月: 2023年7月

1. News outlets say that US authorities have opened an investigation into the developer of Chat GPT, the Al-powered chatbot. The Federal Trade commission is reportedly probing whether California-based OpenAI has violated consumer protection laws. It says ChatGPT can generate responses hat make “false, misleading, disparaging or harmful” statements about people.
2. The operator of Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo has posted record sales and profit for the nine months through May. The numbers were driven by strong sales overseas. Fast Retailing said its consolidated revenue for the period rose 21.4 percent from a year earlier to about 2.14 trillion yen. That’s about 15.3 billion dollars. Net profit also increased 0.3 percent. 3. A Hollywood actors’ union has decided to go on strike for the first time in 43 years. It is calling for higher pay and for the use of artificial intelligence to be regulated. The actors are seeking an increase in pay and residuals from streaming services.

1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the long-term security guarantees from the leaders of the Group of Seven nations. The G7 nations issued a joint declaration on the sidelines of the NATO summit held in Lithuania. They pledged long-term support for Ukraine, including ensuring a sustainable force capable of deterring Russian aggression in the future. 2. Thailand’s Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai says he had a meeting on Sunday with Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup and later jailed, and that she is in good health.
3. A survey by Japan’s central bank shows that a record of over 95 percent of people say prices have risen from a year ago, but a growing number also feel that economic conditions are improving.

1. Japan’s defense ministry says it believes the missile North Korea launched earlier Wednesday fell into the Sea of Japan outside of the exclusive economic zone. Officials also confirm it was an intercontinental ballistic missile-class. Tokyo says it has lodged a protest. 2. A major trans-Pacific trade deal has come into force in all 11 countries that originally signed it. This comes after the Southeast Asian nation of Brunei completed its ratification process. The deal, known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, creates a massive free trade bloc spanning the Pacific.
3. Japanese businesses are lending a hand to municipalities in the transition to electric vehicles, launching new services that help local governments replace their official-use cars with EVs. A group company of major trading firm Mitsubishi Corporation is leasing out nearly 200 EVs to Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward starting this month. This will help lower the cost of making the switch to eco-friendly transportation.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, who is an route to Europe, is expected to visit Poland on Tuesday before heading to Lithuania. Kishida and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki are planning to exchange views on the effects that a prolonged military invasion by Russia may have on neighboring countries and on future ways of support.
2. Japan’s Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa is scheduled to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ meetings in Indonesia from Wednesday. Hayashi said he plans to exchange views about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the North Korean situation. He said he will also confirm that they will cooperate to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific. 3. Consumers conscious about food sustainability are increasingly switching to plant-based food instead of meat and dairy products. Seven-Eleven Japan says it will start selling rice balls and nuggets made with alternative forms of protein from this month.

1. A Kremlin spokesperson has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin met Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group mercenary force, just days after the group’s mutiny. 2. Russia’s top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, has been seen in public for the first time since a June mercenary mutiny.
3. Some NATO member nations have expressed opposition to the use or provision of cluster munitions after the United States’ recent decision to furnish them to Ukraine for its counteroffensive against Russian forces.

1. A Japanese group of dementia patients and their families is seeking the speedy approval in Japan of a drug for Alzheimer’s disease. The United States fully approve lecanemab on Thursday. It was jointly developed by Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai and its US partner Biogen. 2. A group of foreign residents of western Japan’s Tokushima Prefecture is preparing to join one of the country’s leading summer dance festivals in August. The Awa Odori features groups of dancers wearing summer kimonos or Japanese happi coats performing to the lively tune of chimes, drums, flutes and “shamisen” strings.
3. Japan’s independent committee tasked with protecting personal information says it will conduct an onsite inspection at the Digital Agency. This comes after errors were made when some My Number national ID cards were processed. The Digital Agency was created by the government to speed up digitalization in Japan. As of July 4th, 940 cases had been confirmed in which an individual’s national ID number was linked to a stranger’s bank account. Such bank accounts are used to receive pension payments and other benefits.

1. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says the leader of Russian private military firm Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is back in Russia. The Belarusian president last month said the mercenary leader was in Belarus. He reportedly said Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg or may have moved to Moscow or somewhere else, but he is now not in Belarus.
2. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has arrived in Beijing for high-level talks, amid growing tensions over semiconductor exports. Yellen’s visit to China is her first as treasury secretary. She will remain there through Sunday.
3. One of Japan’s biggest travel agencies is tipping that domestic travel will return to pre-pandemic levels this summer. JTB forecasts that between July 15 and August 31, 72-and-a-half million people will take trips around the country with at least one overnight stay. That’s on par with the level in 2019.

1. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi met residents of Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday to alleviate concerns over Japan’s plan to release treated and diluted water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean. 2. Rice has been a staple of Japanese cuisine for centuries, but domestic consumption is on the decline. A producers’ association has launched a promotion to combat this trend. It urges restaurants to offer more “donburi” items, or dishes served in bowls of rice. 3. Britain’s defense ministry says Russia has used a massive amount of antitank mines to slow the advance of Ukraine’s forces in the country’s south. The ministry said on Tuesday that in recent weeks, Russia has prioritized and refined tactics aimed at slowing Ukrainian armored counteroffensive operations in the south. It also said Russia attempted to strike Ukrainian armored vehicles with drones, attack helicopters and artillery.

1.Children at an elementary school in a village in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, have marked the third anniversary of deadly flooding that hit the region. In July 2020, the Kuma River flooded after record rainfall, killing 25 people in Kuma Village.
2. Japanese weather officials are warning that southwestern Japan’s Kyushu region could be hit by mudslides and torrential downpours. Rain clouds have developed in southern Kyushu, due to the effects of a stationary active front in the area.
3. The speaker of Taiwan’s legislature has arrived by ship at Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture. You Si-kun boarded a high-speed boat on Tuesday morning in Suao in his home country of Yilan. Yonaguni is Japan’s westernmost island, just over 100 kilometers from Suao.

1. Two astronauts chosen for the role by Japan’s space agency in February have spoken to reporters in Tokyo before they begin training together. Suwa Makoto and Yoneda Ayu were selected as astronauts in the first screening process in the country in 14 years. They gave their first in-person joint news conference on Monday at a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, location in Tokyo. 2. Sales of new vehicles in Japan surged in the first half of this year as a semiconductor shortage eased. Auto industry groups say that more than 2.4 million units were sold from January to June. 3. Thousands of people have rallied across Australia in support of a campaign to recognize Indigenous peoples in the Constitution. Activists are seeking to shore up the “yes” vote ahead of a referendum on whether to give the country’s original inhabitants a say in key policies affecting them.