月: 2024年4月

1. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he has no plans for a snap election after the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party took all seas in three by-elections on the weekend. The main ruling Liberal Democratic Party did not field a candidate in two of those constituencies, but lost the other in Shimane Prefecture. Kishida said on Tuesday: “The LDP’s political fundraising issue proved to be a major factor during the Shimane election campaign. I am very sorry for the defeat – both to the candidate and to all of the local people who gave him their support.”
2. US President Joe Biden has urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to help secure the release of the hostages being held by Hamas. The White House said the president and the leaders discussed the deal now on the table to secure the release of the hostages together with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
3. Hundreds of demonstrators at about 20 universities across the United States have reportedly been arrested as protests against Israeli attacks on :Gaza expand.

1. The yen fell to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar, but rapidly rebounded on Monday. The volatile moves have led to speculation that Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market.
2. Two relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea have left for the United States to seek support from US officials for an early resolution of the issue. The relatives are Yokota Takuya, who leads the group of abductees’ families, and Iizuka Koichiro. 3. Researchers in Japan say they have confirmed blood flow in bioengineered lungs transplanted into mice. They say the lungs were made using human cells.

1. The Japanese government has conducted its first survey on child abuse linked to the religious beliefs of the child’s guardians. It found that there were 47 cases of such abuse in the country during an 18-month period through last September. The Children and Families Agency conducted the survey at child consultation centers, schools and other places. It released the results on Friday.
2. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are holding a meeting in Beijing. The talks got underway on Friday morning. At the start of the meeting, Wang said that the China-US relationship is beginning to stabilize overall. But he noted that negative factors in the bilateral relationship are still increasing and building. He added that China’s core interests are always facing challenges. 3. The Bank of Japan says it will leave its monetary policy unchanged. On the Tokyo foreign-exchange market, the BOJ decision prompted investors to sell the yen. The Japanese currency dropped to the 156 yen-level a fresh 34-year low. Market watchers believe the wide interest-rate gap between the United States and Japan will remain for the time being. That’s driving the move to the higher-yielding dollar.

1.　Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son have agreed to work for regional stability based on international law. Vietnam’s state-run media says the two exchanged views on trade and security at a meeting on Wednesday in Hanoi. 2. The leaders of Iran and Pakistan have agreed to further expand trade and economic cooperation, vowing to increase annual trade to 10 billion dollars. Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a joint statement on Wednesday. It said the neighboring nations vowed to take annual bilateral trade to 10 billion dollars in five years. They also agreed to quickly finalize a free trade agreement.
3. The Philippines and the United States have agreed to work toward sharing military information, and to hold a dialogue between their defense chiefs this year. This comes as tensions between Manila and Beijing heat up over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

1. The Israeli military continued to carry out intense air strikes against Hamas in northern Gaza on Tuesday. On that day, Israel told residents in parts of the northern town of Beit Lahiya to move to designated zones.
2. The US Senate passed an emergency budget bill on Tuesday that includes additional aid for Ukraine. It had already passed the House of Representatives, and is set to be enacted after President Joe Biden signs it. Ahead of the vote in Washington, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer.” 3. Former US President Donald Trump welcomed Aso Taro, the vice-president of Japan’s main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. At the building’s entrance, Trump introduced Aso to reporters. He said, “We’ll be talking about Japan and the United States right now and lots of other things.”

1. A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency is visiting Japan to inspect the discharge of treated and diluted water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. The IAEA task force is conducting a safety review for the second time since the discharge operation began in August last year.
2. Japan’s finance minister has issued another warning against excessive currency market moves. Suzuki Shunichi suggested recent developments have created the conditions to resolve the sharp drop in the yen. Suzuki made the remarks at an Upper House committee meeting. He was asked about a possible market intervention to prop up the Japanese currency. 3. Japan Post Bank has been affected by a delay in deposits from other financial institutions due to a system glitch since Tuesday morning. The bank says that it can still transfer money to other institutions as usual.

1. Japan’s Defense Ministry announced on Monday afternoon that North Korea has launched at least one apparent ballistic missile. Japanese government sources say the projectile likely fell outside the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Sea of Japan.
2. Officials at the Bank of Japan this week will hold their first policy meeting since scrapping the negative interest-rate policy last month. They said at the previous gathering that they could “foresee the virtuous cycle” between wages and prices.
3.Investigative sources say security camera footage shows a man whose burnt body was found last Tuesday in Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture had been with several people in central Tokyo the previous night. Two burnt bodies were discovered in the town of Nasu, north of Tokyo. One was identified as that of 55-year-old Takarajima Ryutaro. The other is believed to be his wife.

1. What is being called the world’s largest general election kicks off in India on Friday, with roughly 970 million eligible voters. It pits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party against an opposition alliance. The voting to choose members of the lower house is staggered with seven different polling dates set for constituencies across the country. The seventh and final phase of voting will take place on June 1.
2. The United Nations Security Council has rejected a draft resolution recommending full Palestinian membership of the global body due to a veto by the United States. The 15 council members took a vote on Thursday. Twelve countries, including Japan and France, voted in favor of the resolution, while Britain and Switzerland abstained. Algeria submitted the draft representing Arab nations’ backing for the Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
3. Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko has pledged that Japan will continue its support for Ukraine while imposing strict sanctions on Russia. The Group of Seven foreign ministers held a session on Ukraine on Thursday on the southern Italian island of Capri. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took part in the meeting.

1. A magnitude 6.6 earthquake rocked western Japan late Wednesday night. No tsunami was triggered. The tremor struck at around 11:14 p.m. It was strongest in the Shikoku region’s Ehime and Kochi prefectures. Officials say it clocked a lower 6 on Japan’s zero to seven seismic scale, making it the area’s strongest quake since the current scale system was introduced in 1996.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he is determined to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order, based on the achievements of his recent visit to the United States.
3. Australia has announced a new defense strategy, including a substantially bigger budget. The new plan is aimed at protecting the country in the medium and long term. It accuses China of “coercive tactics,” and calls for stronger deterrence.

1. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine. He also said Germany values economic ties with its largest trading partner, China.
2. The multibillion dollar plan by Japan’s Nippon Steel to acquire US Steel may have run into another obstacle. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she understands the views of President Joe Biden in opposing the takeover.
3. People in Wajima City have hoisted carp streamers to pray for the recovery of their community, which was heavily damaged in the January 1 earthquake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula in central Japan. Carp streamers are traditionally flown to celebrate the Boy’s Festival on May 5, which is now a national holiday for Children’s Day.