
Ishiba and Guterres agree to deepen Japan-U.N. cooperation
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed during phone talks Friday their intention to deepen cooperative ties between the Asian country and the United Nations.
For the deeper cooperation, Ishiba and Guterres agreed to take advantage of, among other things, international events in Japan, such as the ongoing World Exposition in the city of Osaka and the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), to be held in Yokohama in August.
In the 10-minute phone conversation, Ishiba stressed the importance of the role played by the United Nations at a time when the international community faces a host of challenges. He also said Japan is ready to work closely with the United Nations for the reform of the world body.
Guterres expressed his gratitude for Japan's support for U.N. activities.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Kyodo News
an hour ago
- Kyodo News
Japan PM aims for nominal GDP to reach 1,000 tril. yen in 2040
KYODO NEWS - 8 hours ago - 22:02 | All, Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that Japan should aim to boost its economy to 1,000 trillion yen ($7 trillion) in nominal terms in 2040, instructing his ruling party executives to include it in a pledge for this summer's nationwide election. The size compares with a nominal gross domestic product of around 600 trillion yen in 2024, which met a target set about a decade ago. Japan, however, had lost its status as the world's third-largest economy to Germany the previous year. Ishiba said that while giving priority to ensuring that wage growth consistently outpaces inflation, his Liberal Democratic Party will seek to achieve an over 50 percent increase in average income in the same time frame. The goals were set as the country's major political parties are looking at ways to woo voters with their campaign pledges for the House of Councillors, or upper house, election, with opposition parties calling for reducing the consumption tax to ease the pain of inflation on households. "I wanted to share with Japanese people what specifically a strong economy will look like," Ishiba told reporters. "I've instructed party executives to target nominal GDP of 1,000 trillion yen in 2040 and over 50 percent growth in average income at the top of our election promises" for the upper house contest, he added. Nominal GDP shows the size of an economy in current prices. Japan's economy expanded in 2024 when the country was reeling from the yen's persistent weakness and the resulting cost-push inflation. In the run-up to this summer's upper house election, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the biggest opposition force, is seeking to temporarily remove the consumption tax on food, currently at 8 percent, and offer cash handouts. Party leader Yoshihiko Noda said Monday that combatting inflation is a major theme for the upper house race, which will replace half of the 248-member chamber. Ishiba, however, has taken a cautious stance on lowering the consumption tax rate on food as an inflation-relief measure. The LDP's election chief Seiji Kihara said the party will consider "effective" cash handouts with the use of surplus tax revenue when it formalizes its election platform. Related coverage: Japan's top negotiator eyes U.S. trip this week for 6th tariff talks Many see continued cuts in bond buying as appropriate: BOJ chief Ueda Japan PM says mutual understanding "deepened" with Trump over tariffs


NHK
2 hours ago
- NHK
Two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously spotted in Pacific for 1st time
Japan's Defense Ministry says two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted in the Pacific during the past three days. The ministry says it was the first time the two vessels have entered the Pacific simultaneously. The Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed that a fleet of five warships was navigating about 550 kilometers southeast of Miyakojima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday afternoon, according to the ministry. The fleet included the Shandong aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer. Officials said fighter jets and helicopters were seen taking off and landing on the Shandong on Monday when it was in Japan's exclusive economic zone north of Okinotorishima, the nation's southernmost island. Another Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was spotted sailing within Japan's EEZ around Minamitorishima Island, which is part of Tokyo's Ogasawara Islands, on Saturday. Officials said the Liaoning was still in nearby waters on Monday, after it conducted aircraft takeoff and landing drills the day before. The Liaoning and the Shandong are China's only two active aircraft carriers. The ministry suspects that China's navy is trying to improve the operational capabilities of the warships, including long-range functions. Officials have continued caution and surveillance of the situation.


Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
Trump travel ban in effect, citizens from 12 nations barred from US
US President Donald Trump (R), seen here with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has slapped a travel ban on a dozen countries President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect early Monday immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term. The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries. Many of the nations covered by the restrictions have adversarial relations with the United States, such as Iran and Afghanistan, while others face severe crises, like Haiti and Libya. In announcing his restrictions last week, Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado. The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa. That attack, Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas. The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House. Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed. New countries could be added, Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world." Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty. "We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told AFP. The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump's order said. Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law." U.S. Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional. "I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X. "We will fight this ban with everything we have." Rumors of a new travel ban had circulated following the Colorado attack, with Trump's administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas. U.S. officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022. Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt. His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting. Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said. For the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas. © 2025 AFP