April 25, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. Negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal continue after the U.S. president did not respond to a proposal by his French counterpart aimed at preserving the agreement.
  2. Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin has suggested the Japan-U.S. alliance is a hindrance to the development of his country’s ties with Japan.
  3. White House officials say the Trump administration plans to nominate the head of the U.S. military’s Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, to the post of the ambassador to South Korea.

April 24, Tuesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. U.S. Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan has called on the international community to keep pressure on North Korea until the country completes denuclearization.
  2. Japan’s government has approved the resignation of a top Finance Ministry bureaucrat who is at the center of a sexual harassment scandal.
  3. Finance Minister Taro Aso says the ministry will put off paying a retirement allowance to its top bureaucrat while a probe continues into allegations that he sexually harassed female reporters.