Reuters World News - The academic about to take the toughest job in Japan

Episode Date: February 13, 2023

Kazuo Ueda is tipped for the top job at the Bank of Japan. How will the academic adapt to the scrutiny as financial markets pore over his every word? Earthquake rescuers are finding fewer survivors among the rubble as Turkey turns its attention to stopping looters and holding builders to account. And what is happening over North America’s skies? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a job for a smooth talker with nerves of steel. What lies ahead for Kasia Uweda, the 71-year-old academic likely to be the next governor of the Bank of Japan? You're summoned in the parliament very frequently, asks very difficult questions, and the moment you send very small but important signals to the market, the reaction could be huge and potentially damaging for a lot. a country that has a huge public debt. Plus, the latest from Turkey, and the mystery objects being shot out of US skies. It's Monday, February 13th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes.

I'm Kim Vinal in London. We start with the latest from Turkey and Syria, where the death toll has climbed to unimaginable levels. Nearly 34,000 people have perished, and that figure is expected to keep climbing. A rare moment of joy in Hatai. A woman, Naide Umar, was rescued after 175 hours under the rubble. But the conditions on the ground are grim. Hundreds of thousands have been left homeless, and without clean water, the threat of disease is growing.

Even before the quake, war-torn Syria, suffered an outbreak of cholera. And the conflict is exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe, holding up the arrival of aid. In Turkey, looting is a growing problem. Thieves are targeting businesses and homes, but also the cars or tents where people are sleeping. Shop owner Mehmet Dilmez says his shop was looted with cash worth 70,000 lira. That's almost $4,000 taken from the register. This is for General Van Herk. Because you still haven't been able to tell us what these things are that we are shooting

out of the sky, that raises the question, have you ruled out aliens or extraterrestrials? Thanks for the question, Elaine. I'll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figured that out. I haven't ruled out anything. What is going on up? bear. That was a senior Pentagon official in a press conference saying he wouldn't rule out aliens after three unidentified objects were shot out of North American skies over the weekend. Targets were hit over Alaska, Michigan and Canada's Yukon. But it's not clear exactly what they

are. U.S. Air Force General Glenn Van Herk, the man in charge of safeguarding U.S. airspace, told reporters that the military has not been able to identify. what the three most recent objects are, how they stay in the air or where they're coming from. At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threat unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it. The sudden spate of sightings and shootings comes after officials shot down a giant Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina. China has denied it was used for spying. After the strange Pentagon briefing, a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military had not seen any evidence that the objects were extraterrestrial.

In Israel, President Isaac Herzog warns the country faces constitutional collapse in possible violence over a government plan to reduce the power of the judiciary. In a rare primetime speech, Herzog appealed. to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government to hold off taking any steps to legislate the changes. Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated weakly against the plans. They say the reforms will weaken democratic checks on ministers by the courts. Netanyahu says they will restore balance.

All of this is happening as violence among Israelis and Palestinians has increased in Jerusalem and the West Bank. An Israeli arrest rate in the occupied West Bank kicked off clashes with gunmen on Monday. Air strikes hit the Gaza Strip following a weekend rocket launch from the enclave. Yes, we can officially confirm the big news from last night's Super Bowl.

Rihanna is pregnant. Her reps confirm to Reuters the star is expecting her second child after her soaring performance during the Super Bowl halftime show. On the pitch, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs had a dramatic 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, stocks are down across the board as US investors hunker down for US inflation data.

Here to tell us why that figure is so important is Markets editor, Dara Rangasinger. This week, the focus is all on the US inflation print for January on Tuesday. Why do we care? Inflation remains the big theme for markets, because where it goes will determine what happens with borrowing costs. The messaging from the Fed has been fairly consistent that US rate hikes are not done. Markets have been getting ahead of themselves and ready to price in rate cuts by the end of the year because of signs that the economy is slowing.

But what we had was a very, very strong US jobs reports for January, and that's really made traders think twice about whether they were getting ahead of themselves in pricing in rate cuts. We finally have an answer as to who will take over the reins as Bank of Japan governor. Kasia Uweda is the surprise choice for the top job. One false word from him will send currencies tanking and people's borrowing costs soaring. Chief economic policy, Koro, like Kajara, has followed every move in the Bank of Japan Leadership saga. Hi, Lika. Hi.

So this is going to be a big change for you, Ada, right? Yes, I'm not sure whether he's willingly accepted the job, frankly, because it's one of the most grueling and challenging job you can get in Japan. How are his days going to shape up? So, Uyed-A-san, he's been very kind of low-key low profile for a long time. So his days would change abruptly. He'll be chased around by reporters like us. a lot of overseas trips as well.

You have to travel for the IMF meetings or the G20 meetings and be kind of smooth and comfortable talking and negotiating with your overseas central bound counterparts. That's really a sea change from an academic job, sitting in your quiet room at your university. So it could be pretty disruptive and different from Mr. Weda. So we shall see how he will. cope with that. So tell us about the man who's going to be the next governor of the Bank of Japan. Who is he?

He's very prominent in Japanese academic circles. He's an expert on monetary policy and has previously served at the Bank of Japan's board. So he's quite qualified for the position, but the first ever academic to take the BOJ home in its history. So it's something very special. And even though he was on the Bank of Japan board, he was not seen as a frontrunner to take up this position. Why is that? Well, he was in the BOJ board a long time ago. He was there when Japan was just about to enter deflation, the late 1990s. So it's been a while, but I think the reason he was not seen as a governor is that usually the governor post goes to,

either a career central banker who has, you know, done a stint as deputy B.OJ governor or someone from the Ministry of Finance, such as incumbent governor, Kuroda. Okay, so if he's not really said very much publicly, what can we deduce from, you know, like what is style is going to be or what his attitude towards monetary policy is going to be? Because everyone is going to be hanging on his every word. Exactly. So I think a lot of people are scaring through the web. There's accounts during his ears at the BOJ for any clues. But I've talked to people who know him and BOJ watchers. And they feel that it's probably not accurate to brand him as either a dove or a hawk and rather see him as someone who is very pragmatic. And really kind of. of making sure that any rollback of stimulus will be smooth and not disruptive for markets. So like a safe pair of hands sort of thing.

Exactly, exactly. All right, Laki Kahara in Tokyo. Thank you so much. That's it for this edition of Reuters World News. We'll be back again tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find more trusted news at Reuters.com.