The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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U.S. to help Australia develop guided missile systems by 2025
SYDNEY - The United States said Saturday it will help Australia produce guided multiple-launch rocket systems by 2025, with the two countries stepping up cooperation in the face of China's growing influence over Pacific island nations.
The commitment is among "several mutually beneficial initiatives" that the Pentagon is pursuing with Australia's defense industry, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a press conference following bilateral security talks in Brisbane.
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South Korea first country to submit plan for pavilion at 2025 Osaka Expo
OSAKA - South Korea has become the first foreign country to submit a basic plan for building its own pavilion at the 2025 World Exposition in western Japan, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday, amid concerns about the slow progress being made by overseas participants concerning preparations for the event.
It is expected some 50 countries will build their own pavilions for the expo, to be held in Osaka, but the city had not received a basic design plan from any participating country, a requirement before seeking construction permission, until it received South Korea's on Friday.
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Major Tokyo fireworks festival resumes with a bang after COVID hiatus
TOKYO - One of Tokyo's most famous fireworks festivals returned for the first time in four years on Saturday following the lifting of coronavirus pandemic restrictions, lighting up the sky over the Sumida River with a staggering display of 20,000 fireworks.
A record-high 1.04 million people showed up for the event, according to organizers, who were vigilant against crowd crushes and other potential accidents following years of such large festivals being canceled.
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China, Russia warships sail though strait between Hokkaido, Sakhalin
TOKYO - The Japanese Defense Ministry said Saturday that five Chinese and five Russian warships had sailed through the Soya Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the Sea of Okhotsk, possibly in connection with a joint patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
Nine of the naval vessels were involved in a joint exercise in the Sea of Japan between July 18 and 23, the ministry said, adding it is carefully monitoring their movements.
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FOCUS: BOJ's move to ease yield curve control points to tricky road ahead
TOKYO - The Bank of Japan's decision Friday to make its yield cap program more flexible may provide the central bank with some room to see if price dynamics are indeed changing and wage growth is continuing to accelerate -- the recipe for finally attaining its 2 percent inflation goal.
Some economists viewed the BOJ's move to allow long-term yields to rise above its ceiling as an "effective scrapping" or "gutting" of its yield curve control program launched in 2016. Others took it as a step toward ending the central bank's ultraeasy monetary policy altogether.
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Biden to host summit with Japan, S. Korea on Aug. 18: White House
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden will host a trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea on Aug. 18, the White House said Friday, as he seeks to work even more closely with the two Asian countries over North Korea and other key issues.
The summit between Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Yoon Suk Yeol will be held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, according to the White House.
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Japanese rice imports delayed at Chinese customs amid Fukushima row
BEIJING - Rice imports from Japan are among food and beverage items facing delays at Chinese customs after authorities announced blanket radiation testing for seafood imports from the country, sources familiar with the bilateral relationship said Friday.
The Japanese government is considering expressing its opposition to the prolonged Chinese customs procedures and asking Beijing to explain why the measures have been introduced, the sources said.
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Australia PM says he is confident of acquiring U.S. nuke submarines
SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday he was confident of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines from the United States, ahead of a meeting of foreign and defense ministers of the two countries to be held in Brisbane.
Albanese's remarks come in response to a reporter asking if the prime minister was worried about obtaining the submarines after several U.S. senators voiced opposition to such a move unless President Joe Biden plans to increase investment in the American production line.
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Kin of missing French woman renews call for Japan to do more
GENEVA/UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - The family of a missing French woman is renewing its call for Japan to help gather more information about her on the fifth anniversary of her mysterious disappearance during a trip to a tourist spot north of Tokyo.
"We won't give up. We need answers," Damien Veron, 43, said in a recent interview, referring to his and supporters' efforts to work with Japanese authorities to find out exactly what happened to his sister Tiphaine Veron.
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Video: 70th anniv. of Korean War armistice agreement (Pyongyang, North Korea)
