Tokyo, 7 October, /AJMEDIA/
IMF to cut 2023 global growth outlook, warns of rising recession risk
WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund will cut its global growth outlook for 2023 from an earlier predicted 2.9 percent and is concerned of rising recession risks, the IMF chief said Thursday, as many central banks tighten interest rates to tackle inflation.
In a speech ahead of the release of an updated flagship economic report on Tuesday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva pointed to the “darkening” outlook, citing high energy and food prices amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, tighter financial conditions and lingering supply constraints.
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Over 35 killed in rampage at nursery in northeastern Thailand
BANGKOK – More than 35 people, including over 20 children, were killed in a mass shooting and stabbing at a nursery in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, local police said.
The attacker, a former police officer, went on the killing rampage with guns and knives at around 12.50 p.m. at the preschool in Nong Bua Lamphu Province, the police said, adding that after fleeing the nursery in a vehicle, he returned home where he shot and killed his wife and child before turning the gun on himself.
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Japan household spending in August rises 5.1%
TOKYO – Household spending in Japan increased 5.1 percent in August from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
Households with two or more people spent an average 289,974 yen ($2,000), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
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Indonesia police suspect officers, others liable over fatal stampede
JAKARTA – Indonesian police said Thursday they are investigating six people, including a soccer club operator and three policemen, on suspicion of negligence that caused the deaths of 131 people and injuries to nearly 500 others in last week’s crowd stampede at a soccer match.
The riot occurred after Arema FC from East Java Province’s Malang was beaten by its rival Persebaya from the provincial capital of Surabaya, prompting a number of angry Arema supporters to invade the pitch and chase after Persebaya players and officials.
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U.S. sanctions Myanmar arms dealers as it ramps up pressure on junta
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government on Thursday imposed sanctions on arms dealers linked to the Myanmar military regime and others, in the latest effort to hold the junta accountable for its brutal treatment of its citizens following the coup in February 2021.
The Treasury Department designated a company and three Myanmar nationals, including businessman Aung Moe Myint who has allegedly facilitated various weapons purchases on behalf of the Southeast Asian nation’s military.
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Western countries fail to put China’s human rights on U.N. agenda
GENEVA – The U.N. Human Rights Council Thursday rejected holding a debate on the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang during a session to be held next March.
Western countries, such as the United States, Britain and Australia, sought to discuss alleged abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang following an Aug. 31 report by a former U.N. human rights chief that raised concerns about possible crimes against humanity committed by Beijing in the region.
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Japan’s Yamawaki, illustrator of work picked up by Ghibli, dies at 80
TOKYO – Yuriko Yamawaki, a prizewinning illustrator whose works included picture books adapted for short films by anime giant Studio Ghibli, has died, the publisher of many of her books said Thursday. She was 80.
A popular series featuring the twin mice “Guri and Gura” was among the long-selling picture books produced by Tokyo-based Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers Inc., with stories written by her elder sister and children’s literature author Rieko Nakagawa, 87.
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Japan’s largest airport hotel complex to open at Haneda in Dec.
TOKYO – Sumitomo Realty and Development Co. said Thursday that it will open part of a 1,717-room hotel complex directly connected to Tokyo’s Haneda airport, the largest of its kind in Japan, on Dec. 21.
The complex, connected to the airport’s international terminal or Terminal 3, will begin operations at its two hotels — Villa Fontaine Grand and the higher-end Villa Fontaine Premier — with reservations services starting from Friday, the developer said.