News Lelemuku

HARARE, LELEMUKU.COM - A Zimbabwean-born software engineer, Hope Ndhlovu, has won the 2019 World Bank Youth Summit Award for developing an application designed to make it easy for people to use public transport in Africa.

The Bulawayo-born young man, who studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Harvard University in United States (US), was among hundreds of people who submitted their Apps for consideration at the World Bank Summitt 2019.

In a message posted on his social media platforms, Ndhlovu wrote, “I had the honor and privilege of pitching my startup Tuverl at the World Bank Youth Summit Pitch Competition Finals in Washington DC, earlier this week. We were 1 of 5 team finalists selected from a pool of 885 applicants from 98 countries.

“My team finished on 1st place and won … It was such a humbling experience for our vision at Tuverl to be validated by the World Bank and the hundreds vibrant young people from around the world who attended the conference.”

Ndhlovu did his secondary education at Mpopoma High School in Bulawayo. (VOA)

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Syahril Yasin Limpo to start exporting rice next year.

For the record, the Government has 4,776,000 tons of rice stock despite a deficit between national rice production and consumption in November and December.

According to Syahril, regarding preparation to export rice, Ministry of Agriculture will take several steps starting from seedlings, land preparation, irrigation, so the quality of rice to be exported is on par with that from other countries.

“We have to use trade diplomacy and trade agriculture and I am confident that I will be able to carry out the President’s instruction,” Syahrul said, adding that as many as 100,000 tons up to 500,000 tons of rice will be exported next year.

The Minister added that March and April next year will see the peak of the harvest season with rice production expected to reach more than 4,255,000 tons of rice.

“Therefore, if rice stocks in March alone reach 6,752,000 tons and the consumption is 2,400,000 tons every month, we will have an overstock of rice at 6,800,000 tons,” Syahrul said.

The Minister also ensured rice stocks and food security ahead of Christmas and New Year this year, including those stored in at the warehouse of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), trade warehouses, and in markets with the total amount reaching approximately 4.7 million tons. (Setkab)

KARANGANYAR, LELEMUKU.COM - President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo on Thursday (2/5) inaugurated the Gondang Dam located in Karanganyar Regency, Central Java Province.

The dam will irrigate approximately 4,680 hectares of rice fields, both in Karanganyar Regency and Sragen Regency.

According to President Jokowi, the Government will build another dam in Karanganyar area. “Next, we will build the Jlantah Dam here,” he said.

Furthermore, the President expressed hope that the Gondang Dam can also be a power plant to produce electricity and as a source of raw water in Karanganyar Regency and its surroundings and potentially a very good tourist attraction in the future.

“Hopefully it will give a good economic impact for Karanganyar Regency and its surroundings,” he added.

Also attending the inauguration were First Lady Ibu Iriana, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono, and Deputy Governor of Central Java Taj Yasin Maimoen. (Setkab)

SEOUL, LELEMUKU.COM - Since emerging from his international isolation just over a year ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been a busy man.

Kim has met twice with U.S. President Donald Trump, three times with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, four times with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and once with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong.

One name missing from that list: Russian President Vladimir Putin. That could soon change.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that preparations for a long-rumored Kim-Putin summit are underway. The meeting could happen as soon as next week, according to South Korea’s semi-official Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang and Moscow have clear motivations for the meeting.

Kim, whose government is being squeezed by international sanctions, is likely to push Putin for economic aid that would give him more leverage in nuclear talks with the United States.

Putin may use the meeting to boost his influence in North Korea and ensure Moscow is not sidelined in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Putin as spoiler? Maybe not.

Under Putin, Russia has attempted to disrupt U.S. interests around the world, in areas as diverse as Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

But Putin is not likely to play the role of spoiler in the North Korea-U.S. talks, in part because he doesn’t have much leverage over Pyongyang, says Andrei Lankov, a professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University.

“And in this case, Russia’s interests are not that different from that of the United States. Both sides want to preserve the status quo and want denuclearization,” Lankov says.

Russia may also be reluctant to upset South Korea, an important trading partner, whose progressive government is heavily invested in engagement with the North.

Russia has carried out a balancing act in its approach toward Korea.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian leaders decided to prioritize relations with South Korea over the North.

But since the mid-1990s, Moscow’s policy has been based on “equidistance,” or balanced relations toward both Seoul and Pyongyang, says Anthony Rinna, a North Korea-Russia relations specialist at the Sino-NK research group.

“The Kremlin is trying to reverse the post-Cold War decline of its influence in East Asia,” Rinna says. “In order to do that, Moscow needs to strengthen its ties with the DPRK.”

Though Moscow supported intensified U.S.-led international sanctions on North Korea following missile and nuclear tests in 2016 and 2017, it later called for them to be eased. Russian companies have since supplied oil to North Korea, in violation of those sanctions.

Another factor: Russia sees North Korea as a buffer against the U.S. military presence in the region, including the 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

But for now, Russia’s biggest priority may be preventing a return to the provocations of 2017, when Kim and Trump regularly exchanged threats of nuclear war.

“Preserving the status quo is the major goal,” says Leonid Petrov, a Korean studies expert at the Australian National University. “That means slow-motion conflict without major shifts or changes.”

What does North Korea want?

Kim’s goals, too, are diverse. At the top of his list is economic aid to relieve the pressure of sanctions and expand his leverage in stalled talks with Trump.

At a February summit in Hanoi, Trump pushed for a “big deal” in which North Korea commits to completely giving up its nuclear weapons in exchange for the United States lifting sanctions. North Korea countered with a gradual approach, offering to dismantle a key nuclear complex in exchange for partial U.S. sanctions relief.

By meeting with Putin, Kim may be trying to show Trump that he has other options for economic help. But it’s not clear how much Russia can offer, in part because of Russia’s struggling economy and also because such help could violate sanctions.

For example, North Korea has expressed interest in buying new Russian civilian aircraft to replace its aging fleet, according to Russian state media. However, a 2017 U.N. Security Council resolution prohibits the sale of transportation vehicles to North Korea.

Besides economic aid, Kim could also ask Putin for a commitment to military assistance in the event North Korea is attacked, as well as continued diplomatic support at the United Nations, Petrov says.

“It’s a shopping list, and we don’t know what’s going to materialize,” Petrov says.

In any case, Putin will not likely offer enough to fundamentally change North Korea’s calculation for the nuclear talks, says Kim Heung-kyu, a political science professor at Seoul’s Ajou University.

“Considering its internal circumstances, Russia is not capable of focusing very much on issues in East Asia,” Kim says. “It's also not willing to have regional conflicts.” (William Gallo-VOA)

LOS ANGELES, LELEMUKU.COM - When the last drop — or gallon — of blood is shed and an exultant victor has ascended to the Iron Throne, viewers may be split over how HBO's fantasy saga ended but they'll be joined in deprivation.

"What do you do without `Game of Thrones?"' will be the lament heard after the May 19 finale, said media analyst Larry Gerbrandt. The question is even more critical to the pay-cable channel, which soared on dragon's wings with its hugely popular, eight-season adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novels.

Keeping subscribers on board means more than another hit, even one as globally dazzling as "Game of Thrones" proved to be. But it's where HBO can start to protect its brand and position, observers say, an effort both demanded and compounded by an increasingly congested small-screen landscape and the expectations of the channel's corporate owner since 2016, AT&T.

"I think they need a prestige show on this level to remain HBO," Bill Carter, a media analyst for CNN and former reporter for The New York Times. But "more than ever, it's really hard to find a hit show and to break through in this marketplace."

The channel is well into the hunt for a worthy successor, with one possibility an untitled prequel to "Game of Thrones" created by Martin and Jane Goldman and starring Naomi Watts. Set to begin shooting a pilot in June, it's among several potential "Thrones" spinoffs being weighed, with discussions at HBO about "how many is too many," said programming chief Casey Bloys.

"We have high hopes" for the pilot, he said. "But I want to be clear, nobody is going into this thinking that we're going to do a prequel and all of a sudden everybody who automatically watched `Game of Thrones' is going to watch this. ... It'll have a different feel and different rhythm. We're not trying to do the same show again."

That begs the question of what more HBO has to offer, he said. During a period in which "Game of Thrones" was off the air for scheduling reasons, series including "Westworld," "Sharp Objects" and "Barry" proved strong draws, Bloys said.

"I'm not going to argue that we won't miss `Game of Thrones.' It's been a fantastic show for us, but life does go on," he said. He points to a deep bench of returnees, including Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon's "Big Little Lies," and newcomers including the graphic novel-based "Watchmen" from "Lost" producer Damon Lindelof. One marquee series that's also in its final season: the much-admired comedy "Veep," with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

HBO, which launched in 1972 and whose cachet has long justified the boastful slogan, "It's not TV. It's HBO," has reached this crossroads before. At the turn of the century, pop-culture sensations "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" boosted the channel's visibility and subscribers and made it a serious player for prestige awards — including cable's first-ever Emmys for best drama and comedy series. After the shows wrapped, the channel moved nimbly on with audience-pleasers including "Six Feet Under" and "True Blood."

But that was then, and this is the time of streaming — or, in shorthand, Netflix, along with a growing host of others including Amazon and Hulu — and a shoulder-bumping rush for stars and showmakers to churn out more and more fare for outlets already awash in programming.

HBO, no longer a singular alternative to staid broadcast networks, also got new corporate ownership when AT&T bought its parent company, Time Warner. HBO recently saw the exit of its chief executive, Richard Plepler, who had been with the channel for nearly 30 years and guided it to "Game of Thrones" glory.

With AT&T's resources, HBO has stepped up production and will see a 50% increase in the number of original program hours this year, Bloys said, arguing that volume doesn't preclude high quality: "There's nothing in 2019 that we're putting on the air because we're trying to hit an hour count. ... We haven't lowered any of our standards to reach a certain level of programming" and there is no pressure to do otherwise from WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, he said.

Subscribers ultimately will decide whether they think the shows are what they want. But expanding the pipeline is unavoidable, said Tuna Amobi, a media and entertainment analyst with investment firm CFRA.

"It's a very different competitive landscape for HBO than it was when they launched `Game of Thrones,' and they realize that. That's why you see them ratcheting up their investments in their programming," Amobi said. Also key is how HBO's online platform is integrated with planned WarnerMedia streaming offerings to reach the broadest audience possible and make full use of its content, he added.

HBO "cannot rely on the old ways of doing things and hope that being a premium channel will bail you out," he said.

"Game of Thrones," which debuted in 2011, has flourished despite the confounding number of small-screen choices. From its first-season average weekly tally of 9.3 million cumulative viewers, the series rose to a seventh-season high of 32.8 million across all HBO platforms, including the channel itself and streaming services HBO Go and HBO Now and over a period extending 30 days beyond the season's end.

It benefited from the devoted following for Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" clutch of novels. It was richly and painstakingly produced, filmed in 10 countries including Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Iceland and Canada. Its appealing cast became household names, and the female characters that grew in stature and strength as the drama unfolded are routinely namechecked as part of the female-empowerment zeitgeist.

"Game of Thrones" could boast of its Emmy dominance as well, with 47 trophies to date including three best drama series awards. Last year, it denied a second consecutive win to a worthy opponent, Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale," but HBO itself lost valuable Emmy bragging rights: It was surpassed in total nominations for the first time in 17 years and by relative newcomer Netflix, and the streamer tied HBO in wins.

Analyst Gerbrandt, of Media Valuation Partners, isn't counting the channel out. Many viewers still like so-called "curated" TV delivered to them, as opposed to searching online through dozens or hundreds of offerings, he said. There's also the power of perception at work.

"If there's a brand that survives strictly on name, it's probably HBO," he said. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - They built their services for sharing, allowing users to reach others around the world. Now they want people to hold back.

Facebook and other social media companies battled their own services on Friday as they tried to delete copies of a video apparently recorded by the gunman as he killed 49 people and wounded scores of others in the attack on two New Zealand mosques Friday.

The video was livestreamed on the suspect's Facebook account and later reposted on other services.

According to news reports, Facebook took down the livestream of the attack 20 minutes after it was posted and removed the suspect's accounts. But people were able to capture the video and repost it on other sites, including YouTube, Twitter and Reddit.

YouTube has tweeted that it is "working to remove any violent footage." A post from one user on Reddit asks others not to "post the videos. If you see the videos, bring it to themoderators' attention."

Criticism of pace

Despite the companies' quick actions, they still came under fire for not being fast enough. Critics said the platforms should have better systems in place to locate and remove content, instead of a system that helps others facilitate its spread once something is posted.

One critic, Tom Watson, a member of the British Parliament and deputy leader of the Labor Party, called for YouTube to stop all new videos from being posted on the site if it could not stop the spread of the New Zealand video.

Resistance to censorship

The companies' race to stamp out the New Zealand video highlighted the dilemma that social media companies have faced, particularly as they have allowed livestreaming.

Built on users' content, Facebook, YouTube and others have long resisted the arduous task of censoring objectionable content.

At hearings in Washington or in media interviews, executives of these firms have said that untrue information isin itself notagainst their terms of service.

Instead of removing information deemed fake or objectionable, social media companies have tried to frame the information with fact checking or have demoted the information on their sites, making it harder for people to find.

That is what Facebook appears to be doing with the anti-vaccination content on its site. Earlier this month, Facebook said it would curtail anti-vaccination information on its platforms, including blocking advertising that contains false information about vaccines. It did not say it would remove users expressing anti-vaccination content.

But sometimes the firms do remove accounts. Last year, Facebook, Twitter and others removed from their platforms Alex Jones, an American commentator, used for spreading conspiracy theories and stirring hatred.

More monitors

In the past year, some social media companies have hired more people to monitor content so that issues are flagged faster, rather than having to wait for other users or the firm's algorithms to flag objectionable content.

With the New Zealand shooting video, Facebook and other firms appeared to be in lockstep, saying they would remove the content as quickly as they found it.

But there have been more calls for human and technical solutions that can quickly stop the spread of content across the internet.(VOA)

At least 49 people were killed during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Young children are among the 48 people wounded in the attack and are being treated for gunshot wounds. Forty-one people were killed at one mosque, and seven people were killed at the second mosque.

The victims of Friday's shooting included immigrants from Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The suspects 

Three men and one woman are in custody. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said none of them were on security watch lists.

A 28-year old man has been charged with murder. The attacker has not been named, but Australia's prime minister said he was an Australian citizen and described him as an "extremist right-wing violent terrorist."

The gunman live-streamed the assault on Facebook from a head-mounted camera, and the footage showed how victims were killed inside one of the mosques. The shooter broadcast the live footage after publishing a manifesto in which he called immigrants "invaders."

Prime Minister Ardern called the shooting a "terrorist attack," and authorities advised all mosques in Christchurch to shut down until further notice.

World reaction 
U.S. President Donald Trump extended condolences on Twitter to New Zealanders and said, "The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do."

The attack has been condemned across the globe, with leaders from Pakistan, Turkey, Britain, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Japan and the European Union sending their condolences and offering support to New Zealand.

Violent crimes rare

Mass shootings, and violent crime in general, are rare in New Zealand, a country of nearly 5 million people. The country's worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a lone gunman killed 13 people in the small town of Aramoana. (VOA)

CANBERRA, LELEMUKU.COM - Tens of thousands of Australian and New Zealand school children have skipped classes for a global day of action on climate change. In New South Wales, opposition politicians have encouraged students to take part, insisting the world is at a "real crossroads.”

Australia’s School Strike 4 Climate movement wants the nation to commit to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and to ban a giant India-owned coal mine in Queensland.

Rallies in Australia and New Zealand were part of a global day of action across almost 100 countries. The movement was inspired by Greta Thunberg, a teenager from Sweden, who last year skipped school to protest with a hand-painted banner outside the Swedish parliament.

Strikes were planned at 60 towns and cities across Australia and New Zealand.

Protesters say they are frustrated with the apparent inability of adults to take action to prevent catastrophic climate change, and that they fear for their futures.

Australia has just recorded its hottest summer since records began.

In the nation’s most populous state, New South Wales, opposition leader Michael Daley has urged students to skip classes to join climate change rallies.

“They are inheriting from us a world that is at best precarious. They do not have a microphone but they do have a democratic right to assembly. They do have a right to protest. I support these young people and their action. [I] think there is a real opportunity for young people to realize their own personal power,” Daley said.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Daley’s support for striking students was “grossly irresponsible.”

Other conservative critics said the children were victims of "politically correct teaching" and the campaign was a ploy to “weaponize children for political purposes.”

Education officials said all students at government schools were expected to be in class and could face disciplinary action if they attended Friday’s rallies.

In New Zealand, a rally by school children in Christchurch was called off following mass shootings at two city mosques that killed dozens of people. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - U.S. regulators charged Volkswagen and former CEO Martin Winterkorn with defrauding investors during its massive diesel emissions scandal.

The charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission come two years after the German automaker settled with the U.S. over criminal and civil charges, as the company tries to distance itself from one if its darkest eras.

The SEC said that between April 2014 and May 2015, Volkswagen issued more than $13 billion in bonds and asset-backed securities in U.S. markets when senior executives knew that more than 500,000 vehicles in the country grossly exceeded legal vehicle emissions limits.

Volkswagen made false and misleading statements to investors and underwriters about vehicle quality, environmental compliance, and the company's financial standing, which gave Volkswagen a financial benefit when it issued securities at more attractive rates for the company, according to the SEC.

“Volkswagen hid its decade-long emissions scheme while it was selling billions of dollars of its bonds to investors at inflated prices,” said Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's enforcement division.

In September 2015 Volkswagen installed software on more than 475,000 cars that enabled them to cheat on emissions tests, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The software reduced nitrogen oxide emissions when the cars were placed on a test machine but allowed higher emissions and improved engine performance during normal driving.

In 2016 the Justice Department sued Volkswagen over the emissions-cheating software and the Federal Trade Commission sued the company, saying it made false claims in commercials promoting its “Clean Diesel” vehicles as environmentally friendly.

Winterkorn resigned saying he took responsibility for the fraud, but insisted he personally did nothing wrong.

Volkswagen said Friday that the SEC is simply repeating unproven claims about Winterkorn.

“Regrettably, more than two years after Volkswagen entered into landmark, multibillion-dollar settlements in the United States with the Department of Justice, almost every state and nearly 600,000 consumers, the SEC is now piling on to try to extract more from the company,” the company said in a prepared release.

The company has paid some $20 billion in fines and civil settlements. It has also pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the United States and several managers, including Winterkorn, were charged there.

The surprise charges from the SEC arrive as the German company attempts to distance itself from the scandal. On Tuesday the automaker said that it planned to ramp up production of electric vehicles over the next ten years, to 22 million, and reduce its carbon footprint over vehicle life cycles by 30 percent.

Volkswagen's pivot to electric vehicles comes as it seeks to comply with new limits on carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, and a push by China for more low-emission vehicles.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Volkswagen AG, its subsidiaries Volkswagen Group of America Finance, LLC and VW Credit, Inc., and Winterkorn with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest and civil penalties. It also wants to bar Winterkorn from holding any corporate officer or director positions. (VOA)

ABUJA, LELEMUKU.COM - Twenty people are confirmed dead in the school building that collapsed in Nigeria on Wednesday, and most of them are children, an official said Friday.

Forty-three other people were rescued, Lagos State Health Commissioner Jide Idris told The Associated Press. The disaster occurred in the heart of Nigeria's commercial capital.

Officials have said the three-story residential building had been marked for demolition and that the school was operating illegally on the top two floors. It is still not clear how many people were inside when it collapsed.

Rescue crews halted their search Thursday, saying they had reached the building's foundation without finding any other victims. Some anguished families protested and sifted through the rubble for any sign of their children.

Building collapses are all too common in the West African nation, where new construction often goes up without regulatory oversight. Official moved through the neighborhood on Thursday, marking other derelict buildings for demolition.

Adeyemo Sunday, the father of twins, mourned one of his sons. The other was pulled out alive, he said.

Sunday said his family lived on the building's second floor and he sent his boys to school there so they wouldn't have to travel far.

Another parent, Yewande Ogunsanwo, said her son remained in critical condition Thursday.

"Let's thank God for God, he's getting better but his condition is so critical," she said. "The pain is too much."

The collapse came as President Muhammadu Buhari, newly elected to a second term, tries to improve the distressed infrastructure in Africa's most populous nation. (VOA)

MANILA, LELEMUKU.COM - It's 3.30 a.m. in the Philippines and much of San Jose Del Monte is fast asleep.

Flashlight in hand, street sweeper Alejandro Galasao, 58, navigates a labyrinth of alleys to a main road to catch a bus to the capital Manila 30 km (18.6 miles) away.

He has to wake up in the middle of the night for a job that doesn't start until 6 a.m.

Traffic is so bad in Manila that if he leaves any later, there's no way he will clock in on time.

"If I go to work at rush hour, it would take me three hours," Galasao told Reuters. "This is the only job I know. Even if I find something else, I doubt I would earn any better."

Metro Manila, a sprawl of 16 cities fused together by outdated infrastructure, is creaking under the weight of millions of vehicles, owing largely to economic growth of more than six percent a year since 2012.

Urban rail coverage is limited, trains are prone to breakdowns and queues spill onto streets where exhaust fumes are intoxicating.

Quality of life is poor for many urban Filipinos, who spend a chunk of their day commuting.

Janice Sarad works at a bank head office and leaves home four hours before work starts in Bonifacio Global City, a Manila business hub.

On a typical day, Sarad, 22, takes a train, a bus and two passenger jeeps to get to work.

"In the morning, it's even more difficult to commute because the pressure not to be late is there. You really have to fight your way in," she said.

Heavy Toll

A 2015 survey by GPS-based navigation app Waze found that Manila had the world's worst traffic congestion, partly due to a tripling of annual car sales from a decade ago.

Oliver Emocling, 23, rides the train, but queues are so long that he arrives late often, and has been docked wages as punishment.

"When I get home, it's already 10 p.m.," said Emocling, who works at a magazine. "I could be using that time to sleep more, rest more. Instead, my time gets wasted."

The daily loss of business in Manila due to traffic woes has risen to 3.5 billion pesos ($67.2 million) in 2017 from 2.4 billion pesos ($46.1 million) in 2012, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said that fixing Manila's traffic wasn't easy, adding that it was the only campaign promise he had failed to deliver.

He recently approved a law that encourages companies to support more employees to work from home.

The government is making some headway on an $180 billion program to modernize roads, railways and airports, including a subway system which was set to begin construction at the end of February.

However, the building works are exacerbating snarl-ups.

Ferdinand Tan, a 53-year-old wealth coach, lets his staff work from home and has modified his van to cope with traffic, turning it into a mobile office with a power supply, computer and even a foot massager.

"No one can really solve the traffic. So instead of complaining about it, I try to maximize (the time)," he said. "I use unproductive time to be productive." (Reuters/VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Rich and famous parents who are accused of buying their children entrance to some of the best universities in the U.S. were part of a multilevel, years-long scam that exploited a desire expressed worldwide: to be educated at the best American institutions.

William Rick Singer of Newport Beach, California, who has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scam and is named as a cooperating witness, earned more than $25 million by connecting parents and their children with test administrators and college coaches who took their cut for endorsing bogus applicants, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

"They flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense, so they could cheat the system so set their children up for success with the best education money could buy. Literally," described Joseph Bonavolonta of the FBI's Boston field office.

Exclusive, moneyed and well-connected, parents on the list of those indicted in "Operation Varsity Blues" for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud include the owner of a California wine vineyard and the former owner of a California media company that sold for $325 million a year ago. Some own corporations and firms, and deal in private equity and real-estate development. There are several executives, entrepreneurs, investors and CEOs among the 50 who were charged. Parents charged in the scandal list addresses on New York City’s Fifth Avenue and at Rockefeller Center, California’s Beverly Hills, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where the Kennedy political dynasty owns an oceanfront summer compound.

That echelon of American wealth traditionally seeks prestigious institutions of higher education for their children: Yale, Stanford and Georgetown, among other Ivy League, or older universities known for their excellence and well-heeled connections. Other schools caught in the scam are campuses in the University of California system, the University of Texas and Wake Forest University.

Wealthy families have been donating large sums to colleges and universities for a millennia to get their offspring into prestigious schools – and get their family name inscribed in stone on university buildings or connected to a prestigious post, called a “chair.” And testing overseas for international students has been cancelled numerous times -- as recently as this month -- because the test answers have been widely distributed to test takers before the exam.

But prosecutors say this scam took bribery to a new level.

"We're not talking about donating a building so a school is more likely to take your daughter or son," explained U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. “We’re talking about deception and fraud. Fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.”

Lelling said the case is one of “the widening corruption of elite college admissions. … There can be no separate admission system for the wealthy. Every year, talented students work hard ... in a system that grows more and more competitive every year."

"For every student admitted through fraud, an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected," he said.

Even high-achieving high-school students labor for four years to impress highly selective colleges that have low acceptance rates: Among the schools mentioned in the indictments, only 5 percent of applicants get into Stanford, 7 percent into Yale, 16 percent into University of California-Los Angeles, 17 percent into Georgetown, 18 percent into the University of Southern California, and 29 percent into Wake Forest University, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In addition to high grade-point averages, students applying to schools need high scores on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. Many families pay tutors to help students improve their test scores, which can be taken several times.

But unlike most high-school juniors and seniors who take the SAT or ACT under the watchful eye of proctors in large group locations like school cafeterias, parent and Hollywood actor Felicity Huffman paid Singer $15,000 to get her daughter time and privacy to take the test, according to prosecutors. One defendant, Mark Riddell of Palmetto, Florida, answered or corrected hers and other’s responses before submitting the results to the testing companies.

And parents – some of whom paid up to $75,000 for testing assistance -- got a bonus: They made their payments through a charitable organization Singer created named Key Worldwide Foundation. Not only is Key tax-exempt as a charity, parents were able to deduct those charitable contributions from their income taxes, prosecutors said.

Athletics are a unique path into higher echelon colleges and universities, and college coaches were a link between parents and Singer. A student who excels at lacrosse, soccer or basketball can boost an institution’s revenue through ticket sales, endorsements and brand marketing. College basketball is widely seen as a televised, brightly lit pathway for athletes to professional, well-paid careers.

The indictment snagged college sports coaches who acted as middlemen, knowing the applicants real abilities but taking big payoffs to endorse them for admission. College and university coaches are often the highest paid on college campuses, sometimes receiving tens or hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions more, than the college presidents they serve.

Parents staged photos of their children engaged in popular sports, Lelling described, including photoshopping the face of their child onto the face of an actual athlete, and then submitting it to support of the child's application.

“We believe everyone charged here today had a role in cultivating a culture of corruption and greed,” Bonavolonta said at a press conference. “Their actions were without a doubt insidious, selfish and shameful.”

Olivia Giannulli, daughter of televison actor Lori Loughlin and a YouTube star who goes by the name Olivia Jade, has seen increased heat around comments she made after her acceptance at USC.

"I don't know how much of school I'm gonna attend," she shared with her nearly 2 million subscribers, after explaining her extensive work schedule. “I don't really care about school, as you guys all know."

Prosecutors said they did not believe the schools were directly involved or knew of the pay-for-admission scam. Yale and USC issued statements early.

“We do not believe that any member of the Yale administration or staff other than the charged coach knew about the conspiracy. The university has cooperated fully in the investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case moves forward,” wrote the university's President Peter Salovey.

“The federal government has alleged that USC is a victim in a scheme perpetrated against the university by a long-time Athletics Department employee, one current coach and three former coaching staff, who were allegedly involved in a college admissions scheme and have been charged by the government on multiple charges,” wrote USC President Wanda M. Austin to the university community.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe that admissions employees or senior administrators were aware of the scheme or took part in any wrongdoing—and we believe the government concurs in that assessment.” (Mark LaMet/Lynn Davis/Kathleen Struck-VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Democrats are largely lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wait-and-see strategy on any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Moderate and even some of the most liberal House Democrats said they were supportive of the speaker after she told The Washington Post that she's not for impeachment, at least for now. Impeaching Trump is "just not worth it," Pelosi said, unless there's overwhelming support. While some in her caucus may disagree on certain points, the majority of Democrats endorsed Pelosi's approach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said a unilateral pursuit of impeachment by Democrats would be an "exercise doomed for failure."

"I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience," he said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said impeachment "has to be a bipartisan effort, and right now it's not there." Cummings said his sense is that "this matter will only be resolved at the polls."

Even one of the strongest proponents of impeachment, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, said Tuesday that she is "absolutely not" disappointed in Pelosi. Tlaib, who attracted attention the day she was sworn in by using a vulgarity in calling for Trump's removal, said the speaker has always encouraged her to represent her liberal Detroit district.

Tlaib stressed that she is going to continue to push for impeachment, but echoed Democratic leaders' caution in first calling for a committee process that investigates Trump.

"That doesn't mean we are voting on it, it means we are beginning the process to look at some of these alleged claims," Tlaib said.

Democrats have launched multiple probes into Trump's White House and personal businesses. Those investigations, led by Schiff and other House committee chairmen, are intended to keep the focus on Trump's business dealings and relationship with Russia, no matter what comes from the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Pelosi's comments are "probably a reaction to everybody wanting to go to the end of an investigation when we haven't started."

Pelosi's approach could also provide cover to some of her members, including freshmen who were elected in November from "red-to-blue" districts where impeachment is politically fraught. California Rep. Katie Hill, one of those freshmen, praised Pelosi's approach.

"If it's going to be a political disaster for us, then we're not going to do it," she said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., noted that the majority of freshman members have not been outspoken on impeachment, and that the Senate remains controlled by Republicans. "Nobody thinks there is going to be a conviction in the Senate, unless circumstances very substantially change."

Pelosi has long resisted impeachment as a drastic step that should only be broached with "great care."

She rebuffed calls when she first held the speaker's gavel, in 2007, to start impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush. Having been a member of Congress during President Bill Clinton's impeachment, she saw the way the public turned on Republicans and helped Clinton win a second term.

Last year, heading into the midterm elections, Pelosi discouraged candidates from talking up impeachment, preferring to stick to the kitchen table issues that she believes most resonate with voters. The approach paid off, as Democrats won back the House majority for the first time in eight years.

In a caucus meeting Tuesday morning, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to "keep our eye on the prize" as "we look at what this president is doing to this great country." Impeachment was not discussed, according to an aide who requested anonymity to discuss the closed meeting.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of House leadership, said Democrats ran on an agenda of controlling health care costs, raising incomes and fighting corruption.

"We're working very hard to deliver on those things, and I think the speaker wants to make sure we stay focused on that," he said. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is looking for ways to get humanitarian assistance into Venezuela, after troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro repelled aid trucks in clashes at the borders with Brazil and Colombia.

The top U.S. diplomat, in an interview Sunday on CNN, did not suggest how the U.S. might carry out the aid mission in the face of armed opposition.

He said, however, that the United States would consider imposing more sanctions against the Venezuelan government to increase pressure on Maduro to quit in favor of the country's interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly. Guaido is considered by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as the legitimate leader in Caracas.

Pompeo called Maduro a tyrant, saying, "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered."

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is meeting Monday with Guaido and other regional leaders in Bogota, the Colombian capital, to discuss a strategy against Maduro and how to get aid into Venezuela, where supplies of food and medicine have run low.

Maduro has blocked the aid effort spearheaded by the U.S., saying it is a pretext for an armed U.S. invasion.

On Saturday, Maduro supporters fired bullets at those attempting to get aid trucks into Venezuela, while Venezuelan border troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

Foro Penal [Criminal Forum], a group that tracks violence in Venezuela, reported four deaths at the Brazilian border with Venezuela on Saturday. It said the victims were shot by pro-government militia members.

A spokesman for the group, Alfred Romero, posted a video on Twitter saying more than two dozen other people were wounded in the violence.

At one border point, aid trucks caught fire, leading the crowd to rush to save the boxes of food and medical supplies.

A U.S. State Department official traveling with the Brazilian aid convoy told VOA that the trucks crossed the borderintoVenezuela, but were not allowed through the military checkpoint there, and did notunload their cargo.

Afterward, Guaido pressed the case for new foreign assistance to oust Maduro. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight," he said on Twitter.

The European Union, also supporting Guaido, condemned Maduro's actions to repel the trucks with the humanitarian aid. "We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilized to distribute assistance," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the 28-member bloc of countries.

Sunday, Pompeo deplored the fact that the Venezuelan military, despite a small number of defections to the opposition, has mostly remained loyal to Maduro.

"We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said.

"We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said.

Colombian officials say more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected Saturday. Venezuelan Army Major Hugo Parra announced his defection, telling VOA Noticias he recognizes Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Guaido tweeted his praise of the soldiers' actions. "They aren't deserters," he said. "They've decided to put themselves on the side of the people and the constitution."

Maduro announced in a speech to his supporters Saturday that he is cutting off diplomatic ties with Colombia. Colombia President Ivan Duque has been making public appearances with Guaido as they work to transport aid across Venezuelan borders.

Duque said Colombian ambassadors and consuls have 24 hours to leave Venezuela.

Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holms Trujillo released a statement in response, saying, "Colombia holds the usurper Maduro responsible for any aggression or violation of the rights of Colombian officials in Venezuela."

Maduro also said he would defend Venezuela's independence with his life. He called Guaido a puppet of the White House.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Guaido.

"The people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and their future. God Bless the people of Venezuela!" Trump said. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Some fun and interesting facts about Tuesday's nominations for the 91st Academy Awards:

• After more than 30 years and some two dozen films, Spike Lee received his first Academy Award nomination for best director for "BlacKkKlansman." It's also the first time one of his movies has been nominated for best picture.
• Glenn Close's best actress nomination for "The Wife" is her seventh, and could finally mean her first Oscar. She has more nominations without a win than any other living actor or actress.
• "Black Panther'' is the first Marvel movie - and the first superhero film of any kind - to be nominated for best picture. Its $700 million box-office take is more than the earnings of the other seven best-picture nominees combined.
•  "Roma" is the first Netflix film to be nominated for best picture.
• Sam Elliott's first Oscar nomination - for best supporting actor in "A Star Is Born" - comes 50 years after his first acting credit, on the TV series "Judd, for the Defense."
• Rami Malek, nominated for playing Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody," is the only first-time Oscar nominee among the men up for best actor. He's up against multiple nominees Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Viggo Mortensen and Willem Dafoe.
• Yalitza Aparicio's nomination for "Roma'' comes in her first role as an actress.
• This is the second of Hollywood's four versions of "A Star Is Born," to get a best picture nomination, along with the 1937 original. The 1954 and 1976 versions each got several Oscar nominations, but not for best picture.
• No women were nominated for best director this year. The number of female directorial nominees in the 91-year history of the Oscars remains five.
• Eighty-seven countries submitted movies to be considered for best foreign language film. Five got nominations : Germany, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico and Poland.

- Bob Hope hosted the Oscars a record 19 times. No one is scheduled to host this year's ceremony. (VOA)

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono has expressed the Government’s commitment to improve infrastructure and facilities in four tourism strategic areas (KSPN), namely Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, Labuan Bajo, and Mandalika.

Those four tourism strategic areas are part of the Twelve National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN) known as “the New Bali”.

Basuki added that with adequate infrastructure and facilities, it is expected that tourists will stay longer in Indonesia. He also said that infrastructure development in those areas also takes into account disaster risk management.

In the meantime, Head of Center for Strategic Areas Development (BPIW) of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Hadi Sucahyono said that BPIW continued to coordinate with a number of related agencies such as the Geological Agency and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

“Infrastructure development in the KSPN is planned in an integrated manner, including by structuring the area, improving road access, providing raw water and clean water, managing waste and sanitation, and improving residents’ occupancy through an infrastructure development master plan prepared by the Regional Infrastructure Development Agency,” he said.

The master plan for the development of KSPN, he added, is made for the next ten years with more details made in a five-year plan, while an evaluation is carried out annually. “Key tourism areas become a top priority in our infrastructure development,” Hadi said.

“The focus is on the development of four KSPN given the number of tourists visiting the areas continues to increase. Investment is a key driver to boost economic potentials of the regions,” Hadi said, adding that infrastructure development is not only to attract tourists but also to improve quality of life of the communities and to boost local economic potentials.

“The Ministry supports the development of infrastructure that is not only beneficial for tourists but also for low-income communities,” Hadi added.

In Mandalika, the Government has made several efforts to re-structure Kuta village by repairing six roads, pavements, drainage systems, and public open spaces equipped with a playground that can be enjoyed by the locals.

The Government has also provided assistance for low-income communities with decent housings through 200 self-help housing programs in Central Lombok regency, which can be used as homestays. Moto GP circuit will also be built in Mandalika with the five-star hotel standard around the area.

In Lake Toba, the Government has improved access from Silangit airport to both the outer ring and the circumference in Lake Toba, including by dredging the river channel and building Tano Ponggol bridge as well as the Lumban Pea and Lumban Julu integrated rest area.

In Kampung Ujung, Labuan Bajo, which is the hub to cross to Komodo Island, eateries have been built, equipped with accessible roads and drainage.

In Borobudur Temple, the Government has revamped a number of tourist destinations near the temple such as Mendut Temple, Pawon Temple, and Puthuk Setumbu. The Government has also improved access from the new airport in Kulonprogo. (Setkab)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The White House on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart illegal immigration even though he said he didn't need to do it.

"He could choose to ignore this crisis, but he chose not to," Trump adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, told Fox News Sunday.

Miller assailed former Republican President George W. Bush for an "astonishing betrayal" of the U.S. nearly two decades ago when four times as many illegal migrants were entering the United States as now. But Miller said the "bottom line" is that "you cannot conceive of a strong nation without a secure border."

He said Trump's action is "defending our own borders." He illegal immigration "is a threat in our country."

Miller said Trump's actions were justified under a 1976 law giving presidents authority to declare national emergencies, although none of the 59 declared since then has involved instances when a president has attempted to override congressional refusal to approve funding for a specific proposal.

Trump declared the national emergency on Friday to circumvent Congress, which had refused his request for $5.7 billion in wall funding, even as it approved $1.375 billion for barriers along about 90 kilometers of the 3,200-kilometer border. Trump plans to tap more than $8 billion in government funds authorized for other projects the build the wall, although lawsuits challenging the action are already being filed to block his transfer of money.

Miller said more than 320 kilometers of the border wall would be built by the end of September 2020, just weeks before Trump stands for re-election to a second four-year term.

Trump said he declared the national emergency because he was unhappy with the amount of money Congress authorized.

"I want to do it faster," he said. "I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster."

Trump's staunchest critics, including Democrats who have announced they are running against him next year and other lawmakers, have attacked his national emergency declaration as an end-run around the constitutional provision that U.S. funding authorization lies with Congress and noted that he said that he did not need to take action.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN, "If we give away, if we surrender the power of the purse… there will be little check and no balance left. It'll not be a separation of powers anymore, just a separation of parties."

Journalist Bob Woodward, who chronicled the first year of the Trump presidency in a best-selling book called "Fear," told Fox News he believes Trump made the national emergency declaration because "he looks strong. He looks tough to lots of people."

Trump centered much of his successful 2016 campaign for the White House on a vow to build the wall and make Mexico pay for it. He long since abandoned direct payment from Mexico, when its leaders rejected the idea, and instead sought congressional approval of the U.S. taxpayer funding. (VOA)

LOS ANGELES, LELEMUKU.COM - First it was the furor over a proposed new "popular" film category, then it was the fiasco over planned host Kevin Hart, and last month the organizers of the Oscars were accused of intimidating celebrities not to present at rival award shows.

Last week, another storm erupted when, as part of a pledge to shorten next Sunday's Oscars ceremony, plans to present awards for cinematography, film editing, live-action shorts and makeup/hairstyling during commercial breaks were slammed as insulting by actors, directors and cinematographers. Five days later, the plan was scrapped.

It's been a tough 12 months for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it battles to restore its annual Oscars show to a must-see event after the U.S. television audience slumped to an all-time low last year.

"This year, the bigger question than who will win at the Oscars is what the heck is going on at the academy?" said Tim Gray, awards editor at Hollywood trade publication Variety.

"There have been a slew of bungles," Gray added. "I feel they are flailing around and acting out of desperation."

Under pressure from the ABC television network to trim and liven up the ceremony, the academy has seen many of its efforts backfire.

Bungles include a retreat in September over a proposed new "popular film" category, the withdrawal in December of Oscars host Kevin Hart because of past homophobic tweets, and an accusation in January by the U.S. actors union that the academy was pressuring celebrities not to appear or present at award ceremonies other than the Oscars.

The Oscars is the last in a long Hollywood season that sees award shows and celebrity-packed red carpets every week over two months.

"The academy is caught between its role as a venerable institution that confers honors for the ages on film and the demands of the hurly-burly of social media, the 24/7 news cycle and the demands of the ratings," said Sharon Waxman, founder and editor in chief of Hollywood website The Wrap.

'People really care'

The academy did not return a request for comment for this story, but said in a letter to members last week that show producers "have given great consideration to both Oscar tradition and our broad global audience."

ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke told reporters earlier this month she believed that the publicity around the Kevin Hart withdrawal showed the Oscars was still relevant.

"I, ironically, have found that the lack of clarity around the Oscars has kept the Oscars really in the conversation, and that the mystery has really been compelling," Burke said. "People really care."

The missteps have all but drowned out initial kudos over this year's diverse Oscar nominations list, which range from art house films like "Roma" to superhero blockbuster "Black Panther" and crowd-pleasing musicals "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "A Star is Born."

Awards watchers say the Academy's efforts to deliver a compelling show for viewers next week still risk falling flat.

"The Academy is dealing yet again with what appears to be a leading film that is a very small film, in Spanish, and in black and white, that has not been seen by that many people, Waxman said, referring to best picture front-runner "Roma."

Recent best-picture winners include small art-house films "The Shape of Water" last year and "Moonlight" in 2017.

"That is the more fundamental problem the Academy is facing with this telecast," Waxman added.

Variety's Gray said that, for the movie industry, the Oscars ceremony is always an enjoyable family get-together.

"The Oscars should also be fun for the viewing audience," he said. "We will see if they are." (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Andrew McCabe, a former FBI acting director, says two years ago, top U.S. law enforcement officials considered invoking a constitutional amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office after he fired then-FBI director James Comey.

At the time, Comey was heading the agency's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

McCabe, who himself was later fired from the FBI, told CBS News in an interview that aired Thursday morning that the officials in May 2017 discussed whether to invoke provisions of the 25th Amendment, which allows a vice president and a majority of the 15 Cabinet members to declare a president incapable of handling the duties of the presidency, making the vice president the acting president.

The officials ultimately did not move to oust Trump. But McCabe, then the No. 2 official in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said soon after he discussed Comey's firing with Trump, he ordered the bureau to begin an obstruction of justice investigation of Trump and a counterintelligence probe involving the president and his ties to Russia.

A short time after the McCabe interview, Trump called him "a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country."

Trump also recalled his 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton in a Twitter post.

In the interview, McCabe said he initiated the investigations to make sure they were firmly implanted should he be forced out.

"I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground, in an indelible fashion," McCabe told CBS interviewer Scott Pelley. "That were I removed quickly or reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace."

McCabe said he "wanted to make sure that our case was on solid ground, and if somebody came in behind me and closed it and tried to walk away from it, they would not be able to do that without creating a record of why they made that decision."

He confirmed reports from months ago that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 elections, considered wearing a wire to meetings with Trump to document their conversations.

A Justice Department statement contended that Rosenstein made the offer sarcastically, but McCabe said the suggestion was taken seriously at the time and was discussed more than once.

Last March, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe just short of McCabe's scheduled retirement to deny him full retirement benefits.

Two weeks later, the Justice Department said McCabe was dismissed for authorizing an aide to talk to The Wall Street Journal about the FBI's probe of the charitable foundation headed by Bill and Hillary Clinton, and "lacked candor" in discussing it with Justice officials.

Trump, in his frequent Twitter comments about the Mueller investigation, has often assailed McCabe, lumping him in with disparaging comments about Comey. (VOA)

TOKYO, LELEMUKU.COM - Inpex Corporation announced that the LNG Tanker Oceanic Breeze called for the first time at Inpex’s Naoetsu LNG Terminal (the Terminal) located in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, delivering a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG Project (the Project) in Australia.

Oceanic Breeze is owned by Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport S. A. (OBLT), a joint venture between Inpex Shipping Co., Ltd. (Inpex Shipping) (30%) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line) (70%), and designated to transport the 0.9 million tons per year of Ichthys LNG entitled to INPEX.

Oceanic Breeze’s transportation and delivery of Ichthys LNG to the Terminal marks a significant milestone in Inpex’s development of a global gas value chain business, positioned as one of the company’s business targets outlined in Vision 2040 announced in May 2018.

Going forward, Inpex will continue to strive to serve its customers with safe and stable supplies of natural gas, an environmentally friendly fuel.

Inpex Corporation is Japan’s largest exploration and production (E&P) company, and a mid-tier E&P player just behind the world’s oil majors.

Inpex is currently involved in approximately 70 projects across more than 20 countries, including the Ichthys LNG Project in Australia as Operator. Inpex aims to become a leading energy company and continue providing a stable and efficient supply of energy to its customers. (Inpex)