Japan News Online

Many areas in Japan had coldest December since 1946

Many areas in Japan in 2005 experienced the coldest December since 1946 as a series of powerful cold air masses moved over the country, a Japanese Meteorological Agency survey showed Wednesday. The average temperature in the month was lower than normal by 2.7 C in eastern Japan covering the Kanto, Hokuriku and Tokai regions, and 2.8 C in the western area, which includes the Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions.

Hokkaido lab may have succeeded in 1st artificial BSE infection

Japan may have succeeded for the first time in artificially triggering the onset of mad cow disease as several cows inoculated with abnormal prions have shown symptoms of the disease at the Hokkaido Animal Research Center, its official said Wednesday. The center plans to dissect three of the cows in February to see if they were indeed infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. If confirmed, it will be the first successful case of human-induced BSE in Japan, which researchers hope will contribute to further studies of the disease-causing abnormal proteins and cure methods.

U.N. takes steps to ban exports of Caspian Sea caviar

The United Nations said Tuesday it has taken measures to ban exports of Caspian Sea caviar and other sturgeon products until exporting countries provide more information about the sustainability of their sturgeon catch. The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) said in a statement that it is ''unable to publish the 2006 export quotas for caviar and other sturgeon products (except for aquaculture) until exporting countries provide more information about the sustainability of their sturgeon catch.''