Japan’s government apologised today for an accident in which three people in Southern China inhaled poison gas from decaying chemical weapons abandoned by Japan’s former Imperial army.

Japan and China will hold two days of talks on their troubled bilateral relations and regional issues, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said today.

The apparent kidnapping of a Japanese man by a militant group in Iraq will not affect Tokyo’s troop deployment there, Japan’s defence chief said today as officials vowed to make every effort to win his release.