Kyodo News Digest: Sept. 24, 2022

Photo taken Sept. 16, 2022, shows a mass burial site found in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium in Kharkiv Province, following the withdrawal of Russian forces. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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

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North Korea likely readying sub launch of ballistic missile:South Korea

SEOUL – South Korea has detected signs that North Korea is preparing to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine, the South Korean presidential office said Saturday, a day after a U.S. aircraft carrier arrived for joint drills.

The South Korean military said there is activity in the North suggesting preparations for the firing of a short-range SLBM off its eastern coastal city of Sinpo, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

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Peace over Taiwan “critical,” Blinken tells China’s Wang amid tension

NEW YORK – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that preserving peace and stability over Taiwan is “critical” to regional and global security amid growing tensions over the self-ruled democratic island.

But there were no signs of the two sides ironing out their differences over Taiwan, with Wang warning that the United States is sending “a very wrong and dangerous signal” to the island, which Beijing views as its own, by publicly claiming it is ready to defend the territory, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.

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Quad states favor expansion in U.N. Security Council permanent seats

NEW YORK – Foreign ministers from Japan, the United States, Australia and India were committed Friday to advancing United Nations reform including an increase in permanent seats on its Security Council, as the world body faces challenges amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The foreign ministers of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies in the so-called Quad group also underscored the need to “address attempts to unilaterally subvert the international and multilateral system” including the workings of the United Nations, according to a document issued after their meeting in New York.

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U.S. vice president to discuss Taiwan during trip to Japan, S. Korea

NEW YORK – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to discuss Taiwan security issues with Japanese and South Korean officials during her visit to the two Asian allies next week, a senior U.S. government official said Friday.

In her trip to Japan, Harris will lead a presidential delegation to the state funeral for slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which the White House announced the same day will include U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and former U.S. ambassadors to Japan Caroline Kennedy and William Hagerty.

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Toyota to end auto output in Russia over war-induced supply crunch

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it has decided to exit from auto production in Russia, saying it sees no prospect of resuming already suspended output as supplies of key materials remain disrupted seven months into Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Toyota, which halted operations at its plant in St. Petersburg in March due to supply chain issues, is the first major Japanese automaker to announce its withdrawal from vehicle manufacturing in Russia.

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U.S., Japan scientists win prize for sleep disorder research

WASHINGTON – American and Japanese scientists have won a U.S. Breakthrough Prize for their discoveries shedding light on the cause of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that makes people suddenly drowsy in the daytime.

One of the $3 million prizes in life sciences went to Emmanuel Mignot of the Stanford University School of Medicine and Masashi Yanagisawa of the University of Tsukuba for their separate research programs that have contributed to the creation of sleep-inducing drugs, the organizers said Thursday.

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Japan-led researchers develop rechargeable cyborg cockroach

TOKYO – A team of researchers has developed a rechargeable cyborg cockroach that can be remotely controlled for use in search-and-rescue and other missions, Japan’s Riken research institute said.

In experiments led by the state-backed institute, the team attached 4-micrometer ultrathin solar cell film to the backs of Madagascar cockroaches, which are around 6 centimeters long and easy to handle because they do not fly.

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Baseball: Shohei Ohtani logs 200th strikeout, 14th win as Angels beat Twins

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – Shohei Ohtani threw his 200th strikeout of the season and extended his career-best win total to 14 as the Los Angeles held off the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on Friday.

Ohtani (14-8) got some much-needed help from the Los Angeles bullpen and Taylor Ward’s two home runs to earn his third straight win and stay unbeaten on the mound in September.