LDP in Peril

Yoshimi Watanabe, an official in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), split with ranks yesterday after his policy suggestions were ignored by Prime Minister Taro Aso, reports Asahi.

Watanabe also said Aso needs to "quit politics that give top priority to maintaining the administration's hold on power."  The remarks come at a critical time for the LDP, reports the BBC, who have approval ratings hovering around just 20 percent.  Some in the party, which has been in power for all but a few months of the last 50 years, fear that the resignation may signal more to come.  

Elections are scheduled for September.  

C.R.E.A.M.

Disputes over the history of WWII have crippled relations between Japan and South Korea in the past.  South Korea has accused Japan of rewriting history in national textbooks to ignore atrocities committed by Japan during the war.  

But as the great 20th-century political thinker Method Man once observed, "cash rules everything around me."  The economy has proven a remedy in putting that dispute aside as the two nations leaders met today to forge new economic relations to overcome the worldwide downturn.  

The two leaders discussed the future of their financial structures and vowed to work closely together in dealing with trade negotiations, both agreeing to broaden foreign investments.  

They also discussed their mutual commitments to dissuading North Korea from continuing nuclear plans.