The Japanese team of Hiroyuki Fujita and Ryuji Imada shot a bogey-free 10-under 62 to sit four strokes off the pace in third after Thursday's opening day of fourball play at the World Cup of Golf. Fujita made six birdies and Imada picked up four birdies on the Mission Hills Golf Club's Olazabal Course.

Japan Airlines Corp. on Thursday held its third meeting with retirees in Tokyo to try to persuade them to accept drastic cuts in their pension benefits so that the company can receive a broader financial package backed by the government. Earlier this week, JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu proposed slashing pension payouts to company retirees by about 30 percent and by around 53 percent for current employees.

China will cut its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from 2005, state media reported Thursday, a target that will be ''binding.'' The announcement, quickly following U.S. President Barack Obama's pledge Wednesday to commit his country to a 17 percent cut in emissions over the next decade, is a move that provides new impetus to negotiations towards the U.N. Climate Change meeting next month in Copenhagen.

Japan stepped up its guard on Thursday against the rising yen versus the U.S. dollar, with Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii saying Tokyo is ''carefully watching'' whether the ongoing currency movements are abnormal. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano voiced concern that a further rise in the yen against the dollar would adversely affect the Japanese economy.

Kyodo News and Mainichi Newspapers Co. said Thursday they have agreed to form an editorial and business tie-up effective on April 1. It is the first time that a newspaper with a nationwide circulation has tied up with the news agency and its member regional newspapers.

The U.S. dollar hit a 14-year low in the lower 86 yen zone on Thursday in Tokyo amid persistent speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely stick to its ultra-easy monetary policy for a prolonged period. At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 86.78-79 yen, compared with Wednesday's 5 p.m. quotes of 87.29-39 yen in New York and 88.35-36 yen in Tokyo.

Ryo Ishikawa and Yuta Ikeda made solid starts in their duel for the money title at the Casio World Open on Thursday. Ishikawa, who leads Ikeda on the money list by 7 million yen, shot a 4-under 68 to tie for eighth in the second-to-last event of the season at Kochi Kuroshio Country Club.

Hakuho capitalized on a slip-up by fellow grand champion Asashoryu on Thursday to move into sole possession of the lead with three days remaining at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. Hakuho watched from the sidelines as Asashoryu was mugged by ozeki Harumafuji and took full advantage in the day's finale with a textbook victory over local favorite Kaio at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

A cost-cutting body of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government on Thursday called for rejecting the Defense Ministry's 7,216 million yen budget request for fiscal 2010 to increase the number of Self-Defense Forces troops by about 3,500. As part of its open-door screening of budget requests for the next fiscal year starting in April, a working group of the Government Revitalization Unit gave the green light to the ministry's request totaling 118,996 million yen for paying landowners for leases of land currently used by U.S. military bases and SDF facilities.

China will cut its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from 2005, state media reported Thursday. A report by the Xinhua News Agency said the target was decided by the State Council at a meeting Wednesday.

President Barack Obama will announce his new war strategy in Afghanistan on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. Obama will address the nation at 8 p.m. Tuesday on his Afghan strategy from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He will brief key members of Congress earlier that day.

The assembly in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, demanded early Thursday morning that the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture retract his recent remarks in support of an existing deal between Japan and the United States that would relocate a U.S. airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. An opinion paper adopted by the Nago assembly by a majority said Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa should retract the remarks and apologize to people in Nago.

President Barack Obama will release his new war strategy in Afghanistan on Tuesday 2, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. The spokesman's announcement came a day after Obama said he will announce the new strategy after Thanksgiving holidays by speaking to the American public, sharply divided over whether to boost troops in Afghanistan.

New York stocks fluctuated in directionless pre-Thanksgiving trading Wednesday with investors weighing upbeat consumer and housing readings against dismal manufacturing data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 17.24 points Tuesday, gained 37.79 points to stand at 10,471.50 at 11:15 a.m.

Selected editorial excerpts from the U.S. press: AND THE FAIR LAND (The Wall Street Journal, New York)

Selected editorial excerpts from the U.S. press: KEEPING PERSONAL DATA PRIVATE (The New York Times, New York)

The Japanese government asked a World Trade Organization panel Wednesday to include energy-efficient products such as hybrid and electric cars and inverter air conditioners among so-called ''environmental goods'' subject to negotiations for eliminating or lowering tariffs. Japan, considered a competitive producer of environmentally-friendly cars and other energy-efficient goods, made the proposal at a special session in Geneva of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment.

The government may not be able to finalize a draft of the fiscal 2010 budget until Dec. 30, about one week later than usual, government sources said Wednesday. The delay reflects the Democratic Party of Japan-led government's lack of experience in arranging budgetary matters.

Representatives of crime investigation authorities from Japan and Southeast Asian countries agreed Wednesday that they need to enhance multilateral cooperation in tackling sex crimes, including child pornography and human trafficking for sexual purposes. A participant from Thailand said that around 25,000 children are sexually exploited in the country and called for stepped-up international cooperation in order to detect criminals, many of whom utilize the Internet and conspire with organized crimes outside their countries.

Troubled consumer lender Aiful Corp. has drawn up a revival plan calling for moving up repayments of outstanding loans from dozens of creditors on the basis of a new 15 billion yen credit line it will set up with its biggest creditor Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., informed sources said Wednesday. Aiful, which asked 66 creditors in September to consent to an out-of-court debt resolution under the alternative debt resolution method, is now trying to secure by the yearend the creditors' agreements to reschedule repayments of its group debts, which came to around 300 billion yen as of Sept. 24.