The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan PM tells ministers to craft economic package as prices skyrocket
TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday instructed ministers to begin work on developing a new stimulus package by late April to soften the blow from rising energy, commodity and grain prices to households following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The package is also aimed at helping Japan's economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and will focus on four areas -- higher crude oil prices, stable food supplies, funding support for small and midsized companies and assistance to people in need -- according to Kishida, who delivered his directive at a Cabinet meeting.
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Nagasaki mayor repeats call for Biden's visit
NAGASAKI - Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue repeated his call Tuesday for U.S. President Joe Biden to visit the atomic-bombed city during his expected visit to Japan later this year as Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
"We have been consistently saying Nagasaki should be the last atomic-bombed city and I want the president of a nuclear power to appeal (to the world) by saying, 'Let's make this place the last,'" Taue told a press conference in the southwestern Japanese city that suffered a U.S. nuclear attack in 1945.
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Japan, U.S. to closely communicate on currency moves
TOKYO - Japan and the United States agreed Tuesday to closely communicate on currency movements, a senior Finance Ministry official said a day after the yen tumbled to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in more than six years.
In a meeting in Tokyo, Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, and Andy Baukol, acting Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, also affirmed close coordination in enforcing financial sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
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U.S. defense strategy prioritizes China over Russia as bigger threat
WASHINGTON - The United States prioritizes China over Russia as a greater threat to its national security, the Defense Department said Monday, after sending the administration of President Joe Biden's first defense strategy to Congress.
In a summary of the classified documents, the U.S. department characterized China as the country's "most consequential strategic competitor," and its assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region should be tackled by strengthening defense cooperation with its allies.
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Japan approves ban on luxury car exports to Russia
TOKYO - Japan approved Tuesday a ban on exports of luxury cars and other items to Russia as part of economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida revised a relevant ordinance to implement the embargo on April 5 that will also cover jewelry and artworks.
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Taiwan's Tsai, U.S. foundation head announce Oct. democracy confab
TAIPEI - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and the head of the U.S. foundation National Endowment for Democracy formally announced Tuesday that the self-ruled island will host a global meeting of the World Movement for Democracy in Taipei in October.
Damon Wilson, during talks with Tsai in Taipei, touted Taiwan as demonstrating international solidarity among democracies around the globe, saying, "The vibrancy of democracy in Taiwan is an example to the world."
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FOCUS: "War on drugs" victims to pursue charges against Duterte after term
MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to stand trial in his remaining few months in office for crimes against humanity over his so-called war on drugs, but bereaved families of the victims said they will continue to fight it out whether in an international or a domestic court.
Duterte, whose populist campaigns since taking office in 2016 included the brutal anti-drug war, has claimed he had so many dead bodies of narcotics offenders dumped in Manila Bay that the "fish will grow fat." He recently said he wants his successor to continue "killing" them to stop substance abuse.
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Former Japan lawmaker convicted of illegally brokering loans
TOKYO - A former lawmaker of Komeito, the junior party in Japan's ruling coalition, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for illegally mediating public loans to companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tokyo District Court found Kiyohiko Toyama, who stepped down as a House of Representatives member in February last year after an unrelated scandal, guilty of receiving payments in return for helping secure loans from Japan Finance Corp. between around March 2020 and June 2021, even though he was not licensed to do so. A fine of 1 million yen ($8,100) was imposed.
