Kyodo news summary

Japan Policy & Politics, Feb 28, 2005

---------- Bush, Putin again urge N. Korea to abandon nuke ambitions

BRATISLAVA - U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday they agreed to continue pressing North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions through six-nation talks.

''We agreed that North Korea should not have a nuclear weapon,'' Bush said at a joint news conference with Putin. ''This is an area where we're working closely together as two nations of the five nations that are involved with North Korea.''

---------- Annan hints at setting timetable for U.N. reform

NEW YORK - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told two visiting Japanese lawmakers Thursday he may set a timetable to reform the world body.

The two -- Fukushiro Nukaga of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Seiji Maehara of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan -- related Annan's determination after meeting him at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

---------- World's population to rise to 9.1 bil. by 2050: U.N.

NEW YORK - The world's population will grow by 2.6 billion people over the next 45 years, from 6.5 billion today to 9.1 billion in 2050 due to growth in developing countries, the United Nations said Thursday.

The United Nations said the world's less developed regions will see their population soar to 7.8 billion in 2050 from 5.3 billion today while the population of the more developed regions will remain mostly unchanged at 1.2 billion.

---------- Russia raps Japan, U.S. over move on isles dispute

MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized Japan and the United States on Thursday for agreeing to urge Russia to settle a decades-long territorial dispute with Japan.

The ministry accused Washington of meddling in the bilateral issue between Japan and Russia by ''internationalizing'' the dispute.

---------- Japan eyes Futemma relocation elsewhere in, out of Okinawa: papers

TOKYO - The Japanese government is considering relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station elsewhere in Japan or abroad from its current planned site in the city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, two major newspapers reported Friday.

The Asahi Shimbun said the government is looking for an alternate site in light of growing concerns over risks following the crash of a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter into a university campus in Ginowan, central Okinawa, in August last year.