Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Aeon Co. President and CEO Akio Yoshida apologized Wednesday for the deaths of three people following an explosion that occurred at the Japanese company’s Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping facility after a powerful earthquake the previous day. “I seriously

Bangkok, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing has called on Japanese companies to expand investment and trade in the Southeast Asian country at a business event in Yangon. The event, which was jointly organized by the Myanmar government and a

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged Wednesday to disburse ordinary local allocation tax grants ahead of schedule to municipalities affected by Tuesday’s powerful earthquake in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto. The administration will continue to provide so-called push-type

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Sixteen single-seat constituencies for Japan’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, have a vote-value gap of over two times compared with the least populated district, Jiji Press estimates showed Wednesday. The number rose from eight in

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese judicial and prosecutorial authorities on Wednesday dismissed 48-year-old prosecutor Masahito Nishida for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman he had investigated. Nishida began the inappropriate relationship with the woman around 2024, after an investigation of her

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to instruct senior officials of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to make necessary preparations for a law revision to implement a two-year consumption tax rate cut for food items

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The death toll from Tuesday’s powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan has reached 12, the prefectural disaster response headquarters said Wednesday. Six other people were in a state of cardiac arrest as of 2 p.m.

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The outlook for factory operations remained unclear in the Kyushu southwestern Japan region Wednesday after a powerful earthquake hit the region’s Kumamoto Prefecture the previous day. In Kumamoto, a semiconductor industry hub, chipmakers halted the operations of their

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese space startup ispace Inc. said Wednesday it will use Japan’s H3 rocket for the launch of a lunar lander scheduled for 2028, marking the company’s first mission using a domestically developed rocket. The company signed a contract

(Adnkronos) – Greek firefighters are still battling today a wildfire that broke out yesterday on the tourist island of Paros in the Aegean Sea, which led to preventive evacuations on Tuesday night into Wednesday. “The fire broke out yesterday evening in Kampi,

(Adnkronos) – The German government is preparing to complete a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, triggered by the resignation of conservative parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn. Members of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc will meet in an extraordinary session to elect Thorsten Frei,

(Adnkronos) – In South Africa, factories, farms, and homes are struggling to find labor after thousands of foreign workers left within weeks, fleeing sometimes deadly anti-migrant demonstrations that swept the country, accompanied by a tightening of controls on undocumented immigrants.  A sign

(Adnkronos) – The Czech Republic is set to experience another extreme heatwave in the coming days, as temperatures will exceed 35 degrees Celsius as early as tomorrow, and could reach 40 degrees in some places on Friday. This was reported today via

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan has said the ground surface in the city of Yatsushiro in Kumamoto Prefecture moved about 84 centimeters in a northeasterly direction following Tuesday’s strong earthquake that rocked the southwestern Japan prefecture. The

Sydney, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan and Australia have agreed to strengthen cooperation on quantum technology in areas including supply chain resilience, research and development, commercialization, startup support and human resource development. Kimi Onoda, Japanese minister for science and technology policy, and Tim

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police have referred a former Japan Post Holdings Co. employee to prosecutors for allegedly receiving bribes linked to a post office rebuilding project in the Japanese capital, informed sources said Wednesday. Takahiro Kido, 54, is suspected of

Bangkok, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Lao police have detained 51 people, including five Japanese nationals, during a raid on a hotel in northern Laos suspected of serving as a base for an organized communications fraud ring, local media reported on Tuesday. Police seized

(The second sentence of the final paragraph should have read. “…in Osaka grew by…,” instead of as sent. A substitute story follows.) Japanese Population Dips below 120 Million Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The number of Japanese people living in the country as

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Wednesday left its basic economic assessment unchanged in July while keeping a close eye on the fallout from the lingering tensions in the Middle East. “The Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace, while

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese judicial and prosecutorial authorities on Wednesday dismissed 48-year-old prosecutor Masahito Nishida for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman he had investigated. Nishida began the inappropriate relationship with the woman around 2024, after an investigation of her

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Headwinds are intensifying for Japan’s offshore wind power sector, with British oil giant BP PLC seen exiting a major project off northeastern Japan. Offshore wind power is regarded as a key element in the country’s renewable energy strategy,

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The number of foreign residents in Japan grew 9.62 pct to 4,031,159 as of Jan. 1 from a year before, increasing in the country’s all 47 prefectures for four years in a row, the internal affairs ministry said

(Adnkronos) – The toll of five deaths has been confirmed in a paper mill damaged by the violent earthquake that struck Japan yesterday. A local official told AFP. Four other people are missing at the Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro, where

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to instruct senior officials of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to make necessary preparations for a law revision to implement a two-year consumption tax rate cut to 1 pct

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to instruct senior officials of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to make necessary preparations for a law revision to implement a two-year consumption tax rate cut to 1 pct

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel continued search-and-rescue operations on Wednesday after a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan the previous day. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the death toll from the earthquake had

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel continued search-and-rescue operations on Wednesday after a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan the previous day. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the death toll from the earthquake had

Kumamoto, July 28 (Jiji Press)–A powerful earthquake that hit Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday caused significant disruptions to economic and corporate activities in the prefecture and other areas in the Kyushu southwestern Japan region. An explosion occurred at retail giant Aeon Co.’s Aeon

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Local residents in Kumamoto Prefecture have fled to evacuation centers amid power and water outages after a powerful earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture on Tuesday, while medical institutions and stores are responding to the aftermath. In the

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–Video footage released Wednesday by the National Police Agency shows extensive damage inside a shopping mall in Kumamoto Prefecture where an explosion occurred following a powerful earthquake in the southwestern Japan prefecture the previous day. The footage captured