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Japanese National Returns Home After Monthslong Detention in Iran

Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi delivers his opening remarks at the 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Reuters)
Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi delivers his opening remarks at the 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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Japanese National Returns Home After Monthslong Detention in Iran

Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi delivers his opening remarks at the 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Reuters)
Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi delivers his opening remarks at the 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Japan's top government spokesperson said Monday that one of two Japanese nationals detained in Iran has safely returned home in good health.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara's confirmation came one day after Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the person's release.

Motegi, speaking on a Fuji Television talk show Sunday, said the person had been detained since last year and was released on Wednesday. He said the person took a flight from Azerbaijan.

Kihara, at a regular news conference Monday, confirmed that the former detainee returned to Japan on Sunday in good health.

Kihara said another Japanese national who was arrested earlier this year is still in custody but “we have confirmed that there is no problem with the safety and health" of the person and that Japan is continuing to press Iran for a release as soon as possible.

Motegi said the release came after his repeated demands to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and that he is “working to win an early release” of the other detainee while communicating with his family and other concerned parties.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has named the person detained in Iran in January as a journalist at Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. The CPJ said the NHK journalist was arrested Jan. 20 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and was transferred Feb. 23 to Evin Prison, quoting unidentified sources citing fear of persecution.

Motegi did not identify either of the people detained but said the released Japanese national was detained in 2025.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier this month the detainees were safe and in good health, but only acknowledged that one was detained last year and the other one in January.

The ministry has given no further details and did not say whether the two cases were related.

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Taiwan Says China Sanctions on European Arms Makers Will Not Hit Weapons Sourcing

A Taiwan flags flutters on the roof of the headquarters of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung on April 21, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwan flags flutters on the roof of the headquarters of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung on April 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Taiwan Says China Sanctions on European Arms Makers Will Not Hit Weapons Sourcing

A Taiwan flags flutters on the roof of the headquarters of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung on April 21, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwan flags flutters on the roof of the headquarters of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung on April 21, 2026. (AFP)

Taiwan's defense minister downplayed on Monday the impact of Chinese sanctions on seven European companies over arms sales to the island, saying it was not the first time China had taken such action and it would not affect Taipei's ability to source weapons.

China's Commerce Ministry banned exports on Friday of dual-use items to the seven companies over arms sales to Taiwan, placing them on its export control list, in a ‌rare case of Europe-targeted, ‌Taiwan-related sanctions.

Taiwan, which China views as its own ‌territory, ⁠gets most of its ⁠weapons from the United States. Europe has not sold any big-ticket items like fighter jets to Taipei for around three decades, fearful of raising the ire of Beijing.

Taking lawmaker questions in parliament, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said it was not the first time China had implemented such measures.

"However, I think such an action, as I understand it, does not affect ⁠our ability to continue sourcing goods through relevant diversified ‌channels," he added, without elaborating.

While many ‌countries, especially in Europe, are nervous about any defense cooperation with Taiwan due to ‌fears of Chinese retaliation, Taipei has found an increasingly sympathetic ear in ‌parts of Central and Eastern Europe, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Four of the seven companies on the new Chinese list are Czech.

China has repeatedly sanctioned major US arms makers over sales to Taiwan, most recently in December following ‌the US announcement of an $11 billion weapons sale package to the island.

JAPAN SCRAPS ARMS EXPORTS CONTROLS

Asked whether Taiwan ⁠could start buying ⁠weapons from Japan, after Tokyo last week scrapped restrictions on overseas arms sales, Koo said the recipients of weapons exports must be countries that have signed a defense equipment and technology transfer agreement with Japan, which Taiwan has not done.

When asked whether that could happen one day, Koo responded: "In the future, no possibility can be ruled out. I think I can only say that at present, no transfer agreement exists."

While countries such as the Philippines welcomed the change, China expressed deep concern.

Relations between Japan and China have been at a low ebb since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan's survival could trigger a military response.

World

Türkiye’s Erdogan Offers Support to Trump in Call After White House Dinner Shooting

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during an event in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during an event in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye’s Erdogan Offers Support to Trump in Call After White House Dinner Shooting

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during an event in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during an event in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his support for US President Donald Trump in a phone call following a ‌shooting ‌at the ‌White ⁠House Correspondents' Association dinner, the ⁠Turkish presidency said late on Sunday.

"Erdogan said he saw the ⁠incident as ‌a ‌heinous act against democracy ‌and press ‌freedom," the presidency said in a statement on X.

Earlier, ‌Erdogan had condemned the incident ⁠in ⁠a separate statement on X, saying he was happy that Trump and first lady Melania Trump were unharmed.

World

Latest US Military Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Kills 3 in Eastern Pacific

A US strike targets a boat suspected of being used for drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific (Reuters file)
A US strike targets a boat suspected of being used for drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific (Reuters file)
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Latest US Military Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Kills 3 in Eastern Pacific

A US strike targets a boat suspected of being used for drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific (Reuters file)
A US strike targets a boat suspected of being used for drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific (Reuters file)

The latest US military strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed three people Sunday, according to a social media post by US Southern Command.

The Trump administration's campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has gone on since early September and killed at least 186 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the Caribbean Sea.

The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

After Sunday's attack, Southern Command posted a video on X showing a boat moving swiftly in the water before an explosion left it in flames. It repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.

The attacks began as the US built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.