Tokyo
Correspondent

Edited by James M. Kelly
Tom Cruise, Aliens and Japan’s new first lady!

photo credit: Alan Light
Miyuki Hatoyama is not like any first lady to hit Japan: A divorcee, a previous actress, and an extrovert woman who demands parity from her husband. It’s the “outspoken” element that is giving unusual exposure for the soon-to-be Prime Minister of Japan.

In a book called “Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered,” Hatoyama indeed writes a very strange thing. She has written in her book that “she has been kidnapped by aliens, was taken to the planet Venus and met Hollywood actor Tom Cruise’ in past life when he was Japanese. She also stated “I know that I was with him in previous life. So, when I meet him and say, ‘Long time no see,’ he will understand what I mean. Isn’t it cool?”

Miyuki Hatoyama also describes that “While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus. It was a very beautiful place, and it was very green.”

In an interview on a Japanese talk show, Hatoyama has made another bizarre claim, saying she “eats” the sun. “Like this, like this,” she said, gesturing as if eating something from the sky. “It makes me feel good and my husband does it too.”

Being famous for her unconventional attitude, these comments wouldn’t have got much attention if she wasn’t the wife of the world’s second largest economy. Japan, for now, appears more pleased than worried. The Japanese media is brushing off comments as weird but undisruptive.

YouTube, on which the clips of the Japanese talk show were divided, was overflowed with people writing comments like “crazy” to “who cares?”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs official like Tomohiko Taniguichi were seen giving comment calls on the first lady “fun for now.” “It’s actually helping her husband’s recognition,” says Taniguichi.

Hong Kong
Reader Contribution

Edited by James M. Kelly

photo credit: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Controversy regarding the security of US embassy in Afghanistan

In a shocking revelation, a former manager of the contractor, which supplies guards to the US embassy in Afghanistan, has reveled that he was removed from his job because he tried to whistle blow about the malicious activities of the security guards over there.

Amour Group North America (AGNA) is a security contractor owned by Wackenhut Services Inc. and has a contract of over $108 million a year to guard the US embassy in Afghanistan. In his lawsuit, James Gordon has claimed that he was forced to leave his job at AGNA when he tried to bring to light the problems of inadequate staffing and the concerning behavior of the guards indulging in sex trafficking and frequently visiting the brothel.

The allegations of James Gordon were further strengthened by the findings of a watchdog organization known as Project On Government Oversight (POGO). Recently, this organization released photograph depicting indecent partying and inappropriate behavior by the embassy guards. A formal report, which was formulated after interviewing numerous guards who worked at the embassy, was sent to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Wackenhut said that James Gordon had resigned voluntarily and there was no connection of his resignation to the whistle blowing incidence. They are maintaining their stance that the security of US embassy was never compromised. However, Gordon referred to these assertions as hilarious and commented, “If you hire a guard force that is placing you at risk because of their behavior, and is also inadequate with regard to the fact of language difficulty between elements of the guard force, I don’t see how anyone can say the government is getting what they are paying for and it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the embassy itself”, referring to the fact that some of the guards were non English speaking Gurkhas of Nepal.

There have been no comments yet from the contractor’s side regarding the allegations of sex trafficking and visiting brothels by the security guards. Gordon further commented that he tried to impose a ‘no brothel’ policy when he found out that there was an outbreak of Sexually Transmitted Diseases among the guards. However, the company resorted with hostility to his suggestions and even when he reported the matter to the State Department, there was no definitive action taken.

Hong Kong
Reader Contribution

Edited by James M. Kelly

Monuments in Hong Kong, truly reflects the colonial history

photo credit: Dennis Wong

Hong Kong is a perfect blend of eastern and western tradition and has lots to offer to its tourists. All the travelers, who visit this enchanting city, pay due visit to the famous monuments of Hong Kong, which are true representatives of the history of this city. Offering, exactly what the tourist wants to know about the interesting colonial history, these places have become very dear to them.

In comparison to the rest of the China, Hong Kong has a distinctive geographical position. With view to promote tourism in Hong Kong, even the government of China has taken initiatives and measures to save these monuments. This in turn is an attempt, to help tourists unravel the exciting facts they want to know about the history of Hong Kong.

To quench the thirst for knowledge of the tourists, the travel agencies provide several tourist guides in this city. Abreast with the colonial history, the tourist guides are very proficient in making a traveler acquainted with the different locations and sizes of all the monuments in Hong Kong.

Man Mo Temple, Tin Hau Temple, Old District Office Northern Rock Carving at Big Wave Bay, remnants of the former Four-old police Stanley, former Kowloon British School and Yi Tai Study Hall are few of the most important monuments in Hong Kong. A visit to these monuments is not an expensive affair, since one can access them at an affordable price. Not only the monuments, but also the museums in Hong Kong represent the glorious history of this city. And this is one of the reasons that the city is bustling with tourists all the year round. Few of the monuments in Hong Kong are renowned for the administrative significance, as they echo the political history of this city.

If one plans to spend a holiday in Hong Kong and wants to visit these monuments, hotels located in the heart of the city are readily available.

Beijing
Reader Contribution

Edited by James M. Kelly

China, second to UK to launch Arabic TV channel

To showcase the “real China” to the Middle East and North Africa, China is launching an Arabic language TV channel. In an attempt to promote state-controlled media organizations to go global, the television station will broadcast news, entertainment and cultural programs 24 hours a day.
Zhang Changming, the vice-president of CCTV stated, “It is imperative for us to be a multi-language, multi-faceted and multi-perspective broadcaster. We hope the world can know China, and China can know the rest of the world even better.” he added.
Up until now CCTV had been telecasting channels in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. From 25th July onwards, around 300 million people across 22 Arabic-speaking countries will be able to access the new Arabic channel.
However, the broadcasters have not disclosed the cost of the channels or the number of viewers as yet. It is believed, that the channel will start off with about 80 staff members, and will be taken care of by Arabic-speaking Chinese presenters.
Mr. Zhang said the actual reason, is to defy the distorted views about China, put across by various foreign broadcasters. “Our principle is to be real, to be objective, to be accurate and transparent. CCTV will present the world with the real China,” he added. However, he did not speak about the routine censoring of Chinese media outlets and the limitations they have to keep in mind while covering a story.
In the month of September, CCTV will be ready to launch a Russian-language channel as well. With the objective of promoting views of Chinese people to foreigners, the Chinese-language Global Times newspaper published an English edition in April.
China is not the only country, which is telecasting to the Middle East. UK’s BBC launched its own Arabic TV channel, funded by the public, in the preceding year.