Tokyo, March 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government adopted a stopgap budget plan with 8,564.1 billion yen in general-account spending on Friday to cover expenditures for the first 11 days of fiscal 2026, which begins on Wednesday. The government remains committed to enacting

Tokyo, March 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis destroyer Chokai, currently deployed to the United States, has completed upgrades and crew training for launching U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Friday. The destroyer, based at the MSDF’s

Tokyo, March 27 (Jiji Press)–A financial support program operated by Japan’s internal affairs ministry, known as the “Local 10,000 Project,” is drawing increasing interest from startups and new business initiatives working to address local community challenges. Designed to foster new regional economic

Hikone, Shiga Pref., March 27 (Jiji Press)–“Hikonyan,” the beloved official white cat mascot of the city of Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, will mark the 20th anniversary of its debut in April. Hikonyan derives from a legend that a white cat

Oita, March 27 (Jiji Press)–Haruo Obata, an 86-year-old man who is known in Japan as the “super volunteer” for his disaster relief work throughout the country, looks forward to attending a night school from April. Obata is set to attend the first

Lyon, France, March 26 (Jiji Press)–A court in Lyon, France, on Thursday sentenced a Chilean man facing murder charges over a case in which a Japanese woman went missing in France in 2016 to life in prison. The sentence for Nicolas Zepeda,

Tokyo, March 26, (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government plans to lifts for one year from April the restrictions imposed on the operations of coal-fired thermal power plant, in order to ensure stable electricity supply amid Middle East tensions, it was learned Thursday. As

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–A woman was fatally stabbed Thursday in the Sunshine City commercial complex in the Higashi-ikebukuro district of Tokyo’s Toshima Ward, and the attacker killed himself. The incident occurred at the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo character goods store, located

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Rohm Co., Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will start discussions on integrating their power semiconductor operations, it was learned Thursday. Power semiconductors, which control electric currents and voltage, are used for electric vehicles, home appliances and

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–The Liberal Democratic Party says in the draft of its 2026 policy platform approved at a party council Thursday that the Japanese ruling party is still only halfway to regaining public trust. According to the draft platform, endorsed

(Adnkronos) – A European Parliament vote on Thursday backing plans to allow European Union nations to create ‘return hubs’ or detention centres outside the block for failed asylum-seekers and to impose tougher penalties on illegal immigrants is “an important step”, Italy’s far-right

(Adnkronos) – On April 15, Sudan enters its 4th year of war. In Darfur, women continue to be victims of systematic sexual violence, both in active conflict zones and in daily life settings far from the front lines. Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

(Adnkronos) – Belarus and North Korea have signed a “treaty of friendship and cooperation” during President Alexander Lukashenko’s first official visit to Pyongyang. “Our economies are complementary, we need each other and we must move forward in this direction,” Lukashenko said, according

(Adnkronos) – An officer of the Berlin Ministry of Defense has been suspended on suspicion of having transmitted sensitive information about Germany’s armaments programs. Internal investigations had confirmed the suspicion that a frigate captain working at the ministry had passed a classified

(Adnkronos) – One of the Venezuelan immigrants deported in March to the Cecot super prison in El Salvador has sued the Trump administration, demanding 1.3 million in compensation. In the lawsuit, filed with the District Court for the District of Columbia, 28-year-old

(Adnkronos) – A saleswoman in her early twenties was killed inside the Pokémon Center in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, the world’s largest store dedicated to the franchise. The assailant, a man also in his 20s or 30s, then inflicted fatal wounds upon himself

(Adnkronos) – Iran is preparing a “strong response” against the United Arab Emirates for their “active role in the aggression” of the United States and Israel. This was stated by a high-level Iranian intelligence source quoted by Press TV. 

(Adnkronos) – Today concludes the experience of the European Convoy to Cuba with the return to Italy of the European delegation, which departed last March 17 as part of the ‘Let Cuba Breathe’ campaign promoted by Aicec. The Convoy – reads a

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Japanese public prosecutors on Thursday sought a fine of 1.5 million yen for former Japanese lawmaker Yasutada Ono for allegedly failing to record a portion of revenue in political funds reports in a high-profile “slush funds” scandal involving

(Adnkronos) – Strategies to boost exports and bolster national economic security amid geopolitical and global market turbulence will be at the centre of the foreign ministry and the Bank of Italy’s annual conference in Rome on 2 April, the foreign ministry said

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–A woman was stabbed to death in the Sunshine City commercial complex in the Higashi-ikebukuro district of Tokyo’s Toshima Ward on Thursday. The incident occurred at the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo character goods store in the complex. There

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government began releasing the country’s state oil reserves Thursday, in an effort to ensure a stable supply of oil products amid Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following its conflict with the United

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested Thursday that she has gained U.S. President Donald Trump’s understanding of Japan’s constitutional constraints over sending a Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel to the Strait of Hormuz. “I explained (to Trump) in detail

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Renowned foreign economists on Thursday proposed that the Japanese government achieve a primary budget balance within several years in light of rising interest rates or curb the deficit in the balance. The primary balance indicates to what extent

(Adnkronos) – Economic and trade cooperation and Ethiopia’s push to complete its long-running World Trade Organisation entry bid this year were at the centre of talks in Addis Ababa on Thursday between Italy’s foreign under-secretary Maria Tripodi and the African country’s deputy

(Adnkronos) – Nicolas Maduro will appear today before a federal judge in New York, asking for the dismissal of narco-terrorism charges against him, as the United States government is allegedly blocking his defense by preventing the use of Venezuelan government funds to

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Japanese regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group Inc. and Gunma Bank said Thursday that they have reached a definite agreement to integrate their operations in April 2027. They will establish a new holding company, Gunma Niigata Financial Group

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani is taking part in a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Cernay-la-Ville, France that will focus on the United States-Israel war against Iran and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a foreign ministry statement said on Thursday.     

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–A Jiji Press survey showed Thursday that 21 of 100 major Japanese companies plan to increase the recruitment of new graduates for spring 2027 from the levels this year. More than half of the 100 firms said that

Lyon, March 26 (Jiji Press)–The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development maintained its global economic growth forecast at 2.9 pct for 2026, in its latest Economic Outlook report released on Thursday. While noting that how the conflict between the U.S.-Israeli camp and