The number of times Japanese fighter jets scrambled to ward off Russian military aircraft more than doubled in the last six months, amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen to ease.
The indictment of a Japanese journalist in South Korea for defamation of its president was "extremely regrettable", Japan said on Thursday, but added that the door for dialogue between the two countries' leaders should stay open.
North Korea has told Japan it would not pass on findings from an investigation into the fate of Japanese people abducted by North Koran agents and proposed that Japan sends representatives for talks, Japan's prime minister said on Tuesday.
Afghanistan is the worst country to live in as an older person, an annual index on the wellbeing of the elderly showed on Wednesday.
