TOKYO (Jiji Press) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday officially announced a plan to cut the consumption tax rate on food to 1 pct for two years starting next April. The government plans to lower the food tax rate to virtually zero through the envisaged consumption tax cut and...
YOKOHAMA (Jiji Press) -- A third-party investigation by three lawyers has confirmed workplace harassment by the sitting mayor of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, according to their report submitted to the city on Thursday. The report found that Takeharu Yamanaka, 53, yelled at subordinates, called them...
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — As wildfires rage in France and Spain and a renewed heat wave is bearing down on Western Europe, a prolonged drought half a continent away is setting record low water levels on one of Europe 's largest rivers, disrupting tourism and industry and confronting...
Climate change 's fingerprints are all over the extreme fire weather that sparked this week 's devastating wildfires in Spain and France and has spiked Southern Europe 's burning the past eight years, two new studies conclude. Human-caused climate change made the hot and dry...
CAIRO (AP) — The United States and Iran each fired barrages of missiles Thursday, as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for a quick end to the five-month conflict. Following a few days of respite, fears of a wider war have grown, with renewed fighting...
KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Rural communities in southwestern Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, killing at least 23 people. Time was running out to find...
CAIRO (AP) — Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country 's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the U.S. military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile...
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — An uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge again in southwest France on Wednesday — as three firefighters died in Greece and crews across southern Europe confronted a punishing mix of heat, drought and strong winds. The deaths on...
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military said early Thursday it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” conducted in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias...
KUMAMOTO (Jiji Press)--The death toll from Tuesday 's powerful earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, reached 18 on Thursday morning, while searches continued for people whose whereabouts are unknown. As of 11 a.m., 18 were confirmed dead after the quake with an estimated...
TOKYO (Jiji Press)--A powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday was caused by movement along part of the Hinagu fault zone, which also triggered major earthquakes in the southwestern Japan prefecture a decade ago, a Japanese government research panel has said. The...
TOKYO (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged Wednesday to disburse ordinary local allocation tax grants ahead of schedule to municipalities affected by Tuesday 's powerful earthquake in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto. The administration will continue to provide...
