TMCnet News
Kyodo news summary -6-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 20_(Kyodo) _ ---------- ASEAN entertains calls to 'take step back' on Myanmar TAMPAKSIRING, Indonesia - ASEAN foreign ministers ended a two-day meeting Thursday in Bali having failed to reach consensus on what to do about troubled member Myanmar, with some ministers suggesting ASEAN "take a step back" and give Myanmar's junta "more space" to work on national reconciliation. "We had a good discussion last night, a very frank and heartfelt discussion," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo told reporters. "We did not take any decision at this meeting." ---------- BOJ probing excess trip payments to employees TOKYO - The Bank of Japan said Thursday it has found excess business trip payments to employees and launched investigations into such payments over the past seven years covering some 2,150 former and present employees. About half of these former and current employees could have received more in payment than their actual business trip expenses, the central bank said. ---------- Malaysia acts to clean up image as pirated disc haven KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia on Thursday vowed to clean up its image as a haven for pirated software and movies with tough laws and enforcement. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shafie Apdal stressed the commitment at an informal discussion in Kuala Lumpur between government officials and industry representatives from Malaysia and the United States before formal free trade negotiations begin in June. ---------- 3 killed as Nepalese police crack down on anti-king protesters KATHMANDU - At least three people were reported killed and 50 others were injured Thursday when government forces cracked down on crowds of people in the Nepalese capital protesting King Gyanendra's absolute rule, a political party said. The Nepali Congress Party (Democratic) said in a statement that the casualties happened when police fired several live rounds, as well as rubber bullets and teargas shells. ---------- Japanese war veteran from Ukraine reunited with kin after 63 years MORIOKA, Japan - A former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, who went missing just after World War II and was recently confirmed to be alive in Ukraine, was reunited with relatives Thursday in Iwate Prefecture for the first time in 63 years. "My dear brother and sisters," Ishinosuke Uwano, 83, said in Russian upon meeting his brother Ushitaro Sadate, 81, and his two sisters Hanae Shimojo, 75, and Take Uwano, 69, at the Iwate prefectural government building. He also met his four nephews there. ---------- High court rules state responsible for vaccine side effects OSAKA - The Osaka High Court ruled Thursday that the state was responsible for failing to properly supervise a manufacturer of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which caused severe side effects in children, upholding a lower court's decision. Plaintiffs had sought 120 million yen in compensation from the state, but Presiding Judge Katsutoshi Yokota rejected their claim, saying the manufacturer, the Research Foundation of Microbial Diseases of Osaka University, already paid 170 million yen in compensation to two of the families who won a damages suit at the Osaka District Court in March 2003 and 20 million yen in consolation money to the other family who lost a legal battle over the issue. ---------- HIV/AIDS patients demand help from Shanghai drug manufacturer BEIJING - A group of hemophiliacs from around China are gathering in Shanghai this week to demand help from a pharmaceutical company they say sold contaminated blood products that infected them with HIV, a group leader said Thursday. About 40 patients and family members representing about 100 people who say they contracted HIV and hepatitis from contaminated Factor 8 hemophilia medication in the mid-1990s reached Shanghai on Sunday. |