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Administrative Vice Finance Minister Jun’ichi Fukuda, who offered his resignation on Apr. 18, leaves the Finance Ministry on the evening of Apr. 21, 2018. (Kyodo)
The resignation of Jun’ichi Fukuda makes him the highest profile departure in the budding #MeToo movement in Japan.
Read MoreOn Thursday, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi returned to Beijing from Pyongyang after participating in bilateral talks with North Korea’s counterpart Ri Yong and Kim Jong-un that lasted for two days. This meeting comes after Kim and South Korea’s leader, Moon Jae-in, signed the Panmunjom Declaration, setting a base for to end the 67-year war and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together in Wuhan, China, on April 28. Source: Xinhua/AP
![[A digitally colorized transmission electron micrographic image, made in 1981, of paramyxovirus measles virus and virions of the polyomavirus, simian virus SV40 at 40 nanometers. Photo: CDC / Dr. Erskine Palmer ]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5ae7d85788251b2b8a854b18/1525143643182/)
[A digitally colorized transmission electron micrographic image, made in 1981, of paramyxovirus measles virus and virions of the polyomavirus, simian virus SV40 at 40 nanometers. Photo: CDC / Dr. Erskine Palmer]
Hong Kong has reported its first case of measles, suggesting that East Asia faces the prospect of an outbreak of highly contagious measles across the region after Japan and Taiwan reported dozens of active cases earlier this month and placed thousands of people in quarantine.
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(North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in hug each other during Friday’s summit. Source: AFP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in jointly issued a declaration of peace, moving towards the end of 65 years of war on the Korean peninsula.
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Source: Reuters
On April 16th, the US Department of Commerce forbade ZTE Corp. , a state-owned Chinese telecommunications equipment and systems company, from acquiring components from American suppliers for a period of seven years. The ban was issued as a punishment for ZTE’s failure to redress its violation of US sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
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Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin (Washington Times)
![[Supreme Leader of the DPRK and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea Kim Jong-un chairs a meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea in this photo released on Apr. 21, 2018. Photo: KCNA via Reuters]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5adf353a1ae6cf4ebd753422/1524577604146/unnamed.png)
[Supreme Leader of the DPRK and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea Kim Jong-un chairs a meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea in this photo released on Apr. 21, 2018. Photo: KCNA via Reuters]
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, commonly “North Korea,” has announced several apparent diplomatic concessions in the lead-up to an inter-Korean summit set for Apr. 27, 2018, and a planned summit between the United States and North Korea slated for late May or early June this year.
Read More![[Demonstrators carrying signs and posters protest against Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe outside of the National Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan, on Apr. 14, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5ad9422b88251b78280ec53c/1524187699667/Screen+Shot+2018-04-19+at+9.27.15+PM.png)
[Demonstrators carrying signs and posters protest against Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe outside of the National Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan, on Apr. 14, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg]
Recent developments surrounding a scandal regarding the Japanese government’s handling of documents relating to a land sale to an ultra-nationalist educational institution threaten to bring down the current government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Read MoreAt the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province, China on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China will continue to open its economy and urged "dialogue rather than confrontation" amid the recent rise in economic tensions between the US and China.
Read MoreThe government of Japan has adopted a basic timeline for the series of events and formal ceremonies surrounding the succession of the Chrysanthemum Throne, with Crown Prince Naruhito slated to become Emperor of Japan upon the abdication of his father, current Emperor Akihito, on Apr. 30, 2019.
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President Trump confirms the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports
Source https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/us/politics/trump-tariff-announcement.html
On Monday April 2, China announced to impose new tariffs on imports from the United States, hitting 128 products ranging from pork, meat and fruit to steel pipes, in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminum that took effect a week ago. Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index soon tumbled 2.23 percent, and markets have entered correction territory.
Read More![[A radar image of Tiangong-1 taken at an orbital height of approximately 270 kilometers (167.8 miles or 885,827 feet) above the Earth’s surface on Mar. 21, 2018. Photo: Fraunhofer Institute]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5ac2e9d41ae6cf15a4b72119/1522723298158/pasted+image+0.png)
[A radar image of Tiangong-1 taken at an orbital height of approximately 270 kilometers (167.8 miles or 885,827 feet) above the Earth’s surface on Mar. 21, 2018. Photo: Fraunhofer Institute]
The People’s Republic of China’s Manned Space Agency reported that its space laboratory module, Tiangong-1 (“Heavenly Palace 1”), re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over the southern Pacific Ocean on Apr. 2, 2018. The destruction of the satellite marks the end of China’s first space station which was launched nearly seven years ago.
Read More![[A demonstrator holds the flags of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during her stopover in Burlingame, California on Jan. 14, 2017. Photo: REUTERS ]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5abdb9ab70a6ad128f561f59/1522383279033/Picture1.png)
[A demonstrator holds the flags of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during her stopover in Burlingame, California on Jan. 14, 2017. Photo: REUTERS]
US President Donald Trump has signed the Taiwan Travel Act, thus legally opening the way for high-level diplomatic and military exchanges between Washington and Taipei.
Read MoreOne month after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, South Korea will be sending a group of singers to North Korea on March 31st.
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A public toilet in China (CNN)
The integration of a multifunctional toilet into the public space is directly linked to a technique-transformation emphasis on rural economic reforms.
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![[President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping casts his ballot during a vote on a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits during the third plenary session of the 13th National People’s Congress on Mar. 11, 2018. Photo: REUTERS]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5aa6a2aa53450aa04e6621c5/1520870071140/)
[President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping casts his ballot during a vote on a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits during the third plenary session of the 13th National People’s Congress on Mar. 11, 2018. Photo: REUTERS]
The National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China has voted to abolish term limits for the president and vice-president of the People’s Republic. The constitutional amendment passed easily through the nearly 3,000 member legislative chamber, with 2,958 votes for, two against, three abstentions, and one invalid ballot.
Read MoreOn Monday March 5, China proclaimed its plan to increase the military budget by 8.1 percent from 2017.
Read More![[Emperor of Japan Akihito (right) and his eldest son and heir apparent Crown Prince Naruhito (left) greets the public at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan during the annual New Year’s greetings on Jan. 2, 2018. Photo: KYODO]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bf546f9f8dce7707849e73/t/5acd484f562fa7a9dc6d452c/1523402842070/Screen+Shot+2018-04-10+at+7.26.13+PM.png)
![[Emperor of Japan Akihito (right) and his eldest son and heir apparent Crown Prince Naruhito (left) greets the public at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan during the annual New Year’s greetings on Jan. 2, 2018. Photo: KYODO]](https://img.kyodonews.net/english/public/images/posts/7ba246cc9b6d881f66e107a73a5596e0/photo_l.jpg){kind=link}
