Tokyo, 14 August, /AJMEDIA/
Typhoon Meari makes landfall on Japan’s Pacific coast
TOKYO – Typhoon Meari made landfall on the Izu Peninsula on Japan’s Pacific coast close to Tokyo on Saturday, causing disruptions to the roads and train and air services during the peak summer holiday season, the weather agency said.
The agency has warned of disasters including potential landslides, flooding in low-lying areas, overflowing rivers, strong winds and high waves.
———-
Over 100 Japan lawmakers had links with Unification Church: survey
TOKYO – More than 100 of all the 712 lawmakers in Japan have had some connections with the controversial Unification Church, with nearly 80 percent of them belonging to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.
In the survey with a response rate of over 80 percent, 106 had links with the church such as attending events hosted by entities associated with the religious group, which has come under renewed attention following former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination last month, or receiving electoral cooperation from its members.
———-
Industry minister Nishimura visits Tokyo’s war-linked Yasukuni shrine
TOKYO – Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Saturday visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine, regarded as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism by its Asian neighbors.
The visit to the Shinto shrine, which honors convicted war criminals along with more than 2.4 million war dead, came ahead of the 77th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II on Monday. He is the first minister known to have visited the shrine since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government was launched in October last year.
———-
Japan to keep imported wheat price unchanged despite inflation
TOKYO – The Japanese government plans to keep unchanged the average price at which it sells imported wheat to milling companies from October onward despite soaring inflation, an official with knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
The plan is aimed at easing the burden on households suffering from higher prices of wheat products such as bread and noodles on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are leading producers of wheat.
———-
North Korea expresses condolences to Unification Church founder family
BEIJING – A North Korean organization sent a condolence telegram Saturday to the bereaved family of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, ahead of the 10th anniversary of his death, a North Korean website reported.
The message of sympathy sent by the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee indicates Pyongyang maintains good relations with the religious group, which had operated car production and hotel businesses in North Korea.
———-
Pelosi’s Taiwan trip helped avoid setting wrong example: congressman
WASHINGTON – The recent trip to Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was necessary to avoid setting a “new precedent” that Beijing has a say over such visits, a congressman who accompanied Pelosi to the self-ruled island has said.
Countering China’s argument that the visit was a provocation, House member Mark Takano told Kyodo News in a phone interview on Thursday, “If you accept that this was a provocation, you’re accepting the premise that the Chinese had a right to object to the speaker or any member of Congress’ intention to visit Taiwan.”
———-
FBI seizes “top secret” documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
WASHINGTON – The FBI has collected over 10 sets of classified documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, including some categorized as “top secret,” according to court papers released Friday.
Trump, whose presidency ended in January 2021, is facing questions over sensitive documents he took from the White House. The court papers showed that the search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was linked to allegations including violation of the Espionage Act.
———-
Man in central Japan arrested over deaths of wife, 2 children
NAGOYA – Police in Aichi Prefecture arrested a 42-year-old man on Saturday in connection with the murders of his wife and their two children following the discovery of their bodies earlier this week.
Daisuke Tanaka, who had been missing since the bodies were found, turned himself in at a police station on Saturday morning, accompanied by relatives. He was under arrest for killing his wife Tomoko, 42, but suggested he also killed his daughter, 9-year-old Chiyu, and her 6-year-old brother Tora, investigators said.
