Ruling and opposition parties in Japan agreed to a record $144 billion supplemental budget that will go to a parliamentary vote. Although the spending measure is likely to lose in the upper house, approval in the House of Representatives will carry the measure, as that vote would trump the vote in the

Tokyo, May 21 (Jiji Press)--Japan's parliament on Wednesday enacted a bill allowing the nation to use space for defense purposes. The move marks a revision of the country's decades-old policy of restricting space development for nonmilitary purposes.

Japan's House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon passed a bill to allow the nation to use space for defense purposes in a departure from its decades-old policy of restricting space development to peaceful purposes.

Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, Jan.

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency