The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Victims of fatal 1985 JAL jet crash mourned on 38th anniversary
MAEBASHI, Japan - Families and friends commemorated on Saturday the 38th anniversary of the Japan Airlines jet crash that killed 520 passengers and crew in the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident.
Braving the heat, mourners climbed the mountain trail to the Boeing 747 crash site on Osutaka Ridge in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, where they paid their respects at a monument and grave markers for their lost loved ones.
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Japan, China quietly mark friendship pact 45th anniversary amid tensions
BEIJING - Japan and China on Saturday quietly marked the 45th anniversary of the signing of a bilateral treaty of peace and friendship, with no official celebratory events amid tensions over Tokyo's plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
Bilateral relations have been strained over the planned start of Fukushima water discharge possibly from later this month as well as former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's recent visit to Taiwan and territorial and trade disputes.
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China tells Japan blanket seafood testing meant to protect consumers
BEIJING - China has told Japan its blanket radiation testing on seafood imports from the neighboring country introduced last month is "a necessary measure" to protect its consumers, according to sources familiar with the bilateral relationship.
The testing is believed to have been adopted to pressure Tokyo over its plan to begin releasing treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, possibly from late August.
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Briton not to be extradited over 2015 Tokyo jewelry heist
LONDON - A British court has ruled that one of three men detained over his alleged involvement in a 2015 jewelry robbery at a luxury store in central Tokyo will not be extradited to Japan, citing concerns over the country's human rights record.
Friday's decision not to extradite Joe Chappell, who is currently on bail, was based on the grounds that the Japanese authorities could not provide "sufficient assurances" that he would be treated in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Sport climbing: 19-year-old Mori wins worlds bronze, secures Paris spot
BERN - Japan's 19-year-old Ai Mori punched her ticket for her first Olympic appearance in Paris in sport climbing on Friday after winning bronze in the women's combined at the world championships.
Mori became the first climber from Japan to secure a place in next summer's games after bouncing back from sixth in boulder by finishing top in lead in Bern, logging 140.6 points in total in the eight-woman final.
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Skateboarding: Olympic champ Horigome wins Tokyo Street League round
TOKYO - Olympic men's champion Yuto Horigome outdueled Japanese compatriot Daiki Ikeda and American superstar Nyjah Huston to win the inaugural Tokyo round of the Street League Skateboarding circuit Saturday at Ariake Arena.
Japan narrowly missed out on a men's and women's title sweep in the second SLS event of the season and first-ever in Asia, with fellow Olympic champion Momiji Nishiya earlier finishing runner-up to Australian Chloe Covell in a closely contested women's final.
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Biden calls China "ticking time bomb" facing economic challenges
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden has described China as a "ticking time bomb" in many areas, citing economic challenges such as high employment and slowing growth, even as his administration seeks to defuse tensions with the Asian power, a White House transcript released Friday showed.
"China is in trouble," Biden told a political fundraising event in Utah on Thursday, according to the transcript. "That's not good," he added, "because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things."
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China's imports of Russian nuclear materials hit record-high in 2022
BEIJING - The value of China's imports of Russian nuclear materials for use at power plants hit a record $490 million in 2022, the highest figure since comparable customs data became available in 2015, with the need to fuel a new fast-breeder reactor in southeastern China possibly behind the increase.
The nuclear materials imported from Russia include uranium and plutonium. In the September-December period of 2022, Russia shipped 25 tons of nuclear fuel for the CFR-600 fast reactor, according to data from a British think tank and U.S. media reports.
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Video: Lanterns in the river ahead of 38th anniv. of JAL Flight 123 crash
