In mostly white Iowa, overwhelming dissatisfaction with Trump galvanizes black Democrats ahead of 2020 caucuses

Abstract: DES MOINES, IOWA - In Iowa, one of the whitest states in the nation, more than 100 black Democrats who expect to attend the 2020 caucuses crammed into a tiny community center in the capital city to position themselves as a force in the most wide-open presidential campaign in a generation. “There is hope! There is hope, I tell you, the same hope that Barack Obama brought us,” Jamie Woods, former chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus, implored the cheering group last month. In the state where Obama’s 2008 candidacy cleared its first important hurdle, black Democrats are energized as seldom seen, in part motivated by overwhelming dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump. That enthusiasm could make a difference in a state that holds a presidential caucus, which, unlike an open primary, attracts only the most motivated voters. That means a candidate who can rally more black voters in the caucuses can gain an outsized advantage, even though African-Americans make up only 2 percent of Iowa’s population. Iowa’s caucus, coming next February as the first event in the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating contest, is an early test of how voters are going to respond to two dozen candidates and could be a harbinger of the primary a few weeks later in South Carolina, where African Americans comprise most of the Democratic primary electorate. “They’re realizing that their voice needs to be heard,” said Deidre DeJear , the first African American to win a primary for statewide office in Iowa and now state chairwoman for Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign. “And they are using the platform they have whether they’re elected or whether just a regular voter.” Stacey Walker, the first black county board chairman in Iowa’s second-most-populous metro area, said she hasn’t seen this kind of energy among black operatives, activists and officeholders in Iowa in years. “Not since the Obama coalition have we seen so many persons of color actively engaged and inspired by our politics,” Walker said. “It hasn’t always been this way, and certainly not in Iowa.” Giving an early indication of the energy within this small but influential segment of the caucus electorate, more than 200 black Democrats braved a driving ice storm in February to attend the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus winter fundraiser at a north Des Moines union hall. Candidates are looking to harness that energy. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a 2020 presidential candidate and former mayor of Newark, has convened city leaders, including Quentin Hart, the first black mayor of Iowa’s most densely African-American city, Waterloo. Booker met Saturday with Shane McCampbell, the first black mayor of Burlington, along the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa. Harris met privately with state Rep. Phyllis Thede, who is African American, before the four-term lawmaker moderated a campaign event for the California Democrat in eastern Iowa earlier this year. In 2008, when Obama became the first African-American to win the Iowa caucuses, 4 percent of caucus participants were black, double the percentage of the state’s overall black population. Obama received 76 percent of the black vote on caucus night. Non-black candidates are working to attract influential black supporters, who can help make the difference in a close race, especially given the crowded field. Amy Klobuchar, for instance, last month hired Woods, the former Iowa Black Democratic Caucus chairwoman, as her caucus campaign’s Iowa political director, giving the Minnesota senator a key ally in the competition for black votes. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang hired Al Womble, a black Des Moines-area businessman known for his behind-the-scenes organizing, as his Iowa campaign chairman. Multiple black candidates in the race and the outreach by others in the crowded field create a different scenario than in 2008, when Obama was the only black candidate. What’s more, most of the candidates put ending racial disparity in income and criminal justice atop their agendas. “Even though we’re talking about racial disparity and white supremacy, and all this is bad, that this isn’t who we are. No one single candidate is leading the charge,” said Guy Nave, a Democrat from Decorah who is black and plans to attend the caucus. Iowa Democrats are predicting turnout in the 2020 caucuses will beat the record 237,000 set in 2008, as Trump’s approval in Iowa has struggled to top 50 percent. Meanwhile, candidates themselves are working to attract first-time caucus participants to eke out any advantage in a field that now numbers 23. That means even a narrow edge of support from African Americans, in combination with a coalition of other voters, could make the difference for the winner in Iowa next February, said former Iowa Democratic Party executive director Norm Sterzenbach. “If you can find a candidate that has a stronghold in a particular demographic and is able to turn them out, that could turn into something extraordinary on caucus night,” said Sterzenbach, who is advising former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign.

iowa
democrats
donald trump
african-americans
u.s .
2020 u.s. presidential election


U.K.'s Brexit Party triumph boosts chances of 'no-deal'

Abstract: LONDON - Nigel Farage’s anti-EU Brexit party has topped European Parliament polls in the U.K., putting intense pressure on the ruling Conservatives — who suffered a historic rout — and raising the chances of a no-deal outcome. The single-issue Brexit Party, founded just three months ago by Farage, combined with pro-EU forces to trounce the nation’s two dominant political parties in the European Parliament election, as angry voters blamed the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party for the country’s Brexit impasse. With complete results announced Monday, the Brexit Party had won 29 of the U.K.’s 73 EU seats up for grabs and almost a third of the votes. On the pro-EU side, the Liberal Democrats took 20 percent of the vote and 16 seats — a dramatic increase from the single seat it won in the last EU election in 2014. The opposition Labour Party came third with 14.1 percent, followed by the pro-European environmentalist Greens who captured nearly 12.1 percent. The Conservatives — apparently blamed by voters for failing to deliver Brexit in March as planned — were in fifth with under 10 percent of the vote. The election leaves the U.K.’s exit from the EU more uncertain than ever, with both Brexiteers and pro-EU “remainers” able to claim strong support. The result raises the likelihood of a chaotic “no deal” exit from the EU — but also the possibility of a new Brexit referendum that could instead reverse the decision to leave. A triumphant Farage said he doubted the Conservatives, who are seeking a new leader, would be able to take the U.K. out of the 28-nation bloc on the currently scheduled date of Oct. 31. “The Conservative Party are bitterly divided and I consider it to be extremely unlikely that they will pick a leader who is able to take us out on the 31st (of) October,” Farage said. He said his party — which currently has no members and no policies apart from leaving the EU — would “stun everybody” in the next British general election if the country didn’t leave the EU on time. The elections, which took place Thursday, were never meant to happen; the U.K. was set to leave the bloc on March 29. But parliament has been unable to agree on how to leave, slowly sapping May’s authority and forcing her to finally announce last week she would quit to let somebody else try. Describing the EU result as “very disappointing,” she said: “It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in parliament.” Several of those vying to replace her, including Boris Johnson, were quick to repeat that Brexit must happen by the latest deadline, Oct. 31, with or without a deal with Brussels. “No one sensible would aim exclusively for a no-deal outcome. No one responsible would take no-deal off the table,” Johnson wrote in his weekly column in The Daily Telegraph. In Sunderland, a Brexit-backing area in northeast England, several voters voiced support for a no-deal Brexit following the results. “It’s not going to kill us if we come out without a deal,” said Alan Bell, 67, a former chef. Farage only registered his party in February but succeeded in leveraging his reputation as one of the masterminds of the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016. He said his party should now have a say in any new Brexit negotiations with Brussels. The EU has said it will not re-open the withdrawal deal already agreed with May, but many of her would-be successors are still likely to try. Anti-Brexit campaigners also hailed the success of parties who want to keep Britain in the EU, suggesting voters are as split as they were when they voted 52 to 48 percent to leave three years ago. The Greens, who campaigned on an anti-Brexit ticket as well as for action on climate change, won seven seats. Adding in votes for the The Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru in Wales, all of which want a second referendum, supporters saw a resounding victory for pro-EU forces. “There will almost certainly be a referendum now and we’ve got to win that,” Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said at an event with the party’s new MEPs on Monday. Analysts, however, warned that European election results cannot be easily translated into success at British parliamentary elections, not least because a different voting system is used. May’s bickering Conservative party had been braced for poor results and barely bothered to campaign. But it must now decide what to do about the long-suffering EU withdrawal deal May reached with Brussels last year. Parliament was on course to reject the pact, intended to smooth Britain’s exit, for a fourth time before May announced she was quitting. Despite the calls for a “no-deal” Brexit, MPs have repeatedly voted against that option, fearing the economic impact of a harsh break with the U.K.’s closest trading partner. May’s Finance Minister Philip Hammond warned Sunday he might even be prepared to take the drastic step of voting to bring down a future Conservative government in order to avoid that situation.

brexit
brexit party
nigel farage
eu
europe
u.k .
theresa may


Iran slams U.S. for 'causing tensions' after Trump nuclear weapons comment

Abstract: TEHRAN - Iran hit out at the United States on Monday for “causing tensions” after President Donald Trump said his government was not seeking regime change and that he would welcome talks with Tehran. The Trump administration was “hurting the Iranian people and causing tension in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Twitter account. “Actions — not words — will show whether or not that’s @realDonaldTrump’s intent,” Zarif added, referencing the U.S. president’s Twitter handle. Zarif also denied Iran was seeking nuclear weapons, after Trump said during a visit to Japan that “we’re not looking for regime change (in Iran) … we’re looking for no nuclear weapons. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “long ago said we’re not seeking nuclear weapons — by issuing a fatwa (edict) banning them,” the foreign minister tweeted. Khamenei is said to have issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2003 and has reiterated it several times since. Iran is locked in a tense standoff with the United States which has beefed up its military presence in the Middle East in response to alleged threats from the Islamic republic. On Saturday, Zarif called a deployment of extra U.S. troops to the region “very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security.” It follows a U.S. decision earlier this month to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington’s leaders said they believed was an imminent Iranian plan to attack U.S. assets. Washington says the latest reinforcements are in response to a “campaign” of recent attacks including a rocket launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers near the entrance to the Gulf, and drone strikes by Yemeni rebels on a key Saudi oil pipeline. Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks.

iran
nuclear weapons
donald trump
javad zarif
ali khamenei
shinzo abe
tokyo
u.s .
iran nuclear deal


Mike Pence honors fallen U.S. service members at Arlington cemetery

Abstract: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - Vice President Mike Pence has paid tribute to fallen members of the U.S. Armed Forces, thanking their loved ones in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and acknowledging that for them “every day is Memorial Day.” Pence placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to remember dead service members whose remains haven’t been identified and observed a moment of silence. He told Gold Star families he was honored by their presence. Dignitaries attending Monday’s ceremony included Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. and acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. President Donald Trump and Melania Trump visited the Arlington, Virginia, cemetery last week and placed flags at several gravesites, a decades-old tradition known as “flags in.” Trump is in Japan , where he’s expected to address troops aboard a battleship.

mike pence
memorial day
donald trump
u.s .
military


One killed as Syria and Israel exchange fire amid regional tensions

Abstract: DAMASCUS - Syria said an Israeli attack against a military post in the country’s south on Monday killed a soldier and injured another. Israel, in a rare statement acknowledging firing into Syria, said it was responding to an anti-aircraft fire from Syria against one of its combat planes. The back-to-back statements come amid heightened regional tension over Iran’s role in Syria and other parts of the Middle East. They also follow a number of reported Israeli strikes on Syria in the past 10 days, according to state run media. Israel does not usually comment on reports concerning its strikes in neighboring Syria, though it has recently acknowledged striking Iranian targets there. Syrian state TV al-Ikhbariya quoted a military official saying that the Israeli attack came shortly after 2100 local time (1800GMT) and targeted a military outpost east of Khan Arnabeh, a town in Quneitra on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. An earlier statement on state media said one military vehicle was also damaged when a rocket landed in Tal al-Shaar in Quneitra. Israel said it was responding after an anti-aircraft fire from Syria targeted one of its combat planes in Israeli airspace. A statement from the Israeli army said that earlier Monday a Syrian anti-aircraft system fired at one of its aircraft “as it was carrying out a routine flight in Israel. The projectile landed in Syrian territory. In response, we targeted the Syrian launcher that was responsible for firing it.” The Israeli military “sees any threat against its aircraft with great severity and takes measures to defend them.” Israel’s prime minister said in statement shortly afterward that the Syrian army “tried to harm an Israeli plane, it didn’t succeed.” “Our policy is clear — we are not prepared to tolerate any aggression against us, we will retaliate against it forcefully and decisively,” the statement said. Syrian media had reported earlier this month two incidents in which Israeli strikes hit inside southern Syria.


Southeast U.S. sees record heat as Central Plains brace for floods

Abstract: NEW YORK - A heat wave with record-breaking potential gripped the southeastern United States on Monday, while the Central Plains will get a respite from the deadly weather that has pounded and flooded the region since last week, forecasters said. But the conditions for violent weather that spawned numerous tornadoes and drenching rains that prompted several riverfront evacuations will return in the coming week, they said. A tornado in Oklahoma killed two people on Saturday. As Americans celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said 14 cities in South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida could tie or top their previous high temperatures for this date in a hot spell that could remain in place through the week. They include Atlanta with an expected high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius) and Jacksonville, Florida, and Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina, where highs could hit about 100 degrees F (38 C). “We are expecting triple-digit readings for a good chunk of the southeast United States,” said meteorologist Brian Hurley at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes pose a risk for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, Hurley added. In Oklahoma, where the city of El Reno is still cleaning up from the tornado that killed two people and injured 29 on Saturday, chances for violent thunderstorms have diminished until late Monday or early Tuesday, he said. The pattern of drenching thunderstorms and tornadoes, which has been recurring in the Central Plains states since last week, has caused flooding in several river cities. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, officials are monitoring the rain-swollen Arkansas River after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver Keystone Dam by 65 percent since last week to 275,000 cu. feet per second. The heavier flow, which is testing two aging levees in Tulsa, is still less than the 300,000 cu. feet per second high flow for the dam in 1986, the City of Tulsa said. All 77 Oklahoma counties are under a state of emergency, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said.

heat
floods
tornadoes
oklahoma
nws
environment
u.s. weather


Syrian regime-led air raids hit crowded residential areas in Idlib, killing at least six

Abstract: BEIRUT - At least six people were killed and 10 remain under rubble following Syrian government air raids on a crowded residential area in the rebel’s last stronghold, rescuers and activists said Monday. The first responders known as White Helmets said five women and a child were killed. Rescue workers were still searching for survivors under the rubble after the airstrikes hit in the town of Ariha. Videos from the scene by the White Helmets showed a narrow alley blocked by the debris from a pulverized building. Survivors covered in white dust were among those who lifted a wounded man on a gurney and a young girl into the ambulance. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported six killed. The scene in Ariha was reminiscent of the violence that has hit many rebel-held areas as the government pursued similar military tactics to regain control of territory it had lost to armed opposition. In the last three years, Syrian troops, with support from Russia and Iran, have regained control of most of the country, displacing hundreds of thousands, mostly to Hama and Idlib, where rebels are making their last stand. But this rebel stronghold is home to nearly 3 million people, who have nowhere to run to escape the government offensive. A cease-fire in place since September, negotiated by Russia and Turkey, has all but collapsed. U.N. agencies say more than 200,000 are displaced within the stronghold, moving from the southern tip up north and crowding already packed camps and towns. Most of those displaced are living outside of camps, the U.N said, while some have sought safety near the Turkish border where they hope no airstrikes would pursue them there. Some 20 health facilities, three displaced people’s camps and one refugee camp were hit in the violence, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Friday. Since the violence picked up on April 30, the Observatory said at least 215 civilians, including 47 children were killed in the rebel stronghold. In adjacent government areas, 21 civilians were killed by rebel fire, according to the Observatory which monitors the war. On Monday alone, the Observatory said there were more than 100 air raids and as many as 93 barrel bombs dropped on the southern section of the rebel stronghold. Russia and the government announced last week the opening of two corridors for civilians to exit the rebel-held enclave— another familiar tactic followed to empty opposition areas amid a military operation. The U.N. said it was not party to discussions for such a corridor and said movement of civilians must be a choice, not forced by violence. The majority of the civilians living in the last rebel stronghold have either been evacuated from other opposition-held areas that were reclaimed by the Syrian military or are hard-core anti-government critics who refused to return to government control. Most of the enclave is administered by the al-Qaida-linked group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which has collaborated with other armed opposition groups to fight government advances. Turkey says Syrian government forces are aiming to expand their control in the area despite the cease-fire deal. Damascus says Turkey has failed to reign in the militants in control of Idlib and allow for it to access two major highways that run through the enclave, according to the deal.

idlib ariha russia iran turkey conflict syria


Iran says it does not see need for mediation with U.S., plays down chances of military clash

Abstract: TEHRAN - Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday insisted it did not currently see the need for mediation with the United States, as it played down the chances of a military clash with Washington. Spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a news conference that Tehran “does not feel any tension or (the possibility of) clashes” and said concerns had been “created by others.” He told journalists that the Islamic republic “does not presently believe in” mediation. Iran is locked in a standoff with the United States which has beefed up its military presence in the Middle East in response to alleged threats from the Islamic republic. Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region in a show of force. The moves are the latest spike since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program and reimposed sanctions. Iran earlier this month rolled back parts of its commitments under the nuclear deal and gave an ultimatum to the remaining world powers involved if they did not provide sanctions relief. Mousavi warned that if sanctions relief is not offered Tehran “will with severity take the next steps,” meaning it could turn its back on more substantial parts of the accord. The situation between Iran and the U.S. has led a number of countries in the Middle East and others such as Japan and Switzerland to offer to mediate. Tehran insists that it will not hold direct talks with the U.S. government anytime soon despite Trump saying Washington would “like to talk” if Iran was ready. Mousavi said Iran was “listening to the views of countries” who have offered to mediate but had not received or given any “special message” during a flurry of diplomatic visits in recent weeks.

iran
military
donald trump
conflict
u.s .
nuclear weapons
nuclear energy
iran nuclear deal


Deaths on the rise but Nepal reluctant to limit number of permits for Mount Everest

Abstract: NAMCHE, NEPAL - Nepal’s reluctance to limit the number of permits it issues to scale Mount Everest has contributed to dangerous overcrowding, with inexperienced climbers impeding others and causing deadly delays, seasoned mountaineers said. During the short period this season when the weather was clear enough to attempt the summit, climbers were crammed crampon-to-crampon above South Col’s sharp-edged ridge, all clipped onto a single line of rope, trudging toward the top of the world and risking death as each minute ticked by. “There were more people on Everest than there should be,” said Kul Bahadur Gurung, general secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, an umbrella group of all expedition operators in Nepal. Eleven people have died this season, the highest number since 2015. Most are believed to have suffered from altitude sickness, which is caused by low amounts of oxygen at high elevation and can cause headaches, vomiting, shortness of breath and mental confusion. Once only accessible to well-heeled elite mountaineers, Nepal’s booming climbing market has driven down the cost of an expedition, opening Everest up to hobbyists and adventure-seekers. They are required to have a doctors’ note deeming them physically fit, but not to prove their stamina at such extreme heights. Because of the altitude, climbers have just hours to reach the top before they are at risk of a pulmonary edema, when the lungs fill with liquid. From Camp Four at 8,000 meters (26,240 feet) to the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak, the final push on Everest is known as the “death zone.” The conditions are so intense at such times that when a person dies, no one can afford to expend energy on carrying the body down from the mountain. “Every minute counts there,” said Eric Murphy, a mountain guide from Bellingham, Washington, who climbed Everest for a third time on May 23. He said what should have taken 12 hours took 17 hours because of struggling climbers who were clearly exhausted but had no one to guide or help them. Just a handful of inexperienced climbers, he said, is “enough to have a profound effect.” The deaths this year on Nepal’s side of the mountain included Don Cash, a sales executive from Utah, and Christopher Kulish, an attorney from Colorado, who both died on their way down from the peak. Nepal doesn’t have any regulations on the books to determine how many permits should be issued, so anyone with a doctor’s note can obtain one for an $11,000 fee, said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. This year, permits were issued to 381 people, the highest number ever, according to the government. They were accompanied by an equal number of guides from Nepal’s ethnic Sherpa community. Some climbers were originally issued permits in 2014 that were revoked mid-season when 16 Sherpa guides died in an avalanche and other Sherpas, whose support as guides and porters is essential, effectively went on strike. Another factor was China’s limit on the number of permits it issued for routes in its territory on the north side of Everest this year for a clean-up. Both the north and south sides of the mountain are littered with empty oxygen canisters, food packaging and other debris. Instead of the overcrowding, Sapkota blamed the weather, equipment and inadequate supplemental oxygen for this year’s deaths. “There has been concern about the number of climbers on Mount Everest but it is not because of the traffic jam that there were casualties,” Sapkota said in Namche, the town that serves as the staging area for Everest trips. Still, he said, “In the next season we will work to have double rope in the area below the summit so there is better management of the flow of climbers.” Instead of limiting the number of people who attempt to reach Everest’s peak, Saptoka said Nepal’s government will encourage even more tourists and climbers to come “for both pleasure and fame.” Mirza Ali, a Pakistani mountaineer and tour company owner who reached Everest’s peak for the first time this month, on his fourth attempt, said such an approach was flawed. “Everybody wants to stand on top of the world,” but tourists unprepared for the extremes of Everest endanger the entire industry, he said. “There is not a sufficient check on issuing the permits,” Ali said. “The more people come, the more permits, more business. But on the other side it is a lot of risk because it is costing lives.” Indian climber Ameesha Chauhan, recovering from frostbitten toes at a hospital in Kathmandu, described the agony of turning away from the peak when she realized her supplemental oxygen supply was low. Two of her team members died on the May 16 ascent. She returned and scaled the peak a week later. “Many climbers are too focused on reaching the summit,” she said. “They are not only risking themselves but also putting others at risk.”

nepal
mount everest
climbing
mountaineering


Taiwan lands aircraft on highway as part of military drills simulating Chinese attack

Abstract: CHANGHUA, TAIWAN - Taiwan landed warplanes on a normally busy highway Tuesday to simulate a response to a Chinese attack on its airfields, part of annual drills designed to showcase the island’s military capabilities and resolve to repel an attack from across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen presided at the exercise in the southern county of Changhua, not far from one of the island’s main air bases at Taichung, which comes amid perceptions of a rising military threat from China, whose rulers claim the island as their own territory. “Our national security has faced multiple challenges,” Tsai said. “Whether it is the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s long-distance training or its fighter jets circling Taiwan, it has posed a certain degree of threat to regional peace and stability. “We should maintain a high degree of vigilance,” she added. Aircraft deployed included U.S.-made F-16, French Mirage 2000 and Taiwan-made IDF fighter jets and U.S.-made E-2K airborne early warning aircraft. The drill marked the exercises debut of the first F-16 upgraded to the “V” configuration, featuring advanced radar and other combat capabilities. The air force is spending about $4.21 billion to upgrade 144 existing F-16A/Bs to the F-16V version under its “Phoenix Rising” project. Taiwan is largely dependent on the U.S. for military hardware and has also asked to purchase entirely new F-16V fighters and M1 tanks. American arms sales to Taiwan have long been a thorn in the side of U.S. relations with China, routinely drawing protests from Beijing that Washington was reneging on earlier commitments. In a sign of growing security cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. under the Trump administration, National Security Council Secretary-General David Lee met with his U.S. counterpart, national security adviser John Bolton, earlier this month, drawing a protest from China. The visit was the first between national security chiefs from the two sides since the breaking off of formal diplomatic ties in 1979. While no details were given, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Monday that China expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to (the meeting).” “We firmly oppose official exchanges in any form between the U.S. government and Taiwan on any pretext,” Lu said.


Malaysia to send back plastic waste to foreign nations

Abstract: PORT KLANG, MALAYSIA - Malaysia will send back some 3,000 metric tons (3,300 tons) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations, Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said Tuesday. Yeo said Malaysia and many developing countries have become new targets after China banned the import of plastic waste last year. She said 60 containers stacked with contaminated waste were smuggled in en route to illegal processing facilities in the country and will be sent back to their countries of origin. Ten of the containers are due to be shipped back within two weeks, she said, as she showed reporters contents of the waste at a port outside Kuala Lumpur. The displayed items included cables from the U.K., contaminated milk cartons from Australia and compact discs from Bangladesh, as well as bales of electronic and household waste from the U.S., Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and China. Yeo said the waste from China appeared to be garbage from France and other countries that had been rerouted after a ban imposed by China. In one case alone, Yeo said a U.K. recycling company exported more than 50,000 metric tons (55,000 tons) of plastic waste in about 1,000 containers to Malaysia over the past two years. “This is probably just the tip of the iceberg (due) to the banning of plastic waste by China,” Yeo told a news conference. “Malaysia will not be a dumping ground to the world … we will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we can’t be bullied by developed countries.” The government has clamped down on dozens of illegal plastic recycling facilities that had mushroomed across the country, shuttering more than 150 plants since last July. Earlier this month, the government also sent back five containers of waste to Spain. Yeo said China’s plastic waste ban had “opened up the eyes of the world to see that we have a huge garbage and recycling problem.” Citizens in rich nations diligently separate their waste for recycling but the garbage ended up being dumped in developing nations where they are recycled illegally, causing environmental and health hazards, she said. “We urge the developed countries to review their management of plastic waste and stop shipping the garbage out to the developing countries,” she said, calling such practices “unfair and uncivilized.” Yeo vowed to take action against Malaysian companies illegally importing used plastic, calling them “traitors to the country’s sustainability.”

malaysia
waste
recycling
canada
australia
china
u.s .
u.k .


'Moscow 8': The North Korean filmmakers who defied Pyongyang

Abstract: SEOUL - As the Korean War raged, eight of Pyongyang’s young heroes — all members of the North’s new elite, destined for a life of privilege and power — left for Moscow to study at a prestigious film school. They never returned. Scattered to the corners of the Soviet Union after they chose asylum and exile to denounce the personality cult around the North’s founder, Kim Il Sung, they lived as authors and filmmakers, forever separated from friends and family. “We call the places we are born our homes,” wrote one, Han Tae Yong, in a short story. “There should be a separate word for the places we die, a word that sounds as fond as the word ‘home’ does.” Now their lives have been made the subject of a documentary by South Korean scholar and filmmaker Kim So-young, “Goodbye My Love North Korea.” In a peninsula defined by the split between North and South, it highlights the Korean diaspora and the impact of separation from a unique perspective. Known as the “Moscow 8,” the group were chosen by Pyongyang to study at the Moscow Film School, now known as the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and the world’s oldest institution of its kind, in 1952, as Kim Il Sung’s forces — backed by Moscow and Beijing — fought against the U.S.-led United Nations coalition. At the time only the North’s brightest minds, regardless of academic background, were allowed to study cinema, filmmaker Kim said. Film was considered crucial in developing the loyalty of the masses. “The North was obviously heavily influenced by Lenin, who said cinema is the greatest art form that exists,” she said. “Among the eight exiles, one studied nuclear physics before being selected to study cinema in Moscow — he didn’t even know what a movie was until then,” she added. Kim Il Sung’s son and successor, Kim Jong Il — father of current leader Kim Jong Un — was an avid film fan who ordered the kidnapping of a South Korean film director and an actress in 1978 to help develop the North’s cinema industry. Even now the impoverished country pours significant resources into movies, although many of its productions are propaganda works extolling its juche (self-reliance) ideology and the ruling Kim family, with titles such as “Under the Guidance of the Great Brilliant Commander” and “We Will Follow You to the End of the Earth.” In what is known as the August Faction Incident in 1956, Kim Il Sung purged party officials who had plotted against him, executing hundreds, according to historians, months after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had denounced Stalin’s abuses of power in his “secret speech.” The following year, one of the eight, Ho Ung Pae, publicly condemned Kim Il Sung and announced he was seeking political asylum. He was later captured by North Korean diplomats and taken to the embassy, but escaped via a bathroom window. The other seven filed for asylum themselves in 1958, giving up the prospect of privileges awaiting them back in Pyongyang. The Soviet Union granted their request, but on condition they lived apart from each other, to avoid any risk of them mounting a conspiracy themselves and angering the North, still an ally. They were sent to cities as far apart as Irkutsk and Stalingrad — now Volgograd — while Kim Chong Hun, the last survivor of the eight, went to Murmansk near the Arctic Circle, where he recalls eating deer meat for all his meals and seeing the sun for only six months of the year. Later, he and three others settled in Almaty, the biggest city in Kazakhstan, where many of the 172,000 ethnic Koreans Stalin deported from the Russian Far East in 1937 had been taken. “I was ecstatic to see so many ethnic Koreans in Almaty, and to see them selling kimchi, tofu and Korean fermented soybean paste,” Kim says in the film. The documentary is now showing in cinemas in the South, at a time when Pyongyang’s nuclear talks with the U.S. are deadlocked, leaving inter-Korean relations in limbo. “This movie shows the lives of North Koreans who formed multiple identities — as political exiles, ethnic Koreans and residents in the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan,” said film critic Lee Seung-min, adding it “discovers what had been undiscovered in Korean cinema history.” Among the group in Almaty was author Han, who led a renowned Korean-language theater and wrote plays critiquing both North and South. As well as Kim Il Sung’s personality cult, his subjects included the South’s participation in the Vietnam War, and its 1980 Gwangju Uprising against military rule — a legacy that saw South Korean president and former human rights activist Moon Jae-in visit the theater on a Central Asia trip last month. Han’s father was also a writer and a close ally of Kim Il Sung, and his family kept sending letters asking him to return, but he remained in exile and died in Kazakhstan in 1993. “Han was very much torn between his family and his political beliefs,” Kim says in the movie. “He had the biggest heartache among us.” Kim himself was “considered the best kind of communist back in the North,” he added. “I would’ve been able to work in Pyongyang until now if I went back home at the time. But I just could not betray and abandon my friends.”

north korea
film
pyongyang
korean war
soviet union
politics
human rights


India won't invite Pakistan leader for Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony: sources

Abstract: NEW DELHI - India will not invite Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony for Narendra Modi, who will start his second term as India’s prime minister, two sources in the foreign ministry said, suggesting any early warming in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors is unlikely. Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have fought three wars since both won independence from Britain in 1947, and came close to a fourth in February after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based militant group killed at least 40 Indian police in the contested Kashmir region. An Indian government statement on Monday said the leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan — all members, with India, of the little-known Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) — have been invited to Modi’s swearing-in. “This is in line with Government’s focus on its ‘Neighborhood First’ policy,” a government spokesman said. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius have also been invited, but two sources in Indian’s foreign ministry said Pakistan will not be on the list, without providing further information. For the swearing-in ceremony for Modi’s first term in 2014, all nations from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), that includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Maldives, were invited. In 2014 Pakistan’s then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the ceremony, to the anger of some of Modi’s Hindu-nationalist allies. Modi and Khan both claimed their air forces carried out airstrikes in enemy territory in March, to the alarm of world powers. Modi, who was widely believed to have benefited politically from the stand-off, won a second term with an increased majority in a general election whose results were declared last week. Khan called Modi on Sunday to congratulate him on his win. Modi could still meet Khan at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan next month that both leaders may attend. A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in New Delhi was not immediately available for comment.

india
pakistan
narendra modi
imran khan
elections


China deploys Confucius in bid to boost religion controls

Abstract: BEIJING - China has begun five-day Confucian culture immersion courses for religious leaders in the sage’s hometown as part of a campaign to extend government control over faith communities through a process of sinicization. The ruling Communist Party’s United Work Front Department said in a news release issued Monday that the activity was designed to ensure the primacy of traditional Chinese values above all. “To hold activities here … is a collective tribute to excellent traditional Chinese culture and a conscious identification and integration with Chinese culture,” said the release, posted on the department’s website. Participants pledged to “cultivate the Chinese cultural character of our nation’s religions so that our nation’s religions are rooted in the fertile soil of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and to ceaselessly and deeply advance the Sinicization of our nation’s religions,” it said. President Xi Jinping has launched the harshest crackdown in decades on religious practices, especially those viewed as foreign such as Christianity and Islam, while at the same time elevating home-grown Confucianism. While for decades the officially atheistic Communist Party attacked Confucius as a symbol of feudalism, he has been thoroughly rehabilitated in recent years as a means of rallying patriotism and countering foreign influences. Confucianism’s emphasis on strict social organization, advancement through study and exam taking, adherence to hierarchy and maintenance of social harmony appeals especially to the heavily bureaucratic party, which brooks no challenge to its authority. Xi has repeatedly called for religious leaders and believers to be guided by “socialist core values.” Party bureaucrats overseeing religion have demanded that key religious tenets and texts such as the Bible and Quran be interpreted “in conformity with the demands of modern Chinese development and excellent traditional Chinese culture.” That’s been accompanied with a campaign of removing crosses and bulldozing many churches, destroying mosques and locking an estimated 1 million Chinese Muslims in camps where they are forced to renounce Islam and their cultural traditions. Despite international condemnation, China claims it upholds freedom of religion and is seeking only to ensure regulations are followed while discouraging religious extremism and violence. Those participating at the launch of the five-day course included the president of the Chinese Taoist Association, vice president of the Chinese Islamic Association, chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, and president of the Chinese Christian Association. Confucius was believed to have been born in the 6th century B.C. in the eastern town of Qufu. He is credited with authoring or editing key texts of statesmanship and social order, particularly the Analects that contain his key aphorisms and teachings.

china
confucius
religion
communist party
xi jinping
rights


American climber dies on descent from summit of Mount Everest

Abstract: KATHMANDU - An American climber died on the descent from the summit of Mount Everest on Monday, a Nepalese official said, taking the number of dead or missing mountaineers on the world’s highest mountain to nine on the Nepali side during the current climbing season. Christopher John Kulish, 61, scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak from the normal Southeast Ridge route in the morning but died suddenly at South Col after descending from the summit, said Mira Acharya, a Nepal tourism department official. The authorities did not say where he was from in the United States. The cause of his death was unclear. Most of the deaths on Everest this year have been attributed to exhaustion and tiredness, exacerbated because a crowded route to and from the summit has led to delays. The short climbing season ends this month. The route, also called the South Col route, was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. About 5,000 people have scaled the Everest summit so far and about 300 have died on its slopes. Two climbers are also confirmed dead on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest this climbing season. A record 381 climbers had been permitted to scale the summit from the Nepali side this season. About 130 others were tackling Everest from the mountain’s northern side in Tibet.

mount everest
nepal
mountaineering
christopher john kulish
tibet


North Koreans survive by paying bribes, U.N. report says

Abstract: GENEVA/SEOUL - North Koreans are forced to pay bribes to officials to survive in their isolated country, where corruption is “endemic” and repression rife, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday. Officials across North Korea extort money from a population struggling to make ends meet, threatening them with detention and prosecution — particularly those working in the informal economy, it said in a report. North Korea rejected the report, saying it was “politically motivated for sinister purposes.” “Such reports are nothing more than fabrication … as they are always based on the so-called testimonies of ‘defectors’ who provide fabricated information to earn their living or are compelled to do so under duress or enticement,” its Geneva mission said in a statement. North Korea blames the dire humanitarian situation on U.N. sanctions imposed for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since 2006. But the report said that the military receives priority funding amid “economic mismanagement.” “I am concerned that the constant focus on the nuclear issue continues to divert attention from the terrible state of human rights for many millions of North Koreans,” Michelle Bachelet, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. “The rights to food, health, shelter, work, freedom of movement and liberty are universal and inalienable, but in North Korea they depend primarily on the ability of individuals to bribe State officials,” she said. Four in 10 North Koreans, or 10.1 million people, are chronically short of food and further cuts to already minimal rations are expected after the worst harvest in a decade, a U.N. assessment said earlier this month. “The threat of arrest, detention and prosecution provide State officials with a powerful means of extorting money from a population struggling to survive,” the U.N. rights office report said. Bribery is “an everyday feature of people’s struggle to make ends meet,” said the report, entitled “The price is rights.” It denounced what it called a “vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption and repression.” It is based on 214 interviews with North Korean “escapees,” mainly from the northeastern provinces of Ryanggang and North Hamgyong, bordering China. They were the first to be cut from the public distribution system that collapsed in 1994, leading to a famine estimated to have killed up to 1 million, it said. “If you just follow instructions coming from the State, you starve to death,” a woman from Ryanggang, now living in South Korea, was quoted as saying. “If you have money you can get away with anything, including murder,” another unnamed North Korean defector testified. Many North Koreans pay bribes of cash or cigarettes not to have to report to state-assigned jobs where they receive no salary, thus allowing them to earn income in rudimentary markets, the report said. Others bribe border guards to cross into China, where women are vulnerable to trafficking into forced marriages or the sex trade, it added. Bachelet urged North Korean authorities to stop prosecuting people for engaging in legitimate market activity and to allow them freedom of movement within the country and abroad. China should not forcibly repatriate North Koreans, she added. The United States called on North Korea this month to “dismantle all political prison camps” and release all political prisoners, who it said numbered between 80,000 and 120,000. Pyongyang, which says it protects human rights and is improving people’s standards of living, has long struggled to feed itself and last year recorded its worst harvest in more than a decade. Pyongyang has been frequently condemned by the international community for decades of prioritizing the military and its nuclear weapons program over adequately providing for its people — an imbalance some critics say the U.N.’s aid program encourages. Ahead of his Hanoi summit with leader Kim Jong Un last week, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly dangled the prospect of the North becoming an economic powerhouse if it gave up its arsenal, but the two failed to reach a deal.

north korea
rights
food
bribery
famine
nuclear weapons
u.n .


3 dead as unseasonably high temperatures continue across Japan

Abstract: Three women died and around 10 students were taken to hospitals Monday due to heatstroke symptoms as unseasonably hot weather continued in Japan, authorities have said. The mercury topped 30 degrees Celsius for a fourth straight day in central Tokyo, setting a new record for May, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. A 42-year-old woman found unconscious behind the wheel of a car parked at a supermarket in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, was later pronounced dead, while an 88-year-old woman died in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, after being found in her field, according to local government representatives. A woman in her 90s was also found dead in a field in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, with local authorities suspecting heatstroke. In Machida, western Tokyo, 24 junior high school students complained of feeling ill while practicing for sports day. Around 10 of them were taken to hospital but none were in a serious condition, police and other sources said. Among 926 monitoring posts across the country, about 400 registered temperatures above 30 C, the agency said. Kumagaya in Saitama marked 36.2 C, while Isesaki in Gunma Prefecture logged 36.0 C, the agency said. The heat is expected to gradually ease in the west of the country on Tuesday with the arrival of a moist air mass, it added. The mercury also rose on the island of Hokkaido, with Obihiro marking 35.8 C. Saroma logged 32.6 C, after registering 39.5 C on Sunday — a record-high May temperature for the country. Hokkaido Railway Co. canceled more than 100 train services Monday due to the risk of track distortion caused by the heat.


All by myself: From dining to camping, more Japanese women are going 'soloist' as stigma fades

Abstract: From dining out to camping, more Japanese women are doing things alone. In the past, women without family members, partners or friends were commonly looked upon in a negative light. This view has been changing as “soloists” as they are called grow in number. One who has been helping to change the perception of such women is freelance writer Mayumi Asai. One day last month she could be found picking strawberries at a farm in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture. Unlike the majority of visitors, who comprised couples and families, Asai had come by herself. After picking a few dozen strawberries, she went on to take pictures of the cherry blossoms along a nearby river. The 33-year-old Asai began striking out on her own as a university student after a female friend who had grown up abroad told her she liked to eat at ramen restaurants by herself. Asai had always felt it was a burden to have to consider the feelings of others when hanging out in a group, but this disappeared when she followed the example of her friend and began dining on her own. “I realized that I had been bound to the idea that dinner needed to be enjoyed in a group,” she said. Once she entered the workforce, Asai began to do even more by herself — from treating herself to full-course dinners to going to the zoo — and posting blogs and publishing books about her experiences. Her writing has garnered support from like-minded individuals who comment that they also enjoy undertaking activities by themselves and want experiences similar to hers. “You make your own decisions, so you get the chance to face yourself,” Asai said. “There is no feeling of loneliness, only one of significance and accomplishment.” A woman in Kyoto Prefecture who went camping by herself for the first time last fall mentioned how she was “tired of adjusting myself to others.” “It took a lot of effort to set up the tent and cook the rice, but I was able to spend quality time by myself,” the 29-year-old said contentedly. According to a 2015 study by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 48 percent of men and 36 percent of women responded that they would not feel lonely if they were to spend the rest of their lives by themselves, up 7 percentage points from the previous study five years before. As the number of people who enjoy doing things on their own increases, companies are offering new services and products for solo customers. At a branch of Hakata Motsunabe Oyama, Fukuoka-based hot pot restaurant operator LAV has made it easier for solo customers to enjoy a dish more commonly shared with others. They are given a designated seat at the counter — and more than half of the customers are women, according to the restaurant. “Many women come here during a solo or work trip and take pictures (of the dish) to upload to their social media,” said Yasuhiro Yoshimoto, who manages the branch. Kazuhisa Arakawa, head of a research group focusing on solo activities set up by advertising company Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc., said the idea of being alone began to correlate with independence about four years ago, influenced by social media. Many people believed they would get married someday, but “those days are over,” Arakawa said. “It’s becoming impossible to ignore those who live solitary lives,” he said. “We may be entering a time when everyone can enjoy solo activities, regardless of their gender, age and marital status.”


Damage to Japan's farm sector from natural disasters and extreme weather topped ¥560 billion in 2018

Abstract: The cost of damage to the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries from abnormal weather and natural disasters including typhoons and torrential rain stood at ¥567.9 billion in 2018, a government white paper said Tuesday. The total also included damage caused by a powerful earthquake in Hokkaido. The figure is the second highest in the past 10 years, after the ¥2.71 trillion logged in 2011, the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The sum for 2018 included ¥112.2 billion in damage to agricultural crops, ¥213.8 billion in damage to farmland and agricultural facilities, and ¥227.5 billion in damage to the forestry sector, which was heavily hit by landslides. While damage to farm products from cold weather has declined in recent years due to climate change, damage from typhoons and heavy rain has increased, according to the white paper. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has quickened its decision-making process for support measures for farmers affected by natural disasters. The ministry has also expanded the range of assistance depending on the type of disaster, including subsidies for reinforcing greenhouses and purchasing emergency electricity supply systems. Also in the white paper, the government detailed efforts to promote “smart agriculture,” which uses information and communications technology and robotics, such as drones and unmanned tractors. The report said that the nation’s exports of agriculture, forestry and fisheries products and food hit a record high for the sixth straight year in 2018.


Japanese scientist puts forward theory to solve 50-year moon rock mystery (it's not cheese)

Abstract: The moon was formed when it was washed out of the right eye of the god of the land while he was bathing. Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the moon god of Japanese folklore, then lived forever in the heavens after climbing a giant celestial ladder from his father’s bathroom. What I love is how the whimsy of folklore is equalled, if not surpassed, by modern explanations for the origin of the moon. For Natsuki Hosono of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in Yokohama, the origin of the moon is the most interesting topic in all of planetary science. And that’s not just because his name contains the kanji for “ tsuki, ” the word for “moon.” Hosono’s study, which was published in April in the journal Nature Geoscience , helps explain why we have a very large moon when the other rocky planets nearby don’t (Mars has two moons but they are very small). It also sheds light on something that has puzzled geologists for 50 years, since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin brought back samples of rocks gathered from the lunar surface. The Apollo rocks showed that the moon is made of the same stuff as the Earth. What that means, scientists have surmised, is that the moon was born of the early Earth. The story Hosono’s team has pieced together goes like this. Once upon a time there were five “inner” planets between the sun and Jupiter: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Theia and Mars. I say Earth, but back then, and we’re talking about 4.5 billion years ago, the third planet from the sun was a different size to the one we live on. So it’s better to say proto-Earth or early Earth. Theia was a planet about the size of Mars, which is smaller than Earth. Theia’s orbit wasn’t settled. This was only 50 million years or since the solar system itself had formed, and everything was a bit chaotic. In an accident that set off an extraordinary series of events, Theia crashed into the proto-Earth. There was an explosion of unimaginable scale and energy. George Darwin — son of Charles — was the first to suggest this as the origin of the moon in 1898, and it’s since become known as the giant-impact hypothesis. To mix our folkloric examples, Theia is the name of the ancient Greek Titan who gave birth to the moon goddess Selene. (Mixing of legends, by the way, is acceptable astronomical practice: Selene is the name of a moon orbiter launched by Japan in 2007 that is also known as Kaguya — the moon princess from the famous Japanese fairy tale “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.”) Until recently, all the models for the formation of our moon ended up showing that it should be formed by rocks from Theia and not Earth. Hosono’s new model seems to have solved the problem by thinking of Theia colliding into an Earth covered by an ocean of magma. After the titanic impact, a monstrous plume of molten rock was smashed into space, and there it gradually cooled into a solid mass — our moon. According to JAMSTEC’s simulations, the rest of Theia eventually fell back and sank into the Earth. There are many missions being planned to the moon by countries such as the U.S., Japan, India, China and Israel, plus several private space companies, including Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Hosono is positive about the developments. “I think the simplest next step is to carry out high precision measurements of as many lunar fragments as possible,” he says. What about human settlements on the moon? “If there is a village on the moon, we might do on-site measurements,” he says. “That sounds interesting.” In a way, Hosono’s story of the formation the moon is analogous to the story from Japanese folklore, which described it as being formed from a teardrop washed from his father’s eye. In Hosono’s explanation, the moon was formed in the distant past, from a giant teardrop of molten rock, smashed from its parent planet.

japan agency for marine-earth science and technology


China's new ambassador — a Japan expert — to start work in Tokyo on Thursday

Abstract: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou will assume his duties as ambassador to Japan on Thursday, according to the Chinese Embassy. Kong, considered an expert on Japan, will become Beijing’s man in Tokyo after Cheng Yonghua ends what has been an unusually long stint in the post. Kong will take the position around a month before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Japan in June for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka. It will be Xi’s first trip to Japan since he came to power in 2013. Educated at Shanghai International Studies University, where he majored in Japanese, Kong is a career diplomat who served as ambassador to Vietnam and assistant foreign minister before becoming vice foreign minister in 2017. Kong has doubled as China’s special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs at a time when the international community is closely watching whether North Korea will denuclearize as its leader Kim Jong Un has pledged.

ambassadors
kong xuanyou
cheng yonghua
xi jinping
china-japan relations
g20


Japan asks China to hold 'two-plus-two' security talks in hopes of de-escalating dispute over Senkakus

Abstract: BEIJING - The Japanese government has suggested to China that the countries should begin holding meetings between their foreign and defense ministers in order to deepen mutual understanding on security issues, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. Beijing has yet to accept or decline the suggestion, the sources said, indicating the issue may be on the agenda when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Osaka. By offering to hold the “two-plus-two” talks, Japan is hoping to de-escalate the situation in the East China Sea, where the countries are in a dispute over the sovereignty of the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, the sources said. China lays claim to the Japanese-controlled islands, which lie in waters rich with fish and potentially oil and gas deposits, and has continued to send government ships to the area. The islands, called Diaoyu by China, are also claimed by Taiwan, which calls them Tiaoyutai. China has also been increasing its presence in the South China Sea, creating man-made islands with military installations. According to the sources, Foreign Minister Taro Kono floated the idea of two-plus-two talks in meetings over the past several months with Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It is expected Tokyo will agree to set up the talks when Abe potentially goes to China later this year, or during another possible visit to Japan by Xi next year. If realized, the talks are expected to include Kono and Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya on the Japanese side. Candidates to participate on the Chinese side include Yang and Wang, as well as Li Zuocheng, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army, and National Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

senkaku
shinzo abe
xi jinping
diaoyu
tiaoyutai
taro kono
wang yi
2 plus 2


In symbolic first, Abe and Trump jointly address military personnel aboard Japan's Kaga carrier

Abstract: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREF. - Peppered with pomp and decorum, U.S. President Donald Trump’s four-day visit to Japan ended with a symbolic gesture highlighting the long-standing military ties between the U.S. and Japan, with Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe jointly boarding the Japanese helicopter carrier Kaga to give an address to both the U.S. Navy and the Maritime Self-Defense Force. According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, Trump is the first U.S. president to board an MSDF vessel. Tuesday’s boarding by the pair underlines Abe’s long-standing efforts to further strengthen the bilateral military alliance, and show it off to the world in hopes of keeping China and North Korea in check. “At this very historic moment as Japan begins Reiwa, … we celebrate the U.S.-Japan alliance and the friendship between our freedom-loving peoples,” said Trump aboard the Kaga, currently stationed at Yokosuka Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture. “This is the only port in the world where an American naval fleet and an allied naval fleet are headquartered side by side. The American and Japanese sailors stationed in this bay are living testaments to the enduring power of our incredible partnership,” he added. The Kaga, an Izumo-class helicopter carrier, is one of two in the class operated as Japan’s largest warships, and they are planned to be remodeled into aircraft carriers. With the refurbishment, the vessel will be capable of carrying F-35B stealth fighter jets developed by U.S. firm Lockheed Martin. The Izumo, the other Izumo-class warship, has recently been dispatched to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean to conduct joint military drills with the U.S. and other countries. In a brief speech delivered while stood alongside Trump, Abe touched on Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,” which stresses the rule of law and freedom of navigation. The concept, first proposed by Abe in 2016, is widely seen as a counter-policy against China’s growing economic and military power in East Asia, although Tokyo has denied that officially. “Our mission is to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific and to establish a foundation for regional peace and prosperity. As we gather here, I believe that every one of us shares an unwavering determination to fulfill such a mission,” Abe said in the speech. “The Japan-U.S. alliance has become more robust than ever under the great partnership that President Trump and I have developed. The fact that we stand together on board the JS Kaga today is a testament to such a robust alliance,” said Abe, adding that the address marked the first time that the two leaders of Japan and the U.S. held a joint address for their fleets. Retired Vice Adm. Toshiyuki Ito, a professor at Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s Toranomon Graduate School, said Trump’s visit to the Kaga not only sent a strong message to the world regarding the strength of Japan-U.S. military ties, but also represented a marked change in Trump’s understanding of the alliance. “The linchpin of the Japan-U.S. alliance is what would be called its ‘navy-to-navy’ policy. Namely, the partnership between Japan’s MSDF and the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet is at the very core,” of the two countries’ military alliance, he explained. During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Trump often criticized Japan for what he described as free-riding on the military alliance to defend itself in the case of war. However, the joint defense operation guidelines revised in 2015 stipulate that “Japan will have primary responsibility” to repel an armed attack against the country and that the U.S. would only provide “support” to Japan. This means the only time the U.S. would be dispatched to serve alongside the SDF to defend Japan would be when the SDF is mobilized, and Ito said that Trump might have finally understood how the military alliance would work to defend Japan. “I think this visit to the Kaga is emblematic of that change in his thinking,” Ito said. The joint address to the military personnel aboard the Kaga also sends a strong message that the U.S.-Japan alliance is firm, Ito added. “Military ships are completely different from normal ships” in that they represent the country’s intent and send clear international messages, Ito explained. “A maritime force is also a tool for diplomacy,” he added, and Trump boarding the Kaga also communicates the depth of the Japan-U.S. relationship both internally and abroad. In December, the Japanese government announced its plan to purchase 105 F-35A fighter jets from the U.S. for the Air-Self-Defense Force, a development that both leaders noted during Trump’s visit, as well as during the address aboard the Kaga. Japan also plans to purchase 42 F-35B jet fighters to be deployed on the two Izumo-class aircraft carriers.

military
kaga
donald trump
shinzo abe
msdf
izumo
aircraft carriers
u.s .
self defense forces
u.s.-japan relations


Advisory panel to Japan's Justice Ministry to discuss limits of parental disciplinary rights

Abstract: Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita plans to ask the Legislative Council, an advisory panel, on June 20 to discuss reviewing parental disciplinary rights, sources with knowledge of the matter said Monday. Some people have urged the government to review parental disciplinary rights, including a clause on such rights in the Civil Code, claiming that they are being misused as an excuse to justify child abuse. A supplementary provision of legislation to ban physical punishments by parents calls for a review of parental disciplinary rights within two years of its entry into force. The Diet is expected to pass the legislation during its current session, which is set to end next month. Whether to keep parental disciplinary rights in the Civil Code was discussed previously in 2011. A proposal to delete the relevant clause was dropped at that time for fear that parents would not be able to educate or take care of their children properly.

justice ministry
takashi yamashita
child abuse
children
parenthood


Japan the new 'leader of the liberal order in Asia,' top Australian think tank says

Abstract: Japan has become “the quintessential smart power” and the new “leader of the liberal order in Asia,” according to a new index of power in the region published Wednesday by a leading Australian think tank. The release of the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index 2019 comes as China and the United States battle for global and regional dominance, but reveals that beyond the competition between the two titans, Japan, ranked No. 3 in the survey, lies within a “distinct tier” of leading powers that are themselves greatly influencing the region. “There is often a temptation to reduce the complexity of Asia’s international order to a two player game between the United States and China,” the report said. “In reality the Indo-Pacific ecosystem is created and sustained by a much wider array of actors.” Japan, as well as India, ranked No. 4 in the index, “occupy a distinct tier ahead of the most sizeable middle powers,” it said. The survey ranked 25 countries and territories in terms of their capacity to influence regional events, evaluating state power through 126 indicators across eight thematic measures: military capability and defense networks, economic resources and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources. Its release comes as the United States, led by the mercurial President Donald Trump, seeks to shake off what Trump sees as the shackles of the largely U.S.-created liberal international order — including longtime commitments in Asia — and as a rising China under the leadership of President Xi Jinping sharpens its ambitions amid the emerging vacuum. Trump’s quest has so far seen him pull Washington out of multilateral and bilateral trade, climate and arms control pacts, while Xi has overseen China’s emergence as an economic and military superpower. Japan, as the so-called quintessential smart power making efficient use of limited resources to wield broad-based diplomatic, economic and cultural influence in the region, “is helping at the margins to adapt the broader regional order” to these realities, the report said. Despite its limited resources, it achieved a top-four ranking across the four influence measures — diplomatic influence, economic relationships, defense networks and cultural influence — while finishing in the top two, just behind China, for diplomatic influence, according to the index. “Setting regional standards and maintaining an inclusive multilateral architecture has become a key organizing principle under the premiership of Shinzo Abe,” the report said. This has come despite the difficulties Abe has faced in balancing the often contradictory demands and desires of Trump. As an example, the report cited Tokyo’s successful resuscitation last year of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact as the TPP-11, after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2017. Japan, it added, has also proven a capable rival to China for infrastructure investment in South and Southeast Asia. “It has used its economic diplomacy to offer Washington alternatives to the Belt and Road Initiative and ease developing countries’ dependence on Chinese lending,” the report said, referring to Beijing’s multi-trillion dollar infrastructure-building spree. Japan, it said, has been the dominant foreign investor in strategically pivotal countries as varied as Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Militarily, however, Japan has faced headwinds, the report noted, dropping from sixth to seventh place in the military capability ranking, displaced by nuclear-armed North Korea, which has the third-largest standing army in Asia. According to Herve Lemahieu, the director of the Lowy Institute’s Asian Power and Diplomacy Program and the author of the index, while Japan is trending up on so-called signature capabilities — such as by building helicopter carriers and actual aircraft carriers, and buying more cutting-edge U.S. aircraft and weapons — its ranking fell based on the relative state of its Self-Defense Forces and the military posture of its Asian neighbors. “In geostrategic terms, it’s the relativities that matter. Japan is modernizing, but other armed forces are enhancing their capabilities faster still,” Lemahieu said, noting however that defense investments often take a while to materialize into new capabilities and that Japan’s defense spending, despite hitting a record ¥5.26 trillion for fiscal 2019, remains comparatively low. Abe and Trump on Tuesday showcased the emerging fruits of the two nations’ military alliance aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s largest warship, the Kaga, which the Defense Ministry plans to upgrade so it can function as an aircraft carrier. It will then be able to carry U.S.-made F-35B stealth fighter jets, of which Tokyo plans to purchase more than 100. China, which has been the primary driver of Japan’s defense buildup, according to analysts, netted the highest gains in overall power in 2019, with first-place rankings in half of the eight index measures after leading last year in only three of the eight measures. “Despite steady advances, however, Beijing faces political and structural challenges that may make it difficult to establish undisputed primacy in the region,” according to the report. While it was ranked No. 2 for military capability behind the United States, long-term political will and defense economics will be deciding factors in the military rivalry between the two and with Japan. Beijing’s flexing of hard and soft power, meanwhile, “remains hobbled in key respects — not least due to a lack of trust among 11 of its neighbors with whom it has unresolved boundary disputes or legacies of interstate conflict.” In the East China Sea, Beijing is embroiled in a dispute with Tokyo over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu. And in the disputed South China Sea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all have competing claims. China has constructed man-made islands, some of which are home to military-grade airfields and advanced weaponry, in the strategic waterway. Japan and the U.S. fear those outposts could be used to restrict free movement in the waterway — which includes vital sea lanes through which about $3 trillion in global trade passes each year.

china
military
donald trump
shinzo abe
north korea
self defense forces


Seven infants left in Kumamoto baby hatch in fiscal 2018

Abstract: KUMAMOTO - Seven infants were left in a baby hatch in the city of Kumamoto in fiscal 2018, the municipal government said Monday. A total of 144 infants have been brought to the hatch, called Konotori no Yurikago (Storks’ Cradle), since it was set up at Jikei Hospital in 2007. The hatch allows parents having difficulty in rearing their babies to leave them anonymously. Four of the seven infants left in fiscal 2018 were boys. All seven were less than 1 year old. Five were less than 1 month old. Four were born at home without the help of medical personnel. The parents’ whereabouts were found for six of them. Regarding their reasons for using the baby hatch, with multiple answers allowed, poverty was cited by three of the parents and child-rearing anxieties by two. One of the reasons cited was an unwillingness to consult the local government, which women typically do to receive support when they get pregnant. A Kumamoto official said some people have difficulties finding government offices close to where they live or work. The city will continue asking the central government to strengthen consultation services and take other steps to help such parents, Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi said in a statement. In July 2017, the city asked the central government to prepare a consulting service for parents and consider legislation that would allow pregnant women to give birth at hospitals anonymously.

kumamoto
baby hatch
cradles
hospitals
poverty
children


Emperor and empress bid farewell to Trump before he departs Japan

Abstract: At a Tokyo hotel Tuesday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bid farewell to U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, who have been visiting Japan as state guests. The Trumps have been staying at the hotel since their arrival in the nation on Saturday as the first foreign guests of the imperial couple since the emperor ascended to the throne May 1. The emperor said he was very happy to have been able to host the president and his wife, while Trump expressed his gratitude for a banquet held by the imperial couple the previous night, emphasizing how he now considers them personal friends, according to the Imperial Household Agency. The informal chat, in which the empress also participated, lasted around 20 minutes and was very relaxed, the agency added. It is customary for the emperor and empress to meet state guests on the last day of their stay. The Trumps also met with the emperor and the empress on Monday before the U.S. leader held a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

emperor naruhito
empress masako
donald trump
royalty
imperial family
u.s.-japan relations
melania trump


Over 200 bags of cocaine found in stomach of Japanese who died on plane

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - More than 200 bags of cocaine were found in the stomach and intestines of a Japanese man who died last week on a flight from Mexico to Japan, Mexican officials said Monday. An autopsy revealed that the 42-year-old man had swallowed 246 bags. The man died Friday from cardiac arrest caused by a drug overdose, the law enforcement officials said. The man took a flight from the Colombian capital of Bogota to Mexico City, where he boarded a flight to Narita International Airport. He started having a convulsive seizure and showed other symptoms of an overdose soon after taking off from the Mexican capital, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in the early hours of Friday at an airport in Hermosillo, the state capital of Sonora, Mexico. The man was declared dead soon after. Prosecutors identified the man as Udo N, while the local paper El Sol de Mexico reported the man’s name as Satoshi Udo. Carrying cocaine aboard passenger planes by swallowing small bags of the drug is a common smuggling tactic, and there have been many cases of smugglers dying from cocaine bags rupturing inside their bodies. The plastic bags were approximately 2.5 centimeters long and 1 cm wide, the officials said.

cocaine
mexico
drugs
u.s .
air accidents


Archive to tell story of Beate Sirota Gordon's pivotal role in fight for gender equality in Japan

Abstract: RANZAN, SAITAMA PREF. - Documents related to Beate Sirota Gordon, the American translator who played a major role in the formulation of the Japanese Constitution’s gender equality protections, are being archived in a project exploring the development of women’s rights. The initiative, which aims to demonstrate the role women played in the postwar fight for gender equality in Japan, came with Gordon’s alma mater, Mills College in California, agreeing to donate six boxes of documents to the National Women’s Education Center, or NWEC, in Ranzan, Saitama Prefecture. “It is significant to keep them here in Japan to make them available for those studying, for example, the process of making the Constitution,” said Michi Mori, an information division official at the NWEC, which is hosting an exhibition about Gordon. The center has also received other materials from Gordon’s daughter, Nicole, as well as other people and groups linked to her work. The documents collected by the NWEC include a Japanese draft of the Constitution typed in the Roman alphabet. Gordon compiled the Constitution’s human rights clauses, particularly concerning women, which eventually resulted in Article 24, which stipulates gender equality. Among the document cache is a travel record from 1952, when Gordon attended a two-month U.S. tour with Fusae Ichikawa (1893-1981), a female activist and former Upper House member who spearheaded the women’s suffrage movement in Japan. “We are planning to organize these documents to post them on the internet for the benefit of those who are interested,” Mori said. Gordon was born in 1923 in Vienna as the only daughter of the internationally acclaimed pianist Leo Sirota and his wife, Augustine. She moved to Tokyo with her family in 1929 when her father started teaching at what is now the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. She spent roughly 10 years in Japan before moving to California to attend college. After graduating from Mills College and obtaining U.S. citizenship, she returned to Japan at the age of 22 in December 1945, four months after the end of World War II, to work at the headquarters of the Allied Occupation. She was assigned to help draft Japan’s new Constitution. In addition to Article 24, Gordon contributed to compiling Article 14, which stipulates equality before the law, reflecting the knowledge she gained through her own experiences witnessing the disadvantages suffered by Japanese women. Using her Japanese-language skills, Gordon also served as a civilian interpreter and translator for the Allies. She was involved in negotiations between them and the Japanese government over the wording of the Constitution. She moved to the United States in 1947 after witnessing the promulgation of the Constitution the previous year and worked as performance art director at the New York-based Japan Society and other institutions that endeavored to promote bilateral cultural exchanges. While for a long time she never spoke of her role in the drafting of the Constitution, Gordon began opening up in the early 1990s, partly on the recommendation of her former supervisor in Japan. From that point she was frequently invited by women’s groups all over Japan to deliver lectures championing women’s rights and the pacifism written into the Constitution. Koji Sugimoto, an exhibition designer, supported her activities in Japan. Sugimoto, 83, became acquainted with Gordon in 1965 when they worked together for a Japanese art festival project, and maintained mutual trust by visiting each other in Tokyo and New York until her death in 2012 at age 89. “Ms. Beate saw Japanese women eating dinners in the kitchen while their husbands did so in dining rooms and walking a step behind their partners before and during the war,” he said. “Struck with their subordinate status, she always wanted to do something for them, and even after the war, she continued encouraging them by directly talking to them.” The NWEC has also collected records on the lecture events compiled by the women’s groups, which show how enthusiastically women in Japan welcomed Gordon even a half-century after the creation of the Constitution. Reiko Aoki, a visiting researcher at the NWEC involved in compiling the documents, said, “We expect these archives to be a visual representation of how Japanese women have learned about equality and their human rights with Ms. Beate, and to spur their learning activities in the future.” Visitors to the NWEC are also able to see a copy of a speech Gordon delivered in 2006 in Sendai. “I think it is meaningful that the documents … show how women in Japan have been empowered by Ms. Beate, preserved and made public in a comprehensive manner at the NWEC,” Sugimoto said. Some of the Gordon-related documents, including photographs and video footage, are now displayed at an exhibition hall of the NWEC. The exhibition is free and runs through Sept. 30. For further information, call the NWEC at 0493-62-6195 or visit its website .

beate sirota gordon
translation
constitution
women
rights
wwii
history
language
english


Body found as divers continue search for missing crew from ship collision off eastern Japan

Abstract: CHIBA - Another crew member was found dead Tuesday as divers searched inside a cargo ship that sank in the Pacific Ocean off eastern Japan, bringing the death toll from the accident to two, authorities said. The divers had resumed a search for missing crew members with the hope that survivors might be discovered after noises believed to be coming from the ship were detected. The victim was identified as Kazufumi Kamimura, 60, the chief officer of the 499-ton Sensho Maru. Earlier, Akira Yano, 72, was found dead. Another two crew members remained missing as of Tuesday night. The vessel sank to the seafloor at a depth of about 30 meters after colliding with another 499-ton cargo ship, the Sumiho Maru, about 12 kilometers off Inubosaki, Chiba Prefecture, early Sunday. The four crew members on the Sumiho Maru, based in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, escaped the incident safely. The captain of the Sensho Maru, based out of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, was rescued. According to the local coast guard office, a diver heard a faint knocking sound from the Sensho Maru on Monday. The coast guard identified the two missing sailors as Hiroshi Seno, 69, and Saigo Umakoshi, 67.

chiba
sensho maru
inubosaki
maritime accidents


Sendai court rules defunct eugenics law unconstitutional but denies damages due to statute of limitations

Abstract: SENDAI - A Sendai court determined Tuesday that the now-defunct eugenics protection law, which mandated the government stop people with intellectual disabilities from reproducing, was unconstitutional, but it dismissed a damages suit filed by two women who underwent forced sterilization. In the first ruling handed down in a number of suits filed with seven district courts nationwide, the Sendai District Court rejected the ¥71.5 million ($653,000) damages suit filed by women in their 60s and 70s in Miyagi Prefecture, saying the statute of limitations had expired. In the trial, the plaintiffs and lawyers said the 1948 eugenics law deprived the victims of self-determination with regard to giving birth and raising children, violating the Constitution, which guarantees the pursuit of happiness and equality under the law. They said the state failed to take legislative action to compensate the victims, but the government argued it had no obligation to do so as the victims could seek damages under the state compensation law. The state also argued it was not obliged to pay compensation due to the 20-year statute of limitations on demands for damages under the Civil Code, pointing out that the victims underwent surgery more than 40 years ago. Between 1948 and 1996, the eugenics law authorized the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness or hereditary disorders to prevent births of “inferior” offspring. About 25,000 people with disabilities were sterilized under the eugenics protection law, including some 16,500 who were operated on without their consent, according to the health ministry and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. In April, the Diet enacted legislation to pay ¥3.2 million in state compensation to each person who underwent forced sterilization, irrespective of whether they were believed to have agreed to undergo the surgery or not. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a statement expressing regret and containing an apology, but he did not mention the legal liability of the state. The law setting out the compensation provisions, drafted by ruling and opposition parties, offers an apology to survivors, but critics say its wording lacks clarity over where responsibility lies.

courts
eugenics
eugenic protection law
disability
sterilization
rights
discrimination


Kawasaki stabbing rampage leaves three dead, including schoolgirl and suspect; 17 injured

Abstract: KAWASAKI - An 11-year-old girl and a 39-year-old man died in a mass stabbing in Kawasaki on Tuesday morning, a rampage that injured an additional 17 people — including 15 elementary school girls and a boy — and saw the attacker turn the knife on himself, police said. Investigative sources said they had detained a suspect after the rampage, a man in his 50s, who later died of a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck area, they said. The man was identified as Ryuichi Iwasaki, 51, of Kawasaki’s Asao Ward. Police identified the victims as Hanako Kuribayashi, 11, a sixth grader from Tama, Tokyo, and Satoshi Oyama, a 39-year-old Foreign Ministry official. They both suffered deep stab wounds to the neck. Oyama was the father of a child who was among the children at the scene. His child was not injured. Oyama was also stabbed in the back and shoulders, suggesting he might have been defending some of the children, police sources said. Kanagawa Prefectural Police officials said many of the victims, who were waiting at a school bus stop in Tama Ward about 250 meters northwest of Noborito Station, are students from Caritas Elementary School, a private Catholic school in the same ward. They said the suspect, who was wearing glasses, a black shirt and pants, slowly approached the girls and attacked them with knives in both hands. He assaulted the victims one by one. According to witnesses, some children screamed : “Help me!” and “Dad and Mom, what should I do?” Authorities said they found two knives at the site that appeared to have been used in the attack. The blades measured 30 cm each, according to police sources. Police said two more knives were found in what appears to be the suspect’s backpack. “I heard children scream ‘I’m scared’ and then turned to see a man with knives shouting, ‘I’m gonna kill you,'” said Toshichika Ishii, 57, who was at a park near the site, adding that he saw children falling to the ground. Police quoted a bus driver who witnessed the assault as saying, “I tried to stop him, but he started stabbing children and others.” “He then moved dozens of meters away and stabbed his own neck,” the driver said. Kazuhiro Yoshida, a 60-year-old bus driver for the elementary school, said he got off his bus when he arrived near the scene and saw “pools of blood.” “A man in dark clothing was lying on the ground and did not move a bit,” Yoshida said. Many of the victims sustained wounds to the neck, and they may also develop post-traumatic stress disorder, according to hospitals treating them. A woman in her 40s who lives near the scene said she saw a rescue worker conducting CPR on a girl and “blood flowing from a man in a suit crouching on the ground and forming a pool.” The scene and its vicinity were cordoned off as investigators collected evidence. “I heard fire engines coming in the morning and I saw a man lying on the ground bleeding,” a man who lives nearby told public broadcaster NHK. “I saw many elementary school children lying on the ground near a school bus stop. School rucksacks were scattered all over the place. “There was another man lying on the ground bleeding at a municipal-run bus stop near the school’s bus stop,” the man added. A local resident, who declined to give his name, said children attending the school lined up for the bus at the site every day. “If you live in this neighborhood, everybody knows that these kids are there,” the 66-year-old said. “I’ve been in this area for a long time, I cannot believe that somebody targeted this bus and targeted these small children.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that “children’s safety should be protected at any cost.” Education minister Masahiko Shibayama said at a news conference Tuesday that Abe instructed him to make every possible effort to secure safety at schools and school commuting roads. Parents arrived at the Catholic private school later in the day to pick their children up as the school and the local education board scrambled to gather information on the attack. “I heard from the school that my daughter was inside the bus (when the attack took place). I heard she’s fine but I have not been able to meet her yet,” said a father of a first grader. The rampage was a rare attack in a country with one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world. There was no immediate detail on the motive of the suspect. Schools in Japan have stepped up safety measures ever since a knife-wielding man, who sought to be sentenced to death, entered an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and killed eight students and wounded 15 others in 2001. Many schools lock their gates once classes start and security cameras have been introduced. Volunteers and members of parent teacher associations also line the routes leading to schools. But such measures are limited. “Even if we thoroughly implemented the plan (for preventing crimes), it is difficult to totally prevent them,” said a senior education ministry official. U.S. President Donald Trump, who was wrapping up a state visit to Japan, offered his “prayers and sympathy” to the victims as he met troops outside Tokyo on the final day of his trip. Standing aboard a Japanese military ship, he said that “all Americans stand with the people of Japan and grieve for the victims and for their families.”

kawasaki
stabbings
ryuichi iwasaki
children
kanagawa
murder
kawasaki attack


A chronology of major violent rampage cases in Japan

Abstract: The following is a chronology of major violent rampage cases with multiple victims in Japan: Sept. 8, 1999 : Man attacks pedestrians with a knife and hammer in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, killing two and injuring six. Sept. 29, 1999 : Man kills five people and injures 10 after driving a car into a crowd at Shimonoseki Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture before stabbing passersby. June 8, 2001 : Knife-wielding man enters an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, killing eight students and wounding 15 other pupils and teachers. March 23, 2008 : Man stabs pedestrians with a knife near a shopping mall in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, leaving one man dead and seven others injured. June 8, 2008 : Man kills seven people and wounds 10 after mowing down pedestrians with a truck in a vehicle-free zone before going on a stabbing spree with a knife in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. June 22, 2010 : Former temporary worker at automaker Mazda Motor Corp. hits employees with a car at a plant in Hiroshima Prefecture, leaving one man dead and 11 wounded. July 26, 2016 : Former employee of a residential mental health care facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, stabs residents and employees, killing 19 disabled people and injuring 26 others.

stabbings
murder
children
mass murder
kawasaki attack


2020 Tokyo Olympics torch relay may include Fukushima reactor town

Abstract: The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games torch relay will pass through a town in Fukushima Prefecture that was devastated by nuclear meltdowns following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, sources said Tuesday. The Olympic torch relay course will include the environs of the No. 1 reactor at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex in Okuma as part of the organizers’ efforts to promote the games as the “reconstruction Olympics,” the sources said. The government lifted its mandatory evacuation order over parts of Okuma last month, but most of the town still remains a no-go zone. The relay will pass through the parts of Okuma and the surrounding area where the evacuation order has been lifted. After declaring that problems containing radioactive water accumulating at the No. 1 reactor were “under control” during the 2020 Olympic bid process, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the government have used the games to showcase the country’s recovery from the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 and ensuing nuclear disaster. But in districts of Okuma where the evacuation order has been lifted — which covers 40 percent of the town’s total land — only a tiny percentage of residents have returned, with some saying they have been left behind while more emphasis is placed on showing off the progress of recovery. Organizers announced in July 2018 that Fukushima would be the starting point for the relay. In March, organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori revealed the relay will begin some 20 kilometers from Fukushima No. 1 at the J-Village national soccer training center, which was used as an operational base for the crisis. The Olympic torch will arrive in Japan on March 20, 2020, and the flame will be taken to Ishinomaki Minamihama Tsunami Recovery Memorial Park in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated eight years ago. It will then travel by train through Miyagi and Iwate prefectures — the two other prefectures hit hardest by the powerful earthquake and tsunami — before making its way to Fukushima. The Japan leg of the relay will begin on March 26, 2020, two weeks after the flame lighting ceremony in Greece, and will travel across all 47 prefectures over a period of 121 days. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held between July 24 and Aug. 9, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.