at 20:00 (JST), October 02

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20211002200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : taiwan says
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_09/

Taiwan says 38 Chinese military aircraft entered its air defense identification zone on Friday, the largest incursion by Chinese forces in a single day.

Taiwan's defense ministry said 25 of the aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, flew into the zone over waters southwest of Taiwan during the day. It says 13 more aircraft flew into the zone at night.

Twelve of them passed through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, reaching waters on the Pacific side of Taiwan, before heading back along the same route.

The entry of 38 Chinese military planes into the zone in a single day is the largest action of its kind since Taiwan's defense ministry started releasing data in the current format in September of last year.

Expert analysis published online by Taiwan newspaper the China Times said Beijing was showing off its military strength to coincide with National Day.

It said the incursion demonstrates that China is capable of nighttime attacks on naval and air forces beyond what China calls the first island chain.

The US Navy tweeted that a US aircraft carrier was navigating waters near the Philippines around the same time. It is not known whether there is any correlation between the voyage and the incursion by the Chinese military.

Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said China's military "aggression" was damaging regional peace.

Key words : missile launch china and russia
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_05/

A meeting by the United Nations Security Council to discuss the North Korean missile launch has failed to issue a statement after opposition from China and Russia.

North Korea fired a missile on Tuesday from its northern region toward the east. An announcement by Pyongyang the next day said it was the first test-launch of its newly developed hypersonic missile, the Hwasong-8.

The UN council held a closed-door emergency meeting on Friday at the request of the United States, Britain and France.

Kenya's UN Ambassador Martin Kimani, the current council president, told reporters there would be no statement. He explained that envoys expressed their views at the meeting.

UN sources say US and European members called for a statement expressing concern, saying the launch employed ballistic missile technology in violation of Security Council resolutions.

But China and Russia reportedly opposed the move.

The meeting was initially scheduled for Thursday, but the sources say it was postponed after China expressed reluctance over the session.

The council previously failed to agree on a united response to Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches at an emergency meeting on September 15.

Key words : johns hopkins
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_10/

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States has topped 700,000.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University show the country reached the milestone on Friday.

The number of new cases in the US surged again during the summer as the highly contagious Delta variant swept across the country.

The average daily tally had topped 150,000. Average daily deaths were about 1,500 per day as of Thursday.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, told reporters on Friday that the US is "beginning to see cases and hospitalizations decrease from their peaks".

But she warned that the rates of hospitalization and deaths remain higher in states with lower vaccine coverage.

The CDC chief strongly urges unvaccinated people to get a shot.

People who were fully vaccinated accounted for 55.7 percent of the US population as of Friday. The pace of inoculations has been slowing.

Businesses and schools in the US have begun to mandate coronavirus vaccines for their employees.

But some Americans, mostly conservatives, are still reluctant to get vaccinated.

Key words : california
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_08/

The western US state of California plans to mandate coronavirus vaccines for schoolchildren to attend classes in-person.

Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday the vaccine requirement would be imposed in stages following full approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has fully approved the vaccines for people over 16 and has authorized inoculations for those aged 12 to 15 on an emergency basis. The vaccines for children under 12 are still in testing stage.

The vaccine mandate is expected to take effect in July for students aged 12 and older and at a later date for students under 12.

California already requires teachers and staff to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

US President Joe Biden is strongly urging people to get their jabs as the pace of inoculations has been slowing. California's move is expected to affect the decisions of other states.

Key words : drugmaker
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_N01/

US pharmaceutical company Merck says it has developed a coronavirus drug that can be taken orally. It says the drug may cut the risk of serious illness or death in some patients by as much as 50 percent.

The drug is called molnupiravir. Merck officials say it is for people who are already infected and showing symptoms. They say it is effective against all variants, including the Delta mutation.

Researchers tested the drug on nearly 760 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. All of them had at least one risk factor that made them more susceptible to serious illness.

Researchers found that just 7 percent of those who took the pill required hospitalization, and all of them survived.
But 14 percent of patients who took a placebo were hospitalized or died.

Merck CEO Rob Davis said molnupiravir is important because it is the first oral antiviral that will be available to combat COVID-19. He said if you're someone who is unfortunate enough to get the news that you've contracted COVID-19, this is a pill you can take at home.

Company officials say they will ask regulators to authorize the drug for emergency use in the US as soon as possible. Rival drugmakers Pfizer and Roche Holding are racing to develop their own oral treatments.

Key words : health ministry medical
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_04/

Japan's health ministry has instructed local governments to review their medical systems ahead of a possible resurgence of the coronavirus.

The ministry on Friday asked prefectural governments to conduct the reviews by the end of November. Local authorities are being told to assume a spread of infections as severe as the peak of the fifth wave.

Confirmed cases during the fifth wave exceeded three times the anticipated number. This was mainly due to the Delta variant.

Hospital beds fell into short supply, at one time forcing more than 130,000 people to isolate at home.

In the latest notification, the ministry urged prefectures to ensure adequate beds and to ask hospitals to clarify the conditions under which patients may be rejected. Some hospitals have been slow to admit patients even when beds are available.

Officials asked prefectures to set up temporary treatment centers, including those for patients waiting to be hospitalized. They also requested part-time nurses to be recruited and dispatched to medical institutions.

Regarding people who are self-isolating, the ministry asked prefectures to ensure close monitoring and to respond faster to any sudden changes in condition. They also called for systems to be set up to administer virus-neutralizing antibody drugs at patients' homes.

Key words : protester
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_07/

Protesters rallied in Washington on Friday calling for more pressure by the United States and other countries on China against what they call the "genocide" being perpetrated on the Uyghur people.

A Uyghur human rights group based in the US capital and others organized the event. About 200 people attended, including Congress members and those from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

One woman said she was detained at a facility in the Xinjiang region for about 10 months. She said women there were forced to undergo sterilization. She called for more international pressure on China.

Another woman said she came to protest what she called the ongoing genocide and urge US and other governments to take action.

The Biden administration has sanctioned officials in the Xinjiang region. The US Congress is deliberating legislation aimed at preventing the distribution of goods in the US made through forced labor in Xinjiang.

Key words : taliban girl
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211002_03/

Armed Taliban fighters have forcibly dispersed a group of women who were demanding that girls in Afghanistan be allowed to return to secondary school.

The protest took place on Thursday in the capital Kabul. About 10 Taliban fighters rushed to the scene and threatened the women to leave, including by firing shots into the air.

Girls have been unable to attend secondary school since the Taliban took control of the country in August.

In September, the group said boys and girls in secondary school cannot study in the same buildings or classrooms under their interpretation of Islamic teaching.

The uncertainty over the reopening of secondary school for girls is raising concerns about further restrictions on women's rights under Taliban rule.