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TOKYO — Matching China’s stern rhetoric with warnings of his own, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan vowed on Monday to defend his nation’s airspace after China declared an air defense zone over a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. Speaking in Parliament, Mr. Abe called China’s move an unacceptable effort to change the status quo with threats of force. He described it as a dangerous ratcheting up of tensions in the standoff over the uninhabited islands, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China. “We are determined to defend our country’s air and sea...

The United States warned Saturday that China's military claim to airspace over a disputed island chain creates the risk of "misunderstanding and miscalculation." The creation of an "Air Defense Identification Zone" by China, which its top defense official described as an early-warning system, comes amid rising tensions between China and Japan over claims to the islands that are believed to have large oil reserves. "This unilateral action constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea. Escalatory action will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident," U.S. Secretary of State John...

Geneva (AFP) - The United States said Saturday it was "deeply concerned" and committed to defending Japan after China announced an air zone in the East China Sea that includes disputed islands. In a move that US ally Japan branded as "very dangerous," China said it was setting up the "air defense identification zone" over the islands administered by Tokyo to "guard against potential air threats." (snip) Hagel reiterated that the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands -- which the Chinese claim and call the Diaoyu -- fell under the US-Japan security treaty, meaning that Washington would defend its ally Tokyo if the...

The United States said Saturday it was “deeply concerned” and committed to defending Japan after China announced an air zone in the East China Sea that covers disputed islets. In a move that U.S. ally Japan branded as “very dangerous,” China said it was setting up an “air defense identification zone” over islands administered by Tokyo to “guard against potential air threats.” In similar statements, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the United States was “deeply concerned” about the moves by China, which also scrambled jets to carry out a patrol in the...

Their relationship, almost from the outset, has been frostier than not, a mutual antipathy palpable in many of their previous encounters. Two years ago, Barack Obama reportedly left Benjamin Netanyahu to kick his heels in a White House anteroom, a snub delivered to show the president's irritation over Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank. In May, the Israeli prime minister struck back, publicly scolding his purse-lipped host for the borders he proposed of a future Palestinian state. When the two men meet in Washington on Monday, Mr Obama will find his guest once more at his most combative. But...

Hate is a strong word, but anyone, Jew or Gentile, who does not understand the precarious geopolitics of Israel, and pooh-poohs the obvious anti Israeli posturing of the Obama administration, and the liberal academia, abetted by the media, cares little about the survivability of Israel - and should be considered as hating Israel. Left Wing Hecklers Interrupt Netanyahu's AIPAC Speech says it all -many American and Western Jews have ganged up on Bebe's defense of his country, Israel. Jews in Hollywood, academia, politics, and the press are denouncing the tiny country, and former ally, surrounded by Moslem natural born killers,...

Victim's brother targeted bomber By John Stapleton16sep03 THE brother of a Bali bombing victim has claimed he travelled to the island to kill one of the bombers during the trials. "The courtroom - well I tell you straight, I had organised my will and I was going there to kill him," Louie Zervos told the ABC's Four Corners last night. "I got there the day before and I went to kill him. "I finally got my senses about me and I couldn't really move in anyway, the feds were all over me." Mr Zervos, from the eastern Sydney suburb...