Japan Core Machinery Orders Down 9.1 Pct in April

A court in Moscow handed down guilty rulings to nine people including Tomoko Akane, president of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

Japanese office supplies retailer Askul Corp. said that a ransomware cyberattack discovered in October led to the leakage of about 740,000 sets of data concerning its individual customers, corporate clients and employees.

A state memorial ceremony marking the 88th anniversary of the Nanjing incident perpetrated by the former Imperial Japanese Army was held in Nanjing in the eastern China province of Jiangsu on Saturday.

Chinese military ships, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, entered the East China Sea from the Pacific on Friday by sailing north between the main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa and Miyako Island, part of Okinawa, the Joint Staff of Japan's Defense Ministry said.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party for the People agreed Friday to continue discussions on raising the minimum taxable annual income level from the current 1.6 million yen to 1.78 million yen.

Kyocera Corp., Fujifilm Holdings Corp. and other Japanese firms are considering investing in Rapidus Corp., which aims to mass-produce next-generation semiconductors, it was learned Friday.

"Black Box Diaries," an Oscar-nominated film directed by Japanese journalist Shiori Ito documenting her experience after suffering sexual violence, was released in Japan on Friday.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. plans to appoint Junichi Hanzawa, 60, president of its key operating subsidiary MUFG Bank, to succeed Hironori Kamezawa as president of the parent holding company, it was learned Friday.

A bill related to a cut in the number of seats in Japan's House of Representatives is unlikely to be enacted during the ongoing extraordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, which ends Wednesday.

The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions compiled a draft proposal on Friday to seek a monthly pay scale hike of at least 12,000 yen in next year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations.