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US: Fire at Disney World’s Epcot France Pavilion Prompts Ride Evacuation 3

A fire broke out at the France Pavilion in the Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park on Saturday, March 22. Officials said the fire started from a backstage walk-in cooler. The “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure” ride was evacuated, but the fire was quickly extinguished, and no one was injured. The pavilion reopened to guests in the early evening.

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US: Fire at Disney World’s Epcot France Pavilion Prompts Ride Evacuation 2

A fire broke out at the France Pavilion in the Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park on Saturday, March 22. Officials said the fire started from a backstage walk-in cooler. The “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure” ride was evacuated, but the fire was quickly extinguished, and no one was injured. The pavilion reopened to guests in the early evening.

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US Navy Shoots Down Its Own F/A-18 In Red Sea Fight

Handout photo dated March 18, 2011 of an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Blue Blasters of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34 launches from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean. A U.S. Navy cruiser shot down a Navy F/A-18 fighter jet over the Red Sea early Sunday morning, U.S. Central Command said. The F/A-18 was shot by weapons from the guided-missile cruiser the USS Gettysburg after taking off from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier on Dec. 22. Both Navy aviators were able to eject from the fighter jet and were recovered safely. One of the two sustained minor injuries, according to CENTCOM. The USS Gettysburg “mistakenly fired on” the F/A-18, CENTCOM said. The shoot down happened amid a weekend of military action against the Houthis, a militant Yemeni nationalist group that controls much of Yemen, including the capital. American and British aircraft have been bombing targets in Sana’a since Saturday. The incident is under investigation. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specia

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CHINA-BEIJING-EDUCATION-AUTISTIC CHILDREN-KINDERGARTEN (CN)

(240402) -- BEIJING, April 2, 2024 (Xinhua) -- This file photo taken on March 22, 2022 shows Jia Meixiang, a medical expert from Peking University Sixth Hospital, speaking to the faculty of Peking University Health Science Center Kindergarten during a training on autistic children identification and early intervention at the kindergarten in Beijing, capital of China. A themed event was held at the Peking University Health Science Center Kindergarten on Tuesday, this year's World Autism Awareness Day, to convey goodwill and care for autistic children and their families through various activities such as crafts making, dance performance, children's painting exhibition, and other forms. Peking University Health Science Center Kindergarten has been exploring integrated education since 2007. In most classes of this special kindergarten, autistic children are enjoying classes and games together with ordinary children. At present, the kindergarten has established a special support system for early education o

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U.S. House passes second massive spending package ahead of shutdown deadline

STORY: U.S. House passes second massive spending package ahead of shutdown deadline SHOOTING TIME: March 22, 2024 DATELINE: March 23, 2024 LENGTH: 00:00:32 LOCATION: Washington D.C. CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of the U.S. House of Representatives voting on the bill STORYLINE: The U.S. House on Friday approved the second spending package aimed at funding part of the government agencies and programs until September, sending it to the Senate before the midnight deadline to prevent a partial shutdown. The lower chamber approved the package, which was unveiled early Thursday, in a vote of 286 to 134. The 1.2-trillion-U.S.-dollar package would provide funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State and the legislative branch through the fiscal year 2024, which ends Sept. 30. The proposed package would allocate approximately 62 billion dollars in overall discretionary funds for Homeland Security, which was the most contentious part of th

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U.S. lawmakers reach deal to avert government shutdown ahead of deadline

STORY: U.S. lawmakers reach deal to avert government shutdown ahead of deadline SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 27, 2024 and file DATELINE: Feb. 29, 2024 LENGTH: 00:00:55 LOCATION: Washington CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of Biden speaking during the meeting with U.S. Congressional leaders at White House (Feb. 27, 2024) (White House video) 2. various of the U.S. Capitol (Dec. 18, 2023) 3. various of exterior of the White House (Feb. 26, 2024) STORYLINE: U.S. congressional leaders have come to an agreement to prevent a partial government shutdown slated for midnight on Friday, lawmakers said Wednesday. The Democratic and Republican parties have agreed to finance certain government sectors and have decided to prolong the existing deadlines of early March until March 8 and March 22, buying Congress more time to craft annual spending bills. In January, Congress approved a stopgap funding bill that would keep part of government open until March 1 and keep other agencies funded until March 8. "We are in a

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Tunisia's inflation rate exceeds 10 pct in first 2 months of 2023

STORY: Tunisia's inflation rate exceeds 10 pct in first 2 months of 2023 DATELINE: March 10, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:22 LOCATION: Tunis CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Tunisian supermarket 2. various of fast food restaurants in Tunis 3. street view in Tunis STORYLINE: The Tunisian National Bureau of Statistics announced in early March that the country's inflation rate remained high in the first two months of 2023, while it was 10.4 percent in February and 10.2 percent in January. According to the statistics, the inflation rate in Tunisia in the past six months is the highest in the past 40 years, and it will remain at a high level in 2023. Among household consumer goods, food prices, especially meat and eggs, have risen most prominently. Compared with the same period last year, the price of eggs has increased by 32 percent, mutton by 30 percent, chicken by 25 percent, and beef by 22 percent. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tunis. (XHTV)

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Chum salmon fry release at peak in Hokkaido river

SHIBECHA, Japan, May 11 Kyodo - Chum salmon fry form a school in the Nishibetsu River in Shibecha, Hokkaido, on May 11, 2017, after being released. About 2 million chum salmon fry, which are five centimeters in length, were released in the river that day. Some 25 million chum salmon fry were to be released from early March to May 22, with fewer than one percent expected to return to the river in several years to spawn.

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Works of literary giant Ogai Mori's son to be exhibited

TOKYO, Japan - Tetsutaro Mori (R), a son of the late essayist Rui Mori, hands a list of some 6,000 works Rui wrote on the life of his father Ogai Mori, a literary great in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, to Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward Mayor Hironobu Narisawa on Dec. 22, 2014, ahead of their exhibition in March 2015 in the ward.

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Red Sox's Matsuzaka

FORT MYERS, United States - Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka smiles after pitching in batting practice at the team's training camp in Fort Myers, Florida, on March 19, 2012. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine hinted on March 22, 2012, that Matsuzaka could pitch in the major leagues by early June this year.

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30,000 used 'hina' dolls start new life in Tokushima museum

TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Staff members of the Ningyo Bunka Koryukan doll museum display some of the 30,000 used ''hina'' dolls on a 7-meter-high pyramid Feb. 19 for a month-long festival starting Feb. 22 at the museum in the town of Katsuura, Tokushima Prefecture. They are among some 70,000 used dolls collected from homes nationwide. The ''hina'' dolls are usually displayed on a much smaller stand in Japanese homes to bring happiness to young girls around early March.

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Business storyteller Shiroyama dies at 79

TOKYO, Japan - Saburo Shiroyama (in photo taken in May 2003), a leading Japanese writer of business and biographical novels, died on March 22 of interstitial lung disease at a hospital in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, his agent said. He was 79. Brought up in Nagoya, Shiroyama, whose real name is Eiichi Sugiura, pioneered a style of business novel featuring inside stories of corporate Japan in the early 1970s, and also authored a number of books often modeled on existing personalities.

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Kenzo Tange, noted Japanese architect, dies of heart failure

TOKYO, Japan - Internationally acclaimed Japanese architect Kenzo Tange (in file photo pictured in 1989) died of heart failure at his home in Tokyo early March 22, his family said. He was 91. His works include the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, the National Gymnasium Complex for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the master plan for the 1970 Osaka Exposition, the Tokyo City Hall Complex and the Fuji Television Building in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area.

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15,000 dolls on display in 'Big Doll Festival'.

KATSUURA, Japan - A girl sucks her thumb besides some 15,000 dolls put on display for the annual ''Big Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival)'' that began in the town of Katsuura, Tokushima Prefecture, on Feb. 22. The doll festival is celebrated across Japan on March 3. The practice of displaying dolls dates to early in the Edo era (1600-1868). Parents present their daughter with a set of hina dolls and the daughter takes them when she marries.

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JVC to release 1st HD consumer digital video camera

TOKYO, Japan - Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. (JVC) said Jan. 22 it will release in Japan in early March the world's first consumer digital video camera (in photo) to record and play back digital high-definition images. The GR-HD1 high-definition digital video camera, which records images to mini digital videotapes, will be put on the market in the United States and Europe later this year, JVC said.

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(EyesonSci) CHINA-GUIZHOU-ASTRONOMY-FAST-TELESCOPE (CN)

(220806) -- GUIZHOU, Aug. 6, 2022 (Xinhua) -- Aerial photo taken on July 22, 2022 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in the early morning in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST started formal operation in January 2020 and officially opened to the world on March 31, 2021. It is believed to be the world's most sensitive radio telescope. With FAST, scientists have identified over 660 new pulsars. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

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Russia-Ukraine conflict: Zelensky ponders referendum for compromises with Russia

STORY: Russia-Ukraine conflict: Zelensky ponders referendum for compromises with Russia DATELINE: March 22, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:17 LOCATION: Beijing CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of Ukraine 2. various of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 3. various of Ukraine 4. various of Russia 5. various of a transit shelter in central Budapest STORYLINE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev's compromises at peace talks with Russia would be put to a nationwide referendum in Ukraine. Zelensky made the remarks in an interview with the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. He emphasized that he stands ready for any compromises if they are supported by the Ukrainian people. Last Wednesday, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelensky may hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that it is too early to talk about a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, as there is no breakthrough yet in the peace ta

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Wall paintings at Takamatsuzuka Tomb

Wall paintings discovered in 1972 at Takamatsuzuka Tomb open to the public at a nearby facility in the Nara Prefecture village of Asuka, western Japan, on Jan. 22, 2022, after repair. The paintings, designated as national treasure, will be on display until Jan. 28 to mark the 50th anniversary on March 21, 2022, of their discovery at the ancient circular tomb, believed to have been built at some time between the end of the 7th century and early 8th century.

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Protest in Algiers

Demonstration of the 112th Friday in Algeria. The demonstrators of Hirak, a popular protest movement born on February 22, 2019 marched on Friday in the streets of Algiers to reiterate their refusal to the early legislative elections of June 12 and demand the independence of the judiciary as well as the release of the Hirak detainees. Algerian protesters raise a national flag as they march demanding political change in the capital Algiers, Algeria, on April 9, 2021. Photo by Louiza Ammi/ABACAPRESS.COM (Credit:Ammi Louiza/ABACA/Kyodo News Images)

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Kenzo Tange, noted Japanese architect, dies of heart failure

TOKYO, Japan - Internationally acclaimed Japanese architect Kenzo Tange (in file photo pictured in 1989) died of heart failure at his home in Tokyo early March 22, his family said. He was 91. His works include the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, the National Gymnasium Complex for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the master plan for the 1970 Osaka Exposition, the Tokyo City Hall Complex and the Fuji Television Building in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area. (Kyodo)

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Honda reveals new Civic in New York

Photo taken March 22, 2016, in New York shows the prototype five-door, hatchback Civic model revealed by Honda Motor Co. The automaker plans to launch the new model in North America as early as the upcoming autumn and in Europe as early as the first half of 2017. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

Passengers' temperatures are monitored near a platform for shinkansen bullet trains arriving from Tokyo at JR Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka on March 22, 2021, after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo's Shibuya area on March 22, 2021, during the first evening after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo's Shimbashi area on March 22, 2021, during the first evening after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

Passengers' temperatures are monitored near a platform for shinkansen bullet trains arriving from Tokyo at JR Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka on March 22, 2021, after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

Passengers' temperatures are monitored near a platform for shinkansen bullet trains arriving from Tokyo at JR Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka on March 22, 2021, after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

Passengers' temperatures are monitored near a platform for shinkansen bullet trains arriving from Tokyo at JR Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka on March 22, 2021, after the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

People wearing face masks head to work in Tokyo on March 22, 2021, after Japan ended the COVID-19 state of emergency at midnight on March 21 in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

People wearing face masks head to work in Tokyo on March 22, 2021, after Japan ended the COVID-19 state of emergency at midnight on March 21 in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Japan ends COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo region

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga arrives at his office in Tokyo on March 22, 2021, after Japan ended the COVID-19 state of emergency at midnight on March 21 in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, the last remaining area of the country that had been under the measure introduced in early January.

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Business storyteller Shiroyama dies at 79

TOKYO, Japan - Saburo Shiroyama (in photo taken in May 2003), a leading Japanese writer of business and biographical novels, died on March 22 of interstitial lung disease at a hospital in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, his agent said. He was 79. Brought up in Nagoya, Shiroyama, whose real name is Eiichi Sugiura, pioneered a style of business novel featuring inside stories of corporate Japan in the early 1970s, and also authored a number of books often modeled on existing personalities. (Kyodo)

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30,000 used 'hina' dolls start new life in Tokushima museum

TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Staff members of the Ningyo Bunka Koryukan doll museum display some of the 30,000 used ''hina'' dolls on a 7-meter-high pyramid Feb. 19 for a month-long festival starting Feb. 22 at the museum in the town of Katsuura, Tokushima Prefecture. They are among some 70,000 used dolls collected from homes nationwide. The ''hina'' dolls are usually displayed on a much smaller stand in Japanese homes to bring happiness to young girls around early March. (Kyodo)

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Red Sox's Matsuzaka

FORT MYERS, United States - Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka smiles after pitching in batting practice at the team's training camp in Fort Myers, Florida, on March 19, 2012. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine hinted on March 22, 2012, that Matsuzaka could pitch in the major leagues by early June this year. (Kyodo)