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

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New BOJ chief pick likely to be submitted to parliament in Feb.

TOKYO - The government is considering submitting to parliament an appointment plan for the next Bank of Japan governor, likely on Feb. 10, ruling party sources said Tuesday.

The current term of Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who took the helm at the central bank in 2013, ends in April. The government will also seek approval for new deputy governors, whose appointments will likely be summited at the same time, the sources said.

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Woman stabbed in Fukuoka told police she had issues with ex-boyfriend

FUKUOKA - The woman fatally stabbed on a street in the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka had told police several times before the incident that she had issues with her ex-boyfriend, police said Tuesday.

The police identified the woman who died Monday in hospital after being stabbed near JR Hakata Station as Miki Kawano, 38.

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13-yr-old girl suspected in mother's fatal stabbing in central Japan

SHIZUOKA, Japan - A 13-year-old girl is suspected of involvement in the death of her mother after she was found dead with stab wounds in the central Japan city of Makinohara, an investigative source said Tuesday.

Police said the woman in her 40s was attacked at home on Monday night, adding that an emergency call came from a family member living at her residence at about 11:50 p.m.

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China's GDP grows 3.0% in 2022, stifled under "zero-COVID" policy

BEIJING - China's economy in 2022 expanded 3.0 percent from a year earlier, with growth battered by the nation's stringent "zero-COVID" policy involving lockdowns that was followed by an explosion of infections after an abrupt departure from it later in the year, government data showed Tuesday.

China's gross domestic product growth decelerated significantly from 8.4 percent in 2021, slowing to 2.9 percent in the October-December period of 2022 from 3.9 percent in the previous three-month period.

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

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 due in part to the country's 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.

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BOJ faces market scrutiny over 1st policy meeting after surprise tweak

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan is keeping financial markets jittery over what its potential next moves will be following a two-day policy-setting meeting from Tuesday after its surprise decision to raise its long-term yield ceiling last month.

The BOJ is facing growing pressure to tweak its monetary policy again after the move last December led to a spike in 10-year Japanese government bond yields, subsequently challenging the newly set cap.

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Dead whale in Osaka to be sunk offshore this week

OSAKA - A sperm whale spotted near the mouth of the Yodo River in Osaka last week that was subsequently confirmed dead will be sunk off Osaka Bay, the city mayor said Tuesday.

Ichiro Matsui told reporters that he hopes the disposal, which entails removing built-up gas from the animal's carcass to prevent an explosion before moving it by ship, will be completed within the week.

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FEATURE: Clubs rebuilding workplace camaraderie lost during COVID isolation

NAGOYA - With remote work becoming commonplace in Japan since the coronavirus pandemic, companies are seeking ways to have employees interact through "club activities," including in-person gatherings on holidays involving colleagues who have only previously met online.

Some companies have even started subsidizing club expenses after finding the activities deliver for their business.

==Kyodo

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