News - Thu 5 Jun 2008
Soaring oil, food prices to be key topics at G8 meeting, finance minister says
TOKYO (AP) -- Soaring energy and food prices have exacerbated global economic uncertainties, Japan's finance minister said Wednesday, and will be among the key topics discussed at the Group of Eight finance ministers meeting later this month.Views: 11
Shares rise as yen weakens, investors buy exporters
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese shares rose Wednesday as a weakening yen spurred investors to buy exporting companies.Views: 20
34 Japanese evacuated from apartment as man commits suicide with poisonous fumes
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese police evacuated 34 people from an apartment building Wednesday after a man apparently killed himself by mixing chemicals and inhaling the deadly fumes, the latest in a string of similar suicides nationwide.Views: 31
Softbank reaches deal with Apple to sell iPhone handsets in Japan this year
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp. said Wednesday it now has a deal with Apple Inc.Views: 12
Japan finance minister says soaring oil, food prices to be key topic at G-8 meeting
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's finance minister said Wednesday that the soaring prices of oil and food have exacerbated global economic uncertainties and will be among the key topics discussed at the Group of Eight finance ministers meeting later this month.Views: 11
Top court rules stipulation in Nationality Law unconstitutional
The Supreme Court has ruled a stipulation in the Nationality Law unconstitutional, and confirmed Japanese citizenship for 10 children who were born out of wedlock between Filipinas and Japanese men.Views: 12
Quake warms Japan-China ties
The Sichuan earthquake disaster has highlighted many changes in China, such as its willingness to accept outside aid in contrast to the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, when Beijing insisted on self-reliance and refused all offers of assistance. In terms of foreign relations, it also had one very significant effect: an improvement of ties between China and Japan. Japan, which has a history of earthquakes, was the first foreign country whose offer to send a rescue team to the devastated region was accepted by China. Read the full storyViews: 14
Historic meeting in Beijing
The march toward reconciliation across the Taiwan Strait continues. Last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao met Wu Poh-hsiung, chairman of the KMT (Nationalist Party), Taiwan's ruling party. Coming on the heels of the inauguration of Taiwan's new president, Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, who has promised to stabilize relations between Taipei and Beijing, the meeting is another sign of the desire on both sides of the Strait to promote peace and prosperity. The Hu-Wu meeting was the first encounter between the heads of the two ruling parties in over half a century. Read the full storyViews: 24
Hospitals reused syringes on 10,000 patients
The dubious practice of reusing syringes and other blood-collection devices at many medical institutions is raising concerns that HIV, hepatitis and other viral diseases may be spreading. Reuse of the devices has been confirmed involving more than 10,000 people at nursing homes, nursing schools and medical institutions in at least 19 prefectures, sources said. Read the full storyViews: 29
More tension in Thailand
Thailand is once again at the boiling point. Thousands of Thais protesting against their government are fueling fears of yet another military coup. Hopefully, the Thai military is smart enough to avoid making that mistake again. But the tensions are a reminder of the need for reconciliation in Thai politics. Elections have not resolved the issues that have roiled that country. Demonstrators from the People's Alliance for Democracy are angry with what they see as the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on the new government in Bangkok. Mr. Thaksin was removed from power by a coup in September 2006 and faces charges of corruption. He was banned from politics, but the head... Read the full storyViews: 21
Banks handling subprime woe: S&P
Standard & Poor's, which lowered U.S. brokerages' credit ratings this week, said Japan's major banks are withstanding the subprime mortgage crisis. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and other banks' investments in securities connected to U.S. subprime mortgages pose "no new causes for concern," the rating company said in a report Wednesday. Their portfolios of such securities are "relatively small compared to those of major overseas financial institutions," S&P said. Read the full storyViews: 28
IPhone launch due by yearend as Softbank hooks up with Apple
Softbank Corp. said Wednesday it has reached a deal with Apple Inc. to launch iPhone sales in Japan by the end of the year, further boosting the prospects of the nation's scrappy No. 3 mobile phone company. Industry watchers were surprised by the decision because Apple usually selects the carrier with the biggest market share to sell the iPhone overseas. A spokesman for industry leader NTT DoCoMo Inc. declined comment on the deal. Read the full storyViews: 24
7 men hit with new fraud charge after swindling woman out of 10 million yen
Seven men were slapped with a fresh charge of fraud on Wednesday after swindling a woman out of about 10 million yen by falsely telling her that they could help her avoid facing a civil lawsuit in return for cash.Views: 14
Toshiba subcontractor hired teens to inspect nuke plants
SENDAI - Toshiba Corp. has said it has found that eight people below the age of 18 were illegally hired by a subcontractor to help inspect three nuclear plants and that six of them worked in restricted areas at risk of radiation exposure. The Tokyo-based electronics giant said in a news release dated Tuesday it suspects those who were engaged in hiring the eight may have forged documents to obtain permits to work in the restricted areas of the plants belonging to Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. Read the full storyViews: 17
Armed standoff suspect says guns were obtained by man who killed self
SAITAMA -- A man arrested in an armed standoff on Tuesday has told investigators that guns used in the incident were obtained by another man who shot himself to death.Views: 15
Fukuda confirms Berlusconi, Sarkozy on same page for G8
ROME (Kyodo) Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed in separate talks Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to cooperate bilaterally in the runup to next month's Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido, Japanese officials said. In their talks in Rome on the sidelines of a U.N. conference on food security, Fukuda discussed with both Berlusconi and Sarkozy the issue of climate change, the world economy and the problem of rising food and oil prices as part of preparations for the July 7-9 summit of industrialized nations. Read the full storyViews: 5
Ahmadinejad rejects call to give up nuke program
ROME (Kyodo) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's request Tuesday that his country respond to international calls to halt its uranium enrichment activities. Fukuda met the Iranian leader in Rome on the sidelines of a U.N. meeting on food security. Read the full storyViews: 12
Aomori G8 talks face nuclear-energy nudge
OSAKA - With oil hovering at around $130 a barrel and pressure growing on the world's major greenhouse gas emitters to forge a new climate change treaty from 2012, global energy security and fast-tracking "clean and green" alternatives to fossil fuels are expected to dominate this weekend's Group of Eight energy minister meeting in Aomori. "Japan has the world's highest renewable energy technologies. At the G8 energy ministers' meeting, we hope to reconfirm cooperation for the development and introduction of revolutionary new alternate energy technologies by developed countries," trade minister Akira Amari said at a press conference last week. Read the full storyViews: 25
Buddhist statue found vandalized at temple in Osaka
OSAKA -- A Buddhist statue at a temple here was found vandalized with its head snapped off.Views: 24
Why Israel is engaging Syria
On May 15, U.S. President George W. Bush gave a speech before the Israeli parliament, decrying "radicals and terrorists." His archaic references to the "promised land" and "chosen people" certainly appealed to the equally outdated and exclusivist views of many, although not all Israeli Knesset members, who reportedly saw in Bush the quintessential Zionist. A few days later, Bush took his message to Egypt, stating that, "We must stand with the good and decent people of Iran and Syria, who deserve so much better than the life they have today. Every peaceful nation in the region has an interest in stopping these nations from supporting terrorism." Read the full storyViews: 17
Woman handed 14-year prison term for killing 'boyfriend'
OKAZAKI, Aichi -- A court has sentenced a woman to 14 years in prison for killing her "boyfriend" and abandoning his body.Views: 20
Aichi Prefectural Government official busted for using child prostitutes
NAGOYA -- An Aichi Prefectural Government employee who paid two schoolgirl prostitutes 5,000 yen apiece to perform indecent acts on them has been arrested, police said.Views: 19
Police arrest top figure skating coach on suspicion of raping 13-year-old girl
NAGOYA -- Aichi Prefectural Police arrested a former top figure skating coach Wednesday on suspicion of raping a 13-year-old junior high school girl he taught.Views: 9
Softbank to sell iPhones in Japan this year
Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp. said Wednesday it now has a deal with Apple Inc.Views: 29
Firms' profits dived 17.5% in first quarter
Japanese companies' pretax profit fell 17.5 percent in the first three months of 2008 from a year earlier, posting the biggest drop in more than six years as the corporate sector was affected by soaring raw materials prices, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The decline was found in the ministry's latest quarterly survey on the country's corporate sector, along with falls in corporate sales and capital spending. Read the full storyViews: 25
Older women nudged fertility rate up in 2007
Japan's fertility rate edged up 0.02 point to 1.34 in 2007 because women later in life are having children, but there were still fewer births overall, the health ministry said Wednesday. The uptick in the fertility rate stemmed partly from an increase in births among women in their late 30s, tracing a similar trend that played a role in the previous year's rise, data from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry showed. Read the full storyViews: 13
Japan's renewable energy drive runs out of steam
Japan could be left behind in renewable energy innovation unless it creates a large domestic market in this field, Ashley Seager, economics correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, warned in the May 23 symposium. While nuclear power has been touted here as a clean source of energy in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and subsidized for many years, Japan "does not seem to want to give any boost - at least in the short term - to renewable energy," he said. Read the full storyViews: 27
Innovate to survive, U.K. journalists say
Innovation will be the key to the survival of advanced economies in the intensifying competition with emerging powers with cost advantages. But simply boosting the amount of money spent on research and development will not create innovative products or services. And innovation is not just about technological breakthrough, it's about creating an environment to facilitate new businesses and ideas. Read the full storyViews: 13
Bar to kids' citizenship ruled illegal
In a ruling sure to affect thousands of others born out of wedlock to non-Japanese mothers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted 10 children of Filipino women the right to Japanese nationality. Saying it led to unreasonable discrimination, 12 of the 15 justices on the top court's grand bench ruled unconstitutional a provision in the Nationality Law that states that such children can only become citizens of the mother's home country. Read the full storyViews: 17
Oil prices, slump will hit spending: Nukaga
Higher oil prices amid signs of a global economy slowdown could affect profits and consumer spending in Japan and other parts of the world, Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga warned Wednesday. "Expectations of inflation could make it even more difficult for financial authorities to manage their economic policies," Nukaga said in a speech in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. "If the recent higher oil prices continue, it could largely affect corporate profits and household consumption worldwide." Read the full storyViews: 24
National pride comes before investment fall
Foreign investments have been a major part of the British economic revival over the past few decades, bringing new capital, ideas and talent to the nation, British journalists told the May 23 symposium. If Japan wants to attract foreign investments, it needs to put up a clear "for sale" sign, and the recent rejection by Tokyo of a bid by a British fund to increase its stake in the Electric Power Development Co. may have sent the wrong message to overseas investors, they said. Read the full storyViews: 21
Use-by date for 95,000 milk cartons for schools misprinted
CHIBA -- The use-by date for tens of thousands of cartons of milk to be served at schools has been misprinted, forcing the manufacturer to collect the packages and discard them, it has been learned.Views: 30
Astronauts anchor giant Japanese lab to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- A team of astronauts working inside and out anchored a giant billion-dollar Japanese lab to the international space station Tuesday, making it the biggest room there.Views: 19
Kibo connected to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A team of astronauts anchored Japan's giant billion-dollar research lab to the international space station Tuesday, making it the biggest room there. The long-awaited moment of contact came as two of the crew were winding up a spacewalk. Read the full storyViews: 15
Realtor arrested for massive tax evasion
A female president of a real estate company was arrested for evading about 278 million yen in both corporate and personal income tax, law enforcers said.Views: 20
Richie offers history lesson
18th in a series On Dec. 7, 1941, a 17-year-old high school student named Donald Richie was fixing the fence at his house in Lima, Ohio, when his mother ran out on the porch to tell him and his father that she just heard over the radio that Japanese forces had attacked Pearl Harbor. Read the full storyViews: 12
Top court says marriage requirement for nationality unconstitutional
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a Nationality Law article requiring parents to be married in order for their children to receive Japanese nationality, ruling in favor of 10 Japanese-Filipino children. The top court's grand bench made the landmark decision in two separate cases, filed in 2003 by one such child and in 2005 by a group of nine who were born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers and who obtained recognition of the paternity of their fathers after birth.Views: 30
Police warn of charity fraud connected to China, Myanmar disasters
Police on Wednesday warned the general public to be aware of a swindling group allegedly soliciting donations for the victims of the earthquake in China and cyclone in Myanmar using leaflets delivered with newspapers in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. No financial damage connected to the alleged fraud has been reported so far and the police have frozen the group's designated bank account during the investigation, the police said.Views: 23
Subprime-linked losses at big banks total 1 tril. yen
Losses booked by eight Japanese banks, including the six top banks, related to the U.S. subprime mortgage turmoil totaled 1,038.6 billion yen at the end of March, according to data made public by the Financial Services Agency on Wednesday. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. registered 645 billion yen in such losses, the largest among the eight banks, which also include Shinsei Bank and Aozora Bank.Views: 28
