US National Intelligence Director is making a rare visit to South Korea.
Trade talks between the US and China appear to be moving forward but, both sides will return to the table next week for ministerial-level talks in Beijing.
The Tokyo District Court plans to hold the first hearing for Nissan Motor's former chairman Carlos Ghosn in September.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190320200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : US national
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_33/
Director of US National Intelligence Dan Coats has met South Korea's President Moon Jae-in in Seoul.
A South Korean presidential spokesperson said the two discussed a wide range of issues on Wednesday.
South Korean government sources say it is quite rare for a head of US intelligence to visit Seoul.
They say Coats also met the chief of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon, and visited a US military base in South Korea. He is scheduled to leave the country on Thursday.
Coats had reportedly planned a visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, but it was called off. No reason was given for the cancellation.
Details of the meetings have not been disclosed. But diplomatic observers speculate that they covered North Korea's recent activities at its nuclear and missile facilities, following last month's US-North Korean summit.
After the talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, ended without a deal, Pyongyang signaled frustration toward Washington and suggested the possibility of suspending negotiations with the US.
Key words : US defense
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_18/
The US Defense Department plans to test the feasibility of using a new interceptor missile that it jointly developed with Japan to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The Defense Department said on Tuesday that it plans to carry out the test next year using the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA.
The missile has been repeatedly tested off Hawaii to intercept medium-range missiles. But it was not designed to hit ICBMs.
Japan and the United States jointly developed the interceptor to enhance their defense capabilities against North Korea's ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon warned in its new missile defense strategy in January that Pyongyang was close to acquiring an ICBM.
It plans to deploy the SM-3 Block IIA for sea-based missile defense, in addition to existing ground-based systems to strengthen homeland defense.
The US government decided last November to sell the new missiles to Japan.
They are due to be installed in the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyers and the ground-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system that Japan plans to deploy.
Key words : Trade talks between
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_12/
Trade talks between the US and China appear to be moving forward. American media reported on Tuesday that both sides will return to the table next week for ministerial-level talks in Beijing.
They would be the first talks at this level since US President Donald Trump delayed a March 1 deadline for hiking tariffs on China.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will sit down with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. They will reportedly meet again in Washington the following week as they try to reach a deal by the end of April.
On Tuesday, Trump indicated progress in the talks, saying negotiations are moving forward smoothly.
But US media also report that key stumbling blocks remain. These include China's provision of hefty subsidies for state-run businesses. The two sides are also at odds over establishing a framework to enforce an agreement.
Key words : Distric first hearing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_30/
The Tokyo District Court plans to hold the first hearing for Nissan Motor's former chairman Carlos Ghosn in September.
Ghosn has been indicted for underreporting his executive compensation in Nissan's securities reports, in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. He is also charged with aggravated breach of trust.
Court officials, prosecutors and Ghosn's defense team gathered at the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed with the trial.
Sources say the court conveyed its plan to prosecutors and Ghosn's lawyers. The parties also decided to hold on May 23 the first meeting to sort out issues of contention.
Prosecutors will explain at the trial that Ghosn's executive compensation in Nissan reached 31.4 billion yen, or more than 280 million dollars, over the 19 year period since his arrival in Japan in 1999.
They are expected to point out that the underreporting was prompted by a system introduced 9 years ago obliging corporate executives to disclose compensation of over 100 million yen, or about 900,000 dollars.
Prosecutors will likely argue that to hide his huge compensation, Ghosn ordered his subordinates to lobby the Financial Services Agency to block introduction of the system.
They will also likely claim that Ghosn ordered his aides to think of ways by which he could receive the unreported, unpaid compensation after his retirement.
Ghosn maintains his innocence on all fronts. His lawyers say Ghosn intends to attend pre-trial talks on issues of contention.
Key words : venezuela providing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_17/
The Japanese Embassy in Venezuela has begun providing relief supplies to a community of Japanese Venezuelans as living conditions in the country deteriorate amid worsening political uncertainty.
The political confrontation between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader, self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, has triggered turmoil and looting.
All Japanese expatriate workers and their families have already evacuated the country. A local Japanese school has been shut down.
The embassy is now trying to assist more than 400 Venezuelans of Japanese descent who are struggling to get by.
At the request of a local Japanese association, the embassy on Saturday delivered 210 portions of food, including rice and pasta, and some drinking water to the community of ethnic Japanese in the city of Maracaibo in the northwest of the country.
The city is suffering from repeated power blackouts and widespread looting. More than 50 ethnic Japanese families in Maracaibo are unable to leave their homes.
The Japanese ambassador Kenji Okada said he hopes that the aid delivery will bring some relief to those who are facing a hard time.
Key words : research team
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_03/
A Japanese space research team says it has confirmed the presence of water on the asteroid Ryugu, where the Hayabusa2 probe is operating.
The team, whose members are from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and dozens of scientific institutes around the world, has examined the composition of rocks on the asteroid for two months by using infrared rays emitted from the probe.
The researchers now say they found an indication that water is contained in rocks on Ryugu.
They said this means there is water on Ryugu's surface, not as liquid or ice, but in the form of hydroxyl-bearing minerals.
Hayabusa2 landed on the asteroid and is believed to have collected rock samples in February.
The JAXA team says Ryugu may have been created when fragments from a celestial collision reaggregated.
A team member, Kohei Kitazato, says if Hayabusa2 brings back rock samples in 2020, that would lead to many discoveries. He said he hopes the mission will be successful.
Wednesday's online edition of the US journal Science carries an article outlining the team's findings.
Key words : NASA says
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_19/
US space agency NASA says it will seek advice from Japan's Hayabusa2 project team on how to land a probe on the rocky surface of an asteroid.
NASA is planning to land a probe called the OSIRIS-REx on the asteroid Bennu, which was more than 120 million kilometers from Earth as of December. The probe has been observing the asteroid from a distance of about 1 kilometer since December.
NASA says Bennu is covered with more boulders than expected and appears not to have any flat sites with a 25-meter radius needed for a safe landing.
The OSIRIS-REx project team says it will try to find a relatively flat space on the asteroid. The team will visit the Hayabusa2 project team at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, next month to get some advice.
Hayabusa2 landed on the asteroid Ryugu last month under similar rocky conditions.
The NASA team says it hopes to gather dirt and gravel on Bennu as planned in July 2020.
The team also says it has observed Bennu ejecting particles and rocks measuring up to several dozen centimeters in diameter from its surface. NASA says it will analyze the components.
Water has been detected on Bennu.
Key words : gas attack rush
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_20/
Wednesday marks the twenty-fourth anniversary of the sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Bereaved families of the victims mourned at one of the stations targeted.
Members of the cult released the toxic substance inside rush-hour subway trains in central Tokyo on March 20, 1995. Thirteen people died and about 6,300 others were injured.
At Kasumigaseki subway station, the scene of one of the attacks, 16 station officials offered silent prayers at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, almost 24 years to the minute since the attack occurred.
Bereaved families of the victims and station officials offered flowers at an altar set up inside the station.
Thirteen members of the former cult's leadership, including the leader Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, were sentenced to death for crimes including the Tokyo sarin gas attack. All 13 were executed last July.
Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was the assistant stationmaster at Kasumigaseki and was killed in the attack, has visited the station on every anniversary.
She said she felt different this year, as this is the first anniversary of her husband's death since the perpetrators were executed. She recalled that she felt the weight of the executions for six months after they were carried out.
Key words : power company
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_13/
Japanese power companies are worried about the impact on the grid during an extended 10-day holiday starting in late April. The period is longer than usual this year due to an Imperial succession.
The large number of businesses on break could lead to oversupply and blackouts, so firms are getting ready.
Energy venture Enechange and solar-power company Looop will try encouraging consumers to shift their electricity use to the daytime. The abundance of solar power means that is when there will be the biggest chance of oversupply.
CEO of Enechange, Yohei Kiguchi said, " When the sun shines, we can use electricity. If it is cloudy, we should try to use less. Solar power generation has spread to such an extent that we have to change our habits."
The campaign comes as power companies in western Japan might cut back on solar-energy production during the holidays.
Looop will notify customers if this is expected to happen. The firm also plans to give gift certificates to those who shift their power use during these times. The companies say the campaign will start on April 19 and last for a month.
Key words : olympic torch
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190320_27/
The Olympic torch for the 2020 Tokyo Games features a design based on a cherry blossom.
The organizing committee for the Games unveiled the torch on Wednesday, about one year ahead of the start of the torch relay.
The torch is 71 centimeters long and weighs about 1.2 kilograms. The upper section is separated into five parts, which look like cherry petals when viewed from above. The torch is designed so that the five flames converge at the top.
The color of the torch is somewhere between pink and gold. The committee named the color "Sakura and gold." "Sakura" means "cherry blossom" in Japanese.
The torch is made from aluminum, with 30 percent of it recycled from construction waste from temporary housing. The housing was made in the northeastern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima for people who lost their homes in the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The torch is the work of designer Tokujin Yoshioka, who is active in various fields, including contemporary art. Several manufacturers helped with the production.
Yoshioka said that when he designed the torch, he thought of people affected by the disaster, their mental recovery, and wishes for peace. He noted that the torch is designed to shine with the sun's light. And he said he hopes the runners will also shine and create a road of hope.
The relay will start on March 26 of next year at the J-Village national soccer training center in Fukushima. The torch will travel through all of Japan's 47 prefectures over the course of 121 days leading up to the opening ceremony on July 24.
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