Japan's Defense Minister has revealed that a Self-Defense Force unit's records of its UN peacekeeping activities in South Sudan have been rediscovered after the ministry had denied their existence.
Syria's state-run media has reported that Israel carried out the deadly missile attack on a Syrian air base on Monday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of multilateralism in a meeting with the head of the United Nations.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20180409200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : defense minister revealed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_25/
Japan's Defense Minister has revealed that a Self-Defense Force unit's records of its UN peacekeeping activities in South Sudan have been rediscovered after the ministry had denied their existence.
The finding comes as Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Saturday instructed the ministry and the Self Defense Forces to carry out a thorough search for the daily activity logs of personnel dispatched overseas.
Onodera told an Upper House committee on Monday that he was informed about the discovery of the unit's logs on its mission in South Sudan by the ministry's Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
The logs reportedly cover a period of over a year. They include the records of a 6-day period in 2016 between July 7th and 12th, during which large-scale armed clashes erupted in the African country.
Ministry officials initially responded to information disclosure requests by saying that the records had been destroyed.
But in February of last year, the ministry announced that electronic data were found in the SDF's Joint Staff Office. The following month, they said that data were also found to exist in facilities of the Ground Self Defense Force.
Minister Onodera said he can only say the ministry did not respond appropriately to the information disclosure requests made at the time. He added that he offers a fresh apology as defense minister.
Key words : onodera Abe investigate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_21/
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed his determination to thoroughly investigate whether defense officials tried to cover up the existence of activity logs of Self-Defense Force troops in Iraq.
Abe was speaking at an Upper House committee on Monday, following a series of announcements by the Defense Minister on the discoveries of the Ground and Air Self-Defense Forces' logs. The ministry initially said the logs had been discarded.
The GSDF's logs were found in March last year. But Defense Minister, Itsunori Onodera, was only recently informed of the find.
Abe called the issue extremely regrettable, saying it is a grave matter that may have an impact on civilian control of the SDF.
He said the scandal will undermine public confidence not only in the Defense Ministry and the SDF but also in all government offices, and offered an apology.
Abe said the government will clarify the root cause and take thorough measures to improve information disclosure and document management.
He said he told Onodera to closely analyze the issue and make the outcome public.
Onodera said it cannot be helped that people have doubts about civilian control of the SDF if his orders fail to reach units at the bottom. He said he will take steps to prevent similar problems from occurring again.
Key words : finance ministry admitted
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_16/
Japan's Finance Ministry has admitted that one of its officials asked a school operator to lie about why it received a huge discount when it bought state-owned land.
The ministry sold the plot in Osaka, western Japan, to Moritomo Gakuen for a price far below its market value. It said the discount was aimed at offsetting the cost of removing buried waste.
Mitsuru Ota, who heads the ministry's bureau in charge of state-owned property, told an Upper House committee on Monday that an official in his section called Moritomo's lawyer in February last year.
Ota said the official suggested that Moritomo should say that thousands of trucks were used to transport the waste and the work cost a lot of money.
He said the official also asked a member of the ministry's Osaka office to pressure the school operator to comply. But he said the member refused to do this, and Moritomo's lawyer also rejected the proposal.
Ota said the bureau official tried to persuade Moritomo to make statements that would confirm the ministry's account of the waste removal. He said this was wrong and shameful, and he offered an apology.
Key words : Syria deadly
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_32/
Syria's state-run media has reported that Israel carried out the deadly missile attack on a Syrian air base on Monday.
It initially reported that the United States may have been behind the attack near the central city of Homs.
It later said it was carried out by Israeli F-15 fighter jets.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted the country's Defense Ministry as saying that 2 Israeli F-15s fired 8 missiles. It said Syria's air defense system shot down 5 of them, but 3 landed on the western side of the base.
An Israeli military spokesperson told NHK that the military has no comment.
Israel has carried out a number of attacks in Syria, alleging that its longtime enemy Iran is building military facilities there.
In February, Israeli fighter jets struck the same base. This was after Israel said that an Iranian drone from the base had violated its airspace.
The British-based group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the latest attack killed 14 people of various nationalities.
The group says Iranian military personnel and Shia militias were at the base at the time. Iran supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Key words : security chemical weapon indicated
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_19/
The United Nations Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting on Monday over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Relief groups say 49 people died in the Syrian district of eastern Ghouta on Saturday.
The government of Bashar al-Assad denies that its forces used chemical weapons.
Nine countries, including the United States, called for an emergency meeting to discuss the issue.
The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said in a statement on Sunday that the Security Council has to support an independent investigation into what happened, and hold accountable those responsible for this atrocious act.
She indicated that Russia, which backs the Assad government, should press the administration to cooperate with an on-site investigation.
Last October, experts from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons compiled a report on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, but Russia objected to the extension of the inquiry. The US aims to launch a new inquiry into the issue.
It remains unclear whether the US and Russia will be able to close the gap at the scheduled Security Council meeting.
Key words : chinese emphasize
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_23/
Chinese President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of multilateralism in a meeting with the head of the United Nations.
Xi met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia. The participants include the region's business and political leaders.
China's Foreign Ministry says Xi told Guterres the purpose of multilateralism is that members seek consultation and cooperation, and major countries need to work together first.
Xi also met with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. They issued a joint statement saying both sides have agreed to protect the rules-based, multilateral-trade system.
Key words : south prosecutor effectively
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_24/
South Korean prosecutors on Monday indicted former president Lee Myung-bak on a series of charges including bribery and abuse of power.
Prosecutors say he granted a pardon to the chairman of Samsung Electronics in return for the company paying lawsuit expenses for an auto parts firm he effectively owns.
The former president is also accused of receiving funds from the national intelligence agency through several senior officials at the presidential office.
Prosecutors estimate that he has received bribes worth a total of about 10 million dollars.
Lee accused prosecutors of being influenced by the current government of President Moon Jae-in.
Lee has refused to cooperate with investigators since his arrest last month.
He was in office for 5 years until 2013. He is South Korea's 4th former president to be indicted after leaving office. The first was Chun Doo-hwan, followed by Roh Tae-woo and Park Geun-hye.
Last week, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Park to 24 years in prison on corruption charges.
Key words : Insight second term Kuroda
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Key words : just 2 months
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180409_31/
Just 2 months before the World Cup kicks off in Russia, Japan is replacing its national soccer coach.
Akira Nishino is in and Vahid Halilhodzic is out.
Japan Football Association President Kohzo Tashima said, "I made the decision to change the coach because I want to do whatever I can to help the team win at the World Cup. I believe it's best the new coach is someone who has been working with Japanese players."
Nishino is currently the Technical Director of the Japan Football Association and has managed top-tier J-League teams.
Before that, he led the national team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The head of the association praised Halilhodzic for helping Japan qualify for its 6th straight World Cup.
But he said the coach has been struggling to get through to the players. The team recently suffered a tie and a loss to teams that hadn't even qualified for the World Cup.
Japan will play Colombia in its opening group stage match in June.
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