KANTO Police decided Wednesday to conduct a mental examination on a man who is believed to have been involved in the murder of a former vice health minister and his wife, and the assault of the wife of another former vice health minister, investigative sources said. [KYODO]

KANTO A list of 719 cases of harassment that allegedly occurred at Waseda University in Tokyo has leaked on the Internet, university officials said. [MAINICHI]

INTERNATIONAL Two Japanese climbers stranded by atrocious weather on New Zealand’s highest peak for five days may not be rescued before the weekend, searchers said Wednesday. [MAINICHI]

INTERNATIONAL The war has finally ended for 90-year-old Tokio Watanabe. The former Japanese soldier, who fought in the Philippines in World War II and was later captured by Soviet troops, recently had his wish partially fulfilled to return a belonging that had long weighed on his mind: a photo album of a U.S. serviceman. [ASAHI]

NATIONAL The deepening recession is worrying workers nationwide, particularly temporary employees in the manufacturing industry. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL Big-eyed tuna catches need to be cut by 30 percent, says the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. [MAINICHI]

INTERNATIONAL Japan will pull its Air Self-Defense Force out of Iraq, part of an effort to withdraw its 210 military personnel from the country by the end of 2008, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Friday. [CNN]

INTERNATIONAL All nine Japanese nationals known by the Japanese Foreign Ministry to have been trapped in two hotels in Mumbai following a series of attacks have managed to escape, a senior ministry official said Friday evening. [KYODO]

NATIONAL Over the next few days, some 295,000 Japanese can expect to find a large envelope from the Supreme Court in their mailboxes with the following notice: “This is to inform you that, as a result of a lottery, you are listed as a prospective lay judge of the court.“ [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL At least 331 students graduating next March had their job offers canceled, while an estimated 30,000 nonpermanent employees have lost or will lose their jobs during the six months through March, the labor ministry said Friday. [ASAHI]

KANTO Conflicting radio information and disorder at the scene of the street rampage in Tokyo’s Akihabara district in June confused ambulance crews, resulting in the delayed transfer of victims to hospitals, according to a Tokyo metropolitan government panel report. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL A government survey found 87 percent of private-video-watching facilities do not have fire-suppression systems or other equipment required by the Fire Service Law, it was learned Tuesday. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL A total of 963 people applied to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to become astronauts, after the agency began accepting applications for the first time in 10 years, officials said. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Over a dozen threats of murder and other crimes were posted on the Internet following the random street killings in Tokyo’s Akihabara earlier this month, police said. [MAINICHI]

CHUGOKU The Hiroshima Municipal Government will launch an ordinance on July 1 requiring retailers in the city to introduce filtering for cell phones to prevent people under the age of 18 from viewing harmful information on the Internet, it has been learned. (1) [MAINICHI]

INTERNATIONAL China prepared Tuesday to welcome the first Japanese war ship to visit since World War II in a dramatic sign of improving relations between East Asia’s two major powers. [AFP]

KANSAI A Kobe woman who randomly attacked three other women at JR Osaka Railway Station has been arrested, police said. (1) [MAINICHI]

KANTO The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly’s environment and construction committee on Monday passed a bill that will revise a city ordinance to require major companies in Tokyo to cut carbon dioxide emissions, clearing the first hurdle in introducing the first such ordinance in the country. (1) [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Many people request ambulances for nonemergency purposes, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey of fire departments in 51 major cities. [YOMIURI]

RYUKYU Moritoshi Oshiro still bears the scars from the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. He walks with a limp and cannot see out of one eye, the result of beatings he endured despite his father’s now-famous efforts to protect the then 12-year-old boy. [ASAHI]