Assalamu aleikum. Note: According to a recent UPI brief, South Korea, which like Japan hosts U.S. military bases, has 3,600 troops in Iraq, the third-largest contingent after the U.S. and Britain. UPI is owned by the moonie cult, which is based in South Korea.
Please note that 3 articles follow: *Supertyphoon Heads for Japan's Southern Kyushu Island (Update1) *Typhoon Nabi to soak southern Korea *Japan PM headed for solid election victory - media --- (1) Supertyphoon Heads for Japan's Southern Kyushu Island (Update1) Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bloomberg September 4, 2005 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=akIVdlFDdkNU&refer=asia Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Supertyphoon Nabi is heading toward Japan's main southern island of Kyushu and the Korean peninsula with wind speeds of almost 101 miles per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Nabi, which is categorized as ``extremely strong,'' was 31 miles northeast of Japan's Minamidaito Island, 225 miles east of Naha City, Okinawa, as of 4:40 p.m. local time, according to the agency's Web site. It may reach the south of Kyushu early on Sept. 6, Takeo Tanaka, an official at the agency's weather information office, said by phone today. The supertyphoon, the 14th storm of the Pacific typhoon season, may reach the Korean peninsula as early as late Sept. 6, Tanaka said, using data available as of 3 p.m. ``It's big and extremely powerful,'' he said. ``We need to tighten our guard.'' Nabi, which means butterfly in Korean, is moving northwest at a speed of 15.6 miles per hour, the Web site said. Typhoon Mawar last month caused flight cancellations, power outages and halted sea shipments of oil products. A record 10 typhoons and tropical storms hit Japan last year, leaving scores dead and causing billions of dollars of damage. Typhoon Tokage, the strongest in more than a decade, left at least 61 people dead in October. Minamidaito Island has a population of 1,375. A government office on the island could not be reached by phone. The phone's power may have been cut, according to a taped message by Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=akIVdlFDdkNU&refer=asia --- (2) Typhoon Nabi to soak southern Korea Ko Jung-ae [EMAIL PROTECTED] JoongAng Daily September 05, 2005 http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200509/04/200509042214347779900090409041.html Typhoon Nabi is expected to swing across the Korean Peninsula from this afternoon till Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and high wind that could cause massive damage and high casualties. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that yesterday as of 3 p.m. the typhoon was moving north-northwest from the eastern waters off Okinawa, Japan, at 20 kilometers per hour (12 miles per hour). The typhoon is expected to head over the eastern waters of the Korean Peninsula around the Dokdo islets by Wednesday, after passing through the Japanese island of Kyushu. The wind will grow stronger in the afternoon in the southern and eastern regions of the peninsula, with high winds expected in the east tomorrow. The administration is to issue a typhoon warning tonight for Jeju Island, in the southern waters of the peninsula. With a diameter of 1,200 kilometers and central air pressure reaching 940 hectopascals, the typhoon is moving at a maximum speed of 155 kilometers per hour (kph). In comparison, Hurricane Katrina had a central air pressure of 910 hectopascals and a maximum speed of 270 kph. Winds at speeds over 61 kph can knock over fully-grown adults, and at 88 kph can uproot trees. The meteorological administration issues a typhoon warning for winds exceeding 50 kph, and a typhoon alert for winds up to 76 kph. Typhoon Nabi is larger than Typhoon Rusa, which assailed the Korean Peninsula in August 2002, and is about the same size as Typhoon Maemi, which resulted in heavy damage and casualties in September 2003. Nabi will not be as destructive as was originally expected, the administration said yesterday, as the typhoon will start to loose steam some time around Wednesday. Nabi, which means "butterfly" in Korean, was the name submitted by South Korea. In 2000, the World Meteorological Organization asked the 14 countries that suffer from typhoons every year to suggest 10 names. http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200509/04/200509042214347779900090409041.html --- (3) Japan PM headed for solid election victory - media By Linda Sieg Reuters Sunday September 4, 2005 http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-04T085502Z_01_HO417557_RTRUKOC_0_UK-JAPAN-ELECTION.xml TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's long-ruling party was on track to win a majority on its own in next week's election, media surveys showed on Sunday, the latest sign that his gamble on postal reform was paying off. The surveys by four national newspapers, a metropolitan daily and Kyodo news agency also forecast Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, the New Komeito, would together win more than 252 seats in the 480-seat chamber. A stable majority of that size would allow the ruling coalition to chair all committees in the powerful lower house and help Koizumi forge ahead with his broader agenda to downsize the government and repair public finances. Surveys showed, however, that as many as 40 percent of voters, however, were undecided how to vote in an election in which the LDP and its main opposition rival agree broadly on the need for economic reform, but differ sharply on foreign policy. The opposition Democratic Party has pledged to pull Japanese troops out of Iraq when their current mandate ends in December and to repair ties with China and South Korea, which have chilled during Koizumi's more than four years in office. Koizumi, 63, called the election after LDP lawmakers sided with the opposition to kill bills to privatise the postal system, a financial giant with some $3 trillion in assets that has been criticised for funding wasteful public works projects. He then stripped the rebels of party backing and sent rival candidates -- many of them women and mostly novices -- to oppose them, casting the election as a referendum on postal reform as a symbol of his reform programme. The drama, played out on TV, bolstered support for the LDP. "The response is amazing," Koizumi told public broadcaster NHK, looking relaxed, if weary, in a yellow open-necked shirt. "I feel that many people have come to agree with postal privatisation." The LDP has ruled on its own or in a coalition for most of the past half century, but has not won a majority at the polls since 1990, media noted, although it has cobbled together post-election majorities by absorbing independents. WON'T EXTEND TERM The wavy-haired, maverick Koizumi sprang to power in 2001 on a wave of popular support for his promises to reform both the stalled economy and the scandal-tainted LDP, and is already Japan's longest-serving prime minister in two decades. But Koizumi told NHK that even if his coalition won, he would not stay on as prime minister past September 2006, although some party heavyweights have suggested he should serve another year. The Mainichi newspaper forecast that the LDP would win between 248 and 294 seats, while the Asahi daily put the range at between 234 and 276. The main opposition Democratic Party was likely to lose 20 or more of the 175 seats it held before the lower house was dissolved, the newspapers forecast, although some surveys left open the prospect that the party could gain some ground. Democratic Party leader Katsuya Okada told reporters there was still a chance his party could snatch power. "Some grim data have been published," Kyodo news quoted Okada as telling reporters, noting fierce battles in the cities. But he added: "A lot of people are still undecided and it is possible that with one week left, we can achieve a change in government." Japanese media polls have proved wrong in the past, partly because some voters switch sides when they see forecasts that the ruling camp is headed for a big victory, although analysts this time have said the trend was unlikely to reverse. Okada and his party have insisted that other issues, such as reform of the creaking pension system and repairing ties with China and South Korea, are more important than postal reform. Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine for war dead, where convicted war criminals are also honoured, have outraged Beijing and Seoul. But he said again on Sunday he saw nothing wrong with the pilgrimages. "Is it really all right for other countries to interfere in matters of the heart?" Koizumi said in a roundtable debate on a private TV channel. "I don't understand why I shouldn't go." The LDP had 249 seats before the lower house was dissolved and its partner, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito, had 34. But Koizumi refused to give official party backing to 37 LDP rebels who voted against his postal privatisation bills. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-04T085502Z_01_HO417557_RTRUKOC_0_UK-JAPAN-ELECTION.xml ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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