Tokyo, 26 July, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s 1st case of monkeypox confirmed in Tokyo
TOKYO – Japan confirmed its first case of monkeypox on Monday with a man in his 30s in Tokyo testing positive, the Tokyo metropolitan government said.
The patient traveled to a European country from late June to mid-July where he had close contact with a person infected with monkeypox, it said.
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U.S. puts pressure on China in rare fighter jet operation near Japan
TOKYO – The United States flew a large number of fighter jets late last month above an area in the East China Sea that Japan and China dispute, Japanese government sources said Monday.
In an extremely rare development, some of the U.S. fighters neared the Chinese mainland by going beyond a Tokyo-proposed median line separating the exclusive economic zones of Japan and China, the sources said. China scrambled its fighters in response, warning the U.S. side that provocative acts would face counterattack.
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New BOJ board members to check side-effects of monetary easing
TOKYO – Newly appointed Bank of Japan board members said Monday they will see if the central bank’s monetary easing can ensure a virtuous cycle of economic growth and higher wages that support stable inflation while paying attention to its side effects.
Hajime Takata, an economist who had warned of the pitfalls of protracted easing, and veteran banker Naoki Tamura, however, refrained from saying if they were aggressive or cautious on monetary easing in their first press conference since taking their posts Sunday. The two will serve five-year terms.
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Golden Globe Award-winning Japanese actress Yoko Shimada dies at 69
TOKYO – Yoko Shimada, a Golden Globe Award-winning Japanese actress known for her role in the U.S. miniseries “Shogun,” died Monday at a Tokyo hospital of illness, her office said. She was 69.
Shimada, a native of Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, rose to fame for her performance as the heroine in the 1971 sequel to the Japanese television series “Hyoten” (Freezing Point), based on the best-selling novel of the same name.
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Biden’s COVID-19 symptoms “almost completely resolved”: physician
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 symptoms have “almost completely resolved,” his physician said Monday, signaling continuing improvement in the 79-year-old’s health condition since he tested positive Thursday.
Biden, who showed up online for a meeting with government officials in the afternoon, told reporters that he thinks he is on his way to “total recovery” and was hopeful that envisioned talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping will take place, likely online or by phone, later this week.
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JR Kyushu to suspend 120 train services due to staff virus cases
FUKUOKA – Kyushu Railway Co., which serves the southwestern Japan region, said Monday it will temporarily suspend 120 limited express train services due to staff shortages caused by the spread of coronavirus infections among onboard crew.
From Wednesday through Aug. 5, a total of 100 Sonic limited express trains running from Hakata to Oita stations, and 20 Kamome trains that run from Hakata to Nagasaki will be suspended, the operator said.
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Chinese military drone flies near Okinawa
TOKYO – A Chinese military drone flew near Okinawa in southwestern Japan on Monday, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.
It marked the first time that a TB001 drone, which can be armed or used for reconnaissance purposes, has flown solo from the East China Sea to the Pacific, passing between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island, the ministry said.
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Japan condemns Myanmar for executing pro-democracy activists
TOKYO – Japan on Monday renewed its condemnation of Myanmar as it aired serious concerns about the execution of two pro-democracy activists in the Southeast Asian nation, which remains under junta rule following the February 2021 coup.
The executions “completely go against the ‘release of the detainees’ which Japan has consistently called for,” Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a statement, referring to a Myanmar state media report earlier on Monday that four people, including two pro-democracy activists, had been executed.
