North Korea ATTACKS Japan? South Korea on VITAL THREAT Alert WATCHCON 4!

Seems emergency response workers in the Japanese city of Yokohama are a little trigger happy after mistakenly announcing the launch of a North Korean missile to 40,000 followers on Twitter.. The city, south of Tokyo, prematurely fired its tweet just before noon (local time), announcing “North Korea has launched a missile” with blank spaces to indicate the exact time.

Apparently a worker at the Yokohama Crisis Management Centre had prepared a draft Tweet that was to be released IF North Korea launched a missile attack on the city. geez… who hasn’t hit the publish button to early, and mistakenly sent something live. The city retracted the tweet about 20 minutes later and apologised to followers of @yokohama_saigai, the official said. Japan is on full alert ahead of an expected mid-range missile launch by North Korea, with Patriot missiles stationed in its capital to protect the 30 million people who live there.

TENSIONS RISE! South Korean and US forces have raised their alert status to “vital threat” before an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions high in the run-up to a key anniversary. Any launch could coincide with visits by US secretary of state John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in South Korea this Friday.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between Wednesday and April 15 birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung. On Tuesday the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for “thermo-nuclear” war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place “any time” and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions. There is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome that he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama :: Read the full article »»»»

RELATED! For a blow-by-blow on the escalating stand-off check: www.indeepmedia.com.au

Iron Lady Dies at 87

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87 following a stroke. As Britain’s longest-serving 20th century prime minister and the only woman to have held the job, Lady Thatcher presided over a decade of radical change in Britain. Lady Thatcher died peacefully on Monday morning, said Lord Tim Bell, a spokesman for the Thatcher family. Tributes have been pouring in for the most powerful woman of the 20th century :: Read the full article »»»»

JAPAN: Man Dies After 32 Hospital Visits in 2 HOURS!?

A 75-year-old Japanese man died after 25 hospitals refused to admit him to their emergency rooms 36 times over two hours, an official said.

The man, who lived alone in a city north of Tokyo, called an ambulance after suffering breathing problems at his home in January.

Paramedics rushed to his house but were told in turn by all 25 hospitals in the area that they could not accept the man because they did not have enough doctors or any free beds, a local city official said, adding some institutions were contacted more than once.

The ambulance eventually made a 20 minute drive to a hospital in neighbouring Ibaraki prefecture, but the man was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The cause of death has not been made public :: Read the full article »»»»

UN Scraps Gaza Marathon, Hamas Refuses to Allow Female Runners

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency – UNRWA – the United Nations most prevalent agency in Palestine has cancelled its annual marathon, after the territory’s Hamas party banned women from the race.

Hamas says allowing females to participate in the fund-raising event, scheduled for April, goes against Islamic tradition. This year’s marathon had a  record number of female runners registered to take part.

The United Nations Agency had planned the marathon to raise money for the children of Gaza. Hamas apparently liked the idea of the money, but it didn’t like the idea of women stepping out from behind the kitchen-sink.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, this stance taken by Hamas can only be viewed as backward thinking, regrettable :: Read the full article »»»»

UPDATE! North Korea Gets ALL Vocal! Threatens to Ditch Armistace

North Korea has threatened to scrap the armistice which ended the Korean War in 1953, citing US moves to impose sanctions for its nuclear test and tensions over South Korean-US exercises.

The threat comes amid reports from the United Nations that China and the United States have reached agreement on new measures to punish the North for last month’s nuclear weapons test.

The North’s military said it could launch a “precise” strike anytime, unrestrained by the armistice. It also warned it could mount a strike with atomic weapons to counter any US nuclear threat.

In a statement on official media yesterday, the military called the joint exercise a “most blatant” provocation and slammed a “vicious” scheme by the US and its allies to push for tougher United Nations sanctions

UPDATE! March 18 2013: The North’s foreign ministry, in a statement carried by state TV on Sunday, rejected suggestions that the impoverished state was using its weapons program as a way of bullying neighbours into offering much-needed aid.

“The US is seriously mistaken if it thinks that [North Korea] had access to nukes as a bargaining chip to barter them for what it called economic reward,” the statement said :: Read the full article »»»»

Julian Assange Confirms New Australian WikiLeaks Political Party

Julian Assange says he intends to run for a Senate seat in the next election, with plans for an Australian WikiLeaks party “significantly advanced”. The Australian has been holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy since June in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over sexual assault allegations.

Mr Assange is concerned that if he goes to Sweden, authorities will allow him to be extradited to the United States to be questioned over WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of US diplomatic cables.

Mr Assange has told Fairfax Media he intends to push ahead with previously-announced plans to run for the Australian Senate. He said he had not yet registered to vote, but told Fairfax he believes he will be able to register in either New South Wales or Victoria as an overseas voter.

Mr Assange said a “strategic decision” would determine which state he would run to represent. He also said “a number of very worthy people admired by the Australian public” have expressed interest in standing for a yet-to-be registered Australian WikiLeaks party  :: Read the full article »»»»