TOKYO

A British acupuncturist in Tokyo has promised to treat everyone who walks into his clinic for free the day after Tuesday’s United States election, if George Bush loses — even the would-be ex-president himself. Edward Obaidey, who treats about 20 people a day, said he stands to lose about 120 000 yen if Senator John Kerry wins.

A man allegedly broke in to a house in western Japan with the intention of robbing it, but was so drunk that he fell asleep in his victim’s home without stealing a thing, police said on Monday. The occupant returned to his home in Kobe city on Sunday afternoon to find the unemployed suspect asleep on the floor upstairs

African leaders pitched on Monday for more trade and investment from Asia, saying they were pushing through economic and political reforms that will open up business opportunities in the continent. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told the opening of the two-day conference in Tokyo that the continent of more than 750-million people was rich with resources for Asian investors.

For four decades, Japan’s high-speed ”bullet” trains have moved millions of people through this earthquake-prone nation efficiently, at high speed and without a single derailment — until now. The 6,8-magnitude quake that ravaged northern Japan on Saturday knocked the Toki No 325 bullet train off its tracks.

Japanese electronics giant NEC Corporation said on Wednesday it has begun selling the world’s fastest supercomputer. NEC claims its SX-8 is the most powerful ”vector-type” supercomputer, with a sustainable data-processing speed well beyond IBM’s recently unveiled Blue Gene/L.

Powerful Typhoon Tokage struck southern Japan on Tuesday, with torrential rain and strong winds that disrupted air traffic, forced public schools to close and left thousands of households without electricity. Six people suffered minor injuries. The typhoon was headed for Japan’s main islands late on Tuesday.

A powerful typhoon headed toward the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Monday, disrupting ferry service and pelting the region with heavy rain. Typhoon Tokage, the Japanese word for lizard, will be the record 10th typhoon to strike Japan this year if it makes landfall, the Meteorological Agency said.

The most powerful typhoon to hit eastern Japan in a decade was bearing down on Tokyo and neighbouring regions on Saturday, sparking transport chaos amid warnings of torrential rain, strong winds and landslides. Typhoon Ma-on was due to slam into central or eastern Japan late on Saturday, the Meteorological Agency warned.

Mount Asama erupted for the third straight day on Thursday, throwing gray smoke and red-hot rocks into the air and setting off more than 1 000 tiny earthquakes. One of Japan’s largest and most active volcanoes, Mount Asama repeatedly rumbled with small eruptions throughout the day.

Sudan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that fewer than 5 000 people have died in the country’s war-torn Darfur region, far short of a United Nations estimate of 30 000 to 50 000 dead. ”Those who are saying 30 000 or 50 000, we are telling them, ‘Tell us the names’,” Mustafa Osman Ismail told a press conference.

Typhoon Songda became the worst typhoon to hit Japan in recent years, leaving at least 24 dead by Wednesday morning with the toll expected to rise, authorities and news reports said. The typhoon has injured more than 700 people since Tuesday, when it struck south-western Japan. Another 15 people were reported missing.

An earthquake measuring 4,3 on the Richter scale has hit large areas north of Tokyo but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Earlier in the day, a strong earthquake measuring 6,4 on the Richter scale jolted western and central Japan, following two major tremors at the weekend.

At least eight people were killed in southern Japan on Tuesday as the powerful Typhoon Songda left a trail of destruction in its wake after making landfall early in the day. News channel NHK estimated that at least 580 people had been injured in the storm, with up to 100 buildings totally destroyed.

Typhoon Songda had injured 21 people by Monday morning as it approached the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, officials said. Songda, named after a Vietnamese river, came as the meteorological agency warned that another typhoon, Sarika, was on course to approach Japan this week.

Two earthquakes with magnitudes of 6,9 and 7,4 hit cental and western Japan on Sunday night, injuring at least 46 people and forcing more than 9 000 people to evacuate temporarily due to the danger of tidal waves, police and firefighters said on Monday. People in 10 prefectures were affected by the two quakes.

Powerful Typhoon Chaba, packing winds of up to 144kph, pounded Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 30. In Miyazaki prefecture, the typhoon killed an 82-year-old man and a 71-year-old man in different cities and slightly injured four people.

Japan’s capital has a 90% chance of being devastated by a major earthquake some time in the next 50 years, according to a study by a government panel. The study, released earlier this week, marked the latest attempt by scientists to address one of this quake-prone country’s most pressing concerns: when the next ”big one” will strike.