The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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PM Kishida to decide snap election timing by assessing circumstances
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that he will decide when to dissolve the House of Representatives after assessing "various circumstances," amid growing speculation that he will call a snap election soon.
Kishida also said at a press conference that the role of his government is to "address challenges that have been postponed so far."
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Japan's lower house passes contentious LGBT understanding bill
TOKYO - Japan's more powerful lower house passed a contentious bill on Tuesday to promote understanding of sexual minorities, paving the way for enacting the legislation by the end of the current parliamentary session through next week.
The bill is aimed primarily at banning unjust discrimination against people based on sexual orientation as Japan lags behind the other Group of Seven advanced nations in terms of legal protections for sexual minorities.
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Japan adopts space security policy, vows to expand defense use
TOKYO - Japan on Tuesday adopted its first space security blueprint with the aim of better utilizing the frontier for defense purposes over the next 10 years, in response to the rising military use of outer space by China and Russia.
In the roadmap, drawn up based on the National Security Strategy updated in December 2022, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also committed to advancing Japanese defense projects by making use of private-sector space technologies.
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S. Korea begins briefings to ease anxiety over Fukushima water
SEOUL - South Korea's fisheries ministry held the first of a series of nationwide briefings for the public Tuesday to explain seafood safety amid Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water from the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
The Oceans and Fisheries Ministry said Monday the briefings will continue until late June to provide scientific information on the treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that Japan plans to start discharging in the summer.
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Blinken says China upgraded Cuba intelligence facilities in 2019
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that China upgraded its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019.
Blinken, speaking at a press conference, said that upon the formation of President Joe Biden's administration in January 2021, some officials were briefed on a number of "sensitive efforts" by China to expand its overseas logistics to enable it to "project and sustain military power at the greater distance."
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Man arrested after Nagasaki A-bomb park paper cranes found burned
NAGASAKI - A Nagasaki prefectural government official was arrested Tuesday after paper cranes symbolizing peace were found burned at a Nagasaki park commemorating the victims of the atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city in 1945.
A man passing by the Nagasaki Peace Park reported to firefighters around 6:20 a.m. that a large number of origami cranes were on fire. The 23-year-old man, arrested on the spot on suspicion of property damage, has admitted to using a lighter to set fire to the paper cranes, police said.
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Japan aims to raise female exec ratio to 30% in listed firms by 2030
TOKYO - A Japanese government council approved on Tuesday a women's empowerment policy featuring the goal of raising the ratio of female board members to more than 30 percent by 2030 at companies listed on the top-tier Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The policy also lays out that the companies to appoint at least one female board member by 2025 as a starter. The move comes as companies in the country lag behind the United States and European countries in promoting women to managerial positions.
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Football: Kumagai, Hasegawa headline Nadeshiko Japan World Cup squad
TOKYO - Defensive linchpin Saki Kumagai is set to captain Nadeshiko Japan at her fourth Women's World Cup after being named Tuesday in head coach Futoshi Ikeda's squad for the tournament kicking off next month in Australia and New Zealand.
The AS Roma defender-midfielder headlines a 23-woman squad with several overseas-based footballers, including Manchester City playmaker Yui Hasegawa and Liverpool midfielder Fuka Nagano.
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Video: OpenAI CEO talks AI chatbot with Japanese students
