The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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1 in 5 people aged 65 or older in Japan will have dementia by 2060
TOKYO - Around 20 percent of people aged 65 years and over in Japan will suffer from dementia by 2060, the government said Wednesday, highlighting the need to expand nursing care and strengthen preventative measures amid the graying of the country's population.
The ratio of 1 in every 5.6 individuals in the age group means a total of 6.45 million people will be suffering from dementia by 2060, a reduction from 8.50 million estimated in the previous study in 2015 that reflects lifestyle changes such improved diets and quitting smoking, according to the health ministry.
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Toyota FY 2023 operating profit tops 5 trillion yen, 1st for Japanese firm
TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday its operating profit for the year ended March almost doubled from a year earlier to 5.35 trillion yen ($34.5 billion), becoming the first Japanese company to top the 5 trillion yen mark thanks to robust post-pandemic demand and a weaker yen.
Its net profit for the year doubled to a record 4.94 trillion yen on its highest-ever sales of 45.10 trillion yen, up 21.4 percent, the automaker said.
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Rugby: Japanese woman set to be 1st to play, referee at Olympics
LONDON - Japan's Ano Kuwai will make history this summer as the first to have both played and refereed in Olympic rugby, the sport's international governing body said Wednesday.
World Rugby announced the squad of 23 match officials for the men's and women's rugby sevens competitions at the Paris Olympics with Kuwai Japan's sole representative.
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Japan minister apologizes for interrupting Minamata victims' remarks
MINAMATA, Japan - Japan's environment minister apologized Wednesday after his officials interrupted remarks by some victims of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease by muting their microphones at a meeting in Kumamoto Prefecture last week.
"I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. I am truly sorry," the minister, Shintaro Ito, said while meeting with victims in Minamata in the country's southwest.
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BOJ chief flags risk of weak yen swaying prices, hints at rate hike
TOKYO - Bank of Japan chief Kazuo Ueda said Wednesday that inflation may have become more susceptible to the effects of a weak yen and the central bank would raise interest rates early if upside risks to the price outlook emerge.
Ueda's remarks, coming a day after he met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, signaled increased caution about the yen's sharp depreciation that apparently triggered a fresh round of market intervention by Japanese authorities last week.
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H.K. 2019 pro-democracy protest song banned as court reverses ruling
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong appeals court ruled on Wednesday that a protest song widely used as an anthem for Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy movement is now banned, reversing an earlier decision that dismissed the city government's bid to ban the song.
The ban on the song "Glory to Hong Kong" is seen as further undermining freedom of expression in the semiautonomous region of China.
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Graffiti found at mausoleum of Emperor Meiji
KYOTO - Graffiti has been found at the mausoleum of Emperor Meiji in Kyoto, prompting an office of the Imperial Household Agency managing the area to file a criminal complaint, it said Wednesday.
A visitor found multiple black letters sprayed on a stone fence and a special washbasin used for cleansing hands before entering a sacred site on Saturday morning and reported it to the office.
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Pakistan says deadly attack on Chinese workers staged in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan military believes Afghanistan was the staging ground for a suicide bombing in March that killed five Chinese nationals and their local driver in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while also alleging the bomber was Afghan.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sharif said at a news conference Tuesday the March 26 attack targeting a van transporting the Chinese nationals working on the Dasu Dam hydropower project was orchestrated in Afghanistan and carried out by an Afghan national.
Video: Vietnam marks 70th anniv. of Dien Bien Phu victory
