Kyodo News Digest: Aug. 20, 2025

Kyodo News

19 hours ago

TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Leaders of Japan, Africa to push for stable supply chains of key minerals
TOKYO - The leaders of Japan and Africa will call for stable supply chains for critical minerals by developing inland transport routes in a joint declaration at an international meeting on the continent later this week, a government source said Tuesday.
The declaration will be adopted at the three-day Tokyo International Conference on African Development from Wednesday and will also stress the importance of appropriate debt management and the rule of law, the source said, apparently with China's growing economic and military clout in mind.
----------
Japan Defense Ministry eyes record 8.8 tril. yen budget for FY 2026
TOKYO - Japan's Defense Ministry is considering requesting a record annual budget of about 8.8 trillion yen ($59.6 billion) for fiscal 2026, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday, as the country aims to expand its unmanned defense capabilities amid mounting regional security challenges.
Fiscal 2026, starting in April, will be the fourth year of the government's five-year defense buildup plan under which it is spending a total of 43 trillion yen to meet the target of raising its defense budget and related expenditures -- such as for the coast guard and U.N. peacekeeping contributions -- to 2 percent of gross domestic product.
-----------
Italian PM Meloni to visit Japan in early Sept. to meet Ishiba, attend expo
ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will make a two-day visit to Japan from Sept. 7, according to her government, with her itinerary expected to include talks with her Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba and a visit to the World Exposition in Osaka.
The trip, however, could be postponed if there are developments in Russia-Ukraine summit talks being arranged by U.S. President Donald Trump with the goal of ending Russia's invasion, according to Italy's ANSA news agency.
----------
Japan vows up to $550 mil. for vaccines for children in developing nations
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged Tuesday that Japan will contribute up to $550 million over the next five years to an organization responsible for supplying vaccines to children in developing countries, a lawmaker said.
Ishiba conveyed the plan during a meeting at his office with Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates, a supporter of the international organization, according to Tetsuo Saito, head of the Komeito party, who attended the gathering.
----------
Japan logs 117.5 bil. yen trade deficit in July
TOKYO - Japan logged a trade deficit of 117.5 billion yen ($795 million) in July, government data showed Wednesday.
Exports fell 2.6 percent from a year earlier and imports decreased 7.5 percent, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
----------
Japan, Turkey agree to begin discussions on defense exchanges
ANKARA - Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler agreed Tuesday to begin discussions on exchanges between the two nations' defense industries, Japan's government said.
At their meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara, Nakatani and Guler discussed the possibility of collaboration in defense equipment and technology as a "potential cooperative field," the Defense Ministry said.
----------
Northeast Japan nuclear reactor to be idled over hydrogen detection faults
SENDAI - A nuclear reactor in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, will be idled later this month due to repeated malfunctions in hydrogen detection devices, the operator said Tuesday.
The No. 2 unit of the Onagawa nuclear power plant will be idled for about 10 days from around Thursday as Tohoku Electric Power Co. replaces devices installed in April 2024 to meet stricter safety standards introduced after the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
----------
2 Ministop stores in Kyoto suspected of falsifying expiry dates for years
TOKYO - Two branches of the Japanese convenience store chain Ministop in Kyoto Prefecture are suspected of falsifying expiry dates on foods prepared in their kitchens for several years, the local health center said Tuesday.
The revelation comes after operator Ministop Co., a subsidiary of retail giant Aeon Co., said Monday it had found such misconduct at 23 stores in Tokyo, Saitama, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures.
----------
VIDEO: World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing