Investigation of Motive Enhance China Japan Bond Purchase

Tokyo – Japanese Finance Minister said Thursday Yoshihiko Noda, the government is monitoring closely China’s increased purchases of Japanese government debt and will check in Beijing about his motivations.”We are giving careful attention” to the recent increase in purchases related to China against the Japanese government bond (JGB), “Noda said in a session of the parliamentary committee of financial problems, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

“I do not know the true intention” regarding China’s increasing appetite for JGB.But Tokyo plans to “work together closely (with Beijing) and assesses the point,” he said.China, in July, buying Japanese bonds worth 583.1 billion yen (6.9 billion dollars), Japan’s finance ministry said Wednesday, when the Asian giant will continue to increase purchases of Japanese debt.

This figure is higher than the value of securities purchased in June, 456.7 billion yen.The news came after the yen, Wednesday, 15 highest-reaching new year against the dollar. Currency traders said the yen berdenomiasi China’s purchase of property, even by itself too small to boost the yen, it can support the increase in the currency indirectly.

For the first half of this year, China bought debt worth 1.73 trillion yen, almost seven times over a full year’s record of about 253.8 billion yen in 2005.In May alone China investors buy Japanese government bonds net worth 735.2 billion yen.China seeks to diversify its investments out of the big bucks and Europe since the beginning of the financial crisis.Most bonds are purchased by the government of China is estimated to be used to manage foreign currency reserves.

This increase is in conjunction with the re-doubt recovery in the United States and Europe, and indicates China’s store more foreign currency reserves which as a result continues to expand into the Japanese bonds are relatively stable.With approximately 95 percent is held by domestic investors, the risk did not pay the debt of Japan is considered much smaller than the countries hit by the-debt, even though its public debt approaching 200 percent of gross domestic product, the highest among developed countries.

China’s foreign exchange reserves have swelled in recent years, soaring to a record 2.454 trillion dollars at the end of June.These reserves, has become the world’s largest, grew 15.1 percent from a year ago, China’s central bank said in its website.One way Beijing is diversifying its investment through an independent wealth fund China Investment Corp., which handles about 300 billion dollars and has invested heavily in resource companies.(AFP)

CHICAGO Football is coming back to Wrigley Field.

Northwestern and Illinois will play a Big Ten game at the storied baseball park on Nov. 20. The Chicago Cubs and Northwestern have scheduled a news conference for Friday to announce the details.Wrigley Field, built in 1914 and the second-oldest baseball venue in the major leagues, has hosted plenty of football – just not in a while.Wrigley was home to the Chicago Bears from 1921-1970. On New Year’s Day 2009, it was also the site of the NHL’s Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.(AP)

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (RPG)game for ps 2

Love is important. If you ever think it’s not, just watch some TV – in between the 60-minute dramas and soap operas that tell us to follow our heart, there are 30-second commercials promoting online dating services, expensive hotlines, and Valtrex (for relationships that give you more than ever-lasting affection). Not unexpectedly, love found its way into video games a long time ago. For Navy Lt. Shinjiro Taiga, the leading star of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, obtaining it might be the most important thing he does – next to saving the world, of course.Sakura Wars tells the story of a man, several women, and an ongoing crime spree. No, this doesn’t sound like the premise of a new Law & Order spin-off, and that’s precisely the point. Rather than depressing the player down with an endless line of murders, Sakura Wars sprinkles the crime scenarios on top of what could be described as a basic dating simulator. Thus, any one of the attractive women Shinjiro meets could turn out to be the love of his life. But he’ll never know it if he can’t think of the right thing to say.

Using two separate phases, the gameplay is a bit more simplified than an RPG. The first phase scraps all but the slightest hint of gameplay in favor of developing the story. As Shinjiro, your job is to listen carefully to your boss, comrades and other key characters and respond appropriately by selecting one of the available responses. The best one is typically sandwiched in between two other weaker comments, but you only have a few seconds to decide. Plus, words that may impress one character could tick off another. Simple mini-games are thrown into the story phase, requiring the player to use his or her thumbs to spin the analog sticks and execute other motions. It’s not rocket science, but it was clearly designed to give your hands something to do while your brain gets lost in the story and your eyes get lost in the pretty anime ladies.

The second, battle-intensive phase drops Shinjiro and his allies into a familiar world of destruction caused by mobile suits. Sakura Wars’ combat is purely real-time, allowing players to run around the environment and bash opponents – via button-mashing – as they would in an action/RPG (or more appropriately in this case, a hack-n-slash action game).Though you do not have direct control over your allies’ mechs in the first chapter (but will be able to control them in the following chapters), you can still utilize their strength by executing a joint attack. To pull one off, maneuver around an enemy until he is standing between the attack path of Shinjiro and one ally.”Coming to PS2 and Wii in the new year, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love will give fans of dating sims and simplistic RPGs something to look forward to.

World markets fell Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve unexpectedly raised interest rates for emergency bank loans

LONDON  World markets fell Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve unexpectedly raised interest rates for emergency bank loans, triggering fears that regular borrowing costs could also move higher soon, slowing the recovery in the world’s largest economy.The central bank said Thursday it will bump up the “discount” lending rate by one-quarter point to 0.75 percent effective Friday, part of a pullback of the extraordinary aid it provided to fight the financial crisis.Although the Fed said the step should not be seen as a signal that it will soon boost interest rates for consumers and businesses, markets were spooked.After sharp drops in Asia, Germany’s DAX stock index was down 0.2 percent at 5,671.28 and Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat at 5,326.84. France’s CAC-40 fell 0.2 percent to 3,742.09.Wall Street was also expected to fall on the open. Dow Jones industrials futures were down 50 points at 10,325.00 and Standard & Poor’s 500 futures were 8.2 points lower at 1,097.40.

Growing optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy had helped boost the Dow Jones industrial average rise by 3 percent over the past three days. But the surprise Fed announcement after Wall Street trading closed left traders wondering whether the so-called “exit strategy” from a loose monetary policy could come faster than expected and stifle U.S. consumer demand.”It begs the questions of why this was not done, or at least signaled at a regular Federal Open Market Committee meeting,” said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities in London.”It certainly is the case that the Fed wants to see how money markets function without so much of the liquidity life support that the Fed has been providing, and as such one can term this a form of ‘kite flying’,” said Ostwald.The Fed move, which doesn’t change consumer borrowing rates, also helped boost the U.S. dollar and push the euro below nine-month lows – a sign traders may be turning away from higher-risk investments, analysts said.The euro fell to $1.3504 from $1.3529 late Thursday after trading at nine-month lows below $1.3400. After rising against the Japanese yen, the dollar was flat at 91.75 yen.

The euro has been under pressure in recent months over worries about the debt problems of Greece and other countries in Europe, such as Portugal and Spain. Although the EU said it was committed to helping Greece in case of a default, it did not provide any concrete plans for a bailout but limited itself to demand more spending cuts.Economic data in Europe, meanwhile, failed to shore up investor sentiment. The purchasing managers’ survey of the eurozone, an economic indicator published by Markit research group, was stable in February, suggesting the recovery from recession has stagnated somewhat.A rise in the manufacturing reading offset a drop in the services sector, providing “little hope that the much-needed domestic recovery is beginning to materialize,” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics in London.Markets in China and Taiwan are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holiday.Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng stock index led decliners, diving 528.13, or 2.6 percent, to 19,894.02 while Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 212.11, or 2.1 percent, to 10,123.58.”As the dollar strengthens, we see less appetite for riskier assets such as Asian stocks.” said Jit Soon Lim, head of equity research for Southeast Asia for Nomura in Singapore. “We’re bullish on the region’s economic growth, but bearish on risk.”

South Korea’s Kospi declined 27.29, or 1.7 percent, to 1,593.90. India fell 1 percent and Indonesia dropped 0.5 percent.Singapore’s stock measure retreated 0.9 percent despite an increase of the government’s 2010 economic growth forecast to between 4.5 percent and 6.5 percent from 3 percent to 5 percent.In the U.S. on Thursday, the Dow rose 83.66, or 0.8 percent, to 10,392.90 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.24, or 0.7 percent, to 1,106.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 15.42, or 0.7 percent, to 2,241.71, its fifth straight advance.Oil prices slid to near $78 a barrel after the Fed’s rate hike sent the U.S. dollar higher.Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 90 cents at $78.16 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.73 to settle at $79.06 on Thursday.(AP)

Japan Airlines has state-funded aid doubled

Japan Airlines (JAL)

A state-run bank offered JAL aid of 100bn yen in November, and has already paid out more than half of that. Shares in JAL, which made a loss in four of the past five years, fell to record lows last week as speculation mounted it would file for bankruptcy. Like many airlines, JAL has been hit hard in the global economic downturn. The extra funding was agreed by Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara and other ministers at a meeting on Sunday. “The government has decided to expand from 100bn yen to 200bn yen the line of credit from the Development Bank of Japan to Japan Airlines,” an official statement said. The announcement was made before trading resumes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday, after the New Year’s holiday.

Afghanistan and Pakistan face decisive year at now

Fighting in Afghanistan is due to intensify as more US troops arrive

People in the South Asia region will be holding their breath in the new year. If both nations fail to achieve a modicum of political stability and success against extremism and economic growth, the world will be faced with an expansion of Islamic extremism, doubts about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and major questions about US prestige and power as it withdraws from Afghanistan. The challenges for both countries are deeply interlinked and enormous.The primary task is whether both countries can work together with the Western alliance to roll back the Taliban and al-Qaeda threat they face. That in turn rests on the success of the US and Nato’s new strategy in both countries over the next 18 months as President Barack Obama has pledged to stabilise Afghanistan’s political and economic institutions and start handing over Afghan security to the Afghan armed forces, starting in July 2011.

Karzai undermined

For that to happen much will depend on whether the West is able to find effective government partners in both Islamabad and Kabul.

So far the prospects are not all that hopeful.President Hamid Karzai has emerged as the victor after intensely controversial elections that undermined his domestic and international credibility, while the Afghan army is still far from being able to take over major security responsibilities.

There will be renewed political wrangling as the West and the Afghans have to decide whether to hold parliamentary elections in the new year. The Afghan army is still undermanned, undertrained and has yet to be equipped with heavy weapons and an air force.

The Afghan army also suffers from 80% illiteracy and a lack of recruits from the Pashtun belt, which are essential if the army is to be effective in the Taliban-controlled southern and eastern parts of the country.

In the midst of what will certainly be a hot and possibly decisive summer of fighting in 2010 between Western forces and the Taliban, the other primary tasks of providing jobs and economic development, while building sustainable capacity within the Afghan government to serve the Afghan people, will be even more important and difficult to achieve. The Taliban strategic plan for the summer is likely to be to avoid excessive fighting in the south and east which is being reinforced with 30,000 new American soldiers.

Instead, the Taliban will try to expand Taliban bases in the north and west of the country, where they can demoralise the forces of European Nato countries that are facing growing opposition at home about their deployment. The militants will also stretch the incoming US troops – forcing them to douse Taliban fires across the country – while they try to create greater insecurity in Central Asia.

Pakistan crisis

At the same time the Pakistan military, which now effectively controls policy towards India and Afghanistan, shows no signs of giving up on the sanctuaries that the Afghan Taliban have acquired in Pakistan.Without Pakistan eliminating these sanctuaries or forcing the Afghan Taliban leadership into talks with Kabul, US success in Afghanistan is unlikely.

Pakistan itself faces a triple crisis
acute political instability – President Asif Ali Zardari may soon be forced to resign, which could trigger long-term political unrest
an ever-worsening economic crisis that is creating vast armies of jobless youth who are being attracted to the message of extremism
the army’s success rate in dealing with its own indigenous Taliban problem.

The key to any improvement rests on the army and the political forces coming to a mutual understanding and working relationship with each other and providing support to Western efforts in Afghanistan. However, for the moment that appears unlikely while the army is hedging its bets with the Afghan Taliban, as it is fearful about a potential power vacuum in Afghanistan once the Americans start to leave in 2011.

Other neighbouring countries – India, Iran, Russia and the Central Asian republics – may start thinking along the same lines and prepare their own Afghan proxies to oppose the Afghan Taliban, which could result in a return to a brutal civil war similar to that of the 1990s. Pakistan’s fight against its own Taliban is going well but that is insufficient as long as the army does not move militarily or politically against the Afghan Taliban or other Punjab-based extremist groups now allied with the Taliban.

Impasse

Pakistani calculations also involve India – and the failure of both nations to resume the dialogue halted after the 2008 attacks in Mumbai (Bombay).

India fears that extremist Punjabi groups could launch another Mumbai-style attack and are demanding that Pakistan break up all indigenous extremist groups that fought in Indian-administered Kashmir in the 1990s.

Islamabad is refusing to do so until Delhi resumes talks with it. The Obama administration has so far failed to persuade India and Pakistan to resume a dialogue or settle their differences and if that remains the case in the new year, Pakistan is more than likely to continue defying US pressure to help with Afghanistan.

There is growing anti-Americanism in Pakistan despite Washington’s pledge of an annual $1.5bn aid package for the next five years. With the present lack of security in Pakistan – and the volatile mood towards the US and India that is partly being fuelled by the military – it is difficult to see how US aid can be effectively spent or how other economic investments can take place.

At present there is an enormous flight of local capital from both Afghanistan and Pakistan that has increased since the Obama plan was announced.
The recent arrests in the US and Europe of suspects linked to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region indicate that the world could face a wider extremist threat if it fails to effectively stabilise Afghanistan and help Pakistan towards a quick economic and political recovery.

Npower sent low energy bulbs to three million customers

Npower sent low energy bulbs to three million customers

The Green Party accused Npower of taking “inexcusable” shortcuts instead of investing in more effective measures such as loft insulation. Unsolicited mail-outs of light bulbs as an option under the scheme were stopped by the government as of this month.NpowerLow energy light bulbs were scrapped as an option in June 2009 – and the ban came into force at the new year. said the bulbs were “part of a mix of energy-efficient measures”.The regulator Ofgem said it had expressed concern with Npower about the practice of unsolicited mail-shotsThe government ordered energy companies to help pay for measures to cut household energy consumption – such as cavity wall or loft insulation, or by issuing low energy light bulbs – two years ago. Npower – Britain’s third-largest energy supplier – sent an unrequested selection of low energy bulbs to all of its three million customers before the deadline, the Times reported. That met the company’s requirements under the scheme, but will only cut a fraction of the energy that other measures such as cavity wall or loft insulation will achieve, critics claim.

Reduce emissions

Other major energy firms, including British Gas, are thought to have distributed light bulbs before the practice was banned. It was stopped because it was not clear whether the bulbs were being used.

In July, a consultation paper revealed that energy suppliers have sent households about 200 million bulbs as part of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme. Energy suppliers’ research had suggested that 6% of the bulbs would be unused. A Green Party spokesman said: “It is inexcusable to take short cuts by sending out millions of unsolicited light bulbs instead of taking more effective measures such as cavity wall or loft insulation.”

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokeswoman said unsolicited mail-outs of light bulbs had been stopped because it was not clear whether they were being used and research suggested enough had been distributed to satisfy demand. Energy efficiency driveShe said the ban “means energy suppliers will have to fulfil their obligation by providing more installations of loft and cavity wall insulation instead, which will further reduce emissions and permanently lower fuel bills”.

“We’ve recently increased and extended the obligation meaning even more money will be made available into making homes more efficient,” she added. Npower said it was committed to the CERT scheme and “was doing the right thing by [its] customers and energy efficiency”. A spokesman said: “These low energy bulbs are part of a mix of energy-efficient measures (including cavity wall or loft insulation) – some of which are inherently more expensive than others.

“They should be viewed in the wider context of the 120 projects undertaken by Npower every hour of every day at a cost of over £100m.” Npower customers who have already received low energy bulbs may still contact the company and request financial support for additional carbon reducing measures and will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

A robber bored a hole through the wall of jewelry shop and walked off with about 200 luxury watches worth 300 million yen ($3.2 million)

TOKYO A robber bored a hole through the wall of jewelry shop and walked off with about 200 luxury watches worth 300 million yen ($3.2 million) in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district, police said Saturday.Investigators discovered a 16 to 20 inch (40 to 50 centimeter) hole in one of the store’s walls, said Shinya Watanabe, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.Last February, 50 million yen ($540,000) in jewelry was stolen from another Ginza store through a hole in a concrete wall. Police said it was not clear whether the two thefts were linked, or if the thief entered the store to remove the watches.A security guard monitoring the store Friday afternoon did not notice anything unusual, Watanabe said. Police had no witnesses but were interviewing employees at neighboring stores for possible leads.”Whoever did this bored a hole into a concrete wall,” Watanabe said. “The noise must have been quite loud.”The store, Tenshodo, is located in the heart of Ginza, the busiest high-end shopping district in Tokyo. It was founded in 1879 and sells jewelry and luxury watches such as Rolex, Chopard and Piaget.Saturday was the start of the New Year sale season, when bargain hunters flock to department stores and shops offering big discounts. A block from Tenshodo, customers lined up at Mitsukoshi department store waiting for its 10 a.m. opening.(AP)

Australia Remains of the first airplane ever taken to Antarctica, in 1912

ADELAIDE, Australia Remains of the first airplane ever taken to Antarctica, in 1912, have been found by Australian researchers, the team announced Saturday.The Mawson’s Huts Foundation had been searching for the plane for three summers before stumbling upon metal pieces of it on New Year’s Day.”The biggest news of the day is that we’ve found the air tractor, or at least parts of it!” team member Tony Stewart wrote on the team’s blog from Cape Denison in Antarctica’s Commonwealth Bay.

Australian polar explorer and geologist Douglas Mawson led two expeditions to Antarctica in the early 1900s, on the first one bringing along a single-propeller Vickers plane. The wings of the plane, built in 1911, had been damaged in a crash before the expedition, but Mawson hoped to use it as a kind of motorized sled.Stewart said the 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition used the plane to tow gear onto the ice in preparation for their sledging journeys.But the plane’s engine could not withstand the extreme temperatures and it was eventually abandoned.The plane, the first from France’s Vickers factory, had not been seen since the mid-1970s, when researchers photographed the steel fuselage nearly encompassed in ice.The foundation – which works at Cape Denison to conserve the huts used by Mawson in his expeditions – believed the plane would still be where it was left by Mawson, near the huts and the harbor, which is covered in ice for most of the year.(AP)

Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings 109-108

LOS ANGELES With apologies to Jerry West, the Lakers’ modern-day “Mr. Clutch” did it again.Kobe Bryant hit yet another buzzer-beating 3-pointer and finished with 39 points as the defending NBA champions overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings 109-108 on Friday night. The last time the Lakers won a game in which they trailed by 20 or more points was Dec. 12, 2006, when they erased a 21-point deficit in a 112-101 double-overtime win against Houston at Los Angeles.”It looked like they went into a zone coverage on the inbounds pass, and that side was wide open,” said Bryant, averaging 35.7 points in his last 10 games.”It was just a matter of me getting to that spot with enough time to get a shot off. Phil drew up a play for a 3. He wanted me to get a good look and knock it down. I think he wanted to get out of here.”

Lamar Odom had a season-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the NBA-leading Lakers (26-6). Pau Gasol had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists – one of which set up Bryant’s clutch basket from in front of the Sacramento bench.”Kobe’s shooting the ball at a high percentage,” Gasol said. “But he’s not always going to shot like that. We understand that, and I think he understands that, too. But when he’s feeling it and the shots are going down, he’s going to keep shooting.”Spencer Hawes had a career-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Kings, Omri Casspi scored 23 points, and Beno Udrih added 19 points and 13 assists.

“I am so proud of our team – but at the same time, it’s disappointing,” Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. “We’ve played well enough to beat those guys twice, but they have a knack at the end of games. We got everything we needed, performance-wise, from everybody that played, and we couldn’t close it out. That’s one of the things that makes the Lakers so good. Kobe is an unbelievable player, no question about it.”One night after scoring a season-high 44 points and getting a season-best 11 assists, Bryant added another chapter to his Hall of Fame resume. This miracle shot came exactly four weeks after his off-balance 3-point buzzer-beating bank shot that pulled out a win over the Miami Heat at Staples Center. On Dec. 16 at Milwaukee, Bryant hit a 15-footer as time expired in overtime to give the Lakers a 107-106 win.

“These players – I don’t know how they get themselves into those positions, but they do an unbelievable job of hitting shots that are remarkable shots, marvelous shots,” coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s right there with Michael in that kind of breath you look at.”The Lakers came out as flat as half-empty champagne bottles left over from New Year’s Eve, shooting 37 percent from the field in the first half and trailing 64-49 at intermission. Derek Fisher was the biggest offender, missing nine of 10 shots in the half while the Kings had the highest-scoring half by a Lakers opponent this season.

Fisher, who had six points, played 9 minutes in the third quarter without taking a shot, then sat out the entire fourth quarter.The sellout crowd let the Lakers feel their pain, booing them loudly after Jon Brockman’s layup gave Sacramento a 38-23 lead with 9:12 left in the second quarter. The Kings built the lead to 20 at 52-32 with a 3-pointer by Ime Udoka that capped a 26-9 run with 5:06 left in the half.

“I think we kind of took the pedal off,” Hawes said. “We knew they were going to make a run. It was inevitable. We knew that we couldn’t sit up by 20 points the whole game. And they chipped away and chipped away to put themselves in a position to win it at the end. That’s why he’s Kobe. He makes big shots at big times.”In their previous game, Tuesday night at Staples Center, the Lakers fell behind by 15 points to Golden State and gave up 60 points in the first half before pulling out a 124-118 win.

NOTES: According to Jackson, it looks as though Ron Artest will be back playing by early next week, following the fall at his home on Christmas night that caused a concussion, a deep cut on his left elbow and a slight loss of memory. “He’s improved significantly in the last two days, and optimistic that he’ll be able to practice soon – probably not a full-out practice with contact tomorrow, but will have non-contact activity with the team,” Jackson said. “There’s a number of checks they go through with concussions, like speech patterns. But with Ron, that doesn’t work.” … This was only the third time in the last 36 years that the Lakers played on New Year’s Day. Their overall record on Jan. 1 is 9-6. … It was the first time the Kings played on New Year’s Day since the vagabond franchise moved from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985-86. They are 11-9 overall on this date (0-3 in K.C., 4-4 in Cincinnati and 7-1 in Rochester). … With 24,800 career points, Bryant is 16 points away from overtaking Patrick Ewing for 15th place.(AP)