投稿者: tomoyasu

1. U.S. Republicans have abruptly pulled their healthcare bill from the House floor shortly before a planned vote. The move has dealt a blow to the Trump administration’s effort to repeal and replace the affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
2. Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea on Saturday marked the 20th year since the formation of a group seeking the return of their loved ones.

1. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he will appoint William Hagerty, a senior member of his transition team, as the ambassador to Japan.
2. The U.N. Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch and its ballistic missile engine test.
3. British police have identified the perpetrator of Wednesday’s deadly attack near Parliament in London.

1. The head of a scandal-hit school operator has told the Diet that he received a donation of one million yen, or about 9,000 dollars, from the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
2. Police in London who are investigating an attack in Britain’s capital say they believe the attacker was inspired by Islamic-related terrorism.
3. The South Korean government says work to recover the sunken Sewol ferry is expected to finish by Thursday night.

1. South Korea’s Defense Ministry says North Korea fired a missile on Wednesday morning, but that the launch appears to have been unsuccessful.
2. Prosecutors in South Korea investigating a corruption scandal have finished questioning former President Park Geun-hye for the first time. Park was allowed to return home after more than 21 hours of questioning.
3. A senior White House official says the Trump administration is reviewing the U.S. policy of pursuing a world free of nuclear weapons, as pursued by former president Barack Obama.

1. The leaders of Japan and Germany have agreed that it is important to work with the United States to promote free trade amid concerns over emerging protectionism.
2. South Korean prosecutors are questioning dismissed President Park Geun-hye over charges of corruption.
3. The head of FBI has confirmed that it is investigating suspected Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a free trade agreement between Japan and the European Union to be reached quickly.
2. An additional survey at the proposed site of Tokyo’s new wholesale market has once again found higher-than-permitted amounts of toxic chemicals in ground water.
3. U.S. President Donald Trump has flatly criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying “he is acting very, very badly.”

1. Top financial officials from the Group of 20 economies have failed to include a pledge to fight protectionism in their joint statement.
2. Syrian opposition fighters and their families have begun leaving their last bastion in the western city of Homs under an agreement with the government.
3. North Korea says it has successfully tested powerful new engines developed for ballistic missiles.

1. Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 20 economies met on the first day of talks in Germany. Sources say some members expressed concern over protectionism.
2. Officials from Tokyo and Moscow have begun talks on shared economic activites on 4 Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.

1. Japan and the United States intend to increase pressure on China to play a greater role in solving issues concerning North Korea.
2. Japan has successfully placed a new government information-gathering satellite into orbit.
3. Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 economies will start a meeting in southwestern Germany on Friday.

1. Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are meeting in Tokyo to discuss North Korea and other diplomatic issues.
2. A federal district court of the U.S. state of Hawaii has issued a temporary nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
3. A suicide bomber has set off explosives in Syria’s capital. Local media report at least 31 people were killed, and many others were wounded.