World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[Equation]

Why do wackos any where around the world to has to go out and commit hideousness acts of violence during the Holiday?

 

[Blitzo]

Yes indeed it was horrible.

There was another knife attack in China..horrible....

This is all I have on that sad , sad event. Horrible. My condolences go out to the victims families.

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Not wanting to bring politics into this of course... but that Chinese stabbing could have been much more terrible if gun access was as easy as in the States.

The parallels of these two attacks are terrifyingly similar, yet the final victim count is very different. I'm sure I don't need to spell out the reason for this difference.


People with mental disorders seems to be increasing all around the world, and we can only expect more of this in coming years, even with increased funding in mental health care. But making it harder to kill people should be top priority. The constitution's right to bear arms, gun culture, with the gun lobby backing everything... if all this is worth a couple of dozen people getting shot dead every few months and years in the eyes of three hundred million people in the country, then so be it.

My sympathies for the victims, in both Newton and Chengping.

 

[paintgun]

My deepest condolences as well.

I'm totally with Blitzo on this, no matter how deeply one believes in the right to bear arms, as part of the encompassing freedom as US citizen protected by the constitution, this will change some people's life and belief on the matter forever.

 

[SinoSoldier]

Not wanting to bring politics into this of course... but that Chinese stabbing could have been much more terrible if gun access was as easy as in the States.

The parallels of these two attacks are terrifyingly similar, yet the final victim count is very different. I'm sure I don't need to spell out the reason for this difference.


People with mental disorders seems to be increasing all around the world, and we can only expect more of this in coming years, even with increased funding in mental health care. But making it harder to kill people should be top priority. The constitution's right to bear arms, gun culture, with the gun lobby backing everything... if all this is worth a couple of dozen people getting shot dead every few months and years in the eyes of three hundred million people in the country, then so be it.

My sympathies for the victims, in both Newton and Chengping.

Here's a clear example of what might have happened if he (the Chinese guy) had a gun instead. Not a lot of you probably know this. In 1994, an ex Chinese soldier (disgruntled, of course) opened fire in Tiananmen square with his service rifle, killing approximately 23 people and injuring 30-80, including an iranian diplomat and his son. He was shot dead by police, but after a very grueling chase.

Let's pray for the families. Let's send condolences to those affected by the Connecticut shooting. This is obviously a very horrid crime and the police should respond to this. If we can get to the root of the matter and find out why the killer instigated such a dreadful act, then perhaps we could implement new laws and organizations to help prevent such incidents. I think it's normal for people to try and overcome the grief and anguish at this incident, but at the same time I think it's important for us to reflect and focus on what this horrible crime has taught us about our role in society and how we should improve our community through such lessons.

 

[bd popeye]

Turns out that there was no loss of life in the stabbing attack in China.

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On the same day that 20 kindergarten children were killed in Connecticut in a horrific gun attack, 22 students in China were stabbed at an elementary school. A knife-wielding 36-year-old man injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school in the Henan province village of Chengping located in central China as students were arriving for classes Friday.

The attacker, 36-year-old villager Min Yingjun has been detained following the attack. The official Xinhua news agency said the knife-wielding man attacked the children outside of the school.

In recent years, knife attacks have broken out, resulting in increased security in China’s schools. Many of the attackers have been mentally disturbed men, suggesting that the country’s rapid social changes and lack of a modernized hospital system may be contributing to a rising number of mental illness cases.

None of the 22 children that were stabbed have died as a result of the attack according to the Associated Press.

Read more at

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[siegecrossbow]

What sort of sickos target children??? Too bad the Newtown shooter will go unpunished. I am hoping that the stabber in China gets a bullet to the head.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Asian cold war Gets Hot

14 December 2012 Last updated at 12:57 ET
China submits East China Sea islands claim to UN
China has submitted to the UN a detailed explanation of its claims to a disputed area of the East China Sea.
It argues that certain geological features prove its territory extends out to a group of islands near Japan.
A UN commission of geological experts will examine China's submission but does not have the authority to resolve conflicting claims.
Beijing and Tokyo have long laid claim to the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
Tensions flared up again in September after the Japanese government bought three of the islands from their private Japanese owner, triggering public protests in some Chinese cities.
Since then Chinese ships have been sailing in and out of waters around the islands, prompting warnings from Japan.
There was another diplomatic spat on Thursday after a Chinese government plane flew near the disputed islands.
Tokyo responded by scrambling fighter jets. Both countries accused the other of violating their air space.
In its submission to the UN, China argues: "Physiognomy and geological characteristics show that the continental shelf in the East China Sea is the natural prolongation of China's land territory.
"The natural prolongation of the continental shelf of China in the East China Sea extends to the Okinawa Trough, which is an important geographical unit featuring remarkable partition," Xinhua news agency reports the document as saying.
The islands lie some 200km (124 miles) off Japan's Okinawa island and beyond China's 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone. They form part of Okinawa prefecture and are controlled by Japan.
Taiwan also lays claim to the islands, which are close to strategically important shipping lanes. The waters around the islands offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.

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15 December 2012 Last updated at 06:31 ET
Japan general election in final day of campaigning
Candidates in the Japanese general election on Sunday have been making their final pleas for votes.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) appears poised to oust the Democratic Party (DPJ) after only three years in office, with former PM Shinzo Abe likely to return to the top job.
Mr Abe told voters outside Tokyo he would restore economic growth and restore pride in the country.
But many voters remain undecided, amid disillusionment in Japan over politics.
Keiko Seki was listening to Mr Abe's address in Wako, north of the capital, but was unconvinced: "I find this election very difficult to decide who to vote for," she told the Associated Press.
Mr Abe has made the economy a central plank of his campaign, promising to boost public spending to end the 20-year slump.
But he has also promised a more assertive foreign policy at a time when tensions with China are running high.
"We want to restore a Japan where children are proud to have been born here," he told voters.
Nuclear debate
Mr Abe's centre-right LDP was swept from office by the DPJ in 2009, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule.
The DPJ promised more welfare spending and a better social safety net, but struggled to deliver amid the economic downturn and 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
It has also seen multiple leadership changes - Yoshihiko Noda is the third DPJ prime minister since 2009.
He lost public support over the move to double sales tax, something he said was necessary to tackle Japan's massive debt.
The debate over nuclear energy, restarting suspended reactors and his perceived flip-flopping on the issue have also affected his popularity.
Mr Abe served as prime minister from 2006-2007 before stepping aside amid plummeting poll numbers, citing illness.
He and his party say nuclear energy has a role to play in resource-poor Japan's future. Mr Abe has also called for a tough stance on the territorial row with China over East China Sea islands that both countries claim.
Latest figures indicate that the LDP will win a clear majority, together with its traditional ally, the New Komeito Party.
Another party in the mix is the right-wing Japan Restoration Party, led by two high-profile populist leaders, controversial right-wing former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto.
Mr Ishihara - whose plan to buy the disputed East China Sea islands using Tokyo government funds reignited the territorial row - wants Japan to take a more muscular stance on the issue. But support for the party waned somewhat amid ambiguity over its nuclear policy.
Another new party, led by Shiga governor Yukiko Kada, wants to phase out nuclear power in a decade. Former DPJ heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa has thrown his support behind this party.
But 40% of the electorate have yet to decide who to vote for, according to recent polls.
"All the candidates are speaking out ahead of the election, but I'm not so sure they'll carry out any of their promises," the Associated Press news agency quoted Hiroko Takahashi, 51, a resident of a Tokyo suburb, as saying.
"I'm hopeful about the new parties, but I also wonder if I should trust one of the older parties."
All 480 lower house seats are up for grabs in the election.

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13 December 2012 Last updated at 09:04 ET
Japan accuses China of airspace intrusion over islands
Japan has accused China of violating its airspace for the first time after a Chinese government plane flew near disputed East China Sea islands.
Fighter jets were scrambled after the plane was seen around 11:00 local time (02:00 GMT) near one of the islands, spokesman Osamu Fujimura said.
Japan lodged an immediate protest with Beijing, he said.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been a long-standing source of tension.
A total of eight F-15 fighters were sent after reports of the presence of the plane, which belong to China's State Oceanic Administration - a state body tasked with law enforcement in Chinese waters.
Japan's defence ministry said it was the first intrusion into Japan's air space by a Chinese government aircraft since the military began keeping records in 1958.
Last year, Japan said two Chinese military planes flew near the area, but did not enter the country's airspace.
'Normal'
Mr Fujimura called the incident "extremely deplorable", saying it followed a report from the coast guard that Chinese surveillance ships had also been seen in waters near the islands earlier in the day.
"It is extremely regrettable that, on top of that, an intrusion into our airspace has been committed in this way," he said.
The Chinese ambassador in Tokyo had been summoned to hear a formal Japanese protest, he said.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, however, said during a regular news briefing that the plane's flight was "completely normal".
"The Diaoyu islands and affiliated islands are part of China's inherent territory," he said. "The Chinese side calls on Japan to halt all entries into water and airspace around the islands."
Japan controls the islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Close to strategically important shipping lanes, the waters around the islands also offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.
The dispute over their ownership has rumbled for years but the Japanese government's acquisition of three of the islands from their private Japanese owner in September sparked a renewed row, triggering a diplomatic chill and public protests in some Chinese cities.
Since then Chinese ships have been sailing in and out of waters around the islands, prompting warnings from Japan.
It is not clear whether this is a move by the Chinese side to escalate the dispute, or a one-off event designed to remind Japan of unsettled history, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing massacre, where Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of Chinese civilians in China's old capital, Nanjing, in 1937.
The incident also comes days before a Japanese general election thought likely to result in a change of government in Tokyo.

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Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012

Three Chinese government ships enter Japanese waters near Senkakus
Jiji
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — Three Chinese marine surveillance ships entered Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea on Wednesday afternoon, the Japan Coast Guard said.

It was the 16th time for Chinese government ships to cross into the Japanese waters since Japan purchased three of the five uninhabited islets in September, effectively nationalizing the chain, which is also claimed by China, where it is called Diaoyu.

According to the coast guard's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, the three ships moved into Japanese waters west of Uotsuri, one of the Senkakus, at around 3:20 p.m. Japan Coast Guard ships warned the three vessels to leave. But crew members on the Chinese ships responded by saying the area 12 nautical miles from Diaoyu constitutes Chinese territorial waters.

Meanwhile, a Chinese fishery patrol ship entered the contiguous zone surrounding the Japanese territorial waters at a point northwest of Kubajima, another of the Senkakus, on Wednesday morning.

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[AssassinsMace]

Again CNN, and probably others also, are advertising how they're not going name the shooter as requested by the families of the victims. Yeah they can do that without mentioning it. The problem is the media's general way of reporting these events probably encourages these types of sociopaths. There's a part of individual human nature to rebel against what society says is the norm. Do so-called Satanists really like Satan or do they do that because they like how it disturbs the norm? Women like "bad boys" because they stand out of what society says is the norm. Those men aren't a copy of eveyone else and thus appealing and romanticized. People like to stand out from the rest and in some cases it's measured by how much pain they inflict. The media romanticizing these events as if they're special which just makes it ripe for the taking for someone who looks for fame and/or wants to punish society for what he or she blames it for. They want to take away what is seen as cherished or special because that's power over whatever. Why children? Why not if you aiming to shock and punish the most? The more people that advertise placing a value on something, even if it's for television ratings, the more someone out there will want to take it away. The parents and relatives of the victims have said, as always with these types of tragedies, for the media to give them their moment to grieve in peace. Supposedly the local authorities have stationed an officer at every home of the victims to keep the media from bothering them. Oh yeah advertise how you won't name the shooter because the families of the victims request it as they say, but police have to keep the media from bothering the grieving despite requests from the families not to do so.

 

[Equation]

Turns out that there was no loss of life in the stabbing attack in China.

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That's good to hear. Time to punish the perpetrator.

 

[icbeodragon]

Opposition party wins landslide in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in a landslide election victory Sunday after three years in opposition, exit polls showed, signaling a rightward shift in the government that could further heighten tensions with rival China.

The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan's seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.

Public broadcaster NHK's exit polls projected that the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era until it was dumped in 2009, won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Official results were not expected until Monday morning. Before the election, it had 118 seats.

The results were a sharp rebuke for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, reflecting widespread unhappiness for its failure to keep campaign promises and get the stagnant economy going during its three years in power.

With Japan stuck in a two-decade slump and receding behind China as the region's most important economic player, voters appeared ready to turn back to the LDP.

A serious-looking Abe characterized the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than a strong endorsement of his party.

"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100 percent. Rather, they reflect 'no votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he told NHK. "Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."

The ruling Democrats, which won in a landslide three years ago amid high hopes for change, captured less than 100 seats, exit polls indicated, down sharply from its pre-election strength of 230.

Calling the results "severe," Noda told a late-night news conference he was stepping down to take responsibility for the defeat.

"I apologize deeply for our failure to achieve results," he said. "It was the voters' judgment to our failure to live up to their expectations during our three years and three months of leadership."

The LDP will stick with its long-time partner New Komeito, backed by a large Buddhist organization, to form a coalition government, party officials said. Together, they will probably control about 320 seats, NHK projected — a two-thirds majority that would make it easier for the government to pass legislation.

Noda said a special parliamentary session would be held before year-end to pick a new prime minister. As leader of the biggest party in the lower house, Abe will almost certainly assume that post.

The new government will need to quickly deliver results ahead of upper house elections in the summer. To revive Japan's struggling economy, Abe will likely push for increased public works spending and lobby for stronger moves by the central bank to break Japan out of its deflationary trap.

Still, some voters said they supported the LDP's vows to build a stronger, more assertive country to answer increasing pressure from China and threats of North Korean rocket launches. Abe has repeatedly said he will protect Japan's "territory and beautiful seas" amid a territorial dispute with China over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

"I feel like the LDP will protect Japan and restore some national pride," Momoko Mihara, 31, said after voting for the Liberal Democrats in the western Tokyo suburb of Fuchu. "I hope Mr. Abe will stand tall."

The LDP may also have benefited from voter confusion over the dizzying array of more than 12 parties, including several news ones, and their sometimes vague policy goals.

One of the new parties, the right-leaning, populist Japan Restoration Party, won between 40 to 61 seats, NHK projected. The party, led by the bombastic nationalist ex-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto — both of whom are polarizing figures with forceful leadership styles — could become a future coalition partner for the LDP, analysts said.

Ishihara was the one who stirred up the latest dispute with China over the islands when he proposed that the Tokyo government buy them from their private Japanese owners and develop them.

In this first election since the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, atomic energy ended up not being a major election issue even though polls show about 80 percent of Japanese want to phase out nuclear power.

In the end, economic concerns won out, said Kazuhisa Kawakami at Meiji Gakuin University.

"We need to prioritize the economy, especially since we are an island nation," he said. "We're not like Germany. We can't just get energy from other countries in a pinch."

The staunchly anti-nuclear Tomorrow Party — which was formed just three weeks ago —captured between six and 15 seats, NHK estimated.

Tomorrow Party head Yukiko Kada said she was very disappointed to see LDP, the original promoter of the nuclear energy policy — and still the most pro-nuclear party — making a big comeback.

Abe, 58, is considered one of the more conservative figures in the increasingly conservative LDP.

During his previous tenure as prime minister, he pursued a nationalistic agenda pressing for more patriotic education and upgrading the defense agency to ministry status.

It remains to be seen how he will behave this time around, though he is talking tough toward China, and the LDP platform calls developing fisheries and setting up a permanent outpost in the disputed islands, called Senkakus by Japan and Daioyu by China — a move that would infuriate Beijing.

During his time as leader, Abe also insisted there was no proof Japan's military had coerced Chinese, Korean and other women into prostitution in military brothels during Japan's wartime aggression in Asia. He later apologized but lately has suggested that a landmark 1993 apology for sex slavery needs revising.

He has said he regrets not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Japan's war dead, including Class-A war criminals, during his term as prime minister. China and South Korea oppose such visits, saying they reflect Japan's reluctance to fully atone for its wartime atrocities.

The LDP wants to revise Japan's pacifist constitution to strengthen its Self-Defense Forces and, breaching a postwar taboo, designate them as a "military." It also proposes increasing Japan's defense budget and allowing Japanese troops to engage in "collective self-defense" operations with allies that are not directly related to Japan's own defense.

It's not clear, however, how strongly the LDP will push such proposals, which have been kicked around by conservatives for decades but usually make no headway in parliament because they are supported only by a fairly small group of right-wing advocates.

"The economy has been in dire straits these past three years, and it must be the top priority," Abe said in a televised interview. "We must strengthen our alliance with the U.S. and also improve relations with China, with a strong determination that is no change in the fact the Senkaku islands are our territory."

——

The majority was expected, but it looks like they've won a supermajority, enough to tinker with Japan's constitution.

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