The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan, U.S., South Korea eye summit talks in mid-Nov. over North Korea
TOKYO - The leaders of Japan, the United States and South Korea are planning to meet in mid-November in response to rising tensions over North Korea, government sources said Friday.
The leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of ASEAN-related gatherings in Cambodia or the summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Indonesia. It would be their first trilateral meeting since they met in June in Spain.
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G-7 to agree sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war must be kept
MUNSTER, Germany - The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations are expected to agree to continue maintaining harsh sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in a joint statement to be issued on Friday, a Japanese official said.
The G-7 ministers will also voice serious concern over Moscow's indicating its willingness to use nuclear weapons against the neighboring country, while vowing to strengthen their support for Ukraine, in the document to be issued before wrapping up a two-day gathering from Thursday in the western German city of Munster, the official said.
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Japan to retain stake in Russia's Sakhalin 1 oil project
TOKYO - Japanese stakeholders in the Sakhalin 1 oil and gas project in eastern Russia will retain their stake in the undertaking by joining a new Russian operator recently established under a decree, the industry minister said Friday, as the project remains a vital source of energy for resource-poor Japan.
Japan's government and companies, including major trading houses Itochu Corp. and Marubeni Corp., have invested in the project through Tokyo-based Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. If the Russian side approves the company plan decided at Friday's shareholders meeting, Japan will be able to keep its stake in the project.
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China's Xi expresses opposition to nuke use over Ukraine
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday in a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the international community should "jointly oppose the use of nuclear weapons" or the threat of their use over the Ukrainian crisis, China's official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xi made the rare remarks against the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian war in an apparent bid to show sympathy toward European nations, amid mounting fears about their potential deployment by Russia.
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S. Korea scrambles jets after 180 N. Korean military flights detected
SEOUL - South Korea scrambled around 80 fighter jets after about 180 radar tracks of North Korean warplanes near the countries' eastern and western maritime borders were detected, South Korea's military said Friday, in the latest sign of escalating tensions following successive missile launches by Pyongyang in recent days.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that fighter jets including F-35As and other military aircraft were scrambled after North Korean planes were detected from around 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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G-7 foreign ministers call for peaceful resolution of Taiwan issue
MUNSTER, Germany - The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Thursday called for a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue amid heightened tensions over the self-ruled democratic island, according to the Japanese government.
On the first day of their two-day meeting in the western German city of Munster, the top G-7 diplomats "reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait," demanding that cross-strait issues be resolved by peaceful means, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
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UNICEF chief stresses need of access in eastern part of Ukraine
TOKYO - The head of the U.N. Children's Fund acknowledged Friday that the aid organization does not have access to the eastern part of Ukraine where Russia has claimed authority amid the ongoing conflict.
"We know children are in need, but we can't get to them very easily. And that is disturbing," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo.
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Japanese baseball career home run leader Oh hospitalized with COVID
MIYAZAKI, Japan - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese pro baseball's career home run leader and chairman of the Pacific League's SoftBank Hawks, has been hospitalized as a precaution due to the coronavirus, the club said Friday.
Oh was admitted to a hospital in southwestern Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture, where the Hawks are currently holding their autumn minicamp. The 82-year-old complained of a fever and discomfort in his throat.
