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

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Japan Airlines aircraft catches fire at Haneda airport

TOKYO - Japan Airlines Co. said Tuesday that one of its aircraft caught fire at Tokyo's Haneda airport as it was arriving from Sapporo.

All passengers and crew, numbering 379, escaped from the airplane while it was on fire without life-threatening injuries, JAL said. The 367 passengers included eight children.

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48 dead in Japan Noto quake, rescue efforts continue amid aftershocks

TOKYO - At least 48 people were killed in the powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas in central Japan on New Year's Day, as more reports of damage came in and rescuers raced to find survivors amid continuing aftershocks on Tuesday.

The magnitude-7.6 quake caused extensive structural damage and fires in the city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture. But the full extent of damage remains unknown, with rubble and severed roads hampering rescue operations.

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S. Korea opposition leader stabbed in neck during visit to Busan

SEOUL - South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae Myung was attacked by a knife-wielding man and sustained a wound to his neck during a visit to Busan on Tuesday, local media reported.

Lee, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was conscious and taken to hospital, according to the reports. The assailant was arrested at the scene.

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Heart stimulants saw biggest 2023 Japan sales rise on tourist demand

TOKYO - Products popular with tourists saw big sales increases in Japan in 2023, with heart stimulants seeing the largest year-on-year rise among daily consumer goods, reflecting growing demand amid a rapid post-pandemic recovery of inbound travel, a survey by a marketing firm showed.

Sales of cardiotonics touting effectiveness against palpitations and other heart-related ailments grew 1.8-fold from the previous year, while vitamin B1, a product also popular among foreign visitors, came in fourth with a 48 percent rise, according to Intage Inc.'s report on around 6,000 retail shops.

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Japan emperor's New Year greeting event canceled due to quake

TOKYO - The Japanese Imperial Household Agency has canceled a public New Year greeting event planned for Tuesday to be attended by Emperor Naruhito and his family members in the wake of a major earthquake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture and the vicinity.

The agency said Monday it has decided, based on the thoughts of the emperor and Empress Masako, not to go ahead with the Tokyo event out of consideration for the damage caused by the earthquake.

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Baseball: Disgraced former Lions pitcher Chang dies at 43

TOKYO - Former Seibu Lions pitcher Chang Chih-chia, whose career was marred by allegations of match-fixing in his native Taiwan, died in China on Monday at the age of 43, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported Tuesday.

According to the report, Chang's landlord found him lying dead in his apartment after being asked to check on him by his mother. The cause of death has not been officially determined.

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Former reporter traces how famous Ainu portraits wound up in France

SAPPORO - Riki Kato is on a mission to find out how a collection of famous portraits depicting indigenous Ainu chieftains of present-day northern Japan ended up on the other side of the world, in eastern France.

"Why did these works equivalent to national treasures end up in France?," asks the 67-year-old former newspaper reporter, adding that he wanted Hokkaido authorities to launch an investigation into the mystery of the "Ishuretsuzo" series of paintings, which are over 140 years old.

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FEATURE: New film ensures slain Japanese doctor's Afghan legacy lives on

TOKYO - An independent English-language documentary on the extraordinary life and violent death of Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese doctor who worked for years to turn a desert in war-torn Afghanistan green, is set to introduce him to a new audience while honoring his humanitarian feats.

Moved by Nakamura's work, film director Kenji Yatsu filmed 1,000 hours of footage over 21 years starting in 1998, including Nakamura's involvement in the digging of a canal while the Afghan war raged. He filmed until the months before the 73-year-old doctor was gunned down, along with five others by still-unidentified armed men, in Jalalabad on Dec. 4, 2019.

==Kyodo

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