Kyodo News Digest: Aug. 7, 2022

Costume role players perform during the World Cosplay Championship at Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya, central Japan, on Aug. 6, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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

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Japan defense chief Kishi may be replaced in Cabinet reshuffle

TOKYO – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may replace Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, who had received help from members of a religious group at the heart of attention since the killing of former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, in a Cabinet revamp to boost flagging public support, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

Kishida is expected to retain key members of his Cabinet such as Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and land minister Tetsuo Saito, a member of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the sources said. The reshuffle, the first since the ruling coalition’s sweeping election victory last month, is being planned for Wednesday.

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OPINION: 77 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is time to proliferate peace

TOKYO – On Saturday, I proudly stood with Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and the people of Hiroshima in memory of an unprecedented catastrophe.

Seventy-seven years ago, nuclear weapons were dropped on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Biden tests negative for COVID-19 following “rebound” case

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden tested negative for the novel coronavirus on Saturday after a “rebound” period in which he continued to return positive test results despite feeling well, according to his physician.

The 79-year-old initially tested positive on July 21 and experienced mild symptoms. He returned a series of negative test results but again tested positive from July 30 in what was classed a rebound case, seen in some people who take antiviral medication.

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Baseball: Takeda outpitches Tanaka as Hawks beat Eagles

FUKUOKA – Shota Takeda struck out eight over six-plus innings as he outpitched former New York Yankee Masahiro Tanaka in the SoftBank Hawks’ 9-1 Pacific League win over the Rakuten Eagles on Saturday.

Takeda (1-0) allowed just three hits and two walks to the Eagles, who could only manage to scratch out a fourth-inning tying run against him.

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Soccer: Kawamura goal sparks Sanfrecce win over Antlers

KASHIMA, Japan – Late substitute Takumu Kawamura broke the ice with his first career goal in the J-League first division, paving the way for Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s 2-0 win Saturday over Kashima Antlers.

The victory was the visitors’ first in five games. Antlers fell into fourth place on 40 points, two back of Kashiwa Reysol and one back of Cerezo Osaka.

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U.K. motorcyclist crashes at Japan circuit, falls into coma: police

TSU, Japan – British motorcycle racer Gino Rea crashed during practice for a race at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit on Saturday, got seriously injured and fell into a coma, local police said.

Rea’s motorbike slammed into the wall of a course at the circuit in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, and he was transferred to a hospital by an ambulance helicopter, the police said.

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Small fire hits idol group King & Prince’s concert, 1 fan sickened

SAPPORO – A small fire erupted Saturday in onstage equipment during a concert of Japanese male idol group King & Prince in Sapporo, with one person among the thousands of spectators sent to hospital after feeling unwell, venue officials and the local fire department said.

Some of the roughly 8,000 audience members were evacuated from the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in the northern Japanese city when the fire broke out at around 2:30 p.m. from equipment hanging from the ceiling, causing fire sparks to fall on seats near the stage. The event was cut short and the evening concert was canceled.

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U.N. chief warns hinting at nuke use “unacceptable” when tensions high

HIROSHIMA – U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Saturday that a new arms race is accelerating and it is “totally unacceptable” for countries with nuclear weapons to even “admit the possibility” of using them.

Guterres became the first serving U.N. chief to visit Hiroshima since 2010. In a flurry of activity, he conversed with atomic bomb survivors, met with Mayor Kazumi Matsui and toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.