G8 summit pledges 80% cut in carbon emissions
Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by the year 2050.
A declaration to this end was issued at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy on Wednesday.
Participants reaffirmed a pledge made at last year's G8 Summit in Japan of at least halving overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
However, the statement endorses a more ambitious goal of an 80 percent reduction or above for industrialized countries.
The statement also calls on emerging economies, including China and India, to take action to cut a specified amount of greenhouse gas emissions by a pre-determined year.
These countries at present are not obliged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
On the state of the global economy, the statement says that signs of stability have emerged, and that the worst is over. But it acknowledges that the situation remains bleak, and large risk factors persist.
The statement pledges to boost employment to address the rising unemployment rate. The measures include providing technical training programs and issuing financial benefits to those undergoing training so they can support themselves until they find work.
NHK reports on Xinjiang riots interrupted in China
Chinese authorities have interrupted NHK's international TV reports of the ethnic unrest in Xinjiang several times recently.
NHK World Premium, which airs in China under government control, reported the rioting in detail on Tuesday night.
The program was blacked out for 42 seconds in the middle of an interview with a former student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Wuer Kaixi is a Uygur who now lives in Taiwan.
Wednesday's mid-day news program was also blacked out for 25 seconds while showing World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer. China accuses her of inciting the ethnic unrest in Xinjiang.
She was among the Uygurs living in the United States who took to the streets of Washington to protest the Chinese government.
Security tightened in Xinjiang capital
Chinese authorities have tightened security in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to prevent further ethnic violence.
Fresh units of armed police arrived in Urumqi on Wednesday, and are deployed mainly in Uygur communities.
China's police chief, Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu, also arrived in the city on Wednesday.
He told a unit of about 200 security officers that a few separatists have incited the violence and that the police will defeat them.
Armed police marched through Urumqi on Wednesday as nervous residents looked on.
Most stores in the central part of Urumqi remained closed.
An ethnic Han woman said the large police presence made her feel safe, but that she is afraid of Uygurs.
An ethnic Han man said Uygurs and Hans in the region remain strongly united.
He said he wants Chinese President Hu Jintao to come to Xinjiang and personally take charge of restoring order. President Hu cut short his trip to Italy on Wednesday to fly home, canceling plans to attend the Group of Eight summit.
Uygurs in Japan protest against China
Uygurs living in Japan have staged a protest against the Chinese government's handling of rioting in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
A group of 10 people demonstrated in front of the Chinese Embassy in central Tokyo on Wednesday.
They chanted for China's government to give freedom to Uygurs.
A representative of the group said the Chinese government is concealing the fact that police cracked down on a peaceful demonstration and that hundreds of Uygurs have died.
The representative read a statement demanding that the Chinese government stop its oppression of the Muslim minority group.
The statement also called for unrestricted reporting on the situation by foreign media.
One of the protesters said the unrest is the result of economic disparity and ethnic discrimination. He said Uygurs should be treated as equal citizens in Chinese society.
Corporate failures in Japan rising
Corporate failures in Japan between January and June rose more than 5 percent compared with the previous 6-month period.
Private research firm Teikoku Databank says 7,023 companies went under, each with debts of at least 10 million yen, or about 106,000 dollars.
This was up 5.5 percent from the preceding 6 months, when the full effect of the financial crisis had yet to be felt.
Sluggish sales drove more real estate agents into bankruptcy, and small- and mid-sized subcontractors were also hit hard by sharp production cuts at major auto and electronic makers.
The combined debt of the failed companies was nearly 4.6 trillion yen, or around 48.8 billion dollars. This was around half the figure for the previous 6 months.
最終更新：2009年07月09日 08:04
