Japanese emergency crews worked through Tuesday to free a man driving a dump truck that fell through a large sinkhole that opened up at an intersection in Yashio, near Tokyo.

TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to bring their countries’ ties to new heights in their first meeting.

Iwaya told Rubio and Waltz that Japan had no choice but to continue increasing defense capabilities given the situation in East Asia, foreign ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura told a news conference in Washington. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hit the ground running in his new job on Tuesday, hosting the foreign affairs ministers of Australia, Japan and India only hours after being sworn-in as America’s new top diplomat by Vice President J.D. Vance.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also agreed on the importance of trilateral cooperation with South Korea and others.

During his four-day stay beginning Sunday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will be the first senior Japanese official to meet members of the incoming president's governing team. Iwaya said he was likely to meet with Trump's pick for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, who is expected to be confirmed on Monday.

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Jan 21 congratulated Mr Donald Trump on his return to the White House and said he wanted to build a “relationship of trust”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has affirmed the United States' commitment to sustaining its trilateral cooperation with the Philippines and Japan under the administration of President Donald Trump.

TOKYO -- The Trump administration's Indo-Pacific policy will be a key item on the agenda when Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya meets with U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio in Washington next week.

Rubio, Cho agree to maintain close coordination on N. Korean nuclear issue, Seoul says South Korean and US top diplomats have agreed to hold their first meeting in Washington “at the earliest mutually convenient date,

In the chilly winter breeze, the flags of the United States and Japan flutter together in this strategic naval base where the military allies’ firepower is in rare public display - a docked U.S. aircraft carrier,

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday Russia has reported Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody. The Australian man went to Ukraine to fight against Russia's invasion and was feared dead.