北と南の国の話が多かったな…
1) Police in northern Japan have found eight men near a boat at a seaside marina who said they were from North Korea, and appear to be fishermen whose vessel ran into trouble, rather than defectors, a police official said on Friday.
2) Mitsubishi Materials Corp., a maker of components used in autos, aircraft and electricity generation, has become the latest among major Japanese companies to report faked quality data.
Executives of the company bowed before reporters in apology Friday as they reported on falsified data by some subsidiaries.
3) A local Japanese politician has been criticised by lawmakers for trying to bring her baby to a council session.
Yuka Ogata said she wanted to show how difficult it is for women to juggle careers and raise children.
Kumamoto municipal assembly officials said she had violated assembly rules as visitors and observers are forbidden from the floor.
After a lengthy discussion, Ms Ogata left the child with a friend and the session started 40 minutes late.
The council says it will discuss her case and ways to support lawmakers with young children.
4) A local Japanese politician has been criticised by lawmakers for trying to bring her baby to a council session.
Yuka Ogata said she wanted to show how difficult it is for women to juggle careers and raise children.
Kumamoto municipal assembly officials said she had violated assembly rules as visitors and observers are forbidden from the floor.
After a lengthy discussion, Ms Ogata left the child with a friend and the session started 40 minutes late.
The council says it will discuss her case and ways to support lawmakers with young children.
5) San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee signed a document Wednesday formalizing the city’s acceptance of a statue that symbolizes Korean and other Asian women forced into wartime brothels for the Japanese military, city officials said, prompting the mayor of its sister-city Osaka to decide on dissolution of their affiliation.
6) An employee of the British Embassy in Jordan has become an online sensation after his appointment as… chief mouser.
The embassy adopted a cat from an animal shelter last month, and named him Lawrence of Abdoun.
The name is a reference to Thomas Edward Lawrence, a British officer who helped the Arabs fight the Ottoman Empire during World War One… and who came to be known as Lawrence of Arabia.
Abdoun is the neighborhood Amman where the British Embassy is located.
Photos of the fluffy black-and-white “chief mouser” have attracted huge attention on Twitter. He gained more than 4,500 followers in just one month, surpassing the British ambassador’s own account.
7) Japanese pro tennis player Kei Nishikori has spoken of his renewed resolve to return to competition in his first interview after sustaining an injury in August.
Nishikori had his right wrist dislocated while practicing serves. The injury forced him to skip all remaining tournaments in the season. His world ranking fell to the 22nd, from the 9th prior to the injury. He ended the season out of the top 10 for the first time in 3 years.
8) Chinese researchers have released 2 captive-bred pandas of different sex into the wild at one time. It’s the first such experiment.
The 2 were transported from a wilderness training facility and let loose in a nature reserve on Thursday. Both have collar trackers for monitoring.
The release is part of a program begun in 2006 by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda based in the inland province of Sichuan.
The center hopes the program will have greater chances of succeeding if the captive-bred pandas form a pair and breed in the wild.
9) Dozens of Indian Army soldiers have set a world record by riding a single motorcycle for 12-hundred meters.
The challenge took place at an air force station in Bengaluru, southern India.
Participants hopped on the moving motorcycle while clinging to each other.
The bike ultimately carried 58 soldiers and slowly drove the 12-hundred meter distance. The previous record of 56 soldiers was set by another unit 4 years ago.
10) North Korea has replaced dozens of guards and fortified a section of its border with South Korea following the dramatic defection of one of its soldiers last week, a report said Friday.