Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe is pictured after attending the award ceremony for the 1994 Nobel Prize recipients in Stockholm in December 1994. Oe, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, known for being a proponent of Japan's pacifist Constitution and against nuclear power, died of old age on March 3, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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

----------

Japan PM Kishida mulls visiting S. Korea in summer amid thaw in ties

TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting South Korea after hosting the Group of Seven summit in the western Japan city of Hiroshima in May, in a bid to accelerate efforts to put bilateral ties back on track, government sources said Tuesday.

The trip would follow South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Japan for two days from Thursday, during which it is expected that the resumption of reciprocal visits between the leaders of the two countries will be confirmed. Such visits have not taken place for more than a decade.

----------

Australia to possess nuclear-powered subs in 2030s amid China's rise

SAN DIEGO, California - Australia will purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the United States starting in the early 2030s, the two countries and Britain said Monday, as part of their multiphase project intended to counter China's military expansion and territorial ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region.

The agreement to provide some of the United States' most sensitive military technology was announced as President Joe Biden hosted a summit in San Diego of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

----------

Japan's 2021 development aid ranks 3rd in OECD amid COVID-19

TOKYO - Japan became the third-largest aid provider in 2021 among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hit developing nations, government data showed Tuesday.

The annual white paper on development cooperation issued by the Foreign Ministry said Japan's official assistance in 2021, calculated by international standards under the grant equivalent system, rose 8.4 percent from the previous year to about $17.63 billion.

----------

Japan OKs bill to reform sexual offense charge, raise age of consent

TOKYO - Japan's Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to recognize a sexual violation even in the absence of physical violence or coercion and raise the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16, as part of reforms to the country's Penal Code.

The amendments, which will see a sexual offense charge renamed to make clearer the illegality of nonconsensual intercourse, will also make upskirting and producing images of genitalia without consent crimes punishable under the Penal Code.

----------

Japan's 1st piloted flying taxi test held ahead of 2025 World Expo

OSAKA - An air taxi service set to feature at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka was tested in a park in the western Japan city Tuesday, in what the prefectural government says is the first time in the country one of the craft has been piloted from the cockpit.

Japan plans for the "flying cars" to be among the expo's main attractions, with the vehicles expected to provide access to the event venue planned to be set up on an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

----------

Baseball: Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish could both pitch in Italy q'final

TOKYO - Manager Hideki Kuriyama said Tuesday that all his pitchers would be available for Samurai Japan's World Baseball Classic quarterfinal against Italy, opening the door for MLB pitchers Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish to both take the mound.

The two right-handers threw together side-by-side in the bullpen ahead of Thursday's elimination game against the Pool A runner-up, with the winner earning a trip to the semifinals in Miami.

----------

Child suicides in Japan hit record high of 514 in 2022

TOKYO - A record 514 children attending elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan died by suicide in 2022, topping the previous high of 499 seen in 2020, government data showed Tuesday, with the upward trend apparently fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Suicides among females also increased for the third straight year, rising 67 from the previous year to 7,135, the data showed.

----------

China poses "epoch-defining" challenge to Britain: gov't

LONDON - China poses an "epoch-defining and systemic challenge" to the United Kingdom, the British government said Monday in an update to its defense and foreign policy framework.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government will deepen its cooperation and "increase alignment with both our core allies and a wider group of partners" on China, according to the document.

----------

Companies in Japan obliged to accommodate disabled from April 2024

TOKYO - Japan will legally oblige companies to provide necessary services and infrastructure to assist people with disabilities from April 2024 by ensuring they set up measures such as sloped access points for wheelchairs, the government said Tuesday.

The decision taken by the Cabinet comes on top of central and local governments already being obligated to provide for and "reasonably accommodate" people with disabilities after the law, designed to prevent discrimination against them, was enacted in 2013.

----------

Tokyo cherry trees bloom earliest on record ahead of other regions

TOKYO - Cherry trees came into bloom on Tuesday in Tokyo, matching the earliest time on record since observations began in 1953, with blossoms expected across the country earlier than usual due to warmer weather, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The "Somei Yoshino" variety at Yasukuni Shrine used for the agency's observations blossomed the same day in 2020 and 2021. They are expected to be in full bloom within around a week.

----------

Nobel-winning author, peace activist Kenzaburo Oe dies at 88