Archives for May 2021

Down Under leaders minimize China spilt, urge virus probe

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The leaders of New Zealand and Australia downplayed their differences over China and urged more investigation into the origin of the coronavirus Monday after their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year.

The two leaders also indicated an Australian-born mass murderer would remain imprisoned in New Zealand.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, in the tourist resort of Queenstown. Morrison was the first major world leader to visit New Zealand since both countries closed their borders last year to keep out the virus.

Australia has taken a hard stance against China in recent years and the relationship between the nations has deteriorated. New Zealand has opted for a more diplomatic approach at times, which some say is too soft.

But Morrison said he and Ardern had similar philosophies.

“Australia and New Zealand are trading nations,” Morrison said. “But neither of us would ever trade our sovereignty or trade our values. We have stood side-by-side to defend and protect and promote these values. Not just on the beaches of Gallipoli but in Afghanistan and so many other places around the world.”

Ardern said New Zealand maintained a strong and principled stance toward China on human rights and trade, and its positions were very similar to Australia’s.

She said New Zealand remains a committed member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance with Australia, the U.S., Britain and Canada.

“That is not in question, not in doubt,” she said.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the two leaders had made “irresponsible remarks” about China’s internal affairs concerning Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety.

The two were guilty of “seriously violating international law and basic norms of international relations, and grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs,” Wang said at a daily briefing.

Morrison said Australia works closely with New Zealand in the Five Eyes partnership and many other international forums.

“I think as great partners, friends, allies, indeed family, there will be those far from here who would seek to divide us,” Morrison said. “And they will not succeed.”

Morrison said it was self-evident there was increased strategic competition between the U.S. and China but that didn’t need to lead to conflict.

Both leaders said they hope the World Health Organization will continue its investigation into the origins of the pandemic.

“It’s got nothing to do with global politics,” Morrison said. “This has nothing to do with anything other than ensuring that the global pandemic, which has caused such havoc around the world, stealing lives and livelihoods, that we understand how this occurred so we can do everything we possibly can to ensure that it does not happen again.”

New Zealand and Australia opened a quarantine-free travel bubble last month, allowing Morrison’s visit to take place. Both leaders said the next logical step in the gradual reopening of their borders would be to expand the bubble to include some other South Pacific island nations.

The two leaders also indicated that Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who two years ago slaughtered 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, would continue serving his sentence of life without parole in New Zealand.

Ardern said the guidance on where he should be imprisoned needed to come from survivors and loved ones, and the informal feedback she’d received from them was in favor of him staying in New Zealand.

“And I understand that,” Ardern said. “There’s something about the proximity in ensuring that the sentence that was handed down is served.”

Morrison said he, too, wanted to respect the wishes and interests of those affected.

Australian softball squad flies to Japan for Olympic camp

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s Olympic softball squad left Sydney bound for Japan on Monday and will be among the earliest arrivals for the Tokyo Games.

The so-called Aussie Spirit will be in camp in Ota City, north of Tokyo, and will narrow the squad down from 23 to 15 ahead of their opening Olympic game against host Japan on July 21 — two days before the official opening ceremony.

The softball squad will be arriving at a time of mounting pressure on Japanese organizers, with polls in Japan showing a majority of people want the Olympics delayed again or canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fans from abroad have already been barred from attending the Olympics, and there’s increasing speculation that games will be held in empty stadiums.

A state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and other prefectures was last week extended until June 20 as COVID-19 cases continue to put the medical system under strain.

Cancellation pressure grows daily on Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee as more questions arise about the risks of bringing 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from more than 200 countries and territories into Japan.

The IOC says more than 80% of athletes and staff staying in the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay will be vaccinated. They are expected to remain largely in a bubble at the village and at venues.

Softball Australia chief executive David Pryles said the squad, which hasn’t played international opposition since February 2020, would be taking the “utmost care” in terms of keeping themselves and the public safe.

“All staff and players heading to Japan today are fully vaccinated thanks to the Australian Olympic Committee,” Pryles said. “They’ll also be undergoing stringent testing and checks as soon as they land at the airport and throughout their camp and (the) Olympics.”

Pryles said player movements would be restricted to one level of the team hotel in Ota, which would include meals, meetings and gym work, and the stadium where they’ll play a series of games against local professional teams and two games against Japan’s national team.

“We’re incredibly grateful the people of Ota City and their government for hosting the squad who will respect the restrictions placed upon us,” he said.

Ian Chesterman, the head of Australia’s Olympic contingent, said athletes and officials were “very comfortable” with the precautions being put in place for the Tokyo Games.

“These athletes . . . are committed to not only look after themselves but do the right thing by the Japanese population as well, and be ready for the games,” Chesterman said. “And I think we’re very comfortable with the protocols that have been put in place to manage not only this group of athletes but the Australian team when we get there.”

Australia is targeting its first Olympic softball gold medal, having collected either silver or bronze in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 before the sport was cut from the program for the 2012 and 2016.

“It’s’ certainly a giant challenge that they face but they are up for that challenge, they want that challenge, and they want to get over there and represent their country and continue the very proud tradition that this team has in Olympic games,” Chesterman said. “It’s an exiting time for all of us involved with the Olympic team because it really is another key milestone that we pass, just have our first athletes heading off to Japan, ready in preparation for the games.”

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

AP PHOTOS: Tiananmen crackdown exhibit opens in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) — The organizer of Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil has opened its yearly exhibit of photographs and paraphernalia from the bloody 1989 crackdown in Beijing on those calling for democracy in China.

The opening comes even as Hong Kong authorities have for the second year in a row banned the annual June 4 vigil, which normally draws tens of thousands of people into the streets. Authorities have cited the risk of the coronavirus, though the cancelation coincides with a broader crackdown on political activism and dissent in the city.

Organized by the The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the museum each year shows photographs from the 1989 democracy movement as well as pictures from past candlelight commemorations in Hong Kong.

This year, visitors to the museum will also be able to lay flowers in remembrance of the victims who lost their lives in the massacre that took place on June 4, 1989.

For decades, the semi-autonomous Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macao were the only places in China where public commemoration of the crackdown was allowed. Authorities in Macao have also canceled their vigil for a second year.

Despite the ban, thousands still turned up last year in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to light candles and sing songs. Later, police arrested more than 20 activists who were charged with taking part in an unauthorized assembly.

The crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong followed months of anti-government protests that roiled the former British colony in 2019 and shook leaders back in Beijing.

Asian World Cup qualifiers to be moved from China

BEIJING (AP) — China’s COVID-19 travel restrictions mean World Cup qualifying matches scheduled for the eastern city of Suzhou this week will likely be relocated to the United Arab Emirates.

The Chinese Football Association issued a statement Monday saying the outbreak of infections in the Maldives and Syria meant both national teams would have to undergo strict quarantine after arriving in China, and couldn’t play as scheduled.

The Asian Football Confederation later issued a statement confirming a move from China, without saying where the next matches would be held.

‘The Asian Football Confederation decided to move the remaining centralized Group A matches . . .from China to a neutral venue, which will be decided and announced in the coming days.”

“The decision was made due to the mounting challenges faced by several participating teams in traveling to China . . . The AFC is now working in close partnership with the Chinese Football Association and potential neutral venues, as well as the participating teams to arrange for the safe passage and well-being of all stakeholders while reiterating its commitment towards ensuring the successful completion of the Asian qualifiers.

Maldives and Syria were scheduled to play Group A games in Suzhou in the second round of Asian qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

“Under the suggestion of the Asian Football Confederation, the CFA agreed to move the remaining Group A matches of the FIFA 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers to Dubai,” the CFA statement said.

The AFC has not announced a new schedule of matches.

Syria leads the five-team group with 15 points from five straight wins. China moved into second spot on 10 points after a 7-0 win over last-place Guam on Sunday. Maldives is in fourth place with six points. The top team in each group will advance to the third round of Asian qualifying.

The second round of Asian qualifying has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining games in most of the eight groups are to be contested in hubs. Some teams will be playing their first international matches in 18 months this week.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Johnson & Johnson asks high court to void $2B talc verdict

WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson is asking for Supreme Court review of a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using the company’s talc products.

The case features an array of high-profile attorneys, some in unusual alliances, including former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who is representing the women who sued Johnson & Johnson. The nation’s largest business groups are backing the company, and a justice’s father also makes an appearance because of his long association with the trade group for cosmetics and personal care products.

The court could say as soon as Tuesday whether it will get involved.

At the root, Johnson & Johnson argues that the company didn’t get a fair shake in a trial in state court in Missouri that resulted in an initial $4.7 billion verdict in favor of 22 women who used talc products and developed ovarian cancer.

A state appeals court cut more than half the money out of the verdict and eliminated two of the plaintiffs but otherwise upheld the outcome in a trial in which lawyers for both sides presented dueling expert testimony about whether the company’s talc products contain asbestos and asbestos-laced talc can cause ovarian cancer.

The jury found for the women on both points, after which Judge Rex M. Burlison wrote that evidence at the trial showed “particularly reprehensible conduct on the part of Defendants.”

The evidence, Burlison wrote, included that the company knew there was asbestos in products aimed at mothers and babies, knew of the potential harm and “misrepresented the safety of these products for decades.”

Nine of the women have died from ovarian cancer, lawyers for the plaintiffs said

Johnson & Johnson denies that its talc products cause cancer and it called the verdict in the Missouri trial “at odds with decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, is not contaminated by asbestos and does not cause cancer.” The company also is the maker of one of three COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States.

Health concerns about talcum powders have prompted thousands of U.S. lawsuits by women who claim asbestos in the powder caused their cancer. Talc is a mineral similar in structure to asbestos, which is known to cause cancer, and they are sometimes obtained from the same mines. The cosmetics industry in 1976 agreed to make sure its talc products do not contain detectable amounts of asbestos.

Last year, a U.S. government-led analysis of 250,000 women found no strong evidence linking baby powder with ovarian cancer in the largest analysis to look at the question, though the study’s lead author called the results “very ambiguous.”

The findings were called “overall reassuring” in an editorial published with the study in January 2020 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study wasn’t definitive but more conclusive research probably isn’t feasible because a dwindling number of women use powder for personal hygiene, the editorial said.

A few months later, the company announced it would stop selling its iconic talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada, citing declining demand driven by what it called misinformation about health concerns.

The disputed link between cancer and talc is not really a part of the high court case. Instead, the company said it should have not been forced to defend itself in one trial against claims by women from 12 states, differing backgrounds and with varying histories of using Johnson & Johnson products containing talc.

The $1.6 billion in punitive damages is out of line and should be reduced, the company also argued in a brief that was written by Neal Katyal, a Washington lawyer who aligns with progressive causes and also represents corporate clients. Katyal, who was the acting top Supreme Court lawyer for a time in the Obama administration, declined an on-the-record interview.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and trade associations for manufacturers, insurers and the pharmaceutical industry are among the business organizations backing Johnson & Johnson’s appeal.

Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association, pointed to how long it took the trial judge to read the jury its instructions as an indication of how unfair the trial was to Johnson & Johnson.

“When a defendant is facing a case where it takes over five hours for the judge to read the jury instructions to the jury, you just have to ask yourself what are we doing here,” said Joyce, whose group generally backs limits on liability lawsuits.

Starr said in an interview with The Associated Press that none of Johnson & Johnson’s legal arguments is worth the court’s time. “As the jury found and as every judge to review this six-week trial record has concluded, Johnson & Johnson’s conduct over decades was reprehensible,” Starr said.

In addition to Starr, other members of the women’s legal team are former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Washington lawyers David Frederick and Tom Goldstein, frequent advocates before the Supreme Court.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh worked for Starr when he investigated the affair between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, which led to Clinton’s impeachment.

Another name that pops up in some documents in the case is E. Edward Kavanaugh, who was the longtime president of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association and is the justice’s father.

Kavanaugh’s group fought efforts to list talc as a carcinogen or attach warning labels to talc products. Kavanaugh is retired and the group now is called the Personal Care Products Council.

Ethicists contacted by the AP said they haven’t seen anything that would warrant the justice having to step aside from the case.

Already, one justice almost certainly won’t take part. Justice Samuel Alito reported last year that he owned $15,000 to $50,000 in Johnson & Johnson stock. Federal law prohibits judges from sitting on cases in which they have financial interest.

Archives for May 2021

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