Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will step up efforts to bolster the country’s national security under her second cabinet, launched Wednesday following her Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election. The Takaichi

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in December last year rose 19.1 pct from the previous month, up for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said Thursday. The result, which followed a 11.0 pct drop

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest Corp. said Thursday that part of its internal systems has been accessed illegally from outside in what may be a ransomware attack. The company said that unusual activity was detected in its

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–The support rate for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party topped 30 pct for the first time in four years in February, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed Thursday. Support for the LDP jumped 7.6 percentage points from the

Washington, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–U.S. Federal Reserve officials discussed the impact of a weaker yen and higher Japanese government bond yields when they met in late January, the minutes of the meeting showed Wednesday. “A few participants noted the need to monitor

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–A ransomware attack at Japanese food and beverage giant Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. last September led to the leak of 115,513 sets of personal data, the company has said. Of the total, 110,396 involved the names and phone

Otsu, Shiga Pref., Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police arrested a 22-year-old Syrian man on Wednesday on suspicion of abandoning a woman’s body in a wooded area in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. Mohamad Hamoud, an unemployed man from Ogaki in neighboring Gifu

Washington, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–The U.S. Department of Defense has said that it would not return the site of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base in Okinawa Prefecture to the Japanese side unless a long runway is secured at a replacement

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly threatening a junior high school girl into prostitution in violation of the child welfare law, investigative sources told Jiji Press. According to the sources, Eiki Morita, a

Milan, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–Mari Fukada, 19, captured gold in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Wednesday, becoming the youngest Japanese female gold medalist at a Winter Games. Kokomo Murase took bronze in the same event, earning her

(Adnkronos) – Stop, “until further notice”, to social media platforms in Gabon. The decision by the telecommunications authority (Hac) is motivated by the accusation of “inappropriate, defamatory” content and feared repercussions for “social cohesion, institutional stability and national security”. The Authority, reports

(Adnkronos) – A cybercriminal managed to access a national bank account database and viewed information on 1.2 million accounts. This was announced by the French Ministry of Economy in a statement, explaining that the individual used stolen employee credentials and gained unauthorized

(Adnkronos) – A shooting in a park in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato has caused the death of one person and the injury of eight minors, according to local authorities. The attack, which occurred late yesterday evening, resulted in the death

(Adnkronos) – A ministerial meeting of the Friends of the Western Balkans Group will take place in Rome on 3 March, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said during a visit to Albania’s capital, Tirana, on Wednesday.  Tajani made the announcement at press conference

(Adnkronos) – The Foreign Ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, North Macedonia, and Romania have adopted a joint declaration on Corridor VIII. The document reaffirmed ”our commitment to close cooperation and good neighborly relations”, emphasizing that ”Corridor VIII is a strategic east-west axis

(Adnkronos) – In Japan, Sanae Takaichi was confirmed in Parliament, formally the new prime minister after the triumph of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the elections ten days ago. In the Lower House, with 465 seats, where the majority is held

(Adnkronos) – A judge has blocked the deportation of Moshen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student who led protests at Columbia University against Israel and the war in Gaza. In the ruling, Judge Nina Froes, who handles immigration cases, blocked the procedure initiated by

(Adnkronos) – At least 38 miners have died due to an explosion in a lead mine in Plateau State, central Nigeria, according to local sources reported to AFP.  “38 people have been confirmed dead and another 27 have been rushed to hospital,”

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Following her re-election as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday, Sanae Takaichi expressed her resolve for the passage of the government’s fiscal 2026 budget bill by March 31, the end of fiscal 2025. At a press conference, Takaichi indicated

Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–Labor unions at major Japanese automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp., on Wednesday submitted their pay increase demands for this year’s “shunto” labor-management negotiations. Some unions lowered their demands from last year, as the industry faces headwinds from U.S.

(Adnkronos) – Italy backs the acceleration of Albania and Montenegro’s European Union membership bids and “also those of all other candidate countries,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Tirana on Wednesday.  ‘We are absolutely in favour of speeding up negotiations for

(Adnkronos) – The potential for economic cooperation between the Adriatic and Balkan regions is “immense” and Italy has made the Balkans “a priority area” for its internationalisation action plan, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday,  “The potential for economic cooperation between

Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–Attention is being paid to whether Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will be able to implement her plan to cut consumption tax to zero for food, following the launch of her second administration Wednesday. Takaichi will face a

(Adnkronos) – Corridor VIII, the infrastructure axis that will link the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, is a “crucial strategic priority” for Italy, foreign minister Antonio Tajani told a press conference in Albania’s capital, Tirana on Wednesday.  The rail, road project

Tokyo, Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi launched her second cabinet on Wednesday, maintaining all members from the first cabinet, after being re-elected prime minister earlier in the day. Takaichi’s first cabinet resigned en masse in the morning. She was

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force has decided to cancel the dispatch of a V-22 Osprey transport aircraft to the Iron Fist joint exercise with the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa Prefecture, Jiji Press learned Wednesday. The

(Adnkronos) – The Corridor VIII strategic infrastructure project linking the Adriatic to the Black Sea is crucial to propel Italy’s surging exports and also to Nato, foreign minister Antonio Tajani told a meeting in Albania’s capital, Tirana on Wednesday.  “We are a

(Adnkronos) – Ten skiers are missing after an avalanche occurred yesterday in California. Local authorities announced this, specifying that the avalanche hit Castle Peak, in the Sierra Nevada, in the northern part of the state.  A group of 16 skiers, including four

Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)–The estimated number of visitors from mainland China to Japan plunged 60.7 pct from a year earlier to 385,300 in January, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. The January decline accelerated from 45.3 pct in December, as

(Adnkronos) – Nine people in total were arrested yesterday in France as part of the investigation into the beating of young Quentin Deranque on Saturday in Lyon. Of these, six are suspected of having taken part in the assault; the other three,