December

 

December 1, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. The government headquarters of Hong Kong was closed on Monday morning as intermittent clashes continue between pro-democracy protesters and police.

2. Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-Jeou is likely to soon step down as the leader of the ruling Nationalist Party.

3. Delegates to a U.N. conference on climate change will meet in Peru to discuss a new framework to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

December 2, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. Japanese politicians have launched their 12-day campaigns for the general election.

2. Delegates from around the world have opened a U.N. conference on climate change in Peru.

3. British lawmakers have criticized China for refusing to allow a group of parliamentary members into Hong Kong.

December 3, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Helen Lewis

1. Japan’s new asteroid probe Hayabusha II has been launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

2. Japanese auto parts maker Takata says the company is ready for a nationwide recall of its airbags in the United States.

3. A group of armed men killed at least 36 non-Muslim workers at a quarry in northeastern Kenya on Tuesday.

December 4, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Jonathan Sear and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Automakers Toyata and Honda say they will take new measures to handle recalls for defective airbags made by Japanese company Takata.

2. The U.N. weather agency says this year is shaping up to be the hottest in recorded history.

3. A non-government organization says corruption in China has greatly worsened despite the latest government campaign to crack down on corrupt bureaucrats.

December 5, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Maxwell Powers

1. The dollar has briefly turned above the 120-yen level.  This is the first time in about 7 years and 4 months the U.S. currency has entered that trading band.

2. Japan emitted the largest amounts of greenhouse gases on record in the fiscal year that ended last March.

3. The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted a resolution condemning Russia for violating the sovereignty of its neighboring countries, including Ukraine.

December 6, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. The Japanese government is considering legalizing the provision of ammunition to the U.S. and other militaries in case of emergencies in areas around Japan.

2. Honda Motor has decided to recall 135,000 vehicles in Japan that have potentially defective airbags made by Japanese auto-parts maker Takata.

3. A former member of China’s top decision-making body is facing arrest on corruption charges and has been expelled from the Communist Party.

December 7, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. The Philippines are on high alert as a strong typhoon is passing through central parts of the country.

2. Japanese researchers say a satellite they launched to observe greenhouse gases has detected high concentrations of CO2 around some of the world’s major cities and industrialized areas.

3. Heavy snow falls have blanketed wide areas of Japan, mostly along the Sea of Japan coast.

December 8, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. The Japanese government has revised slightly downward its economic growth rate for July to September.

2. A powerful typhoon that is raging across the central Philippines has so far killed two people.

3. Forty new proposals are up for discussion by the International Olympic Committee and reforming the prestigious international sporting events.

December 9, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. The Japanese government has decided to provide 8.5 million dollars in grant aid to support global efforts to contain the Ebola epidemic.

2. Japan has decided to impose more sanctions on individuals and organizations judged to be directly involved in the instability in eastern Ukraine.

3. Delegates from nearly 160 countries gathered in Vienna on Monday to discuss the humanitarian impact of human weapons.

December 10, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Ministers are discussing a new global framework to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the U.N. COP 20 meeting in Peru.

2. China has yet to respond to calls by Japan for working-level talks on setting up an emergency communications mechanism between their defense authorities.

3. Credit-ratings firm Fitch says it has put Japanese government bonds on “rating watch negative” with a possible downgrading in mind.

December 11, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Mr. David Crystal

1. Three Japanese-born scientists have received this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.

2. Suicide bombers have killed at least 4 people at a textile market in Nigeria.

3. U.S. State Department officials have joined 2 North Korean defectors on stage in Washington to warn Pyongyang over its human rights record.

December 12, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. A small group of students in Hong Kong continue to occupy an area of a major shopping district on Friday, after police demolished the main protest camp in the city.

2. The CIA director has admitted that some agency officers used abhorrent integration methods on detainees captured after the September 11 attacks.

3. Officials at Japan’s fisheries ministry say South Korea will send experts to Japan to study the validity of a ban on fisheries imports from Fukushima and 7 other prefectures.

December 13, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Delegates to the U.N. climate conference in Lima, Peru, are expected to extend their talks in an effort to reach a final compromise.

2. Crude oil prices in futures plunged to the 57-dollar-per-barrel level in New York, marking the lowest since May 2009.

3. Party leaders and candidates in Japan’s Lower House election are making their last pitch on Saturday, one day before voters will go to the polls.

December 14, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. People in Japan are casting their ballots in a general election. Voter turnout so far is lower than in the last election held two years ago.

2. Delegates at the U.N. climate conference in Lima, Peru, are involved in their final round of negotiation to bridge a divide between industrialized and developing nations.

3. Four separate Taliban attacks in two days have killed 21 people in Afghanistan, prompting fresh concerns about deteriorating security weeks before most international troops withdraw.

December 15, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Japan’s governing parties have won a two-thirds majority in the Lower House election.

2. The opposition Democratic Party will begin procedures to choose a new leader following the defeat of party president Banri Kaieda in Sunday’s Lower House election.

3. Hong Kong police have begun clearing the last of pro-democracy protest sites, putting an end to over 2 months of sit-ins.

December 16, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Mick Corliss

1. Health authorities in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki say they have confirmed the H5 strain of bird flu in chickens from a local poultry farm.

2. Australian police say three people have been killed after commandos stormed a café in central Sydney to end a 16-hour siege.

3. A U.S. law firm says it is preparing a nation-wide class action lawsuit against Japanese parts maker Takata and car makers including Toyota and Honda over Takata’s defective airbag systems.

December 17, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Rhys and Ms. Kimberly Gale

1. The plunging crude oil prices have led to the depreciation of the currencies of Russia and other resource exporting nations.

2. Members of the Pakistani Teliban have carried out the country’s deadliest attack in years.

3. Officials in Australia plan to review their anti-terrorism measures after a deadly siege at a café in Sydney.

December 18, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Jonathan Sear and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. U.S. President Barack Obama says that talks will begin shortly to normalize diplomatic ties with Cuba.

2. Pakistan’s government is taking tougher measures against terrorism after a deadly school attack which killed more than 140 people.

3. U.S. central bank chief Janet Yellen has indicated that the Fed will not raise interest rates until next April at the earliest.

December 19, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. Maxwell Powers

1. The governments of Japan and the United States have formally announced that they will postpone a planned revision to their defense cooperation guidelines until the first half of 2015.

2. The U.N. General Assembly has approved a draft resolution denouncing the human rights situation in North Korea.

3. The European Union has banned investment in Crimea as part of its policy of not recognizing Russia’s annexation of the southern Ukrainian region.

December 20, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. The U.S. government says North Korea was behind a cyber attack against a Hollywood studio that was planning to release a comedy film about the North’s leader Kim Jong Un.

2. China’s senior-ranking Communist Party member says people in China will be closely watching what attitude Japan will take on historical issues next year as it marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

3.  Russia has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to attend a ceremony in May of next year marking the 70th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany.

December 21, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. Members of Cuba’s Parliament have unanimously endorsed a deal to restore diplomatic ties with the United States and end half a century of hostilities.

2. The World Health Organization says the death toll from Ebola in the 3 worst-affected countries in West Africa has passed 7,000.

3. Government officials in Pyongyang have denounced a U.N. resolution that says North Korea should go before the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses.

December 22, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Foreign ministerial talks between Japan, China and South Korea are not likely to take place before the end of the year.

2. The U.S. president has said his government is considering returning North Korea to its list of states that sponsor terrorism.

3. An NHK survey on children living in care facilities in Japan shows that many experienced social isolation and suffered negative physical and mental effects.

December 23, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Mr. David Crystal

1. U.S. media say North Korea is experiencing widespread and worsening Internet outages.

2. The U.N. Security Council has held its first-ever debate on North Korea’s human rights abuses.

3. The leader of a secular party in Tunisia has won the country’s presidential election.

December 24, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now set to form a new cabinet.  The outgoing cabinet resigned en masse on Wednesday morning.

2. Sony Pictures Entertainment says more than 200 theaters across the United States will be showing “The Interview” beginning on Thursday.

3. A human rights group says U.S.-led airstrikes have killed more than 1,000 Islamic State militants in Syria.

December 25, Thursday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his new cabinet’s biggest challenge is to make its economic policies a success.

2. Israeli troops and Hamas militants have exchanged fire near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

3. Officials at Sony Pictures Entertainment have released “The Interview” on line in the United States before showing it at theaters.

December 26, Friday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. People in the Indonesian province of Aceh are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

2. Government officials from Japan and China will restart talks on creating a hotline as early as next month, for the first time in over two years.

3. Japan’s consumer price index in November was up by 2.7 percent compared to a year earlier.

December 27, Saturday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Russia has revised its military doctrine.  The new policy identifies NATO’s buildup as a key threat, amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

2. A U.S. subsidiary of Sony Corporation says its online video gaming services have been disabled.  Sony is investigating whether the latest problem is related to the series of cyber-attacks.

3. Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to share classified security information to better respond to threats by North Korea.

December 28, Sunday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. The Japanese government has lifted the last of its evacuation advisories in Fukushima Prefecture for so-called “hot spots” with high radiation levels.

2. The Japanese government has also wrapped up an outline to speed up efforts to rebuild areas of Fukushima Prefecture hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster.

3. A Malaysian jet carrying 155 passengers has reportedly gone missing after taking off from an airport in the Indonesian city of Surabaya.

December 29, Monday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Search operations have resumed on Monday for an AirAsia plane still missing after it disappeared with 162 passengers and crew on board.

2. Italian and Greek navy crews are struggling to rescue hundreds of passengers who remain trapped on a burning ferry in the Adriatic Sea.

3. U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan have ended their combat mission.

December 30, Tuesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. David Crystal and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1.The World Health Organization says the number of confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola has topped 20,000 in three West African countries.

2.Authorities in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, are culling thousands of chickens at a poultry farm after some dead chickens there tested positive for avian influenza.

3.Countries expanded their search areas for the missing AirAsia A-320 jet on Tuesday after no significant signs on the whereabouts of the aircraft were found.

December 31, Wednesday, 2014 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Helen Lewis and Mr. Michael Rhys

1. The U.N. Security Council has rejected a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories within three years.

2. The Bank of Japan’s massive monetary easing program eased the country’s monetary base by 36% this year.

3. Authorities in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, have culled all 37,000 chickens at a poultry farm where the bird flu virus was detected.