Free Republic

(Reuters) - A Japanese American man thought to be the reclusive multi-millionaire father of Bitcoin emerged from a modest Southern California home and denied involvement with the digital currency before leading reporters on a freeway car chase to the local headquarters of the Associated Press. Satoshi Nakamoto, a name known to legions of bitcoin traders, practitioners and boosters around the world, appeared to lose his anonymity on Thursday after Newsweek published a story that said he lived in Temple City, California, just east of Los Angeles.

President Obama may visit Hiroshima when he travels to Japan late this month for a summit of key industrialized nations, but he will not apologize for the World War II decision to destroy that city with an atomic bomb, the White House said Monday. Asked by Yahoo News whether Obama believes Japan deserves a formal apology for the August 6, 1945, bombing, White House press secretary Josh Earnest replied: “No, he does not.” …

Pinzgauer, at China Defense Forum 167 Shenzhen The Type 051B Destroyer, "167" Shenzhen, is shown here in its original configuation, including the forward HQ-7 SAM launcher and four 37mm anti-air turrets around its stern hangar. Until the Type 052C, it was China's largest indigenous surface warship. The Chinese Navy (PLAN) has been expanding its power with a series of new, more capable surface warships like the 052D guided missile destroyers (DDG) and 054A frigates, while preparing its Type 055 cruiser for a launch at decade's end. but equally notable is how it is also spending big bucks to update its...

Australia has awarded the A$50 billion ($40 billion) contract to build the country's new fleet of submarines to French naval contractor DCNS, sources said on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Japan's nascent defence export industry. Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will officially announce on Tuesday the winner of the contract to build the country's 12 new submarines, but two sources familiar with the process told Reuters that France has secured the contract ahead of Japanese and German bidders. Another source at the French naval contractor said he was "quietly confident" of success ahead of the announcement by Turnbull. Australia...

...snip... While the Bank of Japan’s name is nowhere to be found in regulatory filings on major stock investors, the monetary authority’s exchange-traded fund purchases have made it a top 10 shareholder in about 90 percent of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg from public data. It’s now a major owner of more Japanese blue-chips than both BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, and Vanguard Group, which oversees more than $3 trillion. ...snip... Furthermore, recall what we have been saying ever since 2010, namely that central banks are nothing more than glorified risk-free hedge...

Kim Jong Il's former Japanese chef visits N.Korea A former Japanese chef for the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, has just ended a visit to North Korea. Kenji Fujimoto served as the chef for the former leader for 13 years until 2001. He arrived at an airport in Beijing from Pyongyang on Saturday after a stay of more than 10 days. Fujimoto did not disclose details about his trip which started on April 12th. Four years ago, Fujimoto was invited by the current leader Kim Jong Un, who assumed power after his father's death, to visit the country...

North Korea has fired what is believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday. The missile was fired at 6:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), South Korean officials said, and appears to have flown for about 30 km (about 19 miles) -- well short of the 300 km (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered a successful test.

Japan's first stealth fighter jet has successfully taken to the skies as the country joins a select group of world military powers wielding the radar-dodging technology. The X-2 jet took off from Nagoya airport in central Japan on its maiden test flight as dozens of aviation enthusiasts watching the event erupted in applause as it lifted off. The single-pilot prototype safely landed at Gifu air base, north of Nagoya airport, after a 25-minute flight with 'no particular problems,' said an official at the defence ministry's acquisition agency. The X-2 jet took off from Nagoya airport in central Japan on its...

The dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 remains the only wartime use of nuclear weapons in history. No one knows exactly how many Japanese citizens were killed by the two American bombs. A macabre guess is around 140,000. The atomic attacks finally shocked Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese militarists into surrendering. John Kerry recently visited Hiroshima. He became the first Secretary of State to do so -- purportedly as a precursor to a planned visit next month by President Obama, who is rumored to be considering an apology to Japan...

<p>Plumes of smoke rose some 100 meters into the sky, according to local media and videos captured by witnesses. The eruption of Mt. Aso, located in southern Japan, was recorded at around 11:30pm GMT Friday.</p> <p>Since small eruptions had been recorded at Mt. Aso even before the series of deadly quakes hit the area on Thursday and Friday, the Japanese Meteorological Agency has reportedly decided to keep the alert level at 2 on a scale of 1-5.</p>

Rescuers and a search dog check the damage around a landslide area caused by earthquakes in Minamiaso, Kumamoto prefecture on April 17. ============================================================================================================ TOKYO -- Seismic activity in southern Japan is mystifying geologists and keeping the nation on edge. The island of Kyushu has been struck by a series of significant earthquakes, with the epicenters moving progressively further inland. The cluster started with the deadly quakes that hit Kumamoto Prefecture last Thursday and Saturday. Temblors subsequently rocked the Mount Aso region and neighboring Oita Prefecture. There is a known concentration of faults in the area. Still, experts say it is...

Japan's Kumamoto earthquake, which took place early on Saturday, was upgraded from a provisional magnitude of 7.2 to 7.3. The temblor was felt across wide swathes of southern Japan and triggered a tsunami warning, although the advisory was later lifted. As the situation in Kumamoto continues to escalate, a second quake registering magnitude-5.8 also struck in the region at 03:55 local time. Prior to that, numerous aftershocks jolted the region that had already been pummeled by a series of quakes and aftershocks striking a day earlier. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's planned trip to the already quake-ravaged region, scheduled for...

(3rd LD) N. Korea fails 1st mid-range ballistic missile launch: military 2016/04/15 15:46 (ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout) SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea conducted its first test-launch of the medium-range ballistic missile Musudan early Friday from its east coast, but the launch ended in failure, officials said. "North Korea seems to have tried a missile launch from the East Sea area in the early morning today, but it is presumed to have failed," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Sources said the launched missile was the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), also known as the BM-25. The...

The quake was only 10km deep.

Recent images from China are showing two People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Project 956E Sovremennyy destroyers undergoing major refit and upgrade. It appears that the PLAN is upgrading its class of four destroyers (two 956E followed by two improved 956EM) acquired from Russia with domestic systems. Hangzhou (136) and Fuzhou (137) moored at the PLAN naval shipyard 4806 in Zhoushan. Hangzhou has many of its systems removed including the main gun, sensor and masts, missile launchers (both SAM and ASM). The pictures show first ship of the class Hangzhou (136) and Fuzhou (137) moored at the PLAN naval shipyard 4806...

A STRONG earthquake has hit southwestern Japan, bringing down buildings, killing at least nine people and injuring hundreds, as rescuers scramble to find residents feared trapped in rubble. Eight of the dead were from the hardest-hit town of Mashiki, about 15km east of Kumamoto city on the island of Kyushu. The initial 6.5-magnitude quake struck at 9.26pm (10.20pm AEST) at a depth of 11km near Kumamoto city on the island of Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami risk. More than 100 aftershocks strong enough to be felt followed in the same region.

Everyone wants a piece of Djibouti. It’s all about the bases. ... the New Jersey-sized nation. Yet its quiet stability within the volatile Horn of Africa has made the country of just 875,000 people a hub for the world’s superpowers. ... The stars and stripes flutters alongside the runway where military and passenger planes touch down: Camp Lemmonier, America’s only permanent military base in Africa, hosts 4,500 troops and contractors who conduct missions against al-Qaeda in Yemen and al-Shabab in Somalia. The outpost, leased for $60m a year, shares an airstrip with the international airport, ... Djibouti also hosts France’s...

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 struck southern Japan on Thursday evening, collapsing walls and a number of houses. There are no immediate reports of casualties.

Our new motto: Strength through moral equivalenceWhen John Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum this week before meeting foreign ministers at the G-7 Summit, Reuters reports that he had witnessed “haunting displays [of] photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs.” “It is a stunning display. It is a gut-wrenching display,” explained Kerry. “It is a reminder of the depth of the obligation every one of us in public life carries … to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons.” Iran exempted,...

When John Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum this week before meeting foreign ministers at the G-7 Summit, Reuters reports that he had witnessed “haunting displays [of] photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs.” “It is a stunning display. It is a gut-wrenching display,” explained Kerry. “It is a reminder of the depth of the obligation every one of us in public life carries … to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons.” Iran exempted, of course. But, really, is this...