Defense Agency to dissolve arm linked to bid-rigging: Nukaga
January 31, 2006Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga said Wednesday the agency will disband the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, an entity at the center of a bid-rigging scandal involving the construction of air-conditioning systems. ''The entity has caused a scandal of this magnitude and it has become clear that the bid-rigging was arranged in a systematic manner,'' Director General Nukaga said on a TBS television program.
Softbank eyes video program broadcasts for cellphones
January 31, 2006Softbank Corp. is planning to start a nationwide video program broadcasting service for mobile phones by the end of 2012, Softbank officials said Wednesday. The Internet services firm, which will enter the mobile phone services market in the spring of 2007, will ask the telecommunications ministry possibly next year for a broadcasting license, the officials said.
Activists detained in Nepal ahead of anti-king demonstrations
January 31, 2006Nepal's government has arrested hundreds of political activists ahead of nationwide anti-king protests planned for Wednesday, protest organizers said late Tuesday. Krishna Prasad Sitaula, spokesman of the Nepali Congress Party, said more than 500 party workers and activists were rounded up across the country.
Ferry with at least 110 aboard feared to have sunk in E. Indonesia
January 31, 2006Contact was lost late Tuesday with a ferry carrying at least 110 people in eastern Indonesia, with the high possibility that it sank, police said Wednesday. Three navy vessels and an air force plane were on their way to the scene to search for survivors, the Associated Press reported, quoting Rear Adm. Yusuf Malik.
U.S. lawmaker hints at sanctions against Japan over beef issue
January 31, 2006U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte criticized Japan on Tuesday and hinted at slapping sanctions on it for reimposing an import ban on U.S. beef, saying the United States would not stop automobile imports just because of defective parts. ''Their closing their entire market...would be like the United States saying to the Japanese, we're closing our entire market to Japanese...automobiles because we find...some defective brakes, defective steering columns, other defective things,'' Goodlatte told reporters after meeting a visiting delegation of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
Police used wiretapping in murder case for 1st time last year
January 31, 2006Japanese police used wiretapping in a murder case for the first time last year and arrested a suspect in the case involving the fatal shooting of a senior crime syndicate member in Mie Prefecture in 2003, police officials said Wednesday. The Mie prefectural police obtained a warrant for wiretapping last year based on the suspicion of organized murder after they determined it was highly likely that a crime group was organizationally involved in the murder, the officials said.
Livedoor used buyout deal to sell shares at high prices: prosecutors
January 31, 2006Livedoor Co. carried out the buyout of a staffing firm through a stock swap in 2004 in an apparent bid to sell at high prices its own shares that it had purchased on the market, prosecution sources said Tuesday. Prosecutors arrested former Livedoor President Takafumi Horie and other executives of the Internet and financial services company on Jan. 23 over alleged securities law violations, having investigated the Livedoor group's methods of raising money through a number of dubious merger and acquisition deals.
100th British soldier death in Iraq sparks calls for troop exit strategy
January 31, 2006Confirmation of the death of the 100th British soldier in Iraq since the United States-led invasion in 2003 Tuesday has sparked renewed calls for a definite move towards troop withdrawal. Michael Moore, shadow defense secretary for Britain's third largest political party the Liberal Democrats said, ''This is a tragic milestone which highlights the ongoing dangers of our presence in Iraq.''