Kyodo News Digest: Sept. 6, 2021 - Kyodo News Plus

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

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Tokyo Games draw final curtain after COVID-19 adversity

TOKYO - The Tokyo Paralympics closed Sunday night after nearly two weeks of competition among athletes with impairments from around the world, bringing down the final curtain on the Summer Games, held despite many challenges stemming from the coronavirus.

The closing ceremony at the National Stadium concluded the games staged almost entirely off-limits to the public as a result of the pandemic that threw eight years of preparations into disarray.

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Taro Kono tops opinion poll as most fit to become Japan's next PM

TOKYO - Japan's administrative reform minister Taro Kono who is also in charge of COVID-19 vaccinations is the most popular pick to succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who has announced his intention to resign, according to the result of a Kyodo News poll released Sunday.

Kono, known as an outspoken lawmaker adept at social media, gained 31.9 percent of support from respondents in the nationwide telephone survey conducted with 1,071 randomly selected eligible voters on Saturday and Sunday, ahead of former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba with 26.6 percent and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida with 18.8 percent.

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Taiwan detects China warplanes as vaccine arrives from Poland

TAIPEI - Nineteen Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Sunday, the self-governed island's Defense Ministry said, as 400,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine donated by Poland arrived.

Taiwanese media speculated that Beijing, which considers Taiwan a renegade province to be reunified, sent the airplanes in response to the arrival of the vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc.

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ASEAN envoy to Myanmar calls for 4-month cease-fire to deliver aid

SINGAPORE - A special ASEAN envoy to Myanmar said in an interview that he has called for a four-month cease-fire by all sides in the country's conflict to enable the smooth delivery of the first batch of humanitarian assistance to the country expected as early as mid-September.

Speaking exclusively to Kyodo News online Saturday, Erywan Yusof, Brunei's second foreign minister, said he proposed the cease-fire until the end of this year in a videoconference with Myanmar's military-appointed foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, last Tuesday, and that the military had accepted it.

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G-7, China, Russia to join ministerial talks on Afghanistan

TOKYO - Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations as well as China and Russia will join multilateral talks to be held possibly Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, a Japanese minister said Sunday.

Beijing and Moscow are expected to be among participants in an online ministerial meeting on Afghanistan grouping together more than 20 countries, which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he will co-host with German counterpart Heiko Maas.

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Prince Hisahito, 2nd in line to throne, turns 15

TOKYO - Prince Hisahito, the nephew of Emperor Naruhito and second in line to the Japanese imperial throne, turned 15 on Monday as his school activities continued to be affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The son of Crown Prince Fumihito is currently a third-year student at Ochanomizu University Junior High School. He is the only heir of his generation as the Imperial House Law states that only males with male lineal descent from emperors can ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.

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Car carrying Japan entertainment icon Takeshi Kitano attacked, man arrested

TOKYO - A car carrying Japanese comedian and prizewinning film director Takeshi Kitano was attacked Saturday night in the premises of a Tokyo TV station by a man wielding a pickax, with police arresting him on the spot, investigators said.

Kitano, 74, also known by his stage name Beat Takeshi, and others were unharmed in the attack that took place around 11:40 p.m. at Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc., according to the police.

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Tokyo Paralympic athletes praise experience but public mixed

TOKYO - As the Tokyo Paralympics come to a close on Sunday, athletes were full of praise for the experience of competing in the Japanese capital, but the public expressed mixed views about the games that were staged amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Following a one-year postponement, the Paralympics featuring roughly 4,400 athletes from some 160 countries were organized under extraordinary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.