate.” Doing away with obligatory chocolate-giving, which Japanese men are expected to reciprocate a month later on White Day, has freed up women to spend a little more on themselves, and on their friends. Valentine’s Day has moved far past its romantic connotations and “we’re seeing more and more instances of women looking for an opportunity to get together with their girlfriends,” says Natsumi Akai, an assistant buyer at Ginza Mitsukoshi. Large, expensive chocolate boxes, some costing more than ¥10,000, are becoming more popular, she says, because they can be shared among women who throw small house parties. Fancy chocolates in photogenic packaging are also prime material to post on social media platforms such as Instagram. The chocolate industry hopes such demand can help cover for the drop in giri choko sales. Chouchan is optimistic, noting that Japanese only eat a fraction of the chocolate that Europeans consume, meaning “there will be more potential to grow.” Nakada, the shopper, says she still plans to hand out giri choko to friends and people to whom she wants to show gratitude. But while they weren’t cheap — around ¥2,000 each — she admits to spending three times that amount on herself. “I just want to reward myself sometimes, you know?”

women
chocolate
department stores
valentine 's day
retailers


Japan's auto labor unions submit requests, kicking off annual spring wage talks

Abstract: Annual spring wage negotiations got into full swing Wednesday as labor unions from Japan’s major automakers submitted their requests to management amid an uncertain global economic outlook. This year, Toyota Motor Corp.’s union, seen as the industry’s trendsetter, did not present a specific target for a hike in base pay, focusing instead on securing an overall improvement in benefits for employees. Workers at Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., meanwhile, stuck to demanding a monthly base wage hike of ¥3,000 as in last year’s talks. The automotive industry negotiations have a strong influence on other sectors. Most major Japanese companies are expected to respond to requests from labor unions on March 13. In recent years, monthly base pay hikes have picked up in some industries following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s repeated calls for wage rises to spur private consumption and fight chronic deflation in the country. Ahead of last year’s wage negotiations, Abe called for a pay-scale hike of 3 percent. Major Japanese companies increased wages by an average 2.53 percent, the highest since 1998, according to data from the Japan Business Federation, the country’s most powerful lobby, also known as Keidanren. This time, speaking in December, Abe refrained from mentioning an explicit figure but said he hopes Keidanren member companies raise wages for the sixth straight year. The lobby’s chairman, Hiroaki Nakanishi, who took the post last May, has made clear that he wants to depart from engaging in wage talks led by the government. He also wants Keidanren member companies to consider a more comprehensive approach to improving labor conditions. Nakanishi believes Japanese businesses, which face a severe labor crunch, need to explore ways other than simply raising monthly pay to help attract outstanding talent, such as promoting work-style reforms. He has said guaranteeing an improved environment for employees to achieve a better work-life balance is necessary to strengthen competitiveness amid uncertainty in the business world caused by factors such as U.S.-China trade friction and the U.K.’s exit from the European Union. The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions, with 780,000 members, has also decided not to set a numerical target for a pay-scale hike for the current wage talks. It says doing so may only cement existing disparities in pay between employees of larger and smaller companies.


Maduro calls for return of over '80 tons' of Venezuela's U.K.-deposited gold, instead of sending humanitarian aid

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has called on Britain to return “more than 80 tons of gold” reserves deposited in London instead of sending humanitarian aid, in an interview with the BBC. Venezuela is in the midst of an economic crisis as millions of people face shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicines. But Maduro refuses to allow in aid sent by the United States to alleviate the crisis. The socialist leader told the BBC, according to a transcript made public Tuesday, that his country may have gold reserves weighing 80 tons or more deposited at the Bank of England. Maduro, who faces a challenge to his authority back home from opposition leader Juan Guaido, said the gold is “legally Venezuela’s, it belongs to the Central Bank of Venezuela.” Maduro says the U.S. has frozen $10 billion in Venezuelan accounts through its sanctions. Washington has said it will turn over control of those resources to Guaido once Maduro has been removed from power. “They should send a convoy with the dollars they’ve stolen from us,” said Maduro, who claims that aid would be a pretext to a foreign intervention. “Send a convoy with the 80 tons of gold. Let it come, the convoy of money, it’s our money. With that we could solve our country’s problems.” The government is hamstrung by a serious lack of liquidity, aggravated by U.S. sanctions targeting both regime individuals and the state oil company PDVSA. Venezuela has spent months trying to repatriate its gold reserves from London. “I hope there will be respect for international law and the Central Bank of Venezuela,” said Maduro, who is under huge international pressure to leave power so self-proclaimed acting president Guaido can set up a transitional government and hold new elections. “Hopefully justice will prevail and Venezuela won’t be expropriated of something it owns,” added the socialist leader. Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela’s true leader by around 50 countries, has asked the British government to ensure the Bank of England doesn’t release the gold or other assets held there to Maduro. British Prime Minister Theresa May is one of the world leaders to have recognized Guaido. Maduro claims the government needs its foreign assets to alleviate the shortages of food and medicines, which he says is being used by the Washington-backed opposition to paint a picture of a humanitarian crisis to justify a U.S. military intervention. French corporate and investment bank Natixis claims Venezuela has 31 tons of gold worth $1.3 billion stashed in the Bank of England.

venezuela
gold
humanitarian aid
nicolas maduro
bbc
u.s .
u.k .
donald trump


Lawyers leading defense of Nissan ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn quit; veteran attorney joins legal team

Abstract: Two lawyers defending former Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct submitted their resignations on Wednesday, their law firm said in a statement. The shock decision was the latest twist in a saga that has gripped Japan and the business world since Ghosn’s arrest in November. There was no immediate explanation as to why the attorneys, including lead lawyer Motonari Otsuru, were quitting Ghosn’s defense team. A brief statement said only that “today Otsuru and (Masato) Oshikubo submitted letters of resignation to the court as the defense lawyers for the case of Mr. Ghosn.” The surprise decision came on the eve of an expected first meeting between the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors, and defense lawyers to discuss the outlines of Ghosn’s trial. Veteran lawyer Junichiro Hironaka, 73, confirmed that he had joined Ghosn’s legal team. Hironaka is a celebrated defense lawyer, known for taking on tough and high-profile cases and securing not-guilty verdicts in a country where prosecutors win nearly 99 percent of cases that go to trial. Among his achievements, Hironaka was involved in the successful defense in 2012 of influential politician Ichiro Ozawa, a shrewd election strategist accused of playing a role in misreporting political funds. Speaking outside his office, he told reporters: “I met with Mr. Ghosn and I met with his family and they said they want me to take the case. So I accepted.” The former Nissan executive has been in detention since Nov. 19 and faces three charges including underreporting his compensation and attempting to shift losses to his employer’s books. There had been no public sign of a rift between Ghosn and his lead lawyers, though neither the executive nor the attorney have spoken much publicly since the arrest. Otsuru gave a single news conference after Ghosn made a brief court appearance on Jan. 8 to challenge his ongoing detention. The defense lawyer cut a cautious figure at the press event, telling journalists that his client was unlikely to make bail before his case came to court, which he said could take six months. He also pointedly declined to criticize Ghosn’s detention conditions, despite some international concern about the repeated extension of the auto executive’s pre-trial detention. He said he was meeting Ghosn regularly for several hours at a time, describing his then-client as focused. “He’s very calm and logical in his current situation,” Otsuru said. Although he has taken on some of Japan’s most high-profile cases, Otsuru is known for maintaining a low media profile and little is known about his personal life. A former prosecutor, the bespectacled 63-year-old with floppy graying hair earned the nickname “the breaker” as he was so good at extracting confessions from suspects. In a twist of fate, representing Ghosn had pitted him against prosecutor Hiroshi Morimoto, a former colleague. It was not immediately clear who would now be representing Ghosn, who has lost his leadership roles at Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Renault SA. The Franco-Brazilian-Lebanese executive denies the allegations against him and slammed his ongoing detention in an interview with AFP and French newspaper Les Echos earlier this month. He said the decision to refuse him bail “would not be normal in any other democracy.” “Why am I being punished before being found guilty?” Ghosn asked in an interview at the Tokyo detention center. Ghosn is accused of underreporting his income between 2010 and 2015 to the tune of ¥5 billion and continuing to do so for a further three years. He also stands accused of a complex scheme to try to pass off personal foreign exchange losses to Nissan and using company funds to reimburse a Saudi contact who stumped up collateral for him. He said that the allegations against him and his arrest were “a story of betrayal,” insisting “there is not one yen that I have received that was not reported.”

nissan
carlos ghosn
courts
corruption
scandals
carmakers


Nikkei ends above 21,000 for first time in two months

Abstract: Stocks gained further ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday thanks to an overnight advance in U.S. equities, with the key Nikkei average closing above 21,000 for the first time in almost two months. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 280.27 points, or 1.34 percent, to end at 21,144.48, the first finish above 21,000 since Dec. 18. On Tuesday, the key market gauge surged 531.04 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 16.73 points, or 1.06 percent, at 1,589.33, after climbing 33.20 points the previous day. The Nikkei recovered the psychologically important line of 21,000 as soon as the Tokyo market opened. Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., said that market participants “bought back (Japanese stocks) hastily after the U.S. equities’ surge” on Tuesday. According to an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm, optimism that another U.S. government shutdown will be averted partly contributed to Wednesday’s rise. A risk-on mood spread in the Tokyo market as fears receded to some extent over the U.S.-China trade row after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the possibility on Tuesday that he would extend the March 1 deadline for a trade deal between the United States and China, brokers said. Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., indicated that futures-linked purchases of Japanese stocks were spurred by Trump’s suggestion. But “it is uncertain whether the Nikkei will consolidate its downside above 21,000” from now on, Miura also said, noting that selling on a rally emerged after the index rose above the threshold. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,343 to 709 in the TSE’s first section, while 75 issues were unchanged. Volume inched down to 1.413 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.460 billion shares. Oil firm Inpex Corp. jumped 12.46 percent following upward revisions in its consolidated profit estimates for the year ending in March. Also on the plus side were technology conglomerate Softbank Group Corp. and cosmetics producer Shiseido Co. By contrast, Kuraray Co. closed 2 percent lower, with investor sentiment battered by the chemical-maker’s downward revision in its operating profit forecast for the year through December last year, brokers said. Other major losers included drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. and Tokai Carbon Co. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average climbed 280 points to 21,160.

nikkei
stocks
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Dollar slightly firmer around ¥110.70 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar was slightly stronger around ¥110.70 in Tokyo trading late Wednesday, supported by higher Japanese stock prices. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.68-69, up from ¥110.61-61 at the same time on Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1319-1319, up from $1.1284-1285, and at ¥125.29-29, up from ¥124.83-83. The dollar moved mainly around ¥110.40-50 in early trading before rising above ¥110.60 toward noon thanks to a continued rise in the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average and higher long-term U.S. interest rates. In afternoon trading, the dollar firmed close to ¥110.70 on the back of growing hope for progress in U.S.-China trade talks, before being pressured by selling on a rally. In late hours, a wait-and-see mood prevailed prior to the announcement of the U.S. consumer price index for January later on Wednesday, traders said. The dollar is highly likely to fall against the yen depending on news reports on U.S.-China trade talks as the U.S. currency has been bought on hope for progress in the negotiations, a currency broker said. An official of an asset management firm said that currency market players are likely to find it difficult to tilt their positions either way before seeing the outcome of a two-day U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks through Friday.


Toshiba cuts fiscal 2018 profit outlook on sluggish semiconductor sector

Abstract: Toshiba Corp. on Wednesday sharply downgraded its group operating profit forecast for the fiscal year through March, due mainly to losses and additional costs stemming from its semiconductor manufacturing equipment and energy businesses. Toshiba now expects its group operating profit to stand at ¥20 billion ($181 million) for fiscal 2018, compared with an estimate of ¥60 billion released in November. Toshiba attributed the downgrade to a ¥9.8 billion asset impairment loss incurred by its semiconductor equipment unit NuFlare Technology Inc. amid a sharp fall in its stock prices. Growing costs in its energy business also dragged down the company’s earnings forecast, Toshiba said. The technology conglomerate also cut its group net profit outlook for fiscal 2018 to ¥870 billion from a previous forecast of ¥920 billion on a sluggish performance by Toshiba Memory Corp., in which the company retains a 40.2 percent stake after selling it in June to a Japan-U.S.-South Korean consortium. Still, Toshiba’s fiscal 2018 group net profit is expected to rise 8.2 percent from the previous year due to the sale of the chip unit for ¥2 trillion. Toshiba has been revamping its operations following an accounting fraud scandal that came to light in 2015 and the bankruptcy of its U.S. nuclear power plant subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2017. Although the company is trying to shed its loss-making businesses and slash costs, it continues to struggle to find new growth drivers in the absence of the money-making chip unit. Toshiba maintains its targets of raising its operating profit margin — the ratio of operating profit to sales — to more than 4 percent in fiscal 2019 ending March 2020 and to over 8 percent for fiscal 2023 in its five-year medium-term plan starting in April. In fiscal 2018, the ratio is projected to stand at 0.6 percent. In the nine months through December, Toshiba’s group net profit rose to ¥1.02 trillion from ¥27.04 billion a year earlier. Its consolidated operating profit in the April-December period plunged 85.2 percent to ¥8.2 billion. Sales were down 5.5 percent at ¥2.65 trillion.

toshiba
semiconductors
energy
financial results


Austrians push government for legally protected paternity leave for all fathers

Abstract: VIENNA - Austria’s leaders are coming under increasing pressure to grant statutory paternity leave to all fathers, despite fierce resistance in business circles. Austria has allowed fathers to take an unpaid month off following the birth of their children — the “Papamonat” (“daddy’s month”) — since 2017, but at the employer’s discretion. During the four weeks, the new dads receive €700 ($790) in social security payments — a right the country’s opposition parties want to extend to all fathers without the need for a boss’s approval. The Social Democrats, Greens and liberal NEOS party are calling for the change, as well as the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the junior partner in the ruling coalition with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s conservatives. Deputy Chancellor and FPOe chief Heinz-Christian Strache returned to work this week after taking a month off following the birth of his son, Hendrik, on Jan. 1. “The time enables you as a father to form an important bond with your child, and it is really good,” the 49-year-old said. More than 8 percent of new dads — 7,338 in all — took advantage of the Papamonat in 2018, and its supporters say demand is growing. Nevertheless, the push for statutory paternity leave is putting the business-friendly ruling Austrian People’s Party (OeVP) in a difficult position. Companies and employers point to the booming economy, in which unemployment is low at 4.7 percent but a lack of qualified personnel is beginning to make itself felt. “It’s very difficult for a small company with only a few workers to cope with the prolonged absence of an employee,” argued Karlheinz Kopf, head of the employers’ association WKOe. “It’s an enormous challenge for SMEs,” small and medium-size enterprises. “These should not be penalized, as they form the backbone of the Austrian economy.” OeVP Economy Minister Margarete Schramboeck agreed. “You can’t further penalize companies that already pay heavy welfare charges without threatening jobs,” she argued. The OeVP and businesses point out the EU has already agreed to bring in paternity leave lasting a minimum of 10 days, during which the fathers would receive an equivalent amount to sick pay. But the measure, which has yet to come into force, would not prevent Austria from going still further, observers say. “Given the number of studies that prove the benefits of forming a close father-child bond very early on, there should be no question mark over the Papamonat,” said the head of the Austrian psychologists’ association BOeP, Beate Wimmer-Puchinger. Opinion polls seem to suggest that the majority of Austrians are in favor of statutory paternity leave. According to one poll carried out by Unique Research for the weekly magazine Profil, 56 percent said they definitely supported the Papamonat. A further 25 percent were in favor “in principle,” while only 10 percent were against it. One Vienna-based dad, Daniel Bohmann, who heads Kinderfreunde, a group that lobbies for the interests of children and families, said he was looking forward to going on paternity leave. “In a few days, I’m off on my Papamonat. It is fabulous and I’m looking forward to it. It would be even better if every father could do it,” he tweeted.

austria
paternity leave
children
jobs
men
parenthood


Eleven EU states have already met their 2020 renewable energy targets, data shows

Abstract: BRUSSELS - The European Union produced 17.5 percent of its power needs from renewable sources in 2017, while 11 of the bloc’s 28 members had already achieved a 2020 goal of 20 percent or more, the latest data released by Eurostat showed. Renewables, such as wind, solar and hydro power, accounted for 17 percent of the energy mix in the EU in 2016 and 8.5 percent in 2004, the first year for which figures were available, Eurostat said. The 2020 target is a stepping stone to the goal of 32 percent in 2030. “The EU is on track to meet its 2020 renewable target, with 11 member states already above their national targets,” said Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, who has called for the bloc to aim for net zero emissions. The report said Sweden had the highest share of renewable energy consumption, with more than half its energy coming from renewable sources in 2017. Luxembourg had the lowest proportion, with renewables accounting for just 6.4 percent of energy use. The Netherlands, France, Ireland, Britain, Poland and Belgium were among EU nations still a few percentage points off their 2020 objective, as of 2017. European Environment Agency said last year the bloc’s shift toward renewable energy was slowing, putting its ability to meet its 2020 and 2030 targets at risk. The targets are part of the bloc’s overall drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2 degrees.

eu renewables energy wind solar environment europe


Climate change threatens U.S. bases and will fuel social disorder, top admiral says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Climate change and a deteriorating environment are likely to fuel social disorder and could threaten some U.S. military bases, a top admiral said Tuesday. Adm. Philip Davidson, who heads the U.S. military’s vast Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers he concurred with a recent assessment from the U.S. intelligence community that listed climate change as a global threat. “The immediate manifestation is the number of ecological disaster events that are happening,” Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee. The intelligence report states: “Damage to communication, energy, and transportation infrastructure could affect low-lying military bases, inflict economic costs, and cause human displacement and loss of life.” When Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a top Democrat who is running for president in 2020, asked if he agreed, Davidson said, “Yes ma’am,” and went on to describe a recent mission in Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where U.S. troops helped clear up after Typhoon Yutu. The United States is one of a dwindling number of nations where climate change and its impacts are politicized, and the Republican Party is loath to take action to reduce carbon emissions. President Donald Trump, who has previously called climate change a Chinese hoax, has delighted in dismissing the phenomenon. During a record cold spell last month he joked on Twitter that the world needed more global warming. The Pentagon recently put out its own climate change report, which critics slammed as understating the scope of the problem. That report looked at 79 “priority” facilities around the U.S. and found many vulnerable to flooding and wildfires, as well as the impacts of desertification, drought and melting permafrost. Hurricane Michael last year wrecked Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. It will cost more than $5 billion to rebuild.

climate change
elizabeth warren
tinian
donald trump
u.s. bases


Turn down the volume: WHO takes aim at harmful smartphone use, saying over 1 billion people at risk

Abstract: GENEVA - More than 1 billion young people risk damaging their hearing through excessive use of smartphones and other audio devices, the U.N. warned Tuesday, proposing new safety standards for safe volume levels. In a bid to safeguard hearing, the World Health Organization and International Telecommunications Union issued a non-binding international standard for the manufacture and use of audio devices. Young people are particularly prone to risky listening habits. Around half of those between the ages of 12 and 35, or 1.1 billion people, are at risk due to “prolonged and excessive exposure to loud sounds, including music they listen to through personal audio devices,” the UN health agency said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out that the world already has “the technological know-how to prevent hearing loss.” “It should not be the case that so many young people continue to damage their hearing while listening to music,” he said in the statement. Young people, he said, “must understand that once they lose their hearing, it won’t come back.” Currently, about 5 percent of the global population, or some 466 million people, including 34 million children, suffer from disabling hearing loss. WHO said it remained unclear how many of them had damaged their hearing through dangerous use of audio devices. It insisted though that the new standard developed with ITU would go a long way to “safeguard these young consumers as they go about doing something they enjoy.” WHO considers a volume above 85 decibels for eight hours or 100 decibels for 15 minutes as unsafe. The Safe listening devices and systems standard calls for a “sound allowance” software to be included in all audio devices, to track the volume level and duration of a user’s exposure to sound, and to evaluate the risk posed to their hearing. This system could alert a user if they have dangerous listening habits. WHO is also calling for parental as well as automatic volume controls on audio devices to prevent dangerous use. While some smartphones and other audio devices already offer some of these features, the U.N. would like to see a uniform standard used to help protect against disabling hearing loss. “Think of it like driving on a highway, but without a speedometer in your car or a speed limit,” Shelly Chadha of the WHO told reporters in Geneva. “What we’ve proposed is that your smartphones come fitted with a speedometer, with a measurement system which tells you how much sound you’re getting and tells you if you are going over the limit.”


Wisdom, at 68 the world's oldest known wild bird, hatches chick on Midway Atoll

Abstract: HONOLULU - The oldest known wild bird in the world has become a mother again at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. wildlife officials said. The Laysan albatross named Wisdom hatched a chick earlier this month at the remote atoll northwest of Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday. Wisdom is at least 68 years old and has raised at least 31 chicks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said. Wisdom was first banded as an adult in 1956. Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, have been returning to the atoll to lay and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life and lay one egg per year. “She’s incredibly powerful as a symbol of why we do what we do and why people all over the world pay attention to her,” said Beth Flint, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. “Wisdom is rewriting history about our understanding of survivorship, how long birds live, and how often they breed.” Albatross parents take turn incubating an egg for about seven months. Chicks fly out to sea about five to six months after hatching. They spend most of their lives flying over the ocean — feeding on squid and fish eggs. Midway Atoll is home to about 3 million seabirds, including about 1 million albatrosses. They return to the places of their birth to nest and raise their young, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. “Midway Atoll’s habitat doesn’t just contain millions of birds, it contains countless generations and families of albatrosses,” said Kelly Goodale, biologist at the refuge. “If you can imagine when Wisdom returns home she is likely surrounded by what were once her chicks and potentially their chicks.”

birds
midway atoll
laysan albatross
hawaii
akeakamai
animals


Trudeau Cabinet minister resigns amid allegations she was pressured to not prosecute firm for corruption

Abstract: TORONTO - A Canadian minister announced Tuesday that she was quitting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet — a move that follows allegations his office pressured her to avoid prosecuting a major Canadian engineering firm. Veterans Affairs Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was demoted from the post of justice minister last month, released a letter announcing her resignation but gave no reasons. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported last week that Trudeau or his staff pressured her to arrange a deal with Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin that would let it avoid criminal prosecution on allegations of corruption involving government contracts in Libya. Trudeau said he was “puzzled” and “surprised and disappointed” by her decision. “Allow me to very clear. Our government did its job properly and according to all the rules,” Trudeau said. The prime minister said Wilson-Raybould never came to him in the fall with concerns the government was not acting properly. “It was her responsibility to come directly to me and highlight that,” he said. “To be honest, I don’t entirely understand why Jody Wilson-Raybould made the decision she did.” Wilson-Raybould said she has hired a former Supreme Court justice to advise her on what she can say publicly about the matter. Her resignation is a potential blow to Trudeau ahead of an election this year. He has denied directing Wilson-Raybould to arrange a deal. On Monday, Trudeau said he had told Wilson-Raybould previously that any decision on the subject was hers alone. Trudeau also said her continued presence in the Cabinet should speak for itself. But later Monday night she told him she was quitting the Cabinet. “Regardless of background, geography, or party affiliation, we must stand together for the values that Canada is built on,” Wilson-Raybould said in her resignation letter. The Globe and Mail’s report said Trudeau’s office pressured her to instruct the director of public prosecutions — as allowed by law — to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin. The agreement would have allowed the company to pay reparations but avoid a criminal trial on charges of corruption and bribery. If convicted criminally, the company would be banned from receiving any federal government business for a decade. SNC-Lavalin is a major employer in Quebec, with about 3,400 employees in the province, 9,000 in Canada overall and more than 50,000 worldwide. The company released a public letter to Canadians last October complaining it had not been offered a remediation agreement and noting that “innocent stakeholders continue to bear all the brunt of this uncertainty — including all 52,000 current employees who have no responsibility for any past misconduct.” The company also said foreign companies with similar issues are able to work freely in Canada and around the world because of such settlement agreements in place in their own countries. On Monday, Canada’s ethics commissioner announced an investigation into the allegation. Andrew Scheer, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said Trudeau is trying to hide the truth and the scandal has thrown the government into “chaos.” “Yesterday he tried to reassure Canadians that nothing unethical took place. In fact, he said that Mrs. Wilson-Raybould’s presence in Cabinet should speak for itself,” Scheer said. “Today her resignation speaks for itself.” Wilson-Raybould became Canada’s first indigenous justice minister when Trudeau appointed her to the post in 2015. Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto, said her quitting is a blow to Trudeau’s efforts for reconciliation with aboriginals. “The symbolism of her quitting after being touted as Trudeau’s bridge to the aboriginal community and as a symbol of the place they could aspire to in Canadian society — the loss of that is dreadful,” he said.

justin trudeau
jody wilson-raybould
snc-lavalin
libya
canada
scandal


BBC seeks security review after police fail to halt Trump supporter who attacked cameraman at Texas rally

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The British Broadcasting Corporation asked the White House for a review of security arrangements on Tuesday after a BBC cameraman was assaulted at a Donald Trump rally. BBC cameraman Ron Skeans was attacked by a Trump supporter yelling anti-media slogans during the U.S. president’s rally in El Paso, Texas, Monday night. Skeans was unhurt and the man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat was restrained and removed from the riser where the media had assembled. Paul Danahar, the BBC’s Americas bureau editor, said in a tweet that he had asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders for a “full review of security arrangements after last night’s attack.” “Access into the media area was unsupervised,” Danahar said. “No one in law enforcement intervened before, during or after the attack.” BBC Washington correspondent Gary O’Donoghue, who was covering the El Paso event, said his cameraman was pushed and shoved by the unidentified assailant “after the president repeatedly goaded the crowd over supposed media bias.” He said the man attempted to smash the BBC camera. “Happily Ron is fine,” O’Donoghue said. Trump paused his remarks following the commotion in the crowd and — pointing at the media — asked “You alright? Everything OK?” Trump repeatedly denounces the media as the “enemy of the people” and frequently condemns critical reports about his administration as “fake news.” New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger urged Trump during an interview last month to tone down what he called his “potentially dangerous” rhetoric towards the press.

bbc
texas
donald trump
media
el paso
sarah sanders


Acting Pentagon chief makes surprise Iraq visit to reassure Baghdad after latest Trump remarks

Abstract: BAGHDAD - Acting U.S. defense chief Patrick Shanahan told Iraqi leaders that Washington understood its forces were in Iraq at Baghdad’s invitation, aiming to steady relations after President Donald Trump said U.S. troops were needed to keep an eye on Iran. Shanahan met Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi during an unannounced trip to Baghdad on Tuesday. “I made very clear that we recognize their sovereignty, their focus on independence and that we are there at the invitation of the government,” Shanahan told reporters. Trump infuriated Iraqi politicians this month by saying that a U.S. presence was needed in Iraq to observe Iran. Washington, which occupied Iraq from 2003-2011, now has around 5,200 troops in Iraq at the request of the Baghdad government to help fight against Islamic State. Iraq is an ally of both the United States and Iran, and its politics are often dominated by efforts to balance relations with two powerful countries that are bitter enemies. Trump’s suggestion that Iran was the target of the U.S. presence in Iraq was denounced across the political spectrum in Baghdad last week, including by Abdul Mahdi. President Barham Salih said the U.S. troops must stick to their anti-Islamic State mission; Iran-aligned politicians in Iraq’s parliament pressed demands that the U.S. mission be scaled back. The uproar came just months after Trump angered Iraqi leaders on his only visit to the country so far. On the day after Christmas Trump stopped only at a U.S. air base in the remote desert. Unlike predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush, he skipped Baghdad and met no Iraqi officials. Shanahan said the topic of U.S. troops in Iraq and Trump’s Iran comments did not come up during his talks with Abdul Mahdi, but the prime minister told him that Iraq needed to maintain strong relations with both Washington and Tehran. “There is activity in their legislature … the discussions have been should they restrict the number of U.S. forces in Iraq and I wanted to make clear to (Abdul Mahdi) that we recognize our role, we understand that we are there by invitation,” Shanahan said. Speaking after meeting with Shanahan, Abdul Mahdi said he respected the decisions of the parliament. “The government has its view and the political blocs have theirs,” he said. U.S. officials have criss-crossed the Middle East in recent months to reassure allies that Washington remains committed to the region, after Trump announced in December that he would abruptly withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. That decision was opposed by top aides, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit, leaving his deputy, Shanahan, in charge of the Pentagon. Shanahan met with U.S. military commanders while in Iraq to get an update on the fight against Islamic State. U.S.-backed fighters have mounted an attack against Islamic State’s last bastion in eastern Syria. U.S. officials have long estimated that the Syria pullout could take until sometime in March or April to execute fully, but have been reluctant to set an exact timeline given hard-to-predict battlefield conditions. Islamic State was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017, but continues to wage small-scale insurgent attacks in some areas.

pentagon
iraq
patrick shanahan
donald trump
iran
adel abdul mahdi
islamic state
syria
jim mattis
u.s .


Bulgaria freezes suspicious payments from Venezuela

Abstract: SOFIA - Bulgaria and the United States have halted what they believe could be a scheme to illegally channel money out of Venezuela, which is under sanctions from Washington amid the ongoing political crisis in the South American country, officials said Tuesday. Bulgarian officials and U.S. Ambassador Eric Rubin told a news briefing that “millions of euros” in payments from Venezuela’s state oil company PVDSA had been seized in bank accounts in Bulgaria. The funds — ostensibly earmarked for the purchase of food and to finance a Venezuelan sports federation — had been paid into a number of accounts held by a lawyer with dual Bulgarian and foreign nationality, who had now left the country. Some of the money had already been transferred out of the accounts to other countries, Bulgarian chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said. The Bulgarian and U.S. authorities suspect that the reasons given for the money transfers “have nothing to do with reality,” he said. “We will most probably open a probe for money laundering,” Tsatsarov continued, adding that the authorities refused to confirm at this stage whether the transfers were related to the current political crisis in Venezuela. “We have undertaken measures to place the remaining funds, which are quite substantial, under control in order to prevent them being taken out of the country,” Tsatsarov said. Bulgaria’s central bank and its national security agency, DANS, were checking whether similar transfers had been made into other accounts in the country, said DANS chief Dimitar Georgiev. US ambassador Rubin said it was “critical” to “stop the illegal transfer of funds to support the illegal authorities in Venezuela.” The U.S. was working with its European partners “to ensure the wealth of the people in Venezuela is not stolen,” he said. Oil makes up 96 percent of the revenue of crisis-hit Venezuela and Washington is using sanctions to try to starve the regime of Nicolas Maduro, while backing opposition leader and self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido. In a tweet on Sunday, Guaido’s aide and commissioner of finance Carlos Paparoni warned that the state-owned PDVSA oil company had been illegally wiring funds through Bulgarian accounts.

bulgaria
sanctions
political crisis
venezuela . united states
bank transfers
illegal money


U.S. immigration officer union opposes Trump pick to lead ICE, citing past racially tinged remarks

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A union representing U.S. immigration and customs agents urged the Senate on Tuesday to block confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the immigration enforcement agency, citing past racially tinged and controversial comments. The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, which represents more than 7,000 agents, endorsed Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But it opposes the Republican president’s nomination of Ronald Vitiello to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. A letter from union President Chris Crane to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, seen by Reuters, said the nominee’s prior offensive tweets demonstrate he “lacks the judgment and professionalism to effectively lead a federal agency.” Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman, said on Tuesday that the Twitter posts by Vitiello were made from a private account while he was off duty, and that the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) had investigated the matter and cleared him of any wrongdoing. “The National ICE Council’s focus on a couple of old tweets that have been investigated and addressed is a disservice to the men and women of ICE,” he said, adding that Vitiello has already made a positive impact on ICE during his brief tenure. The Senate committee is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on whether to approve Vitiello’s nomination and send it to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Vitiello, a former top Customs and Border Protection official, was named as ICE’s acting director in the summer, shortly after Trump ended a contentious policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. Vitiello could face some opposition from Democrats, particularly after he refused during his confirmation hearing on Nov. 15 to rule out reinstating the child separation policy. “We will get less people bringing their children. So it is an option,” he said at the time. Tuesday’s letter marked the first time the union has openly opposed the nomination of any presidential appointee, the union letter said. The union broke with its parent organization, the American Federation of Government Employees, when it endorsed Trump in 2016. In the letter, Crane cited numerous concerns that ranged from allegations of whistleblower retaliation and lying to lawmakers during Vitiello’s confirmation process, to offensive tweets that Vitiello made while serving at Customs and Border Protection. In one social media post, Vitiello suggested the Democratic Party should be renamed as “NeoKlanist,” a reference to the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group, and in another Vitiello compared then-candidate Trump to the troublemaking Dennis the Menace newspaper comic character. At the time he did this, Crane wrote, Vitiello’s Twitter account showed him wearing a Border Patrol uniform. Crane wrote that such comments violate official codes of conduct at the Department of Homeland Security and could jeopardize criminal cases that go to trial because they could be used by the defense to impeach ICE’s credibility. “This type of conduct would result in a rank and file ICE employee being disciplined, if not possibly removed from employment,” Crane wrote. “We are not aware that Mr. Vitiello was ever disciplined for his actions and instead of being demoted or fired, if confirmed as ICE Director, he will be promoted to the highest position in one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies,” the union president wrote. The nominee told lawmakers during the hearing that his tweet about the Democratic Party was a mistake. “I was trying to make a joke,” Vitiello said at the time, adding that he thought he was sending it as a private direct message on Twitter rather than publicly on the social media platform, and that he deeply regretted it. Whether the union’s opposition to Vitiello could move the needle enough to block him will largely turn on how Republicans respond. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, and only a simple majority in the 100-seat chamber is needed to approve a nomination. Republican Sen. James Lankford, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, said in a hallway interview Tuesday he has real concerns about Vitiello, but declined to elaborate ahead of the panel’s vote. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson told Reuters he plans to proceed with the vote, but that he understands the union’s concerns. The White House did not have an immediate comment.

immigration
donald trump
ronald vitiello
u.s .
racism


Mike Pompeo in Slovakia says Putin is threatening democracies worldwide and warns against China meddling

Abstract: BRATISLAVA - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin posed a threat to democracies worldwide as he arrived in Slovakia, the latest stop on a Central European charm offensive aimed at curbing the growing influence of both Moscow and Beijing. “Vladimir Putin is intent on undermining democracies throughout the world, make no mistake about it. We should be very candid about that,” Pompeo told journalism students in the capital Bratislava. He later warned Slovaks about the “the need to guard against China’s economic and other efforts to create dependence and manipulate your political system.” Pompeo is seeking to highlight the U.S. role in the fall of communism three decades ago at a time when Putin finds a widening audience in the former Eastern bloc. The first U.S. secretary of state to visit Slovakia in 14 years, Pompeo told President Andrej Kiska: “It’s been too long since America has been deeply engaged here.” He met with five former political prisoners at a memorial to the so-called Gate of Freedom on the border with Austria, where 400 people were killed from 1945 to 1989 as they tried to break through the Iron Curtain to the West. “Where barbed wire and armed guards stood, today people, goods and information cross freely,” Pompeo said. “The United States has stood with the people of Slovakia as a friend, as a partner … for the past 30 years, and we will continue to stand with you in the decades to come. “On behalf of the United States I’m proud to stand in union with the people of Slovakia and Europe in recommitting to a future that is more prosperous, more secure and, most of all, great,” he said. Kiska, a staunch liberal, called the U.S. an “important partner and ally.” President Donald Trump has voiced admiration for Putin but the wider U.S. government remains suspicious of the Russian leader and is seeking to find alternatives for European nations to Russia’s energy exports. A senior U.S. official traveling with Pompeo said the Trump administration was pursuing a strategy similar to that in Asia, where for years the United States has been seeking to curb China’s power. “It emphasizes in vulnerable regions where our rivals, the Chinese and the Russians, are gaining ground that we want to increase our diplomatic, military and cultural engagement,” the official told reporters. He said Washington was also looking across Central Europe to boost an independent media, amid concerns about an erosion of press freedom. In Hungary, the most pro-Russia member of the European Union, Pompeo raised concerns to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government both over ties with Moscow and Budapest’s contract with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to develop the country’s fifth-generation mobile network. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto welcomed Pompeo’s calls for closer ties and promised more defence cooperation but also brushed off the criticism on relations with Russia and China. Western concerns on Hungary’s ties with Moscow amounted to “enormous hypocrisy,” he said, adding that Western Europe was doing energy deals with Russia. Pompeo heads later Tuesday to Poland, where he is co-hosting a conference on the Middle East that will promote Trump’s hard line on Iran and strong support for Israel.

mike pompeo
slovakia
china
russia
vladimir putin
donald trump
huawei


Twitter trolls with suspected Russia, Iran and Venezuela links sought to sow Canada divisions on pipelines and migrants

Abstract: OTTAWA - Canada’s public broadcaster said Tuesday it found in a trove of Twitter messages evidence of possible foreign actors trying to sow divisions between Canadians on pipelines, migrants and other hot-button issues. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said it identified roughly 21,600 malicious tweets targeting Canadians, mostly sent in 2017, out of 9.6 million scanned. The troll accounts _ which have since been deleted by Twitter — are suspected of originating in Russia, Iran and Venezuela. They retweeted messages from Canadian activists, politicians and media reports highlighting opposition to pipelines after Washington approved construction of a conduit from Alberta’s oil sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries — in an apparent attempt to whip up tensions between pipeline proponents and opponents. They also stoked immigration fears, disseminating strong reactions to the Quebec City mosque shooting and U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries, as a wave of asylum seekers showed up at Canada’s southern border. Scholar and Middle East expert Sami Aoun told CBC that Iran, for example, has a strategic interest in seeing North American pipeline projects fail. “The Iranians are trying to short-circuit American sanctions by selling their oil in Asia. To keep a certain advantage in China and India, they might be trying to prevent Canada from developing pipelines that could give the country better access to those markets,” he explained. Ottawa last month created a special task force to fight disinformation and foreign meddling in upcoming elections, after cyberattacks and interference in U.S. and European ballots. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government — which hopes to hold onto its majority in the October poll — also earmarked funding to teach voters how to identify malicious online posts. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould told a Jan. 30 press conference that Twitter, Google and Facebook have been used to spread disinformation. “Trolls and bots are dispatched to stoke anxiety, even hysteria around sensitive issues. Fake news masquerades as legitimate information,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale warned. A government briefing document said Ottawa “expects these companies to take concrete actions to help safeguard this fall’s election.”

twitter
russia
iran
venezuela
canada
pipelines
immigration
justin trudeau


U.S. strikes Islamic State-held mosque as Syria battle intensifies; jihadis push for exit corridor

Abstract: BEIRUT - The U.S. military said Tuesday it struck a mosque that had allegedly been used as an Islamic State control center, as American-allied Syrian forces battled the extremists in their last stronghold in eastern Syria amid reports of more civilian casualties. The U.S.-led coalition said warplanes struck the mosque in the small town of Baghouz on Monday in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It said the airstrike occurred as IS was using the mosque to direct attacks and employ suicide car bombs against the SDF. “This mosque lost its protected status when ISIS deliberately chose to use it as a command and control center,” said the coalition’s deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, using another acronym for the group. Hundreds of mostly foreign IS fighters are believed to remain in Baghouz and nearby areas, where the SDF began its final push Saturday after months of fighting. IS has been fighting back with suicide car bombs, sniper fire and booby traps, and has been using civilians as human shields, slowing the U.S.-backed fighters’ advance. Syrian state media reported that about 70 people were killed or wounded in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on the edge of Baghouz. It said the airstrike hit a settlement where hundreds of people were taking shelter from the fighting. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said seven children and eight women were killed late Monday in an airstrike near Baghouz. It was not immediately clear if they were referring to the same event. Col. Sean Ryan, a coalition spokesman, said “we are aware of open source reports of alleged civilian casualties. We take all allegations of civilian casualties seriously, and understand there is a lot of misinformation as well.” He added that “there are multiple actors conducting strikes within the area, so we are looking into it.” Syrian government forces and their allies have in the past shelled the IS-held area. Iraqi forces have struck IS targets in Syria from across the border. At least 20,000 civilians have fled the last sliver of IS-controlled territory in just the past few weeks. The numbers have overwhelmed Kurdish-run camps in northeastern Syria, where humanitarian conditions are already dire amid a cold winter and meager resources. IS militants, who once controlled a self-styled caliphate sprawling across large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq, are now besieged from the north and east by SDF fighters, and are hemmed in by the Euphrates River to the west and south. Syrian government forces and their allies are deployed on the river’s west bank. The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign against the extremist group. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the group is all but defeated, and announced in December that he would withdraw all American forces from Syria. However, activists and residents in eastern Syria say the militants are still present in recaptured areas, where they are laying the groundwork for a future insurgency. Syrian activists who closely follow the conflict said negotiations are underway between IS and the SDF to open a corridor for the extremists to leave the besieged area. The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman and Omar Abu Laila, who runs a group that monitors developments in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, said the plan is to evacuate IS fighters into an area close to the Iraqi border. The Observatory said the besieged IS commanders have about 40 tons of gold and cash worth millions of dollars that they hope to take with them. The Sound and Picture organization, which reports on atrocities in IS-held areas, said an agreement for the evacuation was already reached. It said IS commanders agreed to reveal the fate of foreign hostages that were or are still held by the group and hand over some senior fighters. The SDF spokesman was not immediately available for comment on possible negotiations. In northern Syria, Turkish media reports said a bomb-laden vehicle exploded on the Syrian side of the Al-Rai border gate, opposite the Turkish town of Kilis. There was no immediate word on casualties.

islamic state
syria
baghouz
syrian democratic forces
conflict
terrorism


Pentagon outlines first artificial intelligence strategy as China and Russia chip away at U.S. tech edge

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. military wants to expand its use of artificial intelligence in warfare but says it will take care to deploy the technology in accordance with American values. Outlined its first AI strategy in a report released Tuesday, the Pentagon called for accelerating the use of AI systems throughout the military, from intelligence-gathering operations to predicting maintenance problems in planes or ships. The report urges the U.S. to advance such technology swiftly before other countries chip away at its technological advantage. “Other nations, particularly China and Russia, are making significant investments in AI for military purposes, including in applications that raise questions regarding international norms and human rights,” the report says. It makes little mention of autonomous weapons but cites a 2012 military directive that requires humans to be in control. The U.S. and Russia are among a handful of nations that have blocked efforts at the United Nations for an international ban on “killer robots” — fully autonomous weapons systems that could one day conduct war without human intervention. The U.S. has argued that it is premature to try to regulate them. The strategy unveiled by the Department of Defense this week is focused on more immediate applications, but even some of those have sparked ethical debates. The Pentagon hit a roadblock in its AI efforts last year after internal protests at Google led the tech company to drop out of Project Maven, which uses algorithms to interpret aerial video images from conflict zones. Other companies have sought to fill the vacuum, and the Pentagon is working with AI experts from industry and academia to establish ethical guidelines for its AI applications. “Everything we’ve seen is with a human decision-maker in the loop,” said Todd Probert, a vice president at Raytheon’s intelligence division, which is working with the Pentagon on Maven and other projects. “It’s using technology to help speed up the process but not supplant the command structure that’s in place.” The Pentagon’s report follows President Donald Trump’s Monday executive order prioritizing AI research across the government, a move seen as firing up a battle for leadership with China. The American AI Initiative executive order calls for the administration to “devote the full resources of the federal government” to help fuel AI innovation. “Americans have profited tremendously from being the early developers and international leaders in AI,” a White House statement said. “However, as the pace of AI innovation increases around the world, we cannot sit idly by and presume that our leadership is guaranteed.” The order stops short of specific funding or a detailed strategy for deployment of artificial intelligence. The move comes amid growing concerns that China will overtake the United States in key areas of artificial intelligence, helped by a broad national strategy and accelerating investment. Darrell West, head of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, said the White House move is “timely” but implementation remains uncertain due to a lack of clear funding. “The president sometimes launches initiatives that sound good but have little actual impact,” West said. “China is investing $150 billion by 2030 with the goal of becoming the pre-eminent AI country in the world. It is important for the U.S. to keep pace because AI will transform many different sectors.” Daniel Castro of the Center for Data Innovation, a think tank that follows technology issues, offered a similarly cautious response. “If the administration wants its AI initiative to be transformative, it will need to do more than reprogram existing funds for AI research, skill development, and infrastructure development.” Castro welcomed the initiative but called for a more comprehensive AI strategy that covers areas such as digital free trade, data collection policies and other issues. Sen. Marco Rubio called the initiative a “good start,” writing on Twitter: “China is the most comprehensive challenge we have faced from a near peer adversary in over half a century. Confronting it will require a comprehensive response.” The White House said the plan calls for “unleashing AI” by making more resources available to researchers, setting guidelines for regulations, promoting AI in education and improving U.S. competitiveness. The statement made no mention of China but called for “an action plan to protect the advantage of the United States in AI and technology critical to United States national and economic security interests against strategic competitors and foreign adversaries.”