Sagawa employees arrested for deceiving police over parking tickets

<b>Police have arrested six men including employees of major parcel delivery company Sagawa Express Co for allegedly misleading police about the identity of drivers responsible for parking violations.</b><br /> Among the six men, Kenji Sato, 35, an assistant manager at a Sagawa Express office in Tokyo, was arrested on suspicion of harboring criminals and instigating the harboring of criminals. He allegedly suggested turning in a different man to police after a driver on duty received a parking ticket on Nov 18, 2014.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgNO1Qt0R6jFFORf9RNQGj1loSK_nlz-T667s0VDCHXXybUH_HCbiK1CCwamzYT3rT6-JERuKXVK49BtTnyzd73Bwi0jG1yOpjeKhyJoU7Mb9_MFKaH03ejUL0AvlvTdtid1tqoFpLNea/s1600/sagawa-employees-arrested-for-deceiving-police-over-parking-tickets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgNO1Qt0R6jFFORf9RNQGj1loSK_nlz-T667s0VDCHXXybUH_HCbiK1CCwamzYT3rT6-JERuKXVK49BtTnyzd73Bwi0jG1yOpjeKhyJoU7Mb9_MFKaH03ejUL0AvlvTdtid1tqoFpLNea/s400/sagawa-employees-arrested-for-deceiving-police-over-parking-tickets.png" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Ryuichi Takahashi, 41, another assistant manager at the office, was arrested on suspicion of arranging a substitute for another driver who committed a parking violation on April 22 this year.<br /> The police said they had uncovered dozens of cases in which the office arranged for people other than the drivers responsible to take the blame for parking violations between January 2014 and November this year.<br /> The cases accounted for more than 70% of the parking violations committed by workers at the office, they said.<br /> The police suspect employees at the office systematically carried out the substitution scheme.<br /> Another driver told the police he thought a parking violation would affect his performance evaluation by the company and admitted giving money to his substitute.<br /> Police searched multiple sites including the Sagawa Express office on Sept 16 over the substitute allegation.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/japan">japantoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Sagawa employees arrested for deceiving police over parking tickets

Police have arrested six men including employees of major parcel delivery company Sagawa Express Co for allegedly misleading police about th...

Read more »

What Trump has said about the world

<b>(CNN)<a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search?q=trump">Donald Trump</a> is not a man to mince his words -- even when it comes to commenting on other nations.</b><br /> <br /> After his projected victory in the US presidential election, Trump will now represent the United States on the world stage. But how will the world greet him?<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGhnappESyJPvqfIVEjjDLppXB-t8R4v-rMIXcABZkdMVjYAQ2XTCLh6wS1cNCMv7gMNK511N55BcU-VfkBLLFAXCqWpQQk639rQWMluVQJ5zi8nlKV-PYY1hUpFcIZllNju6juP0hl03/s1600/donald-trump-world-view.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGhnappESyJPvqfIVEjjDLppXB-t8R4v-rMIXcABZkdMVjYAQ2XTCLh6wS1cNCMv7gMNK511N55BcU-VfkBLLFAXCqWpQQk639rQWMluVQJ5zi8nlKV-PYY1hUpFcIZllNju6juP0hl03/s400/donald-trump-world-view.png" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Here's a rundown of Trump's past comments:<br /> <b>Mexico</b><br /> Donald Trump mentioned Mexico frequently on the campaign trail. The GOP nominee's first controversial campaign remarks came in his presidential announcement speech, when he called some Mexican immigrants "rapists" and criminals. He also promised to "build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall."<br /> In July 2015, he tweeted: "I love the Mexican people, but Mexico is not our friend. They're killing us at the border and they're killing us on jobs and trade. FIGHT!"<br /> Trump mixed the insults with some pleasantries, including on a visit to Mexico in August to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto. But there could well be anxiety south of the border as Mexico wakes to the news of a Trump presidency.<br /> <b>China</b><br /> <b>The US </b>president-elect has signaled a tough line with China over trade, accusing it of "taking our jobs and taking our money."<br /> In an interview last month, Trump warned that he would be willing to cut off US relations with China over its business practices.<br /> "They're not going to do it, because if China ever did that, and if we ever cut off relationships with China, China would go bust so fast. I mean, China lives off the money out of the United States. They devalue their currency and they take our businesses," he told KSNV's Jim Snyder.<br /> When President Barack Obama visited China in September for a G20 summit, Trump hit out over the lack of a red carpet from Air Force One.<br /> He has repeatedly accused Beijing of manipulating its currency to make its exports more competitive and threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese imports.<br /> He has also previously accused China of cyber attacks and using North Korea to antagonize the <b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">United States</a>.</b><br /> "China controls North Korea. So now besides cyber hacking us all day, they are using the Norks to taunt us. China is a major threat," he tweeted in April 2013.<br /> Trump's challenge: Can he stop conflict in the South China Sea?<br /> Iran<br /> Trump has been highly critical of the Obama administration over Iran, saying a landmark multilateral agreement last year over Iran's nuclear program "gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us absolutely nothing -- it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever negotiated."<br /> "Iran continues to ... [do] many bad things behind our backs. Time to WALK and double the sanctions. Stop payments!" he tweeted in July last year.<br /> <b>Saudi Arabia</b><br /> Trump may not find too many friends in Saudi Arabia. He slammed Obama for his veto -- subsequently overridden -- of a bill that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, saying it was "shameful and will go down as one of the low points of his presidency." Trump said that as president he would sign the legislation. Saudi Arabia described the law as of "great concern."<br /> Additionally, in June 2015, Trump tweeted: "Saudi Arabia should be paying the United States many billions of dollars for our defense of them. Without us, gone!"<br /> Although Trump refused to release his tax returns, he filed a personal financial disclosure form with the Federal Election Commission in May which revealed he has business interests in at least 22 countries, including Saudi Arabia.<br /> <b>Germany and France</b><br /> In January, Trump described Germany as a "total mess" as he lamented terror attacks in Germany and France, and urged both countries to "GET SMART!"<br /> Interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press in July, Trump indicated that he would implement tougher immigration controls for those two nations, saying "we have problems in Germany and we have problems with France" when it comes to Islamist extremism. What's needed, he said, is "extreme vetting."<br /> He also blamed France for a series of devastating terror attacks on its soil, saying: "It's their own fault, because they've allowed people over years to come into their territory."<br /> source:<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

What Trump has said about the world

(CNN) Donald Trump is not a man to mince his words -- even when it comes to commenting on other nations. After his projected victory in t...

Read more »

Airplane air

<b>Can flying help alleviate jet lag? Studies of the biochemical mechanisms that synchronize biological clocks throughout the body show that the low-oxygen environment of airplanes may actually help you adjust to your new time zone</b>. Adamovich et al. observed daily cycles in the concentration of oxygen in blood and tissues of mice kept on a normal light-dark cycle. These variations were sufficient to alter the abundance of the transcription factor HIF1α (hypoxia-inducible factor 1α). In cultured cells, changes in oxygen concentration could entrain the circadian clock only if HIF1α was present. When animals were subjected to a 6-hour change in the light cycle (like traveling eastward on a jet), animals kept in a low concentration of oxygen adapted more quickly.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJww32fJ80m1qG70jugQzY3rdzszOetS7k_lYA1TWiNA5L8IZBgFDn6Pl_Dcwn_Jg0c4lOJqJ9eeAp22ebgKjWHXPv0hZq6yaz_oXxG4j3nr6-TOjwfxbc5zbRNmHY971iKNfGoDrSDS3/s1600/Airplane+air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJww32fJ80m1qG70jugQzY3rdzszOetS7k_lYA1TWiNA5L8IZBgFDn6Pl_Dcwn_Jg0c4lOJqJ9eeAp22ebgKjWHXPv0hZq6yaz_oXxG4j3nr6-TOjwfxbc5zbRNmHY971iKNfGoDrSDS3/s400/Airplane+air.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">sciencemag.org</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>MiKa</b></div>

Airplane air

Can flying help alleviate jet lag? Studies of the biochemical mechanisms that synchronize biological clocks throughout the body show that th...

Read more »

Resolving a ticklish problem

<b>What is the neural correlate of ticklishness? When Ishiyama and Brecht tickled rats, the animals produced noises and other joyful responses.</b> During the tickling, the authors observed nerve cell activity in deep layers of the somatosensory cortex corresponding to the animals' trunks. Furthermore, microstimulation of this brain region evoked the same behavior. Just as in humans, mood could modulate this neuronal activity. Anxiety-inducing situations suppressed the cells' firing, and the animal could no longer be tickled.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLE3e0sdb7jiKMJoRKsUhGREpgGAMwaawfm7Ct_TYzHtjy2W1VEeD_f75XEzigSJiMfwhS7nQWfpHom_DokZEJL59Cp3HdUtL154L8nCo6hrCt_3QatCZWFdR4H-7IBkiZZIvGPE_msvT/s1600/Resolving+a+ticklish+problem.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLE3e0sdb7jiKMJoRKsUhGREpgGAMwaawfm7Ct_TYzHtjy2W1VEeD_f75XEzigSJiMfwhS7nQWfpHom_DokZEJL59Cp3HdUtL154L8nCo6hrCt_3QatCZWFdR4H-7IBkiZZIvGPE_msvT/s400/Resolving+a+ticklish+problem.gif" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> source: sciencemag.org</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Mika</b></div>

Resolving a ticklish problem

What is the neural correlate of ticklishness? When Ishiyama and Brecht tickled rats, the animals produced noises and other joyful responses....

Read more »

Hakata street reopened after huge sinkhole filled in with sand, cement

<b>A city on Tuesday reopened a busy street that collapsed into a giant sinkhole, with the efforts of workers who toiled around the clock for a week drawing praise on social media</b>.<br /> The gigantic sinkhole, measuring around 30 meters wide and 15 meters deep, appeared last Tuesday in a bustling business district in Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, swallowing part of a five-lane street.<br /> The sinkhole, apparently triggered by subway construction in the area, had exposed the support columns of nearby buildings at a traffic intersection.<br /> Japanese workers toiled continuously for a week, dumping huge amounts of wet cement and sand into the gaping hole and fixing electricity, gas and water lines that had stopped following the accident.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeS1DkSEl8t7GArLLahSjzWEmkdgJzBsHRQxX29Te0Bt6AEjZBXkBWuMxjZdpxAyPyD2GueA7_mwg5yq64wOPE1A2Mp_TIw5LdTLN4n2F8LhHQjBt0Fxv1mbJLm_58NwCXAO7oXJyOEMcd/s1600/Hakata+street+reopened+after+huge+sinkhole+filled+in+with+sand+cement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeS1DkSEl8t7GArLLahSjzWEmkdgJzBsHRQxX29Te0Bt6AEjZBXkBWuMxjZdpxAyPyD2GueA7_mwg5yq64wOPE1A2Mp_TIw5LdTLN4n2F8LhHQjBt0Fxv1mbJLm_58NwCXAO7oXJyOEMcd/s400/Hakata+street+reopened+after+huge+sinkhole+filled+in+with+sand+cement.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> The street reopened at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima said in a statement, exactly a week after the ground began sinking.<br /> “We’re very sorry for causing great trouble,” Takashima said, noting that a ban on access to surrounding buildings was lifted.<br /> Miraculously, no one was hurt in the accident.<br /> Many on social media expressed amazement at the quick recovery.<br /> “I’m surprised the road reopened in a week!,” one Twitter user said.<br /> “Impressive. That was fast,” said another.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">japantoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Hakata street reopened after huge sinkhole filled in with sand, cement

A city on Tuesday reopened a busy street that collapsed into a giant sinkhole, with the efforts of workers who toiled around the clock for a...

Read more »

Trump and Putin 'will try to mend ties', Kremlin says

<b>US President-elect <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/world">Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin</a> will try to "normalise US-Russia ties", the Kremlin has said, following a phone conversation between the two.</b><br /> Mr Putin wished Mr Trump "success in implementing the election programme".<br /> Mr Trump, who had praised Mr Putin in the election campaign, said he wanted an "enduring relationship with Russia".<br /> Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said Mr Trump had told him he remained "committed to a strong Nato".<br /> 'Pragmatic'<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdRWW7IjbuqI_vr6_ALsAf8ySvQH3y3M6WWZmJwCu2keI8JG5R_kHOmtmpC3ERE4Wbp0ke54STx46IF_XH-y_PQ0X0zbLDgMb-gGhwaZuGLWUGYMl-uzCZ-nM1XganZ-OZuXoIMvGsNRe/s1600/atrump_putin_compo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdRWW7IjbuqI_vr6_ALsAf8ySvQH3y3M6WWZmJwCu2keI8JG5R_kHOmtmpC3ERE4Wbp0ke54STx46IF_XH-y_PQ0X0zbLDgMb-gGhwaZuGLWUGYMl-uzCZ-nM1XganZ-OZuXoIMvGsNRe/s400/atrump_putin_compo.gif" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> The Kremlin revealed <b>Mr Trump and Mr Putin </b>had discussed Syria and agreed that current Russian-US relations were "extremely unsatisfactory".<br /> They also talked about the fact that 2017 marked 210 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries "which in itself should stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial co-operation".<br /> Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed to stay in touch by phone and arrange to meet in person at a later date, the Kremlin added.<br /> The Kremlin did not make it clear who had initiated the phone call.<br /> But Mr Trump's office said the Kremlin had called and that issues such as mutual threats and challenges, and strategic economic affairs, were discussed.<br /> It said: "President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia."<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8ZMmFop1fDLn4E_b_vtemLAGtGUBKVEK-D1tqwJZ000AfiI055EbDpay7TEL1ot1EaTNTM_lH5FvEi1rzaAgskjNr1MmX-nZTo9993GZ0ZyW1ke0oKXzZ_J4hheWlfT9XcvXoj9voOso/s1600/Edward+Snowden+and+Ukraine+have+been+three+key+problems+in+US-Russia+ties.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8ZMmFop1fDLn4E_b_vtemLAGtGUBKVEK-D1tqwJZ000AfiI055EbDpay7TEL1ot1EaTNTM_lH5FvEi1rzaAgskjNr1MmX-nZTo9993GZ0ZyW1ke0oKXzZ_J4hheWlfT9XcvXoj9voOso/s400/Edward+Snowden+and+Ukraine+have+been+three+key+problems+in+US-Russia+ties.gif" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Mr Trump's election has seen a change in tone from Russia towards the US, with state TV channels quickly switching from claims of electoral fraud to hailing the triumph of the "man of the people".<br /> The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that Russia views America's new president as a pragmatist - a brash businessman that Russians can do business with.<br /> Relations between the two countries have soured in recent years, despite President Obama starting his eight years in office by calling for a "reset" with one of the US' long-term rivals.<br /> While Russia and the US have managed to work together on issues like North Korea and Iran, they have openly clashed on Syria.<br /> Mr Obama has also condemned Russia's intervention on the side of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, while Russia's decision to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum infuriated Washington.<br /> Mr Trump's rival for the presidency was no better liked in Moscow. <b>Hillary Clinton</b> was sharply critical of Russia's 2011 parliamentary elections, leading President Putin to accuse her of fomenting the mass protests against him that followed.<br /> 'Beacon of hope'<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudmDkq8KcdoEH1CWh-_XmqD8l49BWqkZJMbiJ09_XvQ0TVYDmDPbfVuCEOMNhDY-vdaNyrZtfHzwF1z28V_Zk39vK0XUe_BcYCPyI0BNaC-cxLAsf9MpeuQmICrlAHzMB9C8-hhKCIHkp/s1600/obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudmDkq8KcdoEH1CWh-_XmqD8l49BWqkZJMbiJ09_XvQ0TVYDmDPbfVuCEOMNhDY-vdaNyrZtfHzwF1z28V_Zk39vK0XUe_BcYCPyI0BNaC-cxLAsf9MpeuQmICrlAHzMB9C8-hhKCIHkp/s400/obama.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Mr Obama met Mr Trump last week and, at a press conference on Monday, said the new president had "expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships", including "strong and robust Nato" partnerships.<br /> During the election campaign, Mr Trump had openly criticised those Nato members who he believed were not doing enough work within the organisation and had relied too heavily on <b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">the US</a></b>.<br /> Mr Obama was speaking ahead of a trip that takes in Germany, Greece and Peru.<br /> He said he hoped Mr Trump would "look at the facts" of the nuclear deal agreed with Iran, an accord the president-elect has to this point resolutely opposed.<br /> Mr Obama said he "absolutely" still had concerns about a Trump presidency and that there would be "certain elements of [Mr Trump's] temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognises them".<br /> But he said there was "enormous continuity" in the US presidency and he believed the US would remain a "pillar of strength and a beacon of hope to peoples around the globe".<br /> Mr Trump will succeed Mr Obama in the White House on 20 January.<br /> source: bbc.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Trump and Putin 'will try to mend ties', Kremlin says

US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to "normalise US-Russia ties", the Kremlin has said...

Read more »

U.S. forces may have tortured in Afghanistan

<b>International Criminal Court prosecutors said Monday that a preliminary probe indicates that members of the <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">U.S</a>. armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan.</b><br /> Prosecutors would have to clear several hurdles before formally bringing the case before the court in The Hague, Netherlands. The prosecutors said they have not decided yet whether to launch a full-scale investigation but will decide soon, the Associated Press reported.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5Fy0ROPe_9OIrM8QgLOYg7_SSKm_dBgb8rBafEWaUxs6bo709s5TTe4yKU3oLZuIU1LoJ6t2Eoc8So5dbp9DCeaKvRxorixXG-Hvu1vCbP3yB1hsBD40mfKpbAWpfuFl6_hbpxkiBciT/s1600/US+forces+may+have+tortured+in+Afghanistan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5Fy0ROPe_9OIrM8QgLOYg7_SSKm_dBgb8rBafEWaUxs6bo709s5TTe4yKU3oLZuIU1LoJ6t2Eoc8So5dbp9DCeaKvRxorixXG-Hvu1vCbP3yB1hsBD40mfKpbAWpfuFl6_hbpxkiBciT/s400/US+forces+may+have+tortured+in+Afghanistan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Even if an investigation is launched, it would be difficult to bring charges. The court does not normally interview witnesses or gather forensic evidence, Foreign Policy magazine reported recently.<br /> The prosecution office said in its report issued late Monday that U.S. armed forces personnel “appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture” in Afghanistan, mainly in 2003-2004. The report also said that CIA operatives may have tortured at least 27 detainees in Afghanistan and elsewhere, mainly in the same time period.<br /> The United States is not a member of the court, but its citizens could face prosecution if they commit crimes in a country that is a member, such as Afghanistan, according to the AP.<br /> The U.S.-led invasion into Afghanistan toppled the Taliban from power after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Taliban had harbored al-Qaeda militants in the years leading up to the attacks.<br /> source: usatoday.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

U.S. forces may have tortured in Afghanistan

International Criminal Court prosecutors said Monday that a preliminary probe indicates that members of the U.S . armed forces and the CIA m...

Read more »

Mark Zuckerberg " Facebook fake news didn't sway election "

<b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/tech">Mark Zuckerberg</a> addressed growing criticism of Facebook's ascendant power to sway public opinion, saying the "small amount" of fake news that spread on the social network during the election did not influence the outcome.</b><br /> <br /> "To think it influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea," <b>Zuckerberg</b> said Thursday evening during the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_frlPKFlIDZWiPG8MTJ7eAjekieV9WjMCDE7D0bt9DYSdoh8JUxyb1zPT7t8dZpNgrCYtN29W8ScZzvKk-LwwSlk14UyMQFkDKiEb-gTqDJrNS1chUSAr1IrDoX-dU6rAULC26JRdjCgS/s1600/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mark Zuckerberg Facebook fake news didn't sway election " border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_frlPKFlIDZWiPG8MTJ7eAjekieV9WjMCDE7D0bt9DYSdoh8JUxyb1zPT7t8dZpNgrCYtN29W8ScZzvKk-LwwSlk14UyMQFkDKiEb-gTqDJrNS1chUSAr1IrDoX-dU6rAULC26JRdjCgS/s400/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> Zuckerberg said people underestimated support for president-elect <b>Donald Trump</b>. "I do think there is a certain profound lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason someone could have voted the way they did is they saw some fake news," Zuckerberg said. "If you believe that, then I don’t think you have internalized the message the Trump supporters are trying to send in this election."<br /> <br /> His remarks came as Trump's presidential win prompted Silicon Valley soul searching, with some wondering whether the tools created here had run amok.<br /> <br /> Tech investor Dave McClure, founder of the business accelerator 500 Startups, called technology "a propaganda medium" that has contributed to the growing spread of fake information. Social media seems to have also contributed to the dramatic rise in abuse and harassment on the Internet.<br /> <br /> "People aren’t aware of the [expletive] they’re being told," he said at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portgual, addressing Trump's victory.<br /> Self-blame isn't natural to the generally positivist ethos of the tech industry. This was a wake-up call.<br /> <br /> "It is a very good thing if people in Silicon Valley are contemplating the consequences of the inventions they delivered to an unsuspecting world," Silicon Valley forecaster Paul Saffo said. "The fact that there's any reflection going on at all is a very good sign. There has long been this naive view that technology is neutral and there's nothing neutral about technology. The problem is we can never figure out which way it's going to cut until it arrives."<br /> <br /> Earlier in the day, Facebook responded to the spread of fake articles during the election, saying it takes the problem "very seriously" and pledged it would root out misinformation in people's News Feed and in trending topics.<br /> <br /> "We value authentic communication, and hear consistently from those who use Facebook that they prefer not to see misinformation," Adam Mosseri, Facebook's vice president of product management, said in a statement.<br /> <br /> Despite Facebook's efforts, "we understand there's so much more we need to do," Mosseri said.<br /> Social media has become a go-to news source. Nearly half of Americans get their news from Facebook, according to the Pew Research Center. Only two in 10 U.S. adults get news from print newspapers.<br /> <br /> Fake news is a longstanding challenge for Facebook, but the spread appeared to accelerate during the election, so much so that President Obama addressed it at a Hillary Clinton rally Monday in Michigan.<br /> <br /> "And people, if they just repeat attacks enough, and outright lies over and over again, as long as it's on Facebook and people can see it, as long as it’s on social media, people start believing it. And it creates this dust cloud of nonsense," he said.<br /> <br /> On Election Day, fake accounts spread misinformation on Twitter to suppress voter turnout or to influence how people vote, such as by tweeting false information that you could text your vote, keeping Twitter busy trying to delete them all.<br /> <br /> On Facebook, a former product designer Bobby Goodlatte said the News Feed fueled "highly partisan, fact-light media outlets," helping elect Trump.<br /> <br /> “News feed optimizes for engagement,” Goodlatte wrote, according to Bloomberg News. “As we’ve learned in this election, bullshit is highly engaging.”<br /> <br /> In response to Goodlatte, Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook executive who helped create News Feed, said it isn't perfect. "But it is at least or more diverse than the alternatives which dominated consumption in the late nineties."<br /> Facebook's metrics showed just how influential a platform it has become in political discussion. It said 115.3 million users generated 716.3 million posts, likes and comments about the election. Twitter said more than 75 million election-related tweets coursed through its service on election day, more than double than on election day in 2012.<br /> <br /> Facebook insists it's not a media company. Earlier this year it dumped its news curators after a news report accused them of favoring mainstream media over conservative media. Under the Communications Decency Act, it's not legally responsible — the users themselves are responsible — for the content that spread through its network.<br /> <br /> Facebook says its users are exposed to a multitude of different viewpoints in their News Feed, but observers say social media filters out content that people don't want to see in favor of those that reaffirm their own beliefs and isolate them in politically partisan bubbles<br /> <br /> "All the research that we have suggests this isn’t really a problem," Zuckerberg said Thursday.<br /> <br /> The rise of Trump, and his predilection for no-holds barred, bombastic tweeting, has coincided with the increase in trolling, abuse and harassment, on Twitter.<br /> <br /> Trump, who has more than 14 million followers, put the social media service on the election map. Even the news that his aides had to take away his Twitter account in the waning days of the election made national news. But Twitter was also criticized for a massive rise in hate speech. And the spread of misinformation undercut Twitter's election-season success.<br /> source: usatoday.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Mark Zuckerberg " Facebook fake news didn't sway election "

Mark Zuckerberg addressed growing criticism of Facebook's ascendant power to sway public opinion, saying the "small amount" o...

Read more »

2 men get 23 years for fatal street racing in Hokkaido

<b>A court in <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/japan">Hokkaido </a>sentenced two men to 23 years in prison on Thursday for street racing and killing four and injuring another in the nation’s northernmost prefecture last year.</b><br /> <br /> The Sapporo District Court, in a rare move, determined that Ryuji Tanikoshi and Ryuichi Komi, both 28, conspired in reckless driving and gave the prison term sought by prosecutors.<br /> <br /> The prosecutors argued in the trial that the defendants engaged in conspiracy as they tried to outdo each other in speeds and intentionally ignored red lights, while the defense contended that they merely failed to notice red lights.<br /> <br /> The prosecutors alleged that Tanikoshi and Komi drove their respective vehicles on the night of June 6 on a road in the city of Sunagawa at a speed of at least 100 kilometers per hour and entered an intersection while ignoring a red light.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOfF9bw8LU36vnuLr1VDTJkF6P9dkPtVvwu7CgWBnLyWJNdHJd4SvSREd7ss4FdgTRtCN9kPDC5gvbRlchQkH1nWrFpCZU1-a9Sv6x6MH0sBDaOIe2IoYsOs66Cw9JXNg4whk_WEJcRUp/s1600/2+men+get+23+years+for+fatal+street+racing+in+Hokkaido.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOfF9bw8LU36vnuLr1VDTJkF6P9dkPtVvwu7CgWBnLyWJNdHJd4SvSREd7ss4FdgTRtCN9kPDC5gvbRlchQkH1nWrFpCZU1-a9Sv6x6MH0sBDaOIe2IoYsOs66Cw9JXNg4whk_WEJcRUp/s400/2+men+get+23+years+for+fatal+street+racing+in+Hokkaido.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Tanikoshi, who had been under the influence of alcohol at the time, drove his passenger car into a light van at the intersection, killing Koichi Nagaoke, his wife Fumie, both 44, and their 17-year-old daughter Megumi, and seriously injuring their 13-year-old daughter Hikari, according to the prosecutors.<br /> <br /> The couple’s 16-year-old son Shota was thrown out of the van at the impact and killed after Komi’s pickup truck dragged him for some 1.4 km.<br /> <br /> In the trial, Tanikoshi’s defense claimed he failed to spot the red light as he was looking for his sunglasses. Komi’s defense said he could not have foreseen the accident and did not realize he was dragging Shota.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">japantoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

2 men get 23 years for fatal street racing in Hokkaido

A court in Hokkaido sentenced two men to 23 years in prison on Thursday for street racing and killing four and injuring another in the natio...

Read more »

In 2nd day of anti-Trump protests, civil rights a top concern

<b>Demonstrators took to the streets across the United States for a second day on Thursday to protest against <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/2016/11/donald-trump-amateur-hour-with-iran.html">Donald Trump’s</a> presidential election victory, voicing fears that the real estate mogul’s triumph would deal a blow to civil rights.</b><br /> <br /> On the East Coast, protests took place in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, while on the West Coast demonstrators rallied in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland in California, and Portland, Oregon.<br /> <br /> The protests were for the most part peaceful and orderly, although there were scattered acts of civil disobedience.<br /> <br /> Protesters threw objects at police in Portland and damaged a car lot, the Portland Police Department said on Twitter. Some protesters sprayed graffiti on cars and buildings and smashed windows, media in Portland said.<br /> <br /> “Due to extensive criminal and dangerous behavior, protest is now considered a riot. Crowd has been advised,” the department said in a tweet.<br /> <br /> Dozens in Minneapolis marched onto Interstate 94, blocking traffic in both directions for at least an hour as police stood by. A smaller band of demonstrators briefly halted traffic on a busy Los Angeles freeway before police cleared them off.<br /> <br /> Baltimore police reported about 600 people marched through the downtown Inner Harbor area, with some blocking roadways by sitting in the street. Two people were arrested, police said.<br /> <br /> In Denver, a crowd that media estimated to number about 3,000 gathered on the grounds of the Colorado state capitol and marched through downtown in one of the largest of Thursday’s events. Hundreds demonstrated through Dallas.<br /> <br /> Thursday’s gatherings were generally smaller in scale and less intense than Wednesday’s, and teenagers and young adults again dominated the racially mixed crowds.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YR2zuodf8D02z4ESaPnoDYIPUc4WfLaBr_Y6PfDH_16yZBqN-PWnOuyzeU3H0lUsjqktX7lKvq8Lrkw7e_oXrMyZBYDYtaeLzwHWxsdqEwzEISCvgtQJRv84ZgCyAAmbCRPPZf_0X48t/s1600/In+2nd+day+of+anti-Trump+protests%252C+civil+rights+a+top+concern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YR2zuodf8D02z4ESaPnoDYIPUc4WfLaBr_Y6PfDH_16yZBqN-PWnOuyzeU3H0lUsjqktX7lKvq8Lrkw7e_oXrMyZBYDYtaeLzwHWxsdqEwzEISCvgtQJRv84ZgCyAAmbCRPPZf_0X48t/s400/In+2nd+day+of+anti-Trump+protests%252C+civil+rights+a+top+concern.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> In 2nd day of anti-Trump protests, civil rights a top concern</div> <br /> “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!” Trump said in a Tweet on Thursday night.<br /> <br /> Police pitched special security barricades around two Trump marquee properties that have become focal points of the protests<br /> - his newly opened Pennsylvania Avenue hotel in Washington and the high-rise Trump Tower, where he lives in Manhattan.<br /> <br /> In the nation’s capital, about 100 protesters marched from the White House, where Trump had his first transition meeting with <b>President Barack Obama</b> on Thursday, to the Trump International Hotel several blocks away.<br /> <br /> At least 200 people rallied there after dark, many of them chanting “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and carrying signs with such slogans as “Impeach Trump” and “Not my president.”<br /> <br /> “I can’t support someone who supports so much bigotry and hatred. It’s heart-breaking,” said Joe Daniels, 25, of suburban Alexandria, Virginia.<br /> <b><br /></b> <b>Two Trump</b> supporters stood off to the side carrying signs reading: “All We are Saying is Give Trump a Chance” - an apparent play on lyrics from the John Lennon song “Give Peace a Chance”.<br /> <br /> Trump’s critics worry that his often-inflammatory campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims, women and others - combined with support from the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists<br /> - could spark a wave of intolerance against minorities.<br /> <br /> Anti-Trump rallies in more than a dozen major U.S. cities on Wednesday drew thousands at the biggest gatherings in <b>New York</b>, Seattle, Los Angeles and Oakland, California. Protesters smashed windows, set fires and clashed with riot police in Oakland.<br /> <br /> Taking a far more conciliatory tone in his acceptance speech early Wednesday than he had at many of his campaign events, Trump vowed to be a president for all Americans.<br /> <br /> His campaign rejected a Klan newspaper endorsement this month, saying Trump “denounces hate in any form.”<br /> <br /> Rudy Giuliani, the former <b>New York City</b> mayor and a high-profile Trump supporter, called the demonstrators “a bunch of spoiled cry-babies” in an interview with Fox News.<br /> <br /> Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer urged the protesters to give Trump a chance once he is sworn in to office in January.<br /> <br /> “I hope that people get it out of their systems ... but then they give this man that was just elected very historically and his new vice president an opportunity to govern,” Spicer told MSNBC.<br /> <br /> In San Francisco, more than 1,000 high school students walked out of classes Thursday morning to march through the financial district carrying rainbow flags representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, Mexican flags and signs decrying Trump.<br /> <br /> Civil rights groups and police reported an uptick in attacks on members of minority groups, some by people claiming to support Trump. There were also reports of Trump opponents lashing out against people carrying signs supporting Trump.<br /> <br /> More anti-Trump demonstrations were planned for the weekend.<br /> source: japantoday.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

In 2nd day of anti-Trump protests, civil rights a top concern

Demonstrators took to the streets across the United States for a second day on Thursday to protest against Donald Trump’s presidential elec...

Read more »

Why does this woman think she is ugly?

<b>Alanah thinks she is ugly, which could not be further from the truth. She suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a condition that causes people to become obsessed with perceived defects in their appearance. It's thought about one in 50 people suffer from BDD, but many of us - and even some doctors - are unaware of its existence.</b><br /> "I thought it was cruel for other people to have to see my face, that it really is disgusting," says 20-year-old Alanah.<br /> "I see marks all over my face, which my mum has told me that she does not see. I see my skin is just bumpy and blemished. I see my nose is way too big and crooked and sticks out too much. My eyes are too small."<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRwEeSySdUejE4-c387NePjFrvxolQm9BkFdBMT8SCi-8hL01ZPv90PjOh8E-mr_Z2nS1u_CcrpW-xh1gKqBxQ5tGwnFYAze0UZJivIbtzwON0FE7K-koMpPJ70OItNUWjy_VaNwlntpD/s1600/Alanah+has+occasionally+taken+200+selfies+a+day%252C+and+deleted+all+of+them.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRwEeSySdUejE4-c387NePjFrvxolQm9BkFdBMT8SCi-8hL01ZPv90PjOh8E-mr_Z2nS1u_CcrpW-xh1gKqBxQ5tGwnFYAze0UZJivIbtzwON0FE7K-koMpPJ70OItNUWjy_VaNwlntpD/s400/Alanah+has+occasionally+taken+200+selfies+a+day%252C+and+deleted+all+of+them.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Alanah is a beautiful young woman, but when she looks in the mirror she does not see what others see.<br /> She suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), and when her condition was at its worst she repeatedly checked her appearance in the mirror, taking pains to disguise any flaws she thought she saw. Her make-up routine could take up to four hours, and even after this she often felt too anxious to leave the house.<br /> "My routine at the time was four or five layers of foundation and concealer. Eye make-up always had to be done as well, very heavy eye make-up, and it would just be constant," says Alanah. "So every little imperfection I'd have to keep touching up and keep going over and doing the same thing again and again."<br /> She would also pick her skin - picking at any blemish until the skin was broken and raw.<br /> As a curly haired little girl she was happy to be photographed and to appear in the family photo album, but at the age of 14, things began to change, for reasons she has never quite understood.<br /> "I didn't notice [the signs] at the time but looking back now I know that they're symptoms of BDD. For example, I'd be in school and I'd be very aware of my surroundings. I'd be looking around to see who was looking at me, to see who was laughing, to see who was talking," she says.<br /> "There were big windows in my school. I'd be looking in the windows to check the way I look. I'd go to the bathroom a lot more often, to mirror check."<br /> At the age of 15, she stopped going to school. Her mother, Scarlett, would drive her in, but Alanah - despite her eagerness to study - would not get out of the car. They would drive home and then get back in the car to have another try, but once again Alanah would be unable to get out. The exercise could be repeated as many as eight times per day, Scarlett says.<br /> This led to Alanah becoming very isolated, and it was devastating for her mother to observe the change in her character.<br /> "For the first two or three years we just didn't know what it was," says Scarlett.<br /> "From being a high-achiever, very confident, she just imploded really, couldn't get out. I had to bath her, I had to get her drinks. She was just in bed all day long.<br /> "It's heartbreaking because I know every mum thinks their children are beautiful, but there is literally nothing wrong with Alanah and I think everyone can see it," says Scarlett.<br /> "It's so frustrating, and actually now I know not to fight if she says she's ugly, I just have to not keep going on about it. It's what she sees and that's it, and I have to leave it and try to focus on other things.<br /> "The worse thing is that, as a mum, you're meant to protect your children and help them and I just felt totally helpless not being able to do anything for her."<br /> Scarlett says her daughter would get upset if she ever displayed a photograph of her in the living room, so when friends she had not seen for a long time asked what her children looked like now, she had no images of her daughter to show them.<br /> It took a long time for Alanah and her mother to get a diagnosis of BDD. Alanah was misdiagnosed many times as having teenage angst or social anxiety until finally her condition was correctly identified at the Maudsley Clinic in south London. Her recovery began during a five-month stay at the North London Priory and she now has regular cognitive behavioural therapy sessions.<br /> So my main appearance concern is my nose, but it took me three years of therapy to even tell my family or my therapist that that's what it was<br /> Alanah<br /> Despite having not wanted anyone to take her photo since her early teens, Alanah courageously decided to confront her condition for a new series, No Body's Perfect, on BBC Four. She agreed to a photo shoot with the portrait and fashion photographer, Rankin, in order to raise awareness of BDD, and to help others recognise similar symptoms in themselves.<br /> She says getting a diagnosis of BDD is difficult because there is such little awareness of the disorder - but also because sufferers are so ashamed of their appearance that they won't talk openly.<br /> "So my main appearance concern is my nose, but it took me three years of therapy to even tell my family or my therapist that that's what it was. I didn't want to point it out," she says.<br /> The photo shoot was never going to be easy for Alanah as she habitually rejects all photographs of herself. On some days she used to take more than 200 selfies of herself and then deleted them all.<br /> It is not unusual for someone with BDD to assess their appearance by taking pictures of themselves, says Rob Willson, a cognitive behavioural therapist and chair of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation. But having a photograph taken by someone else can be quite threatening because it is out of the person's control.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggOeEQZqLBTT3chSgtbMsFvtj5hxCHH5v_sx003Urc7sSPCsyLymCcokKtegjTdVb-zp0CuQOw0ASFmX1CPMjpyFdwDSjIdKXoyzoC21CB3JoSkkAfVa3It0UAiMco77b2nAkG4F_zMr7/s1600/The+photograph+of+Alanah+taken+by+Rankin+is+now+hanging+in+her+family+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggOeEQZqLBTT3chSgtbMsFvtj5hxCHH5v_sx003Urc7sSPCsyLymCcokKtegjTdVb-zp0CuQOw0ASFmX1CPMjpyFdwDSjIdKXoyzoC21CB3JoSkkAfVa3It0UAiMco77b2nAkG4F_zMr7/s400/The+photograph+of+Alanah+taken+by+Rankin+is+now+hanging+in+her+family+home.jpg" width="298" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> The photograph of Alanah taken by Rankin is now hanging in her family home</div> <br /> According to Willson, BDD often begins in adolescence and can sometimes be a response to bullying and teasing. It can also be related to something that makes a person feel different. So, for instance, developing acne could make someone feel like they stand out and trigger it.<br /> "We all end up worrying quite a lot more about how we look in our teens, but specifically BDD separates itself out from everyday concerns [in that] the person would have to be preoccupied with their appearance for at least an hour a day," he says.<br /> "It has to cause significant levels of distress - such as high levels of anxiety, high levels of shame or depression - and it also has to be bad enough to interfere with the person's functioning."<br /> Social media made Alanah's disorder much worse because she would constantly be comparing herself to others her own age. But Willson says although today's image-obsessed culture has changed our behaviour and we now act like mini-celebrities, taking selfies instead of looking in a pocket mirror, we cannot pin the blame on social media.<br /> "There are so many other factors - genetic factors, social factors, early-life experiences, personality variables - that go up to make a problem that is as severe as BDD," says Willson.<br /> The nature of the disorder means a person thinks they have a physical problem rather than a psychological problem and so they may spend lots of money on makeup or cosmetic surgery. But without proper treatment, it can have far more devastating consequences, he says.<br /> "It's one of the highest-risk problems of all psychiatric disorders," says Willson. "With one of the most extreme high risks of suicide, functional impairment and distress."<br /> On the day of the photo shoot with Rankin, Alanah's mother said she had doubts whether her daughter would go through with it.<br /> "I knew that she was going to tell Rankin that she doesn't like photos," says Scarlett, "but it wasn't the photos, it was herself in the photos she didn't like."<br /> Although it was a struggle, Alanah came face to face with her disorder, by allowing someone other than herself to do her make-up and hair for the first time and allowing Rankin to photograph her.<br /> "Towards the end of it I did feel a bit more comfortable and I'm really glad I did it. Now looking back I'd probably love to do it again all over but this time slightly more confident and less anxious," she says.<br /> Remarkably, the picture is now hanging in Alanah's family home.<br /> "I think it's very beautiful," says her mother Scarlett, "I think it's also captured her vulnerability a bit."<br /> Alanah's recovery is going well, she is now at university studying psychology and hopes to go on to research BDD for a PhD. She also aims to become a cognitive behavioural therapist helping others with the disorder.<br /> And what does she think of the photograph Rankin took of her?<br /> In No Body's Perfect, in footage filmed soon after the photo shoot, she says: "My eyes are crossed, my hands and my arms look really big and chunky. My nose looks crooked, my face is out of proportion. I don't necessarily know if I can see myself very positively yet."<br /> A few months later, she is more upbeat.<br /> "It does change from day to day," she says. "I've let them keep it up in the living room, which they didn't think they'd be able to do. And I'm OK with it, so that's a good step."<br /> source: bbc.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Why does this woman think she is ugly?

Alanah thinks she is ugly, which could not be further from the truth. She suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a condition that caus...

Read more »

Japan executes inmate for murdering two women in 2004

<b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/japan">Japan</a> executed a death row inmate Friday, the Justice Ministry said in announcing the 17th execution in about four years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in December 2012.</b><br /> <br /> The ministry said <b>Kenichi Tajiri</b>, 45, was hanged for killing two women in two murder-robbery cases in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan. The latest execution is the second involving an inmate who was sentenced to death in a lay judge trial. Japan’s lay judge system, in which three professional and six lay judges hear a case, began in 2009.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWqYu_24NEv_Tokh9T-a8GZjng5tWAvaZ1EIcUBfomjBErReGefZMnmuG8ZhsgptAS5_s7cEqNf4YweppU1Qd3uGZw88qtXcbo16lJuf5fV_SXP1JWVwxGgG5TMOS5dLPWpkECfXs9Iyr/s1600/Japan+executes+inmate+for+murdering+two+women+in+2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWqYu_24NEv_Tokh9T-a8GZjng5tWAvaZ1EIcUBfomjBErReGefZMnmuG8ZhsgptAS5_s7cEqNf4YweppU1Qd3uGZw88qtXcbo16lJuf5fV_SXP1JWVwxGgG5TMOS5dLPWpkECfXs9Iyr/s400/Japan+executes+inmate+for+murdering+two+women+in+2004.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Japan executes inmate for murdering two women in 2004</div> <br /> This was the first execution ordered by Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda since he assumed his post in August, with the number of death row inmates in Japan now standing at 128.<br /> <br /> “This is an extremely cruel case in which the precious lives of the victims were taken for selfish purposes,” <b>Kaneda </b>told a press conference, adding he gave the order after careful consideration.<br /> <br /> According to the finalized ruling, <b>Tajiri killed Chizuko Nakatsu</b>, 49, during a robbery in Uto, Kumamoto Prefecture, in March 2004, in which he stole about 180,000 yen in cash, and murdered Yoshiko Migita, 65, and seriously injured her husband during a robbery in Kumamoto city in February 2011 in which he stole about 100,000 yen.<br /> <br /> The justice minister said in an interview shortly after he took office that the issue of the death penalty needs to be handled carefully as it involves the taking of human life, but also noted that court judgments must be strictly carried out in a nation governed by law.<br /> <br /> Kaneda’s predecessor as justice minister, <b>Mitsuhide Iwaki,</b> ordered four executions in the 10 months he was in office, including that of the first person to be convicted in a capital punishment case that went before lay judges.<br /> <br /> In October, the <b>Japan Federation of Bar Associations</b> issued a declaration proposing the abolition of the death penalty by 2020 for the first time as the organization.<br /> source: japantoday.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Japan executes inmate for murdering two women in 2004

Japan executed a death row inmate Friday, the Justice Ministry said in announcing the 17th execution in about four years since Prime Minist...

Read more »

Modi visits emperor

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIBZbRtjoGpzwvHUFgrdXHS87odXuS8Hg1Ymkdd9PV2UR-UCsXIg7rcxsGimb5DXTgdeyTQO4_Hpf4IcpC03bcSxLdpKnfiSxK5ccRfdRrYcdTh2XJkkScOfeTxSFt8wlj6XdD4qC3lrv/s1600/Modi+visits+emperor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIBZbRtjoGpzwvHUFgrdXHS87odXuS8Hg1Ymkdd9PV2UR-UCsXIg7rcxsGimb5DXTgdeyTQO4_Hpf4IcpC03bcSxLdpKnfiSxK5ccRfdRrYcdTh2XJkkScOfeTxSFt8wlj6XdD4qC3lrv/s400/Modi+visits+emperor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Times New Roman", Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, talks with Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Friday.</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Times New Roman", Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">source: </span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Times New Roman, Georgia, serif;">japantoday.com</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #303030; font-family: Times New Roman, Georgia, serif;"><b>MiKa</b></span></div> <br />

Modi visits emperor

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, talks with Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Friday. source:  japantoday.com...

Read more »

Inada says Japan now paying enough for hosting U.S. forces

<b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/japan">Japan</a> is now paying “enough” for the cost of stationing <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">U.S</a>. forces in the country, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Friday, though she was silent on how the government would respond if the next U.S. administration led by Donald Trump demands an increase in Japan’s budget.</b><br /> <br /> “I believe it is enough. We are bearing the costs of what we ought to pay at present,” Inada told a press conference, referring to the nearly 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in so-called host-nation support paid every year.<br /> <br /> Attention is growing in Japan to how the <b>Japan-U.S</b>. alliance may be influenced under the presidency of Trump, who has called for Japan and other U.S. allies to pay more toward the cost of stationing U.S. forces there and even threatened to pull troops out of the countries unless they do so.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1A2F798DO674cJ2OQNwz-WMpW6EA-5Okcz_pvJl5W5lsiYcObHXAfNrGYCpMz13pWdZNC_AvBNzQm5_rrJHjPD_L4gxhugACZLCmScwu5bIvLxc6_jidl1ANjpJBuiKx-L2J7tViVySxE/s1600/Inada+says+Japan+now+paying+enough+for+hosting+U.S.+forces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1A2F798DO674cJ2OQNwz-WMpW6EA-5Okcz_pvJl5W5lsiYcObHXAfNrGYCpMz13pWdZNC_AvBNzQm5_rrJHjPD_L4gxhugACZLCmScwu5bIvLxc6_jidl1ANjpJBuiKx-L2J7tViVySxE/s400/Inada+says+Japan+now+paying+enough+for+hosting+U.S.+forces.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Inada says Japan now paying enough for hosting U.S. forces</div> <br /> Asked by a reporter whether Japan will reject any U.S. requests to increase the host-nation support, Inada said, “I’m not in a position to answer a hypothetical question.”<br /> <br /> The defense minister, meanwhile, highlighted the significance of the U.S. forces stationed in Japan amid the tough regional security environment.<br /> <br /> “The Japan-U.S. alliance is the linchpin of our country’s security and the U.S. military presence in our country is important not only for our defense but also for the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region,” she said.<br /> <br /> The host-nation support, which began in fiscal 1978, covers various expenses such as salaries for workers and utilities at U.S. military facilities and is shouldered voluntarily by Japan.<br /> Source:japantoday.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Inada says Japan now paying enough for hosting U.S. forces

Japan is now paying “enough” for the cost of stationing U.S . forces in the country, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Friday, though she ...

Read more »

Could Trump trash the Iran deal? Yes, but it's complicated

<b>President-elect Donald Trump has mocked and decried the nuclear deal the Obama administration negotiated with Iran ever since he started running for president.</b><br /> <br /> In September 2015, <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/2016/11/donald-trump-amateur-hour-with-iran.html">Trump said </a>he would “renegotiate” the agreement, reached two months earlier, which curtailed Iran’s nuclear program to peaceful activities in return for the lifting of crippling sanctions over time. Last month, Trump said Iran "should write us a letter of thank you" for "the stupidest deal of all time." Vice President-elect Mike Pence said the deal would be “ripped up” after consultation with U.S. allies.<br /> <br /> So, could Trump shred it if he wants to?<br /> <br /> Yes, State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirms. "The agreement is valid only as long as all parties uphold it," he said Wednesday.<br /> <br /> The threats from Trump and his team were enough to prompt <b>Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif</b> to issue statements about the future of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. It cannot be changed by one government’s decision, Rouhani insisted Wednesday.<br /> “Iran exercised prudence concerning the nuclear agreement as it confirmed JCPOA as a U.N. Security Council Resolution, not as an agreement with one government,” he said, according to the government controlled Iranian Students News Agency.<br /> <br /> The nuclear deal was reached between the <b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">USA</a>, Russia, Britain, France and China</b> — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — plus Germany. All approved it.<br /> <br /> Zarif urged the new American president-elect to face the reality of regional and international affairs.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUl-2gJK3OlRTzmms-8I04d49OPnu16NpVQ1p1rAqyhYlpBBoZ72GoIfBMTvTRccqKobBpw4Bw5HBrBfsM5YjFF5_p_AjhUz-USeJ5T5cyTeouYudlUrxBpTKXKA1sHzl8DrjVVqVWlHuo/s1600/Iran%2527s+Foreign+Minister+Mohammad+Shafir+smiles+at+the+end+of+a+press+conference+in+Bucharest%252C+Romania%252C+Wednesday%252C+Nov.+9%252C+2016.+%2528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUl-2gJK3OlRTzmms-8I04d49OPnu16NpVQ1p1rAqyhYlpBBoZ72GoIfBMTvTRccqKobBpw4Bw5HBrBfsM5YjFF5_p_AjhUz-USeJ5T5cyTeouYudlUrxBpTKXKA1sHzl8DrjVVqVWlHuo/s400/Iran%2527s+Foreign+Minister+Mohammad+Shafir+smiles+at+the+end+of+a+press+conference+in+Bucharest%252C+Romania%252C+Wednesday%252C+Nov.+9%252C+2016.+%2528.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;">Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Shafir smiles at the end of a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.</span></div> The reality is that Iran was brought to the bargaining table with the help of crippling sanctions imposed by <b>the U.S, the U.N</b>. Security Council and the European Union at the urging of the Obama administration and Congress. And Russia, <b>China and the United States'</b> allies in Europe have already started doing business with oil-rich Iran since the deal was inked, and they hope for more.<br /> <br /> European countries have lifted sanctions. Iran has made deals to expand its oil fields, build cars, and buy dozens of aircraft from the EU's Airbus and the U.S.' s Boeing Corp. Russia is deploying anti-aircraft systems to Iran. The U.S. released its hold on tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues that had been frozen in foreign bank accounts. Iran’s once depressed economy is enjoying a moderate recovery.<br /> Iran has also expanded its policy of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon. In Iraq thee militias are battling the Islamic State, a Sunni group that both Shiite-dominated Iran and the U.S. consider an enemy. But in Syria, the militias are mostly fighting U.S.-backed anti-government rebels, and in Yemen, they're fighting the U.S.- and Saudi-backed government. Pulling out of the deal could risk exacerbating these conflicts or lifting the constraints on Iran’s nuclear program at a time when it is expanding its economy and military activities abroad.<br /> <br /> Toner said State Department officials will explain the merits of the deal to Trump’s transition team, though any decision about sticking to the terms of the agreement would be up to the next administration.<br /> <br /> Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration “feel very strongly the Iran deal has worked,” Toner said. “It prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in a short period of time.”<br /> <br /> It also provided for increased and more intrusive monitoring by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said. And the agreement required the approval of lawmakers from every country that signed it, including the GOP-controlled U.S. Congress and the Iranian parliament.<br /> <br /> “This deal does what it says it would do, which is prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Toner said.<br /> If Trump announced he would not honor the agreement, “all U.S. sanctions that have been lifted or suspended are going to be re-imposed, by executive order,” said Mark Dubowitz, a critic of the deal who is executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.<br /> <br /> More likely, Trump won't rip up the agreement, but signal he’s going to aggressively enforce it, and “not tolerate any Iranian cheating or challenging of the deal,” Dubowitz said.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzFIQgwerSDSo7CIDb67Y-8ZVZiatFbX87PgwEULee6nQyd0qP9TUG5ZBXipwaR5U28jDCjqD7rIUIaty00SP3TEV2ZpAOrIJx4WoGbXi75aK9Hn09eOuRtsKxa_360OjiKXQV0YrArra/s1600/Which-party-has-the-better-plan-for-Iran.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzFIQgwerSDSo7CIDb67Y-8ZVZiatFbX87PgwEULee6nQyd0qP9TUG5ZBXipwaR5U28jDCjqD7rIUIaty00SP3TEV2ZpAOrIJx4WoGbXi75aK9Hn09eOuRtsKxa_360OjiKXQV0YrArra/s400/Which-party-has-the-better-plan-for-Iran.png" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> Which Party Has a Better Plan for Iran</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Source: usatoday.com</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <b>MiKa</b></div>

Could Trump trash the Iran deal? Yes, but it's complicated

President-elect Donald Trump has mocked and decried the nuclear deal the Obama administration negotiated with Iran ever since he started run...

Read more »

Donald Trump "Amateur hour with the Iran nuclear deal"

<b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S">Donald Trump</a> "Amateur hour with the Iran nuclear deal"</b><br /> <b>It is hard to believe a president of the United States would actually put his name on an agreement with the terrorist state Iran that is so bad, so poorly constructed and so terribly negotiated that it increases uncertainty and reduces security for America and our allies, including Israel.</b><br /> <br /> It was amateur hour for those charged with striking this deal with Iran, demonstrating to the world, yet again, the total incompetence of our president and politicians. It appears we wanted a deal at any cost rather than following the advice of Ronald Reagan and walking away because "no deal is better than a bad deal."<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsa_SztrdToNLJk2b9l5DKTYqyVVzLjyfULerA7M0gFl6AbYkYvgshdAuj21UTc0jgptQahVKCsv7AqZAlvnsdHum098QxRfHoc9BCnHmIbPTtlSj70qSLrDG-9z0svcrpMJedAxW0cZN/s1600/donald-trump-iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Politics as usual has failed, that's why I need to step in." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsa_SztrdToNLJk2b9l5DKTYqyVVzLjyfULerA7M0gFl6AbYkYvgshdAuj21UTc0jgptQahVKCsv7AqZAlvnsdHum098QxRfHoc9BCnHmIbPTtlSj70qSLrDG-9z0svcrpMJedAxW0cZN/s400/donald-trump-iran.jpg" title="Politics as usual has failed, that's why I need to step in." width="400" /></a></div> <br /> After the agreement goes into effect: All nuclear-related sanctions will be lifted. Iran receives a windfall of $150 billion, which will no doubt fund terrorism around the world. Iran will receive notice before any inspections take place. Iran can block inspection of certain facilities. Iran will soon be able to continue expanding its conventional arms and guided missile programs without facing snapback sanctions. Iran can keep American prisoners, including one former <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/U.S"><b>U.S</b></a>. Marine and, very sadly, a Christian minister. Iran can continue to operate about 6,000 centrifuges. Other countries will be free to invest in Iran.<br /> Iran can continue to solidify bonds with <b>Russia, China and North Korea</b>. All these other countries will benefit, and the United States loses on all fronts.<br /> <br /> In the end, Iran will be a nuclear state. This will lead to an all-out arms race in the region. All the Middle East, southern Europe and American interests will be within the footprint of Iran's missiles.<br /> <br /> Interestingly, Saudi Arabia and others, who were vehemently opposed to the deal on all fronts, are now in favor — <b>Washington</b> has naively provided new weapons deals and security assurances.<br /> <br /> The problem is that Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, our Middle Eastern allies and the United States. If we have to wait until the next president is sworn in to revisit this nuclear weapons agreement, then the next president better be someone who knows how to negotiate and who will do what is best for the United States.<br /> <br /> When I am elected president, I will renegotiate with Iran — right after I enable the immediate release of our American prisoners and ask Congress to impose new sanctions that stop Iran from having the ability to sponsor terrorism around the world.<br /> <br /> In fact, if I am elected, I am sure the prisoners will be released before my taking office.<br /> We will approach other nations and make it clear that we will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.<br /> <br /> We will use all the tools of power available, hopefully avoiding direct action. But make no mistake, a Trump presidency will demonstrate the will to do whatever is necessary to protect the interests of the United States, Israel and its allies.<br /> <br /> My opposition to the war in Iraq is well documented. I was against the war from the very beginning, all the way back in 2004. I had the vision and foresight to understand that Iraq and Iran were equal powers, and that our takeover of Iraq, when there was no real evidence of weapons of mass destruction, would be catastrophic for the entire region, enabling Iran and other forces to become a more dangerous threat than Saddam Hussein ever thought of being.<br /> <br /> We now have the Islamic State and the threat of nuclear weapons from Iran, both a direct result of the shortsighted incompetence of those in Washington during the war in Iraq and long before.<br /> <br /> Negotiating from a position of strength is important. Having the will to follow through is fundamental. A Trump presidency will force the Iranians back to the bargaining table to make a much better deal. A Trump presidency will make America great again.<br /> <br /> <b>Businessman Donald J. Trump is seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.</b><br /> <br /> In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the Opinion front page.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">usatoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Donald Trump "Amateur hour with the Iran nuclear deal"

Donald Trump "Amateur hour with the Iran nuclear deal" It is hard to believe a president of the United States would actually put...

Read more »

Android gets record 87.5% of smartphone market: survey

Google’s Android operating system captured a record-high 87.5% of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, a research firm said.<br /> <br /> The survey released by Strategy Analytics found Android’s share increase from 84.1% in the same period a year ago, while Apple’s iOS saw its share slip to 12.1% from 13.6%.<br /> <br /> “Android’s leadership of the global smartphone market looks unassailable at the moment,” said Strategy Analytics’ Woody Oh.<br /> <br /> “Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide.”<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXnthkU0TDfatZrdEzj6K-CEcVavuHFUr9hQvsqgvBL9gsp0ak2JgvfoH3KwM_D-shOq6nLwcTK80uAbDnI4OzlXi5ibJFTQFeW6GgWYtU02pexG3p-vHSIa98GhrvDBTTb_8AqBi4VfK/s1600/Google%25E2%2580%2599s+Android.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Google’s Android" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXnthkU0TDfatZrdEzj6K-CEcVavuHFUr9hQvsqgvBL9gsp0ak2JgvfoH3KwM_D-shOq6nLwcTK80uAbDnI4OzlXi5ibJFTQFeW6GgWYtU02pexG3p-vHSIa98GhrvDBTTb_8AqBi4VfK/s400/Google%25E2%2580%2599s+Android.jpg" title="Google’s Android" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Oh added that the dominance of Android poses challenges for Google, which offers the system for free to manufacturers.<br /> <br /> “The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of manufacturers, few Android device vendors make profits, and Google’s new Pixel range is attacking its own hardware partners that made Android popular in the first place,” he said.<br /> <br /> The report said global smartphone shipments grew six percent from a year ago to 375.4 million in the quarter, the fastest growth rate for a year.<br /> <br /> According to the survey, the market share for other operating systems including Windows and BlackBerry fell to a minuscule 0.3% from 2.3% last year.<br /> <br /> “BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone have all but disappeared due to strategic shifts, while (Samsung’s) Tizen and other emerging platforms softened as a result of limited product portfolios and modest developer support,” said Neil Mawston, executive director of the research firm.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">japantoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Android gets record 87.5% of smartphone market: survey

Google’s Android operating system captured a record-high 87.5% of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, a research firm said. ...

Read more »

Tsunami simulation drill

<b><a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/japan">Japan </a>held an annual drill Friday to prepare the disaster-prone country for a major earthquake and tsunami, a day before World Tsunami Awareness Day.</b><br /> <br /> While the government tested its system for sending emergency bulletins warning people of an impending massive quake, more than 400,000 people in Wakayama Prefecture took part in a drill to protect themselves during an enormous temblor.<br /> <br /> According to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.N. resolution in 2015 to declare a World Tsunami Awareness Day derived from the “Inamura no Hi” anecdote about a villager in the western Japanese prefecture who on Nov. 5, 1854, warned his community of an approaching tsunami by setting fire to his rice sheaves.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjHKewVGbCY_oMQZulP0eGYQdB0JMgSHwvysRhmm0nkzy67Lh64uHDBhGT9VA6QgQujmKCiRJ1Mtr7SvxfuSDka6vIsdMaZnExudFWqJu-JwAJXyGzxOqiP6B2QXx5G7Jt3YvunSSD_3Z/s1600/tsunami-simulation-drill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tsunami simulation drill" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjHKewVGbCY_oMQZulP0eGYQdB0JMgSHwvysRhmm0nkzy67Lh64uHDBhGT9VA6QgQujmKCiRJ1Mtr7SvxfuSDka6vIsdMaZnExudFWqJu-JwAJXyGzxOqiP6B2QXx5G7Jt3YvunSSD_3Z/s400/tsunami-simulation-drill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> In the drill to quickly pass on information regarding an impending quake to local governments and companies across the country, some local governments used their wireless systems to automatically broadcast the received information through speakers.<br /> <br /> However, the wireless systems of at least three local governments malfunctioned and failed to make automatic broadcasts.<br /> <br /> In the city of Kumamoto in southwestern Japan, middle school and high school students and their teachers took part in a quake preparedness drill in the wake of a series of major quakes that hit the area in April.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">japantoday.com</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Tsunami simulation drill

Japan held an annual drill Friday to prepare the disaster-prone country for a major earthquake and tsunami, a day before World Tsunami Aware...

Read more »

INDONESIA’S president urged protesters rioting in Jakarta today to return to their homes, lamenting the “chaos” in the capital as gangs of hard line Muslims torched police cars and attacked officers.

<b>The violence — just metres from the presidential palace and city hall — marred an otherwise peacefully rally yesterday in which 50,000 people marched against <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/world">Jakarta </a>governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian accused of insulting Islam.</b><br /> The rally turned ugly as night fell and thousands of hardliners clashed with police, setting vehicles ablaze and hurling bottles and rocks at officers, injuring several.<br /> Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and truncheons but it took hours to quell the violence, which later spilt over into a poor neighbourhood in Jakarta’s north.<br /> An elderly man died but his cause of death was not yet known, Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono told AFP.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGi-sRlroDgW8eUIjxTMk94kd7dHnMhiFklUSkM8B2L-BtBH1gZYFbRjVKFDrqTWjIqlgrjZH-iq3JBIT1R7O6K5tfF9IxGrNgMIjHiAgKhifaqdycnpivfJgVZ6ETogHPFkM-F5KCg4HO/s1600/Protesters+use+sticks+to+attack+riot+police+during+a+clash+outside+the+presidential+palace+in+Jakarta%252C+Indonesia..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGi-sRlroDgW8eUIjxTMk94kd7dHnMhiFklUSkM8B2L-BtBH1gZYFbRjVKFDrqTWjIqlgrjZH-iq3JBIT1R7O6K5tfF9IxGrNgMIjHiAgKhifaqdycnpivfJgVZ6ETogHPFkM-F5KCg4HO/s400/Protesters+use+sticks+to+attack+riot+police+during+a+clash+outside+the+presidential+palace+in+Jakarta%252C+Indonesia..jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> In a brief statement just after midnight, President Joko Widodo — flanked by senior officials including Indonesia’s military chief, security minister and national police chief — regretted the peaceful march descending into violence.<br /> “People should have been dispersed but it ended up in chaos,” he told reporters at the palace.<br /> “I ask the protesters to go home, and let law enforcement do their job in a fair way.”<br /> The protest was triggered by accusations that Purnama, better known by his nickname Ahok, insulted Islam by criticising opponents who used Koranic references to attack him ahead of an election in February.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLwITJZsJ92_fpbfVgOtndVToNbcqzvD9GtLsQDpZN_xC54H3jcJTScv18tWl8E1UQr2gOGjwSO8jKC4tn8C24Ps5vLiTyhp3MXnG7W-SWn5kgEiEeYuvWxmJKeYXI1Cd8naquJWOkjyq/s1600/Muslim+protesters+chant+slogans+near+burning+police+trucks+during+a+clash+outside+the+presidential+palace+in+Jakarta%252C+Indonesia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLwITJZsJ92_fpbfVgOtndVToNbcqzvD9GtLsQDpZN_xC54H3jcJTScv18tWl8E1UQr2gOGjwSO8jKC4tn8C24Ps5vLiTyhp3MXnG7W-SWn5kgEiEeYuvWxmJKeYXI1Cd8naquJWOkjyq/s400/Muslim+protesters+chant+slogans+near+burning+police+trucks+during+a+clash+outside+the+presidential+palace+in+Jakarta%252C+Indonesia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Purnama apologised for the remarks, but his opponents have built a groundswell of support calling for his arrest and incarceration under Indonesia’s tough blasphemy laws.<br /> Hardliners have called for his death and promised yesterday’s turnout in Jakarta would eclipse a similar rally last month that drew 10,000 chanting demonstrators to the streets.<br /> Anger spread beyond the capital, with solidarity marches also held across Java and in cities as far away as Makassar in Indonesia’s east.<br /> Authorities took no chances in the lead up to the much-hyped Jakarta rally, deploying 18,000 officers and extra soldiers across the capital amid fears that radical elements could infiltrate the march.<br /> The demonstration appeared to be dying down by dusk, but the situation turned hostile by nightfall as hardliners and riot police engaged in skirmishes.<br /> By late yesterday the unrest in the city centre had largely been quelled but flared up in another area. Footage aired on Indonesian broadcaster TVOne showed what appeared to be looting at a convenience store in the same neighbourhood.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-HeOuIzj4LjDMK6UOVtE93SZV6NBM6MdjVeyzhrpogOM2kYfbk9dnHy4rDQS6gs6OoyUnK7EkGyKI_qo5teuJLMU22D0qa73j1MZ9818rFVXS8l61abPmbwnFSz6XlwTz3W5D3WP8IeQ9/s1600/Tired+Indonesian+policemen+take+a+break+as+they+face+off+against+Muslim+protesters+near+the+presidential+palace+during+clashes+after+a+rally+against+governor+Basuki+Tjahaja+Purnama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-HeOuIzj4LjDMK6UOVtE93SZV6NBM6MdjVeyzhrpogOM2kYfbk9dnHy4rDQS6gs6OoyUnK7EkGyKI_qo5teuJLMU22D0qa73j1MZ9818rFVXS8l61abPmbwnFSz6XlwTz3W5D3WP8IeQ9/s400/Tired+Indonesian+policemen+take+a+break+as+they+face+off+against+Muslim+protesters+near+the+presidential+palace+during+clashes+after+a+rally+against+governor+Basuki+Tjahaja+Purnama.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Widodo — who met this week with religious and political leaders to issue a unified call for calm — blamed “political actors” for fanning the violence, without elaborating.<br /> He reassured protesters that legal proceedings into Purnama’s alleged transgressions would be concluded “quickly and transparently”.<br /> Indonesia is home to the world’s biggest Muslim population, where a vast majority practise a moderate form of Islam.<br /> source: <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">news.com.au</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

INDONESIA’S president urged protesters rioting in Jakarta today to return to their homes, lamenting the “chaos” in the capital as gangs of hard line Muslims torched police cars and attacked officers.

The violence — just metres from the presidential palace and city hall — marred an otherwise peacefully rally yesterday in which 50,000 peopl...

Read more »

US election could go to deadlocked Supreme Court

<b>WHAT happens if America wakes up the morning after the presidential election and finds the result is still in doubt?</b><br /> What if the outcome hinges on a razor-thin margin in just one or two states?<br /> This is the ultimate nightmare scenario. It could lead to weeks of uncertainty, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both refusing to concede and ending up in court.<br /> That might sound far fetched, but it's happened before. In 2000, the result of the election was up in the air until December 12, more than a month after the votes were cast. It was only settled by the US Supreme Court, which effectively gave the presidency to George W. Bush in a contentious 5-4 vote.<br /> The court case in 2000 revolved around the crucial swing state of Florida, which Mr Bush had seemingly won by just a few hundred votes. His opponent, Al Gore, demanded a manual recount, and the case eventually made its way to the country's highest court.<br /> If that happens again this time, there will be an extra twist. Due to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, the Supreme Court is currently missing a member, so there are only eight justices - raising the possibility of a tied 4-4 ruling.<br /> That would leave a lower federal or state court ruling in place, with no definitive judgment from the Supreme Court and no real chance of a gracious concession from either candidate.<br /> “It would be Bush v. Gore, with a twist,” said one election law expert, law professor Richard Hasen at the University of California at Irvine.<br /> “I call it the nightmare scenario,” said University of Kentucky law professor Joshua Douglas.<br /> Sixteen years ago, the court was divided along ideological lines. It voted 5-4 on whether to get involved in the case at all, and then voted the same way to stop Florida’s state court-ordered recount and hand Mr Bush the election.<br /> The five conservative justices appointed by Republican presidents sided with the Republican nominee, Mr Bush, while the four more liberal justices appointed by Democrats would have ruled for the Democrat, Mr Gore. With Justice Scalia gone, the court is deadlocked, with four conservative justices and four liberal ones.<br /> The odds of history repeating itself in Florida or elsewhere are long, but it’s hard to discount any possibility, however remote, in a campaign that already has seen Democratic lawsuits alleging voter suppression and Republican claims the election will be rigged.<br /> The reason a tied Supreme Court vote is even possible stems from another aspect of this unusual election year, the Senate Republicans’ refusal to act on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland as Justice Scalia's replacement.<br /> Any decision to seek a recount or otherwise contest the election results would depend on the margin in any one state and its potential for affecting the national outcome. In 2000, neither Mr Bush nor Mr Gore could muster an Electoral College majority of 270 votes without Florida.<br /> “For candidates who lose by a fraction of a percent, even up to 1.5 percent, they will at least explore their options for seeking a recount or challenging the results in a particular state,” said Michael Morley, a law professor at Barry University in Orlando, Florida.<br /> If an initial recount didn't settle things, a lawsuit could follow, with appeals possible all the way to the Supreme Court.<br /> At this point, it’s impossible to know who might go to court and in which state, what the issue might be and who might benefit if justices were evenly divided. A tie is a win for the person who already has prevailed in the lower court.<br /> But for some who already are dismayed about the extended Supreme Court vacancy since Justice Scalia’s death, a tie would have broad implications beyond the election.<br /> “I worry about a 4-4 tie because it would undermine the court’s legitimacy,” Prof Douglas said.<br /> A Supreme Court appeal also would raise another delicate question. Would Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg participate after the controversial comments she made about Donald Trump in July?<br /> She told AP then that she didn’t want to think about the possibility of Trump being elected, and later called him a “faker” in an interview with CNN. Soon afterward, she said her comments were ill-advised and apologized.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaNxFvj3Rbp9jGVL9CS2095im3WIMVTcefB8OTFaoT2uXN7If1Ug-XCgvrQFVWDJUig9uHi3sn5SaWT6mr_0_OkqY6CcC5I5S-X8lz9eP8lzIlN8826s2dKVkmT_fDq4L-e1Ux4A-_saR/s1600/The+Supreme+Court.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaNxFvj3Rbp9jGVL9CS2095im3WIMVTcefB8OTFaoT2uXN7If1Ug-XCgvrQFVWDJUig9uHi3sn5SaWT6mr_0_OkqY6CcC5I5S-X8lz9eP8lzIlN8826s2dKVkmT_fDq4L-e1Ux4A-_saR/s400/The+Supreme+Court.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Federal law requires a judge to be recused from any case in which their impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” But at Supreme Court level, Ginsberg would have to rule herself out. That seems unlikely.<br /> Let's hope the election isn't too close.<br /> source:<a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/">news.com.au</a><br /> <b>MiKa</b>

US election could go to deadlocked Supreme Court

WHAT happens if America wakes up the morning after the presidential election and finds the result is still in doubt? What if the outcome hi...

Read more »

Clinton accuses Trump of bullying women US election 2016

<b>Democratic nominee <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/today" target="_blank">Hillary Clinton</a> has stepped up her attacks on rival <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/today" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>, labelling him a "bully" for criticising women for their looks.</b><br /> Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump had a 30-year history of "demeaning, degrading, insulting and assaulting" women.<br /> Meanwhile, Mr Trump has branded Mrs Clinton "corrupt" and said she would "destroy American healthcare forever".<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzidzkk7PioT8zSECUN__VC7GF56e43Nn2VIEw7-oo9DCdscsfhN7vK8oc3tFbAT9nRNX3D3ZcRZyD1186S7b6AbxhuebcLsaL8BnYWKyFvrc3ziMoeo4mmfVP9xeXSIS3ivcmhzakgQY/s1600/Clinton+accuses+Trump+of+bullying+women+US+election+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzidzkk7PioT8zSECUN__VC7GF56e43Nn2VIEw7-oo9DCdscsfhN7vK8oc3tFbAT9nRNX3D3ZcRZyD1186S7b6AbxhuebcLsaL8BnYWKyFvrc3ziMoeo4mmfVP9xeXSIS3ivcmhzakgQY/s400/Clinton+accuses+Trump+of+bullying+women+US+election+2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> He told early Clinton voters with "buyer's remorse" they could change their vote in four states.<br /> The clashes came as the fractious contest entered its final week, with the opinion polls appearing to show the race getting tighter.<br /> Speaking in Florida - and appearing on stage with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who has previously claimed Mr Trump once called her "Miss Piggy" after she put on weight - Mrs Clinton said she had "learned way back in elementary school that it's not OK to insult people".<br /> For her part, Ms Machado called Mr Trump "cruel" and said she had spent years "sick, fighting back eating disorders" as a result of the Republican nominee's comments.<br /> Echoing Mrs Clinton's comments at a rally in Ohio, President Barack Obama said the Republican candidate had spent a "lifetime calling women pigs and dogs and slobs".<br /> The focus on Mr Trump's treatment of women coincided with a new TV advert put out by the Democrats which showed archive footage of Mr Trump making remarks such as: "Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing."<br /> The Republican nominee has faced a string of sexual harassment allegations in the last month, after a 2005 video tape that saw him making obscene remarks about women emerged.<br /> He has denied any wrongdoing and threatened to sue those involved after the election.<br /> Donald Trump focused his attacks on the Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, which he believes is becoming increasingly unpopular with low income families he needs to vote for him, amid reports of higher premiums and less choice.<br /> Appearing on stage with his running mate Mike Pence and Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Mr Trump called Obamacare "a catastrophe" and said he would immediately convene a special session of Congress to repeal and replace it if he becomes president.<br /> He also urged early voters who had "made a mistake" by voting for Mrs Clinton to change their ballots before Thursday's deadline.<br /> Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania allow early vote switches but the practice is extremely rare, according to the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College.<br /> Both sides also continued to spar over the recent revelation that FBI investigators are again probing Mrs Clinton's email practices on Tuesday.<br /> The revelation has put Democrats on the defensive and hurt Mrs Clinton's plans to promote a positive message over the campaign's final week.<br /> source: bbc.com<br /> <b>MiKa</b>

Clinton accuses Trump of bullying women US election 2016

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has stepped up her attacks on rival Donald Trump , labelling him a "bully" for criticising wom...

Read more »

the best costume at the Obamas' Halloween party for kids

<b>At the annual trick-or-treat Halloween event for kids at the White House last night, a cheeky young guest came dressed as a lame duck, giving US President Barack Obama a not-so pleasant reminder that that's what he is now, effectively, as America heads to the polls next week.</b><br /> The US constitution famously doesn't allow Presidents to hold office for more than two terms. This means that a second-term President is often considered ineffectual in the last year of their office. That is, a lame duck. Obama has been battling that tag for months now.<br /> In pictures of yesterday's event posted on Twitter, Obama is seen sportingly standing next to the 'lame duck'. His rueful expression, though, conveys more than any words can, even for the brilliant speaker that he is.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAo1cpktMTAoWcLZKCY-we_YpFnLfDyuvPUTyte45FVPqiQExZtNHXa_dVrCalerfVAhQqjHfl39B7yZhUsZO5RgPnMKZpI4YBBL0XdfgITD_Y12j5PjdE1uT0OaXR-GIq1QawXSBQFoU/s1600/he+best+costume+at+the+Obamas%2527+Halloween+party+for+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAo1cpktMTAoWcLZKCY-we_YpFnLfDyuvPUTyte45FVPqiQExZtNHXa_dVrCalerfVAhQqjHfl39B7yZhUsZO5RgPnMKZpI4YBBL0XdfgITD_Y12j5PjdE1uT0OaXR-GIq1QawXSBQFoU/s400/he+best+costume+at+the+Obamas%2527+Halloween+party+for+kids.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> The US President didn't stay morose for long though, as soon after, it was time to dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller, something he and Michelle Obama threw themselves into with great gusto.<br /> More than 4,000 people were expected to visit the White House for Halloween, including students from District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia schools, according to the White House, reported thehill.com.<br /> The president and first lady handed out a variety of treats to children, including White House Hershey Kisses and M&Ms, cookies and kettle corn. The snack list also included fruit bars, an homage to Michelle Obama's healthy eating initiative.

the best costume at the Obamas' Halloween party for kids

At the annual trick-or-treat Halloween event for kids at the White House last night, a cheeky young guest came dressed as a lame duck, givin...

Read more »

what we know "The battle for Mosul"

<b>Iraq's military says security forces have entered jihadist-held <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mosul </a>for the first time since 2014. </b>Here is what we know so far about the country's biggest military operation in years:<br /> Iraqi army forces entered the Judaidat Al-Mufti area in southeast Mosul on Tuesday, the military announced, while forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service retook a village and a local television station on the city's eastern outskirts.<br /> North of the city, soldiers retook several villages as they neared the edge of Mosul, while Kurdish forces have also gained ground north and east of the city in recent days.<br /> The forces on the southern front — including the Rapid Response Division, CTS's interior ministry counterpart, as well as police — started the farthest away and have the longest distance still to go, with more than 10 kilometres (six miles) between them and the city.<br /> The Hashed al-Shaabi, an umbrella group for pro-government paramilitary forces that is dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, are fighting southwest of Mosul in an operation aimed at retaking the town of Tal Afar, which lies between the city and Syria.<br /> They have gained ground in recent days, but the western approach to Mosul remains largely open for now.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkUqDg04qrHltAkCrIS5w8E5DevR33I9IJ_T_Zqw4vEiexiMYLpgfCfqNHKdoi_XCiK9m2Hb4dOlfO4EhljoctBQsTjKAU94V7nDGkbmZ-bcI5sI8xxRYZh_tovJINg345bdKLafrKLzF/s1600/The+battle+for+Mosul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkUqDg04qrHltAkCrIS5w8E5DevR33I9IJ_T_Zqw4vEiexiMYLpgfCfqNHKdoi_XCiK9m2Hb4dOlfO4EhljoctBQsTjKAU94V7nDGkbmZ-bcI5sI8xxRYZh_tovJINg345bdKLafrKLzF/s400/The+battle+for+Mosul.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> <a href="http://newsfeedmika.blogspot.com/search/label/world" target="_blank"><b>The US</b></a>-led anti-IS coalition is carrying out air strikes against the jihadists as well as targeting them with artillery. It has hit IS with nearly 3,000 bombs, missiles, rockets and shells since the drive for Mosul began on October 17.<br /> But some Iraqi commanders have still complained that there are not enough strikes, and said they want the coalition to step up its campaign.<br /> Most of the more than 7,000 coalition military personnel in Iraq are in advisory or training roles, but there are also those carrying out artillery strikes, as well as special forces personnel who have carried out raids against IS.<br /> IS has targeted attacking Iraqi forces with suicide bombers, mortar rounds and small arms fire, in addition to bombs hidden in houses, buildings and roads that make up an integral part of the jihadists' defences and still cause casualties even after they withdraw.<br /> Inside the territory they still control, the jihadists are responding with the same brutality that has been the hallmark of their more than two-year rule.<br /> The United Nations said it has received reports that IS has executed nearly 300 people in the Mosul area since October 25, and also seized tens of thousands of people for use as human shields.<br /> IS attempted to transfer some 25,000 civilians from the Hamam al-Ali area south of Mosul to places in and around the city on Monday, but most of the vehicles IS brought were prevented from reaching Mosul because of patrolling coalition aircraft, the UN said.<br /> The jihadists have also staged diversionary attacks in the northern city of Kirkuk and the western town of Rutba in attempts to draw attention and forces away from the Mosul theatre.<br /> As Iraqi forces advance, thousands of civilians have fled IS-held areas to escape both jihadist rule and impending fighting — a number that could increase exponentially if people leave Mosul en masse.

what we know "The battle for Mosul"

Iraq's military says security forces have entered jihadist-held Mosul for the first time since 2014. Here is what we know so far about t...

Read more »

churches, chapels destroyed as magnitude-6.6 tremor hits medieval town

<b>An earthquake in Italy on Sunday struck the medieval walled town of Norcia as nuns, monks and priests were heading to morning prayer services, giving them just enough time to flee as the walls around them plunged to the ground.</b><br /> The quake hit the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months.<br /> <br /> The magnitude-6.6 earthquake caused extensive damage but no fatalities, despite registering much higher than the earthquake which stuck on August 24 and killed almost 300 people.<br /> <br /> Weakened by repeated powerful jolts in recent weeks, many of Norcia's churches, monasteries and chapels were wrecked.<br /> <br /> "We thought it was the end of everything," said 74-year-old Sister Maria Raffaella Buoso after being evacuated from the Monastery of the Poor Clares of Santa Maria della Pace.<br /> The United States Geological Survey said the quake was centred 68 kilometres east-southeast of Perugia at a depth of 1.5 kilometres.<br /> <br /> Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville told the ABC that at that depth, the earthquake was very shallow and had the potential to cause anything nearby to be catastrophically damaged.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkF_4UT6QudoPogFQb2Rljx2e1bHzSvYj00r_x1SUgAsyfIKfyNVbFq4XKyl_nNN4KpOEFHzPKz8nloLgZfR-pbB9-zQ3xlf1YefrGhvisX-PCEQMi-MqsSC1Oaz9EoVZLoADwcgYqa2T/s1600/Nuns+stand+next+a+partially+collapsed+wall+following+earthquake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkF_4UT6QudoPogFQb2Rljx2e1bHzSvYj00r_x1SUgAsyfIKfyNVbFq4XKyl_nNN4KpOEFHzPKz8nloLgZfR-pbB9-zQ3xlf1YefrGhvisX-PCEQMi-MqsSC1Oaz9EoVZLoADwcgYqa2T/s400/Nuns+stand+next+a+partially+collapsed+wall+following+earthquake.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> "If it's a deep earthquake at 10, 20 or even 30 kilometres, the seismic waves have to travel through more earth before they reach the surface, but at such a shallow depth there is a lot less to dampen the waves effect on the buildings," he said.<br /> That there were no reports of fatalities was largely due to the fact that thousands had left their homes after the earlier temblors.<br /> <br /> Some 20 people suffered minor injuries.<br /> <br /> Premier Matteo Renzi pledged that wrecked homes, churches and businesses would rise again, saying they were part of Italy's national identity.<br /> <br /> "We will rebuild everything," Mr Renzi said.<br /> "We are dealing with marvellous territories, territories of beauty."<br /> Norcia's historic Basilica of St Benedict was among the buildings destroyed.<br /> <br /> The Monks of Norcia tweeted images of the damage and said people were trapped in the town's main square, with fears nearby buildings might collapse.<br /> <br /> "Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits end," Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia said.<br /> "It's as if the whole city fell down," Norcia city assessor Guiseppina Perla told the ANSA news agency.<br /> <br /> The destruction of the Norcia basilica is the single most significant loss of Italy's artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.<br /> <br /> The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.<br /> <br /> During his Sunday blessing Pope Francis offered his prayers to those affected.<br /> <br /> "I'm praying for the injured and the families who have suffered the most damage, as well as for rescue and first-aid workers."<br /> <br /> Department head Fabrizio Curcio said the agency was using helicopters to tend to the injured and assess damage.<br /> <br /> 'It's as if the whole city fell down'<br /> Priests advised to hold outdoor mass<br /> <br /> Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Umbria, advised parish priests not to hold mass inside churches.<br /> <br /> He told priests in the Umbria region to hold mass outdoors, the ANSA news agency said.<br /> <br /> The quake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula and was felt strongly in the capital Rome.<br /> <br /> Marco Rinaldi, Mayor of quake-hit Ussita, north of Norcia, said a huge cloud of smoke erupted from the crumbled buildings.<br /> <br /> "It's a disaster, a disaster," he told the ANSA news agency.<br /> https://twitter.com/maryshovlain/status/792630878421803013

churches, chapels destroyed as magnitude-6.6 tremor hits medieval town

An earthquake in Italy on Sunday struck the medieval walled town of Norcia as nuns, monks and priests were heading to morning prayer service...

Read more »