Free Republic

Japanese police officials have identified Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Japan’s Nara city in his 40s, as the person who attacked Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Yamagami attacked Abe with a shotgun while he was delivering a speech near the Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City. Abe fell to the ground and was bleeding from the chest as per photos shared by Japanese news agencies. Abe was campaigning for the upcoming Upper House elections. Yamagami was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and was brought to Nara Nishi police station. The police also confiscated the gun and the confiscated gun...

The government believes the Chinese fleet that sailed between Okinawa Island and Miyakojima island last week indicated once again that the Chinese Navy is increasing its efforts to expand the range of its operations. On Saturday, a fleet of 10 Chinese vessels, including two submarines, was spotted in international waters sailing between the two islands. As a result, the government is closely monitoring China's maritime activities in the area. In the PLA Daily, the Chinese People's Liberation Army described the navy's latest action as an exercise designed to deploy its warships in distant waters. According to the Self-Defense Forces' Joint...

MSDF destroyer runs over fishing boat; 2 missing 02/20/2008 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN A father and son remained missing in waters off the Boso Peninsula on Tuesday night after the Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer Atago sliced through their fishing vessel in the morning. The bow of the Seitoku Maru floats off Nojimazaki, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday after the fishing boat was split in two in a collison with the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Atago destroyer. (THE ASAHI SHIMBUN) Cutters from the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters as well as MSDF ships and helicopters were dispatched to search for Haruo Kichisei, 58,...

Porn swap tied to Aegis info leak The Yomiuri Shimbun Top-secret data on Aegis destroyers obtained by a Maritime Self-Defense Force petty officer 2nd class were found to have been obtained after he copied obscene images to his hard disk from a colleague's computer, without knowing the information contained the secret data, police sources said Wednesday. The Kanagawa prefectural police also found the secret information was leaked to another petty officer, meaning the case now involves three petty officers, including the 33-year-old 2nd class petty officer, who is a crew member of the destroyer Shirane of Escort Flotilla 1. Hard...