Japan to release rice from stockpile

Japan will release some of its huge stockpile of rice to help ease the global food crisis, sending some 20,000 tons to five African nations in coming weeks, a government official said Thursday. The rice, less than 1 percent of Japan's 2.23 million surplus tons, is part of a $50 million emergency food aid plan to be endorsed by the Cabinet on Friday, said Shigeru Kondo, a Foreign Ministry aid official. The total aid package -- which includes grains, beans and other foods in addition to rice -- will be disbursed in 12 countries, including Afghanistan, by such international relief agencies as the World Food Program.