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The Japan Times: News & Business

Green efforts before Games deserve praise
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:10:00 -0500
BEIJING — Images of the Beijing skyline seemingly bathed in a soup of smog and haze have been a common sight on the world's TV screens in recent days and weeks. Foreign journalists with hand-held air pollution detectors have been popping up on street corners checking levels of soot and dust. Everyone seems keen to prove that the city's air will be a decisive and debilitating factor for one of the world's most high-profile sporting events. Without doubt Beijing is facing a huge challenge. There are real and understandable concerns for the health of competitors, especially those in endurance and long-distance events such as cycling and the marathon. Read the full story
Let the dream-come-true begin
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:11:00 -0500
The Beijing Olympics which are being held from Friday through Aug. 24 under the slogan "One world, one dream" are a dream-come-true for China and its people. Chinese leaders in Beijing hope that the Games will showcase the country's economic development and modernization, and serve as a springboard for the country of more than 1.3 billion people to join the club of developed countries not only in name but also in reality. But the tight security in the Chinese capital, unprecedented in the history of the Olympic Games, testifies to the internal instability that continues to plague the world's most populous country. At Beijing Capital International Airport, special policemen armed with... Read the full story
Cannabis busts soaring, police say
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:12:00 -0500
The number of people against whom the police took action over the possession and sale of cannabis increased at a record-breaking pace during the first half of the year, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday. The number of people either questioned, arrested or whose case was turned over to prosecutors came to 1,202 during the January-June period, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier, a pace that is likely to eclipse the all-time yearly high of 2,288 set in 2006, the NPA said. Read the full story
Elpida posts third straight quarterly loss as sales slide
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:13:00 -0500
Elpida Memory Inc., the nation's largest maker of computer memory chips, reported Thursday its third consecutive quarterly loss after a glut drove down prices. The net loss was ¥13.8 billion during the business first quarter that ended June 30, compared with a profit of ¥14.6 billion a year earlier, Tokyo-based Elpida said. The loss exceeded the ¥13.2 billion median of five analysts' estimates. Read the full story
Former governor candidate drowns
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:14:00 -0500
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) A former candidate for Miyazaki governor drowned at a beach in Nakijin, Okinawa Prefecture, his employer said Thursday. Tetsuji Mochinaga, 48, died while swimming with his 5-year-old son Wednesday morning, according to police. Read the full story
U.S. details sub Houston's radiation leaks
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:15:00 -0500
The U.S. government notified Japan Thursday that trace amounts of radioactivity leaked from the nuclear submarine USS Houston at a port in Kanagawa Prefecture and one in Okinawa between July 2006 and this April. The U.S. earlier admitted that a similar leak occurred when the Los Angeles-class fast-attack sub made a port call in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in March. Read the full story

Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Picture of the Day › Speedo
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:50:00 +0100
Children look at the new Speedo swimsuit at a display at Takashimaya department store in Yokohama.
National › Moderate quake hits Tokyo, Kanagawa
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:30:00 +0100
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 shook Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture early Friday afternoon but no tsunami alert has been issued, the Japan…
National › 16-year-old high school student commits suicide after meeting teachers over online ...
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:13:00 +0100
A 16-year-old high school student hanged himself in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, after being questioned by teachers over insulting messages that he had reportedly posted online about…
World › Bush calls for freedom of speech in China
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:37:00 +0100
Speaking on China's turf the very day it hosted the opening of the Olympic Games, U.S. President George W Bush prodded the communist country Friday…
Crime › Judge gets suspended 6-month prison term for harassing woman
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:21:00 +0100
An incumbent judge was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, at the Kofu District Court Friday for sending harassing emails to…
National › New captain confident of safe operation of U.S. naval vessels
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:15:00 +0100
The new skipper of the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington, Capt John Haley, said Thursday he is confident that the U.S. Navy can operate…

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