Kiran kristen Yulia

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed regret later Monday over the suicide of Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka. Abe praised Matsuoka for making "utmost efforts" to promote Japanese exports of rice, but refused to comment on the reason behind the suicide, Kyodo News reported. Matsuoka was confirmed dead in a hospital after committing suicide by hanging himself in his living room at a parliamentary housing building in central Tokyo. He was found to have committed suicide and lost heartbeats at around 12:18 p.m. (0918 GMT) when his secretary went to the apartment to look for him since he did not appear at a regular meeting in the morning, local media reported. The 62-year-old of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been in a quagmire of a series of political funds scandals, including acceptance of donations from companies suspected of rigging bid for public works projects. Two of his campaign fund management bodies have received 13 million yen in donations from 14 Kumamoto-based contractors, who have been awarded construction projects by the Japan Green Resources Agency (J-Green), a government-controlled forestry management body suspected of having been involved in rigging bids. The minister has allegedly received some 8.5 million yen in donations from contractors implicated in bid rigging for forestry road construction projects. He was demanded by the opposition camp to resign. Japanese media said Matsuoka's suicide.

By a vote of 348 to 73, the House approved the measure as part of a deal on Iraq spending. Less than two hours later, the wage increase was approved in the Senate, where it was combined with a bill providing more money for the Iraq war. That vote was 80 to 14. The measure would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 in three stages over two years. The bill includes $4.84 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. They have made a case, supported by Republicans and the White House, that the wage increase would be a burden for them. President Bush said he would sign the measure as part of the bigger spending package that had been negotiated between Democratic lawmakers and the administration. After the bill is signed, the wage increase will become the first item in the �Six for �06� agenda of the new Congressional Democratic leadership to become law. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said the increase was overdue.