The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan to co-sponsor resolution on U.N. Security Council veto
TOKYO - Japan has decided to co-sponsor a resolution proposed by Liechtenstein to seek accountability of veto-wielding countries in the U.N. Security Council after Russia exercised the right to block a motion against its invasion of Ukraine, the government said Thursday.
The resolution that mandates a U.N. General Assembly meeting whenever a veto is cast in the Security Council has gained support from dozens of nations including the United States, Japan's ally and a permanent member of the council. Other permanent members are Britain, China and France.
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Japan plans to send SDF aircraft for Ukraine refugee aid this month
TOKYO - Japan plans to dispatch a Self-Defense Forces aircraft possibly within this month to help countries receiving refugees from Ukraine transport relief items, government sources said Thursday.
With the Russian invasion in its second month and some 4 million people having fled their homes, the sources said the SDF aircraft plans to pick up supplies, such as blankets and sleeping mats, stockpiled in Dubai and transport them to countries neighboring Ukraine, such Poland and Romania.
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Hong Kong to relax social distancing measures as COVID-19 wave wanes
HONG KONG - Hong Kong will ease some social distancing measures including dining restrictions from later this month as the city is recovering from its largest outbreak of the coronavirus, the city government said Thursday.
The city has seen a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron coronavirus variant since January, recording nearly 77,000 daily cases in early March. But cases gradually declined in the past month and decreased to 1,043 on Thursday.
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Entire Tohoku bullet train line back in service a month after quake
TOKYO - East Japan Railway Co. on Thursday resumed services on the entire line of its Tohoku Shinkansen, connecting Tokyo and Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan's main island, for the first time since a powerful earthquake hit the country's northeast and derailed one of its bullet trains nearly a month ago.
The high-speed trains are now back in service between Fukushima and Sendai stations, the only stretch of the line on which operations were still suspended. The resumption also enabled Hokkaido and Akita Shinkansen trains to reach Tokyo.
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Fast Retailing 1st half operating profit climbs to record high
TOKYO - Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, said Thursday its operating profit in the first half through February rose 12.7 percent from a year earlier to a record 189.28 billion yen ($1.5 billion), lifted by a weaker yen, especially against the U.S. dollar, and robust sales in North America and Europe.
The Japanese retailer, which also operates the GU casual clothing brand, reported a 38.7 percent jump in net profit from the previous year to 146.84 billion yen, while its sales edged higher 1.3 percent to 1.22 trillion yen.
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Japan's summer saury fishing likely skipped amid Russia tensions
TOKYO - Japan's early summer saury fishing expedition in the northern Pacific is expected to be skipped for a third year because of bad catches and increasing fears Russia could seize Japanese fishing boats amid tensions over Ukraine.
A Tokyo-based saury fishing cooperative said Thursday that no fishing boat is likely to take part in an annual fishing expedition on high seas in the North Pacific Ocean that runs from May to July, citing the risks of sailing through Russia's exclusive economic zone.
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Over 120 dead in Philippines after typhoon, many buried by landslides
MANILA - At least 123 people have died in the Philippines after Typhoon Megi tore through central regions over the weekend and triggered massive landslides, local authorities said Thursday, as search operations continued for those still missing.
The national disaster agency said the typhoon, the first tropical depression to hit the Philippines this year, affected hundreds of thousands, with over 162,000 forced to stay in evacuation centers after losing their homes and farmlands due to floods and mudslides.
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Chinese man gets Japan's 1st skilled worker visa with no time limit
GIFU, Japan - A 35-year-old Chinese man has become the first person to be granted a resident status that effectively allows foreign blue-collar workers to stay in Japan indefinitely, the infrastructure ministry and a supporting organization said Thursday.
Weng Fei, an employee of a construction company in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, obtained Wednesday the Specified Skilled Worker No. 2 status under a policy introduced by Japan in April 2019 to attract foreign workers and address the country's severe labor shortage.
