Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Five major Japanese opposition parties reiterated their demands on Wednesday that parliament thoroughly discuss allegations that a secretary to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had been involved in creating defamatory videos targeting rivals in elections. The opposition parties requested

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Substantive discussions started on a bill to criminalize the act of damaging the national flag, at Japan’s House of Representatives on Wednesday. The Cabinet Committee of the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, heard an explanation

Nashville, Tennessee, June 23 (Jiji Press)–A 16-year-old Japanese girl living in Nashville, Tennessee, which hosts the training base of the Japanese men’s national soccer team for the ongoing FIFA World Cup, aspires to join the women’s national team, dubbed Nadeshiko Japan. “I

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Japan protested to China over Beijing’s gas-field drilling activity near the median line in the East China Sea, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Wednesday. Kihara said at a press conference that Japan found a mobile drilling vessel

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Chinese authorities took two Japanese nationals into custody in May on suspicion of violating the country’s law for cracking down on the smuggling of banned items, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Wednesday. One of them was

Japan Chain Stores Association June 24 Yr/Yr Change Total 1,098,656 M. Yen Up 2.9 pct Foodstuffs 784,616 Up 3.3 Clothing 52,082 Down 0.2 Sundries 106,593 Up 8.2 Furniture and Interior Goods 60,522 Down 0.2 Home Electric Appliances 3,772 Up 8.6 Note: Year-on-year

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Ocean freight transportation fees soared to hit a record high for the third straight month in May, the Bank of Japan’s services producer price data showed Wednesday. The index on the sector rose 61.8 pct year on year

New York, June 23 (Jiji Press)–The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring host states to prosecute perpetrators of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers, after seven peacekeepers had been killed in Lebanon since March. The resolution, presented by Denmark and Pakistan,

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan’s “tankan” quarterly survey for June is expected to show slight deterioration in business sentiment among major Japanese manufacturers, according to estimates by 13 private think tanks and securities companies. The think tanks and securities

Brussels, June 23 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Emperor Naruhito wished for lasting friendship and cooperation between his country and Belgium in a speech at a banquet hosted by Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde at the Castle of Laeken in Brussels on Tuesday. Noting

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Debate on constitutional revision is intensifying in commissions on the Constitution in both chambers of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, during the ongoing special session. In the House of Representatives, the more powerful lower chamber, lawmakers have been discussing

New Delhi, June 24 (Jiji Press)–The venue of the envisaged Japan-India summit next month may be changed from Guwahati in the northeastern Indian state of Assam to New Delhi, the capital of the South Asian country, diplomatic sources have said. The Japanese

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s industry ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency have agreed to cooperate on the development of small modular reactors. Industry minister Ryosei Akazawa and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi signed a memorandum to that effect at their meeting

Bangkok, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Law-enforcement authorities in Xiengkhouang Province, northeastern Laos, have detained nine Japanese people for their alleged involvement in special fraud. According to local media reports, police took a total of 17 suspects, including the Japanese nationals, into custody June

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–A senior Japanese official has underscored the country’s pledge to continue supporting Ukraine and implementing sanctions on Russia in cooperation with the international community. Ayano Kunimitsu, state minister for foreign affairs, showed this stance of the administration of

(Adnkronos) – European Council president Antonio Costa – one of the European Union’s top officials – could be well placed as a mediator in future peace talks to end the more-than- four-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday. 

Kobe, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Police in Hyogo Prefecture arrested a 50-year-old woman on Tuesday on suspicion of abandoning the body of her former husband, whose body was found in a freezer in his apartment in Kobe, the western Japan prefecture’s capital, on

(Adnkronos) – The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, rejected the “Israeli occupation” of southern Lebanon and all forms of foreign interference in the country, in an indirect reference to Iran, while the fifth round of talks between Israel and Lebanon has begun in

(Adnkronos) – After the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum also announces – “exceptionally” – an early closure at 4 PM, compared to the usual 6 PM, starting tomorrow and until next Saturday, as France grapples with deadly heatwaves. The “historic building” is

(Adnkronos) – More than 200 arrests in Turkey. International media spotlights are turning to the country led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the Nato summit in early July. Donald Trump will also be there. Police detained 209 people during operations targeting

(Adnkronos) – Kenya has ordered a halt to the construction of an Ebola quarantine facility managed by the United States. This was stated by the country’s Health Minister Aden Duale after being accused in court of contempt for ignoring a previous order

(Adnkronos) – While in Europe the political value of a perceived closeness to Donald Trump continues to be questioned – a trend amplified by Viktor Orbán’s recent defeat in Hungary and the harsh exchange with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the

Tokyo, June 23 (Jiji Press)–KDDI Corp. said Tuesday that its email system for internet service providers has been breached, and up to 14.22 million sets of email addresses and passwords may have been leaked. The affected service providers include STNet Inc., JCOM

(Adnkronos) – The new Bulgarian government of Rumen Radev, a center-left national-populist, has already begun to assert its positions in the EU Council, which, regarding policies towards the LGBT community, are characterized by marked traditionalism, with repressive traits borrowed from Viktor Orban’s

(Adnkronos) – Roberto Sanchez, a left-wing presidential candidate in Peru, has called for the annulment of votes from overseas residents in the runoff where he is slightly behind his conservative rival. With almost all votes counted, right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has obtained

Brussels, June 23 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, who are on a state visit to Belgium, attended a welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace of Brussels on Tuesday. The Imperial couple alighted from a car at the square in front

(Adnkronos) – Italy could play a role Lebanon if the current shaky truce holds, and it is working on a mission aimed at strengthening the state’s authority, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday, noting that the Italian military is already training the

Beijing, June 23 (Jiji Press)–Japanese lawmaker Gaku Hashimoto, acting chairman of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, a Japan-China friendship organization, said during his visit to Beijing on Tuesday that he met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying