August 21, Tuesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. Japan’s main ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided that voting for its leadership election will take place on September 20th.
  2. The defense ministers of Japan and India have agreed to work toward concluding an agreement that enables the exchange of logistics between their countries’ forces.
  3. A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross has urged Japan to join a U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons.  

August 20, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. Eighty-nine South Koreans have crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea to reunite with family members they have not seen since the Korean War in the early 1950s.
  2. The Afghan president has called for a ceasefire with Taliban insurgents to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
  3. Japan’s foreign minister says parties to a treaty regulating the trade of conventional arms should work together to encourage more countries to join it. 

August 18, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. Japan’s foreign minister and Mexico’s president-elect have reaffirmed that they share common ground on promoting free trade.
  2. Major rating agencies have downgraded Turkey’s sovereign credit rating following a sharp fall of the country’s currency.
  3. A U.S. newspaper is reporting that President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are considering meeting in November on the sidelines of multilateral summits.

August 17, Friday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Emma Howard

  1. Japan’s foreign minister has met his new Colombian counterpart and asked the South American country to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.
  2. U.N. special rapporteurs have called on the Japanese government to act quickly to protect workers engaged in decontamination of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
  3. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration says Turkey could face additional sanctions if it does not release an American pastor soon. 

August 16, Thursday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. The U.S. Treasury Department has announced new sanctions on 3 companies and one individual who are reportedly violating U.N. Security Council resolutions.
  2. The election committee in Cambodia says the ruling Cambodian People’s Party led by Prime Minister Hun Sen has secured all 125 seats in the National Assembly.
  3. At least 4 dozens of people have been killed when a man blew himself up at an educational facility in a mainly Shiite area in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

August 15, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. Japan is marking the 73rd anniversary of the end of World War II on Wednesday. Thousands of people have gathered in Tokyo to honor the fallen in an annual ceremony held every August 15th.
  2. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says 25 people have been confirmed dead and 15 were injured in the collapse of a motorway bridge in the northern city of Genoa.
  3. Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono has expressed hope that Peru will complete domestic procedures to help launch the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact as soon as possible.

August 13, Monday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Mr. Michael Reese

  1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants his party to accelerate discussions on constitutional amendments so it can submit amendment proposals to the next Diet session.
  2. High-ranking officials of North and South Korea are meeting to discuss the schedule of the next bilateral summit and other topics.
  3. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has begun a Latin American tour.

August 12, Sunday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

  1. The leaders of Japan and China have exchanged messages to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a landmark friendship treaty.
  2. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the U.S. government to review its policies and prevent ties between the 2 countries from deteriorating.
  3. A U.S. jury has ordered Monsanto, a major agrochemical manufacturer, to pay millions of dollars in damages to a man who says he developed cancer due to repeated used of a weed killer produced by the company.