http://newsonjapan.com Latest News On Japan en-us http://newsonjapan.com/html/images/noj_logo_small.gif http://www.newsonjapan.com/ Latest News On Japan http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080514/tbs-us-japan-inflation-poverty-food-rice-e5c2383.html The United States should allow Japan to sell its 1.5 million tons of imported US rice or give it to the World Food Program to help cool runaway rice prices, a nongovernmental organization said Wednesday. (AFP) AFP 2008-05-14 23:32:31 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080514/od_afp/japancrimedrugsoffbeat_080514054732 A Japanese city has been forced to destroy thousands of flowers grown for a local festival after a police officer noticed they were illegal opium poppies, an official said Wednesday. (AFP) AFP 2008-05-14 23:57:47 http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080513/tc_pcworld/145801 Engineers testing a recently launched Japanese data communications satellite have succeeded in establishing a two-way Internet link running at 1.2G bps (bits per second) each way, they said Monday. (PC World) PC World 2008-05-13 23:05:04 http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080513/japan_china_weapons_disposal.html?.v=1 Five Japanese company officials were arrested Tuesday for alleged fraud in a widening scandal over a government project to remove chemical weapons abandoned in China at the end of World War II. (AP) AP 2008-05-13 23:05:04 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1951848/Paul-McCartney-'horrified'-as-his-eco-car-is-flown-7,000-miles-from-Japan.html Sir Paul McCartney is said to be "horrified" that his new eco-friendly car was flown 7,000 miles from Japan. The Lexus LS600H, which costs £84,000, was a gift from Lexus to the 65-year-old former Beatle, who helped promote the hybrid vehicle. (telegraph.co.uk) telegraph.co.uk 2008-05-14 01:40:49 http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080514/japan_markets.html?.v=2 Japan's key stock index rose to its highest in four months Wednesday as investors welcomed the dollar's stability and upbeat earnings reports from telecommunications giant NTT and other companies. (AP) AP 2008-05-14 13:15:18 http://au.biz.yahoo.com/080514/19/1qpsp.html Japan cancelled the purchase of 20,000 tonnes of Australian food barley after the shipment was found to contain too much pesticide, Japanese health and farm ministries officials said on Wednesday. (Reuters) Reuters 2008-05-14 13:15:18 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aft8N5eZzA5M&refer=japan Japan has "many things" to do before its schools can withstand a major earthquake similar to the one that struck China this week, the government said. (Bloomberg) Bloomberg 2008-05-14 13:15:18 http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23689543-5005962,00.html?from=public_rss Japan has told China it is ready to provide as much relief as possible to victims of a major earthquake that hit southwestern China, killing up 5000 people. (Adelaide Now) Adelaide Now 2008-05-12 22:45:39 http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/36132 Arctic ice is melting fast and the area covered by ice sheets in ocean could shrink this summer to the smallest since 1978 when satellite observation first started, Japanese scientists warned in a report. (enn.com) enn.com 2008-05-12 22:45:39 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7395910.stm A Japanese company is developing a vending machine that counts wrinkles and skin sags to check a smoker's age. (BBC) BBC 2008-05-12 22:54:50 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90KHUD80&show_article=1 A pair of Yubari melons, a premium orange-fleshed cantaloupe variety from Hokkaido, sold for 2.5 million yen in this harvest season's first auction held Tuesday at the Sapporo City Central Wholesale Markets. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-13 05:22:14 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90KO1S00&show_article=1 The U.S. Marine Corps in Japan said Tuesday it will begin a general court-martial Friday for a staff sergeant accused of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice over the alleged rape of a 14- year-old Japanese junior high school girl in Okinawa in February. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-13 12:48:54 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080509/lf_afp/lifestylejapanchild_080509161145 Sixteen babies were dropped off and more than 1,000 people have called for advice in the year since a Japanese hospital opened a controversial "baby hatch," officials and a report said Friday. (AFP) AFP 2008-05-11 00:43:28 http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/09/asia/09marine.php A U.S. marine accused of participating in the gang rape of a Japanese woman last year was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for "wrongful sexual contact and indecent acts" but was cleared of rape charges, the U.S. military said. (International Herald Tribune) International Herald Tribune 2008-05-10 02:12:28 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080508/wl_mideast_afp/japanyemenkidnap_10 Two Japanese women, who were released within hours of being kidnapped in Yemen, apologised Thursday for worrying people back home and said they felt no threat to their lives. (AFP) AFP 2008-05-08 23:27:28 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90H9FA00&show_article=1 Japanese police arrested two U.S. Marines on Thursday on suspicion of trespassing in a bar restaurant after business hours in Okinawa Prefecture. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-08 06:10:02 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90H75MO0&show_article=1 Police arrested an employee of a subcontractor Thursday on suspicion of stealing a container bearing a radioactive substance last month from a company in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, police officials said. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-08 06:10:02 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90GPC4O0&show_article=1 apan was ranked 31st among 146 nations in an annual survey that helps document the best and worst places to be a mother, a nongovernmental organization said Wednesday, based on research by its U.S. affiliate. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-07 13:24:21 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1737304,00.html?xid=rss-world The world's second largest economy is now crying over spilled milk — and its delicious by-product, butter. Japan, insulated from rice shortages that plague other parts of Asia, is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of the household staple — and discovering that it is not as immune from the growing global food crisis as it wants to be. (Time) Time 2008-05-05 23:09:11 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3876681.ece At 10 o’clock this morning, with glorious sunshine forecast for the final day of Golden Week holidays, a nation will pause for perhaps the darkest five minutes ever broadcast on Japanese radio: an execution by hanging. (Times Online) Times Online 2008-05-05 23:09:11 http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtPwefRUpgnEjK1cv6CefxzYpwFg Japan's ruling party is considering plans to encourage foreign workers to stay in the country long-term, a daily reported Monday after the birth rate fell for the 27th successive year. (AFP) AFP 2008-05-05 23:09:11 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90ENO381&show_article=1 The number of children aged 14 or younger is estimated to have totaled 17.25 million in Japan as of April 1, marking a record low for the 27th straight year, according to a government report released one day ahead of the Children's Day holiday on Monday. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-04 12:46:58 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90CTRKG1&show_article=1 A Nagoya High Court ruling that found Japan's dispatch of the Air Self-Defense Force to Iraq unconstitutional was finalized at midnight Thursday as plaintiffs did not appeal. (Kyodo) Kyodo 2008-05-01 22:53:15 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080502TDY01304.htm The ruling parties will introduce legislation for Internet service providers to block access to child pornography sites with major providers in favor of the move, sources said. (Yomiuri) Yomiuri 2008-05-01 22:53:15