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The US and Japan were forced to halt military exercises this week because of Russian jets flying nearby, Japanese officials have revealed. Russia admitted its jets were flying above the Sea of Japan, but said the pilots had not breached any rules. Moscow and Tokyo have argued recently over an island chain they both claim. The US-Japan war games are the biggest ever held between the two countries, involving more than 44,000 personnel and 60 warships. The drills - codenamed Keen Sword - are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the US-Japan alliance.

U.S. puts off meetings on broader ties / PM's inaction on Futenma issue blamed The Yomiuri Shimbun The U.S. government, reacting to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's procrastination over the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, has informed Tokyo it will postpone key bilateral consultations aimed at "deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance," government sources said Tuesday. The previously agreed consultations were suggested by Hatoyama in summit talks with U.S. President Barack Obama when he visited Tokyo last month. Expectations on the part of the Japanese government were to see the consultations start before the end of...

Former Marine who sparked Okinawa furor is dead in suspected murder-suicide Abduction and rape recharged opposition to U.S. bases in late 1990s By David Allen, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Friday, August 25, 2006 CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Almost 11 years after the crime that recharged opposition to U.S. bases here, a former Marine convicted in the abduction and rape of an Okinawa schoolgirl is believed to have killed a Georgia woman before committing suicide in her apartment. Kennesaw, Ga., police spokesman Mike Brock told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday that Kendrick Ledet, 31, of Smyrna, Ga., was discovered dead...

IRABU, Okinawa Prefecture-An airstrip on the islet of Shimojijima, far southwest of Okinawa's main island, has been swept up in the United States' geopolitical strategy to transform its armed forces. Besides the U.S. military, the maneuverings involve the Self-Defense Forces, town council intrigue, local fear of Chinese submarines and a mysterious negotiator promising money from the central government. As for the island's strategic value, no one seems quite sure. What is certain is that little progress is being made on construction of an offshore heliport near Henoko in Okinawa's Nago. The facility is intended to replace the U.S. Marine Corps...