Japan reports record annual trade deficit

Japan has reported a record annual trade deficit after the weak yen pushed up the cost of energy imports.

Its deficit rose to 11.5 trillion yen ($112bn; £68bn) in 2013 - a 65% jump from a year ago.

Japan has seen its energy imports rise in recent years after it shut all of its nuclear reactors in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake in 2011.

But it is having to pay more for those imports after a series of aggressive policy moves weakened the yen sharply.

The Japanese currency fell more than 20% against the US dollar between January and December last year.

Credit to BBC

Minister calls for third Temple to be built

Minister of Housing and Construction Uri Ariel (left) with the mayor of Ma’aleh Adumim Benny Kasriel during a ceremony in the tract of land known as E1, located between the large West Bank settlement and Jerusalem, in April. (photo credit: Flash90)


A government minister from a nationalist religious party called Thursday for the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The statement from Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) breaks a long-standing taboo on high-ranking government officials speaking about changing the fragile status quo on the holy and contested esplanade, and will likely draw ire from official Israeli circles and anger the Arab and Muslim world.

Speaking at an archaeological conference next to the West Bank settlement of Shilo and quoted by Maariv, Ariel called for a third Temple to be built on the site, which today is home to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque and is considered Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest.

“We’ve built many little, little temples,” Ariel said, referring to synagogues, “but we need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount.”

The Jerusalem site was home to Judaism’s first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed, the second one in 70 CE. The idea of building a third Temple, while popular among some religious and right-wing Jews, is considered outside mainstream Israeli discourse by most.

Last year, Jewish Home MK Zevulun Orlev also called for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, saying that removing the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque would mean that the “billion-strong Muslim world would surely launch a world war.” However, he added, “everything political is temporary and there is no stability.”

Jews are currently banned from praying on the Temple Mount by the Jordanian department of endowments, known as the Wakf, which administers the plaza surrounding the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Credit to The Times of Israel


Read more: Minister calls for third Temple to be built | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-calls-for-third-temple-to-be-built/#ixzz2rbhB1kNZ

Doves released in the Vatican as a gesture of peace are immediately ATTACKED by vicious seagull and crow

Two white doves released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture today were attacked by other birds.

As tens of thousands of people watched in St. Peter's Square, a seagull and a large black crow swept down on the doves right after they were set free from an open window of the Apostolic Palace.

One dove lost some feathers as it broke free from the gull. But the crow pecked repeatedly at the other dove. It was not clear what happened to the doves as they flew off.




Go: Pope Francis is joined by two children who release doves during the Angelus Prayer in St. Peter's Square



Off they fly: Francis was celebrating the prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square



Windowsill; A seagull attacks a dove released by a child from the papal window during Francis's prayer



Attack: Two white doves had been sent fluttering into the air as a peace gesture by Italian children

While speaking at the window beforehand, Francis had appealed for peace in Ukraine, after at least three people were killed during the latest clashes in the two-month crisis.

Police and demonstrators in Kiev fought again as protests against President Viktor Yanukovich's abrupt turn away from the European Union towards Russia, Ukraine's former Soviet overlord.

‘I am close to Ukraine in prayer, in particular to those who have lost their lives in recent days and to their families,’ Francis said in his weekly Angelus in St Peter's Square.

‘I hope that a constructive dialogue between the institutions and civil society can take place, that any resort to violence is avoided and that the spirit of peace and a search for the common good is in the hearts of all.’



Not getting away: A dove which was freed by children flanked by Pope Francis is attacked by a seagull



Watch out: A dove which was freed by children flanked by Pope Francis is chased by a black crow



Watch out: After the pope and the two children left the windows, a seagull and a big black crow quickly swept down, attacking the doves, including one which had briefly perched on a windowsill



Crow fought the wings of a dove: While speaking at the window beforehand, Francis had appealed for peace in Ukraine, where anti-government protesters have died

The mass rallies against President Yanukovich's rule erupted last November after he pulled out of a free trade deal with the European Union in favour of closer economic ties with Russia.

They have since spiralled into protests against misrule and corruption among Ukraine's leaders and officials.

There have been violent clashes with police in Kiev city centre, resulting in the death of three protesters last week, two from gunshot wounds.

Credit to Daily Mail
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546218/Birds-released-Vatican-gesture-peace-immediately-attacked-vicious-seagull-crow.html#ixzz2rYL7CJH9

Russian-Chinese Naval Training Exercise Begins in Mediterranean

MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian-Chinese naval training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea began on Saturday involving the Russian nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky and China’s Yancheng frigate, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced.

The exercise, which began with a gathering of the ships and accompanying speedboats, is being performed to reinforce co-maneuvering, air defense collaboration as well as naval helicopter landings on the different countries’ ships, the ministry’s press service said.

The exercise is focused on “raising the level of operational compatibility between Russian and Chinese military ships during joint actions in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea,” the ministry said.

Russian and Chinese military vessels began collaborating in the region on January 7 to ensure security for transports of Syrian chemical weapons.

Credit to RIA Novosti

Markets Are Falling, Which Means It's Time For The US To Bomb A Sovereign Nation

After the worst week for the market in over a year, the US knows the drill. Must. Distract. Population. And if a drunk-driving, prepubescent Miley Cyrus Canadian lookalike on a work visa won't do the trick, then by all means resort to ye olde faithful - bombing the feces out of some "independent" nation. In this case Somalia. CNN reports that earlier today, the US conducted a missile strike in Southern Somalia. The target: a "senior leader" affiliated with al Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia. Supposedly this is the Al Qaeda that the US isn't officially funding and supporting in Qatar's desperate and ongoing attempt to push its pipeline under Syria.

From CNN:

The U.S. military conducted an airstrike in southern Somalia on Sunday against a suspected militant leader, a U.S. military official told CNN.

The target was described by the official as a "senior leader" affiliated with al Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia.

The United States has not yet been able to determine whether the target was killed, the official said.

Last October, the elite U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six aborted a pre-dawn raid in southern Somalia to capture Al-Shabaab leader Ikrima after an intense firefight prevented them from reliably taking him alive, a senior U.S. official told CNN at the time.

In a second raid that same weekend, members of the U.S. Army Delta Force captured Abu Anas al Libi, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, during an operation in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

The U.S. military official said Sunday's strike involved missiles. No U.S. troops were on the ground.

Al-Shabaab, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, has a relationship with al Qaeda that goes back several years. In 2012, the two groups effectively merged, said CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen.

And this is happening after the market has dropped a mere 4% from all time highs. Wait until we enter a bear market: tactical nukes will be going off left and right...

Credit to Zero Hedge

Israel Air Force jets flying over Beirut

Hezbollah's Al-Manar network reported Sunday morning that Israeli Air Force aircrafts are flying intensively in Lebanese airspace in the western Lebanon Valley, Beirut, Baalbek and Hermel.

Earlier Sunday it was reported by Voice of Lebanon radio station that IAF jets are scouring Lebanese airspace and hovering over the capital Beirut. Meanwhile, Lebanese El-Nashra news website reported that the IAF is operating in low altitude in the area of Baalbek in the Lebanon Valley.

The Lebanese army released a statement Sunday that two Israeli warplanes have entered Lebanese airspace and flew in the country for over an hour.

In the past two months, Lebanese media reported on numerous IAF operations within Lebanese airspace. However, none of the cases included a strike on Lebanese soil.

During the past weekend, there was much debate in the Lebanese media about an interview with senior Israeli officials in the Ramat David IAF base. Among others, the interview featured an Air Force unit commander who said: "We are closely following attempts to smuggle arms from Syria to Lebanon and attempting to prevent it from reaching Hezbollah."

LBC, the network that released the highly-debated interview, issued a statement on Saturday in which they claim they have fallen into an IDF trap, which used the network for its own purposes. "The error was made due to a misunderstanding, and not, God forbid, due to conspiring with the army that carried out the heinous acts in Lebanon, unrelated to its actions against the Palestinian people. They are still occupying Lebanese land and their Air Force is still violating Lebanese sovereignty," the statement read.

Credit to Ynetnews

Warning Signs Of The Approaching Global Economic Reset