Tokyo, 6 February, /AJMEDIA/
Seibu eyes selling Prince brand hotels, other assets to Singapore fund
TOKYO – Seibu Holdings Inc. is considering selling about 30 properties in Japan, including Prince brand hotels, to Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC for about 150 billion yen ($1.3 billion), sources familiar with the plan said Saturday.
Of the total, about a dozen are believed to be hotels such as The Prince Park Tower Tokyo, Prince Hotel Sapporo and Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, as the COVID-19 pandemic affected the company’s main railway and hotel businesses.
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Olympics: Ikuma Horishima takes moguls bronze, Japan’s 1st medal in Beijing
ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Moguls skier Ikuma Horishima won bronze at the Beijing Games on Saturday as Japan’s first medalist of the Winter Olympics in China.
Horishima scored 81.48 points to finish behind gold medalist Walter Wallberg of Sweden’s 83.23 points in the men’s event at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.
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Tokyo reports 2nd highest daily record of 21,122 COVID cases
TOKYO – Tokyo reported 21,122 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the second-highest daily tally on record, the metropolitan government said, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to spread rapidly across Japan and lead to an increase in seriously ill patients.
The figure came after the Japanese capital recently confirmed a record 21,576 new coronavirus cases, and as Tokyo remains under a quasi-state of emergency amid its sixth wave of infections driven by Omicron, with concerns over infections among young people spreading to other family members.
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U.S. urges Japan to consider sanctions on Russia if Ukraine invaded
TOKYO – The United States has urged Japan to consider imposing economic sanctions on Moscow if Russian troops invade Ukraine, diplomatic sources said Saturday.
Japan, however, has deferred its response to the U.S. request, fearing the possible ramifications on relations with Russia and bilateral issues, including a long-standing territorial dispute that Tokyo is seeking a breakthrough on, the sources said.
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U.S. finalizing exempting part of Japan’s steel imports from tariffs
TOKYO – Washington and Tokyo are in the final stage of talks to exempt a portion of U.S. imports of steel from Japan from extra tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump, sources close to the matter said Saturday.
The two countries are discussing establishing a tariff-free import quota but its size and some other details have yet to be finalized, the sources said.
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South Korea sees daily COVID cases exceed 30,000 for 1st time amid surge
SEOUL – South Korea said Saturday its daily coronavirus cases exceeded the 30,000 mark for the first time the previous day, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continued to fuel the surge.
Health authorities reported 36,362 new cases for Friday, just days after the daily tally surpassed 20,000 for the first time.
