TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Chinese coast guard escorts public vessels in Japan-Philippine EEZ
TOKYO - Chinese coast guard ships have started escorting the country's public vessels in Western Pacific waters where Japan and the Philippines' exclusive economic zones overlap, a data analysis found Sunday, in an apparent move to claim jurisdiction in the area near Taiwan.
The escort by two coast guard vessels for the government survey ship Xiang Yang Hong 22 for three days from June 16 off the southern coast of Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni was Beijing's apparent response to a Tokyo-Manila agreement in May to launch bilateral maritime delimitation negotiations.
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Japan, S. Korea agree to advance talks on defense equipment cooperation
SEOUL - Japan and South Korea agreed Sunday to advance talks on defense equipment and technology cooperation as the two U.S. allies deepen security ties amid improving relations.
Meeting in Seoul, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his counterpart Ahn Gyu Back agreed to move forward with the discussions, following Tokyo's April revision of its defense equipment transfer rules.
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China vessel suspected of marine survey in Japan's exclusive economic zone
NAHA, Japan - A Chinese survey ship was spotted Sunday having lowered a pipe-like object in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the coast guard said.
The Japan Coast Guard said it discovered the vessel operating about 57 kilometers west-southwest of Uotsuri Island, the Senkakus' largest island, at 12:15 p.m. The Senkakus are a group of uninhabited islets controlled by Japan but claimed by China.
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Local train derails at Kyoto Station, no injuries
OSAKA - A train derailed at Kyoto Station on Monday morning but none of the roughly 10 passengers aboard were injured, the train operator said.
The four-car local train bound for Kashiharajingu-mae derailed at around 5:15 a.m., according to Kintetsu Railway Co.
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Japan ruling party lawmaker rejects female emperor, cites marriage pressure
TOKYO - A senior lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Sunday that Princess Aiko cannot become emperor under Japan's current succession law, adding that no one would want to marry her if she did.
Hirofumi Nakasone, 80, a former foreign minister who heads the LDP's constitutional reform headquarters, made the remarks during a speech in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, as lawmakers continue debating how to address the shrinking imperial family.
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Japanese singer, actor Miwa dies at 91
TOKYO - Japanese singer and actor Akihiro Miwa, known for his iconic presence as a drag queen in the Japanese entertainment industry, has died of old age, his talent agency said Sunday. He was 91.
A native of Nagasaki, Miwa, whose real name is Akihiro Maruyama, first rose to popularity as a chanson singer at a club in Tokyo.
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INTERVIEW: Son of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi demands proof of life from military gov't
LONDON - The younger son of Myanmar's imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is calling for the country's military-led government to provide proof that she is alive, after it claimed in April that her sentence was commuted to around 17 years and that she had been moved to house arrest.
In an interview this week in London, where he resides, Kim Aris said he believes his octogenarian mother has not been moved to house arrest and is still in prison in the capital Naypyitaw, saying there hasn't been "any evidence" of a transfer.
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Olympics: IOC member expresses hope for Japan to host future Winter Games
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The head of the International Olympic Committee's Future Host Commission has expressed hope that Japan will host a future Winter Games, saying it would be a "great pleasure."
Karl Stoss, who chairs the IOC's Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, also told Kyodo News in an interview on Thursday that there would be "absolutely no" problem with the Games being held at multiple locations in the country.
