Tokyo Assembly Nominated For A-hole of The Year Award

In June during a speech on issues concerning women by Ayaka Shiomura an unknown member of members of the assembly started yelling abuse at her.  Asking all kinds of misogynistic questions.  Naturally the Liberal Democratic Party who controls the body with its 2/3 majority denied any abuse had taken place.  Unfortunately for them the speech was recorded on video.  As is often the case here the media just ignored it. That is until the innocent was widely reported by the international media causing outrage and widespread condemnation for the complete lack of accountability on the part of those who did the heckling or the Liberal Democratic Party.   

The Most Evil Corporations Award Committee -- comprising academics, lawyers and citizen activists -- released the names of corporations and other entities nominated for the annual grand prix on July 30. Among the nominees is the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, which was rocked by a scandal in June in which then Liberal Democratic Party member of the assembly Akihiro Suzuki fired sexist remarks at assemblywoman Ayaka Shiomura during deliberations.Although the metropolitan assembly and its members are not in an employment relationship, the group says the assembly was exceptionally nominated for the award on the grounds that the capital's council has shown no self-cleansing capabilities in handling the sexist heckling scandal.

Late Night Music From Japan

Six In The Morning Thursday July 31

Gaza: Israel calls up more reservists after rejecting calls for ceasefire

Official says move will allow Israel Defence Forces to expand attacks ‘against Hamas and the other terror organisations’

• Ian Black, Middle East editor, Patrick Kingsley in Cairo and Paul Lewis in Washington
• The Guardian, Thursday 31 July 2014 08.57 BST

Israel said on Thursday it was calling up another 16,000 reserves following a security cabinet meeting that decided to keep up military operations in Gaza, ignoring international pressure for an immediate ceasefire.

The move will allow the Israeli military to substantially widen its 23-day campaign against Hamas, which has already claimed more than 1,360 Palestinian lives – most of them civilians – and reduced entire Gaza neighbourhoods to rubble.

Fifty-six Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians have died in the campaign.

Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict. At least 19 air strikes were carried out overnight, officials said.

Land for gas: Merkel and Putin discussed secret deal could end Ukraine crisis

Merkel and Putin negotiate to trade Crimea’s sovereignty for guarantees on energy security and trade

MARGARETA PAGANO 

 

 

Thursday 31 July 2014

Germany and Russia have been working on a secret plan to broker a peaceful solution to end international tensions over the Ukraine.

The Independent can reveal that the peace plan, being worked on by both Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, hinges on two main ambitions: stabilising the borders of Ukraine and providing the financially troubled country with a strong economic boost, particularly a new energy agreement ensuring security of gas supplies.

More controversially, if Ms Merkel’s deal were to be acceptable to the Russians, the international community would need to recognise Crimea’s independence and its annexation by Russia, a move that some members of the United Nations might find difficult to stomach.

Liberia shuts schools as Ebola spreads

Liberia's president has ordered all schools to close and has put non-essential government workers on compulsory leave, the latest measures seeking to contain an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Wednesday said her government would close schools and consider quarantining some communities, some of the most aggressive measures yet undertaken in West Africa seeking to contain the Ebola virus.

"All schools are ordered closed pending further directive from the Ministry of Education," Sirleaf said, also putting all non-essential civil servants on compulsory leave for at least 30 days.

Ebola is known to have claimed nearly 130 lives in Liberia alone. Across Guinea, where the first case was identified, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 1,201 cases of Ebola - 672 of the sufferers, more than half of those infected, have died.

Rain of asteroids melted early Earth, boiled its oceans

July 31, 2014 - 4:40PM

Julia Rosen

Los Angeles: When you look up at the moon's pockmarked face, you're actually staring at Earth's early history. The rain of asteroids that pummelled the lunar surface hit our planet too - it's just that erosion and plate tectonics blotted out the evidence. In fact, no rocks anywhere in the world survived to tell the story of the first 500 million years of Earth's 4.5 billion-year existence, a tumultuous period of frequent impacts known darkly as the Hadean.

Now, scientists have capitalised on the moon's long memory to uncover Earth's own past. The researchers found that much of our planet's surface probably melted repeatedly following large collisions during the Hadean eon. Some of these impacts likely vaporised the oceans and sanitised the planet of any early life that may have gained a foothold, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Briefing

Argentina debt default 101: What’s at stake? 

Argentina has until midnight July 30 to negotiate a deal with bondholders who rejected a restructuring deal. The unresolved debt is an overhang from the last time Argentina defaulted in 2001. 

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer

Argentina is on the brink of its second default this century after losing a long court battle with a group of US bondholders. How did it end up here and what’s at stake?

What’s going on?

Back in 2001, Argentina defaulted on $100 billion in debt during an economic crisis. The default resulted in chaos in Argentina, with widespread looting and violence in the capital. The nation was effectively locked out of global financial markets since it had stopped paying lenders. 

It reached agreements with 93 percent of its creditors in 2005 and 2010 to repay them over several years at a heavily discounted rate. But a minority of bondholders refused the deal. These so-called “holdouts” have taken legal steps to pressure Argentina to cough up the $1.5 billion (including interest) they say they’re still owed. 

31 July 2014 Last updated at 01:58

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State's driving force

By Aaron Y ZelinWashington Institute for Near East Policy

On 5 July, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, known by his supporters as Caliph Ibrahim, left the shadows and showed his face for the first time, in a Friday sermon in Mosul, Iraq.

While previous pictures of him had been leaked, Baghdadi had not shown himself in the four years since he became leader of what was then the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq (forerunner of Isis, then the Islamic State).

Before April 2013, Baghdadi also did not release many audio messages.

His first written statement was a eulogy to Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.

His first audio message was released in July 2012 and predicted future victories for the Islamic State.

Late Night Music From Japan

China's Still Pissed About a War Fought 120 Years Ago

China's Communist government and its people are still mad as hell about losing the Sino-Japanese war which led to Japan's imperial conquest of Korea.   I'm positive that everyone alive today no matter their age was kicking around back in 1894.

So to insure that passions are sufficiently inflamed the government decided to build a time machine and not just any time machine either

They built their time machine into a Delorean invented  by Doc. Emmett Brown with an assist from  Marty.  I'm sure its a little unformatable jamming all those people in there but, hey its all for a good cause.    

 Years in the making, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 was fought for control of Korea, which at the time paid formal tribute to China's Qing emperors but was increasingly coveted by Tokyo, whose ambition was to emulate the empires of the Western powers.The shooting began with a naval clash off Korea's west coast in late July, a week before war was formally declared on August 1, 1894.

For China, the long ago war may as well have been yesterday. The anniversary has been frequent fodder for the country's state-controlled newspapers, magazines and television.In an editorial last week, the state-run China Daily newspaper said the defeat by China's "worst enemy in history" still forms "an open wound in (the) Chinese national psyche".

Six In The Morning Wednesday July 30

30 July 2014 Last updated at 08:07

Gaza conflict: Israel 'hits Jabaliya school refuge'

Tank fire has killed at least 15 Palestinians sheltering at a school in a Gaza refugee camp, the UN says.

Witnesses at the UN-run Abu Hussein school, where thousands were taking refuge, said walls had been destroyed.

Israel, which has accused the militant group Hamas of using schools as bases to launch rockets, said it was investigating the reports.

At least 1,200 Palestinians and 55 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on 8 July.

Most of the Palestinian deaths have been civilians.

Some 53 Israeli soldiers have been killed along with two civilians. A Thai worker in Israel has also died.

EU, US extend sanctions on Russia over ‘Ukraine violence’

Co-ordinated approach targets trade, energy, banks, technology, arms and finance sector

Suzanne Lynch, Simon Carswell

The European Union imposed sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy yesterday, in what was by far the hardest-hitting response by EU countries since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine late last year.

Under an agreement reached by ambassadors of the EU’s 28 member states yesterday in Brussels, Russian banks are to be denied access to European capital markets, with EU entities prohibited to trade equity or debt with Russian banks that has a maturity of more than 90 days.

The trade of “dual-use” technology which can be used for both civilians and defence purposes will be restricted. The new measures also prohibit the sale of arms to Russia, though the arms embargo implicitly gives the green light to France to proceed with the sale of two Mistral warships to Russia, by specifying that only future arms sales will be included. Similarly, the new round of sanctions targets Russian oil, rather than gas, outlawing exports of oil exploration equipment to Russia. About 30 per cent of the European Union’s gas supply comes from Russia.

Xi Jinping's purge claims the biggest scalp yet: Zhou Yongkang

July 30, 2014 - 3:29PM

Philip Wen

China correspondent for Fairfax Media

Beijing: In his first public address as the freshly unveiled President of China, Xi Jinping laconically apologised to the waiting media for being late, introduced the other six members of his standing committee and then proceeded to elucidate the “severe challenges” facing his government – chief among them the graft and corruption engulfing the Communist Party and its credibility.

“To forge iron, you must have a strong hammer,” he said.

Some 20 months later, amid an audaciously wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, waged simultaneously as he grappled with factional politics to centralise control of the country’s military and national security policies, Mr Xi has his biggest scalp yet.

On Tuesday evening, China announced an investigation into the 72-year-old former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, one of the nation’s most feared political identities, and a man who once controlled the country’s police force, state security and lucrative state oil monopoly.

At least 24 dead in Guinea rap concert stampede

AFP | 30 July, 2014 09:42

At least 24 people died and dozens more were hurt Tuesday night in a stampede at a rap concert on a beach in the Guinean capital Conakry, prompting a week of national mourning.

The government said the west African country suffered a "tragedy" a day after Guineans celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday ending the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The authorities gave no details on how the stampede occurred on Rogbane beach in the city's northern Ratoma suburb where popular Guinean rap group "Instinct Killers" was playing among other artists.

Medics took at least 24 bodies including 13 girls to a hospital morgue at Donka, a hospital official told AFP.

Inside North Korea's Summer Camp for Kids

 

By RHEANA MURRAY15 hours ago

North Korea might not be the destination that comes to mind when kids think summer camp.

Maybe it should be.

More than 300 kids from around the world flocked to the Songdowon International Children's Camp in Wonsan, which reopened today, for eight days of summer fun. The camp boasts giant water slides, a private beach, volleyball courts and -- of course -- statues of dictators.

"At the end there is a talent show," said 19-year-old Linus Jamal Faustin, who came with a group of 16 from Tanzania's Laureate International School in Dar es Salaam. "We are ready to show them all how to dance."

Campers from Russia, China, Vietnam, Ireland and Tanzania sleep in air-conditioned rooms with video games and TVs. Officials say kids are welcome from everywhere -- including the United States.

Late Night Music From Japan

Six In The Morning Tuesday July 29

29 July 2014 Last updated at 07:21

Israel intensifies Gaza attacks after Netanyahu warning

Gaza has seen one of its heaviest nights of bombardment, by air, sea and land, after Israel's prime minister warned of a long conflict ahead.

Israel carried out 60 air strikes, targeting the TV and radio stations and other sites associated with Hamas, the group which controls Gaza.

At least 60 Palestinians were killed, according to local health officials.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue to act until it had achieved its aims.

In a televised address, he stressed the need to destroy tunnels dug under the Gaza-Israel border, to prevent militants infiltrating Israel.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern that Israel was reported to be dropping leaflets warning residents in northern Gaza to leave.

African Pangolins at risk of extinction after becoming east Asian food favourites

More than a million pangolins are believed to have been snatched from the wild over the past decade

TOM BAWDEN 

 

ENVIRONMENT EDITOR

 

Tuesday 29 July 2014

The pangolin, or scaly anteater, has become such a popular dish in affluent Asian circles that it is in danger of becoming extinct, according to a stark warning from a leading conservation organisation.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has just added the four African pangolin species to its list of species threatened with extinction after an escalation of poaching driven by the rapid economic growth across much of the East. This means that all eight pangolin species – the other four from Asia – are now on the list, raising the prospect of the anteater being wiped out altogether.

Pangolins have long been caught and killed for their purported medicinal properties, which include being a treatment for psoriasis and poor circulation.

Greeks allowing the heart to rule were led down path of austerity

Greece Letter: Pasok was culpable for letting the economic situation reach crisis level

Richard Pine

Among the many features common to Greece and Ireland is the growth and decline of a political party which was central to the country’s life for many decades: Pasok and Fianna Fáil.

Almost all of Greece is a closed shop, and politics is no exception. The politikos kosmosis the term for the elite ranks, mostly middle-class professionals (lawyers, economists and professors), at the centre of power. In the 20th century three family dynasties held most of the power.

The most prominent of these are the Papandreous, three generations of whom have held the premiership: George the first (1944-5, 1963 and 1964-5), his son Andreas, the founder of Pasok (1981-9 and 1993-6) and his grandson, George the second (2009-11). Pasok (Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement), founded in 1974, has been in single-party government for 22 of the past 31 years, and a further two years in the current coalition.

Mars' Opportunity travels farther than any rover before it

NASA's Opportunity rover has driven 25 miles on the surface of Mars. In doing so, it has traveled farther on the surface of another planet than any man-made vehicle before it.

A drive of 157 feet (48 meters) pushed Opportunity just over the 25-mile (40-kilometer) mark to make Martian history, NASA said, breaking the previous record held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.

"This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for this distance," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "But what is really important is not how many miles the rover has racked up, but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished."

Opportunity first landed on Mars' Meridiani Planum in 2004, shortly after its sister rover Spirit, which ceased operation four years ago. In 2011, it began exploring Endeavour Crater.

Taiwan's nuclear power plants are magnets for protesters – and snorkelers

Construction will halt this month on Taiwan's newest nuclear power plant, in a concession to protesters. While many Taiwanese hold anti-nuclear views, they also enjoy swimming and snorkeling by a nuclear plant outtake pipe.

By Ralph Jennings, Correspondent 

KENTING, TAIWAN — Wang Tzu-kai isn't worried about the domes of a nuclear plant visible over a tiny ridge from his hometown beach. The plant dumps used cooling water into the strait next to a sandy spot where he was lounging on a recent afternoon.

“The plant has been running for so long, yet no problems,” says Mr. Wang. 

The anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan, once a fringe movement, is going mainstream. President Ma Ying-jeou's government promised to freeze construction on the island's fourth nuclear power plant this April, after tens of thousands turned out to protest in Taipei. The temporary freeze takes effect this month. 

France offers asylum to Iraqi Christians

France to welcome Christians fleeing the area controlled by Islamic State, expresses outrage at their persecution. Last updated: 29 Jul 2014 07:00

France has said it is ready to welcome Christians fleeing the area of Iraq controlled by Islamic State group's fighters, saying it is "outraged" by their persecution.

Islamic State fighters seized large swaths of northern Iraq last month, prompting hundreds of Christian families in Mosul to flee a city which has hosted the faith since its earliest years.

"France is outraged by these abuses that it condemns with the utmost firmness," Laurent Fabius, France's foreign minister, and Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister, said in a joint statement on Monday.

"The ultimatum given to these communities in Mosul by ISIL is the latest tragic example of the terrible threat that jihadist groups in Iraq, but also in Syria and elsewhere, pose to these populations that are historically an integral part of this region," they added, referring to the Islamic State's former name of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Shujayea: Massacre at Dawn

A powerful film with exclusive footage from the day of the Israeli assault on the densely populated Shujayea district.


Filmmakers: Amjad Almalki and Ahmad Ashour

Amid a renewed cycle of escalating tensions and violence, Israel launched a military offensive on the Gaza Strip on July 8, 2014.

On the 13th day of the assault on Gaza, Israel intensified its campaign with a ground offensive. The densely populated district of Shujayea in Gaza City came under intense bombardment.

N. Korea threatens nuclear strike on White House

North Korea's supreme doughnut eater has "threatened" to nuc the White House over a series of bowling matches, or was that a lawn darts game? Who knows but North Korea is willing to go all nuclear on the White Just as soon as they can fix that giant sling shot.

 A top-ranking North Korean military official has threatened a nuclear strike on the White House and Pentagon after accusing Washington of raising military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The threat came from Hwang Pyong-So, director of the military's General Political Bureau, during a speech to a large military rally in Pyongyang Sunday on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Hwang, who holds the rank of vice marshal in the Korean People's Army, said a recent series of South Korea-US military drills, one of which included the deployment of a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier, had ramped up tensions.

"If the US imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival... our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," Hwang said in his speech broadcast Monday on state television.

Israeli Strike Hits Within Yards of Gaza's Shifa Hospital

An Israeli strike hit within yards of Gaza's main hospital on Monday. The attack near Shifa Hospital around 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) caused some damage to the outpatient clinic, according to witnesses including an NBC News crew on the ground in the area. There was no immediate confirmation of deaths or injuries.

Israel has been criticized for several strikes which hit hospitals in the Gaza Strip during its recent offensive. Last week, charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said health workers in Gaza were coming under fire and urged Israel to stop its strikes. The United Nations also Israel may have committed war crimes by shelling hospitals and civilian houses where it claims Hamas is hiding personnel and rockets.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged an immediate halt to violence in Gaza, saying the Palestinian territory is in a "critical condition".

"In the name of humanity, the violence must stop," he told reporters.

Shortly after he spoke, news agencies reported that the compound housing Gaza's main hospital had been hit by an Israeli air strike.

Israel launched an offensive against Hamas militants in the territory three weeks ago after a surge in rocket fire.

Mr Ban, who spoke at UN HQ in New York after returning from a visit to the region, was critical of both sides for firing into civilian areas of the small coastal strip.

Late Night Music From Japan

Six In The Morning Monday July 28

28 July 2014 Last updated at 08:30

Gaza crisis: UN calls for immediate ceasefire

The UN Security Council has called for an "immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza.

An emergency session backed a statement calling for a truce over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr "and beyond".

Both the Palestinian and Israeli envoys to the UN criticised the statement, for different reasons.

Gaza had its quietest night in weeks after a weekend punctuated by brief truce initiatives offered by both Israel and Hamas.

More than 1,030 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 43 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed. A Thai national in Israel has also died.

The Gaza health ministry on Sunday revised the number of Palestinian dead down by 30 after some relatives found missing family members.

South Korea ferry disaster: students testify in captain's murder trial

Survivors say they were told to stay put as water rushed into their cabins in disaster that killed more than 300 people

• Agence France-Presse in Ansan, South Korea
• theguardian.com, Monday 28 July 2014 09.31 BST

Student survivors of South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster, testifying in the murder trial of the captain and crew, recalled being repeatedly told to stay put as the ship was sinking.

"They kept saying the same thing over and over," one said, describing how she and classmates obeyed the order until the ferry had listed so far that the door to their cabin was above their heads.

Another described watching a wave sweep her classmates back inside the sinking boat.

The trial is taking place in the southern city of Gwangju, but the judges and lawyers decamped to a court in Ansan city, south of Seoul, for a special two-day session with the 17 students who agreed to testify.

Eugene de Kock: Apartheid’s sadistic killer that his country cannot bring itself to forgive

The debate rages in South Africa over whether Eugene de Kock should ever be released from jail

PETER POPHAM 

 

 

Monday 28 July 2014

He has already served 18 years in prison, but the chances of Colonel Eugene de Kock, better known to millions of South Africans as “Prime Evil” ever getting out remain doubtful.

The former police officer responsible for thousands of deaths in apartheid’s final years is a model prisoner and, by all accounts, a reformed man. Public opinion began to change after he went before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, confessed to many more killings than the number for which he had been convicted, and wept on meeting relatives of some of his victims. His struggles with guilt and remorse were recently the subject of A Human Being Died That Night, a play hailed by The Independent’s Paul Taylor as “a profoundly searching duologue about guilt and forgiveness”.

Under Spain's 'Google fee' law, news aggregators must pay publishers

July 28, 2014 - 2:02PM

Mariana Marcaletti

Spain has passed a law requiring news aggregators such as Google News to pay publishers a fee if they link to their content. Supporters of the law, nicknamed the ''Google Fee'', say it will prevent copyright infringements. But opponents argue that it limits freedom of expression.

Spain was where the "right to be forgotten" began, with the European Commission recently ruling that individuals can demand Google remove unfavourable links about them from search results. Now a new copyright law is stirring controversy in the country.

Aggregators that don't compensate publishers for using their content could be fined €30,000 to €300,000 ($43,000 to $430,000). Spanish websites risk being blocked if they do not comply with the law, passed last week, even if they are hosted in other countries.

Boko Haram kidnap wife of Cameroon vice PM

28 JUL 2014 07:46 TANSA MUSA

Boko Haram has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks, including a number of high-profile kidnappings.

Nigerian Boko Haram militants kidnapped the wife of Cameroon’s vice prime minister and killed at least three people on Sunday in a cross-border attack involving more than 200 assailants in the northern town of Kolofata, Cameroon officials said.

A local religious leader,Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town’s mayor, and five members of his family were also kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Boko Haram, an Islamist group which made international headlines with the abduction of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks. Cameroon has deployed troops to its northern region, joining international efforts to combat the militants.

No show for North Korean defector artist in China

 

2 hours ago

An art exhibition in China by a North Korean defector has been cancelled, gallery staff said Monday, with reports saying the show had been dismantled on official orders.

Sun Mu, who slipped out of North Korea in 1998 and uses a pseudonym because of concerns for his safety, paints satirical imitations of Pyongyang's propaganda imagery.

An exhibition of his works had been due to open at the Yuan Dian gallery at the weekend, but China is nuclear-armed Pyongyang's key diplomatic backer and aid provider, even if their relationship has been strained by the antics of leader Kim Jong-Un.

"Chinese police blocked people from entering the museum," South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, adding that officers "removed his paintings and ad banners hung around the museum".