at 18:00 (JST), November 01 (AI-CC by Clipchamp)

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20241101180000_english_1.mp3

Thanks for joining us on NHK Newsline. I'm Yamaguchi Hiroaki in Tokyo.

Executives from two major opposition parties in Japan have decided to discuss cooperating on policies and bills.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People officials met on Friday. The talks come after the CDP increased its seat count by 50 to 148 in Sunday's lower house election. The DPFP quadrupled its support to 28 seats as the number three opposition group. CDP is also considering working with other parties outside the ruling coalition.

Parties are looking to form alliances after the Liberal Democratic Party's ruling coalition failed to secure a majority. CDP Secretary-General Ogawa Ajunya met his counterpart at the DPFP, Shimba Kazuya, on Friday. Ogawa called on Shimba to cooperate with each party in the Diet in light of the election's results. Shimba answered that his party will stay equally distant from the other parties. The two parties agreed that further political and diet reforms are needed. They also agreed to hold a meeting of their leaders next week. 

New footage shows what it's like trying to remove fuel debris from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The operator released a video Thursday of a retrieval device inside the plant's number two reactor. Tokyo Electric Power Company needs to remove the nuclear fuel debris. to eventually decommission the plant. It resumed its trial run Monday after a six-week delay. A grabbing tool managed to grasp a small sample Wednesday.
TEPCO says the debris will be removed by Friday at the earliest. If the radiation levels are low enough, it will be placed in a dedicated container to be analyzed. The government commented on TEPCO's efforts Friday.

It's technically challenging. I am aware it is entering the most difficult phase of decommissioning the plant. We hope that TEPCO will take every possible measure to secure safety and work hard.

If the current attempt succeeds, it will mark the first time debris has been retrieved from the plant since the meltdowns in 2011.

North Korea has released a video of what it says was an intercontinental ballistic missile it launched Thursday. The test is being condemned by Japan and others.
State-run TV on Friday broadcast a video showing the Hwasin-19. This is the first time the broadcaster has ever reported on a launch of this missile. It stayed airborne for nearly an hour and a half and reached an altitude of more than 7,000 kilometers. The broadcaster described it as being the final version of the missile.

Photos show the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, overseeing the launch with his daughter. Japan's top government spokesperson says the missile may have been a new type of ICBM.

North Korea's nuclear and missile development poses a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community. That is totally unacceptable.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized the North, and he reaffirmed what he called an ironclad commitment to South Korea's security.
South Korea and the U.S. conducted a joint military exercise in response to the launch. They released footage showing a target portraying a North Korean mobile launcher getting blown up by airstrikes.

Ito Toshiyuki is a retired vice admiral of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force. He says the North's launch is notable because of the altitude reached by the missile and the amount of time it stayed airborne.

There is a strong possibility Pyongyang has incorporated some new Russian technology into the second and third stages of the missile.

This was the 12th time this year the North has fired ballistic missiles, or projectiles believed to be ballistic missiles. With voting for the U.S. presidential election several days away, the two main candidates visited battleground states in the Southwest on Thursday.
Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. She said her top job as president will be bringing down the cost of living, while her rival, Donald Trump, has other priorities.

He is not someone who is thinking about how to make your life better. This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance.

Harris also touted her economic policies. That included tax cuts for the middle class and banning unreasonable price hikes by food suppliers and retailers.
Trump was in Nevada. The former president kept up his criticism of the current president. 

Two days ago, Joe Biden called our supporters, garbage, garbage. That's nasty. My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can't lead America if you don't love Americans.

Biden's comment was in response to a joke by a comedian, a comedian at a Trump rally who called Puerto Rico garbage. On Thursday, Trump told the crowd that Americans are going to bring their country back. Polls show the racists neck and neck. US website RealClearPolitics indicates Trump leads Harris by an average of almost one percentage point in seven battleground states.

A special train car built for a former president is running in Taiwan for the first time in 33 years. It had only been used once before, but it's returning for a limited time to spotlight a disaster-stricken region. NHK world's Patricia Liu reports.

This is Taiwan's so-called Presidential Train arriving at Hualien Station. Railway fans have gathered to see it for the first time.
The train carriesThis is the only carriage dedicated to the president, the top officials of Taiwan. It had been stored at a rail yard, unseen for decades. In 1967, the carriage was made for then-President Chiang Kai-shek in order to travel across the country by train. It includes a bedroom for Chan and for his wife, which is decorated in a luxurious European style.

But when the project was completed, John was too old to actually use the train.

The first and last ride by the president was in 1991. That year, a railway line running around Taiwan was connected and President Li Deng-hui used the carriage on his travels. Now the Presidential Train is being used to bring attention to an area recovering from a major disaster. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the eastern province of Tualien in April this year. Entry to many parts of its most famous scenic spot, Taroko Gorge, continues to be restricted.

About 14.7 million tourists visited Hualien last year, but the number has been more than halved since the disaster.

Hualien depends on tourists, so it is affecting the economy in various areas. I really want tourists to come back. 

Taiwan Railway decided to revive the Presidential Train carriage. As the main attractions of a Hualien tour, the company hopes it will boost the province tourism. But it was the difficult task to get it running again.

Production of all the parts used at that time has been suspended. We had to use parts from the same type of vehicle and spare parts.

The company secured components from all of Taiwan and managed to get the train running. On its first date of operations, the Presidential Train was fully booked, with people visiting from across Taiwan. It takes about 3.5 hours to stop at six stations across Hua Dian. Passengers can also enjoy retro style lunch boxes designed to evoke the 1960s.

It has a lot of ingredients and is delicious.

Riders can explore the presidential carriage, but must cover their shoes to avoid any damage. They can take as many photos and videos as they like of this little scene site of Taiwan's history.

Everybody looks very happy. We'd like to attract more tourists to Hua Lian to enjoy traveling safely.

While the presidential train campaign is off to a rolling start, the challenge of bringing back tourism to pre-earthquake levels remains in the area. Patricia Liu, NHK World.

Now let's check out the world weather. People in East China and some parts in Japan are bracing for severe weather. Our meteorologist Yumi Hirano has the details.

Kong-rey made landfall in eastern Taiwan on Thursday, becoming one of the strongest typhoons of October. Total rainfall has exceeded 1,200 millimeters since Wednesday, causing severe floods. We have some video.
Kong-rey struck Taiwan on Thursday as its largest storm in nearly 30 years. The storm caused severe flooding and matslides, down to trees and damaged homes and vehicles. Fire officials reported at least two people were killed and more than 500 were injured.

After a day off, officials and schools reopened on Friday and the people began cleaning up in earnest.

Now the storm is impacting eastern China, including Shanghai. More rain and stronger winds are possible until late Friday night. And then, as a low-pressure system, it will bring heavy downpours to Japan,into Saturday, up to 250 millimeters of rain is possible in northern Kyushu during a short period of time with risks of flash floods and landslides. Tokyo will also have intense rain with a high of only 19, but Shanghai and Taipei will see drier conditions on Saturday. 

Moving to Europe, a low-pressure system wringling west of the Iberian peninsula brought severe floods in eastern Spain this week. It's gradually weakening, but there is still a possibility of intense rain, thundershowers and stronger winds.

Meanwhile, in the north, another storm system is moving across the southern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula. Potential floods and landslides are a concern. But minor and calm conditions are dominating Central Europe, so Polish will have sunny skies with a high of 14. That's all for me. Have a nice weekend.

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And that's it for this edition of NHK News Line. I'm Yamaguchi Hiroaki in Tokyo. Thank you very much for staying with us.