World share indexes have fallen after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Tuesday held off taking new measures to calm markets. BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank would consider fresh steps if borrowing costs spike in the future, but opted against further action now.
China unveiled plans to build more aircraft carriers after commissioning its first last year, as the country extends its influence amid territorial disputes with neighbours including Japan and Vietnam. China already has the world’s second-biggest military budget after the US.
The Bank of Japan announced on Thursday the world's most aggressive monetary stimulus today, promising to inject about 1.4 trillion dollars into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the Yen reeling and bond yields to record lows.
Japan’s declining appetite for whale meat is nothing new; but is the country also losing patience with its whaling industry? The answer apparently is yes, according to a new report that highlights the huge cost to the Japanese taxpayer of sustaining its whaling fleet. Without government subsidies, the industry would collapse, it said.
By Gwynne Dyer - Chinese survey vessels go into the waters around the disputed islands and Japanese patrol ships tail them much too closely. Twice last month Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft flew into the airspace around the Japanese-controlled islands and Tokyo scrambled F-15 fighters to meet them. On the second occasion, China then sent fighters too. Can these people be serious?
Interest in the Falkland Islands’ dispute with Argentina, assimilated to the current Senkakus/Diayous islands situation in Asia apparently has not been limited to the quotes made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the Japanese Parliament but also in another minor experience precisely in the Falklands and involving the Editor of the Penguin News, the local weekly newspaper of the Islands.
Japan's prime minister on Thursday quoted comments by former British premier Margaret Thatcher about the Falklands War with Argentina as he spoke about Tokyo's acrimonious islands’ dispute with China.
Japan's fisheries minister said Tuesday his country will never stop hunting whales, despite fierce criticism from other nations and violent clashes at sea with militant conservationists.
The good news for the Chinese leadership is that their fiscal policies have paid off, producing both the world's second largest economy and the globe's leading creditor nation in less than a generation.
Miniature cameras attached to a penguin's head have given Japanese scientists a bird's eye view of the creature's incredible underwater hunting skills. Using video cameras weighing just 33 grams and equipped with accelerometers, depth gauges and thermometers, researchers were able to see exactly what the Adelie penguin sees when it goes out to catch krill and other prey in its native Antarctica.