Tokyo, 4 October, /AJMEDIA/
Fumio Kishida was elected as Japan’s new prime minister by parliament on Monday and is set to form a Cabinet that will seek to keep COVID-19 under control while reviving a battered economy as he looks to appeal to voters heading into an upcoming general election.
The election for the House of Representatives, the more powerful lower chamber of parliament, is slated to take place Oct. 31, according to people familiar with Kishida’s thinking, earlier than the first half of November which had been expected.
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Japan’s general election to be held Oct. 31: sources
TOKYO – Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold a general election on Oct. 31, sources familiar with the plan said Monday, going to the polls soon after his election as leader in hopes of capitalizing on the fresh faces in his team and the improving coronavirus situation.
Kishida will dissolve the House of Representatives on Oct. 14, the final day of an extraordinary Diet session, setting the stage for campaigning to start on Oct. 19, the sources said.
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Baseball: Shohei Ohtani hits homer No. 46 in Angels’ season finale
SEATTLE – Shohei Ohtani finished his fourth season in the majors with a leadoff homer — his 46th long ball of the season — as the Los Angeles Angels spoiled the Seattle Mariners’ playoff hopes with a 7-3 victory in their season finale on Sunday.
Ohtani’s homer came on an 86.4-mile-per-hour (139-kilometer) cutter, the third pitch of his first at-bat against Seattle left-hander Tyler Anderson (7-11). He went 1-for-3 with two walks in the last game of the regular season held at T-Mobile Park.
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Japan in talks to procure oral COVID-19 drug for mild symptoms
TOKYO – Japan’s health ministry is in talks with U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. to procure an oral COVID-19 medicine developed by the firm for use by those suffering from mild symptoms, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
The antiviral drug molnupiravir, which prevents the virus from entering or multiplying in the body, can be taken at home unlike existing medicines casirivimab and imdevimab, which are administered intravenously in an “antibody cocktail” treatment, raising hopes that it may reduce the strain on medical facilities.
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Trading in China Evergrande shares halted in Hong Kong: media
SHANGHAI – Trading in China Evergrande Group shares has been halted in Hong Kong, Chinese media reported Monday, a move believed to be linked to the finances of the debt-laden major property developer.
Trading in the shares of Evergrande Property Services Group, which is under China Evergrande Group’s wing, has also been halted at the Hong Kong stock exchange, according to the reports.
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2 Koreas resume cross-border communication after 2-month hiatus
SEOUL – The two Koreas resumed cross-border contact via their communication lines on Monday, the South Korean government said, following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s pledge last week to restore the lines in early October after a roughly two-month hiatus.
North Korean state media reported earlier Monday that the country would resume communication with the South at 9 a.m.
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Honda becomes 1st Japan automaker to sell cars online domestically
TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. on Monday began selling new cars online, becoming the first major Japanese automobile manufacturer to allow customers in the domestic market to complete the whole process online from consultations to contracts.
The service is only being offered to Tokyo residents initially and will be expanded nationwide in the future. Honda hopes to cultivate demand from customers who want to avoid face-to-face service amid the coronavirus pandemic, and from younger people.
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Transgender man in Japan wants switch recognized without surgery
SHIZUOKA, Japan – A transgender man in central Japan filed a request Monday with a court to switch gender in his family registry without having sex reassignment surgery as currently required by law.
Gen Suzuki, 46, who lives as a man but is listed as a woman in the family registry, filed the request with the Hamamatsu branch of the Shizuoka Family Court, insisting a person’s own gender identity should be respected without the need for surgery.
