Olympics: Japan medal drought continues in Turin
February 18, 2006Japan's medal drought continued at the Turin Olympics on Saturday, moving the country dangerously close to having its worst Olympic showing in 30 years. This is the Italian Alps but it feels more like the Sahara Desert for Japan, which with no podium finishes thus far is way off reaching its target of five medals entering the final week of the 17-day Games.
Olympics: Okabe solid, but falls short in large hill
February 18, 2006Japanese ski jumper Takanobu Okabe made two impressive leaps in tailwinds but it was not enough to medal as he came eighth against an ultra-strong field in the large hill event at the Turin Olympics on Saturday. The 35-year-old Okabe, who was eighth after the first round, made leaps of 125 and 128.5 meters to collect 236.8 points for the best showing among Japanese jumpers but failed to win his first individual Olympic medal.
Olympics: Imai 20th as Japanese skaters flop in men's 1,000
February 18, 2006Yusuke Imai could only manage a 20th-place finish for the best showing for Japan in the men's 1,000 meters as the country's speed skaters had a disastrous day at the Turin Olympic Games. Imai was no longer the skater who took silver in a World Cup meet at the same Oval Lingotto Olympic rink last December, finishing 1.59 seconds behind winner Shani Davis of the United States in 1:10.48.
Olympics: Kamino 7th in women's 1,500 short track
February 18, 2006Top Japanese short track speed skater Yuka Kamino was unable to make the women's 1,500-meter final and settled for seventh place at the Turin Olympics on Saturday. Kamino's bid for a spot in the final ended when she crashed out of the race track at the Palavela ice arena trying desperately to overtake Russian Tatiana Borodulina from inside on the final lap of her semifinal heat.
Soccer: Japan see off Finland with Ogasawara super strike
February 18, 2006Mitsuo Ogasawara took a leaf out of David Beckham's book with a second-half wonder strike and created the other as Japan returned to winning ways with a 2-0 defeat of Finland in a home friendly on Saturday. Tatsuhiko Kubo fired the home side in front with his first national team goal in well over a year in the 48th minute before Ogasawara scored with a superb effort from inside his own half to complete Japan's first win in World Cup year.
Ex-unification minister Chung elected new ruling Uri Party leader
February 18, 2006Chung Dong Young, former minister on North Korean affairs, was elected as the new leader of South Korea's ruling Uri Party on Saturday. Chung, former unification minister, was elected by a vote at the party's national convention, defeating seven other candidates. ==Kyodo
Over 1,000 still missing in Philippine landside
February 18, 2006At least 35 bodies have been pulled out from the mud of a mountain village in the central Philippines which was destroyed by a massive landslide on Friday, but over a thousand people are still missing, rescuers said Saturday. At least 57 survivors have been found after about 300 soldiers and relief workers were sent to help with rescue operations in Guinsaugon, a village in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte Province, about 566 kilometers south of Manila.
Japan's H-2A rocket lifts off to launch weather satellite
February 18, 2006A Japanese developed H-2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan on Saturday and successfully put into orbit a satellite for weather observation and air traffic control for the state-run Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The rocket lifted off at 3:27 p.m., one minute behind the space agency's original plan, from the launch pad on Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, off the southern tip of the southwestern main island of Kyushu. It put the satellite into orbit shortly before 4 p.m.
Shrine visit seen key in post-Koizumi Japan-China ties: experts
February 18, 2006While the question of who will succeed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi after he steps down in September is still a mystery, China will likely pay close attention to one point -- whether the new premier will visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine. Chinese experts underscored the importance of the issue in recent interviews, saying trips to the shrine, seen by China as a symbol of Japan's militarist past, remain the largest obstacle in ties between the two neighbors.
19th human bird flu death confirmed in Indonesia
February 18, 2006A World Health Organization laboratory in Atlanta has confirmed the 19th human bird flu death in Indonesia, an Indonesian health official said Saturday. Hariadi Wibisono, director for animal-originated infectious disease eradication at the Health Ministry, told Kyodo News that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a 23-year-old man who died Feb. 10 in a Jakarta hospital tested positive for the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Baseball: Iguchi ready for spring training for sophomore season
February 18, 2006Tadahito Iguchi left Japan on Saturday to join spring training, determined to help the Chicago White Sox win back-to-back World Series titles without a sophomore jinx. ''You know players are asked to deliver better in their second seasons than in their rookie years. Hitting .300 with 30 or more stolen bases -- that's my goal and hopefully I'll be in the World Series again by fulfilling my role on the team,'' Iguchi said.