Via AFP:
US officials declared a "breakthrough" Friday after round-the-clock talks with Japan on a trade pact, despite failing to clinch a deal that would have raised hopes of a wider pan-Pacific agreement.
US President Barack Obama left Tokyo empty-handed having arrived Wednesday hoping for demonstrable progress on levering open Japan's tightly guarded auto and agricultural sectors -- key sticking points in setting up the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
That did not appear to happen, as Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emerged from talks on Thursday saying only that they...
