June 09, 2012
VIENNA--The U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran failed at talks on June 8 to unblock a probe into suspected atom bomb research by the Islamic state, a setback dimming any chances for success in higher-level negotiations between Tehran and major powers later this month.
June 07, 2012
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party on June 7 agreed to enter talks with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on amending tax hike legislation, but opposition demands on other policies could derail the negotiations.
June 07, 2012
KABUL-- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on June 7 the United States was reaching the limits of its patience with Pakistan because of the safe havens the country offered to insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan.
June 06, 2012
The extent of opposition in the ruling party to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s push to restart nuclear reactors became clear on June 5, with nearly a third of his party’s lawmakers putting their names to a petition asking him to reconsider his policy.
June 06, 2012
Only 17 percent of voters want the Diet to pass tax hike legislation during the current session, a goal on which Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has staked his political life, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
June 06, 2012
BEIJING--Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 6 that China opposes any Middle East country acquiring nuclear weapons, state news agency Xinhua reported.
June 06, 2012
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara made clear what would be the main issue at the metropolitan assembly session that started on June 5: uninhabited islands located 2,000 kilometers away from the capital.
June 06, 2012
A Japanese diplomat sent to Shanghai for language training was hastily recalled June 5 after Chinese authorities summoned him for questioning.
June 06, 2012
MOSCOW--When Russia opens a "billion-dollar bridge" on its Pacific coast this summer, Vladimir Putin can expect an enthusiastic audience among the 5,000 islanders whom it will connect to the mainland, at an eye-popping cost per head.
June 06, 2012
BEIJING--Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, urged international support on June 5 for U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria, despite calls from Arab and Western states for a tougher response to the bloodshed.
June 06, 2012
YANGON--Scores of Myanmar Muslims held a rare protest in the country's biggest city on June 5 to demand justice for nine pilgrims killed by a Buddhist mob in an attack that has stirred communal tension.
June 05, 2012
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered ruling party Secretary-General Azuma Koshiishi to do something he is loath to do: arrange a Lower House vote on consumption tax hike legislation with the opposition parties.
June 05, 2012
New Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto said June 4 that relocating the sprawling U.S. Futenma airfield to the Henoko district of Nago in Okinawa offered the best solution to a thorny issue that has inflamed the southernmost prefecture.
June 04, 2012
With Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda now cozying up to the opposition bloc, ruling party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa may seem like the odd man out.
June 04, 2012
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dumped two censured Cabinet members on June 4 in a reshuffle intended to win support from opposition parties to double the consumption tax rate.
June 03, 2012
CAM RANH BAY, Vietnam--U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited a deep-water Vietnamese port near the contested South China Sea on June 3, calling access to such harbors critical as the U.S. shifts 60 percent of its warships to the Asia-Pacific by 2020.
June 03, 2012
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will replace four Cabinet ministers to gain support for a consumption tax hike from the largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party, sources said.
June 02, 2012
OSAKA--Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has admitted to "defeat" in battling the central government and preventing two idle nuclear reactors in neighboring Fukui Prefecture being reactivated.
June 02, 2012
The United States is seeking concessions in six areas related to automobiles in preliminary talks to determine if Japan should be allowed to take part in negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.
June 01, 2012
After espousing a staunch anti-nuclear stance that included threats to bring down the ruling party, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said May 31 he would approve the restart of two reactors in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.