In Asia, Trump finds more than ever he's among friends

MSN – AFP, 25 May 2019 

US President Donald Trump arrives for lunch with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe at the Kasumigaseki Country Club golf course outside Tokyo in November 2017

In Europe, Donald Trump's relationships with leaders range from lukewarm to hostile. But in Asia, more than ever, the US president is finding that he's among friends.

At a time that Trump is ramping up pressure on China, he has built warm relationships elsewhere in Asia and has recently seen surprise electoral triumphs by key partners.

Japan is rolling out the red carpet for Trump, who will become the first foreign leader to meet newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito. Trump will bond with conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over sumo wrestling and, weather permitting, their latest rounds of golf.

Trump's trip comes on the heels of India's election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who has enthusiastically built ties with Washington, won an unexpectedly strong new mandate, as well as Australia's polls, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison stunned pundits by beating back a challenge from the Labor Party, whose promises included a "more considered" approach to China.

Trump will return to Japan in June for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka and also visit South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in, despite coming from the opposite end of the political spectrum, laid the groundwork for one of Trump's signature foreign policy initiatives -- direct negotiations with North Korea.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet Prime Minister 

Shinzo Abe at the White House in April 2019 on one of the Japanese leader's many visits

The diplomacy comes amid an intense trade war between the United States and China that has no end in sight, with Trump blacklisting Chinese tech titan Huawei and demanding an end to allegedly rampant theft of US technology.

"Why would Kim Jong Un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!"

On Nov. 11, 2017, Trump tweeted a reply to North Korea's insults that described him as a "destroyer."

Envisioning a long-term US struggle against China, the Trump administration has said it is working on a comprehensive policy to counter the rising Asian power, akin to the Cold War doctrine of containing the Soviet Union.

Asian model for managing Trump

Toshihiro Nakayama, a professor at Keio University in Tokyo, said the Japanese were fully aware of the controversial nature of Trump, who is facing rising calls for impeachment from Democrats.

But the United States, which stations some 50,000 troops in Japan under a defense alliance, is by far the most important ally for Tokyo -- as well as an often difficult partner on trade.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison won a surprise re-election victory after campaign 

promises that mirrored US President Donald Trump on immigration and climate

"There's a consensus that if the American people chose Mr Trump, it's not our job to criticize it; it's our job to manage the relationship," said Nakayama, also a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International scholars in Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron "initially tried to embrace him with style and nuance and it didn't succeed. So the Japanese government and people say that if you're going to embrace Mr Trump, you have to totally embrace him," Nakayama said.

Trump came of political age talking tough on trade in the 1980s, when Japan loomed large in the US imagination as a competitor. But Abe has courted Trump assiduously since the mogul's stunning election in 2016, gifting him gold-plated golf clubs and flying halfway around the world to celebrate his wife Melania's birthday.

Patrick Buchan, a longtime Australian official who directs the US Alliances Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Abe served as a global model on how to woo Trump -- making the relationship personal and resolving concerns through private channels.

"The Europeans, in my opinion, completely mishandled the Trump phenomenon. By responding to his public rhetoric or his Twitter tirades, you only created a vicious circle," Buchan said.

"I think it is partly, if you want, the Asian way of not engaging in megaphone diplomacy," he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers a victory speech after leading

his Bharatiya Janata Party to an unexpectedly sweeping re-election

Common cause on China

To be sure, Trump's ties with allies in the region have also hit rocky patches. Shortly after Trump's election, he reportedly exploded and hung up the phone on Australia's then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, when he heard of a deal on moving refugees from Australia to America.

And in India, accounts that Trump likes to mimic Modi's accent have sparked outrage.

But on strategy in Asia, leaders have found common ground. China has longstanding claims on territory administered by both Japan and India, while Australia has also voiced worries about Beijing's trading practices.

Modi -- who will meet Trump alongside Abe in Osaka -- has sided unabashedly with the United States despite India's historic resistance to alliances, building a defense relationship but stopping short of accepting any joint military operations.

Modi "has been willing to take the relationship with the US further than any of his predecessors," said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center.

But Kugelman warned that trade disputes could cloud the relationship. Trump is ending key trading preferences for India and forced the energy-hungry economy to stop buying from Iran and Venezuela.

Still, "I think Modi recognizes that India's national interests are tightly aligned with the US on issues like China's increasing presence in Asia and the terrorism threat in South Asia," Kugelman said.

Modi plots course after landslide Indian election win

Yahoo – AFP, Simon Sturdee and Abhaya Srivastava, May 24, 2019

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures during his victory speech at the
BJP headquarters in New Delhi (AFP Photo/PRAKASH SINGH)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met allies and former mentors Friday to plot a course for his second term after a landslide victory left the once-mighty Gandhi dynasty reeling.

A considerable to-do list includes addressing India's lacklustre economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as fixing a stricken agriculture sector on which 70 percent of households depend.

Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats, its best ever score, giving it an even bigger majority than five years ago and defying predictions of a dip, final results confirmed Friday.

The main opposition Congress party, which has ruled the roost in India for much of its post-independence history, improved on its historic low five years ago of 44 seats but still only managed a paltry 52.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi even lost his own seat in Amethi, long a family bastion. He did win a seat in the southern state of Kerala, however, a quirk allowed under Indian election rules.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, joined a chorus of international well-wishers, with US President Donald Trump hailing Modi's "BIG" win and even Pakistan's Imran Khan tweeting congratulations.

On Thursday there were delirious scenes at BJP party offices across the nation of 1.3 billion people, including its headquarters where Modi, 68, was showered with petals by chanting fans.

"The voting numbers in India's election is the biggest event in the history of (the) democratic world. The entire world has to recognise the democratic strength of India," Modi told cheering crowds.

"Modi will make India great again. Modi is the strongest prime minister India has ever had and will get. We need to support his policies to prosper," said one supporter, Santosh Joshi.

On Friday, ahead of a cabinet meeting, Modi conferred with two now-sidelined former mentors, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, touching their feet in sign of respect.

'Can Modi deliver?'

With the election behind him, Modi must now tackle the economy and unemployment -- notably among women, who have one of the lowest labour market participation rates in the world.

The Congress Party under Rahul Gandhi suffered a major rout at the polls
(AFP Photo/SAJJAD HUSSAIN)

"The real question is can Modi deliver on his economic commitments -- for example creating the high number of jobs needed?" said Champa Patel, of the Chatham House think-tank.

"This is essential to address India's growing wealth inequalities. Can he address the challenges that millions of Indians face on a daily basis in a highly stratified country?"

India's agriculture industry is also in a dire state with drought, low prices and debt driving thousands of farmers to suicide in recent years.

The country's waterways are filthy and India is home to 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, killing 1.24 million people early in 2017 according to a Lancet Planetary Health study.

On Friday, around 80 to 100 people held a demonstration in Delhi as part of a global day of climate change to demand Modi does more on the environment, .

"We are here to fight for our right to breathe clean air," said Ishika Goyal, 16.

Modi and the Hindu nationalist BJP must also try to heal divisions which have left religious minorities -- including India's 170 million Muslims -- feeling anxious for the future.

During the campaign he managed to deflect criticism on these issues by focusing on national security, claiming he alone could defend India.

Congress meanwhile was picking up the pieces after the second election debacle in a row, having failed to win a single seat in 13 states and five union territories.

These included Rajasthan where it won state elections late last year. This time the BJP swept all 25 seats, and in Uttar Pradesh Congress took just one constituency.

An anti-Modi alliance in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with 200 million people, also failed to prevent the BJP juggernaut sweeping 64 out of 80 seats.

Even in West Bengal, run by formidable Modi critic Mamata Banerjee, the BJP made major inroads, boosting its seat tally from two to 18.

Congress on Friday was forced to deny media reports that Gandhi -- the great-grandson, grandson and son of three former premiers -- had offered to throw in the towel.

"The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership," Kanchan Gupta from the Observer Research Foundation think-tank told AFP.

"It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned", Ramachandra Guha, a renowned historian, said on Twitter. "The Congress should dump the Dynasty."

Hong Kong transport authorities approve LGBT ad after backlash

Yahoo – AFP, May 21, 2019

Campaigners have criticised Hong Kong for lagging behind on equality issues
(AFP Photo/Yan ZHAO)

A Cathay Pacific advert featuring two men holding hands can now be displayed across Hong Kong's transport network, after its reported ban sparked a public outcry.

Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported Monday that the city's airport and MTR train operator had barred the gay-friendly ad from its crowded terminals, citing sources.

The news emerged just after Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage last week in a landmark first for Asia, placing the island at the vanguard of the region's burgeoning gay rights movement.

By contrast, campaigners have criticised semi-autonomous Hong Kong for lagging behind on equality issues.

Neither Cathay Pacific nor the transport authorities directly confirmed or denied the ban which triggered a massive backlash.

LGBT group Big Love Alliance launched a campaign on Monday encouraging Hong Kongers to share on social media photos of themselves holding hands with their same-sex partners or friends at the airport or the MTR.

As public pressure mounted, airport authorities said on Tuesday the advert now had their full blessing.

The ad is deemed "not in infringement of the Airport Authority's established guidelines on advertisements displayed in the terminal", a spokesperson said in a statement.

JCDecaux, an agency that handles advertising bookings for the MTR Corporation, also appeared to have reversed course.

"We have advised... that the design can be posted at MTR stations," a JCDecaux spokeswoman in Hong Kong told AFP.

Ray Chan, Hong Kong's first openly gay lawmaker, welcomed the move saying public and media pressure have made transport officials and their advertising agencies "right their wrong".

The city airport is operated by a Hong Kong government body, while the MTR Corporation is majority-owned by the government.

Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions and only decriminalised homosexuality in 1991.

But a British lesbian won the right to live and work in Hong Kong with her partner in a landmark ruling last year hailed by rights groups.

A separate case has been lodged by two Hong Kong men directly challenging the same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional.

Related Articles:

Taiwan parliament to vote on Asia's first gay marriage bill
Taiwan holds Asia's largest pride parade as it waits for gay marriage

Pope issues new warning against fake news

Yahoo – AFP, May 18, 2019

Pope Francis is seen through the rain-covered window of his vehicle as he leaves
at the end of his weekly general audience at St Peter's Square at the Vatican on
May 15, 2019. (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday urged journalists to desist from publishing fake news, saying it could cause harm, and instead "take time to understand" issues before reporting on them.

Receiving foreign journalists in the Vatican, the pontiff also urged journalists to remain "humble" saying humility "prevents the rotten flow of disinformation and offers the good bread of truth."

Pope Francis said humility was of great importance as it implies consciousness "that through an article, a tweet, a live broadcast either televised or on radio can do good, but also if one is not attentive and scrupulous, harm."

He also said journalists must be very careful of their choice of words in an era of "hostile language" proliferating everywhere, especially on social media.

"Everyone knows how the search for truth is difficult and demands humility," he said.

He also asked the press to speak of "wars forgotten by society.

"Who still talks of the Rohingyas?" he said. "Who still speaks of the Yazidis? They are forgotten and they continue to suffer."

About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown began in August 2017.

Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the Bangladeshi camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

They frequently spend their life savings to embark on dangerous boat journeys they believe will improve their lives, but many fall prey to international human trafficking gangs.

The Yazidi community once numbered around 500,000 members in the mountainous Sinjar region of northwest Iraq, but it was ravaged by the Islamic State's 2014 sweep into the area.

Jihadists killed Yazidi men, forced boys to join their ranks as fighters and abducted and imprisoned thousands of Yazidi women as sex slaves.

Related Article:

FAKE NEWS ! – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

UN experts urge 'financial isolation' of Myanmar military

Yahoo – AFP, 14 May 2019

Around 740,000 Rohingya people have been forced to flee Myanmar to refugees
camps like this one in Bangladesh

Myanmar's military commanders should be financially "isolated" and brought to trial to face charges of war crimes and genocide against the Rohingya minority, UN investigators said Tuesday.

The United Nations fact-finding mission on the situation in Myanmar called on the international community to cut off all financial and other support to the country's military.

Marzuki Darusman, who heads the fact-finding mission which just concluded a 10-day visit to surrounding countries, said drastic measures were needed since Myanmar so far had done little to resolve the egregious rights situation in the country.

"There has been no movement toward a resolution of the crisis," Darusman said in a statement. "The situation is at a total standstill."

Some 740,000 Rohingya refugees fled a military crackdown in August 2017 to cross into Bangladesh where 300,000 members of the persecuted Muslim minority were already in camps.

Many Rohingya refugees who fled said there had been mass rapes and slaughters in the villages, and in a report published last September, the fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe the atrocities amounted to "genocide".

The investigators lamented Tuesday that "both military and civilian sides of Myanmar’s government persistently deny the facts and disclaim any responsibility for crimes under international law.

"Following this violence, Myanmar authorities have levelled empty Rohingya villages with bulldozers, effectively destroying criminal evidence, while making no substantive progress in resolving the ethnic animosities that have helped fuel the crisis," they said.

The UN fact-finding mission was not granted access to Myanmar itself, but during their visit to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, the investigators met exiled representatives from the Chin, Kachin, Shan and Rakhine ethnic communities.

"Meeting with these different ethnic communities only underscored our findings that the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar military) has over time committed similar atrocities against many of the ethnic groups living within the borders of Myanmar," expert Radhika Coomaraswamy said in the statement.

Another member of the team, Christopher Sidoti, said the investigators so far had "seen no evidence that the Myanmar government is acting in good faith to resolve the crisis or facilitate the safe return of refugees.

"The situation demands an increase in international pressure," he said.

"Due to the gravity of the past and continuing violations, attention must be given to the political, economic and financial ties of the Myanmar military – to identify who and what should be targeted so we can cut off the money supply as a means of increasing the pressure and reducing the violence," he added.

The fact-finding mission is due to present its final report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next September, and will hand over its findings to a panel tasked with preparing criminal indictments.

Nepal probes journalists for Dalai Lama news

Yahoo – AFP, May 14, 2019

Chinese members of a guard of honour hold Nepalese and Chinese flags ahead of
a welcoming ceremony for Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandar at the Great Hall
of the People in Beijing on April 29, 2019 (AFP Photo/MADOKA IKEGAMI)

Kathmandu (AFP) - Three Nepali journalists are being probed for circulating a news item on the Dalai Lama, officials said Tuesday, in a sign of growing Chinese influence on its small Himalayan neighbour.

The journalists, who work with Nepal's national news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), were asked for clarifications after translating a wire report about the Dalai Lama's discharge from a hospital and his return to Dharamshala in April.

The circulation of the translation coincided with the visit of Nepal's president Bidhya Devi Bhandari to China on invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hari Adhikari, chairman of RSS, said that a committee has been formed and the management will decide whether to take any action against the three after it submits a report.

"As the national news agency, we don't carry news that is against the foreign policy of our country and affects the relationship with our neighbours," Adhikari said.

Nepal, home to around 20,000 Tibetans, is under intense pressure from its giant neighbour China over the exiles, and has repeatedly said it is committed to one-China policy.

China is among the top development partners for the impoverished nation, pumping in over $58.7 million in the last fiscal year into developing hydroelectricity, roads and infrastructure.

In May 2017, Kathmandu signed up to Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road initiative, a massive infrastructure drive that critics say is at the centre of the Asian giant's push to expand its global influence.

"China's interest and influence of China has been consistently increasing in Nepal and our government is also positive towards addressing their security and strategic concerns," said Geja Sharma Wagle, Kathmandu-based foreign policy analyst.

Once a safe haven for Tibetans, increased police crackdowns in Nepal have discouraged protests and even celebrations within the community.

Bangladesh charges extremists over gay activist murders

CAN – AFP, 12 May 2019

Activist Xulhaz Mannan, publisher of Bangladesh's first magazine for the gay
and lesbian community, was killed in April 2016. (Photo: AFP/Rehman Asad)

DHAKA: Eight extremists from a banned group were charged by Bangladesh police Sunday (May 12) for the 2016 murders of two prominent gay rights activists.

Dhaka police's counter terrorism unit filed the charge-sheet against the eight men, saying they were members of Ansar al Islam, deputy commissioner of police Mohibul Islam Khan told AFP.

"Among them four have been arrested and the rest are still at large," he said, adding the group was led by Syed Ziaul Haque, a sacked Bangladesh army major who was leading the extremist group.

Xulhaz Mannan, publisher of Bangladesh's first magazine for the gay and lesbian community, and fellow activist Mahbub Tonoy were hacked to death in a Dhaka apartment in April 2016 by unidentified men carrying machetes and guns.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) said it was behind the killings of the men, both aged 35, who it said had worked to "promote homosexuality" in Bangladesh.

But Bangladesh police chiefs have said their murders bear the hallmarks of local extremists, denying that international militant networks have a presence in the world's third largest Muslim-majority country.

Ansar al Islam - also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team - has been blamed for a series of murders since 2013, including of atheist writers, publishers, members of religious minorities, social activists and foreign aid workers.

Washington had condemned the killings of Tonoy and Mannan, who worked for US government aid organisation USAID. Both men had received threats from extremists over their championing of gay rights.

Bangladesh launched a crackdown on religious extremism after attacks in July 2016, when IS-inspired militants stormed a Dhaka cafe killing 22 people, including 18 foreigners.

Since the 2016 attacks, security forces have staged nationwide raids in which, they say, nearly 100 members of two extremist groups have been killed. Hundreds of suspects have been detained.

The South Asian nation has also boosted security since Apr 21 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, which killed 258 and were carried out by jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group.

Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi flees country after blasphemy saga

Yahoo – AFP, Gohar ABBAS, with Michel Comte in Ottawa, May 8, 2019

Hardline Islamists have held massive violent protests calling for Asia Bibi
to be executed (AFP Photo/ARIF ALI)

Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman at the centre of a decade-long blasphemy row that sparked violent unrest and spotlighted religious extremism, left her home country on Wednesday and is believed to be in Canada.

Islamabad made no formal statement and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to confirm her arrival, citing privacy and security issues.

Bibi's lawyer Saif ul Mulook and multiple security sources in Pakistan speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that Bibi had gone to Canada, with another government source adding she had left "of her own free will".

A labourer from central Punjab province and minority Christian, Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 and sent to death row, but acquitted on appeal last year.

Her case swiftly became the most infamous in Pakistan, drawing worldwide attention to religious extremism in the country and raising eyebrows among Pakistan's allies.

"The United States welcomes the news that Asia Bibi has safely reunited with her family," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

"The United States uniformly opposes blasphemy laws anywhere in the world, as they jeopardize the exercise of fundamental freedoms."

Speaking on the floor of the House of Commons on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May appeared to confirm that Canada was Bibi's destination.

"Canada made this offer and we thought it was right and appropriate that we supported the offer that Canada had made," May said.

Blasphemy carries a maximum death penalty under Pakistan's penal code.

Activists have warned that Asia Bibi's life would be in danger if she 

stayed in Pakistan (AFP Photo/AAMIR QURESHI)

It is an incendiary issue in the Muslim-majority country, and mere allegations of insulting Islam have sparked lynchings and vigilante violence in the past.

"It is a great relief that this shameful ordeal has finally come to an end and Asia Bibi and her family are safe," said Omar Waraich, deputy South Asia director at Amnesty International.

"She should never have been imprisoned in the first place, let alone endure the constant threats to her life. This case horrifyingly illustrates the dangers of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and the urgent need to repeal them."

Violent protests

Bibi has technically been free to leave Pakistan since January, when the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to her October acquittal.

Since then, she is widely believed to have been held in protective custody by authorities as she awaited an asylum deal abroad.

In November, Trudeau said Ottawa was holding talks with Pakistan about bringing her to Canada, which he said is "a welcoming country".

Many blasphemy cases in Pakistan see Muslims accusing Muslims, but rights activists have warned that religious minorities -- particularly Christians -- are often caught in the crossfire, with such accusations used to settle personal scores.

Two politicians have been assassinated in connection with Bibi's case, and she spent much of her prison time in solitary confinement over fears she could be attacked by a guard or another prisoner.

Islamist groups have regularly called for her to be executed, and activists have warned that she would not be safe in Pakistan.

Following Bibi's acquittal in October, the country was gripped for days by violent protests led by the hardline group Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), which called for mutiny in the armed forces and assassination of the country's top judges for acquitting her.

In the wake of the nationwide protests, TLP's leaders -- who paralysed the capital Islamabad for weeks in 2017 with an anti-blasphemy sit-in -- were rounded up in a government crackdown months ago and remain in detention.

Christians -- who make up around two percent of the population -- occupy one of the lowest rungs in class-obsessed Pakistani society, largely living in slums and working menial jobs as street sweepers, cleaners and cooks.

Brunei says death penalty moratorium to cover sharia laws

Yahoo – AFP, May 5, 2019

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's remarks on capital punishment appeared aimed at
assuaging worldwide criticism (AFP Photo/Andrea VERDELLI)

Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) (AFP) - Brunei's sultan said Sunday a moratorium on capital punishment will also extend to sharia laws that include stoning to death for gay sex and adultery, after a furious backlash against the punishments.

It was the first time Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had commented publicly on the new penal code since it fully entered force last month, and his remarks appeared aimed at assuaging worldwide criticism.

The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves in the tiny sultanate on Borneo island, sparked fury from celebrities, including actor George Clooney, the United Nations and rights groups.

In a televised speech ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the sultan said: "I am aware that there are many questions and misperceptions with regard to the implementation of the (sharia penal code)."

"There should not be any concern on the sharia law as it is full of Allah's mercy and blessings," he said, according to an official translation of his address.

"As evident for more than two decades, we have practised a de facto moratorium on the execution of death penalty for cases under the common law.

"This will also be applied to cases under the (sharia penal code), which provides a wider scope for remission."

He also vowed Brunei would ratify the United Nations convention against torture which it signed several years ago.

Muslim-majority Brunei operates a dual-track legal system with civil courts operating alongside sharia courts that handle issues such as marital and inheritance cases.

Some crimes were already punishable with death by hanging under the civil code but Brunei has not executed anyone for decades, and the sultan's comments suggest this will not change with the introduction of the new sharia laws.

Rape and robbery are also punishable by death under the sharia code and many of the new laws, such as capital punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

The sultan -- one of the world's wealthiest men -- announced plans for the sharia penal code in 2013.

The first section was introduced in 2014 and included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offences including indecent behaviour or skipping Friday prayers.

But the introduction of the harsher punishments in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people was repeatedly delayed after they sparked criticism.

#UPDATE Brunei's sultan has announced that a punishment of death by stoning for gay sex and adultery will not be enforced in the sultanate after a global backlash, but critics Monday called for harsh sharia laws to be abandoned entirely. https://t.co/Pz1DSJiNjr

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 6 mei 2019

Japan's new imperial couple face heavy burden of tradition

Yahoo – AFP, Kyoko HASEGAWA, April 30, 2019

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Masako, who has explained she
sacrificed her career to 'make myself useful in this new path' (AFP Photo/
Imperial Household Agency of Japan)

Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's new emperor Crown Prince Naruhito faces the delicate task of balancing tradition within the world's oldest monarchy and his own modern values, including protecting his family from the palace's rigid rules.

The 59-year-old has not been shy about criticising the sometimes stifling lifestyle imposed on royals, particularly as his wife Masako has struggled to adapt to imperial life.

And like his popular father Akihito, he has warned of the need to remember World War II "correctly," without downplaying Japan's early 20th-century militarism.

Born on February 23, 1960, Naruhito was the first Japanese prince to grow up under the same roof as his parents and siblings -- royal children were previously raised by nannies and teachers.

He studied for two years at Oxford University in the 1980s after graduating with a history degree in Japan, and reportedly adorned his residence with a poster of American actress Brooke Shields.

In Britain, he was able to shed some of the strictures of royal life in Japan, mingling with other students as well as the British royal family, and he has spoken fondly of that period.

In 1993, he wed Masako Owada, who became empress when Naruhito assumed the Chrysanthemum throne.

The daughter of a diplomatic family and educated at Harvard and Oxford, Masako left behind a promising diplomatic career of her own to marry into the royal family.

'New royal duties'

Naruhito promised to "protect her at any cost" as she made the transition, and Masako explained she had sacrificed her career to "make myself useful in this new path".

But she struggled to adjust to cloistered life inside the family, punctuated by occasional and highly choreographed public appearances.

She also came under enormous pressure to bear a son because Japan's imperial succession excludes women. This scrutiny only intensified after she gave birth to her daughter Princess Aiko in 2001 -- the couple's only child.

In 2004, Naruhito accused palace minders of stifling his wife's personality, in unprecedented public remarks.

"To me, Masako seems worn out in her efforts to adjust herself to life as a royal over the past 10 years... It is also true that there was something that amounted to a denial of Masako's former career," he said.

He described Masako as "anguished that she was hardly allowed to visit foreign countries although she left her job as a diplomat".

The same year, the palace disclosed that Masako had been undergoing treatment for stress-induced "adjustment disorder" for almost her entire marriage.

Naruhito later apologised for his remarks, but he has called for "new royal duties" to fit modern times.

The pressure on Masako eased somewhat when her sister-in-law gave birth in 2006 to a son, the now 12-year-old Prince Hisahito.

'Close to the people'

Naruhito has also followed his father's lead by hitting back against revisionism on Japan's role in World War II, with remarks seen by some as a rebuke of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nationalism.

"Today when memories of war are set to fade, I reckon it is important to look back on our past with modesty and pass down correctly the miserable experience and the historic path Japan took from the generation who know the war to the generation who don't," he said in 2015.

Naruhito and Masako are expected to pursue the role of comforters-in-chief crafted by the current imperial couple, who have won public support for their appearances alongside the victims of natural disasters.

They "will probably follow the current style of standing side-by-side with the public -- visiting disaster-hit areas and praying for peace while mourning the war dead", said Hideya Kawanishi, an associate professor at Nagoya University and Japanese history expert.

In February, Naruhito said he hoped as emperor to "be always close to the people and share the joys as well as the sorrows".

But the couple "will not be able to do the same amount of activities" as the former imperial couple because of Masako's health, Kawanishi told AFP.

In a statement released on her birthday in December, Masako pledged to do her best despite feeling "insecure" about becoming empress.

In the candid statement, she said she was recovering and could "perform more duties than before", crediting the "powerful support" of the public.

Doctors have warned however that she will need to continue treatment and is susceptible to fatigue.

Japan's emperor to step down in 200-year first

Yahoo – AFP, Richard CARTER, April 29, 2019

Akihito is waving goodbye to the throne, the first abdication in Japan for 200 years
(AFP Photo/Kazuhiro NOGI)

For the first time in more than 200 years, Japan's emperor will abdicate Tuesday, putting his son on the Chrysanthemum Throne and ushering in a new era for the world's oldest monarchy.

In a set of solemn ceremonies, Emperor Akihito will hand over to his eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, also kicking off the new imperial "Reiwa" era -- meaning "beautiful harmony" -- that will continue for the length of the new monarch's reign.

The historic abdication has resulted in an unprecedented 10-day holiday for the famously hard-working Japanese, as special days off to mark the new emperor combine with the traditional "Golden Week" celebrations in May.

At precisely 5:00 pm local time (0800 GMT), the 85-year-old Akihito will formally step down in a 10-minute ceremony in the "Matsu-no-Ma" ("Room of Pine"), considered the most elegant hall in the sumptuous Imperial Palace.

The ritual will be conducted in the presence of the imperial regalia -- an ancient sword and jewel -- considered crucial evidence of an emperor's legitimacy.

The Japanese monarchy stretches back for centuries (AFP Photo)

However, Naruhito will not become emperor of Japan until the stroke of midnight and he will "inherit" the regalia at a second ceremony Wednesday at 10:30 am before making his first official public remarks shortly afterwards.

The popular Akihito stunned Japan when he announced in 2016 that he wanted to give up the Chrysanthemum Throne, citing his age and health problems -- he has been treated for prostate cancer and has also undergone heart surgery.

There have been abdications in Japan's long imperial history, which has mythological origins and stretches back more than two millennia, but the last one was more than two centuries ago.

A more lavish and public enthronement ceremony attended by world leaders will take place on October 22.

'Ultra-aged society'

Akihito has sought to modernise the imperial family in Japan, which has a sensitive position given the role his father Hirohito played in the country's militaristic past.

Emperor Akihito and his wife Michiko won plaudits for a popular touch, notably 

comforting people affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown

that devastated whole swathes of east Japan and killed thousands (AFP Photo/

HIRO KOMAE)

He and his wife Empress Michiko won plaudits for a popular touch, notably comforting people affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that devastated whole swathes of east Japan and killed thousands.

Images of the couple kneeling and bowing to those in temporary shelters gave some heart to the stricken nation and Akihito took the rare step of giving a televised address to reassure his people.

Naruhito is also seen as a modern royal and has previously issued mild criticism of the sometimes stifling lifestyle imposed on royals, particularly as his wife Masako has struggled to adapt to imperial life and has long struggled with stress-induced illness.

The new emperor inherits a country very different to when it last crowned a new emperor.

In 1989, when Akihito ascended the throne, Japan ruled the world economically in the middle of a technology-fuelled boom that caused soaring land prices and sparked wild cost comparisons: the Imperial Palace grounds were worth more than all of Canada.

Akihito's abdication has also reignited concerns about a potential 

succession crisis (AFP Photo)

Now, Japan's population is in decline and it is on course to become the world's first "ultra-aged" society, with 28 percent of people over 65.

The boom gave way to a "lost decade" of tepid economic growth and deflation from which Japan has not fully recovered -- GDP growth remains sluggish and a years-long battle to rekindle inflation with ultra-loose monetary policy has enjoyed limited success.

On the world stage, Japan has seen its role as Asian powerhouse usurped by a resurgent China and is a relative bystander even in global issues in its backyard such as North Korea.

The abdication has also reignited concerns about a potential succession crisis. There are no more eligible male heirs after the 12-year-old son of Naruhito's younger brother Akishino.

Japan's centuries-old succession would be broken if that son, Hisahito, does not have a male child. The idea of letting women ascend the throne is popular with Japanese, but vehemently opposed by traditionalists.

Ordinary Japanese have seized on the opportunity of a 10-day holiday to travel, with airports and bullet trains packed and roads jammed.

And the change of era has sparked a flurry of merchandise ranging from tee-shirts to a can of "Heisei" era air -- yours for a breeze at just under $10.

#UPDATE Emperor Akihito of Japan formally steps down, in the first abdication for 200 years in the world's oldest monarchy, as his son Naruhito prepares to take the Chrysanthemum Throne and usher in a new imperial era https://t.co/bClo5XnsBW

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 30 april 2019