The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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China, U.S. agree to stabilize ties, explore summit talks
BEIJING - China and the United States agreed on the need to stabilize their relationship strained over Taiwan and other issues during U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing through Monday, the two governments said, with a summit meeting between their leaders expected to be arranged later this year.
Blinken, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials during his two-day stay in Beijing, said both sides shared the importance of direct engagement to ensure their competition does not veer into conflict and said he expects additional China visits by senior U.S. officials over the coming weeks.
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Japan emperor in Indonesia hopes people exchanges further friendship
JAKARTA - Japanese Emperor Naruhito, visiting Indonesia for the first time, expressed hope Monday that exchanges between young people will further improve the friendship among both countries as he spoke to reporters in Bogor, south of Jakarta.
The emperor made the statement after he and Empress Masako attended a welcoming ceremony at the Indonesian presidential palace in the city hosted by President Joko Widodo.
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Some deceived into having sterilization surgery: Japan parliament report
Children as young as 9 were among around 25,000 people with disabilities sterilized in Japan under a now-defunct eugenics law, with 65 percent of the procedures carried out without consent and some being led to believe they were being treated for an illness, the Diet's first report on the issue showed Monday.
Based on a parliamentary probe into the reality of the law, effective from 1948 to 1996, the report said sterilization was a condition for admission at some welfare facilities or for marriage. It also reported cases of radiation exposure and uterus removals.
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7 divers rescued after going missing off Japan's Okinawa
NAHA, Japan - Seven people were rescued Monday hours after they had gone missing while diving in waters off the southern island of Okinawa, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The coast guard had dispatched a helicopter and patrol vessels to search for the group, which included two instructors, after it received a call from their diving boat at around 11:50 a.m.
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Japan Post, Yamato to tie up to address delivery driver shortage
TOKYO - Japan Post Holdings Co. and Yamato Holdings Co. said Monday they will collaborate in the direct mail and small package businesses to deal with logistics shortages and increase their operations' efficiency.
Yamato will commission its mailbox delivery services for catalogs, brochures and small packages to Japan Post by March 2025, the two companies said.
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Japan agrees to set up reconstruction liaison system with Ukraine
TOKYO - Japan agreed Monday with Ukraine to establish a liaison system that will support the Eastern European country in its efforts to reconstruct areas severely damaged during the ongoing Russian invasion.
At a ceremony in Tokyo, Japan's reconstruction minister Hiromichi Watanabe and Oleksandr Kubrakov, deputy prime minister for the restoration of Ukraine, signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the reconstruction support initiative.
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"Panama Papers" journalist says AI helps investigative reporting
TOKYO - Journalist Emilia Diaz-Struck, involved in the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Panama Papers" stories on tax havens, said Sunday that artificial intelligence could be useful in investigative reporting but called for efforts to ensure credibility in coverage.
"It is the beginning of new things," the data and research editor of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said at an event in Tokyo to discuss the use of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, in reporting, playing down concerns the new technology will mean the "end of journalism" or the "end of journalists."
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5 dead after truck collides with bus in Japan's Hokkaido
SAPPORO - Five people died Sunday in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, which police believe occurred after the 4-ton truck strayed into oncoming traffic.
Following the crash at around 11:55 a.m. on a slow curve on Route 5 in Yakumo in southern Hokkaido, the male drivers of both vehicles were confirmed dead, along with three on board the bus. Twelve other passengers were taken to the hospital.
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Video: Watermelon road race in Japan
