TMCnet News
Kyodo Top12 News (22:05)(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- 4 climbers confirmed dead after Mt. Ontake eruption TOKYO - Four climbers were confirmed dead after 31 were found in critical condition Sunday on Mt. Ontake, central Japan, which erupted the previous day while hikers were enjoying the climbing season, local police said. The 31 climbers were mostly found near the volcano's peak, around 10 of them near a crater, with continued eruptions making it difficult to rescue them during the day, local officials said. Rescuers took the bodies of the four men down the 3,067-meter volcano to a facility at its base, where they were confirmed dead. They are planning to recover the other 27 on Monday. Another 24 climbers were rescued after operations resumed in the morning following their suspension on Saturday, but the search was halted again in the afternoon due to toxic gas. ---------- Hong Kong pro-democracy activists launch "Occupy Central" movement HONG KONG - A student-led mass demonstration in Hong Kong against China's "undemocratic" plan for the territory's 2017 leadership election spun out of control Sunday as tens of thousands of protesters broke through police cordons and took over a major thoroughfare, prompting police to fire tear gas in an attempt to disperse them. Meanwhile, China implicitly warned the protesters not to press their luck, with the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of State Council issuing a statement saying the "central government resolutely opposes behavior that disrupt the rule of law and social order." An organizer of the pro-democracy "Occupy Central" movement said the number of people protesting in Admiralty, the eastern extension of the central business district on Hong Kong Island, had reached around 30,000 by afternoon. ---------- Senior Chinese official implies Abe gov't cause of worsening ties TOKYO - A senior Chinese government official on Sunday implied that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration is responsible for the deterioration in bilateral ties. "The cause of the deadlock (in Japan-China relations) was created by Japan's right-wing forces," said Cai Mingzhao, director of the State Council Information Office, in a speech at a symposium in Tokyo, apparently referring to Abe's government. While speaking mostly about historical issues during his 30-minute speech, Cai criticized Abe for visiting the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo last year and the Japanese government's purchase in 2012 of most of the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls Diaoyu. Named the Tokyo-Beijing Forum, the two-day symposium through Monday is the 10th of its kind, bringing together political and business figures to discuss bilateral issues. ---------- LDP's Tanigaki sees need of extra budget for additional tax hike TOKYO - The secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday hinted at the need for the government to compile a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to next March as a step to raise the consumption tax rate to 10 percent in October 2015 as scheduled. Speaking on a TV program aired in the morning, Sadakazu Tanigaki said that "the time may come when the government needs to consider an extra budget" for the additional hike in the consumption tax, which was raised from 5 percent to 8 percent in April. Tanigaki, the effective No. 2 man in the LDP led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, suggested he is concerned about risks that could arise should the tax not be raised. The government aims to raise the tax partly to cover snowballing social security costs amid the graying of society and the declining birth rate. ---------- Former SDP chief Doi dies at 85 TOKYO - Takako Doi, a former House of Representatives speaker and former chief of the Social Democratic Party, died of pneumonia on Sept. 20, the SDP said Sunday. She was 85. Doi, who served as lower house member for 12 terms from 1969 to 2005, led the Japan Socialist Party, the predecessor of the SDP, from 1986 to 1991 as the first female leader of a major political party in Japan. She again took the helm at the renewed SDP from 1996 to 2003. In the July 1989 upper house election, Doi played a key role in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's loss of its majority in the House of Councillors with her tough, straight-talking ways that appealed to voters, especially women. The graduate of Doshisha University's graduate school of law was the first woman to become speaker of the lower house, from 1993 to 1996. ---------- Softbank in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation: Wall Street Journal NEW YORK - Japanese telecom giant Softbank Corp. is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. of the United States, the online edition of The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The move by Softbank to acquire the major U.S. animation production company known for popular works like "Shrek" and "Madagascar" is apparently aimed at enhancing content for smartphones and other mobile devices. DreamWorks Animation's long-term strategy is in need of a revamp after the company incurred a net loss of $15.39 million in the April to June quarter, a reversal from a net profit of $22.25 million a year earlier. Its revenue fell 43 percent from a year before to $122.28 million in the quarter due to a lack of hit titles. ---------- Japanese climber's body recovered from Nepal mountain KATHMANDU - The body of a veteran Japanese climber who slipped and fell to his death Friday while climbing Mt. Manaslu in Nepal has been recovered, a trek organizer said Sunday. Yoshimasa Sasaki, 59, from Kanagawa Prefecture, slipped on blue ice and fell about 25 meters after having reached an altitude of 7,300 meters on the 8,163-meter mountain, the world's eighth highest. His death marked the first fatality of Nepal's autumn climbing season. Sasaki's recovered body has been taken to Camp IV of the mountain, said Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, director of Himalayan Trailblazer Trekking and Expedition Pvt. Ltd., which helped organize the expedition, while his Japanese climbing partner, 64, is said to be safe and descending the mountain. ---------- Sumo: Hakuho clinches 31st title at Autumn basho TOKYO - Hakuho used brute force and technical supremacy to defeat rival Mongolian grand champion Kakuryu and win his 31st career championship on the final day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday. Hakuho entered the final day with a one-win lead but needed to beat Kakuryu to avoid a playoff with 10th-ranked maegashira Ichinojo, who had won earlier in the day to keep alive his hopes of becoming the first wrestler in a century to win the title on his debut in the elite makuuchi division. The 29-year-old Hakuho (14-1) came through with a clinical performance at Ryogoku Kokugikan, yanking Kakuryu (11-4) around after a brief stalemate and then sending him out with a "kakenage" hooking inner thigh throw. ---------- Asian Games: Champions Japan concede late penalty, KO'd by S. Korea INCHEON, South Korea - Japan's bid to defend the Asian Games soccer title came to an end in the quarterfinals after losing 1-0 to hosts South Korea on Sunday. Japan paid the price of youth and inexperience against their archrivals as captain Ryota Oshima gave away a late penalty, which his Korean counterpart Jang Hyun Soo converted to send Lee Kwang Jong's side into Tuesday's semifinal against Thailand, who beat Jordan 2-0 earlier. North Korea defeated the United Arab Emirates 1-0 and will meet Iraq in the other semifinal. Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 3-0. ---------- Baseball: Kajitani lifts BayStars to sayonara win over Giants YOKOHAMA - Takayuki Kajitani singled home the game-winning run on Sunday as the DeNA BayStars beat the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants 4-3 in 11 innings. Giants reliever Takahiro Aoki (2-2) allowed a leadoff single to Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and followed by walking Aarom Baldiris to put two on with no outs. Kajitani worked a full count before lining a breaking ball into the left-field corner to score the game winner. The Giants' Leslie Anderson tied the game 3-3 in the ninth inning with his 14th home run, a two-run shot off BayStars ace Daisuke Miura with one out. Yuki Kuniyoshi retired the next two batters, but the BayStars wasted a two-on, one-out opportunity in the home half of the inning against right-hander Kentaro Nishimura. Enyelbert Soto (1-1) earned the win in relief after working around a two-out walk in the top of the 11th inning. ---------- Tennis: Nishikori triumphs in Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR - Japan's Kei Nishikori earned his third title of the season on the ATP tour with a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory in the Malaysian Open final on Sunday. The top-seeded Nishikori, who defeated three top-10 players en route to the U.S. Open final earlier this month, defeated fourth seed Julien Benneteau in 1 hour, 47 minutes. Nishikori, ranked eighth in the world, improved to 3-1 in his career against the Frenchman, who last beat him in 2007. In the first set, Benneteau fought off nine break points before Nishikori broke his opponent's serve for the first time in the 10th game to tie it 5-5. Both players held serve to send it to a tiebreak. In the second set, Nishikori fended off two break points before seizing control at 3-3 by dominating the next three games. ---------- Weather forecast for key cities in Japan TOKYO - Weather forecast for Monday: Tokyo=fair; Osaka=fair, occasionally cloudy; Nagoya=fair; Sapporo=fair; Sendai=fair, occasionally cloudy; Niigata=cloudy, occasionally fair; Hiroshima=fair; Takamatsu=fair; Fukuoka=fair; Naha=fair. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |