IHT Rendezvous: To Japan-China Row, Add One Potential Provocateur

HONG KONG — The idea that armed conflict could break out in the Pacific over a handful of godforsaken islands is almost unthinkable, not only for the violence involved but also for the potentially calamitous economic and political repercussions. Political leaders, military officials and security analysts can barely utter the W-word out loud for fear they might be unbottling the genie.

But the dispute between China and Japan in the East China Sea took another harrowing turn last week when a Chinese plane overflew the islands and Japan scrambled some fighter jets in response. The Japanese Defense Ministry said it was “the first known violation of Japanese airspace by a Chinese plane” in half a century, as my colleague Hiroko Tabuchi reported.

Naval vessels from both countries have been patrolling the islands, which are known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Bilateral tensions have been high enough that a bumping or brushing incident at sea — even an accidental one — might well lead to actual fighting.

Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the dispute “has left both countries deeply suspicious of each other, and public antipathy on both sides of the East China Sea is running high.” In China there have been nasty anti-Japanese riots.

The way ahead — combat or compromise — could conceivably hang on one man, Shinzo Abe, 58, who is due to be sworn in next week as the new prime minister of Japan.

The entire region, along with the United States, is waiting to see which of Mr. Abe’s political personalities emerges most forcefully — the conservative, nationalistic politician with a provocative streak when it comes to China, or the pragmatic statesman who would pull himself and his party back from the fire-breathing campaign rhetoric of recent weeks.

Worryingly, Mr. Abe appeared ready to add a ground dimension to the confrontation at the islands by pledging to station government workers or Coast Guard personnel there.

“If he follows through on what he’s been saying, we could have serious problems,” Gerald L. Curtis, an expert on Japanese politics at Columbia University, told my colleague Martin Fackler. “Who the heck wants to go to war over the Senkakus?”

Naturally, Mr. Abe’s posture in the region also concerns Washington, which is treaty-bound to defend Japan. “American analysts say the United States might balk at risking war with China if Japan is the one provoking a confrontation over the disputed islands,” Martin wrote.

Japan also has a separate but equally emotional and volatile dispute with South Korea: Both countries claim an atoll in the South China Sea known as the Dokdo islands in Korea and the Takeshima in Japan. (South Koreans went to the polls in a national election on Wednesday.)

Mr. Abe has “promised to push for a constitutional revision to convert Japan’s Self-Defense Forces into a full-fledged military,” said Ayako Doi, an associate fellow at the Asia Society.

In the wake of the landslide triumph of Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party earlier this week, the principal state-run news media in China have already been promising a tougher foreign policy line from the government, especially over the islands. The editorial tone has been almost baleful.

One sample, from Global Times, a daily newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party:

Once Abe takes office, China should let him know about its firm stance. Only with such pressure will Abe hold China in esteem, otherwise he will think China is in a weak position. In recent years, every time Japan has switched to moderate policy toward China, it has been the result of China’s strong stance rather than its concessions.

Beijing could understandably be anticipating a harder line from Tokyo. Mr. Abe has serious credentials as a nationalist, even a provocative and unapologetic one. In a previous tenure as prime minister, from 2006-7, he denied that the Japanese military had forced women, many of them Koreans, into sexual slavery during World War II.

He also has suggested a revision of Article 9 of the Constitution might be in order, the section that says “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.” The article also says that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.”

Mr. Abe has visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a Shinto temple that holds and honors the souls of Japan’s war dead — among them a number of convicted Class A war criminals. These visits cause diplomatic apoplexy in Beijing and Seoul, as both capitals consider Japan to be insufficiently repentant about its military’s atrocities in the war.

In 2007, as prime minister, he gave $425 for the planting of a 6-foot ceremonial evergreen at the shrine.

Mr. Abe went to Yasukuni two months ago in his role, as he pointed out, as the head of the Liberal Democratic Party. And in a nod to his pragmatic side, he walked back an earlier promise that he hoped to visit the shrine one day as prime minister.

“In view of current Japan-China and Japan-South Korea relations, it’s better not to say whether I will visit if I become prime minister,” he told reporters at the time.

In his first press briefing following the election this week, Abe the Conciliator showed up, saying, “China is an indispensable country for the Japanese economy to keep growing. We need to use some wisdom so that political problems will not develop and affect economic issues.”

But Abe the Provocateur also emerged, at the very same briefing, saying that the Senkaku/Diaoyu remain “the inherent territory of Japan.”

“We own and effectively control them,” he said. “There is no room for negotiations about that.”

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Leak reveals Polaroid’s Android-powered camera with interchangeable lenses






Samsung’s (005930) Galaxy Camera and Nikon’s (NINOY) Coolpix S800c are just the beginning of a swath of Android-powered cameras. Newly leaked images and specs point to Polaroid reviving its camera business with what could be the world’s first Android camera with interchangeable lenses. With no official name yet, the tentatively named IM1836 camera will reportedly feature a 18.1-megapixel sensor, 3.5-inch touchscreen, pop-up flash, Wi-Fi, HDMI and Android 4.0.


[More from BGR: A guide to all the insane predictions made by Google’s new engineering director]






The Galaxy Camera and Coolpix S800c do a fine job taking pictures that are considerably better than what you get from a smartphone, but they still can’t match a mirrorless camera with a good lens. At first glance, Polaroid’s camera looks to be a rebadged Nikon 1 J2, but the resemblance only runs skin deep, as PhotoRumors reports the camera only takes MicroSD cards.


[More from BGR: How not to fix Apple Maps]


Polaroid might not be a major player, but as more companies start incorporating Android into their cameras, there’s going to be a shift in the features consumers expect from them. In the next few years, novelty features such as Wi-Fi, cellular data and photo editing apps will be the norm and we’ll laugh at how we ever lived without them.


This article was originally published by BGR


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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The Voice Crowns a Winner!















12/18/2012 at 11:20 PM EST







From left: Terry McDermott, Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David and host Carson Daly


Tyler Golden/NBC


The Voice has a new winner!

After several powerful performances the night before, the top three singers – Nicholas David (of Team Cee Lo) and Terry McDermott and Cassadee Pope (of Blake Shelton's team) – faced the music on Tuesday during the final results show of season 3.

Which one was the winner? Keep reading to find out ...

Cassadee Pope was named the winner of The Voice!

Pope thanked her fans who supported her throughout the competition. She was joined onstage by McDermott, who was the runner-up, and David, who came in third place.

It was a night of music as Rihanna, newly engaged Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars and the Killers celebrated with the finalists by displaying their talents.

Season 4 of The Voice premieres March 25, 2013, with Shakira and Usher stepping in to take over for Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma


WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.


Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?


For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.


But after the grief and fear fades, psychiatrists say most of Newtown's young survivors probably will cope without long-term emotional problems.


"Kids do tend to be highly resilient," said Dr. Matthew Biel, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.


And one way that younger children try to make sense of trauma is through play. Youngsters may pull out action figures or stuffed animals and re-enact what they witnessed, perhaps multiple times.


"That's the way they gain mastery over a situation that's overwhelming," Biel explained, saying it becomes a concern only if the child is clearly distressed while playing.


Nor is it unusual for children to chase each other playing cops-and-robbers, but now parents might see some also pretending they're dead, added Dr. Melissa Brymer of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.


Among the challenges will be spotting which children are struggling enough that they may need professional help.


Newtown's tragedy is particularly heart-wrenching because of what such young children grappled with — like the six first-graders who apparently had to run past their teacher's body to escape to safety.


There's little scientific research specifically on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, in children exposed to a burst of violence, and even less to tell if a younger child will have a harder time healing than an older one.


Overall, scientists say studies of natural disasters and wars suggest most children eventually recover from traumatic experiences while a smaller proportion develop long-term disorders such as PTSD. Brymer says in her studies of school shootings, that fraction can range from 10 percent to a quarter of survivors, depending on what they actually experienced. A broader 2007 study found 13 percent of U.S. children exposed to different types of trauma reported some symptoms of PTSD, although less than 1 percent had enough for an official diagnosis.


Violence isn't all that rare in childhood. In many parts of the world — and in inner-city neighborhoods in the U.S., too — children witness it repeatedly. They don't become inured to it, Biel said, and more exposure means a greater chance of lasting psychological harm.


In Newtown, most at risk for longer-term problems are those who saw someone killed, said Dr. Carol North of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who has researched survivors of mass shootings.


Friday's shootings were mostly in two classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has about 450 students through fourth-grade.


But those who weren't as close to the danger may be at extra risk, too, if this wasn't their first trauma or they already had problems such as anxiety disorders that increase their vulnerability, she said.


Right after a traumatic event, it's normal to have nightmares or trouble sleeping, to stick close to loved ones, and to be nervous or moody, Biel said.


To help, parents will have to follow their child's lead. Grilling a child about a traumatic experience isn't good, he stressed. Some children will ask a lot of questions, seeking reassurance, he said. Others will be quiet, thinking about the experience and maybe drawing or writing about it, or acting it out at playtime. Younger children may regress, becoming clingy or having tantrums.


Before second grade, their brains also are at a developmental stage some refer to as magical thinking, when it's difficult to distinguish reality and fantasy. Parents may have to help them understand that a friend who died isn't in pain or lonely but also isn't coming back, Brymer said.


When problem behaviors or signs of distress continue for several weeks, Brymer says it's time for an evaluation by a counselor or pediatrician.


Besides a supportive family, what helps? North advises getting children back into routines, together with their friends, and easing them back into a school setting. Studies of survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks found "the power of the support of the people who went through it with you is huge," she said.


Children as young as first-graders can benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, Georgetown's Biel said. They can calm themselves with breathing techniques. They also can learn to identify and label their feelings — anger, frustration, worry — and how to balance, say, a worried thought with a brave one.


Finally, avoid watching TV coverage of the shooting, as children may think it's happening all over again, Biel added. He found that children who watched the 9/11 clips of planes hitting the World Trade Center thought they were seeing dozens of separate attacks.


___


EDITOR'S NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.


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Asian shares, euro rise on hopes of U.S. "cliff" deal, BOJ easing

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro rose to multi-month highs on Wednesday as expectations of more aggressive monetary stimulus from the Bank of Japan and signs of progress in resolving the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget crisis lifted demand for riskier assets.


European shares were also expected to post gains. However, index futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street after the S&P 500 <.spx> had its best two-day run in a month on growing confidence a deal can be reached in Washington to avoid a raft of painful spending cuts and tax rises. <.n/>


"What is important, and what is driving the market higher, is that the two parties are now in constructive discussions over specific tax levels and spending programs, and working towards a common middle ground," said Cameron Peacock, a strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne.


Industrial commodities such as oil and copper consolidated earlier gains, while gold recovered some lost ground but remained not far above its lowest in nearly four months as progress in the U.S. budget talks limited its safe-haven appeal.


Financial spreadbetters called London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> and France's CAC-40 <.fhci> indexes to rise 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent. <.l><.eu/>


Tokyo's Nikkei share average <.n225> closed up 2.4 percent, topping 10,000 points for the first time since April, as the prospect of more monetary stimulus and a cheaper yen boosted financials stocks and shares of exporters. <.t/>


MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> gained 0.4 percent, touching its highest level in nearly 17 months, while Australian shares <.axjo> and Hong Kong's Hang Seng <.hsi> also reached 17-month highs. <.ax><.hk/>


S&P 500 index futures were flat.


MORE JAPAN EASING EXPECTED


The Bank of Japan started a two-day meeting on Wednesday, under intense political pressure to expand its asset-buying program aggressively to snap the world's third-biggest economy out of its fourth recession since 2000.


Shinzo Abe, who was elected on Sunday as the country's next prime minister, called for the central bank to embark on "unlimited easing" and set an inflation target of 2 percent to beat deflation.


"The market is already in overbought territory, but investors are increasingly being alarmed that there is a risk of not having Japanese stocks in their portfolios," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.


The euro rose as far as $1.3256 on electronic trading platform EBS, its highest since the beginning of May, and against the yen it reached 111.73, its highest since late August 2011.


"Unless U.S. fiscal cliff talks take an unexpected turn for the worse, we believe that EUR/USD will meet our 1.3300 year-end target," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note.


Oil held steady, with Brent crude rising about 10 cents to just short of $109 a barrel and U.S. crude little changed below $88.


"There has been some progress in talks and it seems commodity markets have been supported by that, as well as a combination of the recent improvement in manufacturing data in China and the United States," said commodity analyst Stefan Graber of Credit Suisse in Singapore.


Copper was also flat just above $8,020 a tonne. Copper rallied almost 8 percent from mid-November to hit a two-month high a week ago, but has since lost some ground.


Gold rose 0.3 percent to around $1,675 an ounce, after falling to $1,661.01 on Tuesday, its lowest since August.


(Additional reporting by Miranda Maxwell in Melbourne, Ian Chua in Sydney and Melanie Burton in Singapore; Editing by Richard Borsuk)



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India Ink: Portraits From the Kochi Biennale: Multimedia Artist Ahmed Mater

At the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in the Kerala State city of Kochi, India Ink interviewed several exhibiting artists about their work, their expectations for the biennale and the politics of art. The fair will continue until March 13.

Ahmed Mater, 33, from Abha, Saudi Arabia, is showing “Desert of Pharan/Adam” at the biennale. He uses photographs, video installations and paintings to tell a powerful story of the obliteration of culture in the face of encroaching development.

Can you tell us more about “Desert of Pharan/Adam”?

Behind the hajj pilgrimage is the first love story, which also connects Mecca to India. It follows immediately after Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise.

As the Islamic scholar Ibn Abbas, cousin of Prophet Muhammad, recounts: Adam was cast down in India and Eve in Jeddah. Adam went in search of her until they met and Eve drew near to him. With this story in mind, the hajj becomes the collective quest of more than three million people for the original love, converging on the spot of Mecca. “Desert of Adam” explores the complex movements of these pilgrims through an elaborate ritual, conducted on an infrastructure defying the human scale of the pilgrimage.

Through my photo and video installations I have tried to capture the manner in which Mecca is changing, as it is now controlled by real-estate agents. And much of the labor that is transforming Mecca comes from the state of Kerala.

How are you finding the biennale?

For me to install my work here is important because I wanted to trace the connection of the first man in the world in India to Mecca and understand our cultures, trade routes and the exchange of religious ideas.

It is interesting to know how the first church in India and the first mosque were built in Muziris. Unlike in other biennales, every artist is helping each other. It is very rare and the synergy is evident. And it is very important it is not commercial.

How do you like the space?

I relate to the grass roots and to the streets in this place very well.

Is art political?

Contemporary art is a political and social statement. The young people of Saudi Arabia are experimenting with art and trying to push for a better future. They are trying to make a bridge between Saudi and other countries.

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The Voice's Top Three Give Final Performances in the Competition






The Voice










12/17/2012 at 10:25 PM EST







From left: Judges Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton


Trae Patton/NBC


Monday night's episode of The Voice gave the final three contestants three chances to earn fans' votes. Each singer revisited a "breakout" song that set them apart in the competition, sang a new song and performed a duet with his or her coach.

But the night opened with a touching tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy. Coaches and singers held up the names of each life lost while singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

Team Cee Lo's Nicholas David then kicked off the competition with Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire." Not able to resist a pun, his coach chimed in on his performance: "Your fire tonight burned this house down," Green said. David later revisited his performance of Bill Withers's "Lean On Me," and joined Green for a duet of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music."

Team Blake's two contestants also had the crowd cheering. Terry McDermott's sang his best song, Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," and took a stab at Mr. Mister's "Take These Broken Wings." But the crowning moment of the night for McDermott was his duet with Shelton of Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)." Adam Levine played guitar alongside them, decked out in a long rocker wig.

Cassadee Pope sang "Over You," which her coach and his wife, Miranda Lambert, co-wrote. She received huge praise for singing it the first time, but the song about Shelton's late brother had special meaning in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn. "America's heart is heavy, and that's about healing," Shelton said. She also moved the coaches with her take on Faith Hill's "Cry." "I don't care that you weren't on my team," Levine said. "I am so proud of you and so happy that you're here at this moment." Pope finished the night with Shelton for a duet of Sheryl Crow's "Steve McQueen."

The Voice returns Tuesday, when the season's winner will be named. Who will it be? Tell us in the comments below.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence


NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.


Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.


"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.


Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.


A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.


High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.


Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.


"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.


"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.


Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.


Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.


"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.


She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.


"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."


After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.


__


AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.


___


Online:


Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5


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"Fiscal cliff" hopes lift Asian shares, other risk assets

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and other risk assets rose on Tuesday as signs of compromise sparked new optimism that the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget tussle could be settled before tax hikes and spending cuts begin to bite early next year.


Differences over how to resolve the fiscal cliff narrowed significantly Monday night as President Barack Obama made a counter-offer to Republicans that included a major change in position on tax hikes for the wealthy, according to a source familiar with the talks.


The move, which the source stressed was not Obama's final offer, was welcomed by a spokesman for Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, potentially advancing negotiations towards a deal by the end-year deadline.


Oil, copper and gold also firmed on the prospect of progress in the U.S. budget talks, which reduced worries about economic damage, but expectations of more monetary easing in Japan kept the yen soft.


"The market will view any advance in talks as positive for confidence, which has been battered by the daily flow of political fighting," Ben Taylor, sales trader at CMC Markets said in a report.


"Regardless of what is decided, the market is looking for a decision and any compromise will help provide a clearer picture for the future."


European shares were expected to keep up the positive momentum, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> will open as much as 0.5 percent higher. A 0.3 percent gain in U.S. stock futures suggested a higher Wall Street opening. <.l><.eu><.n/>


MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was up 0.2 percent, following a rise in global shares on Monday. The index snapped an eight-day winning streak on Monday as investors took profits from last week's rally.


Regional equities also took direction from local factors.


Australian shares <.axjo> gained 0.5 percent to a 17-month high, with resource stocks elevated by a rise in iron ore prices <.io62-cni> to a five-month high.


"Iron ore is a very key commodity in the Chinese industrial machine, steel usage will bounce back and that is good news for our exporters," said Baillieu Holst director Richard Morrow.


Seoul shares <.ks11> rose marginally but underperformed some others in Asia, as investors were reluctant to build positions ahead of South Korea's presidential vote on Wednesday.


London copper was up 0.3 percent to $8,085 a metric ton (1.1023 tons).


"Before the end of the year, I don't really see huge selling pressure, with improving data from China and expectations for a resolution to the fiscal cliff," said analyst Bonnie Liu of Macquarie.


U.S. crude surged 0.8 percent to $87.85 a barrel and Brent rose 0.7 percent to $108.41.


Spot gold added 0.3 percent to $1,702.01 an ounce.


Solid performance in stocks boosted Asian credit markets, narrowing the spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index by two basis points.


JAPAN POLITICS MATTER


In Japan, the Nikkei average <.n225> closed up 1.0 percent at an 8-1/2-month high and edged closer to the key 10,000-mark, with sentiment bolstered by a landslide election win for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday. <.t/>


LDP leader Shinzo Abe, due to be confirmed as Japan's premier on December 26, is calling for far more aggressive monetary stimulus and huge public works spending to rescue Japan from decades-long deflation. His pledges are seen as pressuring the yen and supporting Japanese stocks by improving earnings for the country's exporters.


"The Nikkei is up today primarily due to the rise in U.S. stocks overnight, but the 'Abe-effect' is surprisingly longer-lasting as investors seem to be postponing the timing of unwinding their positions until they see the details and specifics in policies," said Ayako Sera, market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.


The dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 83.96 yen, off a 20-month high of 84.48 yen hit on Monday but well above its late New York levels on Friday.


Abe applied fresh pressure on the Bank of Japan on Monday, saying that the election result reflected strong public support for his views, which he hoped the BOJ would take into account at its two-day policy meeting starting on Wednesday.


"The dollar has more upside against the yen ahead of the BOJ's meeting, with expectations for some additional easing steps being strengthened after Abe's comments yesterday," said Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo.


"The corrective fall in the dollar/yen after the election was small and it's crawling up because the yen weakening trend is still intact. But after the BOJ meeting, there will likely be pre-holiday profit-taking, pushing the dollar/yen down by 1 to 2 yen," Saito said, adding that the dollar could temporarily touch 85 yen before profit-taking sets in by year-end.


Concerns that big-scale fiscal stimulus could seriously increase the country's debt burden pushed the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield to a one-month high of 0.750 percent.


U.S. Treasury yields also inched up in Asia, with the 10-year yields briefly reaching 1.796 percent, its highest level since October 26, on hopes for a deal on the U.S. fiscal cliff. [US/T


(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne and Manash Goswami and Melanie Burton in Singapore; Editing by Richard Borsuk)



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In Spain, Having a Job No Longer Guarantees a Paycheck


Samuel Aranda for The New York Times


Raul, a truck driver in Castellón, Spain, hoped last month to be paid from a government fund. Courts are jammed with requests.







VALENCIA, Spain — Over the past two years, Ana María Molina Cuevas, 36, has worked five shifts a week in a ceramics factory on the outskirts of this city, hand-rolling paint onto tiles. But at the end of the month, she often went unpaid.




Still, she kept showing up, trying to keep her frustration under control. If she quit, she reasoned, she might never get her money. And besides, where was she going to find another job? Last month, she was down to about $130 in her bank account with a mortgage payment due.


“On the days you get paid,” she said at home with her disabled husband and young daughter, “it is like the sun has risen three times. It is a day of joy.”


Mrs. Molina, who is owed about $13,000 by the factory, is hardly alone. Being paid for the work you do is no longer something that can be counted on in Spain, as this country struggles through its fourth year of an economic crisis.


With the regional and municipal governments deeply in debt, even workers like bus drivers and health care attendants, dependent on government financing for their salaries, are not always paid.


But few workers in this situation believe they have any choice but to stick it out, and none wanted to name their employers, to protect both the companies and their jobs. They try to manage their lives with occasional checks and partial payments on random dates — never sure whether they will get what they are owed in the end. Spain’s unemployment rate is the highest in the euro zone at more than 25 percent, and despite the government’s labor reforms, the rate has continued to rise month after month.


“Before the crisis, a worker might let one month go by, and then move on to another job,” said José Francisco Perez, a lawyer who represents unpaid workers in the Valencia area. “Now that just isn’t an option. People now have nowhere to go, and they are scared. They are afraid even to complain.”


No one is keeping track of workers like Mrs. Molina. But one indication of their number can be seen in the courts, which have become jammed with people trying to get back pay from a government insurance fund, aimed at giving workers something when a company does not pay them.


In Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city, the unemployment rate is 28.1 percent and the courts are so overwhelmed that processing claims, which used to take three to six months, now takes three to four years.


Since the start of the crisis in 2008, the insurance fund has paid nearly a million workers nationally back pay or severance. In 2007, it paid 70,000 workers. It is on track to pay more than 250,000 this year, and experts say the figures would be much higher if not for the logjam in the courts.


Often the unpaid workers, like Mrs. Molina, whose company is now in bankruptcy proceedings, hope their labor will keep a struggling operation afloat over the long run. Unemployment benefits last only two years, they point out, and they wonder what they would do after that. But in the meantime, they cannot even claim unemployment benefits. And no amount of budgeting can cover no payment at all.


Beatriz Morales García, 31, said she could not remember the last time she went shopping for herself. A few years ago, she and her husband, Daniel Chiva, 34, thought that they had settled into a comfortable life, he as a bus driver and she as a therapist in a rehabilitation center for people with mental disabilities. His job is financed by the City of Valencia, and hers by the regional government of Valencia.


They never expected any big money. But it seemed reasonable to expect a reliable salary, to take on a mortgage and think about children. In the past year, however, both of them have had trouble being paid. She is owed 6,000 euros, nearly $8,000. They have cut back on everything they can think of. They have given up their landline and their Internet connection. They no long park their car in a garage or pay for extra health insurance coverage. Mr. Chiva even forgoes the coffee he used to drink in a cafe before his night shifts. Still, the anxiety is constant.


“There are nights when we cannot sleep,” he said. “Moments when you talk out loud to yourself in the street. It has been terrible, terrible.”


Mrs. Morales said it was particularly hard to watch other mothers in the park with their children while she must leave her own toddler to go to work, unsure she will ever get paid.


“We are working eight hours, and we’re suffering more than people who are not working,” she said.


The couple’s pay has been so irregular that they are having a hard time even keeping track of how much they are owed, because small payments show up sporadically in their account.


Rachel Chaundler contributed reporting.



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