U.S. believes N. Korea counterfeiting dollars: S. Korean envoy
February 15, 2006The United States believes North Korea is counterfeiting U.S. dollars in a state mint, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday, quoting the South Korean ambassador to the United States. ''The U.S. believes North Korea counterfeited 'supernotes' in a place where it issues its currency, not in separate facilities,'' Yonhap quoted Ambassador Lee Tai Sik as saying in a television program Wednesday night.
Livedoor exec declines request to attend Diet committee meeting
February 15, 2006Livedoor Co. Representative Director Fumito Kumagai has turned down a request to attend Friday's House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, which will discuss the alleged financial misconduct of the Internet company, Tadamori Oshima, chairman of the committee, said Thursday. Kumagai, who played a key role in Livedoor's merger and acquisition activities, was asked to submit himself for questioning on a voluntary basis as an unsworn witness.
Horie alleged to have had 30 mil. yen sent to LDP lawmaker's son
February 15, 2006Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie instructed in a company e-mail message that 30 million yen be sent to the son of senior ruling party lawmaker Tsutomu Takebe as a fee for electoral consultancy work, an opposition lawmaker told a parliamentary panel Thursday. Takebe, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, denied the allegations the same day, saying no money was sent from Livedoor to his son.
Juvenile suspects over murder, other Penal Code offenses fall
February 15, 2006The number of juveniles aged 14 to 19 identified as suspects in murders, robberies and other Penal Code offenses in 2005 dropped 8.3 percent from a year earlier to 123,715, marking the second consecutive year of decline, the National Police Agency said Thursday. Of the total of those suspects, 28.7 percent, or 35,509, had a history of having been held or questioned by police as suspects in law offenses.
Singapore's crime rate up in 2005
February 15, 2006The number of crimes committed in Singapore surged 20 percent in 2005 on the year to 36,704, the highest in five years, with a big rise in robbery, snatch thefts and rape, police said Wednesday. In particular, mobile phones became a hot target of thieves.
Japan's snow-related death toll is 3rd highest since war
February 15, 2006The number of deaths due to snow-related accidents recorded since December rose to 131 on Wednesday, the third highest in the postwar period, with the deaths of a 23-year-old college student in Hokkaido and a 69-year-old man in Yamagata Prefecture. The student in Ebetsu, Hokkaido is believed to have been buried in snow, while the man in Shinjo, Yamagata may have fallen into a pond and drowned as he was clearing snow, police said.
Fraud probe nets 2 who accompanied man killed in Philippines
February 15, 2006Tokyo police have arrested seven Japanese men over a case of labor insurance fraud, including two who accompanied a real-estate businessman to the Philippines where he was shot to death last July. The police said the two are acquaintances of Takaaki Yushina, 40, of Tokyo, who was insured by a 100 million yen death benefit policy and was found dead in the early hours of July 28 on Luzon Island.
3 people found dead in car in Tochigi, family suicide suspected
February 15, 2006Three bodies were found in a car left in a vacant lot in Iwafune, Tochigi Prefecture on Wednesday morning, police said. The police believe the three -- a male and female in their teens and an adult man -- were a family from Aichi Prefecture and that they committed a suicide.