Asian View
"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20240108183000_english_1.mp3
Key words : 161
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_11/
Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, say 161 people have been confirmed dead and 103 others remain unaccounted for following the massive earthquake one week ago.
The officials said that as of 9 a.m. on Monday, 70 deaths had been confirmed in both Wajima and Suzu cities, 11 in Anamizu Town, five in Nanao City, two each in the towns of Noto and Shika, and one in Hakui City.
They also released the names and ages of those unaccounted for to seek information on their whereabouts.
Key words : one week
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_04/
Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture say 128 people have been confirmed dead one week after a powerful earthquake struck central Japan. The full extent of the damage is still unknown while efforts are underway to rebuild damaged roads to search for survivors and deliver relief supplies.
The magnitude 7.6 quake struck shortly after 4 p.m. on New Year's Day. A maximum seismic intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale was recorded in the town of Shika, upper 6 in the cities of Nanao, Wajima and Suzu and in the town of Anamizu.
A major tsunami warning was issued for the Noto region. Coastal areas were hit by tsunami waves.
In Wajima, a massive fire broke out at Asaichi street, a popular tourist spot. It is believed to have burned down more than 200 buildings.
Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture say a landslide destroyed multiple homes in Anamizu town's Yuigaoka district, and seven people were confirmed dead as of Sunday. Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors who appear to be trapped inside buildings.
Prefectural officials have released the names and addresses of 195 people who remain unaccounted for to seek information about their whereabouts.
At least 2,000 people in 24 districts are cut off due to severed roads.
More than 28,000 people are taking refuge at about 400 evacuation facilities amid severe cold.
With no tap water and with blackouts, many continue to live in their homes or sleep in their cars.
Without daily necessities, and toilets with no running water, there is growing concern that hygienic conditions may worsen.
The disruption in transportation and communication systems has prevented authorities from grasping the extent of the damage.
Key words : heavy snow taskforce
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_02/
A major earthquake on New Year's Day in Ishikawa Prefecture has killed 128 people and left 195 others missing.
Heavy snowfall is expected to blanket disaster-hit areas.
Weather officials are warning of possible collapse of buildings and traffic disruptions due to snow accumulations.
Rescue efforts are underway as freezing rain comes down. In the Yuigaoka district in the town of Anamizu, houses have been destroyed by landslides.
Officials say 128 deaths in the prefecture have been confirmed so far.
Evacuees are having to endure the cold.
In Wajima City, people went to a greenhouse as they couldn't find space in designated shelters.
They are trying to keep themselves warm by covering produce boxes with blankets and using a kerosene heater.
The greenhouse is not designated as a shelter, so aid supplies from municipalities are not delivered there.
Food deliveries and water trucks have arrived at an elementary school in Suzu, which is now serving as an evacuation center.
However, people managing the center say they do not have enough plastic bags for storing water.
The staff members are also concerned about hygiene.
They say there is a shortage of disinfectant, or bags to dispose of bodily waste.
One of the members said, "Each center has different needs. So I would appreciate it very much if people try to confirm what is needed before they send out supplies."
Ishikawa prefectural officials say, as of Sunday, more than 28,000 people were staying at some 400 evacuation centers across the prefecture.
At some centers, evacuees have fever and other medical symptoms.
Many people are cut off from basic utilities. About 18,000 households are dealing with power outages. 66,000 are without water.
Some sections of roads remain closed.
Transport authorities say they don't know when traffic will be up and running again on a closed section of the Noh-etsu Expressway.
The government held an emergency disaster taskforce meeting Sunday afternoon.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said, "Wide areas in northern parts of the Noto Peninsula remain isolated. I hope we will access the affected areas by any means possible, including on foot and by helicopter. We should do everything to secure the safety of those who are left there."
Kishida also said he will designate the earthquake as an "extraordinary disaster." This will allow flexible treatment of people seeking administrative procedures, such as extension of driver's licenses and business permits.
Key words : haneda reopened the runway
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_07/
Tokyo's Haneda Airport has resumed operating the runway where a passenger jet and a coast guard plane collided last week.
The airport reopened the runway on Monday after the wreckage of both planes had been cleared and necessary restoration work completed.
The transport ministry had said that depending on wind directions, the number of flights landing at and departing from the runway may remain at lower-than-usual levels due to a possible glitch with equipment that sends signals to landing aircraft.
But it now says the number will return to normal as the equipment has been confirmed to be working without problems.
However, the ministry says more aircraft than normal will fly at low altitudes over central Tokyo for about one month until some damaged lamps along the runway are fixed.
A Japan Airlines aircraft and a Japan Coast Guard plane collided on Runway C right after the jetliner touched down on Tuesday.
Five of the six people on board the coast guard plane died, with the other seriously injured. All on board the JAL plane escaped, and 15 passengers received medical treatment.
More than 200 flights were canceled every day following the accident.
Key words : kamikawa met contribution
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_01/
Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko has met her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv, pledging a contribution of 37 million dollars for providing the country with a drone detection system.
The meeting took place on Sunday for about 90 minutes.
Kuleba said at the onset of the talks that Japan's invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to last year's Group of Seven Hiroshima Summit is highly recognized.
Kamikawa conveyed her country's continued support for Ukraine. She said the 37-million-dollar contribution will be made through a NATO fund. Tokyo will also provide five gas turbine power generators to help Ukrainians make it through the winter and give education and healthcare assistance for women and children.
A joint news conference by the ministers was held in an underground shelter as air raid sirens went off during their meeting.
Kamikawa strongly condemned continued missile and drone attacks by Russia. She expressed Tokyo's resolve to continue supporting Ukraine so that the country can regain peace.
Kamikawa's visit comes as some observers point to "fatigue" among Western countries in their support for Ukraine.
Key words : arrested ikeda money
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_05/
NHK has learned from informed sources that data storage devices related to Japanese Lower House member Ikeda Yoshitaka were destroyed before Tokyo prosecutors searched his office and other places last month. He was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of violating the political funds control law.
57-year-old Ikeda is a member of the largest faction of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, once led by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
The prosecutors allege that Ikeda's office received kickbacks worth about 48 million yen, or about 331,000 dollars, from the faction in the five years through 2022, but he conspired with his policy secretary to falsify political funds reports.
The faction is said to have failed to include in its political funds reports kickbacks it paid to the offices of member lawmakers who sold tickets to fundraising events in excess of their quotas.
The prosecutors explained on Sunday that they had arrested Ikeda because they recognized a potential destruction of evidence. They said that in addition to the amount of the money involved, they judged it was highly likely that evidence would be destroyed.
The prosecutors are expected to investigate whether Ikeda was involved in destroying the evidence and other details.
Key words : north 88
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240107_23/
North Korea has denied South Korea's accusation that the North fired artillery shells toward the Yellow Sea on Saturday. The North claims it only detonated explosives as a deception tactic.
The South Korean military said on Saturday that the North had fired more than 60 artillery rounds off its western coast toward the Yellow Sea.
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the North detonated "blasting powder" 60 times to simulate the sound of artillery.
She said the North did not fire even a single shell into the waters around the two countries' de facto maritime border set by the United Nations Command. She claimed that it was a deceptive operation aimed at assessing the real detection ability of the South Korean military.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff called the statement low-grade psychological warfare and demanded that the North stop military activity that raises tensions.
The South Korean military said the North fired more than 90 artillery shells north of Yeonpyeong Island on Sunday. The North Korean military said it launched 88 shells in a drill.
Key words : bangladesh office
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240108_14/
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a fifth term in office in a controversial general election on Sunday.
The voting took place in a tense atmosphere with the military and police heavily guarding each polling station. Japanese election observers were monitoring the polls to check if the voting was free and fair.
Unofficial results show the ruling Awami League won a resounding victory. Hasina secured another five-year term to add to her nearly 15 years as prime minister.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted the election, claiming the vote would be rigged. It organized a series of protests since October, but all of them met with a crackdown by the security forces. Many leaders and activists have since been arrested.
The BNP has had to close and abandon its headquarters. The party's lawyer Mahdin Choudhury said, "Authorities are hunting our members, our activists, our followers. At nighttime, they are staying under the open sky in the paddy field, in the wet field. Because if they go to their house, the police will arrest them."
Some people praised Sheikh Hasina for converting Bangladesh from one of the world's poorest countries to one of the fastest growing economies. But many were indifferent to the election. One rickshaw driver said, "I've never seen an election like this. They should be more exciting with many parties and candidates. This is like an election for one person. I didn't vote." Another driver said, "I don't have a job now. I need money to go back to my home village to vote, so I didn't go."
With the legitimacy of the one-sided elections called into question, Prime Minister Hasina needs to demonstrate respect for human rights as well as working on improving the lives of 170 million people.
Key words : taiwan accused
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240106_19/
Taiwan's defense ministry has accused China of threatening aviation safety by flying balloons over its main island and surrounding waters.
The ministry said on Saturday that two balloons crossed the median line on the Taiwan Strait on Friday and one of them flew over the main island.
The ministry did not directly link the balloon incidents to Taiwan's presidential election to be held on January 13.
But it said they were part of China's "grey zone" tactics "in an attempt to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people."
The ministry previously said it thinks that balloons are for weather monitoring, but indicated on Saturday that it does not rule out the possibility that Beijing is sending them for spying.
Chinese balloons have been detected for five straight days since the new year started.
The ministry says it has been aware that the number of balloons flying from China tends to increase in winter due to wind direction.
Last month it started releasing the number of balloons detected and their courses every 24 hours.
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