TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Japan to take "decisive" action against currency speculation: finance chief
TOKYO - Japan will take "decisive" action if there are speculative moves in the currency market, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday, after the yen weakened to the upper 161 zone against the U.S. dollar, nearing its lowest level in more than 39 years.
"There is no change at all in our stance to take decisive action" when needed, Katayama told reporters, amid expectations that the Japanese authorities could intervene in the currency market to stem the yen's depreciation.
----------
Prosecutors to offer no evidence of guilt in 1984 murder retrial
OTSU, Japan - Prosecutors said Friday they will offer no evidence of guilt in the posthumous retrial of a man convicted of robbing and murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984, paving the way for his acquittal.
The Otsu District Public Prosecutors Office disclosed its stance after the third meeting involving judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers to prepare for the retrial of Hiromu Sakahara at the Otsu District Court in Shiga Prefecture.
----------
Fire breaks out at Tokyo elementary school, 10 injured
TOKYO - A fire broke out Friday at an elementary school in Tokyo, injuring eight pupils and two teachers before being extinguished, authorities said.
Most of the 10 injured suffered from inhaling smoke at the school in Kita Ward, they said, adding that four people required rescue from inside the school building.
----------
60-day window under tentative U.S.-Iran deal started June 18: Vance
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the 60-day window for negotiations between Washington and Tehran under the tentative U.S.-Iran peace deal began the same day, meaning it will last through Aug. 16.
The "technical negotiations" concerning Iran's nuclear program as part of efforts toward a final peace deal could start this weekend, he told reporters, though he said nothing is set in stone regarding planned talks in Switzerland or the timing of his travel there.
----------
Japan core consumer prices in May rise 1.4%, fuel subsidies slow increase
TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in May rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, with subsidies for gasoline prices capping the upside.
The increase in the nationwide consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 1.4 percent rise in April and remained below 2 percent for the fourth consecutive month, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
----------
Japan mulling antidumping duties on China, Taiwan stainless steel
TOKYO - Japan is considering imposing antidumping duties on stainless steel products from China and Taiwan after a preliminary investigation recognized that they were being exported at unfairly low prices and inflicting damage on domestic manufacturers, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
The ministry said its investigation launched jointly with the industry ministry in July last year found that dumped imports of nickel-added cold-rolled stainless steel coil, sheet and strip from the two neighbors caused "material injury to the domestic industry."
----------
Japan extends SDF dispatch to U.N. mission headquarters in S. Sudan
TOKYO - The Japanese government on Friday decided to extend the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan by one year.
Japan "will continue to help contribute to the peace and stability of the international community," Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told a press conference in announcing the extension for the U.N. Mission in South Sudan by June 30, 2027.
----------
Football: Nakamura ready to keep firing as Kubo misses Tunisia match
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - After scoring on his World Cup debut, Keito Nakamura is ready to carry Japan's attack again with his fellow attacker Takefusa Kubo ruled out Thursday of their second Group F game against Tunisia with an injury.
Nakamura, who spent this past season in the French second tier at Reims, announced himself to the world against the Netherlands on Sunday by emphatically burying Japan's leveler through the legs of Denzel Dumfries from the edge of the box.
