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

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BOJ makes no policy change despite market pressure, bond yields drop

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Wednesday left its ultralow rate policy unchanged in defiance of market pressure to do more after it raised the cap on long-term bond yields last month, sending the Japanese yen and yields plunging.

Despite forecasting inflation to reach 3 percent, above its 2 percent target, the BOJ stuck to its yield curve control program at the end of a two-day policy meeting. The scheme is designed to keep short-term and long-term interest rates at rock-bottom levels to support the economy.

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Renault in final-stage talks to lower stake in Nissan to 15%

TOKYO - Renault SA is in the final-stage of talks with Nissan Motor Co. to lower its stake in its Japanese partner to 15 percent from the current 43 percent, sources close to the matter said Tuesday, in a major overhaul of their decades-old capital alliance.

Renault Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo plans to meet with Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida in Japan as early as Jan. 26, aiming to reach an agreement on the review of their capital alliance dating back to 1999, the sources said.

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U.S. defense chief to visit S. Korea, Philippines within weeks

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will visit South Korea and the Philippines within a few weeks to step up cooperation with the two countries, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Austin will meet with senior government and military officials during the trip, which will be a "reaffirmation of our deep commitment to working in concert with allies and partners to chart our shared vision to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific," according to Pat Ryder, press secretary of the Defense Department.

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Acquittal upheld for ex-TEPCO execs over Fukushima nuclear crisis

TOKYO - An appeals court on Wednesday upheld an acquittal of three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. who were accused of failing to prevent the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

The Tokyo High Court decision followed a Tokyo District Court ruling in 2019 that found former TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 82, along with Ichiro Takekuro, 76, and Sakae Muto, 72, both former vice presidents, could not have predicted the massive tsunami that crippled the power plant and led to core meltdowns.

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Japan, U.S. ink deal on open communications network amid China threat

TOKYO - Japan and the United States have signed an agreement to develop and promote a new communications network that does not rely on specific companies' infrastructure, the government said Wednesday, amid China's increasing presence in the sector.

The memorandum concerns Open Radio Access Network technology that enable interoperability between multiple vendors' equipment for cellular wireless networks. Under the agreement, the two countries will share data and cooperate in spreading the technology internationally.

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Japan's emperor hopes COVID-disrupted lives return to normal in poem

TOKYO - Japanese Emperor Naruhito, in a poem recited at the annual Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading on Wednesday, expressed hope that people's lives disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic will return to normal, touching on the friendship between young brass band members with whom he spoke.

The ceremony at the Imperial Palace was also attended by Empress Masako, and Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife Princess Kiko, with the number of attendees from the general public limited in consideration of the coronavirus pandemic.

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China's population shrinks for 1st time in over 60 years

BEIJING - The population of mainland China shrank for the first time in 61 years, government data showed Tuesday, with the East Asian nation estimated to have already been overtaken by India as the world's most populous nation amid a continued fall in the birthrate and a rapidly aging society.

The population of China, excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, reached 1,411.75 million by the end of 2022, down 850,000 from the previous year, the government said. The figure compares with India's population of 1,412 million in 2022, estimated by the United Nations.

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Top U.S. diplomat to visit China in early February: report

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China on Feb. 5-6 and meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing, U.S. political news website Politico reported Monday.

The upcoming trip by the top U.S. diplomat is a follow-up to summit talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Indonesia in November.

==Kyodo

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