Tottori, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Prefectural governors from across Japan on Friday expressed opposition to a proposal that their authority be transferred to ordinance-designated major cities on the second day Friday of their two-day annual meeting in Tottori, a city in western Japan.

(The second paragraph should have read, “…its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party,…” instead of as sent. A substitute story follows.) Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, enacted a bill Friday to revise the Imperial House Law as part

Kashiwa, Chiba Pref., July 17 (Jiji Press)–A former nurse arrested for allegedly killing a patient at a hospital in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, by mixing feces into his intravenous drip had been seen entering the patient’s room several times shortly before the

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average temporarily plunged over 4,100 points Friday afternoon due to selling of issues related to semiconductors and artificial intelligence following overnight falls in their U.S. counterparts. At 1:41 p.m., the index of 225

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s parliament on Friday enacted a bill to prevent the unauthorized sales of domestically developed agricultural products overseas. Aiming to better protect the rights related to Japan-developed fruits that are popular overseas and prevent a loss of profit,

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Friday enacted a bill to revise the retrial system for the first time since the Code of Criminal Procedure was established in 1948. The bill to amend the code was approved by a

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, enacted a bill Friday to criminalize acts of damaging the Japanese national flag, despite concerns that it could infringe on freedom of thought and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. At a plenary meeting, the

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, enacted a bill Friday to revise the Imperial House Law as part of efforts to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members, marking the first substantive change to the law since its establishment

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged over 2,900 points Friday morning due to selling of issues related to semiconductors and artificial intelligence following overnight falls in their U.S. counterparts. The index of 225 major issues listed on

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, enacted a bill Friday to revise the Imperial House Law as part of efforts to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members, marking the first substantive change to the law since its establishment

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average briefly plunged over 2,700 points Friday morning due to selling of issues related to semiconductors and artificial intelligence following overnight falls in their U.S. counterparts. At 9:43 a.m., the index of 225

(Adnkronos) – Hezbollah speaks of “unfounded” reports after post-Assad Syria reported the seizure of weapons destined for the Lebanese Shiite movement along the border between the Arab country and Iraq. Hezbollah, in a statement relayed by al-Manar (a Lebanese TV affiliated with

(Adnkronos) – Explosions were heard today in central Dubai, according to witnesses. This was reported by the Times of Israel website, citing Reuters.  

(Adnkronos) – Post-Assad Syria seizes weapons destined for Lebanese Hezbollah. Damascus’ Interior Ministry announced that it had intercepted a large shipment of sophisticated weapons destined for Hezbollah and prevented its passage from Iraq into Syrian territory to reach Lebanon, the official Syrian

(Adnkronos) – Kuwait is again in the crosshairs of “drone” attacks. “The Army General Staff reports that explosions, if heard, are due to air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks,” reads a statement released via X, which condemns the “criminal Iranian aggression.”  

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni expressed the government’s “deepest condolences” for the victims of a fire that broke out at a children’s care home in the Algerian capital, Algiers early on Thursday, in which at least 11 people died and a

(Adnkronos) – The Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has extended a cash assistance scheme to help 1,500 small farmers in the war-devastated Gaza Strip cultivate at least 0.1 hectars of land each with the goal of producing enough fresh vegetables to

(Adnkronos) – The Russian army launched a missile attack against Odesa’s infrastructure, killing one person and injuring another. This was announced on Telegram by the head of the city’s military administration, Serhiy Lysak, as reported by Ukrinform. “Another missile attack on the

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–Nvidia Corp. announced plans to expand its collaboration with Japanese companies, such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd., on Thursday, during CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Japan. The major U.S. chipmaker will provide advanced graphics processing units

(Adnkronos) – “Although the implementation of the memorandum of understanding” between the US and Iran, from last June, “is encountering difficulties, Pakistan will continue to encourage all parties to end the violence and resume technical-level talks.” This was stated to journalists in

(Adnkronos) – Moscow’s ballistic missiles hit Kyiv during the night, the second Russian raid against the Ukrainian capital this week after the raid on the night of the 13th and 14th, causing two deaths and six injuries, including a 16-year-old boy, announced

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–The top diplomats of Japan and Greece agreed Thursday to strengthen their countries’ cooperation on maritime security in order to ensure freedom of navigation and the safety of maritime transportation. During their meeting in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–A quarterly Bank of Japan survey showed Thursday that 90.4 pct of respondents anticipated higher prices in a year’s time compared with current levels. The proportion of such respondents rose 6.7 percentage points from the previous survey in

(Adnkronos) – Nicaragua’s leftwing government has severed diplomatic relations with Italy after foreign minister Antonio Tajani issued a fresh request for the extradition of former Red Brigade member and convicted killer Alessio Casimirri and called Managua “extremist”.  “The Nicaraguan government has notified

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese frozen food maker Nichirei Corp. plans to gradually resume cyberattack-affected operations from Friday, but it is unclear when the operations will be fully restored. The company will resume loading and unloading at refrigerated warehouses and shipping frozen

(Adnkronos) – A 3.4 percent increase in exports January through May from the same period last year and totalling 277.4 billion euros stems directly from the government’s economic and diplomatic action, foreign minister Antonio Tajani wrote Thursday on X after a data

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–A bill to revamp Japan’s retrial system was approved by a House of Councillors committee on Thursday, setting the stage for its enactment on Friday. The Judicial Affairs Committee of the Upper House approved by a majority vote

Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)–The government-sponsored bill to revise the Imperial House Law cleared a special committee of the House of Councillors on Thursday and is set to be approved at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Friday. In the

(Adnkronos) – At least 11 people have died and 19 others have been injured in a fire, still not extinguished, at an orphanage on the outskirts of Algiers. The Algerian civil protection announced this, without specifying the age of the victims. “Civil

(Adnkronos) – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that military personnel aged 30 and over will be tested for testosterone deficiency as part of annual health checks. In a video posted on X, titled ‘High-T Department’, Hegseth stated that he authorized the