Tokyo, 21 January, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, U.S. urge world leaders to visit A-bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki
TOKYO – Japan and the United States on Friday urged world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cities destroyed by U.S. atomic bombings in World War II, as they aim to build momentum toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
“Recalling the visit by former President (Barack) Obama to Hiroshima, Japan and the United States call on political leaders, youth, and others to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to raise and sustain awareness,” the two governments said in a joint statement, referring to the former U.S. president’s historic visit in 2016.
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Japan, France agree to beef up cooperation in Indo-Pacific region
TOKYO – Japan and France on Thursday agreed to bolster their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and shared serious concerns over the state of affairs in the East and South China seas, as China’s military clout is increasing in the region.
During the virtual talks involving the foreign and defense ministers from each country, the two also expressed their strong concerns over North Korea’s missile and nuclear development following Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launch on Monday, its fourth in just two weeks.
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Japan mulls delaying controversial Sado mine list for World Heritage
TOKYO – Japan is considering delaying a plan to nominate a gold and silver mine site on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture for the 2023 UNESCO World Heritage list, after facing opposition from South Korea over wartime labor of Koreans at the mine, government sources said Thursday.
The Japanese government would seek to recommend the site for U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Cultural Heritage list for 2024 or later if not submitting a recommendation to UNESCO by the Feb. 1 deadline, the sources said.
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Doomsday Clock remains 100 seconds to “catastrophe” for 3rd year
WASHINGTON – A group of scientists and scholars on Thursday left the “Doomsday Clock” at a position 100 seconds from midnight, saying the world is “no safer than it was last year” from threats of nuclear war and climate change.
“This decision does not, by any means, suggest that the international security situation has stabilized,” said the experts who advised the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal in setting the hands of the symbolic clock located at the University of Chicago.
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Japan’s December core consumer prices up 0.5% on year
TOKYO – Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in December from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
The nationwide core consumer price index excluding volatile fresh food items marked the fourth straight month of year-on-year increase, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
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Osaka, 2 more areas in western Japan to seek COVID quasi-emergency
OSAKA – The western Japan prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo will ask the government Friday to place them under a coronavirus quasi-state of emergency amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said.
The planned joint request comes as Japan’s confirmed daily coronavirus cases topped 46,000 on Thursday, setting a new record for the third day in a row and bringing the country’s cumulative total to over 2 million.
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Int’l aid delivery begins in Tonga following eruption, tsunami
SYDNEY – The delivery of international aid to Tonga began Thursday with the arrival of humanitarian supplies from Australia and New Zealand after an undersea volcanic eruption last weekend triggered a tsunami that caused severe damage to the South Pacific island nation.
Aircraft from New Zealand and Australia carrying much needed aid and supplies were finally able to touch down in the capital Nuku’alofa on Thursday afternoon, following the completion of cleanup efforts to remove volcanic ash from the runway of its main airport.
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Tennis: Japan’s Taro Daniel upsets Murray, into Australian Open 3rd round
MELBOURNE – Japan’s Taro Daniel claimed one of the biggest wins of his career Thursday, advancing to the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets defeat of British former world No. 1 Andy Murray.
The 120th-ranked Daniel, who had never gone beyond the second round of a major, beat Murray 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 at Melbourne Park’s John Cain Arena in 2 hours, 48 minutes.
