Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida steps down to make way for likely successor Shigeru Ishiba

Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida steps down to make way for likely successor Shigeru Ishiba
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, attends a Cabinet meeting at his office in Tokyo before his resignation Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 01 October 2024
Follow

Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida steps down to make way for likely successor Shigeru Ishiba

Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida steps down to make way for likely successor Shigeru Ishiba
  • Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals
  • Ishiba plans to call a parliamentary election for Oct. 27 after he is formally chosen as prime minister later in the day

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resigned with his Cabinet on Tuesday, paving the way for his likely successor Shigeru Ishiba to take office.
Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals. Ishiba plans to call a parliamentary election for Oct. 27 after he is formally chosen as prime minister later in the day.
“I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public’s judgment as soon as possible,” Ishiba said Monday in announcing his plan to call a snap election. Opposition parties criticized Ishiba for allowing only a short period of time for his policies to be examined and discussed in parliament before the vote.
Ishiba was chosen as the governing Liberal Democratic Party’s leader on Friday to replace Kishida, who announced in August he would resign at the end of his three-year term.
Ishiba is assured of becoming prime minister later Tuesday in a vote by parliament because it is dominated by his party’s ruling coalition.
Kishida and his ministers stepped down at a Cabinet meeting in the morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
Hayashi, who is Kishida’s top confidante, said the world has high expectations for Japan’s diplomatic role, noting a deepening global divide over Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. “We hope the next administration will pursue an active and powerful diplomacy while placing importance on (Japan’s) main pillars such as achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Hayashi said.
Ishiba earlier announced his party’s leaders ahead of naming his Cabinet, once he becomes prime minister. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who came in third in the party leadership race, will head the party’s election task force. He is expected to name defense experts Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen Nakatani as defense chief.
The majority of his Cabinet ministers, like Ishiba, are expected to be unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, and none are from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s powerful group linked to damaging scandals.
Ishiba’s lack of stable power base could also mean a fragility of his government, and “could quickly collapse” even though Ishiba hopes to build up party unity as it prepares for the upcoming election, the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said.
The move is also seen as a revenge by Ishiba, who was largely pushed to the side during most of Abe’s reign.
Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance and more discussion among regional partners about the use of the US nuclear deterrence. He also suggested a more equal Japan-US security alliance, including joint management of US bases in Japan and having Japanese Self Defense Force bases in the United States.
Ishiba outlined his views in an article to the Hudson Institute last week. “The absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies,” he wrote.
Ishiba proposes combining of existing security and diplomatic groupings, such as the Quad and other bilateral and multilateral frameworks involving the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.
He also noted that the Asian version of NATO can also consider sharing of the control of US nuclear weapons in the region as a deterrence against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
Ishiba on Friday stressed Japan needs to reinforce its security, noting recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and repeated missile launches by North Korea.
He pledged to continue Kishida’s economic policy aimed at pulling Japan out of deflation and achieving real salary increases, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and resilience to natural disasters.
The LDP has had a nearly unbroken tenure governing Japan since World War II. The party members may have seen Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down Kishida’s popularity.
Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as defense minister, agriculture minister and in other key Cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary general under Abe.


Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club

Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club
Updated 8 sec ago
Follow

Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club

Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club
  • Protesters and supporters frequently gather outside venues where Trump is staying to show their disdain or their enthusiasm for his policies

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: A handful of demonstrators gathered outside Trump International Golf Club on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while the commander-in-chief spent leisure time at the club.
Carrying signs and Mexican, Guatemalan and US flags and chanting “Immigrants Make America Great,” the small group of people shouted loudly and was visible as Trump, who spent several hours at the club, exited in his motorcade and drove by on Saturday afternoon.
Their chant was a reference to the president’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
One sign in Spanish said “the American Dream is also ours.”
Trump, a Republican who has been in office just shy of three weeks, won the presidency in large part on the back of a promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
He has implemented that promise with speed, starting on the day he was inaugurated, by tasking the US military to help with border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and seeking to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.
Protesters and supporters frequently gather outside venues where Trump is staying to show their disdain or their enthusiasm for his policies.


Russia says Baltic Sea cable damaged by ‘external impact’

Russia says Baltic Sea cable damaged by ‘external impact’
Updated 08 February 2025
Follow

Russia says Baltic Sea cable damaged by ‘external impact’

Russia says Baltic Sea cable damaged by ‘external impact’
  • Several undersea telecom and power cables have been severed in the Baltic Sea in recent months
  • Rostelecom’s operator told RIA Novosti news agency: “Repair work is being carried out”

MOSCOW: Russia’s state-controlled telecoms giant said Saturday that its underwater cable in the Baltic Sea had been damaged by an “external impact.”
Several undersea telecom and power cables have been severed in the Baltic Sea in recent months, with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against Western countries supporting Ukraine.
“Some time ago in the Baltic Sea a Rostelecom underwater cable was damaged as the result of external impact,” Rostelecom’s operator told RIA Novosti news agency.
“Repair work is being carried out,” it added. The company said consumers were not affected.


Earlier Saturday, the Finnish coast guard said they were monitoring repairs of a Russian underwater cable carried out by a Russian vessel in the Gulf of Finland.
According to local authorities the undated incident took place inside Finland’s exclusive economic zone.
The spate of incidents led NATO countries to launch a patrol mission to protect critical underwater infrastructure in January.
Aircraft, frigates, submarines and drones have been deployed as part of the new operation, titled “Baltic Sentry.”
Finnish authorities said in November 2023 that a Rostelecom cable in the Baltic Sea was discovered damaged in October, roughly coinciding with damage to subsea infrastructure in Sweden and Finland.


South Africa condemns ‘misinformation’ after Trump freezes aid

South Africa condemns ‘misinformation’ after Trump freezes aid
Updated 08 February 2025
Follow

South Africa condemns ‘misinformation’ after Trump freezes aid

South Africa condemns ‘misinformation’ after Trump freezes aid
  • “We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation,” the government said
  • South Africa said it “has taken note” of Trump’s executive order

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa condemned on Saturday US President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze aid to the country over a law he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.
“We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation,” the government said.
“It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favor among decision-makers in the United States of America.”
The law would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation,” Trump alleged in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the two countries over the war in Gaza.
South Africa said it “has taken note” of Trump’s executive order, but added: “It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.”
Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid and the government under pressure to implement reforms.


War crimes prosecutor first target of Trump’s ICC sanctions, sources say

War crimes prosecutor first target of Trump’s ICC sanctions, sources say
Updated 08 February 2025
Follow

War crimes prosecutor first target of Trump’s ICC sanctions, sources say

War crimes prosecutor first target of Trump’s ICC sanctions, sources say
  • The sanctions include freezing of US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States
  • The order directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in consultation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to submit a report within 60 days naming people who should be sanctioned

THE HAGUE: International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is the first person to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorized by US President Donald Trump that target the war crimes tribunal over investigations of US citizens or US allies, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Khan, who is British, was named on Friday in an annex — not yet made public — to an executive order signed by Trump a day earlier, a senior ICC official and another source, both briefed by US government officials, told Reuters. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.
The sanctions include freezing of US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.
The order directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in consultation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to submit a report within 60 days naming people who should be sanctioned.
The ICC on Friday condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it.” Court officials met in The Hague on Friday to discuss the implications of the sanctions.
The International Criminal Court, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the UN Security Council.
Dozens of countries warned on Friday that the US sanctions could “increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law.”
“Sanctions would severely undermine all situations currently under investigation as the Court may have to close its field offices,” the 79 countries — who make up about two-thirds of the court’s members — said in a statement.

UN DEAL WITH US
Under an agreement between the United Nations and Washington, Khan should be able to regularly travel to New York to brief the UN Security Council on cases it had referred to the court in The Hague. The Security Council has referred the situations in Libya and Sudan’s Darfur region to the ICC.
“We trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the UN Headquarters agreement,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Friday.
Khan was most recently in New York last week to brief the Security Council on Sudan.
“International criminal law is an essential element to fighting impunity, which is unfortunately widespread,” Haq said. “The International Criminal Court is its essential element, and it must be allowed to work in full independence.”
Trump’s move on Thursday — repeating action he took during his first term — coincided with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who — along with his former defense minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas — is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza.
During a visit to the US Congress on Friday, Netanyahu praised Trump’s move, describing the court as a “scandalous” organization “that threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves.”


Zelensky urges allies to ‘invest’ in mineral wealth

Zelensky urges allies to ‘invest’ in mineral wealth
Updated 08 February 2025
Follow

Zelensky urges allies to ‘invest’ in mineral wealth

Zelensky urges allies to ‘invest’ in mineral wealth
  • “We have mineral resources. This does not mean that we give them away to anyone, even to strategic partners,” Zelensky posted on social media
  • “It is about partnership. Put your money in. Invest. Let’s develop this together and make money”

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday Kyiv wants its allies to invest in its mineral resources after US President Donald Trump asked for “rare earths” in exchange for military aid.
“We have mineral resources. This does not mean that we give them away to anyone, even to strategic partners,” Zelensky posted on social media, quoting answers he had given in an interview with Reuters news agency.
“It is about partnership. Put your money in. Invest. Let’s develop this together and make money,” Zelensky said.
Trump said this week the United States was “looking to do a deal with Ukraine, where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”
Quoting his Reuters interview, Zelensky said Ukraine’s mineral wealth was worth “trillions of dollars,” citing its reserves of titanium and uranium, which he described as the largest in Europe.
He said it is very important for Ukraine to “keep all this” because these resources represent “security guarantees,” adding that he also did not want them to fall into Russia’s hands.
Trump’s call for a deal involving rare earths prompted criticism from the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday,
“We are helping (Ukraine) without asking to be paid in return. This should be everyone’s position,” he told the RND media group.
The US president said on Friday he would “probably” meet Zelensky next week in a location outside Ukraine.
Zelensky wrote on X on Friday that Ukraine and the US were “planning meetings and talks” and “working out the details,” without confirming there would be talks next week.
Trump has urged both Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate an end to the war, which is nearing a third year with Russia making steady advances in east Ukraine.
The US leader has said he is ready to meet Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but no talks have been confirmed.