Gen Z takes office: Japan’s newest politicians are young, diverse and online

Story by Jessie Yeung • 


Move over, boomers and older millennials – Japan’s young people are stepping into office.

The country’s by-elections this week have seen a number of diverse new faces thrust into the national spotlight – which supporters have celebrated as a welcome change to the country’s government, mostly run by conservative older men.

Most members of Japan’s parliament are aged 50 to 70 – and are 75% male, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Making headlines is Ryosuke Takashima who, at 26 years old, is Japan’s youngest-ever mayor, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. He graduated last year from Harvard University, where he earned his bachelors degree in environmental engineering.

“Being young, I think there is a possibility that citizens will feel closer to me. Because I have no experience in politics, I can ask around what I don’t understand, learn various things, and I want reflect them in my own vision,” he told reporters, according to NHK.

The country’s previous youngest mayor had been Kotaro Shishida, elected in 1994 at the age of 27, NHK reported.

Takashima had campaigned on green infrastructure planning, promising to create more public spaces and parks, as well as reforms in education, childcare and youth healthcare. He will begin serving as mayor of Ashiya City in Hyogo Prefecture on May 1.

Then there’s the 26-year-old YouTuber who ran his campaign for Hiratsuka City Council – and won – under the official name “Shin the Hiratsuka YouTuber.”

Shin also runs a Pokemon card store but is best known for his YouTube channel, where he makes videos about local shops and events in the city; his most popular video reviews 10 recommended ramen shops in Hiratsuka.



Shin the Hiratsuka YouTuber, who was elected to the Hiratsuka city council. - Courtesy Shin/Youtube

It was while making these videos and talking to local business owners that Shin learned about their complaints and troubles – inspiring him to run for city council and freshen up the staid political scene, according to his website.

“Japan’s politicians are aging,” his site reads. “There are many high schools and universities in Hiratsuka, so there is no doubt that young people live here.”

As a single father of a 3-year-old son, he focused on childcare issues during his campaign, highlighting the need for greater support for parents and work-life balance – as well as supporting the elderly, as Japan’s population rapidly ages and its workforce shrinks.

Ayaka Nasuno, 25, is another Gen Z politician making her debut after winning the highest share of votes for the Kawasaki City Council earlier this month.

After being bullied as a child, Nasuno decided to “create her own community” by organizing a local trash cleanup effort – which is how she began working with constituents and local resources, according to her website and multiple social media accounts.

“This is the start of my career as a councilor, so I will work hard for the benefit of my hometown,” she wrote on Twitter after the election, thanking supporters for their votes.

Young, female and Uyghur

Another high-profile name this election season is 34-year-old Arfiya Eri, whose parents are Uyghur and Uzbek, and who has advocated for greater women’s rights and gender equality.

With her election to Japan’s Lower House, Eri is the first woman of Uyghur descent to be elected to any parliament in the world, according to the World Uyghur Congress, which called her victory significant for the Uyghur Japanese community and the global Uyghur diaspora.


Arfiya Eri, who was elected to Japan's Upper House, pictured on July 5, 2022. - Kentaro Takahashi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Uyghur ethnic group largely lives in China’s western Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs. The United Nations has called these actions “crimes against humanity” in a report last September, while the United States has previously accused China of holding up to 2 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in detention camps, accusations Beijing has repeatedly denied.

She is also one of the few parliament members with non-Japanese ancestry in what remains a highly homogenous country with comparatively low levels of immigration.

Eri was born in Japan but moved to China as a child, before studying at Georgetown University in the US and working for the United Nations. She researched Uyghur issues during her studies abroad, according to her official website – with one blog post decrying the “unspeakable tragic oppression and human rights violations” taking place against Uyghurs.

She has also turned the spotlight to Japan’s male-dominated politics and society, highlighting issues such as the gender wage gap, the unequal burden of housework and childcare on women, and the need for men to take more active roles in child-rearing.

Her election as a “33-year-old working woman” would send a message to the world that “Japan is going to move forward,” she wrote on her blog last year.

CNN.com

‘Never been a harder time’: Here’s the income you need to buy a home in Canada
Story by Eric Stober • Thursday

From being priced out of the housing market to now

Global News  Millennials priced out of home ownership  Duration 5:01  View on Watch

Despite home prices lowering across much of the country, Canadians will still need to earn more to be able to buy a home than compared to last year, according to a new report from RateHub.

The report shows that homebuyers will need an annual income of $217,000 in Toronto as of March 2023 to afford to buy a $1,118,500 home. That's a $6,250 increase in income compared to March 2022, even though the average home price fell by more than $200,000 in the city in that time, according to RateHub.

You will also need to earn over $200,000 in Vancouver to afford a home, while the rest of the country requires between $75,000 and $170,000.


‘Never been a harder time’: Here’s the income you need to buy a home in Canada

© Provided by Global News

RateHub co-CEO James Laird told Global News that Canadians now need to earn more to buy a home because interest rates have increased to over five per cent from closer to three per cent last year.

"There's never been a harder time to purchase a home in Canada," he said.

Laird said that unless the homebuyer is an extremely high earner, they will need a partner to qualify for the average home in Canada. The increase in mortgage rates also pushes up the required income needed to pass the stress test to be approved for a loan, the report says.

The report found that for nine of 10 cities in Canada, homebuyers need to earn between $5,650 and $21,360 more in annual income to afford a home than they did last year, a trend that is expected to worsen.

“With supply of new listings tight and some home buyers returning to the market, don’t expect home affordability to improve in the coming months,” Laird said.

Global News
Real estate prices forecast to rise  
Duration 1:46
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Global NewsMajority of Canadians feel home ownership out of reach: poll
1:52

Other cities on the list showed an increase in how much income a home buyer needs, even while average home prices fell.

Halifax requires close to $105,000 in income, Montreal is over $107,000, Winnipeg is over $75,000, and Ottawa is under $130,000.

Calgary is the one outlier on home values, where the average home price rose modestly. Calgary requires a little over $110,000 in income to fetch the average-priced home.

Hamilton was the only city on the report's list to require less income, with $4,460 less needed year-over-year to afford a home there.

Laird said that the income requirement posed by most banks means that some may need to rent longer or rely on their parents for help either with the downpayment or co-sign to boost their income level. He recommends for homebuyers to consider small cities, where they may find a better deal.

"Home prices vary a lot in this country," Laird said. "It's probably why we're seeing a lot of young people move out to the Prairies and Alberta -- homes are relatively affordable versus Toronto and Vancouver."

To learn more about how you can break into Canada's housing market, check out Global News’ Home School series here

MANITOBA
School celebrates opening of esports lab

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

Arural school’s newest athletic facility has neither nets nor painted lines, but the coaches who use it say the site — which visitors could easily mistake for a computer lab — is an ideal backdrop to teach teamwork and sportsmanship skills.

École Dugald School is celebrating the opening of its so-called esports lab, a dark room outfitted with strips of multicoloured lights, more than two dozen computers and a cabinet filled with extra headphones and other gaming essentials.

“(Our athletes are part of) a population that isn’t always served in extracurricular activities and spaces,” says Nathan Koblun, a middle years teacher who founded the ÉDS Dragons’ esports team.

“For them, this is a home. These students see this as their space. They see this as a space where they are valued and they are successful, and it’s a place in the school where they’re excited to go to.”

Koblun says the facility ensures students can game in a safe and supervised environment, while providing equitable access to devices and reliable internet at school.

The K-8 building, located 10 kilometres east of the Perimeter Highway, is among those that have started dabbling in esports by pouring money into an after-school gaming program since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rising popularity of these teams led to the launch of the Manitoba School Esports Association last year. It oversees and facilitates competitive seasons for the Dragons and their competitors to duel via Brawlhalla, Pokemon Unite and other platforms.

While noting esports have long been up and coming, principal Chris Gusberti says the school’s team was born in 2020 in a bid to connect students and staff who were isolated and unable to socialize in-person.

The launch of the lab, built and equipped with technology from community donations, parent council fundraising and the Sunrise School Division, has cost roughly $10,000.


Following the dismissal bell, the facility is packed, primarily with Grades 6-8 boys. Many of them wear red-and-white jerseys, not unlike their peers who compete on traditional teams.

Today’s online matches will play out against other Manitoba middle schools in Rocket League, a fantastical game that mimics soccer, during which users try to score points on opponents and defend their goalposts while driving tricked-out cars.

“We know what it takes,” Koblun tells the athletes during a pre-game huddle.

“Being positive and building each other up is really, really important — so let’s support each other, let’s have fun,” the coach adds.

Ryder Harder, 13, is a player who often hangs around after regular school hours because he relishes the fast-paced nature of competitive gaming.

“I’ve always loved gaming and I’ve always liked school, so since both the things I really like are put together, I jumped at the chance to (get involved),” says Ryder, adding he has “never really been an athletic guy.”

The middle-schooler says he’s met new friends and learned about the value of persistence — “If I suck at a game, I just keep going until I get better” — since he joined.

Audible groans and sighs of frustration make up the room’s soundtrack. But so do words of encouragement and affirmation between teammates, as well as student technicians and “shoutcasters” who are tasked with streaming and narrating the live games.

“They play video games, but what they’re learning is that teamwork, that co-operation and they’re learning how to be a good person, in the end, and that’s what we all want out of this,” says coach Ryan Hrabi.

The Grades 6-7 teacher says he has witnessed reserved students come out of their shells, take on leadership roles and build confidence through the program.

The pre-season contract that all student-athletes are required to sign, in turn pledging to make academics a priority, motivates players to remain engaged in school, Hrabi says.

Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Tobacco Company BAT Pleads Guilty to Violating U.S. Sanctions on North Korea

Story by Sadie Gurman • WSJ

WASHINGTON—A U.K. tobacco company agreed to pay more than $635 million to resolve charges that it conspired to violate U.S. sanctions by selling cigarettes to North Korea in what Justice Department officials described as a brazen scheme to conceal illicit business by routing it through a third-party company in Singapore.


Tobacco Company BAT Pleads Guilty to Violating U.S. Sanctions on North Korea© Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

British American Tobacco PLC entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors over illegal sales that took place over more than a decade, even after the company announced that it had abandoned its North Korean business, U.S. officials said. But BAT, which makes Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, continued selling tobacco products to the isolated regime through a Singaporean front company.

Between 2009 and 2019, prosecutors said, the company bought leaf tobacco for North Korean state-owned cigarette makers and used front companies and fake documents to get U.S. banks to process $74 million in transactions they would have otherwise blocked.

The transactions earned the North Korean manufacturers around $700 million in revenue, prosecutors said.

“We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us,” BAT’s Chief Executive Jack Bowles said in a statement.

Write to Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com

«Extremely high biological threat» in Sudan following lab takeover, alerts WHO

Story by Daniel Stewart • 

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday of a ''very high biohazard risk'' after one of the parties to the conflict in Sudan seized the premises of a laboratory allegedly containing various pathogens in the African country's capital, Khartoum.


Archive - Smoke in Khartoum during the coup d'état on October 25, 2021. - CHINESE MEDICAL EXPERT TEAM TO SUDAN / XINHUA NEWS© Provided by News 360

The agency's representative in Sudan, Nima Said Abid, has indicated that the headquarters of the National Public Health Laboratory is occupied by troops of ''one of the parties to the conflict'' and stressed that laboratory technicians ''no longer have access to the laboratory''.

With the power cuts, it is not possible to properly manage the biological materials stored in the laboratory for medical purposes,'' he said, before pointing out that the danger stems from the lack of operational generators in the facilities and stressing that the stored blood bags could spoil.

Related video: High risk of biological hazard after Sudan laboratory seized - WHO (Reuters)

Duration 0:59  View on Watch

ReutersWHO says 'high risk of biological hazard' after Sudan laboratory seized

0:59

ReutersBiohazard warning as fighters seize Sudan lab: WHO

1:30

Sky NewsSudan situation 'extremely dangerous'

4:45

The National Public Health Laboratory states on its website that the facility tests for various pathogens, including coronavirus, tuberculosis, measles and polio, and is the reference laboratory for such tests in Sudan's capital.
He also specified that the Sudanese authorities have so far confirmed about 460 dead and more than 4,000 wounded as a result of the fighting that broke out on April 15 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), although he warned that the figures ''are probably higher''.

Said Abid indicated that the data of the Sudanese Ministry of Health show 459 dead and 4,072 wounded, among them 166 dead and 2,343 wounded in the state of Khartoum. The figures are probably higher because of the non-functioning of at least 25 percent of the health facilities in Khartoum, where most of the fighting is taking place," he explained.

He also stressed that to date he has verified a total of fourteen attacks on health facilities, events that have left at least eight dead and two wounded. WHO strongly condemns the continued attacks on the health system. They must stop. They prevent health workers from avoiding much-needed help and the population from accessing medical services,'' he said.

''Only a fraction of health facilities in Khartoum are providing service because of staff fatigue, shortage of medical supplies or attacks,'' he lamented. ''Sudan's Ministry of Health has indicated that 36.5 percent of medical facilities in Khartoum are not functioning and another 25 percent are not responding (to attempts to contact them),'' he said.

Source: (EUROPA PRESS)

YouTube case at US Supreme Court could shape protections for ChatGPT and AI

Story by By Andrew Goudsward • Yesterday 


The United States Supreme Court building in Washington© Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in the coming months whether to weaken a powerful shield protecting internet companies, the ruling also could have implications for rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.

The justices are due to rule by the end of June whether Alphabet Inc's YouTube can be sued over its video recommendations to users. That case tests whether a U.S. law that protects technology platforms from legal responsibility for content posted online by their users also applies when companies use algorithms to target users with recommendations.

What the court decides about those issues is relevant beyond social media platforms. Its ruling could influence the emerging debate over whether companies that develop generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT from OpenAI, a company in which Microsoft Corp is a major investor, or Bard from Alphabet's Google should be protected from legal claims like defamation or privacy violations, according to technology and legal experts.

That is because algorithms that power generative AI tools like ChatGPT and its successor GPT-4 operate in a somewhat similar way as those that suggest videos to YouTube users, the experts added.

"The debate is really about whether the organization of information available online through recommendation engines is so significant to shaping the content as to become liable," said Cameron Kerry, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington and an expert on AI. "You have the same kinds of issues with respect to a chatbot."

Representatives for OpenAI and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

During arguments in February, Supreme Court justices expressed uncertainty over whether to weaken the protections enshrined in the law, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. While the case does not directly relate to generative AI, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that AI tools that generate "poetry" and "polemics" likely would not enjoy such legal protections.

The case is only one facet of an emerging conversation about whether Section 230 immunity should apply to AI models trained on troves of existing online data but capable of producing original works.

Section 230 protections generally apply to third-party content from users of a technology platform and not to information a company helped to develop. Courts have not yet weighed in on whether a response from an AI chatbot would be covered.

'CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS'

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who helped draft that law while in the House of Representatives, said the liability shield should not apply to generative AI tools because such tools "create content."

"Section 230 is about protecting users and sites for hosting and organizing users' speech. It should not protect companies from the consequences of their own actions and products," Wyden said in a statement to Reuters.

The technology industry has pushed to preserve Section 230 despite bipartisan opposition to the immunity. They said tools like ChatGPT operate like search engines, directing users to existing content in response to a query.

"AI is not really creating anything. It's taking existing content and putting it in a different fashion or different format," said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of NetChoice, a tech industry trade group.

Szabo said a weakened Section 230 would present an impossible task for AI developers, threatening to expose them to a flood of litigation that could stifle innovation.

Some experts forecast that courts may take a middle ground, examining the context in which the AI model generated a potentially harmful response.

In cases in which the AI model appears to paraphrase existing sources, the shield may still apply. But chatbots like ChatGPT have been known to create fictional responses that appear to have no connection to information found elsewhere online, a situation experts said would likely not be protected.

Hany Farid, a technologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said that it stretches the imagination to argue that AI developers should be immune from lawsuits over models that they "programmed, trained and deployed."

"When companies are held responsible in civil litigation for harms from the products they produce, they produce safer products," Farid said. "And when they're not held liable, they produce less safe products."

The case being decided by the Supreme Court involves an appeal by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old college student from California who was fatally shot in a 2015 rampage by Islamist militants in Paris, of a lower court's dismissal of her family's lawsuit against YouTube.

The lawsuit accused Google of providing "material support" for terrorism and claimed that YouTube, through the video-sharing platform's algorithms, unlawfully recommended videos by the Islamic State militant group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, to certain users.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Will Dunham)

'Missing in action': gun-control groups chide NDP over noncommittal stance on bill

Story by The Canadian Press • 

OTTAWA — The federal New Democrats are coming under pressure from gun-control advocates to support the Liberals in enacting a permanent ban on assault-style firearms.


NDP public-safety critic Peter Julian 

In a pair of open letters, various groups pushing for stronger restrictions on guns urge the NDP to come out decisively in favour of enshrining a definition of firearms that belong solely on the battlefield.

In response, NDP public-safety critic Peter Julian says the party will always be a willing partner when working to keep people safe from gun violence.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is set to appear Tuesday afternoon at the House of Commons public safety committee, where MPs are studying gun-control legislation introduced almost a year ago.

The appearance comes two months after the Liberals withdrew a late November amendment to the bill that would have spelled out in law the various models covered by the assault-style gun ban.

The Liberals billed the definition as an evergreen measure that would cement in legislation a May 2020 regulatory ban of some 1,500 firearm models and variants.

The government pulled the measure from consideration after weeks of criticism from Conservative MPs and some firearm advocates who said the definition would prohibit many commonly used hunting rifles and shotguns.

The committee started over, hearing from various groups and individuals on the shelved amendment, including Indigenous leaders, with the aim of crafting new wording.

Mendicino is expected to provide an update on the process Tuesday, with proposed revisions coming at a later meeting.

Prominent voices in favour of reviving the assault-style gun amendment are trying to ensure there is enough backing in Parliament for the measures to pass.

Related video: NDP MP says it's 'not appropriate' that interim ethics commissioner is related to minister (cbc.ca)  Duration 0:42  View on Watch

In an open letter Monday to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, organizations representing physicians, survivors of gun violence, women, students and others urge the NDP "to support a comprehensive, permanent ban on assault weapons in Canada."

"The NDP has a long and admirable record of protecting the vulnerable from harm and acting on evidence in support of the public interest," the letter says. "The current debate on gun control is a moment that demands the same resolve."

The letter, penned by groups including Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, says the signatories "are troubled" by the NDP's refusal to commit to amending the bill to include a clear definition and evergreen mechanism for banning semi-automatic assault-style firearms.

"Our only goal in writing to you is saving lives and preventing harm. We recognize the political challenge of navigating an issue that has been subject to much disinformation, but gun violence can never be acceptable."

In their own letter to Singh, the groups PolySeSouvient and Danforth Families for Safe Communities take issue with the party's "disingenuous, vague and noncommittal positioning" on gun control.

"Not only has the NDP failed to show any signs of support to finding a new legislative solution, it has reinforced the disinformation that was at the core of the unfounded fear and confusion that led to the withdrawal of the amendments and sidestepped its way out of every opportunity to reiterate its previous support to ban assault weapons."

NDP voters trust the party to follow through on its promises, but time and time again "your party is either missing in action when it counts" or undermining progress, the letter says.

"At this critical juncture, we feel it's time to call the party out on its detrimental approach with respect to assault weapons. The fight to ban civilian ownership of military-style weapons is at crossroads in Canada and the NDP is in a position to make or break this measure."

Asked about the letters, Julian said in a statement that his party is committed to keeping Canadian communities safe and free of gun violence.

"New Democrats support an assault-style weapons ban — we always have. These paramilitary weapons have no place in our cities and serve no practical purpose outside of the combat situations they were designed for."

But Julian stressed that the lack of progress on this legislation is "squarely the fault of the Liberals and the Conservatives" who have politicized the issue and put their own interests ahead of solving the problem.

"We will continue to work with the government on amendments that strengthen gun control while also ensuring that we are not unfairly impacting hunters, farmers and Indigenous people who use firearms responsibly," Julian said.

"While clear definitions are needed to close loopholes allowing manufacturers to get around bans on assault-style weapons, the Liberals' failure to uphold their constitutional obligations to consult Indigenous communities was not the correct approach to ensuring we get this right."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

RENTIER CAPITALI$M: #4PROFITHEALTHCARE

Investors' role in next week's closure of San Antonio hospital under scrutiny

Story by Jonathan LaPook, Michael Kaplan, Sheena Samu • CBS

A356-bed San Antonio medical center set to shut down next week is the latest hospital closure raising questions about the role of private equity in the health care sector.

For more than four decades, Texas Vista Medical Center has been the primary health care option for San Antonio's majority-Hispanic south side. When the hospital shuts down on Monday, it will leave a population of about half a million people with just one full-service hospital which has 110 beds. The average nationwide ratio is 2.38 beds per 1,000 people. Texas Vista's closure will bring this area's ratio to 0.2 per 1,000

"The nearest hospital is between 12 to 15 minutes away from our facility, and if you're having a stroke or a heart attack, time is of the essence," respiratory therapist Jessica Carrasco told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. Carrasco, who worked at Texas Vista for eight years, was one of more than 800 employees who learned in March that they'll be out of a job when the hospital closes its doors.

Texas Vista's owner, Steward Health Care, is shutting down the hospital six years after purchasing it with the help of private equity investors. The hospital has been subject to some of the same opaque financial transactions that have occurred prior to other hospital failures, such as Delaware County Memorial Hospital in suburban Philadelphia

For example, at the same time Steward bought the hospital, then known as Southwest General, the land and the buildings were bought by another firm called Medical Properties Trust. The arrangement required Steward to pay millions in rent annually to Medical Properties Trust — money that came out of Texas Vista's operating budget

Steward renamed the hospital Texas Vista in 2021. In a press release, the company said the hospital would take on "a leadership role in reducing health care disparities for the communities the hospital serves.

In the wake of announcing its closing, the company cited the "unsustainable" financial challenges of providing care to those communities. In a statement to CBS News, Steward said the hospital serves a "disproportionately free-care, higher-needs patient population" and said 25% of its patients don't pay for their care

Steward also said the $5 million in annual rent it owes to Medical Properties Trust represents only "3 percent of the annual operating budget" and was "absolutely not a factor in the decision to close the hospital

Yet, in an audio recording obtained by CBS News of a leadership meeting at the end of March, the hospital's CEO did raise the issue of rent, acknowledging Steward was "trying to get out of lease obligations

"I didn't know you could, like, rent out a hospital," said Carrasco, who learned about the real estate deal when Steward announced it was closing Texas Vista. "I was under the impression that we owned the building

Some local officials say they have been left in the dark when it comes to figuring out the financial reasons for Texas Vista's closur

"There is no transparency," said city councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia, who represents the district Texas Vista serves. She said she found out about the closure when the public did, and that she was never able to get a look at Texas Vista's financials because it is a private compan

"I compare this to city government," Rocha Garcia said. "You can submit an open records request and you could see all of our financial transactions. That doesn't happen here

"They recognized an opportunity.

Based in Birmingham, Ala., the publicly-traded Medical Properties Trust has bought up the real estate of nearly 200 U.S. hospitals, often in low-income communities.

"They recognized an opportunity over the last decade, and that was private equity looking to sell hospital systems," said Rob Simone, an analyst at a Connecticut-based research firm called Hedgey

Simone has advised clients to bet against Medical Properties Trust by shorting its stock, though he said neither he nor Hedgeye trade on the company

"Medical Properties Trust does not employ any of the doctors or the EMS personnel," Simone said. "What they do is they provide cash, capital to the folks that run the hospital. That's it. And they get back a check for rent

The firm's CEO, Ed Aldag, declined an interview, and the company declined to answer a detailed list of questions. In a statement, a Medical Properties Trust spokesperson said the company is "a trusted and committed resource for hospital capital and has been proud to enable operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets" to pay for improvement

Yet Simone said the firm has saddled several of its hospitals with unsustainable rent

"Many of its hospitals are struggling and failing," he said, adding that the rent burden can force its tenants, companies like Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings, to cut back on hospital operations

A CBS News investigation found a pattern of supply shortages at 14 hospitals where Medical Properties Trust owns the real estat

In Massachusetts, at least 16 vendors weren't paid on time, including a dialysis company that provided services to five hospitals

At one Pennsylvania hospital, a local police chief pulled out of an agreement to have an officer on site for security after nearly $70,000 in payments were misse

Medical Properties Trust said it didn't have any role in "hospital operations or operations decisions" and denied rent is a significant burden for the hospitals where it owns the real estat

"No hospital in our portfolio has ever failed or curtailed services due to an inability to pay rent - because rent constitutes only a small percent of overall hospital expenses," the spokesperson wrote in a statement. "Our core mission is to ensure that hospitals within our portfolio remain financially sound and continue to serve their communities over the long term

Medical Properties Trust said it was "rare" for hospital operators to be "unable to timely pay their operating expenses." The company said, in those cases, it attempts to work "collaboratively with the operator to address the problem," though it did not specify how it was working with Steward to address the problems at Texas Vista.

Bloomberg has previously reported that the sale of real estate to Medical Properties Trust enabled Steward's private equity backers "to extract hundreds of millions in dividends for its investors." Medical Properties Trust also owns about a 10% stake in Steward

Concerns over how private-equity-backed hospital companies spend the money they make from selling off real estate led Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha to block a potential sale to Medical Properties Trust in his state

"As a regulator, I could stop it here because I had the authority," Neronha told CBS News last fall, citing a unique state law that gave him the power to scrutinize hospital transactions. "Laws on the books like that allow us to intervene to make sure that the health care system is going to be one of quality, that's affordable, and accessible

For executives at Medical Properties Trust, buying hospital real estate has been lucrative. According to the company's SEC filings, from 2017 to 2021, Aldag's salary, bonuses and stock awards amounted to a total of about $70 million

The company did not respond to questions about Aldag's compensatio

"Less about people and more about profit

Documents obtained by CBS News show Steward had earlier this year missed more than $650,000 in payments to at least a dozen different vendors serving Texas Vista. Vendors left unpaid included a breast milk bank in Austin, a Mississippi medical supplier, and a Houston-based company that rented respiratory equipment to the hospital

"Coordinators were having to 'phone a friend' to let us borrow, you know, a cup of sugar," Carrasco said, adding that she was dealing with shortages of supplies for respiratory masks. "We provide patients with a non-invasive ventilation device, and if I don't have the hose to connect from the machine to the mask, I can't do anything for them.

In a statement, a Steward spokesperson said all outstanding vendors at Texas Vista "will be paid." The company also said it had invested $2 billion in its hospitals in underserved communities, including "close to $100 million" at Texas Vista, "while creating revenue for the area and employing more than 800 staffers"

"Without Steward's commitment, Texas Vista Medical Center would have closed years ago," the company wrote in its statement to CBS News.

Yet Carrasco said she believed the hospital "backtracked" under Steward's ownershi

"To me it became less about people and more about profits," she said

Rocha Garcia said she believes the closure would not have happened in a more affluent area

"It's infuriating," she said. "My people, my residents are one minute away from losing hope

WORKERS CAPITAL
Canada's Ontario Teachers' fund closes China equity investment team

Story by By Summer Zhen and Xie Yu • 

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), Canada's third largest pension fund, closed down its China equity investment team based in Hong Kong last week, several sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) website shows licenses of five employees of the C$247 billion($182 billion) pension fund were revoked on April 18.

The staff were with OTPP's proprietary trading team in Hong Kong, covering Greater China stocks, two of the sources said.

In a statement to Reuters, OTPP spokesperson Dan Madge confirmed the firm will "no longer have country-focused stock-picking teams based in Asia", resulting in the departure of five of their staff in its Hong Kong office.

"While this decision was not an easy one to make given the impact to our team, we feel it reflects the right model for our high conviction stock selection process going forward, with a centralised team based in Toronto pursuing investment opportunities in Asia as they do for other regions," Madge said.

The decision comes amid growing tensions between China and the West and a challenging equity investment environment due to the rising global interest rates. It also comes as more foreign investors trim their China exposure amid persistent geopolitical risks.

Canadian authorities have recently started several investigations into the allegations of Chinese interference in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections, accusations that Beijing denies.

In January, OTPP said it paused future direct investments in private assets in China but will continue to invest via fund partners. Its exposure to China was about 2%, or C$5 billion, of its portfolio. Geopolitical risk is among the risk factors that played a role in OTPP’s decision, a source told Reuters at the time.

Global SWF, a pension fund data platform, shows OTPP had completely exited the China’s domestic A-share market by end-2022, although it was never a significant investor.

Nevertheless, Madge said Asia, including China, continues to be core to OTTP's global investment strategy.

OTPP's public equity portfolio lost 12.5% in 2022, although the fund returned 4% overall, according to its annual report. It opened new offices in Mumbai and San Francisco last year for investment diversification.

($1 = 1.3548 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Summer Zhen and Xie Yu in Hong Kong; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Lincoln Feast.)

Immigration potential key to solve S. Korea's low birth rate: Nobel laureate

Story by 강윤승 • 12h ago

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- Turning to immigrant workforces can provide a solution to South Korea's dire population crisis following low birth rates, an economics professor at the University of Chicago said Tuesday.

Michael Kremer, a Nobel laureate, made the remark during an interview session hosted by the Korea Development Institute, around a week ahead of the annual Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting, which will run for four days starting Tuesday in Songdo, Incheon, 36 kilometers west of Seoul.

Kremer will also be present at the bank's first in-person gathering since the pandemic began.

"While Korea may be able to take steps to increase the birth rate, this has proved difficult in other countries. The way that most developed countries with low birth rates maintain their working age population is through migration," Kremer said.

The number of babies born in South Korea dipped to yet another fresh low in January by sinking 6 percent from a year earlier, reflecting the dire population crisis in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The figure has been falling on-year for 86 consecutive months.

Related video: S Korea's population: People being encouraged to have children 

(Al Jazeera)  Duration 2:04  View on Watch

"Allowing migration to developed countries could create large fiscal and welfare benefits," the professor said, noting it is also possible to "design politically feasible and economically beneficial programs."

Kremer cited Hong Kong and Singapore as examples of countries that have successfully implemented large-scale special visa programs for foreign private household workers, which are less likely to raise social concerns compared to other types of migration programs

Touching on the income gap and digital divide between developed and developing countries, Kremer said South Korea can lend a hand to the area, as it is "a leader in digital technology innovation."

"Korea could serve an important role in supporting countries in areas ranging from educational technology to digital agriculture, digital health, and e-government," the professor said.

"These are all areas where private sector investment alone may be inadequate, and Korean expertise may be useful."


This file photo provided by the Korea Development Bank on April 25, 2023, shows Michael Kremer, an economics professor at the University of Chicago. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)© Provided by Yonhap News English
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