A month ahead of election, Thailand's billionaire rising political star is energizing young voters

Abstract: BANGKOK - Young people line up to take selfies with him. His hashtags are trending. And when billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit promises an end to Thailand’s military “dictatorship,” supporters of his Future Forward Party roar their approval. The 40-year-old heir to an auto parts fortune is a political newcomer and social media star who has energized young voters ahead of March 24 elections, the first since a coup in 2014. “I urge our ‘Futuristas’ to campaign against the future in which the junta leader comes back as a prime minister,” Thanathorn said at a rally on Saturday. His message has drawn the attention of police, who want to prosecute him under the Computer Crime Act for criticizing the junta in a Facebook video in June. If found guilty of uploading false information, he could face up to five years in prison. He denies wrongdoing, and will meet on Wednesday with prosecutors who will decide whether to take the case to court. Thanathorn also faces a lobbyist’s petition asking the Election Commission to disqualify him as a candidate. These moves, he said, are a sign that his left-wing party is worrying those who want to see the military retain broad power. “It’s fear. Nobody thought we’d come this far. This is dictatorship’s last struggle for life,” he said. Posts shared on social media have cast him as anti-royalist, a serious accusation in a country where criticism of the king is against the law. Thanathorn calls it a smear campaign. “It’s clear we’ll be playing a significant role after the election. The only way to undermine us is to destroy our credibility by means of law, fake news and hate speech,” he said. He promises a new kind of politics to heal the divisions of the past 15 years and reduce the role of the military. The challenge for Thanathorn — nicknamed “Daddy” on social media — will be to turn his online popularity into votes. The election is broadly seen as a race between the military-backed royalist prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, and supporters of exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a 2006 coup. Parties loyal to Thaksin have won every election since 2001, but after he was ousted, successive governments have been removed by courts or coups, most recently in the 2014 military takeover. Thai opinion polls can be unreliable, but a Feb. 20-23 survey showed Future Forward topping a list of favoured parties with 37.8 percent support, compared to 7.5 percent a month ago. The February poll conducted by Bansomdej University surveyed 1,152 people in Bangkok, with a 3 percent margin of error. Other polls had Future Forward’s support at below 10 percent and lagging the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party or the Palang Pracharat party, with junta leader Prayuth as its candidate. A former student activist, Thanathorn took over his late father’s Thai Summit Group at age 23. Before entering politics, he was known for running ultra-marathons in the Arctic and Sahara, and trekking in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. He has been embraced by social-media savvy youth, many of them politicized in a way rarely seen since state forces crushed student pro-democracy movements in the 1970s. About 14 percent of the electorate, or 7 million people, are eligible to vote for the first time next month. They have lived through Thailand’s “color wars,” with anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirt protesters and the ex-premier’s loyalist Red Shirts alternatively paralyzing Bangkok for weeks at a time. Last week, “#SaveThanathorn” topped Thai-language Twitter after police said they would prosecute him for cyber crimes. Another hashtag, “#FahLovesDaddy,” had fans jokingly comparing the candidate to a soap opera character named Daddy, a charismatic businessman pursued by a female protagonist, Fah. He tweeted back “#DaddyAsksFah” to urge supporters to vote. “He’s speaking the same language as the new generation, in terms of mindset, world view, perception,” said political scientist Titipol Phakdeewanich of Ubon Ratchathani University. Thanathorn said he was confident his party could send at least 70 members to the 500-member House of Representatives. That could be enough to influence a coalition against military rule, analysts said, even if his candidacy is in doubt. On Monday, a lobbyist petitioned election officials to disqualify Thanathorn, alleging he had misled voters in a party biography that described him as chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, when he in fact had led a provincial chapter. Thanathorn said the “technical error” was corrected. Another pro-Thaksin party, Thai Raksa Chart, faces possible dissolution after it nominated the king’s sister, Princess Ubolratana, as its candidate for prime minister. “With one month left, who knows what magic tricks the junta still has up their sleeves?” Thanathorn said. “If the junta manages to destroy both Thai Raksa Chart and Future Forward, it’s game over for democracy.”

elections
thailand
voting
thanathorn juangroongruangkit
youth
_asia


India says hundreds of terrorists killed in strikes on Pakistan, described as worst escalation in decades

Abstract: NEW, DELHI/ISLAMABAD - India said its fighter jets destroyed a major terrorist camp in Pakistan in an incident described by Islamabad to be a “grave aggression,” and reported to have been the worst escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals since 2001. More than 300 people were killed in the airstrikes at the camp belonging to terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed that has trained suicide bombers, according to an Indian official speaking on condition of anonymity. Pakistan denies the attack did any damage or caused casualties. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in New Delhi today that India carried out strikes in Pakistan following an attack in Kashmir earlier this month, and in response to intelligence that indicated Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning more attacks. “In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary,” Gokhale said. “In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at a televised news conference in Islamabad that India had violated the Line of Control. “India has committed aggression against Pakistan today — I will call it a grave aggression,” Qureshi said. “Pakistan reserves the right to respond reasonably,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had called a security briefing. Earlier in the day the Indian rupee weakened offshore, but later erased most losses to trade 0.1 percent lower at 71.05 against the dollar. Pakistan stocks dropped 1.5 percent in the first 10 minutes of trading, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index near the lowest level in almost six weeks. India’s S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.6 percent at 12:09 p.m. in Mumbai, after plunging as much as 1.4 percent. “The last time the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control intentionally and publicly to conduct airstrikes was 1971,” wrote Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT in an email, referring to the last Indo-Pakistan war. Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistan Armed Forces, said the Pakistan Air Force responded by scrambling its own jets, adding in a tweet there were “No casualties or damage.” Relations between the historic arch-rivals have been extremely tense since a suicide car bombing, claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, killed 40 members of India’s security forces in Kashmir on Feb. 14. Jaish-e-Mohammed is a United Nations designated terrorist group. The reported strikes are the worst escalation since 2001, when Pakistan and India moved ballistic missiles and troops to their border following an attack on parliament in New Delhi that was also blamed on Jaish-e-Mohammad. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since partition and independence in 1947. “This is the first time that India has crossed the Line of Control and, from the looks of it, the international border,” said G. Parthasarathy, the former Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan. “In 2001, we had deployed the army on our borders but there was no military action.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in the coming months, is under enormous pressure after blaming Pakistan for the worst attack on security forces in Kashmir in several decades, and markets reacted after Modi pledged a “befitting reply.” Islamabad has denied any role in the Feb. 14 attack. On Feb. 19, Khan vowed in a televised speech to retaliate against India if New Delhi launched any sort of military response. In the past few days, Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, visited troops along the Line of Control to review their preparedness, according to the military media wing Inter-Services Public Relations. “My gut tells me there will be some form of escalation,” said Kamran Bokhari, director of Strategy and Programs at Center for Global Policy with the University of Ottawa, by phone. “Pakistan will have to strike back. I am not saying this will lead to an all out war but I don’t see that it’s over.” The Indian Army said earlier, on Feb. 19, that it had killed a Jaish-e-Mohammed leader in Kashmir who was a Pakistani national and had links to that country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) — the main spy agency for the government in Islamabad. Modi had previously said the country’s defense forces have been given the freedom to respond. Both India and the U.S. see Pakistan as providing safe haven for terrorist groups and point to the fact that the leadership of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out the Mumbai attacks in 2008, still live freely in Pakistan.

india pakistan kashmir conflict terrorism


Australian Cardinal George Pell becomes most senior Catholic priest to be convicted of child sex crimes

Abstract: SYDNEY/MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Australian Cardinal George Pell, one of Pope Francis’ closest advisors, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choirboys, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex crimes, it was announced Tuesday. An Australian jury unanimously found Pell guilty on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault against two choir boys at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s. He was in December found guilty of the sexual assaults, but only on Tuesday was a wide-ranging suppression order thrown out, allowing media to report on the case. Pell, now aged 77, was accused of cornering the boys — then aged 12 and 13 — in the cathedral’s sacristy following Sunday Mass and forcing them to perform a sex act on him. The cleric, who has remained free on bail, denied all the charges and an initial trial ended with a hung jury in September, but he was convicted in the retrial on Dec. 11. Prosecutors decided against going ahead with a planned second trial dealing with separate allegations against Pell dating from the 1970s, resulting in the lifting of the wide-ranging suppression order that had been put in place by a judge in May that prevented the media from reporting even the existence of court proceedings. There was no immediate reaction from the Vatican but Pell maintained his innocence Tuesday. “Cardinal George Pell has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so,” said a statement issued by his lawyers, who added that they had lodged an appeal against the conviction. The statement noted that numerous allegations and other charges against Pell had already been withdrawn or discharged. Of the two choirboys that Pell was found to have assaulted, one died in 2014 and the second said in a statement issued by his lawyer Tuesday that the ongoing legal process was stressful and “not over yet.” “Like many survivors I have experienced shame, loneliness, depression and struggle. Like many survivors it has taken me years to understand the impact upon my life,” said the man, who has not been publicly identified. “At some point we realize that we trusted someone we should have feared and we fear those genuine relationships that we should trust.” Outside the County Court of Victoria, supporters of other abuse survivors yelled “monster” and “rot in hell” as Pell, walking slowly with the aid of a cane, entered a car after the hearing concluded. “It is a miracle. It is unbelievable,” one child sex abuse survivor who only gave his name as Michael told reporters outside the court, adding that he wanted to see the cleric excommunicated from the church and sent to prison. A pre-sentencing hearing was scheduled for Wednesday. Pell sat impassively during Tuesday’s court hearing, wearing a beige sport coat over a dark shirt and clerical collar. His conviction is another hammer blow to the Church, which has struggled to convince the world it is serious about tackling widespread child abuse and pedophilia. Pell was appointed by Pope Francis to manage the Vatican finances in 2014, and has been one of the pontiff’s closest advisors. News of his conviction will be a serious setback as the pope pursues a campaign to show the church’s determination to fight sex abuse. Just two days earlier, Pope Francis closed an historic Vatican summit on sexual abuse by priests by likening the abuse to “human sacrifice.” “We are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the Earth,” Francis said in closing remarks to the summit, vowing to deal with every case of abuse “with the utmost seriousness.” But critics say the institution is still moving too slowly in dealing with a problem that is global in scale and, at minimum, spans decades. Days after Pell was convicted in secret, the church announced he had been pulled off a panel of cardinals that make up the Pope’s cabinet and closest advisors. But he has remained in his position as Vatican treasurer, effectively the church’s third-ranking official, although he has been on extended leave since his indictment. Pell’s case has caused consternation in Australia, where he had once been praised by luminaries from a prime minister down, and was a leading conservative voice on issues ranging from gay marriage to climate change. For decades, Pell denied being an abuser or covering up sex abuse, but he did admit he “mucked up” in dealing with pedophile priests in the state of Victoria. During his trial, defense lawyers ridiculed the charges against him, arguing that the cathedral sacristy was a hive of activity following Sunday Mass and that it would have been impossible to assault choirboys in such circumstances. Australia’s media has strongly protested the gag order imposed on the case, which forbade them from even mentioning the existence of the trial or the order itself. Following Pell’s December conviction, some international media reported the verdict, while local newspapers published front-page stories informing readers that a prominent Australian had been found guilty of serious crimes, but they were not allowed to reveal what or who. Australian media said Tuesday that they subsequently received “show cause” letters from the court explaining why they should not face contempt charges for their reporting on the case. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the same day that the Director of Public Prosecutions for Victoria had threatened to “lay criminal charges against dozens of journalists for contempt of court,” saying that even though Pell was never named in their stories, reports appeared soon after his conviction that identified the cardinal. Around 1 in 5 Australians are Catholic, roughly 5 million people. A five-year royal commission inquiry into child abuse said in a report issued last year that tens of thousands of children had been sexually abused in Australian churches, orphanages, sporting clubs, youth groups and schools in a “national tragedy” over many generations. Before Pell, the most high-profile case in Australia concerning sex abuse in the church was the conviction earlier last year of the former archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, on charges of concealing crimes by a pedophile priest in the 1970s. Wilson successfully appealed that conviction in early December.

australia
cardinal george pell
sex crimes
pope francis
vatican
pedophilia
children
teens
catholic church


Decline of Angkor, capital of Khmer empire, was gradual rather than catastrophic, study finds

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer empire, appears to have suffered a gradual decline rather than a catastrophic collapse, according to a study published Monday. Archaeologists and historians have long sought to explain the 15th-century abandonment of Angkor, with many attributing it to the 1431 invasion by Thai forces from Ayutthaya. “The historical record is effectively blank for the 15th century at Angkor,” said Dan Penny, a member of a team of Australian and Cambodian archaeologists and geographers who took part in the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “We don’t have a written record that tells us why they left or when or how,” said Penny of the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. “Everything that survived is carved on stone.” For the study, the team examined 70-centimeter sediment cores taken from a moat that surrounded Angkor Thom, the capital of the Khmer empire. Penny said the cores serve as a “natural history book recording changes in land use, and climate, and in vegetation, year after year.” Where humans live they leave traces through fire, soil erosion through agriculture and disturbed vegetation. When they leave, conditions change. In the first decades of the 14th century, Penny said you start to see a decline in land use, wood burning, destabilized vegetation and a reduction in soil erosion. By the end of the 14th century, “the southern moat of Angkor Thom was overgrown with vegetation, and management, by implication, had ceased,” the authors said in the study. “Angkor was never fully abandoned,” Penny said, but “the elite were shifting away from Angkor,” moving to new communities elsewhere with more commercial opportunities. “This was not a collapse,” Penny said. “This was in fact a decisive choice to shift focus away from Angkor.” “While the breakdown of Angkor’s hydraulic network, most likely associated with climate variability in the mid-14th and early 15th centuries, represents the end of Angkor as a viable settlement, our data indicate that it was presaged by a protracted demographic decline,” the study said. “This raises the likelihood that the urban elite did not leave Angkor because the infrastructure failed, as has been suggested, but that the infrastructure failed (or was not maintained and repaired) because the urban elites had already left.” “The absence of Angkor’s ruling elite by the end of the 14th century casts a different light over the Ayutthayan occupation of the city from 1431 CE, and over Cambodian narratives that emphasize loss at the hands of interventionist neighboring states,” they added.

angkor
khmer empire
archaeology
cambodia


U.S. Navy sends ships through Taiwan Strait in move likely to anger China

Abstract: The U.S. Navy has sent ships through the Taiwan Strait, as Washington ramps up naval activities in the waterway stoking criticism from Beijing on Tuesday after a similar sailing just a month ago. The move, likely to be interpreted by China as implicit support for self-ruled Taiwan, saw the U.S. Navy send the Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based USS Stethem destroyer and the cargo and ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez, through the strait on Monday and Tuesday, a U.S. 7th Fleet spokesman said. The two vessels “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait Transit on Feb. 25-26, in accordance with international law,” U.S. 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Joe Keiley told The Japan Times. “This routine transit demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The U.S. Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.” China expressed anger at the move. “We resolutely oppose the United States taking provocative actions that are not conducive to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a news briefing Tuesday. The dispatch, which comes amid military and trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, is the second such sailing since Jan. 24, when the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell, which is also based in Yokosuka, and the USNS Walter S. Diehl conducted what the U.S. Navy also called “a routine” Taiwan Strait transit. The 180-km-wide Taiwan Strait separates communist China from self-governed and democratic Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province that must be brought back into the fold — by force if necessary. Although the waterway is regarded as international waters, China has long been sensitive about the presence of U.S. military forces there. That presence has grown since last year, with the most recent operation being the fifth known transit in about six months. The U.S. Navy also sailed two ships through the strait in October and November, operations that were shadowed by multiple Chinese warships, and conducted a similar operation in July. Prior to that, the operations were believed to occur only about once a year. The U.S. has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island’s main source of arms. The Pentagon says Washington has sold Taipei more than $15 billion in weaponry since 2010. Beijing has called Taiwan “the most important and sensitive issue in the China-U.S. relations” and has bolstered its military presence near the island nation in recent months, sailing its sole operating aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait in January and March last year and holding large-scale “encirclement” exercises and bomber training throughout 2018. In a report released last month, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency noted that China continues to undertake ambitious steps to modernize and better equip its military — steps that are driven primarily by “Beijing’s longstanding interest to eventually compel Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland and deter any attempt by Taiwan to declare independence.” “Beijing’s anticipation that foreign forces would intervene in a Taiwan scenario led the (People’s Liberation Army) to develop a range of systems to deter and deny foreign regional force projection,” the report added. This week’s transit also comes just after Beijing and Washington agreed to a truce in a protracted trade war that could do serious damage to both economies unless negotiators from both sides can reach an agreement.


Turkey and Britain raise China's treatment of Uighurs at U.N. rights forum

Abstract: GENEVA - Turkey and Britain voiced concern on Monday at China’s alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu calling on Beijing to protect freedom of religion and cultural identity. The issue came up as U.N. Human Rights Council opened its main annual session. Diplomats and activists say China has lobbied hard to avoid scrutiny over its policies in Xinjiang and other rights issues at the four-week meeting. Western countries are looking to Turkey and other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to spotlight what rights groups call internment camps in Xinjiang, a remote western region of China. China says they are re-education and training facilities that have been highly successful in stopping attacks previously blamed on Islamist militants and separatists. Britain was the only country joining Turkey in raising the issue at Monday’s session, where Lord Ahmad, minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: “We are deeply concerned about the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. U.N. experts and activists say the camps hold a million Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language, and other Muslims. China has denied accusations of mistreatment and deems criticism within the U.N. council to be interference in its sovereignty. Cavuslogu did not specifically mention mass detention camps but he told the Geneva forum that reports of human rights violations against Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang were serious cause for concern. A distinction should be made between “terrorists and innocent people,” Cavusoglu added. He then inserted a line into his prepared remarks, adding: “And I have to underline that we support the One China policy. He was referring to China’s stance that the country encompasses Taiwan and autonomous regions including Xinjiang and Tibet. “We encourage Chinese authorities and expect that universal human rights, including freedom of religion, are respected and full protection of the cultural identities of the Uighurs and other Muslims is ensured,” Cavusoglu said. China, a member of the 47-member Human Rights Council, did not immediately respond to his remarks, but delegations will be free to reply to allegations later in the session. China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation efforts in Xinjiang should be applauded for creating a new method of tackling the problem, a senior Chinese diplomat told foreign envoys last week.

turkey
china
uighurs
rights
xinjiang
islam
u.k .


How Australian sex abuse victim's 'powerful' testimony sank pope aide Cardinal George Pell

Abstract: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - “Guilty.” There was a gasp in the Australian courtroom as the jury foreman read out the first verdict on child sex offenses against Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s treasurer, then stunned silence as the same word was repeated for each of the four other charges he faced. The jury of eight men and four women unanimously agreed on Dec. 11, after a four-week trial, to convict Pell of five sexual offenses committed against two 13-year-old choir boys 22 years earlier in the priests’ sacristy of Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They reached their decision after hearing lengthy testimony from a victim, who described how Pell had exposed himself to them, fondled their genitals and masturbated and forced one boy to perform a sex act on him. That complainant still lives in Melbourne. The other victim died in 2014. The trial and verdict could not be reported until now due to a court-imposed suppression order, as Pell was due to face another trial on older historical child sex offense charges and the judge did not want the next jury to be prejudiced. Those additional charges were dropped on Tuesday and the judge lifted the reporting restrictions. Each of the five offenses carries a maximum 10 years in jail. Pell is due to be sentenced in early March, following a mitigation plea hearing on Feb. 27. Pell, a burly 190 centimeters (6 feet, 3 inches) tall, had sat hunched in the dock at the back of the courtroom throughout the trial. He stared straight ahead when the jury foreman said “guilty” for the first time, then turned away. As the next four verdicts were delivered, the man described by his own lawyer as the “Darth Vader” of the Catholic Church sat with his head bowed. Pell, the No. 3 official in the Vatican hierarchy, is the most senior Roman Catholic cleric worldwide to be convicted of such offenses. His downfall brings to the heart of the papal administration a scandal over clerical abuse that has ravaged the Church’s credibility in the United States, Chile, Australia and elsewhere over the last three decades. Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, ended a conference on sexual abuse on Sunday, calling for an “all-out battle” against a crime that should be “erased from the face of the earth.” The December verdict followed a retrial. Three months earlier, the first trial for the same offenses had ended in a deadlocked jury that left some jurors in tears. Pell’s lawyer Robert Richter, a theatrical 72-year-old well-known in Australia after taking on the defense in some of the country’s most high-profile criminal cases, had been confident since the pretrial hearings that this time he had a slam dunk defense. Late in proceedings at the retrial, Richter introduced a new witness, a fellow criminal barrister and former altar server, who had a possible alibi for Pell. The witness said he had served at a mass in late 1996 and afterwards he and his mother had chatted with Pell on the front steps of the cathedral, which the defense said meant he could not have been in the sacristy at the time of the alleged offenses. But under cross-examination, the former altar server could not remember the exact date, and his recall of other details was vague and partly contradicted another defense witness. Richter brought out Pell’s heavy ceremonial robes, trying to demonstrate they could hardly be maneuvered to expose himself to the boys as the prosecution had alleged. He had his star witness, a priest who had helped Pell conduct services, demonstrate how elaborately and tightly knotted the robe was around the archbishop’s waist. There was also debate over whether the wine that the boys were caught swigging in the sacristy by Pell immediately before four of the offenses took place was red, as the accuser said, or white, as the court heard was preferred by the dean of the cathedral at the time, as the defense tried to pick holes in the victim’s account. For his closing argument, Richter rolled out a PowerPoint presentation with dozens of bullet points spelling out why, he said, it would have been almost impossible for the alleged events to have occurred. He reminded the jury of Pell’s strenuous denials. “What a load of absolute disgraceful rubbish. Completely false. Madness,” the jury heard Pell tell police in a recording of an interview in a hotel room near Rome airport in 2016 played earlier in the trial. “You could scarcely imagine a place that was more unlikely for committing paedophilia crimes than the sacristy of the Cathedral after mass,” Pell, who did not testify at either trial, said in the recording. The jury was unswayed, returning a verdict of guilty on all five charges after hearing a prosecution case based entirely on the evidence given by Pell’s surviving accuser. That testimony was the crux of both trials. Reporters, Pell’s supporters and abuse survivors who had filled the small court for most of the trial did not see or hear the complainant’s two-and-a-half days of testimony and cross-examination by Richter, which was conducted by video link for the jury behind closed doors. It was later outlined to the court in comments by the prosecutor. In his closing argument to the jury, prosecutor Mark Gibson, in a quiet voice, called the accuser’s evidence “powerful and persuasive.” “He was not a person indulging in fantasy or imagining things to the point where he now believed his own imaginative mind, but was simply telling it as it was and is,” Gibson told the court. Pell had appeared relaxed through most of his trial. Every day he sat in the dock, usually wearing a white shirt with a clerical collar, black pants and a beige jacket, writing on a large notepad and taking occasional sips of water. During breaks in proceedings he would chat with supporters. But in the nine months since pretrial hearings began, Pell’s health had clearly deteriorated. Judge Peter Kidd extended bail after Pell was convicted so he could have double knee surgery in Sydney on Dec. 14, which had been postponed after the first trial. Pell’s lawyers will now be counting on an appeal filed last week to keep him out of jail.

australia
cardinal george pell
vatican
catholic church
pope francis
children
christianity
teens
sex crimes
pedophilia


Haneda airport's international terminal to be renamed Terminal 3 amid large-scale renovations

Abstract: The international terminal at Haneda airport in Tokyo will be renamed Terminal 3 in March 2020 as part of large-scale renovations to cope with an increase in international flights ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics, sources said Tuesday. Because Terminal 2, now used for domestic flights, will also handle international flights following renovation work that will include the addition of customs and immigration facilities, the operator of the airport will rename the international terminal to avoid causing confusion. In line with the move, the Tokyo Monorail Co. and Keikyu Corp. train stations currently serving the international terminal will be renamed Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station. Stations serving the domestic terminals will also be renamed. The international airport in the capital’s Ota Ward has been undergoing major upgrades in accordance with the government’s goal of welcoming 40 million foreign visitors in 2020. The government plans to increase the annual number of international flight slots from about 60,000 to 99,000 leading up to the 2020 Games.

haneda airport
airports
airlines
tourism


Snow problem: Group in Fukushima town promotes shoveling as way to work out and help the aged

Abstract: FUKUSHIMA - A group in a small Fukushima Prefecture town is doing its best to rebrand a tiresome winter chore into a fun and healthy outdoor activity. In the town of Nishiaizu, where about half of the 6,000 residents are 65 or older, snow shoveling is being promoted as an enjoyable way for young people to burn off calories and lend a helping hand to the elderly. While removing snow from roofs and streets is commonly seen as hard labor, the group based out of the snowy town is encouraging people to see it in a positive light and enjoy its benefits through a workout called “Joce-Xercise” — a combination of josetsu (snow removal) and “exercise.” “I wanted to change the negative perception that snowy regions are just full of inconveniences,” said Takayuki Suzuki, 40, who works for the town of Bandai but was loaned out to Nishiaizu for two years up to March 2015. Suzuki founded the Japan Joce-Xercise Association in 2015 with local officials and business representatives to promote snow shoveling among young volunteers in mountainous Nishiaizu, which borders Niigata Prefecture. So far, about 400 people have taken part in the program, according to the association. The association focuses on the elements of the workout, advising people to take their time, warm up beforehand and cool down afterward. It also stresses the positives of shoveling snow, including health benefits and as a way to help others. It also gives tips on how to shovel snow without getting injured. The association advises people to remove snow little by little and to seek the help of others when possible. The association has been expanding its activities and now provides a smartphone app that tells users how many calories they have burned while shoveling. Branches of the organization have also been set up in other snowy areas — Iwate Prefecture in 2018 and Niigata Prefecture earlier this year. “We hope to expand our networks further and attract people to not only Nishiaizu but to all snowy regions,” Suzuki said.


Japan's Lower House issues congratulatory message on Emperor Akihito's 30-year reign

Abstract: The House of Representatives on Tuesday issued a congratulatory message to Emperor Akihito on his 30-year reign, ahead of his abdication at the end of April, in the first such message dedicated to a particular Imperial anniversary. “We, the Japanese people, respectfully acknowledge His Majesty the Emperor’s achievements over the past 30 years under his era of Heisei, during which he has always stood by the people and prayed for their peace,” read the message adopted in the Lower House plenary session. Among political parties, the Japanese Communist Party, which has traditionally maintained a distance from the Imperial system, boycotted the Diet session, saying the party does not agree with the “unprecedented” message that “excessively praises” the Emperor in light of the principle of popular sovereignty. The Heisei Era started with the Emperor’s enthronement in 1989 and will end when the 85-year-old steps down on April 30 as the first Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years. His eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will take over the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1. On Sunday, a government-sponsored ceremony held in Tokyo to mark the 30th anniversary was attended by around 1,100 people, including government officials and foreign ambassadors. It was the first time the Lower House had adopted a congratulatory message since December 2001, when Princess Aiko, the granddaughter of the Emperor and Empress Michiko, was born. Parliamentary messages were also crafted in 1990 for the current Emperor’s Enthrone Ceremony and in 1993 for the Crown Prince’s wedding event with Princess Masako. The House of Councilors is also expected to release a separate message. In a related move, the government said last week it would announce recipients of spring decorations conferred by the Emperor on May 21 — about a month later than usual — so that the announcement will come after Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved the postponement from April 29, deeming it preferable to go through a set of procedures under the new Emperor. It will be the first time for announcement of the recipients, who are recommended by the Cabinet and approved by the Emperor, to be delayed since the current honors system was introduced in 1964. The government said it will be a one-off exceptional measure and that the announcement schedule for decorations given in the fall will remain unchanged. Recipients of the decorations are usually announced on April 29 and Nov. 3 every year and award ceremonies are held shortly afterward. About 4,000 individuals with distinguished accomplishments in various areas are selected each time. Some of the decorations are handed to recipients by the Emperor in conferment ceremonies. All recipients gain an audience with the Emperor.

emperor akihito
abdication
diet
heisei era


Taiwan's defense minister says Japan and U.S. might send troops in the event of an attack by China

Abstract: TAIPEI - The United States and Japan might come to Taiwan’s rescue if it is attacked by China and they deem intervention to be in their best interests, Defense Minister Yen De-fa has said. If Chinese military aggression is seen to undermine regional security or international order, “anything could happen, including the United States and countries sending troops to help defend Taiwan,” Yen told a legislative committee meeting on Monday. “Japan is geographically close to Taiwan, so it’s definitely possible,” he said. Yen said that despite possessing first strike capability, Taiwan would not be the first to initiate conflict with the mainland. But if one does erupt, he said, “We will fight to the last man to protect Taiwan and its people.” His remarks came after several local politicians commented on China’s military ambitions with regard to Taiwan. President Tsai Ing-wen told CNN in an interview last week that while Taiwan could withstand a first wave of Chinese strikes by itself, “we hope that the rest of the whole world would stand up together to exert strong pressure against China soon after that.” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je recently came under fire after he questioned whether Taiwan’s military would be able to withstand two days of attack, having abolished conscription. The Taiwan Relations Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1979 when the United States cut diplomatic ties with Taipei and established them with Beijing, states that it is U.S. policy to consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means as a threat to regional peace and security. However, it does not specify whether the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense if it were attacked. Taiwan has been governed separately from the mainland since the two split amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing has since considered Taiwan a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

taiwan
china
conflict
u.s .
self defense forces


Japan protests South Korean foreign minister's remark at U.N. that 'comfort women' issue not settled

Abstract: Japan said Tuesday it has lodged a protest over the South Korean foreign minister’s remark at a United Nations meeting that the issue of “comfort women” remains unresolved despite a 2015 bilateral pact designed to settle it. The term “comfort women” is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. “The 2015 Japan-South Korea agreement that acknowledged the final and irreversible settlement of the comfort women issue should be implemented even after the change of administration” in South Korea, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference. The agreement signed in December 2015 included the establishment of a foundation to help the victims. South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s administration, formed after the signing of the pact, decided last year to dissolve the organization, saying the issue cannot be resolved under the accord. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in an ordinary session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday that the matter has not been settled because the accord lacked a “victim-centered” approach. Of the 47 former comfort women in South Korea who were alive when the foundation was set up, 36 have accepted money from the foundation, or 100 million won (¥9.8 million) each. Based on the 2015 agreement, Japan had provided ¥1 billion to help set up the foundation. The top Japanese government spokesman told the regular news conference it is Seoul’s duty to maintain the deal, which has been “valued highly by the international community including the United Nations.” Kang’s remarks came at a time when bilateral ties have deteriorated due to historical issues related to Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea’s top court ordered Japanese companies in October and November to pay compensation for what the court recognizes as wartime forced labor during World War II, though Japan takes the position that agreements in 1965 completely resolved matters concerning property and claims between the two nations. Earlier this month, South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang said an apology from Emperor Akihito would resolve the comfort women dispute. Tokyo demanded that he retract the remark.

south korea
comfort women
women
yoshihide suga
kang kyung-wha
wwii
history
sex crimes
south korea-japan relations


Wealthy buyers in Asia grow more interested in Japan's nishikigoi ornamental carp

Abstract: An increasing number of wealthy buyers in Asia have shown an interest in nishikigoi (Japanese colored varieties of carp), pushing up the market for the luxury ornamental fish. In October last year, a Chinese collector made a successful bid of ¥203 million in a nishikigoi auction held in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, causing excitement among domestic and foreign buyers at the venue. While the deal was an extreme case, it is not rare these days for champion nishikigoi in competitive shows to be purchased by rich foreign buyers for tens of millions of yen, industry sources say. Breeding nishikigoi, a practice which originated in Niigata Prefecture, was once common in Japan. But rising land prices, especially in urban areas, have made it difficult to maintain ponds to keep the fish. But interest in nishikigoi has been growing overseas. Japan’s nishikigoi exports more than tripled to ¥4.3 billion in 2018 from 15 years before. Demand for nishikigoi is now surging in Asia, including in China, Hong Kong and Thailand, on top of existing demand in the United States and Europe. “There are many Chinese people who buy nishikigoi in Japan and then entrust them to Japanese breeders,” said Hisashi Hirasawa, chief of the All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion Association, based in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture. Such Chinese-owned nishikigoi were champions in four of the last five annual nishikigoi shows held by the industry group. The value of nishikigoi shipped overseas, along with those purchased by foreign owners and entrusted to domestic breeders, totals some ¥10 billion a year, according to Hirasawa. Japanese breeders are wary of the growing business in China of breeding imported nishikigoi for sale. A rise in Chinese-bred nishikigoi “could affect Japanese exports,” Hirasawa said.


Skater Mao Asada and Nobel laureate Yoshinori Osumi among guests at Imperial Couple's tea party

Abstract: Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko hosted a tea party on Tuesday attended by guests from various fields including figure skater Mao Asada, a 2010 Vancouver Olympic silver medalist, and Yoshinori Osumi, a 2016 Nobel Prize laureate. “I am truly happy to spend time together with you at this tea party,” Emperor Akihito said at the event held in return for a government-sponsored ceremony on Sunday celebrating his 30-year reign. About 2,100 people in total were invited to the party at the Imperial Palace, with guests also including Kabuki actor Nakamura Kichiemon, former major league baseball player Hideo Nomo and former Imperial Japanese Army soldier Keiji Nagai, a survivor of the fierce battle on Palau’s Peleliu Island during World War II. “Being invited to this party has become the treasure of a lifetime for me,” Asada told reporters after the party. Japan Hall of Fame slugger Sadaharu Oh said the Emperor encouraged him to further enliven Japanese baseball. “I said I will do my best, as the Olympic Games will be held next year,” he said. It was the second of three tea parties hosted by the Imperial Couple. On Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and some 440 other guests, including Diet members, took part in the first tea party.


Outside Japan consulate in New York, protesters slam Abe's disregard for Okinawa 'no' vote on Henoko

Abstract: NEW YORK - Opponents of a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. air base within Okinawa held a rally in New York on Monday following a weekend prefectural referendum that showed more than 70 percent of voters oppose the move. The rally outside the Japanese Consulate in New York came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to proceed with the relocation despite the referendum result. The government in Tokyo has been pushing ahead with work to build a replacement facility for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is currently located in the crowded residential area of Ginowan. Construction is under way in the Henoko district of Nago, a less densely populated coastal zone. “I cannot tolerate the prime minister’s attitude,” said Hideko Ochiai, an office worker who is from Nago and currently lives in the suburbs of New York. “The Japanese government must seriously accept the outcome of the prefecture’s will.”

okinawa
henoko
referendums
shinzo abe
futenma
nago
u.s .
u.s. bases


Magnitude 7 or 8 quake highly likely along Japan Trench off Pacific coast within 30 years, panel reports

Abstract: A major earthquake with a magnitude of between 7 and 8 is highly likely in most undersea areas along the Japan Trench off eastern Japan within the next 30 years, a government panel said Tuesday. The government’s Earthquake Research Committee classified as category 3 most undersea areas along the trench, which sits off the Pacific coast from Aomori Prefecture to Ibaraki Prefecture. The classification means the probability of such a major quake is estimated to be 26 percent or higher over the period. The committee sees an almost zero percent probability of a megaquake similar to the 9.0 earthquake that occurred along the trench on March 11, 2011, and triggered deadly tsunami that hit the Tohoku region. That assessment is unchanged from its previous evaluation, which was released in November 2011. The committee disclosed the details in an updated version of its long-term quake evaluation of undersea areas along the Japan Trench, which marks a major tectonic subduction zone. “The possibility of a quake with a magnitude of up to around 8 along the trench remains high,” said Naoshi Hirata, chairman of the committee. “We want the public to keep in mind that strong quakes and tsunami will hit regions facing the trench again,” he added. The assessment is based on research conducted since the March 2011 quake. The earthquake probabilities were calculated based on the number of big quakes seen previously and the intervals between them. In its most recent evaluation, the committee started classifying undersea areas along the trench into risk categories from 1 to 3. For regions in category 2, the likelihood of an earthquake over the next 30 years ranges from 3 percent to less than 26 percent, while for those in category 1, the probabilities are less than 3 percent. The committee increased the seismic probabilities listed for two of the 12 possible combinations of magnitude and location along the trench considered prone to earthquakes. One of the patterns for which the likelihood was raised is a scenario whereby a quake with a magnitude of around 7.9 occurs off Miyagi Prefecture. The committee raised the probability to around 20 percent from almost zero in the previous survey, taking into account the possibility that additional quakes would be triggered by a megaquake. The probability of a smaller but still significant earthquake occurring off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture with a magnitude of 7 to 7.5 was raised to around 50 percent from some 10 percent. The possibility of earthquakes with magnitudes measuring from 7 to 7.5 remained high in some undersea areas. Off Aomori Prefecture and northern Iwate Prefecture, the likelihood was estimated at 90 percent or higher. The figure was 90 percent off Miyagi Prefecture and 80 percent off Ibaraki Prefecture.


15-year term sought for editor at Japanese comic publisher over death of his wife

Abstract: Prosecutors on Tuesday sought a 15-year prison term for the editor of a hit comic magazine over the death of his wife in 2016. Pak Jong Hyon, 43, deputy editor of major publisher Kodansha Ltd.’s Morning magazine, was indicted in January 2017 on a charge of choking his wife, Kanako, 38, to death at their home in Tokyo around Aug. 9, 2016. Pak was among of the firm’s workers who launched the monthly Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, which carries the popular manga series “Attack on Titan.” He denied the charge at the first hearing of his trial earlier this month, and his defense lawyers said the case was a suicide. At the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors claimed Tuesday Pak “conducted the cruel crime with a solid intention to kill” the wife. The prosecutors had earlier said Pak “suddenly developed a murderous intent after his wife complained about his lack of support in doing household chores and raising their children and spoke ill of his mother.” They also maintained that he pushed his wife down some stairs after choking her in a bedroom. Pak joined Kodansha in April 1999 after graduating from Kyoto University. The Morning magazine features hit comics such as “Space Brothers” and “Cooking Papa.”

pak jong hyon
kodansha
morning
bessatsu shonen
manga
courts
murder


U.S. and China are sketching out statements on six issues that could halt trade war, sources say

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The world’s two largest economies have applied tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowing global economic growth, skewing supply chains and disrupting manufacturing. As officials hold high-level talks Thursday and Friday in Washington, they remain far apart on demands made by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for structural changes to China’s economy. But the broad outline of what could become a deal is beginning to emerge from the talks, the sources said, as the two sides push for an agreement by March 1 — which marks the end of a 90-day truce agreed by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in Argentina late last year. According to two sources familiar with the progress of the talks, negotiators are drawing up six memorandums of understanding on structural issues: forced technology transfer and cybertheft, intellectual property rights, services, currency, agriculture and nontariff barriers to trade. At meetings last week in Beijing between U.S. and Chinese officials, the two sides traded texts and worked on outlining obligations on paper, according to one of the sources. The process has become a real trade negotiation, the source said, so much so that at the end of the week the participants considered staying in Beijing to keep working. Instead they agreed to take a few days off and reconvene in Washington. The sources requested anonymity to speak candidly about the talks. The MOUs cover the most complex issues affecting the trading relationship between the two countries and are meant, from the U.S. perspective, to end the practices that led Trump to start levying duties on Chinese imports in the first place. One source cautioned that the talks could still end in failure. But the work on the MOUs was a significant step in getting China to sign up both to broad principles and to specific commitments on key issues, he said. The United States has accused Beijing of forcing U.S. companies doing business in China to share their technology with local partners and hand over intellectual property secrets. China denies it engages in such practices. Trump administration officials also object to nontariff barriers in China, including industrial subsidies, regulations, business licensing procedures, product standards reviews and other practices that they say keep U.S. goods out of China or give an unfair advantage to domestic firms. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has pushed for China to open its financial services markets to more foreign firms, including firms such as credit card giants Visa and Mastercard that have waited years for China to make good on promises to allow them to operate there. U.S. officials including Mnuchin have warned China against devaluing its yuan to gain a competitive advantage, after the Chinese currency weakened significantly against the dollar last year — partly counteracting Trump’s tariffs. The two sides were discussing an enforcement mechanism for a deal, the source said. Reuters reported last month that the United States was pushing for regular reviews of China’s progress on pledged trade reforms and the ability to reinstate tariffs if it deems Beijing has violated the agreement. The parties were also looking at a 10-item list of ways that China could reduce its trade surplus with the United States, including by buying agricultural produce, energy and goods such as semiconductors, according to two other sources familiar with the talks. Time is running short ahead of the March 1 deadline to either resolve the dispute or see U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods rise from 10 percent to 25 percent. Trump said Tuesday he thought China had an incentive to move swiftly. “I think they’re trying to move fast so that doesn’t happen,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, while not ruling out the possibility of extending the deadline. Lower-level officials held a round of talks in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will be joined on Thursday by the top level negotiators, led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

china
trade
trade war
tariffs
donald trump
xi jinping
u.s .
exports


Britain able to 'manage' Huawei risks and has no evidence of spying, cybersecurity official says

Abstract: LONDON - Britain is able to manage the security risks of using Huawei equipment in national telecoms networks and has not seen any evidence of malicious activity by the company, the head of Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said on Wednesday. Asked whether Washington had presented Britain with any evidence to support allegations that Huawei has aided Chinese state spying, NCSC head Ciaran Martin said it was for the U.S. government to comment on what information it has about the company. “From our point of view … if you look at the detailed paper we’re publishing, we set out the way we manage the risks,” Martin said on a conference call with reporters. “I would be obliged to report if there was evidence of malevolence … by Huawei. And we’re yet to have to do that. So I hope that covers it.”


Japan's manufacturing activity shrinks for first time since 2016 amid U.S.-China trade war: survey

Abstract: Manufacturing activity contracted in February for the first time in 2½ years as domestic and export orders fell and factories cut output, a private business survey showed on Thursday. The survey also showed business confidence had soured for the first time in more than six years, highlighting the growing toll that the U.S.-China trade war is inflicting on Asia’s export-reliant economies and global manufacturing. The Flash Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to a seasonally adjusted 48.5 in February from a final 50.3 in January. The index fell below the 50 threshold that separates contraction from expansion for the first time since August 2016. The pessimistic turn in business sentiment “comes as no surprise given the international headwinds Japanese manufacturers are facing, such as a China slowdown and the global trade cycle losing further steam,” said Joe Hayes, an economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. “Unless service sector activity can recover from January’s decline, the chance of Japan entering a recession in 2019 looks set to rise.” The output component of the flash PMI index fell to a preliminary 47.0 from a final 54.4 in January, showing the fastest contraction since May 2016. Indicators of future activity were equally grim. Total new orders, both domestic and foreign, pointed to a sharper decline in demand than the previous month. Though export orders contracted at a slightly slower pace, it is unlikely to ease doubts about the outlook for overseas demand. Companies also reduced their purchases of raw materials and other inputs for the second month running. The PMI survey comes one day after government data showed exports fell the most in more than two years in January, as China-bound shipments tumbled. Global trade has slowed over the past year as Washington and Beijing ramped up tariffs on each others’ goods, disrupting supply chains worldwide. At the same time, economic activity has been weakening, noticeably in China and Europe. Japan could face further weakness if the United States and China do not quickly resolve their differences over trade, some economists say. Negotiators from both sides are racing to beat a March 1 deadline for a deal, though U.S. President Donald Trump has said that could be extended if an agreement appeared close. Japan’s economy bounced back in the fourth quarter as business and consumer spending recovered from the impact of natural disasters, but trade frictions and a proposed sales tax hike are expected to hinder growth this year.


In U.S., digital advertising spend set to overtake traditional: report

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Spending on digital advertising is set to overtake that on traditional media in the United States for the first time in 2019, in a major milestone for the industry, a market tracking firm said Wednesday. The research firm eMarketer said digital ad spending in the U.S. will grow 19 percent to $129.34 billion this year, making up some 54 percent of total advertising dollars. The report said mobile will make up the largest share of digital, with more than two-thirds of ad spending, at $87.06 billion, this year. “The steady shift of consumer attention to digital platforms has hit an inflection point with advertisers, forcing them to now turn to digital to seek the incremental gains in reach and revenues which are disappearing in traditional media advertising,” said eMarketer Forecasting Director Monica Peart. According to the market tracker, TV ad spending will decline 2.2 percent to $70.83 billion this year, in the absence of national elections and major events such as the Olympics or World Cup. It said next year’s U.S. presidential election is likely to lead to positive growth in TV ad spending but that the downward trend would continue after that. Print advertising is taking a major hit, and spending on print ads is forecast to drop another 17.8 percent this year, eMarketer said. The report said the Google-Facebook “duopoly” is believed to have seen its first decline in ad market share to 59.3 percent from 60 percent last year. The drop will come mainly from Google, expected to lose 1 percentage point of market share to 37.2 percent while Facebook will see a marginal rise to 22.1 percent, the report said. The biggest gains are likely to come from Amazon, whose market share is forecast to rise two points to 8.8 percent and strengthen its number three position ahead of rivals Microsoft and Verizon, which owns the Yahoo and AOL brands. “Amazon has a major benefit to advertisers, especially consumer packaged goods and direct-to-consumer brands,” said Peart. “The platform is rich with shoppers’ behavioral data for targeting and provides access to purchase data in real-time … marketers have unprecedented access to the ‘shelves’ where consumers are shopping.”

digital
advertising
emarketer
google
verizon
yahoo
u.s .
amazon.com


As profits plunge, Swiss-based Glencore vows to cap coal output and pursue clean energy and transportation

Abstract: ZURICH - Mining giant Glencore pledged Wednesday to limit coal production and instead prioritise investment in other commodities as part of a move toward cleaner energy and transportation. The decision by the one of the world’s biggest coal producers comes as activist shareholder groups try to pressure companies to cut back on the major producer of carbon dioxide emissions, a key driver of global warming. “To meet the growing needs of a lower carbon economy, Glencore aims to prioritize its capital investment to grow production of commodities essential to the energy and mobility transition and to limit its coal production capacity broadly to current levels,” a company statement said. In 2018, coal generated $12.3 billion (€10.9 billion) in sales for the Swiss-based group, a jump of 26 percent as Glencore raised output by seven percent via Australian acquisitions. Glencore, which also trades commodities, said it was well-positioned to support the transition to a lower-carbon economy with a portfolio that includes copper, cobalt, nickel, vanadium and zinc. Those metals are used to produce batteries, the cost and performance of which will likely be key in determining whether electric vehicles displace gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles. The coal announcement came as Glencore announced that 2018 net profits tumbled 41 percent to $3.4 billion (€3 billion). Glencore said it believes that energy and mobility transformation “is a key part of the global response to the increasing risks posed by climate change. “We believe it’s in the best interest of the company,” chief executive officer Ivan Glasenberg added during a press conference. Globally, coal use accounts for 40 percent of carbon emissions and is on the rise after declining slightly from 2014 to 2016. Glencore said it supported international efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures while also ensuring universal access to affordable energy. The Church of England and the Climate Action 100+ group of institutional investors welcomed the news, saying it was “a first for the mining industry.” “Investors will now want to hold the company to its commitments and to ensure that the methodology for determining the company’s alignment with the Paris goals is robust,” they said in a statement. They were referring to the Paris Agreement on climate change that aims to limit global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). The pledge to limit its coal output came after Glencore recently increased its holdings by buying stakes in a couple of coal mines from Rio Tinto in Australia. The integration of the Hail Creek and Hunter Valley should take Glencore’s coal production to 145 million tons in 2019 from 129.4 million last year. Glencore said it would review its membership in trade associations in line with its climate change positions. In its results statement, Glencore highlighted its preferred measure of operating profit — adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization costs — which gained eight percent to a record $15.8 billion. The firm’s commodity trading business reported a 17 percent drop in operating earnings to $2.4 billion, however, while mining earnings gained 15 percent to $13.3 billion. Glencore said it would pay a dividend of 20 cents per share, the same as last year. In addition to the $2.8 billion it will return to shareholders through the dividend, Glencore also announced a new program to buy back at least $2 billion in shares this year. Shares in Glencore gained 2.35 percent in afternoon London trading, while the blue-chip FTSE 100 index was 0.6 percent higher overall.

glencore
coal
climate change
rio tinto
renewables
environment


Samsung launches Galaxy S10, first 5G handset, as well as Galaxy Fold 'luxury' folding tablet smartphone

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO - Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a smartphone Wednesday that when folded open can be used as a tablet, becoming the first major manufacturer to offer the feature as it strives to stoke excitement in a slumping market. The South Korean giant also appeared to get the jump on rivals by announcing the first smartphone for fifth-generation — or 5G — wireless networks, while stepping up its efforts in artificial intelligence and wearables. The Galaxy Fold, unveiled at a San Francisco event, serves as a smartphone with a 4.6-inch display but also opens like a book to become a 7.3-inch tablet. “We are giving you a device that doesn’t just define a new category, it defies category,” said Samsung’s Justin Denison at the event. The Fold will be available April 26, starting at $1,980, the company said. The launch comes as the smartphone market experiences its worst-ever decline, with consumers keeping devices longer and waiting for new innovations. Samsung made the announcement on the home turf of rival Apple Inc. The two giants battle for the premium segment of the market. Denison touted the Fold as “a one of a kind luxury device” and boasted that it lets three apps operate simultaneously on its large screen. “You can watch a YouTube video of Hawaii; text your friend about it, and browse travel options all at the same time,” Denison said while showing off the device. Samsung also announced new Galaxy S10 models, upgrading its current line of flagship handsets to include a 5G device. Rivals are expected to make 5G smartphone announcements at next week’s Mobile World Congress. “We are pushing beyond the limits of today’s technology to inspire a new generation of smartphones and recharge growth for our industry,” said DJ Koh, head of mobile communications at Samsung Electronics. “For those who say everything possible has already been done, I say open your mind and get ready for the dawn of a new mobile era. Buckle your seatbelt, the future is about to begin.” He said the Galaxy Fold was designed “for those that want to experience what a premium foldable device can do, beyond the limitations of a traditional smartphone.” Analyst Bob O’Donnell of Technalysis Research said on Twitter: “As expected, it’s not cheap, but the #GalaxyFold will still be THE device for gadget lovers.” The S10 handsets, coming in four versions, will offer rich color displays, longer battery life and sophisticated cameras. They will feature AI-enhanced software and wireless charging capabilities that allow Galaxy smartphones to be used as charging pads to power up other devices. No price or release date was announced for the S10 5G version. Other options include the S10e starting at $749, and the largest version, the S10 Plus, at $999 — which will be available March 8. “Samsung launched a halo product, the Fold, along with multiple still expensive but more affordable and more traditional Galaxy S smartphones,” said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart. “They are trying to ensure that they have something exciting for early adopters, and at the same time have a refreshed line-up of phones people actually buy.” Earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chinese startup Royole showed off what it claimed was the first foldable smartphone, which can fit into a pocket but unfold into a full-sized tablet computer. It is available in China and the U.S. for some $1,300. Greengart and other analysts did not expect foldable or 5G smartphones to be mass-market successes this year, reasoning that apps, software, and networks were not yet in place to support wide adoption. Samsung also announced that its digital assistant, Bixby, will be available in new languages — British English, German, Italian and Spanish — in addition to the already available U.S. English, Korean and Mandarin Chinese. The move helps Samsung step up efforts in the rapidly growing field of voice-based artificial intelligence, which is dominated by Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. “We are strongly committed to our AI business, and continuously expanding Bixby’s intelligence capabilities to provide more users with the best possible AI experience,” said Eui-Suk Chung, Samsung’s head of software and AI. The company also introduced a new lineup of wearable tech devices including its Galaxy Watch Active smartwatch, Galaxy Fit trackers and its cord-free earbuds, called Galaxy Buds. The smartwatch will support apps designed to monitor blood pressure and stress indicators, and is designed to detect a variety of workouts including running, biking and rowing. “Consumers are increasingly putting their overall well-being at the center of their lifestyle decisions, and they’re looking for wearables that make it easier to get active and stay balanced every day,” said Koh. Samsung is opening three U.S. retail stores to promote its Galaxy line of smartphones, stepping up competition with Apple.


Nikkei extends rally as optimism over U.S.-China trade deal grows

Abstract: The benchmark Nikkei average extended its winning streak to a fourth session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, backed by renewed hopes of progress in U.S.-China trade talks. The 225-issue Nikkei average climbed 32.74 points, or 0.15 percent, to end at 21,464.23. On Wednesday, the key market gauge rose 128.84 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.03 point, at 1,613.50. It advanced 6.95 points the previous day. In the morning, previous gains were pared back. But both the Nikkei and Topix indexes swung into positive territory in the afternoon on buying stemming from a media report that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are drawing up six memorandums of understanding on major structural issues, market sources said. Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said mainstay issues attracted purchases amid receding concerns over the U.S.-China trade dispute. But the reported progress in the negotiations to settle the dispute “was not surprising enough to trigger a powerful rally,” Ota added. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., pointed out that the market’s advance was limited as investors retreated to the sidelines to see the outcome of two-day high-level trade talks between the United States and China, which are starting in Washington on Thursday. For the time being, “selling on a rally would make it hard for the Nikkei to consolidate at 21,500 and approach 22,000,” Otsuka said. Rising issues marginally outnumbered falling ones 1,029 to 1,000 on the TSE’s first section, while 101 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 1.203 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.168 billion shares. Santen Pharmaceutical rose 5.04 percent in the wake of its announcement of a share buyback plan. Japan Tobacco was buoyant thanks to brisk domestic cigarette revenue in January. Other major winners included clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing and chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron. By contrast, oil companies JXTG, Idemitsu and Cosmo Energy saw their recent rises pared back. Also on the negative side were technology conglomerate SoftBank Group and air conditioner manufacturer Daikin. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average gained 20 points to finish at 21,440.


Dollar softer below ¥110.80 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar eased past ¥110.80 in Tokyo trading Thursday, dampened by selling to adjust positions ahead of key events. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.76-76, down from ¥110.88-89 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1334-1334, down from $1.1342-1342, and at ¥125.54-55, down from ¥125.77-78. The dollar lost ground on position-squaring selling versus the yen in early trading and fell further to levels around ¥110.60 in line with the Nikkei stock average’s sluggish movements. The dollar topped ¥110.80 toward noon. But the U.S. currency fell back to around ¥110.70 in the early afternoon, hit by selling stemming from the Australian dollar’s sharp downturn against the yen. In late trading, the dollar struggled for direction. “A wait-and-see mood was strong” prior to announcements of U.S. and European economic data, a currency broker said. Players found it difficult to tilt their positions either way before the start in Washington later on Thursday of two-day high-level trade talks between the United States and China, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.

currencies
foreign exchange
exchange rates
forex
fx


Japan aiming for 160 hydrogen charging station locations by fiscal 2020

Abstract: The country is trying to set up unmanned hydrogen charging stations for fuel-cell vehicles before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, a draft government plan showed Thursday. The government is hoping to showcase Japan’s clean technology when it is expected to come under the international spotlight during the 2020 Games. It is planning to formally approve a road map aimed at promoting the use of hydrogen by the end of March, a source familiar with the matter said. The government has a target of building hydrogen fueling stations at about 160 locations by fiscal 2020, according to a copy of the draft seen by Kyodo News. The government is aiming to double that number by the fiscal year ending in March 2026, when it is hoping to see around 200,000 fuel-cell vehicles being driven across the country. Hydrogen, a zero-emission fuel, has been regarded as a promising alternative energy source. At present, there are only about 3,000 fuel-cell vehicles on the streets of Japan.

hydrogen
2020 tokyo olympics
cars
fuel cell


Aided by Japan's DBJ, Toshiba Memory plans to go public from September, sources say

Abstract: Toshiba Memory Corp. plans to go public as soon as September, aided by some ¥300 billion ($2.7 billion) in planned investment from the state-backed Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), sources close to the matter said Thursday. Toshiba Memory, a former chip unit of Toshiba Corp. that was sold to a consortium led by U.S. private equity fund Bain Capital last June, will use the ¥300 billion to buy back preferred shares currently held by four U.S. technology companies in the consortium, including Apple Inc. and Dell Inc., they said. The government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ) fund is also considering investing in Toshiba Memory as the company prepares to list on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the sources said. Toshiba Memory may ask for additional funding of several hundreds of billions of yen from its major creditor banks, which have provided loans of ¥600 billion, although the amount would depend on the volume of planned investment by INCJ, they said. The Bain-led consortium, which included South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc., bought Toshiba Memory for ¥2 trillion. Bain holds 49.9 percent of the voting rights in the chip company, while Toshiba has reinvested some ¥350 billion to retain 40.2 percent of the rights and Japanese optical glass maker Hoya Corp. has 9.9 percent. Hynix and Apple also own stakes without voting rights. Toshiba was forced to sell Toshiba Memory, its crown jewel, to bolster finances after incurring huge losses by its now-bankrupt U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co.


America bars entry of U.S.-born Islamic State propagandist held by Kurds in Syria, saying she isn't a citizen

Abstract: WASHINGTON - An Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State group in Syria won’t be allowed to return to the United States with her toddler son because she is not an American citizen, the U.S. said on Wednesday. Her lawyer is challenging that claim. In a brief statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave no details as to how the administration made their determination. “Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States,” he said. “She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport nor any visa to travel to the United States.” But her lawyer, Hassan Shibly, insisted Muthana was born in the United States and had a valid passport before she joined the Islamic State in 2014. He says she has renounced the terrorist group and wants to come home to protect her 18-month-old son regardless of the legal consequences. “She’s an American. Americans break the law,” said Shibly, a lawyer with the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “When people break the law, we have a legal system to handle those kinds of situations to hold people accountable, and that’s all she’s asking for.” Muthana and her son are now in a refugee camp in Syria, along with others who fled the remnants of the Islamic State. Shibly said that the administration argues that she didn’t qualify for citizenship because her father was a Yemeni diplomat. But the lawyer said her father had not had diplomatic status “for months” before her birth in Hackensack, New Jersey. President Donald Trump said later Wednesday on Twitter that he was behind the decision, tweeting that “I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!” The announcement came a day after Britain said that it was stripping the citizenship of Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old who left the country in 2015 with two friends to join the Islamic State and recently gave birth in a refugee camp. It also comes as the U.S. has urged allies to back citizens who joined IS but are now in the custody of the American-backed forces fighting the remnants of the brutally extremist group that once controlled a vast area spanning parts of Syria and Iraq. Muthana’s lawyer said she was “just a stupid, naive, young dumb woman,” when she became enamored of Islamic State, believing it was an organization that protected Muslims. Shibly said she fled her family in Alabama and made her way to Syria, where she was “brainwashed” by IS and compelled to marry one of the group’s soldiers. After he was killed, she married another, the father of her son. After her second husband was also killed she married a third IS fighter but she “became disenchanted with the marriage,” and decided to escape, the lawyer said. Shibly, based in Tampa, Florida, said he intends to file a legal challenge to the government’s decision to deny her entry to the country. Muthana’s status had been considered by lawyers from the departments of State and Justice since her case arose, according to one U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not elaborate but said Pompeo’s statement was based on the lawyers’ conclusions. The State Department declined to disclose details about her father or Muthana’s case, citing privacy law. Most people born in the United States are accorded so-called birthright citizenship, but there are exceptions. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person born in the U.S. to an accredited foreign diplomatic officer is not subject to U.S. law and is not automatically considered a U.S. citizen at birth. However, Muthana’s case is unusual, if not unprecedented in that she once held a U.S. passport. Passports are only issued to citizens by birth or naturalization, according to Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, who has studied the phenomenon of foreign Islamic State fighters and families. Hughes said the decision is also unusual because it comes just days after the Trump administration urged European nations to repatriate extremists from Syria as the Islamic State nears collapse. “If you are trying to make the case that others should take back their people, it stands to reason that you would do that, too,” he said. Muthana, who dodged sniper fire and roadside bombs to escape, is ready to pay the penalty for her actions but wants freedom and safety for the son, her lawyer said. In a handwritten letter released by Shibly, Muthana wrote that she made “a big mistake” by rejecting her family and friends in the United States to join the Islamic State. “During my years in Syria I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war which changed me,” she wrote. “To say that I regret my past words, any pain that I caused my family and any concerns I would cause my country would be hard for me to really express properly.” Shibly said Muthana was brainwashed online before she left Alabama and now could have valuable intelligence for U.S. forces, but he said the FBI didn’t seem interested in retrieving her from the refugee camp where she is living with her son. Muthana’s father would welcome the woman back, Shibly said, but she is not on speaking terms with her mother. Ashfaq Taufique, who knows Muthana’s family and is president of the Birmingham Islamic Society, said the woman could be a valuable resource for teaching young people about the dangers of online radicalization were she allowed to return to the United States. “Her coming back could be a very positive thing for our community and our country,” Taufique said.

islamic state
kurds
syria
alabama
mike pompeo
hoda muthana
u.s .
terrorism


Guaido rallies transport ranks as Venezuelans brace for tense weekend aid delivery confrontation

Abstract: CARACAS - Venezuelans are bracing nervously for possible weekend confrontations as opposition leader Juan Guaido vows to bring U.S. medical and food aid into the country in defiance of the military-backed government. In the latest maneuver of his standoff with socialist President Nicolas Maduro, self-declared interim leader Guaido on Wednesday rallied bus drivers whom he said will head to the borders to collect aid for Venezuelans suffering shortages. Private bus driver Jose Figueroa, 60, said he planned to leave Caracas in the coming days in a convoy of some 30 vehicles. “The government is leading us to war. It will be very difficult. The situation is extremely tense,” he said, as drivers parked their buses and pickup trucks at a rally in central Caracas. “But a bullet will kill you more quickly than hunger.” Guaido listed the planned transit points of entry for the aid at the Brazilian and Colombian borders, the island of Curacao and the seaports of Puerto Cabello and La Guaira. The military has blocked the Tienditas bridge across the Colombian border to stop aid coming through. Another, the Simon Bolivar bridge, remains open to pedestrians. “Every day it gets harder. Everything is so expensive. They have to let in the aid,” one man there, Richard Quintero, 19, told AFP. Further details of how the opposition aims to distribute the aid were scarce. Maduro has rejected the aid as a pretext for a U.S. invasion. His vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, confirmed Wednesday the government was shutting down air and sea links between Curacao and Venezuela. Guaido repeated his vow that the aid would enter “one way or another.” “Even though they point guns at us — and all of us have received threats, rubber bullets and even live ones — we are not afraid,” he said, standing on the back of a truck in a throng of supporters. “We will stay out in the street with our chests bared, demanding freedom for all of Venezuela.” Guaido says he aims to rally a million volunteers to start bringing in the aid by his Feb. 23 deadline. U.S. officials say the aid will reach thousands of Venezuelans and last for a few weeks. Guaido’s rally on Wednesday gathered just a couple of dozen buses and pickup trucks. The pro-opposition drivers had planned to hold their rally at a major crossroads further west but found the avenue blocked by a far bigger demonstration. Hundreds of state bus drivers rallied in the red shirts of the pro-government “Chavismo” movement, in a gathering convened by the authorities. They yelled their loyalty to Maduro — himself a former bus driver — and the memory of his predecessor, the father of Venezuela’s socialist “revolution,” Hugo Chavez. State-employed bus driver Julio Arocha, 53, admitted he was “negatively affected” by the crisis, “economically, psychologically,” but was getting by thanks to state food handouts. Like Maduro — who says the aid shipments are a pretext for a U.S. invasion — Arocha blamed the crisis on foreign “aggression.” “The aggression is intensifying. The word ‘humanitarian’ is a euphemism,” he said. “They are not going to succeed (in delivering the aid) in the way they plan to.” Venezuela’s economic crisis has led to hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods. “Even if the February 23 deadline does not serve as a catalyst (for regime change), Maduro will likely pay a cost either way,” wrote Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow in a note this week. “Barring the entrance of food and medicine into the country will prompt additional international condemnation and isolation, while it will also probably fuel opposition protests and deepen popular demand for change.” Figueroa said bus drivers like himself were suffering from a lack of parts and oil. His monthly salary is worth $6. He said the drivers would share their resources in the hope of getting their vehicles ready for the journey to the border. “Venezuela is broken. The transport system is broken,” he said. “I hope that the government will think carefully about it on Saturday when we bring the aid in.”

venezuela
juan guaido
nicolas maduro
colombia
u.s. humanitarian aid


Conservative Catholic cardinals blame 'homosexual agenda' for abuse crisis

Abstract: VATICAN CITY - Two cardinals criticized on Wednesday Pope Francis’s approach to the clerical pedophilia crisis, saying “abuse of power” was not to blame but homosexuality. “We turn to you with deep distress! The Catholic world is adrift,” U.S. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke and German Cardinal Walter Brandmueller said in an open letter to the heads of the bishops’ conferences. “Sexual abuse is blamed on clericalism. But the first and primary fault of the clergy does not rest in the abuse of power but in having gone away from the truth of the Gospel,” they said. They blamed a corruption of the “absolute moral law,” referring to homosexuality, which they described as the “denial, by words and by acts, of the divine and natural law. “The plague of the homosexual agenda has been spread within the church, promoted by organized networks and protected by a climate of complicity and a conspiracy of silence,” claimed the cardinals, who belong to the church’s conservative wing. The Catholic church considers the practice of homosexuality to be a sin. The letter comes a day before Pope Francis opens a historical summit at the Vatican on the protection of minors in a bid to end a scandal that has dogged the Roman Catholic church for decades. Burke and Brandmueller criticized Francis, saying they were “among those who in 2016 presented to the Holy Father certain questions … (that) have not only not had any response, but are part of a more general crisis of the faith. They called on the head bishops “to raise your voice to safeguard and proclaim the integrity of the doctrine of the church.”

abuse
vatican
pope francis
leo burke
walter brandmueller
catholic church
christianity
lgbt
sex crimes
child abuse


Ukraine asks U.N. to move ahead with peacekeeper plan for restive region despite Russia outcry

Abstract: UNITED NATIONS - Ukraine urged U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to draw up options for a peacekeeping mission to the war-torn Donbass region, despite opposition from Russia. President Petro Poroshenko told the General Assembly that deploying a U.N.-mandated peace force could be a “decisive factor” in bringing an end to the five-year war. Ukraine has pushed the idea of sending blue helmets to the east since 2015, but Russia has rejected the idea, although President Vladimir Putin has talked about possibly sending international observers. In his address to a special assembly session, Poroshenko pressed for concrete steps to prepare such a mission that he insisted would be deployed across the Donbass region. He said Guterres should send a fact-finding mission to the region to outline “elaborate respective options” that could be discussed, stressing that Ukraine was “ready for constructive discussion of this initiative.” The conflict pitting Russian separatists against Ukrainian government forces is estimated to have claimed more than 10,000 lives — one-third of them civilian — since it broke out five years ago. At least 1.5 million have been driven from their homes in what Poroshenko described as a “cruel, ugly, unnecessary war.” Taking a swipe at the United Nations, the president said that providing humanitarian aid and monitoring human rights was “not enough,” and lamented that “not too much progress has been made” despite the U.N. chief’s pledge to make Ukraine a priority in 2018. Russia has long maintained that separatists in eastern Ukraine oppose Kiev without support from Moscow. Poroshenko, who is running for re-election, also suggested that it was “time to put Russia in its place” by depriving it of its veto power in the Security Council when it comes to issues dealing with Ukraine. He called for the release of Ukrainian detainees including 24 sailors during a clash at sea off the coast of Crimea in November last year.

ukraine
peacekeeping
russia
petro poroshenko
conflict
u.n .
antonia guterres


Tortoise feared extinct found on remote Galapagos island

Abstract: LIMA - A living member of a species of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years and feared to be extinct has been found in a remote part of the Galapagos island of Fernandina. An adult female Chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as the Fernandina giant tortoise, was spotted Sunday by a joint expedition of the Galapagos National Park and the U.S.-based Galapagos Conservancy, Ecuador’s Environment Ministry said in a statement. Investigators think there may be more members of the species on the island because of tracks and scat they found. The team took the tortoise, which likely is more than 100 years old, to a breeding center for giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island, where it will stay in a specially designed pen. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has the Fernandina Giant Tortoise listed as critically endangered and possibly extinct. The only other living member of the species was found in 1906, the group said. Since then, expeditions have encountered tortoise scat and bite marks on cacti, and there was a possible, but unconfirmed sighting in 2009. But Sunday’s discovery was the first confirmed sighting. It, together with the possibility of finding more members of the species, has raised the possibility of breeding. “They will need more than one, but females may store sperm for a long time,” said Stuart Pimm, a professor of conservation ecology at Duke University. “There may be hope.” Fernandina is the third-largest Galapagos island and features the La Cumbre volcano, one of the most active in the world. The archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off Ecuador’s mainland. In listing the Fernandina tortoise as possibly extinct, the conservation group said on its website that the species may have succumbed to “the frequent volcanic lava flows that nearly cover the island.” The Galapagos archipelago hosts unique species and wildlife whose characteristics helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. The Environment Ministry said the expedition was financed by Animal Planet for its series “Extinct or Alive.”

tortoises galapagos nature endangered animals


Why do zebras have stripes? Because they make bad landing strips for flies

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the long-standing question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry deadly diseases. Researchers on Wednesday described experiments demonstrating that horse flies have a difficult time landing on zebras while easily landing on uniformly colored horses. In one experiment, the researchers put cloth coats bearing striped patterns on horses and observed that fewer flies landed on them than when the same horses wore single-color coats. “We showed that horse flies approach zebras and uniformly colored horses at similar rates but that they fail to land on zebras — or striped horse coats — because they fail to decelerate properly, and so fly past them or literally bump into them and bounce off,” said behavioral ecologist Tim Caro of the University of California-Davis, lead author of the research published in the journal PLOS ONE. Close cousins to horses and donkeys, the world’s three zebra species, known for their black-and-white striped bodies, roam Africa’s savannas eating a variety of grasses. Their stripe patterns vary among individuals, with no two alike. There had been four main hypotheses about the advantages zebras accrued by evolving stripes: camouflage to avoid large predators; a social function like individual recognition; thermoregulation, with stripes setting up convection currents along the animal’s back; and thwarting biting fly attacks. “Only the last stands up to scrutiny,” Caro said. “Most biologists involved with research on mammal coloration accept that this is the reason that zebras have stripes.” African horse flies carry diseases such as trypanosomiasis and African horse sickness that cause wasting and can be fatal. The researchers made videos of horse flies as they tried to prey on captive zebras and domestic horses at a livery in North Somerset, England. Stripes did not deter flies from a distance, as they circled horses and zebras at similar rates. But the flies managed to land on zebras less than a quarter as often. University of Bristol biologist and study co-author Martin How said stripes may dazzle flies somehow once the insects venture close enough to see them with their low-resolution eyes. “In addition to stripes that prevent controlled landings by horse flies, zebras are constantly swishing their tail and may run off if horse flies do land successfully, so they are also using behavioral means to prevent flies probing for blood,” Caro said.