The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

----------

Kishida says Japan to start 3rd COVID vaccine shots in December

TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday the government is planning to start administering third doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Japan in December and that it will shoulder the costs.

The health ministry decided last month to give booster shots to people who have gone at least eight months since receiving their second dose, citing studies that show antibodies that protect against the disease decrease over time.

----------

Japan's ruling LDP vows to bolster middle class in campaign pledge

TOKYO - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party pledged Tuesday to bolster the middle class through "new capitalism" that focuses on economic growth and redistribution of wealth as it announced its campaign platform for a general election later this month.

Among seven other areas of its policy focus is strengthening economic security, an issue new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is promoting amid intense competition over technology development between the United States and China.

----------

Japan helps evacuate more than 300 Afghans, 140 to arrive from Qatar

TOKYO - Japan has helped evacuate more than 300 Afghans since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August, with about 140 currently waiting to be flown in from Qatar, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

So far, 118 evacuees including staff at the now-closed Japanese Embassy in Kabul and workers of the Japan International Cooperation Agency as well as their families have arrived in Japan.

----------

Tokyo court disrupted by hundreds of maskless anti-vaxxers

TOKYO - Several hundred people without face masks caused a disruption at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday, ahead of a hearing of a case brought by plaintiffs opposed to COVID-19 vaccinations.

Court officials scrambled to implement anti-coronavirus measures after a long line of unmasked people formed at the security checkpoint of the building's entrance ahead of the hearing, which was due to begin at 1:30 p.m., with some other visitors seen complaining they would be late for their sessions.

----------

Toyota aiming to bring high-efficiency solar tech to vehicle lineup

NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will aim to equip its cars with highly efficient solar power generation systems as the automaker ramps up its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.

Toyota will carry out research and development with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, which has expertise in renewable energy production, and Toyota Central R&D Labs Inc., a group firm of the automaker that is focused on achieving technological advances.

----------

Japan astronaut Wakata to embark on his 5th space mission

TOKYO - Astronaut Koichi Wakata will embark on his fifth space mission, a space travel record for a Japanese astronaut, aboard a new SpaceX ship in the fall of 2022 or later, Japan's space agency said Tuesday.

The 58-year-old astronaut will board the fifth operational Crew Dragon developed by U.S. company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and stay at the International Space Station for a long period of time, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

----------

Princess Mako visits imperial graves ahead of high-profile marriage

TOKYO - Japan's Princess Mako visited the graves of her great-grandparents in Tokyo on Tuesday to offer prayers ahead of her controversy-hit marriage to boyfriend Kei Komuro later this month.

The visit was made at the request of the 29-year-old princess, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, who is set to go ahead with the marriage that was imperiled by a financial dispute involving Komuro's mother.

----------

No reason to believe U.S. is no longer hostile to N. Korea, Kim says

BEIJING - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the United States has done nothing to make him believe it is no longer hostile toward his nation, state media reported Tuesday, while blaming it for tensions in the region.

In his speech at the opening ceremony of the Defense Development Exhibition titled "Self-Defence-2021" in the capital Pyongyang on Monday, Kim also stressed North Korea's readiness to continue with weapons development to increase deterrence in the nation's self-defense, according to the Korean Central News Agency.