Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan’s aging, shrinking population was not a burden, but an incentive to boost productivity through innovations like robots, wireless sensors and Artificial Intelligence. Abe’s comments on Wednesday came days after official data showed that Japan has 34.6 million people aged 65 and older, or 27.3 percent of the population – the highest proportion among advanced nations. Source Reuters
The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. Source: Associated Press
Amazon Japan has suspended direct online sales of Huawei Technologies Co. products after Washington last week blacklisted the Chinese communications giant, sources close to the matter said Friday. Source Japan Times
Russia’s industrial output growth in April 2019 jumped to 4.9% year-on-year after 1.2% growth in March, according to the latest data by Rosstat statistics agency. Source: BNE
