at 18:00 (JST), October 30 (AI-CC by Clipchamp)

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20241030180000_english_1.mp3

Welcome back to NHK Newsline. Here's the latest we have for you at this hour.

Teams at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have reached a new milestone. They say a retrieval device has successfully made contact with nuclear debris. Three of the plant's reactors suffered meltdowns after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It left about 880 tons of debris inside. It still exhibits extremely high levels of radiation. 

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been trying to remove the debris with a retrieval device. The trial runs were set to begin in September, but were delayed by six weeks due to a problem with the devices cameras. 

TEPCO was able to resume the trial Monday. It says a tool from the device was lowered into the number two reactor. It then successfully grabbed several grams of debris Wednesday. If the radiation reading is low enough, it will be put into a transportation container and removed. If so, it would mark the first time nuclear debris was successfully taken out of the plant. Dealing with the debris is considered the most challenging part of decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi.

A Japanese appeals court has ruled that not allowing same-sex marriage goes against the Constitution. This is the second time a high court in the country has handed down such a decision.

The court said clearly that it is unconstitutional. I feel that our efforts have paid off. I am really happy that what we have continually conveyed was accepted by the court.

The Tokyo High Court announced the decision on Wednesday. The presiding judge says being legally recognized as a spouse is the basis of a fulfilling social life, and that should be fully respected even for same-sex couples. She added civil code provisions are not based on reasonable grounds, and they treat same-sex couples in a discriminatory manner. The court rejected an appeal for compensation, as there has been no unified judgment by the Supreme Court. Still, the plaintiffs and lawyers say the decision is a reason to celebrate.

I think it is a truly groundbreaking and historic ruling. It says that irrational differences should not be established and gives specific examples. The most important point is that the Tokyo High Court clearly said that Japan's Diet should do its job.

A Tokyo district court ruled on the case two years ago, saying that certain provisions in the civil code are in a state of unconstitutionality. There have been five other similar lawsuits across Japan. 

A United Nations committee has, for the fourth time, recommended Japan revise its legal requirement that married couples use the same surname. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on Tuesday published its findings on efforts by the Japanese government to achieve gender equality. The UN body had conducted a review on Japan earlier this month, its first such audit in eight years. The committee's report described the Japanese Civil Code's surname requirement as discriminatory, saying the law, in practice, often compels women to adopt their husband's surname. The committee called on Japan to amend its provisions regarding surnames for married couples so that women can keep their own surnames after marriage. One of the committee experts told NHK it is a matter of women's self-identity.

If Japan wants to retain its power, its international image, its global image, it is very necessary for Japan to embrace change.

The committee also recommends that Japan revise the Imperial House law in order to ensure gender equality. The law stipulates that successors to the throne must be males from the male line of the imperial lineage.

Japan's ruling parties plan to hold talks with the opposition Democratic Party for the People. It's part of their effort to maintain their coalition government with Ishiba Shigeru as prime minister. 

The main ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, Cometo, failed to secure majority in the lower house in Sunday's election. As a consequence, they will seek cooperation from opposition parties on a policy-by-policy basis to steadily implement economic and other measures. The secretaries general of the LDP and the Democratic Party for the People, which won 28 seats in Sunday's vote, are set to hold talks on Thursday. The two executives are expected to discuss new economic measures, including measures against rising prices, a top priority for Prime Minister Ishiba. 

Meanwhile, Noda Yoshihiko, who heads the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has met with Japan Innovation Party Representative Baba Nobuyuki as part of the opposition push for unity. Noda asked for Bhabha's vote for prime minister in the upcoming special diet session. Bhabha said he will consider it. The two sides agreed to continue discussions.

There's now less than a week left in the race. Polls show it's still tight, and both Trump and Harris are hoping tips may give them an edge.

Hispanics could decide the outcome in Nevada. They make up 22% of voters in the state. Many work in service industries and earn much of their income through tips. Trump says one of his policies would help bring them home more.

When I'm back in that beautiful White House, we will pass larger tax cuts for workers, and we have a special tax that here is going to do, I think, quite well. It's called no tax on tips.

Service workers see the appeal. Some believe they could increase their income by hundreds of dollars a month.

Everyone lives on tips, and everyone lives on, you know, It'd be awesome to see this come come to pass.

Hispanics have tended to vote for the Democrats, but polls suggest Trump has brought more of them onto his side. Harris introduced a similar promise on tips and another to increase workers' base income. 

When I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America. Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.

Harris has attracted the support of union members, some of whom are volunteering on her behalf. We've got to raise the minimum wage for all workers.

Political news site Real ClearPolitics reports an average of national polls suggests Trump leads Harris by less than a percentage point.

Analysts in South Korea are adding some details to a security situation many of their counterparts elsewhere want to know more about. They say North Korean troops may be heading toward the front lines of the war in Ukraine, and they say a high-ranking officer may be among the first to arrive.
Analysts with the National Intelligence Service shared what they've learned with members of the Parliamentary Intelligence Committee. They're still checking the details. But they say they've learned the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army could be in an advanced unit. Kim Yongbok is also believed to be a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The analysts estimate that most of the soldiers sent to Russia are in their early 20s, with some possibly in their late teens. They warn the troops should not be underestimated, but they say that soldiers from the North and from Russia have run into a language barrier.

Around 100 military terms are being taught. North Korean troops are reportedly struggling with them, raising doubts about resolving communication issues.

Russian media say North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Soni has headed to Moscow for talks. The reports say she's expected to discuss the deployment of troops and a possible visit by Kim Jong-un later this year.

Ukraine's president says his country will strengthen cooperation with Seoul in light of the deployment. Volodymyr Zelensky posted on social media on Tuesday that he had a call with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Son-yol. They discussed the North's military involvement in Russia's invasion. Zelensky says the war is becoming internationalized, extending beyond two countries. He says he shared recent data with Yun on Pyongyang's deployment of 3,000 troops to Russian training grounds near the combat zone. Their number is expected to increase to approximately 12,000. Zelensky added that the leaders agreed to develop an action strategy and countermeasures to address this escalation. Yun told Zelensky that North Korea is taking unprecedented and dangerous steps by deploying special forces to Russia. Both leaders say Seoul and Kyiv would stay in close communication and exchange delegations.

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It's time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist, Jonathan Oh. We went from a chilly and wet start in Tokyo to a bright, sunnier afternoon Wednesday, but how are things looking for Thursday, Jonathan?

Hello, it looks like we're going to be dealing with a bit of a drier pattern as we go into Thursday for Tokyo and places toward the west as well. Now we saw chilly start in some portions of the Kanto area with some rain as well, but by the afternoon we saw temperatures topping off at around 22 degrees and that is. A little bit warmer than we're supposed to see for this time of year. The main instigator for this pattern was a low pressure system, a cold front pushing away from Japan. We may still see some residual moisture up toward the north where we may be seeing some showers and we have some rain activity down toward the South and West. I'll talk about that in more detail in just a bit, but it looks like that in general we should be seeing most of Japan under a drier patterns. Sappodo starting off with a little bit more rain, then we dry out a little bit later. But look at this. Brighter skies again for Thursday from Niigata to Osaka, Tokyo looking at high 22. Nahai, you're looking at rain with a high of 30. That moisture enhancement is taking place because of a powerful typhoon. That's still impacting the northern portion of the Philippines over to Taiwan and also Southwestern Islands, Okinawa Prefecture. The storm is expected to get even stronger. We're talking about some very powerful winds along with heavy rainfall.

Those waves are going to really be swelling up as well. So you want to be away from the coastal areas. You want to make sure you know what to do in case you need to move into a more an evacuation situation because the storm will be likely coming right on top of Taiwan, but also bring all that strong wind and a stormy conditions over into the so far southwestern portions of the Okinawa region. And so you want to be on the lookout for that over the next couple of days. 
Look at what's happening across North America. We have this cold front pushing on through and a little mini load that's trying to develop itself over the plains and that may lead to some strong to even possibly some severe thunderstorms. So be on the lookout for that cold weather toward the West of Denver. Snow with a high of 6 on Wednesday. That's location forecast. Hope you have a good day wherever you are.

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Before we go, one of Tokyo's most famous statues has been blocked from view in a bid to keep people from gathering around it on Halloween. 
The statue of Hachiko, outside Tokyo's Shibuya Station, is a well-known meeting place and has become especially popular with Halloween revelers. Workers took about two hours on Wednesday to set up an enclosure around the statue modeled after a loyal Akita dog. Ward officials are urging people, including foreign tourists, not to come to Shibuya to celebrate Halloween.

But they remain concerned that large crowds of people may still swarm the area, posing the risk of a crowd crush or problems related to drinking.

It's a painful choice, but we're calling for people's understanding. We're asking that they not come to Shibuya to show off their costumes or to view them. We really hope that they'll heed the request.

The statue of Hachiko will remain out of sight until Friday.

And that wraps it up for this edition of NHK Newsline. Thanks for watching.