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In new five-year plan, Toshiba to cut thousands of jobs, withdraw from British nuclear plant and U.S

Nov 09, 2018 (Japan Times) - Toshiba Corp. on Thursday announced its five-year business reform plan to revamp its operations, with thousands of global job cuts, a withdrawal from its nuclear plant construction business in Britain and a sell-off of a U.S. liquefied natural gas operation on the agenda.

The technology conglomerate plans to cut about 7,000 jobs globally over the next five years, Toshiba Chairman and CEO Nobuaki Kurumatani said at a news conference in Tokyo.

The planned restructuring comes as Toshiba reported financial results for the April-September period earlier in the day. It posted ¥1.08 trillion ($9.5 billion) in net profit, a sharp turnaround from a loss of just under ¥49.8 billion a year earlier, as it completed the sale of its chip subsidiary.

But even with the ¥1 trillion net profit in the latest term, Toshiba needs a fundamental rethink regarding its organizational structure and its business operations in order to stay afloat, according to industry analysts.

Its group operating profit tumbled 80.7 percent to ¥6.98 trillion on sales of ¥1.78 trillion, down 5.1 percent.

For the current fiscal year ending March 31, Toshiba cut its profit estimate, citing various restructuring-related costs including a ¥93 billion loss expected from selling its U.S. natural gas business, projecting a net profit of ¥920 billion against the previously estimated ¥1.07 trillion.

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Japan's World Cup campaign begins on June 14 when the Samurai Blue face the Netherlands at Dallas Stadium in Texas, a clash that will showcase some of the game's most talented players and pit two ambitious teams against one another in a crucial Group F opener. While Japan arrives without injured winger Kaoru Mitoma, one of its most recognizable stars, the squad still boasts a wealth of talent drawn from Europe's top leagues.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced that an El Niño phenomenon is believed to have developed this spring, warning that Japan is likely to experience above-average temperatures nationwide this summer despite the climate pattern's traditional association with cooler summers.

Narita International Airport Corporation is expected to announce next month that it will apply to the national government for project certification as part of the process to enable compulsory land acquisition for the construction of a new runway at Narita Airport, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A fire broke out at Arima Inari Shrine near the Arima Onsen hot spring resort area in Kobe on the night of June 9th, destroying multiple buildings and leaving an elderly Shinto priest and his wife with minor injuries.

Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.

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A fire broke out at Arima Inari Shrine near the Arima Onsen hot spring resort area in Kobe on the night of June 9th, destroying multiple buildings and leaving an elderly Shinto priest and his wife with minor injuries.

Two men, including the head of the Japan Cycling Association, have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of defrauding two men in Kagoshima Prefecture out of 30 million yen by falsely promising a massive return on a purported patent-related investment.

A bear that had been repeatedly spotted in commercial and residential areas of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, was captured in a residential neighborhood at around 3:30 p.m. on June 9th after authorities used a tranquilizer gun, but the city remains on alert because police say they cannot rule out the possibility that another bear may still be roaming the area.

Nara Prefectural Police have arrested seven people, including a 46-year-old Yokohama man who described himself as a "messenger of God," on suspicion of unlawfully confining a teenage boy entrusted to their care by his parents, allegedly threatening him, confiscating his belongings, and forcing him to sleep naked.

A man believed to be in his 50s or 60s was found dead with knives lodged in his left eye and abdomen inside a container at a company property in Kobe's Suma Ward on June 8th, prompting police to investigate the possibility of a criminal case.

The family of James "Weston" Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University student who disappeared during a family vacation in Japan, announced on June 7th that he has been found dead after a volunteer search-and-rescue team located his body in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, bringing a week-long multinational search to a tragic end.

A clinic director and a former Peruvian staff member have been referred to prosecutors after the man allegedly performed medical procedures without a license, including an external cephalic version—a procedure used to manually turn a baby into the correct position before birth—at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Fukuoka City, raising concerns about patient safety and oversight in maternity care.

A 14-year-old junior high school girl was arrested on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury after allegedly spraying a woman in her 60s in the face and stealing her wallet during a robbery attempt in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture.