1. US Vice President JD Vance says a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine is unlikely to satisfy either side. Vance said that the Trump administration is “going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops.”
2. Sources at the US Treasury Department have told NHK that Washington may lower the tariff on Japanese vehicles and other products in mid-September to the level earlier agreed with Japan. The sources disclosed that a reference point for the tariff’s reduction is set at 50 days after the two countries reached an agreement in late July.
3. The Japan Meteorological Agency has downgraded the heavy rain emergency warning for seven municipalities in Kumamoto Prefecture to a heavy rain warning or advisory. But it’s still urging people to beware of landslides, flooding and swollen rivers.