[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]
Howard Carter
British archaeologist Howard Carter, who made one of the richest and most celebrated contributions to Egyptology—the discovery (1922) of the largely intact tomb of King Tutankhamen—was born this day in 1873.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1502: Fourth and final voyage of Christopher Columbus launched
On this day in 1502, master navigator and admiral Christopher Columbus, long considered the “discoverer” of the New World, set sail from Cádiz, Spain, on his fourth and final voyage, hoping to find a passage to Asia.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Toyota expects 850 billion loss
Auto giant sees more bleeding before main markets recover
By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer
Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it expects a 850 billion group operating loss and a 550 billion net loss for the year ending next March — its biggest losses ever and its second straight year of red ink — as the global economy shrinks and the yen muscles up against other currencies.
The auto giant said group sales for the year are expected to drop to 6.5 million units from 7.57 million a year earlier.
"We should expect the harsh business environment to continue," Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told a news conference in Tokyo. "China and India are showing some improvement, but it will take time for the U.S. and European markets to go back to normal."
For the year that ended on March 31, Toyota logged a 461.01 billion group operating loss and a 436.94 billion net loss. The results were worse than its Feb. 6 forecast of a 450 billion group operating loss and a 350 billion net loss.
Friday's figures are the biggest ever for the automaker, which was founded in 1937, and the first since 59 years ago, when it posted a 76 million pretax loss for the year that ended in March 1950.
They also contrast sharply with the 2.27 trillion group operating profit and 1.72 trillion net profit Toyota posted in March 2008, underlining how fast global demand has dried up.
Global demand, which has been dragged down by the U.S. financial and economic crisis, has rapidly tanked and driven debt-ridden U.S. rivals General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to the edge of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the yen's rise against the dollar and euro is eroding Toyota's overseas profits. Higher prices for raw materials also weighed on its earnings.
To improve the bottom line, Watanabe said Toyota will slash manufacturing costs and fixed costs, mainly capital investment, by 800 billion for the year to next March.
Toyota meanwhile plans to reinforce development of small and less-polluting vehicles, which it views as the key to its future.
"I believe the market will recover for sure in the future. The main products will be eco-friendly and compact cars," Watanabe said, noting emerging markets will play a bigger role in the global market.
Watanabe said the auto giant will launch four new hybrid models in Japan, including versions of the Prius and Lexus, and three new hybrids overseas this year. It will unveil the so-called third-generation Prius hybrid on May 18 and the Lexus HS250h in July.
Analysts said Toyota's earnings were hit hard because it expanded its lineup to include large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, which have been shunned amid soaring gasoline prices and rapidly declining demand.
Another reason is that Toyota was overextending itself to expand global supply to meet higher demand just before the financial crisis erupted and spooked consumers.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Retrial, based on new DNA test, may clear man sent up for '90 child killing
(Kyodo News) The man sentenced to life for a high-profile 1990 child murder may be cleared in a retrial, now that a DNA sample taken from him did not match body fluid found on the victim's clothing, contrary to findings at the time of his conviction.
The Tokyo High Court notified both the prosecution and defense that recent DNA tests showed a sample from Toshikazu Sugaya, who is serving a life term for the murder of the 4-year-old girl in Tochigi Prefecture, differed from the one used as evidence that helped convict him, his lawyers said.
This is the first time DNA tests were performed for a case where the convict is seeking retrial, the defense said.
"This is proof that he is innocent," said defense attorney Hiroshi Sato at a press conference, stressing the initial DNA test results were wrong. "We really want the prosecution to follow the results. This is clear evidence."
Sato said Sugaya broke down in tears Friday at the Chiba prison when he visited him to inform him of the test results.
"I am innocent, and I'm grateful that the testing was done again," Sato quoted Sugaya as saying, and adding: "I am really touched. I want to get out of this prison and pay a visit to my parent's grave."
Both the prosecution and defense will submit written opinions on the results of the new tests to the court by June 12.
According to the defense, the DNA test was performed by the authority of the high court. Two experts, each recommended by both sides, performed the tests using different methods. Both tests showed there was no match between Sugaya's DNA and the sample found on the girl's clothing.
Sugaya, 62, was arrested in December 1991 on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the girl at a river in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in May 1990. He initially confessed but later withdrew the admission and denied being the culprit.
An initial test done shortly after the murder matched Sugaya's DNA with that from body fluid found on the girl's clothing.
The Utsunomiya District Court sentenced him to life in prison in 1993, as sought by prosecutors. The Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed appeals in 1996 and 2000, although the credibility of the DNA test conducted in the case was questioned.
Sugaya's case marked the first time the credibility of a DNA test was upheld. His counsel, however, filed with the district court for a retrial in December 2002 with new evidence regarding DNA test analysis.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Lawmakers urged to act now to revise organ transplant law
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
People in need of organ transplants and their supporters urged lawmakers Friday to revise the transplant law during the current Diet session, despite the World Health Organization's decision to delay until next year enacting a resolution to restrict overseas travel for transplants.
The group faced reporters in Tokyo to share their experiences in a bid to address the need to improve the organ transplant situation in a nation where donors are scarce, children are not part of the equation and the determination of brain death for the sake of donor eligibility is still a point of heated debate.
Naoki Kogure, 37, a dilated cardiomyopathy patient, received an artificial heart in 2006 and has since been waiting for a real heart.
"It's been 2 1/2 years, but my name has not been listed," he said, voicing his worries.
Namie Nakazawa, whose 1-year-old son died while awaiting a heart in the United States, said she hopes the current Diet session can remedy the problem.
"I want children to have the same rights and hopes as adults," Nakazawa said.
In Geneva on Thursday, diplomatic and WHO sources said the global health body plans to delay setting new guidelines on organ transplants because it is preoccupied with the new swine flu epidemic rapidly spreading worldwide.
Representatives of WHO member countries have agreed on a one-year postponement in establishing the guidelines, which had been scheduled at the WHO's general assembly meeting beginning May 18, the sources said.
WHO guidelines have been considered one of the reasons for Japan to speed up debate on revising the law, which bans anyone under 15 from being a donor, thus forcing many children who need transplants to go overseas in search of donors.
Diet members have been working to ease the minimum age of organ donors.
Howard Carter
British archaeologist Howard Carter, who made one of the richest and most celebrated contributions to Egyptology—the discovery (1922) of the largely intact tomb of King Tutankhamen—was born this day in 1873.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1502: Fourth and final voyage of Christopher Columbus launched
On this day in 1502, master navigator and admiral Christopher Columbus, long considered the “discoverer” of the New World, set sail from Cádiz, Spain, on his fourth and final voyage, hoping to find a passage to Asia.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Toyota expects 850 billion loss
Auto giant sees more bleeding before main markets recover
By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer
Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it expects a 850 billion group operating loss and a 550 billion net loss for the year ending next March — its biggest losses ever and its second straight year of red ink — as the global economy shrinks and the yen muscles up against other currencies.
The auto giant said group sales for the year are expected to drop to 6.5 million units from 7.57 million a year earlier.
"We should expect the harsh business environment to continue," Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told a news conference in Tokyo. "China and India are showing some improvement, but it will take time for the U.S. and European markets to go back to normal."
For the year that ended on March 31, Toyota logged a 461.01 billion group operating loss and a 436.94 billion net loss. The results were worse than its Feb. 6 forecast of a 450 billion group operating loss and a 350 billion net loss.
Friday's figures are the biggest ever for the automaker, which was founded in 1937, and the first since 59 years ago, when it posted a 76 million pretax loss for the year that ended in March 1950.
They also contrast sharply with the 2.27 trillion group operating profit and 1.72 trillion net profit Toyota posted in March 2008, underlining how fast global demand has dried up.
Global demand, which has been dragged down by the U.S. financial and economic crisis, has rapidly tanked and driven debt-ridden U.S. rivals General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to the edge of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the yen's rise against the dollar and euro is eroding Toyota's overseas profits. Higher prices for raw materials also weighed on its earnings.
To improve the bottom line, Watanabe said Toyota will slash manufacturing costs and fixed costs, mainly capital investment, by 800 billion for the year to next March.
Toyota meanwhile plans to reinforce development of small and less-polluting vehicles, which it views as the key to its future.
"I believe the market will recover for sure in the future. The main products will be eco-friendly and compact cars," Watanabe said, noting emerging markets will play a bigger role in the global market.
Watanabe said the auto giant will launch four new hybrid models in Japan, including versions of the Prius and Lexus, and three new hybrids overseas this year. It will unveil the so-called third-generation Prius hybrid on May 18 and the Lexus HS250h in July.
Analysts said Toyota's earnings were hit hard because it expanded its lineup to include large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, which have been shunned amid soaring gasoline prices and rapidly declining demand.
Another reason is that Toyota was overextending itself to expand global supply to meet higher demand just before the financial crisis erupted and spooked consumers.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Retrial, based on new DNA test, may clear man sent up for '90 child killing
(Kyodo News) The man sentenced to life for a high-profile 1990 child murder may be cleared in a retrial, now that a DNA sample taken from him did not match body fluid found on the victim's clothing, contrary to findings at the time of his conviction.
The Tokyo High Court notified both the prosecution and defense that recent DNA tests showed a sample from Toshikazu Sugaya, who is serving a life term for the murder of the 4-year-old girl in Tochigi Prefecture, differed from the one used as evidence that helped convict him, his lawyers said.
This is the first time DNA tests were performed for a case where the convict is seeking retrial, the defense said.
"This is proof that he is innocent," said defense attorney Hiroshi Sato at a press conference, stressing the initial DNA test results were wrong. "We really want the prosecution to follow the results. This is clear evidence."
Sato said Sugaya broke down in tears Friday at the Chiba prison when he visited him to inform him of the test results.
"I am innocent, and I'm grateful that the testing was done again," Sato quoted Sugaya as saying, and adding: "I am really touched. I want to get out of this prison and pay a visit to my parent's grave."
Both the prosecution and defense will submit written opinions on the results of the new tests to the court by June 12.
According to the defense, the DNA test was performed by the authority of the high court. Two experts, each recommended by both sides, performed the tests using different methods. Both tests showed there was no match between Sugaya's DNA and the sample found on the girl's clothing.
Sugaya, 62, was arrested in December 1991 on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the girl at a river in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in May 1990. He initially confessed but later withdrew the admission and denied being the culprit.
An initial test done shortly after the murder matched Sugaya's DNA with that from body fluid found on the girl's clothing.
The Utsunomiya District Court sentenced him to life in prison in 1993, as sought by prosecutors. The Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed appeals in 1996 and 2000, although the credibility of the DNA test conducted in the case was questioned.
Sugaya's case marked the first time the credibility of a DNA test was upheld. His counsel, however, filed with the district court for a retrial in December 2002 with new evidence regarding DNA test analysis.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Lawmakers urged to act now to revise organ transplant law
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
People in need of organ transplants and their supporters urged lawmakers Friday to revise the transplant law during the current Diet session, despite the World Health Organization's decision to delay until next year enacting a resolution to restrict overseas travel for transplants.
The group faced reporters in Tokyo to share their experiences in a bid to address the need to improve the organ transplant situation in a nation where donors are scarce, children are not part of the equation and the determination of brain death for the sake of donor eligibility is still a point of heated debate.
Naoki Kogure, 37, a dilated cardiomyopathy patient, received an artificial heart in 2006 and has since been waiting for a real heart.
"It's been 2 1/2 years, but my name has not been listed," he said, voicing his worries.
Namie Nakazawa, whose 1-year-old son died while awaiting a heart in the United States, said she hopes the current Diet session can remedy the problem.
"I want children to have the same rights and hopes as adults," Nakazawa said.
In Geneva on Thursday, diplomatic and WHO sources said the global health body plans to delay setting new guidelines on organ transplants because it is preoccupied with the new swine flu epidemic rapidly spreading worldwide.
Representatives of WHO member countries have agreed on a one-year postponement in establishing the guidelines, which had been scheduled at the WHO's general assembly meeting beginning May 18, the sources said.
WHO guidelines have been considered one of the reasons for Japan to speed up debate on revising the law, which bans anyone under 15 from being a donor, thus forcing many children who need transplants to go overseas in search of donors.
Diet members have been working to ease the minimum age of organ donors.
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