Tokyo

Cats are considered lucky in Japan, and owners of the popular pets spend big on their care. But how do you know when they're feline down?

A tech firm and university in Tokyo have teamed up to produce an app trained on thousands of cat photos that they say can tell you when puss is in pain.

Wages are rising in Japan more than they have in decades, at least for some workers.

But so are prices, leaving many people feeling they must scrimp more than ever.

In May, the consumer price index was up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, well above the central bank's target of about 2 percent.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank "serves China's interest" and Beijing wields "undue" influence over what is supposed to be a multilateral organisation, a former executive told AFP yesterday after resigning.

In the wake of his resignation, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Ottawa would "immediately halt all government-led activity at the Bank".

President Joe Biden is dispatching White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to Tokyo this week for talks with his counterparts from Japan, Philippines and South Korea.

Even on a weekday, there's a queue at Tokyo's vegan Izakaya Masaka, including many tourists eager to try meat-free versions of Japanese classics like fried chicken and juicy dumplings.

While millions of visitors have happily savored Japan's fish- and meat-heavy cuisine, options for vegetarians and vegans are harder to find.

North Korea has informed Japan that it will launch a satellite within two weeks, but Tokyo believes it could be a ballistic missile and is therefore taking precautions, AFP reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said his country has no plans to join NATO, but acknowledged the security alliance's plan to open a liaison office in Japan.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Thursday announced Japanese investment of more than $22 billion into the UK, but accepted carmakers' concern about Brexit trade rules as he confirmed talks with the European Union.    

Asian and European markets rose yesterday, tracking a rally on Wall Street fuelled by a strong rebound in U.S. regional banks and forecast-beating jobs data that eased fears over a recession in the world's top economy.    

Middle East Technical University's (ODTÜ) students, together with a prize-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, have built a specially designed "paper log house" to be used in the earthquake zone.

ODTÜ's Architecture Department's students created the "Emergency Design Studio" after the twin earthquakes jolted the country's east in early February.