Shaima Khalil
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
Well, it's a significant development, really, regarding the secretive religious entity. And it stands accused of corruption and that so many people here in Japan blame for ruining their lives and the lives of their families and loved ones. Now, this decision made by the Tokyo District Court to dissolve the Unification Church comes after a government investigation that lasted for months.
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
And the disbanding means, one, that the church will lose its corporation status, so it will lose its right to get tax exemptions, but it will also have to liquidate all its assets. It can still operate in Japan, and we understand that it will likely be able to appeal that decision.
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
But it comes after the interviewing of 200 people by officials from the Culture and Education Ministry and found that the church had coerced the followers into making huge donations, giving expensive gifts leading to the financial ruin. But the officials also found that the church manipulated followers interfering for their spiritual well-being.
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
That's right. The assassination of Shinzo Abe shocked the nation really in 2022 when the Unification Church has come under fire and under intense scrutiny in that same year after the alleged assassin had confessed that he had deep grievances against the late Mr. Abe for his connections.
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
to a church that he blamed for the bankruptcy of his family, an investigation found that nearly half of the lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had connection with this controversial sect. And this involvement and the extent of the influence varied from attending church events, receiving donations from the church and or election support.
Global News Podcast
Sudanese military accused of carrying out massacre in Darfur
And that really has cost the Liberal Democratic Party money. dearly politics wise, because these revelations shocked the people of Japan. And they have told us that it's one of the big reasons people have lost their faith in the government and in politics, which is something that the ruling party is still trying to recover from.
Global News Podcast
Donald Trump wants to abolish the US emergency response agency
Mr. Nakai, who works for Fuji TV, among other networks, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a 2023 dinner party. He had earlier apologized for causing trouble, but added that some media reports were untrue and that he had not used violence. Reports emerged last month that the TV host had paid the unnamed woman more than half a million dollars.
Global News Podcast
Donald Trump wants to abolish the US emergency response agency
His resignation comes days after Fuji Television confirmed that the company did not disclose the scandal, despite being aware of it. Automakers Nissan and Toyota were among several companies that pulled advertising from the network. This month, Fuji TV suspended a weekly show hosted by Mr Nakai, while other major networks also dropped the presenter.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
He's practicing his right to remain silent, essentially, because he has been arrested and he can be questioned. And we understand that he was questioned for hours. Yonhap, the local news agency, said that he was questioned for 10 hours yesterday, but he refused to answer even a single question, according to the corruption investigation officials here. Yes, it was dramatic.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
Yes, it was unprecedented. But remember, this is one of two fronts, if you will, that this impeached president's leadership, the future of his leadership is being decided. He was summoned for questioning today as well by the CIO, the Corruption Investigation Office. He refused to show up. His lawyer said that we've discussed what we needed to discuss yesterday, even though he said nothing.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
And essentially at this point on the criminal investigation front, he remains detained, but he also remains silent. On another front where I'm standing outside the constitutional court, this is happening on the same day, but separate.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
And I don't know if you can hear, but you and supporters are shouting outside the constitutional court saying you should uphold the constitution, you should do right by the president. It's very consequential what's happening inside. The impeachment hearing is underway. His legal team is giving in their argument or his argument of why he decided to declare martial law in December.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
They're saying this hearing, this trial is politically motivated. But we also heard from the representatives of the National Assembly impeachment prosecution team, and they said, had this martial law edict essentially continued, it would have dragged the country into military dictatorship. So Essentially, you've got two fronts that are deciding where this leadership of Yoon Sang-kyul goes.
Global News Podcast
Last minute hitch in Gaza ceasefire deal
And if the impeachment is upheld by the court, by the constitutional court, it's going to remove him from office and it's going to trigger a snap election in this country. If he's reinstated, his supporters outside here will be happy, but it will trigger a lot of anger from the opposition and opponents from the public.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
We sat down in her home west of Tokyo, and she told me what it was like for her when Iwao was finally declared innocent.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
And what was the moment like when you told your brother that he was acquitted? How did he react?
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
In 1968, Iwao Hakamada was found guilty of killing his boss at a soybean factory, as well as the man's wife and their two teenage children. The bodies were recovered from a fire. All four had been stabbed to death. Iwao initially denied the allegations, but later gave what he came to describe as a coerced confession, following beatings and interrogations that lasted up to 12 hours a day.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
Two years after his arrest, he was convicted of murder and arson and sentenced to death.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
In 2014, Iwawa was released from prison and granted a retrial. It took nearly 10 years for the retrial to begin because of lengthy legal proceedings. Then, in September, Yuwao Hakamada was declared innocent. His supporters cheered outside the court when the verdict was announced.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
In his ruling, the Shizuoka District Court presiding judge said the evidence used to incriminate Mr. Hakamada was fabricated and that the investigators added bloodstains to the clothing items and hid them in the soybean tank well after the incident took place.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
A few weeks after Iwao's acquittal, the local police authorities officially apologized to him for the time he spent on death row for a crime he didn't commit. At Hakamada's home, the chief of the Shizuoka police bowed in front of Iwao. We caused you indescribable anxiety and burden. We are truly sorry. Iwao, Hideko, this is you.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
As we stand at her dining table, Hideko smiles, showing me photographs of Iwao as a young man and a former professional boxer. The two are the youngest of six siblings. Ever since they were children, Hideko had always taken care of her little brother. And so it continues.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
Yuwao has a quiet life now and goes on daily outings with volunteers who help with his care. Hideko refuses to look back. And when I ask her who she blames for her brother's suffering, astonishingly, she says no one.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
For nearly 60 years, Iwao Hakamada had been fighting for his innocence. And when it was finally declared in court, he wasn't there for the moment. Waiting for execution in solitary confinement for nearly half a century took a heavy toll on Iwao's mental health. He'd been exempt from attending court hearings for years.
Global News Podcast
Syria's new leader says armed factions will come under state control
His sister and longtime advocate, 91-year-old Hideko Hakamada, had been in court on his behalf. When her brother was acquitted in September, she was visibly emotional as she thanked his supporters outside the court. Hideko has been taking care of her younger brother, now 88, since he was released pending a retrial in 2014.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
In der opening scene of her documentary Black Box Diaries, Shiori is speaking to the camera a few days before she holds a press conference. Something, she tells me, her family was against.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
Black Box Diaries, which is Shiori's directorial debut, is based on her memoir. It follows the young reporter's quest for justice in a rape criminal case she filed in 2015 against well-known journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who also had a close relationship with the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as his biographer.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
Shiori decide to go public after the police and the prosecutors dismiss her allegations for lack of evidence. In 2019, she won a civil case against Yamaguchi, who's always denied the allegations. In doing so, Shiori became the symbol of the MeToo movement in Japan.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
The film has been screened in dozens of countries and is now in the running for Best Documentary Feature Film at this year's Academy Awards. Shiori is the first Japanese director to be nominated in this category.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
Despite the international acclaim, the film has not yet been shown in Japan and has made the news under a cloud of controversy. Lawyers who led the team representing Shiori's successful civil lawsuit in 2019 have now criticized the documentary publicly, taking issue with the film's unauthorized use of CCTV footage that they say was only supposed to be used in court proceedings.
Global News Podcast
Huge protests in Greece over train crash justice
The footage shows an intoxicated Shiori being dragged from a taxi and into a hotel lobby by the alleged perpetrator. The lawyers also said that her using secret video and audio recordings without consent has compromised sources who should have been protected.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
What we do know from footage that has appeared was from inside Sana'a International Airport, you could see people running in a panic, rushing out, some with their trolleys not really knowing where to go and others rushing out of the building. Another showed from outside the airport showed smoke rising from the site.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
And we do know from the IDF that they did target the Sana'a airport and its surrounding area. They say they struck military targets used by the Iran-backed Houthis to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region. We also know that the strikes happened not only in Sana'a and different parts of the capital, but also in the port city of Hadaida.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
And it's not the first time that these two sites have been struck. This is the second Israeli strike. on Yemen in less than a week. The last one was on Thursday. Now, we understand from Houthi officials that several people were killed, others were injured with the targets of power stations of several ports and port cities.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
And we heard from a Houthi official who said that the strikes were a crime against the people of Yemen.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
It's very interesting because these strikes are very much in line with what's been coming out from the Israeli leadership, whether it's the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he did say this on more than one occasion, but also from the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. And
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
One particular comment that he made earlier really is quite telling because he promised to decapitate the leadership of the Houthi movement the same way that Israel did with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
kind of tells you that these intensified attacks by the Houthis at the moment, and this month has seen a significant rise in these attacks, in the missile launches into Israeli territory, some of them not intercepted, remember, is now being responded to in a more focused way
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
So if you ask what the job is, I think the job for the Israeli leadership at the moment and for the Israeli military is to stop these attacks from happening and to not only target military and energy infrastructure in Yemen, but they did mention the leadership as well.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
That's right. The humanitarian situation in Yemen has been dire for many years now because this country has been struggling and has been enthralled in a conflict for many years. Aid is very difficult to come by in Yemen. Many people have been struggling with malnutrition. There have been many warnings by the UN, by other humanitarian agencies that more food needs to get to Yemen.
Global News Podcast
Israeli airstrikes have hit several targets inside Yemen
But the problem has been that there are different areas controlled by different groups in this country. and that the access to aid has been very difficult. So in addition to these strikes that are happening now by Israeli forces, Yemen itself has been reeling from years and years of conflict and a very difficult humanitarian situation.