Japan accuses Russia of air space intrusionAugust 22, 2013 - 18:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two Russian bombers briefly entered Japan's air space near its major southern island of Kyushu on Thursday, August 22 prompting Japan to scramble its fighter jets and lodge a protest, the Japanese government said, but Russia denied any intrusion, according to Reuters. The two TU-95 bombers spent less than two minutes in Japan's airspace, in the first such incursion since February, when two Russian fighter jets entered Japan's air space near its main northern island of Hokkaido, the Japanese defense ministry said. Japan scrambled F-2 combat jets in response. But Russia denied any intrusion. The incident comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in April to revive talks on resolving a long-running territorial dispute. Tokyo and Moscow have conflicting claims over a string of islets called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, which have prevented the two from signing a treaty formally ending their World War Two hostilities. Japanese Defense and foreign ministry officials declined to speculate on the reasons behind what they consider an intrusion. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |