at 20:00 (JST), April 04

Tokyo prosecutors have arrested former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn for the fourth time on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says a deputy land minister under fire for his comments over a road project involving Abe's constituency should fully explain himself.

Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 is making a descent toward the asteroid Ryugu in a new mission to create an artificial crater.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190404200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : Tokyo prosecutor fourth time all charges
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_30/

Tokyo prosecutors have arrested former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn for a fourth time on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust. It is rare for prosecutors in Japan to arrest someone who has been released on bail.
Ghosn is reportedly denying all charges.

Prosecutors say Ghosn directed a part of Nissan's funds to a dealership in Oman operated by his acquaintance. The payments were made from 2015 through last year. He is suspected of causing Nissan to lose about 5 million dollars as a result of this transaction.

Informed sources say some of the payments to the Omani dealership were transferred to a bogus company in Lebanon through the account of the dealership's Indian executive.

That money is believed to have been used to purchase Ghosn's yacht and may also have been sent to a US-based investment-related firm run by Ghosn's son.

Ghosn was released on March 6 after 108 days in detention.

He has been charged with violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act for underreporting his executive compensation on Nissan's securities reports.

He is also charged with aggravated breach of trust for misappropriating some 10 million dollars of Nissan's funds to a Saudi Arabian acquaintance.

Ghosn's defense team has described payments to the Omani dealership as proper remuneration made at the request of a subordinate at Nissan. The team also claims the yacht purchase has nothing to do with Nissan.

Key words : lawyer protested
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_38/

The lawyer for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has protested the rearrest of his client.

Ghosn was out on bail awaiting trial when he was arrested on Thursday morning for the fourth time since November.

Junichiro Hironaka spoke to reporters on Thursday afternoon after visiting Ghosn at the Tokyo Detention House.

Hironaka stressed that Ghosn firmly denies the charges against him. The lawyer pointed out that the decision to grant Ghosn bail last month is confirmation that there is no risk he could flee or destroy evidence. He said prosecutors could bring additional charges against Ghosn without detaining him.

Hironaka also criticized the prosecutors for confiscating Ghosn's mobile phone, documents he'd prepared for the trial, as well as his diaries and notebooks. The lawyer described the prosecutors' action as a violation of Ghosn's right to defend himself.

Hironaka revealed that the prosecutors have also confiscated the passport and mobile phone of Ghosn's wife, Carole.

The lawyer said she is not a suspect and he cannot understand why this was allowed to happen. He said he has asked the prosecutors not to examine her phone because it contains private information. He said Ghosn's wife was extremely shocked.

The arrest came the day after Ghosn tweeted that he would hold a news conference on April 11.

Hironaka said he is planning to release a video that Ghosn had recorded in case he was arrested again and could not appear at the news conference.

Key words : Abe under fire
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_31/

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says a deputy land minister under fire for his comments over a road project involving Abe's constituency should fully explain himself. Abe said his comments were problematic but that he should continue performing his duties.

The remark in question was made earlier this week by Ichiro Tsukada, State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

When Tsukada talked about a project to build a road linking Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, he referred to Shimonoseki as the constituency of Abe and Fukuoka as that of Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.

He said the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister cannot talk about matters involving their own constituencies, so he guessed what they were thinking.

He added that the fiscal 2019 budget includes the cost of a survey for the road project to be carried out directly by the national government, taking the place of surveys by local governments.

In an Upper House committee session on Thursday, a lawmaker from an opposition party asked the prime minister what he thinks of Tsukada's comments.

Abe said Tsukada has said his remarks do not represent the facts and retracted the comments and apologized. Abe added that Tsukada should fully explain himself but he wants him to continue to fulfill his duties.

Key words : Hayabusa making
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_36/

Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 is making a descent toward the asteroid Ryugu in a new mission to create an artificial crater for a study of the celestial body's interior. The asteroid is located 340 million kilometers from Earth.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, says the probe began its descent toward Ryugu from an altitude of 20,000 meters at around 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Japan time.

According to the plan, Hayabusa2 will release a device called the "impactor" shortly before 11 a.m. on Friday when it is 500 meters from the asteroid.

Forty minutes later, the "impactor" will explode and shoot a metal object into the asteroid's surface at 2 kilometers per second to create an artificial crater.

JAXA is planning to have Hayabusa2 attempt a second landing on Ryugu at a later date to collect rock samples from the crater.

The probe made its first landing on the asteroid in February.

JAXA officials have said the probe is believed to have collected rock samples during that time on the asteroid.

Key words : north state-run
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_35/

North Korea's state-run media say the nation's leader Kim Jong Un has inspected construction sites and factories in the northern part of the country.

The ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun posted photos of Kim visiting a mountainous area of Samjiyon County.

The paper said Kim praised construction workers there for building a new town at a steady pace in the winter cold.

It quoted Kim as saying the development is a battle with the country's political opposition and shows the country's economic potential.

Kim reportedly said the construction should be done by October 2020, when the party celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Photos also showed Kim visiting food processing factories.

Observers say Kim apparently wants to show that the country's economy remains stable despite ongoing sanctions against the North, and that he will not make concessions with the United States.

The two countries' summit in February ended without an agreement.

Key words : Trump meet Liu
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_41/

White House officials say President Donald Trump will meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Thursday. Liu is visiting Washington for bilateral trade negotiations.

The US and China resumed their ministerial level talks on Wednesday, following a round last week in Beijing.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are in the negotiations with Liu.

Both sides are still at odds over US punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. Beijing is calling on Washington to scrap the duties as soon as they strike a deal.
But Washington has indicated it will keep them in place until it's certain China will comply.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has said the talks are making good progress. He said the US hopes to move closer to a deal this week.

Key words : US firm
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_40/

US firm Verizon Communications is claiming bragging rights in the global race to put 5G mobile phone technology in the hands of consumers.

The company says it's the first in the world to have a 5G network and a phone that can use it.

But the claim isn't without controversy. South Korean media are reporting that providers in their country beat Verizon to the punch.

Verizon said Wednesday that its next-generation network is now available in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis.

The only catch is that customers need a particular model of Motorola phone to use it.

Verizon originally planned to start the 5G service on Thursday next week. But it rushed the launch date forward after South Korean telecom firms said they would introduce their own 5G services on Friday.

CEO Hans Vestberg declared his company the winner of the race to make 5G a reality for consumers.

He said Verizon plans to expand the network to 30 US cities by the end of the year.

But in South Korea, three telecom firms say they started their 5G services on Wednesday night, and local media say the launch took place two hours before Verizon's, making it the real world-first.

For now, though, the services are only available to celebrities, prominent athletes and a select group of other users throughout South Korea. The firms say the networks will be accessible to the wider public from Friday, as scheduled.

Key words : Toyota team up
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190404_33/

Officials at Toyota say they're going to team up with General Motors and Ford to establish common safety standards for self-driving vehicles. The automakers will form the "Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium" together with SAE International, a US automotive-engineering group.

Self-driving vehicles are rated according to five levels of autonomy. The standards to be set by the three automakers will apply to cars with levels 4 and 5. Cars with a level 4 rating are totally autonomous in limited areas, such as on expressways.

The automakers will share driving data and develop test methods to determine safety. Toyota officials say it's crucial for the automobile industry to cooperate in creating infrastructure for the introduction of self-driving vehicles.

Toyota, GM and Ford hold a combined 45-percent share in the US market. Analysts say their joint effort will have a big impact on the development of autonomous vehicles in Japan and Europe.