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A global rally in stocks came to an abrupt halt Thursday as a 7% plunge on Japan's Nikkei index unnerved investors in Europe and set the tone for a weak opening on Wall Street. European markets fell by 2% and U.S. stock futures were pointing lower in the wake of the biggest one-day drop on the Nikkei since the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster. Germany's DAX lost 2.4% and France's CAC 40 was down 2.1%. Investors were rattled by weak economic data from China and indications that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start dialing down its bond-buying program as early...

There are countries in the world, mainly in Europe, that are presently undergoing significant cultural transformations as a result of Muslim immigration. France, Germany, Belgium and Holland are interesting examples of cases where immigration from Muslim countries, together with the Muslims’ high fertility rate, effects every area of life. It is interesting to know that there is a country in the world whose official and public approach to the Muslim matter is totally different. This country is Japan. This country keeps a very low profile on all levels regarding the Muslim matter: On the diplomatic level, senior political figures from...

Sharing this for those Freepers concerned about the dollar. It's actually strong compared to the euro and yen, but that's only cuz the Central Bankers there have opted to use more fire power against the weak dollar and make their currencies even WEAKER. What does this mean for those of us with real skin in the game, as in money in the markets?

A group of North Koreans claim to have hijacked a Chinese fishing boat, are holding hostages, and demand some 600,000 yuan in ransoms. The initial hijacking took place on May 6, but authorities are struggling to pin down exactly what happened. They are investigating the boat owner's claims that his ship and its crew were taken, but officials have been silent. North Korea isn't just fun-runs and basketball stars; there is a serious concern that the hijackers were in the nation's military, and may be harming their prisoners, as South China Morning Post reports: Yu [the boat owner] was not...

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force warships JS Atago, foreground, and JS Shimokita, at Pearl Harbor naval base, Hawaii. The superstructure of a third Japanese warship, the helicopter carrier JS Hyuga, can be seen at right. On the deck of Shimokita are ground vehicles and helicopters – shrink-wrapped to protect against salt air -- that will take part in major amphibious warfare training in southern California.Warships from Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force have making stops at the American naval base at Pearl Harbor for more than two decades. But it’s going to seem strange, indeed, when Japanese ground troops clamor aboard...

China is attempting to open a new front in its territorial dispute with Japan by questioning Tokyo's sovereignty over the island of Okinawa, home to 25,000 US troops. The two countries are already pushing rival claims to the Senkakus, a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Tokyo. The dispute over the islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, has hit bilateral trade and sent diplomatic relations to their lowest point for decades. Beijing began its attempt to broaden the territorial dispute earlier this month when the communist party newspaper, the People's Daily, ran...

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. servicemembers should consider soliciting prostitutes to control their “sexual energies,” the mayor of Osaka said Monday. It was a suggestion that apparently didn’t get very far with a Marine commander in Okinawa. Toru Hashimoto, who also co-leads the Japan Restoration Party in the Japanese national parliament, told reporters Monday that he visited with Marine Corps Air Station Futenma’s commander last month and told him that servicemembers should make more use of Japan’s legalized sex industry. “There are places where people can legally release their sexual energy in Japan,” Hashimoto said during a video press...

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities.

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and that have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities. Toru Hashimoto, the young, brash mayor of Osaka who is also co-leader of an emerging conservative political party, also told reporters that there wasn't clear evidence that the...

From time to time Japan’s political leaders visit the Yasukuni Shrine where Class A war criminals are included on the list of remembrance, then make controversial remarks that deny or gloss over the acts of aggression that Japan committed in the first half of the 20th century. By so doing, they give legitimacy to a self-centered and distorted interpretation of Japan’s ignoble history that many Japanese harbor, as illustrated below. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan embarked on an ambitious modernization program, modeling itself on advanced European countries such as Britain, France and Germany. To emulate those countries which...

The yen slid to a 4-1/2-year low against the dollar on Friday, triggering a sell-off in oil and gold as well as safe-haven U.S. and German debt, after recent signs of strength in the U.S. labor market added to bullish sentiment on the dollar. Wall Street surged at day's end, pushing both the Dow and the S&P 500 to record closing highs. Data on bond holdings in Japan showed the Japanese were buying more foreign assets, and the yen's collapse reverberated throughout financial markets. Conflicting signals about how investors view the economic outlook added to the yen's wide impact. The...

China’s top newspaper on Wednesday published a call for a review of Japan’s sovereignty over the island of Okinawa—home to major U.S. bases—with the Asian powers already embroiled in a territorial row. The lengthy article in the People’s Daily, China’s most-circulated newspaper and the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, argued that the country may have rights to the Ryukyu chain, which includes Okinawa. The island is home to major U.S. air force and marine bases as well as 1.3 million people, who are considered more closely related to Japan in ethnic and linguistic terms than to China. The authors...

Now China Says It May Own Okinawa, Too Agence France PresseMay 8, 2013 US Sale Of Armed Drones To Japan And South Korea Would Transform Tensions In The Pacific China's top newspaper on Wednesday published a call for a review of Japan's sovereignty over the island of Okinawa -- home to major US bases -- with the Asian powers already embroiled in a territorial row. The lengthy article in the People's Daily, China's most-circulated newspaper and the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, argued that the country may have rights to the Ryukyu chain, which includes Okinawa. The island is...

US objects to Japan’s plans for Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing Posted on May 2, 2013 by John Hofilena inPoliticswith1 Comment The Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant located in Japan’s northern Aomori Prefecture is capable of putting out nine tons of weapons-grade plutonium in a year, and this is exactly why the United States is opposing Japan’s plan to reprocess its nuclear fuel. The annual output of the facility, once at full capacity, is enough to build as many as 2,000 nuclear weapons, a fact not lost on Washington, as Tokyo insists that the program is non-military in nature. The Japanese government has...

As the Obama administration prepares to launch a new round of strategic nuclear missile cuts, Russia’s strategic nuclear forces are undergoing a major modernization, according to U.S. officials. Russia's military announced last month that as part of the nuclear buildup, Moscow later this year will deploy the first of its new intercontinental ballistic missiles called the Yars-M. Details of the missile are being kept secret, but it has been described as a fifth-generation strategic nuclear system that Russian officials say will be able to penetrate U.S. missile defenses using a new type of fuel that requires a shorter burn time...

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant performed beyond its best expectations after being struck by a mammoth earthquake and a 40-ft-high tidal wave in 2011, experts said last week. More than two years after the earthquake and tsunami struck, studies are now showing that radiation exposure levels were much lower than originally predicted. Thus far, the only deaths directly attributed to the nuclear plant have been related to the evacuation of residents, and not to radiation exposure. ”The powerplant did an incredible job,” Jeff Terry, an associate professor of physics at Illinois Institute of Technology, told Design News. “Even with multiple...

Groundwater at No. 1 plant tainted JIJI Apr 27, 2013 Samples of groundwater taken from monitoring holes around the sunken reservoirs at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are proving radioactive, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday. Strontium and other radioactive elements were detected in samples taken from 13 of the 22 observation holes dug around the reservoirs, which were built to hold water tainted during the cooling of the reactors, Tepco said. Some of the reservoirs are leaking. The amount of radioactive material in the samples is small and within the range of normal fluctuations, Tepco said, but it...

Since becoming Japan’s prime minister for a second time last December, Shinzo Abe has done a decent job of keeping his nationalistic instincts in check, choosing to focus instead on reviving the world’s third largest economy. But this week, with his administration buoyant in the polls amid positive signs for the economy, the “other” Shinzo Abe has stepped into the spotlight in dramatic style, angering Japan’s neighbors and possibly fomenting another round of regional tension. … (Abe) has made no secret of his desire to reinterpret Japan’s wartime past, distance himself from apologies issued by his predecessors, and, critically, rewrite...

look at this country's debt situation, especially relative to the United States, is truly amazing. This country is paying 21% of government revenue on interest payments to support a 236% debt-to-GDP ratio. With annual spending twice as high as its revenue, the government is running a deficit of $455 billion a year and adding to its $11.2 trillion debt. This is all before the monetary stimulus programs announced recently by its central bank. If you thought the United States government was a financial basket case, Japan is exponentially worse. A collapse in the yen and the stock market is all...

The top U.S. military officer told China’s leaders on Wednesday that Washington is committed to defending Japan, as Beijing and Tokyo engage in intensified rhetoric over a territorial row. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting China just as the dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea is again heating up. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Tuesday to “expel by force” any Chinese landing on the islands, which are administered by Japan as the Senkakus but also claimed by China as the Diaoyus. His statement came after a...

China to build second, larger aircraft carrier, says report China will build a second, larger aircraft carrier capable of carrying more fighter jets, the official Xinhua news service reported late Tuesday, quoting a senior officer with the People's Liberation Army (PLA ) Navy. The report comes after Chinese officials denied foreign media reports in September 2012 that China was building a second carrier in Shanghai. "China will have more than one aircraft carrier ... The next aircraft carrier we need will be larger and carry more fighters," Xinhua quoted Song Xue, deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy, as...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Tuesday to "expel by force" any attempt by China to land on a disputed island chain after eight state-owned Chinese ships sailed into the territorial waters surrounding the archipelago. Japan's prime minister Tuesday vowed to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row, after eight government vessels from China sailed into the disputed waters.The latest clash over the islands came as 168 Japanese lawmakers visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in central Tokyo, seen as a potent symbol of Japan's imperialist past, riling its neighbours China...

Asian Security: As Korea festers, our friends in Beijing have deployed near Taiwan a powerful missile designed to take out U.S. aircraft carriers as Beijing strengthens its ability to prevent U.S. forces from aiding Taiwan. When North Korea announced the 1953 Armistice was considered null and void and threatened renewed missile tests, the U.S. rushed naval assets to the region, including two destroyers equipped with the Aegis anti-missile defense system. We presumably would do so if things heated up between Beijing and its claimed "lost province," Taiwan. That option became increasingly problematical when news of China's deployment of an anti-ship...

A newly released memo revealed that President Roosevelt was warned that Tokyo was focused on Hawaii days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Washington Whispers reported: Three days before the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt was warned in a memo from naval intelligence that Tokyo’s military and spy network was focused on Hawaii, a new and eerie reminder of FDR’s failure to act on a basket load of tips that war was near. In the newly revealed 20-page memo from FDR’s declassified FBI file, the Office of Naval Intelligence on December 4 warned, “In anticipation...

Japanese elderly now outnumber children. TOKYO, April 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Japan is seeing the most rapid decline in population of any country on earth, according to the World Population Data Sheet produced by the U.S. Population Reference Bureau. A newly released report on demographic trends by the Japanese government reveals that Japan's population continues to plummet, and that 2012 saw the biggest population drop since record-keeping began in the 1950s. On October 1, 2012, the country’s population was estimated at 127,515,000, down 0.22 percent from the previous year, said the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in a April 16 report....

National Security: Our secretary of state tells the Chinese we'll restrain missile defense activities in Asia in exchange for their help in reducing the threat of a nuclear North Korea. Isn't this where we came in? In a news conference after meetings with China's top leaders on Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program. Well, at least he didn't bow. In response to North Korea's threat to fire some of its latest missiles, including the road-mobile Musudan, amidst news that it can...

Since April 15th (Later on today United States Time) is Kim il Sung 101st birthday, we think today would be the day for the DPRK to launch if they intend to. New Secretary of State Kerry is in the region trying to come up with his first victory since taking office. But the DPRK is not backing down. NORTH KOREA UNBENDING Pyongyang, which was preparing to celebrate the birth date of state founder Kim Il-Sung on Monday, reiterated it had no intention of abandoning its atomic arms programs. "We will expand in quantity our nuclear weapons capability, which is the...

TOKYO — The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea's latest offer of dialogue as a "crafty trick." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Tokyo that North Korea would find "ready partners" in the United States if it began abandoning its nuclear program...

Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and sought to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant nuclear armed North Korea by saying that American missile defenses could be cut back if the North abandoned its nuclear program. Mr. Kerry’s trip to China, his first since taking office, is part of an intensive three-day push to try to calm tensions on the Korean Peninsula that have threatened to spiral out of control and rattled world leaders. In a news conference, Mr. Kerry suggested that the United States could remove some newly enhanced missile defenses in...

(snip) "Destroying the North Korean missile before it is launched is the best of bad options on the Korean Peninsula. A prolonged crisis would undermine regional security and global efforts to stop nuclear proliferation. And a future war would be much worse. The most prudent move is to eliminate the most imminent military threat in self-defense, establish clear and reasonable limits on future belligerence, and maintain allied unity for stability — not forced regime change — in the region. This is the kind of pre-emptive action that would save lives and maybe even preserve the uneasy peace on the Korean...

The U.S. Treasury on Friday warned Japan not to actively weaken its currency as it again refrained from naming China a manipulator. In its twice-a-year assessment of whether any nation is a currency manipulator, Treasury said it will “closely monitor” Japan’s policies and the extent to which they support the growth of domestic demand. The new Shinzo Abe administration has pushed for aggressive bond-buying at the Bank of Japan, and the yen has dropped 13% against the dollar this year. The Japanese currency rose in Friday afternoon trade after the report was released. … China, meanwhile, escaped being branded a...

2013/04/13 14:53 KST (LEAD) N. Korea has likely not moved mobile missile launchers: source SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea did not appear to move vehicles suspected to be mobile launchers for its medium-range missiles over the past two days, a government source said Saturday, in an indication that Pyongyang's missile launch is not imminent. According to intelligence sources, the North had moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan, in and out of the facility earlier this week in an apparent bid to interfere with Seoul's intelligence...

No comment. That’s what China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said earlier today (April 12) in response to a report by a US spy agency saying North Korea has a nuclear weapon it could mount on a missile. Several US and South Korean officials were also quick to deny the report. This is after promises by North Korea to turn its enemies’ strongholds into a sea of flames. Even with an aggressive, potentially nuclear rogue regime sharing a border with China, Hong Lei maintained dialogue was the way to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Don't look now, but the birthday of Kim Jong-un's grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, is right around the corner, on Monday, with absurd celebrations and marathons and magic horses all weekend. But nothing would do more poetic justice to North Korea's warped version of history and its "unacceptable" war-mongering rhetoric than to drown one of its oldest enemies in a sea of nuclear flames. Which absurdity will win out? "North Korea warned Japan Friday that Tokyo would be the first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula if it continues to maintain its hostile posture," reports South Korea's...

Obama: North Korea should end belligerence now Associated Press – 46 mins ago WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says now is the time for North Korea to end its belligerence. He says the United States will take, in his words, "all necessary steps" to protect its people. But Obama also says that no one wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea ratcheted up its threats against the U.S. after the U.N. Security Council levied new economic sanctions on the isolated nation. The penalties were in response to a February rocket launch.

Via Eli Lake, who had a separate timely piece this morning quoting experts who think the world should be taking this latest NorK tantrum more seriously than it is. Fast-forward to this afternoon’s House Armed Services Committee hearing with Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chair Martin Dempsey. Lake: According to the [Defense Intelligence Agency] report, “DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles however the reliability will be low.” That line was read aloud by Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, on Thursday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Lamborn...

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. military intelligence agency believes that North Korea has learned how to mount nuclear bombs on ballistic missiles, a U.S. congressman said Thursday, citing a classified report. But the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) still questions whether the secretive nation has mastered the sophisticated technology, according to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). In a congressional hearing, he quoted the report as saying, "DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles; however the reliability will be low." Both Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman...

U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have identified the launch zone on North Korea’s east coast... The North Koreans recently began fueling two road-mobile Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles located along the east coast between the cities of Wonsan and Hamhung,.. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in addition to the 2,500-mile-range Musudans the North Koreans could conduct test firings of several 620-mile-range Nodong missiles and shorter-range Scuds simultaneously as a way to thwart U.S. missile defenses. Unlike earlier launches, the North Koreans are not expected to provide advance warning of the timing for the launches, such as announcing a...

Mexico’s president says a Japanese company has been tapped to build a pipeline to import U.S. natural gas through Arizona. President Enrique Pena Nieto is visiting Japan, where he made the announcement about the $460 million project Tuesday. Japan’s Mitsui Corporation will build the pipeline, which will run from Tucson to the Mexican border.

The yen plunged to its lowest level in nearly four years and showed no signs of slowing its weakening trend in response to the Bank of Japan's latest push to ease monetary policy. Investors have been aggressively selling the Japanese currency since policy makers at the BOJ announced last week they will print trillions of yen to pump money into Japan's sluggish economy in a bid to keep interest rates low and spark faster growth. "Both Japanese and non-Japanese investors appear to be selling Japanese government bonds equally aggressively," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York...

The city, south of Tokyo, prematurely fired its tweet, announcing "North Korea has launched a missile."

Many of China's top economists are livid at what they view as an effective currency devaluation by Japan and are calling on the People's Bank of China to retaliate by weakening the yuan to defend itself in what they see as a new currency war. These economists, including Tsinghua University professor Li Daokui and ANZ Bank's Liu Ligang, see Japan's plan to double its monetary base within two years as "blackmail" and have criticised the Japanese central bank's decision to open the liquidity floodgates to bump up the economy. Liu said Japan's unprecedented easing programme, aimed at ending more than...

The United States and South Korea have reportedly drawn up joint plans for a retaliatory set of tit-for-tat responses to any strikes by North Korean on its neighbour. The scale of the response has been set down in a new war plan to ensure that there is no unintended escalation into broader war. The new "counter-provocation" plan is calling for an immediate but proportional "response in kind" to North Korea if it decides to launch a ground attack or a missile, the New York Times reported last night, citing unnamed US officials. Under the plan, the source of any North...

In an extraordinary column last week, Russia’s de facto government press arm declared that the era of “Miss American Pie” was over in the U.S. Citing Obama’s reelection, Pravda stated that the “Communists have won in America…” Why? Because the US is “an illiterate society” that continues to buy off on Obama’s “lies of less taxes while he raises them.” The US educational system is also held responsible, with Pravda stating that it was “conquered by the Communists long ago and history was revised thus paving the way for their Communist presidents.” As you might have gathered, Pravda’s hit on...

Ever notice that this administration is only lightning-fast when it comes to shifting blame when things don’t work out perfectly? They practically left a vapor trail in their zeal to anonymously accuse the US military of being responsible for our tense situation with North Korea: So, it’s the Navy’s fault that the U.S.-North Korea spat has gone so far? That’s the apparent message from senior administration officials who, according to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, said that they had long planned to send B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers, and F-22 fighters to the Korean Peninsula as part of preplanned wargames...

Japan's Defense Minister issued the official military order within the hour or so. It has been stated in news commentary that the North's Musudan intermediate ballistic missile which is an extreme threat to Japan and had been suddenly moved to North Korea's east coast just two days ago for possible launch without warning, without any kind of statement to international space or aviation bodies for a "test launch" of a missile, means that North Korea could launch a sneak missile launch without any warning to the world. So Japan's Defense Minister ordered Japan Self Defense Forces (SDF) into readiness with...

A senior U.S. defense official says the Pentagon has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test for next week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California amid mounting tensions with North Korea. The official says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delayed the long-planned Minuteman 3 test because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the current Korean crisis. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. North Korea's military has warned that it was authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons.

The United States and Japan on Friday announced plans for basing troops in Okinawa that will result in Marines from there being moved to Hawaii and Guam. ... “Under the plan, the United States will consolidate our forces over time and reduce our impact on the most populated parts of Okinawa,” U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “Together, our plan calls for the immediate return — upon the completion of certain necessary procedures — of certain facilities and areas on Okinawa.

The global financial convulsion of 2007-2008 was followed by the resounding announcement of new priorities: international finance was to be better regulated and there was to be no mercy in the fight against tax havens. In short, we were to put an end to the black holes in a system that was wide open to abuse—at least if the very virtuous conclusions of the G20 held in London were to be believed. … Revelations of individual cases, no matter how fascinating they are, should not be allowed to distract attention from the underlying problem: tax havens are a threat to...

This isn't merely a failure of nerve, it's a failure of intelligence and a failure to keep operational secrets. The White House had a "playbook," agreed to by O, Hagel, and John Kerry, on how to rattle its saber at North Korea during the next crisis without rattling it so much that NK would get spooked and do something rash. E.g., first comes some B-52 flights over South Korea, then the B-2s make a cameo, then the F-22s, and so forth. Problem one: Kim's gone further in his bellicosity than U.S. analysts expected and now they’re unsure if they know...