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Kyodo news summary -10-(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, June 2 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- PlayStation Network in U.S., Europe fully resumed TOKYO - Sony Corp. said Thursday it has fully resumed its PlayStation Network services in all areas excluding Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, enabling users to purchase and download games online, following a massive data breach incident. The Japanese electronics giant will also offer customers a free "Welcome Back" package program, as a token of good faith after having to suspend the services in late April following the data breach. Qriocity online music services were also partly restored, it said. ---------- Gov't outlines sales tax hike to 10% under welfare reform plan TOKYO - The government outlined its social security reform plan Thursday, proposing doubling the consumption tax rate to 10 percent in stages by fiscal 2015 to finance Japan's swelling welfare costs at a time when the population is aging. The set of proposals, intended to make the welfare system more affluent as well as efficient, was submitted to a government panel discussing the reform, which would also result in a reduction in pension payments to the elderly with higher income. ---------- Disaster victims angry at power struggles in Tokyo SENDAI - Survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami expressed their anger Thursday at politicians they said were wasting their time in a power struggle over a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet. "If politicians have time to get in each other's way, they should come to Fukushima and help settle the accidents" at the radiation-leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a 25-year-old corporate employee in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, said. ---------- Hong Kong Airport Authority mulls 3rd runway to meet rising needs HONG KONG - Hong Kong's Airport Authority said Thursday that either upgrading existing facilities or building a third runway at its international airport is necessary to raise aviation capacities if Hong Kong is to remain an international business and financial hub. A three-month consultation will begin Friday to gauge public views on the two options offered under the authority's Master Plan 2030 for Hong Kong International Airport, which foresees a need for expansion of the 13-year-old airport. ---------- BOJ policymaker reluctant to expand loan program NARA, Japan - The Bank of Japan will carefully consider the need for expanding its program to support selected industrial sectors with low-cost loans, Policy Board member Seiji Nakamura said Thursday, admitting to some negative aspects of the program. The central bank is to lend some 830 billion yen ($10.3 billion) to financial institutions next week, which will bring the balance of the 3 trillion yen program to 2.9 trillion yen, fueling speculation the BOJ could study upgrading it when the nine-member board meets June 13 and 14. ---------- Business leaders welcome failure of no-confidence motion TOKYO - Japanese business leaders on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Naoto Kan's weathering of a no-confidence motion, while urging ruling and opposition parties to join hands in helping those affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. "A political vacuum has been avoided at a time when (the government) faces a host of issues to tackle, such as rehabilitation and reconstruction of quake-affected victims and areas, revising its growth strategy, and mapping out social security and tax reforms," said Tadashi Okamura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement. (c) 2011 Kyodo News International, Inc. |