The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan PM Kishida's support rate dives to 40.8% amid ID card fiasco
TOKYO - The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet plunged to 40.8 percent, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday, with many in the public wary of the government's push to expand the use of the national identification card, plagued with privacy concerns.
The support rating was down from 47.0 percent in the previous poll in late May, while the disapproval rating increased 5.7 points to 41.6 percent, according to the two-day nationwide telephone survey conducted from Saturday.
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China, U.S. foreign ministers begin talks to avoid conflict
BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began talks Sunday in Beijing, according to Chinese state-run media, with the two sides expected to explore ways to avoid conflict amid heightened bilateral tensions over Taiwan, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and other issues.
Qin and Blinken, who is the first Cabinet-level U.S. representative to visit China since the inception of President Joe Biden's administration in January 2021, are also expected to discuss potential cooperation in areas such as global economic stability and climate change.
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Japan's Nidec to enter flying vehicle motor business via JV
TOKYO - Japanese electric motor maker Nidec Corp. said Sunday it will set up a joint venture with Brazilian regional jet manufacturer Embraer in the United States to tap the growing demand for electric flying vehicle components.
Nidec will take a 51 percent stake in Nidec Aerospace LLC and will develop electric propulsion systems for the aerospace sector, with the remainder to be owned by the Brazilian partner.
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Air travel demand seen soaring 28% to near pre-pandemic level in 2023
TOKYO - Global air passenger traffic is expected to soar 28.3 percent to 4.35 billion people in 2023, returning to near the pre-pandemic level of 2019 with Asia-Pacific airlines benefiting from a sharp recovery in demand, according to estimates by an industry body.
The projected passenger number is higher than 3.39 billion fliers in 2022 and represents about 96 percent of the 4.54 billion fliers four years ago, owing to the removal of COVID-19 border control measures, the International Air Transport Association said in a recent report.
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Mothers denied postpartum care in 14% of Japan municipalities: survey
TOKYO - About 14.4 percent of municipalities in Japan had cases in which mothers were denied care after giving birth, a survey recently showed, underscoring the country's need to address the issue as it tries to reverse its declining birthrate.
The rate of rejection for reasons including a shortage of care facilities was even higher in municipalities with a population of 200,000 or more at 43.0 percent, according to the survey commissioned by the government and conducted last fall by Nomura Research Institute.
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Putin says Russia sent nuclear arms to Belarus amid war with Ukraine
TOKYO - Russia has sent the first set of tactical nuclear weapons to its neighbor ally Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said Friday, in a move that is likely to further increase tensions with the West over the war in Ukraine.
It marks the first time for Russia to deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders since they were withdrawn from republics of the former Soviet Union in the wake of its 1991 collapse.
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Japan emperor, empress travel to Indonesia for 1st goodwill visit
JAKARTA - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Indonesia on Saturday for their first official goodwill visit since the emperor's ascension to the throne in 2019.
Their stay through Friday includes a luncheon with President Joko Widodo and a visit to a cemetery honoring Indonesian independence fighters.
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Japan to set out guidelines for future defense technology equipment
TOKYO - Japan's Defense Ministry plans to set out guidelines for defense technologies that the country will prioritize for development, citing a dozen areas including innovations in miniaturized robotic technology, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The guidelines are intended to encourage increased cooperation between government agencies, companies and research institutions to develop key defense technologies over the next decade, in an effort to counter Chinese and Russian state-of-the-art weaponry.
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Video: Festival in northeastern Japan
