NATIONAL A record 20,992 cases of domestic violence were reported to police nationwide in 2007, up 15.1 percent from the previous year, the National Police Agency said Thursday. [ASAHI]

NATIONAL The U.S. government said in an annual report released Tuesday that criminal court procedures in Japan serve the interests of prosecutors rather than defendants. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL Japan has failed to bring child pornography under control, leaving children around the world at risk, UNICEF said on Tuesday as it launched a campaign to stamp out exploitation of minors. [REUTERS]

NATIONAL Numerous major Japanese sushi franchises and supermarkets are reluctant to serve and sell whale meat, according to a survey report compiled by environmental group Greenpeace. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL Japanese whaling ship owner Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha is set to take legal steps with the Japan Coast Guard over alleged trespassing and forcible obstruction of business by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, company officials said. (3) [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL The Supreme Court declared constitutional on Thursday the “Juki Net” national resident registry network which links basic residency registries at local authorities across Japan by compiling citizens’ basic personal information. [KYODO]

NATIONAL Japan will propose that the world reduce global greenhouse gas emissions within 10 to 20 years and set sector-by-sector emissions reduction goals to be implemented after the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, government sources said Wednesday. [KYODO]

NATIONAL The Science Council of Japan submitted a petition to the government Tuesday demanding a doubling of the tobacco tax rate and other strong controls to reduce smoking rates. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Astronaut Takao Doi is looking forward to the creation of a “home in space” for Japan. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL To discourage the overenrollment of students by national universities, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry will start forfeiting some of the additional tuition fees generated by the practice, it has been learned. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Nearly 150,000 foreigners were illegally residing in Japan on expired visas as of the beginning of this year, the Justice Ministry said Friday. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL A total of 2,451 clerical errors and other mistakes were committed at social insurance offices nationwide between fiscal 2006 and January this year, and of these, about half went unpunished, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda admitted Thursday the existence of a memo that recorded the questioning of the head of navigation of Atago, a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer that collided with a fishing boat, reversing his own remarks the previous day that such a memo did not exist. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Defense Ministry officials may have also lied when they said they had notified the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) that an injured crew member of a destroyer that collided with a fishing boat would be airlifted by helicopter. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL The health ministry was aware as far back as 2001 that a pharmaceutical company was in possession of detailed data on 3,859 people treated with a tainted blood product that caused hepatitis C but failed to notify them, according to sources. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL Japan’s Emperor Akihito has shown early signs that he may suffer the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis due to his therapy for prostrate cancer, reports said Monday. [AFP]

NATIONAL Transport minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba criticized Tuesday the Maritime Self-Defense Force for questioning an officer in charge of navigating the Aegis destroyer Atago without contacting the Japan Coast Guard, which had started its investigation into an accident involving the warship. [ASAHI]

NATIONAL The destroyer Atago was on autopilot due to “inexperience” when it collided with a small fishing boat last week, Japan Coast Guard sources said Monday. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

NATIONAL Between 15-40% of Japanese universities will go bankrupt or merge within the next ten years, according to a British scholar.

NATIONAL Nasty weather with strong winds and heavy snow continued Sunday mainly in the Sea of Japan coastal regions, leaving three people dead, one man missing and 35 people injured in 11 prefectures. [THE JAPAN TIMES]