Thwarted Thai PM candidate Pita vows to run again: AFP interview

AFP
Wed, 8 November 2023 

Former Thai prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat told AFP

 he's 'not giving up' in his quest for the country's premiership 

(MANAN VATSYAYANA)

Thwarted Thai election winner Pita Limjaroenrat vowed Thursday to run for prime minister again, defying conservative forces that blocked him from the job earlier in the year and despite a looming court case.

The 43-year-old led his Move Forward Party (MFP) to a shock first-place finish in May's general election, buoyed by young and urban Thais weary of a near-decade of military rule -- only to be prevented from becoming premier by royalist and pro-military blocs opposed to his reformist agenda.

MFP's former allies Pheu Thai then formed a coalition government with army-linked parties, leaving the progressive challengers back on the opposition bench -- and Pita perhaps in the political wilderness.

He also faces a legal challenge thrown at him in the wake of the election, which could see him banned from running for years.

But in an interview with AFP, he vowed to take another tilt at the premiership.

"Of course. I'm not giving up, and it's just a matter of time," he said when asked if he planned to run again.

But there are a number of roadblocks in his way -- not least his current suspension as an MP.

MFP won the most seats in the May 14 poll, but fell short of an outright majority and joined forces with Pheu Thai.

But a prime minister candidate needs a majority across both houses of parliament, and Pita could not muster enough votes to overcome opposition in the junta-appointed Senate.

He lost a first vote, then was blocked from running in a second ballot for the premiership and suspended as an MP by the Constitutional Court over his ownership of media shares, prohibited for lawmakers under Thai law.

Pita denies any wrongdoing and said he was "very confident" about the case, which could see him banned from politics for years.

"I found out that it could be intentional," he said of the media share case.

"It was the old guard, someone who found a loophole that they can use constitutional hardball."

The father-of-one was a hugely popular figure during the campaign trail, drawing huge crowds and ecstatic supporters.

Educated in Thailand and the United States, where he studied at Harvard, the former Grab executive was drawn into politics in 2018 when he joined MFP predecessor Future Forward.

rbu-pdw/cwl

Indonesian presidential candidate evokes dictator's era


Jack MOORE
Wed, 8 November 2023 

Maria Catarina Sumarsih holds weekly protests near Indonesia's presidential palace seeking justice for her son, who was killed by the army (Adek BERRY)

Maria Catarina Sumarsih protests weekly near Indonesia's presidential palace, hoping to get justice for her university student son who was shot dead by the army after the 1998 fall of dictator Suharto.

Her demonstrations since 2007 have sought answers about Wawan's killer from top officials who presided over the military's bloody crackdown on protesters demanding political reforms.

While Wawan was shot by an army bullet, according to an autopsy, no military leader has been held responsible for his death.

One from the Suharto era, former special forces general and current Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, is now a leading contender in next year's Indonesian presidential election.

The 72-year-old candidate has rehabilitated his image in a bid to lead the world's third-biggest democracy.

After losing two previous presidential runs, Subianto's third attempt will have President Joko Widodo's son as his running mate -- potentially boosting his appeal.

Subianto remains accused of human rights abuses and ties to the Suharto family, as an ex-husband of one of the dictator's daughters.

At a recent protest, Sumarsih and 15 other activists carried a banner with images of alleged rights abusers, all former generals, including Subianto.

"I hope Indonesians will open their eyes and their hearts so they can see that people with blood on their hands should not be allowed to lead our nation," Sumarsih, 71, told AFP.

NGOs and former bosses accuse Subianto of ordering the abduction of democracy activists towards the end of Suharto's three-decade rule.

Some of those activists have never been found, and witnesses accuse his military unit of committing atrocities in East Timor.

Wiranto, an Indonesian military chief in 1998, blamed Subianto for the kidnappings.

Subianto was dismissed from the military over the abductions, several months before Wawan's death.

He has partly admitted a role in the disappearances but never fully taken blame.

"I carried out operations that were legal at the time. If a new government said I was at fault, I was here to take full responsibility," he said in a 2014 Al Jazeera interview.

After being discharged from the military, Prabowo went into self-exile in Jordan. He was also denied a US visa, although the official reason was never made public.

- Rights fears -

Between 1997 and 1998, when some kidnappings took place, Subianto led the elite army force known as Kopassus, used by Jakarta for special operations aimed at tamping down internal unrest.

Kopassus was accused of rights abuses in secessionist hotspots East Timor, Papua and Aceh.

Activists now worry that Indonesians could face worsening human rights if Subianto is elected.

"We are concerned that he may restrict rights, such as freedom of speech, assembly, the press, and other civil rights," said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid.

"This can bring more social unrest."

The kidnappings Subianto is accused of orchestrating took place ahead of violent anti-government riots in 1998 that led to Suharto's resignation.

According to the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, 23 activists were kidnapped between 1997 and 1998.

Nine were found alive, one was found dead and 13 are still missing.

The spectre of that unrest has been raised at least once since, and Subianto was at its centre after his 2019 election defeat.

Several protesters were shot dead, allegedly by police, as violence erupted in the wake of his loss and refusal to concede.

Subianto's nephew, also deputy chairman of his Gerindra party, did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

- New image -

Experts say Subianto's popularity is partly due to styling himself as a populist, with many young voters unaware of his alleged rights abuses.

"It's not considered an important thing to influence the presidential candidate they will vote for," said Alexander Arifianto of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Subianto, who studied in London and comes from an elite Indonesian family, has reached out to the youth via savvy social media tactics.

He shares images of his cats to his six million Instagram followers, while videos of him dancing have gone viral.

But Amnesty's Hamid believes Subianto must address the far weightier human rights issues.

"It's time for Prabowo to acknowledge the truth, despite potential uproar," said Hamid.

"It's an opportunity for him to demonstrate statesmanship."

dsa-mrc-jfx/sco/kma/cwl

Endangered Galapagos tortoises suffer from human waste: study

AFP
Wed, 8 November 2023 

Endangered giant Galapagos tortoises continue to swallow plastic and other human waste despite a ban on disposable plastic items in the Ecuadoran archipelago

 (ERNESTO BENAVIDES)

Endangered giant Galapagos tortoises continue to swallow plastic and other human waste despite a ban on disposable plastic items in the Ecuadoran archipelago, according to a study published Wednesday.

Turtles of the species Chelonoidis porteri ingest plastic in and around urban centers on the island of Santa Cruz, according to the study by the Charles Darwin Foundation, which is dedicated to conservation efforts in the Galapagos.

Researchers analyzed 5,500 samples of fecal matter in areas where tortoises come into contact with human activity, and found 597 pieces of debris of human origin -- mostly plastic, but also glass, metal, paper, cardboard and fabric.

By comparison, of the 1,000 samples collected from protected areas in the Galapagos National Park, scientists discovered only two pieces of human debris.

"Giant tortoises can take up to 28 days to digest what they eat," said Karina Ramon, the main author of the study.

"We are therefore concerned about the impact that the ingestion of non-organic waste can have" on their health, she added, citing risks of intestinal obstruction, injuries and hormonal changes due to chemical components.

Since 2015, the use of single-use plastic items, such as straws and bags, has been prohibited in the Galapagos. But in practice the ban is poorly enforced.

The study demonstrates that safeguarding the national park is "essential to the well-being of the endemic species", said co-author Santiago Ron.

Of the 15 species of giant tortoises that once lived in the Galapagos, three are now extinct.

The Galapagos archipelago, around 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, has flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world.

Observing its wonders led British scientist Charles Darwin to develop his ground-breaking theory of evolution by natural selection in the 19th century.

sp/ll/roc/phs/md/sco

Colin Smith, maths teacher who became an authority on the butterflies of Nepal – obituary


Telegraph Obituaries
Wed, 8 November 2023

Colin Smith in 2021 - nepalitimes

Colin Smith, who has died aged 87, travelled to Nepal aged 29 to teach mathematics, science and English and stayed on to become an authority on the country’s butterflies.

Nepal is one of the best places in the world to see butterflies. Of the 17,500 or so known species, 660 are found in Nepal, of which 20 of are on the endangered list. Smith dedicated more than 50 years to their study, publishing numerous research papers and several books and becoming known by locals as “Putali Baje” (“Butterfly Grandpa”).

Colin Philip Smith was born on November 24 1936 in Highgate, north London, to Ebenezer Smith and Rose, née Boosey. As a boy he often visited an uncle whose collection of butterflies and moths sparked an interest which he pursued during school holidays at Boy Scout summer camps.

Smith's 1995 book


After taking a BSc in mathematics at Imperial College London, followed by an MSc at University College, he became a teacher, and in 1966 volunteered to serve with the United Mission to Nepal (UMN), a venture involving a number of Christian groups. “I was told that alongside teaching, I needed to have a hobby, too,” he recalled. “I told them that I collected butterflies.” The UMN suggested he should make a collection from Nepal to bring back home.

Instead he decided to stay, and while teaching at a school in Pokhara he met Dorothy Merow, a fellow teacher who had started a small natural history museum and who persuaded him to collect butterflies for it.

After seven years’ teaching Smith decided to devote himself full-time to butterflies. His rare visits to England thereafter included a trip in 1976 to the Saruman Museum (aka the National Butterfly Museum) to learn the latest techniques for handling specimens.

Lepidoptera of Nepal was published in 2010

Back in Nepal, he started writing for local natural history journals and in 1989 published his first major study, Butterflies of Nepal (Central Himalaya). His initial goal was to collect specimens of all the 660 species of butterflies found in Nepal with a view to publishing a comprehensive checklist; later, however, he turned to capturing butterflies with a digital camera. His Illustrated Checklist of Nepal’s Butterflies was published in 1995.

In the early 2000s Smith began working mostly on Nepal’s far more numerous moth species, travelling round the county with a fluorescent bulb and a white sheet, collecting specimens for Kathmandu University. Other publications include Lepidoptera of Nepal (2010) and A Photographic Pocket Guide to Butterflies of Nepal, In Natural Habitat (2011).

For many years Smith lived with the family of a Nepali fellow lepidopterist near Pokhara, but in 1995 he bought a small plot of land nearby and built himself a tiny one-room cottage. Last year he was reported to be living on a British pension of £175 a month along with an elderly allowance of 4,000 Nepalese rupees (around £24.50). “I was maybe the richest man in Pokhara in my prime,” he reflected, “But now I’m probably the poorest.”

Smith's 1997 book

In 1995 he made the first of several attempts to be granted Nepalese citizenship, but it was only in 2019, after friends organised a petition, and after Smith had been ill for several years, that the government finally responded, and he became the third foreigner, after Sir Edmund Hillary and Toni Hagen (the first foreigner to travel throughout Nepal), to be granted honorary citizenship.”

Nepal is now struggling with the social and environmental costs of mass tourism, but in an interview last year Smith recalled that when he first arrived, there were “hardly any roads, let alone vehicles. Only one foreigner had a bicycle.”

Other than a brother living in New Zealand, Smith had no other close relatives. His wish was to have his ashes scattered on the Seti River that flows down from the Annapurna mountains.

Colin Smith, born November 24 1936, died November 4 2023

Lloyd's of London to invest $65 million following slavery report


Wed, November 8, 2023

Lloyd's of London logo at City of London financial district


By Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) -Lloyd's of London will invest 40 million pounds ($49.6 million) in regions affected by the transatlantic slave trade, it said on Wednesday, after a report showed the commercial insurance market had strong links to the trade.

Lloyd's will also spend around 12 million pounds on a programme to improve recruitment and progression for Black and other ethnic minority employees in the commercial insurance market, including bursaries for Black university students, it said in a statement.

Lloyd's formed part of a sophisticated network of financial interests that made the slave trade possible, according to research published by Black Beyond Data, based at Johns Hopkins University.

The research was funded by the Mellon Foundation, and Lloyd's said it had no editorial control over the findings.

The 335-year old insurance market apologised in 2020 for its role in the 18th and 19th century slave trade.

"We've asked ourselves how we could have the greatest impact," Lloyd's Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown told Reuters. "We can't change the wrongs of the past, but we can make a difference today."

Lloyd's said its Central Fund will invest $25 million in a bond administered by the African Development Bank and $25 million in a bond administered by the Inter-American Development Bank. The bonds will support the UN Sustainable Development Goal of "reduced inequality".

The Lloyd's market is made up of nearly 50,000 people, and Lloyd's wants one in three new hires to come from ethnic minorities. The figure was 17% in 2022.

Historians estimate between one and two-thirds of the British marine insurance market was based on the slave trade in the 18th century.

Alexandre White, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the Black Beyond Data team had examined material from the Lloyd's archive, including ledgers where insurers recorded policies for ships leaving Liverpool as part of the trade.

"Lloyd's played a central role in the underwriting of marine insurance pertaining to the slave trade," he said.

The Black Beyond Data research showed at least one third of all slaving voyages leaving Britain in 1807, for example, came through Lloyd’s for the underwriting of particular legs or the whole voyage.

The research also showed that Joseph Marryat, Lloyd's of London chairman from 1811 to 1824, had enslaved people, White added.

"There's no way to compensate for the damage that has been done - too much has happened," said Junior Garba, co-founder of Equity, which provides recruitment and mentoring services for minority groups in the insurance sector. Garba added that Lloyd's initiatives were "a good starting point".

The Church of England earlier this year committed 100 million pounds to address the "shameful" wrongs of its links to slavery.

The United Nations has said countries should consider financial reparations among measures to compensate for the enslavement of people of African descent.

African and Caribbean entities have called for reparations, and the European Union has hinted at them. Some U.S. senators also support reparations.

($1 = 0.8135 pounds)

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Sinead Cruise, Jan Harvey, Elaine Hardcastle)

Why Lloyd’s of London’s slavery reckoning is just the start for the City

Adam Mawardi
Wed, 8 November 2023 

Lloyd's Building in the City of London

More than 300 years ago, auction-goers gathered around a candle in Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House, a popular meeting place for sailors, merchants and ship owners near the banks of the River Thames.

Up for sale was a 220 tonne ship with 12 guns, named James and Frances. Bidding began once the candle was lit and stopped after it had burnt an inch.

In 1701, the James and Frances embarked on its voyage, from London to Africa and then on to Jamaica. It was carrying 162 enslaved Africans – 32 of whom died during the journey.

The candle auction is just one of many examples of the deep involvement that the institution now known as Lloyd’s of London had in the transatlantic slave trade between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The insurance marketplace, one of the City’s most historic institutions, was involved in auctioning or insuring ships that ferried hundreds of thousands of enslaved people.

The true scale of this historic stain on its reputation has been unearthed by researchers at John Hopkins University, the first to be given access to the 300-year-old institution’s huge archive of letters, newspaper adverts, certificates and other documents.

Lloyd’s had already apologised for its historical links to the slave trade in 2020, when outrage over the death of George Floyd prompted a public reckoning about the treatment of black people past and present by major institutions.

However, the John Hopkins research lays bare just how intimately involved the institution was in the slave trade.

Slavery was “critical to the members” of Lloyd’s as a major source of insurance business, researchers found. Senior figures from the past were also enslavers and absentee owners of slave plantations themselves.

Historical documents provided by Lloyd's to researchers at John Hopkins University have revealed the extent to which the institution was involved in the slave trade

“Insurance was an important innovation, mostly in the late 17th and 18th centuries, and it allowed slave traders to manage risk in a very efficient way,” says Sean Kelley, a transatlantic slave trade expert and professor at the University of Essex.

“If that insurance had not been available – and it wasn’t, after it became illegal in 1807 – slave traders would have had to devise other ways of managing risk that were less efficient.”

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Lloyds of London’s chairman, apologised again on Wednesday as John Hopkins published its findings.

In an effort to atone for its links to slavery Lloyd’s – a marketplace that handles more than £46bn worth of premiums per year – has promised to spend £52m on racial equality initiatives, including plans to support black and other ethnic minority people in work and education.

“I don’t think we can undo the wrongs of the past, but we can take action to address the impacts which are still seen today,” Carnegie-Brown said in a statement.

But rather than resolving the matter, the seven-figure sums threaten to reignite the issue of the City’s links to slavery, raising questions about which institutions will be next and whether they are prepared to pay for the past.

Lloyd’s is not alone: many other British institutions played a part in the slave trade, although the links are not always straightforward.

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Lloyds of London’s chairman, said institutions with link to slavery can ‘take action to address the impacts which are still seen today’ - Paul Grover

Although Barclays takes its name from David Barclay – a Quaker who campaigned for the abolition of slavery in the late 18th century – the bank became linked with the Colonial Bank in 1918 and Martins Bank in 1969, institutions that both had links to slavery.

Directors of banks that went on to become part of Royal Bank of Scotland – today known as NatWest Group – also owned slaves and provided loans to plantation owners, according to a database maintained by University College London.

Manuel Barcia, professor of global history at the University of Leeds, puts it simply: “Almost any institution that goes back hundreds of years is likely to have some kind of involvement.”

“You have decisions that were being taken in European capitals that lead to the death and enslavement of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.”

Preparing a single slave ship for voyage would often have involved a range of different parties, including banks who had extended credit to the merchants, lawyers who drew up the contracts and, of course, the captain and crew.

“You get a sense of this by just looking at the accounts that some of these slave traders kept,” Kelley explains. “There’s a major spread effect that flows out from all this.”

Many British companies were quick to offer their apologies for historical links to slave trade at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Greene King, one of the UK’s largest pub chains, promised to make a “substantial investment” in ethnic minority groups in 2020 in recognition of the fact that its founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s. It has since renamed pubs with racist connotations, including the Black Boy.

Meanwhile, London-based magic circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said it was taking a deeper look into its past, having repeatedly expressed “regret” that one of its founding members acted as a trustee for several slave-owners in the West Indies.

A spokesman said: “We are working to understand our history so that we can acknowledge and learn from it, in addition to the independent historical research we are funding on the role of the City of London and its ecosystem in relation to the transatlantic slave trade.”

Both Barcia and Kelley say one of the most important things businesses can do to help is be fully transparent.

Barcia argues companies should also speak to the descendants of slavery to understand how it has impacted them – and then try to make a tangible difference, perhaps through scholarships and other initiatives aimed at boosting opportunity.

In this vein, Lloyd’s says it will fund diversity initiatives and charities supporting disadvantaged black people and ethnic minorities. It promises to help provide them with more opportunities for employment and places to study at university.

Mark Lomas, head of culture at Lloyd’s, says: “We’re aware that no one can properly atone for the past.

“But what we have done is set out a framework that we believe will make sustainable change over a long term period.”

Lloyd’s will be hoping its initiatives can help it move on from its shameful past. But the proposals have been met with criticism in some quarters.

“This is PR: giving an apology, making some commitments, but this is not serious,” says Kehinde Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University.

“You’re talking about massive amounts of wealth that they owe back to people.”

Laura Trevelyan donated £100,000 to the island of Grenada in recognition of her family’s historic links to the slave trade there - David Levenson

Calls for direct reparations to the descendants of slaves have been growing, given impetus by BBC journalist Laura Trevelyan’s decision to donate £100,000 to the island of Grenada in recognition of her family’s historic links to the slave trade there.

Lloyd’s has so far resisted calls from Caribbean nations to pay direct reparations to the descendants of slaves, arguing that a lack of documentation makes it “impossible” to identify all those affected.

But the disagreement underscores how difficult these issues are and how hard it is to move on from the past.

British ships just like the James and Frances carried hundreds of thousands of slaves to the Americas and the wounds from this abhorrent practice are still visible hundreds of years on.

Ultimately, money alone is unlikely to solve the problem.

“It is a matter of levelling the field and listening to the descendants of these people,” Barcia says. “That is the most important thing we need to do.”

Glc.yale.edu

https://glc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/capatlism_and_slavery.pdf

Capitalism & Slavery 

slave planter, in the picturesque nomenclature of the South, is a "land-killer." This serious defect of slavery can be counter- balanced and postponed for a ...

UK government faces homelessness row as poverty grows

"Ten years ago there were hardly any food banks in the UK. Today a generation of children is growing up believing that it's normal to have a food bank in every community."

Stuart GRAHAM
Wed, 8 November 2023

Charities say there is a housing crisis due to the cost of living and lack of affordable homes

 (ISABEL INFANTES)

The UK government is facing a backlash after a senior minister said some people were homeless out of choice, and as one charity said its distribution of emergency food aid has hit record levels.

A cost-of-living crisis in the G7 nation and the world's sixth-biggest economy, fuelled by high inflation, has left many Britons struggling to make ends meet, as bills for food, energy, rent and mortgages increase.

But Home Secretary Suella Braverman sparked outrage and claims of being tone deaf to the issue, after saying she wanted to stop homeless people pitching tents on public streets.

"We cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has since appeared to distance himself from his hardline interior minister, while other colleagues condemned her language.

According to government figures published in October, 104,510 households were in temporary accommodation in England in the year to March 2023 -- up 10 percent on the same time in 2022 and the highest since records began in 1998.

A report on homelessness by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh said 290,000 eligible households nationwide sought help from local authorities for homelessness between 2021 and 2022.

Figures released in August by the London Assembly, meanwhile, recorded 3,272 people sleeping rough in the British capital between April and June 2023 -- nearly half of them on the streets for the first time.

- Emergency -

The homeless charity Crisis blamed a lack of "affordable homes" for fuelling homelessness, and said even more people would be destitute if they were not provided with tents.

"Laying blame with people forced to sleep rough will only push people further away from help into poverty, putting them at risk of exploitation," it wrote in an open letter to the government.

"At the extreme end we will see an increase in deaths and fatalities which are totally preventable."

The government has repeatedly vowed to end so-called no-fault evictions, in which landlords can force out tenants from rental properties without giving a reason.

No-fault evictions have surged, as landlords who bought cheap buy-to-let properties when mortgage rates were low are selling up as their repayments become more costly.

That has had a damaging knock-on effect on rental stock, despite persistent demand, pushing up prices for those properties still available for let, often beyond many tenants' means.

Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said ministers had failed to grasp the scale of the housing emergency.

"Decades of inaction has left us with runaway rents, rising evictions and record levels of homelessness and ministers are blaming everyone but themselves," she said.

She called for more social housing to be built and more affordable private rental accommodation.

- Unprecedented -

Meanwhile the Trussell Trust, the UK's largest food bank network, said on Wednesday that the number of food parcel handouts has risen to unprecedented levels.

It said it had provided 1.5 million emergency food parcels to people between April and September 2023 -- a 16 percent increase on 2022 and the most it has ever distributed at this point in the year.

"A range of people are coming for food parcels and about 65 percent of those coming are parents, with children, who are struggling to pay the bills," Helen Barnard, the head of policy and research at the trust, which runs 1,400 food banks, told AFP.

"This is the highest number of food parcel handouts we have had to give in a six-month period. We are expecting this to be our worst winter ever."

Inflation is coming down from a 41-year peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022 to 6.7 percent in September -- the highest of any G7 nation.

But charities believe a range of factors, notably cuts to welfare payments in the last decade and the housing shortage, has exacerbated food poverty and homelessness.

"Many people are using money they would normally spend on food to pay their rent and avoid eviction," said Barnard.

"Ten years ago there were hardly any food banks in the UK. Today a generation of children is growing up believing that it's normal to have a food bank in every community."

srg/phz/gw

New island emerges after undersea volcano erupts off Japan, but experts say it may not last long



TOKYO (AP) — An undersea volcano erupted off Japan three weeks ago, providing a rare view of the birth of a tiny new island, but experts say it may not last very long.

The unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21.

Within 10 days, volcanic ash and rocks piled up on the shallow seabed, its tip rising above the sea surface. By early November, it became a new island about 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter and as high as 20 meters (66 feet) above the sea, according to Yuji Usui, an analyst in the Japan Meteorological Agency's volcanic division.

Volcanic activity has increased near Iwo Jima and similar undersea eruptions have occurred in recent years, but the formation of a new island is a significant development, Usui said.

Volcanic activity at the site has since subsided, and the newly formed island has somewhat shrunk because its “crumbly” formation is easily washed away by waves, Usui said.

He said experts are still analyzing the development, including details of the deposits. The new island could survive longer if it is made of lava or something more durable than volcanic rocks such as pumice.

Related video: Watch: The exact moment a new island emerged in the Pacific near Tokyo (AS USA)  Duration 0:57  View on Watch

“We just have to see the development,” he said. “But the island may not last very long.”

Undersea volcanos and seismic activities have formed new islands in the past.

In 2013, an eruption at Nishinoshima in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo led to the formation of a new island, which kept growing during a decade-long eruption of the volcano.

Also in 2013, a small island surfaced from the seabed after a massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan. In 2015, a new island was formed as a result of a month-long eruption of a submarine volcano off the coast of Tonga.

Of about 1,500 active volcanos in the world, 111 are in Japan, which sits on the so-called Pacific “ring of fire,” according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Iwo Jima was the site of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, and the photograph taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal of the flag-raising atop the island's Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, came to symbolize the Pacific War and the valor of the United States Marines.

Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press

'Like a video game': Japan's gangs hire online

Tomohiro OSAKI
Wed, 8 November 2023

For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone from teenagers to pensioners who are willing to commit crimes to earn money (Kazuhiro NOGI)

Risa Yamada grew up fatherless and struggled to find consistent work until she stumbled on an intriguing job listing: one of a growing number of advertisements posted on social media by Japanese criminal gangs.

Hired to impersonate a police officer, she thrived, wheedling hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Japan's many lonely, wealthy and naive elderly people on the phone.

"I didn't think I could ever work a normal job," the 27-year-old told a Tokyo court in July before being sentenced to three years in jail.

"For the first time in my life, I was told I was good at something... the job made me feel I was needed," she said.

The young woman was far from the only unlikely criminal to be attracted by a "yami baito" -- a black-market part-time job -- ad on X, formerly Twitter, and other platforms.

For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone from teenagers to pensioners who are willing to commit crimes to earn money.

In 2022, damage incurred by yami baito crime rings and other organised fraudsters soared 30 percent from the previous year to top 37 billion yen (around $250 million), the first increase in eight years.

- Gateway -

Black-market job advertisements have long appeared in Japanese magazines or on stickers in public toilets.

But thanks to their proliferation online, recruiters now can "just relax in an air-conditioned room, sip coffee and use your mobile to assemble a group of robbers," criminal sociologist Noboru Hirosue said.

Online platforms, especially encrypted messaging apps like Telegram and Signal, also help gangs remain nameless and untraceable.

A 57-year-old former yami baito hiree described how his supervisor would direct him via Telegram to drop parcels of illicit cash in train station lockers in Tokyo.

"It's like you're in a video game, where you're given tasks, complete missions and get rewards," the man, who spent time in jail but now works at a hostel, said on the condition of anonymity.

At the end of each day, anonymous Telegram messages with emojis would thank him for his work and tell him where his day's pay lay hidden, waiting for him.

"You don't even feel guilty because you don't see anyone," he said.

- Champagne celebrations -

In January a 90-year-old Tokyo woman died after being tied up and beaten in her house by several men looking for valuables.

The perpetrators of the assault, which shocked Japan and focused police attention on the problem of yami baito crimes, had reportedly been hired through online ads.

The kingpins were a Philippines-based gang of Japanese men, who reportedly used Telegram to direct a team of underlings who carried out break-ins and fraud schemes across Japan.

Those hired to go into crime have varying reasons for doing so. But for a 31-year-old former low-ranking member of an organised fraud group, it was to "earn extra money so I can go a bit crazy".

Donning a suit, he would pose as a bank official and visit the homes of elderly people, convincing them to hand over their cash cards. The gig earned him nearly 10 million yen ($66,000) in just a few months, he told AFP.

"All I could think about was I could get wasted again that night... drinking expensive champagne at hostess bars."

He was eventually jailed for two years.

- Exploited -

Police have been scrambling to get criminal ads taken down and have offered rewards of up to 1 million yen (about $6,600) for information on the gangs behind them.

Criminal recruits are being "exploited and disposed of as pawns" by gang leaders, the National Police Agency said in a statement to AFP.

Of the roughly 13,100 people arrested on organised fraud charges between 2018 and 2022, only two percent had occupied high-ranking gang positions, police records show.

Tales abound of applicants being forced to disclose personal information about themselves and their families, including home addresses, in case they quit.

X could not be reached for a comment, and Telegram said it "proactively" monitors public parts of the platform and that users can report private groups.

Yamada found out how ugly things can get after she was sent an air ticket and flown to the Philippines in 2019 by the gang that had hired her on X.

There she and other recruits were trained to make hundreds of cold calls to elderly residents in Japan while cooped up in a hotel under close surveillance, fearing for their lives. She believes a fellow recruit was murdered.

When she was eventually arrested, she said, "I thought I would finally be set free."

tmo/stu/tym/kma

Japan's efforts to foster chip sector are 'impressive' - research org head

Sam Nussey
Wed, November 8, 2023 




By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's efforts to regain its position as a leading manufacturer of chips are "impressive", the head of a leading chip research organisation said on Thursday.

"Japan this time has taken a bold approach and has implemented very quick decision making," Luc Van den hove, CEO of Belgium-based Imec told reporters in Tokyo.

Japan, a leading provider of chipmaking tools and materials that lost its edge in manufacturing in recent decades, is providing large subsidies to domestic and foreign chipmakers to build capacity.

One key initiative is chip foundry venture Rapidus, which is led by veteran chip executives and hopes to manufacture cutting-edge chips by partnering with IBM and Imec.

The company is targeting territory dominated by big players including Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung Electronics, which have spent years building up their chipmaking operations.

"What Rapidus is trying to do is extremely difficult," said Van den hove, adding that "the Japanese team and government are very motivated to make it a success, so I'm positive."

Imec, an important part of chipmaking research efforts funded by industry and governments, is considering opening offices in Hokkaido, where Rapidus production will be located, and in Tokyo, Van den hove said.

Countries around the world are looking to strengthen their control over chip supply chains after global shocks including the pandemic and trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

"If everybody is going to try to do everything on their own and decouple the world then it will result actually in a lot of duplication, in a lot of additional cost and in actually a slowdown in innovation," Van den hove said.

'Like breathing poison': Delhi children hardest hit by smog


Abhaya SRIVASTAVA
Wed, 8 November 2023 

The emergency ward of New Delhi's Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya children's hospital is overwhelmed by cases of children struggling to breathe (Arun SANKAR)

Crying in a hospital bed with a nebuliser mask on his tiny face, one-month-old Ayansh Tiwari has a thick, hacking cough. His doctors blame the acrid air that blights New Delhi every year.

The spartan emergency room of the government-run Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya hospital in the Indian capital is crowded with children struggling to breathe -- many with asthma and pneumonia, which spike as air pollution peaks each winter in the megacity of 30 million people.

Delhi regularly ranks among the most polluted major cities on the planet, with a melange of factory and vehicle emissions exacerbated by seasonal agricultural fires.

"Wherever you see there is poisonous smog," said Ayansh's mother Julie Tiwari, 26, as she rocked the baby on her lap, attempting to calm him.

"I try to keep the doors and windows closed as much as possible. But it's like breathing poison all the time. I feel so helpless," she told AFP, fighting back tears.

On Thursday, the level of PM2.5 particles -- the smallest and most harmful, which can enter the bloodstream -- topped 390 micrograms per cubic metre, according to monitoring firm IQAir, more than 25 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.

Government efforts have so far failed to solve the country's air quality problem, and a study in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths to air pollution in the world's most populous country in 2019.

- 'Maddening rush' -

"It's a maddening rush in our emergency room during this time," said Dhulika Dhingra, a paediatric pulmonologist at the hospital, which serves poor neighbourhoods in one of Delhi's most polluted areas.

The foul air severely impacts children, with devastating effects on their health and development.

Scientific evidence shows children who breathe polluted air are at higher risk of developing acute respiratory infections, a UNICEF report said last year.

A study published in the Lung India journal in 2021 found nearly one out of every three schoolchildren in Delhi had asthma and airflow obstruction.

Children are more vulnerable to air pollution than adults because they breathe more quickly and their brains, lungs and other organs are not fully developed.

"They can't sit in one place, they keep running and with that, the respiratory rate increases even more. That is why they are more prone to the effects of pollution," said Dhingra.

"This season is very difficult for them because they can hardly breathe."

Vegetable vendor Imtiaz Qureshi's 11-month-old son Mohammad Arsalan was admitted to the hospital overnight with breathing issues.

"We have to live day in and day out in this air," said the distraught 40-year-old, who pulls his cart through the streets every day.

"If I go out, the air will kill me. If I don't, poverty will kill me."

- 'Toxic environment' -

The hospital provides treatment and medicine free of cost -- none of its patients can afford private healthcare, and many cannot buy even a single air purifier for their one-room homes in the city's sprawling slums.

Paediatrician Seema Kapoor, the hospital's director, said patient inflows had risen steadily since the weather cooled, trapping pollutants closer to the ground.

"About 30-40 percent of the total attendance is primarily because of respiratory illnesses," she said.

Pulmonologist Dhingra said the only advice they can offer parents is to restrict their children's outdoor activities as much as possible.

"Imagine telling a parent not to let the child go out and play in this toxic environment."

The Delhi government has announced emergency school closures, stopped construction and banned diesel vehicles from entering the city in a bid to bring down pollution levels.

But stubble burning by farmers in the neighbouring agrarian states, which contributes significantly to Delhi's pollution, continues unabated, drawing a rebuke from the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Delhi's choked air is resulting in the "complete murder of our young people", said the court.

Housewife Arshi Wasim, 28, brought her 18-month-old younger daughter Nida Wasim to the hospital with pneumonia.

"She coughs non-stop," she said. "She doesn't take milk or even water because her lungs are choked. Sometimes we have to give her oxygen and rush her to the doctor two or three times a day.

"Every year it's the same story."

India's Hero MotoCorp to introduce its electric vehicles in Europe

Reuters
Tue, November 7, 2023 

An employee works on a motorbike inside a Hero MotoCorp service station in New Delhi

(Reuters) - India's Hero MotoCorp plans to launch its electric vehicles in the United Kingdom and other European markets, starting with Spain and France, the company said on Tuesday.

Hero, the country's top motorcycle manufacturer, will introduce its electric scooter brand VIDA V1 and begin commercial operations in those markets by mid-2024, it said.

The company will then expand its premium range of ICE motorcycles and scooters in Europe, it added.

Motogb is Hero's distributor in the UK, while GD France and Noria Motos, a unit of Onex Group, will be the distributors in France and Spain, respectively.

The company has been scaling up its EV presence in India, and said it was on track to cover 100 Indian cities by December.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

US commits $553 million financing for Adani terminal venture at Colombo port

WHEREVER CHINA GOES THE U$ IS SURE TO FOLLOW

Reuters
Tue, November 7, 2023 

FILE PHOTO: Traffic moves past the logo of the Adani Group installed at a roundabout on the ring road in Ahmedabad

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said it will provide $553 million financing for a Colombo port terminal project, partly owned by India's Adani Group, advancing the first foray by an Indian company into the sector.

Sri Lanka, an island off India's southern coast, is mired in its worst financial crisis in over seven decades after its foreign exchange reserves ran to record lows last year forcing its economy to contract by 7.8% in 2022.

Ports-to-edible oils Adani group, controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, holds a 51% stake in the west container terminal of the port, which also has a terminal run by China Merchants Port Holdings Co Ltd.

"DFC’s commitment of $553 million in private sector loans for the West Container Terminal (WCT) will expand its shipping capacity, creating greater prosperity for Sri Lanka – without adding to sovereign debt – while at the same strengthening the position of our allies across the region," DFC CEO Scott Nathan said in a statement.

India extended about $4 billion in swaps and credit lines to Sri Lanka last year, providing critical support to import fuel, medicine and fertiliser during the worst of the crisis.

India and China vie for influence in the island nation of 22 million, located near busy shipping routes. Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings owns 34% of the WCT and the rest is held by the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

Dredging for the terminal kicked off last November with the first stage to be completed in the third quarter of 2024 and the full project to be finished by the end of 2025.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Kim Coghill)