Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is likely to resign in June after two cronyism scandals sent his approval ratings to an all-time low and risk damaging his party’s fortunes in elections next year, according to one of Japan’s most popular postwar leaders. Junichiro Koizumi, a flamboyant reformer who was prime minister from 2001-06, told a weekly magazine published on Monday that Abe has found himself in a “dangerous” situation over the scandals, adding: “Won’t he resign around the time the current parliamentary session ends [on 20 June]?”Speaking to Aera magazine, Koizumi said Abe could harm his Liberal Democratic party’s chances in next summer’s upper house elections if he manages to cling on to the LDP presidency in a leadership election due in September.

Abe has been badly bruised by allegations of cronyism centering on the heavily discounted sale of public land to the operator of an ultra-nationalist kindergarten in Osaka with links to his wife, Akie Abe. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and said he would resign if he or his wife were shown to have been intervened in the sale of the land.

The finance ministry recently admitted to tampering with documents to remove references to Abe and his wife in papers relating to the decision to provide an 85% discount on the appraised value of the land. He is also alleged to have used his influence to help a friend secure permission to open a veterinary school – claims he has rejected. Last week, however, an official document emerged describing the veterinary school as “an issue that involves the prime minister”.

Although he shares Abe’s hawkish views on defence, Koizumi has emerged as a vocal critic of the prime minister’s support for nuclear power. Abe wants to expand nuclear’s share of the energy mix, while Koizumi has called for its abolition following the March 2011 meltdown in Fukushima.(theguardian)…[+]

About two dozen chanting protesters have entered a Philadelphia Starbucks where two black men were arrested after store employees called 911 to say the men were trespassing. The protesters moved to the front counter shortly after 7 am on Monday and chanted “Starbucks coffee is anti-black” and “We are gonna shut you down”.

“We don’t want this Starbucks to make any money today. That’s our goal,” said Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, one of the protest’s organizers and co-founder of the Black and Brown Workers Collective.

The protesters gathered outside the store in the pouring rain before 7am, while inside it looked like business as usual. However, most people drinking coffee at the tables were regional leaders for the company’s corporate side. Just before 7.30am, the protesters moved inside and stood in front of the counter, some holding banners reading “End Stop and Frisk,” chanting slogans like, “A whole lot of racism, a whole lot of crap, Starbucks coffee is anti-black.”

Speeches decried police brutality and gentrification. Starbucks regional vice president Camille Hymes attempted to talk to the protesters, but was shouted down. Over the weekend, demonstrators called for the firing of the employee who had contacted police, who arrested the men on Thursday. Officials have said police officers were told the men had asked to use the store’s restroom but were denied because they had not bought anything and they refused to leave. Police have not released the names of the men who were arrested and later released after the district attorney’s office said there was lack of evidence that a crime had been committed.(theguardian)…[+]

A 13-year-old boy and an amateur archaeologist have unearthed a “significant” trove in Germany which may have belonged to the Danish king Harald Bluetooth who brought Christianity to Denmark. René Schön and his student Luca Malaschnitschenko were looking for treasure using metal detectors in January on northern Rügen island when they chanced upon what they initially thought was a worthless piece of aluminium.

But upon closer inspection, they realised that it was a piece of silver, German media reported. Over the weekend, the regional archaeology service began a dig covering 400 sq metres (4,300 sq ft). It has found a hoard believed to be linked to the Danish king Harald Gormsson, better known as “Harry Bluetooth”, who reigned from around AD958 to 986.Braided necklaces, pearls, brooches, a Thor’s hammer, rings and up to 600 chipped coins were found, including more than 100 that date back to Bluetooth’s era, when he ruled over what is now Denmark, northern Germany, southern Sweden and parts of Norway.

“This trove is the biggest single discovery of Bluetooth coins in the southern Baltic Sea region and is therefore of great significance,” the lead archaeologist, Michael Schirren, told national news agency DPA. The oldest coin is a Damascus dirham dating to 714 while the most recent is a penny dating to 983.(theguardian)…[+]