Latest Japan government News

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi delivers a speech during an upper house plenary session at the parliament in Tokyo Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Motegi blamed South Korea for further deteriorating their already strained relations by allegedly making illegal compensation demands over wartime sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers, urging Seoul to drop the case and fix the “abnormal development.” (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan urges South Korea to drop wartime compensation demands

Jan. 18, 2021 8:50 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's foreign minister accused South Korea on Monday of worsening already strained ties by making “illegal” demands for compensation for the sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers during World War II. Toshimitsu Motegi, in a diplomatic policy speech in...

Foreign passengers wearing protective suits prepare for their flight to China at Manila's International Airport, Philippines, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surged past 500,000 in a new bleak milestone with the government facing criticisms for failing to immediately launch a vaccination program amid a global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Asia Today: Philippine cases hit 500K amid vaccine struggles

Jan. 18, 2021 7:16 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surged past 500,000 in a new bleak milestone with the government facing criticism for failing to immediately launch a vaccination program amid a global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines. The Department of Health reported 1,895 new...

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga delivers a policy speech during an ordinary Diet session at the upper house of parliament in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Japan's PM vows Olympics will be proof of victory over virus

Jan. 18, 2021 5:45 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed Monday to get the pandemic under control and hold the already postponed Olympics this summer with ample coronavirus protection. In a speech opening a new Parliament session, Suga said his government would revise laws to make anti-virus measures...

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2020, file photo, Taro Kono, newly appointed minister in charge of Administrative Reform speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence n Tokyo. Kono has said “anything can happen” in regard to the postponed Tokyo Olympics, raising more doubts about the games beginning in just over six months. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Japan minister says 'anything can happen' with Tokyo Games

Jan. 15, 2021 6:13 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese cabinet minister Taro Kono has said “anything can happen” in regard to the postponed Tokyo Olympics, raising more doubts about the games scheduled to begin in just over six months. Kono's statements contradict the official government position and that of the local...

Construction workers wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus exit an elevator in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. China is concentrating its pandemic prevention efforts in the rural areas as officials urge people to not travel home for the annual Lunar New Year festival, as the country combats its most serious latest outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic originally broke out in Wuhan a year ago. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Latest: Coronavirus cases surging in northeast China

Jan. 13, 2021 9:27 PM EST

BEIJING — China is seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen northeast, and has reported its first death attributed to COVID-19 in months. Officials said Thursday that Heilongjiang province in the region traditionally known as Manchuria recorded 43 new virus cases, most of them centered on the...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford looks on as the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Canada is administered to personal support worker Anita Quidangen by registered nurse Hiwot Arfaso at The Michener Institute in Toronto on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Latest: Fla. lawyer in tobacco cases dies from COVID-19

Jan. 12, 2021 9:39 PM EST

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Florida attorney Fred Levin, who won a major legal battle against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, has died several days after contracting the coronavirus. He was 83. An attorney at the Levin Papantonio Rafferty legal firm says Levin died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19, the...

Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori delivers a New Year's address in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Mori tried on Tuesday to reassure the public that the postponed games will open in just over six months. (Kyodo News via AP)

Tokyo Olympic president tries to reassure doubting country

Jan. 12, 2021 2:15 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee tried on Tuesday to reassure the Japanese public that the postponed games will open in just over six months. Two polls in the last few days have shown just over 80% of Japanese people surveyed think the Olympics should be canceled or...

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, police officers in protective suits stand on duty at a temporary checkpoint in Shijiazhuang in northern China's Hebei Province on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. More than 360 people have tested positive in a growing COVID-19 outbreak south of Beijing in neighboring Hebei province. (Jin Haoyuan/Xinhua via AP)

The Latest: Scores test positive in China's Hebei province

Jan. 10, 2021 8:56 PM EST

BEIJING — Chinese health authorities say scores more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Hebei province bordering on the capital Beijing. The outbreak focused on the Hebei cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai is one of China’s most serious in recent months and comes amid measures to curb...

FILE - In this July 7, 2020, file photo, hospital staff members enter an elevator with the body of a COVID-19 victim on a gurney at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif. California health authorities reported on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, a record high of 695 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strain under unprecedented caseloads. The state Department of Public Health says the number raises the state's death toll since the start of the pandemic to 29,233. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

The Latest: Mexico sees record 16,105 new virus cases

Jan. 9, 2021 10:22 PM EST

MEXICO CITY — Mexico has posted another daily record for newly confirmed coronavirus cases, with 16,105 new infections reported Saturday, and a near-record of 1,135 deaths related to COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour period. The country has now topped 1.5 million total infections and over 133,000 deaths so...

Chinese paramilitary police wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus stand guard near the portrait of Chinese leader Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Gate near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. COVID vaccine shots will be free in China, where more than 9 million doses have been give to date, health officials in Beijing said Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Asia Today: China asks residents in 2 cities to stay home

Jan. 9, 2021 6:51 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have asked residents in two cities south of Beijing to stay home for seven days as they try to stamp out a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than 300 people have tested positive in the past week. The cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai in Hebei province are restricting...

LOADING MORE STORIES