The fatal shooting of Japan's former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has stirred media attention. It has put a spotlight on the relationship between a controversial religious group and certain members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Now, a former education minister is being questioned over his role in allowing the notorious former Unification Church to officially change its name.

The suspect in the shooting has told police that he believed Abe had links to the religious group and he blamed it for bankrupting his family.

Japan's National Police Agency has cited insufficient communication between officers as one of the reasons they failed to prevent the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

The agency on Friday released a list of security lapses it has so far identified in the incident.

A Japanese Cabinet minister has denied that politics played any role in a decision by the government to certify the then-Unification Church's name change in 2015.

The religious group has been drawing attention since last month's fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Students at the University of Tokyo are protesting the termination of make-up exams for people who are unable to take scheduled tests because of the coronavirus.

The university's College of Arts and Sciences, in which all first- and second-year undergraduate students are enrolled, began offering make-up exams during the pandemic for people who had been infected. But the measure ended in July and students are no longer able to take make-up exams or submit reports.

Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of the city of Nagahama in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, and for the entire town of Minamiechizen in Fukui Prefecture along the Sea of Japan coast, due to torrential rain.

Minamiechizen officials say all 9,939 residents in 3,383 households should evacuate as the heavy rain is increasing the chances of landslides and flooding.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in Tokyo on Friday. At the top of their agenda was the heightened tension between China and the US.

Pelosi and Kishida posed for the media at the Prime Minister's office, where they discussed the situation with Taiwan. They also talked over their countries' shared deterrence capabilities and commitment to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Niigata Prefecture in northern Japan has confirmed that two persons were injured in torrential rain, as of Thursday afternoon.

Officials said one person was seriously injured and the other sustained a minor wound in Murakami City.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in Tokyo on Friday. At the top of their agenda was the heightened tension between China and the US.

Pelosi and Kishida posed for the media at the Prime Minister's office, where they discussed the situation with Taiwan. They also talked over their countries' shared deterrence capabilities and commitment to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Torrential rain hitting Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, has forced nearly 4,000 residents of the city of Nagahama to take shelter.

Evacuation orders were issued to 2,808 people in 1,196 households in the city's Yogo district at 8:20 a.m. on Friday. Shortly after, 1,001 people in 404 households in the city's Kinomoto district were ordered to evacuate to safer places if possible.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has met with Japan's Prime Minister in Tokyo on the final leg of her controversial trip to Asia. Pelosi held talks with Kishida Fumio on Friday morning. They were focused on the heightened tensions between China and the US.

Pelosi and Kishida posed for the media at the Prime Minister's office early in the day.

Search and recovery efforts continue in the rain-hit prefecture of Yamagata in northern Japan. One man remains missing after a bridge collapsed on Wednesday.

A witness reported to police that a vehicle was swept away when a bridge collapsed in the town of Iide. Local officials say a man believed to have been in the vehicle at the time has gone missing.

Officials are warning of more rain on Friday after record rainfall hit parts of the Japanese region of Hokuriku and Niigata and Yamagata Prefectures from Wednesday through Thursday, causing flooding and landslides. They are urging vigilance over landslides and flooding in low-lying areas.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says a front accompanied by a low pressure system and a cold air mass are making atmospheric conditions unstable. Rain clouds are flowing into the Hokuriku and Kansai regions.

Tokyo has lodged a protest with Beijing, after multiple Chinese ballistic missiles landed within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, amid large-scale military drills. It's believed to be the first time that projectiles fired by China have fallen inside of the Japanese EEZ.

Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo said, "China appears to have launched nine ballistic missiles. Five of them are believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone. We strongly condemn the act, as it is a serious issue concerning Japan's security and the safety of Japanese people."

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Japan on Thursday on the last leg of her Asia tour.

The plane carrying Pelosi from South Korea landed at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo at around 9:50 p.m.