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Japan

Japanese woman to hang in Malaysia for drugs

A Malaysian court sentenced a Japanese woman to death on Tuesday for smuggling methamphetamine into the country in what an official said was the first such case involving a citizen of Japan.
A high court in Shah Alam near the capital Kuala Lumpur found Mariko Takeuchi guilty of drug trafficking, said a court [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 25, 2011

Hulu shows heading for Nintendo Wii and 3DS

Nintendo said Friday that online video service Hulu Plus will stream movies and television shows to Wii and 3DS videogame systems by the end of the year.
The Japanese videogame giant also planned to release in November a software update that will let people record 3D video using the latest version of its handheld [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 22, 2011

South Korea tells Japan not to forget history

South Korea called for better relations with Japan Wednesday but urged its leaders to work harder to settle disputes arising from the bitter 20th-century colonial era.
President Lee Myung-Bak made the call after a summit with Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in which they agreed to try to restart free trade talks and to expand [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 19, 2011

SKorea, Japan agree to expand currency swap deal

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed Wednesday to expand the size of a currency swap deal and push to resume stalled free trade negotiations, as Tokyo returned looted Korean royal documents in a goodwill gesture.
Seoul and Tokyo have close economic ties and are key U.S. allies in [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 19, 2011

‘Limited’ production starts at Maruti strike plant

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, resumed “limited” production Monday at a plant hit by a bitter labour dispute that has cost the Japanese-controlled firm hundreds of millions of dollars.
Striking workers, protesting Maruti’s refusal to recognise their union and the growing use of contract workers, ended an eight-day occupation of the plant in north India on Friday night, in [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 17, 2011

Japan’s aging air force plans major overhaul

HYAKURI AIR BASE, Japan (AP) — Warplanes bearing the bright red Rising Sun logo roared overhead Sunday as Japan held a once-every-three-years display to showcase one of the best air forces in Asia. The only problem — most of its fighters were grounded.
Underscoring Japan’s uphill battle in an increasingly heated [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 17, 2011

Bartoli regains Japan Women’s Open

Marion Bartoli defeated US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia to reclaim the singles title she won in 2006 at the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament on Sunday.
The French second seed, who eliminated Angelique Kerber of Germany in the rain-delayed semi-finals earlier in the day, went on to win the final with a 6-3, 6-1 [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 17, 2011

Putting off retirement ‘on the table’ for Karolyi

TOKYO (AP) — Martha Karolyi might be sticking around as the United States women’s national team coordinator beyond the London Olympics after all.
Karolyi, who turns 70 in 2012, and has said for the last few years that she would likely retire after London.
“Most likely, yes,” Karolyi said Sunday when asked if she still planned [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 17, 2011

Sony halts 93,000 online accounts in new breach

Sony said on Wednesday it suspended 93,000 accounts on its online entertainment networks after detecting a wave of unauthorised sign-in attempts, months after a huge breach forced it to halt some services.
The attack took place between October 7 and 10 and succeeded in matching valid sign-in IDs and passwords from about 93,000 accounts on its [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 12, 2011

Japanese scientist unveils ‘thinking’ robot

Robots that learn from experience and can solve novel problems — just like humans — sound like science fiction.
But a Japanese reasearcher is working on making them science fact, with machines that can teach themselves to perform tasks they have not been programmed to do, using objects they have never seen before.
In a [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 11, 2011