at 20:00 (JST), March 08 AS

Japan's Prime Minister has ordered his cabinet members to expedite rebuilding work in areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's Foreign Minister has disclosed that the United States told Japan before the second US-North Korea summit that little progress was expected.

UN Secretary-General has pledged to achieve gender parity in the organization within a decade in his International Women's Day message.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190308200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : prime minister ordered
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_23/

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered his cabinet members to expedite rebuilding work in areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Abe called a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday, ahead of the eighth anniversary of the disaster next Monday.

He said the government must oversee the complete restoration of areas of northeastern Japan that were affected by the disaster and ensuing nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.

Abe told cabinet ministers that he will set up a body to succeed the Reconstruction Agency, which will close in 2021.

Later at a Cabinet meeting, the government settled on a basic policy that will encompass the new organization. A cabinet minister post will likely be created to oversee it.

The policy says the government should press on with restoration work in Fukushima Prefecture after the current rebuilding plan ends in March, 2021. Parts of the prefecture continue to suffer from the aftereffects of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The policy also calls on the government to bring in experts to help with the decommissioning of the damaged nuclear plant. It says educational and medical infrastructure in affected areas in the prefecture will be improved to allow more people to return.

The policy says housing and infrastructure work in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, also affected by the disaster, are almost complete.

It says the focus now should be on promoting healthcare and counseling for victims of the disaster, revitalizing local economies and industries, and helping newcomers to settle into the areas.

Key words : foreign minister disclosed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_27/

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono has disclosed that the United States told Japan before the second US-North Korea summit that little progress was expected.

Kono told a Lower House committee on Friday that it's disappointing that the summit in Vietnam broke down without any agreement. But he said Washington had expressed pessimism during working-level talks with Japan before the summit.

At the two-day summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month, the North asked that economic sanctions be lifted in exchange for scrapping the Nyongbyon nuclear facility.

But the US rejected the request, saying other nuclear-related facilities should also be dismantled.

Kono said closing the Nyongbyon complex is the first step to achieving complete, verifiable and irrevocable denuclearization.

He said North Korea must make this happen if it wants the sanctions lifted, and that he hopes the country will make a big step forward.

On North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens, Kono said there's a need to consider holding a summit between Japan and the North to resolve the decades-old issue, but suggested that it's not an easy task.

Key words : north criticized asking
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_31/

North Korea has criticized Japan for asking the United States to raise the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang at last month's summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un.

The criticism came in a commentary in the Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, published on Friday.

It said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono alternately made telephone calls to the US side asking Washington to convey their position at the summit. Japan wants to resolve the abduction issue at summit talks between Japan and North Korea.

The newspaper said Japan mobilized all human and material resources to lobby the US to move in its favor on the abduction issue.

North Korea demanded Japan come to terms with the past, saying that the crimes it had committed were too great for Pyongyang to engage in talks with Tokyo.

The commentary added that Japan should not aspire to establishing relations with North Korea unless it compensates for its past crimes.

The paper expressed dissatisfaction with the US, which declined to lift the sanctions against the North during the recent summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

Referring to the summit ending without agreement, the paper said people abroad as well as in North Korea blamed the failure on the US side.

Key words : French military
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_19/

The French military is set to join international efforts to monitor ship-to-ship transfers of goods involving North Korea.

The move, which is a first for France, was disclosed by Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Friday.

Receiving goods through the alleged method violates UN Security Council sanctions resolutions on North Korea.

Iwaya said a frigate and patrol aircraft from the French navy will join the monitoring efforts in the middle of this month at the earliest.

This comes after an agreement at the "two-plus-two" meeting of Japanese and French foreign and defense ministers in January.

Currently, Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK and others are involved in efforts aimed at maintaining sanctions against North Korea as part of pressure toward the country's denuclearization.

Iwaya said he welcomes France's participation. He said the international community is united in efforts to ensure the effectiveness of the UN Security Council resolutions. He added that Japan will continue closely cooperating with the other countries involved.

Key words : defense maritime
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_17/

Japan's Defense Ministry will send a Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel to China to take part in an international fleet review next month. This will be the first dispatch of an MSDF vessel to China in seven-and-a-half years.

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters on Friday that the ministry will send a destroyer to the naval event in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on April 23. The review is being held to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Chinese Navy.

Arrangements are also underway for the MSDF Chief of Staff to attend the review.

Iwaya says Japan hopes to continue promoting dialogue and exchanges between the defense authorities at multiple levels, with an eye to fostering mutual understanding and trust.

Japan decided last month to cancel a port call by the Izumo destroyer at the South Korean city of Busan that had been scheduled for April. The decision followed a South Korean warship's alleged targeting of fire-control radar at an SDF aircraft and other controversies.

Key words : Kono called on
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Key words : UN secretary
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_12/

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged that the organization will achieve gender parity within a decade in his message for International Women's Day.

The United Nations designates March 8 as a day to promote gender equality and women's rights.

Guterres said female empowerment is essential to global progress and insisted the UN will take the initiative to achieve gender parity.

Since 2017, Guterres has appointed women to senior positions, including Izumi Nakamitsu as under-secretary general in charge of disarmament and Mami Mizutori as special representative for disaster risk reduction.

The UN achieved gender parity in senior management in 2018 but across the organization women still hold just 39 percent of all positions.

The 4th female UN General Assembly President, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said more women should take leadership roles in society and make decisions.

She called for UN member countries to make more efforts to fight the discrimination and violence that women and girls face every day.

Key words : women are still
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_08/

A report by the International Labour Organization shows women are still underrepresented in top positions.

The report, published to mark International Women's Day on March 8, says 27.1 percent of managers and leaders worldwide were women as of 2018. The figure has gradually increased over the past three decades but remains low.

Among the Group of Seven industrialized countries, the United States ranked highest at 39.7 percent. Britain came second at 35.9 percent, followed by Canada at 35.3 percent. Japan was at the bottom at 12 percent.

Japan also lagged behind other G7 nations in the share of women sitting on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies.

Japan's figure was the lowest at 3.4 percent as of 2016. France came top at 37 percent, followed by Italy at 30 percent, and Britain and Germany at 27 percent.

ILO officials said proactive laws and policies are needed to achieve not only equal opportunities but also equal outcomes for women.

Key words : woman tennis
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_26/

The world's number one female tennis player Naomi Osaka has a new honor to add to her list of accomplishments, with the release on Friday of her own Barbie doll.

The Japanese sports star is one of 20 inspiring women chosen by a US toymaker to serve as models for the famous doll on International Women's Day.

The group includes an Indian gymnast who became the first woman to represent her country in the event at the Olympics, and a professional truck driver from Poland.

Osaka's doll is dressed in tennis whites and holds a racket and ball. The real life star posted a message on Twitter to say she felt "honored to be selected as a Barbie Role Model to help inspire the next generation of girls."

Japanese TV identity Tetsuko Kuroyanagi was also chosen. Kuroyanagi is a UNICEF good will ambassador. Her doll wears a colorful kimono.

The toymaker says the dolls will not go on sale to the public, but that each of the women who served as a model will receive one of herself.

Key words : government approved draft
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190308_24/

Japan's government has approved draft amendments to two laws to allow self-driving vehicles on public roads.

This is in line with the government's goal of allowing autonomous vehicles to be used on expressways by next year, when the country will host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The revisions to the Road Traffic Act and the Road Transport Vehicle Act were approved by a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

A draft revision to the Road Traffic Act permits the use of vehicles with highly autonomous features on public roads. Those who are behind the wheel will still be held responsible for driving their vehicles safely.

Drivers are currently banned from using mobile phones while holding their handsets. But people using self-driving cars will be allowed to use the devices if they are able to take control of their vehicles .

Under a draft revision to the Road Transport Vehicle Act, a safety standard will be introduced for self-driving systems. Automakers will be required to produce vehicles that meet this standard.

The draft revisions to allow the commercialization of self-driving cars are the first to be submitted to the Diet.

If the current session of the Diet gives its approval, self-driving vehicles may be in use next year on Japan's roads. They may also travel at low speeds on congested expressways.