[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]
El Cordobés
El Cordobés (“The Córdovan”), believed to have been born this day in 1936 in Spain, became the highest-paid bullfighter of his day, thrilling crowds with his reflexes and stunts, such as kissing the bull between the horns.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1996: José María Aznar approved as prime minister of Spain
José María Aznar of the conservative Popular Party became prime minister of Spain this day in 1996 and served until 2004, overseeing an improving economy while facing growing terrorism by ETA and Islamic extremists.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
Experts say Japan can handle flu
By SETSUKO KAMIYA and NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writers
While Japan has yet to see a confirmed case of swine flu, experts believe it won't be long before someone will be infected.
They say that although caution over the new H1N1 virus is necessary, the nation should remain calm and assess new information carefully.
"Some people seem to have the impression that a killer virus is coming, but it's not a killer virus. It's true however that it could spread" once someone catches the new flu, said Nobuhiko Okabe, director of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center in Tokyo, part of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
"So we should not be carefree and must take necessary measures, but I believe we are not in a situation where people must hastily stock up on things from the market (to stay inside)," he said.
On Sunday afternoon, a woman in her 40s who returned to Tokyo from San Francisco tested positive for influenza in a preliminary exam held in Yokohama, where she was visiting a friend and developed a fever and cough. Further testing determined she was not infected with swine flu, the Yokohama Municipal Government said.
Earlier, four cases of influenza had been found in Japan. These involved a 25-year-old Japanese woman who flew into Narita International Airport from Los Angeles on Thursday, a 17-year-old male high school student who returned from Canada on April 25, and a Toyota Motor Corp. employee in Nagoya who had recently been in the U.S. as well as an American baby at Yokota Air Base who came to Japan on Friday.
All have tested negative for swine flu.
The initial response to news of the flu cases was fast and intense. Health minister Yoichi Masuzoe conducted a hasty press conference at around 1 a.m. Friday to report on the Yokohama high school boy, who was later found to have a case of seasonal flu.
The government is acting according to the basic guideline for dealing with a pandemic. But because the guideline was compiled with the lethal avian influenza in mind, high bars are set for the measures it is to take.
Okabe said that although the new virus is not the H5N1 avian flu that was the hypothetical enemy, caution is still necessary.
"This is not a situation where we have prepared for a major fire with many fire engines and it turned out to be a small fire. The fire is blazing up," Okabe said.
However, he added that information from around the world is showing that the new virus is milder than bird flu and Japan can deal with it should it enter the country with the preparations that have been made so far.
Because the plan was very rigid, leaders in both the public and private sectors should gather information carefully and decide what needs to be done flexibly, he said.
To prepare for an outbreak, the government has begun to consider asking pharmaceutical companies to start producing a vaccine to fight the new flu. But Okabe said making that decision is not a simple matter. Manufacturing a new vaccine could affect the production of seasonal flu vaccines, because the capacity for manufacturers to make vaccines is limited.
Every year, between 10 million and 20 million people are affected by the seasonal influenza in Japan, which can claim 10,000 to 20,000 lives.
"Right now when only a few hundred people in the world are infected, it is still difficult to tell at this stage whether the new virus will develop into an epidemic that thousands of people catch," Okabe said. "If not, then it is questionable to risk reducing the manufacture of vaccines for regular influenza.
"At some point, a decision has to be made, but we haven't reached that time yet," he said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
10 trillion set for Asia liquidity
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Kyodo) Japan will be ready to offer support worth 10 trillion to Asian countries if they suffer serious problems stemming from the global economic crisis, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Sunday.
Yosano said about 6 trillion of the total would be provided from Japan's foreign reserves using a currency swap deal. Under the framework, a crisis-hit Asian country could change the Japanese currency into dollars or other major currencies if necessary.
Yosano, in Indonesia to attend an annual gathering of the Asian Development Bank, said Japan will also commit $38.4 billion (about 3.8 trillion) to the Chiang Mai Initiative, a regional currency swap framework formed by China, Japan, South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian countries.
In addition, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will start providing a guarantee of up to 500 billion when a country in the region issues yen-denominated samurai bonds, Yosano said.
Yosano unveiled the new steps to support Asia's liquidity at a news conference after holding talks with his counterparts from China and South Korea on Indonesia's Bali Island.
The 13 countries agreed in February to expand the pool of the multilateral currency swap arrangement to $120 billion from $80 billion, with China, Japan and South Korea promising to contribute 80 percent of the total.
China, which has the world's largest foreign reserves, will provide the same amount as Japan to the enlarged swap arrangement and South Korea will offer $ 19.2 billion, according to Japanese officials.
Yosano, meanwhile, touched on fears of the swine flu outbreak turning into a global pandemic.
It "could turn into another global crisis," he said. "Countries should work together to prevent the spread of the flu, or the situation could be too late."
The World Health Organization is monitoring the global situation and could raise its six-notch alert level to its highest level.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
Both sides on constitutional change hold rallies
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
The pros and cons of changing the Constitution were on full display Sunday — the 62nd Constitution Day — with both opponents and proponents holding rallies to push their causes.
With a national referendum law taking effect next year to set the procedures for constitutional amendments, several groups in favor of change underlined the need to revise the Constitution.
"There is a huge gap between reality and the Constitution that remains the same since it took effect 62 years ago," Junpei Kiyohara, a representative of a Tokyo-based revisionist group founded by the late former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, told a forum in the capital.
Kiyohara said other countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, have amended their constitutions more than 50 times and adapted to the times. He urged Japan to follow in their footsteps.
Groups against revising the Constitution said the pacifist charter should best be untouched.
At a gathering in Hibiya Park in Tokyo, Toshihide Maskawa, who won the Nobel Prize for physics last year, told a crowd of 4,200 people, "The Constitution is in peril."
"The government interpreted the Constitution in a way to authorize the MSDF dispatch to Somali waters," he said. "Revisionists want even more — the right to engage in warfare."
Article 96 of the Constitution says any revision must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both Diet chambers, followed by a simple majority in a national referendum. But no law setting a procedure for such a referendum existed until 2007, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instituted the national referendum law.
Former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, attending the pro-change forum as a guest speaker, said Japan is handcuffed by constitutional constraints whenever it tries to contribute to world peace.
Citing the Maritime Self-Defense Force and its antipiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, Koike said the current law allows them to protect only Japan-related ships. A new law to expand the scope of the MSDF's Somali mission is now being deliberated in the Diet.
"Is it really acceptable that our nation will protect our own ships from the pirates but say 'we are sorry we cannot protect other countries' ships due to the Constitution?' "
El Cordobés
El Cordobés (“The Córdovan”), believed to have been born this day in 1936 in Spain, became the highest-paid bullfighter of his day, thrilling crowds with his reflexes and stunts, such as kissing the bull between the horns.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1996: José María Aznar approved as prime minister of Spain
José María Aznar of the conservative Popular Party became prime minister of Spain this day in 1996 and served until 2004, overseeing an improving economy while facing growing terrorism by ETA and Islamic extremists.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
Experts say Japan can handle flu
By SETSUKO KAMIYA and NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writers
While Japan has yet to see a confirmed case of swine flu, experts believe it won't be long before someone will be infected.
They say that although caution over the new H1N1 virus is necessary, the nation should remain calm and assess new information carefully.
"Some people seem to have the impression that a killer virus is coming, but it's not a killer virus. It's true however that it could spread" once someone catches the new flu, said Nobuhiko Okabe, director of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center in Tokyo, part of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
"So we should not be carefree and must take necessary measures, but I believe we are not in a situation where people must hastily stock up on things from the market (to stay inside)," he said.
On Sunday afternoon, a woman in her 40s who returned to Tokyo from San Francisco tested positive for influenza in a preliminary exam held in Yokohama, where she was visiting a friend and developed a fever and cough. Further testing determined she was not infected with swine flu, the Yokohama Municipal Government said.
Earlier, four cases of influenza had been found in Japan. These involved a 25-year-old Japanese woman who flew into Narita International Airport from Los Angeles on Thursday, a 17-year-old male high school student who returned from Canada on April 25, and a Toyota Motor Corp. employee in Nagoya who had recently been in the U.S. as well as an American baby at Yokota Air Base who came to Japan on Friday.
All have tested negative for swine flu.
The initial response to news of the flu cases was fast and intense. Health minister Yoichi Masuzoe conducted a hasty press conference at around 1 a.m. Friday to report on the Yokohama high school boy, who was later found to have a case of seasonal flu.
The government is acting according to the basic guideline for dealing with a pandemic. But because the guideline was compiled with the lethal avian influenza in mind, high bars are set for the measures it is to take.
Okabe said that although the new virus is not the H5N1 avian flu that was the hypothetical enemy, caution is still necessary.
"This is not a situation where we have prepared for a major fire with many fire engines and it turned out to be a small fire. The fire is blazing up," Okabe said.
However, he added that information from around the world is showing that the new virus is milder than bird flu and Japan can deal with it should it enter the country with the preparations that have been made so far.
Because the plan was very rigid, leaders in both the public and private sectors should gather information carefully and decide what needs to be done flexibly, he said.
To prepare for an outbreak, the government has begun to consider asking pharmaceutical companies to start producing a vaccine to fight the new flu. But Okabe said making that decision is not a simple matter. Manufacturing a new vaccine could affect the production of seasonal flu vaccines, because the capacity for manufacturers to make vaccines is limited.
Every year, between 10 million and 20 million people are affected by the seasonal influenza in Japan, which can claim 10,000 to 20,000 lives.
"Right now when only a few hundred people in the world are infected, it is still difficult to tell at this stage whether the new virus will develop into an epidemic that thousands of people catch," Okabe said. "If not, then it is questionable to risk reducing the manufacture of vaccines for regular influenza.
"At some point, a decision has to be made, but we haven't reached that time yet," he said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
10 trillion set for Asia liquidity
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Kyodo) Japan will be ready to offer support worth 10 trillion to Asian countries if they suffer serious problems stemming from the global economic crisis, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Sunday.
Yosano said about 6 trillion of the total would be provided from Japan's foreign reserves using a currency swap deal. Under the framework, a crisis-hit Asian country could change the Japanese currency into dollars or other major currencies if necessary.
Yosano, in Indonesia to attend an annual gathering of the Asian Development Bank, said Japan will also commit $38.4 billion (about 3.8 trillion) to the Chiang Mai Initiative, a regional currency swap framework formed by China, Japan, South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian countries.
In addition, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will start providing a guarantee of up to 500 billion when a country in the region issues yen-denominated samurai bonds, Yosano said.
Yosano unveiled the new steps to support Asia's liquidity at a news conference after holding talks with his counterparts from China and South Korea on Indonesia's Bali Island.
The 13 countries agreed in February to expand the pool of the multilateral currency swap arrangement to $120 billion from $80 billion, with China, Japan and South Korea promising to contribute 80 percent of the total.
China, which has the world's largest foreign reserves, will provide the same amount as Japan to the enlarged swap arrangement and South Korea will offer $ 19.2 billion, according to Japanese officials.
Yosano, meanwhile, touched on fears of the swine flu outbreak turning into a global pandemic.
It "could turn into another global crisis," he said. "Countries should work together to prevent the spread of the flu, or the situation could be too late."
The World Health Organization is monitoring the global situation and could raise its six-notch alert level to its highest level.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 4, 2009
Both sides on constitutional change hold rallies
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
The pros and cons of changing the Constitution were on full display Sunday — the 62nd Constitution Day — with both opponents and proponents holding rallies to push their causes.
With a national referendum law taking effect next year to set the procedures for constitutional amendments, several groups in favor of change underlined the need to revise the Constitution.
"There is a huge gap between reality and the Constitution that remains the same since it took effect 62 years ago," Junpei Kiyohara, a representative of a Tokyo-based revisionist group founded by the late former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, told a forum in the capital.
Kiyohara said other countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, have amended their constitutions more than 50 times and adapted to the times. He urged Japan to follow in their footsteps.
Groups against revising the Constitution said the pacifist charter should best be untouched.
At a gathering in Hibiya Park in Tokyo, Toshihide Maskawa, who won the Nobel Prize for physics last year, told a crowd of 4,200 people, "The Constitution is in peril."
"The government interpreted the Constitution in a way to authorize the MSDF dispatch to Somali waters," he said. "Revisionists want even more — the right to engage in warfare."
Article 96 of the Constitution says any revision must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both Diet chambers, followed by a simple majority in a national referendum. But no law setting a procedure for such a referendum existed until 2007, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instituted the national referendum law.
Former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, attending the pro-change forum as a guest speaker, said Japan is handcuffed by constitutional constraints whenever it tries to contribute to world peace.
Citing the Maritime Self-Defense Force and its antipiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, Koike said the current law allows them to protect only Japan-related ships. A new law to expand the scope of the MSDF's Somali mission is now being deliberated in the Diet.
"Is it really acceptable that our nation will protect our own ships from the pirates but say 'we are sorry we cannot protect other countries' ships due to the Constitution?' "
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