Key words : ukraine valued
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_10/
The US government has announced additional military aid for Ukraine valued at up to 775 million dollars.
Officials said on Friday that the package will include ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS; 16 howitzers, along with 36,000 rounds for the artillery; and high-speed, anti-radiation missiles that target radar systems.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "The courage and strength of Ukraine's military and its people are extraordinary, and the United States will continue to provide additional systems and capabilities for Ukraine."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted on Friday to thank US President Joe Biden for the decision. He said, "We have taken another important step to defeat the aggressor," adding that Ukraine will be free.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, which is under Russian control, has been under repeated shelling since early August. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of the attacks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is calling for a mission to the plant to ensure its safety.
Zelenskyy said in a video address on Friday that "Ukrainian diplomats, our partners, representatives of the UN and the IAEA are working out the specific details of the mission."
He said the mission would allow the resumption of full security at the plant.
Key words : energy firm
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_08/
Russia's state-affiliated energy firm says it will shut down a key natural gas pipeline to Germany for three days from the end of this month for maintenance.
Gazprom said on Friday that gas supplies via the Nord Stream will be suspended from August 31 to September 2.
Gazprom also halted supplies through the pipeline in July, citing annual maintenance work. The firm has since reopened it, but deliveries remain about 20 percent of the original level.
The company says gas transmission will be resumed once the maintenance is complete, but the shutdown is seen as a Russian attempt to put pressure on European countries.
German government officials said they are monitoring the situation closely.
The announcement by Gazprom has sent European natural gas prices rising. On Friday, the benchmark Dutch TTF at one point jumped more than 8 percent.
Key words : british life in prison
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_07/
A US court has sentenced a former member of the Islamic State group to life in prison for his involvement in hostage-taking plots that led to the killings of journalists and aid workers.
The federal district court in the southern state of Virginia handed down the sentence on Friday to former British citizen El Shafee Elsheikh. He was found guilty of conspiring to kill four US hostages, including two journalists. He was also convicted on four counts of hostage-taking.
The Islamic State group was notorious for targeting foreigners in areas of the Middle East that it brought under its control. In 2015, the group killed two Japanese men, Goto Kenji, a journalist, and Yukawa Haruna.
The militants released videos showing the beheading of some of the hostages.
District Court Judge T.S. Ellis said Elsheikh's behavior was "horrific, barbaric, brutal and of course criminal."
Elsheikh was a member of an Islamic State cell nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their English accents.
Another member of the cell, also a former British citizen, was sentenced to life in prison by a US court in April.
Key words : sri lanka japan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220819_17/
Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said in a media interview that he will ask Japan to lead talks on restructuring the nation's external debt.
He made the remarks in an interview with Reuters news agency on Thursday. He took office in July following the resignation of his predecessor.
Sri Lanka has suspended payments on external debt amid the continued economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe said "someone has to call in the main creditor nations." He also said that his country will ask Japan to do it.
He added that he is considering traveling to Tokyo next month to meet Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. Japan is one of Sri Lanka's major creditors along with China and India.
Sri Lanka announced in April that it would temporarily suspend external debt payments amid severe economic crisis triggered by dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The nation's outstanding external debt was 50.7 billion dollars as of the end of last year.
Observers say the country apparently hopes to seek a review of repayment terms with creditors.
Key words : Kishida africa
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_03/
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio plans to set out a bigger push for growth in Africa at a Tokyo-led international conference later this month.
Kishida will attend the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD, on August 27 and 28 in Tunisia. Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa will also attend.
The prime minister's plans appear to have China in mind. Beijing has in recent years been increasing its influence in Africa.
Kishida will likely announce a public- and private-sector investment drive to promote renewable energy.
Japan is also expected to provide official development assistance to promote human resources development in agriculture and other industries. Support for tackling healthcare issues such as infectious diseases will also be provided.
Participants at the conference are likely to discuss ways of boosting Africa's agricultural capacity amid the global food crisis.
Other topics are expected to include ways of improving cooperation in the healthcare industry, and measures against the coronavirus.
The delegates will likely end the conference with a declaration.
Kishida will then visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He is expected to call for increased crude oil production to help curb soaring energy prices.
Key words : hokkaido water shrine
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_09/
Experts suspect a build-up of underground natural gas may be responsible for a vast jet of water gushing from the earth at a shrine in Japan's northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido.
The column of sandy water, which began erupting from the grounds of Iinari Shrine in Oshamambe Town on August 8, has been causing headaches for people living nearby.
Residents say the 30-meter spout makes so much noise that they can't sleep. A man in his 70s says the wind sprays the water over his property, making his car filthy and preventing him from hanging his laundry outside.
Town officials have another problem to contend with. They say the unusual phenomenon is drawing crowds of curious visitors, who are clogging the surrounding streets with their cars.
To ease congestion, they have set aside parking spaces for about 100 vehicles at three locations in the town.
Takahashi Tetsuya from the Hokkaido Research Organization, who specializes in resource engineering, says he believes the occurrence is being caused by natural gas. He suspects the gas is spewing out of the ground and blasting surface and underground water into the air in the process.
He says people in the area should be careful not to use naked flames, because natural gas ignites easily.
Takahashi says a private firm that once mined natural gas in the area dug 11 wells. He says the wells have since been filled in, but that a build-up of underground pressure appears to have caused the gas to burst through.
Key words : fishing saury
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220820_06/
Several years of poor saury catches have tempered expectations for this season, which got into full swing as a fleet of large fishing boats left Japan for waters in the northern Pacific.
Twenty vessels departed Hanasaki Port in Nemuro City, on the island of Hokkaido, early on Saturday, the first day when boats with a tonnage of 100 or more are allowed to fish. Hanasaki Port has brought in Japan's largest saury haul for the past 12 years running.
But those hauls have been increasingly dismal in recent years, dropping to an all-time low in 2021. This season's catch is expected to be marginally better.
One of the smaller boats that were allowed to start fishing on August 10 has brought back just 260 kilograms of saury.
The bigger boats will head to the high seas in search of the most bountiful fishing grounds, despite rising fuel costs. Compounding the problem, they may be forced to detour around waters that Russia claims to be part of its exclusive economic zone due to deteriorating ties between Japan and Russia.
One 26-year-old crew member said he simply hopes this season's catch is bigger than last year's, and that the operation proceeds safely.
The bigger boats hope to bring back their first catch by the end of August.
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