Emperor and empress may visit Thailand, Singapore in June
January 20, 2006Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko may visit Thailand and Singapore in June, government sources said Saturday. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej has invited the couple to attend events marking the 60th anniversary of his coronation, they said.
U.S. admits inspection failure on beef exports to Japan
January 20, 2006The United States admitted Friday its system for inspecting beef bound for Japan is flawed as it did not detect an animal spine, which is banned by Tokyo because of the risk of mad cow disease, in a shipment, and said it will conduct a thorough investigation and employ stricter inspection measures. The discovery of the banned risk material in a shipment of American beef that arrived at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo on Friday led Japan to reinstate the import ban.
Annan welcomes preliminary results of Iraqi elections
January 20, 2006U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday welcomed the announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq of the preliminary results of the Dec. 15 election. ''The secretary general is pleased that the United Nations has been able to support the IECI in conducting the two national elections and constitutional referendum of the past year under challenging circumstances,'' a statement said.
Election results give Iraq's Shiite alliance near majority
January 20, 2006Iraq's election commission on Friday announced the final results of the Dec. 15 election showing that an alliance of Shiite religious parties fell short of winning a majority in Iraq's new parliament. An official of the commission told a news conference that the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance captured 128 seats in the 275-seat Council of Representatives.
Naha mayor seeks support for his Futemma relocation proposal
January 20, 2006The mayor of Okinawa's capital city Naha, Takeshi Onaga, sought support from Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa on Friday for his proposal to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa to Iwojima Island about 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo, officials said. In a meeting with Onaga, Matsuzawa expressed doubts over the mayor's proposal, saying the United States will most likely reject the idea because of the volcanic island's distant location.