JAPANESE-based researchers with Pfizer faced a similar threat to their jobs that their Irish counterparts do now, when the company decided last year to close their lab.

The US met North Korea yesterday on halting its nuclear weapons programme and withdrew a threat to try to punish the North Koreans soon with UN sanctions.

Sony Corp will shift Chinese production of camcorders bound for the US back to Japan by the end of September in an attempt to shorten the delivery time to three weeks from four weeks, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing company sources.