POLITICS The deadlock over a bill to revise the Special Taxation Measures Law to maintain the provisional gasoline tax rate makes it uncertain whether it can be passed before the end of this fiscal year, which would mean that the law would expire. Lawmakers from the government, ruling and opposition parties broached the subject Saturday. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS The Defense Ministry has failed to take action over allegations that ministry officials built up slush funds using appropriations for intelligence activities over many years, several government sources said Saturday. [KYODO]

POLITICS Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda, Maritime Staff Office Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa and other senior defense officials will be punished over a spate of scandals ranging from last month’s deadly destroyer-trawler collision and leaks of classified information. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS With time running out, government officials will spend the weekend deciding which individual would likely win Diet approval to become governor of the Bank of Japan. [ASAHI]

POLITICS The failure rate of the Social Insurance Agency concerning the pension account fiasco continues to worsen. [ASAHI]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda urged company managers to improve labor conditions for nonregular workers in a regular e-mail magazine released Thursday. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS Japan’s lower house of parliament approved Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto to lead the central bank, deepening a political standoff after the upper house rejected the nomination yesterday. [BLOOMBERG]

POLITICS The Bank of Japan is a week away from a vacuum at the top as the opposition-controlled Upper House on Wednesday voted down the government’s bid to replace BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui with his deputy of five years, Toshiro Muto. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda expressed his willingness Thursday to hold talks with opposition parties on revising the government’s proposal to maintain the current rates of gasoline and other road-related taxes as the Japanese parliament resumed budget deliberations. [KYODO]

POLITICS The Democratic Party of Japan says it will reject the government’s nomination of Toshiro Muto for new Bank of Japan governor, even though Muto pledged to ensure the BOJ’s independence during testimony to the Diet. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Former finance ministry heavyweight Toshiro Muto vowed Tuesday to defend the Bank of Japan’s independence at a crucial time for the economy, urging a divided parliament to back him as central bank chief. [AFP]

POLITICS With Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui’s term expiring in 11 days, the government and ruling bloc on Friday finally nominated one of his deputies, Toshiro Muto, to replace him at the central bank. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS Japan needs to establish its own sovereign wealth fund worth several to a dozen trillion yen, so as to effectively create wealth and sustain growth despite population declines, a lawmaker advocating the fund said. [KYODO]

POLITICS The government on Monday decided to begin work on a full-scale reorganization of the Defense Ministry following a series of scandals and accidents, including the recent collision between the Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer Atago and a fishing vessel. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS The Democratic Party of Japan will boycott House of Councilors deliberations on the fiscal 2008 budget and tax reform for at least one week and will refuse to accept any government nomination for the next Bank of Japan chief until Diet business returns to normal, DPJ executive members said Sunday. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

POLITICS The central and the Tokyo metropolitan governments are at odds over whether to require office buildings and other corporate facilities to cut greenhouse gas emissions, with the central government recently scrapping its plan and the metropolitan government vowing to go ahead with its own measures. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS The fiscal 2008 budget and bills related to tax reform passed the House of Representatives plenary session Friday night with a majority vote by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito as three major opposition parties abstained from voting. [YOMIURI]

POLITICS South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed Monday to hold a summit with Japan on a regular basis and consider reviving talks to tear down trade barriers between the two countries, Lee’s spokesman said. [MAINICHI]

POLITICS The Japanese government plans to provide a total of 1.8 billion yen in grants to Madagascar and Senegal as the first batch of financial assistance in its “cool earth” partnership program aimed at helping developing economies work out measures against global warming, sources familiar with the plan said Sunday. [KYODO]

POLITICS The government plans to widen the extent to which consumer organizations can demand injunctions against business operators on behalf of individual consumers, according to sources Wednesday. [YOMIURI]