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Photo taken on Nov. 15, 2024, shows Toyota Motor Corp.’s bZ 3X sport utility vehicle at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan’s Ishiba, China’s Xi agree to forge “mutually beneficial” ties
LIMA – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to foster “mutually beneficial” and “stable” relations in their first in-person talks.
Following the meeting in Lima, held on the sidelines of this year’s summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Ishiba said he told Xi that Japan is “extremely concerned” about China’s increasingly aggressive military maneuvers.
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Japan top diplomat makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of unity
KYIV – Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya made an unannounced visit Saturday to Ukraine for talks with officials, his ministry said, apparently to show Tokyo’s commitment to Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s military aggression, now involving North Korean troops.
Iwaya stopped over in the Eastern European nation after visiting Peru for a regional economic meeting, according to the Foreign Ministry, making it the first trip there by a Japanese minister since Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office last month.
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Japan, U.S., South Korea set up secretariat to enshrine cooperation
LIMA – The leaders of Japan, the United States and South Korea on Friday announced the creation of a secretariat to further align their policies and actions, about two months before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to power with his go-it-alone approach to foreign affairs.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who met in Lima on the sidelines of an international meeting, said the new entity will make the Indo-Pacific “a thriving, connected, resilient, stable, and secure region.”
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Japan school absenteeism hits record 340,000 in FY 2023, up 11th yr
TOKYO – A record 346,482 elementary and junior high school students across Japan were absent for 30 days or more in the 2023 academic year, marking the 11th consecutive year of increase, according to a recent education ministry survey.
The figure for the year ended March 2024 represents a 15.9 percent increase from the previous school year, accounting for 3.7 percent of all students, or roughly 1.5 students per 40-student class, according to the survey.
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Figure skating: Kagiyama, Yoshida lead after Finlandia Trophy SP
HELSINKI – Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama led after the men’s short program and Hana Yoshida after the women’s at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating’s Finlandia Trophy on Friday, the fifth event on the circuit this season.
On the back of his win at the NHK Trophy last weekend in Tokyo, Kagiyama had a flawless performance and took a sizable lead at Helsinki Ice Hall with 103.97 points after landing both his opening quadruple salchow and quad-triple toeloop combination.
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Freight train derails in north Japan, disrupts services
SAPPORO – A freight train derailed in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Saturday, disrupting some passenger and commercial railway services, its operator said.
Five of the train’s 20 freight cars came off the tracks while traveling between stations in a town near Hakodate, a southern city in the prefecture. The driver was uninjured, JR Freight said.
Video: Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition
