Tensions Mounting on Korean Peninsula

China places military on highest alert amid mounting Korean tensions

China is mobilizing its military forces on the border with North Korea in response to heightened tensions, following Pyongyang’s declaration of a “state of war,” and latest threats to attack South Korea and the United States.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is now at its highest alert level, U.S. officials have said.

“China has also been conducting live-firing naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, scheduled to end on Monday. The move is widely viewed as open support for North Korea, which continues to show extreme opposition to the US-South Korean military drills that are to last until May,” said a report.

“The news comes as the US deployed its USS Fitzgerald destroyer off the coast of North Korea, adding to its Sunday deployment of F-22 fighter jets to take part in the drills with the friendly South, which has further served to heighten tensions on the peninsula.”

Meantime, Pyongyang has been mobilizing its missile forces, including road-mobile, short- and medium-range missiles, U.S. officials analyzing satellite imagery of missile bases have said.

• Korean War Would Accelerate Global Collapse March 30, 2013

NK to reopen Yongbyon nuclear reactor

In a separate development, North Korea announced its decision to restart operations at the Yongbyon nuclear complex on Tuesday, adding to already heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

5 MWe experimental Magnox reactor at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, North Korea (2008).

Pyongyang said it would work to restart the 5-megawatt reactor and the uranium enrichment plant without delay.

The Yongbyon nuclear facility was disabled following an agreement reached  in 2007 at six-party talks (United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea).

The nuclear facilities, which produced the fissile material for North Korea’s nuclear weapon tests, is located about 90 km north of Pyongyang.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 2 April 2013

Eurozone unemployment rate hits new record high

The official number of people unemployed in the 17 member states rose by 33,000 in February, surpassing 19.07 million, said Eurostat.

• The highest rate was 26.4% in Greece (December 2012 figure).
• Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 26.3% in February.
• The rate in Portugal was largely unchanged at 17.5%.

CHINA

China’s Coal Addiction Claims More Lives

Two explosions in three days at the same Chinese coal mine have killed at least 34 miners and left  24 others missing, said a report.

The blasts occurred at a state-owned colliery operating under the name of Tonghua Mining (Group), located at the Babao Coal Mine in Jiangyuan District, city of Baishanin in China’s northeastern Jilin Province

The first blast occurred on late Friday, killing 28 people and injuring 13 others.

NIGERIA

19 killed, 4,500 displaced in Nigeria’s ethnic violence

Attacks on three communities in ethnically divided central Nigeria have left 19 people dead and 4,500 others displaced, reports said.

• The gun attacks followed a long-running dispute between a mainly Muslim Fulanis and the mostly Christian Atakar ethnic groups in the Kaura district, a remote region of Kaduna state, AFP reported.

• “Apart from the gun attacks, the assailants also set fire to homes,” a local government official told AFP.

• “There has been some misunderstanding between the Fulani and the Atakar communities for some time,” Kaduna state police commissioner said.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – April 2, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,075 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,075 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Court Rules Stockton, Calif., to Enter Bankruptcy

Stockton the most populous city in the U.S. to enter bankruptcy

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein has ruled Stockton, Calif., (population: ~ 300,000) to enter bankruptcy.

The judge while making the ruling said: “I don’t know whether spiked pensions can be reeled back in … There are very complex and difficult questions of law that I can see out there on the horizon.”

Image shows shuttered businesses in Stockton, California June 27, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Bartram

Stockton’s crime rate is among the top 10 cities across the nation (violent crimes per 1000: 14.5). The police department says it only respond to emergencies in progress!

“It’s apparent to me the city would not be able to perform its obligations to its citizens on fundamental public safety as well as other basic government services without the ability to have the muscle of the contract-impairing power of federal bankruptcy law,” Judge Klein said.

Stockton owes the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) nearly $1 billion to cover pension liabilities.  The city also issued $165 million in bonds in 2007 to maintain payments to CalPERS as its revenue from property taxes plunged during the recession, reports said.

At least two dozen other Californian cities are financially strapped including San Bernardino, San Jose, Compton, Fairfield, Watsonville, Atwater, the report said.

• Located about 90 miles (144km) east of San Francisco, the city was hit hard during the US housing market crash.
• Stockton’s unemployment rate (~ 20%) and violent crimes rank among the highest in the U.S.

San Bernardino. The city of San Bernardino became the third California city in two weeks to file bankruptcy protection in the face of a $45-million budget shortfall, reports said.

Atwater. The small Central California city of Atwater (Pop: ~28,000) has declared A fiscal emergency, which could translate to the state’s fourth municipal bankruptcy this year, said a report.

North Las Vegas, Nevada. The Nevada city of North Las Vegas, described as “ground zero for foreclosures” was officially declared as a disaster area on June 23.

Related Links

• Detroit’s long-term liabilities exceed $14 billion February 21, 2013
• Lawmakers consider dissolving Detroit as bankruptcy looms December 1, 2012
• The Financial Legacy of Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan April 1, 2013
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Possibly Related Links

• What’s Happening in Cyprus? March 23, 2013
• Cyprus Collapse May Be Imminent! July 19, 2008