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

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Japan to revive ban on new foreign arrivals Tues. over variant

TOKYO - The Japanese government will bring back its blanket ban on new entries by foreigners on Tuesday amid concerns over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday.

Kishida told reporters he decided on the measure "to avoid the worst-case scenario," adding, "It is a temporary measure until information about the Omicron variant becomes clear."

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G-7 health ministers to hold emergency talks on new COVID variant

LONDON - Health ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations will hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss their responses to a new coronavirus variant spreading in Europe and elsewhere, the British government said Sunday.

The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa and designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, is feared to be highly transmissible and has been already confirmed in four of the G-7 members -- Britain, Canada, Germany and Italy -- after South Africa reported a case to the WHO on Wednesday.

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Nissan to spend 2 tril. yen over 5 yrs to spur electrification

TOKYO - Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will spend about 2 trillion yen ($16 billion) over the next five years on its electrification push, aiming to make over half of its global vehicle lineup by fiscal 2030 battery-powered or hybrid.

Nissan, like other global automakers, is transitioning toward electrified cars to play its part in global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and said in its long-term vision that it will launch an electric vehicle with all-solid-state batteries, which are expected to be safer and give vehicles longer range, by fiscal 2028.

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New COVID variant spreads in Europe, spurs more travel restrictions

LONDON - A new COVID-19 strain detected in South Africa was spreading in Europe with the first cases of the highly infectious variant confirmed Saturday in Britain, Germany and Italy, prompting many countries inside and outside the region to tighten border controls.

The three countries followed Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and several other nations and regions outside South Africa in reporting the first cases or suspected infections of the Omicron variant.

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Lawmakers from three Baltic countries visit Taiwan leader Tsai

TAIPEI - A group of lawmakers from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia held talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday after arriving on the island the previous day, a development that will further increase tensions with Beijing following the opening of Taiwan's representative office in Lithuania.

The lawmakers and Tsai agreed to uphold shared values of freedom and democracy during their meeting.

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Japan, U.S. eye 2-plus-2 security talks in Jan.

TOKYO - Japan and the United States are considering holding security talks involving their foreign and defense ministers in January to reinforce their alliance in dealing with China's increasing military assertiveness, Japanese government sources said Sunday.

Arrangements are being made for Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi to visit the United States for the so-called two-plus-two meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the sources said.

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Australia confirms its first cases of Omicron coronavirus variant

SYDNEY - Australia confirmed its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant Sunday as the state of New South Wales reported two cases of the new COVID-19 strain detected in South Africa.

The state government said it had confirmed that two travelers who arrived in Sydney on Saturday from southern Africa were infected with the variant.

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Japanese singer Onitsuka arrested for kicking ambulance on Tokyo street

TOKYO - Japanese singer-songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka, known for the 2000 hit single "Gekko" (moonlight), was arrested Sunday on a central Tokyo street on suspicion of kicking an ambulance she called for a friend who was feeling unwell.

The 41-year-old singer told police she kicked the vehicle "after a passer-by said something unpleasant, making me panic," according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

==Kyodo

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