1. Temperatures in Japan are rising on Wednesday, reaching over 41 degrees Celsius in central Japan. Officials are urging the public to take thorough measures against heatstroke. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the mercury reached 41.4 degrees Celsius in Shizuoka City at 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday. It is the 7th day this year with a temperature over 40 degrees in Japan, tying the record set in 2018.
2. Four people of Japanese descent who say they were left behind in the Philippines in the chaotic conclusion of World War Two have lodged citizenship claims with Japanese courts. Eighty years on from the end of the war, there are still about 50 such people in the Philippines pursuing citizenship claims in Japan.
3. Authorities have begun an investigation into a fire that broke out on two barges at a seaside fireworks festival in the city of Yokohama, near Tokyo. At the festival on Monday, two of the eight barges used to launch fireworks from the ocean caught fire, prompting fireworks to explode one after another on the barges. The fire was confirmed to have been extinguished about 15 hours after it started.