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Kyodo News

Obama formally nominated as Democratic presidential candidate

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama formally won the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday to face off with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the Nov. 4 election to replace George W. Bush. The nomination by voice vote, which followed a motion by former rival Hillary Clinton on the third day ...

Posted on August 28, 2008 at 3:00 AM

15-year-old boy arrested for stabbing mother's domestic partner

A 15-year-old junior high school student was arrested Thursday on suspicion of stabbing a truck driver, his mother's domestic partner, to death in her apartment in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, police said. Following an emergency call from the mother early Thursday, police found Shinobu Kamikawa, 37, lying with stab wounds in ...

Posted on August 28, 2008 at 1:59 AM

Obama formally nominated as Democratic presidential candidate

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama formally won the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday to face off with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the Nov. 4 election to replace George W. Bush. The nomination by voice vote, which followed a motion by former rival Hillary Clinton on the third day ...

Posted on August 28, 2008 at 1:59 AM

Tension mounts as Thai protesters refuse to leave Government House

Tension was heightened late Wednesday in Bangkok as some 15,000 antigovernment protestors besieging Thailand's Government House refused to leave the site while police forces are expected to remove them. The Civil Court ordered the demonstrators, who gathered under the banner of People's Alliance for Democracy, to immediately leave the Government ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 11:00 PM

Fukuda deplores killing of Japanese aid worker in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday deplored the killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito who was abducted in eastern Afghanistan the previous day. ''I feel great anger at the taking of the life of Mr. Ito, who had high aspirations and had worked for and walked among the local ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 11:00 PM

Kidnapped Japanese aid worker killed in Afghanistan, body confirmed

A Japanese aid worker was confirmed dead in Afghanistan on Wednesday after his body was found by local police and identified by a Japanese Embassy official, a day after he was kidnapped in the eastern part of the war-torn country, the Japanese government said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 11:00 PM

Embassy official confirms body is Ito's, gov't still seeking details

An official from the Japanese Embassy in Kabul confirmed Wednesday that a body found by Afghan police earlier in the day is that of kidnapped Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito. The official viewed the body during the afternoon at a hospital in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, and when asked by a ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 2:59 PM

Soccer: Tamada double sends Grampus top as Verdy hold Reds

Japan striker Keiji Tamada grabbed a brace to send Nagoya Grampus top of the J-League with a 3-2 win over Shimizu S-Pulse on Wednesday. Nagoya had twice fallen behind at Mizuho Stadium but Tamada's superb long-range free kick sealed victory for Dragan Stojkovic's men and put them one point clear ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 2:59 PM

Sumo: Hakuho victorious on 1st day of Mongolian tour

Mongolian grand champion Hakuho defeated maegashira Tokitenku with an underarm throw in the final to win the first day of a two-day sumo event in Mongolia on Wednesday. The four semifinalists, all Mongolians, wrestled in front of around 2,700 fans in the first-ever sumo exhibition tour of the country, while ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 1:58 PM

Body in Afghanistan looks Japanese, gov't trying to confirm identity

The Japanese government is trying to confirm whether a body appearing to be of a Japanese man and found by Afghan police Wednesday is that of kidnapped Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ichita Yamamoto said. Japanese Embassy personnel arrived Wednesday afternoon in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM

Key Thai protesters face arrest warrant on treason charges

Thailand's Criminal Court approved Wednesday an arrest warrant for nine leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy who led massive demonstrators to seize and occupy the prime minister's office in Bangkok. The arrest warrant was approved based on police allegations of high treason, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM

Gov't eyes 400 bil. yen support for smaller firms

The government is likely to allocate about 400 billion yen ($3.67 billion) to help small and midsize companies raise funds by enhancing the nation's programs for credit guarantees and financing amid rising energy and raw material costs, industry minister Toshihiro Nikai said Wednesday. Nikai and officials at the Ministry of ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM

Body in Afghanistan looks Japanese, gov't trying to confirm identity

The Japanese government is trying to confirm whether a body appearing to be of a Japanese man and found by Afghan police Wednesday is that of kidnapped Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ichita Yamamoto said. Meanwhile colleagues who saw the body in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 11:44 AM

Olympics: Marathon winner Wanjiru shifts training base to Kenya

Beijing Olympic marathon winner Samuel Wanjiru has decided to move his training base from Japan to his home country of Kenya, athletics sources said Wednesday. Wanjiru has left the Toyota Motor Kyushu track and field team to concentrate on marathon races instead of ekiden road relays, his management company said.

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 10:58 AM

S. Korea arrests alleged N. Korean spy pretending to be defector

South Korea said Wednesday it has arrested a female North Korean spy who infiltrated into the South pretending to be a defector. The alleged spy was identified as 34-year-old Won Jeong Hwa, who had come to South Korea in 2001 after working as a spy in China, according to a ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Mt. Fuji saw first snow on Aug. 9 at earliest time ever

Mt. Fuji saw snow at its peak on Aug. 9, the earliest day snow has been recorded there since observations began in 1894, the Kofu Local Meteorological Observatory said Wednesday. Snow covered the peak of Japan's tallest mountain three days earlier than the previous earliest day of Aug. 12 logged ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Body in Afghanistan looks Japanese, gov't trying to confirm identity

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan informed Japan on Wednesday that a body appearing to be that of a Japanese man has been found by local police, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichita Yamamoto told a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo. But the Japanese government has not been able to confirm ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Man arrested for allegedly keeping 51 poisonous snakes without permit

A man was arrested Wednesday for keeping 51 poisonous snakes at his apartment in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward without authorization, police said, adding his pets were discovered because he was bitten by one of the snakes, whose bite is usually fatal, and had to call an ambulance. According to the Metropolitan ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 7:56 AM

No effect on abduction from N. Korea suspension of nuke disablement

North Korea's suspension of disablement work on its nuclear facility has no direct influence on its reinvestigation into Japanese abductees, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Wednesday. At a press conference, Machimura expressed hope that Pyongyang will set up a reinvestigation committee as soon as possible, based on a promise ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 5:54 AM

Clinton calls on Democrats to unite behind Obama

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, reiterating her strong support for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday, urged Democrats to unite behind their presumptive presidential nominee. ''Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,'' she said ...

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 5:54 AM