Cabinet approves bill to allow Japan’s first abdication of emperor in 200 years
KYODO
The Cabinet on Friday approved a bill to allow Emperor Akihito to hand over the Chrysanthemum Throne to Crown Prince Naruhito in what would be Japan’s first abdication in roughly 200 years.
The government envisions December 2018, when the Emperor turns 85 years old, as the possible timing for his abdication, and that the nation’s “gengo” era name, which remains in use for the length of an emperor’s reign, will likely change at the start of 2019, sources have said.
The bill was specifically designed for the current emperor, so as to prevent other monarchs from easily following suit. Securing a stable succession amid a declining number of Imperial family members, highlighted by recent news of Princess Mako’s impending engagement to a commoner, remains a challenge.
'I could have died': how Erdoğan's bodyguards turned protest into brawl
US lawmakers called on Turkish leader to discipline his security detail, saying violence was reflective of treatment of press, minorities and political opponents
The first sign things could turn violent outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington came when a group of men in trim suits and slick ties approached the small group of demonstrators who had gathered nearby to protest the visit by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“They curse us, they curse my wife, my mother, my sister, my grandma,” Seyid Riza Dersimi told the Guardian.
Then, suddenly, more men – some in suits and some in matching khaki outfits – surrounded and attacked Dersimi and his fellow demonstrators.
Dersimi, 61, saw one of these men grab a woman around the neck and start punching her in the face. As he moved to help her, he was attacked by three to four men, who pushed him down then kicked him repeatedly.
Antarctic turning green as global warming triggers moss explosion
Scientists say the frozen continent is likely to 'alter rapidly under future warming, leading to major changes in the biology and landscape of this iconic region'
The Antarctic is turning green with rising temperatures having a “dramatic effect” on the growth of moss in the frozen continent, scientists have discovered.
Since 1950, temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by about half a degree Celsius each decade – much faster than the global average.
And growth rates of moss after about 1950 have been running at four to five times the level before that year, according to a study by UK-based researchers who studied three sites across a 1,000km stretch of the peninsula.
Report: Far-right network active at German military university
The Bundeswehr University has come under scrutiny as claims of far-right extremism in the German military continue to mount. Defense Minister von der Leyen, meanwhile, also finds herself under increasing pressure.
There may be a growing group of right-wing radicals among Germany's military, according to an exclusive report published in the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday.
The newspaper reported that a network of extremists involved with the so-called "Identitarian Movement" has been growing for years at the Bundeswehr University in Munich and included students to alumni.
The "Identitarian Movement" is currently being monitored by the Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country's domestic intelligence agency, for possibly infringing on the German constitution, also known as the Basic Law.Polls open in high-stakes presidential vote in Iran
Polls opened in Iran on Friday with voters set to give their verdict on President Hassan Rouhani's policy of opening up to the world and efforts to rebuild the stagnant economy.
He faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who has positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a much tougher line with the West.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his ballot just minutes after polls opened at 8:00 am (0330 GMT).
"The destiny of the country is in the hand of Iranians," he told reporters as he voted in his compound in Tehran.
Long lines had already formed at polling stations around the country.
Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric, has sought to frame the election as a choice between greater civil liberties and "extremism".
Drug trade obscures Myanmar’s Rakhine state violence
Myanmar's western border conflict risks morphing into a volatile mix of armed resistance and criminal activity, a situation that will further jeopardize the persecuted ethnic Rohingya minority
By DAVID SCOTT MATHIESON
The mountainous road between Maungtaw and Buthitaung towns in Myanmar’s restive western Rakhine state is dotted with several police checkpoints and the occasional sign warning of wild elephant attacks.
The heavy security force presence is explained in part by tight restrictions on movement imposed by the government against the long persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
Following raids on Border Guard Police (BGP) camps by suspected Rohingya militants last October 9, the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, staged a brutal ‘area clearance’ operation.
No comments:
Post a Comment