The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Biden, Putin agree in principle to hold summit amid Ukraine crisis
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed to hold a summit if Moscow does not invade Ukraine, the White House said Sunday, as Western countries continue their diplomatic efforts to prevent a war from breaking out in Europe.
Biden accepted in principle a meeting with Putin after a planned engagement between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday in Europe, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
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Japan PM Kishida to join virtual G-7 summit over Ukraine crisis
TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will join a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations this week in an effort to defuse tensions over Ukraine, which is under threat of a possible invasion by Russia, the Japanese government said Monday.
Kishida vowed to resolve the crisis in coordination with the G-7 and other members of the international community, telling a Diet session, "While the situation remains critical, Japan will continue to make diplomatic efforts with other countries to ease tensions."
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Taiwan lifts import ban on Japan food linked to Fukushima nuclear disaster
TAIPEI - Taiwan on Monday lifted an import ban on food products from Fukushima and four other Japanese prefectures imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Amid efforts to secure Japanese support for its bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration said that the ban on food products from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures will be "adjusted" based on risks -- a change from the ban based on the production areas.
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Australia reopens border to all fully-vaccinated travelers
SYDNEY - Australia on Monday reopened its border to all fully-vaccinated international travelers for the first time in almost two years, after first shutting it in March 2020 in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Tourists, business travelers and all other visa holders meeting the double vaccination requirement were allowed to enter the country from Monday, with some 56 flights expected to touch down throughout the day.
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U.S. flag with signatures of Japanese-Americans donated to museum
LOS ANGELES - A vintage U.S. flag with signatures of Japanese-Americans, including survivors of internment camps during World War II, has been donated to a museum in Los Angeles on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of their forced displacement.
The flag was donated to the Japanese American National Museum on Saturday after Johnny Cepeda Gogo, a Superior Court judge in Santa Clara, California, launched a campaign to collect the signatures in March last year.
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Heavy snow batters northern Japan, disrupts traffic
TOKYO - Heavy snow hit northern Japan on Monday, disrupting air and railway traffic, with weather authorities warning of more blizzards, as well as high waves for the region and also some eastern parts of the country.
About 140 flights to and from New Chitose Airport, the main air gateway to the northern main island of Hokkaido, were canceled as of 9:30 a.m., while Hokkaido Railway Co. suspended all train runs to and from JR Sapporo Station.
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Australia PM slams China over laser pointing at plane at sea
SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused China on Monday of reckless conduct after an incident last week during which Canberra says Chinese navy vessels targeted an Australian military aircraft with a laser rangefinder.
Chinese media earlier accused Australia of "throwing mud" at China, claiming the vessels were forced to take defensive countermeasures after the aircraft flew close to them in a reconnaissance mission.
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Japan Cabinet supported by 56%, views mixed on COVID response: poll
TOKYO - The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet remained almost unchanged at 56.6 percent, but some of his recent COVID-19 responses drew mixed reactions in a Kyodo News survey released Sunday.
In the two-day telephone survey through Sunday on 1,054 eligible voters, the support rate rose slightly from 55.9 percent in the January survey, while the disapproval rating edged up 2.2 points to 27.4 percent.
