Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai is unlikely to be released, US President Donald Trump said Friday.

Asked about the fate of political prisoners in China following a high-stakes summit in Beijing, Trump said that Xi would “strongly” consider the release of a pastor of an underground church, but that freeing Lai was a “tough one for him to do.”

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump said of Lai’s fate: “I did bring him up, it’s a tougher one for him, it’s a tougher one.”

Trump added: “He told me, Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do.”

Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December on charges of foreign collusion and seditious publication and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The sentence was the harshest penalty doled out so far under a national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing after widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019 and received international condemnation.

Trump added Friday that Xi promised “He’s going to strongly consider the pastor,” referring to Jin Mingri, the founder of a prominent Chinese underground church detained in October in a sweeping national crackdown.

Jin founded the unregistered Zion Church in 2007 in Beijing. It grew to 1,500 members before shuttering in 2018 under pressure from Chinese authorities.

But the church maintained an online presence that flourished during the Covid pandemic, amassing a following across 40 Chinese cities.

Jin was arrested on October 10 on “suspicion of the illegal use of information networks.”

Eric Lai, senior fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said that while it was clear that Jimmy Lai’s case was not a priority at the summit, it was still significant that Trump raised it.

“Obviously, the CCP does not compromise on its perception of regime security and they have never changed their attitudes and positioning towards Jimmy Lai and his imprisonment,” he said referring to China’s Communist Party.

“That said, it is also evident that international attention and internal pressure in US society remains essential to the US government keeping an agenda on Jimmy Lai alongside other political prisoners in China,” he added.

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An old carriage house on Chestnut Street near First Street in the New Orleans Garden District neighborhood

Crab, Claaaaab, and high prices in Asakusa.

Rising prices in Japan have put ramen restaurants in a tricky position, since part of what makes the beloved noodle dish so beloved is that, traditionally, it’s been not only a tasty meal option, but an affordable one too. As inflation continues, though, a growing number of ramen restaurants are now charging more than 1,000 yen (US$6.50) for a bowl of ramen, and crossing over the four-figure threshold in price has made restaurant ramen a tougher sell to the general public.

So with that going on, it’s a bold choice by Kani O, a new ramen restaurant in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood, to start their ramen pricing at 2,000 yen a bowl. Bold and divisive, as online reviews and chatter about Kani O, which started serving customers on May 4, have been sharply divided into love-it and hate-it camps.

Making the situation even more complex is that some (though not all) of the negative reviews our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun has seen seem to be from people who haven’t actually eaten at the restaurant. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, some of the most glowing reviews of the place that P.K. has seen come from social media influencers who’re personal acquaintances of Kani O’s owner, mixed martial artist Komeo.

In short, the buzz about the place is a sea of chaos, and so P.K. made the decision to wade into those waters and try Kani O’s ramen for himself (and just to be clear, this was before his heart attack that currently has him in the hospital).

The Kani O name is written in Japanese (かにを) on the storefront, but even if you can’t read the hiragana characters you’ll know you’re there when you see the “SPICY CRAB RAMEN” underneath it and “ARE YOU READY?” across the noren cloth hanging in the doorway. Oddly enough, Kani O calls its standard ramen “The Claaaaab,” with an L, so maybe some of the negative reviews are from linguists.

But P.K. was here to evaluate their ramen, not their spelling, and so he ordered a bowl of The Claaaaab, for 2,000 yen. You can select a spiciness level from 0 to 10, and P.K. asked for his right in the middle, at spiciness level 5.

▼ And yes, that’s a whole soft-shelled crab in the bowl.

Despite its eye-catching coloring, a common complaint online about Kani O’s ramen is that the broth is bland. P.K. started his tasting by trying a spoonful, and while we wouldn’t say it was flavorless, it didn’t have an immediate strong impact on his taste buds either, nor did the level-5 spiciness set his mouth on fire. The primary players in its flavor profile were the umami shellfish notes, making for a surprisingly delicate sensation, and the gap between how the broth looks like it’s going to taste versus how it actually does taste might be contributing to some of the griping about Kani O’s broth being bland, more so than a true lack of flavor.

The noodles are neither thick nor thin, but right in the middle of the bell curve for ramen in Japan.

And then there’s the soft-shelled crab, imported from China and deep-fried before going into your ramen bowl. This is a proper piece of seafood, rich in flavor and even adding some of its aroma to The Claaaaab’s bouquet.

So after trying Kani Wo’s ramen for himself, does P.K. agree with the haters? Not really. In particular, he doesn’t agree wit the criticism about the broth being bland, and instead feels like it’s purposely crafted to have a mild flavor to encourage customers to drink every last drop.

On the other hand, he can see how someone could come away unsatisfied from a meal here, especially at the price of 2,000 yen. That’s a lot to ask for a bowl of ramen, and P.K. didn’t feel like Kani O’s version of the dish is on some sort of completely different level than ramen restaurants with sub-2,000-yen offerings, which aren’t at all hard to find. He’s impressed by the level of originality on display in Kani O’s ramen, but since the flavor didn’t necessarily blow him away, the novelty factor isn’t strong enough to convince him to become a repeat customer.

This puts P.K. in the unusual position of thinking “Yeah, it’s not bad, but not great either” about this love-it-or-hate-it ramen restaurant. However, with nearly a dozen people already waiting to get into the restaurant when P.K. showed up 20 minutes before opening time on a Saturday, it looks like there are currently enough people who love the place, or at least think they will, for it to stick around for at least a while.

Restaurant information
Kani O / かにを
Address: Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Asakusa 2-22-8
東京都台東区浅草2-22-8
Open 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Mobile office

A rather unusual vehicle for commuting, but not for the American banker Hugh McDonald, who in the early 1930s has himself driven back and forth in this luxurious combination from his estate on Long Island to his office in New York.

The semi-trailer resembles an aeroplane and was built in accordance with aviation construction principles by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in Florida. A lightweight, tubular metal frame is braced with wire cables. The Aerocar’s nose looks like a cockpit and is fitted with a compass, barometer, altimeter, speedometer and swivelling floodlights. The interior is furnished with lightweight wicker chairs and a desk. The galley features a refrigerator and there is also a lavatory with flushing toilet. The yacht was towed by a Graham-Paige Blue Streak fitted with a four-litre engine. A spare wheel was placed in the space normally occupied by the ‘dickey seat’. The towing pin of the trailer fits in a socket in the hub and the tyre damped out the shocks while driving.

Source: www.louwmanmuseum.nl

Louwman Museum
Den Haag, the Netherlands.

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Cambridge, MA '26
Fogg Museum

Entremont (France), 2nd Century BC

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Duncan.co/the-race-of-gentlemen-2018

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Philadelphia, PA '25
Penn Museum

Ur (Iraq), c. 2900-2700 BC

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Philadelphia, PA '25
Penn Museum

Khafaje (Iraq), c. 2900-2600 BC

My Neighbour Totoro is here to help you look and feel cool in traditional Japanese style. 

With the weather heating up in Japan, people across the nation are reaching into their cupboards and bringing out their fans, cotton bedding, and other cooling items to help cope with the rising temperatures.

Those who like to stay cool in traditional Japanese style, however, will be reaching for items made with igusa, a soft rush grass that has been used here for centuries. Commonly used for tatami flooring, products made with igusa have an earthy scent, natural deodorising effects, and excellent moisture-regulating properties – when humidity levels are high, igusa absorbs excess moisture, and in dry environments, it slowly releases moisture, providing comfort without the use of air conditioning.

▼ The cooling, air-cleansing properties of igusa are part of what makes Japanese homes so special.

Image: Pakutaso

Igusa is a common element in traditional countryside homes where the old ways still hold strong, like the Kusakabe family home that features in the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro. So it makes sense that Studio Ghibli would release its own series of igusa products, adorned with motifs and characters from the movie.

▼ The first item is the Igusa Seat Cushion, which comes in two gorgeous designs.

The cushions measure 40 centimetres (15.7 inches) in height and width, and are two centimetres thick, with a smooth surface that makes them very comfortable to sit on, even for long periods of time.

The first design, “Drop“, gives us a Soot Sprite, Small Totoro, and Medium Totoro, with a handful of sweets for added colour and cuteness.

The second design, “Retro Style“, adds a dash of retro colour to a Soot Sprite, a Small Totoro and a silhouette of the Large Totoro, accompanied by an auspicious traditional shippo pattern.

These two designs also feature on three other cushions, starting with the “Mini Flat Pillow” which is filled with breathable polyethylene pipes.

▼ Drop

▼ Retro Style

▼ Next up, we have the Bale Pillow, which is filled with low-rebound urethane chips.

These chips have excellent resistance against sagging, so the cushion is less prone to losing its shape, giving you just the right amount of neck support for summertime naps.

▼ The final cushion is the Candy Pillow, so-called as the rolled shape and ties on each end resemble a candy roll.

Filled with breathable polyethylene pipes, this pillow is less prone to heat buildup, making it another summer naptime essential.

For the ultimate nap, you can pair the pillows with an igusa rug, and there are two to choose from in the collection, both cutely named “Wagororo“.

Wagororo combines the word “wa” (“Japanese style”) with “gorogoro” (“to lounge around”), and that’s exactly what these mats are designed for.

▼ The rectangular mat comes in two sizes, 140 x 200 centimetres and 176 x 230 centimetres.

▼ The round mat is 176 centimetres in diameter. 

Every item in the range is made with domestically sourced igusa, and protected with “Hiba Essence” extracted from Hiba trees in Aomori Prefecture, using a special process unique to the manufacturer. Hiba essence contains a natural substance called hinokitiol, which adds further antibacterial and deodorizing properties to each product.

According to stockists Donguri Kyowakoku, the scent of grass and the expressions of Totoro and his friends will help “soothe away the fatigue of everyday life”. That’s something we could definitely do with when Japan’s humidity starts zapping our energy levels, and the entire range is available to purchase now, at Donguri Kyowakoku stores in Japan and at the online store (links below).

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Featured image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Evan Almighty, Bruce Almighty.
Putin Almighty, Trump Almighty.

Why not Pepo Almighty?

#trump #putin #almighty #russia #usa #PepoPimento

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On the grounds of the Wilcox family homestead established in the 1870s.Part of Hawaii's sugar culture now lost to economic realities.