This week’s bitter cold snap killed about half of Washington’s beloved cherry blossoms, and the survivors are now expected to peak at the end of next week, the National Parks Service said Friday. Freezing temperatures that had abruptly followed unseasonably warm weather had the nation’s capital fearful for its more than 3,000 prized Japanese cherry … Read more
Northern Bulls of South Africa fared better with 14 men than 15 when defeating Sunwolves of Japan 34-21 on Friday in a lively Super Rugby match in Pretoria. Leading 17-14 at half-time, the home team were reduced to seven forwards from the opening minute of the second half when flanker Reinaldo Bothma was red-carded. The … Read more
A Japanese court on Friday ruled for the first time that the government bears responsibility for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and ordered it and the plant operator to pay damages, officials and news reports said. A massive tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake smashed into the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Japan’s northeastern coast … Read more
Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating on Toshiba again Friday, warning that the troubled company’s finances were quickly deteriorating owing to huge losses at its US nuclear unit. The ratings agency slashed its outlook on the Japanese industrial giant by two notches to ‘CCC-‘, pushing it further into junk status after earlier downgrades in … Read more
The United States’ “strategic patience” with nuclear-armed North Korea is over, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Seoul on Friday after visiting the Demilitarised Zone. The announcement signals a clean break from the stance of the previous administration under Barack Obama, when the United States ruled out engaging the North until it made a … Read more
Japan coach Jamie Joseph has expressed dismay that notes on the team’s swashbuckling 2015 World Cup run were not available to him when he took over from Eddie Jones. Keeping up with the Joneses is likely to prove tricky enough, but Joseph revealed Friday that he had to start from scratch as no blueprints for … Read more
The United States and China are finalizing plans for a summit between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago this April, but diplomats are struggling to remove last-minute stumbling blocks. Officials in both countries told AFP that Trump has tentatively agreed to host Xi to his Florida resort in early April — significant outreach … Read more
Nuclear disaster-hit Fukushima won formal approval to host baseball during the Tokyo Olympics on Friday — and may have the honour of putting on the opening game. Chief organiser Yoshiro Mori said the International Olympic Committee’s executive board had agreed to hold baseball and softball in Fukushima at a meeting in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The … Read more
Japan launched a new spy satellite on Friday, the country’s space agency said, as the region grows increasingly uneasy over North Korea’s quickening missile programme. The Radar 5 unit was carried into space on Japan’s mainstay H-2A rocket from a launch site in the country’s southwest. It is meant to replace an existing satellite that … Read more
With his department reeling over President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts and the international community worried, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted Thursday he was happy to try to do more with less. Though the budget is unlikely to pass Congress in its current form, it underscores Trump’s isolationist rhetoric and “America First” promises, … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has defended swingeing budget cuts to his own department proposed by President Donald Trump. Speaking in Japan, he said the level of state department spending in the past had been “simply not sustainable” and he willingly accepted the “challenge”. If Congress backs the budget, and that is far from … Read more
U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday the escalating threat from North Korea’s nuclear program showed a clear need for a “new approach,” although he stopped short of detailing what steps the Trump administration would pursue. Tillerson was speaking at a news conference following talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has defended swingeing budget cuts to his own department proposed by President Donald Trump. Speaking in Japan, he said the level of state department spending in the past had been “simply not sustainable” and he willingly accepted the “challenge”. If Congress backs the budget, and that is far from … Read more
China insisted on Thursday that its proposal for de-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula was the “only feasible plan” and challenged the United States to come up with something better. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called last week for North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the US and South … Read more
Two decades of diplomacy aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have failed and a new approach is needed, the United States’ top envoy said Thursday. During a visit to Japan at the start of an Asian tour, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said China needed to play its part in reining in its errant … Read more
Kellyn Acosta scored off a second half free kick as FC Dallas rallied for a 2-1 win over Mexican side Pachuca in the first-leg semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. The 21-year-old homegrown Dallas product, who was also called up to the US national team on Wednesday, curled a shot into the top half of … Read more
The United States’ top diplomat was in Tokyo on Thursday to reassure allies that Washington stands with them in the face of the accelerating missile threat from North Korea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson began his first Asian tour in Japan’s capital and was to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister … Read more
Asian stocks consolidated recent gains on Wednesday before a U. S. central bank policy meeting that could signal how much monetary tightening to expect during the remainder of the year, with an immediate rate hike fully priced in by markets. Though recent data, particularly out of China, has fueled a rally in Asian equities since … Read more
A growing US presence off the Korean Peninsula is reportedly part of a plan aimed at ‘incapacitating’ Kim Jong Un’s despotic regime in Pyongyang should conflict break out. A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for joint military exercises in the latest show of force against the North. The USS Carl … Read more
Washington’s top diplomat was to fly into Tokyo on Wednesday to begin a first tour of Asian capitals under the shadow of North Korea’s nuclear posturing. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has promised to take a tough line on Kim Jong-un’s isolated regime as he talks to allies Japan and South Korea and to rival … Read more