Japan

[ad_1] Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and a top union leader amplified their calls for strong wage growth as companies prepare to engage in annual pay negotiations."I’d like to ensure that the growth in disposable income exceeds price rises,” the prime minister said at a New Year’s event hosted by Rengo, the nation’s biggest trade union federation. "We will mobilize all of our policies to achieve this goal.”Tomoko Yoshino, chief of […]

[ad_1] Six Japan Railways Group firms have reported that the number of train passengers during the year-end and New Year holidays increased 8% year-on-year. The combined number of users of bullet trains and other rail services came to around 9,869,000 for the period from Dec. 28 to Thursday, the firms announced Friday. According to West Japan Railway Co., or JR West, Hokuriku Shinkansen trains registered a 1% rise in the […]

[ad_1] Seoul – The United States is unlikely to cut back its forces in South Korea even if former U.S. President Donald Trump wins re-election, the South's minister tasked with matters related to neighboring North Korea said in a television interview.In the interview transmitted on Saturday, Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho told broadcaster KBS this was because the U.S. Congress had already decided the matter in a defense bill it recently […]

[ad_1] Warsaw/Kyiv – After an initial outpouring of patriotism in the months after Russia's invasion began, the realities of the battlefield — and mobilization — have largely set in among Ukraine's population.Heavy casualties and almost two years of grinding trench warfare have sparked a fierce debate on the future of the draft, an ever more pertinent topic as the army struggles to fill its ranks.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned last month […]

[ad_1] Tokyo prosecutors have questioned the former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Toshihiro Nikai, and former reconstruction minister Katsuei Hirasawa on a voluntary basis over a widening political funds scandal, sources close to the matter said Saturday.Prosecutors are investigating the LDP faction led by Nikai, as well as the largest faction, which was led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, over allegations they created slush funds through off-the-book […]

[ad_1] House of Representatives member Mito Kakizawa intends to admit to vote-buying allegations in a mayoral election in Tokyo despite an initial denial, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. Kakizawa, 52, was arrested on Dec. 28 on suspicion of offering to pay ¥200,000 each to nine people, including assembly members of Tokyo's Koto Ward, between February and March to help Yayoi Kimura to win the ward mayoral election. The […]

[ad_1] A 39-year-old man was arrested Saturday for pushing an unacquainted woman off the platform onto the rail tracks at Tokyo's JR Shinagawa Station, police said. The woman in her 60s was pushed from behind when waiting for a train at the major rail hub at around 1:30 p.m., the police said, adding that she was taken to hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The man from Osaka Prefecture has admitted to […]

[ad_1] Alaska Airlines will ground its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a fuselage section in the rear part of the brand-new jet blew out shortly after takeoff.The airline is taking the "precautionary step” to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until completion of full maintenance and inspection, Chief Executive Officer Ben Minicucci said in a statement. Flight 1282 was carrying 171 passengers and six crew […]

[ad_1] NEW YORK – Undisputed super bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue was named Ring Magazine's 2023 Fighter of the Year on Friday, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win the prestigious award. The man nicknamed "Monster" stopped two-belt world champion Marlon Tapales of the Philippines last month to become just the second boxer to unify two divisions, following American Terence Crawford. Inoue, whose record stands at 26-0 with 23 knockouts, […]