月: 2021年12月

1. The US Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to pass a bill that bans imports from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in principle over concerns about alleged forced labor. The legislation will be sent to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature to enact it. It has already been approved by the House of Representatives.
2. Major central banks are shifting their focus away from measures to stimulate the economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as inflation rises. The Bank of England said on Thursday that the bank’s monetary policy committee had voted to increase the Bank Rate by 0.15 percentage points, to 0.25 percent. The British central bank had kept the rate at a record low of 0.1 percent to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
3. France has adopted a law requiring large companies to meet quotas on the portion of women in their top management positions. The aim is to promote a greater diversity of opinions. The new law requires that at least 30 percent of top corporate managers at companies with 1,000 employees or more be women by 2027.

1. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has met with a group of visiting French lawmakers and expressed hope that France and the European Union will further boost ties with Taiwan.
2. Organizers of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing are increasing vigilance against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. With 50 days to go before the Olympics open on February 4, the organizing committee for the Winter Games held a news conference in Beijing on Thursday. A committee official in charge of media relations stressed a sense of caution over Omicron as two cases of the variant were reported in Tianjin and Guangzhou this week. The cases are the first found in China.
3. Policy makers at the US Federal Reserve say they are going to end their bond-purchase program in March. The move is aimed at curbing inflation and will take place sooner and faster than originally planned.

1. A trial involving the widow of a former Finance Ministry official who killed himself after being forced to falsify documents has closed after the government suddenly changed course and agreed to pay damages.
2. NHK had learned that a Japanese health ministry panel will meet as early as December 24 to discuss whether to approve the use of a COVID-19 oral drug developed by US pharmaceutical firm Merck. The panel is expected to approve the use of molnupiravir at the session. The ministry is likely to authorize it as Japan’s first oral medicine for COVID-19 within several days of the panel’s approval.
3. Gasoline prices in Japan have fallen for the fifth straight week. Concerns that the Omicron variant may delay economic recovery briefly drove down crude futures prices. The Oil Information Center said on Wednesday that the average retail price of regular gasoline was 165.9 yen or about a dollar and 46 cents, per liter as of Monday. That is down 2.1 yen from the previous week. But officials at the Center say crude prices could rise again, as people are starting to lower their guard against the Omicron variant, and due to increased seasonal demand for oil.

1. At least 88 people are confirmed dead, three days after devastating tornadoes swept through the US Midwest and South from late Friday to early Saturday.
2. More than 50,000 medical workers in Japan have now gotten a third jab of a coronavirus vaccine. And the health ministry has begun accepting applications from businesses and universities that want to offer booster shots themselves.
3. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has indicated that he will allow local governments to provide planned one-time handouts to families with children entirely in case before year-end.

1. The foreign affairs chiefs from the Group of Seven nations have expressed their “concern” about what they call China’s “coercive economic policies.” This is an apparent bid to counter China’s increasing influence through trade policies and large loans to developing nations.
2. As rescuers in the tornado-devastated US state of Kentucky face difficulties, its governor is expecting the number of deaths to climb further. Rescuers pulled 40 workers alive from a candle factory in Kentucky, one of the six Southern and Midwestern states hit by tornadoes from Friday night to Saturday.
3. The South Pacific island territory of New Caledonia has overwhelmingly voted to remain as part of France, in a referendum boycotted by the pro-independence camp. The referendum took place on Sunday, with 96.5 percent of the vote against independence and 3.5 percent in favor.

1. US President Joe Biden brought together more than 100 world leaders online on Thursday for his inaugural Summit for Democracy. He’s trying to rally them against what he calls the forces of corruption and authoritarianism, and promote human rights.
2. Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has pledged that Japan is committed to working with other like-minded countries to fight against actions that undermine basic values such as human rights and the rule of law.
3. Japanese authorities confirmed eight more cases of the Omicron variant on Friday. A total of 12 Omicron infections have now been detected in the country.

1. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake has jolted the Tokara island chain in southwestern Japan. Officials say there is no risk of a tsunami. The area has seen dozens of quakes in only the past week, but this is the largest so far.
2. Both Britain and Canada have announced that they won’t be sending government officials to the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, starting in less than two months.
3. US President Joe Biden is preparing to host the first Summit for Democracy. He has invited leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector for online talks on Thursday and Friday. Hsiao Bi-khim of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States said Taiwan has the right to be represented internationally. And she said Taiwan is an inspiration to all the people in places where they can’t access basic human rights.

1. The United States has marked the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Relatives of those who died joined with veterans for a memorial ceremony at the scene in Hawaii. A moment of silence was observed at 7:55 a.m., the time the attack began on December 7, 1941. The Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the naval base and the arm’s multiple airfields. More than 2,400 Americans died. The attack prompted the US to immediately enter World War II.
2. Australia says it will not send a government delegation to the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. It’s the second country after the United States to announce a “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Games. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison cited China’s human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and other issues.
3. Japan’s top government spokesperson says the Kishida administration is trying to decide whether to sent officials to next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics by considering various points of view.

1. The White House announced a diplomatic boycott on Monday of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Government delegates will not attend the Games. But US athletes will still be allowed to compete. Officials in the Biden administration have criticized Chinese leaders repeatedly for abuses of human rights. They say the treatment of Muslims and other minorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region amounts to genocide.
2. The International Olympic Committee says it respects the US decision not to send government officials and diplomats to the Beijing Winter Games as it’s a political decision for each government.
3. Nobel Prize laureates who live in the US are being honored close to home. Syukuro Manabe, who was born in Japan, received his medal for the physics prize on Monday at a ceremony in Washington. Manabe helped lay the foundations for research into climate change. He showed how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to global warming.

1. A court in Myanmar has sentenced ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on two charges, including incitement. The court delivered its first verdict since the deposed leader was taken into custody when the military staged a coup on February 1st.
2. Pope Francis has called for international efforts to address the refugee and migrant crisis during his visit to the Greek island of Lesbos. The Pope on Sunday visited the island, which is a major transit point for refugees and migrants heading to Europe.
3. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in India for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. It’s the first such bilateral meeting in two years. The leaders are expected to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the fields of economy, security and energy.