Key words : financial times
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_10/
A British newspaper says China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August.
The Financial Times on Sunday cited five people familiar with the test as saying China's military launched a rocket carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle.
The paper said the missile flew through low-orbit space before cruising toward its target.
It missed the target but the test is said to show "astounding progress" by China on hypersonic missile technology that caught US intelligence by surprise.
The United States and Russia have also been working on hypersonic missiles. Such weapons fly at five times the speed of sound and can maneuver during flight, making them harder to track.
Experts say full development of such technology by China would impact the missile defense systems of the US and Japan.
Key words : US defense
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_05/
The US Defense Department warns that North Korea may resume long-range ballistic missile tests in the year 2022.
The Defense Intelligence Agency, an intelligence arm of the US Defense Department, on Friday released a report that examined the current situation of North Korea's military power, including its nuclear weapons and missiles.
The report says, "North Korean leaders view nuclear arms as critical to regime survival," and "It is possible we could see a test of a long-range missile over the next year."
The report adds North Korea also will work to improve its newer solid-fueled ballistic missiles, which can be made ready for launch more quickly than liquid-fueled ones.
It also says, "Integrating a nuclear weapon with a ballistic missile and enabling that nuclear-armed missile to function reliably as a system is North Korea's ultimate operational goal." It notes that "further underground nuclear tests to validate weapon capabilities are possible."
However, the report does not make clear any grounds on which it presumed such possibilities.
North Korea announced a unilateral nuclear and ICBM testing moratorium in 2018, ahead of the historic first summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump.
But in January, Kim announced plans to step up the country's nuclear and missile development programs. The North has conducted a series of new-type missile launches in recent months.
Key words : kishida yasukuni abe
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_09/
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo to mark the start of its autumn festival on Sunday.
Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan's war dead. Those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after World War Two.
Kishida sent a potted plant to the shrine under his title of prime minister.
Sources say Kishida had never offered potted plants to the shrine before, and that this time, he followed what his two predecessors, Abe Shinzo and Suga Yoshihide, did.
Kishida is on a two-day tour through Sunday of three northeastern prefectures hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. He is not expected to visit the shrine during the festival.
Two other members of Kishida's Cabinet, health minister Goto Shigeyuki and expo minister Wakamiya Kenji, also made ritual offerings to the shrine.
Key words : mako kako
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_11/
Japan's Princess Mako has attended a ceremony at the Imperial Palace. It was the last ritual ceremony the princess will attend as a member of the Imperial family before her marriage later this month.
The eldest daughter of Crown Prince and Princess Akishino left the Akasaka Estate in a car with her sister, Princess Kako, on Sunday morning.
She waved and bowed to reporters and passers-by when the car drove through the Hanzomon Gate into the palace.
A rite in which newly harvested rice was offered to the deities took place at the Kashikodokoro sanctuary.
Emperor Naruhito and Crown Prince and Princess Akishino attended along with other Imperial family members.
Princess Mako is set to marry former college classmate Komuro Kei on October 26. She will lose her Imperial status and become a commoner.
The princess is to be reunited with Komuro for the first time in about three years on Monday, when he visits the princess and Crown Prince and Princess Akishino at their residence.
Key words : lng price
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_13/
Prices of liquefied natural gas are more than 10 times more expensive than a year ago. An unexpectedly cold winter may force Japanese power companies to buy large amounts for spot prices, which could push up the cost of electricity.
Asian spot prices hit a new record on October 6. China's shift from fossil fuels to LNG, which emits less carbon dioxide, is a factor behind the price hikes.
The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation says China imported more than 58 million tons of LNG from January to September, exceeding Japan's 56 million tons to become the top importer for the first time.
The higher spot prices will not have an immediate impact on Japanese utility firms, as they secure about 80 percent of their demand through long-term contracts.
But the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is advising them to secure extra inventories as a contingency measure.
Key words : researcher experiment
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_03/
A group of researchers in Japan has safely obtained high-purity hydrogen from water in an unprecedentedly large-scale experiment by using a photocatalytic substance.
A photocatalyst causes and accelerates the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen by absorbing sunlight.
In contrast to fossil fuel, hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide when being burned. The gas is considered a key to achieving a carbon-free world.
The group of researchers from the University of Tokyo, Shinshu University, and other institutes sought to extract hydrogen from water by operating outdoors a 100 square-meter array of solar panel reactors with a photocatalytic substance applied to them.
The group says it safely recovered more than 70 percent of the generated hydrogen at a purity of 94 percent.
According to the group, this is the first time that hydrogen has been collected from water in such a large-scale experiment using a panel array measuring 100 square meters.
The group says the next step in making the technology practical will be to develop a new substance capable of recovering hydrogen more efficiently.
Professor Domen Kazunari of the University of Tokyo says now that his group developed a system to safely extract hydrogen, the group wants to put the technology to practical use as soon as possible so that large amounts of the gas can be supplied at low prices.
Key words : olympic ongoing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211017_08/
The International Olympic Committee has welcomed positive feedback from athletes about test events for next year's Beijing Olympics.
The IOC held an executive board meeting on Saturday in Athens, Greece.
The board members talked about the ongoing test events in China that started with international speed skating trials on October 8.
More than 2,000 athletes and team officials from China and other countries are taking part in the events being held at Olympic venues till late December.
Following the meeting, IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell told reporters in a virtual news conference that the events are being held under strict COVID measures.
He said the feedback from athletes has been all positive and that excitement over the Games has been building.
Games organizers have decided that only spectators from China's mainland will be allowed at events, and participants will be permitted to travel only between their accommodations and Olympic venues. Also, all Games-related personnel will be required to get tested daily.
The 2022 Winter Games kick off next February.
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