Key words : volunteer nanao
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_22/
Volunteers have begun helping people in Ishikawa Prefecture's Noto Town, which suffered heavy damage from the powerful earthquake on New Year's Day.
Ishikawa Prefecture has been sending volunteers to quake-hit areas, including the cities of Nanao and Suzu, since January 27.
Eleven people who had registered with the prefecture arrived in Noto on Thursday morning.
They quickly headed to their designated places after being given shovels, gloves and other equipment for removing quake debris.
A volunteer in his 40s from Akita Prefecture, northern Japan, said many people came to help his prefecture when there was heavy rain, and he wants to return the favor.
Shoji Yoshihiro, the head of Noto Town's disaster-relief volunteer center, says people have eagerly been waiting for this kind of help. Shoji said he wants to speed up the volunteer activities by accepting people from outside the prefecture.
In consideration of the short daylight hours and the road situation, the town is limiting volunteer activities to those who can make day trips and work until 3 p.m.
The center says it wants to increase the number of volunteers and the hours they can work, based on the situation in the town.
Key words : 37,000 running water
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_01/
Many survivors of the New Year's Day earthquake in central Japan are still struggling to access water. The magnitude 7.6 quake damaged infrastructure across the region. Now, nearly 40 days later, some 37,000 households still don't have running water.
Schools in the hard-hit city of Nanao started offering lunch again on Wednesday. The menu consisted of milk, rice balls and dessert -- nothing that required water to cook.
Baths are also a hot commodity in the area. Beppu, a hot spring town in western Japan, decided to chip in. It shipped bathwater from hundreds of kilometers away so residents could soak and unwind.
Most of the households in Suzu and Wajima cities still don't have water. Authorities are working to see if groundwater can be used as a provisional water supply.
Officials tested wells in Suzu, but say they won't know if water from them is safe for another month. If usable, they say the well water could address some daily needs, such as bathing or filling toilet cisterns.
But water is also necessary to treat the sick. Noto General Hospital in Nanao was finally able to resume dialysis treatments after restoring its water supply. Dialysis requires 500 liters of water per patient.
Dr. Izumiya Yoshiaki of the hospital said, "If we can't provide this treatment, it could be life-threatening for our patients. We hope we can help improve medical services in the area."
As for those who still don't have water, local authorities say the region's aging system was already vulnerable to earthquakes.
Over 100 workers from across the country are scrambling to fix it. But officials say complete recovery won't happen until April at the earliest.
Key words : tonami
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_19/
An expert team has left for a quake-hit city in Ishikawa Prefecture to help restore water supplies.
Some 37,500 households and businesses in Ishikawa were without running water as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
In the city of Nanao, about 13,300 of them still have no access to tap water.
Officials from the city of Tonami in Toyama Prefecture decided to send an eight-member team of experts to Nanao.
Tonami Mayor Natsuno Osamu encouraged the team at a departure ceremony on Thursday.
He said he wants them to contribute to restoring water supplies as soon as possible for people affected by the disaster, although the weather is cold and tremors are continuing.
Tonami city officials say the eight will travel between the two cities daily until running water is restored in Nanao. Their tasks include identifying where water is leaking and carrying out repairs.
A team member says he wants to do his utmost to help people in Nanao to quickly resume their normal lives.
Key words : north marks founding
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_03/
North Korea marks the 76th anniversary of the founding of its military, the Korean People's Army, on Thursday. The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, is expected to stress his determination to continue military buildup through the development of new ballistic and cruise missiles.
A military parade was held on a grand scale last year in Pyongyang, with Kim in attendance. But there have been no reported signs of one taking place this year.
North Korea announced last month it successfully test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile that can be fired more quickly than those that use liquid propellants.
It also said it tested an underwater nuclear weapons system in waters off its east coast.
North Korea also fired cruise missiles four times in the course of 10 days through February 2 -- an unusually high frequency. Cruise missiles can fly low, irregular trajectories for a long time and are difficult to detect and intercept.
Experts say the North may be trying to quickly strengthen its ability to launch surprise attacks by developing various missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
On the commemoration day, the North could stress through state-run media its resolve to strengthen its military prowess in line with its five-year defense plan, now in its fourth year. The country has been opposing deepening security cooperation among Japan, the US and South Korea.
Key words : overwhelming inter-korean submarine
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_11/
North Korea says it now possesses "overwhelming" military power that can "effectively deter the war ambitions of imperialists."
The country's ruling Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, published an editorial on Thursday to mark the 76th anniversary of the founding of the country's military, the Korean People's Army.
The editorial says North Korea will never allow anyone to infringe upon its right to autonomy and existence.
The newspaper carried a photo of the solid fuel ICBM-class Hwasong-18. North Korea conducted a launch drill of the missile last December.
Another photo shows what the North calls a "tactical nuclear attack submarine." A launch ceremony for the submarine was held last September.
The editorial is apparently intended to stress North Korea's confrontational stance toward Japan, the United States and South Korea, by displaying the country's progress in nuclear and missile development under its five-year defense plan.
The newspaper also reports that North Korea decided to scrap the law on inter-Korean economic cooperation at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Rodong Sinmun reported on its front page that the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, inspected factories that make food products and daily goods in Kangwon Province in the country's east on Wednesday.
North Korea has been implementing "the regional development 20×10 policy" this year. It aims to build factories in 20 areas every year by mobilizing military personnel, to help boost regional economies and improve living standards within a decade.
Observers say Kim may want to show the public that he has consideration for their daily lives, in addition to focusing on the military buildup.
Key words : budget bill fail
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_15/
The US Senate has failed to approve an emergency budget bill that includes aid for Ukraine.
A bipartisan group of senators put together a package including security measures for the border with Mexico and wartime aid to Ukraine and Israel. But most Republicans voted against advancing it in the chamber on Wednesday after former President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in the presidential race this year, urged them not to compromise.
The United States has been Ukraine's biggest backer, but funding ran out at the end of last year. Congress has failed to pass an additional budget bill that includes fresh military aid for Ukraine due to differences between the Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans hold a majority in the US House of Representatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is close to Trump, has called for stricter border controls and has been reluctant to support Ukraine.
Aid for Ukraine and border security are key issues in the upcoming presidential election. It is becoming increasingly unclear whether the US will continue to support Ukraine in the nearly two-year old conflict.
Key words : iran killed us military says
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_08/
The US military says it has killed the commander of an Iran-backed armed group, Kataib Hezbollah, with a retaliatory strike in Iraq.
The US Central Command said on Wednesday that the commander was "responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region."
The US Defense Department had earlier expressed its view that the group may have been involved in a January drone attack on a US base in Jordan that killed three US service members.
Last Friday, the US military carried out airstrikes against facilities linked to Iran's elite military forces in Iraq and Syria. A White House official expressed his view that the military's retaliatory attacks would continue for a certain period of time.
Security authorities in Iraq say the US military has carried out drone attacks in Baghdad. They said the attacks are a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, "dragging the region into dangerous repercussions."
Key words : world bank growth
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20240208161553841/
World Bank economist on what's behind global growth slowdown
The World Bank forecasts global economic growth to further slow down due to factors including geopolitical tensions and climate change. NHK Senior Economic Commentator Sakurai Reiko interviewed the bank's deputy chief economist to hear what he thinks should be done in response.
Key words : workers fukushima
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_09/
Tokyo Electric Power Company says workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have found that untreated water leaked from the outdoor vent of a filtering device.
The plant operator said the water, some of which may have seeped into the ground, is believed to have contained 220 times the standard level of radioactive substances that has to be reported to the government.
TEPCO said the leak was detected shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
The utility says the outflow from the vent may have occurred because a valve that was supposed to be shut remained open when workers washed away untreated water inside the filtering device during an inspection.
The leak stopped when the flow of water inside the device was halted.
But Tokyo Electric estimates that about 5.5 tons of water got out.
It also estimates that the leaked water contained about 22 billion becquerels of cesium-137 and other radioactive substances that emit gamma rays.
The standard level for reporting to the government is 100 million becquerels.
The utility says it has not confirmed any environmental impact outside the plant.
But because the leaked water may have seeped into the ground, it plans to recover the water and surrounding soil.
Key words : world weather Jonathan Oh
#N/A
Key words : asahikawa
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240208_12/
Tourists and locals have gathered to see a giant snow sculpture at a winter festival in the northern Japanese city of Asahikawa.
The Asahikawa Winter Festival draws about 1 million people, and is marking its 65th anniversary this year.
A variety of snow sculptures are on display on a riverbed of the Ishikari River that flows through central Asahikawa. The largest one is 140 meters wide and 20 meters tall. It depicts characters from the popular Dragon Quest video game series and Asahikawa City's mascots, "Asappy" and "Yukkirin." Visitors admired the giant sculpture and took photos.
Foreign visitors also enjoyed a 100-meter-long slide made of ice.
A man from Thailand said he was surprised by the size of the main sculpture. He said he was happy to see it because he likes Dragon Quest.
The event organizers say the festival is being held on about the same scale as before the coronavirus pandemic, with food stalls set up for the first time in four years.
Inotani Kazuhiko of the city's tourism office says the festival is full of winter attractions, such as the giant snow sculpture and icy slide, and he hopes many people will enjoy them.
The festival will continue through February 12.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿