"Lithopedion is a very rare medical phenomenon, which occurs when a pregnancy fails and the fetus actually calcifies while still in the mother’s body."

"Fetus in Fetu (FIF) is a rare and very mysterious medical condition that is said to have occurred (or at least is recorded to have occurred) less than ninety times throughout medical history."

As willing a puppet as Japan's ever had for a Prime Minister, Abe finds it difficult to decide who he should prostrate to more: China or the U.S.

A clever oddball of a Chinese businessman discusses his problems with a canine companion as a form of therapy.

"If left alone by U.S. militarists, China will almost surely, over time, become a democracy on the same pattern as that of South Korea and Taiwan (both of which had U.S.-sponsored military dictatorships until the late 1980s). But a strong mainland makes the anti-China lobby in the United States very nervous. It won't give up its decades-old animosity toward Beijing and jumps at any opportunity to stir up trouble — "defending Taiwan" is just a convenient cover story."

"The Pentagon estimates that China might be spending up to $90 billion (£52 billion) a year on its military, three times the officially acknowledged budget, a figure that would make it the world’s third-biggest defence spender after the United States and Russia."