
Israel orders strikes against Tehran, Iran reportedly denies ceasefire violated
A statement issued on Tuesday says Katz has instructed Israeli forces to respond to Iran's move with intense attacks against government targets in the heart of Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran's state-run media said the general staff of the armed forces has denied that any missile launches from Iran against Israel had taken place in recent hours.
Earlier in the day, Iran's state-run television reported that the ceasefire had begun. US President Donald Trump said online on Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to it.

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The Mainichi
31 minutes ago
- The Mainichi
Tokyo stocks drop on Wall St. losses amid US tariff concern
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo stocks dropped Monday morning after Wall Street losses late last week amid worries about the adverse impact of higher U.S. tariffs on the global economy. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 99.96 points, or 0.25 percent, from Friday to 39,469.72. The broader Topix index was down 0.25 point, or 0.01 percent, at 2,822.99. The U.S. dollar briefly weakened to the upper 146 yen zone in Tokyo as the Japanese currency, seen as a safe-haven asset, was sold as Tokyo stocks declined, dealers said. At noon, the dollar fetched 147.26-30 yen compared with 147.37-47 yen in New York and 146.85-87 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday. The euro was quoted at $1.1673-1675 and 171.92-96 yen against $1.1687-1697 and 172.12-22 yen in New York and $1.1689-1691 and 171.66-70 yen in Tokyo late Friday afternoon. The stock market was pressured by concern over the prospects for the global economy after U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he plans to impose 30 percent tariffs on goods imported from the European Union and Mexico starting on Aug. 1. Some investors also took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the House of Councillors election on Sunday, amid worries that Japan's fiscal health might worsen if the ruling coalition fails to maintain majority control of the upper house, brokers said.

Japan Times
44 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Ukraine denies North Korea planning to send 30,000 more troops to Russia
Kyiv's military intelligence agency has denied a report that North Korea plans to send up to 30,000 additional troops to Russia in the coming months to aid in Moscow's war in Ukraine. The denial of a CNN report earlier this month citing Ukrainian intelligence and Western security sources came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Pyongyang is ready to "unconditionally support" Moscow's every effort to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday. Lavrov, who wrapped up a three-day visit to North Korea the same day, expressed Moscow's intention to 'further intensify the strategic and tactical cooperation' between the two sides 'in the international arena,' according to KCNA. Pyongyang has provided troops and weapons for Russia's war in Ukraine, and has pledged continued military support as Moscow looks to solidify gains made in recent months — a move that highlights the speed at which bilateral ties have deepened since the nations signed a mutual defense treaty just over a year ago. But the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence told The Japan Times in an emailed statement over the weekend that it 'has no information regarding plans to increase the contingent of the Korean People's Army on the territory of the Russian Federation to 30,000 military personnel in the coming months.' Such a move would almost triple the total number of North Korean soldiers directly supporting Moscow after an estimated 14,000 were sent last year to repel Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region. It would also mark an intensification of the more than 3-year-old conflict that is now stretching across Europe and Asia. Instead, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency confirmed that it believed Pyongyang is preparing to send military engineering units totaling 6,000 military personnel — 1,000 sappers and 5,000 engineering and construction troops — to clear mines and carry out reconstruction work in the Kursk region over the next two months. 'The transfer of these units is planned to be carried out in batches of 1,500 to 3,000 personnel in two or three stages during July and August of this year,' the agency said, revealing details of the deployment for the first time. Also planned is the deployment to Russia of 50 to 100 units of North Korean equipment, including M2010, or Cheonma-D, main battle tanks and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers. This image taken from Korean Central Television on June 29 shows a screen displaying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touching flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers killed fighting Ukrainian forces, during an event attended by Kim and Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova in Pyongyang. | KCTV / VIA AFP-JIJI A deal on the dispatch of those troops was announced by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in mid-June following talks with Kim in Pyongyang, a meeting Shoigu said was meant to carry out "special instructions" from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The latest developments come as Pyongyang on Sunday slammed a joint aerial exercise recently conducted by the United States, Japan and South Korea that featured several fighter aircraft and at least one U.S. B-52 heavy bomber, marking the aircraft's first deployment to the Korean Peninsula this year. In a separate KCNA report, Pyongyang expressed 'serious concern' over what it views as persistent 'provocative and threatening military actions' by the three countries, and issued a warning of 'grave consequences' should they continue to 'deliberately ignore' North Korea's security concerns. Held Friday over international waters south of Jeju Island to 'strengthen deterrence and response capabilities,' the exercises coincided with a trilateral Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting held in Seoul earlier in the day. 'This year the U.S. is continuously posing a danger to the security environment of our state while renewing the records in the number of deploying strategic strike means on the Korean peninsula and drastically increasing the frequency and scale of joint military drills with its satellite countries,' Pyongyang said, adding that the trilateral military cooperation between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul 'is getting more offensive.'

Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Upper House election could further hamper BOJ's drive to raise rates
Japan's central bank may face political pressure to keep interest rates low for longer than it wants, as opposition parties favoring tax cuts and loose monetary policy are expected to gain influence after a July 20 election. Opinion surveys suggest Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition may lose its majority in the Upper House of parliament, forcing it to court an array of smaller parties pushing for easier fiscal and monetary policy. The governing bloc led by Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party is already a minority in the more powerful Lower House, so a stalemate in both chambers could give opposition parties outsized influence in policy decisions. Ishiba has supported the Bank of Japan's policy of gradually lifting interest rates from near zero as inflation picks up in the world's fourth-biggest economy, while trying to curb the biggest government debt burden in the industrial world. But if opposition groups gain traction with their pressure on the BOJ to avoid rate hikes and for the government to cut the sales tax, that could boost bond yields and complicate the bank's efforts to normalize monetary policy, some analysts say. The BOJ declined to comment on the potential impact of the election on monetary policy. "There's a 50% chance the ruling coalition could lose its majority in the Upper House, which could lead to increased debate about cutting Japan's consumption tax rate," said Daiju Aoki, chief Japan economist at UBS SuMi Trust Wealth Management. "That would push up Japan's long-term interest rates by stoking concern over the country's finances," he said. Sohei Kamiya, head of the upstart right-leaning party Sanseito, has criticized the BOJ for slowing its bond buying when the economy remains weak. "The Finance Ministry and BOJ should work hand in hand in taking aggressive steps for a few years to boost domestic demand," Kamiya told a news conference this month. Another opposition party, Nippon Ishin no Kai, wants the BOJ to go slow in raising rates to restrain the cost of interest on the government's debt. Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, a party seen as a strong candidate to join Ishiba's coalition, has urged the BOJ to loosen, not tighten, monetary policy to keep the yen from rising and hurting the export-reliant economy. Even if the coalition keeps its majority, Ishiba may need to ditch his hawkish fiscal tilt and boost spending to cushion the economic blow from threatened U.S. tariffs and rising costs of living. "There's a good chance the government will compile an extra budget to fund another spending package to the tune of ¥5 trillion to ¥10 trillion ($35 billion to $70 billion). That would push up bond yields further," said former BOJ board member Makoto Sakurai, who expects the central bank to avoid raising rates at least until March. Japan's public debt is equal to 250% of gross domestic product, far above that of Greece at 165%. The government spends nearly a quarter of its budget to finance a ¥1,164 trillion debt pile, with the cost expected to rise steadily as the BOJ exits zero-interest rates. To be sure, inflation — above the BOJ's 2% target for three years — boosts nominal tax revenues, which can help the government avoid ramping up bond issuance to fund further spending. But cutting the consumption tax rate, an idea Ishiba has ruled out for now, would leave a bigger hole in Japan's finances. Once a fringe idea, cutting the 10% sales tax is now among Japan's most popular economic policy proposals. In a recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun 68% of voters thought a sales tax cut was the best way to cushion the blow from rising living costs, compared with 18% who preferred cash payouts. If the sales tax is on the chopping block after the election, it is the kind of vital issue that could prod Ishiba to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election — a move that would prolong political uncertainty. If Ishiba were to step down, an LDP race to replace him could revive market attention to candidates like Sanae Takaichi, an advocate of aggressive monetary easing whom Ishiba narrowly beat in the party's leadership race last year. Unlike Ishiba, who gave a quiet nod to BOJ policy normalization, Takaichi has said it would be "stupid" for the central bank to raise rates. All this would mean the BOJ's rate hikes, already on pause due to uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, could be put on hold even longer. "We may need to brace for a long period of political uncertainty and market volatility," said Naomi Muguruma, chief bond strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "That would just give the BOJ another reason to sit on the sidelines and wait for the dust to settle."