The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Tokyo to be under COVID-19 state of emergency during Olympics
TOKYO - Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government decided Thursday to place Tokyo under a fresh COVID-19 state of emergency for the duration of the Olympics in an effort to curb a recent surge in infections.
The measure, to be effective from Monday to Aug. 22, could see the Summer Games held without spectators at venues in the capital, dealing another blow to an event that was postponed by one year due to the pandemic.
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Tokyo Olympics to be held without fans in Tokyo, 3 prefs.: source
TOKYO - The Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators in the Japanese capital and three neighboring prefectures, due to surging coronavirus infections in the metropolitan area, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The organizers of the Olympics, due to begin on July 23, just began a meeting to discuss a new spectator policy. The three prefectures are Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, according to the source.
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Japan's June economy watcher sentiment sees 1st rise in 3 months
TOKYO - Business sentiment among workers with jobs sensitive to economic trends in Japan improved in June for the first time in three months, as a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic was lifted in most of the country, official data showed Thursday.
The diffusion index of confidence in their current conditions compared with three months earlier among "economy watchers," such as taxi drivers and restaurant staff, soared 9.5 points from May to 47.6, according to the Cabinet Office.
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Death toll from large mudslide in central Japan rises to 9
SHIZUOKA, Japan - The death toll from a large mudslide that occurred in central Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture last weekend rose to nine from seven, a local government said Thursday.
Twenty-two people remain unaccounted for following the mudslide on Saturday in Atami, a hot spring resort town southwest of Tokyo on the Pacific coast, the city government said.
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Japan's May current account surplus up 85% as exports rebound
TOKYO - Japan's current account surplus for May rose 85.3 percent from a year earlier, with a significant increase in exports that recovered from a slump last year hit by the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday.
The current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, marked a surplus of 1.98 trillion yen ($18 billion), up for the third straight month to log the 83rd consecutive month of black ink, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. In April, the surplus posted a more than six-fold jump.
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Petition seeks OK for China human rights lawyer's travel to Japan
TOKYO - A Japanese professor on Thursday submitted a petition to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo asking its government to allow a Chinese human rights lawyer currently banned from leaving the country to visit his critically ill daughter in Japan.
Tomoko Ako, a professor at a graduate school of the University of Tokyo, deposited the petition signed by 1,200 people into the mailbox of the embassy requesting Tang Jitian, 52, be permitted to visit his 25-year-old daughter currently being hospitalized in Tokyo for tuberculosis.
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Baseball: Ohtani sets new Japanese MLB record with 32nd homer
ANAHEIM, California - Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer on Wednesday to break former New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui's 2004 record for the most home runs in a single MLB season by a Japanese-born player.
The milestone homer, Ohtani's 15th in his last 20 games, was a 433-foot (132-meter) solo shot to right off Eduardo Rodriguez (6-5) that broke a tie in the fifth inning and helped the Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium.
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Japan, Philippines hold 1st joint air force drill
MANILA - The air forces of Japan and the Philippines conducted their first joint exercise this week as part of bilateral training on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said Thursday.
The four-day drill from Monday at Clark Air Base north of Manila involved a Japan Air Self-Defense Force C-130H cargo aircraft and about 10 of its personnel. Philippine Air Force personnel also participated in the exercise that focused on ground training.
