Toyako  -Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations will agree during their summit in Hokkaido to stockpile grains to better cope with future food crises, sources said.

Toyako, Japan - Several thousand protesters demonstrated in northern Japan Saturday against the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) summit.

Tokyo - Japanese immigration authorities have denied entry to 19 members of an international farmers' group who flew in from South Korea, sources associated with an NGO said Friday.

The farmers' group members arrived in Japan on Thursday and had planned to attend a forum in Hokkaido ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting, which is scheduled July 7-9 in Toyako, Japan.

An immigration official said the group members' purpose for coming was "not clear," after they were asked whether they had participated in demonstrations in the past.

The members were to attend a forum on climate change and its impact on food supplies.

Tokyo - The Japanese government plans to provide an additional 50 million dollars worth of food aid by October to help ease the food crisis in developing nations, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura

Tokyo - Anxiety over inflation and an economic slowdown in the United States dragged Tokyo stocks down Friday. 

Singapore - China and Japan share first place as Asia's best investment destinations for foreign firms, a published study said on Friday.