Jo Sue Castellanos

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s central bank is likely to debate easing monetary policy further at a meeting on Thursday after the yen rose to another record high and doubts mounted over whether Europe can forge a clear plan to tackle the euro zone debt crisis, sources said.

If the central bank acts, it will likely expand its 50 trillion yen ($ 660 billion) asset-buying program by around 5 trillion yen, sources familiar with the bank’s thinking said.

The Japanese economy is recovering from the devastating March earthquake and tsunami and the central bank has been counting on fiscal spending on reconstruction and demand from emerging markets to sustain the upturn.

However, the yen’s renewed climb to record highs against the dollar and stock market losses — driven largely by market concerns that Wednesday’s European Union crisis summit will fail to produce a decisive solution — are dimming Japan’s economic outlook.

Many central bankers have hoped to save their limited policy options for later, the sources told Reuters, but in light of the latest market jitters the decision will be a close call.

The BOJ last eased policy by boosting its asset buying pool in August, acting in tandem with the finance ministry which ordered Japan’s biggest ever single-day currency intervention selling more than 4.5 trillion yen.

The impact, however, proved short lived and the yen crawled back to trade close to its record highs.

This has been a source of deepening frustration for Japanese officials, who argue that a rallying currency is one problem too many for a nation grappling with a nuclear crisis, a $ 250 billion post-quake rebuilding effort and ballooning debt.

SPECULATORS WARNED

The yen’s break to new peaks against the dollar last Friday and again on Tuesday prompted a barrage of warnings from the Japanese authorities that they were ready to step in if speculators kept driving the currency higher.

Finance Minister Jun Azumi on Wednesday served dealers another warning after the yen climbed to 75.73 to the dollar in New York the previous day, saying he would not rule out any steps to curb currency speculation and had instructed staff during the morning to be prepared for all possible measures on foreign exchange.

He also hinted at possible concerted action with the central bank.

“The BOJ shares our sense of crisis, so I’m sure they will take appropriate steps when necessary,” Azumi said.

The yen was quoted around 76.10 to the dollar in early Tokyo trade while Tokyo stocks were down 1 percent (.N225), reflecting market nervousness about the outcome of the EU summit.

The prospects for a comprehensive deal to resolve the euro zone debt crisis this week looked dim, with deep disagreement remaining on critical elements, including how to give the region’s bailout fund greater firepower.

Investors fear that, without a clear solution, the sovereign debt crisis engulfing highly indebted nations of the euro zone periphery could trigger a banking crisis and a credit crunch similar to what followed the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

Since September 2010, Japan has intervened twice on its own and once jointly with other Group of Seven rich nations to weaken the yen. But the effects of intervention have proved fleeting in the face of steady demand from nervous investors seeking highly liquid and relatively safe assets such as Japanese government bonds.

(Additional reporting by Stanley White; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

I have a HP Pavilion dv6000. It was working fine for me up till about a week ago. Now when I power it down or reboot it even, it just shuts itself completely down, and when I try to turn it back on nothing happens. No beeps, no fans turning on nothing. If I leave it, for awhile it does eventually turn itself back on. Now I have never sat there and timed it as to how long it takes as it is never the same amount of time. But have gone a whole night and part of a day. It is almost like it has a mind of its own or something LOL.

Any idea why this is? I am usually pretty computer savvy, but this has gotten me confused. The last thing I really want to hear is that it is the power supply or something lol.

Whether your idea of paradise is an African safari or a raging rock concert, have a little bit of both.

Coldplay is still kicking it. And the latest tune from their new album, Mylo Xyloto, out on Monday, October 24, is a pretty ditty called “Paradise.” The vid for it makes us crave a sojourn to South Africa (it was filmed in Cape Town, the Karoo and Johannesburg) for both rock music and rolling vistas. Maybe we should all dress up as elephants for Halloween.

Conflicting reports are emerging from Libya as to the fate of Moammar Gadhafi. Several reports claim that the former dictator was killed and that there has been a visual confirmation of the body from fighters on the ground. Other reports say that Gadhafi has been captured, with no confirmation as to his condition. It is believed that Gadhafi was traveling in a convoy in or near the besieged city of Sirte when the convoy was hit by airstrikes and possibly a ground attack.

Sirte was Gadhafi’s hometown and one of the last strongholds of those loyal to Gadhafi’s regime. If he has been killed or captured, then the turnover of the former Libyan government will be complete. With international recognition already in place for the Libyan rebels‘ interim government, there would seem to be at least some hope that a viable transition could be made to a functional government structure.

Of course, there has been great damage inflicted throughout Libya as a result of the months-long uprising against Gadhafi’s regime. Rebuilding cities and infrastructure services will likely take time, cooperation and a significant amount of foreign investment. Given Libya’s well-known oil fields, it is a certainty that many foreign nations and corporations will be lining up to “help” Libya rebuild itself.

Assuming that Gadhafi has been killed or captured, it would be yet another major shift in the make-up of the Middle East. With regime changes already underway in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya – and the death of Osama bin Laden, the coming years are going to be incredibly delicate from a foreign relations standpoint for the U.S. Let’s hope our leaders make the right decisions.

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Hip-hop superstar 50 Cent is turning his attention to hungry children worldwide while promoting his energy drink’s brand, Street King.

A post on the Non-Profits on Facebook page announced that 50 Cent will donate a free meal to a child for every like on his Street King page.

The campaign is tied to World Food Program, and the goal, stated on the Street King page, is to reach one million likes for the energy drink, resulting in one million free meals for needy kids.

If the campaign meets that goal within one week, 50 Cent promises to double the donation to two million meals for children.

Posted on the Street King page:

Every like this week provides a meal for a hungry child: http://on.fb.me/Hustleto1MM. Street King and 50 Cent are committed to working with the United Nations World Food Programme to fight hunger worldwide. If we reach our goal of 1 million likes this week, 50 Cent will double the donation — one million more meals for one million more kids. With the purchase of every Street King energy shot, we provide a meal to a hungry child.

World Food Program is a Rome-based nonprofit organization focused on fighting hunger.

Readers, would you like a Facebook brand page in exchange for an act of charity?