September 1, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Disaster preparedness drills are being held across the country on Monday, the anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
2. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for talks on what he called the “statehood” of eastern Ukraine.
3. China’s legislative body wants to introduce universal suffrage in elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive.
September 2, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to reshuffle his cabinet and top executives of the governing Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday.
2. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India and Japan can together spread democratic values around the world.
3. Tuesday marks a week since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas entered the truce.
September 3, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has appointed new leadership of his Liberal Democratic Party ahead of the reshuffle of the Cabinet.
2. A bomb attack targeting a convoy has killed 11 members of the Egyptian security forces.
3. Militants with the group Islamic State claim they have executed another American hostage.
September 4, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed a 7-provision plan for peace in eastern Ukraine.
2. The U.S. government has welcomed Japan’s new Cabinet.
3. British Prime Minister David Cameron says his country will not give in to terrorism, despite threats by Islamic militants to kill a British hostage.
September 5, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Raja Pradan
1. Negotiators are scheduled to meet in Belarus to discuss a truce in eastern Ukraine.
2. NATO leaders have reaffirmed that they will continue to support Afghanistan even after their forces complete combat missions in the country by the end of this year.
3. Japan will intensify its call for China to hold bilateral summit talks at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing this November.
September 6, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Ukraine’s government and Russia-backed separatists have agreed to a ceasefire.
2. The South Korean military says North Korea launched 3 short-range projectiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning.
3. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has set out on a 3-day visit to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He says he hopes to strengthen economic ties and other relations with the South Asian countries.
September 7, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her support for Japan’s bid for non-permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council.
2. Japan’s Kei Nishikori has defeated Novak Djokovic of Servia to advance to the men’s singles final at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship.
3. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko have agreed that a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is generally holding.
September 8, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has held summit talks with South Asian leaders to strengthen economic and security ties.
2. The fighting that continues in some parts of eastern Ukraine is threatening a precarious ceasefire.
3. Flooding caused by heavy rain has killed more than 360 people in India and Pakistan.
September 9, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Mick Corliss
1. Japan’s top tennis player Kei Nishikori has lost the men’s final at the U.S. Open to Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
2. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he is determined to protect the territorial integrity of his country from claims by pro-Russian separatists.
3. Iraq’s parliament has approved a new unity government headed by Haider al-Abadi in a bid to combat the Sunni militant group in the country.
September 10, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys
1. The U.S. government has called on Japan to provide more humanitarian aid to Iraqi and Syrian refugees fleeing Islamic State militants.
2. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan will cooperate with other G7 nations to consider further sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.
3. Chinese media say President Xi Jinping is looking forward to in-depth talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in November.
September 11, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Jonathan Sear and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. U.S. President Barack Obama has laid out his plan to carry out air strikes in Syria to weaken and ultimately destroy the Islamic State militant group.
2. Former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin have reaffirmed the importance of maintaining dialogue.
3. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for the European Union to go ahead with the announcement of additional sanctions against Russia.
September 12, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Maxwell Powers
1. The European Union has announced additional sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis.
2. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a week-long military exercise to check troops’ combat readiness in the country’s Far East.
3. People in the United States have marked the 13th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
September 13, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. The United States has announced more sanctions against Russia to pressure the country to observe a truce in Ukraine.
2. Japanese researchers have conducted the world’s first surgery using iPS cells . The patient is in stable condition and will be able to leave the hospital in about a week.
3. Finance ministers from the member nations of the Asia-Europe Meeting have agreed on the need to steadily implement sound policies to achieve economic recovery in Europe.
September 14, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. The Islamic State militant group has released video footage of the killing of a man believed to be a British aid worker.
2. Russian government officials have sent a second convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into eastern Ukraine without obtaining consent from Kiev.
3. Officials in Pyongyang say some people in Japan are exploiting a long-running issue to tarnish the reputation of North Korea.
September 15, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. British Prime Minister David Cameron says his country and the rest of the world must destroy the Islamic State militant group.
2. Residents of Crimea have cast their first ballots in a Russian election.
3. A Japanese government survey shows for the first time that one in eight people in Japan is 75 or older.
September 16, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. U.S. forces have launched airstrikes as part of an expanded offensive against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq.
2. Representatives of the Japanese government on the International Whaling Commission hope to sway members against a proposal by New Zealand.
3. Sporadic fighting continues between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine despite a September 5th ceasefire.
September 17, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Japan’s research whaling remains the main focus of the International Whaling Commission’s general meeting now underway in Slovenia.
2. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the Pentagon is ready for military campaigns to attack militant Islamist rebels in Syria.
3. The Iraqi parliament has voted down new Prime Minister Haiderf al-Abadi’s nominees for defense and interior ministers, leaving the 2 cabinet posts unfilled.
September 18, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai
1. The U.S. Federal Reserve has decided to further scale down its bond purchases with the aim of ending the quantitative easing measure next month.
2. People in Scotland are set to begin voting in a closely watched referendum on independence from the United Kingdom.
3. The International Whaling Commission is expected to take a vote on a key resolution that could delay the resumption of Japan’s research whaling on Thursday.
September 19, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. The BBC report says Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom.
2. The Japanese government says it will continue its research whaling program in the Antarctic by drawing up a new research plan.
3. U.S. officials have pledged 53 million dollars in additional aid to Ukraine to help bolster its security.
September 20, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and
Ms.Fumiko Konoe
1. Delegates to a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday were divided on a military campaign against Islamic State extremists.
2. Military personnel from NATO countries are taking part in a joint military exercise in western Ukraine.
3. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 countries have begun a two-day meeting in Australia.
September 21, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 countries have wrapped up their talks by calling for flexible fiscal strategies to boost economic growth and job creation.
2. More than 60,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border into Turkey in just two days to escape advancing Islamic State extremists.
3. Japanese and U.S. officials have reviewed several sticking points prior to ministerial talks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact this week.
September 22, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on his way to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly.
2. Ashraf Ghani has been elected as the new president of Afghanistan.
3. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the street in New York
calling for immediate action on climate change.
September 23, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. The United States and its allies have started air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.
2. An Islamist group active in Egypt has claimed responsibility for an attack in central Cairo that killed 3 police officers on Sunday.
3. Representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas are set to resume ceasefire talks in Egypt as early as Tuesday.
September 24, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Helen Lewis
1. The U.S. Defense Department says it intends to continue air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
2. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ahs called on member nations to cooperate in the fight against global warming.
3. Japan and Iran have agreed to hold regular meetings of foreign ministry officials to step up cooperation in stabilizing the Middle East.
September 25, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Government officials from Japan and North Korea will meet to discuss the progress of an investigation into the fate of abducted and other missing Japanese next week.
2. U.S. fighters have bombed oil refineries in Syria in a bid to cut off a key source of financing for the Islamic State militant group.
3. Japan’s prime minister has said he is considering additional aid to help contain the Ebola outbreak.
September 26, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Maxwell Powers and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised Japan’s assistance to help contain the Ebola outbreak and stabilize the Middle East.
2. Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations have expressed support for comprehensive and coordinated efforts to defeat the Islamic State militant group.
3. A Pentagon spokesperson says Arab nations played a major role in Wednesday’s U.S.-led airstrikes on oil refineries held by the Islamic State militant group in Syria.
September 27, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe
1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has joined world leaders in a joint statement pledging support for the strengthening of U.N. peace-keeping activities.
2. The International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s nuclear development.
3. The British parliament has voted in favor of the government’s request to conduct air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
September 28, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa
1. Police in central Japan have resumed a rescue operation for people trapped on a mountain that erupted on Saturday.
2. The president of the Spanish region of Catalonia has signed a decree calling for a referendum on independence. The vote is scheduled for November 9th.
3. The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has increased its offensive against some rebel forces while suspending attacks on the Islamic State militant group.
September 29, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto
1. Mount Ontake in central Japan is continuing to erupt after the volcanic activities started on Saturday.
2. Diplomats from Japan and North Korea began talks in China on Monday on the investigation into the fate of Japanese nationals in the North, including those abducted by the country.
3. Yokozuna grand champion Hakuho won his 31st title at the autumn grand sumo tournament in Tokyo on Sunday.
September 30, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu
1. Search operations on Mount Ontake have been suspended amid concerns that the volcano may become active.
2. Protesters continue to block roads in the heart of Hong Kong on Tuesday.
3. The United States and its Arab allies are continuing air strikes on targets of the Islamic State militant group in Syria.