Japan

The meeting is one of several precursors to Japan's eighth Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting or PALM to be held in 2018.

Japan has been holding the summit every three years since 1997.

16 countries are expected to attend the meeting which will review progress since the last summit and prepare for the next one.

Speaking on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum chair the Federated States of Micronesia's foreign secretary, Lorin Robert, said he was looking forward to discussing the Pacific's relations with Japan in the areas of climate change and ocean management.

Tokyo will also halt talks with South Korea on a planned currency swap and delay high-level economic dialogue as part of its "initial" response to the statue, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press briefing Friday.

The statue was erected by a civil group in December and represents "comfort women," women who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

"The fact that the girls' statue was set up has an unfavorable influence on relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and it is extremely regrettable," Suga said.

Aircalin said the 179 passengers have been put up in hotels while efforts are underway to find alternatives for them to reach Noumea.

The airline's schedule is expected to have disruptions over the next two days.

Last year, Aircalin had repeated technical problems with its Airbus A330s.

It ordered two new such wide-body planes which will be delivered for 2019.

But there's a catch.

As part of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the two countries, the United States is granted the right to certain defense facilities. In exchange for the land, the Japanese government built several new helipads for the US military to use on its southernmost island of Okinawa.

Yet the handover has done little to assuage the ire of activists, who've campaigned for decades, to remove US bases altogether from Okinawa.

A company in Iruma, near Tokyo, has developed a tagging system for members of the public at risk of getting lost.

The 1cm (0.4in) square stickers hold an address, telephone number and unique identity number for each user.

The free service, launched this month, is a first for Japan.

The initiative, which uses a system of QR codes, was set up to help reunite family members with their elderly loved ones in the event that they go missing, according to the Iruma welfare office.

The 9,852 acres of land on the island of Okinawa, part of a territory officially referred to as the Northern Training Area, is in a large US military base complex on the Pacific island more than 960 miles (1,550 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

The US had turned most of Okinawa over to Japan in 1972 after controlling it from the end of World War II in 1945.

This is the largest return of US-occupied land since then.

Known for the punishing hours demanded by its 'salaryman' culture, Japan has struggled to tackle the impact of overwork on employees' health. But plans to overhaul labor laws could improve the situation.

A recent government study found that one in five workers are at risk of working themselves to death. It's such a big problem that Japan even has its own word for it: karoshi (death by overwork).

It was nil all in the 90 minutes of playing time as the two teams proceeded into extra time. This was when France scored their double in the first half to safeguard their victory.

Four minutes into the second half, France forward runner Marion Romanelli chipped a fine cross that found striker Clara Mateo's head for their first goal.

Right after the restart, France moved in again for their second goal through Juliane Gathrat, who scooped the ball in from a loose ball that came off Japan's clearance in the goalmouth.

Japan had countless opportunities in the first half but France stopper Marion Romanelli was too good in clearing the attacks from the back.

France had their first chance in the 8th minute when striker Marie-Charlotte Legerin pulled off a powerful left footy but flew inches over the crossbar.

Japan replied,  pulling in counter attacks with quick set plays and through balls but France backliners cleared every loose ball from the back.

Japan is looking to make it an all Asian final after Korea DPR booked the first berth to the grand final, while the European champs are battling for the time to make their debut.

The fate of both teams lies in tonight's game infront of more than 5,000 spectators.

Picture by Troy Taule