Tokyo, 20 October, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s former Empress Michiko turns 88, keeps up daily routine
TOKYO – Former Empress Michiko turned 88 on Thursday, yet continues with her long-standing daily routine along with husband former Emperor Akihito despite swapping residences with the current emperor and his family.
At what is now called the Emperor Emeritus’ Residence on the Akasaka Estate, the former empress takes a morning and evening walk with her 88-year-old husband and reads aloud from books after breakfast, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
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U.S. ready to release more oil reserves, Biden says ahead of midterms
WASHINGTON – The United States will release 15 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves and will prepare for further possible releases in the latest effort to address high energy prices, President Joe Biden said Wednesday, as inflation weighs on the country weeks ahead of the midterm elections.
The 15 million barrels of oil to be sold from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve — known as the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil — represents the final tranche of the 180-million-barrel disbursement that was announced in March.
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Koji Nakamoto, member of comedy group the Drifters, dies at 81
TOKYO – Koji Nakamoto, a member of the rock and roll band and comedy group the Drifters, died of acute subdural hematoma on Wednesday, his talent agency said. He was 81.
Nakamoto, whose real name was Koki Nakamoto, was hit by a car while crossing a street in Yokohama on Tuesday.
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Explosions at Myanmar prison kill eight, including child
YANGON – At least eight people, including a child, were killed and 18 others injured Wednesday when parcel bombs exploded at a prison in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, the country’s ruling military said.
Two explosions occurred at the Insein Prison around 9:40 a.m., one inside a building near an entrance gate and the other outdoors, killing at least three of the prison staff and five civilians, including a 10-year-old girl, the military said in a statement, adding that five prison personnel were among the 18 injured.
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China lodges complaint with Britain over violence at consulate
BEIJING – China said Wednesday it has lodged a complaint with Britain over “malicious harassment” at its consulate general in Manchester over the weekend, after London summoned a Chinese diplomat following the apparent assault of a Hong Kong demonstrator on the consulate grounds.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin claimed at a press conference in Beijing that “lawbreakers illegally entered” the consulate general, resulting in injuries to Chinese personnel and threats to the security of the diplomatic facility.
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U.S. aims to partner with Asia to cope with Chinese cyber threats
SINGAPORE – U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas warned of Chinese investment in communication infrastructure on Wednesday and said Washington hopes to cooperate with Singapore and other Asian countries in coping with cyber threats posed by the investment.
Mayorkas attended a cybersecurity event in Singapore and said that China is using its technology to tilt the global playing field to its benefit, cautioning against “a partner that could not be wholly trusted.”
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Japan lifts remaining COVID nonessential travel warnings
TOKYO – The Japanese government on Wednesday lifted its last remaining warnings against nonessential trips abroad over COVID-19 after downgrading its travel advisories for 76 countries and areas, including Australia and Taiwan.
The Foreign Ministry said it lowered the travel advisory for those destinations, also including New Zealand, Mexico and Turkey, from the second-lowest Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling to those regions to “stay fully alert.”
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Japan foreign arrivals in Sept. up near 12-fold from 2021 to 206,500
TOKYO – The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in September increased 11.7-fold from a year earlier to 206,500, government data showed Wednesday, with the figure likely to jump in the coming months after Japan removed almost all its COVID-19 entry restrictions earlier this month.
The figure exceeded 200,000 for the first time since February 2020 but was down 90.9 percent from September in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Visitors in the month were primarily businesspeople, technical interns and international students.