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[ad_1] BAGHDAD – The United States and Iraq are set to initiate talks on the end of a U.S.-led international military coalition in Iraq and how to replace it with bilateral relations, four sources have said, a step forward in a process that was stalled by the Gaza war.The U.S. conveyed the message in a letter handed over by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad […]

[ad_1] KYIV – A large Russian military transport plane crashed Wednesday near the border with Ukraine killing everyone onboard, the Russian Defense Ministry said, accusing Ukraine of shooting down the plane with missiles.The ministry said in a statement that the plane had been carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being transferred to the Belgorod region to be exchanged for Russian service personnel. It accused Ukrainian forces of launching […]

[ad_1] Star-crossed romance has long been a staple in Japanese cinema, though medical catastrophe, more than a disapproving society or opposing parents, has become a common force tearing lovers apart in contemporary films. This does not always mean a tragic finale: In Takahisa Zeze’s 2017 hit “The 8-Year Engagement,” the heroine recovers from a long coma to wed her devoted fiancee.Eiji Uchida’s “Silent Love” adds a twist to this staple […]

[ad_1] You probably know what to expect from a film with a title like “The Beast Hand.” One of the posters for Taichiro Natsume’s low-budget pic features a lurid, blood-flecked montage straight out of the 1970s, with ad copy promising a “pure love splatter horror masterpiece.” But the movie itself is a curious creature, closer in tone to downbeat dramas like Hiroshi Shoji’s “Ken and Kazu” (2016) than to gonzo […]

[ad_1] The number of cases involving a rare but serious type of bacterial infection hit a record 941 in Japan last year, with health authorities urging people to take basic preventative measures such as hand-washing and caring for wounds.Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), most often caused by the bacteria called group A streptococcus, was first reported in Japan in 1992. Since then, an average of 100 to 200 confirmed cases […]

[ad_1] Japan’s exports rose at the fastest pace in a year last month, boosting the likelihood of the economy returning to growth in the October to December quarter.Exports rose 9.8% in December from a year earlier, the biggest jump in a year and a reversal from a 0.2% dip in the previous month, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday. Economists had forecast a 9.2% increase. Shipments to the United States gained […]

[ad_1] Here’s a bill winding its way through the U.S. Congress that looks great at first blush: the REPO for Ukrainians Act. Or, in full, the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act. I even like the pun on "repossession.”REPO is bicameral and bipartisan legislation sponsored by the Republican leaders on foreign-policy matters: Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Michael McCaul, chairman of […]

[ad_1] Seoul – Hidden camera footage appearing to show South Korea's First Lady accepting a Dior bag as a gift has plunged President Yoon Suk-yeol and his party into a controversy that may threaten their bid to reclaim a parliamentary majority in April's election.Some members of Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) have urged the president and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, to apologize for the incident dubbed by local media […]

[ad_1] Kyoto – Takahiro Ueda, the doctor who saved the life of the defendant in the fatal 2019 Kyoto Animation arson has said he hopes the case spurs a discussion on ways to resolve isolation in society ahead of Thursday's ruling.Suffering severe burns himself, defendant Shinji Aoba, 45, was in a critical state when he was brought to a hospital in Osaka Prefecture where Ueda then worked, two days after […]