月: 2022年5月

1.Ukrainian forces say that they have ended a combat operation aimed at defending a steel plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces issued a statement on Tuesday. It said, “The Mariupol garrison has fulfilled its combat mission.” It was referring to the troops at the steel plant.
2.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed dissatisfaction that medical supplies are not being delivered swiftly enough as more than one million people have developed what the regime refers to as a fever in recent weeks. Kim criticized the Cabinet and health authorities for the slow distribution of medicines, and ordered the mobilization of the military’s medical corps.
3.Authorities in the Chinese city of Shanghai are planning for a return to normal life in June after a prolonged lockdown to combat coronavirus. The daily count of new cases last month often exceeded 20,000. But on Sunday, the figure dropped to below 1,000 for the first time since March 23.

1.An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol in Ukraine says Russia’s military used incendiary or white phosphorus bombs against the defenders of the city. Petro Andryushchenko said the bombs burn at a temperature of 2,000 to 2,500 degrees Celsius, and that the combustions are almost impossible to stop.
2.Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic Party decided on Sunday to support the country’s plan to apply for NATO membership, reversing its previous opposition to the move. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that joining NATO would be the best thing for the security of Sweden and the Swedish people.
3.Russian troops aiming to seize control of eastern Ukraine appear to be losing momentum after being pushed back in counterattacks by Ukrainian forces.

1.Russia’s presidential office says the country will host a summit meeting of a Russia-led military alliance next week. The office said on Thursday that the leaders of all six member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, will attend the meeting in Moscow on Monday.
2.A number of countries have accused the Russian military of taking the lives of many Ukrainian children in its invasion of Ukraine. An official of the United Nations Children’s Fund said that in the last month the United Nations has verified nearly 100 child deaths from the fighting, with an actual figure that is likely to be considerably higher.
3.Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto says his country will officially file an application to join NATO as early as next week. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin had earlier announced their country would apply for NATO membership without delay.

1.The International Labor Organization estimates that nearly a third of Ukraine’s jobs have been lost due to the Russian aggression. In a brief released on Wednesday, the ILO said 4.8 million jobs have been lost in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in February. That accounts for 30 percent of the pre-conflict employment in Ukraine.
2.The wives of Ukrainian fighters holed up in a besieged steel plant in Mariupol have appealed to the Pope for help to evacuate the soldiers safely. Kateryna Prokopenko and Yuliia Fedusiuk met with Pope Francis on Wednesday in the Vatican. Their husbands are among the Azov battalion fighters at the Azovstal steel plant, which is surrounded by Russian troops.
3.Ukraine says it is negotiating with Russia over the evacuation of seriously injured Ukrainian fighters from a steel plant in Mariupol in exchange for captured Russians. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Miniser Iryna Vereshchuk said in a messaging app post on Wednesday that Ukraine has offered the exchange and negotiations are underway.

1.Japan’s government is considering raising the cap on new arrivals per day from the current 10,000 to 20,000, starting next month. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said during a visit to Britain last week that his government will ease coronavirus restrictions so that entry into Japan will be as smooth as in other Group of Seven nations.
2.Toyota Motor say it posted record group sales and net profit for fiscal 2021 despite a global shortage of semiconductors. That is due to robust sales in North America and Asia as well as a weaker yen against the dollar.
3.The draft of Japan’s annual defense white paper refers to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It stresses that similar events should never occur in the Indo-Pacific region. The draft white paper has a new section to discuss the Russian invasion. It says unilateral attempts to forcibly change the status quo cannot be tolerated and would shake the foundation of the international order.

1.A new political era is underway in South Korea. Yoon Suk-yeol was sworn in as president Tuesday morning, ushering in the country’s first conservative government in five years. One of Yoon’s main challenges will be dealing with North Korea, which is accelerating its nuclear and missile development. He said there is room for dialogue and a way for the North to benefit.
2.Local media in the Philippines project that the son and namesake of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos will be the country’s next president. Sixty-four-year-old Marcos will inherit a nation hit hard by the pandemic, and he’s promised to rebuild.
3.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulating him upon the May 9 anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

1.Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in front of more than ten thousand troops at a massive military parade. He defended his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin said, “We saw hundreds of foreign military advisors getting involved and NATO countries regularly providing the most up-to-date weapons. That was increasing the threat day by day. Russia reacted preemptively against the aggression. It was necessary and timely decision. For Russia! For victory!”
2.In Ukraine, hostilities show no signs of letting up as Russia prepares to mark the May 9 victory of the former Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Fighting in eastern Ukraine has been especially intense. Russian forces reportedly carried out an airstrike on a school in the Luhansk region where civilians were sheltering. The regional governor said the airstrike claimed at least two lives, and left about 60 people trapped in the rubble.
3.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says his country will continue to provide military support to Ukraine “to defense justice and freedom.” He made the remark in a televised speech Sunday on the 77th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe. Scholz expressed remorse for Germany’s past, noting the Germans had perpetrated a “crime against humanity.”

1.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the immediate evacuation of civilians still trapped in a besieged steel plant in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. Zelenskyy said in a video message released on Thursday that a rescue operation continued that day in Mariupol with the assistance of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Russian forces have been trying to take control of the port city.
2.Israel says its prime minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Thursday. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Putin apologized to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for the recent remarks made by Russia’s foreign minister that Adolf Hitler had “Jewish origins.” It said Bennett accepted Putin’s apology.
3.Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has appealed for increased investment in Japan in a speech in Britain’s financial center, the City of London. The prime minister said he wants to convey a single message, which is “Invest in Kishida.”

1.US exports to Russia have posted a steep year-on-year decline of nearly 80 percent in March, mainly due to severe economic sanctions. A report released by the US Commerce Department shows that the United States exported products totaling 101 million dollars to Russia in March. That’s a drop of 78.8 percent from the same period last year.
2.Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve have seen inflation rise to its highest level in 40 years. They raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, their biggest rate hike in 22 years.
3.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on European Union nations to agree to a complete ban of Russian oil imports by the end of the year. Von der Leyen made the proposal to the European Parliament on Wednesday as part of an additional package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

1.The United Nations human rights agency says that as of Monday at least 3,193 civilians, including 227 children, had been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
2.Russian forces have launched a fresh assault on Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, despite efforts to evacuate civilians trapped in a steel plant in the besieged city. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message released on Tuesday that 156 civilians have managed to evacuate from the Azovstal steel plant to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast.
3.A Japanese Self-Defense Forces aircraft carrying aid supplies for Ukrainian evacuees has arrived in Poland. Japanese government officials say the supplies will initially be stored in a warehouse in the airport, before being transported to a number of areas.