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

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Japan falls to record-low 125th in global gender gap ranking

GENEVA - Japan ranked 125th of 146 countries on the gender gap rankings in 2023, the country's worst recorded result and the lowest in the East Asia and Pacific region, the World Economic Forum said Wednesday.

Equality campaigners criticized the outcome as a result of the Japanese government's inaction while the government said it takes the situation seriously and vowed to address the issue.

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Japan's Diet to end regular session, next general election in focus

TOKYO - Japan's parliament is scheduled to wrap up its 150-day regular session Wednesday, with attention turning to when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will dissolve the lower house after he decided against doing so while the chamber was still sitting.

Key legislation the ruling bloc comprising Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito has had enacted during the Diet's main session of the year included a law to fund a substantial expansion of defense spending.

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Baseball: Ohtani named AL Player of the Week for 5th time

ANAHEIM, California - Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani was named the American League's Player of the Week on Tuesday, claiming the Major League Baseball honor for the fifth time in his career.

Ohtani's stellar play in the week of June 12 to 18 included hitting .435 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in seven games. He also won his only start during the period, holding the Texas Rangers to two runs in six innings in the Angels' 5-3 victory on Thursday.

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Ex-Nissan chief Ghosn files $1 bil. lawsuit against carmaker: report

CAIRO - Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn has filed a lawsuit against the Japanese carmaker and others, seeking over $1 billion in damages for allegations including defamation, Reuters said Tuesday.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed last month in Lebanon, the Middle Eastern nation to which Ghosn sensationally fled in December 2019 while awaiting trial in Japan after being arrested for allegedly underreporting remuneration and misusing Nissan's funds.

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FOCUS: Japan LGBT law watered down amid culture war on transgender issues

TOKYO - Japan enacted a law to promote LGBT understanding last Friday after months of debate, but for some activists, the discussions did as much to entrench existing discrimination as encourage more open attitudes.

And while pushback against the legislation has mostly come from conservative circles raising concerns over threats to the family unit, the debate also fomented culture war arguments over entry by transgender people into sex-segregated spaces such as bathrooms and the traditional public baths frequented by much of the population.

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Russia lawmakers OK "militaristic Japan" in WWII memorial day's name

TOKYO - The Russian lower house of parliament passed a bill Tuesday that would rename a memorial day for the end of World War II to include the phrase "militaristic Japan" in response to Tokyo imposing economic sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

The bill will be enacted if approved by the upper house and then signed into law by the Russian president. Andrey Kartapolov, head of the lower chamber's defense committee, and others presented it a year ago.

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Efforts to eradicate abuse of athletes make progress: U.S. nonprofit

NEW YORK - A nonprofit aimed at eradicating abuse in the U.S. sporting world has seen progress in recent years as more coaches and athletes strive to eliminate misconduct, with its chief pledging to ensure such a trend will take root in the country.

Ju'Riese Colon, CEO of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, said in a recent interview with Kyodo News that her organization is ready to expand cooperation with entities in many countries such as Japan, especially if needed for future investigations.

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Couple convicted of 2021 murder of Tokyo high school girl

TOKYO - The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday convicted a married couple of the 2021 murder of an 18-year-old high school girl in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan.

The court sentenced Shohei Komori and his wife Izumi to 23 and 18 years in prison, respectively, for the abduction and murder of the Tokyo girl, who was strangled with a rope and stabbed several times in the back with a knife at a storage shed.

==Kyodo

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