The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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U.S. Space Force eyes setting up Japan unit amid China's rise
TOKYO - The U.S. Space Force is considering setting up a unit in Japan with a subordinate command, its head said Monday, amid China's rising military use of outer space and North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.
"We're just in the planning phases to figure out exactly what that headquarters would do," Gen. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Space Force's chief of space operations, told reporters in Tokyo when asked about the plan to establish the new command.
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Japan approves Alzheimer's drug developed by Eisai, Biogen
TOKYO - Japan's health ministry on Monday approved the manufacture and sale of a drug for Alzheimer's disease developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co. and U.S. firm Biogen Inc., paving the way for the drug to be made available for use within the year.
Lecanemab, branded Leqembi, will be the first drug in Japan to both treat the underlying cause of the debilitating neurodegenerative disease and slow the progression of its symptoms.
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NASA spacecraft returns asteroid samples to Earth after 7-year journey
WASHINGTON - A NASA spacecraft landed a sample capsule from asteroid Bennu in a U.S. desert on Sunday after a seven-year, 6-billion-kilometer journey, marking the world's third asteroid sample retrieval following Japan's Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions.
The capsule, weighing 50 kilograms and measuring about 80 centimeters in diameter, carried rock samples that may hold clues to the early days of the solar system. It was released from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth.
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Osaka World Expo organizer to raise construction cost estimate again
OSAKA - The organizer of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka is raising its estimate of the venue's construction cost for the second time to about 230 billion yen ($1.5 billion) due to rising material and labor costs, its officials said Monday.
The new estimate will come after the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said in December 2020 that it expects the cost of building the venue to reach 185 billion yen, exceeding the initial estimate of 125 billion yen, due partly to changes in construction plans.
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Hong Kong-based Nomura banker faces exit ban from China amid probe: FT
HONG KONG - A senior banker from Nomura Holdings Inc.'s Hong Kong arm has been prohibited from leaving mainland China, in a move seen as part of an investigation into Bao Fan, a prominent Chinese tech dealmaker, The Financial Times reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the travel restriction on Charles Wang Zhonghe, chairman of the Japanese securities firm's investment banking for China at Nomura International (Hong Kong) Ltd., is limited to leaving the mainland, and he is not in custody.
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Sport climbing: Anraku, Mori win, Japan dominates lead World Cup meet
TOKYO - Sorato Anraku led a Japanese men's podium sweep at the sports climbing lead World Cup in China's Wujiang on Sunday, while reigning world champion Ai Mori took out the women's competition.
The 16-year-old Anraku claimed his third straight lead World Cup win after reaching 39+ in the final, beating Shion Omata on 30+ and Taisei Homma on 26+ in the final meet of the season.
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Asian Games: 15-year-old Kusaki wins women's park skateboarding gold
HANGZHOU, China - Fifteen-year-old Japanese skateboarder Hinano Kusaki executed all of her tricks, including flips and mid-air spins, to capture the women's park gold medal at the Asian Games on Monday.
Her victory had already been guaranteed before she had the last run of the eight-person final, as no other skater could beat her second-run score of 87.78 points through three runs at Qiantang Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.
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Rugby: JRFU refuse to comment as Jones denies he was interviewed
TOULOUSE, France - The Japan Rugby Football Union have refused to comment on rumors of Australia coach Eddie Jones exploring a return to Japan that overshadowed the build-up to the Wallabies' stunning 40-6 defeat to Wales at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday.
"We have a policy that we won't disclose any information about candidates (any name of an individual or selection status) until we finalize the announcement of the new head coach," a JRFU spokesperson told Kyodo News via email just hours before the game in Lyon.
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Video: 1st anniversary of shinkansen bullet train Kamome
