Daily English News: November

November 30, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Criticisms and concerns about North Korea’s shelling of a populated island in South Korea are heard from U.N. Security Council members at an unofficial meeting held on Monday.

2.      At the same time, a U.S. and South Korean joined naval exercise in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula enters its third day on Tuesday.

3.      In the Iranian capital, Tehran, a nuclear scientist has died and another was injured after bombs attached to their cars exploded.

4.      It appears unlikely that neither Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo nor his relatives will be allowed to attend the ceremony in Norway to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

 

November 29, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.       Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima defeats two candidates in Japan’s southernmost prefecture’s gubernatorial election on Sunday.

2.       The U.S. government calls on Japan to implement an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to another part of Okinawa Prefecture.

3.       China proposes an emergency meeting of the chief delegates to the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue amid joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.

4.       The nations of Haiti and Egypt are on a high alert as violence breaks out in both countries as voters go to the polls in presidential and parliamentary elections.

 

November 28, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson

1.      Amid tension in the wake of North Korea’s artillery attack on a South Korean island, the United States and South Korea began a joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea on Sunday.

2.      Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa to be prepared for any contingency.

 

November 28, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson

1.      Amid tension in the wake of North Korea’s artillery attack on a South Korean island, the United States and South Korea began a joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea on Sunday.

2.      Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa to be prepared for any contingency.

 

November 27, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      A funeral has been held for two South Korean soldiers who were killed in North Korea’s shelling of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong on Tuesday.

2.      Japan is increasing its vigilance ahead of a joint military drill by the United States and South Korea in the Yellow Sea.

3.      Japan’s Diet has enacted a supplementary budget aimed at stimulating the country’s economy, but Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s government is facing fresh challenges.

 

November 26, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Three days after a deadly artillery attack by the North, South Korea’s military intensifies security efforts ahead of the upcoming joint naval exercises with the United States that is scheduled to start on Sunday.

2.      Japan’s prime minister instructs all cabinet members to remain in Tokyo in case of emergencies during the upcoming U.S.-South Korean joint naval exercise.

3.      Haiti’s health ministry says more than 1,600 people have died in the cholera outbreak, including 146 in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

4.      More parking spaces for private jets have been made available at Narita Airport outside Tokyo to attract more international conferences and foreign investment.

 

November 25, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his son had reportedly visited the artillery base from which shells were fired at a South Korean island several days before Tuesday’s shelling.

2.      Japanese government officials plan to closely work with U.S. and South Korean counterparts to persuade the Chinese to join them in calming the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

3.      Just days before national elections, angry Haitians rally in the capital of Port-au-Prince, protesting the government’s failure to contain the cholera epidemic.

4.      Japanese business groups call on the government to oppose any proposed extension of the Kyoto Protocol at an upcoming U.N. conference on climate change.

 

November 24, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      South Korea’s government warns of military responses far stronger than North Korea’s if there are further provocations such as an artillery attack that killed two South Korean soldiers.

2.      Japan’s prime minister tells the nation’s Self-Defense Forces to prepare for any contingency, following North Korea’s artillery attack on South Korea.

3.      Election preparations are under way in Haiti despite a cholera epidemic that claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people as it spreads throughout the Caribbean country.

4.      China’s top climate change negotiator calls for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, which does not require the country to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.

 

November 23, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      A U.S. special envoy for North Korea is visiting Asian capitals to discuss North Korea’s recent disclosure of a new uranium enrichment facility.

2.      Political sparring could prevent Japan’s government from passing a supplementary budget bill this week.

3.      A stampede during a three-day water festival in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Monday evening has left at least 349 dead.

4.      Japanese researchers have created blood platelets using iPS cells in the hope that the breakthrough will help make up for a shortage of platelets derived from donated blood.   iPS = induced pluripotent stem cells

 

November 22, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan accepts the resignation of his justice minister over remarks that made light of his role in the Cabinet and Diet affairs.

2.      A U.S. envoy will hold talks with the officials of South Korea, Japan and China over increasing concerns that North Korea could be trying to produce highly-enriched uranium.

3.      Ireland’s prime minister says the European Union has agreed to request for a financial aid package to help Ireland’s struggling banks avoid collapse.

4.      The leaders of Japan and South Korea are to put shuttle diplomacy between the two nations back on track as well as to discuss resuming negotiations on an economic partnership agreement.

 

November 21, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson

1.      NATO leaders have agreed to hand over control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

2.      Iran says it has successfully tested a new air defense missile system during a large-scale military exercise.

 

November 20, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      A Japanese official has revealed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said returning two of the four Russian-held islands to Japan would be difficult.  The return after the conclusion of a peace treaty had been stated in a joint declaration in 1956.

2.      Japan and Mongolia have agreed to upgrade the relationship to one of strategic partnership from the present comprehensive partnership.

3.      NATO leaders have agreed for the first time to build a missile defense system concerning all member states.

 

November 19, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      It has been learned that Russia’s foreign minister persistently defended his nation’s sovereignty over the disputed northern islands during a meeting last week with his Japanese counterpart.

2.      Delegates from six countries, including China and Russia, won’t be attending this year’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for jailed Chinese pro-Democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.

3.      Shares of the once ailing General Motors soared on the north American stock market in what has become the largest initial public offering in the U.S. history.

4.      A U.N. panel criticizes North Korea for its intransigence on the issue of abducted foreign nationals and Myanmar’s military rulers for their treatment of a pro-democracy activist.

 

November 18, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      A U.S. Congressional commission expresses concern that China’s military has improved the capability of its ballistic missiles to reach all five U.S. air force bases in Japan and South Korea.

2.      Efforts to bring international aid to Cholera-stricken Haiti are disrupted by protests against U.N. peacekeepers in the north of the country, while attacks on U.N. bases and warehouses continue.

3.      E.U. finance ministers agree to quickly work out a financial rescue plan for Ireland to alleviate credit uncertainty that is hanging over the country.

4.      A special team is now on the Japanese Pacific island of Iwojima, looking for possible mass grave sites of Japanese soldiers killed there during World War II.

 

November 17, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Japanese and American military officers will start working-level talks to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation in the event of security contingencies in Japan’s territorial waters.

2.      At the same time, Japan’s governing Democratic Party lays out a draft proposal for its new foreign and security policies, including plans to strengthen Self-Defense Forces in the East China Sea.

3.      The Israeli deputy foreign minister says settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories may be suspended in a bid to resume stalled peace talks.

4.      Protesters who blame U.N. peacekeepers for a cholera epidemic in Haiti have exchanged gunfire with U.N. troops, leaving at least one civilian dead.

 

November 16, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      The Japanese coast guard officials who leaked a diplomatically sensitive video of the collisions between a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol boats in the East China Sea will not be prosecuted.

2.      Japan’s prime minister tells Russia’s president that he is ready to visit Moscow to negotiate Japan’s territorial claim over the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.

3.      The U.N. secretary general plans to appoint a former Japanese ambassador to the world body as U.N. special advisor on peacekeeping operations.

4.      European nations are nervous about a recurrence of another credit crisis after a revision of Greece’s budget deficit last year.

 

November 15, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      A day after being released from house arrest, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the military government to begin dialogue with her.

2.      With G20 and APEC summit meetings behind him, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan now faces tougher relations with the U.S., China and Russia.

3.      Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates are calling for the release of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was chosen as this year’s winner of the prize.

4.      In India, an international gathering of global business leaders is discussing how to end the widening wealth disparity between cities and rural areas.

 

November 14, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson

1.      Participants at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Japanese city of Yokohama has wrapped up their second day of discussions.

2.      Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was released from house arrest on Saturday after serving a seven-and-a-half year term.

3.      Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese President Hu Jintao have agreed to promote mutually strategic beneficial relations.

 

November 13, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      The summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum has opened, aiming at working out steps to regional economic integration and formulating a growth strategy.

2.      Prior to the summit, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan met U.S. President Barack Obama and agreed to deepen the bilateral alliance in the fields of security, trade and personal exchanges.

3.      Myanmar’s military government is likely to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest as early as Saturday.

 

November 12, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      World leaders attending the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, are expected to negotiate trade guidance on Friday during the second day of discussions.

2.      Many of those same leaders are due to start arriving here in Japan to attend the two-day APEC summit that opens in Yokohama on Saturday.

3.      Japan’s prime minister meets the Turkish president in Seoul and offers Japan’s assistance on Turkey’s infrastructure projects.

4.      U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold lengthy talks in New York on Thursday but fail to produce any sign that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might resume soon.

November 11, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      APEC ministers wrapped up their 2-day meeting in Yokohama with a joint statement promising to refrain from implementing new protectionist measures.

2.      Prime Minister Naoto Kan is on his way to South Korea to attend a Group of 20 summit meeting in Seoul ahead of this weekend’s APEC leadership summit in Yokohama.

3.      U.S. President Barack Obama urges a Group of 20 nations to agree on specific measures to redress global trade imbalances but faces opposition from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

4.      In Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, the focus of attention in a gubernatorial election is on the relocation of a U.S. military air base.

 

November 10, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      It is still unclear if Chinese President Hu Jintao will agree to a meeting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan while in Yokohama to attend a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

2.      For the first time in 15 years, Japan is hosting ministers from 21 Pacific Rim economies as they meet to discuss how to achieve further economic growth.

3.      A senior U.S. State Department official welcomes the decision by Japan’s government to begin talks with the U.S. and other countries on a trans-Pacific free trade pact.

4.      The head of Indonesia’s central bank warns that the monetary policy currently being undertaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve may cause inflation in his country and other emergency economies.

 

November 9, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Japan’s government decides to begin talks with countries negotiating a trans-Pacific free trade pact, and prepares to promote other forms of economic partnerships.

2.      A Russian presidential aide says Dmitry Medvedev will discuss a territorial dispute over the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido later this week with Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

3.      Thousands of Myanmar citizens flee into neighboring Thailand after fighting erupts between military forces and armed ethnic minorities near the border separating the two nations.

4.      U.S. President Barack Obama offers his official backing for India’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

 

October 8, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      The Chinese government officially announces that President Hu Jintao will visit Japan for this weekend’s Asia-Pacific summit in Yokohama.

2.      After Sunday’s elections, Myanmar’s military rulers are expected to retain a full grip on power, while trying to create the image of handing over power to civilians.

3.      Officials at Japan’s embassy in Myanmar say a 49-year-old Japanese journalist was arrested in Myanmar on Sunday.

4.      Rising tensions over the disputed islands in the East China Sea are prompting organizers of the Asian Games to segregate Japanese and Chinese soccer fans.

 

October 7, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson

1.      Myanmar is holding its first general elections in 20 years on Sunday.  A party led by military government leaders is expected to win, with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi effectively excluded from participating.

2.      The Japanese government says it plans to begin talks with the nations involved in a trans-Pacific free-trade pact.

 

October 6, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      Finance ministers from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum are meeting in Kyoto.  They are discussing a problem of securing a balance between expanding social security and maintaining sound finances as the elderly populations are increasing.

2.      The Japanese government is making all-out efforts to determine how a video of a Chinese fishing boat ramming Japanese patrol boats has been leaked on the Internet, and plan to enhance its crisis management.

3.      In Pakistan a suicide bombing in a mosque has killed more than 50 people.  Police say it may have been an attack by Islamic militants against a local elder who opposes them.

 

October 5, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Japan’s Coast Guard officials scramble to deal with the release on the Internet of footage of September’s collision in the East China Sea between a Chinese trawler and two Japanese patrol boats.

2.      Airbus sends specialists to Singapore to work with the Australian aviation authorities now investigating the cause of an engine blowout on a superjumbo jet.

3.      Large-scale anti-U.S. demonstrations are held across Tehran to mark the 31^st anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy by Iranian students.

4.      Japan’s Nissan Motor expects record global sales for fiscal 2010 ending in March after increased sales in all major markets, including emerging and industrialized countries.

 

November 4, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      U.S. President Barack Obama admits responsibility for the Democratic Party’s stunning defeat in Tuesday’s mid-term elections.

2.      We will look at the impact those election results will have on the Obama administration’s relations with the new Congress as well as what is in store for U.S. foreign policy in the future.

3.      Russia’s foreign minister calls on Japanese leaders not to allow bilateral relations to deteriorate over a territorial dispute.

4.      The United Nations makes an urgent appeal for 86 million dollars for humanitarian aid to help African nations—drought-stricken Djibouti and flood-ridden Benin.

 

November 3, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) *Failure in recording

In the U.S. midterm elections, the Democratic Party has suffered a major setback in both houses of Congress.  The Democrats secured a majority in the Senate.  But they suffered a historic defeat in the House of Representatives, losing more than 50 seats. (From the “Top Stories” in NHK’s Website)

 

November 2, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      Japan’s government appears caught off guard, following the Russian president’s visit to one of the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, that is also claimed by Japan.

2.      Japan’s row with China continues over a Chinese fishing boat’s collision with Japan’s coast guard vessels near the Senkaku Islands.

3.      An NGO releases its first report on damage from cluster munitions after an international treaty banning cluster bombs went into effect.

4.      U.S. voters will soon begin casting their ballots in mid-term congressional elections to decide whether the ruling Democratic Party can retain its congressional majorities.

 

November 1, 2010 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Kaori Nimura and Mr. Robert Jefferson

1.      The first ever visit by a Russian or Soviet leader to disputed Russian-held islands off Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido is now under way as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits Kunashiri Island.

2.      Japanese lawmakers view video footage showing a Chinese fishing boat colliding into coast guard vessels near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

3.      A female candidate from Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party has been elected as president of Latin America’s biggest nation.

4.      Seven people were killed when Iraqi security forces stormed a church in Bagdad on Sunday to rescue dozens of people taken as hostage by gunmen.