RUSSIA: The Next Treaties

December 31, 2010

Even after the herculean effort required to win Senate ratification of the New Start treaty, President Obama has no time to rest. The treaty, which mandates modest cuts in long-range nuclear weapons, is on its way to approval by the Duma, the lower house of Parliament in Russia. Once that happens, Washington and Moscow should quickly begin discussing other, more far-reaching agreements.

Two decades after the end of the cold war, the United States and Russia still have many thousands of nuclear weapons. The two countries cannot credibly argue for restraining the nuclear ambitions of Iran, North Korea and other wannabes unless they keep working to bring their own numbers down...

View The New York Times Editorial...

SEOUL, S. KOREA: Kim Yun-jin to Strike Bell on New Year's Eve

Actress Kim Yun-jin will take part in the New Year's Eve bell ringing ceremony at Bosingak Bell Pavilion in Jongno, Seoul at midnight on Friday.

Kim was the first Korean star to make a career in Hollywood, and became a worldwide celebrity with the success of the popular TV series "Lost."

View The Chosun Ilbo Article...

N. KOREA: North Korea bends a little to air British movie

From left, Shaznay Lewis, Keira Knightley, and Parminder Nagra arrive at the 2002 premiere of the film, "Bend it Like Beckham," in London. The three actresses played soccer players. (Max Nash, Associated Press / April 11, 2002)

Researchers try to parse the meaning of the secretive regime's decision to air a heavily edited version of 'Bend It Like Beckham,' about a young soccer player pulled between the sport and her South Asian family's expectations.

5:15 PM PST, December 31, 2010

By John M. Glionna and Ethan Kim, Los Angeles Times - Reporting from Seoul

The curtain that shrouds North Korean culture and daily life opened briefly this week with reports that state television in Pyongyang had broadcast the British soccer film "Bend It Like Beckham."

In one of the world's most reclusive nations, Western movies and TV fare are largely verboten, especially a film that deals with such racy subject matters as intercultural relationships, homosexuality and religion.

But censors took care of that: The 2002 movie starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley as young soccer players and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as their coach was edited down to one hour, leaving little more than scenes of a sport that is beloved to most North Koreans. Then it was back to the wooden fare of crop-yield documentaries and paeans to the regime's strongman, Kim Jong Il...


View Los Angles Times Article...

JAPAN: For Japan, 2010 was a year to forget

By Malcolm Foster

TOKYO —
Japan has been overtaken by China as the world’s No. 2 economy. Its flagship company, Toyota, recalled more than 10 million vehicles in an embarrassing safety crisis. Its fourth prime minister resigned in three years, and the government remains unable to jolt an economy entering its third decade of stagnation.

For once-confident Japan, 2010 may well mark a symbolic milestone in its slide from economic giant to what experts see as its likely destiny: a second-tier power with some standout companies but limited global influence.

As Japanese drink up at year-end parties known as “bonen-kai,” or “forget-the-year gatherings,” this is one many will be happy to forget...

View Japan Today Article...

FROM HEATHER: Apology for Unplanned Hiatus and New Year's Resolution

My apologies for taking an unanticipated hiatus from blogging the latter half of 2010 due to some medical issues.  However, I am now as healthy as ever and looking forward to resuming my regular postings in the New Year.

I hope you will find the articles I share of interest and will post your own comments as well.

Happy New Year!

明けましておめでとうございます

新年快乐    

С новым годом

새해 복 많이

S. KOREA: Happy New Year from Seoul

Crowds gather in Seoul to watch the traditional striking of the bell at Bosingak as the official start of 2011.


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