Kyodo News Digest: Aug. 5, 2024

Photo taken on July 30, 2024, shows Asian elephants at a zoo in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka following their arrival from Myanmar earlier in the day. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Nikkei closes with largest point drop in history, down 12%

TOKYO – The Nikkei stock index closed with its largest single-day point drop in history on Monday, tumbling over 4,400 points and 12 percent, in a global market crash amid a firming yen and escalating fears of a U.S. recession triggered by disappointing economic data.

The U.S. dollar plunged briefly by nearly 5 yen from late last week to a fresh seven-month low of 141.69 amid growing speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates significantly in September. It later returned to the mid-143 yen level on buybacks.

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Olympics: Japan wins gold in men’s fencing team foil event at Paris Games

PARIS – Japan won gold in the men’s team foil event at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, with the 45-36 victory over Italy moving the nation to the top of the fencing medal table at the games.

The world’s No. 1.-ranked team of Kazuki Iimura, Kyosuke Matsuyama, Takahiro Shikine and substitute Yudai Nagano joined Koki Kano in winning fencing gold medals for Japan at the Grand Palais in Paris.

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Japan’s monthly wage hike rate tops 5% for 1st time in over 30 years

TOKYO – The average monthly wage hike rate among big companies in Japan has topped 5 percent for the first time since 1991, when the Asian nation experienced an asset-inflated bubble economy, the country’s largest business lobby said Monday.

The rate, including regular salary increases and base pay rises, averaged 5.58 percent, the survey by the Japan Business Federation showed, as private firms try to safeguard the lives of their employees from sharp price hikes at home.

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Japan space agency unveils ANA’s training of astronaut candidates

TOKYO – Japan’s space agency on Monday unveiled to the media part of its basic training for astronaut candidates with the help of ANA Holdings Inc. in a bid to better prepare future space travelers.

At the training facility of ANA, the parent company of All Nippon Airways Co., Ayu Yoneda and Makoto Suwa were tested for their ability to cope with emergencies inside the Japanese airline’s Boeing 777 flight simulator.

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N. Korea’s Kim says bracing for showdown with U.S.

BEIJING – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang remains resolute for a showdown with the United States regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November while keeping the door open to dialogue, his nation’s official media reported Monday.

During a speech at a military ceremony in Pyongyang on Sunday, Kim justified North Korea’s military buildup as a counter to Washington’s closer military cooperation with Japan and South Korea, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

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Japan gov’t, BOJ keeping eye on market developments: finance chief

TOKYO – The government and the Bank of Japan will closely monitor market developments and economic conditions both at home and abroad, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Monday, after share prices plummeted and the yen surged against the U.S. dollar.

Speaking to reporters, Suzuki reiterated that foreign exchange movements should reflect economic fundamentals, though he declined to say whether the government views the yen’s rise as rapid.

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G7 top diplomats express deep concern over tensions in Middle East

TOKYO – The Group of Seven foreign ministers on Monday aired their “deep concern at the heightened level of tension” in the Middle East as fears grow over a possible Iranian reprisal attack on Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

In a statement issued after their teleconference on Sunday, the G7 ministers urged “all involved parties once again to refrain from perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence, to lower tensions and engage constructively toward deescalation.”

Video: Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan