Yokohama, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)–The Mitsui Ocean Sakura, an all-suite Japanese cruise ship, is set to go into service Saturday. Ahead of the debut, its operator, Tokyo-based MOL Cruises Ltd., an affiliate of major Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., invited

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)–The ongoing economic expansion in Japan has lasted 74 months through July based on recent preliminary government statistics, highly likely surpassing the “Izanami” boom from February 2002 to February 2008, the longest period of growth since the end

Jakarta, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Self-Defense Forces has started work to extinguish forest fires in western Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Ground SDF’s CH-47 helicopters started spraying river water scooped into large buckets Wednesday. According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, it is the SDF’s first

(Adnkronos) – Nikolai Zyuzev, a 70-year-old Russian-Canadian academic, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Russia for “high treason”. According to the Russian security services (FSB), the man allegedly collaborated with foreign organizations and promoted, at their behest, “national liberation

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to unveil her second cabinet on Thursday, retaining most of her key ministers from the first cabinet. This will be her first cabinet reshuffle since taking office last October. Takaichi plans

London, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan ranked 117th among 145 countries in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality rankings for 2026, the lowest among the Group of Seven major democracies, a WEF report showed Wednesday. Japan’s ranking improved by one spot from

(Adnkronos) – Belarus has released 25 detainees in exchange for the United States lifting some sanctions. This was announced to journalists in Minsk by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, John Coale. Among the released prisoners are human rights activists, political activists, journalists,

(Adnkronos) – A crowd of demonstrators gathered in Pristina in front of the headquarters of the European Union mission in Kosovo, Eulex, to protest the 25-year prison sentence for former president Hashim Thaci for war crimes. The demonstrators attempted to storm the

(Adnkronos) – Sweden has announced that it has summoned the Iranian ambassador and ordered the expulsion of an embassy employee due to “activities incompatible with the Vienna Convention” on diplomatic relations, according to a government statement.  “We know that Iran has long

(Adnkronos) – Clear support for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the CDU’s defeat in Saxony-Anhalt and on the eve of the September 20 vote in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania comes from the eight regional premiers who are members of the Christian Democratic

Osaka, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–A series of incidents involving students spraying pepper spray at schools occurred in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka on Wednesday. According to the prefectural police and other sources, a total of 48 people at a high school

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 27-year-old woman who performs under the name Rino Yamato and has appeared in a YouTube audition program, along with her boyfriend, on suspicion of cocaine possession, investigative sources said Wednesday. The

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations, including Russia’s effective control over the four islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories. According to

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Patients with rare diseases and under prolonged treatment will be exempt from a new Japanese system that imposes additional out-of-pocket payments for prescription drugs that are similar to over-the-counter medicines, the health ministry indicated Wednesday. On the day,

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Shoko Kawata, the 36-year-old mayor of the city of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, who is believed to be the first sitting female local government chief in Japan to take maternity leave, gave birth to her first child, a

Beijing, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Fifty relatives of former Chinese wartime laborers raised a lawsuit against six Japanese companies in China on Wednesday, seeking about 8.5 million yen per person in damages. The lawsuit, filed with a high court in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province,

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Kansai Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. have expressed an intention to use an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The facility

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–A new Japanese political party to be formed by some departing members of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance is set to be named “Minshu Kaikaku no Kai,” which roughly means “association for democratic reform,” CRA leader Junya Ogawa

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese government panel began discussions Wednesday to revise the money lending business law to make it easier for foreign financial institutions to meet financing needs that cannot be met solely by Japanese banks. The Financial System Council,

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in August fell 9.6 pct from a year earlier to 3,098,900, down for the first time in two months, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. The decrease appears to

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Masaji Matsuyama, leader of lawmakers in Japan’s Senate from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Wednesday denied views that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has interfered in personnel decisions for party members in the upper chamber of parliament. “I

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force concluded on Wednesday that the Global Hawk reconnaissance drone that lost communication and went missing crashed off the western prefecture of Tottori. The ASDF will set up an accident investigation committee and continue searching

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Almost all reposts of an online post containing false information about Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who failed to secure re-election in Sunday’s gubernatorial race, were made by social media users outside the southernmost Japan prefecture, an analysis showed

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese newspaper publisher Nikkei Inc. said its sales employees had overcharged two companies for advertising fees by inflating circulation numbers for an advertising booklet and fraudulently received several tens of millions of yen from each company. The advertising

(Adnkronos) – The Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives has approved a resolution to limit President Donald Trump’s powers regarding the war in Iran, with 220 votes in favor and 204 against. Seven Republicans – Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Hitachi Energy Ltd. said Wednesday that it will invest 528 million dollars to build a transformer manufacturing plant in Mississippi to meet surging U.S. power demand amid wider use of artificial intelligence. The Swiss unit of Hitachi Ltd.

(Adnkronos) – Health officials in the Gaza Strip reported that at least five people, including children, have died and another 13 were injured in the collapse of a residential building in the al-Sana’a area, in the southwestern part of Gaza City. More

(Adnkronos) – At least three people have died and another was seriously injured in the crash of an NBC News helicopter in Los Angeles, according to local fire officials. The helicopter crashed near the scene of another fatal accident involving a bus

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Kansai Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. have expressed an intention to join an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The facility

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s prosecution recorded or videotaped about 13,500 interrogations during the half year through March in at-home cases involving suspects not arrested or held in custody, the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said Wednesday. About 9,000 of the cases resulted