London, Dec 3 : If you’re bored of the regular beers served in pubs and parities, then get ready for another variety of the alcohol that promises a ‘heavenly’ taste – Japan has recently unveiled the world’s first "space beer" cultivated from barley grown in a laboratory orbiting the earth.

The new ‘extra-terrestrial’ beverage comes after a five-month mission, in which barley was grown for the first time in a Russian laboratory on board the International Space Station (ISS).

And then Sapporo Breweries, one of Japan''s major breweries, used the space-grown crop of barley to create 100 litres of a 5.5 per cent proof beer.

Tokyo  - Japanese Emperor Akihito has been ordered to rest by his doctors after being diagnosed with an irregular pulse and increased blood pressure, the emperor's office said Wednesday.

Tokyo  - Japan's benchmark Nikkei

Tokyo - Japanese carmaker Toyota said Tuesday it is cutting back production of luxury cars and slashing bonus payments for thousands of managers as a result of declining sales.

Toyota said it was reducing production of Lexus cars at two plants in Tahara in central Japan and Miyakawa in the south-west of the country on December 24 and 25.

Night shift work will also be partially halted in January at the two plants, which mostly assemble cars for export, the company said.

Toyota also plans to cut the winter bonus payments of about 8,500 managers by around 10 per cent.

Tokyo - A Japanese brewery claimed Tuesday it has produced the world's first space be

Tokyo, Dec. 2 : A previously unknown son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il may be emerging as a contender to replace him when he dies, according to reports.

"Until now the in-fighting appeared to have been between two factions representing Kim''s two sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, but there are now reports of another son coming forward," The Telegraph quoted Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of international relations at Tokyo''s Waseda University and an expert on North Korean affairs, as saying.