By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Ken Takakura, a craggy-faced, quiet star known for playing outlaws and stoic heroes in scores of Japanese films, has died of lymphoma. He was 83. Perhaps best known abroad for his police inspector role in Ridley Scott’s “Black Rain” in 1989, Takakura died Nov. 10 at a […]
Japanese PM dissolves parliament
By Malcom Foster The Associated Press TOKYO, Japan (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the lower house of parliament on Friday, Nov. 16, paving the way for elections in which his ruling party will likely give way to a weak coalition government divided over how to solve the nation’s problems.