Tokyo, 14 April, /AJMEDIA
U.S. says AUKUS focused on 3-way security ties, denies Japan invited
WASHINGTON – The United States, Britain and Australia are advancing their trilateral partnership over a range of advanced military capabilities, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday, denying a media report that the group is asking Japan to take part.
The report is “inaccurate,” Psaki said, noting that the top Japanese government spokesman has also denied the claim that Tokyo was approached over possible AUKUS participation.
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Yellen calls on China to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine
WASHINGTON – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday called on China to leverage its cooperative ties with Russia to help end Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while warning against moves that would cushion the impact of the economic sanctions the West is imposing on Russia.
“Let’s be clear, the unified coalition of sanctioning countries will not be indifferent to actions that undermine the sanctions we’ve put in place,” Yellen said in a speech at an event organized by the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington.
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Japan mulls sending SDF aircraft for Ukraine refugee support
TOKYO – Japan is considering sending Self-Defense Forces aircraft to countries receiving refugees from Ukraine such as Poland to transport relief items, a government source said Wednesday.
If realized, it would be the second such mission involving the SDF since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government delivered bulletproof vests and helmets to the war-torn Ukraine via Poland in March.
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Suspect in NYC subway shooting rampage arrested
NEW YORK – Police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of opening fire in a New York City subway train the previous day, U.S. media reported.
Frank James, 62, was detained in the city after a massive manhunt. He allegedly set off a smoke bomb and fired at least 33 shots in the subway during Tuesday morning rush hour.
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Chilean appeals 28-yr prison term over murder of Japanese woman
BESANCON, France – A Chilean man lodged an appeal on Wednesday over a ruling sentencing him to 28 years in prison for murdering his former girlfriend, a Japanese woman who came to France as an exchange student in 2016 and later went missing, his lawyer said.
Nicolas Zepeda, 31, has consistently denied the allegation that he had killed Narumi Kurosaki, who came to study in Besancon, eastern France, and went missing at age 21 in the same year.
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Entire Tohoku bullet train line back in service a month after quake
TOKYO – East Japan Railway Co. on Thursday resumed services on the entire line of its Tohoku Shinkansen, connecting Tokyo and Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main island, for the first time since a powerful earthquake hit the country’s northeast and derailed one of its bullet trains nearly a month ago.
The high-speed trains are now back in service between Fukushima and Sendai stations, the only stretch of the line on which operations were still suspended. The resumption also enabled Hokkaido and Akita Shinkansen trains to reach Tokyo.
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Ex-SMBC Nikko deputy president indicted over market manipulation
TOKYO – A former SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. deputy president was indicted Wednesday in a deepening trading scandal over alleged market manipulation at the major Japanese brokerage.
Toshihiro Sato, 59, who supervised the equity department, is suspected of colluding in placing large buy orders for an individual stock before the end of trading on April 8, 2021.
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U.S. carrier, Japan defense force vessels conduct drills in Sea of Japan
TOKYO – The United States and Japan have been conducting a joint naval exercise involving a U.S. aircraft carrier and vessels of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Sea of Japan, the U.S. 7th Fleet said Wednesday, amid North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats.
The strike group of the nuclear-powered carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, started the exercise on Friday last week with MSDF, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet. It is the first deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the waters off the Korean Peninsula since November 2017, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.
