Japan

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Monday issued a level-one alert against monkeypox as the first case was detected in the country, according to local media.

The alert level, the lowest on the country's four-tier scale, was issued earlier in the day, ahead of the announcement Monday evening that the health ministry here had detected the first case of the disease in the Tokyo area.

TOKYO (AP) — The alleged assassin of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be detained until late November for mental evaluation so prosecutors can determine whether to formally press charges and send him to trial for murder, officials said Monday.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested immediately after he allegedly shot Abe from behind when the former leader was making a campaign speech outside a busy train station in western Japan on July 8.

TOKYO, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan's nuclear regulator on Friday authorized a controversial plan to discharge radioactive wastewater from a crippled nuclear plant in northeast Japan into the Pacific Ocean, prompting protests from the public.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on Friday held an extraordinary meeting and gave the final approval to the controversial plan submitted by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), in line with a government decision.

TOKYO, July 22 (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear regulators have approved a plan to release into the ocean water from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the government said on Friday.

The water, used to cool reactors in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear disaster, is being stored in huge tanks in the plant, and amounted to more than 1.3 million tonnes by July.

The regulators deemed it safe to release the water, which will still contain traces of tritium after treatment, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet on Friday formally decided to hold a state funeral on Sept. 27 for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid national debate over the plan, which some criticize as an attempt to glorify a divisive political figure.

Abe was gunned down earlier this month during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara, shocking a nation known for safety and strict gun control. The alleged gunman was arrested immediately after the shooting and is being detained for interrogation as authorities seek to formally press murder charges.

TOKYO/LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Britain and Japan are close to an agreement to merge their next-generation Tempest and F-X fighter jet programmes, with the two countries aiming for a deal on a new joint project by year-end, three sources told Reuters.

It would be the first time Japan has sought a non-U.S. partner for a large military programme and the first major collaboration between Tokyo and London, going beyond what had been expected when industrial talks began five years ago.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as his funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.

Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, remained influential even after stepping down two years ago for health reasons. He was gunned down Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

TOKYO, July 11 (Reuters) - A police investigation into the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe prompted the head of the country's branch the Unification Church to confirm on Monday that the mother of the suspect in the killing is a member.

Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, has been identified by police as the suspect who approached Abe and opened fire during a campaign speech on Friday.

TOKYO (AP) — An attack on democracy and freedom of speech. A throwback to the political murders of prewar Japan. Terrorism.

Public outrage, handwringing and vows of defiance by politicians and on social media are widespread following the daylight assassination by homemade gun of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a major political force even after he stepped down in 2020 as the nation’s longest-serving political leader.

TOKYO (AP) — Boosted by a new mandate in weekend elections, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Monday with the U.S.’s top diplomat, who delivered condolences over the death of influential former leader Shinzo Abe and reassurances of a strong bilateral alliance.

Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito secured a solid majority in elections for parliament’s upper, less powerful, chamber in a vote Sunday that was imbued with meaning after Abe was assassinated while campaigning Friday.