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JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Government to warn of possible economic slowdown

The Cabinet Office will revise downward its overall assessment of the domestic economy and effectively warn of a possible slowdown in a monthly report scheduled to be released on Friday, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Defense Agency staff, SDF to face stiffer penalties for spying

The Defense Agency plans to make penalties for personnel and Self-Defense Forces members who leak secret information harsher by raising the maximum prison term from one year to five years, agency sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2001

The accidental ambassadors

Less than six months after bathing in the international attention that came with hosting the Olympic Games, Australians are celebrating their nation's 100th birthday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2001

Upheaval on the horizon

Diet debate started Tuesday on the fiscal 2001 government budget. The debate is likely to see head-on confrontation between the ruling and opposition forces. The government and the ruling coalition are hoping to pass the budget before fiscal 2000 ends March 31 in order to prepare for an Upper House election...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2001

BOJ cuts discount rate to record low of 0.35%

Coming under intense political pressure, the Bank of Japan decided Friday to reduce the official discount rate by 0.15 percentage points to a record low 0.35 percent.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2001

Ministry, NPA to target drunk drivers

The Justice Ministry and National Police Agency said Friday they will launch a series of joint meetings next week involving lawyers, scholars and other outside experts to effectively cope with the problem of drunken and reckless driving.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2001

Public works bid-rigging said widespread

Takehiko Mori says he is confessing to his crime now that the three-year statute of limitations for the offense has expired.
BUSINESS
Feb 9, 2001

Coalition will complete plan to boost stocks today: Kamei

The ruling coalition will accelerate work on measures to revive share prices, compiling them by tonight, the top policy maker of the Liberal Democratic Party said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2001

Government to rely on bonds for 41% of all revenue by 2004

Rising social security costs will force the government to issue bonds worth 41.1 percent of its total revenue in fiscal 2004, up from 38.5 percent in fiscal 2000, the Finance Ministry says in a simulation report released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2001

Price falls have Miyazawa, BOJ at odds

The Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors are likely to join the debate over Japanese prices later this month in Italy — a debate in which the government and BOJ continue to see falling prices in a different light.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2001

Mori's credit card data not stolen by hackers

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's credit card details were not stolen by computer hackers who allegedly infiltrated the World Economic Forum, as was claimed by a British newspaper, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2001

Opposition may boycott budget committee

The ruling and opposition camps on Tuesday locked horns over the recent money-for-favors scandal, with the LDP saying one of its Diet members implicated in the case will not testify until after the fiscal 2001 budget clears the Lower House.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2001

Opposition may boycott budget committee

The ruling and opposition camps on Tuesday locked horns over the recent money-for-favors scandal, with the LDP saying one of its Diet members implicated in the case will not testify until after the fiscal 2001 budget clears the Lower House.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2001

State eyes enforcement of oil stockpiling

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry was poised to submit a bill Tuesday that would tighten regulations on domestic oil refiners and sellers to ensure they meet stockpiling requirements.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2001

State eyes enforcement of oil stockpiling

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry was poised to submit a bill Tuesday that would tighten regulations on domestic oil refiners and sellers to ensure they meet stockpiling requirements.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2001

Illegal foreign workers should be deported, survey says

Almost half those polled in a recent survey are against having illegal foreign workers in the country and think they should be forcibly deported, the Cabinet Office said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2001

Illegal foreign workers should be deported, survey says

Almost half those polled in a recent survey are against having illegal foreign workers in the country and think they should be forcibly deported, the Cabinet Office said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2001

Mori wants Japanese out of efforts to clone humans

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori instructed two Cabinet ministers Friday to ensure that Japanese doctors and researchers do not participate in an international project to clone humans, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2001

Panel takes up rescue of private sector

The Financial Services Agency will begin a joint liaison meeting with two other ministries in an attempt to resolve the financial sector's bad-loans and other sectors' overborrowing, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2001

State wants fast L-mode introduction

Telecommunications chief Toranosuke Katayama on Friday urged the two regional carriers of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to revise their plans to introduce a limited Internet service for fixed-line phones.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2001

Bush can win over African Americans

WASHINGTON -- America's 2000 election was essentially a tie. President George W. Bush won among whites, but received only about 10 percent of black votes. What he should do to reach out to minorities has generated a torrent of political commentary.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2001

Tokyo, New Delhi eager to put synergy back in relations

Last week's massive earthquake in western India has thrown in doubt Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's planned official visit to Japan this month -- the first by a premier of the world's most populous democracy in nearly 13 years.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Crucial oil negotiations drawing near

Japan and Kuwait are expected to open crucial negotiations as early as this spring on extending Arabian Oil Co.'s drilling rights in the Kuwait-controlled portion of the Khafji oil field.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Green product guidelines approved

Government officials approved basic guidelines Thursday regarding the selection of environmentally friendly products for use in government offices as well as the Diet and courts.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Treaty to outlaw child labor to go to Diet to fend off critics

In a move aimed at warding off possible international criticism, especially from human rights groups, the government is considering submitting a key treaty banning the worst forms of child labor to the current ordinary Diet session for ratification, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Treaty to outlaw child labor to go to Diet to fend off critics

In a move aimed at warding off possible international criticism, especially from human rights groups, the government is considering submitting a key treaty banning the worst forms of child labor to the current ordinary Diet session for ratification, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

16 politicians admit KSD donations

A total of 16 Diet members, including former Cabinet ministers, have admitted receiving donations from scandal-tainted mutual-aid foundation KSD, a Kyodo News survey found.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2001

The view from Davos

The pompous and the powerful are wrapping up their annual get-together in Davos, the Swiss alpine village made famous in recent years by the World Economic Forum. This year, there were as many police and security officials as attendees, an indication of the real dangers that threaten the global economy....
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jan 28, 2001

A return to chillier times?

The Cold War is dead, long live the Cold War. Such seems to be the mood in the corridors of power in Moscow. Many Russians believe the inauguration of U.S. President George W. Bush may initiate a new period of tension between Washington and Moscow

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami