月: 2020年11月

1. Space X and NASA have successfully launched the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Japan’s Noguchi Soichi is among the four astronauts travelling to the International Space Station for a six-month mission.
2. Japanese government officials say the country’s GDP made its biggest jump in 40 years in the latest quarter. The rebound follows a massive contraction due to the pandemic.
3. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s team is urging President Donald Trump’s administration to begin the transition process this week.

 

1. Fifteen pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong have tendered their resignations to protest disqualification of their colleagues.
2. Lawmakers from Japan and South Korea have agreed to continue dialogue to improve bilateral relations that have become strained over wartime labor and other issues.
3. The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States has topped 140,000, marking a record daily high.

1. Officials in Japan confirmed 1,634 new cases of coronavirus nationwide on Thursday. That is the highest daily tally so far in the country, surpassing the previous record of 1,605 confirmed on August 7.
2. Japan’s Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has suggested that Washington will help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under the bilateral security treaty.
3. U.S. President Donald Trump has taken part in a ceremony to commemorate Veterans Day, making his first public appearance since Joe Biden declared victory in the U.S. presidential election.

 

1. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has announced the names of more than 540 key members who will prepare government agencies for his inauguration on January 20.
2. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is urging Americans to wear masks as it will take months before vaccinations become available. Two days after his victory speech, Biden convened a task force to tackle the public health crisis that has resulted in over ten million Americans contracting the virus.
3. Results of a private survey show that pubs and restaurants in Japan are going bankrupt at a record pace because of the coronavirus outbreak. Tokyo Shoko Research says 730 pubs and restaurants filed for bankruptcy with debts of over 10 million yen, or about 95,000 dollars, between January and October this year.

1. The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has surpassed 10 million. The U.S. has reported more than 100,000 new cases for five consecutive days and over 1,000 daily deaths. U.S. media say that coronavirus cases are rising in all U.S. states except for Hawaii.
2. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has announced members of his coronavirus task force as he is gearing up for a transfer of power. On Monday, Biden announced 13 experts for the pandemic task force which will advise him. He said that as the election is over, and he will unite Americans in the shared goal of defeating the coronavirus.
3. U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says its vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent effective in an interim analysis. The vaccine candidate, which Pfizer is developing together with Germany’s BioNTech, is in the final phase of trials in the United States and other countries.

 

1. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is pledging to work toward unifying the country after a deeply divisive election. Incumbent President Donald Trump, however, still refuses to concede. Votes are still being counted in some states. But a projected win in Pennsylvania givers Biden enough electoral college votes to take the White House.  Major media outlets say Biden has won the state.
2. U.S. president-elect Joe Biden is getting to work Monday after declaring victory over the weekend.
3. Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino has been proclaimed to the public as heir to the Imperial throne. It was the last in a series of ceremonies associated with the succession of the throne.

 

1. Ballots in the U.S. presidential election are still being counted, days after polls closed. Several key states remain too close to call, but Democrat Joe Biden’s chances for victory seem to be growing—even as President Donald Trump challenges the results.
2. Tokyo’s benchmark stock index hit a 29-year-high on Friday. That was in line with other markets around the world that seemed to take a relaxed attitude to the emerging outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
3. Japanese auto giant Toyota is managing to turn a profit despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Its results are in positive territory for the first half of this fiscal year with a strong outlook for the whole period.

 

1.Voters in the United States are waiting for the results of a close presidential election.   Bothe candidates remain within reach of the 270 electoral votes they need to clinch victory.

2.The British government has enforced another lockdown in England to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the U.K. has seen a rapid rise in new cases and deaths.

3. Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change have issued a statement after the United States’ official withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

 

1.In the latest projections, ABC News says the Democrats will win enough seats to maintain control of the House of Representatives.  As for the presidential race, Trump has picked more traditionally Republican states, including Utah, Louisiana and Kansas. Biden also secured a number of predictable states. But major battlegrounds—which have the biggest impact—have not yet been decided. The candidates are neck-to-neck in those pivotal races.

2.U.S. researchers say more than 100 million people have voted early in the U.S. presidential election.  The United States Elections Project said the figure as of Tuesday afternoon Eastern Time accounts for about 74 percent of the total votes counted in the last election in 2016. More than 65.2 million people are estimated to have voted by mail and more than 35.9 million others cast early ballots.

3.The U.N. disarmament committee has adopted Japan’s draft resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.  It is the 27th consecutive approval of a similar draft Japan has submitted every year since 1994.

 

1.Police in Austria say gunmen opened fire in the capital, Vienna, on Monday night.  At least two people were killed. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has strongly condemned what he described as a terrorist attack which he says is ongoing.  He is urging people to stay on the alert.

2.An armed group has stormed a university in the Afghan capital of Kabul, leaving at least 19 people dead and more than 20 injured.The government said gunmen forced their way into the campus of Kabul University following an explosion nearby on Monday.

3.U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have made their last-minute appeals to voters on the eve of Election Day.  Trump campaigned in five locations on Monday.  In the southern state of North Carolina, he called on people to vote.  Trump said, “I was elected to fight for you and I fight harder than any other president has ever fought for his people.”  Biden was holding rallies in four locations.  In the Midwestern state of Ohio, Biden accused Trump of trying to divide the country.  He called on voters to choose unity over division.