Tokyo, 12 January, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, Britain sign defense pact amid concern in Indo-Pacific
LONDON – Japan and Britain on Wednesday signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement aimed at facilitating joint military drills amid the increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region due partly to China’s growing military clout.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak met in London and clinched the deal, called the Reciprocal Access Agreement, which sets rules on the transportation of weapons when they conduct joint exercises or disaster relief efforts in the other’s country.
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Tennis: Naomi Osaka hints at pregnancy, to return after 2023 season
LOS ANGELES – Japan’s former world No. 1 tennis player Naomi Osaka on Wednesday suggested she is expecting her first baby and will not be in action in 2023.
In a Twitter post with a photo of a sonogram appearing to show a fetus, Osaka said, “2023 will be a year that’ll be full of lessons for me and I hope I’ll see you guys in the start of the next one cause I’ll be at (Australian Open) 2024.”
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China halts transit visa exemption for Japan, South Korea citizens
BEIJING – China on Wednesday suspended transit visa exemptions for Japanese and South Korean citizens heading for a third country, introducing additional measures to counter tighter border controls implemented by the two Asian neighbors.
The move comes one day after Beijing suspended issuing visas to Japanese and South Korean nationals. Tokyo has protested the suspension and urged Beijing to repeal it, while Seoul has also defended its border controls targeting travelers from China as “science-based and objective.”
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Bomb threat made against Taiwan airline flight to Japan in early Jan.
CHIBA, Japan – The Japanese branch of Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines Co. said Wednesday a Jan. 2 flight from Taipei to Narita airport near Tokyo was subject to a bomb threat.
The development comes after a domestic flight operated by Jetstar Japan Co. leaving Narita for Fukuoka made an emergency landing on Saturday at an airport near Nagoya following a threat claiming a bomb had been planted on the aircraft.
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Uniqlo operator to raise annual salaries in Japan by up to 40%
TOKYO – Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co. said Wednesday it will raise the annual salaries of its workers in Japan by up to 40 percent in March in an effort to narrow the remuneration gap with its employees overseas and increase the company’s global competitiveness.
Due to the revision of its remuneration system covering 8,400 full-time employees, the labor cost of the casual clothing chain operator is expected to increase by around 15 percent.
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Hong Kong asks South Korea to remove flight landing restrictions
HONG KONG – Hong Kong has asked South Korea to remove restrictions that limit flights from the city to landing only at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, media reports said Wednesday.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo announced the COVID-19-related restrictions on Tuesday, which also apply to flights from Macau, adding that the measure would remain in place until Feb. 28.
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Indonesian leader regrets past gross human right abuses
JAKARTA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday acknowledged and expressed regret over gross human rights abuses occurring in the Southeast Asian country in past decades and promised restitution for the victims.
Voicing deep sympathy for the victims of 12 past atrocities, as well as their families, Widodo said at a press conference, “I and the government will try to restore the rights of the victims in just and wise ways without putting aside any judicial settlement.”
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Japan, Argentina vow to work together on food, energy security
BUENOS AIRES – The foreign ministers of Japan and Argentina pledged Tuesday to work together in various areas, including food and energy security amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Japanese government said.
During their meeting in Buenos Aires, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his Argentine counterpart Santiago Cafiero that the importance of the South American country, a major producer of soybeans, corn and shale gas, has been increasing, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
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Father arrested for inflicting brain damage on son in western Japan
OSAKA – A father in western Japan was arrested Wednesday for allegedly inflicting injuries on his five-month-old son in 2021 that left the child with severe and likely permanent brain damage.
Yudai Arata, 26, is accused of causing his second-born son to suffer severe head trauma by unknown means at the family’s home in Izumiotsu, Osaka Prefecture, on Dec 4, 2021.
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Baseball: Cardinals’ Nootbar, Swallows’ Yamada to join Japan for WBC
TOKYO – St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbar and Yakult Swallows second baseman Tetsuto Yamada are poised to play for Japan in March’s World Baseball Classic, manager Hideki Kuriyama said Wednesday.
Nootbar, 25, whose mother is Japanese, has played 166 MLB games with a .231 career batting average, 19 home runs and 55 RBIs for St. Louis. He will be the first player to represent Japan in the tourney who qualifies only through his ancestry.
