The Spanish government will likely agree to transfer the custody of a Montenegrin member of the "Pink Panther" ring of thieves to Japan over a 2007 robbery case at a jewelry shop in Tokyo's Ginza district, government sources said Wednesday. Rifat Hadziahmetovic, 42, had been put on Interpol's wanted list by the Tokyo police for allegedly stealing jewels, including a diamond tiara worth 200 million yen, from the upscale Ginza shop in 2007. Spain has held his custody for an alleged involvement in a separate robbery case, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. (AP)

Attendance figures have been consistently strong for "The Cove," a critical portrayal of the dolphin fishing industry of Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture, since it began screening at cinemas in Japan more than three weeks ago. Although police officers were sent to some movie theaters on the film's opening day in anticipation of possible violence by protesters, the hubbub quickly subsided. The popularity of "The Cove," which won the Best Documentary prize at this year's Academy Awards, has led to additional theaters showing the film and others extending its run. (Yomiuri)

Keisuke Kuwata, singer-songwriter of the popular rock band Southern All Stars, has early stage esophageal cancer and will undergo surgery as early as next month, his management firm, Amuse Inc., said Wednesday. Kuwata, 54, will cancel a planned concert tour that was to run from Oct. 28 to Dec. 31 and postpone the release of a new solo album that had been set to go on sale Oct. 20, the company said. (Japan Times)

Nepalese police have arrested a 27-year-old Japanese national at Kathmandu's international airport on suspicion of possessing 1.2 kilograms of hashish, an official said Wednesday. Hirokazu Tamura, from Fukuoka Prefecture, was arrested on July 11 while trying to catch a flight to Bangkok, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Dibash Raj Udash of the government's Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit. (AP)

A man has been arrested for pouring oil on his 14-year-old son's back and setting him alight in May, leaving the victim with severe burns, police said. Minoru Kuraoka, 42, an unemployed man of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, was taken into custody on July 28 on suspicion of attempted murder. He denied the allegations against him during questioning. "I poured oil on his back, but I never set fire to him. I don't know why his back is burned," he was quoted as telling investigators. (Mainichi)