December

 

December 1, Sunday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. Japanese government officials say they want to reaffirm their cooperation with the United States against China’s air defense identification zone during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.

2. Japan’s Emperor and Empress have arrived in India for a state visit.

3. At least one person has died in a shooting in the Thai capital Bangkok during large anti-government demonstrations.

December 2, Monday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsmoto and Mr. Raja Pradan

1. Anti-government protestors in Thailand are calling on government employees across the country to go on a strike on Monday.

2. The Japanese government plans to contribute an additional 800-million dollars to an international financing institution to fight major infectious diseases.

3. Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are now visiting India, where they viewed a linden tree they planted 53 years ago.

December 3, Tuesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Mick Corliss

1. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Japan on the first leg of his three-nation East Asian tour.

2. The U.S. State Department has urged China to scrap requirements the country has imposed in its newly declared air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.

3. Japan’s Emperor and Empress have attended a banquet at New Delhi’s presidential palace during a week-long visit to India.

December 4, Wednesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Anti-government protesters in Thailand say they will resume their demonstrations after the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

2. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary says the government will closely monitor the reported dismissal of Jang Song Thaek, an uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un widely seen as his mentor.

3. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is set to tell Chinese leaders China’s air defense identification zone unilaterally changes the status quo and is unacceptable.

December 5, Thursday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Patrick Devolpi and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has notified Chinese President Xi Jinping of Washington’s deep concern over China’s air defense identification zone.

2. UNESCO has added Japanese cuisine and food culture to its intangible cultural heritage list.

3. People in Thailand are celebrating the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej amid a break in anti-government demonstrations.

December 6, Friday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Maxwell Powers and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. Former South African president Nelson Mandela died on Thursday.  He was 95.

2. The Japanese government is working to replace its decades-long arms exports ban with a new policy that allows weapons exports under control.

3. NHK has learned that Japan showed its readiness to remove tariffs on roughly 92 percent of items subject to negotiations in the proposed multilateral free-trade talks.

December 7, Saturday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japanese lawmakers have enacted a law that gives the government the authority to designate certain official information as special secrets. The law will strictly penalize those who leak information.

2 .Tokyo Electric Power Company says radiation’s levels are extremely high in an area near a ventilation pipe at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

3.South Africans will bid a final farewell to former president Nelson Mandela at a large memorial service in Johannesburg next Tuesday.

December 8, Sunday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. Officials from Japan and the United States have met to discuss their contentious issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.

2. U.S. Presidential Barack Obama has indicated that the U.S. may allow Iran to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes with strict monitoring and constraints.

3. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and Philippine Secretary of Defense Voltaire Gazmin have agreed to work together in dealing with China’s East China Sea air defense identification zone.

December 9, Monday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. A power shift in North Korea’s leadership may be in the works after an uncle of leader Kim Jong Un was dismissed from all of his posts.

2. Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced that she will dissolve the parliament for an election.

3. More than 50 heads of states, governments and international organizations will attend Tuesday’s memorial service for former South African president Nelson Mandela.

December 10, Tuesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. The Japanese government will begin preparations this week to implement a controversial state secrets protection law that will take effect in about a year.

2. Trade ministers from 12 countries are still in talks on Tuesday to try and tie up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

3. In Thailand’s capital Bangkok, anti-government protesters continue their sit-in around the prime minister’s office as the political crisis deepens in the Southeast Asian country.

December 11, Wednesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Participating nations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks will continue working-level negotiations until the year-end so they can strike a deal in January.

2. Japan’s government will set up a new fund to promote innovative research and development projects that are high risk but have great potential to transform society.

3. Vietnam’s prime minister has called for a peaceful solution to the row between Japan and China over China’s new air defense identification zone.

December 12, Thursday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. A top U.S. military officer has stressed the importance of communicating closely with China following Beijing’s decision to create an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.

2. Senior American and European officials have visited Ukraine to show support for opposition supporters seeking closer ties with Europe.

3. Health ministers from the Group of Eight nations have pledged to work together to find a treatment for dementia.

December 13, Friday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Officials in North Korea say they have executed Jang Song Thaek, an uncle and mentor of the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, for attempting to seize power through a military coup.

2. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden have reaffirmed they are collaborating closely to address China’s new air defense identification zone.

3. A team of Japanese researchers has succeeded in growing kidney tissue from human stem cells.

December 14, Saturday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on Asian nations to support his efforts to create an Asia-Pacific region where law, not force, will govern and people respect cultures and differences of each nation.

2. The U.S. Navy says its warship operating in international waters in the South China Sea has avoided a collision with a Chinese naval vessel.

3. The United Nations Children’s Fund says the civil in Syria has forced nearly three million children to quit their schooling.

December 15, Sunday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan will work with other countries and continue to demand that China revoke all measures that block the freedom of aviation over the open sea.

2. North Korean officials have listed the wife of Jang Song Thaek as a participant in an upcoming state ceremony.

3. China’s unmanned lunar probe has successfully landed on the moon less than two weeks after lifting off.

December 16, Monday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid a condolence call to a late senior official of the ruling Labors’ Party.

2. South Africans have paid their last farewell to former president Nelson Mandela.

3. Researchers plan to investigate radioactive contamination in the seabed off the coast of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

December 17, Tuesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Mick Corliss

1. The Japanese government has adopted a defense policy package calling for a stronger defense of the country’s remote islands, in light of China’s maritime ambitions.

2. The Japanese government has approved its first comprehensive national security strategy for foreign and defense affairs.

3. North Korea’s leadership is emphasizing the legitimacy of Kim Jong Un’s leadership on the second anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

December 18, Wednesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys

1. A top North Korean military official has criticized the United States and South Korea, saying his forces will make a clean sweep of their enemies.

2. Iran and the world’s six major powers have agreed to resume talks to implement a deal aimed at ending the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

3. The U.S. government says it will not discuss with Japan a revision of the Status of Forces Agreement which governs the U.S. military in the country.

December 19, Thursday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Patrick Devolpi and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose announced his resignation for taking money from a medical group.

2. Iran and six world powers will resume expert-level talks about how to implement the first phase of a nuclear agreement.

3. A video showing Italian immigration workers hosing down naked asylum seekers with disinfectant has sparked outrage throughout the country and overseas.

December 20, Friday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Maxwell Powers and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. An armed group has attacked a U.N. facility in South Sudan, reportedly causing casualties.

2. Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has encouraged the movement toward democracy in Egypt during a meeting with his counterpart from the country.

3. U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says a set of rules need to be established with China for when the two militaries come into contact.

December 21, Saturday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1.The U.S. Security Council has urged two ethnic groups in South Sudan to immediately halt violence and seek a solution through dialogue.

2.Thirty-one countries including Japan, the U.S. and Russia will attend  peace talks to end the Syrian civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people, but whether Iran will be invited is not yet decided.  The country supports the Syrian government.

2.U.S. and European media have reported that U.S. and British intelligence agencies amassed more than 1,000 surveillance targets in more than 60 countries.

December 22, Sunday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Keiko Kitagawa and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. The U.S. military says four soldiers were wounded when gunmen shot at their aircraft during an evacuation mission in South Sudan.

2. Anti-government protesters in Thailand plant to hold a massive rally on Sunday to demand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down.

3. The Japanese government has finalized a draft budget plan for fiscal 2014 with general accounting hitting a record 920 billion dollars.

December 23, Monday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says radioactive water may have leaked through barriers surrounding contaminated water tanks on the plant site.

2. People opposed to restarting Japan’s nuclear power plants took to the streets of Tokyo on Sunday.

3. Three members of an Egyptian youth group that played a major role in the 2011 pro-democracy movement have been sentenced to three years in prison.

December 24, Tuesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. David Crystal

1. The Japanese government approved the country’s largest-ever annual budget plan for the next fiscal year.

2. The United Nations plans to boost its military presence in South Sudan as clashes continue between military factions.

3. Human rights activists say more than 300 people have been killed in bombing operations in Syria over the past eight days.

December 25, Wednesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. The death toll in South Sudan is rising as fighting between government and anti-government forces shows no signs of abating.

2. A government survey shows that radiation levels dropped by more than half after trial decontamination in residential areas severely affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

3. The Japanese government hasn’t used the word deflation in its monthly report for the first time in more than four years.

December 26, Thursday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday exactly one year after assuming office.

2. South Korean media say Abe’s visit to the shrine is likely to increase tensions between Japan and its neighbors.

3. Governor of Okinawa in southern Japan is expected to announce on Friday that he approves the Japanese government’s request to reclaim land for the relocation of a U.S. air base.

December 27, Friday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hearing criticism from around the world after his visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday.

2. Japan has compiled a new set of initiative to achieve its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

3. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is fighting back against the interim government’s designation of it as a terrorist group.

December 28, Saturday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. The Japanese government is set to start work from early next year on the relocation of a U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture now that its governor has approved a key procedure.

2. The New York Times has carried an article expressing concern about the negative impact Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ‘s visit to Yasukuni Shrine might have on U.S. regional diplomacy.

December 29, Sunday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. An international attempt to end two weeks of fighting in South Sudan has failed with anti-government forces rejecting an immediate ceasefire.

2. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed regret over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

3. The new chief minister of Indian capital New Delhi has pledged to eradicate corruption from the country.

December 30, Monday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Japanese government officials are on high alert after North Korea repeatedly hinted about military provocations.

2. The government has decided that under certain conditions workers will be allowed to stay overnight in some of Fukushima’s off-limit areas.

3. A blast outside a building housing military intelligence offices in northern Egypt has wounded four soldiers.

December 31, Tuesday, 2013 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. David Crystal

1. The Japan Automobile Importers Association says the market share of imported cars will hit a record high in 2013.

2. The Bank of Japan’s massive monetary easing program raised the volume of money in the financial market by 45 percent this year.

3. The Chinese foreign minister has exchanged views with his Russian, German and Vietnamese counterparts over Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine.