Bangkok — Thailand’s landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law Tuesday, allowing same-sex couples to legally wed.

The law was published in the Royal Gazette after endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and will come into effect in 120 days. This means LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register their marriage in January next year, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage.

The bill, which grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender, sailed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in April and June respectively.

“Congratulations to everyone’s love,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on X, adding the hashtag #Love Wins.

Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life.

The government and state agencies are also historically conservative, and advocates for gender equality had a hard time pushing lawmakers and civil servants to accept change.

Bangkok Deputy Governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said last week that the city officials will be ready to register same-sex marriages as soon as the law gets enacted.

The legislation amended the country’s Civil and Commercial Code to replace gender-specific words such as “men and women” with gender-neutral words such as “individual.”

The government led by the Pheu Thai party has made marriage equality one of its main goals. It made a major effort to identify itself with the annual Bangkok Pride parade in June, in which thousands of people celebrated in one of Bangkok’s busiest commercial districts.

The organizers of Bangkok Pride announced on Facebook that it will organize a wedding for couples who wish to register their marriage on the very first day that the law becomes effective.
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Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s new leftist president appointed his Cabinet Tuesday ahead of an expected snap parliamentary election as he prepares to renegotiate the bankrupt island nation’s unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout program.  

Self-avowed Marxist Dissanayake of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) was sworn into office on Monday after a landslide win in weekend presidential polls.  

His once-marginal party currently has just three lawmakers in Sri Lanka’s 225-member parliament.  

But support for the 55-year-old surged after a 2022 economic meltdown that immiserated millions of ordinary Sri Lankans and the painful implementation of the IMF rescue plan.  

On Tuesday his office announced the appointment of lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya, 54, as premier with the additional portfolios of justice, education, health and labor.  

The sociology lecturer, who was first elected to parliament four years ago, is known for her activism on gender equality and minority rights issues.  

She and the remaining two JVP-aligned lawmakers will share all ministerial responsibilities between them, and also act as caretaker ministers after parliament is dissolved.  

“We will have the smallest Cabinet in the history of Sri Lanka,” party member Namal Karunaratne told reporters on Tuesday.   

“Parliament dissolution will happen thereafter. It could be within the next 24 hours.”  

Sri Lanka’s crisis proved an opportunity for Dissanayake, who saw his popularity rise after pledging to change the island’s “corrupt” political culture.  

He beat 38 other candidates to win Saturday’s presidential vote, taking more than 1.2 million more votes than his nearest rival.  

His predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had imposed steep tax hikes and other unpopular austerity measures under the terms of the $2.9 billion IMF bailout, came a distant third.  

The IMF offered its congratulations to Dissanayake on Monday, saying it was ready to discuss the future of the rescue plan.   

“We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake… towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery,” a spokesman from the lender of last resort said.  

‘Not a magician’  

A senior aide of the new president told AFP on the weekend that Dissayanake’s party would not repudiate the IMF deal.  

“Our plan is to engage with the IMF and introduce certain amendments,” Bimal Ratnayake said.  

“We will not tear up the IMF program. It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate.”  

In his first address after his inauguration, Dissayanake sought to lower expectations of a quick fix for the country’s economic woes.  

“I am not a conjuror, I am not a magician, I am a common citizen,” he said.   

“I have strengths and limitations, things I know and things I don’t,” he added. “My responsibility is to be part of a collective effort to end this crisis.” 
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ROME — Pope Francis has called for the liberation of Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and offered the Vatican as a safe haven, the pontiff said in a recent conversation with Jesuits in Asia.

“I asked for the Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and received her son in Rome. I offered the Vatican to receive her in our territory,” he said in a private conversation during a recent 12-day tour across Southeast Asia.

The 87-year old pontiff visited Myanmar in December 2017.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera published the comments on Tuesday in an article by Father Antonio Spadaro, a Rome-based Jesuit priest who attends the meetings and writes about them afterwards with the pope’s permission.

“The future of the (Myanmar) must be peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of all, on respect for a democratic order that allows everyone to contribute to the common good,” Pope Francis added.

Myanmar’s military government has ramped up killings and arrests in an apparent bid to silence opponents and recruit soldiers in an escalating conflict, a U.N. report said last week.

Suu Kyi, 78, has been detained by the military since it overthrew her government in a 2021 coup. She faces 27 years in prison for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law, charges she denies. In April she was moved from prison to house arrest.
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TOKYO — At least two candidates vying to become Japan’s next prime minister are planning to tackle one of the country’s most sacred political cows: labor market reforms that would make it easier for businesses to hire and fire workers.

Shinjiro Koizumi, the 43-year-old son of former premier Junichiro Koizumi, and Taro Kono, who as digital minister is trying to promote more innovation, have both called for relaxing Japan’s rigid labor rules.

Those rules have been a feature of Japan’s “salary-man” corporate culture for decades, dating from when the country’s post-war population was growing and its traditional labor model of lifetime employment was effective.

But rigid labor rules have been more recently blamed for blocking the movement of labor from mature sectors into growing ones where employees are needed in a tight labor market.

“The ongoing labor market reform is missing the crux of the issue, and that’s the revision to dismissal rules,” Koizumi said this month.

“An ultimate growth strategy is to create a system that fosters a labor shift to startups and small firms in growth sectors,” said Koizumi, who pledged to submit a labor reform bill next year if elected party leader.

Kono specifically proposed establishing a monetary compensation framework for dismissed workers as a way to settle disputes, a step he said would allow more flexibility in the labor market.

Overhauling dismissal rules is politically sensitive in Japan, having been repeatedly pushed back with little progress made in the past.

International bodies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have also long blamed the lack of employment flexibility for Japan’s low labor productivity, low rates of new business entries and income gap between regular and non-regular staff.

On average, Japanese workers have been with their current employer for 12.3 years, compared to 4.1 years in the United States and 9.7 years in Germany. A Gallup poll found only 6% of Japanese workers engaged in their jobs compared to the 23% global average.

The statutory law on dismissal is vague, but judicial precedents have established four criteria that have to be met, raising the bar high for layoffs, experts say.

The rules, for example, require the company to prove that there is an economic need to decrease its workforce and all efforts have been made to avoid dismissals when firing employees.

“The biggest issue is that these rules are based on judicial precedents decades ago,” said Kotaro Kurashige, a lawyer who specializes in labor issues.

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which has a parliamentary majority, will elect a new leader on Sept. 27, with the winner to replace outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. A record nine candidates are running in the race.

As in the past, the policy pledges by Koizumi and Kono have sparked heavy backlash on social media and from labor unions, as well as from conservative lawmakers worried such changes could increase layoffs.

“I strongly object to any relaxation of rules that allow companies to freely fire workers,” Tomoko Yoshino, the president of Japan’s largest labor organization Rengo, said in an emergency study session last week.

Some also doubt the validity of the argument that relaxed dismissal rules would help rejuvenate the economy.

“It may not be true that relaxed rules would promote a shift of labor to growth sectors and overall wage growth, as dismissed workers may end up with low-paying jobs,” Takuya Hoshino, economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said.

The negative reactions have forced Koizumi to water down his pledge and shift his focus more to increasing support for workers to acquire skills and find new jobs, initiatives already launched by the Kishida administration.

Still, proponents say the opportunity for reform is now greater than in the past, as Japan exits years of deflation with companies delivering the biggest wage hikes in three decades this year and the jobless rate consistently below 3%.

Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami, one of the leading voices of corporate Japan, welcomed the issue coming up during the ruling party leadership race.

“Those rules were created during the manufacturing-centered postwar economic boom and must be reviewed,” said Niinami, who also serves as chair of the Keizai Doyukai business lobby.

It’s good timing for such discussion as labor shortages and tougher competition for talent have begun to push up wages, he said. “I want new-generation leaders to discuss how to change all postwar frameworks without any taboo.”
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BEIJING — China’s central bank on Tuesday announced broad monetary stimulus and property market support measures to revive an economy grappling with strong deflationary pressures and in danger of missing this year’s growth target.

The broader-than-expected package marks the latest attempt by Chinese officials to restore confidence in the world’s second-largest economy after a slew of disappointing data in recent months.

But analysts noted the absence of any policies aimed at supporting real economic activity. Given weak credit demand from businesses and consumers, more fiscal stimulus may be needed to complement the moves announced by the People’s Bank of China for growth to return to a trajectory towards this year’s roughly 5% target.

“This is the most significant PBOC stimulus package since the early days of the pandemic,” said Capital Economics analyst Julian Evans-Pritchard.

“But on its own, it may not be enough.”

Chinese stocks and bonds rallied and Asian stocks hit 2-1/2 year highs as Governor Pan Gongsheng announced plans to lower borrowing costs and inject more liquidity into the economy, as well as to ease households’ mortgage repayment burden.

Pan told a news conference the central bank in the near future will cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves – known as reserve requirement ratios (RRR) – by 50 basis points (bps).

That would free up about $142 billion for new lending. Depending on the market liquidity situation later this year, the RRR may be further lowered by 0.25-0.5 percentage points, Pan said.

The PBOC will also cut the seven-day repo rate, its new benchmark, by 0.2 percentage points to 1.5%. The interest rate on the medium-term lending facility will drop by about 30 basis points, and loan prime rates by 20-25 bps.

“The move probably comes a bit too late, but it is better late than never,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis. “China needs a lower-rate environment to boost confidence.”

Pan did not specify when the moves will come into effect.

The property market support package included a 50 bps reduction on average interest rates for existing mortgages, and a reduction of the minimum downpayment requirement to 15% on all types of homes, among other measures.

China’s property market has been in a severe downturn since peaking in 2021. A string of developers have defaulted, leaving behind large inventories of unwanted apartments and a troubling list of uncompleted projects.

Beijing has removed many home purchase restrictions and sharply lowered mortgage rates and downpayment requirements in response, but has so far failed to revive demand or arrest slumping home prices, which fell in August at the sharpest pace in more than nine years.

The property crisis has weighed heavily on the economy and crippled consumer confidence, given that 70% of household savings are parked in real estate.

The PBOC also introduced two new tools to boost the capital market.

The first – a swap program sized at an initial $71 billion – allows funds, insurers and brokers easier access to funding in order to buy stocks; and the second provides up to $42.5 billion in cheap PBOC loans to commercial banks to help them fund other entities’ share purchases and buybacks.

August economic data broadly missed expectations, adding urgency for policymakers to roll out more support.

On the fiscal side, local governments have been quickening bond issuance to help fund infrastructure projects, but analysts say more may be needed.

“An aggressive fiscal policy is required to inject genuine economic demand,” ANZ analysts said in a note on the PBOC moves, which they described as “far from being a bazooka.”

Investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Nomura, UBS and Bank of America have recently cut their 2024 growth forecasts.

The latest Chinese measures come after the U.S. Federal Reserve last week delivered a hefty rate cut, allowing the PBOC to ease monetary conditions without putting too much pressure on the yuan.

“There is still room for further easing in the months ahead as most global central banks are now on a rate-cut trajectory,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for greater China at ING.

“If we see a large fiscal policy push as well, momentum could recover heading into the fourth quarter.”
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Under the Taliban, the news media in Afghanistan are among the least free in the world, but a new generation of journalists is still keen to learn the skills of the trade. Even women, who are barred from attending university in Afghanistan, are finding ways to study. VOA’s Afghan service has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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state department — The United States has pledged to continue providing Taiwan with equipment and services essential for maintaining a self-defense capability in line with the threats it faces. This statement came as an annual U.S.-Taiwan defense industry conference kicked off Sunday in Philadelphia.

In the lead-up to the event, the conference organizer — the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) — was targeted by a phishing cyberattack involving a forged registration form embedded with information-stealing malware.

Despite the hackers’ attempt, the council — a nonprofit trade association founded in 1976 to promote commerce between the U.S. and Taiwan — thwarted the attack. The identity of the attackers remains unknown.

“As the council has been targeted by similar attacks for more than 20 years, we realized quickly that the document was suspicious,” USTBC said in a statement. The statement added that the council submitted the document to an online virus scanner, confirmed it was malicious and deleted it.

This year’s U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, which ends Tuesday, is the 23rd annual event in a series of conferences addressing U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan.

“There will be considerable focus on how Taiwan’s efforts to deter a Chinese attack are progressing … and how U.S. industry should support the U.S. and Taiwan government policy,” said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council.

“This is the most important annual gathering of U.S. industry and policymakers on U.S.-Taiwan defense relations,” he added.

Taiwan Relations Act

The State Department said that American officials’ participation in the annual conference aligns with long-standing U.S. policy.

Swift provision of equipment and services “is essential for Taiwan’s self-defense, and we will continue to work with industry to support that goal,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

“We continue to have an abiding interest in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Our ‘One China’ policy has not changed and remains guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, three joint communiques and six assurances,” the spokesperson added.

The 1979 U.S.-China Joint Communique shifted diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan’s formal name, to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Relations between the U.S. and Taiwan have since been governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, passed by Congress in April 1979, under which the U.S. provides defense equipment to Taiwan.

The act states that “any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes,” is a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of “grave concern to the United States.”

For decades, the U.S. has been clear that its decision to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1979 rested on the expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act.

China has objected to the Taiwan Relations Act — a U.S. public law — and deemed it invalid.

In 2022, the U.S. Congress authorized the president to direct the drawdown of up to $1 billion per fiscal year in Defense Department equipment and services for Taiwan. Since 2010, the State Department has authorized more than $38 billion in foreign military sales to Taiwan.

PRC sanctioned nine US firms

Since its establishment in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan, but it views the democratically governed island as its own territory and has vowed to bring Taiwan under its control, even by force.

In recent years, the PRC has frequently sent military vessels near Taiwan and warplanes into its air defense identification zone to pressure the island to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Last week, China announced sanctions against nine American companies in response to U.S. defense equipment sales to Taiwan. Beijing’s latest action aims to exert additional pressure on Washington to halt its arms sales to the Taipei government.

The sanctions followed the U.S. approval of an estimated $228 million package of spare parts and other hardware for Taiwan’s aging air force.

In Beijing, officials asserted that U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests.

“China urges the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques and immediately stop the dangerous trend of arming Taiwan,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a recent briefing.

“We will take strong and resolute measures to firmly defend our national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” Lin added.

The United States does not subscribe to the PRC’s “one China principle,” the U.S. State Department said. “The PRC continues to publicly misrepresent U.S. policy.”

 
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With pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai jailed in Hong Kong facing widely condemned charges, the journalist’s son and his international legal team are pushing the United States and other countries to help secure Lai’s immediate release. From Washington, Liam Scott has the story for VOA
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Islamabad — Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant-General Muhammad Asim Malik as the new head of the country’s top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI. 

The move comes amid persistent criticism of the powerful military-run agency for its alleged role in making or breaking elected governments in the South Asian nation.

A senior Pakistani security source confirmed to VOA on Monday that Malik will assume office as the agency’s next director general on September 30, replacing the current ISI chief, Nadeem Anjum. 

The military’s media wing did not immediately comment on the high-profile appointment, but Pakistan’s state broadcaster reported it with a brief profile of the new ISI chief. 

Malik graduated from Fort Leavenworth in the United States and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and currently serves as an adjutant general at the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, adjacent to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. 

The ISI’s meddling in national politics has lately been the subject of intense debate in Pakistan’s national media and political circles.  

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan accuses current ISI chief Anjum of playing a role at the behest of the military in ousting him from power in 2022 through an opposition parliamentary no-confidence vote, instituting frivolous lawsuits subsequently, and unleashing a crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to keep himfrom returning to power. 

Several federal and provincial court judges, in a recent letter to the Supreme Court chief justice, have also alleged that the ISI was pressuring them to decide cases against Khan to ensure he remains in jail. The incarcerated former prime minister remains Pakistan’s most popular politician. 

The military, in turn, has recently arrested Anjum’s predecessor, Faiz Hameed, and initiated his court marshal on various charges, including the use of his position as the ISI chief to enable Khan to suppress political opponents while in office. 

It is widely believed that Khan’s decision not to let Anjum replace Hameed in October 2021 angered the military and eventually led to the prime minister’s removal from power several months later.

Subsequent governments and the military deny having any political role or pressuring judges, a claim critics dispute. 

The army has ruled Pakistan for more than three decades since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947. Former Pakistani prime ministers, including Khan, and political parties say generals maintain control over foreign policy and national security issues.

Khan has persistently alleged in statements from his prison cell that the current coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “is merely a tout” of the military. He alleges that the army leadership used the ISI to massively rig the February 8 parliamentary elections this year to prevent his party from winning.  

The allegations were supported by a detailed Supreme Court majority decision released on Monday, resolving a petition concerning pre- and post-election controversies. The judgment declared several actions of Pakistan’s election commission in the lead-up to the polls “unlawful,” saying they were meant to keep PTI-nominated candidates from winning.

The judgment stated that the commission “has failed to fulfill this role in the general elections of 2024.” It noted that election authorities’ actions “significantly infringe upon the rights of the electorate and corrode their own institutional legitimacy.”

The vote outcome has worsened the political turmoil triggered by Khan’s ouster, undermining Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize an already troubled economy. A spike in militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces, which border Afghanistan, has added to the challenges facing the military-backed Sharif administration. 

“All this has familiar echoes of the past — a government unwilling to engage with the opposition, jailing opposition leaders, trying to steamroll legislation, and a desperate opposition in constant protest mode against a backdrop of economic gloom, weak governance, and ubiquitous establishment pulling the strings from behind the scenes,” Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, wrote in an article published by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper Monday.
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Brussels — The European Commission launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday against China’s investigation into EU dairy products, initiated after the European Union placed import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. 

This is the first time the European Union has taken such action at the start of an investigation, rather than wait for it to result in trade measures against the bloc. 

“The EU’s action was prompted by an emerging pattern of China initiating trade defense measures, based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence, within a short period of time,” the commission said. 

Proceedings at the WTO start with a mandatory period of 60 days for the parties to consult each other. The Commission said it would ask the WTO to set up an adjudicating panel if the consultations did not lead to a satisfactory solution. 

WTO panels usually take more than a year to reach conclusions. 

China initiated its anti-subsidy investigation on Aug. 21, targeting EU liquid milk, cream with a fat content above 10% and various types of cheeses. 

The Commission said it was confident that EU dairy subsidy schemes are fully in line with international rules and not causing injury to China’s dairy sector.  

The EU imposed provisional duties in July on electric vehicles built in China and EU members are expected to vote soon on final tariffs, which would apply for five years. 

China also has ongoing anti-dumping investigations into EU brandy and pork. 

(Reuters reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz Janowski) 
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Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s first leftist president was sworn into office Monday vowing to restore public faith in politics after anger over the island nation’s unprecedented economic crisis propelled him to a landslide poll win.

Self-avowed Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayaka of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) took his oath at the colonial-era Presidential Secretariat in Colombo after trouncing his nearest rivals in Saturday’s vote.

The previously fringe politician, whose party led two failed uprisings that left tens of thousands dead, saw a surge of support after the country’s 2022 economic meltdown forced painful hardships on ordinary Sri Lankans.

Dissanayaka, 55, was sworn in by the chief justice in a ceremony attended by lawmakers, members of the Buddhist clergy and the military who sang the national anthem after the ceremony.

“I will do my best to fully restore the people’s confidence in politicians,” Dissanayaka said after taking the oath.

“I am not a conjurer, I am not a magician,” he added. “There are things I know and things I don’t know, but I will seek the best advice and do my best. For that, I need the support of everyone.”

Dissanayaka succeeds outgoing president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office at the peak of the financial crisis following the government’s first-ever foreign debt default and months of punishing food, fuel and medicine shortages.

Wickremesinghe, 75, imposed steep tax hikes and other austerity measures per the terms of an International Monetary Fund bailout.

His policies ended the shortages and returned the economy to growth but left millions struggling to make ends meet.

“I can confidently say that I did my best to stabilize the country during one of its darkest periods,” he said in a statement after placing a distant third in Saturday’s poll.

Shortly before the ceremony, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned, clearing the way for Dissanayaka to appoint his own cabinet.

Dissanayaka’s party has said he wants to have his own cabinet until a fresh parliament is elected later this year. His JVP party has only three members in the 225-member parliament.

He has vowed to press ahead with the IMF rescue package negotiated by his predecessor last year but modify its terms in order to deliver tax cuts.

“It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate,” Bimal Ratnayake, a senior member of Dissanayaka’s party, told AFP.

Legacy of violence

Dissanayaka’s party led two rebellions in the 1970s and 1980s that left more than 80,000 people dead before renouncing violence.

It had been a peripheral player in Sri Lankan politics in the decades since, winning less than four percent of the vote during the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020.

But Sri Lanka’s crisis proved an opportunity for Dissanayaka, who saw his popularity rise after pledging to change the island’s “corrupt” political culture.

The 55-year-old laborer’s son was a JVP student leader during the second insurrection and has described how one of his teachers sheltered him to save him from government-backed death squads that killed party activists.

He counts famous Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara among his heroes.

Since his rise to popularity, he has softened some policies, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatization.
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BEIJING/TAIPEI — China’s national security ministry said on Monday a Taiwan military-backed hacking group called Anonymous 64 has been carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, urging people to report “anti-propaganda sabotage.”

Taiwan’s defense ministry denied the allegations, saying China was the real disturber of the peace with its cyber attacks and military harassment.

Since the beginning of this year, Anonymous 64 – which China’s national security ministry said belonged to Taiwan’s cyber warfare wing – has sought to upload and broadcast “content that denigrates the mainland’s political system and major policies,” on websites, outdoor screens and network TV stations, it said in a blog post.

Taiwan frequently accuses Chinese groups of seeking to spread online disinformation or carry out cyberattacks across the democratically governed island. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has ramped up military and political pressure against over the past five years to assert its claims.

The Taiwan defense ministry’s Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command said China’s accusations were untrue.

“The current enemy situation and cyber threats are severe,” it said in a statement. “The Chinese communist military and forces that coordinate with it continue to use aircraft, ships and cyber attacks to harass Taiwan and are the originators of undermining regional peace.”

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

The hacking group’s X account said it was set up in June 2023 and showed screenshots of efforts to broadcast videos likening Chinese President Xi Jinping to an emperor, marking the second anniversary of protests against Beijing’s strict COVID curbs and commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

One video was an address from an Anonymous 64 member wearing the Anonymous hacking group’s Guy Fawkes mask in the style of the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta.

Neither the X site nor the blog post from China’s national security ministry said whether Anonymous 64 had any affiliation with the international hacking group.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify where the group was based or whether they had actually carried out the hacking attacks they were accused of.

In the blog post published on its official WeChat account, the national security ministry said its investigation into the group had found many of the websites Anonymous 64 claimed to have accessed were fake or had little no traffic. Posts showing it having infiltrated numerous university and media websites had been photoshopped, the ministry added.

The security ministry published screenshots of the group’s X account with heavily redacted text. It also said it had opened a case against three members of Taiwan’s cyber warfare wing.

“We advocate that netizens should not believe in or spread rumors and should promptly report cyberattacks or cases of anti-propaganda activity to the national security authorities,” the blog post said.
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HANOI, VIETNAM — Vietnam aims to have at least one semiconductor fabrication plant and 10 packaging plants by 2030, and will launch a fund to help foreign investors mitigate the impacts of the global minimum business tax, the government said on the weekend.

The country’s semiconductor industry is targeting revenue of $25 billion by 2030, the government said in a statement after the release of its semiconductor industry development strategy on Saturday.

The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub, is seeking to move to high-tech industries from labor-intensive ones. As part of its drive, the country aims to have 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030, the government said.

Several global electronics and semiconductor firms including Intel, Samsung, Amkor Technology, Qualcomm and Marvell Technology have facilities in the country.

Beyond the initial 2030 target, the government said it plans to have at least three semiconductor fabrication plants and 20 packaging plants, with annual revenues of $100 billion, by 2050.

In July, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said it was finalizing a draft plan to set up a fund to help attract foreign investment into high-tech industries and maintain the country’s competitiveness.
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Uniondale, New York — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuing a multiday U.S. visit, addressed a cultural celebration on Long Island Sunday, where he praised the United States’ return of nearly 300 antiquities to India and relayed news of his country’s dual win at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, to an enthusiastic crowd.

“I just got some very good news,” Modi told an estimated 13,000 people inside Nassau Veterans Coliseum for an event billed as a celebration of cultural ties between India and the United States. “In the Chess Olympiad, in both the men’s and women’s tournament, India has won gold medals,” he said to applause in a speech that was translated into English for an online audience.

Modi was reelected in June following a marathon election in which more than 640 million votes were cast over a span of six weeks in the world’s largest democratic exercise.

“This year, 2024, is a very important one for the entire world,” he said. “On the one hand, there are conflicts raging between several countries in the world, there is tension. And on the other, democracy is being celebrated in several countries of the world. India and America are also together in this celebration of democracy.”

Modi’s appearance in New York came a day after he attended a summit hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, for leaders of the so-called Quad that also included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan.

Also Saturday, Modi accepted the return of 297 antiquities spanning thousands of years that had been stolen or trafficked from India. The U.S. has returned nearly 600 such cultural artifacts to India since 2016, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

On Monday, the prime minister is expected to attend a United Nations summit in advance of this week’s General Assembly.

Sunday’s event was sponsored by the not-for-profit Indo American Community of USA.
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Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Monday to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns, two sources told Reuters.

The Biden administration has raised serious concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on U.S. drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the internet and navigation systems.

The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the decision had not been publicly disclosed.

The move is a significant escalation in the United States’ ongoing restrictions on Chinese vehicles, software and components. Last week, the Biden administration locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including a 100% duty on electric vehicles as well as new hikes on EV batteries and key minerals.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in May the risks of Chinese software or hardware in connected U.S. vehicles were significant.

“You can imagine the most catastrophic outcome theoretically if you had a couple million cars on the road and the software were disabled,” she said.

President Joe Biden in February ordered an investigation into whether Chinese vehicle imports pose national security risks over connected-car technology — and if that software and hardware should be banned in all vehicles on U.S. roads.

“China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security,” Biden said earlier. “I’m not going to let that happen on my watch.”

The Commerce Department plans to give the public 30 days to comment before any finalization of the rules, the sources said. Nearly all newer vehicles on U.S. roads are considered “connected.” Such vehicles have onboard network hardware that allows internet access, allowing them to share data with devices both inside and outside the vehicle.

The department also plans to propose making the prohibitions on software effective in the 2027 model year and the ban on hardware would take effect in January 2029 or the 2030 model year. The prohibitions in question would include vehicles with certain Bluetooth, satellite and wireless features as well as highly autonomous vehicles that could operate without a driver behind the wheel.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers in November raised alarm about Chinese auto and tech companies collecting and handling sensitive data while testing autonomous vehicles in the United States.

The prohibitions would extend to other foreign U.S. adversaries, including Russia, the sources said.

A trade group representing major automakers including General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai and others had warned that changing hardware and software would take time.

The carmakers noted their systems “undergo extensive pre-production engineering, testing, and validation processes and, in general, cannot be easily swapped with systems or components from a different supplier.”

The Commerce Department declined to comment on Saturday. Reuters first reported, in early August, details of a plan that would have the effect of barring the testing of autonomous vehicles by Chinese automakers on U.S. roads. There are relatively few Chinese-made light-duty vehicles imported into the United States.

The White House on Thursday signed off on the final proposal, according to a government website. The rule is aimed at ensuring the security of the supply chain for U.S. connected vehicles. It will apply to all vehicles on U.S. roads, but not for agriculture or mining vehicles, the sources said.

Biden noted that most cars are connected like smartphones on wheels, linked to phones, navigation systems, critical infrastructure and to the companies that made them.
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Cognac, France — Frustrated cognac producers in southwestern France are growing increasingly anxious over the looming threat of Chinese tariffs on European brandy, a move industry representatives worry could force French liquor from the Chinese market.

Some 800 protesters riding on tractors and carrying signs gathered in France’s southwestern town of Cognac this week demanding a delay to an upcoming European Union vote to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

This protest — the first since 1998 — comes after Beijing refused to rule out future tariffs following an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union.

The probe was launched months after the EU undertook an investigation into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.

And with the EU set to vote next week on introducing tariffs on Chinese EVs, France’s brandy makers are worried about the consequences that vote could have on their livelihood.  

“The situation is urgent,” said Anthony Brun, the union head for Cognac’s brandy makers, adding that a decision to levy tariffs on Chinese EVs “will jeopardize the entire industry.”

Cognac’s interprofessional association BNIC said it was recently notified that China intends to impose tariffs of around 35% on European brandy, a move seen as targeting France.

This comes despite repeated assurances from Beijing it would not implement provisional tariffs after it found European brandy had been dumped into China, threatening the country’s domestic industry with “substantial damage.”  

“For a year now, we have been warning French and European authorities about this risk and the need to stop this downward spiral,” wrote Brun in a letter addressed to new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier about the tariff threat.

“We are the victims without being in any way responsible. … We have not been listened to,” Brun said, writing on behalf of the cognac union.

In May, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked his Chinese counterpart for not imposing customs duties on French cognac amid the probe, presenting Xi Jinping with bottles of the expensive drink.

But cooperating with Chinese authorities has produced “no results” and incurred millions in costs, said Florent Morillon, head of BNIC.

Tariffs could force French brandy to “disappear from the Chinese market,” which accounts for a quarter of exports, added Morillon.

The threat of losing the Chinese market could be existential for some brandy makers, who count on overseas consumers for up to 60% of their profits.

China imported more brandy than any other spirit in 2022, with most of it coming from France, according to a report by research group Daxue Consulting.

Cognac producers are calling on the EU to postpone its September 25 vote on imposing tariffs on EVs imported from China, fearing China will respond with customs duties on European brandy.

“We have no way out,” said Rodolphe Texier, a member of a farmers’ union in France’s western Charente region.

“If Europe doesn’t follow us, we’re dead,” said Texier, adding he is concerned about widespread repercussions throughout the industry which could impact everyone from distillers to barrel makers to truck drivers.

With more than 4,400 farms and some 85,000 jobs, France’s cognac industry is already in trouble after it saw a 22% drop in sales in 2023 and dramatically reduced new vine planting zones.

France’s brandy makers are not the only ones under pressure, as Beijing launched a probe into EU subsidiaries on some dairy products in August.

Even though a meeting is set “in principle” between BNIC and the prime minister’s office, Florent Morillon told AFP there is a feeling of being “taken hostage” by Paris and Brussels.

“The French and European authorities have decided to sacrifice us,” wrote union head Anthony Brun.

“Never mind our jobs, our weight in the local economy, our contribution to trade, and to France’s image,” he added.
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New Delhi      — In Sri Lanka, Marxist-leaning lawmaker, Anura Kumar Dissanayake, has won the presidential election on promises of helping the poor and stamping out corruption in a country where an economic meltdown two years ago led to a resounding cry for systemic change.   

It represents a major shift in the politics of the South Asian country, which rejected mainstream political parties that have governed the country for decades. Dissanayake, 55, known for his pro-working class stance, heads a left-leaning coalition, the National People’s Power.   

His own party, the JVP, which was once a fringe, radical group, holds only three seats in the 225-member parliament and has not been part of the political mainstream.      

Political analysts say widespread disillusionment with established political parties catapulted Dissanayake to the top post.   

“This victory belongs to all of us” Dissanayake wrote in a post on X. “We stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history.”   

“We believe that we can turn this country around, we can build a stable government,” Dissanayake told reporters. “For me this is not a position, it is a responsibility.”   

He emerged the winner following a historic second round of counting after none of the three leading candidates secured the 50% plus one vote required to secure an outright victory in the initial count. He had secured 42% of the votes cast in the first count.   

Dissanayake’s alliance is made up of different groups that include political parties, youth, civil society and women’s groups and trade unions. It is centered on the working class.    

“We have rejected the old-school parties. I am overjoyed, this is what we need.” said tour guide Hasitha Vishwa. “For us, the younger generation, Dissanayake is a symbol of non-corruption. Previous politicians were too corrupt.”  

The coming months could see a dramatic change in Sri Lanka’s political landscape. Dissanayake has promised to dissolve parliament after taking power to seek a fresh mandate for his policies in general elections. It is the first time that a country that has adopted free-market policies for over five decades, will have a government with a left-leaning ideology.   

Popularly known as AKD, the firebrand politician, presented himself as the candidate who will clean up the country’s politics — the demand made by tens of thousands of protestors two years ago when they stormed the presidential palace and ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Protestors had blamed entrenched corruption and mismanagement for the country’s economic collapse.   

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe was praised for stabilizing the economy and bringing it back from the brink of bankruptcy, but was blamed by many for failing to address concerns about corruption and protecting the country’s Rajapaksa political dynasty.  He was eliminated from the second count after winning only 17% of the vote. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa won 32% of the vote.   

“History will judge my efforts, but I can confidently say that I did my best to stabilize the country during one of its darkest periods,” Wickremesinghe said in a statement.   

Political analysts said that while the demand for change has swept Dissanayake to victory, a country whose economic future is at stake, is entering uncharted territory.   

“He is basically untested. He is a new kid on the block,” according to Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director at the Center for Policy Alternatives. “We don’t know what his team is and whether they will have the expertise and experience to deal with the challenges that confront the country.”   

Dissanayake now faces the daunting task of delivering on the primary concern for many voters — easing the hardship that millions grapple with due to spiraling costs of living. 

Tough economic reforms imposed after the country secured a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund to rescue its economy from bankruptcy have led to higher prices of essentials like food and fuel. Many in the country were pushed into poverty or saw their living standards plummet.     

“Yes, he has promised to ease the burden on people due to austerity measures, but the key question is where will the money come from,” questioned analyst Paikiasothy.    

Dissanayake has said he will adhere to the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout package and repayment of the country’s debt, which is critical to build on the fragile economic recovery that took place in the last two years.   

But he has pledged to renegotiate the terms of the IMF deal to make austerity measures more bearable by lowering taxes.     

“It will be a sea change for Sri Lanka. A lot of people are excited about the prospect and a lot of people are worried about that prospect,” said Alan Keenan, Senior Consultant, Sri Lanka, at the International Crisis Group.   

Dissanayake will take the oath of office on Monday. About 17% of the country 17.1 million voters cast ballots in the election. 
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Islamabad — A roadside bomb detonated near a convoy of foreign diplomats visiting Pakistan’s scenic Swat district Sunday, killing at least one police officer and injuring several others.

Police officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the district is located, confirmed the casualties, saying the victims were part of the squad leading the convoy of about a dozen countries. They noted that all the foreign dignitaries were unharmed.

The foreigners were mostly ambassadors from Russia, Portugal, Iran, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“All the ambassadors remained safe in the attack and had been shifted to a safe place before their departure to Islamabad,” said Mohammad Ali Gandapur, a senior provincial police officer.

In a late evening statement, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry reported that “the group of diplomats has returned safely to Islamabad.”

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office stated that he condemned the attack as a “cowardly terrorist” act.

Russian Ambassador Albert Khorev’s office in Islamabad confirmed his presence in the convoy, along with several other ambassadors, saying they took part in a tourism summit in Swat.

“On the way to the hotel from the town of Mingora in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, an escort vehicle hit a mine. Several policemen were injured, [but] diplomats were not harmed,” the Russian embassy wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

No group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s rare attack in Swat, a former stronghold of the Terik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an Islamist insurgent militant group waging deadly attacks against military and police forces in the province and elsewhere in the country.

Pakistani Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, a resident of Swat, was shot and seriously wounded by TTP militants in 2012, apparently in retaliation for her campaign to promote girls’ education in the largely conservative district. Malala was swiftly airlifted to Britain for treatment.

TTP’s intensified attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, have killed more than 100 police and an equal number of civilians since the start of the year.

Pakistan alleges that the extremist group is orchestrating the violence from Afghan sanctuaries and is being facilitated by Taliban rulers of the neighboring country.

The Taliban government in Kabul, which is officially not recognized by any country, rejects the allegations, saying no foreign group, including TTP, is being allowed to use Afghan soil against other countries.
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COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa headed to a run-off for Sri Lanka’s presidency on Sunday, the election body said, with a second round of counting to determine the winner using preferential votes.

It is the first time in Sri Lanka’s history that the presidential race is to be decided by a second round of counting after the top two candidates failed to win the mandatory 50% of votes to be declared winner.

All remaining candidates, including incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, have been disqualified, the Election Commission told reporters. Dissanayake polled 39.5% of the counted ballots with Premadasa finishing second at 34%.

Wickremesinghe, who led the heavily indebted nation’s fragile economic recovery from a debilitating crisis in 2022, trailed in third with 17%.

This is Sri Lanka’s first election since the Indian Ocean nation’s economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving it unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas. Protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.

“The election result clearly shows the uprising that we witnessed in 2022 is not over,” said Pradeep Peiris, a political scientist at University of Colombo.

“People have voted in line with those aspirations to have different political practices and political institutions. AKD (as Dissanayake is known) reflects these aspirations and people have rallied around him.”

Dissanayake, 55, presented himself as the candidate of change for those reeling under austerity measures linked to a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, promising to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office for a fresh mandate for his policies in general elections.

He has worried investors with a manifesto pledging to slash taxes in the island nation, which could impact IMF fiscal targets, and a $25 billion debt rework. But during the campaign, he took a more conciliatory approach, saying any changes would be undertaken in consultation with the IMF and that he was committed to ensuring repayment of debt.

Premadasa also pledged to renegotiate the contours of the IMF deal.

Grinding poverty for millions

Buttressed by the IMF deal, Sri Lanka’s economy has posted a tentative recovery. It is expected to grow this year for the first time in three years and inflation has collapsed to 0.5% from a crisis peak of 70%.

But the continued high cost of living was a critical issue for many voters, and millions remain mired in poverty, with many pinning hopes of a better future on the next leader.

Voting was peaceful, although police declared a curfew across the island nation until noon (0630 GMT) as a precaution while vote counting continued.

About 75% of the 17 million eligible voters cast their ballots, according to the commission.

Dissanayake, known for stirring speeches, ran as a candidate for the National People’s Power alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna party. Traditionally, Dissanayake’s party has backed stronger state intervention, lower taxes and more closed market economic policies.

Although JVP has just three seats in parliament, Dissanayake was boosted by his promises of tough anti-corruption measures and more pro-poor policies. He drew big crowds at rallies, calling on Sri Lankans to leave behind the suffering of the crisis.

Premadasa, 57, entered politics after his father, President Ranasinghe Premadasa, was killed in a suicide bombing in 1993. The younger Premadasa polled 42% of the votes in 2019 to finish second, behind Rajapaksa, in the last presidential election.

Premadasa’s center-left party has promised tax changes to reduce living costs. Support from farming communities in north and central Sri Lanka helped him close the gap on Dissanayake as counting progressed.

The winner will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF program until 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, repay debt, attract investors and help a quarter of its people climb out of poverty.
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SANBAGAWA, Japan — Benmou Suzuki’s dilapidated 420-year-old temple, located deep in the forest near a tiny Japanese mountain village, hardly looks like prized real estate.

Yet the monk was recently approached by two men, who said they were real estate brokers and wanted to know if he was interested in selling.

He suspects they weren’t really interested in the ornate building at the trailhead of a sacred mountain, but the special tax status that comes with running a religious property.

“There are people out there who want a temple, even a mountain temple like this. In fact, considering the value of the religious corporation status, this temple could fetch quite a lot of money,” said 52-year-old Suzuki.

As Japan’s population falls and interest in religion declines, there are fewer people to contribute to the upkeep of the country’s numerous temples and shrines. Suzuki’s Mikaboyama temple, for example, is located in Sanbagawa — an area a three-hour drive from Tokyo with only 500 residents and which also has three other Buddhist temples, one Shinto shrine and a church.

A surge in religious properties coming up for sale has Japanese authorities worried that prospective buyers are not interested in them for heavenly purposes. Rather they fear many are out to dodge taxes or possibly even launder money.

“It’s already a sense of crisis for us and the religious community,” said an official at Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, which oversees religious sites.

Cases of temple or shrine properties being extensively repurposed have triggered public outrage. In Osaka, a temple sold in 2020 was later razed and dozens of graves were relocated to make way for a property development. In Kyoto, a case about a temple that was demolished and turned into a parking lot made headlines this year.

Owning a temple, shrine or church recognized as a religious corporation in Japan can confer sizeable tax benefits. Businesses under such corporations that offer religious services such as funerals do not have to pay taxes while other non-religious businesses also enjoy preferential tax rates. A wide range of undertakings are allowed from restaurants to hair salons to hotels.

Japan had about 180,000 religious sites with corporation status as end-2023, according to the agency’s data. The number of so-called inactive corporations — such as those with no religious events for more than a year — jumped by a third to more than 4,400.

When monks or priests die without a successor, the overseeing religious group will usually appoint someone to take over or voluntarily relinquish the site’s corporation status.

However, there are around 7,000 religious sites that operate independently of these groups and are considered easy to acquire, according to the agency and specialist brokers.

The cultural affairs agency said it has stepped up efforts to dissolve the corporation status of inactive religious sites to stop them from being targeted by dubious buyers.

And when big earthquakes hit, often damaging temples and shrines, agency officials visit religious groups in those areas, warning them about falling prey to such buyers.

Last year, 17 religious corporations were voluntarily dissolved and six were ordered to dissolve. The agency said the number would increase this year and next year as it ratchets up scrutiny.

It might seem easier for Japan to change its laws to more strictly control the criteria for purchasing religious sites. But the agency said the government is wary about amending laws related to religion as that could be seen as impinging on religious freedom which is guaranteed by Japan’s constitution.

Reuters checks of six websites specializing in brokering the sale of religious properties showed hundreds on the market. Most are only obliquely described online with brokers saying sellers prefer to conduct sales as privately as possible.

Osaka-based broker Takao Yamamoto told Reuters interest is surging. A religious corporation license alone can fetch 30 million yen ($210,000), he adds. Some religious sites, especially those with profitable graveyards, are advertised for millions of dollars.

“Anyone can buy independent sites as long as you have money…even foreigners can buy them. Recently, a lot of Chinese people are trying to buy them,” Yamamoto said.

For his part, Suzuki says he has no intention to sell Mikaboyama temple and is working on ideas to raise funds to maintain it. “Temples are places for local people to gather and forge connections. We just can’t get rid of them,” he said. 
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KAWARAMACHI, Japan — Time seems to stop here. 

Women sit in a small circle, quietly, painstakingly stitching patterns on balls the size of an orange, a stitch at a time. 

At the center of the circle is Eiko Araki, a master of the Sanuki Kagari Temari, a Japanese traditional craft passed down for more than 1,000 years on the southwestern island of Shikoku. 

Each ball — known as a “temari” ball — is a work of art, with colorful geometric patterns carrying poetic names like “firefly flowers” and “layered stars.” A temari ball takes weeks or months to finish. Some cost hundreds of dollars (tens of thousands of yen), although others are much cheaper. 

These kaleidoscopic balls aren’t for throwing or kicking around. They’re destined to be heirlooms, carrying prayers for health and goodness. They might be treasured like a painting or piece of sculpture in a Western home. 

The concept behind temari is an elegant otherworldliness, an impractical beauty that is also very labor-intensive to create. 

“Out of nothing, something this beautiful is born, bringing joy,” said Araki. “I want it to be remembered there are beautiful things in this world that can only be made by hand.” 

Natural materials 

The region where temari originated was good for growing cotton, warm with little rainfall, and the spherical creations continue to be made out of the humble material. 

At Araki’s studio, which also serves as head office for temari’s preservation society, there are 140 hues of cotton thread, including delicate pinks and blues, as well as more vivid colors and all the subtle gradations in between. 

The women dye them by hand, using plants, flowers and other natural ingredients, including cochineal, which is a bug living in cacti that produces a red dye. The deeper shade of indigo is dyed again and again to turn just about black. Yellow and blue are combined to form gorgeous greens. Soy juice is added to deepen the tints, a dash of organic protein. 

Outside the studio, loops of cotton thread, in various tones of yellow today, hang outside in the shade to dry. 

Creating and embroidering the balls 

The arduous process starts with making the basic ball mold on which the stitching is done. Rice husks that are cooked then dried are placed in a piece of cotton, then wound with thread, over and over, until, almost magically, a ball appears in your hands. 

Then the stitching begins. 

The balls are surprisingly hard, so each stitch requires a concentrated, almost painful, push. The motifs must be precise and even. 

Each ball has lines to guide the stitching — one that goes around it like the equator, and others that zigzag to the top and bottom. 

Appealing to a new generation 

These days, temari is getting some new recognition, among Japanese and foreigners as well. Caroline Kennedy took lessons in the ball-making when she was United States ambassador to Japan a decade ago. 

Yoshie Nakamura, who promotes Japanese handcrafted art in her duty-free shop at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, says she features temari there because of its intricate and delicate designs. 

“Temari that might have been everyday in a faraway era is now being used for interior decoration,” she said. 

“I really feel each Sanuki Kagari Temari speaks of a special, one-and-only existence in the world.” 

Araki has come up with newer designs that feel both modern and historical. She is trying to make the balls more accessible to everyday life — for instance, as Christmas tree ornaments. A strap with a dangling miniature ball, though quite hard to make because of its size, is affordable at about 1,500 yen ($10) each. 

Another of Araki’s inventions is a cluster of pastel balls that opens and closes with tiny magnets. Fill it with sweet-smelling herbs for a kind of aromatic diffuser. 

A tradition passed down through generations 

Araki, a graceful woman who talks very slowly, her head cocked to one side as though always in thought, often travels to Tokyo to teach. But mostly she works and gives lessons in her studio, an abandoned kindergarten with faded blue paint and big windows with tired wooden frames. 

She started out as a metalwork artist. Her husband’s parents were temari masters who worked hard to resurrect the artform when it was declining in the modern age, at risk of dying out. 

They were stoic people, rarely bestowing praise and instead always scolding her, she remembers. It’s a tough-love approach that’s common in the handing down of many Japanese traditional arts, from Kabuki acting to hogaku music, that demand lifetimes of selfless devotion. 

Today, only several dozen people, all women, can make the temari balls to traditional standards. 

“The most challenging aspect is nurturing successors. It typically takes over 10 years to train them, so you need people who are willing to continue the craft for a very long time,” Araki said. 

“When people start to feel joy along with the hardship that comes with making temari, they tend to keep going.” 
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TOKYO — Rescue workers searched for at least six people missing Sunday after heavy rain pounded Japan’s northcentral region of Noto, triggering landslides and floods and leaving one person dead in a region still recovering from a deadly January 1 earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency on Saturday issued the highest alert level for heavy rain across several cities in the Ishikawa prefecture, including hard-hit cities Suzu and Wajima on the northern coast of the Noto peninsula.

The agency has since downgraded the heavy rain alert and kept landslide and flooding warnings in place.

In Suzu, one person died and another was missing after being swept in floodwaters. Another went missing in the nearby town of Noto, according to the prefecture.

In Wajima, rescue workers were searching for four people missing following a landslide at a construction site. They were among 60 construction workers repairing a tunnel damaged by January’s quake.

The FDMA said another person was missing due to floods at a different location in the city.

NHK footage at a coastal area of Wajima showed a wooden house torn and tilted after it was apparently hit by a landslide. No injuries were reported from the site.

In Noto town, two people were seriously injured by a landslide while visiting their quake-damaged home.

At least 16 rivers in Ishikawa breached their banks as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Land and Infrastructure Ministry. Residents were urged to use maximum caution against possible mudslides and building damage.

By late afternoon Saturday, about 1,350 residents were taking shelter at designated community centers, school gymnasiums and other town facilities, authorities said.

About 50 centimeters of rain has fallen in the region over the last three days, due to the rainbands that cause torrential rain above the Hokuriku region, JMA said.

“Heavy rain is hitting the region that had been badly damaged by the Noto earthquake, and I believe many people are feeling very uneasy,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Hayashi said the government “puts people’s lives first” and its priority was search and rescue operations. He also called on the residents to pay close attention to the latest weather and evacuation advisories and take precautions early, adding that the Self Defense Force troops have been dispatched to Ishikawa to join rescue efforts.

A resident in Wajima told NHK that he has just finished cleaning his house from the quake damage and it was depressing to now see it flooded by muddy water.

A number of roads flooded by muddy water were also blocked. Hokuriku Electric Power Co. said more than 5,000 homes were still without power Sunday. Traffic lights were out in the affected areas. Many homes were also without water supply.

Heavy rain also fell in nearby northern prefectures of Niigata and Yamagata, threatening flooding and other damages and suspending train operations, including the Yamagata Shinkansen bullet trains, officials said.

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the region on January 1, killing more than 370 people and damaging roads and other key infrastructure. Its aftermath still affects the local industry, economy and daily lives.
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