August 9, Friday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

  1. People in Japan are remembering the atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki during World War II.
  2. A government body advising on decommissioning of the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says removal of molten fuel should start in the facility’s No.2 reactor.
  3. Japan’s GDP grew at an annualized growth rate of 1.8 percent in the April-to-June period, marking the third straight quarterly expansion.

August 8, Thursday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

  1. Amid strained bilateral ties, Japan’s trade ministry has given the go-ahead to sell sensitive high-tech materials to South Korea.
  2. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that talks aimed at getting South Korea to bear more of the burden of U.S. troops in the country have begun.
  3. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed hopes to hold a fresh round of denuclearization talks with North Korea within a “couple of weeks.”