South Korea will not attend Sado mines memorial event in Japan amid lingering historical tensions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government said Saturday it will not attend a memorial service near Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event, which stirred longstanding tensions over the abuse of Korean forced laborers at the site...

South Korea says it will not attend Sado mines memorial in Japan amid lingering historical tensions

China is expanding visa-free entry to more countries in bid to boost economy

BEIJING (AP) — China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy. Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,...

Japan passes $250B economic package meant to lift wages and spur growth

TOKYO (AP) — Japan approved a 39 trillion yen ($250 billion) economic stimulus package Friday centered around initiatives it said were aimed at boosting individual incomes. The broad plan passed by the Cabinet is the centerpiece of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s recently...

Japan says it will watch China's military activity after Beijing admits violating Japanese airspace

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese officials said Wednesday they are closely watching to see if China keeps its promise to prevent further violations of Japan's airspace after explaining that an incursion by a Chinese military aircraft nearly three months ago was unintentional and caused by turbulence. ...

Japan records a trade deficit in October for a 4th straight month, despite export recovery

TOKYO (AP) — Japan racked up a trade deficit in October for a fourth straight month as a weak yen and rising energy prices kept import costs high. The trade deficit, which amounts to a nation’s imports subtracted from its exports, totaled 461 billion yen ($3 billion) last month,...

Takeaways from the AP's investigation into Osprey safety issues

After being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight service members in Japan, the V-22 Osprey — a complicated aircraft that flies fast like a plane but converts to land like a helicopter — is back in the air. But there are still questions as to...

The Osprey's safety issues spiked over five years and caused deaths. Pilots still want to fly it

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) — Over a New Mexico training range named the Hornet, two Osprey aircraft speed 100 feet off the ground, banking hard over valleys and hills as they close in on a dusty landing zone. A flight engineer in the back braces a .50-caliber machine gun over...

An Australian on trial for drugs in Japan says she's the victim of a romance scam

CHIBA, Japan (AP) — An Australian accused of smuggling amphetamines in a suitcase appeared in a Japanese court on Monday nearly two years after her arrest, saying she is innocent and that she was tricked into carrying them as part of an online romance scam. Donna Nelson from Perth,...

Japan's economy grows for a second straight quarter on the back of consumer spending

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy eked out an annual rate of 0.9% growth in the July-September period as consumer spending held up, government data showed Friday. The world’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.2% in the fiscal second quarter, marking the second straight quarter of...