The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
Korean Air, Cathay planes come into contact at Hokkaido airport
SAPPORO - A Korean Air jet came into contact with a Cathay Pacific Airways plane at an airport in Hokkaido in northern Japan on Tuesday, with no injuries reported, according to the South Korean carrier and local authorities.
The incident at New Chitose Airport took place when the Korean Air's Airbus A330, carrying 289 crew and passengers and bound for Seoul, was starting to move from the tarmac for takeoff, according to the transport ministry and other sources. Next to it was the Cathay Pacific plane, a Boeing 777, bound for Hong Kong with no one on board.
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Japan lifts FY 2024 budget to 112.57 tril. yen for quake relief
TOKYO - The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a revised 112.57 trillion yen ($774 billion) draft budget for the next fiscal year starting in April, allocating an additional 500 billion yen in emergency funds to tackle the fallout from a New Year's Day earthquake that ravaged central Japan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered a rare revision of an already finalized budget plan, valued at 112.07 trillion yen, to ensure sufficient funds are allocated for the relief and reconstruction of the affected areas.
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Japan's parliament to convene 150-day regular session on Jan. 26
TOKYO - Japan's parliament will convene a 150-day ordinary session from Jan. 26, lawmakers said Tuesday, with revelations related to a secret slush fund scandal still likely plaguing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi conveyed the schedule, planned by the ruling bloc and the government, to the steering committees of both chambers of the Diet. Unless extended, the regular session will conclude on June 23.
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Japan's biggest business lobby calls for larger pay hikes than 2023
TOKYO - The Japan Business Federation, the country's most powerful business lobby, on Tuesday urged its member companies to offer larger pay hikes than last year, effectively demanding wage increases of at least 4 percent amid inflation.
"To companies, we would like to call for active consideration and implementation of wage increases with a stronger passion and resolve than in 2023," Keidanren said in its guideline for this year's spring wage negotiations, announced the same day.
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North Korea's Kim seeks to define South Korea as enemy under Constitution
BEIJING - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for a constitutional change to define South Korea as a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy," with the top legislature deciding to abolish entities that promote dialogue with the South, state-run media said Tuesday.
In a speech at a session of the Supreme People's Assembly on Monday, Kim said his country should not refer to South Korean people as "fellow countrymen" and the supreme law should call for intensified education to spread the idea that they are an enemy, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
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U.S. forces to join relief efforts for central Japan quake from Jan. 17
TOKYO - The U.S. military plans to airlift supplies from Wednesday to support Japan's relief efforts for areas in Ishikawa Prefecture damaged by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.
The request by Japan to its key security ally was an "exceptional" one, Kihara told a press conference on Tuesday, given that Tokyo earlier declined personnel or material support from overseas, citing arrangement difficulties.
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Japan to revoke certifications for 3 models at Toyota's Daihatsu unit
TOKYO - Japan's transport minister said Tuesday it will revoke certifications necessary for mass production for three models built by Daihatsu Motor Co. after the small-car unit of Toyota Motor Co. was discovered to have rigged safety tests.
Tetsuo Saito, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, called for corrective action to prevent recurrence of similar misconduct when he met with Daihatsu President Soichiro Okudaira.
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U.S. says Nauru's decision to cut ties with Taiwan "disappointing"
WASHINGTON - The United States said Monday that Nauru's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of mainland China is "a disappointing one" and warned that Beijing may not fulfill the promises it has made to the Pacific country.
Nauru announced the switch of its diplomatic recognition days after Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, who heads the ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, won the territory's presidential election Saturday.
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Trump handily wins 1st Republican presidential nomination contest
DES MOINES, Iowa - Donald Trump secured victory in the opening contest of the Republican primary season, winning the Iowa caucuses on Monday by the widest margin in American history and strengthening his resolve to clinch the November presidential election, return to the White House next year and revive his "America First" policy.
The former president received 51.1 percent of nearly all the votes counted, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 21.2 percent, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley garnered 19.1 percent, according to the Republican Party of the Midwest state.
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Japan allows quake-hit foreign trainees to work under relief steps
TOKYO - The Japanese government said Tuesday it has introduced a special relief measure to allow foreign trainees and skilled workers in the central Japan area hit by a recent powerful earthquake to remain in work even if their employers go out of business due to the disaster.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said foreign technical interns or specified skilled workers residing in 47 municipalities in Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa and Fukui prefectures can be employed for up to eight hours at workplaces not designated under their programs.
Video: Iwate Prefecture borrows masks from Akita Prefecture to perform traditional New Year's ceremony
