- What's next in Swedish rape investigation into Mbappe?
- Nestle overhauls executive team as sales slump
- US B-2 bombers strike Huthi facilities in Yemen: military
- Eurozone stocks climb as ECB rate cut looms
- Lebanon crowdfunded ambulances under fire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- S Korean Nobel winner Han Kang hopes daily life 'won't change much'
- Pakistan extend lead beyond 200 in second England Test
- Liam Payne: One Direction singer swept up by teenage stardom
- Zelensky defends 'victory plan' at EU and NATO
- Vietnam death row tycoon jailed for life in separate trial
- Hard talk on migration tops agenda at EU summit
- Beckham says Ratcliffe needs time to revive Man Utd
- Conway puts New Zealand in lead after India bowled out for 46
- New Japan PM sends offering to Yasukuni war shrine
- S Korean court recognises misogyny as hate crime motive
- Couche-Tard executives in Japan to push 7-Eleven deal
- Martin targets mistake-free Australia MotoGP as Bagnaia lurks
- Tennis world No. 1 Swiatek hires stars' coach Fissette
- French Senate speaker 'astounded' by Macron 'ignorance' on Israel
- Israel strikes Syria, US pounds Huthis in Yemen
- India all out for record home Test low of 46 against New Zealand
- China says UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to visit this week
- Iran Guards chief warns will hit Israel 'painfully' if attacks Iranian targets
- Pakistan tottering at 43-3 in England Test after Bashir takes three
- Zelensky in Brussels to defend 'victory plan' at EU and NATO
- Markets mixed as China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting
- Climate-hit Pacific Islands plot landmark UN court case
- India collapse to 34-6 after opting to bat against New Zealand
- Israel strikes Syrian city, US pounds Huthis in Yemen
- Taiwan's TSMC posts sharp rise in third quarter net profit
- Pakistan's Sajid takes seven as England all out 291, trail by 75
- Kenya Senate to vote on deputy president's impeachment
- Bronski Beat's gay anthem 'Smalltown Boy' strikes chord 40 years on
- NATO to weigh Zelensky plan in US vote's shadow
- Trial into Brazil mining disaster to open in London
- Italy's Di Giannantonio to miss final two MotoGP for surgery
- Hard talk on migration expected at EU summit
- South Korea's Hwang Ui-jo faces four years in jail for sex video
- Israel pounds Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
- India slams 'cavalier' Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row
- 'Love match' apps rival traditional matchmaking in Pakistan
- Asian markets rally but China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting
- UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty
- Vietnam death row tycoon awaits verdict in new trial
- 'Our time has come': the female Indian director hoping to make Oscars history
- Bondi beach 'closed' as Sydney shores hit by 'tar balls'
- Dodgers smash Mets to seize lead in MLB playoff series
- China to almost double support for unfinished housing projects
- King Charles heads to Australia, a nation shrugs
- China to boost credit for property market, renovate 1 mn homes
New Japan PM sends offering to Yasukuni war shrine
Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday sent a ritual offering to a shrine honouring the country's war dead that has long angered neighbouring countries, a spokesman for the site said.
No Japanese premier has visited Yasukuni Shrine since 2013 and Ishiba's predecessor Fumio Kishida would also regularly send offerings for its biannual spring and autumn festivals.
Yasukuni in central Tokyo is dedicated to 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who have perished in conflicts since the late 19th century.
But this includes senior military and political figures convicted by an international tribunal of war crimes prior to and during World War II.
Every year, dozens of lawmakers pay their respects during the spring and autumn festival and in August for the anniversary of the emperor announcing Japan's surrender in 1945.
But a Japanese prime minister has not appeared there since 2013, when Shinzo Abe sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned a rare diplomatic rebuke from close ally the United States.
The minister of health, labour and welfare, Takamaro Fukuoka, also sent a "masakaki" tree offering, the spokesman for the shrine told AFP.
Seoul expressed "deep disappointment and regret that responsible leaders in Japan have once again offered tribute or visited the Yasukuni Shrine," South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday.
"We urge the leaders of the new Japanese cabinet to squarely face history and show through action humble reflection and genuine atonement for past wrongdoings."
When asked about the matter at a regular briefing, Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called Yasukuni "a symbol of Japan's militaristic war of aggression".
"We urge Japan to face up to and reflect on its history of aggression (and) to be cautious in words and deeds regarding historical issues such as Yasukuni Shrine," she said.
That will help Japan "gain the trust of Asian neighbours and the international community through concrete actions", Mao added.
T.Ward--AMWN