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Kyodo news summary -12-
[September 30, 2011]

Kyodo news summary -12-


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Sept. 30 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- 1st Diet session under Noda's gov't closes, 3rd extra budget in focus TOKYO - The first extraordinary Diet session under Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government wrapped up Friday with uncertainty surrounding securing opposition camp support, which is needed to swiftly pass a third extra budget for fiscal 2011.



The government and the ruling Democratic Party of Japan are aiming to accelerate the drafting of the third supplementary budget designed to fully finance postdisaster reconstruction efforts. The budget is to be deliberated at the next parliament session.

---------- Foreign Ministry to seek 11.3% rise in FY 2012 foreign aid budget TOKYO - The Foreign Ministry said Friday it will request 464.4 billion yen in foreign aid in its fiscal 2012 budget, up 11.3 percent from the previous year's initial budget, in the hope of increasing Japan's presence in the international community.


The overall budget request amounts to 671.3 billion yen for the year starting next April, up 7.2 percent from the initial fiscal 2011 budget.

---------- Japan to secure record 46 tril. yen in forex intervention funds TOKYO - Japan will newly secure 15 trillion yen ($195 billion) in funds for currency market intervention, bringing the total to a record 46 trillion yen, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Friday, stressing Tokyo will decisively act against "speculative moves" in the foreign exchange market to curb the yen's strength.

Azumi also said the Finance Ministry will oblige currency traders operating in Japan to report daily their trading positions for another three months beyond the end of September, a move based on a law with punitive clause.

---------- Bill eyes incorporating children's views in int'l custody battles TOKYO - The Justice Ministry proposed Friday that children's opinions be reflected when settling cross-border child custody disputes.

The idea was contained in the ministry's draft interim proposals for domestic legislation that it is preparing for submission to a regular Diet session next year, before Japan joins an international pact related to the matter known as the Hague Convention.

---------- METI's Nishiyama suspended from work for 1 month TOKYO - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday it has suspended Hidehiko Nishiyama, former spokesman for the ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency over the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, from work for one month for engaging in "inappropriate behaviors" with a female ministry official during office hours.

The actions of Nishiyama, a former deputy director general of METI, "run counter to public servants' duty to devote themselves to work and also damage public trust in national government officials," it said.

---------- Mizuho Corporate Bank allies with Vietcombank TOKYO - Mizuho Corporate Bank said Friday it will take a 15 percent stake in one of the largest commercial bank in Vietnam by investing around 43.5 billion yen by next March to support business activities of Japanese firms there.

Mizuho will also send a board member to Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, known as Vietcombank, so it could rely on the new partner's networks, it said.

---------- World economy remains weak: BOJ's Shirakawa SEOUL - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said Friday that the world economy remains weak as economic recovery is slowing in developed countries despite continuing growth in emerging economies.

In his speech at an annual meeting of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors in Seoul, Shirakawa said deteriorating fiscal conditions in developed countries and historically low interest rates are constraining the countries in implementing additional policy steps.

---------- KDDI to recall 2 mil. cellphone battery packs TOKYO - KDDI Corp., operator of the "au" mobile phone service, said Friday it will recall about 2 million cellphone battery packs marketed since 2007 for free repairs in the wake of eight cases of their heating up or melting.

KDDI said a male user suffered a minor burn on his finger from the heat in one case, while a futon burned in another case.

---------- M'bishi Heavy submits damage report to police after cyber attacks TOKYO - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. submitted on Friday a damage report to Tokyo police following recent cyber attacks on its information network system, company officials said.

Police will investigate the case with an eye toward tracking down hackers by analyzing communications and other data, the officials said.

---------- 3 militants killed in drone strike in northwestern Pakistan ISLAMABAD - At least three militants were killed in a U.S. drone missile strike in a tribal area of northwestern Pakistan on Friday, security officials said.

The drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in Baghrchina village in North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan.

---------- Rolls-Royce starts taking orders for new luxury sedan in Japan TOKYO - British luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. said Friday it has started taking orders for its new five-seater Ghost Extended Wheelbase sedan in Japan, unveiling the vehicle for the first time in the country.

The sedan, priced at 34.95 million yen, will be delivered in January next year or later.

---------- Germany's Allianz to terminate insurance sales in Japan at year-end TOKYO - Allianz Life Insurance Japan Ltd. said Friday it will terminate life insurance sales in Japan at the end of this year and focus on the maintenance of existing policies.

The largest German insurer will thus effectively withdraw from the Japanese life insurance market after sluggish sales of its mainstay variable annuity insurance products amid a stock market slump and low interest rates.

---------- Volkswagen responds to Suzuki's objection over terms of alliance TOKYO - Suzuki Motor Corp. has received an e-mail from Germany's Volkswagen AG responding to a letter of objection that the Japanese automaker has sent to counter allegations of alliance terms violation, a Suzuki official said Friday.

Suzuki declined to disclose the content of the e-mail, with a spokesman saying, "it was not worth commenting on," suggesting they have yet to bridge the gap over the allegations.

---------- Ex-gangster indicted in biggest-ever cash robbery case TOKYO - Public prosecutors on Friday indicted a former gangster in Japan's biggest-ever cash robbery that took place in Tachikawa, Tokyo, in May.

Hideto Ozawa, 42, is charged with stealing around 600 million yen from a security company's office and injuring a staff member there in conspiracy with others. Arrested on Sept. 8, Ozawa is considered to have masterminded the robbery.

---------- Noda shows resolve to negotiate with Okinawa over Futenma issue TOKYO - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed his resolve Friday to negotiate with the local government and community in Okinawa over a plan to relocate a key U.S. base within the southwestern island prefecture.

"Our basic stance is to reduce the burden on Okinawa (from hosting bases) according to the Japan-U.S. agreement," Noda said at a news conference marking his one month in office. "I will strive to carefully explain this and gain their understanding." ---------- Requests for Japan's FY 2012 budget hit record high of 99 tril. yen TOKYO - Japanese government offices have requested a record high total of around 99 trillion yen ($1.3 trillion) under the state budget for the next fiscal year as the country has been forced to carry out emergency spending following the March earthquake and tsunami, officials said Friday.

The requests by ministries and agencies for fiscal 2012, starting next April, come as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is facing a difficult balancing act of boosting the Japanese economy while maintaining fiscal discipline to prevent further deterioration in its public finances, the worst among major developed countries.

---------- Plutonium detected in Iitate village in Fukushima TOKYO - Plutonium has been detected at six locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including Iitate village around 45 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, apparently as a result of the crisis at the plant triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, science ministry officials said.

The government has confirmed the spread of plutonium to the village for first time.

(c) 2011 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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