Key words : negotiator humanitarian zone
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_N02/
UN agencies sound alarm over aid to Gaza
Negotiators trying to broker a ceasefire deal in the conflict between Israel and Hamas have paused their talks. However, UN aid officials warned on Friday in a news conference that "only a ceasefire" can avert further bloodshed and restore desperately needed deliveries of aid.
Georgios Petropoulos of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israeli bombs continue to fall "all over Rafah." He added that his group is also seeing attacks take place "increasingly closer to Muwasi," which is the area Israeli troops have designated a "humanitarian zone."
UN officials say hundreds of thousands of displaced people are taking refuge there, but Israeli military activity prevents them from delivering aid in a "viable" and "safe" way.
The officials said no trucks have been able to enter Gaza since Israeli troops seized Rafah crossing earlier this week, so they have been "scraping the bottom of the barrel" for food and fuel.
They are worried hospitals will collapse and that a lack of clean water will spread disease. They also warn that the World Food Programme will run out of supplies for southern Gaza by Saturday.
Israel's war cabinet voted Thursday night to expand what it has called a "limited" operation in Rafah. More than 110,000 Palestinians have already fled the city.
However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there have already been "far too many" civilian casualties, and people must be moved out of "harm's way."
Key words : inconsistent
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_09/
US suggests Israel may have breached humanitarian law but avoids conclusion
The administration of US President Joe Biden says Israel's use of US-supplied weapons in the Gaza Strip may have been "inconsistent" with its international humanitarian law obligations, but avoids making a conclusive assessment.
The Biden administration submitted a report to Congress on Friday on Israel's military operations in Gaza between January 2023 and April this year. Assessments and analysis were made based on information from the intelligence communities of Israel and the United States, as well as other sources.
The report also said it was "reasonable to assess" that Israeli security forces used weapons supplied by the US in instances inconsistent "with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm."
But it said, "it is difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents" given the nature of the conflict, and that it will continue to monitor the situation.
Based on an agreement between the two countries, the US would take measures such as reviewing the provision of weapons if violations are confirmed.
Attention has been focused on the US response as Biden has indicated the US would hold off providing ammunition and other weapons if Israel goes ahead with a massive ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Key words : russian troops crossed border
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_04/
Ukraine: Russian troops in Kharkiv aiming to create buffer zone along border
Ukraine's military says Russian troops have crossed the border into the eastern region of Kharkiv, most likely to establish a buffer zone between the two countries.
The regional governor said on social media on Friday that the Russians have started a new stage of their offensive in northern Kharkiv.
The governor said an area near the border with Russia came under heavy shelling, killing two civilians.
An official of the Ukrainian military's General Staff told NHK that Russian troops have entered from the north, and pushed one kilometer into the region.
The official said the scale of the incursion suggests that the objective is not to seize the city of Kharkiv, but to create a 10-kilometer wide buffer zone along the border to prevent Ukrainian shelling into Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that "Russia has begun a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction."
He stressed that Ukraine was prepared for the attack and fought back with brigades and artillery.
Diplomatic sources in Kyiv say this is believed to be the first Russian incursion into the Kharkiv region since Ukrainian forces recaptured most of the territory in September 2022.
Key words : kim oversaw
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_06/
N.Korea says it test-fired controllable shells for rocket launcher system
North Korea says its leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of controllable shells for an updated version of a 240-millimeter multiple rocket launcher system on Friday.
North Korea's ruling Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Saturday that the launcher has an automatic fire combined control system. It added that all eight fired shells hit their targets.
The paper also said the system will be deployed to units of the country's army from this year to 2026.
The shells were reportedly developed by a new national defense industrial enterprise set up under the Second Economy Commission responsible for the country's munitions exports.
The paper said Kim discussed ways to further accelerate national defense economic work, calling for production of the shells to be raised to the highest level.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said last year that the term "national defense economic work" could be a reference to arms exports.
The country's Yonhap News Agency quoted observers as saying Pyongyang may be aiming to gain economic benefits through exports to Russia, which continues its military invasion of Ukraine.
Key words : space wave
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_01/
Strong solar flares could disrupt communications, GPS
Space weather researchers say a series of strong solar flares could disrupt communication satellites, GPS and short-wave radio around the world over the next few days.
Solar flares are large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. They can expose Earth to masses of ejected protons and other charged particles.
Officials with Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology say solar flares of the most intense class were observed five times between Wednesday and early Friday local time.
They say the geomagnetic storm could reach Earth as early as Friday night.
The director of the NICT's Space Environment Laboratory, Tsugawa Takuya, says it is extremely rare for five strong solar flares to occur in such a short period.
He says the ejected particles are unlikely to affect human health, but warns that GPS location data and some radio communications could be disrupted over the coming days.
Key words : rice planting
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240511_08/
Rice planting at quake-hit Shiroyone Senmaida in central Japan
More than 50 people have taken part in rice planting at picturesque terraced paddies on the coast of the Noto Peninsula, central Japan, which was hit by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day.
Shiroyone Senmaida consists of around 1,000 paddies along a slope overlooking the Sea of Japan in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It has been designated as a national scenic spot.
The earthquake caused extensive damage to the rice fields, with about 80 percent of them left with cracks.
A civic group that manages rice farming there was engaged in repair work.
Amid a shortage of farmers due to aging of the local population, an ownership system has been introduced to conserve the paddies. Under the scheme, members pay fees to grow rice.
On Saturday, members gathered from across Japan for planting at some of the repaired paddies. They manually planted seedlings of rice grown mainly in the Noto region.
A man in his 30s from Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, said he will be happy if his participation as an owner helps rebuild the paddies.
Planting by owners will take place again on Sunday. Volunteer workers including local high school students will participate next weekend.
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