1.3 mil. homes in Niigata, Kinki suffer power cuts
December 22, 2005Up to 1.3 million homes in Niigata Prefecture and the Kinki region suffered power outages Thursday as strong winds and snow played havoc with electric cables, disrupting traffic and train operations in northern, central and western Japan. Up to 650,000 homes in Niigata Prefecture and 690,000 homes in the Kinki region in western Japan had power outage at some point on Thursday. By the evening about 30,000 homes in six municipalities, including the city of Niigata, had still not had their electricity restored.
14 fake UFJ cash cards used at 3 ATMs in Tokyo
December 22, 2005Fourteen fake UFJ Bank cash cards have been used at three automated teller machines in Tokyo, the bank and police said Thursday. Some of the cards were made after their forgers secretly filmed depositors' cards at ATMs in Aichi Prefecture earlier this year, they said.
Indonesia to dispatch 15 battalions of troops to Aceh
December 22, 2005The Indonesian military will dispatch up to about 12,000 troops to the tsunami-devastated province of Aceh to help a government-sanctioned reconstruction agency carry out its rehabilitation activities in the region, the military chief said Thursday. ''We have been preparing 15 battalions of noncombatant troops to be deployed to Aceh,'' Indonesian Defense Force Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told a press conference.
Snow causes power losses at 1.34 mil. households in Niigata, Kinki
December 22, 2005Heavy snowfall hit Sea of Japan coastal areas Thursday, causing power failures at 697,200 households in the Kinki region and at 650,000 in Niigata Prefecture as well as paralyzing railway transportation. Power was cut in Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga and Nara prefectures for about 30 minutes after Kansai Electric Power Co.'s two nuclear power plants in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, which provides electricity to the area, automatically stopped operations possibly due to snow accumulation on the transmission lines, company officials said.
DNA database identifies suspects in 32 criminal cases: NPA
December 22, 2005A DNA database that stores biological evidence left at crime scenes or collected from suspects has helped identify suspects in 32 criminal cases in the past year that took place in different prefectures, the National Police Agency said Thursday. ''The amount of data is not large yet, but the database has actually helped identify suspects,'' an NPA official said. ''We will continue to expand the database.''