Tokyo, 24 June, /AJMEDIA/
Japan May core consumer prices up 2.1% on year
TOKYO – Core consumer prices in Japan rose 2.1 percent in May from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
The nationwide core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food items, increased for the ninth straight month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
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Japan ruling bloc to secure majority in July upper house race: poll
TOKYO – Japan’s ruling parties are projected to secure a majority of the 125 seats up for grabs in the July 10 House of Councillors election, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
It also suggested that the pro-constitutional revision camp, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and some small opposition parties, would maintain the two-thirds majority in the 248-member upper house needed to initiate any amendment.
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No “Asian NATO” says U.S. as alliance brings Japan, S. Korea to summit
WASHINGTON – The United States does not view the participation of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand at the upcoming NATO summit as a move toward the creation of an “Asian version of NATO,” a White House official said Thursday.
China has been cautioning against some European countries stepping up their engagement in the Indo-Pacific as well as against a formation of a military alliance in the region akin to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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Sumitomo Mitsui to take 10% stake in SBI Holdings for 79 bil. yen
TOKYO – Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it will acquire a roughly 10 percent stake in Japanese internet financial giant SBI Holdings Inc. in a deal worth 79.6 billion yen ($585 million) to strengthen its online brokerage service.
Through the capital alliance, the two financial giants aim to expand their customer base by making use of SMFG’s wide customer base, ranging from retail to corporate clients, and SBI Holdings’ younger customers.
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Japan conveys concern to China over gas development in contested sea
TOKYO – Japan conveyed “strong concern” to China on Thursday over its suspected gas field explorations in a contested area of the East China Sea as their senior diplomats held a teleconference, the Japanese government said.
But they also agreed to keep communicating toward the implementation of the 2008 bilateral agreement on joint gas development in the area, the Foreign Ministry said, although the negotiations have been stalled for more than a decade.
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EU leaders grant Ukraine candidate status for membership
BRUSSELS – The leaders of the European Union agreed Thursday to grant Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for becoming EU members.
The agreement, reached at their summit meeting, is seen as a major step toward Ukraine joining the EU.
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1st U.N. nuke ban treaty meeting urges “immediate action”
VIENNA – Parties to a U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons called for “immediate action” to achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world as they wrapped up their first meeting Thursday.
The statement, adopted at the end of the three-day meeting of parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna, said a prompt response is the only way for such weapons to never be used again at a time when Russia is threatening to use them in its war against Ukraine.
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Court rejects claim 7-Eleven unjustly ended franchise contract
OSAKA – The Osaka District Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit claiming Seven-Eleven Japan Co. unjustly terminated its contract with a convenience store franchisee over his decision to stop late-night operations.
Accepting the chain operator’s claim that the termination resulted from his improper handling of customers, the court also ordered Mitoshi Matsumoto, the 60-year-old former franchisee, to give up the store and pay damages to the company.
