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24 Mar, 2023 21:21

School president quits after calling Ukrainian refugees ‘privileged robbers’ – media

The Japanese headmaster reportedly refused to apologize for his remarks

The president of a Japanese language school has reportedly resigned after calling Ukrainian students “elite refugees” who get more than they deserve from the government.

The Nippon Academy in Maebashi, Japan, announced on Monday that Masumi Shimizu would step down from his position, local newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday.

Shimizu’s school has accepted 38 Ukrainian students, whoobjected when management asked them to start paying for tuitionafter receiving several months for free. Speaking at a press conference last month, Shimizu referred to the students as “robbers” and “elite refugees,” who enjoy free rent and tax exemptions while Asian students struggle to make ends meet.

Shimizu’s comments went public, and the school was reprimanded by prefectural authorities. These authorities then announced that Ukrainian students who wished to continue learning Japanese would receive payments to do so, while continuing to enjoy free housing and assistance with living expenses, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

The former school directorrefused to apologizeas he stepped down, insisting that the “prefectural government is doing far more than it should” for the Ukrainians. Shimizu added that the refugees – some of whom told the Mainichi that his remarks caused thememotional damage– are acting like a “privileged class.”

Shimizu said that he was urged to resign by the school’s board of management.

The Asahi Shimbun reported a similar incident last year in which an Afghan asylum seeker in Japan condemned the government’s apparent double standards in relation to Ukrainian refugees. He claimed that Tokyo was giving Ukrainians preferential treatment in an “extremely political move.”

Japan has taken in around2,300 Ukrainian refugeessince last February, the majority of whomspeak little to no Japanese. An ethnically and linguistically homogeneous society, Japan has traditionally kept its doors closed to refugees and immigrants, and accepted a record 74 asylum applications in 2021, up from 27 the year before.

Ukrainians in Japan are not technically recognized as “refugees,” a designation that would grant them five-year visas. Instead they are given one-year work permits with the possibility of extension.

https://www.rt.com/news/573553-japanese-teacher-ukrainian-elite/

24 Mar, 2023 19:50

Angry miners hold mock funeral of Greta Thunberg and EU suits

Polish coal miners are protesting that EU directives could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs

Polish coal miners, angered by a European Union (EU) emissions directive which they say would force most of the country’s coal mines to close, protested outside EU offices in Warsaw on Friday. One of the protests featured a coffin displaying images of climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans.

Central to the miners’ ire is a proposal put to the EU bloc that calls for a large reduction in methane emissions to begin in 2027. Solidarity, a trade union popularized in Poland in the 1980s which has used methods of civil resistance to promote workers’ rights, claims that the proposed plans would lead to the closure of most of the country’s coal mines.

This, the trade union says, would prompt the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and would be a “death sentence for the Polish mining industry.”

Around 300 coal miners were present at Friday’s demonstration per Associated Press estimates, where they directed chants of “thieves!” at the EU building. They also used smoke flares and sirens to draw attention to the protest, prompting city authorities to temporarily close the area to traffic.

Many of Poland’s mines contain high levels of methane gas which often gets released into the atmosphere during mining operations. Methane has also led to several mine explosions, due to its explosive nature when mixed with oxygen. Methane is, according to a European Commission study, the second-most potent greenhouse-gas contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide.

EU member states agreed last year to new rules designed to slash methane emissions by 30% by 2030. Flaring – the burning of gas emissions from mines – is to be banned by January 2025 as part of the plan. The venting of methane gas from coal mines, which emit more than five tons of methane per kiloton of coal mined, will be outlawed from January 2027.

Teenage climate campaigner Greta Thunberg has become a prominent voice in the climate-change debate in recent years and has frequently proposed sweeping changes to various industries to meet emissions targets. This, however, has led to her being a target of various groups and lobbyists who haveaccused her of alarmism.

https://www.rt.com/news/573552-poland-miners-coal-emissions-protest/

24 Mar, 2023 09:12

Denmark invites Nord Stream operator to help salvage mystery object

The Gazprom-owned company can participate in a planned recovery operation, Copenhagen has indicated

Danish authorities have said they will permit the Russian-owned operator of the sabotaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take part in the salvaging of a mystery object discovered in the country's territorial waters. The EU state's warships were recently spotted in the area close to the damaged pipeline.

Copenhagen is seeking to clarify the nature of the object, which the Danish Energy Agency will endeavor to do with assistance from the military, according to a statement on Thursday. Nord Stream 2 AG – whose parent company is Russian energy giant Gazprom – has been invited to participate “in that context,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, the Danish press reported the sighting of three military vessels, including a ship used by military divers, near the pipeline to the east of the island of Bornholm. Both Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by powerful explosions in two separate areas near the island last September. The Berlingske newspaper, which was the first to report the Danish Navy’s activities, said the military had confirmed its presence in the area, but declined to elaborate.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen revealed last week that the government could corroborate Russian reports about the discovery of an unknown object near Nord Stream 2. Gazprom provided Danish authorities with photographs that it said had been found during a survey of the damaged energy route.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the object had been found around 30km from where the pipeline was breached, and suggested that it could besome sort of antenna used in the sabotageto remotely trigger the charges.

Putin said Russia sought to investigate further, either on its own or with Denmark and a group of international experts. Rasmussen said Copenhagen would not allow Russia access to the site.

The Danish Energy Agency shared an image of the mystery object and described it as cylindrical in shape, measuring 40cm tall and 10cm in diameter. It suggested it could be a maritime smoke buoy, a signaling device used to help locate people in distress.

Moscow considers the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, to be an act of terrorism. Putin stated that only a “state-level actor” could have pulled off the sabotage, considering the complexity of the mission.

https://www.rt.com/news/573501-nord-stream-salvage-denmark/