月: 2021年9月

1.The South Korean government says North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday afternoon. The Japanese government says two projectiles have apparently fallen into the Sea of Japan, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
2.An election to choose the next leader of Japan’s ruling party is getting candidates worked up. The term of current Liberal Democratic Party chief and Prime Minister, Suga Yoshihide, ends this month. The candidates are former LDP policy chief Kishida Fumio, Regulatory Reform Minister Kono Taro and former Internal Affairs Minister Takaichi Sanae.
3. Voters in California are going to the polls to decide whether to recall Governor Gavin Newsom over his anti-coronavirus measures and other issues. His critics, mainly Republican supporters, say the Democratic governor’s COVID-19 restriction caused an economic slowdown in the state.

1.A former Secretary-General of Japan’s main ruling Liberal Democratic Party will likely not run in the upcoming party leadership race that effectively chooses the country’s next prime minister. Ishiba Shigeru had been weighing whether to run in the leadership election, which officially kicks off on Friday.
2.The United States has held a conference on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Participating countries have collectively pledged a total of more than 1 billion dollars.
3.The White House says President Joe Biden will host the first-ever in-person summit of the Quad alliance later this month in Washington.

1.North Korean media say the country has successfully launched a new type of cruise missile that potentially puts Japan within its range. The ruling party newspaper says the two tests took place on Saturday and Sunday.
2.Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to hold a leadership election later this month. Three candidates outlined their policies on issues including diplomacy and national security ahead of the official campaign that starts on Friday.
3.Japan has extended its coronavirus state of emergency in many parts of the country, including Tokyo and Osaka, through the end of this month. The extension came into force on Monday, in 19 of the nation’s 47 prefectures.

1.U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have discussed the need to avoid letting competition between their countries veer into conflict. The statement said that the two leaders had “a broad strategic discussion,” including “areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge.”
2. The European Union says it is removing Japan from its list of countries and regions exempt from restrictions on nonessential travel into the bloc. The move comes after a recent surge in coronavirus infections from the highly-contagious Delta variant.
3. Japan’s health ministry says 18 cases of the Eta variant of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Japan. It’s the first confirmation of such infections in Japan. The Eta variant was first detected in Britain in December last year.

1. Japan’s government is considering reducing the self-quarantine period for vaccinated entrants arriving from overseas. The government currently asks everyone who arrives from overseas to remain isolated at home or in accommodation facilities for 14 days. But the government is thinking of reducing the period to 10 days, saying that it needs to bring social and economic activities back to normal in phases as the global vaccination rollout is making progress.
2. Japan’s Regulatory Reform Minister Kono Taro plans to declare his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential race at aa news conference on Friday.
3. The United States appears to be in no hurry to recognize Afghanistan’s caretaker government which is dominated by the Taliban.

1.The Taliban have unveiled a caretaker government in Afghanistan, with their members dominating key positions. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced the names of about 30 Cabinet ministers and senior officials on Tuesday. He stressed that the appointments were for an interim government.
2.The U.S. government says it hopes to accept 95,000 people who fled their homes in Afghanistan and is seeking a 6.4 billion dollar budget for their resettlement. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Tuesday that the White House plan calls for resettling 65,000 Afghans by the end of September and 30,000 more over the next 12 months.
3. The Japanese government’s coronavirus advisory panel said on Wednesday that the pandemic’s impact on the medical system should be a key factor in deciding whether to lift a state of emergency.

1.The Japanese government is expected to decide whether to extend the coronavirus state of emergency based on vaccination progress and the situation of healthcare services. Tokyo, Osaka and 19 other prefectures are under a state of emergency through September 12. Twelve other prefectures are under quasi-emergency measures until the same date.
2.Japan’s main governing Liberal Democratic Party is preparing for a leadership election scheduled for later this month. Five possible candidates are said to be preparing to join the race.
3.Tokyo’s benchmark stock index rose above the 30,000-mark for the first time in around five months. The Nikkei Average gained more than 300 points in the Tuesday morning session from the previous close.

1.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have left for Qatar in an apparent bid to boost diplomatic and security ties with the country, which has built relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Qatar hosts the Taliban’s political office, which serves as an international liaison facility for the group. Britain and Germany have also sent their top diplomats to Qatar to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and humanitarian support.
2. A portrait in Afghanistan honoring a Japanese doctor who contributed for may years to the country’s reconstruction, has been erased and replaced with words apparently praising Taliban rule. An NHK crew confirmed on Sunday that the mural of Nakamura Tetsu painted on a wall in Kabul, had been whitewashed.
3. A military unit in the West African nation of Guinea says it has detained the president, Alpha Conde, and seized power. Reuters and other media outlets reported that violent gunshots were heard in the capital, Conakry, on Sunday. They said the shots sounded in a district where government agencies are located. They added that many soldiers were seen on the streets.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister will not try to keep the helm of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party. Suga Yoshihide dropped out of its upcoming leadership election, meaning the country will have a new Prime Minister within weeks. Suga said, “As I was planning to run, I found I needed a lot of energy to think about coronavirus measures and the election campaign. I decided that it’s impossible to do both, and that I should devote myself to trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is something that I promised the people of this country that I would do.”
2. A senior Taliban official has said women will have some role in the new Afghan government but they may not be appointed to any of the top government posts.
3. White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci says three shots are likely to be required to ensure that coronavirus vaccines remain effective for a long time.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide is planning to reshuffle executives of his Liberal Democratic Party next week, ahead of the LDP’s leadership race later this month. 2. A survey by Japanese researchers suggests that two shots of a coronavirus vaccine have a 95-percent efficacy rate in protecting the recipients from infection. Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases presented the preliminary results of its survey at a meeting of health ministry experts on Wednesday.
3. Japan has confirmed its first infections with a new coronavirus variant classified as one of interest by the World Health Organization. The health ministry says two travelers who tested positive for the new coronavirus at quarantine stations at two airports have been found infected with the Mu variant. The variant has been found in South America and Europe.