Tag: Japan

Japan sanctions Russia, separatists over Ukraine

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan will impose sanctions on Russia and individuals linked to eastern Ukrainian regions controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists, the country’s prime minister said Wednesday, after Moscow ordered troops into the disputed territory. The measures follow decisions by the United States, Britain and the European Union to penalize Russian entities in the wake of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send soldiers into Donetsk and Lugansk. Tokyo’s sanctions include a ban on issuing visas […]

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Japan eases virus border rules for workers, students

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will ease its strict virus border rules to allow students and businesspeople into the country from March, but tourists will still be barred, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday. The move comes with growing pressure on Japan from the business community and academics to loosen the border restrictions, which are the toughest in the G7 but have broad support from Japanese voters. Japan has barred tourists since the early […]

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Japan PM to call Ukraine leader over invasion fears: media

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later Tuesday, local media reported, as Tokyo expressed “grave concerns” about the risk of a Russian invasion. There was no immediate official confirmation of the call, which Japanese media said would happen on Tuesday evening local time, citing government sources. The call comes as Russia appeared to open the door to a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine standoff, and […]

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IAEA begins mission to review Fukushima water release

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – An International Atomic Energy Agency taskforce began a mission Monday in Japan to review the controversial planned release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. More than a million tonnes of processed water has accumulated in tanks at the crippled plant since it went into meltdown following a tsunami in 2011 and storage space is running out. An extensive pumping and filtration system removes most radioactive elements, […]

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Japan finds body of missing F-15 crewman

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s airforce said Sunday that it had recovered the body of one of two crewmen of a fighter jet that went missing two weeks ago. The F-15 fighter jet was on a training mission on January 31 when it disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Komatsu airbase in the central Ishikawa region, sparking a search for its missing crew. The airforce said a body was found on Friday by […]

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US, Asia allies meet to deepen bulwark against China

by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India opened talks in Melbourne Friday on deepening their Quad alliance, hoping to blunt China’s expanding power across the Asia-Pacific region. “Together we are a vital network of liberal democracies committed to practical cooperation and to ensuring all Indo-Pacific nations, large and small, are able to make their own strategic decisions, free from coercion,” Australia’s Foreign […]

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Japan proposes controversial mine in World Heritage bid

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan will seek UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a centuries-old network of mines on Tuesday, the government said, risking renewed diplomatic tensions with South Korea over forced wartime labour. The controversial gold and silver mine complex on central Japan’s Sado Island dates back 400 years and was once one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to authorities in the coastal region where it is located. But more […]

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Japan finds piece of missing F-15, searching for crew

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese aircraft and boats were searching Tuesday for two crew from a fighter jet that is believed to have crashed after taking off a day earlier, a government spokesman said. Part of the F-15 jet has been found, but authorities are still searching for the two people on board, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. The jet, which was on a training mission, disappeared from radar shortly after it took […]

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Search after Japan F15 jet disappears from radar

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s military said Monday it was searching for a fighter jet that disappeared from radar shortly after taking off. “The track of an F15 jet disappeared from the data of the Komatsu control tower after take-off,” a spokesman for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force told AFP. The plane disappeared about five kilometres from the Komatsu airbase in central Ishikawa region, off the Sea of Japan, he added. The spokesman said […]

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Gunman arrested in Japan after taking doctor hostage, shooting nurse: reports

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese man has been arrested for the attempted murder of a doctor he took hostage overnight, reports said Friday. The suspect also shot a nurse, who is severely injured, as he confined the doctor, who is feared dead after the attack, according to public broadcaster NHK. NHK said the 44-year-old doctor was in cardiorespiratory arrest — an expression often used in Japan before a death is confirmed — when he […]

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WHO hit by racism claims against Western Pacific head

  by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization vowed to take action Thursday following a slew of allegations from staff past and present against its Western Pacific regional director, including racist, abusive and authoritarian behaviour. Japanese doctor Takeshi Kasai, who denied the allegations, is accused presiding over a “toxic atmosphere” at the WHO regional office in Manila, with a culture of “systemic bullying and public ridiculing”. The staff, […]

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Japan to help with Bill Gates’ next-gen nuclear power project

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Thursday it will work with Japan’s atomic energy agency to provide technical assistance to a US start-up run by Bill Gates that is building a next-generation nuclear reactor in Wyoming. American billionaire Gates is the founder and chair of TerraPower, which plans to build its plant in the US state by 2028 using a new technology called Natrium, touted as a “carbon-free, reliable energy solution”. The Japanese […]

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