Japan government ordered to pay damages over noise at Atsugi air base

A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay damages to residents around Atsugi air base near Tokyo over excessive noise but rejected their call for suspending Self-Defense Forces and U.S. military flights.The Yokohama District Court ordered the state to pay approximately 5.9 billion yen ($38 million) for past disturbances but rejected the plaintiffs' demand for compensation for future noise pollution.In the lawsuit filed in 2017, the group of some 8,700 plaintiffs demanded that the state halt nighttime and early morning flights at the base and pay a total of 13.1 billion yen…READ FULL ARTICLE