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

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Suga vows to finish vaccinating Japan's population by November

TOKYO - Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday he aims to finish vaccinating Japan's population against COVID-19 by November, setting the goal as he looks to buoy his public support ahead of a general election later this year.

More than 40 million shots will be administered by the end of June ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held on a smaller scale and with measures to prevent infections, Suga said in his first one-on-one parliamentary debate with opposition leaders.

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Japan, Australia affirm importance of peace across Taiwan Strait

TOKYO - Japan and Australia underscored on Wednesday the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait for the first time in bilateral talks, while agreeing to deepen security cooperation amid China's rising assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

The defense and foreign ministers of the two countries affirmed Japan's Self-Defense Forces will protect Australian military assets in noncombat situations in a move to bolster their "quasi alliance" in the face of China's military buildup and its assertive territorial claims in the East and South China seas.

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Olympic body says visitors will not be tracked real time by GPS

TOKYO - The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee's plan to use GPS as one of the measures against COVID-19 is not intended to monitor the real-time whereabouts of people from overseas, but to trace and confirm their movements retroactively if a problem arises, its CEO said Wednesday.

Toshiro Muto told reporters that everyone entering Japan from abroad, including athletes, officials and media members, will be required to submit plans of their first 14 days in the country and turn on the GPS function on their smartphones.

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U.S. food delivery giant DoorDash enters Japan

SENDAI - U.S. food delivery giant DoorDash made its foray into Japan on Wednesday as demand for delivery services has grown since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

DoorDash's services were launched in Sendai, a major city in Japan's northeast, where users can order food from top chains and local restaurants serving sushi and beef tongue, a specialty in the area.

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Pentagon issues directive to revitalize alliances to counter China

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday issued an internal directive toward revitalizing the U.S. network of allies and bolstering deterrence to better address the security challenges posed by China.

The directive was based on the final recommendations from the Defense Department's task force on China, whose launch was announced in February by President Joe Biden. But details of the initiatives, some of which will remain classified, are unclear.

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Ex-premier Khurelsukh declares win in Mongolian presidential election

ULAANBAATAR - Ukhnaa Khurelsukh of the ruling Mongolian People's Party, who was Mongolia's prime minister until January, effectively declared victory in the country's presidential election on Wednesday, gaining a wide margin over the other two contenders.

"The people have put their trust in me. I will do my utmost for Mongolia," Khurelsukh said late in the evening. The 52-year-old garnered around 820,000 votes, more than three times the other contenders, according to an interim tally by the country's central election commission as of early Thursday.

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Sri Lanka requests COVID-19 vaccine from Japan, response "positive"

NEW DELHI - The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday it has asked the Japanese government to provide COVID-19 vaccine and has received a "positive response."

The request for 600,000 doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc of Britain was made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to the president's media division.

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Family of ousted Chinese leader Zhao moving out from his house

BEIJING - The family of late Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, have begun to move out from his residence in Beijing, sources familiar with the family said Wednesday.

Sympathizers had once gathered at the house to pay homage to Zhao, a former Chinese Communist Party general secretary who was purged for opposing a decision to use troops and tanks to clear the square of pro-democracy student protesters on June 3-4, 1989.

==Kyodo

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