Kyodo News Digest: November 6, 2024

Work is underway to demolish a collapsed seven-story building in Wajima, central Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture, on November 5, 2024, 10 months after the area was devastated by a powerful earthquake on January 1. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Below is the latest list of selected news summaries from Kyodo News.

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Trump defeats Harris in US presidential election: US media

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump has won the US presidential election, beating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, major US media said on Wednesday.

The projected victory, which sets Republican Trump up for a return to the White House in January after a four-year hiatus, prevents Harris from becoming the first woman, the first Black woman and the first Asian American U.S. president.

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North Korean troops enter Ukraine for first time, many are killed: NYT

KYIV – North Korean troops have joined Russia's war against Ukraine, meeting for the first time with Ukrainian forces occupying much of Russia's Kursk region, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing a senior Ukrainian and a senior U.S. official -officials.

The Ukrainian official did not provide any casualty information, but the U.S. official said a significant number of North Korean troops had been killed, the newspaper said.

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Scandal-hit Toyota posts 26% drop in first-half profits

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday that its net profit for the six months ended September fell 26.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.91 trillion yen ($12 billion), due to a quality scandal and weaker sales in China .

Operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2024 fell 3.7 percent to 2.46 trillion yen on sales of 23.28 trillion yen, up 5.9 percent, the Japanese automaker said.

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The Japanese Prime Minister congratulates Trump on the US election victory

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday after the Republican candidate declared victory in the U.S. presidential election and said he wanted to contact Trump soon.

Ishiba also told reporters that he wanted to take bilateral relations with the United States to a new level with Trump.

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Honda lowers fiscal 2024 net profit outlook, China sales fall short of plan

TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. on Wednesday cut its net profit forecast for this fiscal year to 950 billion yen ($6.2 billion) from its previous estimate of 1 trillion yen, as auto sales in China were weaker than expected.

Projected net profit for the year to March 2025 represents a year-on-year decline of 14.2 percent.

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Japan's first interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel comes into operation

TOKYO – Japan's nuclear regulator gave the green light on Wednesday for the commissioning of an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the first facility of its kind outside the site of a nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the operator's safety audits of the facility, which is considered safer than a conventional facility because it uses natural air circulation rather than electricity and water to cool spent fuel.

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Japan Watches Currency Movements With Increased Urgency: Speaker

TOKYO – Japan is closely monitoring developments in financial markets, including moves in the yen, led by speculators with an “even greater” sense of urgency, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday, as expectations of a Donald Trump victory in the U.S. Presidential election campaign shook the markets.

After the yen fell to a three-month low above 154 against the U.S. dollar, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said currency moves should be stable and reflect economic fundamentals.

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Taiwan-born toxicologist Tu, AUM sarin attack investigator, has died

TAIPEI – Anthony Tu, a Taiwan-born toxicologist known for assisting investigations into sarin attacks linked to the AUM Shinrikyo cult in Japan, has died in Hawaii, his family said Wednesday. He was 94.

The professor emeritus at Colorado State University in the United States helped Japanese authorities analyze the nerve gas sarin, which was used in deadly attacks in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994 and in the Tokyo subway system in 1995.

Video: An exhibition of flour-based dishes in North Korea