News Headlines - 14 March 2019

▽Emperor starts ceremony series related to his abdication：The Asahi Shimbun

Emperor Akihito on March 12 took part in the first ceremony related to his abdication, informing imperial ancestors, including Amaterasu-omikami, the legendary sun goddess, of his intention to step down on April 30.
The “hokoku no gi” started around 10 a.m. within the Imperial Palace grounds, with Akihito dressed in the “sokutai,” a formal traditional attire that can only be worn by an emperor... The same document was read at two other shrines in the Imperial Palace dedicated to past emperors and other Shinto gods.

▽Japan won't submit N. Korea resolution at UN - NHK WORLD

Japan's government says it won't submit a resolution condemning North Korean human rights violations at the United Nations this year.
Japan and the European Union have jointly submitted such resolutions to the UN Human Rights Council for the past 11 years. The resolutions referred to Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

▽TASS: Pyongyang set to break off denuclearization talks with Washington - diplomat

The North Korean leadership is considering suspension of denuclearization talks with the United States, North Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui told reporters on Friday... The deputy foreign minister blamed the breakdown of talks in Hanoi on the US side, who "were too busy with pursuing their own political interests and had no sincere intention to achieve a result."
She also said that during an extended meeting, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and US National Security Adviser John Bolton "created the atmosphere of hostility and mistrust and, therefore, obstructed the constructive effort for negotiations between the supreme leaders of North Korea and the United States."

▽China says Xinjiang has 'boarding schools' not 'concentration camps' | Reuters

China is running boarding schools not concentration camps in the far western region of Xinjiang, its governor said on Tuesday, as the United States called conditions there “completely unacceptable”.
China has faced growing international opprobrium for what it says are vocational training centers in Xinjiang, a vast region bordering central Asia that is home to millions of Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

▽Chinese parents storm primary school in rotten food row | The Guardian

Hundreds of parents have stormed a primary school in south-western China after learning their children were being fed rotten food, clashing with riot police and refusing to leave.
Parents of students attending the Chengdu No 7 Experimental school, a private institution with an intake of about 6,000, discovered issues with school lunches after their children experienced breathing problems and stomach pains.
A doctor who inspected one student said the child appeared to have been eating rotten food for a prolonged period of time, according to one parent’s social media post. Some parents discovered supplies of frozen meat and produce growing mould and posted about them online.