日: 2024年7月5日

1. The UK’s largest opposition Labour Party has secured a victory in the general election, ousting the Conservatives from power for the first time in 14 years, and looks set to win in a landslide. British public broadcaster BBC says the Labour Party has won 403 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, exceeding a majority. The ruling Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has secured 110 seats. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is set to become the next UK prime minister.
2. European media outlets have reported that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban will visit Russia on Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some European leaders are warning against a meeting.
3. US President Joe Biden has admitted he “had a bad night,” “screwed up” and “made a mistake” in a televised debate against former President Donald Trump last week. But he vowed to stay in the presidential election contest. In an interview during a radio show, the president said the he “didn’t have a good debate” during his 90 minutes on stage. But Bident asked listeners to look at what he has accomplished in three and a half years of his presidency. He stressed he had “led the economy back from the brink of collapse.”

1. Japan’s Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that the country’s defunct Eugenic Protection Law, which forced people with impairments to undergo sterilization surgery, is unconstitutional. People who were forcibly sterilized had filed lawsuits across Japan, arguing that the discriminatory treatment was unconstitutional and seeking state compensation. Presiding justice Tokura Saburo declared the defunct law unconstitutional and ordered compensation in four of the cases.
2. Japan’s top government spokesperson has revealed three more cases of alleged sexual violence involving US military personnel. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa spoke to reporters on Wednesday after two alleged sexual assault cases in Okinawa Prefecture came to light. 3. Japan issued new banknotes for the first time in 20 years on Wednesday. A ceremony was held in the morning at the head office of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi. BOJ Governor Ueda Kazuo said that the bank plans to put 1.5 trillion yen, or about 9.9 billion dollars, worth of new banknotes into circulation on the day. He said that while cashless transactions are becoming more prevalent, he believes that cash will continue to play a major role as it is a reliable payment method that can be used by anyone, anywhere and at any time. Ueda added he hopes that the new notes will become widely distributed among the public and serve as a lubricant for the Japanese economy.

1. Intense heat gripped much of eastern and western Japan on Thursday, with daytime highs rising above body temperature in a number of places. The highest temperature of the day, 39.3 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Shizuoka City. That was the highest for the city since record-keeping began in 1940. Aichi Prefecture’s Nagoya city and central Tokyo both saw the mercury hit 35 degrees for the first time this summer.
2. Japanese authorities say at least 37 people in 16 prefectures were attacked by wild bears from April through July 3 and two of them were killed. The total number is expected to hit its worst level to date in this fiscal year, which began in April.
3. Japan’s fisheries agency has offered a rare opportunity to taste Japanese eels fully cultivated from eggs. The Japanese eel is designated as endangered species as its population has declined sharply. The protection of resources has become an issue. In an effort to preserve the stock of eels, a research institute of the Japanese government successfully achieved full-cycle eel farming 14 years ago for the first time in the world.