Kyodo News Digest: May 1, 2025

Kyodo News

01-05-2025

KYODO NEWS - 5 minutes ago - 09:20 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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U.S., Ukraine sign economic reconstruction deal
WASHINGTON - The United States on Wednesday signed an economic deal with Ukraine that signals the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is committed to seeing lasting peace in the war-torn nation after weeks of contentious negotiations between the two countries.
"This economic partnership positions our two countries to work collaboratively and invest together to ensure that our mutual assets, talents and capabilities can accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
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U.S. Marine in Okinawa indicted over rape, injury
NAHA, Japan - A 27-year-old U.S. Marine in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture was indicted on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman and injuring another in a U.S. military base restroom last month, according to local prosecutors.
Austin Wedington, who was under custody by the U.S. military in line with the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, was handed over to Japanese authorities the same day. The accord governs the legal status and conduct of U.S. military personnel in Japan.
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Snake causes power outage, Tokyo-Osaka shinkansen services disrupted
NAGOYA - Services were temporarily disrupted Wednesday on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line connecting Tokyo and Osaka after a snake tangled in overhead wires and caused a power outage, the operator said.
The incident occurred between Gifu-Hashima and Maibara stations around 5:25 p.m., causing suspensions on the Tokyo-bound trains between Shin-Osaka and Nagoya and the Osaka-bound trains between Shin-Osaka and Tokyo.
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Japan PM negative about opposition's 1-year consumption tax cut plan
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday rejected a proposal by a major opposition party to remove the consumption tax on food items for one year, aimed at cushioning the impact of inflation and higher U.S. tariffs.
Amid calls to reduce tax burdens, including from within the ruling coalition, Ishiba said he will "examine in detail" proposals from other parties, including one from the Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of his Liberal Democratic Party.
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Ex-Japan ruling coalition party head seeks more exchanges with China
BEIJING - Natsuo Yamaguchi, former leader of Japan's junior ruling coalition partner, the Komeito party, met Wednesday with a senior Chinese Communist Party official in Beijing and sought more exchanges between the two Asian neighbors.
Yamaguchi, who is on a three-day visit to China through Wednesday, told reporters following his talks with Liu Jianchao, head of the ruling Communist Party's International Department, that it is important to "deepen bilateral interactions in a wide range of areas including education, culture and sports."
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Japan PM hails "relations of trust" with Vietnam, Philippine leaders
MANILA - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday he succeeded in building "relations of trust" with the leaderships in Vietnam and the Philippines during his trip to the two Southeast Asian nations.
Ishiba told reporters in Manila before he left for Tokyo that his four-day trip was "meaningful," saying the agreements reached on strengthening security ties will foster "peace, stability and the rule of law" in the region, in an apparent reference to concerns over China's military clout.
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Baseball: Yamasaki sets CL shutout inning record as Giants beat Carp
TOKYO - Yomiuri Giants right-hander Iori Yamasaki set a new Central League record of starting a season with 35 shutout innings on Wednesday, propelling his team to a 2-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp.
Yamasaki (4-0) threw seven scoreless innings at Tokyo Dome to eclipse the previous record of 31 innings set by Etsuo Nakai in 1963 and Shoki Murakami in 2023, both for the Hanshin Tigers.
Video: Participants complete a walk tracing the route that Korean envoys to Japan took during Japan's Edo period in Tokyo