TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Diet battles, diplomatic challenges await Takaichi after 1st yr as PM
TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi marked one year in office on Wednesday, facing tough parliamentary deliberations ahead on key policy items and mounting diplomatic and security challenges while public support for her Cabinet shows signs of weakening.
The anniversary comes amid the lingering fallout from the effective ouster of a scandal-hit minister, potentially eroding public trust in politics and Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party in the crucial months leading up to unified local elections next spring.
----------
Japan urges Russia to immediately release detained national
TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi urged Russia on Tuesday to immediately release a Japanese national detained there and called it "regrettable" that consular access to him has not yet been allowed.
A Japanese journalist was taken into custody on Sakhalin in the Russian Far East on suspicion of espionage, Russian's security agency said on Oct. 13. A bilateral treaty provides for the right to consular access within four days of a person being taken into custody, Motegi said.
----------
IwaiCosmo Securities customers hit by unauthorized trades after cyberattack
OSAKA - IwaiCosmo Securities Co. said Tuesday some of its customers fell victim to unauthorized trades, with the cases believed to be the first in Japan's financial industry amid a recent spate of cyberattacks.
Buy or sell orders were placed through seven customer accounts, with transactions executed in five of them. The Osaka-based brokerage has already restored the affected accounts, returning each to its state before the unauthorized trades.
----------
Japan logs 536.5 billion yen trade deficit in Sept.
TOKYO - Japan logged a trade deficit of 536.5 billion yen ($3.4 billion) in September, government data showed Wednesday.
Exports increased 16.7 percent and imports rose 18.9 percent from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
----------
Security firm finds China-linked AI agent behind Japan cyberattacks
TOKYO - A China-linked artificial intelligence agent was identified as having been used in cyberattacks targeting around 80 firms in Japan, according to an investigation by a security firm, following a spate of leaks of personal data across various industries.
In recent weeks, a growing number of Japanese companies have reported unauthorized access and subsequent information leaks or possible leaks. Artex, the AI agent concerned, has been allegedly also used in recent cyberattacks against South Korean financial institutions, according to a separate investigation.
----------
Chair of upcoming nuke ban treaty confab seeks to affirm norm of abolition
NEW YORK - A South African diplomat who will chair an upcoming review conference for a treaty intended to ban nuclear weapons said he hopes the meeting will be a chance to affirm the abolition of such weapons as a norm.
Adopted and opened for signature in 2017, and entering into force in 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons bans its members from developing, testing, possessing or stationing nuclear weapons.
----------
Live snake found on plane after flight canceled in southwestern Japan
FUKUOKA - A small creature spotted aboard an airplane that caused its flight cancellation Monday in southwestern Japan turned out to be a nonvenomous Japanese snake, the affected airline operator said.
Japan Air Commuter Co., a group company of Japan Airlines Co., said Tuesday the snake measuring about 40 centimeters in length, was found by a mechanic under the carpet in the aircraft at Fukuoka Airport at around 1 p.m.
----------
Disabled volunteers call for improved accessibility at Asian Para Games
NAGOYA - There have been calls for the organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games to improve accessibility for disabled volunteers, following criticism that insufficient consideration was given to those volunteering at the Asian Games.
Over 100 disabled individuals have volunteered for either the Asian Games, which concluded on Oct. 4, or the Asian Para Games, according to the organizing committee.
