The IDF says it forces "destroyed an underground tunnel shaft containing ready-to-use explosive devices. It also said that "additional weapons were found, as well as ammunition and military equipment." JERUSALEM - Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday launched a raid on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp - two strongholds of Palestinian terrorist activity - in the West Bank. The IDF operation in the West Bank, known by Israelis by its biblical name Judea and Samaria, raises questions about the opening of a third front in Israel's response to Hamas' multipronged attack against the Jewish state on Oct. 7, resulting in the massacre of 1,400 people in southern Israel. The IDF said in a statement that its counterterrorism forces "exchanged fire with armed terrorists, over ten terrorists were killed, and over 20 wanted suspects were apprehended, among them Nur and Minur Salma, Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists." The U.S. has designated the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad a foreign terrorist organization. The fighting comes at a time when the Biden administration is cautioning Israeli actions in the West Bank, especially when it comes to violence from a small group of extremist settlers who have been involved in armed confrontations with Palestinian villagers in the area. NETANYAHU TELLS BRET BAIER CEASE-FIRE'MEANS SURRENDER,' INSISTS SQUAD MEMBER IS CALLING FOR'GENOCIDE' Palestinian terrorists take up position during a confrontation with the Israeli army in Jenin on July 3, 2023. The Israeli army said it had launched drone strikes in Jenin as part of an "extensive counterterrorism effort." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday in Tokyo at the G-7 meeting that "I briefed by (sic) colleagues about my conversations with Israeli leaders on pauses, and on concrete steps to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop extremist violence in the West Bank." The Associated Press reported that President Biden said in late October the attacks by "extremist settlers" amounted to "pouring gasoline" on the already burning fires in the Middle East since the Hamas attack. The administration refers to Jewish residents who live in the disputed West Bank territory as settlers. Following Thursday's raid, the IDF added that "Two M-16 rifles, a'Carlo' gun, three handguns, ammunition, and military equipment were seized." The Palestinian-manufactured "Carlo" gun has its origins in the 2016 terrorism wave against Israelis. The weapon is a watered-down version of the Carl Gustav submachine gun - hence its name, the "Carlo" gun. "The initiative is always ours to prevent a third front.

Honda announced on Thursday that it aims to launch a driverless taxi service in central Tokyo starting from early 2026 by teaming up with General Motors and its autonomous driving unit. Honda, GM and the American automaker's autonomous driving unit Cruise, will establish a joint venture next year to prepare for the robotaxi service that will be using the Cruise Origin vehicle, which has no driver's seat and can accommodate up to six passengers. In Japan, self-driving technology is often seen as an effective solution to maintain transportation services in aging rural areas facing population decline, with transportation service operators struggling to make a profit amid a shortage of drivers.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries has developed a 14.8-feet, four-wheeled robot that looks like "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the wildly popular Japanese animation series, and it can be yours for $3 million. Called ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can manoeuvre the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso. The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, has two modes: the upright'robot mode' and a'vehicle mode' in which it can travel up to 6 miles per hour.

Tokyo-based startup Tsubame Industries has developed a 4.5-meter-tall (14.8-feet), four-wheeled robot that looks like "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the wildly popular Japanese animation series, and it can be yours for $3 million. Called ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can maneuver the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso. The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, has two modes: the upright "robot mode" and a "vehicle mode" in which it can travel up to 10 kilometers per hour (6 miles per hour). "Japan is very good at animation, games, robots and automobiles so I thought it would be great if I could create a product that compressed all these elements into one," said Ryo Yoshida, the 25-year-old chief executive of Tsubame Industries. "I wanted to create something that says, 'This is Japan.'"

Japanese startup Astroscale Holdings has won a $25.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to develop a satellite capable of providing in-space refueling services to other satellites. Astroscale, a Tokyo-based company founded in 2013 that announced the deal Friday, aims to provide "on-orbit services," such as refueling, that would extend the service life of satellites, and the removal of space debris. A feature likely to have been among the capabilities considered of high value by U.S. Space Systems Command, the premier space capability delivery organization of the U.S. Space Force, is the company's satellite-grabbing technology, which involves a robotic arm.

Ukraine's envoy to Japan said Monday that Tokyo has two key areas where it can provide support to Kyiv: providing funds and expertise for rebuilding cities devastated by Russia's invasion and transferring defense equipment such as anti-drone weapons. "What I see is that Japan's role could be in major infrastructure projects," Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky told a news conference in Tokyo a day after Kyiv marked the 500th day of the conflict. Korsunsky, noting Japan's vast experience in rebuilding communities after disasters like the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, said Tokyo's role in supporting Ukraine would likely be bigger in the war-torn country's reconstruction than during the fighting. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

What would society look like if cyborg body parts were freely available for use like roadside rental bicycles? Masahiko Inami's team at the University of Tokyo has sought to find out by creating wearable robotic arms. Inami's team is developing a series of technologies rooted in the idea of jizai, a Japanese term that he says roughly denotes autonomy and the freedom to do as one pleases. The aim is to foster something like the relationship between musician and instrument, "lying somewhere between a human and a tool, like how a musical instrument can become as if a part of your body." This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.

A Japanese artificial-intelligence startup has launched a robot for home use capable of delivering items in response to verbal commands, such as bringing dishes and condiments to the dining table or books and drinks to the sofa. The rectangular robot, called Kachaka, developed by Tokyo-based Preferred Robotics, attaches to the bottom of a specially designed table fitted with caster wheels. The device, about the size of a robotic vacuum cleaner, can deliver an object to a specific location in the house that is preregistered on an app once the object is put on the table and a command is given. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

A SoftBank Group affiliate has teamed up with an Estonian startup in a bid to accelerate Japan's efforts to mobilize self-driving buses in 50 locations by 2025. Tokyo-based Boldly plans to have self-driving buses operating in eight new areas in Japan this fiscal year to cater to rapidly aging communities. The diminutive, eight-seater driverless transporters will be manufactured by Estonia-based Auve Tech, Boldly said in a statement. The SoftBank-owned startup is also in discussion with government officials on potential rule changes and a budget hike for next-generation public transportation systems in the country with the world's oldest population, according to Boldly CEO Yuki Saji. The first of Auve's buses, branded MiCa, is expected to start commercial services this summer after seeking regulatory approval.

A Japanese company likely crashed a spacecraft into the moon as it attempted a soft landing Tuesday, causing an abrupt end to its five-month journey from launch pad to the lunar surface. The company, ispace, invited the world to watch alongside its Tokyo-based mission control through a livestream of the event on April 25. The nail-biting landing sequence lasted about an hour as the robotic spacecraft performed a braking engine burn and followed automated commands to adjust the Hakuto-R lander's orientation and speed to touch down. As the spacecraft descended, mission control had communication with it. But after the maneuvers were completed, the team lost contact with the lander.