Tokyo, 12 April, /AJMEDIA
Biden hints in-person Quad summit in Japan to be held around May 24
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden indicated Monday that a planned in-person summit of the “Quad” group in Japan will be held around May 24.
The members of the Quad, which also involves Japan, Australia and India, have been planning a meeting of their leaders in the first half of this year. The Biden administration sees the group as key to counteracting China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
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Biden tells Modi adding Russia oil imports is not in India’s interest
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday that he is opposed to the country’s increasing oil imports from Russia, in the latest U.S. effort to encourage a tougher stance from New Delhi against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which has close ties with Russia historically, has been reluctant to explicitly condemn Russia over the invasion. Its neutral stance on the issue has stood out among the three other major Indo-Pacific democracies of the Quad group — the United States, Japan and Australia — all of which have slapped Russia with economic sanctions.
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Japan confirms 1st case of Omicron XE variant in airport arrival
TOKYO – Japan has confirmed its first case of the Omicron XE derivative strain of the novel coronavirus in a woman upon arrival at Narita airport near Tokyo, the health ministry said Monday.
The woman in her 30s, who has stayed in the United States and showed no symptoms, arrived at the airport on March 26, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, without specifying her nationality.
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Japan’s ruling LDP to seek enemy base strike capability
TOKYO – A national security panel of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday agreed to propose acquiring an enemy base strike capability for review by the end of this year of the country’s exclusively defense-oriented policy under the war-renouncing Constitution.
Members of the LDP’s Research Commission on National Security told reporters there was no opposition to the controversial idea of possessing an ability to disable an enemy missile during their meeting to discuss the party’s proposal to be made later in the month for the government’s revision of the National Security Strategy.
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Japan, Russia start salmon, trout fishing talks amid Ukraine crisis
TOKYO – Japan and Russia started negotiations Monday over Tokyo’s fishing quota of salmon and trout spawned in Russian rivers, a move seen as controversial because Tokyo has to pay a fishery rights fee to Moscow despite the country being hit by international sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.
It is not known whether the two governments can strike a deal in the virtual talks as Russia opposes the sanctions imposed by Japan, the United States, Europe and other parties.
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Ukraine evacuees to get up to $19 a day as living allowance in Japan
TOKYO – Japan will provide up to 2,400 yen ($19) per day in living allowances to evacuees from Ukraine who have fled their country following Russia’s invasion, particularly to help those who came without any relatives or acquaintances to turn to, the government said Monday.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said the financial aid is expected to last at least six months, with the government separately shouldering their medical expenses and Japanese language lessons and also helping them gain employment.
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Life term sought for Chilean accused of killing Japanese woman
BESANCON, France – French prosecutors on Monday demanded lifetime imprisonment for a Chilean man accused of murdering his former Japanese girlfriend who went missing at age 21 in Besancon, eastern France, in 2016.
At a court session, prosecutors sought the maximum sentence for Nicolas Zepeda Contreras, 31, claiming the alleged crime had been premeditated. France does not practice capital punishment.
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Pakistan elects opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif as new PM
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, as the new prime minister after Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote the previous day.
Sharif secured 174 votes in the 342-member National Assembly, the South Asian country’s lower house, after ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party lawmakers resigned en masse just before the start of the election process.
