Freed Japanese in Paraguay meet press

Freed Japanese in Paraguay meet press

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Hirokazu Ota (R), a Japanese businessman based in Paraguay, and his secretary Sawako Yamaguchi (L) speak to the press at the Japanese Embassy in Asuncion on April 21, on the ordeal they faced after they were kidnapped and detained for almost 20 days. Ota, 62, was released April 20 after a $138,000 ransom was paid to the kidnappers. Yamaguchi, 37, had been released earlier. Ota and Yamaguchi are members of the Unification Church, which owns over 600,000 hectares of land in Paraguay.

60,000 homes in west Japan city face water outage after pipe collapse

WAKAYAMA, Japan, Oct. 4 Kyodo - Around 60,000 homes in a western Japan city have been facing a water outage since a section of a water pipe bridge collapsed, city officials said Monday.Some 138,000 people in parts of the city of Wakayama have been affected. The bridge that spans the Kinokawa River is not used for crossing banks by people or cars. In the incident, confirmed on Sunday evening, the two pipes on the bridge collapsed for about 60 meters near the center of the river. The bridge is 546 meters long, with each pipe measuring around 90 centimeters in diameter.

Freed Japanese in Paraguay meet press

Freed Japanese in Paraguay meet press

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Hirokazu Ota (R), a Japanese businessman based in Paraguay, and his secretary Sawako Yamaguchi (L) speak to the press at the Japanese Embassy in Asuncion on April 21, on the ordeal they faced after they were kidnapped and detained for almost 20 days. Ota, 62, was released April 20 after a $138,000 ransom was paid to the kidnappers. Yamaguchi, 37, had been released earlier. Ota and Yamaguchi are members of the Unification Church, which owns over 600,000 hectares of land in Paraguay. (Kyodo)