JAPAN EXECUTES THREE PRISONERS ON DEATH ROW

Japan executed three men convicted of murder, the Justice Ministry announced. Prison officials hanged Takashi Mochida, 65, in Tokyo, Masahiko Matsubara, 63, in Osaka in the west, and Keishi Nago, 37, in Fukuoka in the south, the ministry said in a statement.
The executions were the second since the government started disclosing the identities of the executed and details of their crimes, following calls for more transparency. Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama told a news conference his support for capital punishment is unchanged.
"We carried out the executions solemnly after carefully examining each case," Hatoyama said.