TMCnet News
Kyodo news summary -2-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 28_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Skymark ignores Boeing's safety instruction on 5 planes TOKYO - Skymark Airlines Co. operated five Boeing 767s for nine months without conducting an equipment check within 90 days as required by the maker, the transport ministry said Tuesday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport found the irregularity when it inspected the Japanese discount carrier after it was revealed earlier this month that it had operated a Boeing 767-300 without conducting the required check. ---------- LDP eyes bill to OK military use of space for self defense TOKYO - The ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided Tuesday to draft a bill for a law to legitimize the country's military use of space for self-defense purposes. The policy, a reversal of the current policy limiting space projects to civilian ends, will pave the way for the Defense Agency to develop and operate reconnaissance satellites capable of filming high-resolution images. It was endorsed in a subcommittee meeting of the party's Special Commission on Space Development, its members said. ---------- Ex-mayor's death may delay talks with Nago over base: Nukaga TOKYO - Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga indicated Tuesday that talks scheduled this week with the Nago municipal government on the relocation site for a U.S. air station may be delayed due to the death of former Nago Mayor Tateo Kishimoto on Monday. "We had planned to hold talks this week, as early as tomorrow, but due to the unfortunate news, I think we need to consult with Nago on the schedule," Nukaga said in response to reporters' questions after a Cabinet meeting. ---------- Top court upholds death sentence on murderer of Yokohama couple TOKYO - The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a death sentence passed on a man, now 71, for killing a couple in a murder-robbery case in 1988 in Yokohama. Kazutoshi Takahashi was convicted of murdering Jingen Yun, 65, and his common-law wife Hatsuko Kobayashi, 60, by beating them with a crowbar or similar weapon at their moneylending and real estate office in Yokohama's Tsurumi Ward on June 20, 1988, and stealing 12 million yen from the office. ---------- New Cabinet intelligence chief has record of slapping reporter TOKYO - The government on Tuesday appointed Hideshi Mitani, a senior National Policy Agency official who in 2001 slapped a Kyodo News reporter in the face, as new Cabinet intelligence director, effective Saturday. Mitani, 54, who now heads the NPA's Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Department, is expected to serve "for a certain period of time" to help enhance Japan's intelligence capability, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. ---------- Cameroon president to visit Japan next month TOKYO - Cameroon President Paul Biya will visit Japan next month for talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. During his five-day-visit to Japan beginning April 16, Biya will also meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and attend a luncheon with them, it said. ---------- Environment chief asks Koizumi, ministers to walk Cool Biz catwalk TOKYO - Environment Minister Yuriko Koike requested Tuesday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Cabinet members walk a catwalk to promote the government's summer "Cool Biz" no-tie campaign for energy saving, Koike said. The fashion show will be held May 31 at the Omotesando Hills commercial complex in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward ahead of the launch of the Cool Biz period on June 1. ---------- Replica of fatal nuke accident facility unveiled TOKAIMURA, Japan - A full-scale replica of a nuclear fuel-processing facility at which a fatal accident took place in 1999 was unveiled in the village of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Tuesday so future generations can learn from the disaster. At the opening ceremony, Tokaimura Mayor Tatsuya Murakami told some 70 participants that the first critical nuclear accident in Japan at JCO Co., a nuclear fuel processor, damaged public trust in atomic energy "but we need to learn lessons from the failure." |