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  • April sees Japan trade deficit jump to 879.9bn yen April sees Japan trade deficit jump to 879.9bn yen

    TOKYO - Japan's trade deficit rose substantially more than expected in the month April to 879.9 billion yen ($8.6 billion), which is a 70% jump over the trade deficit during the corresponding month a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.. The deficit, for the tenth consecutive month, was wider than what many economists had forecast. A survey from the Nikkei business daily ...

  • Japanese economy has begun to recover central bank

    Japan's central bank said Wednesday that it will continue pursuing its current stimulus program and that the country's economy "has begun to recover" thanks to a reversal in the decline of exports, which account for 40 percent of Japanese GDP. "Domestic demand remains resilient due to the effects of the monetary relaxation measures" and the recently-approved stimulus policies, the Bank of Japan ...

  • UN agency to open nuclear emergency preparedness centre in Fukushima UN agency to open nuclear emergency preparedness centre in Fukushima

    22 May 2013 150 Experts from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are heading to Japan to launch an emergency preparedness and response centre in Fukushima, the coastal city devastated two years ago when a massive earthquake and tsunami set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. The IAEA, supported by the Government of Japan, will designate a new Response and ...

  • Microsoft boosts Japan Azure offering adds data centers

    IDG News Service - Microsoft will boost its Azure cloud offering in Japan, adding two domestic data centers to speed response times and improve reliability in the face of natural disasters. The software giant said Thursday that it would add cloud-based hosting services in two regions, one near Tokyo and one in the Kansai region further south. Redundancy is a priority in earthquake-prone Japan, ...

  • Volatility rocks Europe following Tokyo tumble

    (59 mins ago) European stock markets slumped dragging down most indices by more than 2 percent after Tokyo shares plunged at the close today. Analysts said small investors headed for the exit in Tokyo as a result of weak daya from China and signs that the US Federal Reserve may soon taper stimulus. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index sank 1.82 percent to stand at 6,715.83 points in midday ...

Movie Review

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

Like the first movie, Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams is a fantastically ridiculous kids' adventure-fantasy filled with bizarre creatures, outlandish gadgets, and anything and everything else Rodriguez's supple imagination could conjure up. Working with digital special effects that bring to mind the wonderful stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, Rodriguez (who ... ...

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  • Gold Price Bounces 3 with Silver as Tokyo Stocks Sink China Slows US Fed Discusses Immediately Cutting $85Bn in Monthly QE

    pushed higher Thursday morning in London, with silver making the same 3.0% rally from yesterday's sell-off while world stock markets slid and commodities fell.Tokyo's Nikkei index - up by 85% from November - dumped more than 7% after new data showed a surprise contraction in China's manufacturing sector.Private "retail" investors have "abducted" the Japanese ...

  • Gold Up 1.5 As Stocks Globally Fall After Nikkei Crashes 7.3

    Today's AM fix was USD 1,386.00, EUR 1,074.92 and GBP 919.16 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,385.25, EUR 1,071.43 and GBP 917.75 per ounce. Gold fell $10.20 or 0.74% yesterday to $1,367.60/oz and silver finished up 0.07%. Gold is up today while stock indices globally are sharply down after the Nikkei crashed 7.3%. The stock crash in Japan is leading to weakness in European ...

  • Nikkei dives 7 ends below 14500

    Tokyo’s Nikkei stock index tumbled more than 7 percent Thursday to end a roller-coaster trading session below 14,500 as selling triggered by weak Chinese data outpaced sharp gains made earlier and snapped a four-session winning streak. The 225-issue average closed down 1,143.28 points, or 7.32 percent, from Wednesday at 14,483.98, marking its steepest point fall since April 17, 2000, ...

  • 600 students lose loans for poor performance

    About 600 university students have been declared no longer eligible for student loans because of their poor academic performance last year, the Japan Student Services Organization said Thursday. It is the first time the organization has taken such tough action, which was prompted by a growing number of unpaid loans. To continue to receive the loans, students are required to renew their ...

  • Sony Blu-Ray makers sue Imation over blank discs

    Imation Corp.'s line of blank Blu-Ray discs has drawn a lawsuit by Sony Corp. and other Blu-Ray inventors who say that the data storage company is infringing on their patents. Bloomberg reports that One-Blue a consortium created by Sony, Panasonic Corp., Pioneer Corp. and Koninklijke Philips claims in the suit that Oakdale-based Imation violates several patents, wrongly includes the ...

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