Japan PM Ishiba weighs whether to step down over US trade talks, Yomiuri says
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Tokyo on July 21, 2025, the day after the prime minister's coalition lost its upper house majority. PHILIP FONG/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning to soon decide whether to step down after assessing progress in tariff negotiations with the United States, Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Ishiba is facing growing opposition from within his Liberal Democratic Party for his vow to stay in power despite the ruling coalition's bruising defeat in Sunday's upper house election.
The outcome of Japan's ongoing trade talks with the U.S. will become clear this month, as negotiators rush to clinch a deal by the August 1 deadline, which could become a turning point for the administration, the paper said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday Asian hours that he had just completed a "massive" deal with Japan that included $550 billion in investments into the United States.
According to Yomiuri, Ishiba told his close associates on Tuesday evening that he would explain how he would take responsibility for the election loss once a solution was reached on trade negotiations.
The prime minister was planning to hold a press conference to announce his decision once the tariff negotiations' outcome became clear, the newspaper reported without citing its sources.
The prime minister's official residence was not immediately available to comment on Yomiuri's report. REUTERS
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Viral 'honour' killing in southwest Pakistan triggers national outrage
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: Policewomen escort Gul Jan Bibi (C), mother of Bano Bibi, who along with a man was killed after being accused of having an affair, in a so-called honour killing after a video showing the couple being shot went viral on social media, at a local court in Quetta, Pakistan July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Wali/File Photo KARACHI - A viral video of the "honour killing" of a woman and her lover in a remote part of Pakistan has ignited national outrage, prompting scrutiny of long-standing tribal codes and calls for justice in a country where such killings often pass in silence. While hundreds of so-called honour killings are reported in Pakistan each year, often with little public or legal response, the video of a woman and man accused of adultery being taken to the desert by a group of men to be killed has struck a nerve. The video shows the woman, Bano Bibi, being handed a Koran by a man identified by police as her brother. "Come walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me," she says, and she walks forward a few feet and stops with her back to the men. The brother, Jalal Satakzai, then shoots her three times and she collapses. Seconds later he shoots and kills the man, Ehsan Ullah Samalani, whom Bano was accused of having an affair with. Once the video of the killings in Pakistan's Balochistan province went viral, it brought swift government action and condemnation from politicians, rights groups and clerics. Civil rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said, though, the government's response was more about performance than justice. "The crime occurred months ago, not in secrecy but near a provincial capital, yet no one acted until 240 million witnessed the killing on camera," he said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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The mother, Gul Jan Bibi, said the killings were carried out by family and local elders based on "centuries-old Baloch traditions", and not on the orders of the tribal chief. "We did not commit any sin," she said in a video statement that also went viral. "Bano and Ehsan were killed according to our customs." She said her daughter, who had three sons and two daughters, had run away with Ehsan and returned after 25 days. Police said Bano's younger brother, who shot the couple, remains at large. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said it was a "test" case and vowed to dismantle the illegal tribal courts operating outside the law. Police had earlier said a jirga, an informal tribal council that issues extrajudicial rulings, had ordered the killings. #JusticeForCouple The video sparked online condemnation, with hashtags like #JusticeForCouple and #HonourKilling trending. The Pakistan Ulema Council, a body of religious scholars, called the killings "un-Islamic" and urged terrorism charges against those involved. Dozens of civil society members and rights activists staged a protest on Saturday in the provincial capital Quetta, demanding justice and an end to parallel justice systems. "Virality is a double-edged sword," said Arsalan Khan, a cultural anthropologist and professor who studies gender and masculinity. "It can pressure the state into action, but public spectacle can also serve as a strategy to restore ghairat, or perceived family honour, in the eyes of the community." Pakistan outlawed honour killings in 2016 after the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch, closing a loophole that allowed perpetrators to go free if they were pardoned by family members. Rights groups say enforcement remains weak, especially in rural areas where tribal councils still hold sway. "In a country where conviction rates often fall to single digits, visibility - and the uproar it brings - has its advantages," said constitutional lawyer Asad Rahim Khan. "It jolts a complacent state that continues to tolerate jirgas in areas beyond its writ." The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported at least 405 honour killings in 2024. Most victims are women, often killed by relatives claiming to defend family honour. Khan said rather than enforcing the law, the government has spent the past year weakening the judiciary and even considering reviving jirgas in former tribal areas. "It's executive inaction, most shamefully toward women in Balochistan," Khan said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in recent months has asked senior ministers to evaluate proposals to revive jirgas in Pakistan's former tribal districts, including potential engagement with tribal elders and Afghan authorities. The Prime Minister's Office and Pakistan's information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment. VIRAL AND THEN FORGOTTEN? The Balochistan killings were raised in Pakistan's Senate, where the human rights committee condemned the murders and called for action against those who convened the jirga. Lawmakers also warned that impunity for parallel justice systems risked encouraging similar violence. Activists and analysts, however, say the outrage is unlikely to be sustained. "There's noise now, but like every time, it will fade," said Jalila Haider, a human rights lawyer in Quetta. "In many areas, there is no writ of law, no enforcement. Only silence." Haider said the killings underscore the state's failure to protect citizens in under-governed regions like Balochistan, where tribal power structures fill the vacuum left by absent courts and police. "It's not enough to just condemn jirgas," Haider said. "The real question is: why does the state allow them to exist in the first place?" REUTERS
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Japan expects only 1% to 2% of $550 billion US fund to be investment
[TOKYO] Japan expects only 1 to 2 per cent of its recently agreed upon US$550 billion US fund to be in the form of actual investment, with the bulk of it being loans, according to the nation's top chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa. At the same time, Tokyo would save roughly 10 trillion yen (S$87 billion) through lower tariff rates in its deal with America, he said. The US$550 billion investment framework will be a combination of investments, loans and loan guarantees provided by financial institutions backed by the Japanese government, Akazawa said on public broadcaster NHK on Saturday (Jul 26) night. Of the total, investment would be worth 1 per cent or 2 per cent and the US and Japan would split the profits of that investment at a ratio of 90-10, he said. Japan had originally proposed a 50-50 ratio, he added. The fund is a centrepiece of the deal announced by the two sides that will impose 15 per cent tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods. But the details given by Akazawa suggest the Japanese may end up giving up much less than at first glance. The comments come as officials from countries with deals with the US sift through the terms to explain to the public what they entail. 'It's not that US$550 billion in cash will be sent to the US,' Akazawa said. 'By letting the US have 90 per cent of the profits rather than 50 per cent, I think Japan's loss will be at most a couple of tens of billions of yen. People are saying various things, such as 'You sold out Japan', but they are wrong.' For the loans provided through the programme, Japan will simply be collecting the interest payments, and for the loan guarantees, if nothing happens, Japan will also be just collecting fees, Akazawa said. 'For that part, Japan's just making money,' he said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Akazawa also clarified that the investment programme will not be only supporting Japanese and US firms. As a potential example, he cited a Taiwanese semiconductor firm building a factory in the US. 'We'd like to put the US$550 billion in place during President Trump's term,' Akazawa added. Further details of the implementation of the US-Japan deal remain unclear, including when the new tariff rates would take effect and when the new investment vehicle would kick off. There's been no joint document signed by both sides for the deal, although the White House has published a fact sheet. 'If you say something like, 'Let's create a joint document,' they will say, 'We will lower tariffs after the document is created,'' Akazawa said. In order not to lose time, 'we will demand that they issue an executive order to lower tariffs as soon as possible, regardless of a document'. Last week, Akazawa said that he expects universal tariffs on Japan's shipments to be lowered to 15 per cent on Aug 1, while he said he wanted the car tariffs to be cut to 15 per cent as soon as possible without specifying a date. The Trump administration has touted the deal with Japan as a potential model for others. On Sunday, the US and European Union agreed on a deal that will see the bloc face 15 per cent tariffs on most of its exports, with the EU pledging to invest US$600 billion in the US. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
For the privileged few, airport food hits a new height of luxury
UNITED STATES – Few places feel as engineered to remind you of your social standing as the airport. Each of its protocols, from check-in to security to boarding, imposes a hierarchy. Are you Executive Platinum? Premier ? The peak of that pecking order has long been the airport lounge, which allows elite passengers a cushioned escape from the tumult of the terminal. Now, even as airline stocks have tumbled and ticket demand slows, American airlines and credit card companies are reaching for a higher level of luxury and exclusivity – particularly when it comes to food. At the one-year-old Delta One Lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport, it is common to hear an employee asking passengers: 'Would you like an ounce of caviar before your flight?' At the lounge, which includes a full-service brasserie with leather banquettes and gold finishes, the menu of complimentary offerings features sirloin steak with red wine jus and salmon sashimi with blood orange ponzu. The caviar will run you an extra US$85 (S$109) or 8,500 miles. Amble around the rest of the 40,000 sq ft space, and you might spy Japanese cheesecakes and earl grey lemon shortbread cookie s behind a glass pastry case ; or a spa-goer nursing a pineapple, lemon and butterfly pea flower juice after a massage. You might even catch a bartender pouring a nip of rare Japanese whiskey at the gold-lined Art Deco bar. To enter, you will need to flash a business class ticket for a long-haul flight on Delta or a partner airline . Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Lounges operated by American Express are introducing menus by award-winning chefs Kwame Onwuachi, Mashama Bailey, Michael Solomonov and Sarah Grueneberg. A seafood tower order in the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Laguardia Airport in East Elmhurst, New York. PHOTO: AMIR HAMJA/NYTIMES The escalating opulence of lounge food – and the mediocrity of the other offerings in airports – is a sign of just how wide the American wealth gap has grown, said sociologist Cecilia L. Ridgeway, who is a professor emeritus of social sciences at Stanford University. Airline trave l u sed to be a symbol of luxury. As more people fly, and as tickets become cheaper , she said, the wealthy still want to feel distinguished from th e public in visible ways. 'We need more signs and symbols that you are doing okay, that people are seeing it, that you are moving up.' A quick tour of seven of the US' new airport lounges showed that the quality of food is similar to what you would find at a wedding buffet – ranging from lacklustre to surprisingly satisfying . A salad of radicchio and roasted peaches at the United Polaris Lounge in Houston was cloying, while the French toast at the American Express Centurion Lounge at LaGuardia Airport had a crisp exterior and subtle sweetness that explain why it has a following. But taste may matter less than the fact that the food is free, fancy and makes the lounge guest feel important. The sit-down restaurant at American Airlines' Chelsea Lounge at Kennedy Airport feels like a lavish library – hushed, with lots of gold and glass. 'We like exclusivity,' said Ms Laura Parkey, a luxury real estate adviser from Florida, who was eating there before flying in business class to Switzerland for a river cruise. She sipped Moet & Chandon Champagne and eyed the pommes Anna with caviar at the next table. Compared with the terminal outside, she said, 'the food is better, and you don't have to deal with the masses'. These luxe touches are nothing new for international airlines such as Emirates and Cathay Pacific, which for years have accessorised their lounges with dim sum, cocktail pairings and cigar bars. Their American counterparts have only recently approached that calibre. But today, adding a full-service restaurant has become a baseline part of the expectation for lounges in the US, said Mr Aaron McMillan , managing director of hospitality programmes for United Airlines. It was one of the first American carriers to offer an in-lounge restaurant. Competition is intensifying as credit card companies enter the lounge game, unburdened by the logistical challenges and costs of running an airline, and seeking to attract frequent travellers as cardholders. The Chase Sapphire Lounge at LaGuardia Airport – accessible to those who have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with an annual fee of US$795), the J.P. Morgan Reserve card (US$795) or the Ritz-Carlton Credit Card (US$450) – looks like a chic hotel lobby. Its centrepiece is a circular bar with purple velvet chairs. The cocktail menu comes from the popular New York bar Apotheke, and the baristas can make you a sea salt and oat milk latte. Each table has QR codes for guests to order gnocchi with zucchini and mint, or marinated beets with whipped feta – both created by Fairfax, an all-day cafe in Manhattan. The Capital One Landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington has a full-service tapas bar created by chef Jose Andres. Crisp jamon croquetas and gambas al ajillo with a pleasant kick are made to order. Negronis and espresso martinis are available on tap. While most airport food comes from the same roster of approved suppliers, Andres gets his Iberian ham and picos from the purveyors who supply his restaurants. Each of these vendors had to be approved by airport security, with background checks and X-ray scans. The 1,200 sq ft kitchen was custom-built to Andres' specifications. One of his company's culinary directors works at the lounge full time. Ms Charisse Grey, the company's senior director of research and development, said: 'If there was a budget, I was not aware of it.' The lavish menus in these lounges speak to a new class of affluent travellers, said Mr Ben Schlappig, founder of the travel website One Mile At A Time. 'It used to be that lounges were thought of as stuffy and for business travellers,' he said. Today, the clientele 'skews much younger, and the increased focus on food and drink, and partnering with cool brands is part of that'. A Capital One spokesperson contended that the company's lounges were more approachable for everyday travellers, who do not need a first-class ticket to experience the luxury amenities – just a Capital One Venture X card, which costs US$395 a year. But at lounges with that easier accessibility, customers often wait in long lines, or are denied entry because the spaces get overcrowded. This has prompted some credit card companies to tighten lounge access, just as airlines have. Capital One, which allows cardholders to bring in a certain number of guests without charge, will charge for most additional visitors starting 2026 . Mr Mitch Radakovich, a data scientist from Cincinnati who was spending his layover en route to Copenhagen at the Capital One Lounge at Kennedy Airport, said it felt almost too good to be true to enjoy such amenities – cheesemongers who will customise a charcuterie board and freshly baked bagels from Ess-a-bagel – with just a US$395-a-year credit card. 'I'm sure the price will go up,' he said. 'It's an interesting maths problem: exclusivity versus luxury.' With all the money being poured into elite lounges, he wondered what airlines and airports were doing for the average traveller, who has to contend with shrinking onboard amenities, long security lines and thronged terminals. 'I used to fly Cincinnati to Atlanta, and now soda isn't even an option – it's coffee or water,' he said. 'The overall quality has decreased for the public.' NYTIMES
