The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which would take away its tax-exempt privilege and require liquidation of its assets.

The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.

In the ruling, the court said the church’s problems were extensive and continuous, and a dissolution order is necessary because it is not likely it could voluntarily reform, according to NHK television.

"We believe our claims were accepted,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshiasa Hayashi told reporters. He added that government will continue efforts to support victims of the church.

The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.

The church called the court order regrettable and unjust and said in a statement the court’s decision was based on “a wrong legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”

The investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in the 1960s during an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.

The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.

The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group subject to a revocation order based on violations of Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.

To seek the church’s dissolution, the Education Ministry had submitted 5,000 documents and pieces of evidence to the court, based on interviews with more than 170 people.

The church tried to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability and causing fear and harm to them and their families, seriously deviating from the law on religious groups, officials and experts say.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs said the settlements reached in or outside court exceeded 20 billion yen ($132 million) and involved more than 1,500 people.

A group of lawyers who have represented people suing the church welcomed the court decision as a major first step toward redress. They demanded an apology and compensation from the church as soon as possible.

The church, founded in Seoul in 1954, a year after the end of the Korean War, by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented value systems.

It developed relations with conservative world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as his predecessors Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The church faced accusations in the 1970s and 1980s of using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing adherents into turning over huge portions of their salaries to Moon. In Japan, the group has faced lawsuits for offering “spiritual merchandise” that allegedly caused members to buy expensive art and jewelry or sell their real estate to raise donations for the church.

A court formally arrested the mayor of Istanbul, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Sunday and ordered him jailed pending the outcome of a trial on corruption charges.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained following a raid on his residence earlier this week, sparking the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade. It also deepened concerns over democracy and rule of law in Turkey.

His imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major contender from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject the accusations and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.

The prosecutor’s office said the court decided to jail Imamoglu on suspicion of running a criminal organization, accepting bribes, extortion, illegally recording personal data and bid-rigging. A request for him to be imprisoned on terror-related charges was rejected although he still faces prosecution. Following the court’s ruling, Imamoglu was transferred to Silivri prison, west of Istanbul.

The Interior Ministry later announced that Imamoglu had been suspended from duty as a “temporary measure.” The municipality had previously appointed an acting mayor from its governing council.

Alongside Imamoglu, 47 other people were also jailed pending trial, including a key aide and two district mayors from Istanbul, one of whom was replaced with a government appointee. A further 44 suspects were released under judicial control.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Sunday that 323 people were detained the previous evening over disturbances at protests.

Largely peaceful protests across Turkey have seen hundreds of thousands come out in support of Imamoglu. However, there has been some violence, with police deploying water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and firing plastic pellets at protesters in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, some of whom hurled stones, fireworks and other missiles at riot police.

The formal arrest came as more than 1.5 million members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Imamoglu, the sole candidate.

The party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide to allow people who are not party members to express their support for the mayor. Large crowds gathered early Sunday to cast a “solidarity ballot.”

“This is no longer just a problem of the Republican People’s Party, but a problem of Turkish democracy,” Fusun Erben, 69, said at a polling station in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district. “We do not accept our rights being so easily usurped. We will fight until the end.”

Speaking at a polling station in Bodrum, western Turkey, engineer Mehmet Dayanc, 38, said he feared that “in the end we’ll be like Russia, a country without an opposition, where only a single man participates in elections.”

In a message posted on social media, Imamoglu called on people to show “their struggle for democracy and justice to the entire world” at the ballot box. He warned Erdogan that he would be defeated by “our righteousness, our courage, our humility, our smiling face.”

“Honestly, we are embarrassed in the name of our legal system,” Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, a fellow member of Imamoglu’s CHP, told reporters after casting his vote, criticizing the lack of confidentiality in the proceedings.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said Imamoglu’s imprisonment was reminiscent of “Italian mafia methods.” Speaking at Istanbul City Hall, he added: “Imamoglu is on the one hand in prison and on the other hand on the way to the presidency.”

The Council of Europe, which focuses on promoting human rights and democracy, slammed the decision and demanded Imamoglu’s immediate release.

U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a possible pivot point in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy.

Trump disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening, while the Kremlin confirmed Putin’s participation on Monday morning.

“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump said. “A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday morning confirmed the plans for the two leaders to speak on Tuesday, but declined to give details, saying that “we never get ahead of events” and “the content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion.”

European allies are wary of Trump’s affinity for Putin and his hardline stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who faced sharp criticism when he visited the Oval Office a little more than two weeks ago.

Although Russia failed in its initial goal to topple Ukraine with its invasion three years ago, it still controls large swaths of the country.

Trump said land and power plants are part of the conversation around bringing the war to a close.

“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” he said, a process he described as “dividing up certain assets.”

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff recently visited Moscow last week to advance negotiations.

Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the southeast of the country — but doesn’t fully control any of the four. Last year, Putin listed Kyiv’s withdrawal of troops from all four regions as one of the demands for peace.

In 2014, the Kremlin also annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

In the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow controls the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — the largest in Europe. The plant has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire since the invasion. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. body, has frequently expressed alarm about the plant amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

During his conversation with reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he was pushing forward with his plans for tariffs on April 2 despite recent disruption in the stock market and nervousness about the economic impact.

“April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” he said. “We’re getting back some of the wealth that very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”

Trump has occasionally changed course on some tariff plans, such as with Mexico, but he said he had no intention of doing so when it comes to reciprocal tariffs.

The new Austrian government said Wednesday that family reunion procedures for migrants will be immediately halted because the country is no longer able to absorb newcomers adequately.

The measure is temporary and intended to ensure that those migrants who are already in the country can be better integrated, Chancellor Christian Stocker from the conservative Austrian People’s Party said.

“Austria’s capacities are limited, and that is why we have decided to prevent further overloading,” Stocker said.

The new measure means that migrants with so-called protected status — meaning they cannot be deported — are no longer allowed to bring family members still living in their home countries to Austria.

The new three-party coalition made up of the People’s Party, the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos, has said that curbing migration is one of its top issues and vowed to implement strict new asylum rules.

Official figures show that 7,762 people arrived in Austria last year as part of family reunion procedures for migrants. In 2023 the figure was 9,254. Most new arrivals were minors.

Migrants who are still in the asylum process or have received a deportation order are not allowed in the first place to bring family members from their countries of origin.

Most recent asylum seekers came from Syria and Afghanistan, the Austrian chancellery said in a statement.

The European Union country has 9 million inhabitants.

Stocker said the measure was necessary because “the quality of the school system, integration and ultimately the security of our entire systems need to be protected — so that we do not impair their ability to function.”

The government said it had already informed the EU of its new measures. It denied to say for how long it would put family reunions on hold.

“Since last summer, we have succeeded in significantly reducing family reunification,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. “Now we are creating the legal basis to ensure this stop is sustainable.”

All over the continent, governments have been trying to cut the number of migrants. The clamp-down on migrants is a harsh turnaround from ten years ago, when countries like Germany and Sweden openly welcomed more than 1 million migrants from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many communities and towns in other countries, such as Germany, also say they no longer have capacities to find shelter or homes for migrants.

The EU is trying to keep more migrants from entering its 27-country bloc and move faster to deport those whose asylum procedures are rejected.

On Tuesday, the EU unveiled a new migration proposal that envisions the opening of so-called “return hubs” to be set up in third countries to speed up the deportation for rejected asylum-seekers.

So far, only 20% of people with a deportation order are effectively removed from EU territory, according to the European Commission.

Japan’s trade minister said this week that he has failed to win assurances from U.S. officials that the key U.S. ally will be exempt from tariffs, some of which take effect on Wednesday.

Yoji Muto was in Washington for last ditch negotiations over the tariffs on a range of Japanese exports including cars, steel and aluminum.

Muto said Monday in Washington that Japan, which contributes to the U.S. economy by heavily investing and creating jobs in the United States, “should not be subject to” 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto exports to America.

His meetings with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett came just two days before the steel and aluminum tariffs are due to take effect. President Donald Trump has also said a possible 25% tariff on imported foreign autos could take effect in early April.

Muto said the U.S. officials acknowledged Japanese contributions and agreed to continue talks, but did not approve his request for Japan’s exemption from the steep import duties.

“We did not receive a response that Japan will be exempt,” Muto told reporters. “We must continue to assert our position.”

As Trump’s tariff threats have triggered tensions and vows of retaliation from Canada, Mexico and China, Japan has been working to firm up ties with other countries.

Last week, the foreign and trade ministers from Japan and Britain gathered in Tokyo for their first “two-plus-two” economic dialogue. They agreed to stand up for “fair, rules-based international trade,” though nobody directly mentioned Trump.

Japan depends heavily on exports and the auto tariffs would hurt, because vehicles are its biggest export and the United States is their top destination.

“Clearly companies in Japan are very concerned,” said Rintaro Nishimura, political analyst and associate at Japan Practice of The Asia Group. “Obviously the auto is the crown jewel for Japan, especially in the context of these tariffs.” He says they are concerned also because the Trump administration is carrying it out in just two months after taking office.

Trump also has criticized Japan’s contributions to the two countries’ mutual defense arrangements, adding to tensions with Tokyo.

Muto said the two sides agreed to keep discussing to find ways to establish a “win-win” relationship that would serve national interests of both countries.

The two sides also discussed energy cooperation, including joint development of liquefied natural gas reserves in Alaska, which Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed on during Ishiba’s visit to the White House in February.

A British court on Friday rejected appeals by most of a group of environmental activists who were jailed for actions including stopping traffic, blocking an oil facility and splashing a Vincent van Gogh painting with soup.

The Just Stop Oil protesters had challenged what they alleged were “manifestly excessive” prison terms of between 15 months and five years for disruptive but peaceful actions. The group argued that the jailed protesters are political prisoners who were “acting in self-defense and to protect our families and communities.”

Three Court of Appeal justices rejected claims by 10 of the activists but reduced the sentences of six others who were jailed over 2022 demonstrations that saw protesters climb gantries above a busy highway. They include Roger Hallam, the co-founder of eco-activist organization Extinction Rebellion and spinoff group Just Stop Oil, who had his five-year sentence reduced to four years.

“It is not disputed that each of the appellants was motivated to act as they did by a conscientious desire to communicate their views about the appropriate response to climate change issues,” the judges said in their ruling. But, they added, “conscientious motivation did not preclude a finding that any appellant’s culpability was still high.”

Raj Chada, the claimants’ lawyer, said “the small reduction in the case of Roger Hallam recognizes the extraordinarily excessive sentences that continue to be given out to protesters in England. It is, however, extremely disappointing that many of the other sentences were upheld.”

“No country in Europe gives such draconian sentences for peaceful protests, proving we are out of kilter with the rest of the civilized world,” he said, adding the group was considering taking the case to the U.K. Supreme Court.

The 10 whose appeals failed included protesters sentenced for digging tunnels under the road leading to an oil terminal in southeast England and throwing soup onto the protective glass over Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery.

Activists staged a protest inside the same gallery after the judgement. Video footage showed a protester sitting on the floor in front of “Sunflowers” speaking loudly about the impact of climate change. She wore a shirt bearing a picture of the painting splattered with orange.

As Chief Justice Sue Carr read out the ruling, several campaigners in the courtroom stood and turned their backs, wearing T-shirts that read “Corruption in Court.”

The U.K’s previous Conservative government toughened anti-protest laws in response to eco-activists who blocked roads and bridges, glued themselves to trains, splattered artworks with paint, sprayed buildings with fake blood and doused athletes in orange powder to draw attention to climate change. It said the laws prevented extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life.

Civil liberties groups, who argued that the move weakened the right to peaceful protest, have urged the new Labour Party government to ease the restrictions on protest imposed by its predecessor.

“Despite some modest reductions, these sentences are still unprecedented and they still have no place in a democracy that upholds the right to protest,” said Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, which supported the appeals.

A deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “is still very, very far away,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that he believed Ukraine’s long-term partnership with the U.S. was strong enough that American support would continue despite recent fraught relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I think our relationship (with the U.S.) will continue, because it’s more than an occasional relationship,” Zelenskyy said late Sunday, referring to Washington’s support for the past three years of war.

“I believe that Ukraine has a strong enough partnership with the United States of America” to keep aid flowing, he said at a briefing in Ukrainian before leaving London.

Zelenskyy publicly was upbeat despite the recent heated Oval Office blow up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during which they accused him of being “disrespectful” and said he should show more gratitude for America’s help. The turn of events is unwelcome for Ukraine, whose understrength army is having a hard time keep bigger Russian forces at bay.

The Ukrainian leader was in London to attend U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s effort to rally his European counterparts around continuing — and likely much increased — support for Ukraine from the continent amid political uncertainty in the U.S., and Trump’s overtures toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Asked by a reporter to comment about the outlines of a new European initiative to end Russia’s war, Zelenskyy said: “We are talking about the first steps today, and therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”

“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet. The peace that we foresee in the future must be just, honest, and most importantly, sustainable,” he added.

Trump slammed Zelenskyy later Monday for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine is still far off.  “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. — Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” Trump added in his post. “What are they thinking?”

The White House wants Zelenskyy to show more openness to potential concessions in order to bring the fighting to an end, but Zelenskyy resisted that idea while pressing for security guarantees from Washington during last Friday’s meeting.

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely next leader after the recent election, said Monday that he didn’t think last Friday’s Oval Office blow-up was spontaneous.

He said that he had watched the scene repeatedly. “My assessment is that it wasn’t a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but apparently an induced escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office,” Merz said.

He said that he was “somewhat astonished by the mutual tone,” but there has been “a certain continuity to what we are seeing from Washington at the moment” in recent weeks.

However, the added complexity of the trade war sparked by U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum poses a fresh challenge. For Ukraine, which heavily depends on its steel industry, this could further destabilize an already fragile economy. The 25% tariffs introduced by President Trump could lead to decreased exports, exacerbating the economic strain caused by the war. In addition, Trump's recent outreach to Putin and comments about potentially meeting with him in person, coupled with dismissals of NATO membership for Ukraine, raise concerns in Kyiv about the future of U.S. support.

These developments underscore how deeply interconnected geopolitics, military conflict, and global trade are in shaping the survival of Ukraine's key industries. The factory’s workers, like many others in the region, are caught in the crossfire of these broader international shifts, and their resilience will be critical in navigating both the physical and economic battles ahead.

by breakinglegalnews.com

The use of a U.S. military plane for the deportation marked a shift in procedure, as the Trump administration had previously relied on commercial and chartered flights for such actions. This new method of using military planes drew attention due to the reports of the shackling, particularly because it involved long periods of restraint.

Indian lawmakers, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, called the treatment inhumane, displaying placards and chanting slogans in Parliament. They demanded an explanation from the Indian government and called for dignity and humane treatment for the deportees. Gandhi posted on social media, emphasizing that Indians deserved better than handcuffs.

In response, India's External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, stated that the U.S. regulations on restraints had been in place since 2012. He clarified that women and children were not restrained and that the procedures used during the flight were consistent with past practices. Jaishankar also highlighted that India’s focus should be on addressing the issue of illegal migration, which has led to an uptick in arrests along the U.S.-Canada border, particularly among migrants from Punjab and Gujarat.

Despite the protests, the Indian government has maintained that while it opposes illegal immigration, it does not object to the deportations. The controversy continues, particularly with Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to Washington, where discussions on immigration are expected to continue.

by breakinglegalnews.com

The World Health Organization (WHO) is facing significant challenges after the U.S. decision to withdraw from the U.N. health agency, as highlighted during a recent meeting where global leaders and diplomats urged the U.S. to reverse this move. The WHO relies heavily on U.S. funding, and with the U.S. contributing an estimated $988 million for 2024-2025—around 14% of its total budget—there are growing concerns about how the agency will manage without this vital financial support.

The U.S. contribution plays a central role in funding WHO’s health emergencies program, including efforts in regions like the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan. The U.S. also finances a significant portion of the WHO’s tuberculosis work in Europe, Africa, and the Western Pacific. The withdrawal of these funds has left WHO scrambling to address the shortfall, with warnings that critical programs such as polio-eradication and HIV treatment may suffer as a result.

At a recent budget meeting, Germany's envoy, Bjorn Kummel, expressed urgency, saying, "The roof is on fire, and we need to stop the fire as soon as possible." Meanwhile, WHO has struggled to collect owed funds from the U.S. for 2024, leaving the agency facing a deficit as it continues to operate without full financial backing.

The situation is expected to remain a topic of discussion through WHO's executive board session, running until February 11, with health ministers from around the world determining the next steps to address the funding gap left by the U.S. withdrawal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting global health, coordinating international health efforts, and setting standards for public health practices. Its mission is to ensure that all people, regardless of their location, have access to the highest possible level of health and well-being.

WHO's main functions include:

1. Providing leadership on global health matters and shaping the health research agenda.
2. Setting international health standards and regulations, such as guidelines on vaccinations, disease control, and food safety.
3. Coordinating responses to health emergencies like outbreaks of diseases (e.g., Ebola, COVID-19).
4. Supporting countries in strengthening their health systems, preventing diseases, and improving health outcomes through technical assistance, training, and funding.
5. Monitoring and assessing global health trends, like tracking disease outbreaks and assessing health risks worldwide.

WHO is funded by contributions from its member states, and it works with countries, governments, health experts, and partners globally to achieve its health goals.

[Image credit: Pexel]

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in a significant phone conversation with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi. This dialogue marks an important step in shaping the diplomatic relations between the United States and China under the new Donald Trump administration. Here's a breakdown of the key points and their potential implications:

1. Prioritizing American Interests:
   • Statement: Rubio emphasized that the Trump administration will prioritize American interests above all else.
   • Implication: This signals a shift towards a more unilateral approach in foreign policy, focusing primarily on benefits and advantages for the U.S., potentially affecting global alliances and trade relationships.
2. Concerns Over China's Actions:
   • Areas Highlighted: Taiwan and the South China Sea.
   • Implication: The U.S. continues to express apprehension regarding China's territorial claims and military activities in these regions. This stance reinforces Washington's commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation and supporting Taiwan's sovereignty, which could lead to heightened tensions if not managed carefully.
3. Commitment to Indo-Pacific Allies:
   • Statement: Rubio underscored Washington's dedication to its allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
   • Implication: Strengthening alliances in this strategic area is crucial for counterbalancing China's growing influence. It suggests potential increased military cooperation, economic partnerships, and joint initiatives to ensure regional stability.
4. Managing Bilateral Differences:
   • Chinese Response: Wang Yi acknowledged the need to manage differences between the two largest economies.
   • Implication: Despite existing tensions, there is an acknowledgment from both sides of the necessity to maintain communication channels. This could pave the way for negotiations on trade, technology exchange, and other critical issues.
5. Economic Measures and Trade Tariffs:
   • U.S. Actions: Trump has indicated readiness to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products starting February 1.
   • Implication: Increased tariffs could escalate the ongoing trade war, impacting global supply chains, increasing costs for consumers, and potentially leading to retaliatory measures from China.
6. Potential High-Level Meetings:
   • Trump's Hope: There is an expressed desire for a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
   • Implication: High-level dialogues are essential for de-escalating tensions and negotiating agreements on contentious issues. Such meetings could lead to breakthroughs or, conversely, exacerbate disagreements depending on the discussions' outcomes.

Secretary Rubio's conversation with Wang Yi underscores a period of cautious engagement between the U.S. and China. While the Trump administration emphasizes American interests and expresses concerns over China's regional activities, there remains a mutual recognition of the need to manage bilateral differences. The balance between asserting national priorities and maintaining open communication channels will be pivotal in shaping the future dynamics of U.S.-China relations. Additionally, the potential imposition of further tariffs and the possibility of high-level meetings indicate that economic and diplomatic strategies will continue to play significant roles in this bilateral relationship.

by breakinglegalnews.com