Multiple US media outlets say President Donald Trump may not make an official announcement on auto tariffs on April 2. Last month, Trump said he would announce duties of about 25% on imported cars on that date. But US media reports quote government officials as saying is unlikely to announce tariffs on cars, semiconductor chips, drugs and other products then. The outlets also report that officials said auto tariffs are still being considered. They say Trump is instead preparing to announce tariffs on April 2, targeting countries that have tariffs or barriers on US goods.
The reports add that the tariffs' scope is expected to be narrower than planned.
They say nations that Washington has a trade surplus with will be exempt.
Trump has called Japan, South Korea, the European Union, Mexico, Canada, India and China trade abusers when discussing the issue.
Japan has launched a new Joint Operations Command, integrating all three branches of its self-defense Force. The move is aimed at helping the SDF stay organized during times of crisis, as well as when it works with the US military.
Officials held a ceremony for the new command at the Defense Ministry on Monday. Lieutenant General Nagumo Kenichiro and his staff of about 240 personnel. will direct operations on the ground, in the air and at sea.
They will work under orders from the Defense Minister. The push to centralize and revamp the command structure came after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It revealed issues with the immense workload for the Chief of Joint Staff during disasters, who had to attend government meetings while directing all three branches. The defense ministry is hoping the new command will ease some of that burden. It's also expected to facilitate speedier and more efficient cooperation with the US Now, Washington had been planning to reconstitute American forces in Japan under a new joint headquarters to streamline coordination with the SDF.
But CNN has reported those plans could be scrapped by Trump, who has been shrinking the federal government.
South Korea's Prime Minister has been reinstated as acting president after the Constitutional Court dismissed an impeachment motion against him. The court said Prime Minister Han Duck-soo did violate the Constitution by refusing to appoint judges to vacant seats on the court, and this was one of the reasons for his impeachment. But the court found Han did not violate the Constitution in connection with the Martial Law Declaration by President Yoon Suk-yeol. It therefore ruled there were not enough grounds to impeach him.
The development of the country is a really important matter for the future. I think this is my final mission. Together with all of you, I will strive to do my best.
Han became acting president after a motion to impeach Yoon was passed by the National Assembly over his martial law declaration last December. Han himself was later suspended after the assembly approved an impeachment motion against him as well. The court has not yet ruled on whether Yoon's martial law declaration violated the Constitution. It held its last hearing on the matter on February 25 and has not announced when it will deliver a ruling.
Turkey's interior minister says Istanbul's mayor has been arrested on suspicion of corruption. His supporters are stepping up their protests, which erupted after Ekrem Imamoglu was detained on Wednesday. He is seen as the leading candidate for the next presidential election. The ministry says the mayor has been removed from his position as a temporary precautionary measure. Imamoglu is a member of the opposition bloc and is a political opponent of President Rajib Type Eldawan.
Local media reports that he has denied all the charges. The mayor's arrest came while voting was taking place to elect him as an opposition candidate for the presidential election scheduled for 2028.
This is a really sad day for the country. This never happened before.
I feel so disappointed. And I feel so stuck. And I feel like no one hear my voice.
Supporters gathered on Sunday in central Istanbul to protest his arrest.
Interior Minister Ali Yelukaya is warning that any attempt to disrupt public order will not be tolerated. Hundreds of people have been reportedly detained.
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Now, this is Hong Kong six years ago, mass calls for democracy. The series of protests attracts more than a million people, one of the largest in the territory's history. In far different scene today, with no reminders of the movement in the streets, civil liberties are being eroded more and more one year since a controversial national security legislation came into effect.
Today is a historic moment for Hong Kong. National security is protected.
The legislation supplements the 2020 National Security Law. It includes increased punishments, including for inciting hatred against the Chinese government. At least 16 people have been arrested under the legislation. Some cases involve social media posts.
A former senior member of a citizens group was arrested for writing about memories of commemorative events for the Tiananmen Square incident. She was accused of publishing seditious materials. The Hong Kong Journalists Association has also facing pressure.
In 2019, it launched protests over police violence against journalists. It says unfounded and defamatory messages have been posted online since the security legislation took effect. The group is struggling to raise funds.
There are still many hard-working journalists in Hong Kong. We must make efforts to protect theirrights.
The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute is considered politically neutral. It has conducted polls for more than 30 years. It announced an indefinite halt to all self-funded research activities last month. This comes after police raided the institute's office in January. They said it was an investigation related to a case involving a former senior member of the institute.
The person was accused of inciting secession through social media posts. but some suggest the raid was aimed at pressuring the organization over its research activities. This political analyst says people in Hong Kong feel life is getting morerestricted.
Only private organizations that are obedient to the government will be allowed to exist, and those that are not will gradually disappear. I think government measures are becoming increasingly unilateral and will negatively affect society as a whole.
And earlier, I delved into these issues further with NHK's Hong Kong bureau chief, Oda Makoto.
So Makoto, the national security legislation was controversial when it first came to effect, and it remains controversial. How are people reflecting that sentiment now?
They are afraid. That's because the definition of what's considered a crime is unclear. The interpretation depends on authorities. People believe speaking out now carries a lot of risk. And that feeling is only growing.
Right, and people are seeing some high-profile cases of what those risks can entail. But the authorities are not the only group people are worried about, actually. Tell us about that.
Yes, there's concern about pressure from others in society. In some cases, this has come in the form of attacks on social media. Some posts are especially violent. As mentioned earlier, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute is considered politically neutral, but more and more pro-China groups see it as being anti-China, so they go on the attack.
Some are trying to isolate others from society, anyone they think does not follow the government. There are also concerns about how China tightening control not only affects society, but also the economy. China is calling on people to show national pride and contribute to their country's interests. This comes amid a slowdown in the in the economy and conflict with the US. Hong Kong developed as a free and open international city under the one country, two systems principle that attracted a lot of economic investment. The worry is economic interests will fade as authorities intervene with private businesses.
So losing what made Hong Kong unique may also mean losing what helped it thrive.
It's time for a check on the world weather with our meteorologist, Jonathan.
Oh. So Jonathan, it's feeling a lot warmer around Tokyo, and we are, of course, coming to an end of March. So how are the cherry blossoms coming along?
Hello. We are definitely seeing some much warmer temperatures, much warmer than we're supposed to see for this time of year. And now we're seeing a little pink blossoms popping up in places like western areas of Japan and also in Tokyo as well. Let me show you some video. Hey, you got to see the video, right?
As on Monday, the Meteorological Agency in Japan announced the start of the cherry blossom season in central Tokyo. Flowers arriving right on schedule and officials said that the warmth of over 25 degrees Celsius Sunday helped the flowers to bloom. And Speaking of the blooming, those announced is also coming from parts of the Kyushu region in the West, including Nagasaki City, with officials expecting the flowers to be in full bloom in about a week. It's not just Nagasaki getting into the action. Take a look at this also into Miyazaki, also Kagoshima seeing those popping up on Monday, Kochi on Sunday seeing those first flowers popping out and we'll see this progressing. West to the east and toward the north as you go throughout the next few weeks. And as I mentioned, we're going to see you full bloom in these locations in about a week or so in Tokyo as well. So if you're planning for seeing those flowers. Just hold on, it's coming up really soon. Now we might be seeing a little bit of a cloud deck that's going to be around the central and eastern areas of Japan as a high pushes out, but it's not going to linger for very long. We go into Tuesday, we'll see sunshine returning as well. And I mean temperatures are going to feel more like May as opposed to March 25 in Fukuoka, 23 in Osaka, 24 in Tokyo and even up toward the north Niigata looking at a high of 18 as we go through today on Tuesday. Meanwhile, some parts of the United. States are stuck in winter mode as we're seeing some snow expected into the northeastern areas of the United States as the lows pushing toward the east and then back toward the Pacific Northwest. A chain of low pressure systems also bring some more wintry weather down toward especially the Panhandle of Florida. Look out as cold front moves through. Might be dealing with some strong thunderstorms as you go throughout the day on Monday and look at the heat 23 in Denver with sunny skies.
Hope you have a good day wherever youare.
♫～
Thank you for staying with us on NHK World Japan.
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