Daily English News

 

December

 

 

December 31, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.      North Korea’s state-run media report that Kim Jong Un has officially been appointed supreme commander of the military after his late father, apparently hurrying to consolidate the power base of the young leader.

2.      Myanmar has announced that the parliamentary by-elections have been set for April 1st.  Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has already declared her candidacy.

3.      An independent panel of experts investigating the cause of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will begin full-fledged work in January.

 

December 30, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1.      The ruling Democratic Party of Japan has approved a plan to raise the nation’s consumption tax, starting in 2014.

2.      A series of ceremonies to mourn the late leader Kim Jong Il have ended in North Korea.  The country is now set to continue military-led rule under Kim Jong Un.

3.      An air raid by the Turkish military has killed 35 people.  Turkey’s government says the military may have bombed civilian smugglers, mistaking them for Kurdish militants.

 

December 29, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Raja Pradan

1.      Japanese and Indian leaders have confirmed that the two countries will step up economic and defense cooperation.

2.      The U.S. military has warned Iran that interference with free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz would not be tolerated, countering Iran’s threat to block the passage.

3.      North Korea has held a national memorial service for Kim Jong Il in the capital Pyongyang.

 

December 28, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys

1.      The funeral of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, whose death was announced on December 19th, is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Pyongyang.

2.      Leaders of the Okinawa prefectural government are discussing whether to officially accept a key report the Defense Ministry has just delivered on the planned relocation of a U.S. base within the prefecture.

3.      Arab League peace monitors have begun their mission in Syria to stop the military crackdown on anti-government protestors.

 

December 27, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuriko Yamada and Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki

1.      An environmental assessment report compiled by the government on a planned U.S. base relocation within Okinawa is scheduled to arrive in the prefecture on Tuesday.

2.      China’s government reportedly learned about the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, only when the North announced it on December 19.

3.      Japan’s foreign minister has invited Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to Japan.

 

December 26, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Asumi Ukon and Mr. Michael Rhys

1.      The leaders of Japan and China have agreed to communicate closely on how to respond to North Korea after the death of its long-time ruler.  Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Beijing on Monday.

2.      Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese Premier Wen Jaobao have agreed on the importance of maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula.

3.      A group of South Korean civilians has arrived in North Korea to pay respect to the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.

 

December 25, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1.      Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is seeking to affirm close bilateral cooperation with Chinese leaders in the wake of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

2.      Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba will visit Myanmar.  He will be the first Japanese foreign affairs chief to do so in nine years.

3.      Iran has begun massive naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, raising concern about this key oil transit channel.

 

December 24, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.      North Korea’s official newspaper has for the first time bestowed the title supreme military commander on Kim Jong Un, apparently in the country’s stepped-up effort to enhance the authority of the young successor to late leader Kim Jong Il.

2.      The Japanese government has decided on a budget plan of more than 90.3 trillion yen for the next fiscal year that starts in April.  That is equivalent to more than 1.1 trillion dollars.

3.      Tens of thousands of people in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, have held the biggest demonstration against the military since parliamentary elections began last month.

 

December 23, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      The U.S. Defense Department says the first phase of President Barack Obama’s planned troops withdrawal from Afghanistan has been completed.

2.      North Korea will allow a South Korean civilian group to visit the country to express condolences on the death of leader Kim Jong Il.

3.      The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a new reactor, paving the way for the resumption of nuclear power plant construction in the country.

 

December 22, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      The United States says it has given North Korea its conditions for a fresh round of bilateral talks on the North’s nuclear program.

2.      A South Korean civic group says there is a growing sense of anxiety among people in North Korea since the death of its leader Kim Jong Il.

3.      Newly declassified Japanese diplomatic documents show that China’s former premier Zhou Enlai avoided discussions on the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea when he met Japan’s prime minister in 1972.

 

December 21, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Michael Rhys

1.      High-ranking North Korean officials have paid their respects to the country’s late leader, Kim Jong Il.

2.      Tokyo prosecutors and police have begun searching the headquarters of Japanese optical equipment maker Olympus and other locations in connection with a massive accounting scandal.

3.      Thousands of Egyptians have demonstrated in Cairo in protest against the violent treatment of a female demonstrator by government troops.

 

December 20, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      North Korea continues to mourn.  The newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party has dedicated all of its pages to reports on the late leader Kim Jong Il.

2.      Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and U.S. President Barack Obama have agreed that their countries and South Korea will strengthen cooperation for stability on the Korean President.

3.      Japan has decided to make the F-35 stealth jet the next mainstay fighter of the Air Self-Defense Force.

 

December 19, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      North Korea’s state television says the country’s leader Kim Jong Il has died.  He was 69 years old.

2.      The funeral for the late leader Kim Jong Il will be held on December 28 in Pyongyang and his third son Kim Jong Un is heading the funeral committee.

3.      The Philippine Red Cross says the death toll from floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines has exceeded 650.

 

December 18, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1.      Leaders of Japan and South Korea have persisted in their positions on issues concerning Korean women who were allegedly forced into brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

2.      A boat carrying illegal immigrants apparently heading for Australia has sunk off the Indonesian island of Java on Saturday, leaving about 200 people missing.

3.      In the southern Philippines, more than 400 people are dead and hundreds missing due to floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm.

 

December 17, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.      South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will visit Japan on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

2.      Russia’s admission to the World Trade Organization has been approved, 18 years after the country applied for membership.

3.      In Cairo, two people have died and 220 were wounded in clashes between troops and demonstrators.  These are the first deaths from political unrest since Egypt’s parliamentary elections in November.

 

December 16, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Ms. Raja Pradan

1.      Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will declare on Friday that the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are in a state of cold shutdown.

2.      The U.S. Congress has approved new financial sanctions against Iran aimed at stopping transactions between foreign banks and Iran’s central bank.

3.      China says it will send a senior government official to an international conference in Myanmar next week.

 

December 15, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Raja Pradan

1.      The Bank of Japan’s latest survey shows business confidence among large manufacturers turned negative for the first time in six months.

2.      Japan’s government and the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say it will take up to 40 years to decommission the plant’s damaged reactors.

3.      U.S. President Barack Obama has declared the end of the nearly nine-year Iraq War.

 

December 14, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys

1.      The Japanese government will soon declare that a state of cold shutdown has been achieved for all the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

2.      Scientists at a European research institute say they have made a big step toward the discovery of a subatomic particle believed to be a building block of the universe.

3.      Palestinians raised their flag at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on Tuesday to celebrate Palestine’s new membership.

 

December 13, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Mr. Yuriko Yamada

1.      South Korea’s president has ordered his government to strengthen the Coast Guard after a fatal clash with Chinese fishermen fishing illegally.

2.      A top U.N. human rights official says that over 5,000 civilians have already died in Syria’s military crackdown on anti-government protestors.

3.      Canada says it is pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, the first country to formally do so.  The protocol mandates industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

 

December 12, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Asumi Ukon and Mr. David Crystal

1.      Japan has successfully launched an information-gathering satellite into orbit.

2.      Japan will select its next mainstay fighter aircraft this week.

3.      A Pakistani retired general says a North Korean military officer gave him 500,000 dollars in a bid to build ties with the Pakistani military on nuclear and missile development.

 

December 11, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1.      Amid extended talks at a U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, delegates have approved a proposal drafted for a new anti-global warming framework.

2.      Sunday marks nine months since the earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11th.  Disaster survivors are facing a harsh employment situation.

3.      Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Moscow to protest what they see as fraud in Russia’s parliamentary election held last Sunday.

 

December 10, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.      The European Union has reached an agreement on making a new treaty for tightening fiscal regulations by March next year.

2.      Delegates at the U.N. climate talks are making last ditch efforts to find a breakthrough for a new worldwide pact on global warming even after the final day scheduled on Friday.

3.      In India, at least 87 people have been killed in a fire at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.

 

December 9, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      The Japanese government has announced additional financial sanctions against Iran over its continued nuclear program.

2.      Last-minute negotiations are taking place at a U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa.  Delegates are trying to work out a deal before the meeting closes on Friday.

3.      Health checkups show that some Fukushima residents were exposed to 15 millisieverts of radiation in the first four months after the nuclear disaster.

 

December 8, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. Raja Pradan

1.      Japan’s environment minister has said at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa that it will not join an extended 1997 Kyoto Protocol while urging the early establishment of a new framework.

2.      The Russian government is facing growing criticism after video clips pointing to fraudulent activities in Sunday’s Lower House election were uploaded onto the Internet.

3.      Mexican authorities say that a son of the late Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi tried to flee to Mexico after the collapse of his father’s regime in August, but that his attempt was thwarted.

 

December 7, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      Japan’s foreign currency reserves reached a new high at the end of November, in the wake of the nation’s massive intervention in the money markets to curb the surging yen.

2.      Japanese optical machinery maker Olympus Corporation is planning major reforms

following its cover-up of huge investment losses.

3.      A ministerial meeting of the U.N. climate conference opened in Durban, South Africa.

 

December 6, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1.      Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency announced Monday it will review the sovereign debt of 15 eurozone nations, including Germany and France.

2.      The leaders of France and Germany have called for changes in the European Unity Treaty to strengthen the region’s fiscal disciplines.

3.      Afghanistan is still seeking assistance from the world.  Donor nations gather in the German City of Bonn on Monday to discuss the matter.

 

December 5, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. David Crystal

1.      In Russia’s Lower House election on Sunday, Vladimir Putin’s governing United Russia Party will be likely to sustain a majority, but suffers a sharp drop in its number of seats.

2.      Media in Iran have reported that the country’s military shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane in its eastern region bordering Afghanistan.

3.      In Egypt, fundamentalist Muslim parties captured an overwhelming majority in the first round of parliamentary elections in Cairo and other areas in late November.

 

December 4, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1.      With the U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, at midpoint, delegates are divided over when to launch a new framework after the Kyoto Protocol expires next year.

2.      A new Central and South American organization, which does not include the United States and Canada, has been formed to promote regional development.

3.      Russians are casting ballots in a parliamentary election on Sunday, which is seen as a prelude to a presidential election in March.

 

December 3, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mark Robinson and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.      Negotiations over setting up a new fund to help developing nations cut greenhouse gas emissions are at a standstill at the U.N. climate change talks in Durban, South Africa.

2.      Belgians have taken to the streets of the capital, Brussels, to protest austerity measures that the in-coming government says are vital to keep public finances under control.

3.      Japan may announce later this month that reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have reached a state of cold shutdown.

 

December 2, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Asumi Ukon

1.      It is believed that a miscommunication between workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have delayed a response to the accident on March 11th.

2.      Myanmar might get a U.S. ambassador after a 20-year suspension if the Asian nation makes further efforts toward democracy.

3.      E.U. foreign ministers have adopted a statement condemning Iran for the storming of the British embassy in Tehran.

 

December 1, 2011 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuriko Yamada

1.      South Africa, the host of the on-going U.N. climate conference in Durban, has launched unofficial talks with other participating countries.

2.      The British government has ordered Iran to close its embassy in London and to withdraw all of its diplomats from the country.

3.      Six central banks from Europe, North America and Japan have agreed to take steps to secure an ample supply of currencies for financial markets.