September

 

September 1, Tuesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. The International Atomic Energy Agency says a major factor behind the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident was a widespread assumption in Japan that nuclear power plants were safe.

2. China’s ambassador to Japan says the military parade Beijing will hold to mark the 70th anniversary of what it calls its victory over Japan does not target the country.

3. Ukrainian nationalists opposing greater autonomy in the country’s east have clashed with security forces outside the parliament building.

September 2, Wednesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. The organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will face additional costs after withdrawing the emblems.

2. Japan’s minister in charge of the TPP free trade negotiations has called for a broad agreement to be reached by the end of this month.

3. Thai police are investigating a second foreign suspect arrested in connection with last month’s bomb attacks in Bangkok.

September 3, Thursday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Paradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. People in Beijing have commemorated the 70 th anniversary of the end of World War II at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square.

2. Japanese officials have welcomed the agreement between the leaders of China and South Korea to hold a three-nation summit that includes Japan.

3. U.S. President Barack Obama has apparently scored a major foreign policy victory by securing enough Senate votes to protect the Iran nuclear deal in the Republican-controlled Congress.

September 4, Friday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Mariko Kojima

1. The Indonesian government has rejected bids submitted by both Japan and China for a high-speed railway line.

2. Finance ministers and central bankers from Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations will open their talks in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday.

3. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely visit 5 resource-rich Central Asian nations late next month to further boost economic ties.

September 5, Saturday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Mr. Jeff Adolf

1. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations opened their 2-day talks in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday.  High on their agenda is the slowdown of the Chinese economy.

2. Japan’s government has lifted an evacuation order for Naraha Town near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Naraha is the first to have its evacuation order lifted among the seven municipalities totally emptied of residents as well as local government workers.

3. Germany and Austria have agreed to let in migrants and refugees arriving from Hungary after a standoff in the capital Budapest.

September 6, Sunday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. The finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 economies issued a statement on Saturday at the end of a 2-day meeting in Ankara, Turkey.

2. More than 6,500 migrants and refugees have arrived in Austria after spending several days stranded in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

3. Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have urged the government to reject any dishonest report by Pyongyang concerning the fate of their loved ones.

September 7, Monday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Emma Howard

1. Confrontation is intensifying in Japan’s Diet session between the governing coalition and the opposition camp over the government-sponsored national security bills.

2. More than ten thousand migrants and refugees have arrived in Germany via Hungary over the weekend, triggering reluctance from southern German states.

3. Japanese electronics firm Toshiba has reported a group net loss for the year that ended in March.

September 8, Tuesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Risa Shimizu and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to be re-elected uncontested as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

2. Japan’s current account balance has remained in the black for the 13th straight month.

3. Financial authorities in China are considering measures aimed at stabilizing share prices.

September 9, Wednesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. The ruling coalition of the liberal Democratic and Komeito parties have agreed to seek a vote on national security bills at an Upper House committee as early as next Wednesday.

2. U.S. officials are trying to make arrangements for a ministerial meeting for the Trans-Pacific Partnership this month.

3. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant plans to release decontaminated groundwater into the sea from next week.

September 10, Thursday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Weather officials have put eastern and northeastern Japan on the highest level of alert for flooding amid record-breaking rainfall.

2. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to allow Japan Post Holdings and its 2 financial units to go public later this year.

3. The president-designate of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank says the number of countries joining the bank will likely surpass 70.

September 11, Friday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Maxwell Powers and Ms. Mariko Kojima

1. Japan’s Meteorological Agency has issued an emergency warning due to record rainfall in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan.

2. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says he has instructed all embassies and consulates general around the world to strengthen counterterrorism measures.

3. The U.S. administration says it will accept at least 10,000 refugees from Syria over the next year.

September 12, Saturday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Jeff Adolf and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. A search for 15 people is continuing in a flooded city northeast of Tokyo.

2. Construction work for the controversial relocation of a U.S. air station in Okinawa has resumed after one month of suspension.

3. A construction crane has collapsed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.  At least 107 people were reportedly killed and more than 230 injured.

September 13, Sunday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Around 1,800 police officers, firefighters and Self-Defense Force personnel are taking part in searches for people missing in a flood-hit city to the northeast of Tokyo on Sunday.

2. The governing parties are aiming to have a pair of national security bills enacted next week.

3. The son of a Japanese national abducted by North Korea plans to speak at a United Nations’ meeting on the country’s human rights violations.

September 14, Monday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Emma Howard

1. Mt. Aso on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu erupted on Monday at around 9:43 A.M. local time.

2.The governor of Okinawa Prefecture has announced the revoking of an approval for landfill work in an area where the central government plans to relocate a U.S. military base.

3. The search continues for 15 people missing after a flood in a city northeast of Tokyo.

September 15, Tuesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. EU interior ministers have declined a plan that would have obliged each member nation to take in a portion of 160,000 refugees.

2. North Korea has suggested possibly launching a long-range ballistic missile to mark the 70th anniversary of the nation’s ruling party next month.

3. The Japanese government is considering legal action to continue land-filling work in an area of Okinawa where it plans to relocate a U.S. military base.

September 16, Wednesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Confrontations between Japan’s ruling and opposition camps are expected to reach a climax on Wednesday over key national security bills.

2. A U.S. think tank says China appears to be building three airstrips in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

3. Hungary has declared a state of emergency in 2 southern regions bordering Serbia to curb the massive flow of migrants and asylum-seekers.

September 17, Thursday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan aqnd Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 has struck off Chile.  Local media say at least 4 people have died and 16 others are injured.

2. Japan’s governing coalition has sought to have an Upper House committee old a final debate on a key package of security bills.

3. An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his intention to visit Japan as early as next week.

September 18, Friday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Japan’s governing parties hope to have a set of security bills enacted on Friday.  But parties opposing the bills aim to block the plenary session of the Upper House from passing the legislation.

2. The magnitude 8.3 earthquake that struck Chile on Wednesday have left at least 11 people dead.

3. Japan’s Meteorological Agency says tsunamis triggered by Wednesday’s mega quake off Chile have reached Japan.

September 19, Saturday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japan’s Diet has enacted a package of laws on national security.  This marks historic changes to the security policy the country has maintained for decades.

2. A group of Japanese scholars is preparing to file a lawsuit to question the constitutionality of the newly-enacted security legislation.

3. The International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s resumption of operations at its nuclear facilities.

September 20, Sunday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. The Japanese Defense Ministry will consider whether to give new duties to the country’s U.N. peacekeeping unit in South Sudan.

2. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is starting a 4-day visit to Moscow on Sunday.

3. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is calling for renewed diplomatic effort to address the conflict in Syria and the large number of persons it has displaced.

September 21, Monday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. Japan’s foreign minister will meet his Russian counterpart in Moscow to discuss a territorial issue and stalled negotiations on a peace treaty.

2. The Islamic State group has posted videos online to discourage refuges and migrants from leaving Syria and other areas for Europe.

3. Pope Francis celebrated a large open-air mass in Havana on Sunday during his first visit to Cuba.

September 22, Tuesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Risa Shimizu and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japan’s foreign minister met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Monday to pave the way for a visit to Japan by the Russian president by the end of the year.

2. The governor of Okinawa has called for international support at the U.N. Human Rights Council for his opposition to a plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture.

3. NHK has learned that one out of 5 workers who operate reactors at nuclear power plants in Japan has no experience in the work.

September 23, Wednesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Russia’s first deputy prime minister have agreed to strengthen bilateral economic ties.

2. European Union interior ministers have approved by a majority vote a plan to relocate an additional 120,000 refugees.

3. Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Seattle on his first state visit to the United States.

September 24, Thursday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will officially be re-elected as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday.

2. The top executive of German automaker Volkswagen has announced he will step down from his post.

3. An HHK documentary has won a prize at the Prix Italia, one of the world’s most prestigious international contests for radio and television programs.

September 25, Friday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Ms. Mariko Kojima

1. Officials from Japan and Russia have agreed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly.

2. Germany’s transport minister says automaker Volkswagen has rigged diesel emission tests not only in the United States but also in Europe.

3. A flood-hit city north of Tokyo will consider lifting on Friday evacuation instructions to its 34,000 residents.

September 26, Saturday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Jeff Adolf and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

1. Delegates at the United Nations summit in New York have agreed unanimously on universal development goals to be achieved by 2030.

2. U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed that their nations will not conduct cyber-theft of commercial secrets.

3. A group of researchers says it is highly likely that 70 to 100 percent of fuel has melted at one of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

September 27, Sunday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. The leaders of 4 countries seeking permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council have pledged to achieve concrete results in their efforts to reform the council.

2. Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that China will create a 2-billion dollar assistance fund for developing countries.

3. Switzerland is effectively banning sales of some of Volkswagen vehicles that could be equipped with illegal software.

September 28, Monday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. Japan will provide about 810-million dollars in aid to help nations to deal with Europe’s current migrant crisis.

2. President Barack Obama has committed the United States to the United Nations’ new development goals to be achieved by 2030.

3. Parties pushing for independence from Spain have won a majority in Catalonia’s regional parliament.

September 29, Tuesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Mick Corliss and Ms. Risa Shimizu

1. U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin remained at odds over the role of Syria’s leader after meeting in New York on Monday.

2. China’s President Xi Jinping says China will provide 100 million dollars in military aid to the African Union over the next 5 years.

3. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to carry out reforms he says will make the country the most business friendly in the world.

September 30, Wednesday, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged that Japan will provide about 810 million dollars this year in assistance to refugees and internally displaced person from Syria and Iraq.

2. The foreign affairs chiefs of Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed that they will work together to dissuade North Korea from launching a long-range ballistic missile.

3. Japan has learned that Chinese authorities have detained two Japanese men for alleged involvement in espionage.