Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s major opposition Centrist Reform Alliance on Tuesday recommended Keiichi Ishii as vice speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament. Ishii, 67, is expected to be chosen as Lower House

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–An increasing number of profit-making large companies in Japan are trimming their workforces, including through voluntary retirement programs. Although cutting jobs has been a traditional tactic to boost the finances of loss-making firms, it is now being used

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Yamanashi and eight other Japanese prefectures have formed a framework aimed at deepening exchanges with India, whose economy continues growing rapidly. The prefectures, also including Iwate, Miyagi, Toyama, Nagano, Shizuoka, Aichi, Tottori and Kagawa, hope to strengthen cooperation

(The final paragraph should have read, “…its first-round record…,” instead of as sent. A substitute story follows.) Japan Ties Record Winter Games Medals with Figure Skating Pairs Gold Milan, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara secured gold in figure

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan suffers an estimated annual economic loss of around 1 trillion yen due to the “social jet lag” mismatch between people’s sleep patterns on weekdays and holidays. The estimate comes from a University of Tsukuba research group that

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Former Sega Corp. President Hideki Sato, who helped develop the firm’s flagship gaming consoles, including the Mega Drive, died at 75 on Friday, the company said on its official X account Monday. A native of the northernmost prefecture

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, also governor of Osaka Prefecture, has indicated the possibility of considering returning to national politics. Yoshimura told a meeting of JIP executives in the city of Osaka, the capital of the western

Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan will help young people in Gaza gain economic independence and prevent them from radicalizing, Takeshi Okubo, Japanese ambassador in charge of assisting the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory, said in an interview with Jiji Press on Monday.

(Adnkronos) – In Nepal, the election campaign has begun ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for March 5. These will be the first since the protests five months ago that left dozens dead and led to the end of Khadga Prasad Sharma

(Adnkronos) – Russian oil producers may be forced to drastically cut production in the coming months due to increasing pressure from the United States and the European Union on energy exports, which are causing overloaded depots and jeopardizing the Kremlin’s military budget.

(Adnkronos) – At least 28 people have died in an attack that hit a market in North Kordofan, Sudan. This is what the Emergency Lawyers organization reported on X, the day after the alleged massacre, stating that “drones” “bombed the market in

(Adnkronos) – After seeking to reassure European allies by stating, from the podium of the Munich security conference, that “Donald Trump is temporary”, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom today in London signed a memorandum of understanding with the British Energy Minister, Ed

(Adnkronos) – Muhammad Yunus, until today leading the interim administration of Bangladesh, has announced his resignation, four days after the first elections since the end of the Sheikh Hasina era. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman, son of Khaleda

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A proposal to reduce the number of seats in Japan’s House of Representatives may be put on hold following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the Lower House election earlier this month. Calls for shelving the

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s transport ministry said Monday that it has launched a certification system to simplify the import process for passenger cars produced in the United States. This initiative was agreed with the United States in July last year, in

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Monday began sending electricity from its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, to the Tokyo metropolitan area for the first time in about 14 years. The No. 6 reactor

(Adnkronos) – In 2025, civilian casualties in Ukraine caused by bombings increased by 26%, a figure that reflects the rise in Russian attacks against the country’s cities and infrastructure. According to the Guardian, citing Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), 2,248 civilians were

(Adnkronos) – The Kremlin has rejected as “unfounded” the assessment by five European countries that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of poisoning while in an Arctic penal colony two years ago. “Of course, we do not accept such accusations. We do

(Adnkronos) – Charges have been dropped against the Venezuelan immigrants who, according to the reconstruction provided by federal prosecutors, had assaulted an ICE agent last January in Minneapolis, who then opened fire, wounding one of the two men in the leg. In

(Adnkronos) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inaugurated housing for the families of North Korean soldiers who were killed alongside Russian troops in the war against Ukraine. Kim participated with his daughter Kim Ju-ae in the inauguration of a new residential

(Adnkronos) – The Bondi Beach attacker, in Australia, appeared in court this morning for the first time via video link. This was reported by the broadcaster Abc. Naveed Akram is accused of having carried out, together with his father Sajid, who was

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday reiterated her willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to the reclusive country decades ago. “I want to achieve a

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese film “Kokuho” had earned 20,008.51 million yen at the box office in Japan as of Sunday, film distributor Toho Co. said Monday. Released in June last year, the film continued to extend its own all-tine record for

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo District Court on Monday handed down a life sentence to a senior member of a Japanese crime ring that was led by individuals called “Luffy” in the Philippines and behind a series of high-profile robbery and other

Fukuoka, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Fukuoka High Court rejected an appeal on Monday for a retrial for the 1992 murder of two 7-year-old girls in the city of Iizuka in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Fukuoka, for which a death row convict had

(3rd para should have read “… minister-BOJ …,” instead of as sent) Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Monday. Emerging from his first meeting

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese and Indian governments will sign a memorandum of understanding on their cooperation in the domestic development of artificial intelligence, Jiji Press learned Monday. The signing will take place at an AI event hosted by the Indian

Yokohama, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese home electronics retailer Nojima Corp. is eager to boost its merger and acquisition activities, ready to spend up to 300 billion yen per deal, Jiji Press has learned. “There is a possibility of spending 200 billion to

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Junya Ogawa, leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, plans to appoint Takeshi Shina as secretary-general of the main Japanese opposition party, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Shina, 59, is a former member of the Constitutional Democratic

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will not send any cabinet minister to an annual ceremony for the Takeshima Islands, now under effective control of South Korea, in Shimane Prefecture, it was learned Monday. As usual, the Cabinet Office’s