06/03/2016  MORE UYGURS SAID FLEEING CHINA
The leader of ethnic Uygurs living abroad says some 10,000 of her people have fled China since Chinese authorities cracked down on their religious activities. She said they escaped to Turkey by way of Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere.The head of the World Uyghur Congress, Rebiya Kadeer, spoke to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. Kadeer said that since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power, China has strengthened restrictions on the religious activities of ethnic minorities in the country's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Uygurs are a Turkic ethnic group.She said the tendency became more prevalent after a new Chinese anti-terrorism law took effect last December. Kadeer said many Uygurs have been detained after being branded as terrorists for simply opposing what she called the government's oppressive ethnic policy.The Chinese government harshly criticizes Kadeer as an anti-Chinese "splittist." A senior official of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region says she is virtually a puppet of Western nations. 
06/06/2016  BOOSTING CREDIT CARD SECURITY
Japanese government officials want retailers to take an extra measure to tackle the growing problem of data theft from credit cards. They plan to require stores nationwide to install IC chip readers.People steal data from credit cards to make fake ones, but it's harder for them to do that if the information is on IC chips. Credit cards with traditional magnetic strips are easier to hack. The industry ministry now plans to revise legislation to make it mandatory for stores to install the IC chip readers as early as 2018.Ministry officials hope to boost credit-card security by 2020. That's when Tokyo hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games. IC chip readers are already common in most other industrialized countries. Many stores in Japan, though, still rely on magnetic strip-reading devices. 
06/07/2016  JAPAN'S HANAKO THE ELEPHANT DIES
One of Japan's most beloved animals has died peacefully at a zoo in Tokyo. Hanako was the country's oldest elephant. She was 69 years old.Hanako was a two-year-old calf when she arrived from Thailand in 1949. She was the first elephant in Japan after the war. Hanako turned 69 on January 1st. In March, she began showing signs of abdominal pain.(Naoya Ohashi / Inokashira Park Zoo)"Hanako died peacefully. She was surrounded by her caregivers."Crowds of people are visiting the zoo to lay flowers and remember the gentle giant.(Visitor)"I said thanks for everything, and I told her to rest well.""Hanako was a source of comfort to everyone. She lifted our spirits. Now that she has gone, I wonder what to do."Zoo officials will pay tribute to Hanako by putting together a record of her life.
06/08/2016  WARTIME LABOR SETTLEMENT
Japan's Mitsubishi Materials has agreed to apologize and pay compensation to Chinese who say they were forced to engage in harsh labor during World War II. Sources close to the deal say the settlement was reached in Beijing.Mitsubishi Materials reportedly agreed to pay about 15,000 dollars each to up to 3,765 former workers. The company had been negotiating out of court for the last two years.Former workers and bereaved relatives filed a lawsuit in China against the metal producer. They demanded an apology and damages. The workers are part of the nearly 40,000 Chinese who were brought to Japan and forced to work in mines and construction sites during the war.Similar lawsuits have been filed in Japan since the 1990s, but in 2007, Japan's Supreme Court ruled against paying war reparations to individual Chinese citizens. It said Chinese individuals lost their rights to such claims under a deal in 1972, when the two nations normalized their ties. 
06/09/2016  ABE ANNOUNCES TAX HIKE DELAY
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made official his plan to postpone a consumption tax hike. It was scheduled for next April, but Abe wants it pushed back by two and a half years. The change has to be approved by the Diet first. Abe says he wants voters to weigh in on his decision during the Upper House election set for July 10th.(Shinzo Abe / Japanese Prime Minister)"My decision this time to postpone the tax hike differs from the promises I have made before. It is a new decision. I am aware of criticism that it is a violation of our policy pledge, and I would like to sincerely face that criticism. Now that I have decided to seek public approval on the decision, I aim to get a majority of contested seats by the ruling coalition in the Upper House election."Abe says he believes the domestic economy is recovering, crediting his policy of "Abenomics" for bringing more jobs and higher household incomes. But he says the biggest concern is the slowdown in China and other emerging markets because he says it could slow down the global economy. 
06/10/2016  HEALTHIER CHOICES FOR DINERS
More restaurants in Japan are catering to people trying to avoid fattening food. The businesses are coming out with low-calorie dishes made from healthy ingredients.One example is a leading chain specializing in a kind of Japanese pancake, called "okonomiyaki." The dish is normally made from a variety of ingredients, including vegetables, meat and seafood, and topped off with plenty of sauce and mayonnaise. The chain doubled the volume of vegetables in its dishes in April. All are domestically grown. A restaurant employee says the pancakes are unfairly seen as unhealthy, packing lots of calories.A leading ramen chain opened a restaurant in Tokyo in April, catering to health-minded customers. The noodles contain half the normal sugar content. Other dishes substitute pieces of tofu.According to the chain's operator, customers who want to limit their sugar intake or avoid high-calorie food say they appreciate having new, healthier choices. 
06/13/2016  NASA INFLATES SPACE HOTEL
There's good news for anyone dreaming of space travel. NASA's engineers have inflated the world's first prototype space hotel.U.S. firm Bigelow Aerospace developed the inflatable compartment. They worked with NASA to send it to the International Space Station and attached it last month. On Saturday, they began injecting air. It took seven hours for the pod to reach full size ― four meters long and 3.2 meters wide.Astronauts will spend the next week checking for leaks. They'll then enter the module regularly over a two-year period to monitor temperature changes and make sure it can block radiation.
06/14/2016  TOKYO GOVERNOR MAY TAKE SALARY CUT
Tokyo's embattled governor is considering taking a self-imposed pay cut. Yoichi Masuzoe's gesture comes after allegations surfaced he used public funds for personal spending. Masuzoe was cleared this week of any legal wrongdoing by two former prosecutors.On the political side of things, he's still in the hot seat. The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly wants to question him again about his spending. This time, questioning will take place in front of the assembly's general affairs committee. Unlike in usual question-and-answer sessions, in which members submit their questions beforehand, Masuzoe will be required to respond on the spot.The Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party want to question him before the assembly adjourns next Wednesday. But some members of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, which backed Masuzoe's election bid, say it should be held after. They say they need more time to prepare questions.Meanwhile, Masuzoe is expected to submit a draft to revise his salary before the end of the session.
06/15/2016  HILLARY CLINTON DECLARES VICTORY
Hillary Clinton has claimed victory in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
(Hillary Clinton)"Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone. First time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee."
Clinton took a jab at the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
(Hillary Clinton)"Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander-in-chief. He wants to win by stoking fear and rubbing salt in wounds and reminding us daily just how great he is. Well, we believe we should lift each other up, not tear each other down."
Even though U.S. media have reported that Clinton has enough delegates to clinch the nomination, her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, has yet to declare he is suspending his campaign.
06/15/2016  BOXING LEGEND MUHAMMAD ALI DIES
Legendary heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali has died in hospital in Arizona. He was 74 years old.Ali won the light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome. After turning professional, he won the heavyweight world championship at the age of 22. But he was stripped of the belt and his boxing license three years later for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military to fight in the Vietnam War. Ali made a comeback and won the world championship again in 1974. He defended his title 19 times and won 56 of his 61 career fights ― 37 by a knockout.Ali had suffered from Parkinson's disease for more than three decades. In recent years, he kept a low profile. He was admitted to hospital on Thursday with respiratory problems.