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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - Le repas des Pandas : Astrid soigneur dans son bureau En 2012 un evenement exceptionnel se produit au ZooParc de Beauval (Loire et Cher) For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - In the nursery, everything is ready to welcome a baby panda. Here is the incubator with a panda soft toy inside, on April 11, 2012, at the Beauval Zoo. For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - Feeding time for the pandas: Astrid, a keeper, gives the pandas their supplements, on April 11, 2012, at the Beauval Zoo. For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - Astrid, a keeper, prepares food supplements for the pandas, including pellets and apples, on April 11, 2012, at the Beauval Zoo. For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - Feeding time for the pandas: Astrid, a keeper, gives the pandas their supplements, on April 11, 2012, at the Beauval Zoo. For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - Feeding time for the pandas: Astrid, keeper, and Claudine, our journalist, bring bamboo to the pandas, on April 11, 2012, at the Beauval Zoo. For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Famous Pair Of Pandas Will Leave Beauval Zoo For China - France

File photo - The Pandas' Meal on April 11, 2012, an exceptional event took place at Beauval Zoo (Loire-et-Cher). For the first time in France, a pair of pandas is being presented to the public: Huan Huan, the female, and Yuan Zi, the male. The giant panda is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas still living in the wild. The famous pair of pandas will leave Beauval Zoo on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, due to an early return to China caused by the female's kidney failure, on November 24, 2025, in Saint-Aignan, France. Photo by Pascal Baril/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Stolen Buddhist statue returned to Japan

A truck carries a 14th-century Buddhist statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva upon its arrival on Tsushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in the early hours of May 12, 2025. The statue, stolen in October 2012 and taken to South Korea, was being returned to Kannon Temple on Tsushima.

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Behind The Scenes Of The Vatican

Swiss guard in the 'Scala Regia' (Royal Staircase) at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican on February 18, 2012. It is part of the formal entrance to the Vatican. It was built by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in the early 16th century, to connect the Apostolic Palace to St. Peter's Basilica, and restored by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1663 to 1666. -The grandiose and solemn Apostolic Palace is a secretive place, forbidden to the public and jealously guarded by the Swiss Guard. It hosts the Holy See administration, the Church's spiritual authorities and before all, the apartments of the Pontiff Sovereign. Photo by Eric Vandeville/ABACAPRESS.COM

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B-1s Part Of Airstrikes In Iraq And Syria

Handout file photo dated July 31, 2012 shows a B-1B Lancer from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, flies over the Atlantic Ocean before refueling from a KC-135 assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, UK. B-1B Lancers from the 28th Bomb Wing launched early February 1, 2024, from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, as part of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States. According to U.S. Central Command officials, the airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.

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B-1s Part Of Airstrikes In Iraq And Syria

Handout file photo dated November 4, 2012 shows a B-1B Lancer approaches a KC-135 Stratotanker after being refueled during the Green Flag-West 13-2 exercise over Nevada. B-1B Lancers from the 28th Bomb Wing launched early February 1, 2024, from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, as part of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States. According to U.S. Central Command officials, the airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal v

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[Breaking News]Japanese children wish for peace in Gaza

KAMAISHI, Japan Kyodo - A child flies a kite in Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture on Jan. 8, 2024, with a message wishing for peace in Gaza written on it. About 30 children took part in the event in the northeastern Japan city hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, launched after people in Gaza flew kites in 2012 to wish for Japan's early recovery from the disaster. (Kyodo)

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Japanese children wish for peace in Gaza

A child flies a kite in Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture on Jan. 8, 2024, with a message wishing for peace in Gaza written on it. About 30 children took part in the event in the northeastern Japan city hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, launched after people in Gaza flew kites in 2012 to wish for Japan's early recovery from the disaster.

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We made a good decision to come to China: Finnish entrepreneur

STORY: We made a good decision to come to China: Finnish entrepreneur SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 7, 2023 DATELINE: Nov. 7, 2023 LENGTH: 00:02:05 LOCATION: TIANJIN, China CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Pekka Nieminen playing badminton with colleagues 2. various of Pekka Nieminen working in his office 3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PEKKA NIEMINEN, General Manager of Glaston (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PEKKA NIEMINEN, General Manager of Glaston (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. STORYLINE: For Pekka Nieminen, a 62-year-old entrepreneur from Finland, China is like an old friend. He has witnessed China's modernization drive since his first trip to China in 1991. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PEKKA NIEMINEN, General Manager of Glaston (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. "My first visit to China was in 1991. In 2005, I took my first assignment to China up to 7 years, from 2005 to 2012. Now this is my second assignment to China. I came in 2022 here in Wuqing. I'm a lucky person that I had that experience (in China) from early 1990s

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Italian bond yields top 5 pct

STORY: Italian bond yields top 5 pct DATELINE: Oct. 6, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:47 LOCATION: Rome CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Italy-related footage STORYLINE: Yields on Italian government bonds topped the 5 percent threshold for the first time in more than a decade on Wednesday, continuing a weeks-long trend that has seen yields pushed higher amid concerns over interest rates, economic growth and inflation. The government's benchmark ten-year bond yield peaked at 5.012 percent in early trading on secondary markets, before retreating slightly and closing Wednesday's session at 4.907 percent. The last time the yield on Italian government bonds was so high was in August 2012. Since then, bond yields in Italy have dropped and fluctuated for the past ten years before rising again in early 2021. Analysts said that the rise in bond yields across Europe over the last 18 months has been mostly powered by high inflation, stemming from an interruption in energy supplies due to the Ukraine crisis, and an in

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CHINA-BEIJING-SHOUGANG-GERMANY-RUHR-TRANSFORMATION

(230830) -- BEIJING, Aug. 30, 2023 (Xinhua) -- This file photo taken on Sept. 17, 2012 shows people watching night view during a light festival at the Shougang Park in Shijingshan District of Beijing, capital of China. From the Ruhr area in Germany to the Shougang industrial park in Beijing, one after another steel "giants" stand as witnesses to the development process of human civilization. The Ruhr area in Germany is a significant industrial zone in Europe, once a coal and steel production hub for Germany. The Zollverein coal mine industrial complex in Essen was one of the world's largest coal mines from the late 19th to the early 20th century. With Germany's transition in energy industry, the Zollverein coal mine industrial complex ceased operation completely in 1993. This exemplary modern industrial structure subsequently transformed into an arts and cultural center. In 2001, the Zollverein coal mine industrial complex was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in 1919, Shougang, meaning "

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Euro continues weakening vs yen

TOKYO, Japan - A display in Tokyo early on Jan. 7, 2012, shows the euro trading at 97.96-97 yen.

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Tuna auctioned off for record price at Tsukiji market

TOKYO, Japan - Kiyoshi Kimura, head of Kiyomura Co., operator of the Sushi-zanmai sushi restaurant chain, poses with a 269-kilogram bluefin tuna he bought for a record 56.49 million yen at the first auction of the year at the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, commonly known as Tsukiji market, in Tokyo early in the morning on Jan. 5, 2012.

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Year's 1st tuna auction at Tsukiji market

TOKYO, Japan - Wholesale dealers and purchasers check the conditions of tuna ahead of the year's first auction at the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, commonly known as Tsukiji market, in Tokyo early in the morning on Jan. 5, 2012. A 269-kilogram bluefin tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, was sold for 56.49 million yen, or 210,000 yen per kg, shattering the previous record of 32.49 million yen, or 95,000 yen per kg.

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Cenotaph at Hiroshima peace park sprayed with golden paint

HIROSHIMA, Japan - The cenotaph for atomic bomb victims in the Peace Memorial Park in the city of Hiroshima is seen defaced with what appears to be golden paint in the early hours of Jan. 4, 2012. Paint was sprayed over part of the cenotaph's inscription, which reads, ''Let all souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.''

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California nuclear plant

TOKYO, Japan - A March 2011 file photo shows the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in southern California in the United States. Electric utility Southern California Edison announced on June 7, 2013, that two reactors at the plant taken offline in early 2012 due to faulty steam generators made by a Japanese manufacturer will be shut down for good.

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Rhone Glacier

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in September 2007 shows the Rhone Glacier in the Alps, southern Switzerland. The area of the glacier decreased to 1,900 square kilometers in 2012, down nearly 40 percent since the late 1960s to early 1970s, Swiss experts said May 14, 2013.

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Unrest in D.R. Congo

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Photo dated Nov. 30, 2012, shows children using two-wheeled "chukudu" to carry water in Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the background is a fighter of the M23 rebel movement. M23 rebels occupied Goma in November 2012 until their withdrawal in early December. (Photo by Takeshi Kuno)

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Unrest in D.R. Congo

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo - A U.N. peacekeeping mission vehicle passes fighters of the M23 rebel movement in Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Dec. 1, 2012. M23 rebels occupied Goma in November 2012 until their withdrawal in early December. (Photo by Takeshi Kuno)

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Bodies found in Saitama

TOKYO, Japan - A Jan. 29, 2013, photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a vacant lot in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, where the body of a Swiss-based Japanese financier and another body believed to be that of his wife have been found. The wealthy couple went missing in early December 2012 after traveling back from Switzerland.

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Bodies found in Saitama

TOKYO, Japan - A Jan. 29, 2013, photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a vacant lot in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, where the body of a Swiss-based Japanese financier and another body believed to be that of his wife have been found. The wealthy couple went missing in early December 2012 after traveling back from Switzerland.

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Japan new Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Finance Minister Taro Aso speaks during a press conference in Tokyo in the early hours of Dec. 27, 2012. Aso, a former prime minister, assumed the posts of deputy prime minister, finance minister, and financial services minister under Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

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Japan new Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Finance Minister Taro Aso speaks during a press conference in Tokyo in the early hours of Dec. 27, 2012. Aso, a former prime minister, assumed the posts of deputy prime minister, finance minister, and financial services minister under Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

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Japan general election

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda casts his vote in a general election at a polling station in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Dec. 16, 2012. Early projections showed Noda's Democratic Party of Japan was heading for defeat in the election.

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Japan braces for N. Korean launch

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 10, 2012, shows a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor deployed at Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Ichigaya in central Tokyo, in preparation for a planned rocket launch by North Korea. Pyongyang has suggested it may postpone its planned launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, which it said earlier would take place sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, due to "some reasons," according to a report issued early on Dec. 9 by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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Japan braces for N. Korean launch

ISHIGAKI, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 10, 2012, shows a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor deployed on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, in preparation for a planned rocket launch by North Korea. Pyongyang has suggested it may postpone its planned launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, which it said earlier would take place sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, due to "some reasons," according to a report issued early on Dec. 9 by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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Japan braces for N. Korean launch

MIYAKOJIMA, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 10, 2012, shows a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor deployed at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Miyakojima base in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, in preparation for a planned rocket launch by North Korea. Pyongyang has suggested it may postpone its planned launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, which it said earlier would take place sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, due to "some reasons," according to a report issued early on Dec. 9 by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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Japan braces for N. Korean launch

MIYAKOJIMA, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 10, 2012, shows a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor deployed at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Miyakojima base in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, in preparation for a planned rocket launch by North Korea. Pyongyang has suggested it may postpone its planned launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, which it said earlier would take place sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, due to "some reasons," according to a report issued early on Dec. 9 by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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N. Korean rocket

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in April 2012 shows a rocket unveiled by North Korea in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, in the northwest of the country. North Korea said Dec. 1, 2012, that it would launch a rocket carrying a satellite sometime between Dec. 10 and 22. But Pyongyang has suggested it may postpone its planned launch of the rocket due to "some reasons," according to a report early on Dec. 9 of the official Korean Central News Agency.

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Missile interceptors head to Okinawa

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors are loaded onto the Maritime Self-Defense Force transport ship Kunisaki at an MSDF base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, in the early hours of Dec. 3, 2012. Japan expedited deploying the PAC-3 missile interceptors in Okinawa Prefecture to prepare for North Korea's planned rocket launch.

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Missile interceptors head to Okinawa

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors are loaded onto the Maritime Self-Defense Force transport ship Kunisaki at an MSDF base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, in the early hours of Dec. 3, 2012. Japan expedited deploying the PAC-3 missile interceptors in Okinawa Prefecture to prepare for North Korea's planned rocket launch.

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Christmas shoppers in N.Y.

NEW YORK, United States - Photo shows people visiting Macy's department store in New York in the early hours of Nov. 23, 2012, marking the start of the Christmas shopping season on Black Friday.

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Man arrested in Aichi bank standoff, all hostages released

TOYOKAWA, Japan - Police officers cut through a glass window at Toyokawa Shinkin Bank's Zoshi branch in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, in the early hours of Nov. 23, 2012, to rescue hostages being held by a man armed with a knife during a standoff lasting more than 12 hours. Police arrested the man, Koji Nagakubo, and released all captives.

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Man arrested in Aichi bank standoff, all hostages released

TOYOKAWA, Japan - Police officers storm Toyokawa Shinkin Bank's Zoshi branch through a window in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, in the early hours of Nov. 23, 2012, to rescue hostages being held by a man armed with a knife during a standoff lasting more than 12 hours. Police arrested the man, Koji Nagakubo, and released all captives.

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Man arrested in Aichi bank standoff, all hostages released

TOYOKAWA, Japan - Police officers storm Toyokawa Shinkin Bank's Zoshi branch through a window in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, in the early hours of Nov. 23, 2012, to rescue hostages being held by a man armed with a knife during a standoff lasting more than 12 hours. Police arrested the man, Koji Nagakubo, and released all captives.

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Nikkei recovers 9,300 mark

TOKYO, Japan - A display in the Tokyo offices of money broker Gaitame.com Co. shows the Nikkei Stock Average trading above the 9,300 mark on the morning of Nov. 22, 2012. The Nikkei closed the day at 9,366.80, its highest level in almost seven months. The display also showed the dollar trading at 82.515 yen -- its highest level since early April -- at the time.

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Fuji Heavy president

TOKYO, Japan - Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., is interviewed by Kyodo News in Tokyo on Nov. 21, 2012. Yoshinaga said the Japanese automaker is planning to boost vehicle output in the United States by 130,000 units to around 300,000 as early as the business year starting April 2016.