TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Many still sheltering after Kumamoto quake, businesses move to restart
KUMAMOTO, Japan - More than 9,000 people continued to take refuge at evacuation centers on Friday, three days after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, while many households remained without water or electricity.
All search and rescue operations launched in response to requests have concluded within the prefecture, barring those at an Aeon shopping mall in Kashima that was rocked by an explosion following the temblor. A joint team of around 230 police officers from Hyogo, Osaka and Tokyo have been searching for any people left behind.
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BOJ committed to more rate hikes, weak yen key in assessing inflation risk
TOKYO - Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Friday vowed further rate hikes given upward inflation risks, citing the possibility of "speeding up" the pace of increases, after the bank kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 1.0 percent following an increase to a 31-year-high in June.
Ueda said that the recent weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar will be among the "important" factors, along with the Middle East situation and the increase in artificial intelligence-linked demand, when the bank considers the pace and timing of its monetary policy adjustments.
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Chipmaker Kioxia net profit soars 46-fold to 842.17 bil. yen in April-June
TOKYO - Kioxia Holdings Corp. said Friday its net profit in the three months through June soared 46-fold from a year earlier to record 842.17 billion yen ($5.2 billion), boosted by strong memory chip sales for data centers and surging prices amid the artificial intelligence boom.
The Japanese chipmaker posted 1.27 trillion yen in operating profit for the April-June period, up 28-fold, while sales rose more than 5-fold to 1.77 trillion yen, both record highs.
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Japan National Intelligence Council has 1st meet in counterespionage push
TOKYO - Japan held the first meeting of its new National Intelligence Council chaired by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the government said Friday, in a step toward strengthening the country's intelligence capabilities and pursuing counterespionage legislation.
The first meeting of the council was held on the same day as the launch of its secretariat, the National Intelligence Bureau. A law enacted in May established both bodies as part of efforts by the Takaichi government to boost capabilities in response to increasingly complex overseas threats.
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N. Korea economy believed to have grown in 2025, 3rd straight yr: S. Korea
SEOUL - North Korea's economy is estimated to have grown 3.5 percent in 2025 from a year earlier, South Korea's central bank said Friday.
The Bank of Korea said the North is believed to have achieved growth in the 3 percent range for the third straight year, supported by increased weapons exports to Russia.
According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korea's gross domestic product last year appears to have surpassed its level in 2017, when U.N. economic sanctions began to intensify. Foreign currency income from its troop dispatch to Russia also apparently surged.
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Japan's foreign minister to visit Latin America to boost energy ties
TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday he will travel to Mexico, Panama and Ecuador from Sunday through Aug. 9 to strengthen cooperation on energy security and critical minerals.
If circumstances permit, he also plans to visit Trinidad and Tobago, he told a news conference.
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Japan prefecture's survey on foreign hires deemed discriminatory by panel
TSU, Japan - A survey asking residents of a central Japan prefecture about whether the local government should continue hiring foreign nationals has been judged "discriminatory" by an advisory panel, a source with knowledge of the matter said Friday.
The survey targeting around 10,000 residents in Mie Prefecture but excluding foreigners living there came after Gov. Katsuyuki Ichimi said the prefecture would begin considering reinstating a Japanese citizenship requirement for its employees to prevent information leaks abroad.
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Sumo's ruling body hikes tournament prizemoney, salaries for wrestlers
TOKYO - The Japan Sumo Association will hike championship prizemoney for the first time since 1994 and monthly salaries for the first time in eight years as part of a move to improve compensation for wrestlers.
Prizemoney for grand tournament winners in the elite makuuchi division will double to 20 million yen ($124,000), starting from the 15-day New Year meet in January, while lower-division champions will also receive a bigger reward.
