TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Yen plunges to 163 versus U.S. dollar for first time in over 39 years
NEW YORK - The yen briefly hit 163 against the U.S. dollar in New York on Tuesday, a level unseen since December 1986, as investors sought the U.S. unit as a safe asset amid growing uncertainty over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The dollar is perceived as a relatively safe currency in times of crisis, such as during wars.
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Central Japan cities hit 40 C, officially marking first "kokushobi"
TOKYO - Three cities in central Japan on Tuesday reached 40 C, officially marking the country's first "kokushobi," or "cruelly hot day," since the weather agency introduced the term earlier this year to warn the public of extreme heat.
As a high-pressure system covered much of the Japanese archipelago, Tajimi and Gujo in Gifu Prefecture recorded temperatures of 40.3 C and 40.0 C, respectively, while the mercury in Toyoda in Aichi Prefecture climbed to 40.1 C, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
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Japan startup starts breeding gene-edited pigs for kidney transplant trial
TOKYO - A Japanese startup and a hospital aiming to begin clinical trials of pig kidney transplants in humans as early as 2028 said Tuesday they have begun breeding genetically modified pigs for the procedures.
PorMedTec, a Meiji University venture company, plans to submit its clinical trial plan to the authorities in the next fiscal year starting April. If approved, the trials would likely be the first of their kind in Japan.
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Bear suspected of devouring some 1,700 carrots at Hokkaido farm
HAKODATE, Japan - A brown bear is suspected of eating around 1,700 carrots at a farm in the northern Japan city of Hakodate, Hokkaido, police said Tuesday.
Brown bear footprints and feces were found at the farm, where about 300 kilograms of carrots had been eaten, according to the local police. The damage was concentrated in an area measuring about 50 square meters, they said.
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China defends drill in waters near Japan as in line with int'l law
BEIJING/TOKYO - China on Tuesday claimed that its weekend live-fire drill was conducted on the high seas in the Pacific and was in line with international law, rejecting Japan's assertion that the area southwest of a small remote Japanese island was within its exclusive economic zone.
At a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated Beijing's stance that what Japan calls Okinotori Island is "a rock rather than an island" under the definition of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and thus "unfit to claim EEZ."
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Canada joins Japan, Britain, Italy fighter jet talks as observer
LONDON - Japan, Britain, Italy and Canada on Tuesday announced Canada's participation as the first observer in the Global Combat Air Program, the trilateral initiative to develop a next-generation fighter jet.
The announcement came after a four-way meeting in London attended by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty.
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Rubio to hold talks with China's top diplomat in Manila on Wednesday
MANILA - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are set to hold talks in Manila on Wednesday, a U.S. official said.
Rubio, who is in the Philippines' capital, is scheduled to meet with Wang in person on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the official said Tuesday.
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ASEAN to review if Myanmar implements consensus to end violence: sources
MANILA - ASEAN foreign ministers have drafted a joint communique saying the bloc will "comprehensively review" Myanmar's implementation of a five-point consensus to end the violence continuing since the 2021 coup and submit their recommendations to the grouping's summit in November, according to ASEAN sources who have seen the draft.
The move would come as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has barred Myanmar's leader and ministers from attending high-level ASEAN meetings in the wake of the coup, with the country still represented by a nonpolitical permanent secretary at a Tuesday meeting of top diplomats from ASEAN, according to the Philippines, the group's rotating chair this year.
