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Report: Japan Emperor Abdication Set for March 2019

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Emperor Akihito waits for the arrival of German President Christian Wulff at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo October 24, 2011. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Emperor Akihito waits for the arrival of German President Christian Wulff at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo October 24, 2011. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
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Report: Japan Emperor Abdication Set for March 2019

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Emperor Akihito waits for the arrival of German President Christian Wulff at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo October 24, 2011. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Emperor Akihito waits for the arrival of German President Christian Wulff at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo October 24, 2011. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

Japan's Emperor Akihito will step down on March 31, 2019 and the Crown Prince is expected to ascend the throne in April, a report said Friday, the first imperial retirement in more than two centuries.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet top officials and members of the royal household next month before announcing the date, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported, citing unnamed government sources.

Akihito's eldest son, 57-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne the next day on April 1, the paper said.

The popular 83-year-old Akihito shocked the country last year when he signalled his desire to take a back seat after nearly three decades, citing his age and health problems.

There have been abdications in Japan's long imperial history, but the last one was more than 200 years ago.

In June, the parliament passed a rule allowing the ageing emperor to step down but the Asahi report is the first time a precise date for the abdication has been mooted.

"It is an immeasurable relief to me that his majesty ... can now have days of rest as he reaches an advanced age," Empress Michiko, who turned 83 Friday, said in a statement.

The abdication law, which applies only to Akihito and not to future emperors, included a resolution to debate letting female royals stay in the imperial family after marriage but did not touch on the controversial topic of allowing women to inherit.

Japan's top government spokesman denied the Asahi report on Friday.

"We are not aware of the report and there is not such fact," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

"We will continue to discuss appropriately and will do our best to carry out the emperor's abdication smoothly," he said.

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World

Army Chief Says Switzerland Can’t Defend Itself from Full-Scale Attack

Lieutenant General Thomas Suessli, Chief of the Armed Forces of the Swiss Army, attends a news conference on the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bern, Switzerland, March 16, 2020. Picture taken March 16, 2020. (Reuters)
Lieutenant General Thomas Suessli, Chief of the Armed Forces of the Swiss Army, attends a news conference on the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bern, Switzerland, March 16, 2020. Picture taken March 16, 2020. (Reuters)
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Army Chief Says Switzerland Can’t Defend Itself from Full-Scale Attack

Lieutenant General Thomas Suessli, Chief of the Armed Forces of the Swiss Army, attends a news conference on the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bern, Switzerland, March 16, 2020. Picture taken March 16, 2020. (Reuters)
Lieutenant General Thomas Suessli, Chief of the Armed Forces of the Swiss Army, attends a news conference on the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bern, Switzerland, March 16, 2020. Picture taken March 16, 2020. (Reuters)

Switzerland cannot defend itself against a full-scale attack and must boost military spending given rising risks from Russia, the head of its armed forces said.

The country is prepared for attacks by "non-state actors" on critical infrastructure and for cyber attacks, but its military still faces major equipment gaps, Thomas Suessli told the NZZ newspaper.

"What we cannot do is defend against threats from a distance or even a full-scale ‌attack on ‌our country," said Suessli, who is ‌stepping ⁠down at ‌the end of the year.

"It's burdensome to know that in a real emergency, only a third of all soldiers would be fully equipped," he said in an interview published on Saturday.

Switzerland is increasing defense spending, modernizing artillery and ground systems ⁠and replacing ageing fighter jets with Lockheed Martin F-35As.

But the ‌plan faces cost overruns, while ‍critics question spending on artillery ‍and munitions amid tight federal finances.

Suessli said ‍attitudes towards the military had not shifted despite the war in Ukraine and Russian efforts to destabilize Europe.

He blamed Switzerland's distance from the conflict, its lack of recent war experience and the false belief that neutrality offered protection.

"But that's historically ⁠inaccurate. There are several neutral countries that were unarmed and were drawn into war. Neutrality only has value if it can be defended with weapons," he said.

Switzerland has pledged to gradually raise defense spending to about 1% of GDP by around 2032, up from roughly 0.7% now – far below the 5% level agreed by NATO countries.

At that pace, the Swiss military would only be ‌fully ready by around 2050.

"That is too long given the threat," Suessli said.

World

Another 131 Migrants Rescued off Southern Crete

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
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Another 131 Migrants Rescued off Southern Crete

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture

The Greek coast guard Saturday rescued 131 would-be migrants off Crete, bringing the number of people brought out of the sea in the area over the past five days to 840, a police spokesperson said.

The migrants rescued Saturday morning were aboard a fishing boat some 14 nautical miles south of Gavdos, a small island south of Crete.

The passengers, whose nationality was not revealed, were all taken to Gavdos.

Many people attempting to reach Crete from Libya drown during the risky crossing.

In early December, 17 people -- mostly Sudanese or Egyptian -- were found dead after their boat sank off the coast of Crete, and 15 others were reported missing. Only two people survived.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 16,770 people trying to get to Europe have arrived in Crete since the beginning of the year, more than on any other Greek island.

In July, the conservative government suspended the processing of asylum applications for three months, particularly those of people arriving from Libya, saying the measure as "absolutely necessary" in the face of the increasing flow of migrants.

World

Thailand and Cambodia Sign New Ceasefire Agreement to End Border Fighting

A handout photo made available by the Defense Ministry of Thailand shows Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha (L) and Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit attending a General Border Committee Meeting in Ban Pak Kard, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, 27 December 2025. (EPA/Defense Ministry of Thailand/Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Defense Ministry of Thailand shows Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha (L) and Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit attending a General Border Committee Meeting in Ban Pak Kard, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, 27 December 2025. (EPA/Defense Ministry of Thailand/Handout)
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Thailand and Cambodia Sign New Ceasefire Agreement to End Border Fighting

A handout photo made available by the Defense Ministry of Thailand shows Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha (L) and Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit attending a General Border Committee Meeting in Ban Pak Kard, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, 27 December 2025. (EPA/Defense Ministry of Thailand/Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Defense Ministry of Thailand shows Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha (L) and Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit attending a General Border Committee Meeting in Ban Pak Kard, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, 27 December 2025. (EPA/Defense Ministry of Thailand/Handout)

Thailand and Cambodia on Saturday signed a ceasefire agreement to end weeks of armed combat along their border over competing claims to territory. It took effect at noon local time.

In addition to ending fighting, the agreement calls for no further military movements by either side and no violations of either side’s airspace for military purposes.

Only Thailand employed airstrikes in the fighting, hitting sites in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning, according to the Cambodian defense ministry.

The deal also calls for Thailand, after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours, to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July. Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side.

The agreement was signed by the two countries’ defense ministers, Cambodia’s Tea Seiha and Thailand’s Nattaphon Narkphanit, at a checkpoint on their border after lower-level talks by military officials met for three days as part of the already-established General Border Committee.

The agreement declares that the two sides are committed to an earlier ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July and follow-up agreements and includes commitments to 16 de-escalation measures.

The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

Despite those deals, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting.

Thailand has lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since Dec. 7, according to officials. Thailand has also reported 44 civilian deaths from collateral effects of the situation.

Cambodia hasn’t issued an official figure on military casualties, but says that 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas on both sides of the border.

Each side blamed the other for initiating the fighting and claimed to be acting in self-defense.

The agreement also calls on both sides to adhere to international agreements against deploying land mines, a major concern of Thailand. Thai soldiers along the border have been wounded in at least nine incidents this year by what they said were newly planted Cambodian mines. Cambodia says the mines were left over from decades of civil war that ended in the late 1990s.

Another clause says the two sides “agree to refrain from disseminating false information or fake news.”

The agreement also says previously established measures to demarcate the border will be resumed and the two sides also agree to cooperate on an effort to suppress transnational crimes.

That is primarily a reference to online scams perpetrated by organized crime that have bilked victims around the world of billions of dollars each year. Cambodia is a center for such criminal enterprises.