The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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North Korea confirms testing new submarine-launched ballistic missile
BEIJING - North Korea confirmed through state media on Wednesday that it has test-fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, adding to concerns over the nuclear-armed nation's technological advances on hard-to-intercept weapons.
The missile launched Tuesday has "lots of advanced control guidance technologies including flank mobility and gliding skip mobility," the official Korean Central News Agency quoted the Academy of Defense Science as saying.
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Mt. Aso in southwest Japan erupts, climbers evacuate
KUMAMOTO, Japan - An eruption was observed Wednesday at Mt. Aso in southwestern Japan, prompting four climbers to walk off the volcano, authorities said Tuesday.
The eruption occurred at 11:43 a.m. at the No. 1 Nakadake crater, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Mt. Aso's volcanic alert level was raised to 3 on a scale of 5, with people urged not to approach the mountain.
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LDP, opposition clash over economy, COVID in Japan election campaign
TOKYO - Japan's ruling and opposition parties clashed over the handling of the economy and coronavirus response on Wednesday, as campaigning for the Oct. 31 general election heated up, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fending off criticism over the government's failure to address the income gap.
Speaking in Kobe, western Japan, a day after campaigning began, Kishida vowed to implement "economic policies that will raise the income and salaries of as many people as possible."
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Japan maintains North Korea fired 2 ballistic missiles, not 1
TOKYO - The Japanese government on Wednesday maintained it believes North Korea launched two ballistic missiles the previous day, contradicting a report by the North's state-run media that only mentioned a single projectile.
One of the ballistic missiles was submarine-launched and is believed to have flown about 600 kilometers with a top altitude of around 50 km before landing in the Sea of Japan, government spokesman Yoshihiko Isozaki told a press conference.
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Japan visitors down 99.2% in Sept. from 2019 due to border controls
TOKYO - The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in September was down 99.2% from the same month in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 to 17,700 amid continued travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday.
Compared with a year earlier, the number rose 29.3%, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. It dropped below 20,000 for the first time in three months following spikes in arrivals in July and August due to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
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Japan's Sept. car exports down 40% amid parts supply crunch
TOKYO - Japan's car exports in September fell 40.3 percent from a year earlier, as supply chain disruptions in Southeast Asia due to the coronavirus pandemic and a global semiconductor crunch forced domestic automakers to cut output, government data showed Wednesday.
Auto shipments marked the first year-on-year drop in seven months and the sharpest decrease since a 49.9 percent dive logged in June last year amid the initial shock of the pandemic, according to a preliminary report by the Finance Ministry, in a development that could put a damper on the nation's economic recovery.
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Olympic flame arrives in China ahead of 2022 Beijing Winter Games
BEIJING - The Olympic flame for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games arrived in the Chinese capital on Wednesday from Athens, Greece, state-run media said, with fears lingering about another wave of novel coronavirus infections and the threat of a games boycott.
At a welcoming ceremony held at the Olympic Tower, the president of the Beijing organizing committee took possession of the flame and lit a cauldron, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
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Heavy rain-induced disasters kill 54 in Nepal
KATHMANDU - At least 54 people have died in 11 districts across Nepal this week from flashfloods and landslides caused by heavy rain, the Home Ministry said on Wednesday.
An additional 28 people have gone missing while 22 injured people are receiving treatment at hospitals, an official at the ministry's National Emergency Operation Center told Kyodo News.
