A former Japanese abductee who returned from North Korea 20 years ago has called on Japan's government to take action to immediately bring back other people who were abducted.

Chimura Yasushi made the urgent appeal at a rally in the city of Fukui, central Japan, on Sunday.

Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea have called on the government to step up efforts to get all the victims back as soon as possible.

They made the appeal on Saturday at a government-sponsored symposium in Tokyo that coincided with a week-long campaign to raise awareness about human rights abuses in North Korea.

Japan Airlines says it will issue new shares and increase its capitalization by more than 167.9 billion yen, or about 1.6 billion dollars, to shore up its finances which have been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

JAL announced plans to issue 100 million new shares by next month in both Japanese and overseas markets.

More than 220 Japanese academic societies of liberal arts have jointly demanded that the government explain why it refused to appoint six nominees for membership in the country's top academic body.

Ten people, including university professors who serve as heads of societies in the fields of humanities and social sciences, released the joint statement at a news conference on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has vowed full support for efforts to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

Suga was speaking at a memorial service in Tokyo on Saturday for Yokota Shigeru, the father of Yokota Megumi who was abducted by North Korea in the 1970s. Shigeru died in June.

A group of scholars opposed to Japan's 2016 security legislation has issued a statement demanding to know why Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide refused to appoint six new members to the Science Council of Japan.

The group's founders include the six scholars who were recommended for membership in the council, Japan's leading academic body, but rejected by Suga.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has proposed resolving a bilateral territorial issue with Russia without leaving it to the next generation.

He made the proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the leaders held their first talks by telephone on Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide has stressed that the government will respond firmly to repeated entries by Chinese ships into Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands.

Japan controls the islands. China and Taiwan claim them. Next Monday will mark 10 years since a Chinese fishing boat rammed into a Japan Coast Guard vessel in the islands' territorial waters in the East China Sea.

Members of the family of a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea have met a top official at the US Embassy in Tokyo and asked for cooperation toward a return of Japanese nationals abducted by the North.

Yokota Megumi was abducted in 1977 on her way home from junior high school in Niigata City, on the Sea of Japan coast.

DETROIT — Toyota is recalling about 752,000 gas-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide because the engines can lose power and stall.

The recall covers certain 2013 to 2015 Prius and 2014 to 2017 Prius V hybrids.

Honda has issued a recall of 1.4 million vehicles globally due to a defective fuel pump.

The governor of Hokkaido and the mayor of Sapporo have issued a joint emergency declaration as coronavirus infections have started to increase again.

Governor Suzuki Naomichi told Mayor Akimoto Katsuhiro in Sapporo City on Sunday that newly confirmed cases in the northern prefecture have hit double digits for five days in a row. Suzuki said Hokkaido may be experiencing a second wave of infections.

Japan's prefectural leaders say they will ask the central government to provide compensation for losses incurred as a result of the restraints on businesses due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The National Governors' Association held an emergency online task force meeting on Wednesday.

Japan's health ministry will issue guidance for nursing homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus among the elderly, whose symptoms could get serious if infected.

The ministry plans to notify local governments of the new measures as early as Monday.