Latest News from The Mainichi
The Mainichi
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Mainichi
Opposition chief sorry for calling gov't reserve rice "animal feed"
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the increasingly popular opposition party in Japan, apologized Saturday for having referred to the government's rice stockpiles as "animal feed," days after drawing criticism on social media. Tamaki, who heads the Democratic Party for the People, said on a TV program, "I regret that I caused discomfort to those who have been waiting for the government's stockpiled rice" amid soaring prices of the Japanese staple food, adding, "I would like to apologize." During a parliamentary session on Wednesday, Tamaki, whose party has pitched policies aimed at appealing to younger voters, said, "Even if you say you're selling at a low price something that would end up as animal feed in a year, it's not something people truly need." Tamaki was apparently pointing to stockpiled rice from the 2021 harvest, which the government is releasing to the public in an effort to curb surging prices across the country. On Saturday, Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said at a meeting in Kagoshima Prefecture, where agriculture is a core industry, that Tamaki was "disrespectful to the farmers who put their heart and soul into their work." Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also criticized Tamaki's remark at a press conference on Friday, calling it "not appropriate."
The Mainichi
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Mainichi
FACT FOCUS: Trump's claims about remedial math at Harvard don't add up
As the White House moves to revoke Harvard University's certification to enroll foreign students -- escalating a battle between the administration and the oldest and wealthiest college in the U.S. -- President Donald Trump is falsely claiming that Harvard offers "remedial mathematics" on topics such as simple addition. He most recently took aim at the school's math offerings during a swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on Wednesday for Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host who was formerly a county prosecutor and elected judge, in response to a question from a reporter about how the "confrontation" with Harvard will end. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: "Harvard announced two weeks ago that they're going to teach remedial mathematics, remedial, meaning they're going to teach low grade mathematics like two plus two is four. How did these people get into Harvard? If they can't, if they can't do basic mathematics, how did they do it?" THE FACTS: Harvard does not offer a remedial math class covering basic arithmetic. Asked whether Trump was referring to a specific class, a White House spokesperson provided information about Mathematics MA5, which was introduced in the fall of 2024 as a new format for an existing course that offers extra support in calculus. The original course -- Mathematics MA -- is still offered. "Harvard College does not offer any so-called remedial math classes," said James Chisholm, a spokesperson for the university's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which encompasses its undergraduate program. He added: "Math MA5 is a college-level calculus class. It is simply a new format of Math MA, the introductory freshman calculus course that has been taught at Harvard for decades." Students in Mathematics MA and MA5 have the exact same homework, exams and grading structure, according to Chisholm. The only difference is that the former meets three days a week and the latter five days a week. They are both prerequisites for higher-level math courses. One question on a sample exam Chisholm provided asks students to write a formula for determining the total number of cases during a hypothetical epidemic after a certain amount of days. The Harvard Crimson reported in September that Director of Introductory Math Brendan Kelly said Mathematics MA5 is "aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students" created by the COVID-19 pandemic. A course description notes that its "extra support will target foundational skills in algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning." Harvard Extension School, the university's continuing education program aimed at working adults, offers a precalculus course. Most students need only register to attend. Those who want to pursue a degree must first successfully complete two or three courses in their chosen field of study. Those earning a certificate or taking a single course must only meet certain enrollment requirements, such as English proficiency. Harvard College undergraduates, who must apply to the university and be admitted under its rigorous admission standards, are not allowed to cross-register for Harvard Extension School classes. "Harvard Extension School is 100% distinct from Harvard College and the two have nothing to do with each other in terms of curriculum or students," said Chisholm. Harvard's Rising Scholars Program, an invite-only opportunity for incoming Harvard College students from "high schools that offered them limited college-level academic enrichment opportunities" offers a summer course for students who need an additional foundation on topics such as precalculus and algebra. "The important point on Rising Scholars is it's more about the incoming student's high school than the individual student's ability," said Chisholm. Harvard has also offered an Emerging Scholars Program to similarly support freshmen enrolled in introductory calculus who are interested in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in an effort to "correct systemic inequalities in math and science K-12 education that have affected our college students for many years." The median math score for the most recently enrolled undergraduate class at Harvard College was 790 out of 800 on the SATs and 35 out of 36 on the ACTs. The average high school GPA was 4.2. "There is no university in America that is as difficult to earn admission to as Harvard -- no matter your demographics," said Brian Taylor, managing partner at the college counseling service Ivy Coach. "President Trump's math in this case simply doesn't add up." (AP)
The Mainichi
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
Career pathways in the US dim for international students as Trump cracks down on visas
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Since coming from China as a teenager for boarding school, Bob Zeng has imagined building a career in the United States. But as he prepared to graduate Thursday from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it felt like the last chapter of his life in America. Zeng said he has been rethinking his plans because of the Trump administration's pledge to aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students. Having completed a masters degree in science and management, he is thinking about moving to Europe. Or going home to China. "I am worried about working here," said Zeng, 30. "You never know what's going to happen." Many international students come to the U.S. with hopes of gaining work experience and returning to their home countries or pursuing a career in the U.S. But the administration's intensifying scrutiny of international students -- and signs that formal career pathways for them may be closed -- are leading some to reconsider their plans. Beyond the steps the administration already has taken -- expanding the grounds for terminating students' ability to study in the U.S., adding new vetting for student visas, moving to block foreign enrollment at Harvard -- a key nominee has raised the possibility of ending a program that encourages international students to stay and gain work experience. About 240,000 of the 1.1 million people on student visas in the U.S. are on Optional Practical Training -- a one-year post-graduation period where they are authorized to work in fields related to their degrees. It can last up to three years for graduates in science, math and technology fields. President Donald Trump's nominee for director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said during his confirmation hearing on May 21 that he would like to see an end to post-graduate work authorization for international students. "What I want to see would be essentially a regulatory and sub-regulatory program that would allow us to remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school," said Edlow, referring to the F-1 visas on which most international students attend college in the U.S. A program offers international students a foothold for careers in the US The opportunity to gain career experience at U.S. companies, especially in technology and other fields where American companies dominate, has long been a draw of studying here. Many enter the H-1B visa lottery, hoping to be selected for one of the employer-sponsored visas that offer a pathway to permanent residency in the United States. Threatening practical training opportunities would have long-term consequences for the U.S. in attracting international students, said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. "We turn global talent away at our own expense," Aw said. Like many international students, Marko, 29, finds himself glued to the news with a growing sense of alarm. His Optional Practical Training expires in a month, and he has applied for an extension but hasn't heard back, leaving him in limbo. Lawyers for the tech company where he works in New York City advised him to carry proof of his legal status in his wallet, which he finds "dehumanizing." "The message being sent now is that: You are not one of us, and we are going to get rid of you," said Marko, who asked that only his first name be used because he is worried about being targeted for removal from the country. He has lived in the U.S. for a decade spanning college and graduate school, but his family and friends back home have encouraged him to leave. His hope is that he gets the OPT extension and can then apply for an H-1B visa and continue his life in the U.S., but he also worries about anti-immigrant sentiment and who will be targeted next. Guy, an HIV researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital who declined to provide his last name for fear of retaliation, came to the United States in 2018 for a PhD program at New York University. He's now in his second year of OPT and would have to return to the United Kingdom if the program was terminated. Although he still feels welcome in New York City, he said it feels like there's a "war on immigrants in this country." "It's not a particularly attractive place to stay and do science right now," he said. Foreign students have been targeted on several fronts In his first administration, Trump floated the idea of curtailing OPT, but that did not materialize. During the campaign, he suggested he would give green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges, a sentiment that students and educators hoped would signal more welcoming policies. But his administration has cracked down on international students in several ways. In April, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began terminating the legal status of people with student visas who appeared in a database of police encounters. Many caught up in that effort were on OPT, and had to leave their jobs or risk violating laws about working without legal authorization. ICE eventually restored students' status after widespread legal challenges, but not before some chose to leave the country pre-emptively, fearing deportation. In mid-May, some recent graduates received letters threatening to terminate their status if they did not update their employment records. While the letters gave them an opportunity to fix any reporting issues, it sent another wave of uncertainty through international graduates. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the government would move to revoke visas of Chinese students with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in "critical" fields. Yurong "Luanna" Jiang, a Chinese student who graduated Thursday from Harvard University, said in an interview that she had hoped to stay in the U.S. for a few years but she has been unsettled by the Trump administration's crackdown on visas. "In terms of the plan going forward, I would say everything is up in the air at this point," said Jiang, who is now open to going anywhere in the world to work in international development. "At this point, it's difficult to say what will happen." ___ Gecker reported from San Francisco, Toness and Michael Casey contributed from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Collin Binkley contributed from Washington.
The Mainichi
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Mainichi
Most LGBTQ+ adults feel Americans don't accept transgender people, Pew poll finds
LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. see lower social acceptance for transgender people than those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, a new Pew Research Center poll found. Pew found that about 6 in 10 LGBTQ+ adults said there is "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of social acceptance in the U.S. for gay and lesbian people. Only about 1 in 10 said the same for nonbinary and transgender people -- and about half said there was "not much" or no acceptance at all for transgender people. Giovonni Santiago, a 39-year-old transgender man and Air Force veteran who lives in Northeast Ohio and was not a participant in the survey, said he feels that acceptance for transgender people has declined in the last few years - roughly in step with the rise of state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, regulating which school and public bathrooms transgender people can use and which sports they can play. He said he's seen acceptance get worse nationally, following the lead of some places that were early adopters of restrictions. "They were like the anomaly for ignorance and in hatred, especially towards trans people," Santiago said. "But now we see that it's just kind of sweeping the nation, unfortunately." Still, Santiago said he doesn't fear for his own personal safety -- a contrast with most transgender people, who said they have feared for their safety at some point. "I guess I don't feel it as much because I live a life that most people don't know that I'm trans unless I specifically tell them," said Santiago, who runs a nonprofit dedicated to supporting transgender youth. The survey of 3,959 LGBTQ+ adults was conducted in January, after President Donald Trump was elected but just before he returned to office and set into motion a series of policies that question the existence of transgender people. On his first day, Trump signed an executive order calling on the government to recognize people as male or female based on the "biological truth" of their future cells at conception, rather than accept scientific evidence that gender is a spectrum. Since then, he's begun ousting transgender service members from the military, and tried to bar transgender women and girls from sports competitions for females and block federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under 19, among other orders. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in May found that about half of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling transgender issues, with a range of views on specific actions. According to the Pew poll, about two-thirds of LGBTQ+ adults said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationally 10 years ago boosted acceptance of same-sex couples "a lot more" or "somewhat more." The Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming weeks on a major case regarding transgender people -- deciding whether Tennessee can enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Transgender people are less likely than gay or lesbian adults to say they're accepted by all their family members. The majority of LGBTQ+ said their siblings and friends accepted them, though the rates were slightly higher among gay or lesbian people. About half of gay and lesbian people said their parents did, compared with about one-third of transgender people. Only about 1 in 10 transgender people reported feeling accepted by their extended family, compared with about 3 in 10 gay or lesbian people. Transgender people are more likely than gay, lesbian or bisexual people to say they feel "extremely" or "very" connected to a broader LGBTQ+ community and to say that all or most of their friends are also LGBTQ+. Some elements of the experience are similar. About one-third of transgender and lesbian or gay adults said they first felt they might be LGBTQ+ by the time they were 10 and most did by age 13. About half waited until they were at least 18 to first tell someone. Aubrey Campos, 41, runs a taco truck near a hub of LGBTQ+ bars in Fort Worth, Texas, and also serves as a community organizer. She says her parents were supportive when she came out as transgender at about age 12. But the younger trans people she works with often have very different experiences -- including some who were kicked out of their homes. "Now the times are a little bit dark," she said. "This is a time that we to come together and make it brighter and make it known that we aren't going to just disappear."(AP)
The Mainichi
8 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Seoul subway fire set by man, 400 passengers evacuate through tunnel
SEOUL (Kyodo) -- A man started a fire inside a moving subway train in Seoul around 8:40 a.m. on Saturday, forcing about 400 passengers to evacuate on foot through the tunnel, according to South Korean media. The incident occurred near the center of the capital. The suspect fled the scene but was apprehended at a nearby station. Police are investigating his motives, as he appears to have started the fire using gasoline he brought with him. Around 20 people were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and other injuries, most of them believed to be minor. Service on the line where the fire broke out was suspended for about an hour. A male passenger was quoted by media as saying that smoke filled the carriage and some people were screaming in shock.
