South Carolina women senators who fought abortion ban to receive JFK Profile in Courage award
Five women state senators from South Carolina who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state have been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year.
Japan's Kishida says China seafood ban contrasts with wide support for Fukushima water release
Japanโs prime minister says Chinaโs blanket ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive water from a tsunami-ravaged nuclear power plant contrasts starkly with broad understanding shown by many other members of the international community.
U.S. envoy visits Fukushima to eat fish, criticize China's seafood ban over wastewater release
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel has visited a city in Fukushima, where he ate a seafood lunch with the mayor, talked to fishermen and stocked up on local produce to show they are safe after the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Japanese ministers eat Fukushima fish to show it's safe after nuclear plant wastewater is discharged
Japanโs Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and three Cabinet ministers have eaten Fukushima fish sashimi at a lunch meeting in an apparent effort to show that fish is safe following the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Japan asks China to urge citizens to halt harassment after start of Fukushima wastewater release
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked China to urge its citizens to halt acts of harassment, including crank calls and stone throwing at Japanese diplomatic facilities and schools, in response to Japan's release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Japanese government pledges long-term support for fisheries during Fukushima plant water release
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised his governmentโs full support for fishing communities during the decades-long process to release treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Japan's Kishida visits Fukushima plant to highlight safety before start of treated water release
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made a brief visit to the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to stress what he says is the safety of an impending release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea.
Japan's Kishida to visit Fukushima plant before deciding date to start controversial water release
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he will visit the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday before setting a release date for its treated radioactive wastewater, as his government continues working to promote understanding over the controversial plan at home and abroad.
Biden will use Camp David backdrop hoping to broker a breakthrough in Japan-South Korea relations
President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David to encourage the U.S. allies, who have been thawing their frosty relationship, to cooperate more given their shared concerns about aggression from China and North Korea.
South Korea's Yoon calls for strong security cooperation with US, Japan ahead of Camp David summit
South Koreaโs president has called for deeper security cooperation with the U_S_ and Japan to address North Korea's nuclear threat, saying his upcoming summit with the U_S_ and Japanese leaders at Camp David will โset a new milestone in trilateral cooperation.โ.
US, Japan, South Korea to announce deeper defense cooperation at Camp David summit
The United States, Japan and South Korea are expected to announce plans for expanded military cooperation on ballistic missile defenses and technology development when their leaders meet at Camp David for a summit Friday.
Japan's Kishida hopes to further strengthen strategic cooperation with US and South Korea at summit
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he has high hopes to discuss further strengthening of three-way strategic cooperation with the United States and South Korea at a summit hosted by President Joe Biden at Camp David later this month.
Japan raises alarm over China's military, Russia ties and Taiwan tensions in new defense paper
The Japanese government has stepped up its alarm over Chinese assertiveness, warning in a report that the country faces its worst security threats since World War II as it plans to implement a new strategy that calls for a major military buildup.
Japan records steepest population decline while number of foreign residents hits new high
Japan's population has declined in all of its 47 prefectures for the first time in a record drop, while its population of foreign residents reached a new high of almost 3 million people, highlighting the increasing role that non-Japanese people play in the shrinking and aging country.
Japan's top court says government restrictions on transgender employee's use of restrooms illegal
Japanโs Supreme Court has ruled that restrictions imposed by a government ministry on a transgender female employeeโs use of restrooms at her workplace are illegal, in a landmark decision that could promote the rights of LGBTQ+ people in a country without legal protections for them.
UN nuclear agency chief says he's satisfied with Japan's plans to release Fukushima wastewater
The head of the U.N. atomic agency has toured Japanโs tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
UN nuclear agency endorses Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean
The U.N. nuclear agency has given its endorsement to Japanโs planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.
UN nuclear agency chief to visit Fukushima plant to see final preparations for release of wastewater
The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to meet with officials and see final preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Lower house of Japan's parliament passes bill to promote LGBTQ+ awareness, but not guarantee rights
The powerful lower house of Japanโs parliament has passed a bill to promote awareness of LGBTQ+ issues amid protests by activists that last-minute revisions by Prime Minister Fumio Kishidaโs conservative party favored opponents of sexual equality instead of guaranteeing equal rights.
Japan aims to refocus its foreign aid on maritime and economic security and national interests
Japan has approved a major revision to its development aid policy to focus on maritime and economic security and its national interests while helping developing nations overcome challenges amid Chinaโs growing influence.
Japan, Australia, US to fund undersea cable connection in Micronesia to counter China's influence
Japan has joined the United States and Australia in signing an agreement on a $95 million undersea cable project that will connect East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasingly expanding its influence.
Top American, Chinese defense officials vie for influence in Asia-Pacific
As the United States and China vie to establish new partnerships and expand influence with Asia-Pacific nations, the top defense officials from both nations are preparing to try to win support this weekend from their regional counterparts, diplomats and leaders at a security forum in Singapore.
Ukrainian president meets with world leaders at G7 as Russia claims a key victory in the war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with some of his biggest backers at the Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima on Sunday, hoping to add to the momentum for his countryโs war effort even as Russia claimed a symbolic victory on the battlefield.
G7 'outreach' an effort to build consensus on global issues like Ukraine, China, climate change
Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are sitting down with a carefully chosen set of counterparts from other countries during their summit in Japan in an effort to expand the G7โs sway and to include voices from the so-called Global South.
Biden meeting with Indo-Pacific leaders at G7 summit while confronting stalemate over US debt limit
President Joe Biden is seeking to rally regional cooperation against China on the margins of the Group of Seven summit in Japan, while confronting a stalemate back in Washington over how to ensure the U.S. avoids default.
Leaders begin arriving in Japan for meeting of G-7 nations, with war in Ukraine high on the agenda
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Hiroshima on Thursday as he prepared to welcome world leaders to the Group of Seven meeting in the western Japanese city that was the site of the worldโs first atomic bomb attack.
Biden to consult with Japan's Kishida ahead of Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima
President Joe Biden arrives in Hiroshima on Thursday for global diplomacy in a Japan that has already tightened its economic and national security alliance with the U.S. He will meet privately with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before joining the larger Group of Seven summit, a gathering of major industrialized nations.
China and Russia are increasing their military collaboration, Japan's foreign minister warns
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has expressed concern about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia, saying the security situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region was indivisible since Moscowโs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Japan's Kishida says G7 facing historic moment as finance leaders wrap up talks on global economy
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says the world is facing a โhistoric turning pointโ as the country prepares to host the annual summit of the Group of Seven advanced economies next week in Hiroshima.
Japan, South Korea eye visit by team of experts as Fukushima nuclear plant prepares water release
Officials from Japan and South Korea are eyeing a potential visit by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water to sea.
Japan to restore preferred trade status for South Korea
Japanโs trade ministry says it has begun procedures to restore preferential trade status for South Korea, days after Seoul took a similar step for Tokyo and requested reciprocity, and more than three years after the countries downgraded each other during a bitter historical dispute.
Suspect in Japan PM attack may have had election grudge
An unemployed 24-year-old man who allegedly threw a pipe bomb at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wanted to be a politician and believed that he was unfairly blocked from running for Japanโs parliament by an age requirement, according to media reports and social media posts that appeared to be his.
Diplomats gather in Japan at 'historic turning point'
Top diplomats from Europe and North America are arriving in the hot spring resort town of Karuizawa, Japan, to discuss the worldโs most intractable crises, including ways to end Russiaโs war in Ukraine, confront Chinaโs aggression toward Taiwan and lure North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks.
Japan PM praises SKorea leader; biz groups vow to boost ties
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says hats off to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for โmaking a difficult decision and actionโ by overcoming the troubled history between the two countries, pledging to work with him toward better future relations.
Yoon: Seoul-Tokyo ties key to address N Korea, supply chains
South Koreaโs president wants to quickly overcome decades of lingering hostility left over from Japanโs colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and forge a united front on North Koreaโs nuclear threats and other regional security and economic challenges facing the neighbors.
NATO chief urges closer ties with Japan to defend democracy
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has sharply criticized China for โbullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwanโ and stressed the need for Japan and other democracies to work together with the alliance to defend the international order.
Kishida prioritizes arms buildup, reversing low birthrate
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan faces the severest security environment in the region since the end of World War II and pledged to push a military buildup under a newly adopted security strategy as well as tackle rapidly declining births.