THE KOREAS: The Torpedo Attack: Will North Korea Be Punished?

The front half of a sunken South Korean naval ship is lifted from waters near the disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea at Baengnyeong Island Yonhap News Agency

Wednesday, May. 19, 2010

By Bill Powell

More than a month after the mysterious incident, the South Korean Defense Ministry will present what a diplomatic source called "credible and extensive" evidence that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo at and sunk the Cheonan, a South Korean naval vessel operating in Seoul's own territorial waters. Forty-six sailors died as result of the attack.

What happens after that announcement — which will present the evidence that was gathered for more than a month by a team of international investigators — is decidedly less clear.

The question squarely on the table now for Seoul and its allies in Washington and Tokyo — not to mention North Korea's patron in Beijing — is straightforward: What price should North Korea pay in response to what appears to have been an act of war and a clear violation of the armistice agreement that has kept a tenuous peace on the peninsula since 1953? (See rare pictures of North Korea.)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will take up that question with her counterparts in China, Japan and then South Korea when she arrives on Friday for a visit to East Asia. Though South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has said that no option — military included — is off the table, analysts believe there is little chance of any retaliatory strike from Seoul. Even if Kim Jong Il and his generals in the North "fully understand who would be the ultimate loser" if a hot war on the peninsula suddenly broke out," as Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says, the potential cost of any escalation to the South remains too much to bear. So while there may be "genuine fury" amid the highest echelons of the South Korean government, as a Western diplomat said on Wednesday, Seoul also "knows well that it can't risk this getting out of hand. There is no appetite in South Korea for a war." (See how the world deals with North Korea's provocations.)

For the Obama Administration, the key issue going forward is whether the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the North (which started under the Bush Administration) are worth salvaging or whether the Cheonan attack renders them moot once and for all. (A State Department spokesman, with comical understatement, said on Tuesday that the North's "provocative actions" have "at times impeded progress on the six-party process.") Kim earlier this month visited Beijing for the first time since 2006, and according to China's official news agency, the Dear Leader said "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will work with China to create favorable conditions for restarting six-party talks." Since even that statement stopped well short of saying that Kim would return to the table, both the Americans and the Chinese must know that the six-party obsession must, at minimum, be put aside for a good long while. Seoul, with full American support, diplomatic sources say, will now go to the U.N. Security Council seeking a range of intensified sanctions against Pyongyang. "We have enough evidence [to do so]," South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan said on Tuesday. (See the rise of Kim Jong Il.)

How Beijing reacts to that effort will be critically important, since China remains North Korea's de facto economic lifeline. China accounts for fully one-third of North Korea's total external trade, and in the wake of sanctions enacted a year ago after Pyongyang's second nuclear test, it is thus "even more central to any effective sanctions effort," says Marcus Noland, a fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington.

"A cutoff of critical Chinese oil shipments, much less a complete trade embargo, would bring the country to its knees."

See pictures of North Koreans at the polls.

See 10 things to do in Seoul.

Which is why it's unlikely to happen. Beijing to date has never evinced any serious interest in bringing the economic hammer down on Pyongyang. It values stability over anything else, and the death of 46 South Korean sailors is unlikely to change that view. It took China a month, in fact, to offer Seoul its condolences after the attack. Moreover, Kim no doubt pleaded his case about the Cheonan attack during the Dear Leader's recent visit to Beijing. From the North's perspective, it was a strike in retaliation for another naval clash in November 2009 in the West Sea, when an undetermined number of North Korean sailors were killed. Pyongyang's military doctrine, North Korea watchers in Seoul say, has always stressed retaliation for anything that smacks of defeat in an individual skirmish, and indeed there have been South Korean media reports since the Cheonan sinking that those military officers who pulled it off have been promoted. China, says Cheong Seong-chang, a fellow at the Sejong Institute, will weigh carefully how detailed and convincing the evidence Seoul presents before deciding what kind of sanctions it will be willing to go along with at the U.N.

Seoul's options are limited, given how paltry economic ties between the Koreas are. It may choose to shutter the Kaesong special economic zone just across the border in North Korea, where more than 100 South Korean companies, mainly in light industry like textiles, have factories employing about 40,000 North Koreans. (Though even that move would be unpopular with the South Korean employers, who use the factories to compete with inexpensive Chinese imports.) (See pictures of China on the wild side.)

That means the U.S. needs to decide how much heavy lifting it will do beyond backing new U.N. sanctions. Plausibly, Washington could once again add North Korea to the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. President Bush took Pyongyang off the list in 2008. But arguably the most effective measure Washington could take would be for the Treasury Department to again go after any international financial institution that handles North Korean money — whether it be trade finance or funds laundered by senior leaders in Pyongyang — by cutting off their access entirely to the U.S. It was precisely this form of a sanction a few years ago — which centered on a Macao-based bank called Banco Delta Asia — that infuriated the North Koreans. So much so, in fact, that some analysts believe it led to the North's first major act of nuclear defiance: its initial test in the autumn of 2006. Cheong of the Sejong Institute believes that if the U.S. again seeks tough, targeted financial sanctions, the result will probably be the same: Pyongyang's third nuclear test.

He may be right. Such is the nature of trying to coerce Kim Jong Il into something remotely resembling acceptable behavior. Unless China decides that that day must come, it probably won't.

— With reporting by Stephen Kim / Seoul

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N. KOREA: Laura Ling tells Oprah she confessed to N. Korean captors

This was the scene last August when Laura Ling, left, reunited with her mother, Mary, husband Iain Clayton and sister Lisa following her release from nearly five months in captivity in North Korea.  By Jae C. Hong, AP

By Brooke Donald, Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — An American journalist who was imprisoned in North Korea for months after briefly crossing into the reclusive country while reporting on the sex trade said she told interrogators in a ploy for mercy that she was trying to overthrow the government.

In her first televised interview since her August release, Laura Ling said on The Oprah Winfrey Show that aired Tuesday that she was told the worst could happen if she didn't confess.

Ling said she drew suspicion because she worked for San Francisco-based Current TV, a media venture founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

"I knew that that was the confession they wanted to hear and I was told if you confess there may be forgiveness and if you're not frank, if you don't confess, then the worst could happen," Ling said.

"It was the most difficult decision to have to do that. I didn't know if I was sealing my fate," she said. "But I just had to trust that this was the right thing to do."

Ling and journalist Euna Lee, both of Los Angeles, were captured in March 2009. They acknowledge they briefly crossed into North Korea from China while reporting about North Korean women who were forced into the sex trade or arranged marriages when they defected to China.

They said they were seized by North Korean soldiers after they had already returned to Chinese soil.

After being left alone for a few minutes following their arrest, they managed to delete digital photos from their camera, damage video and eat their notes to protect sources. They then underwent separate interrogations aimed at learning why they were in the country.

They initially told the guards they were students but later confessed to being journalists for fear that lying would get them in more trouble. They were told North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would forgive them, as he was a compassionate man.

They spent the first few days of their captivity in a five-by-six foot jail cell. Ling was visited by a doctor to inspect wounds she received while trying to evade capture.

"There were no bars so you couldn't see out. And if they closed those slats, it just went completely dark," Ling said.

The women were moved to a Pyongyang guesthouse soon after, where Ling said conditions improved, but there were no showers and the power and water went out several times a day.

"I developed a system to wash where they would allow me to heat a kettle of water," she said. "I would mix it with some cold water and then I would scrub down and just splash it on me."

A couple months into their detainment, the women were convicted of illegal entry and "hostile acts" and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

Ling said she was petrified and tried to prepare herself for a long sentence, "but once I heard those words '12 years' come from the judge I could barely stand up right."

She said she spiraled into a deep depression, refused her meals and huddled in a dark corner of her room. She said she sought strength by thinking about other innocent people imprisoned.

"If these people are undergoing this then I can try to muster up the strength to get through it," she said.

Ling also said she was angry with herself and would slap and hit herself as punishment for putting her family through the ordeal. She thought she might be pregnant when she was captured then was crushed to learn she wasn't.

"I thought, I will never be able to have a family with my husband again," said Ling, who is now pregnant and due in June.

While detained, Ling was interrogated daily about her work, travels and family. She could occasionally watch television in the guards' quarters and received letters from her family. She was separated from Lee for all but six days of their five months of captivity.

The women were pardoned in early August after a landmark trip to Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton.

They are among four Americans detained by North Korea in less than a year for illegal entry.

Activist Robert Park of Arizona was expelled some 40 days after crossing into North Korea last Christmas. Aijalon Mahli Gomes of Boston remains imprisoned after being arrested Jan. 25 in North Korea. It's unclear why Gomes, who had been teaching in South Korea, crossed into the North.

Tensions between North and South are running high amid a dispute over joint economic projects and the mysterious March sinking of a South Korean warship and death of 46 sailors near the nation's western sea border.

Meanwhile, international negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons remain stalled. The United States is a participant in those talks.

Ling appeared on Winfrey's show with her sister, journalist Lisa Ling, who is a correspondent for the program. The women promoted their new book, Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home.

In the book, Lisa Ling describes a phone conversation she had with Gore the day she learned her sister had been captured. He warned her not to do or say anything that might inflame the North Koreans.

"The next forty-eight hours are crucial," he urged. "We're not dealing with a normal government, we have to be very, very careful."

Contributing: Associated Press Writer Caryn Rousseau in Chicago contributed to this report.

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CHINA: Sign Language: Happy zapping

Happy zapping

Location: Shenzhen Airport, China

Spotted by: Navjot Singh

JAPAN: IMF Urges Japan To Start Fiscal Reform Next Year

MAY 19, 2010, 8:40 A.M. ET

BY TAKASHI NAKAMICHI

TOKYO --The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday urged Japan's government to start fiscal rehabilitation from the next fiscal year beginning in April 2011, possibly by raising the nation's 5% consumption tax rate.

"With global scrutiny of public finances increasing, the need for early and credible fiscal adjustments has become critical," said James Gordon, senior advisor in the fund's Asia and Pacific Department.

"In our view, fiscal adjustment should start in (fiscal) 2011, beginning with a gradual increase in consumption tax to ...

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CHINA: Chinese girls freed from cellar in Wuhan after year-long imprisonment

Published: 12:33PM BST 19 May 2010

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai

The girls, aged 16 and 19, were discovered last Friday, naked and cuffed at the feet, in a secret chamber built underneath a home in the capital of Hubei province.

The 19-year-old, whose family home was just 600 feet from the prison, went missing in July last year, according to Beijing News.

Neither victim was named and no further details about their condition, or any abuse they may have suffered, were released.

The man suspected of kidnapping them was named as 39-year-old Zeng Xiangbao. He had already been detained by police a week before the discovery of the girls on an unrelated rape charge, according to the authorities.

The police said that if they had not discovered the cellar, the two girls could have starved to death after Mr Zeng's detention.

The girls were discovered after a man found a piece of paper in the street with their plea for help scrawled upon it, along with a phone number and a map.

The police said the two girls had tried to smuggle out similar notes on a number of occasions, writing them on the packaging of the instant noodles that they were fed by their captor.

The authorities said the case was being investigated. No charges have yet been filed against Mr Zeng.

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CHINA: State media: 13 hurt in latest China knife attack at college

BEIJING (AP) — At least five men armed with knives burst into the dormitory of a vocational college Wednesday and slashed nine students, one of them seriously, sparking new fears in a country on edge over a series of shocking rampages, many of them at schools.

Four students had been wounded in an earlier confrontation between the two groups, bringing the total injured to 13.

The pre-dawn attack took place in Haikou, the capital of the southern island province of Hainan, when five or six men burst into a dormitory at the Hainan Institute of Science and Technology and slashed the students, the China News Service reported.

It said eight were wounded slightly, while one's hand was cut off.

Two students remained in hospital with non-life threatening wounds, the reports said.

Because it was a vocational college, the students would have been much older than the children targeted in a string of attacks at schools across China in the last two months.

The reports said the violence began with a confrontation late Tuesday between some of the college's students eating at a food stall outside the school and men from the surrounding villages. Such schools usually attract students in their late teens and early twenties.

Four of the students were attacked with knives and police were called, but left after questioning students, the reports said. Villagers then called for reinforcements and attacked the school at about 2:30 a.m. (1830 GMT), the reports said.

A spokesman for the Hainan provincial government confirmed the report but said he had no additional information. The official Xinhua News Agency put the number of attackers at more than 10 and said they first assaulted a guard and disabled security cameras before rushing into two dormitories where lights remained on and hacking away apparently at random.

The attack follows five separate assaults by lone assailants against schoolchildren as young as three in the last two months that have left 17 dead and more than 50 wounded, including some adults.

The violence has resulted in a boost of security at schools across China, with nervous parents accompanying students to school and police and security guards posted at entrances.

While revenge was the apparent motive in the latest attack, previous rampages have involved apparently deranged people seeking to vent their rage on innocent victims with whom they had little or no connection.

Sociologists say those attacks reflect a failure to diagnose and treat mental illness, along with anger and frustration among people who feel victimized by China's high-stress, fast-changing society. Experts say the frequency of the attacks and choice of schoolchildren as the main victims suggest a copycat element.

In a similar incident, a cleaver-wielding man killed one woman and wounded five at a market in the southern province of Guangdong on Sunday before jumping to his death.

While the man appeared to have deliberately targeted women, it was not immediately clear what triggered the attack.

View USA Today article... Wed 5/19/2010 3:16 AM

View The Telegraph article... Wed 5/19/2010 5:32 AM

THE KOREAS: Today in Korean history

May 19

1442 -- King Sejong of Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) announces that his commissioned scholars have invented a rain gauge. The device, which measured the amount of rainfall using a rectangular vessel, was distributed across the country to help farmers forecast how much rain would fall in certain periods. The gauge is believed to be the world's first; the first pluviometer in the West was created in 1639 by Italian hydrologist Benedetto Castelli.

1879 -- The Joseon Dynasty opens the port of Wonsan to foreign countries for trade. The city later became part of southeastern North Korea.

1957 -- South Korea holds the Miss Korea pageant, its first beauty contest ever, in Seoul. The annual competition has since been the target of fierce criticism from a number of civic groups and women's organizations that have claimed it encourages an appearance-first mindset and degrades women by subjecting them to sexual exploitation.

1976 -- South Korea forms diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea.

1992 -- Kim Young-sam is chosen as the then ruling Democratic Liberal Party's presidential candidate for the December elections. Kim won the election and took office in February 1993 for a five-year term.

1997 -- The head of the then opposition National Congress for New Politics, Kim Dae-jung, is named as the party's candidate for the presidential election in December. Kim, who assumed the presidency in February 1998, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea.

2001 -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates Korea's traditional royal ritual honoring deceased kings and queens as a world cultural heritage. The ritual's music was also named a heritage.

2003 -- Chung Mong-hun, chairman of Hyundai Asan, is summoned by prosecutors for questioning over his alleged involvement in illicit payments to North Korea. The prosecution said Hyundai provided millions of dollars to the North before its leader agreed to hold a summit meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in June 2000.
   In return for the secret payment, Hyundai received permits to promote business projects in the North, prosecutors said. Chung committed suicide in August of that year.

View article…

THE KOREAS: S Korea minister says Pyongyang sank warship

Published: May 19 2010 08:11 | Last updated: May 19 2010 08:11

By Christian Oliver in Seoul

South Korea’s foreign minister on Wednesday blamed North Korea for torpedoing one of its warships, which sank on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives, a day before Seoul was due to make its formal response to the incident which has put a serious strain on relations.

The accusation by Yu Myung-hwan suggested that an official accusation from Seoul would be announced on Thursday, which would open the way for what the government vowed would be a “stern response”.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

US aims to raise pressure on N Korea - May-19

Seoul threatens to block N Korea’s TV soccer - May-12

Tensions take Koreans back to dark days - Apr-22

In depth: North Korea - Dec-08

China and N Korea in pledge on nuclear talks - May-07

Kim’s visit shows limits of Chinese influence - May-07

The military had blamed North Korea involvement from the outset, but the South Korean president demanded a painstaking international investigation to prevent an unnecessary conflagration.

Washington is increasingly concerned that tensions on the peninsula could spiral out of control. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, will visit Seoul next week following a trip to Beijing, in which she is expected to discuss the crisis.

The foreign minister on Wednesday said it was “obvious” that North Korea was responsible. Investigators told South Korean media that they had found parts of a torpedo propeller, a serial number and explosives of a type that suggested North Korean involvement.

Despite this conclusion, South Korea has limited options in seeking retaliation. Seoul has suggested referring the case to the United Nations security council but there is little room for extra sanctions against the reclusive dictatorship.

China has also traditionally turned a blind eye to sanctions, fearing that a failed state on its border could trigger a tide of refugees and instability in a million-man army that controls crude nuclear warheads.

South Korea has vowed to sever some economic ties with the North but these have been largely insignificant in recent years.

Last week, it threatened to block broadcasts of World Cup matches to Pyongyang, as the North Korean team prepares to make their first appearance in the tournament since 1966.

Some officials have suggested stiffening rules of engagement in cases where the two Koreas could come into conflict, for example when North Korean ships cross the disputed maritime border.

View Financial Times article...

MORE ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC TODAY:

• South Korea minister says it’s ‘obvious’ north was behind deadly ship sinking Wed 5/19/2010 3:45 AM View The Globe & Mail article...
• South Korea to Blame North Wed 5/19/2010 4:04 AM View Wall Street Journal article...

 

 

N. KOREA: Held Captive for 140 Days: Lisa Ling's Sister Breaks Her Silence

Their capture sparked an international firestorm. Now, after 140 days in a North Korean prison, reporter Laura Ling breaks her silence.

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S. KOREA: Top headlines in major S. Korean newspapers

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- The following are the top headlines in major South Korean newspapers on May 17.

Korean-language dailies
-- Welfare to be major topic of June 2 local elections (Kyunghyang Shinmun)
-- N. Korean ships cross NLL twice (Kookmin Daily)
-- N. Korea provokes again, threatens S. Korea to test reaction (Donga llbo)
-- N. Korean vessels cross NLL twice in first since Cheonan incident, retreats after S. Korean Navy's warning shots (Segye Times)
-- N. Korea's 'intentional provocation,' S. Korea's 'prepared response' (Seoul Shinmun)
-- Wen Jiabao rejects Kim Jong-il's request for aid (JoongAng Ilbo)
-- N. Korean ships cross NLL, S. Korean Navy fires warning shots (Chosun Ilbo)
-- Pres. Lee orders to suspend projects related to N. Korea using gov't budget (Hankyoreh)
-- Korea-U.S. agree on 3 restrictive measures on N. Korea (Hankook Ilbo)
-- Samsung-Sony to begin third round of collaboration: Lee, Stringer to meet on 24th in Seoul (Maeil Business Newspaper)
-- 1 bln people of 'black diamond' call out to Korea: Korea boom in new emerging African market (Korea Economic Daily)

English-language dailies
-- Beijing's rebuff made Kim cut China trip short (JoongAng Daily)
-- Seoul to name N. Korea as ship attacker (Korea Herald)
-- Lee directs 3 tln won rise in arms buying (Korea Times)

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JAPAN & CHINA: Nuclear row sours Japanese ties with China

Published: May 17 2010 18:17 | Last updated: May 17 2010 18:17

By Mure Dickie and Kathrin Hille in Beijing

A push by Japan’s ruling Democratic party to forge closer ties with China has failed to prevent rising diplomatic friction between the two Asian powers over nuclear disarmament and naval operations in the seas that divide them.

In a strikingly direct personal criticism, China at the weekend denounced Katsuya Okada, Japan’s foreign minister, for making “irresponsible” remarks about Beijing’s nuclear deterrent policy during a meeting with Yang Jiechi, his Chinese counterpart.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Beijing executes Japanese drug-smuggler - Apr-06

Japanese rail chief hits at Beijing - Apr-06

China lures Japanese investments - Mar-21

Gideon Rachman: Japan edges from America towards China - Mar-08

Japan calm as treasured status slips away - Feb-22

Tokyo woos China with imperial indulgence - Dec-13

The same meeting also involved a robust exchange of views on a incidents involving vessels of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army navy and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force that have prompted diplomatic complaints from both sides.

While far from marking a return to the political chill that enveloped Sino-Japanese ties for much of the past decade, the frictions highlight the difficulties facing efforts by the DPJ, which swept to power in Japan in last year’s general election, to establish a more constructive relationship with its most important near neighbour.

Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, has pledged to work to build an “East Asian community” with China and other nations in the region, although Beijing’s response to the initiative has been unenthusiastic.

Frictions with Beijing could ease concerns among some in Washington that Japan’s 50-year-old alliance with the US might be a casualty of DPJ efforts to snuggle up to the region’s new rising power.

Mr Okada has repeatedly dismissed such talk, telling the Financial Times last month that China's growing power made it essential to “further strengthen” the alliance.

But Mr Okada’s call for China to join in international moves toward nuclear disarmament could cast a shadow on a planned visit to Tokyo by Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, after a three-way summit with South Korea this month.

China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that Mr Okada had accused Beijing of failing to fulfil its commitment to nuclear disarmament but Mr Yang had rebutted his “irresponsible remarks on the spot”.

An insider said the exchange on the topic was “pretty severe”, with Mr Yang questioning Japan’s right to challenge it on the topic given Tokyo’s dependence on the huge US nuclear “umbrella” for its own security.

The strength of Mr Yang’s reaction might reflect anxiety in the Chinese government that US and Russian high-profile willingness to reduce their nuclear arsenals could subject it to pressure that would undermine its ability to maintain a deterrent.

Nuclear arms experts believe that Beijing will not feel safe enough to start considering cutting its own strategic forces until the US and Russia have cut their arsenal to 500 warheads or less. China also feels that its nuclear strategy is being undermined by missile defence systems under development.

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HONG KONG: World's Sexiest Hotel Pools

by Ondine Cohane

INTERCONTINENTAL HONG KONG

Where: Hong Kong

The crowd: International execs soaking away their jet lag; Asian beauties in town from Taipei and Shanghai for a little trendy shopping

How's the water? Three pools, each a different temperature, line this second-floor terrace overlooking the edge of Hong Kong's famous harbor. Take a dip at sunset to discover the best seats in town to soak in the cityscape. The pools' glass walls magnify the effect that you're floating in the harbor itself. A recent renovation has brought new cabanas for spa treatments and a teak-decked dining pavilion surrounded by lily ponds. If you can afford to seriously splurge, book the presidential suite, which has its own, private 340-square-foot rooftop pool and Jacuzzi.

The poolside tipple: Johnnie Walker Blue with one ice cube

The hotel: In addition to the views, the InterCon is known for world-class service and big guest rooms with big LCD TVs, iPod docking stations, and sunken tubs. Anglophiles will adore afternoon tea, while new agers go for the free tai chi and yoga.

InterContinental Hong Kong
Tel: 852 2721 1211
Doubles from $340

INTERESTED IN THIS DESTINATION?

See all our expert advice and travel recommendations for:

• Hong Kong

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CHINA: China suffers new school killings

Page last updated at 04:13 GMT, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Seven children have been hacked to death in north-western China in the latest in a series of violent attacks on schools, state media report.

At least 20 others were injured after the attack in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

China has been shaken by a spate of attacks on schools in recent weeks.

In March, a man stabbed to death eight pupils at a school in Fujian province, and several similar attacks followed.

THIS YEAR'S ATTACKS

12 May: Seven children killed and 20 hurt in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province

30 April: Five children hurt in hammer attack in Weifang, Shandong

29 April: Three adults and 28 children injured in Taixing, Jiangsu

28 April: At least 15 children and one teacher injured in Leizhou, Guangdong

24 March: Eight children killed in Nanping, Fujian

A doctor was convicted of the Fujian attack and executed.

But in the space of a week in late April, three more attacks in different parts of China left dozens of children injured.

Motives for the attacks are not known, although officials have speculated that the incidents in late April were likely to be copycat attacks.

Hanzhong city official Liu Xiaoming told the Associated Press news agency that the man who carried out the killings in Hanzhong had killed himself afterwards. This has not been independently confirmed.

Last month, the education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade their security facilities, teach students about safety and ensure that young children were escorted home.

But correspondents say such measures are expensive and their effectiveness is unproven.

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JAPAN: Man arrested for threatening to kill Japan's Princess Aiko

(L-R) Crown Prince Naruhito, Princess Aiko and Princess Masako

Posted: 12 May 2010 0026 hrs

By Channel NewsAsia's Japan Bureau Chief Michiyo Ishida

TOKYO : A 26-year-old unemployed man in Japan has been arrested for threatening to kill Princess Aiko - the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako.

Kengo Inami had posted a message on a popular internet forum, threatening to kill the princess with a hammer.

He is reported to have told investigators that he enjoyed the reactions of those who accessed the forum.

The incident comes at a time when the princess is making headlines of her own.

The daughter of Japan's crown prince and princess is still missing classes, two months after she stopped going to school because of bullying.

The shy eight-year-old attends Gakushuin Primary in Tokyo.

It was in March that the Imperial Household Agency held an unprecedented news conference saying that Princess Aiko cannot attend classes regularly due to worries and stomach pains. It's believed to be due to some aggressive boys in her school.

Princess Aiko has entered third grade, with the start of the new academic year in April.

According to the Imperial Household, she has missed some classes, as she's not able to attend a full day of school.

Since the term began, she has also stayed away from school for three days because of a cold.

"I think there is basically no problem with Princess Aiko. She is just a student of an elementary school. Sometimes we don't want to go to school for a period of time. It's quite natural especially if something is going on in the classroom," said Daisaburo Hashizume, Professor of Sociology at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Professor Hashizume, who has written about the imperial family, said the situation has been made worse by media reports.

And even though Gakushuin is a private school, founded to educate children of aristocrats, it is now open to all.

"She has a special position in the royalty. Just imagine when you're born a member of the royal family and attend regular elementary school. The family itself is a very unique one," said Professor Hashizume.

The birth of Prince Hisahito in 2006 to Princess Aiko's uncle, took some pressure off her family.

The baby boy is now third in line to the throne.

Before that, the government had deliberated changing the Imperial Household Law to allow women to ascend to the throne.

The debate generated huge public interest, and some critics believe the issue could be raised again in the future.

That could add more pressure on the princess and her mother Masako, who is still recovering from what's been called an adjustment disorder. - CNA /ls

View article…

Historical Overview of Japan: Prehistoric Japan

Gain a deeper understanding of Japan today by learning about its historical foundation.

“Japanese History Part I” Discover Japan’s prehistoric origins, the introduction of writing and Buddhism in ancient history, the development of its own distinctive culture in classical times, the military turbulence of the middle ages, and the social struggles of the feudal period.

JAPAN: Kit Kat Kaleidoscope: Far-Out Flavors From Japan

Why stop at just chocolate and crispy wafers? In Japan, Kit Kats come in many flavors, including ginger ale, soy sauce, green tea and banana. May-Ying Lam/NPR

May 10, 2010

by Bill Chappell

The Kit Kats you find in American stores offer a quick fix of chocolate and crispy wafers. But in Japan, Kit Kats go far beyond chocolate, with flavors like ginger ale, soy sauce, crème brulee and banana. NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Tokyo-based reporter Lucy Craft about the unique candy market in Japan.

And to see how those flavors translate to other countries — like the U.S. — we asked NPR staff members to try some samples and tell us what they think.

Kit Kat Taste Test: Notes From A Crunching

With such a wide range of flavors needing to be sampled, we lined up testers from across NPR's divisions. To encourage natural and objective responses, subjects tasted the candy in separate sessions.

Participants: Steve Inskeep (host, Morning Edition), Jamie Tarabay (National Desk), Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (Foreign Desk), Jon Hamilton (Science Desk), Linda Holmes (Arts Desk), and Patrick Jarenwattananon (Music Desk).

---

Royal Milk Tea

Steve Inskeep takes his Kit Kat tasting job seriously.   May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Like tea in the Mideast.

Tarabay: There's something in the middle of this that's harking back to my childhood.

Garcia-Navarro: Tastes like boarding school tea — comforting but not very nice.

Hamilton: Plain weird.

Holmes: I don't even know what that taste is, but I was not a fan.

Jarenwattananon: Tastes like a wafer from childhood.

---

Soy Sauce

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Could use a little soy sauce.

Tarabay: It smells gross. I can't taste anything. It smells weird. It's not even savory.

Garcia-Navarro: Beyond gross. It tastes like sushi that's gone off.

Hamilton: Falsely advertised. Perhaps a bit of salt.

Holmes: It smells very much like soy sauce. It's a very odd taste to me.

---

Cantaloupe

Linda Holmes takes a tiny bite of one of the wafers. May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Mysterious.

Tarabay (making a face after being told the flavor too late): Oh my God. I don't eat cantaloupe.

Garcia-Navarro: Unusual but edible.

Hamilton: Tastes like an after-dinner liqueur.

Holmes: Like a Jolly Rancher, but the aftertaste is intensely not good.

---

Corn

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Creepy.

Tarabay: I can smell the corn in that ... a bit of corn-flakishness in there.

Hamilton: A Kit Kat for the heartland.

Garcia-Navarro: Why would you ever make a Kit Kat this flavor?

Holmes: That is the NASTIEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN.

Jarenwattananon: The only thing corny about this is my response.

---

Raspberry Passionfruit

Patrick Jarenwattananon marvels at the wonders of flavored Kit Kats.  May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: A hint of tart.

Tarabay: It smells like Cherry Ripe. [A Cadbury candy bar, it turns out — ed.]

Hamilton: Actually tastes like one of those chocolate-covered cherries.

Holmes: Appropriately, it tastes like a slightly fruity Kit Kat.

Jarenwattananon: Complex, fruity, dark. Yes, I used these words to describe a Kit Kat.

---

Crème Brulee

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Starts out very crème, then gets a little too brulee.

Tarabay: Now I'm disappointed, because it smells like it.

Hamilton: Torch the top and you've got yourself a fancy dessert.

Garcia-Navarro: Transports me to France. Not.

Holmes: Smells fake-caramelly.

Jarenwattananon: That was the best high fructose corn syrup I've had in a minute.

---

Golden Citrus

Jon Hamilton contemplates what he's just tasted.  May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Tastes like Starburst.

Tarabay: It's very sherbety, but it smells like a Starburst.

Hamilton: A wake-up call!

Garcia-Navarro: The best one so far.

Holmes: Tastes like gum or citrus candy. Or vitamin C tablets. Not bad.

Jarenwattananon: I didn't think that could exist.

---

Green Tea

Jamie Tarabay takes a sniff of the green tea Kit Kat.   May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: Bland.

Tarabay: A whisper of steeped green tea — altogether pleasant.

Garcia-Navarro: Yummy.

Holmes: I like this one. Not trying too hard. It has a slight aftertaste of something sinister, though. ;

Jarenwattananon: Disappointingly, neither here nor there. So much wasted potential.

---

Intense Roasted Soybean

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Inskeep: No.

Tarabay: It's a very rich chocolate. Nice and rich, and darker.

Garcia-Navarro: Peanut buttery, but just not as nice.

Hamilton: It does invoke the classic Kit Kat.

Holmes: It's actually not that intense. It's ... soybeany.

Jarenwattananon: False advertising.

---

Strawberry Cheesecake

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Tarabay: I can't taste the strawberry or the cheesecake in this.

Garcia-Navarro: Yummy.

Jarenwattananon: Tastes like fake strawberry flavor and not particularly good fake strawberry flavor.

---

Cafe Au Lait

May-Ying Lam/NPR

Tarabay: As soon as you put your tongue on it, it tastes like black coffee with milk in it.

Hamilton: Smooth and delicious.

Holmes: This bears absolutely no resemblance to coffee, but I wouldn't spit it out.

Jarenwattananon: Meh.

---

Banana

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro after tasting one of the flavored Kit Kats. May-Ying Lam/NPR

Garcia-Navarro: Foul.

Jarenwattananon: That's some good use of Yellow No. 5.

[Others declined to sample.]

View article…

JAPAN: Middle Ages: The Kamakura Period

JAPAN: Classical Japan: The Heian Period

JAPAN: Classical History: The Nara Period

JAPAN: Ancient History: The Asuka Period

JAPAN: Japan government denies dropping U.S. base deadline

Hercules aircraft are parked on the tarmac at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan on Okinawa May 3, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato

Mon May 10, 2010 6:15am EDT

Isabel Reynolds, TOKYO

TOKYO (Reuters) - A top aide to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama denied a report on Monday that the government had dropped an end-of-May deadline for resolving a row over a U.S. Marine base, though there was still no solution in sight.

Kyodo news agency had said, without citing sources, that the government had given up on Hatoyama's self-imposed deadline in the belief that it would be difficult to get the agreement of local people by then.

"The prime minister is saying he will resolve the issue by the end of May, that he will do his best for that," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a news conference.

But he said it would be hard to complete a plan by then.

"It will be very tough to decide on all the technical issues and other details on what will happen," Hirano said. "But we need to set a clear direction for our thinking and on other issues, or otherwise we won't be able to say we've resolved this."

Hatoyama said before a meeting with cabinet ministers on the row that he would stick to the deadline, but left unclear what form the resolution would take.

Dissatisfaction with his handling of the dispute has been one of the triggers for evaporating voter support in the run-up to an upper house election expected in July.

The Democrats' chances of winning a majority in that election are receding, raising the possibility of policy deadlock as the country struggles to maintain a fragile economic recovery and control ballooning public debt.

Disillusioned by funding scandals in the ruling party and Hatoyama's perceived inability to take hard decisions, less than a fifth of Japanese plan to vote for the Democratic Party in the election, a newspaper poll showed on Monday.

"There is no way to raise support, so the Democrats are going into damage control mode," said Tsuneo Watanabe, senior fellow at thinktank the Tokyo Foundation.

That could include blaming Hatoyama personally so as to deflect criticism from the party, he said.

About a quarter of respondents to the Yomiuri poll said they supported Hatoyama and his cabinet, down on 33 percent in a poll last month and compared with 67 percent who said they did not.

FUZZY DEFINITION

About half respondents to the Yomiuri poll said Hatoyama should resign if he misses the deadline.

The chances of a deal had already seemed remote after residents of both the southern island of Okinawa and the tiny island of Tokunoshima about 150 km (90 miles) away reacted angrily to Hatoyama's suggestion that they share the burden of Futenma airbase.

That idea was a modification of a 2006 deal, still favored by the United States, which would move the Futenma base from a city center to a more remote part of Okinawa.

But Hatoyama raised hopes during last year's election campaign it could be moved off the island.

Members of Hatoyama's cabinet have blurred the definition of what he has promised and some analysts say the best that can be expected is for talks to continue with the aim of reaching a deal before President Barack Obama visits in November.

Japan and the United States are set to hold the second round of working-level talks on Futenma in Washington on Wednesday.

The row has hit the Democratic Party, whose support had already been weakened by a series of funding scandals involving party lawmakers.

The scandals hit the headlines again last month when a judicial review panel said Democratic Party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, seen by many as the real power behind the government, should be charged over misreporting of his political funds. Ozawa has repeatedly said he will not step down.

(Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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JAPAN: Hatoyama gives up on settling Futenma issue by May 31

May 10 04:10 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - TOKYO, May 10 (Kyodo)

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has likely given up on settling the issue of the relocation of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa Prefecture by his self-imposed May 31 deadline amid fierce opposition from local residents to moving it within the prefecture, government sources said Monday.

Hatoyama held a meeting earlier in the day with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and other officials to try to form a final direction on the fate of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.

Hatoyama has reneged on his promise to gain approval from both local residents and Washington by the end of this month and will instead focus on negotiations with the United States to make a breakthrough on the stalled issue that has soured bilateral relations since Hatoyama took office last September, the sources said.

The Democratic Party of Japan-led government is seeking to relocate most of the Futenma functions to a new pile-supported facility to be built off the coast of the Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, another Okinawa city -- a modification of an existing deal agreed to in 2006 by a Liberal Democratic Party government and the United States.

To ease the burden of hosting U.S. military bases on Okinawa, the government is also aiming to transfer some drills conducted at Futenma to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, about 200 kilometers northeast from Okinawa, although the mayors of the three towns on the island last week made it clear that they will not accept the plan when they met with the premier in Tokyo.

Okinawa, which hosts a majority of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, is also decisively against having any of the Futenma functions remain inside the prefecture, urging the prime minister to fulfill his promise made before last year's general election to move the facility outside Okinawa altogether.

Hatoyama denied again earlier in the day that he would extend his deadline despite some Cabinet members advising him to do so, in an apparent attempt to save him from feeling pressured to resign from the post of prime minister if he fails to come to a conclusion that can satisfy the public by the end of this month.

Speaking at a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano acknowledged that it would not be easy for the government to decide on the technical details of the relocation plan by the end of this month.

But he added that the government is trying to win over locals and come up with some sort of a "political solution" with a certain "direction" on where Futenma should be relocated.

The top government spokesman has not elaborated on what could constitute a "solution," securing an escape route for the government that has seen a plunge in support ratings because of the base relocation dispute.

Under the 2006 deal, Tokyo and the United States agreed to reclaim land from the sea off the coast of Camp Schwab in a less crowded area to relocate Futenma there with the aim of reducing the base-hosting burden on Okinawa and removing risks posed to local residents by the Marines' facility.

The governments are set to hold the second round of working-level talks on the issue in Washington on Wednesday.

Hatoyama apparently intends to make utmost efforts to win local agreement after formulating a certain direction with the United States, according to the sources.

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JAPAN: Japan to decide on U.S. base plan Monday: report

(Reuters) - The Japanese government is set to decide on Monday on a proposal to relocate a controversial U.S. airbase, Kyodo News Agency reported on Sunday, but there was no sign Washington or local residents would agree to the plan.

The row over relocating the Futenma U.S. Marine base has upset bilateral ties and contributed to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's falling support rates as he faces a midyear election his ruling Democratic Party must win to avoid policy deadlock.

The floundering premier faces grim prospects on settling the feud by his self-imposed deadline of end-May, as speculation simmers that he may have to resign if he cannot do so.

Hatoyama pledged to move the base off the southern island of Okinawa during last year's election campaign that led his party to power, but angered local residents last week by saying he now realized a marine presence was needed for deterrence in Okinawa, host to some half the 49,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

Meanwhile, local mayors of a tiny island northeast of Okinawa rejected Hatoyama's proposal last week to shift a part of Futenma's facility there.

The government plan to be decided on Monday will likely modify a 2006 Japan-U.S. deal to shift Futenma's facilities to a site off Camp Schwab, another Marine base in a more remote part of Okinawa, Kyodo said.

Washington's top official for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said on Sunday he was certain a resolution on the base would be reached.

"I remain very confident that we will be able to arrive at an outcome that meets the operational needs of the United States but is also politically responsible," Campbell, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, told a news conference in Bangkok.

But Washington remains reluctant about the modification to the 2006 deal, the Sankei newspaper reported.

Facing opposition from Washington, Okinawa and a potential relocation site, the likelihood for Hatoyama to keep his deadline is dimming.

"A resolution by the end of May is impossible," Yukio Okamoto, a former diplomat now with think-tank Okamoto Associates, said on national broadcaster NHK.

Even a cabinet minister suggested the prime minister may need more time to sort things out.

"I think the prime minister's determination to set out a certain direction for the issue has not changed, but that does not mean everything will be over," Kyodo news agency quoted transport minister Seiji Maehara as saying on Sunday.

Some analysts say the next target date to resolve the feud could be in November, when U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to visit Japan to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Japanese and U.S. officials are set to meet in Washington on Wednesday for working-level talks on the base issue, Kyodo said.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota in TOKYO and Alex Richardson in BANGKOK; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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RUSSIA: On this day: 9 May

The people of Prague greet the Russian troops on May 9, 1945

On May 9, 1945, the Soviet troops entered Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia), as the closing part of the Prague Offensive. This battle for the city is particularly noteworthy as it was fought concurrently with the Prague uprising, and ended after the Third Reich had already capitulated on May 8, 1945.

The last few days of the World War were very eventful. From 30 April to 1 May 1945, SS Senior Group Leader and General of Police Karl Hermann Frank voiced in Prague his intention to drown any uprising in a "sea of blood.” The rumors of the Allies' impending arrival reached Prague, causing general agitation among the population. Frank instructed the German army and police forces in Prague to fire at anyone who disobeyed, but it didn’t help to restore order in Prague.

The proximity of the Soviet and American troops lifted the spirits of the Czech resistance immensely and brought a major stir to the Czech capital. On May 5, a group of Czech policemen attempted to seize the radio building, resulting in a fight with an SS regiment already stationed there. While the fight was in progress, the station resumed broadcasting, triggering the revolt among the townspeople.

The rioters, poorly armed and very inexperienced warriors, sought assistance from a division of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA). The ROA was created by former Soviet General Andrey Vlasov as an anti-communist Russian force in the combat against Bolshevism. The 1st ROA Infantry Division, under the command of General Sergey Bunyachenko, was stationed near Prague at the outbreak of the uprising. They were better equipped professionals from the Eastern Front, and in possession of armed vehicles and artillery. They lent support to the Czech partisans, but the ultimate goal of the Vlasov Army, however, was not to fight hand in hand with the insurgents up to the German defeat; they were not entirely trusted by the Czechs, and pinned their hopes on the American Army, to whom they eventually wanted to surrender, thus avoiding being seized by the Soviets.

Thousands of townspeople came out in the streets; they built barricades, seized control over the central post office, bridges, and ammo storages.

The commander of the Army Group Center, deployed in Prague, General Schörner ordered the repression of the uprising, as it seriously impeded the German retreat to the West. On May 6, the German troops, using artillery, tanks, and aviation, entered Prague and occupied a significant part of the city. The rebels, suffering huge losses, made a radio appeal to the Allies, requesting help. This critical situation demanded that the Soviet command speed up the Prague Offensive, initially scheduled for May 7.

The Soviet assault on Czechoslovakia and Prague in particular was carried out by the 1st (under Marshal Ivan Konev), the 2nd (under General Rodion Malinovsky) and the 4th Ukrainian Fronts (under General Andrey Yeremenko). These Fronts also included units of the Polish, Romanian, and Czech armies. The Soviet Fronts totaled more than two million troops. To advance the Prague Offensive, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front had to make a forced march from the south of Berlin just after they had completed their mission in the Battle of Berlin.

In the meantime, the Czech partisans in collaboration with the Vlasov Army managed to clean up part of the city. Then, however, the partisans were forced to cease their cooperation with the Liberation Army, pressured by the Communists, and had to fight on their own. When Vlasov’s Army found out the Americans didn’t plan on entering the city, they just gave up fighting, and headed for the West toward the American lines. When Vlasov’s Infantry Division left the city, the insurgents couldn’t hold on to the repossessed territories, and they were reoccupied by the Germans.

On May 7, General Alfred Jodl, Chief-of-Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command, signed the surrender of all German forces to the Allied forces. Schörner did order his operational command to observe the surrender, but could not guarantee the order would be passed on. Later that day Schörner defected to Austria where on 18 May he was arrested by the Americans.

On May 9 the Soviet army entered Prague.

The Czech population was elated to see the liberators finally in their city. People greeted them with red banners and flowers, invited them to their homes. The Red Army and the Soviet Union was praised in both Czech and Russian.

The Soviet assault on Prague eradicated the last sizeable chunk of German military resistance in Europe, and relieved the Czech partisans fighting in the Prague Uprising. By May 8, the Germans fighting the Czech partisans in Prague agreed to withdraw.

General Bunyachenko and his 1st ROA Infantry Division sought refuge with the Americans. Bunyachenko, Vlasov, and the ROA forces were ,however, handed back to the Soviets. Later all of them were condemned to either death in show trials or to years of gulag death camps.

Parts of the Army Group Centre continued resistance until 11 May (some sources say 12 May). Parts of the 2nd Ukrainian Front met with troops of the US Army with George Patton, thus completing the encirclement and putting an ultimate end to World War Two. .

In the course of the Prague Offensive, the losses of the Red Army amounted to 50 thousand people, while over 140 thousand were lost in the battles for Czechoslovakia. Many units and regiments were awarded honors and medals for their performance in the operation. Many streets and squares in Prague bear names of the Soviet Soldiers. Marshal Ivan Konev, the commander of the First Ukrainian Front was named “Prague’s honored citizen." May 9 is celebrated in the Czech Republic as Liberation Day.

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RUSSIA: Anger as NATO prepares to join Red Square parade

Russian military personnel march along Red Square during a military parade dress rehearsal in Moscow May 6, 2010.   Credit: Reuters/Denis Sinyakov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - NATO troops will march across Red Square on Sunday as Russia marks the 65th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, a gesture of friendship to the West which has won praise from President Barack Obama but enraged Communists.

Foreign leaders including President Hu Jintao of China and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will watch as over 11,000 troops from World War Two victors Russia, the United States, Britain and France parade to the sound of a huge military band.

Russia's Communists, still the country's biggest opposition party, pledged to hold a protest march in central Moscow after the parade. They will chant slogans against NATO forces for marching over a hallowed square which is also home to the embalmed body of their revolutionary hero, Vladimir Lenin.

"Foreign troops have never appeared on Red Square. It's a violation of tradition," said Sergei Obukhov, a member of the party's Central Committee.

"The presence of foreign troops with weapons in their hands is...an unnecessary reminder that we lost the Cold War."

Obama, unable to come to Moscow because of a scheduling clash, praised the invitation to NATO troops.

"President Medvedev has shown remarkable leadership in honoring the sacrifices of those who came before us, and in speaking so candidly about the Soviet Union's suppression of elementary rights and freedoms," he said in a statement.

BIGGEST EVER

Most Russians seem to back Medvedev's invitation to the NATO forces, which will include a detachment of Welsh Guards from Britain and around 70 U.S. troops from the 170th Infantry Brigade based in Germany.

A poll by the independent Levada Center last month showed that 55 percent viewed the presence of NATO troops at the parade as wholly or partly positive, with only 28 percent opposing it.

The result may reflect markedly better relations between Moscow and Washington since Obama's election and his "reset" of relations. This has already brought a new treaty cutting nuclear weapons and a deal on helping supply NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Victory Day is one of Russia's most important public holidays and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that this year's commemorations would be among the biggest ever, with over 102,000 troops marching in cities across this vast country.

But contemporary concerns have also intruded. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi canceled their attendance at the last minute, citing the need to deal with the crisis surrounding the euro currency.

Continuing a tradition begun by Stalin, Soviet and then Russian troops have marched in Red Square every year on May 9 to mark the capitulation of Nazi forces in Berlin.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin revived two years ago a Soviet-era tradition of parading tanks, missiles and military vehicles across the square and flying helicopters, fighters and bombers low overhead.

While Medvedev greeted war veterans on Saturday, accompanied by Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, Putin hosted a special meeting and dinner at his country retreat outside Moscow for China's Hu.

The Kremlin, which is eager to shore up its influence and tighten ties two decades after the Soviet breakup, is using this year's parade to stress bonds among the former republics, many of whose leaders will attend.

Among the weaponry on show this year will be Russia's latest S-400 air Defense system, which claims to be capable of shooting down up to six missiles or aircraft simultaneously at a distance of up to 400 km (250 miles).

China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are said to be interested in buying the system.

(Additional reporting by Conor Humphries, Gleb Bryanski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

JAPAN: Japan finds mercury, no illness, in dolphin-hunting town

(AFP) TOKYO — Japanese researchers said Friday they had found high mercury levels in residents of the dolphin-hunting town of Taiji, featured in the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove", but no cases of related illness.

The toxic heavy metal is concentrated in the food chain and can be absorbed by humans when they eat predator species such as dolphin, whose meat has been served in shops and, in the past, school lunches in Japan.

A survey of some 1,000 Taiji residents found high mercury levels in the hair of some, but found no-one who had fallen ill as a result, Koji Okamoto, the director of the National Institute for Minamata Disease, told AFP.

"Out of 1,000 people we surveyed, there were some people whose hair had high levels of methyl mercury," he said. "Then we examined some 200 people including these people. But we found no neurological cases of methyl mercury toxicity."

Detailed study results will be released in a town hall meeting in the southwestern fishing town on Sunday, he said.

Taiji hit the global spotlight with the release last year of the hard hitting eco-documentary "The Cove" on its annual dolphin hunt, which was shot in part using hidden cameras and highlighted the mercury threat.

The film, which featured graphic footage of the sea mammals being harpooned to death, angered local fishermen, who say dolphin hunting is part of their culture and who slammed the covert techniques of the film crew.

The film won the Academy Award for best documentary this year.

Methyl mercury was behind Japan's worst industrial pollution disaster, in which a factory dumped the toxin into the bay of Minamata in southwestern Japan from the 1950s, poisoning the marine habitat and the local population.

Victims suffered spasms, seizures and loss of sensation and motor control that impaired their ability to walk and speak. Babies were born with nervous system damage and other mental and physical deformities.

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