Tokyo - Visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday invited Japan to seek new investment opportunities in Thailand's industrial and agricultural sectors now that the political situation in the country has returned to normalcy.

Calling Japan "the most important trade and investment partner and important origin of tourists for Thailand," Abhisit said at a Tokyo press conference that he chose Japan as his first destination for an official visit since he assumed office on December 15.

Washington, Feb 6 : Scientists in Japan are reporting development of an improved "biomass charcoal combustion heater" that they say could open a new era in sustainable and ultra-high efficiency home heating.

In the study, researchers Amit Suri, Masayuki Horio and colleagues note that about 67 percent of Japan is covered with forests, with that biomass the nation's most abundant renewable energy source.

Wider use of biomass could tap that sustainable source of fuel and by their calculations cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by 4.46 million tons.

Tokyo

Tokyo  - Japan's foreign reserves dropped 19.69 billion dollars in January from the month before but remained above 1 trillion dollars, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The reserves fell to 1.01 trillion dollars at the end of January because of declines in US Treasury bond prices and the appraisal value of Japan's euro-dominated assets, the ministry said.

Japan had 890.77 billion dollars in foreign securities as of January 31, down from 908.02 billion dollars a month earlier.

Tokyo  - Stocks bounced back Friday in Tokyo after the yen weakened against the dollar and the US market rose overnight because of its government's measures to help the financial sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which fell below 8,000 Thursday, rose 199.69 points in morning trading, or 2.51 per cent, to 8,149.34.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also up 11.07 points, or 1.41 per cent, at 797.48.