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

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Gov't OKs reopening Fukushima village section to residents in June

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - More than a decade since the March 2011 nuclear disaster, some registered residents of part of a Fukushima village made off-limits by high radiation levels can finally return home after the government decided Friday to lift evacuation orders on June 12.

A 0.95 square kilometer part of Katsurao, located near the defunct Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, will have its "difficult-to-return" zone classification lifted, the government's nuclear emergency response headquarters and the Reconstruction Agency agreed in a joint meeting.

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S. Korea, Japan, U.S. diplomats meet amid N. Korea nuclear test fears

SEOUL - Senior diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the United States met Friday in a bid to bolster trilateral cooperation, following Pyongyang's repeated ballistic missile launches and amid growing concerns over a possible North Korean nuclear test.

Kim Gunn, the South Korean special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held the first such in-person trilateral talks with his Japanese and U.S. counterparts, since Yoon Suk Yeol assumed office as South Korea's president last month.

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U.S. targets Putin-linked yachts in latest sanctions on Russia

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Thursday imposed further sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting yachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a cellist allegedly serving as his middleman, among others.

Noting that Putin and other Russian elites rely on complex support networks to hide their wealth and luxury assets, Brian Nelson, a Treasury Department official, said, "Today's action demonstrates that Treasury can and will go after those responsible for shielding and maintaining these ill-gotten interests."

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Amazon to close its Kindle digital bookstore in China in June 2023

BEIJING - Amazon.com Inc. said the U.S. tech giant will close its Kindle eBook store in China in June 2023, as economic and security tensions between the world's two major economies have been escalating.

Chinese authorities have been stepping up internet regulations at home in recent years, but Reuters reported that the closure is not attributed to pressure from or censorship by the Communist-led government under President Xi Jinping.

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Malaysia's chicken export ban hits chicken rice in Singapore

SINGAPORE - Malaysia's ban on exporting chickens, which took effect Wednesday amid a supply shortage, has hit its neighbor Singapore, which boasts chicken rice as a national dish and depends heavily on food imports.

As the war in Ukraine has pushed up the price of oil and chicken feed, Malaysia is struggling in securing enough domestic supplies, leading to suspending its monthly export of up to 3.6 million chickens to other countries.

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N. Korea's Kim sends congratulations to Britain's Queen Elizabeth

BEIJING - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday sent a congratulatory message to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the landmark 70th anniversary of her ascension to the throne, the nation's Foreign Ministry said.

"I extend my congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the National Day of your country, the official birthday of Your Majesty," said Kim in his message to the queen, according to the ministry. North Korea has diplomatic ties with Britain.

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Japan-born American files suit against Japan's dual nationality ban

FUKUOKA - A Japanese-born American said Thursday she has filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court claiming that the country's nationality law, which bans its citizens from also holding a foreign nationality, violates the Constitution.

Yuri Kondo, 75, who currently lives in Fukuoka in southwestern Japan and filed the lawsuit at the Fukuoka District Court, said at a press conference with her legal team that acquiring U.S. citizenship should not have automatically stripped her of her Japanese one.

==Kyodo

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