The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Tokyo-Nagoya bullet trains resume after typhoon disruption
TOKYO - Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and Nagoya returned to normal from their first scheduled services on Saturday following a full-day suspension due to the passing of a powerful typhoon, with travelers crowding railway stations as they returned from their Bon summer holidays.
Operator JR Central ran extra trains between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka on its Tokaido Shinkansen Line in the morning to cope with the high volume of passengers.
----------
Defense Ministry eyes record 8 tril. yen budget request for FY 2025
TOKYO - Japan's Defense Ministry is planning to request a record budget of over 8 trillion yen ($54 billion) for fiscal 2025, featuring the deployment of drones to better protect remote islands amid China's growing military assertiveness, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
It would be the first time the ministry has sought more than 8 trillion yen, surpassing the record 7.9 trillion yen initial budget for fiscal 2024, which runs through next March.
----------
Japan ruling party looks to elect Kishida's successor on Sept. 27
TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling party is considering holding a presidential election to pick the successor to the outgoing leader on Sept. 27, party officials said Friday.
If finalized, the schedule would allow Kishida, who doubles as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, to attend the annual world leaders' debate session at the U.N. General Assembly that will begin Sept. 24 in New York.
----------
Harris unveils economic plans aimed at lowering cost of living
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday unveiled a set of economic proposals aimed at lowering daily expenses for middle-class and lower-income families, in an attempt to appeal to core groups of voters seen as the key to victory in the November presidential election.
Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, laid out her first major policy proposals, focused on food prices, housing, medical costs and taxes, since President Joe Biden abandoned his bid for a second term about a month ago.
----------
Indonesia holds independence event in new capital for 1st time
SEPAKU, Indonesia - Indonesia celebrated its 79th Independence Day on Saturday in its future new capital, Nusantara, on Borneo Island, holding the annual government-sponsored ceremony there for the first time, even as the city remains under construction.
The event took place amid repeated delays in building infrastructure, mainly due to land acquisition problems and a lack of foreign investment. President Joko Widodo launched the $30 billion project to move the capital from the heavily congested Jakarta to the middle of eucalyptus forests in Borneo in 2019.
----------
Stores in Japan set up prayer rooms as Muslim visitors increase
TOKYO - Department stores and shopping malls in Japan are increasingly setting up prayer rooms to meet the need for Muslims amid a growing number of visitors from Islamic countries on the back of a weak yen.
At the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo's upscale shopping district, a number of people lined up in front of a room designated as a "prayer room" at certain times of the day.
----------
Japan to survey Alaskan island in hopes of recovering WWII dead
TOKYO - Japanese government workers will survey an uninhabited southwest Alaskan island from Monday to pave the way for the first recovery in over 70 years of remains of World War II soldiers who died fighting U.S. forces there.
Some 2,600 Japanese soldiers died on Attu Island in May 1943, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, in a doomed attempt to hold the northern Pacific island, captured in June 1942, from over 10,000 U.S. personnel.
----------
Golf: Hideki Matsuyama shares lead after 2 rounds in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tennessee - Hideki Matsuyama shot a 6-under 64 Friday to move into a tie for the lead with Denny McCarthy of the United States at the midway point of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The Japanese golfer, fresh off his bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, carded seven birdies against a lone bogey at TPC Southwind to reach 11 under at the first of three PGA Tour playoff events.
Video: UNESCO intangible cultural heritage listed Nishimonai Bon Odori in Akita Prefecture
