Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Former Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said Friday that he will not run in the next election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. At a press conference at the Diet

(Adnkronos) – Italy takes a long-term view of the “increasingly strategic” Artic and wants to strengthen relations with Arctic countries to boost Euro-Atlantic security, foreign minister Antonio Tajani stated on Friday.  “We want to deepen relations with Arctic countries, contribute to Euro-Atlantic

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The leaders of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, formerly a longtime ally of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Friday that a new party they have created is named the Centrist Reform Alliance.

(Adnkronos) – Officials from the US-led international coalition met with representatives of the Kurdish community to try to reduce tensions with Damascus that flared up again in Aleppo, northern Syria. This was stated by Farhad Shami, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces

(Adnkronos) – Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that ongoing restrictions on humanitarian movements in some areas of Jonglei state, South Sudan, are blocking the transfer of at least 20 critically ill patients who require urgent specialized care, putting their lives at risk.

(Adnkronos) – The committee for the governance of the Gaza Strip is holding its first meeting today in Egypt, in Cairo. This was reported by Al-Qahera News, close to the Egyptian government. Established on Wednesday after Washington announced the entry into force

(Adnkronos) – Two women lost their lives due to a Russian airstrike on Nikopol, in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The Ukrainian emergency service announced this on Telegram, explaining that six other people, three women and three men, were injured in the attack. 

Osaka, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama on Friday tendered their resignations to run in subsequent elections in an attempt to push for the so-called Osaka metropolis plan for local government realignment. Their resignation letters were

(Adnkronos) – For now, the protest against the regime in Iran, triggered at the end of December in Tehran against currency devaluation, which led thousands of people to demonstrate in city streets since January 8, has subsided.   The end of the

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans not to run in the next election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the country’s parliament, informed sources said Friday. The 77-year-old ruling Liberal Democratic Party member

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The contract amount for the Japanese government’s defense equipment procurement in fiscal 2023 under the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program, or FMS, totaled about 1.38 trillion yen, more than three times the amount five years earlier, the

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–East Japan Railway Co.’s busy Yamanote Line in Tokyo was halted on all sections for about eight hours on Friday because of a predawn power outage, affecting around 673,000 people. With the service disruption hitting morning rush hour,

(Adnkronos) – The stability of the crucial Artic region “is not a tactical but a strategic issue” which demands political and economic action by Italy and other European Union and Nato members for the West’s security, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Friday. 

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its policy interest rate unchanged at its next two-day policy meeting starting Thursday. At the meeting, the Japanese central bank is expected to review market trends, such as the yen’s

(Adnkronos) – Italy “cannot overlook” the crucial raw materials which the Artic region possesses, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday at the presentation in Rome of the government’s strategy for the region.   “With our embassy in Denmark, we are planning

(Adnkronos) – Foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday that Italy will send an Italian business mission to the Artic at a conference in Rome to present the government’s strategy for region.  “I believe we need to set up an Arctic business

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni and Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi will continue strengthening their countries’ strategic cooperation across a raft of areas, “all the way to the great global challenges,” Meloni wrote Friday on X after talks in Tokyo with Takaichi.

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The leaders of Japan and Italy agreed Friday to accelerate security cooperation, including over next-generation fighter jet development involving the two nations plus Britain, and to strengthen collaboration on economic security, including expanding supply chains for critical minerals.

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday it will join a shale gas project in the southern United States. It will invest about 5.2 billion dollars, or some 820 billion yen, to acquire all outstanding shares in Aethon

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Prudential Life Insurance Co. said Friday that more than 100 of its present and former employees have scammed customers out of some 3.1 billion yen. The number of victims of fraudulent deals conducted by those current and former

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] 

(Adnkronos) – The death of a man detained in a federal penitentiary facility in Texas, who died in early January, could be investigated as homicide: the medical examiner who examined him reportedly attributed the death as a preliminary cause to “asphyxia due

(Adnkronos) – Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges related to the proclamation of martial law, which he announced in December 2024, after which he was impeached.

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Chubu Electric Power Co. President Kingo Hayashi said Friday that he will resign as Japanese power industry group head over his company’s data manipulation linked to earthquake risks at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant. Hayashi, 65, made the

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans not to run in the upcoming election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the country’s parliament, informed sources said Friday. The 77-year-old ruling Liberal Democratic Party member

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The leaders of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, formerly a longtime ally of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Friday that a new party they have created is called the Centrist Reform Alliance.

Washington, Jan. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday agreed to boost the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance. Their talks, held at the U.S. Defense Department in the suburbs of Washington,

Osaka, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Osaka District Court on Friday dismissed a request from three death-row inmates for the state to ban executions by hanging. The three, whose death sentences have been finalized, claimed that executions by hanging are against an international treaty

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–East Japan Railway Co.’s busy Yamanote Line in Tokyo was temporarily halted on all sections Friday because of a predawn power outage that occurred due to an apparent problem at an electrical facility. Both the clockwise and counterclockwise

(Redundancy in 3rd para rectified) Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions, or JAW, will demand a monthly pay scale hike of 12,000 yen or more in the upcoming “shunto” spring wage negotiations, after achieving the biggest rise