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

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Prosecutors to build case on Kishida faction over LDP funds scandal

TOKYO - Japanese prosecutors will build a case against a former accountant of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party faction, previously led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in connection with a political fundraising scandal, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

The prosecutors have been investigating several LDP factions amid allegations that they failed to report revenue from fundraising parties in violation of the political funds control law.

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JAL taps ex-flight attendant Tottori as 1st female president

TOKYO - Japan Airlines Co. on Wednesday tapped former flight attendant Mitsuko Tottori to become its first female president in April.

Tottori, 59, senior managing executive officer, will replace current President Yuji Akasaka, 62, who will become chairman, the airline said in a statement.

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Japan's November machinery orders down 4.9% on month

TOKYO - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders in November fell 4.9 percent from the previous month, declining for the first time in three months, the government said Thursday, retaining the view for the 13th consecutive month that orders are showing signs of stalling.

The orders, which exclude those for ships and from electric utilities due to their volatility, totaled 816.7 billion yen ($5.5 billion) and the fall followed a 0.7 percent rise in October, according to the Cabinet Office.

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Japan, U.S. arranging summit around April 10: sources

TOKYO - Japan and the United States are arranging a summit between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Joe Biden around April 10, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

The two governments had been working toward a visit by Kishida as a state guest in early March but moved the date back since Biden's State of the Union address to Congress is now set for March 7, the sources said.

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Athletics: Osako to skip Tokyo Marathon, race in Boston instead

TOKYO - Paris Olympics hopeful Suguru Osako revealed Thursday he will skip the March 3 Tokyo Marathon in favor of competing in the Boston Marathon the following month.

Osako, who ran sixth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is currently on track to claim the third and final Japanese men's marathon slot for Paris by virtue of his third-place finish in October's Marathon Grand Championship.

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Foreign visitors to Japan in 2023 jump over sixfold to 25.07 mil.

TOKYO - The number of foreign visitors to Japan climbed more than sixfold to 25.07 million in 2023 from a year earlier, gaining a boost from the removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions and a weak yen, with their spending growing to a record 5.29 trillion yen ($36 billion), government data showed Wednesday.

Spending by foreign visitors exceeded 5 trillion yen for the first time since 2010 when the data began to be compiled, a target the Japanese government has set as it bolsters efforts to revive the tourism industry following the coronavirus pandemic.

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U.S. puts Houthis back on list of global terror groups

WASHINGTON - The United States on Wednesday relisted Yemen's Houthi rebels as a global terrorist group in response to their relentless attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said the U.S. designation will not affect their operations, which he characterized as an effort to support the Palestinians, and ruled out stopping attacks on ships heading to Israel from the seas.

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Taiwan replaced as volleyball tourney host amid China pressure

TAIPEI - Indonesia has replaced Taiwan as host of an Asian youth volleyball championship scheduled for July due to China's objection, the island's sports association said Wednesday, days after the victory of an independence-leaning party candidate in Taiwan's presidential election over the weekend.

China lodged a protest last month to the Asian Volleyball Confederation, the governing body for the sport in the region, pointing out that it could not send a team to the tournament for men under 20 years old, citing "complexities in cross-Taiwan Strait political relations," the island's association said.

==Kyodo

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