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West Coast docks are paralyzed as employers and longshoremen continued to spat about contracts and congestion problems. There are plenty of losers. Exporters, like farmers and ranchers, can't get their perishables to Asian markets during the Lunar New Year when demand for fruit and meat is particularly high. And importers large and small are beginning to report shipment delays and inventory shortages. Are there winners? Kind of … Air Freight. Some importers, like electronics dealers and luxury retailers, can afford to put their cargo on planes, despite at least a ten-fold increase in shipping costs. ... East Coast/Gulf Coast ports....

TONY Abbott says the nation’s $50 billion submarine project will create at least 500 new jobs in South Australia, as the government reveals a shortlist of foreign partners to design and build the new fleet. The Prime Minister has moved to end months of uncertainty over the project in a visit to Adelaide this morning, saying government-owned shipbuilder ASC would be guaranteed more work “under any possible scenario”. “There will be at least 500 new jobs in South Australia,” he said. Mr Abbott said the government would select a foreign contractor by the end of the year, but has narrowed...

BREAKING: Preliminary M7.0 earthquake off the east coast of Japan at 6:06pm US EST. Monitoring for any tsunami concerns.

A hotel staffed by ten multilingual robots is set to open later this year in Japan. When the Henn-na Hotel opens in July, it will be run by robots that can greet guests before carrying their luggage to their rooms. When guests leave, the robots will be able to clear their rooms, ready for the next human to come and stay. The robots are styled to look like a young Japanese woman. They can speak fluent Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English, and can respond to guest’s body language, eye contact and tone. …

Tokyo-based publisher Daisan Shokan released a book Tuesday containing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad previously published in the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo. About 500 bookstores nationwide have expressed interest in selling the book, titled “Islam Heito Ka, Fushi Ka” (“Anti-Islam Hate, or Satire?”), but will use discretion in deciding whether to stock it. Others have said they will not stock it in response to opposition by Muslims in Japan. Riot police from the Metropolitan Police Department were stationed around Daisan Shokan’s headquarters in Shinjuku Ward on Tuesday morning.

College-educated and gainfully employed 36-year-old Eriko Sekiguchi should be a sought-after friend or date, planning nights on the town and faraway resort vacations. But she works in Japan, a nation where workaholic habits die hard. Often toiling 14 hours a day for a major trading company, including early morning meetings and after-hours “settai,” or networking with clients, she used just eight of her 20 paid vacation days last year. Six of those days were for being sick. […] The government wants to change all that. Legislation that will be submitted during the parliamentary session that began Jan. 26 aims to...

When Islamic State militants posted a video over the weekend showing the grisly killing of a Japanese journalist, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with outrage, promising “to make the terrorists pay the price.” Such vows of retribution may be common in the West when leaders face extremist violence, but they have been unheard of in confrontation-averse Japan — until now. The prime minister’s call for revenge after the killings of the journalist, Kenji Goto, and another hostage, Haruna Yukawa, raised eyebrows even in the military establishment, adding to a growing awareness here that the crisis could be a watershed for...

'Kenji Has Died, And My Heart Is Broken': Mother of Japanese Hostage Beheaded By Jihadi John Grieves While Jordan Still Offers Prisoner Swap To Save Their Pilot FOR MAILONLINE 1 February 2015 The family of the Japanese ISIS hostage who appeared in a video allegedly showing his beheading by British militant Jihadi John has paid tribute to his memory. The mother and brother of journalist Kenji Goto, 47, spoke of their loss following confirmation that he had passed away, although the authenticity of the video has yet to be proven. This comes as the Jordanian government has pledged to do...

TOKYO — When Islamic State militants posted a video over the weekend showing the grisly killing of a Japanese journalist, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with outrage, promising “to make the terrorists pay the price.” Such vows of retribution may be common in the West when leaders face extremist violence, but they have been unheard of in confrontation-averse Japan — until now. The prime minister’s call for revenge after the killings of the journalist, Kenji Goto, and another hostage, Haruna Yukawa, raised eyebrows even in the military establishment, adding to a growing awareness here that the crisis could be a...

A visibly upset Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to "never forgive terrorists" after the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. "I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists," Abe told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday morning (local time), according to the AFP news agency. "We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes," he declared. The ISIS claim was made in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held...

Terror group Islamic State has released a new video which seems to show Japanese hostage Kenji Goto being beheaded by the militant fighter known as Jihadi John. The 1 minute and 7 second clip shows Mr Goto kneeling in a rocky gorge while the masked murderer delivers a scripted message to the camera. The killer then lowers his knife and the footage goes black, as is common in ISIS propaganda films. When the footage begins again Mr Goto's body is shown lying on the desert floor.

Online Video Purports To Show Islamic State Group Beheading Japanese Journalist Kenji Goto Japan says working closely with Jordan for release of captives held by Islamic State CAIRO (AP) — Online video purports to show Islamic State group beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. | The pilots of a helium-filled balloon flying across the Pacific Ocean surpassed a duration record Friday by spending more than 138 hours in the air, marking a historic day for the team that already has eclipsed a distance milestone as they approach North America. Pilots Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev (too-kh-TY'-yev) of Russia were headed south along the California coast when they surpassed the duration record of 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds aloft in a traditional gas balloon. The pair launched from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday Japan time, eclipsed the...

SEATTLE — Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, one of four surviving Doolittle Raiders who attacked Japan during a daring 1942 mission credited with lifting American morale during World War II, has died. He was 94. Rod Saylor said his father died of natural causes on Wednesday in Sumner, Washington.

Arms Buildup: A senior weapons developer tells Congress that Beijing's massive defense buildup, emphasizing precision-guided and other advanced weapons, has placed the U.S. and its shrinking military at serious risk. 'I am very concerned about the increasing risk of loss of U.S. military technological superiority," Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary for acquisition, said Wednesday. "We're at risk, and the situation is getting worse." He was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing on the subject of defense and technological change. The Chinese were paying attention to U.S. military dominance in the early 1990s after we won the arms...

When the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria set terms for the release of a Jordanian fighter pilot captured when his plane was disabled over Syria, it was only marginally shocking that Jordan signaled it was willing to negotiate with ISIS fighters. That decision had some shock value not only because it is generally rare to see Western coalition partners negotiate with groups they admit to be terrorist organizations, but because the prisoner ISIS demanded in exchange was involved in one of the worst terrorist attacks in that countryÂ’s history. No sooner had bilateral negotiations between the Hashemite Kingdom...

Defense: War clouds gather in the East China Sea as China, in one of a series of territorial claims against its neighbors, builds a helicopter base within attack range of Japan's Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as its own. When President Obama traveled to China last November, we don't suppose that he discussed with his Chinese counterparts their military buildup in the East and South China Seas and their ambitious territorial claims on island chains such as the Spratly, Paracel and Senkaku. As Bill Gertz reports in the Washington Free Beacon, commercial satellites observed construction of a Chinese military helicopter...

AMMAN/TOKYO - An audio message purportedly from a Japanese journalist being held by Islamic State militants said a Jordanian air force pilot also captured by the group would be killed unless an Iraqi female prisoner in Jordan was released by sunset on Thursday. The message appeared to postpone a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which the journalist, Kenji Goto, said he would be killed within 24 hours if the Iraqi was not freed. The latest audio recording, which could not be verified by Reuters, was posted on YouTube early on Thursday. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a...

NEW DELHI: Russia, France, Germany and Spain, all better watch out. They may have to contend with Japan in the race to supply submarines to India. In keeping with their expanding strategic partnership, the Modi government has asked the Shinzo Abe administration whether it would be interested in the over Rs 50,000 crore project to build six stealth submarines in India. With Japan recently ending its decades old self-imposed arms export embargo, New Delhi has forwarded "a proposal" to Tokyo to "consider the possibility" of making its latest diesel-electric Soryu-class submarines in India, say sources. This "feeler" dovetails into PM...

Jordan has agreed to demands from ISIS that it release a female jihadist held since 2006, in a move that could free a Jordanian pilot captured in Syria last month and possibly a Japanese journalist who pleaded for his life in a video released by the terror group on Tuesday. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said in a statement the nation was prepared to free Sajida al-Rishawi, who was convicted of taking part in a deadly hotel bombing, if the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, is released unharmed. His comments were carried by Jordan's official Petra news agency. Although he...