Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe opened up a trip to the US to meet President Barack Obama amid regional diplomatic tensions and domestic economic inconvenience.

Recently Prime minister Abe left Tokyo on his way to meet President Obama and arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C.

Japan is currently crumbling by an ailing economy measured in terms of consistent deflation from the past 20 years, a territorial dispute with China and being disturbed by North Korean missile mission that automatically placed Japan under its axis.

PM Abe said after his White House visit at a Washington think tank, that “they (North Korea) have increased the range of their missile immensely and have attained the ability to reach even the mainland United States.”

Japan has been jammed into a dispute with China over sovereignty of islands located in the East China Sea and lost sleep over the situation as North Korean missile strength has expanded too dramatically.

Over the years, the North Korean missile program expansion became a major problem, terrifying its neighbours. During the picture session at the Oval Office with President Obama, PM Abe said, “We just cannot tolerate the actions of North Korea, such as launching missiles and conducting nuclear tests.”

President Obama’s Asia advisor, Danny Russel, said that the president “remains supportive of the peaceful efforts to diplomatic resolution to outstanding issues of territorial claims,” BBC reports.

The Japanese economy is the third largest in the world, but its currency is persistently declining in value against the US dollar.

Abe proposes to help set off the otherwise grounded economy with the help of Monetarist and Keynesian tools that may support growth in future. According to the BBC news, PM Abe has outlined two plans to revitalize the weak economy: firstly to print a lot of money and secondly to spend a lot of money. Plan A can be categorized under Monetarism and plan B is from the Keynesian School of Thought.

According to Keynesian economic thought, if the pace of economic activity is slow with falling investment rates and fading employment combined with decreasing consumer spending, then the only thing that can restart economy is public intervention through spending.

On the other hand, Monetarist believe that it is the supply of money that makes the economy move back and forth and not government spending. However, if both of these schools of thought can bring life to Japanese economy, then there may be a possibility of progress.

According to the BBC News, in an interview with the Washington Post, Abe said that improving ties with the US were at the top of his agenda and that their support is key. Both leaders are expected to discuss Trans-Pacific Partnership (Free Trade Agreement between North American, South American and Asian nations) among other issues during his visit.

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There is a new kind of economic disorder in the United States taking roots in their fiscal policy. It has emerged in the system foreshadowing an economic apocalypse of the US economy, and is known as the Fiscal Cliff.

The implication of the Fiscal Cliff, if left unchecked, will be devastating in nature and highly toxic for the US and global economic stability. The term ‘Fiscal Cliff’ refers to a package of tax increases and spending cuts that may take place due to the expiration of certain laws dealing with tax code and state spending.

In other words, it refers to a stage where economic fortunes may slip down under a deep no-growth trajectory because of laws which will get activated automatically in January.

According to the BBC, on 31 December, a raft of temporary tax cuts is due to expire just as huge automatic spending cuts are introduced. Individuals and companies will be hit simultaneously with tax rises and reductions in government contracts, benefits and support.

BBC further says that some $607 billion of cuts and tax rises are planned, including reductions in the defense budget, the end of an employee tax holiday, changes to Medicare allowances and higher personal taxes.

The ideology of both Republicans and Democrats is asymmetrical when it comes to resolution of the fiscal mess: President Obama proposes a tax increase for the households that earn more than $250,000 per year, but Republicans tend to repeatedly torpedo that proposal. Republicans seem to favor a “no tax rate increase policy,” with some adjustments and corrections in spending programs.

According to Boston.com, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said “No republican will vote for higher tax rates… We will generate revenue from eliminating deductions and loopholes, but we will insist our Democratic friends reform entitlements – something we’ve never done, and that’s where the big money is at.”

According to CBS News, about $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts are scheduled to take place next year, and some state-run health care programs for the elderly, such as Medicare, will be affected by a 2 percent reduction in payments.

There come questions about how to jump-start job creation and fuel economic growth while still slashing away at federal deficits. Tax hikes to annihilate deficits may plunder the economy itself; tax increase arrests spending and investment but can positively correlate with a deficit reduction scheme.

Ironically, it all depends on how much importance we attach to ballooning deficits and interest service and how we see growth. If spending is slashed through different programs, like Medicare, it will adversely affect savings among the elderly as it will wipe-out state help, leaving them to rely on whatever means they have.

On the other hand, even if Bush-Era Tax Cuts were to be extended for the next two years, will they be helpful in opening the door for faster economic growth? For the last few years Bush-era tax cuts were in place in the economy along with the low interest rate policy adopted by the US Federal Reserve, but the economy is still coughing. What is needed is to increase taxes if deficit reduction is primary for the economy.

The argument is that it might drag the economy back into a recession, but again a question arises. Are these tax-cuts helpful in getting the economy back on a stable surface?

There is no magic wand that can drain out the federal deficits and growth rate with the same pattern of spending and bush-era tax cuts in place.

Ultimately what can be done to avert the crisis, to shield the US economy falling over the cliff? The resolution is in striking a deal that limits spending (to some extent) and increasing tax rates on households earning more than $398,350. Spending on defense should be lowered dramatically; further laws with sunset provisions must be avoided.

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North Korea, amid global warnings and hard-hitting criticism, launched a rocket from the western coast, showing its might and following what it had pronounced a few days earlier.

As reported earlier, North Korea was preparing to launch a missile, and recently Pyongyang turned that declaration into reality by launching a missile into orbit. This rattling-down action was exercised when North Korea launched a rocket named “Unha” from Sohae launch pad located in the North West of Pyongyang.

According to the BBC, “The launch of the second version of our Kwangmyongsong-3 (Unha-3) satellite from the Sohae Space Centre … on December 12 was successful” the state news agency KCNA said. “The Satellite has entered the orbit as planned.”

North Korean state media termed the launch as a “ground-breaking” mission that met the “last instructions” of Pyongyang’s late leader.

According to the Guardian, North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), said “ the three-stage Unha rocket had taken its expected southerly course, with its first stage falling into the Yellow Sea west of South Korea and the second landing in the sea east of the Philippines.”

According to Zee News “The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday condemned North Korea for launching a long-range rocket in defiance of UN resolutions.”

North Korea is currently banned from ballistic missile testing as per the UN resolution that was passed in the year 2009 following a second nuclear test. Criticism started flowing in from all corners of the globe over North Korean action that strongly ignored UN Resolutions. Furthermore, it can be said it’s an act that gathered huge condemnation and attention since almost all neighboring countries were displeased with it.

U.S Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said “No matter how the North Koreans choose to describe the launch it violates two council resolutions and shows that country is determined to pursue its ballistic missile program without regard for its international obligations.”

Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague said “I strongly condemn the satellite launch today. The UK government would summon the North Korean ambassador in London,” he added, “This provocative act will increase tension in the region. I deplore the fact that (North Korea) has chosen to prioritize this launch over improving the livelihoods of its people.”

There has been a war of accusations and defiance between North Korea and the world at large over the country’s ambitions of nuclear programs and ballistic missile technology over many years.

Following the launch, a statement was issued by UN Secretary-General that reads “The Secretary General has been urging the leadership in Pyongyang not to carry out such a launch and instead to build confidence with its neighbours while taking steps to improve the lives of its people.” It further said “the Secretary-General is concerned about the negative consequences that this provocative act may have on peace and stability in the region.”

The North Korean official KCNA news agency said that Foreign ministry spokesman expressed views like this: “No matter what others say, we will continue to launch satellites and thus actively contribute to the economic construction and improvement of people’s living standard.”

On the contrary there has been a growing reluctance by North Korea over the international community. Its objections finally surfaced with the launch of the rocket.

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The past two weeks have seen a dozen reported incidents of carjackings in Belfast, and police now say that they believe “criminal gangs” are to blame. Since January 6th, there has been an increasing number of reported carjackings in and around Belfast and the majority of these have seen women being targeted by the as-yet-unnamed culprits.

One of the first victims, Andrea McVeigh, noted how unusual it was to see this type of crime committed in the city, especially as her carjacking took place on “one of the busiest streets in the city centre.” But within one week of this first incident, a further three carjackings had occurred and that statistic has now risen even further, leading to Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum insisting:

“They’re not going to get away with it, because we are going to hunt them down, let me be very clear about that … We have brought additional resources into the city, we’re bringing the highest level of investigative rigour to bear in all of this.”

At first, the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) were hesitant to confirm that these incidents were related to each other, with Superintendent Alan Todd initially assuring the city’s inhabitants that, “your chances of being a victim of this type of crime are very low in Northern Ireland.” Yet, a call for more succinct actions appears to have been necessitated in light of two more carjackings on Monday night (January 16th).

As of yet, there has been no suggested motive from either the victims or the police as to why single women have been the most common targets, but it has been contended that a mix of criminal gangs and “copy-cat” artists have sought to capitalize on the city’s seeming unability to tackle the situation effectively.

Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie reported on her blog that “the majority of these recent incidents have been ‘opportunist’ in nature”; however, it has yet to be determined what is motivating this behavior in the first place or what the correlations and distinctions might be between these gangs and “copy-cats”. The first victim, McVeigh, described the men as being in his:

“late teens, one with blond hair, wearing a navy or grey tracksuit whilst the second was about five ft ten inches tall with dark hair, wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap.”

Meanwhile, one of the more recent victims – unnamed by the Belfast Telegraph – encountered just one man and described him as being:

“in his early 20s and was wearing a dark-coloured hooded top with a light-coloured scarf over his face. He was also wearing jeans and white trainers.”

Despite the relative unconnectedness of these attacks with regards to their geographical locations, anyone with information is advised to telephone Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.

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Shammi Kapoor died Sunday morning at the age of 79 years old. The Indian movie star and director appeared in over 100 films. Kapoor died of chronic renal failure at approximately 5 AM at Breach Candy hospital. According to BBC News, the funeral was held on Monday at the Ban Banga Crematorium in his hometown, Mumbai.

In 2006, Kapoor had been at the hospital for a week, and later announced that he was frequently undergoing dialysis treatments. Instead of allowing the disease to depress him he consistently spoke about being thankful for the life he had lived.

The actor was born on October 20, 1931 to a unique lifestyle and a career that was already laid out for him. Kapoor was no stranger to the spotlight. His face was everywhere in the Indian film industry from the 50’s to the 70’s and Bollywood was always in his blood. He is the eldest of three sons who all went on to be actors, like their father Prithviraj who was famous on screen and at the theater.

A handsome and versatile actor, Kapoor has been called the best actor in Bollywood. He stood out for not only his name, but also his looks, sense of style, and positive attitude.

Shakti Sharma, a director who worked with the actor on several occasions,  said, “I found Shammi to be a thoroughly good man. He was humble.”

Kapoor was six feet tall with green eyes and light skin, fairly uncommon for Indian actors. He became an icon after three consecutive box office hits: “Tumsa Nahi Dekha” (1957), “Ujala,” and “Dil Dil Deke Deko” (both 1959). The movies are considered to be classics. He won many Indian film awards including a Lifetime Achievement Prize at the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2001.

Imran Khan, a current Bollywood superstar, tells The Hindustan Times that he was “a man with a heart of pure gold.” When Khan’s grandparents (also actors) could not afford to get married, it was Kapoor who held the wedding at his own home and paid for all the clothing and jewelry.

As time went on and Kapoor started to lose his youthfulness, he directed two movies that did not do as well as the classics that he starred in. In the following years, he remained relatively off the scene while raising his family.

Kapoor’s last performance was in “Rockstar” (2011), alongside his brother’s grandson, Ranbir Kapoor.Kapoor met his first wife, Geeta Bali, on a movie set in 1955. She had worked with his brother and father in the past and tried to keep their love a secret until they married, just four months later with only one witness.

The couple co-starred in the hit “Miss Coca Cola.” They had two children together: a son, Aditya, in 1956, and a daughter, Kanchan, in 1961. Unfortunately, Geeta died of Small Pox while filming.

Kapoor was nowhere to be seen for two months until he returned to the set to continue filming, according to The Hindustan Times. Khan tells the newspaper that the first day back on set included a love song titled “Tumne Mujhe Dekha,” meaning “You saw me.” The young actor tells the newspaper “the pain on his face in that song brings me to tears…that’s more than just acting.”

Kapoor married again in 1969 to member of the formal Royal Family, Neela Devi Gohil. Many Bollywood actors have been tweeting their condolences and memories of the actor:

Film star Amitabh Bachan said, the “flamboyance and joie de vivre of the industry is lost.”

Actress Saira Banu who starred in a film with him said Kapoor was “a wonderful human being. He is eternal.” Khan goes on to explain that when he, himself, first became successful, it was “Shimmy Uncle” who wished him luck and reminded him to “never forget what’s really important…friends and family. Everything else is temporary.”

His success, legacy and values will not be forgotten.

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