月: 2022年8月

1.A group of 42 nations is calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. The 42 countries, including European Union member states, Japan and the United States, made the appeal in a joint statement issued on Friday. The countries said that the deployment of Russian military personnel and weaponry at the nuclear facility is “unacceptable and disregards the safety, security and safeguards principles” that need to be respected.
2.The Chinese military announced on Monday that it carried out exercises near Taiwan. The announcement comes after a bipartisan group of five US congressional lawmakers, led by Senator Ed Markey, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday.
3.Japanese teenager Baba Saki has won the 122nd US Women’s Amateur golf championship. The 17-year-old high school student on Sunday became the first Japanese player to win the title since Hattori Michiko in 1985. The tournament is regarded as one of the world’s top championships for female amateur golfers.

1.People in Japan are observing a solemn anniversary this Monday. On August 15, 1945, a statement from Emperor Showa was broadcast on the radio, announcing that the country had surrendered in World War Two. Nearly eight decades later, Japan marks the end of that war… and prays for peace. Japan’s government holds a ceremony in Tokyo every year to remember the approximately 3.1 million people who died in the war.
2.Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has called on people in the southern region of Kherson to evacuate as the government expects fighting against Russian forces there to drag on. Iryna Vereshchuk made the appeal on Sunday, saying a hard winter is coming. She said the government needs to save the residents from the cold and the Russian invaders.
3.Monday marks one year since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan. But Taliban rulers remain under growing international criticism for restricting the rights of girls and women. The Islamist group took over the capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021 amid the withdrawal of US forces from the country.

1.US Attorney General Merrick Garland has confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched the Florida resort home of former President Donald Trump. The top US law enforcement officer told reporters on Thursday that he had personally authorized the decision to order the search. Trump had earlier said that his Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by FBI agents on Monday.
2.Japanese weather officials are forecasting more heavy rain in the northeastern prefectures of Aomori and Akita. The Meteorological Agency says a low-pressure system approaching northern Japan brought developed rain clouds over the two prefectures overnight into Friday.
3.The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has called for cooperation from Russia and Ukraine to allow its inspectors access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, following a recent series of shellings there.

1.Major US newspapers have suggested Ukrainians were involved in the explosions that rocked a Russian air base in Crimea on Tuesday. Russia unilaterally annexed the region in southern Ukraine eight years ago. Russia’s defense ministry denied the air base was attacked. It said the explosions were caused by detonation of aircraft ammunition.
2.Weather officials in Japan are urging people to stay alert for heat stroke due to persistently high temperatures. The mercury on Thursday has already topped 35 degrees Celsius across wide areas from Kanto to Kyushu.
3.The Russian TV journalist who protested her country’s invasion of Ukraine live on state television in March has been charged with spreading false information about the Russian military. Russian media has quoted Marina Ovsyannikova’s lawyer as saying that she was charged after posting a photo on social media last month showing her near the Kremlin holding a poster saying Russian President Vladimir Putin is a killer.

1.The Chinese government says in a white paper that it will pursue the peaceful unification of Taiwan but will not renounce the use of force.
2.Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has shaken up his Cabinet. He says his new lineup will address challenges at home and abroad. He said, “I have established an experienced and capable LDP-Komeito coalition government that has the ability to overcome what is said to be the most difficult time in several decades. We are faced with various historic challenges at home and abroad such as the coronavirus, Ukraine crisis, US-China tensions over Taiwan and global surge in prices.”
3.The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, says there were no political interventions nor irregularities in the approval process for tis name change in 2015.

1.People in Japan are remembering the victims of one of history’s most catastrophic wartime attacks. Tuesday marks 77 years since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War Two.
2.Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says China’s real intention behind its military exercises around Taiwan is to “alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the entire region.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Wu referred to the large-scale military exercises China launched in response to the visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said China is using Pelosi’s visit as “a pretext.”
3.A senior US official has suggested that Russia has seen a “tremendous” number of casualties since the country’s invasion of Ukraine began in February. US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters on Monday that the Russians have probably had 70,000 or 80,000 casualties in less than six months.

1.The second straight day of shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has fueled concerns in the international community. Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom says an area near a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel came under attack on Saturday.
2.Worshipers gathered on Sunday for the first summertime cleaning in three years of the Great Buddha statue in the ancient capital of Nara in western Japan. The cleaning of the 15-meter-high statue is designed to refresh the Buddha’s appearance ahead of the midsummer Bon festival, when people pay respects to their ancestors.
3.The US Senate has approved a 430-billion-dollar bill to combat climate change and lower healthcare costs. The legislation calls for spending to promote renewable energy use and other measures while raising taxes on major businesses to fund them.

1.Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio plans to reshuffle his Cabinet and executives of the governing Liberal Democratic Party as early as next Wednesday. Observers will be closely watching how much Kishida will change his Cabinet lineup.
2.The fatal shooting of Japan’s former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has stirred media attention. It has put a spotlight on the relationship between a controversial religious group and certain members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Now, a former education minister is being questioned over his role in allowing the notorious former Unification Church to officially change its name.
3.Former Vice Admiral of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force Koda Yoji says China’s ballistic missile launches on Thursday were aimed at showing Beijing’s anger with Washington over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. But he also points out that Beijing gave some consideration to avoiding provoking the United States too much, noting that the missiles were not the latest models.

1.Weather officials have revised their highest-level emergency rain alert for Niigata Prefecture…to a warning. They are still urging people to watch for further potential hazards, with downpours forecast to continue across parts of the Hokuriku region.
2.China is ratcheting up military pressure on Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit. Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday after meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. She became the first speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years to visit Taiwan.
3.The US government has criticized China’s increasing military activity around Taiwan, which came in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed again that there is no change in the One China policy of the US. She said the speaker’s visit is consistent with the longstanding policy.

1.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stressed that the country’s gain exports must continue in a stable manner. The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain since the Russian invasion began arrived in waters off Turkey on Tuesday.
2.US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, and stressed America’s solidarity with Taiwan. At the outset of the talks, Tsai welcomed the first visit by an incumbent US House Speaker in 25 years. She presented Pelosi with an award for promoting US-Taiwan ties, calling the speaker Taiwan’s most devoted friend.
3.Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have kicked off a series of meetings in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.