The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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More students in quake-hit central Japan evacuate to continue studies
KANAZAWA, Japan - Over a hundred students from junior high schools in quake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan left their families Sunday to evacuate to a facility some 100 kilometers away to continue their studies.
The temporary relocation of the around 140 students from Suzu city and Noto town came after a similar move by students from Wajima in the prefecture last week in the wake of the magnitude-7.6 quake that struck the Noto Peninsula in the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast on New Year's Day.
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Vietnamese trainees told to undergo contraception to work in Japan
TOKYO - Some female Vietnamese technical trainees have received contraception treatments based on instructions by organizations involved in a Japan internship program, a Kyodo News survey revealed Sunday, with the practice raising concerns that such trainees' reproductive rights were not respected.
The Japanese government is considering scrapping the current technical internship program for foreigners, which began in 1993 to transfer knowledge and skills to developing countries. It plans to create a new program taking into account the problems and rights violations observed under the current system, including issues such as unpaid wages and harassment.
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Putin willing to visit Pyongyang at early date: KCNA
TOKYO - Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to visit Pyongyang at an early date, North Korea's state-run media said Sunday.
Putin expressed "deep thanks" for an invitation by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit the capital during a meeting with the country's visiting foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
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Japan automakers tap foreign models to drive sales of outdoorsy cars
TOKYO - As the popularity of lifestyle vehicles rises in Japan, Japanese automakers are introducing overseas-made models to offer more options to domestic consumers looking for cars suitable for camping and skiing.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will sell the newest iteration of the Triton pickup truck in Japan starting Feb. 15, bringing back the model, popular in Southeast Asia, to the country after a 12-year hiatus.
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Aso to keep faction as Japan ruling party grilled over funds scandal
TOKYO - Former Prime Minister Taro Aso is set to defy pressure to dissolve his faction within the Japanese ruling party, sources close to the matter said Saturday, as other intraparty groups, including one led by the incumbent Fumio Kishida, have decided to disband amid a scandal over fundraising.
Aso, who heads the second-biggest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, has conveyed his intention to Kishida, the party's president, by saying his group's political funds have been properly managed, the sources said. Kishida accepted the explanation.
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Football: Unorthodox Japan icon Endo signs off in typical fashion
IWATA, Japan - Much like his conspicuously calm, unflappable playing style, Yasuhito Endo, who holds the Japan and J-League first-division appearance record, signed off without a fuss on Jan. 9.
The 43-year-old midfielder, dubbed "the heart of Japan" by former national team manager Takeshi Okada, guided Jubilo Iwata to J1 promotion last season before drawing the curtain on his 26-year career suddenly and unceremoniously, without even a press conference.
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Japan's Moon probe successfully lands, suffers power problem
TOKYO - A Japanese spacecraft equipped with precision navigation technology has successfully landed on the Moon, but the fate of its mission is uncertain due to problems with its solar power generation system, the country's space agency said Saturday.
With the touchdown of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, Japan has made its first lunar landing, joining the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India as the only countries to have accomplished the feat.
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Snowboarding: Mitsuki Ono wins 1st halfpipe gold of season at World Cup event
LAAX, Switzerland - Japan's Mitsuki Ono claimed her first gold medal of the season in the third round of the snowboarding halfpipe World Cup on Saturday.
Last season's overall champion in the discipline logged 81.75 points with the first of her two finals runs in Laax, Switzerland, to beat second-placed Bea Kim (77.50) of the United States and Japan's Ruki Tomita (60.50) in third.
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