Finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major countries agreed Saturday on some procedures to reduce global trade and savings imbalances, while characterizing the recent tentative signs of improvement in economic activity as ''uneven,'' relying still on stimulus measures. In Scotland, they launched a new initiative of assessing each other country's economic programs to make sure they are in line with the group's shared objective of achieving a healthy recovery, by adopting ''a detailed timetable.''
The following is the gist of a statement issued Saturday by the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors after their two-day meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland. The G-20 finance leaders:
Finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major countries agreed Saturday on some procedures to reduce global trade and savings imbalances, while characterizing the recent tentative signs of improvement in economic activity as ''uneven,'' relying still on stimulus measures. In Scotland, they launched a new initiative of assessing each other country's economic programs to make sure they are in line with the group's shared objective of achieving a healthy recovery, by adopting ''a detailed timetable.''
Police began a full-fledged investigation Saturday over a number of suspicious deaths surrounding a Tottori Prefecture woman arrested over a fraud case with the possibility of building murder cases in mind. The move comes after investigators discovered that a prefectural police officer, who was found hanged in February last year, was an acquaintance of the 35-year-old woman, bringing the number of deaths possibly linked to her to six.
The Yomiuri Giants beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 2-0 in Game 6 Saturday to claim their first Japan Series title in seven years. The Giants won the best-of-seven series four games to two and were crowned champions for the 21st time. Nippon Ham failed in its bid for its first title since 2006.
Japan's Nao Kodaira claimed a spot on the medals podium at the season-opening World Cup meet in Berlin on Saturday with a third-place finish in the women's 500 meters. Kodaira, who won the 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter crowns at last month's single-distance national championships, clocked 38.19 seconds to finish behind China's Wang Beixing and Jenny Wolf of Germany.
South Korea's Pohang Steelers were crowned kings of Asia on Saturday after a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad in the Asian Champions League final in Tokyo. Pohang's continental triumph was their first since the tournament was revamped in 2002. The K-League side won the ACL's forerunner -- the Asian Club Championship -- in 1997 and 1998.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pressed Myanmar on Saturday to release the country's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi before it holds general elections next year. In talks with the Japanese leader in Tokyo, Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein said that ''any party, any person will be able to take part'' in the elections in accordance with a law that has yet to be announced, according to a Japanese official.
The number of men who have died under suspicious circumstances and are possibly linked to a Tottori Prefecture woman arrested earlier this month over a fraud case has now reached six, investigative sources said Saturday. Investigators have found that a prefectural police officer, who was found hanging in February last year, was an acquaintance of the 35-year-old woman who is at the center of a series of recently reported suspicious deaths.
South Korea's Pohang Steelers were crowned kings of Asia on Saturday after a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad in the Asian Champions League final in Tokyo. Pohang's continental triumph was their first since the tournament was revamped in 2002. The K-League side won the ACL's forerunner -- the Asian Club Championship -- in 1997 and 1998.
Japan 
