Tokyo, 5 August, /AJMEDIA/
Japan PM meets with U.S. House Speaker Pelosi after Taiwan visit
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Friday to deepen bilateral ties amid China’s rise after her visit to Taiwan angered Beijing.
With U.S.-China rivalry intensifying and tensions heightening across the Taiwan Strait, Pelosi is making her first visit to Japan in seven years, capping an Asian tour that has taken her to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea.
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U.S. raps China missile launches near Taiwan, vows security of allies
WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday slammed China’s firing of an estimated 11 ballistic missiles near Taiwan following the House of Representatives speaker’s visit to the island, and pledged “further steps” to show its security commitment to Japan and other allies in the region.
“China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, calling the missile launches “irresponsible” and at odds with the goal of maintaining peace and stability in the region.
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Lawmaker says feels responsible over Unification Church name change
TOKYO – A veteran Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who served as minister in charge when the Unification Church was allowed to change its name to the current name said Thursday he now feels responsible for letting that happen.
Hakubun Shimomura was education minister in the government of slain Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when the Cultural Affairs Agency, an education ministry arm, approved in 2015 the name change for the group, which has long been known for problematic practices.
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Japan household spending up 3.5% in June on year
TOKYO – Japan’s household spending in June rose a real 3.5 percent from a year earlier, increasing for the first time in four months, the government said Friday.
Average spending by households with two or more people stood at 276,885 yen ($2,070), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
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Japan to extend additional surveillance drones to Ukraine
TOKYO – Japan said Thursday it will provide Ukraine with additional dozen or so camera-equipped surveillance drones to aid the country suffering aggression by Russia.
Japan will also supply the war-hit country with several vans to be used for transporting personnel and food, the Defense Ministry said.
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Chinese-fired ballistic missiles fall into Japan’s EEZ: gov’t
TOKYO – Five ballistic missiles fired by the Chinese military fell into Japan’s exclusive economic zone on Thursday, the Japanese government said, with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi demanding that China “immediately stop” the live-fire military drill near Taiwan.
The missiles fell in the EEZ part of a Chinese-designated training area southwest of Hateruma Island in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, marking the first time that Chinese ballistic missiles have dropped within the waters, the government said.
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U.S. declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency
WASHINGTON – The United States is declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency to enhance its response to the rise in cases in the country, officials said Thursday.
The move follows the World Health Organization declaring last month that the spread of the infectious disease constitutes a global health emergency, the highest level of alert.
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Japanese man charged in Myanmar for links to protesters: junta
YANGON – A Japanese documentary filmmaker detained by Myanmar’s police in connection with an anti-coup protest in Yangon has been charged, the country’s ruling military said Thursday, despite calls from Japan’s government for his early release.
Toru Kubota, who has been charged with sedition and violating immigration law, is expected to face a trial. He was transferred to Yangon’s Insein jail, known for housing political prisoners, sources close to the matter said.
