April 1, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Japan’s consumption tax has risen to 8 percent from 5 percent, the first increase in 17 years.
2. The Japanese government says it will suspend its current research whaling program in the Antarctic Ocean, following a U.N. court ruling.
3. Russia is apparently stepping up its political control over Crimea.
April 2, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile at 23:46 UTC on Tuesday.
2. A Tokyo scientist says Japan’s RIKEN institute bears the social responsibility of verifying whether or not its researchers have actually succeeded in developing a groundbreaking method of creating stem cells.
3. NATO has announced it will suspend all practical cooperation with Russia to protest the country’s annexation of Crimea.
April 3, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. David Crystal
1. Tsunami spawned by the powerful 8.2 earthquake off Chile have washed ashore in Japan.
2. A report by a United Nations committee says the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture is unlikely to cause a significant rise in new cancer cases.
3. The secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization says further Russian intervention in Ukraine would be a” historic mistake”.
April 4, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Japan’s Foreign Ministry has called China’s maritime activities in the East China Sea attempts to alter the status quo through force.
2. Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold a meeting of senior officials in Washington early next week to discuss North Korea’s recent provocative moves.
3. Major aftershocks in Chile continued to disrupt people’s lives following the magnitude-8.2 temblor that rocked the region on Tuesday.
April 5, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Voting has begun in Afghanistan to elect a new president amid record tight security as the Taliban have vowed to disrupt the election.
2. Foreign ministers from former Soviet republics have met to discuss the situation in Ukraine. But what they had to say about Russia’s annexation of Crimea has not been made public.
April 6, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Japan’s Defense Minister Itsuki Onodera and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have confirmed that their countries will closely cooperate in responding to North Korea’s continued military provocations.
2. Vote counting is underway in Afghanistan’s presidential election. Authorities have declared the election a success, as no mass terror attacks disrupted voting.
3. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for international action to restore security in the Central African Republic.
April 7, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japanese and U.S. negotiators resume working-level discussions on the Trans-Pacifi Partnership free-trade talks on Monday in Tokyo.
2. Investigators are hastening their search for the flight recorders of the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner.
3. People in India start going to the polls in parliamentary elections that will last more than a month.
April 8, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Senior officials of Japan, the United States and South Korea have jointly warned North Korea to stop provocative acts.
2. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame marked the 20th anniversary of the country’s genocide by calling for reconciliation between the country’s 2 main ethnic groups.
3. Pro-Russian residents in Ukraine’s eastern cities of Donetsk and Kharkiv have declared the establishment of independent republics.
April 9, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys
1. A lead researcher has apologized that her immaturity and carelessness have led to a doubt over a high-profile stem cell study.
2. Japan’s economic revitalization minister has expressed his desire to speed up talks with the United States and resolve any remaining issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.
3. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the United States and China have agreed to create 2 new mechanisms for bilateral security dialogues.
April 10, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Patrick Devolpi and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japan and the United States have failed to narrow gaps over outstanding issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks in the latest round of discussions.
2. Indonesia’s largest opposition party will likely gain the top spot in Wednesday’s general election.
3. A team of monitors have visited the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to check out water is being pumped up to stop it from mixing with radioactive water.
April 11, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Maxwell Powers and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Ukraine’s interim government is warning pro-Russian demonstrators in two eastern cities that they may use force to evict them from government buildings.
2. The head of the International Monetary Fund says the IMF’s executive board is expected to approve a bailout program for Ukraine as early as late April.
3. Japanese negotiators in charge of the Pacific regional trade talks say they still hope to narrow differences with their U.S. counterparts before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo later this month.
April 12, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal
1. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 nations have agreed that financial assistance should be provided to Ukraine.
2. Pro-Russian demonstrators in two eastern Ukrainian cities continue to occupy government buildings after the deadline set by the interim government for them to leave or face forcible removal passed.
3. Foreign ministers from Japan and 11 other countries that do not possess nuclear weapons are meeting in Hiroshima on Saturday fro the conference of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative.
April 13, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Political unrest is spreading in eastern Ukraine. Police stations have been assaulted by armed groups in towns near Donetsk, where a government building is occupied by Pro-Russian demonstrators.
2. A steering committee of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the crisis in Ukraine poses a risk to the global economy.
3. Japan is making arrangements for North Korea to hold the next round of government-level talks this month to discuss the North’s abductions of Japanese nationals and other pending issues.
April 14, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Ukraine’s interim government says it set 9 A.M. Monday local time as the deadline
for Pro-Russian protestors and armed groups to lay their weapons and leave the
seized building scene in the eastern part of the country.
2. The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says highly
contaminated water was mistakenly sent to a building that is neither a storage nor
processing facility.
3. More than 100 people have reported breathing difficulties in central Syria.
Government and opposition forces are accusing each other of using chemical gas.
April 15, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Supporters of Ukraine’s interim government held a massive protest on Monday in
Kiev, urging the government to take military action to remove armed pro-Russian
groups.
2. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is under pressure to find out why
more than 200 tons of highly contaminated water was mistakenly pumped to a wrong
building at the compound.
3. The World Trade Organization says China overtook the United States to become the
world’s largest trader of goods last year in terms of value.
April 16, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Ukraine’s interim government has evicted Pro-Russian militants from an airport in the country’s east and regained control of the facility.
2. An international team of exports looking into alleged acts of torture by Syrian security authorities say more than 10,000 people appear to have been tortured and killed.
3. Chinese officials say the country’s Gross Domestic Product for January to March expanded 7.4 percent for the same period a year ago.
April 17, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. South Korean military and coast guard divers searching for survivors from a sunken passenger ferry are battling strong currents and muddy waters.
2. At least one person reportedly has been killed in a clash between Pro-Russian residents and government troops in eastern Ukraine.
3. Algerians go to the polls on Thursday to choose a president amid terror threats from Islamic extremists.
April 18, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Top diplomats from the United States , Russia、the European Union, and Ukraine have agreed on steps to lower the tensions in Ukraine.
2. A group supporting Ukraine’s interim government staged a mass rally in the country’s eastern region.
3. The South Korean government suspects the passenger ferry may have sunk due to an abrupt change in course, which caused it to lose balance.
April 19, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. The South Korean coast guard says rescue workers have spotted three bodies in a sunken passenger ferry off the country’s southern coast. This is the first detection of bodies inside the ferry.
2. Groups of pro-Russian gunmen in eastern Ukraine are defying calls by the U.S. and Russia to leave government offices and police stations they are occupying.
3. The Japanese minister in charge of trade talks with the U.S. says negotiators are closing gaps between the two camps, but still have a long way to go before they can reach an agreement.
April 20, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed Economic Revitalization Minister Akira Amari to accelerate talks with the United States on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
2. South Korean rescue workers have begun searching inside the passenger ferry that sank off the country’s southern coast. They have recovered several bodies, but no survivors have yet been found.
3. The leader of a European monitoring team working in Ukraine says a 4-party accord has helped prevent the situation in the country from deteriorating any further.
April 21, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuko Matsumoto
1. South Korea’s government is under mounting public criticism for its handling of the ferry disaster, as divers continue their search inside the sunken vessel.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama will meet in Tokyo on Thursday.
3. Japan’s industry ministry is going to set up a panel to investigate ways to improve the earning power of domestic businesses and boost their global competitiveness.
April 22, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. South Korean authorities say more than 100 people have been confirmed dead after a ferry sank off the country’s southern coast almost a week ago.
2. Hundreds of pro-Russian demonstrators gathered in front of government offices in eastern Ukraine on Easter Monday.
3. South Korea’s Defense Ministry says it has detected increased activities at a North Korean nuclear test site.
April 23, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Helen Lewis
1. U.S. President Barack Obama has started his 4-nation tour of Asia. He will hold a summit meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday.
2. Japanese and U.S. ministers in charge of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact will sit down together once again in Tokyo on Wednesday.
3. Pro-Russian demonstrators in eastern Ukraine show no signs of ending their occupation of public buildings after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged Russia to help defuse tensions.
April 24, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Patrick Devolpi and Ms.Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japan’s prime minister and the president of the United States want to strengthen their alliance between their countries for the peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Investigators in South Korea are widening their probe to find out why a ferry sank off the country’s southern coast.
3. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says human error may be responsible for the latest disruption to the water treatment system at the complex.
April 25, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Maxwell Powers
1. The Japanese and U.S. governments have issued a joint statement based on the results of Thursday’s summit meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Barack Obama.
2. U.S. President Barack Obama have stressed the importance of dialogue between China and Japan.
3. South Korean government sources say North Korea has completed its preparations for a possible nuclear test, including the installation of a detonator.
April 26, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Ukraine’s interim government says it has resumed cracking down on pro-Russian militants occupying public buildings in eastern regions.
2. U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye have agreed to boost deterrence in regard to North Korea.
3. An advisory board to UNESCO has recommended an 19th-century silk mill near Tokyo be given World Cultural Heritage status.
April 27, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa and Ms Risa Shimizu
1. South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has expressed his intention to resign over the government’s response to the recent ferry disaster.
2. Russian government officials say they will help to secure the release of international monitors detained by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
3. A unit of the Chinese army that operates along the border with North Korea has reportedly conducted a large-scale emergency drill.
April 28, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine released one of their hostages on Sunday.
2. People in South Africa have marked the 20th anniversary of the country’s first ever multi-racial election.
3. Japan’s nuclear regulator has told the nation’s utilities to strengthen their efforts to guard against nuclear terrorism.
April 29, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to begin a 6-nation tour of Europe.
2. A Japanese envoy has called on the world’s nuclear powers to hold multilateral negotiations aimed at promoting nuclear disarmament.
3. North Korea says it plans to conduct live-fire drills on Tuesday near its maritime border with South Korea.
April 30, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Germany on Tuesday on the first leg of his European tour.
2. Pro-Russian activists have seized more public buildings in eastern Ukraine, demanding referendums for greater regional autonomy.
3. North Korea says there is no statute of limitations on the country’s declaration that it will not rule out a new form of nuclear test.