Tokyo, 14 November, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, South Korea agree to resolve wartime labor issues early
PHNOM PENH – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday he and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to work for an early settlement of wartime labor issues that brought down bilateral ties to arguably their lowest point in decades.
The deal was struck on the fringes of summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its partners in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. It was the first official meeting between leaders of the two countries in almost three years.
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Biden, Xi to hold 1st in-person summit amid intensifying rivalry
NUSA DUA, Indonesia – U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first in-person summit on Monday in Indonesia’s Bali, with the two expected to discuss ways of managing their intensifying rivalry amid bilateral tensions over Taiwan, trade and other issues.
The talks, which will be held on the sidelines of an annual summit of the Group of 20 major economies on the resort island, follow a sharp deterioration of bilateral relations over an August visit to Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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Japanese, South Korean pianists win French international competition
PARIS – Japanese and South Korean pianists won first prize at the Long-Thibaud International Competition for up-and-coming classical musicians in Paris on Sunday.
Japanese Masaya Kamei, 20, and South Korean Lee Hyuk, 22, came top among six finalists in the competition, which is partly supported by the French government. Kamei currently studies at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo.
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Bank of Japan to maintain easing, watch impact of global tightening: chief
TOKYO – The Bank of Japan will maintain an ultralow rate policy amid heightened uncertainty over the global economy caused by policy tightening in other economies, while keeping close tabs on the financial market impact of rate hikes overseas, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Monday.
In a speech to business leaders in the central Japan city of Nagoya, Kuroda stuck to the view that a recent pickup in inflation, driven mainly by higher commodity prices and a weaker yen, will not be sustained, even as the nation has seen a broadening of price hikes by companies.
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Bomb threat prompts Tokyo court to ban entry, change trial schedules
TOKYO – The Tokyo High Court on Monday temporarily banned entry into its building and canceled some scheduled trial sessions after receiving a bomb threat, the court said.
The building, which also houses the Tokyo District Court, was not accessible from the outside starting noon until 2 p.m., and trials scheduled through 2:29 p.m. will either be held later in the day or moved to another day, it said.
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6 killed, 81 injured in suspected terrorist bombing in Istanbul
ISTANBUL – Six people were killed and 81 others were injured in an explosion Sunday in Istanbul, in what Turkish authorities suspect was a terrorist bombing.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the incident as being a bomb attack, and police arrested the suspect, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said in a tweet Monday, quoting Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
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China, Australia leaders meet in Cambodia, 1st time in 3 yrs
BEIJING – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Cambodia, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday, the first time the two countries’ leaders have had a conversation in three years.
The meeting marks a major step forward in repairing the strained bilateral relationship, after it sunk to new lows under Australia’s former conservative government.
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Japan PM criticizes China for stepping up sovereignty-violating acts
PHNOM PENH – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday criticized Beijing for stepping up actions that infringe on Japan’s sovereignty in the East China Sea and warned Russia against using nuclear weapons during its war on Ukraine at an annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its partners.
The East Asia Summit, also attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, took place amid tensions over Beijing’s assertiveness in regional waters and pressure on Taiwan, while North Korea continues with a barrage of ballistic missile tests.