Tokyo, 2 May, /AJMEDIA/
Renowned pianist Fujiko Hemming dies at 92
TOKYO – Ingrid Fujiko Hemming, known for her rendition of Liszt’s “La Campanella” and respectfully referred to as a “late-blooming pianist” who overcame a temporary loss of hearing, died on April 21, her foundation said Thursday. She was 92.
Fujiko Hemming, also written as Fuzjko, had arranged a return appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York this spring, but her plans were interrupted by a fall in November while at home in Tokyo, the foundation said. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March.
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Fed hints U.S. rates to stay high longer as inflation remains sticky
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark interest rate steady at a 23-year high of 5.25-5.50 percent due to recent stubborn inflation, hinting that borrowing costs will remain at about the same level for a longer period.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a unanimously approved statement following a two-day policy meeting, “In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress” on containing price increases.
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Sperm bank to be set up in Tokyo for donors ready to disclose identity
TOKYO – A sperm bank only for donors who agree to disclose their identity will be set up at a Tokyo clinic, its organizer said Thursday, in a first for Japan.
Hiromi Ito, who counsels on infertility, said she hopes “to create a society where parents can openly tell their children the facts about their births” through the sperm bank at Private Care Clinic Tokyo.
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Dollar at upper 155 yen after Fed chief remark, possible intervention
TOKYO – The U.S. dollar was weak in the upper 155 yen zone Thursday morning in Tokyo after the chief of the U.S. Federal Reserve said it is unlikely to raise interest rates, while another suspected yen-buying intervention by Japan also pushed the yen higher.
The U.S. currency briefly fell to 153.00 yen overnight from the upper 157 yen range, following what was believed to be a yen-buying, dollar-selling operation by Japan to halt the yen’s decline.
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65% feel Japan need not rush to debate Constitution revisions: poll
TOKYO – A total of 65 percent of the Japanese public see no need to rush to debate revisions to the Constitution in parliament, a Kyodo News poll showed Wednesday, despite Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s hope to make an amendment while in office.
While 75 percent of survey respondents said it was necessary to revise the Constitution, which was drafted by U.S.-led occupation forces after World War II and has never been amended, there was division over rewriting the war-renouncing Article 9, with 51 percent in support and 46 percent against the move.
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BOJ’s March minutes show no urgency to raise rates further
TOKYO – Bank of Japan policymakers were cautious not to indicate the central bank’s first interest rate hike in 17 years signaled the beginning of a monetary tightening cycle, while underscoring the need to guide policy as appropriate, minutes of the March meeting showed Thursday.
At the March 18-19 meeting, BOJ board members expressed confidence that its 2 percent inflation target is attainable, with some pointing to the risk of higher inflation and the need to respond flexibly by possibly further raising interest rates.
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50 U.N. members urge continued monitoring of N. Korea sanctions
NEW YORK – Fifty U.N. members, including the United States, Japan and South Korea, called Wednesday for the continued monitoring of the implementation of sanctions against North Korea, a day after a Security Council panel tasked with the work disbanded.
The work done by the panel of eight experts under a committee of the council “should have been able to continue” but Russia vetoed a resolution on March 28 that would have extended the mandate of the panel, the members said in a statement.
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Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele elected as PM
SYDNEY – Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele was elected the South Pacific nation’s new prime minister by members of parliament Thursday, more than two weeks after no party was able to secure a majority in the general election.
Manele is expected to continue the pro-China policy of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, whose government cut ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing in 2019 and signed a controversial security pact with the Asian power in 2022.
