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Japan Already Preparing for a Second Trump Administration

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Japan Already Preparing for a Second Trump Administration

As a second Trump administration becomes a serious possibility, officials in Japan are prepared to deploy the Harvard-educated Takao to boost engagement with the Republican candidate’s campaign ahead of the November 5 U.S. election, trying to avoid any policy surprises for Tokyo.

According to six sources familiar with the subject, Takao, reaching the end of his stint at Japan’s embassy in Beijing, would likely transfer to a U.S.-focused role, allowing Tokyo to capitalize on his knowledge of and acquaintance with Trump. They talked on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

Four individuals claimed that some authorities wanted Takao transferred to Japan’s embassy in Washington, while two indicated that he could handle the job from Tokyo. According to four people, talks are still underway, and choices on place and timing have yet to be made.

Takao declined to answer Reuters’ questions regarding potential possibilities. Japan’s foreign ministry monitored the U.S. election “with great interest” but would not comment on specific individuals.

The high-level negotiations regarding the future of a mid-level bureaucrat highlight what observers call Japanese authorities’ frantic efforts to prepare for a U.S. election outcome that they fear could exacerbate trade and geopolitical tensions.

According to Reuters, America’s closest friend in Asia is anxious that Trump will seek a deal with China, reintroduce protectionist trade measures, and demand more money to maintain U.S. soldiers in Japan.

In recent weeks, a new term, “hobotora,” meaning “likely Trump,” has replaced “moshitora,” which means “possibly Trump.”

According to Joshua Walker, president of Japan Society, a New York-based non-profit promoting US-Japan relations, Japanese officials’ efforts to contact those close to Trump have reached a “fever pitch”.

“They know the Bidens: a simple and limited set of individuals they must stay in touch with. So they’ve focused all of their efforts on the Trump side,” he explained. This is a full-court press.”

Japan Engages with Trump Campaign

According to Reuters in February, Takao previously worked with Shigeo Yamada, Japan’s ambassador to the United States. Yamada took over the position late last year with instructions to engage with the Trump campaign.

According to one of the sources and another person familiar with the situation, in addition to discussing Takao, Japan’s U.S. embassy officials have recently met with Trump’s former top staffer, Mark Meadows and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien.

Those discussions attempted to better grasp Trump’s foreign policy ideas and the composition of a future administration.

Meadows and O’Brien did not return inquiries for comment. A representative for the Japanese embassy in Washington said he couldn’t comment on specific individuals.

Meanwhile, two of the six people said Taro Aso, a prominent member of Japan’s ruling party who served as deputy prime minister during Trump’s presidency, is considering returning to the United States in the coming months to meet with Republican politicians close to Trump and prepare for a potential Trump government.

Japan has previously attempted a similar preemptive push. Abe was the first foreign leader to meet then-President-elect Trump in 2016, and the two developed tight ties. Abe was assassinated in 2022.

The latest effort comes at a crucial time for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is set to visit the United States next month at the invitation of Trump’s Democratic adversary, President Joe Biden.

Studying films of Trump

Reuters reported this week that the leaders of the United States and Japan are anticipated to agree to strengthen bilateral military cooperation.

Takao interpreted for Abe in dozens of meetings with Trump between 2016 and 2020, including at Trump Tower, in the presidential car known as “The Beast,” during a sumo match in Japan, and on golf trips.

According to one of the six sources and another person familiar with the situation, the civil servant, who was reared in the United States and returned to Japan as a teenager, spent hours studying films of Trump and golf rules in preparation for those meetings.

That research eased the leaders’ interactions in a way that piqued the interest of Trump and his advisers.

In a July 2022 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Matt Pottinger, Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, stated that Takao “rendered the Japanese leader’s upbeat staccato into resonant English, even while clinging to the back of a racing golf cart”.

Pottinger told Reuters that Takao “is a superb diplomat and was very effective as Prime Minister Abe’s English-language ‘voice’.”

“He will be an asset to Japan in whatever role he is assigned,” he said.

According to a person familiar with the subject, following one of his golf outings with Abe in 2019, Trump jokingly referred to Takao as junior prime minister. Despite his lack of Mandarin fluency, Takao was appointed political counselor at Japan’s embassy in Beijing in 2021, where he rose to prominence among Western diplomats.

Takao, who previously served as second secretary in Japan’s U.S. embassy early in his career, is a workaholic who some view as a superstar in Japan’s foreign service, according to two people who know him.

Other officials doubted Takao’s abilities despite his credentials, citing Japan’s tight bureaucracy and Trump’s preference for engaging directly with foreign leaders.

“Donald J. Trump is well acquainted with Takao-san, who may remind him of the joyful times spent with his late friend, Prime Minister Abe,” said Tomohiko Taniguchi, Abe’s former special adviser.

“Yet, Trump’s preference for direct dealings with a country’s leader means that Mr. Kishida will need to put in significant effort to garner friendship and trust from Mr. Trump.”

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London has Canceled the Hot Air Balloon Festival for the Fifth Consecutive Year.

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Hot Air Balloon

(CTN News) – The hot air balloon festival that was supposed to take place in London has been postponed for the sixth year in a row due to worries regarding the absence of acceptable weather conditions. It was scheduled to take place in London.

In spite of the fact that the Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta was supposed to take place in the nation’s capital on Sunday, it was canceled for the fifth year in a row, as well as for the second time this year after it was postponed from July 7 owing to wind conditions.

This is the second time that it has been cancelled this year.

Second year in a row hot air balloons aren’t on the schedule.

The organizers are hopeful that the hot air balloon event, which was due to begin at five in the morning in Battersea Park, may now take place on the 28th of July instead.

This is because the most recent successful event, which took place in 2019, has given them reason to believe that the event would be successful. Previously, the event was scheduled to start at five in the morning, according to the preparations.

As part of the historic activities that will take place during the Lord Mayor’s Show, fifty hot air balloons will take flight across the downtown area of London. The purpose of these flights is to promote awareness and funds for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

There will also be a regatta that will be participating in the activities, which will also be included in them. Beginning in the year 2015, the group has been able to effectively raise more than two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

It has been decided to hot air balloon postpone the activities that were supposed to take place in the years 2020 and 2021 as a result of the global coronavirus epidemic.

On the other hand, the editions that were scheduled to take place in the years 2022 and 2023 have been canceled as a result of the severe weather that has been occurring.

In light of the fact that wind conditions forced them to cancel the flight that was scheduled to take place on Sunday morning, the organizers have now made the announcement that they are hoping to reschedule it for the following Sunday, which is the next of the several possible days that are allocated each year.

This occurs in light of the fact that the flight was supposed to take place on Sunday morning.

Wind conditions forced them to cancel their hot air balloon flight.

In their separate social media accounts, they explained, “Unfortunately, the predicted change in wind direction for the hot air balloon flight today has not materialized, and we have made the difficult decision to cancel the flight for the safety of every member on board,” they stated.

It is our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you. It is our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

We would want to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to everyone who has reached out to us and shown their support, particularly the members of the general public who have communicated with us and attended the trip.

We are moving forward with this, and the next standby date that we are pushing forward with is the next Sunday, which is the 28th of July.

The fact that hot air balloon are going to be floating over a number of well-known locations in London this year has been brought to the attention of the organizers of the event. Some of the most well-known landmarks in London are Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge.

It is anticipated that Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli would serve as the leader of the ceremony. He will also be the one to lead the ceremony.

SOURCE: IN

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A Skydiving Plane in New York Crashed, Killing One Person.

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Skydiving

(CTN News) – On Saturday, a plane that was being used for skydiving was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of one individual. The event took place in Niagara County, New York.

The occurrence took place at some point throughout the course of the day. Saturday marked the beginning of the investigation into the tragedy that had taken place earlier than anyone had anticipated.

The authorities in New York began their investigation. It turned out that the catastrophe had occurred earlier than anyone had anticipated on their part.

According to a statement that was released by the Federal Aviation Administration, a single-engine Cessna 208B, which was a plane that was used for skydiving, crashed close to Lake Road in the vicinity of Youngstown, New York, at approximately one o’clock in the afternoon. The plane was used for jumping.

The plane served as a platform for skydiving.

In order to perform vertical jumps, the plane was deployed. According to a press statement that was given by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday and reported by News.

the airplane that was used by the Skydive the Falls skydiving center had released all of the divers and was on its way back to land when it crashed.

The statement was issued by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office. News  was the one that distributed the news release. The announcement was made public by CNN, which served as the source.

According to Tammy L. Jones, a representative for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot, who was the only person on board, was reportedly practicing parachute operations before to the accident. Jones stated that the pilot was the only person on board.

The official from the FAA was the one who offered this information here. For more specific information, the Federal Aviation Administration was the source.

However, according to Skydiving Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti, who mentioned this information during a press conference on Saturday, it is still unknown how many divers were on board prior to the disaster.

This information was stated by Filicetti. It was indicated during the press conference that this information was available. Filicetti shared these particulars in his statement, which may be seen here.

It was also indicated in the notice that a brush fire had begun around the crash site later on. This information was included in the warning. Additionally, this was mentioned in the notification that was sent out.

Putting out what Filicetti describes as “a significant fire at that point,” the first squad to arrive on the site was the one responsible for putting out the fire.

The Skydiving fire was to be extinguished by them.

The statement that the sheriff released referred to the plane crash as “an unfortunate incident.” He also noted that local and federal law and Skydiving enforcement officers are collaborating in order to undertake an investigation into the sequence of events that led up to the disaster.

In addition to this, the sheriff mentioned that the investigation will be carried out in conjunction with the federal authorities.

If I am being really honest with you, I am of the opinion that this circumstance is precisely the same as any other emergency-related problem… As soon as you arrived, you decided that you wanted to make an attempt to save people’s lives.

As a result of the specific circumstances that we were dealing with, we were unable to pursue that particular course of action,” Filicetti explained further.

Following an interview with News, Peter Knudson, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, provided the following statement: “It is anticipated that an investigator from the agency will arrive at the crash site on Saturday.”

Knudson, who also confirmed that the investigation will continue, stated that the investigator will continue to Skydiving document the debris of the airplane, which will then be sent to a secure facility for additional examination. Knudson also confirmed that the investigation would continue.

Additionally, Knudson was quoted as saying that the probe will proceed.

According to News, the investigation will Skydiving concentrate on three primary aspects: the pilot, the aircraft, and the environment in which the aircraft is operated throughout the investigation. In this investigation, these are the key aspects that will be looked into.

SOURCE: AP

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Malaysia’s Coast Guard has found the Oil tanker Involved in the Crash off Singapore’s Coast.

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Coast Guard

(CTN News) – A large oil tanker that had been involved in a Coast Guard disastrous collision with another vessel two days ago off the coast of Singapore was discovered and intercepted by the coast guard of Malaysia, according to a statement that was made on Sunday.

The disaster occurred off the coast of Singapore with another vessel. There had been an accident that took place two days previously.

The disaster had occurred the day before, with the occurrence taking place off the coast of Singapore. The calamity had taken place just the day before. Two days previously, the accident had also taken place in the vicinity of Singapore’s coast.

Also affected was the neighborhood. Indeed, this was the fact. At the time of the accident, Singapore and Malaysia were both taken aback by the magnitude of the catastrophe that had taken place off the beaches of their respective countries.

According to a Coast Guard report on Saturday.

At least two members of the crew have been injured after a collision involving the tanker Ceres I, which was flying the flag of Sao Tome and Principe, caused a fire and resulted in the vessel leaving the scene of the accident.

A report on the findings of the study has been released. According to the report, the tanker had moved away from the location where the event occurred.

We received the information from the United States Coast Guard, which was the entity that provided it to us. The report states that the tanker was reported to have left the location where the event took place. This information is according to the report.

Additionally, it was believed that the ship had disabled its tracking system, as stated by the Coast Guard. Specifically, this was mentioned in the report. Within the report that was made public, this particular point was brought to the forefront.

It was reported that the Ceres I was found in the waters of Malaysia when it was being hauled by two tugboats, as indicated in a statement that was made by the Coast Guard on Sunday, proclaiming the discovery. The statement was released in order to announce the finding.

The statement provided an explanation as to how the discovery turned out. Following the discovery that was reported, the remark was made as a response to the situation.

It has been reported that the Coast Guard has taken two tugboats and the Ceres I into custody in order to undertake more investigations.

Based on Coast Guard information provided in the article.

This type of detention is being carried out in order to guarantee that the Coast Guard will be able to conduct an appropriate investigation into the sequence of events that led up to the tragedy.

The United States Coast Guard issued a statement on Sunday stating that aerial scans that were carried out by the Coast Guard discovered minute residues of an oil spill near the site of the collision between the Ceres I and the Hafnia Nile, which happened to be flying the flag of Singapore at the time of the collision.

The statement was issued in response to the fact that the Coast Guard had discovered the oil spill. The collision that occurred between the two vessels was the initial cause of the oil spill.

The announcement was made available to the general public by the Coast Guard not long after that. The statement was issued by the Coast Guard, which was the specific organization that issued the statement.

It was noted in the release that “the environment department has been informed and will conduct further monitoring,” which is the same thing that was expressed in the warning. This was done in order to convey a better level of clarity.

SOURCE: USN

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