Kyodo News Digest: Aug. 1, 2025
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U.S., S. Korea reaffirm commitment to N. Korean denuclearization
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday reaffirmed with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun their countries' "resolute commitment" to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
During a meeting in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the top diplomats also voiced "serious" concern about North Korea's deepening military cooperation with Russia, while welcoming a trade agreement between Washington and Seoul.
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Myanmar junta lifts 4.5-year emergency to pave way for election
YANGON - Myanmar's ruling military on Thursday lifted a state of emergency it had maintained for four and a half years -- a step required to hold a general election it plans for December, amid the ongoing civil war.
State-run television reported that the military government has "successfully resolved the matters it had when the state of emergency was announced on Feb. 1, 2021," citing the junta chief, who spoke at a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council -- Myanmar's top decision-making body, which includes the junta chief.
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Japan to invite nuclear disarmament confab chair for A-Bomb anniv.
TOKYO - The Japanese government plans to invite Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Do Hung Viet, who will chair next year's major nuclear disarmament conference, to attend the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in early August, government sources said Thursday.
It will be the first time a chair of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, which is held every five years in principle, attends the memorial ceremony, the Foreign Ministry said, citing data since 2000. The move signals Japan's desire to use his presence to help build momentum toward disarmament.
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Yen weakens to 150 vs. dollar on receding early BOJ rate hike hope
TOKYO - The yen briefly weakened to the 150 range against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, its lowest level since early April, on receding speculation over an early interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.
The Japanese currency was already facing selling pressure after the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan decided to keep their benchmark interest rates steady in their latest policy meetings, in a sign that the U.S.-Japan interest rate differential will remain wide.
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Japan cleared of all tsunami advisories after quake off Russia coast
TOKYO - Japan on Thursday lifted its last remaining tsunami advisories issued after the previous day's magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, with only minimal damage seen from waves that reached the country's Pacific shores.
The massive quake that struck at 8:24 a.m. Japan time on Wednesday prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to send out tsunami warnings for coastal areas from Hokkaido in northern Japan to Wakayama Prefecture in the west, at one point affecting some 2 million people with evacuation orders.
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Toyota to resume all 11 halted domestic plants on Fri.
NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will resume operations at all 11 halted plants in Japan on Friday, after they were suspended following tsunami warnings and advisories triggered by a powerful earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The carmaker suspended operations at the plants Thursday morning following the stoppage of eight of its domestic plants Wednesday as its supply chain was disrupted.
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TEPCO logs net loss in April-June on Fukushima plant cleanup
TOKYO - Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Thursday it posted a net loss of 857.69 billion yen ($5.8 billion) for the April-June period, pressured by a special loss related to decommissioning work at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The second largest quarterly loss since the 2011 nuclear crisis is a sharp deterioration from a profit of 79.24 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.
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Macao makes 1st arrest under 2009 national security law
HONG KONG - Macao police said Thursday they have arrested a 68-year-old man for colluding with foreign forces, making it the first-ever known case since the former Portuguese colony enacted its own national security law in 2009.
The suspect is Au Kam-san, a leading pro-democracy activist and former opposition lawmaker. His arrest on Wednesday came ahead of a legislative election in the semiautonomous region of China scheduled for Sept. 14.
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Video: Demonstration flight of flying car conducted at Osaka Expo
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