+2.08%

Renewable Fuels, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Transport

Basic Materials

+1.61%

Chemicals Diversified, Aluminum, Construction Materials

Industrials

+1.45%

Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction & Engineering

Cyclical Goods & Services

+1.06%

Auto & Truck Manufacturers, Homebuilding, Cons Electronics

Non-Cyclical Goods & Services

+0.67%

Brewers, Personal services, Food Distn & Convenience Stores

Financials

+1.70%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

+0.94%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

+1.15%

Semiconductors, Computer Hardware, IT Services & Consulting

Telecoms

+1.53%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

Utilities

+1.39%

Electric, Gas, Water

Sector Percentage changes powered by Thomson Reuters Indices and Thomson Reuters Business Classification.

(Reuters, August 29, 2010. 19:42 JST)

(Reuters) – Nearly 70 percent of Japanese voters want Prime Minister Naoto Kan to win the party leadership against powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a survey showed on Saturday, a race that could create a policy vacuum and push the yen higher.

Ozawa, 68, a critic of Kan’s efforts to rein in Japan’s huge public debt, is challenging Kan in a September 14 Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leadership vote as the country struggles with a surging currency and fragile recovery.

The winner will likely be prime minister by virtue of the Democrats’ majority in parliament’s powerful lower house.

Ozawa sharply criticized Kan for floating a possible rise in Japan’s 5 percent sales tax ahead of a July upper house election. Defeat in the poll cost the ruling bloc its majority in the chamber, forcing the DPJ to seek opposition help to pass bills.

Admirers have credited veteran lawmaker Ozawa with engineering the huge election win that swept the DPJ to power for the first time last year, but many voters are put off by his image as a scandal-tainted wheeler-dealer.

Many are also reluctant to see another change at the top. Kan, who took office in June after his predecessor suddenly quit, is Japan’s fifth prime minister in three years.

Only 15.6 percent of respondents backed Ozawa, who stepped down as party leader last year and as the DPJ’s No. 2 this year over political funding scandals, and faces possible indictment if a judicial panel of ordinary citizens rules he must be charged.

The poll by Kyodo News agency also showed support for Kan’s government had risen by more than 9 percentage points from a survey earlier this month to 48.1 percent.

Ozawa heads the biggest Democratic Party group, but besides DPJ parliamentarians, local lawmakers and party supporters can take part in the party leadership vote, so public opinion is likely to affect the outcome — at present difficult to predict.

Ozawa, a wily strategist known for making political waves, has been visiting key party support groups in the hope of winning their members’ backing.

The party battle is clouding the policy outlook as Tokyo scrambles to craft a package of steps to prop up a fragile, export-led economy after the yen hit a 15-year high against the dollar this week. The government is also keeping up pressure on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to do more to fight deflation.

Kan vowed on Friday to take decisive measures when necessary to curb the yen’s rise, signaling a possibility of currency intervention. And the BOJ is examining holding an emergency meeting early next week to ease monetary policy, a source familiar with the matter said.

(By Linda Sieg, TOKYO | Sat Aug 28, 2010 6:08am EDT, Editing by Nick Macfie)

(Reuters, TOKYO | Sat Aug 28, 2010 6:08am EDT)

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (L) meets with Bono, lead singer of Irish band U2, at the presidential residence Bocharov Ruchei in Sochi August 24, 2010. Credit: Reuters/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Mikhail Klimentyev

Energy

+0.41%

Renewable Fuels, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Transport

Basic Materials

+0.93%

Chemicals Diversified, Aluminum, Construction Materials

Industrials

+0.38%

Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction & Engineering

Cyclical Goods & Services

+0.50%

Auto & Truck Manufacturers, Homebuilding, Cons Electronics

Non-Cyclical Goods & Services

+0.38%

Brewers, Personal services, Food Distn & Convenience Stores

Financials

+0.51%

Banks, Diversified Investment Services, Property & Casualty Ins

Healthcare

+0.13%

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Medical Research

Technology

+0.16%

Semiconductors, Computer Hardware, IT Services & Consulting

Telecoms

+0.46%

Integrated Telecoms, Wireless Telecoms

Utilities

+0.15%

Electric, Gas, Water

Sector Percentage changes powered by Thomson Reuters Indices and Thomson Reuters Business Classification.

(Reuters, August 26, 2010, 19:22 JST)

By Denis Dyomkin

SOCHI | Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:02pm EDT

Russia (Reuters Life!) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed U2 frontman Bono to tea on Tuesday ahead of the group’s first ever Russian concert, and the Irish musician asked for Russia’s help in fighting AIDS.

“Taking care of people is not just what politicians do,” self-proclaimed rock music lover Medvedev told Bono, adding that U2’s music has united generations of people.

Their meeting on the sun-drenched veranda of Medvedev’s summer residence on the Black Sea comes a day before U2 take to the Moscow stage for their first ever performance in Russia.

Earlier this month in Italy, U2 resumed their 360 Degree Tour following a two-month absence while Bono recovered from a back injury.

Bono, sporting his trademark sunglasses and single earring, asked Medvedev to find a Russian firm to team up for his “Red” campaign, which raises money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Brands Nike, Microsoft, Apple and Starbucks have sold red products and donated part of the proceeds to the charity.

“Maybe you can find a Russian company, a Red Russian company, it’s your color,” Bono told Medvedev, an apparent reference to the red flags and stars used by the Soviet Union.

Medvedev said he would think how Russia, which experts say has at least one million people infected with HIV, could contribute to the Red brand.

The two men also shared jokes about their tastes in music, with Bono declaring: “I come here to cross the great divide between me, a Led Zeppelin fan, and you, the Deep Purple fan.”

Medvedev, who has made much fuss of his devotion to the veteran British hard rock group, chuckled but replied in English that he also counted Led Zeppelin amongst his favorites.

Bono later said in a statement that he and the Kremlin chief had also discussed corruption as a means to ending poverty.

Since coming to office two years ago, Medvedev has vowed repeatedly to tackle Russia’s endemic corruption, though analysts say they have seen very little change so far.

(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman)

(Reuters, SOCHI | Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:02pm EDT)