Flowers are seen piled up near an apartment building struck by a missile in Dnipro on Jan. 17, 2023, amid Russia's war on Ukraine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Foreign visitors to Japan in 2022 up 15-fold to 3.83 mil.

TOKYO - The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2022 sharply recovered and grew 15-fold from the previous year to 3.83 million after the easing of border controls imposed to counter the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday.

The number was still 88 percent lower than the record high of 31.88 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the Japan Tourism Agency said.

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BOJ makes no policy change despite market pressure, bond yields drop

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Wednesday left its ultralow rate policy unchanged and Governor Haruhiko Kuroda shot down the prospect of changing its cap on long-term bond yields again, sending the yen and yields plunging.

Despite forecasting inflation to reach 3 percent, above its 2 percent target, the BOJ stuck to its yield curve control program at the end of a two-day policy meeting. The scheme is designed to keep short-term and long-term interest rates at rock-bottom levels to support the economy.

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Ex-boyfriend arrested after fatal stabbing of woman in Fukuoka

FUKUOKA - An ex-boyfriend was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fatally stabbing a woman on a street in the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka earlier this week, police said.

The attack occurred despite police issuing an order last year for the man, Susumu Terauchi, to stop stalking Miki Kawano after she broke up with him. He has confessed to the crime, the police said.

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Tennis: Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka advances to Australian Open 3rd round

MELBOURNE - Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka advanced to the Australian Open's third round with a straight-sets victory over qualifier Dalibor Svrcina on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Nishioka, the 31st seed at the year's first Grand Slam tournament, beat the 20-year-old Czech Svrcina, ranked 219th in the world, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 47 minutes.

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Acquittal upheld for ex-TEPCO execs over Fukushima nuclear crisis

TOKYO - An appeals court on Wednesday upheld an acquittal of three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. who were accused of failing to prevent the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

The Tokyo High Court decision followed a Tokyo District Court ruling in 2019 that found former TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 82, along with Ichiro Takekuro, 76, and Sakae Muto, 72, both former vice presidents, could not have predicted the massive tsunami that crippled the power plant and led to core meltdowns.

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Japan gov't to discuss downgrading COVID-19 classification

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and some members of his Cabinet will discuss later in the week whether to reclassify the novel coronavirus to the same category as common infectious diseases such as seasonal influenza, government sources said Wednesday.

By downgrading the disease's category to Class 5 from the current Class 2, the government could relax restrictive measures and reduce medical expense support.

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Japan, U.S. ink deal on open communications network amid China threat

TOKYO - Japan and the United States have signed an agreement to develop and promote a new communications network that does not rely on specific companies' infrastructure, the government said Wednesday, amid China's increasing presence in the sector.

The memorandum concerns Open Radio Access Network technology that enables interoperability between multiple vendors' equipment for cellular wireless networks. Under the agreement, the two countries will share data and cooperate in spreading the technology internationally.

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Japan's emperor hopes COVID-disrupted lives return to normal in poem

TOKYO - Japanese Emperor Naruhito, in a poem recited at the annual Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading on Wednesday, expressed hope that people's lives disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic will return to normal, touching on the friendship between young brass band members with whom he spoke.

The ceremony at the Imperial Palace was also attended by Empress Masako, and Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife Princess Kiko, with the number of attendees from the general public limited in consideration of the coronavirus pandemic.

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U.S. defense chief to visit S. Korea, Philippines within weeks

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will visit South Korea and the Philippines within a few weeks to step up cooperation with the two countries, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Austin will meet with senior government and military officials during the trip, which will be a "reaffirmation of our deep commitment to working in concert with allies and partners to chart our shared vision to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific," according to Pat Ryder, press secretary of the Defense Department.

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Baseball: Fujinami ready for Oakland venture, relishes Ohtani rivalry

OAKLAND, California - Shintaro Fujinami spoke of his delight at joining the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday as the hard-throwing right-hander also welcomed the chance to renew his rivalry with two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

The 28-year-old Fujinami signed a one-year contract, reported by American media outlets to be worth $3.25 million in salary, after he was posted by the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.

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Video: Building struck by a missile in Ukraine's Dnipro

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