envisaged under the TEMPUS programme. Account is taken of the activities of the Council of Europe, inter alia in the field of information and training for youth workers. The Commission also maintains regular contacts with international organizations working in this field.

The Commission evaluates the programme continuously on the basis of statistical and other information provided by the designated bodies in the Member States and of other independently collected information and analyses. On the basis of the evaluation, the Commission will submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the programme after the first year, taking into account the results of the first phase since 1 July 1988.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan will step up their defense cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, with his Japanese counterparts, participates in a news conference after their U.S.-Japan Security talks at the State Department in Washington, U.S., August 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

“For this threat of North Korea, at this meeting we agreed to increase the pressure and to strengthen the alliance capability,” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said after talks with senior U.S. officials in Washington.

U.S. fears about North Korea’s missile and nuclear bomb programs have grown in recent weeks. Pyongyang has said it was considering plans to fire missiles toward the