Leaders from Japan's largest labor and business organizations have agreed that pay hikes are necessary.
21 nations have agreed to support Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself interim president of the South American country.
Washington and Seoul have reached the basic agreement on how to share the costs of stationing US forces in South Korea.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190205200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : organization business
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_15/
Leaders from Japan's largest labor and business organizations have agreed in principle that pay hikes are necessary. But they're divided over exactly how to achieve their aim.
The chairman of Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation, and the president of Rengo, or the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, met in Tokyo on Tuesday ahead of their annual wage negotiations.
Keidanren's Hiroaki Nakanishi said corporate earnings can be seen increasing moderately in the most recent quarter. He said this year will be a turning point in determining how to maintain earnings and support economic growth.
Nakanishi added: "Working conditions and wages are very important. I hope to discuss these issues thoroughly and maintain momentum."
Rengo's Rikio Kozu said: "70 percent of Japanese workers are in small- and medium-sized companies. They feel wealth distribution is not happening and that wages have not been increasing."
Keidanren officials are considering raising base wages among their options for boosting workers' pay packets.
Rengo is focusing on an increase in base wages. The spotlight will be on whether or not that can happen before an increase in consumption tax scheduled for this October.
Key words : news key word for today Shunto
#N/A
Key words : 21 nations Venezuela
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_09/
Officials from 21 nations have agreed to support Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself interim president of the South American country.
The agreement was made by 21 countries in North and Latin America and Europe during an emergency meeting in the Canadian capital Ottawa on Monday. Participants included officials from the United States, France, Brazil and Argentina.
The authoritarian government of President Nicolas Maduro is supported by China, Russia and other countries.
The 21 countries agreed that Venezuela was facing a humanitarian crisis under Maduro's government and discussed how to help Venezuelans and respond to the crisis.
In a declaration issued after the meeting, the countries reaffirmed their decision to recognize Guaido as interim president of Venezuela and support him.
The declaration calls on the international community to provide immediate humanitarian aid to Venezuelan people and support peaceful movements aimed at restoring democracy.
Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that 34 countries around the world have recognized Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.
She said that officials of the interim government of Guaido are invited to a meeting in Colombia as legitimate representatives of Venezuela.
Meanwhile, more than ten countries including Mexico and international organizations will meet on Thursday in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, as neutral parties to the Venezuelan crisis.
Key words : Tsuneo
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_34/
Japan's Foreign Ministry has ordered freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka to hand over his passport as he attempted to travel to Yemen.
Tsuneoka went through departure inspection at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Saturday. He had planned to report on food shortages in the civil war-torn country.
Tsuneoka says he tried to travel to Yemen via Oman in mid-January, but was not allowed to enter Oman and was ordered to return to Japan.
This time, Tsuneoka planned to travel to Yemen through another country. But at Haneda, he was shown a written order to give up his passport because he had been banned entry into Oman.
Tsuneoka says he had been issued visas from Yemen and the country where he was taking his connecting flight, so he cannot understand why he was barred from leaving Japan.
He claims it infringes on his freedom of travel and amounts to obstruction of journalism.
Japan's Foreign Ministry has been urging Japanese nationals in Yemen to evacuate, and is advising against traveling to the country.
The ministry has declined to comment on the case.
Key words : Washington and
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_29/
Washington and Seoul have reached an agreement in principle on sharing the costs of maintaining American troops in South Korea.
A US State Department spokesperson made the announcement on Monday. While the details of the agreement were not disclosed, CNN is reporting Seoul will pay nearly one billion dollars per year.... up from about 800-million.
The agreement had been up for review every five years... but this latest deal is reportedly valid for only one year.
Talks started last March but both sides failed to strike an agreement by the December deadline. The impasse was mainly over Washington's insistence that Seoul bear a greater burden.
There were concerns that President Trump would withdraw the roughly 28,500 troops or use them as a bargaining chip in talks with North Korea.
Key words : official reconstruction showcase
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_25/
The head of Japan's Reconstruction Agency that leads recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami says its top officials will visit foreign missions in Tokyo to showcase recovery efforts in the disaster-hit area.
The campaign comes in the run-up to 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Reconstruction Minister Hiromichi Watanabe said on Tuesday his ministry will work harder to distribute information on the progress being made in order to promote the attractiveness of the region.
Watanabe noted some countries still place import restrictions on food and agricultural products from the region after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
He said he plans to inform these countries and regions of the current situation in hopes the bans will be lifted as soon as possible.
The Reconstruction Agency says it is now arranging for senior officials to visit more than 10 embassies and missions, including those that provided support to Japan after the 2011 disaster.
Key words : Trump administration no plan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_24/
A senior US official says the Trump administration has no plans to extend the grace period currently in place before sanctions against Iranian crude-oil imports begin in May.
Brian Hook was speaking to NHK on Monday. He handles Iranian issues at the US State Department.
He urged countries to stop buying oil from Tehran, saying: "What we have announced is the policy to get to zero imports of Iranian crude as quickly as possible. We are not looking to grant any future waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime, whether it is oil or anything else."
Hook added that the grace period was designed to prevent a spike in oil prices if the supply of crude falls sharply. He said he expects there will be enough to satisfy demand throughout the year.
The US government re-imposed sanctions in November after it unilaterally pulled out of the international nuclear agreement with Iran.
Japan and seven other countries were given a 180-day waiver until May, allowing them to import oil from Iran before the sanctions begin.
Key words : north red cross
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_23/
North Korea's Red Cross is thanking Japan for rescuing stranded sailors.
Last year, a record number of wooden boats believed to be from the North were found drifting off Japan or washed up on its shores.
This January, six men were rescued in the Sea of Japan and were later handed to North Korean authorities.
Through state-run media, the Red Cross said on Monday, Japan has provided humanitarian support so the crews could return safely.
In the North, the aid organization is virtually controlled by the government and the expression of gratitude to Japan is rare. Relations between the two countries are frosty.
Key words : new commander
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_35/
The new commander of US Forces in Japan has expressed his intention of boosting cooperation with Japan's Self Defense Forces.
Lieutenant General Kevin Schneider made the comment in a change-of-command ceremony at the US Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Tuesday. The head of Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson, and officials of Japan's Self Defense Forces attended.
Schneider said the US-Japan alliance has never been more important to the region amid increasingly difficult security challenges.
He said the alliance must maintain the highest levels of readiness to respond to any threat, any crisis or humanitarian disaster.
Davidson said there has been a regional convergence around the idea of a free and open Indo-Pacific. He indicated that cooperation among the US, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand is important.
Schneider was previously chief of staff at Indo-Pacific Command until earlier this month. He has also served as a fighter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Key words : Russian foreign
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_08/
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated his call for Japan to recognize the country's sovereignty over four Russian-held islands.
Lavrov was answering to a question from a student after he gave a speech at a university in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Monday. The student asked him how Russia is going to deal with the territorial issue over the islands.
Lavrov replied that Russians would like their Japanese neighbors to acknowledge the outcome of World War Two, including the full recognition of and respect for Russia's sovereignty over those islands. He added that without it, Russians cannot engage in talks.
Russia controls the four islands. Japan claims them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. It says the islands were illegally occupied after World War Two.
Japan and Russia agreed in a summit meeting in November of last year to accelerate negotiations on a peace treaty based on a 1956 joint declaration. The declaration states that two of the four islands would be handed over to Japan after the conclusion of a bilateral peace treaty.
Russia insists that even if it hands over the two islands to Japan, it would be purely out of good intentions, and that Japan still needs to recognize the Russian sovereignty over the islands.
Lavrov's remarks apparently reaffirmed Russia's position as he is expected to meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Germany later this month.
Key words : German chancellor answered
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190205_27/
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has answered questions from students at a university in Tokyo.
Merkel visited Keio University on Tuesday morning. She was greeted by about 200 students.
The students were given an hour to ask her questions.
Asked about relations between Japan and Germany, Merkel described the two countries as similar in terms of having deep ties with the US on national security and the economy.
She added that Japan and Germany will strive to create a framework for multilateral trade, and pledged to strengthen Germany's partnership with Japan as the US-China trade dispute affects the global economy.
Asked about Germany's policy of no nuclear power, Merkel said her country will be nuclear power-free in three or four years, but that each country must make its own decision on the matter. She noted that in Japan, there seems to be no criticism of nuclear power.
Merkel added that nuclear reactors are at risk while in operation, and that disposal of nuclear waste will take hundreds of thousands of years.
Asked what students can do to achieve gender equality in society, Merkel urged women to seize every opportunity they see.
Asked what makes her job as chancellor worthwhile, Merkel responded that she enjoys meeting people who have interesting things to say. She said she also feels fulfillment in resolving problems.
One student said the chancellor seemed kind and caring, because she offered them tips beyond the questions asked.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿