Japan inflation rises as new PM eyes economic package
Japanese inflation accelerated last month, official data showed Friday, ahead of a maiden policy speech by new Prime Minister Sakae Takaichi who has promised to ease pressure on households. Takaichi’s predecessor Shigeru Ishiba survived barely a year in office, with voters hammering the ruling party in elections partly because of rising prices.After becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister on Tuesday, Takaichi said the cost-of-living squeeze was a priority and told her cabinet to draw up measures to address it.The figures Friday showed the consumer price index jumped to 2.9 percent in September from 2.7 percent the previous month. But without volatile fresh fruit and energy prices, the reading eased to 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent.A particular cause of voter anger over the past year has been skyrocketing prices for rice.This was linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, amongst other factors.Prices for the staple in September climbed 48.6 percent year-on-year, though the rate has eased from recent months, having hit around 100 percent in June.Takaichi has long-advocated for more government spending and easy monetary policy to spur growth, and her appointment has boosted stocks to record highs.Since taking office, however, she has said monetary policy decisions would be left to the Bank of Japan (BoJ).In her policy speech, she will reportedly say that her government will have a “responsible and proactive fiscal policy”.The BoJ has been “normalising” its super-easy monetary policy and inflation has been above target for some time, increasing the prospects for hiking interest rates further.- Defence spending -“Overall, the big picture continues to be that price pressures appear to be reasonably firm,” said Abhijit Surya at Capital Economics.But the BoJ remains “concerned about the impact of US tariffs on the Japanese economy and the potential for negative spillovers to corporate profits and wage growth,” Surya said, predicting a rate hike in January.Takaichi was expected to say in her speech that the target of spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence will be brought forward by two years, media reports said.US President Donald Trump, who wants Tokyo — as well as other allies — to boost their military spending, is due to visit Japan next week.Tokyo’s previous target was to spend two percent of GDP on defence in the 2027-28 fiscal year but Takaichi wants this achieved in the current tax year, reports said.Takaichi is also expected to say China is “an important neighbouring country and it is necessary to build a constructive and stable relationship” with Beijing, according to local media.But she will say that “there are concerns regarding security and economic security”.She will also say Japan needs foreign workers but that “illegal acts and deviations from the rules by some foreign nationals have resulted in the sense of anxiety and unfairness is being felt”.”While drawing a clear line from xenophobia, we will take a firm stand against such acts,” she will say, according to the reports.The populist Sanseito party, which calls immigration a “silent invasion”, has been making gains in recent elections.A new poll published Thursday by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily put support for Takaichi at 71 percent, the fifth-highest for a new cabinet since 1978.
La Corée du Nord construit un mémorial pour ses soldats tués dans la guerre en Ukraine
La Corée du Nord a commencé à construire un mémorial dédié à ses soldats morts au combat pour la Russie en Ukraine, ont rapporté jeudi les médias d’Etat, le leader Kim Jong Un saluant lors de l’événement l'”apogée historique” des relations avec Moscou.Le “Musée commémoratif des exploits militaires” verra le jour dans la capitale Pyongyang, où Kim Jong Un et l’ambassadeur de Russie en Corée du Nord, Alexander Matsegora, ont assisté à une cérémonie d’inauguration, selon l’agence officielle KCNA.S’exprimant lors de l’événement tenu jeudi, M. Kim a décrit le musée comme “un sanctuaire sacré dédié à l’immortalité des vrais patriotes”.La Russie et la Corée du Nord ont accru leur coopération militaire ces dernières années, les Nord-Coréens fournissant des armes et des troupes pour soutenir l’assaut russe contre l’Ukraine en cours depuis février 2022.Selon Séoul, au moins 600 soldats nord-coréens ont été tués et des milliers d’autres blessés depuis qu’ils ont été envoyés au combat, notamment pour reprendre la région russe de Koursk conquise par l’Ukraine durant l’été 2024. Kim Jong Un a félicité ses troupes, présentes depuis un an dans la région russe de Koursk, pour avoir aidé la Russie à remporter une “victoire décisive”, a rapporté KCNA.”Nos héros ont détruit les envahisseurs néonazis diaboliques grâce à leur détermination à ne tolérer aucune agression et à anéantir les agresseurs”, a-t-il déclaré, ajoutant que les relations entre Pyongyang et Moscou “atteignaient désormais leur apogée historique”.”Pyongyang sera toujours aux côtés de Moscou. Notre amitié et notre unité dureront éternellement”, a affirmé Kim Jong Un.Le dirigeant a précisé que le mémorial comporterait des sculptures dédiées aux soldats nord-coréens qui ont combattu en Russie, ainsi que des photos et des œuvres d’art illustrant les combats.Pyongyang et Moscou sont liés par un accord de sécurité et de défense depuis 2024.Au musée des arts décoratifs de Moscou, une exposition artistique a été organisée jusqu’au 10 octobre pour célébrer les liens avec Pyongyang. Elle montrait des soldats nord-coréens et leurs alliés russes résistant à un Occident hostile.
Trump heads to Asia and high-stakes meeting with Xi
US President Donald Trump embarks on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy.Trump said Wednesday he was making a “big trip” to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first visit to the region since he returned to the White House in a blaze of tariffs and geopolitical brinkmanship.The highlight will be his talks with Xi in South Korea, which Trump’s spokeswoman confirmed would take place on October 30 on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump had previously threatened to scrap the meeting amid a flare-up in the trade war between Washington and Beijing, but he said Wednesday he now hoped for a “deal on everything.” The host nations are meanwhile set to roll out the red carpet to ensure they stay on the right side of the unpredictable 79-year-old, and win the best deals they can on tariffs and security assistance. – Malaysia and Japan – Trump will leave Washington on Friday and arrive on Sunday in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting Trump skipped several times in his first term.He is set to ink a trade deal with Malaysia — but more importantly to oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, as he continues his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.”President Trump is keen to see the more positive results of the peace negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.The US leader may also meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties after months of bad blood, officials from both countries told AFP.Trump’s next stop will be Tokyo on Monday and he will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi, named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister, on Tuesday.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.” – Trump and Xi in South Korea -The climax of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Trump will then meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner, the White House said, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the city of Gyeongju.The next day Trump will meet Xi for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if the two men can halt the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, especially after a recent row over Beijing’s rare earth curbs.Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and imposed fresh tariffs, before saying he would go ahead after all.He said Wednesday that he hoped to make a deal with Xi on “everything” and also hoped the Chinese leader could have a “big influence” on getting Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war.Analysts warned not to expect any breakthroughs.”The meeting will be a data point along an existing continuum rather than an inflection point in the relationship,” said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.South Korea, seeking its own trade deal, is reportedly considering the rare step of awarding Trump the Grand Order of Mugunghwa — the country’s highest decoration — during his visit. North Korea will also be on the agenda. The country fired multiple ballistic missiles on Wednesday, just days before Trump was due to visit.South Korea has halted tours in parts of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, officials said Thursday, fueling speculation of a new meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump has said he hopes to meet Kim again following several meetings during the US president’s first term, but there has been no confirmation of reports that the White House was looking at a new meeting this time.burs-dk/sst
Alabama man executed by nitrogen gas
An inmate convicted of murdering a man over a $200 drug debt by burning him alive was executed by nitrogen gas in the southern US state of Alabama on Thursday.Anthony Boyd, 54, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder two years earlier of 32-year-old Gregory Huguley.He was pronounced dead at 6:33 pm Central time (2333 GMT) at a state prison in the town of Atmore, the state department of corrections announced.At trial, prosecutors said that Boyd and three other men abducted Huguley at gunpoint because he allegedly failed to pay for $200 of cocaine.Huguley was driven to a baseball field, bound with duct tape, doused with gasoline and set on fire.Boyd was convicted largely on the testimony of a co-defendant, Quintay Cox, who was spared the death penalty.This was the 40th execution in the United States this year, the most since 2012, when 43 inmates were put to death.Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas and Alabama with five each.Nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causes the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”
Trump pardons Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao
US President Donald Trump has pardoned the convicted Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the White House press secretary said Thursday, accusing Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden of behaving in a “very hostile” manner toward the crypto industry.Binance was created in 2017, and swiftly became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, turning Zhao into a billionaire.Following an investigation into the firm’s operations, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money-laundering laws in late 2023, and served a four-month prison sentence for it in 2024.Zhao’s pardon could help pave the way for Binance to return to the United States, around two years after it agreed to suspend its US operations in a deal to resolve the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation. “This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington on Thursday, accusing the previous administration of pursuing an “egregious over-sentencing of this individual.”The previous administration had also been “very hostile” to the cryptocurrency industry, she continued, adding that Trump had pardoned Zhao in order to “correct this overreach of the Biden administration’s mis-justice.”Trump later defended his decision, telling reporters at the White House that “a lot of people” had told him Zhao was not guilty.Binance has spent almost a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, noting that Binance has been a “key supporter” of the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial. Despite stepping down as chief executive in 2023, Zhao remains the majority shareholder of Binance.In a social media post on Thursday, he said he was “deeply” grateful to Trump for “upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.”Democrats were quick to criticize Trump’s decision to pardon the convicted crypto billionaire. “CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison. But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. Today, he got it,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a post on X. “If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it,” added Warren, a high-profile figure on the left of the party who sits on the US Senate’s finance committee. Since his presidential campaign, Trump has become a defender and promoter of the cryptocurrency sector, reversing his past criticism.He has eased the regulatory framework imposed on the cryptocurrency industry, which contributed more than $100 million to his reelection campaign.The Trump family’s various crypto businesses have netted them a pre-tax profit of around a billion dollars over the past 12 months, according to a recent Financial Times investigation.Trump’s pardon of Zhao follows a string of other similarly controversial moves, such as his decision to issue a blanket pardon for people convicted of violence in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The US president has also commuted the sentence of the disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was convicted of committing wire fraud and identity theft.