月: 2025年3月

1. US President Donald Trump has not ruled out the possibility of seeking a third term, saying in a media interview there are “methods” to make it possible. The US Constitution prohibits anyone from being elected to the office of the president more than twice. Amending the two-term limit requires overcoming significant hurdles.
2. Consumers in Japan reeling under food inflation will face even higher grocery bills in April. A private research firm says the number of items set for mark-ups will top 4,000 for the first time in 18 months. Teikoku Databank surveyed 195 major domestic food and beverage makers and says price hikes are planned for 4,225 items in April.
3. Japan’s industrial production grew for the first time in 4 months in February, partly due to increased output of chip-making devices for export to Taiwan and China.

1. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a general election for May 3. The focus is on whether his ruling Labor Party can retain power amid growing public discontent about its economic policies. Albanese said there has never been a more important time for Australia to stand on its own two feet. He added that only the Labor Party is building an economy where more things are made in the country.
2. US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on auto imports is sending shockwaves through global markets, rattling close allies, and could mark the unraveling of the era of post-war era of free trade. The Trump administration says the tariffs, set to take effect on April 3, are designed to reduce trade deficits and push foreign automakers to shift production to US soil.
3. French President Emmanuel Macron says his country and Britain will send a joint team to Ukraine in the next few days to plan for a proposed troop deployment to help secure a possible ceasefire in the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as leaders of nearly 30 countries, NATO and the European Union, met in Paris earlier on Thursday. Macron said the participants unanimously agreed that the time was not right to lift sanctions on Russia. Russia says some of the sanctions must be removed for its agreement with the United States over safety in the Black Sea to take effect.

1. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an additional 25 percent tariff on imported autos and some parts. Trump said: “We’ll effectively be charging a 25 percent tariff. But if you build your car in the United States, there is no tariff.”
2. The South Korean military says North Korea appears to have dispatched at least 3,000 additional troops to Russia in January and February to support the invasion of Ukraine. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff released its latest report on the North’s military activities on Thursday.
3. Japan’s government has compiled a plan to evacuate people from remote islands in the southwestern prefecture of Okinawa in the event of emergencies. The plan, the first of its kind, was released on Thursday. It would be used in cases such as a contingency involving Taiwan.

1. Village officials led a memorial service in Zamami, Okinawa on Wednesday to commemorate the beginning of ground battles there 80 years ago. US forces made their first landing there in1945. It was the first such remembrance ceremony in 10 years. Attendees mourned the victims and reaffirmed efforts for peace.
2. Wildfires continue to spread in western Japan, with no signs of being brought under control. The blazes are still expanding in Ehime and Okayama prefectures, while a new wildfire broke out in Miyazaki Prefecture on Tuesday.
3. Japan is providing medical equipment to a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv that was damaged by a Russian missile attack last July. The Okhmatdyt children’s hospital is the largest state-run medical institution for children in Ukraine, with a record of performing over 10,000 surgeries in 2023.

1. A Palestinian correspondent for Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun has been killed in the Gaza Strip along with two members of his family, apparently by an Israeli attack. The newspaper says Mahammed Mansour, who was 29, died in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday along with his wife and baby son. It says they appear to have been killed by a missile strike. 2. A court in Japan has ordered the group once called the Unification Church to disband as a religious corporation. The group is expected to appeal. The Tokyo District Court issued the order on Tuesday, as requested by the education and culture ministry. The ministry had filed the request in 2023 based on the Religious Corporations Act. It said the group solicited large donations from followers and induced them into buying expensive items by exploiting fears about their spiritual wellbeing.
3. Weather officials in Japan say yellow sand from China’s desert regions has reached the Japanese archipelago. The officials are warning that the airborne particles could worsen the symptoms of hay fever and asthma, reduce visibility and cause traffic disruptions.

1. Wildfires continue to spread in Okayama and Ehime Prefectures, prompting authorities to urge residents to evacuate.
2. Cherry trees started to bloom in the western Japanese cities of Kochi and Kumamoto on Sunday. 3. Ozeki champion Onosato has won the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament after a playoff. This is his first title since he was promoted to the sport’s second-highest rank, and the third in his career.

1. Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold separate talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia on Monday. The move comes after they agreed to a partial US-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine. The Kremlin said on Thursday that US and Russian officials will have working-level talks in Riyadh. 2. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested that he is considering plans to provide air and sea defense as well as support on the ground to maintain peace in Ukraine, once a ceasefire takes effect. Military officials from Ukraine, European nations and Canada were among those taking part. They support the framework of a “coalition of the willing” to maintain peace in Ukraine.
3. Japan’s national soccer team has defeated Bahrain in Asian qualifiers, becoming the first non-host squad to clinch a slot at next year’s World Cup. It will be the Samurai Blue’s eighth straight appearance in the tournament.

1. The US White House announced that President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have agreed on a ceasefire regarding attacks on Russian energy facilities during their phone talks on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Moscow stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump had agreed on a 30-day halt to energy infrastructure attacks the day before.
2. Israel is ramping up military pressure on Hamas over the group’s refusal to free Israeli hostages, continuing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and launching a partial ground operation in the enclave. A Hamas official, meanwhile, told France’s AFP news agency that the group remained open to talks, indicating it will seek to establish ceasefire through negotiations.
3. People in Japan are remembering the victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on the 30th anniversary of the deadly incident on Thursday. Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released highly toxic nerve gas in packed rush-hour subway cars on three lines in central Tokyo on March 20, 1995.

1. A US federal court has ordered the Trump administration to pause any further attempts to shut down the United States Agency for International Development. The judge ruled that the dismantling of USAID by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, likely violated the Constitution.
2. The White House says US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about Ukraine by phone on Tuesday and agreed that the movement to peace should “begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire.” But Russia did not accept a 30-day ceasefire that was proposed by the United States.
3. US Chief Justice John Roberts has rebuked President Donald Trump for urging the impeachment of a federal judge who moved to block the administration’s deportations of foreign nationals. US media reports say the developments laid bare an escalating showdown between the country’s executive and judicial branches.

1. The Israeli military says it carried out a new wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning. According to media reports, Gaza health authorities say more than 200 people have been killed, including many children.
2. Japan’s Foreign Minister has advised his Iranian counterpart to take constructive and concrete actions with the United States to peacefully resolve Tehran’s nuclear issue. Iwaya Takeshi spoke with Abbas Araghchi on the phone on Monday about Iran’s protests against US calls for a nuclear deal amid pressure for tighter sanctions.
3. The operator of a nuclear power plant in central Japan has begun dismantling a reactor unit that is being decommissioned. Chubu Electric Power Company says the work on the No.2 reactor began at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture on Monday.