Daily English News: August
August 31, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. A final attempt is made to avert a political showdown as Japan’s prime minister is set to meet his contender for the post of the governing DPJ party president.
2. North Korean media is emphasizing the importance of hereditary succession now that the country’s leader is back from an informal 5-day visit to China.
3. A senior Japanese official visits Jerusalem and calls on the Israeli government to freeze its illegal construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
4. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Sri Lanka to demand a proper investigation into the case of a Sri Lankan maid who was tortured by her Saudi Arabian employers.
August 30, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Attempts are underway to heal a growing rift within the ruling main Democratic Party of Japan ahead of the upcoming leadership election.
2. The Bank of Japan plans to implement an additional credit easing measure as it tries to stop the yen’s rise and keep the gradual recovery of the nation’s economy on track.
3. Japanese and Indian negotiators will hold vice minister-level talks here in Tokyo in nearly September toward reaching an economic partnership agreement.
4. The Palestinian Authority president says Israel’s government will be to blame if new peace talks fail over the issue of Israel’s illegal settlement construction in occupied territories.
August 29, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson
1. Japan and China have ended high-level talks with an agreement to cooperate in broad economic areas. However, China did not agree to Japan’s request to ease export restrictions on rare earth metals.
2. Japan’s Foreign Ministry has established a special office to improve diplomatic ties with emerging economies and resource-rich countries.
August 28, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is believed to be preparing to head home from China on Saturday. He is thought to have met Chinese leaders in a bid for diplomatic and financial support.
2. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan says his government will take decisive action when necessary to address the strong yen.
3. U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke says the Fed will consider making another purchase of securities if the slowing economy were to get much worse.
August 27, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. The 10-member ASEAN grouping and six other Asia-Pacific countries including Japan promise to study how to conclude an economic partnership agreement.
2. Next month’s leadership election for the Democratic Party of Japan is becoming a face-off between the party’s former secretary general and the current party president and prime minister.
3. The government of Miyazaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan has declared an end to the foot-and-mouth epidemic that devastated the local livestock industry.
4. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has secured the release of an American citizen jailed in North Korea for illegally entering the country.
August 26, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. The former secretary general of Japan’s main ruling Democratic Party decides to run in the party’s presidential election next month, the winner of which will become Japan’s next prime minister.
2. With former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in North Korea trying to win the release of a detained American, a South Korean government source says Kim Jong Il may be on a visit to northeastern China.
3. The economic ministers of the 10 ASEAN countries meeting in Vietnam pledge to unify written trade documents and integrate trade offices.
4. Japan’s government has lodged a written protest with China over its request for a review of a planned trilateral investment deal with South Korea.
August 25, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Key indices plunge once again to new lows on the Tokyo stock market, following similar trends overseas on concerns over the U.S. economy and continuing rise of the yen over the dollar.
2. A top U.S. military commander says it may take a few more years before the U.S. can transfer security responsibilities to the government in Afghanistan.
3. Chinese state media reports that a plane with 96 people on board failed a landing attempt and burst into flames in northeastern China, killing at least 43 people.
4. Japan’s Meteorological Agency advises caution against heatstroke as temperatures continue to soar throughout the island nation.
August 24, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the key Nikkei average of 225 issues dipped below 9,000 points, the lowest in 15 months at one point in two same morning tradings.
2. Japan’s prime minister is expected to announce his policy platform next Monday as he tries to rally support ahead of a party leadership election in September.
3. The United Nations plans to hold a conference in late September to discuss long term aid for Pakistan where millions of people have been affected by massive floods.
4. Hong Kong’s leader has criticized the Philippines police for their handling of a bus hijacking that has left at least eight of the residents dead.
August 23, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Members of a Japanese Self-Defense Forces relief team have arrived in flood-stricken Pakistan to provide relief to the millions of Pakistanis.
2. Here in Japan, a Democratic Party official intends to ask the party’s former secretary general to run against the prime minister in the upcoming party leadership election.
3. In New York City, supporters and opponents of a planned Islamic community center rally near the site of September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks.
4. A memorial service in Okinawa remembers those who lost their lives after U.S. military forces sank civilians from Okinawa to Kyushu during World War II.
August 22, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson
1. Japan has asked India to incorporate the idea of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation into a nuclear energy cooperation pact that the two countries are negotiating.
2. Iran began fueling its first nuclear power plant on Saturday in the southern city of Bushehr.
3. Australia appears to be headed for its first hung parliament in 70 years. Current vote counting for the federal election indicates that neither the governing Labor Party nor the opposition coalition are likely to win a clear majority.
August 21, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. The United States says Israel and the Palestinians will have direct talks early next month for the first time since December 2008.
2. The Japanese government is set to agree with ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to help redevelop urban areas using Japan’s environmental technologies.
3. The first contingent of a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter unit has left for flood-stricken Pakistan on a disaster relief mission.
August 20, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. As Japan’s prime minister seeks reelection next month as the president of the main ruling Democratic Party, his critics are trying to field a rival candidate, the former party secretary general.
2. Chinese authorities say North Korea’s government has apologized for the crash of one of its air force jet fighters in China this week.
3. Record heavy rainfall in northwestern Pakistan and subsequent flooding along the Indus River to central and southern regions have left more than four million people homeless.
4. A recent opinion poll shows an increasing member of people in the United States believe that President Barack Obama is Muslim rather than Christian.
August 19, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japan’s government considers additional economic stimulus measures to counter the recent appreciation of the yen against the dollar.
2. The United States and South Korean militaries will again conduct a joint naval exercise in the Yellow Sea next month, which is raising an alarm in China.
3. The government in Beijing wants answers from North Korea about why one of their air force planes entered its airspace before crashing in northeastern China.
4. The last U.S. active combat troops in Iraq withdraw about two weeks ahead of the schedule marking a milestone for military operations that began seven years ago, when the previous administration attacked the country, claiming its regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.
August 18, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to sit down for the first time with the nation’s top Self-Defense officials to listen to their views on security issues.
2. Japan’s financial services minister says he had a frank exchange of views with the head of the U.S. central bank and other officials.
3. Palestinian authorities condemn a former Israeli soldier for posting on the Internet pictures of herself along with blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners.
4. A government panel of experts has begun investigating what caused damage to a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of hormuz last month.
August 17, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japan’s government considers additional stimulus measures now that the latest GDP figures show the nation’s economy is slowing.
2. As Japan’s population rapidly ages, health care costs in fiscal 2009 reach record highs for the seventh year in a row.
3. Nearly three months after massive anti-government protests ended in Bangkok, the Thai government lifts the state of emergency in three provinces, not in the capital Bangkok.
4. A survey has found that the smoking rate among adults in Japan fell to about 24 percent, an all-time low for 15 years in a row.
August 16, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. After inspecting flood-ravaged areas in Pakistan by helicopter on Sunday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is urging the world’s nations to provide more aid for survivors.
2. The Russian government imposes a temporary ban on grain exports after poor harvests caused by severe drought and wildfires.
3. In Kyoto on Sunday a concert was held to promote friendship between Japan and South Korea and to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
4. A Tokyo Metropolitan Government survey shows that the number of foreign tourists declined by more than 10 percent in 2009 from the previous year.
August 15, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson
1. Japan has observed the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
2. Prime Minister Naoto Kan and all the members of his Cabinet say they will not visit the war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday, the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
August 14, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. Russia says it will begin loading fuel into the reactor at Iran’s first nuclear power plant on August 21.
2. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the floods in Pakistan have damaged about 700,000 hectares of the country’s farmland and 80 percent of its standing crops.
3. Japan’s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada says he will try to persuade ruling and opposition parties to unanimously approve a treaty to allow historical documents brought from the Korean Peninsula to be handed over to South Korea.
August 13, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. There is fear here in Japan that if the yen maintains its current high level, it will lead to shrinking exports and reduction in overall corporate profits.
2. Step-up opposition to the latest Japan-U.S. base agreement for Okinawa keeps the government from setting up a panel with local officials to discuss the matter.
3. The Japan Sumo Association chooses a former ozeki champion as its new chairman amid an on-going scandal involving gambling by wrestlers and stable masters on pro-baseball games.
4. India’s government becomes the latest to warn it will ban some of the key functions of the blackberry smartphone until it’s allowed to monitor encrypted data transmitted on the handsets.
August 12, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Stock prices fall and the U.S. dollar plunges to a 15-year-low against the yen in global trading on concerns about the economic slowdown in the U.S. and China.
2. In the wake of the yen’s surge, the Japanese government and the central bank officials say they will closely monitor foreign exchange markets.
3. The United Nations calls on the international community to provide relief ai of at least 459 million dollars to help flood victims in Pakistan.
4. High school students from Nagasaki will deliver to the United Nations a petition against nuclear weapons that has been signed by more than 74,000 people over the past year.
August 11, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japanese lawmakers are divided over the prime minister’s statement this week marking the 100th anniversary of Japan’s annexation of Korea.
2. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has joined in the fight against the forest fires that continue to rage central and western Russia.
3. At the same time, Moscow authorities urge caution because of the density of toxic substances in the air over Russia’s capital city.
4. For the first time in three years, Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate in fiscal 2009 has fallen a full percentage point from the previous year to 40 percent because of a drop in domestic rice consumption.
August 10, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japan’s Cabinet approves a statement by Prime Minister Naoto Kan marking the 100th anniversary of Japan’s annexation of Korea.
2. Authorities in the German city of Hamburg close a mosque frequented by some of the alleged September 11th attackers, claiming that Islamic radicals are once again using it as their base.
3. The death toll from rain-triggered mudslides in China’s Gansu Province rises above 300, with more than 1,100 people still missing.
4. The foreign ministers of Japan and Kazakhstan reaffirm the two countries’ economic ties and quest for a world free of nuclear weapons.
August 9, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. The City of Nagasaki commemorates the 65th anniversary of the United States atomic bombing.
2. In China, 127 people have been confirmed dead and more than 1,200 are missing in huge mudslides cause by heavy rain in a mountainous area.
3. In Iraq, a weekend filled with terrorist attacks has claimed the lives of 58 people as the U.S. military plans to withdraw its combat troops from Iraq by the end of the month.
4. Prime research firms expect Japan’s GDP growth to slow down in the April-June period because of sluggish individual spending and a big downturn in public investment.
August 8, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson
1. Japan and five Central Asian countries have agreed to cooperate and create a better environment for future business investment.
2. Officials of 21 Pacific Rim economies have agreed to draw up action plans in formulating the region’s first common growth strategy.
3. In Russia, the harmful effects from the unusual heat wave continue, and authorities not to remain outside for too long.
August 7, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. The yen hit an 8-month high against the dollar in New York, following the release of worse-than-expected U.S. jobs data for July.
2. A senior U.S. official has refuted comments on U.S. media that the U.S. envoy’s attendance at the Hiroshima peace ceremony was an apology for the atomic bombing of the city.
3. Floods in Pakistan have spread southward along the River Indus, causing widespread damage, while also in northern India, flooding caused by heavy rains, has killed more than 100 people.
August 6, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. Japan and the world commemorate a tragic event 65years ago when on August 6 in 1945, the United States military air force dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the closing days of World War II.
2. A poll conducted jointly by Japan’s NHK and South Korea’s KBS TV shows that a large percentage of people in both countries think North Korea is a security threat.
3. The U.S. Defense Department is sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Yellow Sea near China for joint military exercises with South Korea.
4. Russia’s government plans to temporarily ban grain exports because of the drought caused by a record heat wave across the country that has damaged crops.
August 5, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has arrived in Nagasaki, becoming the first U.N. chief to visit the city that suffered an atomic bombing by the United States military in 1945.
2. Iranian authorities say a reported assassination attempt against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was only a firecracker that went off as he visited a western city on Wednesday.
3. The U.N. warns that floods now in Pakistan could cause outbreaks of cholera and other infections as sanitary conditions worsen.
4. Japanese auto manufacturers registered sharp year-to-year increase in Asian sales during the 2nd quarter of this year.
August 4, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrives in Japan to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
2. Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fires on their common border on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of five people on both sides, including a journalist.
3. Iran’s ambassador strongly criticizes Japan’s government for its decision to impose new sanctions against his country because of its continued nuclear development.
4. Japan’s health minister calls on a nationwide check on the whereabouts of centenarians after Tokyo’s oldest man was found to have died and its oldest woman was reported missing.
August 3, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. The Japanese government decides on sanctions it will impose on Iranian entities and individuals based on a U.N. Security Council resolution approved in June.
2. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrives here in Japan shortly to attend a ceremony commemorating the 65th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
3. The U.N. secretary general announces that he is opening an international inquiry into Israel’s deadly military attack on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.
4. In Russia, a state of emergency is declared in several regions as raging forest fires kill at least 34 people amid a record heat wave and little rain fall.
August 2, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson
1. The United Nations’ cultural organization, UNESCO, has added Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear bomb tests, to its list of World Heritage sites.
2. Last week, record heavy rains in northwestern areas of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan have so far killed more than 1,100 people.
3. Japanese and U.S. firms have jointly developed low-power and ion propulsion systems based on one that has been used in Japan’s unmanned asteroid “Hayabusa” probe.
4. A meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit will be held in Japan this coming weekend to decide on the first common growth strategy for the region.
August 1, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson
1. A new international treaty banning cluster bombs takes effect on Sunday.
2. Senior U.S. officials have begun visits to Japan and South Korea to discuss sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
3. Wildfires have spread across parts of central and western Russia, killing at least 28 people and destroying more than 1,200 homes.