Key words : nearly 3 weeks
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240121_13/
Nearly 3 weeks after the powerful New Year's Day earthquake that devastated central Japan, slowing the spread of infectious diseases among evacuees is proving to be a challenge.
In Ishikawa Prefecture, the deaths of 232 people have been confirmed. Fourteen of them are suspected of having died from disaster-related causes. Officials say 22 others remain unaccounted for.
The Ishikawa Prefectural government says its daily count of new infectious disease cases, mainly at evacuation centers, exceeded 100 for 10 straight days.
In a facility in Hakui city that currently houses 28 evacuees from a residence for people with disabilities in Wajima city, twelve have been infected with the coronavirus. The director of the Wajima residence, Une Kazuhiro said the harsh conditions of shelter life, without running water or enough food, is taking a toll on evacuees.
At a shelter in Suzu City, five evacuees among 30 have tested positive for COVID. There is no space available to separate the infected from others and setting up partitions is the only measure being taken.
Sakajiri Takashi, a caretaker at the shelter, said he wants the authorities to think more seriously about how to prevent diseases from spreading.
The cold winter weather is also making recovery difficult for survivors. The weather forecast calls for continued rain and snow over the next few days.
Weather officials are also warning people to stay alert for possible landslides, as the ground has been loosened by the constant shaking.
Key words : democratic rocked
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240121_04/
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been rocked by a fundraising scandal that has led to indictments against eight people and prompted three of its major factions to decide to disband.
Prosecutors in Tokyo indicted the chief treasurers of the Abe and Nikai factions on Friday, but the indictees were not arrested. A former chief treasurer of the Kishida faction received a summary indictment. That means the prosecutors have asked a summary court to impose a fine against him. All the individuals are accused of violating the political funds control law by engaging in false accounting practices.
The prosecutors also indicted Upper House member Ohno Yasutada, but he was not arrested. He is suspected of failing to declare more than 51 million yen, or about 347,000 dollars, in kickbacks that his office received from the Abe faction for selling tickets for fundraisers in excess of his assigned quota.
Tanigawa Yaichi, another Abe faction lawmaker, received a summary indictment. He is suspected of failing to report the more than 43 million yen in kickbacks that his office received.
These scandals have prompted the Kishida, Abe and Nikai factions to announce that they are disbanding.
The LDP's General Council Chairperson, Moriyama Hiroshi, apologized for the scandal when he delivered a speech in western Japan on Saturday. He added that the LDP lawmakers want to regain the trust of the people as soon as possible.
When asked about the disbandment of the three factions, Moriyama said he had no comments to make. But he did note that the decisions of the factions should be honored, as they were made voluntarily.
When asked about the possibility of disbanding the faction bearing his name, which he leads, Moriyama said none of its members has been indicted. He reported that the members want to discuss the matter and make a decision together. He said the members have been monitoring the debate that has begun within the party over how the factions should be handled.
Attention is also focused on whether the Aso, Motegi and Moriyama factions will decide to disband.
Political reform is expected to be the main issue at the upcoming ordinary Diet session, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.
The opposition parties, which have been intensifying their criticism of the LDP, say that the political funds control law should be revised.
They are now working on draft revisions that call for political donations from companies and organizations to be banned. The parties are also eyeing stricter punishments for violations of the law, and they are looking for ways to improve transparency regarding political funds.
Key words : north putin 24 years
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240121_12/
North Korea's Foreign Ministry has announced Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is willing to visit Pyongyang soon.
If Putin does, it would be his first visit to North Korea in 24 years since he first visited there as Russian president in 2000.
The Sunday-edition of North Korea's ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, has reported on North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui's three-day official visit to Russia, which ended on Wednesday. It reported on her discussions with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Putin reportedly expressed thanks for the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Pyongyang. He reportedly expressed his willingness to visit North Korea at an early date.
The paper stressed Pyongyang is ready to greet the Korean people's closest friend with the greatest sincerity.
It also says Choe discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula with Russian officials.
Both sides reportedly expressed serious concern over what the paper called "the negative influence of the US and its allied forces' irresponsible and unjust provocative acts" on the peace and security of the region.
The meetings highlighted Pyongyang's intention to boost ties with Russia to counter the United States and US allies.
Key words : three baltic
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240121_06/
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plan to jointly build defense facilities along their borders with Russia and its ally Belarus. The countries appear to be trying to deter Russia, which is still engaged in a military operation in Ukraine.
On Friday, the defense ministers of the three Baltic countries announced that the joint project will take several years to complete.
Estonian media outlets have reported that shelling-proof concrete bunkers will be set up at 600 locations along the nation's border with Russia.
Estonian defense minister Hanno Pevkur issued a statement. He said, "Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that in addition to equipment, ammunition and manpower, we also need physical defensive structures at the border."
The three countries pledged to continue to provide Ukraine with military assistance when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited them earlier this month.
On Saturday, Russia's lower house speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced that he will submit a bill to the lower house on Monday. He said the bill is aimed at enabling the government to confiscate the assets of people or entities that either spread false information about the activities of Russia's forces or publicly incite activities that are harmful to the nation's security.
Volodin insisted that people and entities who try to destroy Russia, or betray it, must be punished and must compensate the nation for the damage inflicted by forfeiting their assets.
Volodin is known to be one of the senior officials, who is close to President Vladimir Putin.
With the next presidential election scheduled for March, the Putin administration is stepping up its control over information in the country.
Key words : iran airstrike five members
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240121_10/
Iran says an Israeli airstrike on Syria's capital Damascus killed members of its elite force, creating a tense situation between Israel and Iran. Iran, which backs Hamas, has implied that it would take retaliatory action against Israel.
Iran's state-run media reported that the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on Saturday that says five members were killed in an Israeli air attack. It says that they were military advisers.
Iran's foreign ministry says that Iran reserves its right to respond at the appropriate time and place.
Israel has not responded yet, but during a news conference on Thursday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that "we are attacking Iran" directly.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military continued its airstrikes and land operations across a wide area of the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
It said that it killed Hamas fighters in Khan Younis in the south and found and destroyed rockets and launchers near Gaza city in the north.
The Israeli military also dropped leaflets from the air in Khan Younis and other locations that include photographs of hostages and ask for information.
The health authorities in Gaza said on Saturday that Israeli strikes had killed 165 people over the past 24 hours, which brought the total of overall deaths since current fighting began to 24,927.
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