HANOI — Police in Vietnam are prosecuting a Berlin-based journalist and news website editor known for critical reports about the leaders of the Southeast Asian nation, accusing him of anti-state activities, authorities said.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism, particularly in the run-up to its five-year congress, next set for January.

The journalist, Le Trung Khoa, 54, was accused of “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the state,” Vietnam’s public security ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Authorities have approved the decision to prosecute Khoa and an order to arrest him, it added.

Mr. Khoa, editor in chief of the news site Thoibao.de, said on Tuesday the effort to prosecute him was a government “farce” and part of its strategy against the news site, which cannot be accessed from Vietnam and is not subject to its censorship.

The ministry said Mr. Khoa holds a Vietnamese passport. On his social media account, Mr. Khoa said he was also a German.

The German embassy in Hanoi did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

At the Communist Party’s next congress from January 19 to 25, its leaders will set out their main strategies and policies.-— Reuters

SHIRAKAWA, Japan — Shiroki Mitsunari does not remember seeing bears in the picturesque Japanese mountain village of Shirakawa when he was a child.

But since a cub attacked a Spanish visitor there last month, protecting residents and the throngs of tourists who flock to his home town to see its UNESCO-listed thatched-roof cottages has been his top priority.

“There are a lot more bears coming,” said Mr. Mitsunari, 40, a local official overseeing efforts to deter bears in the village, located in a remote valley in central Japan, roughly halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. He attributed the surge to a growing bear population and a shortage of their natural food sources.

While the tourist escaped with minor injuries, authorities have captured six bears near the historic Shirakawa-go site using honey-laced traps since then, he said. Bear sightings this year have topped 100, compared to around 35 last year, he added.

Across Japan, a record 220 people have been injured in bear attacks since April, according to public broadcaster NHK. Thirteen have died, including seven last month – a peak time when bears forage intensively before hibernating.

Many attacks were in far-flung towns rarely visited by overseas travelers. But the Shirakawa incident, and sightings near tourist hotspots like Kyoto’s Arashiyama bamboo grove, show it is not a risk visitors can ignore.

US, CHINA ISSUE TRAVEL ALERTS
The United States, China, and Britain last week issued travel advisories about the dangers of bear attacks in Japan.

The US alert warned about attacks near populated zones, noting that a park adjacent to its consulate in the city of Sapporo was closed for two weeks following a bear sighting.

In addition to honey-laced traps, authorities in Shirakawa have also chopped down fruit trees that might draw the hungry creatures, and issued warnings to visitors to walk in groups, wear bear bells and avoid certain areas.

“When we were preparing for this trip, we saw on social media that there were a lot of Japanese news reports of bear sightings,” said Cornelia Li, a 25-year-old e-commerce industry worker from Shanghai.

“We were a little (worried),” she said after affixing a bear bell to her 4-year-old daughter’s rucksack. Her family opted to book hotels in cities rather than rural areas due to the bear risk, she said.

BARKING DRONES TO REPEL BEARS
Asiatic black bears are listed as a vulnerable species globally, but their numbers are estimated to have tripled in Japan since 2012, helped by a decline in hunting.

Experts say climate change has reduced harvests of bears’ natural food like acorns and beechnuts, while the depopulation of rural areas and the proliferation of abandoned farmland have emboldened them to seek food near human settlements.

The situation has gotten so bad in the country’s rugged north that Japan this month dispatched the army to help authorities cull bears.

In Hida city, an hour’s drive from Shirakawa, authorities are testing drones to stop bears ransacking apple and peach orchards. The drones are equipped with loudspeakers emitting the sounds of barking hunting dogs and have firecrackers attached to them for an extra scare factor.

“We needed a rapid-response measure,” said Naofumi Yoshikawa, an official at Gifu prefecture’s environmental affairs department overseeing the trial.

There have been 78 sightings in Hida city this autumn, compared to 11 last year.

FEAR ALWAYS THERE
“Working out here, that fear of bears is always there,” said Masahiko Amaki, the head of the local orchard cooperative, as the sound of a dog-barking drone rang out across the valley.

“You don’t want to get hurt. And I’ve had a few close calls myself. They glare at you, and … yes, it’s really scary.”

A sign warning of bears at the head of a walking trail near the orchard urged hikers not to trek alone.

Back in Shirakawa, Mr. Mitsunari is also worried about the children at the local school he used to attend.

The students have all been given bear bells and told to walk home in groups to deter bears that tend to be most active in the early morning or around dusk.

Before the Spanish tourist, the village’s last bear attack had been 12 years ago, and Mr. Mitsunari says he’s determined to avoid any more incidents.

“That was pretty shameful for us. We are not going to let that happen again,” he said. — Reuters

BEIJING — Film distributors have suspended the screening of at least two Japanese films in China amid a deepening dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, in what state broadcaster CCTV said was a “prudent decision” that took into account souring domestic audience sentiment.

The postponement comes barely two weeks after remarks about Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sparked a heated response from China and kicked off the most serious diplomatic clash between the two East Asian powers in years.

Some Japanese films, including the animated “Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Super Hot! Scorching Kasukabe Dancers” and manga-turned-movie “Cells at Work!”, originally slated for release in the coming weeks, will not begin screening in mainland China as scheduled, CCTV said, citing checks with film importers and distributors.

Animated film “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” was initially well received but has seen its box office performance decline after Ms. Takaichi’s remarks due to “strong dissatisfaction from Chinese audiences”, according to CCTV late Monday.

Film importers and distributors have chosen to heed the market’s response, respect audience sentiment, and postpone the releases of upcoming films, CCTV said.

Japan has sought to tamp down the escalating dispute with China that came after Ms. Takaichi told Japanese lawmakers this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response.

Beijing has since urged citizens to halt travel to Japan, and China’s Premier Li Qiang has no plans to meet Ms. Takaichi on the sidelines of this week’s G20 summit in South Africa.

The heads of Japan’s three business federations met with Ms. Takaichi late on Monday and urged dialogue to resolve the diplomatic tensions.

“Political stability is a prerequisite for economic exchange,” Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of Japan’s biggest business lobby Keidanren, told reporters after the meeting, according to media reports. — Reuters

WASHINGTON — The UN Security Council on Monday voted to adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and authorizing an international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza – a ceasefire in their two-year war and a hostage-release deal – but the UN resolution is seen as vital to legitimizing a transitional governance body and reassuring countries that are considering sending troops to Gaza.

The text of the resolution says member states can take part in the Trump-chaired Board of Peace envisioned as a transitional authority that would oversee reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza. It also authorizes the international stabilization force, which would ensure a process of demilitarizing Gaza, including by decommissioning weapons and destroying military infrastructure.

Hamas, in a statement, reiterated that it will not disarm and argued that its fight against Israel is legitimate resistance, potentially pitting the militant group against the international force authorized by the resolution.

“The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject,” Hamas said in its statement, issued after the adoption of the resolution.

Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said the resolution, which includes Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan as an annex, “charts a possible pathway for Palestinian self-determination … where rockets will give way to olive branches and there is a chance to agree on a political horizon.”

“It dismantles Hamas’ grip, it ensures Gaza rises free from terror’s shadow, prosperous and secure,” Mr. Waltz told the council ahead of the vote.

Russia, which holds a veto on the Security Council, earlier signaled potential opposition to the resolution but abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass.

The UN ambassadors of Russia and China, which also abstained, complained that the resolution does not give the UN a clear role in the future of Gaza.

“In essence, the council is giving its blessing to a US initiative on the basis of Washington’s promises, giving complete control over the Gaza Strip to the Board of Peace and the ISF (international stabilization force), the modalities of which we know nothing about so far,” Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told the council following the vote.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement welcoming the resolution, and said it is ready to take part in its implementation. Diplomats said the authority’s endorsement of the resolution last week was key to preventing a Russian veto.

Mr. Trump celebrated the vote as “a moment of true Historic proportion” in a social media post. “The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks,” Mr. Trump wrote.

‘PATHWAY’ TO STATEHOOD
The resolution has proven controversial in Israel because it references a future possibility of statehood for the Palestinians.

The resolution’s text says that “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” once the Palestinian Authority has carried out a reform program and Gaza’s redevelopment has advanced.

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from right-wing members of his government, said on Sunday that Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state and pledged to demilitarize Gaza “the easy way or the hard way.”— Reuters