Tokyo, 31 December, /AJMEDIA/
Biden, Putin hold phone talks amid Ukraine standoff
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday held phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek to ease tensions amid an ongoing standoff over Russia’s military buildup on the border with Ukraine.
The exchange between the two leaders, which the White House said took place at the request of Russia, follows a video call in early December. Biden is likely to reiterate his call for de-escalation of the situation while warning of unprecedented costs Moscow could suffer should it further invade Ukraine.
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Summer gathering for U.N. nuclear non-proliferation talks explored
NEW YORK – The chairman of a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation has sounded out member states on a plan to hold a gathering next summer following the postponement from the earlier scheduled January amid a surge of COVID-19 cases, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The meeting to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons slated from Jan. 4 to 28 was put off again after being delayed three times from its original date in the spring of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Omicron variant spreads through nearly half of Japan’s prefectures
TOKYO – Infections with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been reported across 22 out of 47 prefectures in Japan, a tally based on local government reports showed Thursday, one month after the first domestic case was confirmed.
Around 500 people have been infected with the highly transmissible strain in the country, according to the reports. The development has fueled concern about a potential resurgence of COVID-19 infections during and after the year-end and New Year’s holiday period and its impact on the medical system.
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2 Hong Kong pro-democracy journalists charged with sedition
HONG KONG – Two former top editors of Hong Kong pro-democracy online media outlet Stand News were charged with sedition on Thursday following a raid on its office the day before, according to the police.
The now-defunct outlet’s former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen appeared in court after being charged under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance with conspiracy to publish seditious publications.
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Over 100 Rohingya land in Indonesia after drifting at sea
JAKARTA – Over 100 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, landed safely in Indonesia on Friday after having drifted at sea for at least five days off the coast of Aceh Province on Sumatra Island.
Their boat, reportedly leaking and with a damaged engine, was towed by an Indonesian navy warship to a port in Lhokseumawe, a city in North Aceh Regency, after the government decided to allow it to dock in Indonesia for humanitarian reasons.
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Suspect in fatal Osaka mental clinic fire dies
OSAKA – The suspect in a fatal fire at a mental health clinic in Osaka earlier this month died Thursday, police said.
Morio Tanimoto, 61, suspected of murder and arson, remained in critical condition due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the Dec. 17 fire that killed 25 others.
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Nikkei up 4.9% in 2021, highest year-end finish since 1989
TOKYO – The benchmark Nikkei stock index on Thursday saw its highest year-end finish since 1989, with global monetary easing and solid earnings of manufacturers contributing to a 4.9 percent rise from a year before, despite lingering concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
In the final trading session of the year, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 115.17 points, or 0.40 percent, from Wednesday at 28,791.71, but it marked the third straight year of increase. Japanese financial markets will be closed from Friday through Monday for the New Year holidays.
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South Korea court orders sale of confiscated Nippon Steel assets
SEOUL – A South Korean court on Thursday ordered the sale of confiscated assets of Nippon Steel Corp. to compensate plaintiffs in a wartime forced labor lawsuit, a court official said, in the second court decision of its kind.
The order against the Japanese company was issued by a district court branch in the southeastern city of Daegu. It follows one in September in another case involving Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
