The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Football: Japan exit Women's World Cup with 2-1 last-8 loss to Sweden
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Japan's women's football team exited the World Cup with a 2-1 loss to Sweden following a nail-biting finish to their quarterfinal Friday at Auckland's Eden Park.
Sweden led 2-0 before substitute Honoka Hayashi breathed life back into Japan's campaign in the 87th minute, with the 2011 champions pushing desperately for an equalizer during more than 10 minutes of stoppage time.
----------
U.S., Japan, Australia, India begin joint naval exercise in Sydney
SYDNEY - The naval forces of the United States, Japan, Australia and India began their Malabar joint defense exercise in Sydney on Friday, marking the first time Australia has hosted the war games amid China's growing assertiveness in the region.
The four Indo-Pacific nations, part of a cooperation framework known as the Quad, will conduct joint training involving maritime and air defense drills through Aug. 21 in Sydney Harbor and off Australia's east coast, with some 2,000 personnel taking part, including around 170 Japanese.
----------
Japan sees heavy summer holiday traffic after COVID-19 downgrade
TOKYO - Travelers flooded airports and train stations in Tokyo and other cities in Japan on Friday to head to their hometowns in the first summer holiday season since the legal status of COVID-19 was downgraded to the same category as seasonal flu.
Travelers lined up for security checks at Haneda airport in Tokyo, but some were concerned about a powerful incoming typhoon that is expected to bring stormy weather from around Monday to the country's eastern and western regions.
----------
Family to face murder charges over decapitated man found in Sapporo
SAPPORO - Police plan to serve a fresh arrest warrant to a woman and her parents over the death of a man found decapitated in Sapporo, northern Japan, charging them with murder, investigative sources said Friday.
Runa Tamura, 29, her father, Osamu, a 59-year-old psychiatrist, and her mother, Hiroko, 60, were first arrested in July on suspicion of mutilating and abandoning a corpse.
----------
FEATURE: Cancer-suffering doctor helping terminal patients die with dignity
TOKYO - A leading palliative care doctor, who himself is battling stage-4 cancer, continues to pursue his life's work of providing in-home support to terminally ill patients to allow them to live their final days with dignity.
Fumio Yamazaki, 75, started his career as a doctor at a hospital in the 1970s and witnessed first-hand the suffering and despair of people dying of cancer in hospital wards.
----------
Holidaymakers to boost spending as Japan growth at tipping point
TOKYO - Summer holidays without COVID-related curbs, higher bonuses and a travel demand comeback appear to signal consumers are ready to ramp up spending, in a boon to the Japanese economy.
For the Bon holidays in mid-August, bookings for domestic flights offered by major Japanese airlines have returned to some 94 percent of 2019 levels and those for shinkansen bullet trains and other local lines are also near pre-pandemic levels.
----------
Japan's smoking rates continue to decline for men, women in 2022
TOKYO - Smoking rates for men and women in Japan continued to fall in 2022, a health ministry survey showed, highlighting increased health consciousness and the impact of a revised law to crack down on secondhand smoke.
The male smoking rate dropped 3.4 percentage points from the previous survey in 2019 to 25.4 percent, while the female smoking rate was down 1.1 points to 7.7 percent.
----------
Death toll in Hawaii wildfire rises to 53, national disaster declared
HONOLULU - Local authorities on Hawaii's Maui Island said Thursday 17 additional fatalities have been confirmed in the wildfires which began earlier in the week, bringing the death toll to 53.
U.S. President Joe Biden approved the same day a national disaster declaration for Hawaii, making federal funding available to affected local residents.
----------
Video: Gobies in a Wakayama stream
