Welcome back to NHK Newsline. I'm Yamaguchi Hiraoki in Tokyo. We start with some breaking news.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says China has agreed to once again import Japanese seafood.
Translator: China has agreed to steadily restore imports of Japanese seafood that meets Chinese standards. Japan’s position is unchanged[7]. We are to immediately abolish all restrictions[8]. We hope this announcement will lead to that outcome.
Kishida told reporters that ahead of the announcement, he spoke with the Director General of the IAEA Raphael Grossi by phone. The organization confirmed it will expand how it monitors radioactivity in the ocean[1]. China’s foreign ministry also announced the news Friday[2]. It said it will gradually resume imports that meet the country’s scientific standards[3]. China suspended the imports last year when the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began its release of treated and diluted water.
Japanese communities in China are reeling after a fatal knife attack on a 10-year-old student of a Japanese school. Some events in the country that normally would attract many Japanese have been cancelled or postponed[9]. The boy was stabbed Wednesday on his way to school in the southern city of Shenzhen[10]. He died the following morning[4]. Local police say authorities detained a 44-year-old man at the scene on suspicion of attacking the boy[11]. The motive remains unknown[5]. The school’s principal said the boy liked his brothers and animals and enjoyed playing dodgeball[12]. The school will close for the rest of the week and hold classes online next week[6]. It will also study what responses should be taken. The Japanese ambassador to China spoke to reporters on Thursday after meeting the boy’s family. He said the family appeared devastated. He also talked with the Chinese foreign ministry official over the phone. Translator: The official described the attack as an individual case involving a former convict. He said the official did not explain whether the perpetrator targeted a Japanese national. In Beijing, a lecture that was to be given by a Japanese university professor has been cancelled. A tour that many Japanese people planned to join has been called off[13]. The knife attack follows one in June that injured a Japanese woman and her child in the eastern province of Jiangsu[14]. A Chinese woman died trying to stop the assailant[15]. Now in light of this, Japan’s foreign minister is calling for a review of safety measures for Japanese nationals going to school in China[16]. Translator: The Japanese government will thoroughly assess the local environment, including the ways to get to school. After a review, it will take necessary measures to ensure every way is safe. She says Japan will provide mental health support to parents and students dealing with anxiety in the aftermath. And on the ongoing investigation, she says the government will continue to ask China to share information.
A Japanese bullet train operator is investigating what caused two linked trains to uncouple while moving at high speed. None of the 320 people on board the trains were injured[17]. A coupler on the Tokyo-bound service became unhinged Thursday morning in the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi[18]. The braking system automatically kicked in forcing the trains to an emergency stop[19]. No cars derailed[20]. Following the incident, services between Tokyo and the other stations were stopped for about five hours. Roughly 45,000 passengers were affected[21]. The East Japan Railway says it’s the first time its linked bullet trains have detached while in motion[22]. The company says the trains were traveling about 315 kilometers an hour when they disengaged[23]. It says the coupler was designed to detach only when the trains slow down to 5 kilometers an hour or below[24]. No issues were found during inspections of the train just before they went into operation for the day[25]. The procedure to join the trains went as usual, and no external abnormalities were seen on them after they came to a halt. The driver says there is no noise or shaking before the coupler came apart[26]. The company is carrying out visual inspections of all its coupled trains.
Now Ohtani Shohei of the ... (No following CC was found)
Japanese government data shows that employers lost track of more than 9,700 foreign workers enrolled in a technical intern training program last year[27]. The number marks a record high[28]. The Integration Services Agency says the figure was up nearly 750 from the previous year, and accounted for about 1 in every 50 interns in the program[29]. By nationality, Vietnamese people made up the biggest group at about 5,500[30]. They were followed by those from Myanmar, China, and Cambodia[31]. Nearly half of all disappearances occurred in construction. Next for agriculture, food manufacturing, and machinery and metals[32]. Experts say many of the interns fled after encountering problems at their workplaces. The program prohibits them from moving to other employers except in compelling circumstances. The agency has clarified such conditions. It says the interns can switch employers if they suffer vileness or harassment, or if their bosses or supervising organizations commit serious and malicious legal offenses[33].
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will head to Washington next Thursday for talks with U.S. President Joe Biden. Zelenskyy says he intends to present the outgoing president with a victory plan on the war with Russia[34]. He is expected to push Biden on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by Western countries to strike deeper into Russian territory. Western leaders have expressed concern over green lighting the use of the weapons over threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin that it could escalate the war. With the U.S. election fast approaching, Zelenskyy is expected to ask Biden’s potential successors for continued support. He is scheduled to hold a separate meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and he has expressed hopes to meet with former U.S. President, Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the head of the European Commission has pledged 160 million euros, or about $178 million, to support Ukraine through the winter. The funds will come out of frozen assets held in the EU since the start of the invasion. The European Union is ready to step up its support to Ukraine. We are preparing for the winter together. She says the aid will go towards rebuilding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure destroyed in the war[35]. This includes providing shelters and heaters.
A museum in Switzerland has put on display a sculpture symbolizing the horror of nuclear war[36]. It’s of a tricycle that belonged to a boy who died in Hiroshima in 1945[37]. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva held a ceremony on Thursday to inaugurate the work titled "Future Memory: Tricycle"[38]. The 3-year-old boy was riding the original tricycle when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima[39]. The object was digitally scanned with the data used to create the life-sized artwork[40]. The project was commissioned by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. At a time when the risk of use of nuclear weapons has never been higher, and so this tricycle is a poignant symbol, and very potent symbol of the harm that nuclear weapons can cause, and why they must be urgently eliminated. The sculpture is on permanent display in a space near the museum’s entrance where admission is free.
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Now we’ll check out the world weather. People in East Asia, including parts of Japan, may face downpours this weekend. Our meteorologist has the details.
People in northern Japan have already seen intense rain on Friday and it has caused some disruptions. We have a video. People in parts of Akita Prefecture woke up to severe downpours on Friday morning. [Inaudible] reporting more than 110 millimeters of rain in just 12 hours. In the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, the fire burned down a house and police believe it was caused by lightning.
A frontal system that has brought heavy downpours to stretch from eastern China to northern Japan, on top of that storm that made landfall in Shanghai on Thursday. It’s expected to move to the east with lots of moisture. So intense rain is possible from parts of the Korean Peninsula to Japan. [Inaudible] may see up to 120 millimeters of rainfall by Saturday and more on Sunday. So people should watch out for flash floods and landslides.
But for the Pacific side of the country, excessive heat is still a concern. Tokyo will see sunny skies with a high of 36. This is almost 10 degrees higher than usual. Showers are likely in Taipei and Hong Kong.
Now moving to the United States, slow-moving frontal systems across the Great Lakes are causing severe weather. So there are risks of isolated heavy rain, gusty winds, and even tornadoes. So thundershowers are possible in Chicago. Sunny skies are covering New York and Washington, D.C. Showers are cooling the air in L.A. with a high of 24.
That’s all for me. Have a nice weekend.
That wraps up this edition of NHK "Newsline." I’m Yamaguchi Hiraoki in Tokyo. Thank you very much for staying with us.
[xx]: It was added by Copilot.
