Japan

TOKYO (AP) — A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed into blue skies from a Japanese launch center Monday at the start of a seven-month journey to Mars on the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, starts a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that is scheduled to be followed in the next few days by China and the United States.

At the space center in Dubai, people watching were transfixed by the liftoff, then cheered and clapped, with one woman with offering a celebratory cry common for weddings.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Protecting the jobs of Japanese people is more important now than public finances, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday.

The huge cost of combating the coronavirus crisis is threatening to add considerably to the country’s already massive public debt. Nishimura, speaking to reporters, said fiscal consolidation naturally wouldn’t be unaffected by that in the long run.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest “red” level on Wednesday, alarmed by a recent spike in daily new cases to record highs, with Governor Yuriko Koike describing the situation in the Japanese capital as “rather severe”.

The resurgence of the virus in Tokyo could add to the growing pressure on policymakers to shore up the world’s No.3 economy, which analysts say is set to shrink at its fastest pace in decades this fiscal year due to the pandemic.

(AP) --- Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Wednesday as investors were encouraged by news that an experimental COVID-19 vaccine under development by Moderna and the U.S. National Institutes of Health revved up people’s immune systems just as desired.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s environment ministry warned on Tuesday that the electricity industry, which accounts for 40% of its carbon emissions, will miss its target for cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2030, calling for it to take further measures.

The warning is based on the ministry’s annual review of whether the electricity industry is taking proper measures to achieve the goal to cut CO2 emission to 0.37 kg CO2/kWh by 2030.

Tokyo, Jul 14 (AP/PTI) China is pushing harder to make territorial claims in the regional seas and even using the coronavirus pandemic to expand its influence and take strategic superiority, posing a greater threat to Japan and the region, Japan's government said.

TOKYO (AP) — Shares fell in Asia on Tuesday as skepticism set in about the recent upward momentum in global markets given rising confirmed coronavirus cases and percolating tensions between the U.S. and China.

The White House’s decision to reject nearly all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea added to investor jitters. The world’s two largest economies have been sparring over everything from the pandemic to human rights.

TOKYO (AP) — The governor of Japan’s Okinawa island demanded a top U.S. military commander take tougher prevention measures and more transparency hours after officials were told that more than 60 Marines at two bases have been infected with the coronavirus over the past few days.

Okinawan officials on Sunday reported a total of 61 cases — 38 of them at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is at the center of a relocation dispute, and another 23 at Camp Hansen — since July 7. They said that U.S. military officials told them the two bases have since been put in lockdown.

TOKYO (AP) — Parts of Japan still searching for missing people and evacuating those stranded by deadly floods and mudslides were bracing for more pounding rains through the weekend.

The death toll has risen to 66 as of Friday morning, with 16 others still missing, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Most of them are in prefectures on Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest main island.

The damage has spread beyond Kyushu into central Japan’s scenic mountain villages known for hot springs and hiking.

TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, shared serious concerns over various moves in the East and South China Seas in their video meeting on Thursday, a Japanese government spokesman said.

Asked at a media briefing if the two leaders’ concerns expressed in the meeting were directed to China, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Naoki Okada declined to elaborate.

Australia too did not single out any particular country, though the meeting comes after several incidents involving China.