The Japanese government has decided on a bill to revise the immigration control law to allow more foreign workers from next April.
A journalist who was freed after being held hostage for more than 3 years in Syria is revealing new details about his experience.
Japan's draft resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons has been adopted at the UN disarmament committee.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20181102200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : Japanese government decided bill
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_16/
The Japanese government has decided on a bill to revise the immigration control law to allow more foreign workers from next April. The bill, approved at a Cabinet meeting on Friday, is widely regarded as signaling a major shift in Japan's policy on foreign labor.
It is designed to create 2 types of residence status for foreigners to make up for the acute labor shortages in Japan.
Under the proposed legislation, the first status, valid for up to 5 years, will be granted to foreign nationals with certain vocational skills in specified fields. They will not be allowed to bring their family members.
The second status will be applied to foreigners with more advanced skills. There will be no limits imposed on the duration of their stay and they will be allowed to bring their families.
In response to requests from the ruling coalition, the bill includes a provision to make it mandatory to review the implementation of the new program and to take the necessary measures 3 years after its enforcement.
The government is considering accepting foreign workers in 14 sectors, including agriculture and nursing care. However, the bill is short on details and the government plans to outline the specifics later.
Japan currently accepts highly-skilled professionals such as university professors from abroad. But the proposed revision would allow more foreigners to do blue-collar jobs.
The government and the ruling coalition want to begin deliberations on the bill next Thursday with an eye to enacting it by the end of the Diet session.
The opposition parties say the bill lacks details and should not be rushed through the Diet.
Key words : Suga says to accept more
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_21/
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the government is drawing up a package of measures to accept more foreign workers in the country.
He was speaking to reporters on Friday after the Cabinet endorsed a bill to create new types of residence status for foreigners in a bid to tackle Japan's acute labor shortages.
Suga said the Justice Ministry will lead government-wide efforts to work out comprehensive measures by the year's end. He explained that the measures will cover workplaces, local governments and education. The top government spokesman stressed that the measures are aimed at making Japan more attractive for foreigners to work and live in.
Going into the details, Suga mentioned providing unified administrative windows, enhancing the quality of Japanese-language schools, making medical services more accessible to foreigners, and cracking down on malicious agents trying to exploit people who wish to work in Japan.
Suga added that the government will see to it that foreign workers with the new residence status will receive wages on a par with their Japanese counterparts.
Key words : journalist who was free
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_27/
A journalist who was freed after being held hostage for more than 3 years in Syria is revealing new details about his experience. Jumpei Yasuda says he was kidnapped almost immediately after sneaking across the border from Turkey. His guides turned on him.
Jumpei Yasuda said "We walked for about an hour. At some point, we crossed the border between Syria and Turkey. Suddenly, the two-man team that had been guiding me grabbed my arms. They did not grab me with strong force. It was almost as though they were prodding me. They forced me onto a pick-up truck."
Yasuda said he was moved between 10 different places while in Syria.
At one point he was held in a large facility with other hostages.
Yasuda says his captors appeared organized but never told him if they were aligned with a specific group.
Yasuda said "They never revealed the name of their group. Even if they managed to get a ransom, I think they were still worried about being bombed. I had the impression that they were trying to be secretive about all of this, even to other groups in the area."
Yasuda said he had hoped to report on how people lived in an area controlled by Islamic State militants.
He ended up spending 40 months as a hostage.
He was freed last month and initially stayed in a Turkish border city.
There are still a lot of questions about his release.
Japan has denied paying a ransom but says Qatar and Turkey helped secure Yasuda's freedom.
Key words : Abe continue effort
#N/A
Key words : Japan resolution
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_13/
Japan's draft resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons has been adopted at the UN disarmament committee, but without the support of some nuclear-armed and non-nuclear nations.
The First Committee of the General Assembly approved the resolution by a majority of 160 votes on Thursday.
Japan has been submitting similar draft resolutions annually for the past 25 years. But its latest submission made no mention of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted last year.
Some non-nuclear nations, including Austria, did not vote because they say Japan's resolution is therefore inadequate.
The United States abstained saying the draft does not reflect changes in the security environment around the world.
As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, Japan hopes to lead disarmament endeavors by serving as a bridge between nuclear-armed and non-nuclear states.
Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the draft resolution stressed the importance of working for a nuclear-free world and for international dialogue.
He said Japan aims to make steady progress toward a nuclear-free world.
Key words : Australia Papua
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_24/
Australia has struck a deal to redevelop one of Papua New Guinea's naval bases.
Observers say the move is aimed at countering China's growing influence in the region.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Papua New Guinea's counterpart Peter O'Neil signed the agreement on Thursday.
The development comes after reports China had offered to help Papua New Guinea develop the base earlier this year.
The deal builds on a previous agreement for Australia to develop a wharf at the facility and provide Papua New Guinea patrol boats.
Prior to the signing, Morrison made his first foreign policy speech in Sydney.
He said relations with China are vitally important, but he pointed out that China is the country "that is most changing the balance of power, sometimes in ways that challenge US interests."
Meanwhile Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said at the regular press conference that China hopes relevant countries and people can discard the Cold War and the zero-sum game mentality.
He also said the country hopes its relationships with Pacific countries were viewed in an objective and correct way.
Key words : Japanese government decided recommend
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_26/
The Japanese government decided on Friday to recommend some southwestern islands for registration as UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites in 2020.
They are the islands of Amami-Oshima, Tokunoshima and Iriomote, as well as the northern part of Okinawa Island.
In February of last year, the government submitted an application for the same islands and area for registration in 2018.
But the application was withdrawn in June of this year after a UNESCO advisory panel, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, said the registration should be deferred because the area did not meet its integrity requirements.
The Environment Ministry has been working with local municipalities to study the IUCN evaluation.
The government plans to file an application with UNESCO by the deadline of February 1st, 2019.
Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada said he wants to speed up the preparation of the application and that he will work hard to achieve the listing as World Natural Heritage sites.
Key words : Toyota
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_23/
Auto giant Toyota is planning to build a futuristic city focusing on self-driving vehicles in central Japan.
The new city will include homes and commercial facilities that are linked to cars equipped with Internet access. Through these so-called connected cars, people can remotely control household electric appliances.
Toyota also wants to build roads on which self-driving cars can run in any weather, and provide ride-share and delivery services using those vehicles.
The city will be built on a 260 thousand square-meter site where a Toyota plant is now located.
Toyota has been trying to transition from its core identity as a car manufacturer to a firm that provides all kinds of automobile-related services.
The company plans to position the new futuristic city as a place to test and develop next-generation services.
Toyota officials plan to complete the construction sometime in the mid to late 2020s.
Key words : smartphone shipment
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_36/
The latest figures on global smartphone shipments have been released.
Samsung Electronics remains at the top of the rankings. But the South Korean firm saw a sharp drop in shipments in the July-September quarter.
US research firm IDC says a total of 355.2 million smartphones were shipped during the quarter. That's down 6 percent from the same period last year. But for Samsung, the drop was 13.4 percent.
The company maintained the top share, at 20.3 percent. But some Chinese vendors gained ground.
China's Huawei was in 2nd place with a share of 14.6 percent, followed by Apple with 13.2 percent.
Three months ago, Huawei overtook Apple for the first time. The Chinese firm has been expanding aggressively overseas.
China's Xiaomi came in 4th with 9.7 percent. It has been making inroads in India, Indonesia and Spain.
Another Chinese firm, OPPO, was in 5th place with 8.4 percent. The company has started selling its products in Japan.
Overall, the results show a surge among Chinese manufacturers that sell low-priced smartphones.
Key words : Tokyo French
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181102_33/
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has turned to the French Embassy as it seeks to recruit French-speaking volunteers for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The government is hoping to secure 20,000 volunteer guides to assist visitors at airports and railway stations. But only 6,000 people had applied as of October 23rd. The deadline is December 5th.
Tokyo officials say anyone living in Japan who has basic Japanese conversational skills is eligible.
French Embassy staff posted a recruitment message to social media.
An embassy official said it makes sense for France to help Tokyo because Paris will host the next Olympics in 2024.
He also said the volunteers will help Paris prepare for the 2024 Games.
A Tokyo official said she hopes that foreign volunteers will add to Tokyo's appeal among foreign visitors.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿