Tokyo, Apr. 16 : The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the international community should ensure giving more financial aid to Pakistan, as the terrorist groups based on its soil are on the verge of carrying out attacks around the world.

Addressing delegates at the donors’ conference here in which countries have pledged five billion dollars for Pakistan as aid, Holbrooke said the world must keep supporting the country.

“The terrorists in western Pakistan are planning other attacks around the world. So, we should remind ourselves that the problem is far from over,” The News quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

Tokyo, Apr. 17 : Friends of Pakistan (FoP) donors on Friday pledged to give Pakistan 5.28 billion dollars to stabilise that strife-torn country.

In a statement, the donors said: "Development partners pledged new financing for Pakistan totalling more than five billion US dollars over the next two years" at the end of the one-day conference here.

Tokyo  - Japan's consumer sentiment improved in March as people expected the nation's employment situations to slowly recover, the government said Friday.

The reading for consumer sentiment among households marked the largest gain since January 2007, up 2.2 percentage points to 28.9 from the month before.

Consumer sentiment "remains severe but is ceasing to deteriorate," the Cabinet Office said as it raised its assessment for the second month.

Tokyo - China has expressed a willingness to mediate in talks between North Korea and the United States on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Japanese media report said Friday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the Nikkei financial newspaper, "Maintaining the process is in the interest of each participant" of the six-party talks, which include Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, China and the United States.

Many analysts see a breakthrough in relations between the United States and North Korea as necessary for the resumption of the six-nation talks.

Tokyo  - Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp Friday revised its earnings estimate for the previous business year, now predicting a greater net loss due to a price slump in the semiconductor market and tax credit costs.

Toshiba now predicts a net loss of 350 billion yen (3.5 billion dollars) for the business year that ended March 31, up from a previous 280-billon-yen loss estimate. Last business year, Toshiba reported net profits of 127.4 billion yen.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks ended morning trading higher Friday on renewed optimism over the US financial sector and the US dollar's advance against the yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 194.29 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 8,949.55.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 15.04 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 847.08.