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

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Contaminants found in more Moderna COVID vaccine in Japan

TOKYO - The Gunma prefectural government said Sunday that foreign substances were discovered in Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine, the latest in a series of contaminants in the company's product reported in Japan over the past several days.

Blackish foreign matter, less than 0.5 millimeters in size, was spotted during pre-inoculation inspections in a vial that has a different lot number from those of the three lots suspended Thursday for use and another found Saturday in Okinawa containing black and pink substances.

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Difficult to end COVID emergency as planned: Japan health minister

TOKYO - Japan's health minister said Sunday it will be "very difficult" to lift a COVID-19 state of emergency on its planned Sept. 12 expiry, as the country is still struggling to contain surging coronavirus infections and strains on the medical system.

"Given the current situation, it's probably very difficult" to end the emergency declaration covering 21 of Japan's 47 prefectures as scheduled, health minister Norihisa Tamura said on a NHK TV program.

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Paralympics: Yamaguchi swims to gold as Sato does athletics double

TOKYO - Japan had its most successful day of the Tokyo Paralympics yet on Sunday, with medals from the pool and athletics doubling the host nation's gold medal tally and taking it to four.

Naohide Yamaguchi won Japan's first gold of the day at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, improving his own world record in the men's SB14 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute, 03.77 seconds, cutting 0.23 off his previous mark.

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Athletes evacuated from Afghanistan now in Tokyo for Paralympics

TOKYO - Two athletes from Afghanistan have arrived in Tokyo to compete in the world's biggest sporting event for people with disabilities after being evacuated from their country, now under the control of the Taliban, and welcoming the duo was "extremely emotional," an International Paralympic Committee official said Sunday.

The two are female para-taekwondo athlete Zakia Khudadadi and male track athlete Hossain Rasouli, who left Afghanistan a week ago and arrived Saturday evening in Tokyo on a flight from Paris, according to Paralympic officials.

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Japan weighs mixing and matching COVID vaccines: minister

TOKYO - Japan's health ministry is weighing mixing and matching different COVID-19 vaccines to help ease supply concerns and accelerate the country's inoculation program, the minister in charge of vaccinations said Sunday.

Japan has mostly used COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. or Moderna Inc. for its inoculation program. AstraZeneca Plc's vaccine, manufactured in Japan under license, was approved in July for use in people aged 40 or older.

==Kyodo

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