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TOKYO -- The global wheat market has been hit by Chinese buyers canceling major shipments, seemingly in an attempt to secure better prices and bolster the country's food security. Benchmark Chicago wheat futures are trading at about $5.50 per bushel, up slightly from a three-and-a-half-year low marked in mid-March but down about 10% from the beginning of the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month said 504,000 tonnes of wheat sales to China had been canceled. The figure is equivalent to about half the total U.S. wheat shipments to China in 2022 and the largest cancellation on record going...

Australia is preparing for war in order to avoid it. Their historic new increase in defense spending and China’s dependence on them for iron ore make them an important ally. Australia’s defense funding for 2024 will be $35 billion USD, just over 2% of their GDP, and up from $20 billion in 2021. They’ve signed a new trilateral security agreement with the United States and United Kingdom that will give the Australian Navy a new weapon that only 6 other nations in the entire world have. Major upgrades are being made to their northern army, air and naval bases. But...

The U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom, members of the AUKUS partnership, are considering cooperation with Japan on advanced capabilities projects. An aim of AUKUS is identifying the optimal pathway for Australia to acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability, as well as cooperation on a range of other advanced defense technologies. Japan is being considered because of its strengths and its close defense partnership with all three countries, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, who held a press conference today. Singh noted that this was announced in a joint statement by the three nation's defense leaders: Secretary of Defense...

President Obama recently shifted authority for approving sales to China of missile and space technology from the White House to the Commerce Department -- a move critics say will loosen export controls and potentially benefit Chinese missile development. "It's as though Commerce's mishandling of missile-tech transfers to China in the 1990s never happened," said Mr. Sokolski, a former Pentagon proliferation specialist. "But it did. As a result, we are now facing much more accurate, reliable missiles from China." Mr. Sokolski said he expects the U.S. government under the new policy to again boost Chinese military modernization through "whatever renewed 'benign'...

Japan appears to be transitioning from a homogenous society to embrace ‘diversity and inclusivity’ by ushering in “an era of mass foreign immigration.”It’s set to be a massive change for a country that was still up until recently 97.5% ethnic Japanese, according to the CIA World Factbook.A Bloomberg report details how rapidly declining native birth rates, an aging society and a chronic labor shortage is fueling the importation of millions of foreigners who “are changing the face of Japan.”The number of foreign workers in Japan has now exceeded 2 million, a 12.4% increase on 2022. The East Asian country needs...

The Philippines announcing joint military maneuvers with the US, Australia and Japan tomorrow... "Some have been sent naked images, and two MP's are reported to have responded by sending images of themselves"...a few of the details...emerging 'sexting' scandal...in the UK... "Stay away so you won't get hurt" The message from Iran to the US ahead of...attacks on Israeli targets... ...messaging from Joe Biden today...Israel is doing what he wants... ...Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia calling for sanctions on Israel... In the African nation of Zimbabwe a new "structured currency" launched amidst rampant inflation... The Dutch naval support ship "Karel Doorman"...

The discussion about the acceptability of using nuclear weapons usually occurs around August 6 of every year, the date that Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima; world events have rekindled this discussion outside of its usual season. Absent from the discussion is how the Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and other Asian peoples felt about being colonially occupied by Japan. Often, Japanese “revisionist” historians will try to whitewash Japanese history, in alliance with U.S. far leftists, to portray the U.S. involvement in WWII as “imperialistic against a non-white people.”First, let us address what Japan was doing in Asia in the early...

Most of the time, you're excited to return home after a vacation. That wasn't the case after Jimmy Kimmel's recent trip to Japan with his family. "After traveling to Japan, I realize that this place, this USA we're always chanting about, is a filthy and disgusting country," the host said on Monday night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." The ABC host admitted that before spending seven days in Japan, he believed America was a country that had its faults and "areas for improvement," but that it was "pretty buttoned up" compared to the rest of the world. "I go to Europe, and...

The sole living survivor from the sinking of the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack that brought the US into World War II has now died. Lou Conter, who lived in Grass Valley, was 20 years old at the time of the attack on Dec. 7, 1941. There were 2,403 Americans killed in the attack – including 1,177 of Arizona's crew. Conter was one of the only 335 officers and crewmen who survived. Over the years, Conter shared his experiences and visited Hawaii for remembrance ceremonies. "Minute it happened, we sounded general quarters and they were in there and...

Lou Conter, the last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102. Conter passed away on Monday at his home in Grass Valley, California, following congestive heart failure, his daughter, Louann Daley said, adding she was beside him along with two of her brothers, James and Jeff. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines in the 1941 attack that launched the United States into World War II. The battleship’s dead account for nearly half of those killed in the attack.

The U.S., Japan and the Philippines will launch joint naval patrols in the South China Sea later this year, according to a U.S. official and a foreign diplomat familiar with the planning. It’s a major move to counter China in the region — and one likely to elicit a strong response from Beijing. The three-country naval maneuvers are part of a package of initiatives that President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will unveil at their first-ever trilateral summit next month, the official and the diplomat said. The White House is also expected...

Researchers report the development of a new concept for a new DC power converter capable of greater efficiency at lower cost and requiring less maintenance than existing electrical systems. Developed by a team at Kobe University in Hyōgo, Japan, the direct current voltage boost converter could revolutionize the development and use of electric power generation in various applications. Boost converters, which are also known as step-up converters, are a variety of switched -mode power supply devices that increase voltage while also reducing current in the conversion of direct current (DC) from the device’s input to its output. Most power converters...

Though aristocratic warriors known as bushi had long existed in Japanese society, in the late 12th century a new warrior class emerged: the samurai. The word “samurai” itself can be translated as “one who serves,” and these warriors served their masters — the feudal landholders, or daimyo, who ruled much of Japan — with discipline and loyalty. For their service, they were well paid and highly respected in society. The elite samurai warriors were meticulously trained in martial arts and military strategy. Their skill with the sword — be it a curved katana or the shorter wakizashi — is legendary....

he two countries that handle homelessness the best are Finland and Japan. Therefore, we will look at how these two countries have approached homelessness to determine exactly which country handles homelessness best.Why Finland and Japan?Firstly, let's talk about the extent of the situation within each country. In our previous article on which country has the lowest rate of homelessness, Japan was determined as the country with the smallest percentage of people experiencing homelessness in the world, with a rate of 0.003%, which is approximately 1 in every 34,000 people.Finland was determined to have the 10th lowest rate of homelessness in...

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To this day, the American Red Cross wants blood donors to know that—despite all the confirmed devastating side effects and deaths—receiving an mRNA COVID-19 jab does not make you ineligible to donate blood. Okey-Dokey fact-checker verified, their website declares, “True: you can donate blood after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.” Besides that, the Red Cross insists, “Blood donations from those who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 are safe for transfusion,” noting on its website that “like all blood collectors in the U.S., [the Red Cross] is required to follow the eligibility guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).” That...

The world's largest pension fund managing over $1.5 trillion in assets has announced it will explore diversifying a portion of its portfolio into Bitcoin.Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest pension fund managing over $1.5 trillion in assets, has announced it will explore diversifying a portion of its portfolio into Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the GPIF will solicit information on illiquid alternative assets like Bitcoin, gold, forests, and farmland as part of its diversification efforts. While not currently invested in these assets, the move signals that the mega-fund is actively researching options beyond stocks and bonds. The...

Takeshi Ebisawa of Japan, Leader Within the Yakuza Transnational Organized Crime Syndicate, Allegedly Trafficked Nuclear Materials, Including Uranium and Weapons-Grade PlutoniumDamian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; and Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced the issuance today of a Superseding Indictment charging TAKESHI EBISAWA with conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to other countries. In the course of this conspiracy, EBISAWA and his confederates showed samples of nuclear...

The South China Sea has once again become a focal point of international attention following sudden clashes between coast guard vessels of the Philippines and China. As tensions rise, the involvement of global powers like the US and Japan adds further complexity to the situation, potentially pushing more nations to align against Beijing. Amid these escalating tensions, it becomes imperative for China to reconsider its assertive stance and respect the existing global order to avoid further international backlash The South China Sea (SCS) has once again come into focus following sudden skirmishes between the coast guard vessels of the Philippines...

Japan is stepping up efforts to have local authorities approve the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility north of Tokyo... Next week, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ken Saito, is expected to ask the local governor of the Niigata prefecture to approve the restart of the power plant.. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, Japan closed all its nuclear power plants that underwent rigorous safety checks and inspections. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has been offline since 2012, while the Nuclear Regulation Authority in 2021 barred the plant’s operator, utility Tepco, from operating the...