月: 2023年3月

1. NHK has learned that preparations are underway to launch Japan’s new H3 flagship rocket on Monday. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aborted a launch attempt on February 17 due to a system malfunction. Sources involved in the launch have told NHK that arrangements are being made for a second attempt on March 6.
2. A meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad nations of Japan, the United States, Australia and India is underway in New Delhi. The Quad foreign ministers are expected to oppose any attempts to change the status quo by force amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. They will likely confirm efforts to maintain and strengthen international order based on the rule of law. 3. The top diplomats from the US and Russia have attended some of the same meetings since the start of the war in Ukraine. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had never taken the opportunity to speak together. On Thursday, they met in person.

1. Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 are meeting for a second day in New Delhi, where the war in Ukraine is expected to take center stage. Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, “Let us remind ourselves that this grouping bears an exceptional responsibility. We first came together in the midst of a global crisis.” 2. Japan’s agriculture ministry says the number of chickens and other birds culled across the country due to avian flu is to top 15 million this winter – a new record high.
3. The board of education in Toda City, north of Tokyo, has instructed schools to take thorough security measures after an intruder slashed a teacher. Police on Wednesday arrested a 17-year-old senior high school student on suspicion of attempted murder. The student allegedly trespassed into a junior high school in the city and wounded a teacher with a knife.

1. At least 29 people are dead after two trains collided in Greece. Eighty-five others are injured. The crash took place near the city of Larissa, about 200 kilometers north of the capital, Athens. One of the trains was carrying passengers, while the other was transporting freight. 2. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on Tuesday suspending the country’s last nuclear arms treaty with the US, known as the New START treaty. Putin declared in a national address last week that the would put the agreement on hold. The deal limits the number of nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers in each country’s arsenal.
3. Commanders on both sides of the war in Ukraine have expended soldiers and weapons in a standoff in the east. Month after month, those defending the city of Bakhmut have held their lines in the face of a Russian onslaught. But now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a warning about their fate. Zelenskyy said on late Monday that Russian troops are shattering anything the Ukrainians could use to shield themselves. He said they have been relentless. Still, his troops are refusing to give up.