JAPAN'S Samurai Spirit: Progeny of Japan's Warrior Elite Retain Edge Today

A new study finds that people carrying surnames associated with Japan’s feudal ruling class tend to be overrepresented among those high up on the social ladder today.

http://feedly.com/e/YWMOxW9f

N. KOREA: US urges N Korea missile 'restraint'

The US urges North Korea to exercise restraint and avoid provocative acts after it fired two short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

http://feedly.com/e/G93BTVPN

MALAYSIA: Dengue Deaths Soar in Malaysia

Reeling from a severe dengue outbreak, Malaysia has launched a community-driven neighborhood cleaning program to destroy breeding sites of Aedes mosquitoes that are responsible for spreading the virus.

http://feedly.com/e/AV1uH1jO

RUSSIA Raises Interest Rates as Rouble Plummets

The Russian rouble dropped to a new all-time low against both the dollar and euro after the Russian Central Bank hiked interest rates to stem the decline as concerns mount over an expanded invasion of the Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26414285

CHINA: Separatists blamed for knife attack; 33 dead

CHINA: Authorities blamed Xinjiang separatists, whose members are mostly Muslim Uighurs, for a "slashing rampage" that killed twenty-nine people at a southern China train station on Saturday.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/2/separatists-blamedforchinaknifeattack33dead.html

NORTH KOREA Launches Two Missiles

North Korea launched two short-range missiles on Monday into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, in what analysts say is a protest to the ongoing South Korean-U.S. joint military exercises. The move is North Korea's second missile firing in a week.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304585004579415803423444282?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLE_Video_Top&mg=reno64-wsj

RUSSIA seizes Crimea region in Ukraine

Russian troops took over Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula on Sunday without firing a shot. The interim Ukrainian government mobilized its armed forces and called up reservists. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Ukrainian opposition's ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was a "seizure of power" that would end in "new blood." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to fly to Kiev on Tuesday to support Ukraine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/world/europe/kerry-warns-russia-of-possible-eviction-from-g-8.html?emc=edit_na_20140302&_r=1