at 20:00 (JST), October 25 AS

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in Beijing for a 3-day visit. It's the first official visit by a Japanese leader to China in 7 years.

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Tokyo's benchmark stock index plunged on Thursday to its lowest level in nearly 7 months, after steep declines in New York.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20181025200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : Abe arrived
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_38/

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in Beijing for a 3-day visit. It's the first official visit by a Japanese leader to China in 7 years.

Abe is scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday afternoon.

He will then attend a reception to mark 40 years since the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty took effect.

Abe will also meet China's President Xi Jinping on Friday.

Abe told reporters before he left Tokyo that he wants to reaffirm cooperation on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and resolving the abductions of Japanese nationals.

Japan maintains that at least 17 of its nationals were abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 80s. Only 5 of them have returned.

Abe also said he wants to discuss strengthening free and fair trade and promoting peace and cooperation in the East China Sea.

Key words : Abe will have a successful
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_41/

The Chinese foreign ministry has expressed hope that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will have a successful visit to Beijing.

Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Thursday that she hopes Abe's visit will help both countries recognize each other as cooperative partners and help them improve and develop bilateral ties.

She also said that China is expecting the visit will be successful and bring about fruitful results.

Key words : news key word for today Japan and China peace and frendship treaty
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Key words : Yasuda return more than 3
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Key words : Tokyo stock index lowest level
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_31/

Tokyo's benchmark stock index plunged on Thursday to its lowest level in nearly 7 months, after steep declines in New York.

The Nikkei 225 ended at 21,268, down 822 points, or 3.72 percent from the previous day's close. That's its biggest fall in 2 weeks and lowest close since late March. All sectors flashed red.

The plunge came after a sharp decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday that wiped out all its gains for the year.

Japanese semiconductor stocks were hammered after the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 4 percent on Wall Street.

Many US companies are releasing weak earnings outlooks, with some pointing the finger at the continuing US-China trade friction.

Many other markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower, including the Shanghai Composite. The downtrend further knocked prices of shares of Japanese companies, particularly ones that do a lot of business in China.

Also weighing on market sentiment are Italy's budget controversy and Saudi Arabia, which is under fire over the death of a journalist.

Key words : peter
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_36/

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro says the US defense industry is overly dependent on raw materials and parts provided by China. He says the Trump administration will work with the sector to change that.

Navarro raised the issue during a speech on Wednesday. He pointed out that the US defense industry is relying on rare earths and other strategic raw materials from China. He also pointed out that some US night-vision devices have Chinese components.

Navarro argued that China is taking aim at the supply chain and industrial base of the US defense sector.

Navarro said the Trump administration, through cooperation with the private sector, will integrate national security policy with trade.

He indicated that the Trump administration will work with the defense industry to conduct a review of suppliers, with the aim of increasing the percentage of raw materials and parts from the US.

Key words : trans-pacific
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_32/

Parties to the Trans-Pacific Partnership are a step closer to seeing the major free trade pact go into effect after New Zealand on Thursday became the latest member country to ratify the deal.

The 11 Asia-Pacific nations are now just weeks away from getting ratification from the required majority of members.

The TPP will come into force 60 days after that happens, meaning it's likely to become operational early next year.

Japan, Mexico and Singapore have already completed the domestic procedures, and Australia and Vietnam are expected to do so by mid-November, achieving a majority of 6.

Sources say Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday that his country will also finish the procedures soon.

The success of the deal would represent a big turnaround for the TPP, which was left in doubt after the US pulled out last year.

Key words : cia director
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_30/

The Washington Post says CIA Director Gina Haspel has listened to a supposed audio recording of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In its online version on Wednesday, the paper quoted people familiar with Haspel's meetings as saying she heard the audio during her visit to Turkey.

The Saudi Arabian government says Khashoggi died inside its consulate in Istanbul as a result of a fistfight. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described his death as a "savage" and planned murder.

US President Donald Trump has called Saudi Arabia's handling of the journalist's death as the worst cover-up ever.

But Trump has suggested that he values the importance of the US-Saudi alliance as he is expecting a huge investment to the US.

The article does not refer to the detailed content of the audio recording. But it quotes a person familiar with the audio as saying it could put more pressure on the United States to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the death of Khashoggi.

Key words : thailand malaysia
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_37/

The prime ministers of Thailand and Malaysia have agreed to cooperate on bringing peace to southern Thailand, where militant Muslim separatists are fighting for independence.

Thai Interim Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha met his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad in Bangkok on Wednesday. It's Mahathir's first visit to his northern neighbor since he took office again in May.

The 2 leaders discussed ongoing insurgency by Islamic secessionists in Thailand's southernmost provinces, near the Malaysian border.

Prayuth told reporters after the meeting that the 2 agreed to work together to solve the problem.

He said it is Thailand's domestic issue, but that the country's government can solve it more easily with help from Malaysia.

Mahathir pledged to help in any way possible to end the violence.

Under the agreement, Malaysia is expected to help mediate peace talks between the Thai government and Muslim insurgents who go back and forth across the border.

The rebels have intensified terror attacks in southern provinces of majority-Buddhist Thailand since 2004, killing at least 6,800 people, including civilian residents.

Key words : tohoku electric
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_33/

Tohoku Electric Power Company has told Miyagi Prefecture that it is going to decommission an aging reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant.

The 3 reactors at the plant in northeastern Japan have been offline since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The utility's president, Hiroya Harada, conveyed its decision to Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai on Thursday.

Harada explained that additional safety steps would create technical difficulties as the No.1 reactor is more than 30 years old. The measures are required under government regulations that were introduced after the 2011 disaster.

Murai asked Tohoku Electric Power to put top priority on safety in scrapping the reactor as the work is expected to take a long time. The governor also asked the utility to properly disclose information and maintain stable power supplies.

The utility hopes to put the 2 other reactors back into operation. The No.2 reactor is being checked by the nuclear regulator, and the firm is preparing to apply for an inspection of the No.3 reactor.

Utilities have decided to decommission 10 reactors at 7 plants, including Onagawa, since the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. They cite the huge cost of additional safety measures. These figures do not include the all 6 reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.

Key words : Toyota motor
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_23/

Toyota Motor has started sales of a car that lacks side-view mirrors. Instead, it uses cameras.

The cameras display images of the car's surroundings on monitors inside the vehicle, such as when a driver decides to change lanes.

Toyota says the cameras provide brighter images than mirrors, including when driving at night or in tunnels.

The system is optional and costs about 2,000 dollars. Currently, it is available for only one model.

Toyota's Senior Managing Officer, Yoshihiro Sawa says he hopes to lower the cost of the system by installing it in more vehicles.

Toyota says it is the first manufacturer to launch a mass-produced car using the camera system.

Key words : farmers in the city
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181025_25/

Farmers in the city of Tome in Miyagi Prefecture have started exporting their own brand of rice to make up for declining sales in Japan.

A ceremony was held on Thursday to mark the first overseas shipment of Hitomebore rice. Trucks left the warehouse with 13 tons of rice that will be shipped to other parts of Asia and the United States from the major rice-producing region.

This is the first batch of 938 tons of rice. The Miyagi-Tome agricultural cooperative will export the rice to 5 countries and territories, including Hong Kong and Australia. It's believed this will be one of the largest amounts of rice to be exported by an agricultural cooperative.

The rice was grown with less than half the usual amount of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers. In Hong Kong, it will be sold for nearly twice the domestic price.

The head of the agricultural cooperative, Isamu Sakakibara, said he wants to work with related organizations so that people overseas will choose the rice despite its high price. He says he wants to see the farmers rewarded for their efforts.