Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner reach Indian Wells quarterfinals

March 13, 2024 | 8:55 pm

CARLOS ALCARAZ beat Fabian Marozsan to avenge his loss to the Hungarian at the Italian Open last year, while Jannik Sinner won his 18^th straight match as both players cruised into the Indian Wells quarterfinals with straight-sets victories on Tuesday.

Mr. Alcaraz never looked in any trouble against Marozsan, pounding forehands and confidently holding serve to take another step towards defending his title in the California desert with a 6-3 6-3 win.

A crosscourt forehand on match point sealed the victory for the second-seeded Spaniard, who nodded to his team and yelled “Vamos.” Mr. Marozsan was a qualifier when he stunned Mr. Alcaraz in straight sets in Rome last May but the world number two turned the tables under sunny skies on centre court with a clinical performance.

“Honestly I was nervous before the match, I’m not going to lie,” Mr. Alcaraz said.

“Playing against someone who beat you easily — I remember I had no chances in the match in Rome. It was difficult for me today to approach the match, but I’m really happy with the way that I did.”

“I started pretty well, playing my style since the beginning. Today I knew what I had to do better than I did in Rome.”

Mr. Alcaraz continues to gain momentum at the tournament and since dropping the first set in the first match he played, he has not lost one since. The victory was his 50^th match win at a Masters 1000 event.

The two-time Grand Slam winner is on course for a possible collision with Australian Open champion Mr. Sinner in the semi-finals but will first need to get past Alexander Zverev.

The big-serving German sixth seed wore down Australian Alex de Minaur with his relentless power to claim a 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory.

Mr. Sinner shaded a tight first set against American Ben Shelton in windy conditions and met with little resistance in the second, securing a 7-6(4) 6-1 win to maintain his perfect record in 2024.

“I just tried to stay positive,” Mr. Sinner said.

“There were tough moments, especially in the first set, and I’m really happy that I won that and started really positive in the second set, which gave me a lot of confidence.”

Third seed Mr. Sinner will be the favorite when he faces Jiri Lehecka for the first timein the quarters.

Mr. Lehecka, seeded 32^nd, backed up his upset of fifth seed Andrey Rublev with another over 11^th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a dominant 6-2 6-4 win to reach his first ever quarter-final at a Masters 1000 event.

The 22-year-old Czech piled up 25 winners against the Greek player and has not dropped serve in his last two matches. — Reuters

UEFA Champions League last 16 to feature seeded draw in revamp

March 13, 2024 | 8:55 pm

LONDON — The revamped Champions League will feature a tennis-style seeding system for the last-16 knockout phase, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said on Tuesday as it detailed changes to its elite club competition.

A semi-automated draw will also replace the manual draw which has become a feature of the competition.

Next season’s competition will expand from 32 to 36 clubs with the current six groups of four replaced by a single group in which teams face eight games against different opponents.

The top eight clubs will automatically qualify for the last 16 while those finishing ninth to 24^th face a playoff round to determine the other eight.

Unlike the current open draw for the last 16, clubs will be seeded in a tennis-style draw depending on their performance in the group phase. This will mean the first and second seeds cannot meet until the final and cannot play the teams seeded third and fourth until the semifinals at the earliest. It is the first change to the Champions League since a 16-team knockout round replaced the second group stage in 2003-04.

Speaking at a briefing on Tuesday, Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA’s Deputy General Secretary and Director of Football, said the new format would make the competition more unpredictable, ensure more matches between the big clubs and less dead rubbers.

The 36 clubs will be split in to four pots of nine with each club facing two from each pot. The final round of group matches will have 16 matches kick off simultaneously.

Another change will be to the Champions League draw ceremony, a laborious process traditionally involving balls being picked from different pots by former players.

Mr. Marchetti said UEFA modeling found that performing the draw for the new format in the same way would take “three or four hours” and involve around 900 balls.

Next season’s group stage draw will be a new hybrid system with some drawing of balls but mostly done digitally. — Reuters

Barcelona into CL last eight with 3-1 win over Napoli

March 13, 2024 | 8:55 pm

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona reached the Champions League (CL) quarterfinals for the first time in four years after a 3-1 win over Napoli in their last-16 second leg gave them a 4-2 aggregate victory on Tuesday.

In a highly entertaining game, Barca set the early pace to take a 2-0 lead but Napoli pulled a goal back to set up an exciting second half before Robert Lewandowski scored a killer third goal for the hosts.

Fermin Lopez opened the scoring for the home side after 15 minutes and two minutes later Joao Cancelo doubled their lead. Barcelona looked well on the way to a decisive win before Napoli got on the scoresheet Both sides had chances after the break but with seven minutes left Barca found a much-needed third goal when Mr. Lewandowski slotted home a clever pass from Sergi Roberto. — Reuters

Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war

March 13, 2024 | 6:20 pm

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the US sent troops to Ukraine it would be considered a significant escalation of the war.

Mr. Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Mr. Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.

Mr. Putin said the US understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory — or to Ukraine — Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

“(In the United States) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” Mr. Putin said.

“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Mr. Putin has warned several times that the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.

Mr. Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering full-scale war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.

Western leaders have promised to defeat Russia in Ukraine, but after two years of war, Russian forces control a little under one fifth of Ukrainian territory.

In a US election year, the West is grappling with how to support Kyiv against Russia which has bolstered its army with hundreds of thousands of men and is rearming much faster than the West.

Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Russia says the areas it controls in Ukraine are now Russia.

NUCLEAR WAR?
Mr. Putin, Russia’s ultimate decision maker on nuclear weapons, reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons was spelled out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, its policy setting out the circumstances in which Russia might use its weapons.

“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Mr. Putin said. “We have our own principles.”

Russia and the United States are by far the largest nuclear powers, controlling more than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Mr. Putin said Russia was ready for serious talks on Ukraine.

“Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but they should be based on reality — and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs,” Mr. Putin said.

Reuters reported last month that Mr. Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States after contacts between intermediaries.

If the United States conducted nuclear tests, Russia might do the same, he added in the wide-ranging interview. “It’s not necessary … we still need to think about it, but I don’t rule out that we can do the same.”

CNN reported on Saturday that the administration of US President Joseph R. Biden was specifically concerned in 2022 that Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

CNN said US intelligence agencies received information there were communications among Russian officials explicitly discussing a nuclear strike in 2022.

However, Mr. Putin said Russia had never faced a need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, where the conflict has raged since February 2022.

“Why do we need to use weapons of mass destruction? There has never been such a need.” — Reuters

US spy chief ‘cannot rule out’ that China would use TikTok to influence US elections

March 13, 2024 | 6:18 pm

WASHINGTON — China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday.

Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Ms. Haines said: “We cannot rule out that the CCP would use it.”

Mr. Krishnamoorthi is also the ranking Democrat on the House select committee on China. He and that panel’s Republican chair Mike Gallagher last week introduced a bill that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans.

The House is due to vote on Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to vote “yes” for the measure to win passage.

President Joseph R. Biden said last week he would sign the bill, but the app is popular and getting legislation approved by both the House and Senate in an election year may be difficult.

The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community released on Monday said TikTok accounts run by a Chinese government propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the US midterm election cycle in 2022.

Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions.

TikTok, which says it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government, argues the House bill amounts to a ban. It was unclear if China would approve any sale or if TikTok could be divested in six months.

Also speaking at the House hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray repeated his assessment that TikTok posed national security threats.

“Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data,” Mr. Wray said, adding that it could ultimately “compromise their devices.” — Reuters

Global child mortality rates dropped in 2022 but progress slow, UN says

March 13, 2024 | 6:18 pm

KIDS_BASECO_04_VARCAS_230121 — Children are seen playing in Baseco, Manila. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

LONDON — The number of children globally who died before their fifth birthday dropped to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still represents one death every six seconds, according to new United Nations (UN)estimates.

While the mortality rate for under-5s has roughly halved since 2000, the world is still behind in the goal of reducing preventable deaths in that age group by 2030, and progress has slowed since 2015, the report, released on Wednesday, found.

The numbers represent “an important milestone”, said Juan Pablo Uribe, director for health nutrition and population at the World Bank, one of the partners that put together the report alongside Unicef, the UN population division and the World Health Organization.

“But this is simply not enough.”

The picture is varied. Some countries, like Cambodia, Malawi and Mongolia, have reduced under-5 mortality rates by more than 75% since 2000.

Overall, deaths in babies and children under-5 in 2022 were concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, which represented 57% of the global total despite only making up 30% of the live births that year. Southern Asia had around a quarter of both deaths and live births. Around half of the deaths globally are among newborns, the report said.

The report was limited by a lack of data in the worst-affected countries, the UN partners added.

The deaths were largely caused by preventable or treatable causes, such as pre-term birth, pneumonia or diarrhea. Better access to primary health care and community health workers could vastly improve the outlook, the UN said, although climate change, increasing inequity, conflict and the long-term fall-out of COVID-19 could all threaten progress. — Reuters

US House to vote to force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face ban

March 13, 2024 | 6:13 pm

REUTERS

WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app used by about 170 million Americans or face a ban.

The vote is expected around 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) under fast-track rules that require support by two-thirds of House members for the measure to pass. It is widely expected to pass, according to both proponents and opponents.

The vote comes just over a week since the bill was proposed following one public hearing with little debate, and after action in Congress had stalled for more than a year. Last month, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign joined TikTok, raising hopes among Tiktok officials that legislation was unlikely this year.

The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to US national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at US ports.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week voted 50-0 in favor of the bill, setting it up for a vote before the full House.

But the bill faces a more uncertain path in the US Senate where some senators favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that could pose security concerns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday on a previously scheduled trip to talk to senators, a source briefed on the matter said.

“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” the company said. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” it added.

Mr. Biden said last week that he would sign the bill.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday the goal was ending Chinese ownership, not banning TikTok.

“Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?” he said.

It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or if TikTok’s US assets could be divested in six months.

If ByteDance failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts. In recent days he had raised concerns about a ban. It remains unclear if Tencent’s WeChat or other high-profile Chinese-owned apps could face a ban under the legislation.

Any forced TikTok divestment from the US would almost certainly face legal challenges, which the company would need to file within 165 days of the bill being signed by the president. In November, a US judge blocked a Montana state ban on TikTok use after the company sued. – Reuters

PCW, UN summit at SM amplifies call to invest in women to drive progress

March 13, 2024 | 2:30 pm

image8-OL — Keynote speaker Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda (third from left) with (from right) SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, UN Women Country Programme Coordinator Rosalyn Mesina, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) Officer-in-Charge Atty. Khay Ann Magundayao-Borlado, Deputy Executive Director Kristine Balmes, and moderator Bernadette Sembrano

Women’s rights advocates and gender equality champions gathered at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura recently for an International Women’s Day (IWD) summit spearheaded by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and UN Women, in partnership with SM Supermalls.

Anchored on the global theme, ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress,’ the one-day summit covered crucial topics such as poverty alleviation, institutional strengthening, gender-inclusive financing, and the role of technology in enabling women, particularly entrepreneurs.

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Opening the summit were SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, UN Philippines Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez, PCW Officer-in-Charge Atty. Khay Ann Magundayao-Borlado, and UN Women Country Programme Coordinator Rosalyn Mesina, whose messages also served as a unifying call to action for the advancement of women’s empowerment and equality towards nation-building.

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Keynote speaker Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda spoke about the role of legislation in promoting women’s rights. She highlighted the burden of unpaid care and domestic work by women, which her bill (Unpaid Care Workers Welfare Act of 2022) seeks to address to ensure fair sharing of household and caregiving duties. Senator Legarda’s legislative efforts have included supporting the passage of crucial laws like the Magna Carta of Women and the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act, among others.

Australian Ambassador HK Yu (third from right), Canadian Ambassador David Hartman (right), UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Dr. Selva Ramachandran (second from left), International Labour Organization Country Director Khalid Hassan (left), and Asian Development Bank Director Samantha Hung (third from left), with Rissa Mananquil Trillo (second from right)

For an international perspective, esteemed panelists Australian Ambassador HK Yu, Canadian Ambassador David Hartman, UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Dr. Selva Ramachandran, International Labour Organization Country Director Khalid Hassan, and Asian Development Bank Director Samantha Hung spurred insightful discussions on championing women through their gender-inclusive development programs in the Philippines.

(L-R): Philippine Commission on Women’s Anita Baleda, UPPAF Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development’s Jeanne Frances Illo, Commission on Audit’s Fortunata Rubico, and Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Miramel Garcia-Laxa

On the Philippines’ efforts, experts from key government agencies — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Atty. Charina De Vera Yap, Department of the Interior and Local Government’s Anna Liza Bonagua, UPPAF Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development’s Jeanne Frances Illo, Philippine Commission on Women’s Anita Baleda, Commission on Audit’s Fortunata Rubico, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Miramel Garcia-Laxa — shared transformative strategies and outcomes of financing through a gender lens and gender-responsive budgeting.

Guest speaker, Singapore-based She Loves Tech Co-Founder Leanne Robers, set the tone for sessions on the pivotal role of technology in advancing women’s empowerment in business.

Robers highlighted the importance of women’s diverse perspectives in technology. She said, “We cannot understate the benefits of a world where women are involved in shaping our future through technology.”

Singapore-based She Loves Tech Co-Founder Leanne Robers (left), creative and social entrepreneur Zarah Juan, Eliza Antonino of Moment Group, and Anne Emperado-Macababat of Malanne, with UN Women Champion Bianca Gonzalez

The sessions highlighted how businesses can leverage technology to bridge gender gaps and promote social change. Panelists Anne Emperado-Macababat (Malanne), Eliza Antonino (Moment Group), and creative and social entrepreneur Zarah Juan, served as a testament to empowered women creating livelihood opportunities to uplift the lives of many more women.

Landbank’s Leila Martin (third from left), BDO Unibank’s Atty. Federico Tancongco (left) and Joel Andres (second from right), Connected Women’s Gina Romero (second from left), and UN Women Champion Bianca Gonzalez (right)

Likewise, a panel discussion with LandBank’s Leila Martin, BDO Unibank’s Atty. Federico Tancongco and Joel Andres, and Connected Women’s Gina Romero helped participants navigate the benefits and challenges of technology, addressing the risks of fraud and scams, and the safety and security of financial transactions.

Capping the summit was SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Assistant Vice-President and Program Director Jessica Sy who reiterated the theme of the summit in her closing remarks. Sy said, “Investing in women is not just a moral imperative, but a strategic imperative for a better world.”

The IWD summit is one of the highlights of SM Supermalls’ celebration of Women’s Month this March and was also supported by BDO, Belle du Jour, Brittany Hotel, Brownies Unlimited, Crate & Barrel, Toby’s Estate, Goldilocks, and SM Store.

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KKR to invest $400M in Philippine telecoms tower business

March 13, 2024 | 12:52 pm

MANILA – Private equity firm KKR & Co will invest $400 million in telecoms tower operations and expansion in the Philippines, the U.S. Department of Commerce said on Wednesday, among a slew of deals in a $1 billion investment announced in a landmark trade mission.

KKR will develop and acquire roughly 2,000 telecoms towers to support digital connectivity across the Philippines, the department said in a statement following a two-day trade and investment mission led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

In 2022, a unit of KKR acquired 3,529 telecoms towers for P45 billion ($814.73 million) in a sale and leaseback deal with Philippines’ Globe Telecom Inc. The KKR unit bought another 1,012 towers for over P12.1 billion from PLDT Inc.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced American investments of more than $1 billion in the Philippines during the trade mission that included executives from 22 companies including United Airlines, Alphabet’s Google, Visa, and Microsoft.

Ally Power, a Maryland startup, announced a more than $400 million agreement with a unit of power distributor Manila Electric Co to build a hydrogen and electric refueling station.

Microsoft is working with the Philippine central bank and the ministries of budget and trade to identify how its AI products can boost the agencies’ productivity, the commerce department said.

The United States seeks to deepen defence and economic ties with the Philippines, on the backdrop of a more aggressive China in the South China Sea. — Reuters

Biden, Trump clinch nominations, kicking off bruising presidential rematch

March 13, 2024 | 12:18 pm

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both clinched their parties’ nomination on Tuesday, kicking off the first US presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years.

Mr. Biden needed 1,968 delegates to win the nomination, and he passed that number on Tuesday night as results began to come in from the primary contest in Georgia, Edison Research said. Results were also coming in from Mississippi, Washington state, the Northern Mariana Islands and Democrats living abroad.

Hours later, Mr. Trump clinched the 1,215 delegates required to secure the Republican presidential nomination as four states held contests, including Georgia, the battleground where Trump faces criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 results. There were 161 delegates at stake on Tuesday in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington state.

Mr. Biden, 81, issued a statement after he sealed the Democratic nomination, taking aim at what he called Trump’s “campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”

“Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country. Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away?” he said.

The outcome of Tuesday’s voting was essentially predetermined, after Trump’s last remaining rival for the Republican nomination, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her presidential campaign following Trump’s dominant performance last week on Super Tuesday, when he won 14 of 15 state contests.

In a video posted on social media, Trump said there was no time to celebrate, and instead put the focus on beating Biden, whom he called the “worst” president in US history.

“We’re going to drill, baby, drill. We’re going to close our borders. We’re going to do things like nobody has ever seen before. And we’re going to make our nation’s economy be the best ever in the world,” said Trump.

Mr. Biden, meanwhile, faced only token opposition in the Democratic primary campaign, though liberal activists frustrated by his support for Israel’s war in Gaza have convinced a sizable minority of Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in protest.

Both men have already turned their attention to the Nov. 5 general election, holding dueling rallies in Georgia on Saturday.

In Rome, Georgia, Mr. Trump, 77, again repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent and accused the Fulton County attorney, Fani Willis, of prosecuting him for political reasons. He also attacked Biden for failing to stem the flow of migrants at the US southern border, an issue he intends to keep front and center throughout the campaign, as he did in 2020.

The Biden campaign launched a more aggressive phase on Friday, announcing Biden would tour several battleground states amid a $30 million ad buy. The campaign said it raised $10 million in the 24 hours after Biden’s State of the Union speech, adding to Democrats’ financial edge over Republicans.

VOTERS UNENTHUSIASTIC

The last repeat presidential matchup took place in 1956, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower defeated former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat, for the second time.

This year, voters have expressed little enthusiasm for a repeat of the bitter 2020 election, with Reuters/Ipsos public polls showing both Biden and Trump are unpopular with the majority of voters.

Trump’s myriad criminal charges – he faces 91 felony counts across four separate indictments – could harm his standing among the suburban, well-educated voters whose support he has historically struggled to garner.

He is scheduled to become the first former American president to go on trial in a criminal case on March 25 in New York, where he faces charges he falsified business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star.

The most serious case against him is generally thought to be the federal indictment in Washington, D.C., accusing him of plotting to reverse the 2020 election. But the case is on hold after the US Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, and it is unclear whether a trial can take place before Election Day.

Mr. Biden has been dogged by the perception among a majority of voters that he is too old to serve a second four-year term, though allies believe his fiery State of the Union address may serve to counter that notion.

The ongoing crisis at the US-Mexico border, where an influx of migrants has overwhelmed the system, is another weakness for Mr. Biden. He has sought to transfer the blame to Mr. Trump after the former president urged congressional Republicans to kill a bipartisan border security bill that would have stepped up enforcement.

The economy, as always, will be a central campaign issue.

Mr. Biden has presided over an expanding economy, with inflationary pressure easing and stocks hitting all-time highs. But polls show Americans unwilling to credit the president and frustrated about high prices of items like food in the wake of the pandemic. – Reuters

Japan’s Space One Kairos rocket explodes on inaugural flight

March 13, 2024 | 12:14 pm

space-one-launch-site — Image render of Kairos rocket launch posted in 2020. | Source: https://www.space-one.co.jp/

TOKYO – Kairos, a small, solid-fueled rocket made by Japan’s Space One, exploded shortly after its inaugural launch on Wednesday as the firm tried to become the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit.

The 18-meter (59 ft) solid-fuel rocket exploded seconds after lifting off at 11:01 a.m. (0201 GMT), leaving behind a large cloud of smoke, a fire, fragments of the rocket and firefighting water sprays near the launch pad, visible on local media livestreams.

Space One said the flight was “interrupted” after the launch on the tip of mountainous Kii peninsula in western Japan and was investigating the situation. There was no immediate indication of what caused the explosion.

There were no injuries near the launch pad, and the fire has been extinguished, Shuhei Kishimoto, governor of local Wakayama government, told reporters. Space One has said the launch is highly automated and requires roughly a dozen staff at the ground control center.

Kairos carried an experimental government satellite that can temporarily replace intelligence satellites in orbit if they fall offline.

Space One had planned the launch for Saturday but postponed it after a ship entered the nearby restricted sea area.

Although Japan is a relatively small player in the space race, the nation’s rocket developers are scrambling to build cheaper vehicles to capture booming demand for satellite launches from its government and from global clients.

Tokyo-based Space One was established in 2018 by a consortium of Japanese companies: Canon Electronics, the aerospace engineering unit of IHI, construction firm Shimizu and the state-backed Development Bank of Japan. Two of Japan’s biggest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho, also own minority stakes.

Shares in Canon Electronics fell more than 9% after Wednesday’s failed launch, and shares in IHI were down as much as 2%.

Space One wants to offer “space courier services” to domestic and international clients, aiming to launch 20 rockets a year by the late 2020s, its president Masakazu Toyoda said. Although the company delayed Kairos’ inaugural launch window four times, it said orders for its second and third planned trips have been filled, including by an overseas customer.

Kairos is composed of three stages of solid-fueled engines and a liquid-fueled post-boost stage engine, attempting to carry payloads of up to 250 kg to low-Earth orbit.

Space One does not disclose Kairos’ launch costs, but company executive Kozo Abe said it is “competitive enough” against American rival Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab has launched more than 40 Electron small rockets from New Zealand since 2017 at roughly $7 million per flight. Several Japanese companies have used Electron for their missions, including radar satellite makers iQPS and Synspective, and orbital debris-removal startup Astroscale.

Last month, state-funded Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched its new cost-efficient flagship rocket, the H3. JAXA completed a historic “pinpoint” moon landing this year, and the H3 is scheduled to carry about 20 satellites and probes to the space by 2030.

Before that, however, JAXA had faced a series of setbacks. H3’s inaugural flight failed last year, as did another flight of a smaller rocket, Epsilon, in 2022. In July 2023, an upgraded engine for Epsilon exploded at JAXA’s testing site.

In 2019, Interstellar Technologies conducted Japan’s first privately developed rocket launch with its MOMO series, although without a full-scale satellite payload.

Partnering with the United States, Japan is seeking to revitalize its domestic aerospace industry to counter technological and military rivalry from China and Russia.

The government last year promised “comprehensive” support for space startups with technology critical for national security, as it seeks to build satellite constellations to ramp up intelligence capabilities.

Japan’s defense ministry on Friday said it had struck a deal with Space One to boost its rockets’ payload by experimenting with fuel-efficient methane engines. – Reuters

Toyota agrees to biggest wage hike in 25 years in sign of Japan Inc’s big pay bump

March 13, 2024 | 12:07 pm

Toyota Motor Corp’s logo is pictured on a car in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 8, 2016. — REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON/FILE PHOTO

TOKYO – Toyota Motor agreed to give factory workers their biggest pay increase in 25 years on Wednesday, heightening expectations that bumper pay raises will give the central bank leeway to make a key policy shift next week.

Toyota, Panasonic, Nissan and a number of other of Japan Inc’s biggest names said they had agreed to fully meet union demands for pay increases at annual wage negotiations that wrap on Wednesday.

The annual talks, long a defining feature of the usually collaborative relationship between Japanese management and labor, are being closely watched this year as the pay increases are expected to help clear the way for the central bank to end its years-long policy of negative interest rates as early as next week.

Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker and traditionally a bellwether of the annual talks, said it agreed to the demands of monthly pay increases of as much as 28,440 yen ($193) and record bonus payments.

“We’re seeing strong momentum for wage hikes,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. “It’s important that the strong wage hike momentum will spread to small and mid-sized firms.”

Steelmaker Nippon Steel 5401.T also said it had agreed to union pay requests in full.

Economists see substantial wage increases as a prerequisite for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to declare that its long-held goals of sustainable wage growth and stable prices are in sight and usher in an end to negative rates in place since 2016.

The bank, which has stuck with massive stimulus and ultra-low rates for years longer than other developed countries in an attempt to jumpstart a moribund economy, is set to hold its next policy setting meeting on March 18-19.

Workers at major firms have asked for annual increases of 5.85%, topping the 5% mark for the first time in 30 years, according to Japan’s biggest trade union grouping, Rengo. As a result, some analysts expect this year’s wage increases at 5% or more, from just under 4% previously. That would be the biggest increase in some 31 years.

Unions across industries, including automobiles, electronics, metals, heavy machinery and the service sector have all demanded hefty pay hikes. – Reuters