The Japan Times joins NHK, Asahi Shinbun and the Yomiuri Shinbun in capitulating to Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic party in reporting on the many controversial policies and war crimes committed by the imperial government and the imperial army. Shinzo Abe Japan's current Prime Minister has worked diligently to alter how the Japan's war time history is portrayed. From out right denial to historical revisionism. Perhaps, that's due to his grandfather (His hero) former Prime Minister Kishi, who was a member of Tojo's wartime cabinet. Serving as Minister for Arms Procurement. At the bottom of an article the Japan Times published following a court decision on forced labour in Seoul which ruled in favour of the plaintiffs.
In a decision that critics said aligned it with the conservative agenda of the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, the Japan Times said it had used terms “that could have been potentially misleading” when reporting on the contentious subjects.
It was the latest media row about how to define notorious parts of the country’s wartime record.
The Japan Times said: “The term ‘forced labour’ has been used to refer to labourers who were recruited before and during world war two to work for Japanese companies. However, because the conditions they worked under or how these workers were recruited varied, we will henceforth refer to them as ‘wartime labourers.’”
The explanation appeared at the foot of an article about the South Korean supreme court’s decision this week to order Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate 10 former forced labourers. The ruling, and a similar decision last month, have soured ties between Tokyo and Seoul, with Japan’s foreign minister, Tarō Kōno, calling them “totally unacceptable”.
Cannabidiol is having a moment. Increasingly common state legalization and loose federal regulation means that anyone in any state can go online or to a physical store and buy CBD products — from oils to dog treats to bath bombs — without fear of arrest. It’s been shown to help treat a number of conditions including psychosis, anxiety, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy and seizures. For years, people have used medical marijuana to address those conditions — but CBD is showing promise as a possible way to get the benefits of medical cannabis without getting high.
US Senators vote to debate a bill that would end military support for the Saudi-UAE coalition fighting in Yemen.
United States senators have sent a strong message to the White House: they will hold Saudi Arabia to account over its role in the war in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Senate has voted to hold hearings next week on whether to end US involvement in the three-year-old conflict.
That is despite strong opposition from the Trump administration, which sent the secretaries of state and defence to persuade senators to vote against the measure.
Russia-Ukraine crisis clouds G20 summit in Buenos Aires
World leaders are gathering in Argentina for their annual G20 summit amid new tension with Russia over Ukraine and a US trade row with China.
US President Donald Trump has cancelled a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in protest at Russia's seizure of Ukrainian naval boats.
Hopes of progress over tariffs in Mr Trump's expected talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping have been dampened.
The trade war between the two economic giants may possibly even escalate.
The summit is also a diplomatic test for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid continuing questions about the Saudi state's possible involvement in the murder last month of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
Berta Cáceres: seven men convicted of murdering Honduran environmentalist
Indigenous campaigner Cáceres, 44, was shot dead in 2016
Four also guilty of attempted murder of Mexican activist
Seven men have been found guilty of the murder of the Honduran indigenous environmentalist Berta Isabel Cáceres. An eighth defendant, Emerson Duarte Meza, was cleared and freed on Thursday.
Cáceres, a winner of the Goldman prize for environmental defenders, was shot dead late at night on 2 March 2016 – two days before her 45th birthday – after a long battle to stop construction of an internationally financed hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque river, which the Lenca people consider sacred.
The court ruled the murder was ordered by executives of the Agua Zarca dam company Desa because of delays and financial losses linked to protests led by Cáceres. The murder was contracted to a group of hitmen who were paid to kill Cáceres.
Middle East dictators always end up bringing their western allies down – and now they've got their coils in the White House
Crystal balls are dangerous objects in the Middle East. Mine have been broken several times. But there’s no reason why Donald Trump should be immune from the fate of so many of his predecessors
Middle East dictators, we like to believe, live in heaven. They have palaces, servants, vast and wealthy families, millions of obedient people and loyal armies who constantly express their love for their leader, not to mention huge secret police forces to ensure they don’t forget this, and masses of weapons to defend themselves, supplied, usually, by us.
These tyrants – autocrats or “strongmen” if they happen to be our allies – exist, we suppose, in a kind of nirvana. Their lawns, like their people, are well-manicured, their roses clipped, their rivers unsullied, their patriotism unchallenged. They wish to be eternal.
South Korean train travels to the North for joint railway inspection
A South Korean train departed for North Korea on Friday for an 18-day joint railway inspection that the Koreas are conducting as part of efforts to modernize, and eventually reconnect, rail lines across their border. The train, made up of six cars and carrying dozens of South Korean officials and experts, left Dorasan Station, just south of the inter-Korean border, around 9:05 a.m. for Panmun Station, near the North's border city of Kaesong. The train will be used to inspect 1,200 kilometers of rail track in the North through Dec. 18.
DR Congo Ebola outbreak second largest in history: WHO
The UN health body confirms 426 cases, with 198 deaths reported since August, as DRC struggles to contain the disease.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's deadly Ebola outbreak is now the second largest in history, behind the devastating West Africa outbreak that killed thousands a few years ago, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr Peter Salama, WHO's emergencies chief, called it a "sad toll" as DR Congo's health ministry announced the number of cases has reached 426.
That includes 379 confirmed cases and 47 probable ones.
Trump Tower Moscow, and Michael Cohen’s lies about it, explained
Everything you need to know about Trump’s efforts to do business in Russia.
Michael Cohen’s guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on Thursday threatens to unveil an explosive possible reason why President Donald Trump adamantly wants friendly ties with Russia — a long-sought real estate deal.
A court document filed by Mueller states that Cohen — Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer — lied to Congress at least three separate times about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow with Trump’s name prominently featured on top.
Cohen testified to Congress that negotiations to build Europe’s tallest building stopped in January 2016. But emails and other communications obtained by multiple news outlets, and now basically confirmed by Cohen, show those negotiations actually continued much longer: into at least June 2016, after Trump had already become the Republican Party’s nominee. And Buzzfeed News reported on Thursday that Trump’s company planned to give the $50 million penthouse in the building to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Hello Kitty bullet train can be found speeding across western Japan. It launched on June 30th and runs until November. The purpose of the Shinkansen is to encourage travel throughout western Japan. Here's a look at what it's like to ride the train.
Russia's cinematic efforts to produce patriotic films and documentaries.
Hitting cinema screens in Russia this month was a new light-hearted romcom - a story of love and construction along the Kerch Strait, the body of water that separates Russia from Crimea.
The film is called The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!, and the fact that Crimea was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 makes the protagonist's exclamation, "welcome to the Krimski Bridge, the biggest bridge in Russia!" somewhat controversial, as the majority of world leaders do not recognise Crimea as Russian.
It was not particularly popular with Russian audiences, however, the Russian political establishment took great interest.
Yemen war: US Senate advances measure to end support for Saudi forces
The US Senate has advanced a measure to withdraw American support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
In a blow to President Donald Trump, senators voted 63-37 to take forward a motion on ending US support.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis had urged Senators not to back the motion, saying it would worsen the situation in Yemen.
The vote comes in the wake of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident.
Criticism of Saudi Arabia has grown since the prominent writer was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Turkey on 2 October.
Footage shows 'prison-like units' built for Rohingya on Bangladesh island
Exclusive video shows grim living conditions on remote silt island of Bhasan Char
Exclusive footage obtained by the Guardian has revealed the stark concrete camps being built for the Rohingya on a sediment island in Bangladesh, as part of a controversial plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of refugees.
The development of Bhasan Char island has remained highly secretive but footage filmed undercover for the Guardian reveals the living conditions that will greet 100,000 Rohingya refugees, who could be brought to the island by the beginning of next year.
According to a plan by the Bangladesh government, some of the 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar and are now living in camps in Cox’s Bazar will be relocated to the island. Bhasan Char is a previously uninhabited and remote silt island in Bangladesh’s Meghna River, accessible only by boat.
Racism against black people widespread across EU in work, housing, and policing, watchdog warns
Almost a third across EU have suffered racial harassment in last five years
Almost a third of black people living in the EU have suffered racial harassment in the last five years, and one in 20 has been physically assaulted, according to the bloc’s equality watchdog.
A report by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released on Wednesday found that discrimination across the continent is still widespread in areas such as work, housing and policing.
The FRA warned of a “dire picture” across the continent, while campaigners said “structural” racism embedded in European society in turn needed structural solutions to address it.
'Our consumption choices are driving biodiversity loss'
Humankind is decimating plant and animal species, with alarming consequences for the planet. From the UN biodiversity conference in Egypt, Cristiana Pasca explains why preserving biodiversity is key to our survival.
Biodiversity is the cornerstone of our existence — a fact many of us seem to forget in our daily lives. And biodiversity is not just about orangutans and elephants, but also the smallest living organisms in this world.
A recent World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report pointed to how wildlife populations have declined 60 percent globally since 1970. UN experts have warned that if we don't rapidly change our ways, we may be the next species to go extinct.
This Holocaust museum cost millions and still hasn’t opened. But that’s not what worries historians.
Story by Sheena McKenzie, CNN Photographs by Akos Stiller for CNN
You can spot the museum from a mile off — its giant metal Star of David spectacularly suspended between two towers, just off a busy road in Budapest's rundown Eighth District.
From the outside, the $18 million House of Fates Holocaust museum is a magnificent concrete and glass structure glinting in the autumn sunshine. Inside, it’s a different story.
Though it was completed three years ago, the museum remains empty. The cafeteria tables are still wrapped in plastic and the coffee machine has never been switched on.
Japan to get first aircraft carrier since second world war amid China concerns
Tokyo will upgrade helicopter carriers, a move critics say violates constitutional commitment to defensive role
Japan is to acquire at least one aircraft carrier for the first time since the second world war, as it attempts to counter Chinese maritime expansion in the Pacific ocean.
The government will upgrade its two existing Izumo-class helicopter carriers so they can transport and launch fighter jets, according to media reports. The plans are expected to be included in new defence guidelines due to be released next month.
This week the Nikkei business paper reported that Japan was poised to buy 100 F-35 stealth jets from the US at a cost of more than US$8.8bn, a year after Donald Trump urged Tokyo to buy more US-made military equipment.
Neil Oliver travels back to ice age Britain as he begins the epic story of how our land and its people came to be over thousands of years of ancient history. The ice age saw a struggle for survival in a brutal world of climate change and environmental catastrophe.
Colombia is currently dealing with a massive wave of refugees coming from Venezuela. Venezuelans are fleeing their home because of a severe economic crisis under President Nicolas Maduro. There are high inflation rates and there isn’t enough food available for people within Venezuela to even eat. Thousands of Venezuelans cross the Simon Bolivar bridge located at Cúcuta every day and Colombia doesn’t seem to be turning anyone way.
This borders episode looks at why Colombia doesn’t turn away these refugees, the shared history of the two nations
In a refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, a young Rohingya refugee dreams of giving a voice to his people.
In September 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar, where the military was waging a brutal offensive against them that the United Nationshas described as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
Among those fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine State for neighbouring Bangladesh was 23-year-old Mohammed Yusuf, his wife, parents and younger brothers.
The former teacher and his family settle in a makeshift home in the vast Kutupalong-Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, where he quickly discovers that among the many things of which the refugees are deprived, there is one that stands out: information.
Countries must slash emissions by five times their planned amount in the next 11 years if they are to avert disastrous global warming, the UN has warned.
Vanishing islands, widespread species extinctions and extreme weather have all been predicted under even the most optimistic climate predictions.
However, experts think the worst effects of climate change can be averted if the world breaks its dependence on carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
Ukraine-Russia tensions rise as Kiev warns of 'full-scale war'
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday warned of the threat of "full-scale war" and said Russia had sharply increased its military presence on their shared border as tensions escalate between the ex-Soviet neighbours.
The crisis also threatened growing diplomatic fallout with US President Donald Trump warning that he may cancel a long-awaited summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Trump is scheduled to meet Putin at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires at the end of this week, but he told The Washington Post that it would depend on the results of a report about the incident being prepared by his national security advisers.
Why Ebola crisis in DRC is unlike anything before
Democratic Republic of Congo has seen multiple outbreaks of Ebola, but this time it faces more challenges.
Since August, authorities in the country, together with a host of partners, have been trying to contain a new outbreak of the disease in the eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
As of November 21, there have been 373 suspected cases of Ebola, including 347 confirmed cases. At least 217 people have already died.
Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy, sources say
Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published
Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told.
Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House.
In a statement, Manafort denied meeting Assange. He said: “I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or WikiLeaks on any matter.”
Migrants plot next move as tensions in Tijuana heighten
For thousands of Central Americans packed into a sports complex in Tijuana that’s crowded with tents and smells strongly of sewage, the journey has only gotten harder.
After a clash at the border Sunday, United States authorities closed the San Ysidro Port of Entry for more than four hours and said 69 migrants who had managed to cross could face criminal charges. The U.S. Northern Command in recent days has redirected 300 troops to California to help with border security. On the Mexican side, authorities said they arrested 39 migrants and are deporting 98 others linked to the fracas.
President Trump on Monday called on Mexico to send “flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries.”
Lion Air crash: Investigators say plane was 'not airworthy'
Indonesian investigators have said the Lion Air plane that crashed last month killing 189 people was not airworthy and should have been grounded.
A preliminary report has found technical problems had been reported on previous flights.
The 737 Max is a new version of Boeing's original 737 and has become its fastest selling plane.
The preliminary report details what is known by authorities about the short time the plane was in the air, but investigators said it does not give a definitive cause for the accident.
