Tuesday, July 12, 2022

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US, Japan vow joint efforts on Ukraine, trade, food crisis

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 04:29 AM PDT

UNITED States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japan's finance minister agreed Tuesday to cooperate in dealing with challenges from the war in Ukraine and promoting free trade, sustainable energy and food security.Yellen was visiting Tokyo on Tuesday for talks ahead of a meeting of the Group of 20′s financial leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali later in the week.Before beginning her meeting with Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, she stressed the importance of effective sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and said she hoped to gain the support of Japan and other nations in seeking a price cap on Russian oil that would limit funding going to Moscow's military."Our governments have common viewpoints and interests on many of the most pressing priorities affecting our national interests as well as global stability and prosperity. And when we work together, we are each more effective," she said.Suzuki welcomed Yellen, saying: "At this time, when the international community faces so many challenges, it is more important than ever for the US and Japan to work together."A joint statement issued Tuesday after the talks pledged support for Ukraine in coping with its economic challenges. It also said both sides had welcomed efforts to pursue price caps "where appropriate."A price cap would be aimed at curbing the war's impact on gas and energy prices. Japan, which imports almost all its oil, has suffered an energy crunch recently partly because of the war in Ukraine and a weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar.The US Federal Reserve's moves to curb inflation hovering at a four-decade high by raising interest rates have helped pushed the US dollar higher against many currencies. That includes the euro and the Japanese yen. With the yen trading at 20-year lows, Japan has seen costs skyrocket for many imports, including oil, gas and coal.The statement from the Treasury Department said Japan and the US will also "consult closely on exchange markets and cooperate as appropriate on currency issues."The talks Tuesday had scant immediate impact on exchange rates, with the dollar gaining to 137.25 yen from 136.10 yen.Yellen is making her first visit to Asia as treasury secretary. She was chair of the US Federal Reserve from 2014-2018.On Monday, she attended the wake for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday. Abe, the nation's longest serving prime minister, was shot Friday by a man who emerged from a crowd, firing a homemade weapon.Yellen, sitting across from a table from Suzuki, offered her condolences, saying Abe had left a legacy of "revitalizing Japan's economy and leadership position."In their statement, Japan and the US expressed support for a new World Bank fund to help finance pandemic prevention and urged other creditor nations, such as China, to help countries like crisis-stricken Sri Lanka deal with their debt problems.After the G-20 meetings, Yellen is due to visit South Korea. (AP)

UN projects world population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 12:16 AM PDT

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations estimated Monday, July 11, that the world's population will reach eight billion on November 15 and that India will replace China as the world's most populous nation next year.In a report released on World Population Day, the UN also said global population growth fell below one percent in 2020 for the first time since 1950.According to the latest UN projections, the world's population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and a peak of around 10.4 billion during the 2080s. It is forecast to remain at that level until 2100.The report says more than half the projected increase in population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.The report, "World Population Prospects 2022," puts the world's population at 7.942 billion now and forecasts it will reach eight billion in mid-November.John Wilmoth, director of the UN Population Division, said at a news conference to release the report that the date when the UN's projection line crosses eight billion is November 15.But, he noted, "we do not pretend that that's the actual date ... and we think that the uncertainty is at least plus or minus a year."Nonetheless, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called 2022 a "milestone year," with "the birth of the Earth's eight billionth inhabitant.""This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates," Guterres said in a statement. "At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another."The report projects that next year India, with a current population of 1.412 billion, will surpass China, with a current population of 1.426 billion, but Wilmoth said there is more uncertainty about that date than the Earth reaching eight billion inhabitants on November 15.Wilmoth said the UN moved the date forward from 2027, especially as a result of China's 2020 census. India had been planning its census in 2021, but he said it was delayed because of the pandemic. The UN will reassess its projection after it takes place.The UN projects that in 2050 the United States will remain the third most populous country in the world, behind India and China. Nigeria is projected to be No. 4, followed by Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Congo, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. Russia and Mexico, which are in the top 10 most populous countries in 2022, are projected to lose their ninth and 10th spots in 2050."The population of 61 countries or areas are projected to decrease by one percent or more between 2022 and 2050," the report says."In countries with at least half a million population, the largest relative reductions in population size over that period, with losses of 20 percent or more, are expected to take place in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine."In other highlights, the report said global life expectancy improved almost nine years from 1990 — to 72.8 years for babies born in 2019 — and is projected to reach 77.2 years in 2050 as death rates continue to decrease. But in 2021, it said, life expectancy in the world's poorest countries lagged 7 years behind the global average.As for gender balance, the report says, "Globally, the world counts slightly more men (50.3 percent) than women (49.7 percent) in 2022." "This figure is projected to slowly invert over the course of the century," it says. "By 2050, it is expected that the number of women will equal the number of men."The share of working age people between ages 25 and 64 has been increasing in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean "thanks to recent reductions in fertility," the report says.The UN said this "demographic dividend" provides an opportunity for accelerated economic growth for those countries.In another trend, the report said, "the population above age 65 is growing more rapidly than the population below that age.""As a result, the share of global population at age 65 and above is projected to rise from 10 percent in 2022 to 16 percent in 2050," it said.Wilmoth said high life expectancy and very low levels of fertility and birth rates in European countries, Japan, North America, Australia and New Zealand are driving the tendency toward rapid population aging, and eventually potential population declines.As a result, over the next few decades, international migration "will be the sole driver of population growth in high-income countries," the report said."By contrast, for the foreseeable future, population increase in low-income and lower-middle-income countries will continue to be driven by an excess of births over deaths," it said. (AP)

Key moments in life of Shinzo Abe, former Japanese leader

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 10:50 PM PDT

Shinzo Abe was born into a prominent political family and became Japan's longest-serving prime minister. He was credited with instilling political and economic stability though he angered Japan's neighbors South Korea and China — along with many Japanese — with his nationalistic rhetoric and calls to revise the country's pacifist constitution.Abe, 67, was shot to death Friday at a campaign event in western Japan. Here is a look at key moments in his life and career:— Sept. 21, 1954: Abe is born in Tokyo, the son of Shintaro Abe, who served as Japan's foreign minister, and grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, a former prime minister.— 1977: Graduates from Seikei University in Tokyo with a degree in political science, after which he moves to the U.S. to study public policy at the University of Southern California for three semesters.— 1979: Begins working at Kobe Steel as the firm was expanding its presence abroad.— 1982: Leaves the company to pursue new positions at the Foreign Ministry and with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.— 1993: First elected as an LDP legislator representing the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi. Abe, already viewed as a conservative, becomes a member of and eventually leads the party's largest faction, Seiwakai, that had once been headed by his father, who died in 1991.— 2005: Abe is appointed chief cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, during which he leads negotiations to return Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. The same year, he is elected head of the LDP, putting him in line to take over as prime minister.— Sept. 26, 2006: Abe becomes Japan's prime minister for the first time, overseeing economic reforms while taking a hard line on North Korea and seeking to engage with South Korea and China.— 2007: Following electoral defeats that saw the LDP lose control of the legislature for the first time in 52 years, Abe resigns as prime minister, citing health reasons. Abe has been suffering from ulcerative colitis but was able to control it with medication.— 2012: After again being elected LDP president, Abe becomes prime minister for the second time.— 2013: Seeking to boost growth, Abe launches his "Abenomics" policies featuring easy lending and structural reforms. Japan's relations with China undergo a particularly rough patch but begin to improve after Abe meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Beijing.— 2014-2020: Reelected LDP leader, he serves two additional terms as prime minister for a total of four, during which he develops close relations with then-president Donald Trump, holding summits and golfing together.— Aug. 28, 2020: Announces he will step down as prime minister, again citing health reasons, after his ulcerative colitis flares up again. By that point, Abe had already become Japan's longest-serving prime minister.— Nov. 30, 2021: Despite leaving office, Abe shows he can still rile up Beijing with comments on Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims as its own territory and threatens to attack. In a speech, Abe warned that "military adventure would lead to economic suicide."— July 8, 2022: Abe is fatally shot while giving a speech at a campaign event in Nara by a gunman using a homemade weapon. (AP)

Far out: NASA space telescope's 1st cosmic view goes deep

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 06:36 PM PDT

Our view of the universe just expanded: The first image from NASA's new space telescope unveiled Monday is brimming with galaxies and offers the deepest look of the cosmos ever captured.The first image from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of time and the edge of the universe. That image will be followed Tuesday by the release of four more galactic beauty shots from the telescope's initial outward gazes.The "deep field" image released at during a brief White House event is filled with lots of stars, with massive galaxies in the foreground and faint and extremely distant galaxies peeking through here and there. Part of the image is light from not too long after the Big Bang, which was 13.8 billion years ago.President Joe Biden marveled at the image that he said showed "the oldest documented light in the history of the universe from over 13 billion -- let me say that again -- 13 billion years ago. It's hard to fathom."The busy image with hundreds of specks, streaks, spirals and swirls of white, yellow, orange and red is only "one little speck of the universe," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said."What we saw today is the early universe," Harvard astronomer Dimitar Sasselov said in a phone interview after the reveal.Sasselov said he and his colleague Charles Alcock first thought "we've seen this before." Then they looked closer at the image and pronounced the result not only beautiful but "worth all that waiting" for the much-delayed project.And even more is coming Tuesday. The pictures on tap include a view of a giant gaseous planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty and an update of a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies that dance around each other.The world's biggest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away last December from French Guiana in South America. It reached its lookout point 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth in January. Then the lengthy process began to align the mirrors, get the infrared detectors cold enough to operate and calibrate the science instruments, all protected by a sunshade the size of a tennis court that keeps the telescope cool.The plan is to use the telescope to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the early days of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus.How far back past 13 billion years did that first image look? NASA didn't provide any estimate Monday. Outside scientists said those calculations will take time, but they are fairly certain somewhere in the busy image is a galaxy older than humanity has ever seen, probably back to 500 million or 600 million years after the Big Bang."It takes a little bit of time to dig out those galaxies," University of California, Santa Cruz, astrophysicist Garth Illingworth said. "It's the things you almost can't see here, the tiniest little red dots.""This is absolutely spectacular, absolutely amazing," he added. "This is everything we've dreamed of in a telescope like this."Webb is considered the successor to the highly successful, but aging Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble has stared as far back as 13.4 billion years. It found the light wave signature of an extremely bright galaxy in 2016. Astronomers measure how far back they look in light-years with one light-year being 5.8 trillion miles (9.3 trillion kilometers)."Webb can see backwards in time to just after the Big Bang by looking for galaxies that are so far away that the light has taken many billions of years to get from those galaxies to our telescopes," said Jonathan Gardner, Webb's deputy project scientist said during a June media briefing.The deepest view of the cosmos "is not a record that will stand for very long," project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan said during the briefing, since scientists are expected to use the Webb telescope to go even deeper.At 21 feet (6.4 meters), Webb's gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror is the biggest and most sensitive ever sent into space. It's comprised of 18 segments, one of which was smacked by a bigger than anticipated micrometeoroid in May. Four previous micrometeoroid strikes to the mirror were smaller. Despite the impacts, the telescope has continued to exceed mission requirements, with barely any data loss, according to NASA.NASA is collaborating on Webb with the European and Canadian space agencies."I'm now really excited as this dramatic progress augurs well for reaching the ultimate prize for many astronomers like myself: pinpointing "Cosmic Dawn" — the moment when the universe was first bathed in starlight," Richard Ellis, professor of astrophysics at University College London, said by email. (AP)
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