PM apologises

Tokyo (Reuter) - Japan's Prime Minister, Kiichi Miyazawa, apologised to the nation yesterday for the Sagawa gifts-and- gangsters scandal and promised not to renege on promises of political reform.

The scandal threatens his emergency economic package and therefore the survival of the government. Mr Miyazawa said that the government would take a first step towards political reform with a package of short- term measures he said should be passed during the current session.