Japan's trade ministry has given the go-ahead to sell sensitive hi-tech materials to South Korea amid strained bilateral ties.
Trump administration officials have unveiled a set of rules that formally prohibit government agencies from purchasing equipment from five Chinese firms.
A UN panel on climate change has warned that global warming could undermine the stability of food supplies and lead to a surge in food prices.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190808200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : trade ministry sensitive
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_27/
Amid strained bilateral ties, Japan's trade ministry has given the go-ahead to sell sensitive hi-tech materials to South Korea. It's the first approval since the government tightened export controls to the country.
Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said: "We don't usually disclose our decisions . But we made an exception this time because the South Korean government is unfairly criticizing us for implementing an export ban."
Tokyo introduced stricter screening on exporting three materials essential for semiconductors and other hi-tech products, citing security concerns.
Officials said the screening process would take about 90 days, but the first approval has come much sooner.
The officials are believed to have concluded there's no risk that the materials will be used for military purposes.
Seoul claims that the measure is retaliation for a bilateral dispute over historical issues. Seko warned that talks can't be held with South Korean officials as long as the government sticks to its position.
Seko said: "They unilaterally announced their version of what we explained to them last month, and that was not true. We cannot hold bureau chief-level meetings until they change this attitude."
More items will be subject to tighter controls once the government removes South Korea from a list of countries entitled to simplified export procedures on August 28.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said Japan's measures don't benefit either country. "Ultimately, everyone, including Japan will be a victim. It's a game with no winners," Moon said. But he made no mention of Japan's approval for exports on Thursday.
Key words : senior US
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_20/
A senior US official is urging Japan and South Korea to rebuild trust in the midst of worsening relations and is warning that Russia and China will take advantage of any opportunity.
US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan Marc Knapper made the comments on Wednesday.
Last month, Russia and China held a joint patrol over the Sea of Japan. Knapper said the move was a direct challenge to the US, Japan and South Korea and an effort to drive a wedge between them.
He said, "It is critical to ensure that there are strong and close relationships, productive and constructive relationships, between our three countries and this is particularly necessary this time in the face of a shared challenge posed by North Korea, Russia and China."
Knapper said Japan and South Korea need to do some "soul-searching" and that the countries need to hear "calm and confident words" from their leaders.
Knapper added that the US is ready to step in and help resolve any issues between Tokyo and Seoul.
Key words : Trump unveiled
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_30/
Trump administration officials are turning up the heat on China. They've unveiled a set of rules that formally prohibit government agencies from purchasing equipment from five Chinese firms. The measure will take effect next Tuesday.
The rules implement a ban that was foreshadowed in the National Defense Authorization Act, passed in August last year. They prohibit agencies from buying goods or services from telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, surveillance camera makers Hikvision and Dahua, and Hytera, a wireless equipment maker.
Additionally, Washington has banned agencies from doing business with any company in the world that uses products made by the five Chinese firms. That measure will become effective in August 2020.
The government has already banned US makers from selling electronic parts to Huawei without authorization.
Key words : official central bank reference rate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_25/
Officials at China's central bank say they have set the yuan's reference rate against the dollar weaker than the key 7 level for the first time in more than a decade.
The People's Bank of China releases the yuan's reference rate every morning. The rate against the dollar announced on Thursday morning was down 0.06 percent from Wednesday to 7.0039. That is the lowest level in 11 years and 4 months.
The US dollar has been trading on the Shanghai foreign exchange market at a level of 7 yuan to the dollar since Monday.
On that day, US Treasury Department officials designated China as a currency manipulator for the first time in 25 years.
Washington claimed China devalued its currency to gain an unfair competitive advantage in international trade, a charge China strongly denies.
But market sources say authorities in Beijing are tolerating the weaker yuan, to an extent.
Key words : UN panel climate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_38/
A UN panel on climate change has warned that global warming could undermine the stability of food supplies and lead to a surge in food prices.
The warning came in a report approved at a general meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, in Geneva. More than 100 scientists from 52 countries took part in the meeting held from last Friday to Wednesday.
It is the IPCC's first comprehensive report on how global warming could affect land.
The report notes that since the pre-industrial period, the land surface air temperature has risen nearly twice as much as the global average temperature.
The authors of the report have high confidence that global warming has resulted in an increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat-related events, including heat waves in most land regions.
They have medium confidence that the frequency and intensity of droughts has increased in the Mediterranean, west Asia, many parts of South America, and other regions. They also have medium confidence that there has been an increase in the intensity of heavy precipitation events at a global scale.
The IPCC projects that the stability of food supplies will decrease due to such extreme weather events. It says cereal prices could rise by up to 23 percent in 2050, if global population reaches 9 billion at the end of the 21st century.
The report says seasonal forecasts and early warning systems for extreme weather and climate events are critical to risk management and food security.
It also says improved crop management and use of varieties and genetic improvements for heat and drought tolerance are needed.
The report warns that the deferral of curbing greenhouse gas emissions could lead to increasingly significant economic impacts on many countries.
Key words : mercury remained nearly 39
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Key words : Asama minor eruption fresh
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_23/
People are being urged to stay away from Mount Asama in central Japan following a minor eruption at the volcano on Wednesday night.
The eruption occurred shortly after 10 p.m. at the mountain, which straddles Nagano and Gunma prefectures, prompting the Meteorological Agency to raise the volcanic alert level from 1 to 3, on a scale of 5.
No new eruption has been observed since.
Agency officials said smoke from the crater reached more than 1,800 meters above the mountain and large rocks went flying as far as 200 meters from the crater.
They said volcanic ash has been observed in some areas of Gunma Prefecture.
The Agency has sent members to investigate the situation, including how far volcanic ash has travelled.
The eruption on Wednesday night came amid a fall in the number of volcanic quakes below the crater. About 10 such quakes per day have been observed this month, compared to around 50 quakes per day in July.
Agency officials say the number of volcanic quakes has been on the rise again since the eruption, with 25 observed on Thursday by 10 a.m. But officials say no crustal movement suggesting a new build-up of magma has been observed.
The agency is maintaining the alert level at 3, citing the possibility of a fresh eruption affecting places near residential areas.
It's calling on people within four kilometers of the crater to stay on the alert for possible large flying rocks, and pyroclastic flows of hot gas, ash and rocks.
It is also warning people outside the four-kilometer area of the possibility of winds carrying small volcanic rocks or windows being shattered by vibrations from an eruption.
Key words : newly discovered
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_18/
Newly discovered documents suggest a US commission tasked with studying the physical effects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki allowed survivors who cooperated with their research to receive preferential treatment.
The US set up the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, known as ABCC, in 1947. But survivors slammed the commission for not providing medical care as a general rule.
Documents found at the US National Academy of Sciences show that in 1956, during the Cold War era, the president of a group of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima wrote a letter to the ABCC. The president explained the group's pro-US, anti-Communist stance and offered to cooperate with the commission's study.
He then asked that the group's members be given access to all the commission's medical resources.
The documents say the ABCC cooperated with Japanese institutions so that the group's members would be given care on a priority basis.
Japan at the time was reeling from an incident in 1954, in which the Japanese fishing boat "Daigo Fukuryu Maru" and its crew were exposed to radioactive fallout from a US hydrogen bomb test in the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
The ABCC explained that its decision to offer limited treatment would help win over atomic bomb survivors and medical personnel.
Hiroko Takahashi, a researcher at Nagoya University graduate school, is an expert on the ABCC.
Takahashi says the ABCC shifted polices and began offering some treatment to contain the spread of anti-US, anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan. She says the documents clearly show what US scientists were really thinking and their unashamed attitude that they would care only for those who are on their side.
Takahashi stresses the need to disclose more such documents to fulfill accountability toward atomic bomb survivors.
Key words : transport ministry decided
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_29/
Japan's transport ministry has officially decided to introduce new flight routes to and from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to start March 29 next year.
The launch of the routes that will pass over central Tokyo is aimed at allowing more international flights at Haneda ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Transport minister Keiichi Ishii told reporters on Thursday that relevant municipalities have expressed understanding of the need to enhance the airport's capability. He said he will continue to listen closely to their requests.
He said operation of the new routes will begin on March 29, the start of the summer schedule for international flights.
With the new flight paths, the government plans to increase the number of international landings and takeoffs at Haneda from the current 60,000 to 99,000.
Residents in areas under the new flight paths have been voicing concerns over noise and the possibility of objects falling from planes.
Ishii said the ministry will take measures against noise and falling objects, and provide necessary information to win understanding from as many people as possible.
The ministry must negotiate with airlines on how to allot the extra Haneda slots and carry out test flights to check the safety of the new routes before they officially open.
Key words : online
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190808_11/
Online applications for an additional ticket lottery for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have begun.
The official website for the ticket sales started accepting applications at 2 a.m. on Thursday. Applications can be made only in Japan.
Officials of the Games' organizing committee say some 5.12 million people applied in the first round, but about 4.16 million of them failed to get any tickets. The winners were announced in June.
The committee decided to hold the supplementary lottery only for the people who missed out in the first round.
More than 680,000 tickets that were unsold in the first round were put up for sale. The tickets cover 20 sports, including beach volleyball, hockey, and baseball and softball. Tickets for the play-offs and finals will be included.
Each person is eligible to apply for one session of a competition, up to six tickets for qualifiers and four for medal events. A second choice is available.
Applications will be accepted through 11:59 a.m. on August 19. The results are scheduled to be announced on September 11.
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