talks with opposition parties about transition to a new government. but protesters skeptical about the credibility of the talks are calling online for a major protest on friday. the government has announced a plan to amend the constitution before a presidential election this fall to ease conditions for running for the office. the government has also shortened nighttime curfews and lifted traffic restrictions in cairo except for tahrir square in an apparent move to restore normalcy to people s lives and isolate the protesters still on the streets. some cabinet ministers have indicated they will not tolerate anymore anti-government protests and that the military could intervene to stop them. u.s. president barack obama has asked saudi arabia to use its influence on egypt to stabilize the situation. obama spoke with saudi arabia s king abdullah by phone on wednesday. obama stressed that measures must be taken immediately for an orderly transition of power. he said the united s
relations between the two countries is important amid the unstable situation in the region. prior to the talks with kan gates met with foreign minister seiji maehara and defense minister toshimi kitazawa. u.s. president barack obama has mourned the victims of the shooting rampage in arizona. six people died, and a congresswoman was left in critical condition. obama spoke at a memorial service in tucson on wednesday. we mourn with you for the fallen. we join you in your grief. and we add our faith to yours that representative gabrielle giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through. [ cheers and applause ] rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. in washington the u.s. house of representatives has unanimously adopted a reso
trawler collided with japan coast guard ships offer the senkaku islands in the east chainia sea. maehara reiterated china s position on this matter. translator: there is no territorial problem between japan and china. japan will continue to exert its control over the senkaku islands. reporter: he also referred to economic relations between the two countries. translator: it is vital for japan and china to build a win-win relationship. we can do this by advancing discussions on free trade agreements and by further boosting trade. maehara said he expects he and prime minister naoto kan will visit china in 2011 and chinese leaders will also come to japan. south korea confirmed its first bird flu cases in chickens and ducks in more than two and a half years. the foreign ministry says the virulent h5n1 strain of avian influenza was discovered on friday at two poultry farms in the southern part of the country. local authorities have destroyed 7,000 chickens and 10,000 duck
the south korean military has been on high alert since the north shelled yeonpyeong island killing four people. lee also referred to the divided public opinion over his response to the sinking of a south korean naval ship in march. an investigation blamed north korea for the attack which killed 46 sailors. the president said south koreans must show solidarity before the military discusses a strong response to the north. the governing democratic party of japan is pursuing former party leader ichiro ozawa over his alleged political funds scandal. at a meeting on monday, it agreed to ask the lower house political ethics council on voting to summon ozawa to testify. prime minister naoto kan told the meeting when he met with ozawa last week he failed to persuade him to attend the ethics council meeting. kan is the head of the party. the party secretary-general katsuya okada proposed if ozawa continues to refuse to attend the meeting, the council should hold a vote before the n
at the meeting kan offered a ministerial post to sunrise party chief and other senior party members including roles related to the abductions of japanese citizens by north korea. on wednesday, katsuya okada, the secretary-general of the main ruling and democratic party, met with them to ask for their support of the smooth execution of government policies. the sunrise party has three lower house and three upper house lawmakers. its members appear to be divided over kan s offer. political observers say the prime minister intends to form a more stable government by expanding his power base to deal with the split diet. the lower house is controlled by the ruling coalition while the coalition is a minority in the upper house. japan s top prosecutor s office has released results of its investigation into a postal fraud case that ended in the acquittal of a senior health ministry official. in the case handled by the osaka district public prosecutor s office last year, the court