1. Japanese weather officials say a tropical storm is moving north over waters south of the Kyushu region and bringing intermittent heavy rain as it approaches southern Kyushu. Tropical Storm Peipah is expected to travel along the Pacific coast in western and eastern Japan through Friday. Rainfall may accumulate mainly in areas along the Pacific, raising the risk of mudslides and flooding in low-lying areas.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has welcomed the recent moves by Armenia and Azelbaijan to end conflict and achieve peace. Ishiba met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for about 40 minutes in Tokyo on Thursday. The meeting comes after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration for peace last month that was brokered by US President Donald Trump.
3. Police in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, have admitted mistakes in dealing with a stalking case that led to the murder of a 20-year-old woman. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police on Thursday released a report on its review of how officers responded to the complaints from the woman that she was being stalked. The report says the police systems for handling stalking cases had become a mere formality and failed to function.