Three people were killed Thursday, including two police officers, in a shooting and stabbing attack in Japan’s central Nagano region, according to public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media outlets. Earlier police said a masked man carrying a rifle and a knife was holed up in a building in Nagano …
Read More »Beijing rebukes Japan, Britain over ‘anti-China’ G7 summit
State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an “anti-China workshop” on Monday, a day after Beijing summoned Japan’s envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the group’s summit in Hiroshima. Group of Seven (G7) declarations issued on Saturday singled out China on issues including …
Read More »Ukrainian President Zelenskyy arrives in Japan for 2023 G-7 Summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Saturday in Japan for diplomatic talks with leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies participating in the Group of Seven (G7) after the U.S. pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 jet fighters. “Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine. Security …
Read More »North Korea warns Japan not to join nuclear consulting group between US, South Korea
North Korea’s foreign ministry has warned Japan not to join the newly announced Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) between South Korea and the US and said doing so would make the Northeast Asian region unstable. The group, announced during South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the US last …
Read More »Kishida arrives in South Korea for first visit by Japanese PM in 12 years
Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida arrived in South Korea on Sunday to meet president Yoon Suk Yeol, the first state visit by a Japanese leader to the country in more than 12 years. Yoon received Kishida at the presidential residence in Seoul, where they met for talks for the second …
Read More »Private Japanese spacecraft descends toward moon
Japanese start-up ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander began descending Wednesday toward the surface of the Moon, company officials said. The lander was on the backside of the Moon at about 1600 GMT Tuesday and was expected to land and begin sending signals back to Earth within 30 minutes, the company said …
Read More »Rival factions defy ceasefire to bombard Sudan’s capital, Japan plans evacuation
Air strikes and explosions hammered Sudan’s capital on Wednesday after the failure of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the army and paramilitary forces, forcing residents to stay hunkered down and prompting Japan to prepare to evacuate its citizens. Continuous bombardments and loud blasts could be heard in central Khartoum in the …
Read More »U.S., South Korea, Japan hold missile defense drills in response to N. Korea
The United States, South Korea and Japan held a trilateral naval missile defense exercise on Monday, the South Korean navy announced, days after North Korea launched its newest intercontinental ballistic missile. The drills were held in international waters between Korea and Japan and featured three destroyers equipped with the Aegis …
Read More »Iraq seeks to benefit from Japanese expertise in infrastructure development
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday said Iraq seeks to benefit from the expertise of Japanese companies and their practices in developing Iraq’s infrastructure. Those remarks were made during his meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Iraq, Futoshi Matsumoto. The Japanese diplomat, according to a readout by al-Sudani’s bureau, …
Read More »G7 top diplomats seek unity on China after Macron remarks
The G7’s top diplomats began talks in Japan on Monday, looking to project a unified message on concerns about China after controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron. The foreign ministers are keen to move past the firestorm created by Macron’s assertion, after a trip to Beijing, that Europe should …
Read More »North Korea fires suspected ICBM, sparks evacuation order in Japan
North Korea has test-launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, prompting Tokyo to lodge a “strong protest.” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Thursday that the launch was carried out in the vicinity …
Read More »Japan’s PM Kishida in Ukraine, first post-war leader to go to a war zone
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives. Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital. He …
Read More »Japan’s PM Kishida announces $75 bln new plan to counter China in Indo-Pacific
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced an expansive new plan for an open and free Indo-Pacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster prevention. The plan announced in New Delhi is seen as Tokyo’s bid to forge …
Read More »US holding joint drills with Canada, Japan, South Korea, India
The United States has launched anti-submarine drills with Canada, India, Japan, and South Korea, according to the US Navy. The drill, dubbed Sea Dragon 23, started on Wednesday and will culminate in more than 270 hours of in-flight training, the US 7th Fleet said in a news release. Exercises range …
Read More »North Korea test-fires long-range missile: South
North Korea has test-launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward the East Sea, the South Korean military says. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Thursday that it had detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 7:10 a.m. local time. The …
Read More »Japan destroys flagship rocket minutes after launch
The failure is considered to be a significant blow to Tokyo’s aerospace ambitions Japan’s ambitions to develop a cheaper alternative to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets suffered a significant blow on Tuesday after the country’s space agency was forced to destroy its flagship H3 vehicle after its second-stage engine failed. The …
Read More »Japan discovers 7,000 unknown islands
After recounting its islands, Japan found it has 7,000 more than what is known. According to the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), the islands number had doubled to reach 14,125 from 6,852. GSI used advanced technology cross-referenced with past aerial photos to conduct the recount. The new number does …
Read More »Anger in Japan after report on plan to clear student debt in exchange for having kids
Japan’s ruling party faced backlash from opposition lawmakers and the public this week after reports surfaced that it is mulling a plan to forgive student debt for those who have a child. A panel of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has dominated Japanese politics since World War II, said on …
Read More »North Korea test-fires cruise missiles to demonstrate nuclear counterattack
North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles during a drill designed to demonstrate its ability to conduct a nuclear counterattack against hostile forces, its state media said on Friday. The exercise on Thursday involved an apparently operational strategic cruise missile unit of the Korean People’s Army, which fired the four …
Read More »In birthday speech, Japan’s emperor expresses sorrow for people suffering in war
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito expressed deep sorrow for the suffering of people in conflicts around the world and stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation in remarks released for his 63rd birthday Thursday. Naruhito did not name other countries in his carefully nuanced remarks days before the one-year anniversary of the …
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