JAPAN

JAPAN
Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, April 3: How should Japan and the United States split the bill for the planned transfer of 8,000 U.S. marines from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam?
The transfer of the 8,000 U.S. Marine Corps troops to Guam will provide a great opportunity to reduce the burden imposed on Okinawa Prefecture. Given this, Japan has good reason to pay its fair share of the costs of the relocation.
One-sided demand
However, the U.S. demand for Japan to foot 75 percent of the bill should be seen as extremely disproportionate. Tokyo has no reason to accept this one-sided demand from Washington.
Japan should not pay for the construction of facilities unrelated to the transfer of U.S. marines. The government should demand the United States ... clearly state the grounds for its estimate of the relocation costs.
The government must step up efforts to convince residents of the prefecture to back its position. ... It is an essential task for the government in trying to reach an agreement with the United States over the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press, April 4: Yards all over Winnipeg are emerging again from under blankets of winter snow. They don't look like much ... but without doubt gardeners are starting to think about how they might look as spring advances.
One thing many will be considering is the purchase of fertilizers to green up grass. As John Morriss argued ... on Saturday, however, Winnipeggers should keep in mind that at least some of that fertilizer will find its way into drainage systems and eventually into Lake Winnipeg.
Mr. Morriss, the publisher of a farm weekly, argues that new regulations to protect the lake by requiring farmers to have nutrient management plans and soil tests to measure nutrient needs should be extended to cities where fertilizers are used more for cosmetic rather than economic and environmental reasons. It's an argument that seems to make common sense and should be explored ... at city hall or on Broadway.
Restrictions
The Lake Winnipeg Water Stewardship Board, in fact, has already recommended the province consider the imposition of restrictions on cosmetic use of fertilizers.
(In Minnesota) ... laws have been passed that limit the use of phosphorous for cosmetic purposes. Its use is not banned, but homeowners are required to have soil tests done to prove that their lawns need it and by how much.
Critics of the measures pointed out that phosphorus runoff from lawns was not a significant contributor to nutrient loads in lakes. In fact, runoff contributed less to the problem than did the creation of grass clippings. But the measures appear to have carried the day for other reasons.
BRITAIN
The Times of London, April 5: The spat between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown over the future of pensions is easy enough to explain. One man wants to secure a legacy of long-term reform that all political parties can agree upon, and the other is worried about picking up the bill. But, while affordability is a genuine issue, the Chancellor's objections to Lord Turner of Ecchinswell's Pensions Commission report should not be allowed to block the full implementation of what is an eminently sensible package.
'Progressive consensus'
We have now reached the point at which the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Pensions Commission, the Blairite wing of the Labour Party and much of old Labour are agreed that the basic state pension should be linked to earnings again, means-testing should be reduced, employees should be automatically enrolled in a pensions scheme, employers should contribute more, and women should be better looked after in retirement. There is, as Mr. Brown might put it, a "progressive consensus" on Lord Turner's proposals. At last, a reluctant Chancellor is coming round too.
It is true that a higher basic state pension linked to earnings will cost the Treasury more. But some of this extra spending can be mitigated by raising the age at which the pension can be claimed. ...
The country is starting to accept that individuals, their employers and the State are all going to have to put more money into pensions. Mr. Brown has been the sole obstacle. If he is now prepared to swallow his pride (and) stop sulking, that can only be good news for tomorrow's elderly.