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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent an offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, his office said on Thursday, drawing criticism from South Korea and China which view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past. The shrine includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the …

Japan’s Ishiba sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine, angering S.Korea, China Read More »

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea has designated South Korea a “hostile state”, its state media said on Thursday, confirming that its national assembly had amended the constitution in line with their leader’s vow to drop unification as a national goal. The North’s KCNA news agency reported that the military had blasted sections of …

North Korea calls South Korea ‘hostile state’ indicating constitution change Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s ruling party may lose its majority in the lower house, according to media polling ahead of the Oct. 27 election, meaning it would likely have to rely on coalition partner Komeito to stay in power. The Liberal Democratic Party may not reach the 233 seats it needs for an outright majority in …

Japan’s ruling LDP at risk of losing majority in election, polls show Read More »

WONJU, South Korea (Reuters) -K-pop star J-Hope, a member of the supergroup BTS, was discharged from South Korea’s military on Thursday after 18 months of duty, sparking enthusiasm among fans and investors for a potential reunion of the boy band next year. J-Hope, 30, is the second member of the seven-member group to wrap up …

J-Hope, of South Korea’s BTS, finishes military service Read More »

By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s largest political party said it would support incoming president Prabowo Subianto, but it was unclear on Thursday whether it would formally join his already dominant coalition just days ahead of the inauguration ceremony. If Prabowo, who will take over the presidency on Sunday, can reach a deal with …

Indonesia’s Prabowo gets support from biggest party, but no coalition deal yet Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that Seoul’s former police chief was not guilty of negligence in the response to a Halloween crowd crush in the capital’s Itaewon nightlife district that killed 159 revellers in 2022. The Seoul Western District Court said it acquitted Kim Kwang-ho, the highest-ranking police official indicted …

Former Seoul police chief found not guilty of negligence in Halloween crush Read More »

By Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) -China is building its capacity to rapidly turn military drills into a full-out attack, a senior Taiwan security official said, providing the Taipei government’s assessment of the strategic intent behind Beijing’s war games around the island this week. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged large-scale …

China building capacity to rapidly strike Taiwan, senior Taiwanese official says Read More »

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday India made “a horrific mistake” by thinking it could interfere as aggressively as it allegedly did in Canada’s sovereignty. Trudeau made the remark two days after Canada kicked out six Indian diplomats, linking them to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada …

India’s alleged interference in Canada was ‘horrific mistake,’ Trudeau says Read More »

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is preparing for more flooding with a tropical depression forecast to strengthen into a storm as it heads to its central coast, days after typhoon Yagi set off floods and landslides that killed more than 290 people in the north. With a long coast facing the South China Sea, the Southeast …

Vietnam braces for another storm as Yagi typhoon death toll surpasses 290 Read More »