Kyodo News Digest: June 27, 2025

Kyodo News

3 days ago

KYODO NEWS - 18 minutes ago - 09:00 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan's May jobless rate remains unchanged at 2.5%
TOKYO - Japan's unemployment rate in May remained unchanged from the previous month at 2.5 percent, government data showed Friday.
The job availability ratio decreased 0.02 point from April to 1.24, indicating there were 124 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, according to separate data.
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Trump could extend 90-day tariff pause in July, White House says
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump could extend his administration's 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs, set to expire on July 9, the White House said Thursday.
As Japan's top tariff negotiator arrived in Washington seeking to hold another round of talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing, "The deadline is not critical."
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Rubio to meet Japan, Australia, India foreign ministers on Tuesday
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a four-way meeting with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India on Tuesday to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, the State Department said.
The department's deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said at a press briefing Thursday that the meeting among ministers of the so-called Quad grouping in Washington is aimed at reinforcing "peace and prosperity" in the region.
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Japan PM's last-minute no-show at NATO summit questioned at home
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is facing criticism from within his own party over his last-minute decision to skip a NATO summit in the Netherlands, at a time when fostering ties with the military alliance is seen as vital to counter China's rise in the Indo-Pacific.
Ishiba's absence also gave rise to the view that he sought to avoid a situation in which Japan, a non-NATO member but close U.S. ally, would be pressed by U.S. President Donald Trump to spend more on its defense, as NATO leaders at the two-day meeting that ended Wednesday discussed substantially increasing defense spending.
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Bear appears at local Japanese airport, flights suspended
YAMAGATA, Japan - A bear wandered onto the grounds of Yamagata Airport in northeastern Japan on Thursday, prompting the closure of its runway and flight cancellations, local authorities said.
Although the bear has not yet been captured, the airport plans to resume normal operations from Friday, with increased patrols.
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Russian envoy to Japan to attend A-bomb ceremony in Nagasaki in Aug.
MOSCOW - Russia's ambassador to Japan will attend an annual peace ceremony commemorating the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing in the southwestern city of Nagasaki in August, local media reported Thursday, making it the first such attendance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine in 2022.
The attendance of Nikolay Nozdrev is expected after the Nagasaki city government adopted a more inclusive approach to invitations to the Aug. 9 ceremony following last year's controversy over its decision not to invite Israel amid its conflict with Palestinian militants.
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Japan seeks to end living expenses aid to foreign doctoral students
TOKYO - Japan's education ministry plans to restrict living expenses support for doctoral students to Japanese nationals only, a panel proposal showed Thursday after parliamentary debate over foreign students accounting for over a third of recipients of the public grants.
The plan to abolish foreigners' access to living subsidies of 1.8 million yen ($12,400) to 2.4 million yen per annum is expected to take effect in fiscal 2027, pending approval from a committee.
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Japan chipmaker Renesas postpones achieving 2030 sales goal by 5 yrs
TOKYO - Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp. said Thursday it will push back its target of achieving sales of over $20 billion in 2030 by five years in the face of stiff competition from Chinese rivals.
The goal is to more than double its sales of 1.35 trillion yen ($9.3 billion) in 2024.
Video: Traditional Yosakoi dance World Exposition in Osaka.