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Kyodo news summary -4-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) TOKYO, Jan. 17_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Defense Minister Ishiba orders MSDF to resume refueling mission TOKYO - Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba ordered the Maritime Self-Defense Force on Thursday to dispatch ships to the Indian Ocean to resume its antiterrorism refueling mission, Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda said. The task force comprising of the 13,500-ton fleet support ship Oumi and 4,550-ton destroyer Murasame is likely to leave Japan on Jan. 24 so that Japan can restart the mission in the region in mid-February, ministry officials suggested earlier. ---------- Intelligence official involved in leak case dismissed TOKYO - A 52-year-old official at the Cabinet Information Research Office was dismissed Thursday over his involvement in the leakage of classified information to a Russian Embassy official. The official "has illegally received money from a foreign government official on several occasions since January last year, and made a false statement to the in-house probe over meetings with people outside," the Cabinet Affairs Office said in a statement. These acts "have seriously damaged public trust in the Cabinet intelligence office." ---------- 3 NHK employees investigated for suspected insider trading TOKYO - Three employees of public broadcaster NHK -- two reporters and a director -- are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission on suspicion of insider trading of stocks, the broadcaster said Thursday. The three are a 33-year-old reporter at NHK's news bureau in Tokyo, a 30-year-old reporter at its Gifu broadcast station and a 40-year-old director at its Mito broadcast station, according to NHK. ---------- Man given 18-yr prison term for raping women on trains, in station OTSU, Japan - The Otsu District Court on Thursday sentenced a 36-year-old man to 18 years in prison for raping two women on trains and one inside a station restroom in 2006. In handing down the ruling to Takamitsu Uezono, Presiding Judge Yoshinobu Osaki said, "The acts were audacious and despicable, showing no fear of being seen by the public. The psychological damage caused to the victims must be enormous." ---------- 18-day-old baby boy killed in Osaka murder-robbery OSAKA - An 18-day-old baby boy died after his mouth and nose were covered with adhesive tape at his home in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, Wednesday evening, police said Thursday. His mother Izumi Yamanaka, 22, was bound to a refrigerator with her mouth covered and hands tied with the tape, and tens of thousands of yen in baby-gift money in a congratulatory pouch has gone missing, leading the police to investigate the case as a murder-robbery, they said. ---------- Baba, nisei who fostered Japan's postwar broadcasting, dies at 93 NEW YORK - Frank Baba, a Japanese-American who helped launch Japan's post-World War II broadcasting industry as a member of the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces, died of old age in California on Wednesday, his family said. He was 93. A native of California, he lived in Japan until the age of 12 before returning to the United States. ---------- U.S. repeats opposition to 'provocative' Taiwan referendum BEIJING - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Thursday repeated Washington's opposition to Taiwan's planned referendum over U.N. membership, calling it a "mistake" and a "provocative policy." Negroponte, who is in China for a senior-level bilateral meeting, said the talks in the southern city of Guiyang from later Thursday will not only cover Taiwan but also human rights issues, North Korea, Iran and Sudan. ---------- Tougher punishment needed to end 'rampant' Internet piracy: China BEIJING - A senior Chinese official said Thursday tougher punishments should be introduced to tackle piracy on the Internet, which he admitted is still "rampant." Yan Xiaohong, vice minister of the government body overseeing the press and publishing industries in China, said that despite three large-scale campaigns in recent years to crack down on the distribution of pirated movies, music and other illegal content online, the problem is still widespread. ---------- Ex-Malaysian premier Mahathir denies judge-fixing during his tenure KUALA LUMPUR - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad denied Thursday that a prominent lawyer had undue influence over his decisions on the appointment of judges during his tenure. Mahathir's conduct with regards to the judiciary came under scrutiny during an inquiry by the royal commission into a scandalous video which opposition and rights groups said was proof of political interference in the selection of judges during his 22-year tenure that ended Oct. 31, 2003. ---------- Australian gov't customs vessel to return whaling activists SYDNEY - A showdown in the icy waters of the Antarctic appeared close to a resolution Thursday afternoon, with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirming the government will send a patrol vessel to pick up two anti-whaling activists being detained on a Japanese whaling ship. The patrol vessel will transfer Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists Benjamin Potts, an Australian, and Giles Lane, from Britain, from the Yushin Maru No. 2 to the activists' vessel as soon as possible, providing both parties cooperate, Smith told reporters. ---------- Machimura raps anti-whaling group for not picking up detained members TOKYO - Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura on Thursday criticized an anti-whaling group for not picking up two of its members, who were detained after they boarded a Japanese whaling vessel Tuesday in the Antarctic Ocean, despite Japan's offer to release them. "We have told (the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) we want to hand them over quickly, but Sea Shepherd has not shown any reaction whatsoever. So we are frankly in a bind," Machimura told a press conference. ---------- S. Korea's Lee envisions future-oriented ties with Japan SEOUL - South Korean President-elect Lee Myung Bak on Thursday expressed his readiness to develop future-oriented relations with Japan. "In the days to come, the relations between (South) Korea and Japan should be more 'future-oriented' and better (South) Korea-Japan relations would benefit both countries, and peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia," Lee said at a press conference for foreign correspondents in Seoul. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |