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Kyodo news summary -3-(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- 3 Chinese ships intrude into Japanese waters near Senkaku Islands NAHA, Japan - Three China Coast Guard vessels intruded into Japanese territorial waters Monday morning near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for the first time since Aug. 24, the Japan Coast Guard said. The vessels were identified as the Haijing 2113, 2146 and 2305, the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha said. ---------- Suspended driving licenses eyed over possession of quasi-legal drugs TOKYO - Tokyo police plans to suspend for up to six months the driving licenses of drivers who possess so-called quasi-legal drugs, police sources said Monday. The measure will be taken following a series of traffic accidents caused by drivers who had consumed such drugs. Among them was a 37-year-old man who drove a car into pedestrians on June 24 in the Ikebukuro district in Tokyo's Toshima Ward, killing a Chinese woman and injuring seven other people. ---------- Dollar hovers on firm note in lower 104 yen range in Tokyo TOKYO - The U.S. dollar moved narrowly in the lower 104 yen range Monday morning in Tokyo, maintaining its firmness in New York on Friday. At noon, the dollar fetched 104.16-23 yen compared with 104.06-16 yen in New York and 103.82-84 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday. ---------- More than 10 people suspected of contracting dengue fever in Tokyo TOKYO - More than 10 residents of Tokyo are believed to have contracted dengue fever in the first confirmed cases of domestic infection in Japan since 1945, metropolitan government officials said Monday. All of the affected people recently spent time in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park and are thought to have been bitten there by mosquitoes bearing the virus. The disease is not transmitted directly from person to person. ---------- N. Korea fires short-range rocket off east coast SEOUL - North Korea fired a short-range rocket off its east coast on Monday morning, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The report said a single projectile was fired at around 10:30 a.m. from a site in Chagang Province near North Korea's border with China, and it is presumed to have flown some 220 kilometers before landing in the sea. ---------- Schools used as evacuation centers resume classes after mudslides HIROSHIMA - Six elementary schools used as evacuation centers following deadly mudslides in Hiroshima city resumed classes Monday after the summer holidays. At a junior high school in Asaminami Ward, pupils gathered in the gym to offer prayers after they were told that one of the school's students, 15-year-old Sizu Furui, had died in the disaster last month. ---------- Indictment suspended for key figure in Tokushukai election scandal TOKYO - Tokyo prosecutors said Monday they have decided to suspend the indictment of Torao Tokuda, a central suspect in a vote-buying scandal involving the Tokushukai hospital group, due to his serious illness. Now that guilty sentences have been finalized for 10 Tokuda relatives and Tokushukai executives indicted on vote-buying charges, the decision marked an end to the prosecutors' investigations into the scandal. ---------- India's PM meets with Japan ministers to expand econ, security ties TOKYO - Visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Japanese Cabinet ministers on Monday to strengthen economic and security ties. In a meeting with Modi, Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan is willing to bolster cooperation in various fields, including infrastructure-building and energy, asking the prime minister to improve the investment environment in India so more Japanese companies can do business there. ---------- Smartphone use allowed on planes during takeoffs and landings TOKYO - Airplane passengers are now allowed to use their smartphones and other electronic devices during takeoffs and landings at Japan's airports as long as the devices are set to "airplane mode" to suspend their communication functions. The easing of the regulation Monday followed the lifting of such restrictions by the United States and European countries. The Japanese government had previously banned the use of electronic devices during takeoffs and landings, saying they could have adverse effects on navigation systems. ---------- Man kills 3 at primary school in China's Hubei, commits suicide BEIJING - A man stabbed eight students and a teacher Monday morning at a primary school in central China's Hubei Province, killing three and injuring six, state-run media reported. The man then killed himself by jumping off a building, the Xinhua News Agency report said. ---------- Veteran lawmaker Nikai to chair LDP's General Council TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to appoint veteran House of Representatives member Toshihiro Nikai as chairman of his Liberal Democratic Party's decision-making General Council, government sources said Monday. Abe is also making arrangements to keep Hakubun Shimomura as education minister and give a ministerial post to LDP lower house member Yuko Obuchi, the second daughter of the late former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, when he reshuffles his Cabinet and LDP executive lineup Wednesday. ---------- Indian PM Modi calls for Japan aid in clean energy development TOKYO - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for further cooperation from Japan in industrial research and development, including the area of clean energy. "I would like to work together with Japan in the field of research and development. We should (cooperate) continuously," Modi said at a luncheon with Japanese and Indian business leaders in Tokyo. ---------- Abe, Modi to affirm closer security, economic ties over assertive China TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are set on Monday to hold a summit at which they are expected to boost security and economic ties in the face of China's rising territorial ambitions and military buildup. Abe and Modi are likely to agree to launch a security consultative framework involving the two countries' foreign and defense ministers, as well as to accelerate negotiations for a civil nuclear pact that would allow Japan to export nuclear-related technology to India, according to Japanese officials. ---------- Fukushima gov. tells ministers of acceptance of radioactive waste FUKUSHIMA, Japan - The Fukushima governor on Monday told two Cabinet ministers he will accept a central government plan to store radioactive waste from decontamination following the March 2011 nuclear disaster for up to 30 years in the prefecture. "Storage facilities may force great burdens on local communities, but we made a difficult decision to restore the environment in the prefecture," Yuhei Sato told Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara and Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |