(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 17_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Japan stresses ties with U.S. on N. Korean security strategy

TOKYO - Japan emphasized its ties with the United States in dealing with North Korea on Friday, following the announcement of Washington's new national security strategy in which it vowed to end tyranny in the North and six other countries.

"We will continue to try to resolve problems (with North Korea) basically with the posture of dialogue and pressure," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said at a news conference, adding Tokyo and Washington agree on this point.

---------- Prolonged Japan-U.S. beef row could set off trade war: Schieffer

TOKYO - U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer warned Japan Friday that if the two countries cannot settle their row over Japan's fresh ban on American beef imports, the situation could grow into a trade war.

"If we are not able to resolve this issue very soon, I'm very concerned that the United States Congress will lose its patience and we could set off a trade war as a result of this issue," Schieffer told a lecture meeting in Tokyo organized by the Asian Affairs Research Council.

---------- Paleolithic period research pioneer Serizawa dies at 86

SENDAI - Chosuke Serizawa, a professor emeritus at Tohoku University known as a pioneer in research on the Paleolithic period in Japan, died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm in the city of Sendai on Thursday, his family said Friday. He was 86.

Serizawa, along with the late amateur archaeologist Tadahiro Aizawa whom he met while attending Meiji University, discovered stone tools more than 10,000 years old at the Iwajuku site in Kasakake, Gunma Prefecture, in 1949. Stone tools dating back to such an age in Japan were at the time believed to not have existed.

---------- Jet ferry hits whale off Tsushima, nobody hurt

FUKUOKA - A jet ferry collided with an animal believed to have been a whale on Friday off Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan Coast Guard officials said.

None of the 120 passengers and seven crew members aboard the 162-ton Beetle 218 was hurt in the collision that occurred around 2:30 p.m., they said.

---------- Indonesia declines participation in U.S.-led security initiative

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government has declined to participate in a U.S.-led security initiative seen by many as essentially a U.S. effort to cut off North Korea's trade in illicit weapons and material, a senior government official said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra Percaya told a press conference that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this week urged Indonesia to participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, during her visit in Jakarta.

---------- 2 policemen killed, 1 critically hurt in H.K. gunbattle

HONG KONG - Two police officers were killed and another was critically injured Friday in a gunbattle at a Hong Kong tourist spot.

According to police, there was a call for help from a patrolling officer at a pedestrian subway in Tsim Sha Tsui around 1:15 a.m. Police officers who rushed to the site found two policemen and a man who was later confirmed to be an off-duty police officer lying unconscious with gunshot wounds.

---------- Mad cow disease confirmed in beef cow for 1st time in Japan

TOKYO - The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's expert panel on mad cow disease confirmed Friday that a cow raised in Nagasaki Prefecture had the disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, making it the first case of BSE in beef cattle in Japan, ministry officials said.

The 14-year-old female Japanese Black, used for breeding purposes, is the 24th cow confirmed to have been infected with the brain-wasting disease in Japan. The 23 previous cases were all dairy cows, aged between 1 and 9 years old.

---------- Fresh warrants served on 2 teens over killing of homeless man

KOBE - Police served fresh arrest warrants Friday on two teenagers on suspicion of killing a disabled homeless man by hurling firebombs to set his dwelling on fire last October in the city of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, police officials said.

The 16-year-old boys, both unemployed and residents of Himeji, some 90 kilometers west of Osaka, had already been detained for alleged blackmailing in a separate case.

---------- Court axes prosecution request to keep Miyauchi, Nakamura detained

TOKYO - The Tokyo District Court rejected prosecution complaints Friday against its decision to free former Livedoor Co. Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi and former Operating Officer Osanari Nakamura on bail.

Miyauchi and Nakamura were freed in the afternoon.

---------- Jurists voice concern over Australian terror laws

SYDNEY - Australia's new counter-terrorism laws could breach international law, the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement Friday.

The concerns were raised by a panel of international judges as part of a global examination of counter-terrorism measures.

---------- U.S. sailor pleads guilty to murder of woman in Yokosuka

YOKOHAMA - A U.S. sailor pleaded guilty Friday to the alleged murder of a woman in the Japanese port city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in January, during the opening hearing at the Yokohama District Court.

William Reese, 21, of the crew of the Yokosuka-based U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, admitted to killing temp worker Yoshie Sato, 56, a stranger to him, but said he did not initially have the intention of killing her.

---------- No. of oil-covered dead birds rises to 4,000 on Hokkaido shores

SAPPORO - The number of dead birds covered in oil has risen to 4,000 on the shores of Hokkaido and the cause remains a mystery, officials of the prefectural government said Friday.

Officials of Shari town in Abashiri said an additional 1,600 birds were found dead in oil on the shores of the Shiretoko Peninsula on Thursday as snow melted in the area.

---------- High court OKs reporter's refusal to reveal news source

TOKYO - The Tokyo High Court on Friday accepted a reporter's refusal to reveal a news source, saying news-gathering activities are a premise for the freedom of press that serves the public's right to know, which is an indispensable component of a democratic society.

Presiding Judge Yomatsu Hinagata said, "Refusal to reveal a news source can be allowed unless there are particular circumstances" where if the reporter refuses to reveal the source, social and public benefits might be damaged to an equal or larger degree.

---------- Diet calls on scandal-hit lawmaker Nishimura to quit

TOKYO - The House of Representatives on Friday adopted a nonbinding resolution urging Shingo Nishimura, an independent, to resign as lawmaker due to allegations that he violated the Lawyers Law.

The motion was backed by a majority of lower house members, including those of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which kicked out Nishimura in November when the scandal broke out.

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