China protests mix colonial anger, modern dispute
( the grudges between these two giants run long and deep with countless disputes over resources often drenched in bloodshed, there is no easy solution to this conundrum, unless they give these islands to Korea. Now I know you’re saying to yourself, “self”, because any good conversation with yourself should like that, you are no doubt saying to yourself, “self, how does this solve anything?” the answer is actually quite simple, sure the Chinese may hate the Japanese, the Japanese may hate the Chinese but everybody loves South Korea! Besides with the powder keg of a vaguely nuclear capable North Korea looming on the horizon who would dare attack them? Therefore peace assured!)
By DIDI TANG, APBEIJING — Old wounds amplified outrage over a burning territorial dispute Tuesday as thousands of Chinese protested Tokyo's purchase of islands claimed by Beijing and marked the 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion that China has never forgotten.
China marks every Sept. 18 by blowing sirens to remember a 1931 incident that Japan used as a pretext to invade Manchuria, setting off a brutal occupation of China that ended only at the close of World War II. Demonstrations are not routine, but this year, as Chinese fume over last week's Japanese purchase of long-contested islands in the East China Sea, they spread across the country.
Outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, thousands of protesters shouted patriotic slogans and demanded boycotts of Japanese goods. Some burned Japanese flags and threw apples, water bottles and eggs at the embassy, which was heavily guarded by three layers of paramilitary police and metal barricades.
"We believe we need to declare war on them because the Japanese devils are too evil. Down with little Japan!" said Wang Guoming, a retired soldier and seller of construction materials who said he came to the embassy from Linfen in Shanxi province, 600 kilometers (400 miles) away, to vent his frustration.
In another part of the capital, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had a lengthy meeting with China's national defense minister, Gen. Liang Guanglie, during a three-day trip that U.S. officials have said Panetta will use to press China to seek ways to peacefully resolve its territorial disputes.
Liang told Panetta that China was "resolutely opposed" to the islands' inclusion in the terms of a U.S.-Japan mutual defense treaty, and hopes the U.S. will honor its commitment to maintain a neutral stance, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Protests also took place in Guangzhou, Wenzhou, Shanghai and other Chinese cities. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported protests in at least 100 cities, and said people threw bricks and rocks at the Japanese Consulate in Shenyang in China's northeast. However, Shenyang police said by telephone there was no unrest.
China's authoritarian government rarely allows protests, and the wave of anti-Japanese demonstrations clearly received a degree of official approval.
Many Japanese businesses across China shut their doors as a precaution following recent protests that turned violent and saw the torching and looting of Japanese-invested factories and shops.
The nationalist fervor spread to the Internet, where users of the popular search engine Baidu saw a huge Chinese flag planted on a cartoon image of the contested islands, which China calls the Diaoyus and Japan calls the Senkakus. And all members of China's elite badminton team, who scored multiple gold medals in the London Olympics, pulled out of a Japanese tournament that began Tuesday.
The islands are tiny rock outcroppings that have been a sore point between China and Japan for decades. Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972.
The disagreement escalated last week when the Japanese government said it was purchasing some of the islands from their private owner. Japan considers it an attempt to thwart a potentially more inflammatory move by the governor of Tokyo, who had wanted not only to buy the islands but develop them. But Beijing sees Japan's purchase as an affront to its claims and its past calls for negotiations.
Beijing has sent patrol ships inside Japanese-claimed waters around the islands, and some state media have urged Chinese to show their patriotism by boycotting Japanese goods and canceling travel to Japan.
Protests since Tokyo's purchase have been the largest anti-Japanese demonstrations since 2005. They reflect not only China's strident opposition to surrendering any land it claims, but generations of Chinese anger over Tokyo's colonial history that periodically bursts to the surface.
In Beijing, streams of people marched past the embassy in orderly groups of about 150 people, herded by police who urged them to remain calm and peaceful. Some toted posters of Chairman Mao Zedong, and many shouted slogans such as: "United, Love China, Never forget our national shame."
Sun Chao, who works for a Beijing tutoring company, said he was given the day off and came to demonstrate with about a dozen other friends and colleagues. He spent around 150 yuan ($24) on apples and bottled water that he was handing out on the demonstration route, encouraging people to hurl them at the embassy.
"I want to knock down the Japanese national flag," Sun said.
Japan has seen its own surge of nationalism. Its coast guard said Tuesday that it was questioning two Japanese who landed on one of the islands. Coast guard official Yuji Sakanaka said it was unclear why the two landed.
Members of Japan's conservative opposition are calling for the government to get tough with China.
"History clearly shows that this is our territory," Nobuteru Ishihara, a front-runner for the Liberal Democratic Party's top post, said at a weekend debate with four other contenders. "It's fundamental that we protect this territory." He is the son of staunchly nationalistic Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who started the latest round of the dispute by proposing to buy and develop the islands.
A Japanese coast guard vessel issued a warning to a Chinese vessel near the islands early Tuesday. But officials said they could not confirm reports in Chinese state media that more than 1,000 Chinese fishing boats were headed toward the East China Sea island group.
Numerous Japanese factories, shops, restaurants and schools in China were closed Tuesday after some were targeted by looting protesters over the weekend. The China Daily newspaper reported Mazda halted production at its Nanjing factory for four days, Canon closed three factories and gave 20,000 employees two days' paid vacation, and Fast Retailing shut 19 of its Uniqlo clothing store outlets in China.
The newspaper said more than a dozen Yokado supermarkets and 198 7-Eleven convenience stores under Japanese management were also temporarily shuttered.
Some protesters vented anger at the United States for boosting its military presence in East Asia, a move they say emboldened Japan and other countries to be more assertive in staking rights to territory also claimed by China.
"Wherever America goes, there will be turbulence," said retired Beijing teacher Sui Xueyan. "Their crimes are no less than Japan."
Topless photos ruling: 1st battle in privacy war
( as much as I’m for topless royalty, there should be limits, I think the whole crazy “let’s film every moment of a celebrities life!” idea goes a bit too far, no I don’t care what Lindsey Lohan had for lunch, I don’t care where the Prince Charles vacations or who’s having sex with whom if it doesn’t involve breaking the law in an interesting fashion or is aimed at me. This microscopic examination of the famous has even spawned its own subset of entities the famous for being famous, examined because they are spectacle 24/7 Jerry Springer madness that haunts our airwaves. Why do we care what Celine Dion wears? Or what some otherwise pointless goobers from New Jersey are doing to or around each other? There are plenty of breasts being shown on purpose in the world! Some good some bad ,let us leave the royal chestuses be in peace.)
By GREGORY KATZ and THOMAS ADAMSON, APLONDON — Prince William and Kate Middleton's aggressive legal strategy over topless photos of Britain's likely future queen is the first salvo in what could be a decades-long tug-of-war over their family's privacy.
A French court ruled in favor of the royal couple on Tuesday in their fight over the photos, but the scope of that ruling will be limited.
The unauthorized topless photos of Kate have already been widely published in France, Italy, Ireland and on the Internet — lessening the impact of Tuesday's court injunction against future publication inside France.
The royals' strong stance also included a bid to persuade French prosecutors to launch a criminal inquiry to target the offending photographer.
The wealthy royal couple did not gain much on paper — the court-imposed fine was about $2,500 — but legal experts and royal watchers say the action was designed to demonstrate their willingness to use all legal means to prevent future press intrusion.
That will become even more important when the couple have a child, who would become third in the line of succession to the British throne, said Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine.
"This was done because they want to set a benchmark for the future," he said.
"They want to send a warning to anybody who might think of doing something similar in the future."
The fast legal intervention, which developed within hours of the publication of the photos Friday in a French gossip magazine, represents a break from Queen Elizabeth II's traditional policy of using legal action only as a means of last resort. It also reflects William's determination not to let the press harass Kate as it did his late mother, Princess Diana, Little said.
Still, the case shows the unlikelihood of controlling photos through legal means once they have been published.
Closer magazine was ordered to turn over all of its digital copies of the photos, but that has little meaning in a world where millions of copies can be made and distributed in the blink of an eye.
The revealing pictures will follow Middleton for the rest of her life — not unlike the snapshots of her appearance in a charity fashion show wearing black lingerie and a sheer dress during her university days.
"Clearly, the harm has been done," said Christopher Mesnooh, an American lawyer working in France for Field Fisher Waterhouse. "Thousands, now tens of thousands of copies, are now in public circulation. A legal decision is a wonderful thing to obtain and the royal couple did exactly what they should have done. But you know the magazine is out there and I suspect most of you have already seen copies of that magazine, so the basic, the initial harm, has been done."
He said magazine executives had concluded in advance they had little to fear from an adverse court ruling when they decided to print the photographs, obtained by a photographer who trained a long lens on the royal couple as they sunbathed on a private estate in southern France.
"Closer magazine has done a very sophisticated cost-benefit analysis," Mesnooh said. "Whatever the amount of damages that a French court will award, it will be a fraction of the publicity that the magazine will have gained, as well as the number of issues of this particular issue of Closer magazine which will be sold."
Tuesday's ruling only affects the French magazine branch of Mondadori, Closer's publisher. A French court ordered it to hand over all digital copies of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge within 24 hours and blocked further publication of what it called a "brutal display" of William and Kate's private moments.
The court also stopped the magazine from republishing the pictures — including on its website and its tablet app — as well as re-selling them.
Mondadori faces a daily fine of (EURO)10,000 ($13,100) if it fails to do so.
"These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred meters from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive," the French ruling decreed. "(They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared."
The photos showed Kate relaxing at a private villa in Provence, in southern France, sometimes without her bikini top and, in one case, her bikini bottom partially pulled down to apply sunscreen.
The royal couple is also filing a criminal complaint against `X' — the unnamed photographer who took the picture.
The suit aims to flush out the mystery photographer's identity and prevent him or her from spreading the photos to new locations. If the case goes forward, the photographer could face a substantial fine and a one-year prison term.
But fines and prison terms won't remove the photos from the Internet.
Professor Tim Luckhurst, head of the journalism department at the University of Kent, said the royal couple has likely learned some lessons from the debacle.
"The prince and his wife are going to have to think hard about what sort of conduct is acceptable for the heir to the throne and his wife in the age of the Internet," he said.
Romney tries to stem damage from new controversy
( I applaud Mitt’s honesty, to come out and say what he and his party truly think. He should proclaim it loudly and proudly! Money belongs to the rich! Keep your grubby poor people paws off of it! Taxes are for Peasants! If you didn’t inherit your millions you’re a peasant looser begging for my money shut up and know your place! I always find a little brutal honesty refreshing, especially when the privileged elite claim the masses are acting privileged. Just come out and say it Mitt! Let those true colors shine!! Show us who’s boss!)
By KEN THOMAS AND JIM KUHNHENN, APSALT LAKE CITY — His campaign at a crossroads, Mitt Romney struggled Tuesday to limit political fallout from his dismissive comments about nearly half of all Americans while Republican officials debated the impact of serial controversies on the party's hopes of capturing the White House.
President Barack Obama's White House piled on, seven weeks before Election Day. "When you're president of the United States, you are president of all the people, not just the people who voted for you," said press secretary Jay Carney. He added that Obama "deeply believes that we're in this together."
Romney seemed to say otherwise in a video that surfaced on Monday in which he told donors at a fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans don't pay taxes and believe they are entitled to extensive government support. "My job is not to worry about those people," he said. "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
Privately, some Republicans were harshly critical of Romney's most recent comments and his overall campaign to date, saying he had frittered away opportunities. They also noted that with early voting already under way in some states, the time to recover was smaller than might appear.
Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Connecticut, was open with her criticism. "I disagree with Governor Romney's insinuation that 47% of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care," she said in a statement posted to her website.
Still, with high-profile presidential debates and seven weeks of campaigning yet ahead, others said those concerns were overstated.
"I don't expect the negative headlines of this week will be what we're talking about a week from now," said Fergus Cullen, the former Republican state chairman in New Hampshire and a close ally of Romney. Like other Republicans, he said, "It's incumbent on the Romney campaign to make it (the election) about Obama's handling of the economy."
Top Republicans in Congress volunteered no reaction to Romney's remarks — just as they generally refrained from commenting a week ago when he issued a statement that inaccurately accused the Obama administration of giving comfort to demonstrators after they breached the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
In the days since, Republicans have grumbled that Romney needed to sharpen his appeal to struggling middle class Americans by stating more clearly what he would do as president to help them. That effort began overnight with a new ad designed to appeal to female voters.
The controversies blazed as opinion polls showed Obama moving out to a narrow lead nationally and in some of the key battleground states in the two weeks since back-to-back national political conventions.
The sluggish economy and lingering high unemployment are by far the overriding issues of the election, and Romney's case for the presidency is based on his claim that his success as a businessman has left him the skills needed to create jobs in a nation where unemployment is 8.1 percent.
Obama and the Democrats have tried to counter by depicting the president's challenger as a multimillionaire who has some of his wealth invested in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere overseas, and is out of touch with the needs of middle class Americans.
In his original reaction to the video, posted by the left-leaning magazine Mother Jones, Romney told reporters Monday night that his fundraising remarks were "not elegantly stated." But he offered no apologies and did not answer directly when asked if he felt he had offended anyone.
He also called for the release of the entire video, rather than selected clips, and Mother Jones did so Tuesday afternoon.
By then, the magazine had already posted another excerpt in which Romney offered an unvarnished assessment of the chances for peace in the Middle East. "The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace," and "the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish," he said.
"You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem," he said, "and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."
Obama, who has yet to comment on Romney's videotaped comments, had an appearance on the David Letterman show and a fundraiser with Beyonce and Jay-Z on his campaign schedule for the day.
Romney held a fundraiser in Salt Lake City, with a second one set for evening in Dallas. Obama's campaign emailed a fundraising appeal to supporters referring to Romney's remarks and posted a video online asking voters to watch his comments and respond.
"That's not somebody who I'm thinking, `Oh, I want him as my president,'" says one woman shown in the video.
In Romney's just-revealed video, he says 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax. According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, the total is between 46 million and 47 million, including more than 16 million elderly Americans.
Romney did not cite the center in his remarks. But he previously criticized it sharply when it issued an analysis that said his economic plan would cut taxes on millionaires and raise them on the middle class.
___
Associated Press reporters Holly Ramer in Dover, N.H., and David Espo, Charles Babington, Julie Pace, Philip Elliott and Kasie Hunt in Washington contributed to this report. Kuhnhenn reported from Washington.
Swedish doctors claim pioneering uterus transplant
( I find this equal parts disturbing and amazing at the same time.)
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