TOKYO, May 5 -- Japan celebrated a national holiday on Monday in honor of its children. But Children's Day might just as easily have been a national day of mourning.
DHAKA, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladesh caretaker government Tuesday imposed ban on export of rice for six months except aromatic varieties to lower prices of rice in the local market, said a senior official here.
BANGKOK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, is ready to host a meeting of rice exporting countries as worries on global food crisis have intensified, the state run Thai News Agency said on Tuesday.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a five-day state visit to Japan, the first such trip in a decade. He is expected to discuss trade, security and a dispute over undersea gas fields with Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda - and play him at ping-pong.
The latest survey by the Cabinet Office found that 87.6 percent of people have heard of metabolic syndrome, a 10.3 percentage point increase from the last such survey, conducted in March 2007, the office said Saturday.
Hu Jintao's visit will be the longest he has made to a single countryChinese President Hu Jintao has begun a five-day state visit to Japan, the first such trip in a decade.
The New Zealand government has bought back the country's main rail and ferry operating business from Australia's Toll Holdings for NZ$665m (US$522m) after the two sides failed to settle a funding dispute over upgrading the rail network.
