Hello, a very warm welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.
We begin with a developing story from China. A powerful earthquake has struck a popular tourist area in the Tibet Autonomous Region. State-run news reports at least 53 people were killed.
China's Earthquake Network Center says the quake struck Dingri County in Shigatze just after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Its estimated depth was about 10 kilometers. Chinese authorities placed the magnitude at 6.8. Xinhua News Agency says more than 1,000 houses have been damaged and over 60 people are injured. Local officials are still working to confirm the full extent of the damage. Dingri County sits on the border with Nepal, with a population of about 60,000 as of 2021.
It is a frequent destination for people visiting Mount Everest and has many hotels and restaurants.
Authorities in Taiwan say a cargo ship with an old Chinese crew is suspected of damaging an international undersea cable last Friday. Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said on Monday it is investigating an incident in which a cargo vessel is suspected of having damaged a cable off Taiwan's north coast.
It noted that the ship is flagged to Cameroon, but owned by a Hong Kong-registered company. It said all seven crew members were Chinese nationals. Taiwanese media say the vessel is believed to have dropped anchor while in the area. The Coast Guard said the vessel's intentions were unclear, but it may have been conducting what could be described as gray zone harassment.
North Korea says it successfully test-fired a new type of intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile on Monday. State-run media reported on Tuesday that the country's missile administration staged the launch.
It said the hypersonic warhead flew at 12 times the speed of sound on a designated flight path before it landed 15-hundred kilometers away on a target area in the open sea. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying the test demonstrated the potential of the country's self-defensive technical force. He reportedly said the missile system will reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region that can affect the security of North Korea.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the aim of the launch may have been to show the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump that Pyongyang is capable of striking Guam, which is home to U.S. bases.
Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi has held a meeting with his U.S. counterpart in Tokyo, and it will likely be their last. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to leave his post in a few weeks when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Despite the impending transition, Blinken says the world keeps turning, and Japan and the U.S. need to stay close. He and Iwaya spoke at the start of talks over lunch.
We want to keep raising our alliance to new levels. I look forward to discussing the current regional situation and the state of Japan-U.S. relations.
We have, between our two countries, a partnership that started out focusing on bilateral issues and worked on regional issues, and now is genuinely global.
The top diplomats reaffirmed the importance of bolstering their alliance's deterrence and response capabilities.
They also agreed on the need to maintain their three-way partnership with South Korea in the wake of Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launch. And the pair discussed President Joe Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S.
steel. Both companies are now suing the U.S. government, calling Biden's order unlawful and politically motivated.
Iwaya and Blinken both stressed the importance of their country's economic relationship, including the investment of Japanese companies in American firms.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is stepping down after facing calls to resign from within his own party and what he's described as a paralyzed parliament.
Trudeau said he will remain in his role until his ruling Liberal Party picks a new leader.
This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.
Canadians have become frustrated with inflation and rising housing prices, putting Trudeau under heavy pressure.
Trudeau has been in office nearly a decade, but his popularity has been dipping in recent years as Canadians are upset about economic and political issues. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose a stiff 25% tariff on Canadian goods. Trudeau's downfall quickly came after his finance minister abruptly resigned over how to deal with Trump's policies and other disagreements.
Austria's president has asked the leader of the far-right Freedom Party to form a coalition government. That's after an earlier attempt to form one without the party failed. The Freedom Party is friendly toward Russia and hostile toward migrants and refugees.
It won the most votes in the September parliamentary election for the first time ever. The party was founded by a former Nazi in the 1950s.
Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen met on Monday with Freedom Party leader Herbert Kikkel.
The president earlier asked the center-right People's Party, which came second in the election, to form a government to keep the Freedom Party out.
But those talks fell apart.
Mr. Kickel has the confidence to find viable solutions within the framework of government negotiations, and he wants this responsibility. I asked him that explicitly.
Van der Bellen said he had asked Kickel to work together with the People's Party.
The two parties have formed a coalition government in the past. It was then led by the People's Party, which had more parliamentary seat.
Well, it's the latest sign of the far right's rise in Europe. Many countries around the world are facing political upheavals. One expert says people's daily strugglers are forcing some major changes.
Tanaka Osamu is an expert on the European economy. He says the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have had a major impact on the average person's life. He says some voters are also frustrated by rapid social changes, especially towards gender and other liberal ideas.
Others say immigration is the problem.
Many migrants and refugees are flowing into Europe and this is creating social tensions.
Increasingly, voters feel that immigrants are to blame for their difficult lives.
They also feel the established political parties are not thinking about them.
And they started to think the far-right parties have a better perspective on the economy, migration and other issues.
Austria is not alone. Far right parties have also gained ground in countries like Germany and France. Ruling parties are facing defeat across the globe. Last year, Britain saw its first change in government in 14 years.
Donald Trump will soon return to power in the US, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just announced his resignation.
A considerable number of voters feel that the governing parties haven't improved their lives. Even if the country as a whole is richer, there is a widening gap. People do not feel the benefit of economic growth like they did in the past. I think it is key to deal with that disparity.
Tanaka says those feelings aren't going away. He thinks there will be more of this anti-establishment sentiment going forward.
This headwind against the ruling parties has built up over time. There's been a sense of crisis over issues like the pandemic and energy. If the economy improves, that dissatisfaction may ease a little, but long-term, I think the established parties will still struggle to reflect the voters' mindset.
Tanaka says Japan is no stranger to this trend. While the government didn't change last election, the ruling party struggled to gain the support they did in the past.
As the country's population is declining and aging, it is increasingly depending on foreign workers. Tanaka says it is important for Japan to reflect on the situation in Europe and beyond.
US health authorities have reported the country's first human death from the H5N1 bird flu. They say an investigation has found no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the risk to the general public remains low.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. A patient hospitalized in Louisiana has died.
Local health authorities say the individual was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions. The patient had been receiving treatment after being confirmed last month as the first severe human case of H5N1.
Louisiana authorities say the person contracted the virus after being exposed to both wild birds and a non-commercial backyard flock. The CDC has confirmed 66 human cases of H5N1 in the U.S. since last year.
Most of the patients said they were possibly exposed to infected birds or cattle and developed only mild symptoms such as red eye.
Let's check out the world weather with our meteorologist Sayaka Mori. Winter is in full swing in Japan, and the chilliest air of the season is approaching the nation. Looks like some people have to brace for more snow. Tell us more.
Cold air over the continent moves over the sea of Japan. The sea is actually about 3 degrees higher than normal, so it adds ample moisture to the snow clouds and the clouds hit the mountain ranges. So, lots of snowfall along the site, but only dry air reaches the Pacific side, including Tokyo. But this time, even Shikoku, which is in the south, will see significant snowfall even in low-lying areas. So we are expecting a lot of snow especially. Especially the Hokuriku region. You might see an additional 70 centimeters of snowfall in 24 hours. This is the forecast for the next four days. Staying below or above or around freezing across Aomori Prefecture, more snow is in the forecast every day. But Tokyo will stay dry. On Monday, Tokyo had the first measurable rain in 40 days. But as you can see, drier conditions are expected to last into the weekend at least. now The capital city of the U.S. also experienced wintry precipitation. Take a look at this video.
The storm swept into the U.S. mid-Atlantic state on Monday, closing down federal offices and public schools in Washington, DC. Fifteen centimeters of heavy snow accumulated in the nation's capital on Monday. About 60 million people across more than a dozen states were also under winter weather warnings and advisories.
Lots of snow fell, but dogs enjoyed the snow too. But snow has lit up. But what was left behind is below freezing or above freezing temperatures around this area, one in New York and zero degrees in DC.
That's it for me. Have a nice day.
♫
And that is all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yamoto Miki in Tokyo. Thank you very much for joining us on NHK World Japan, and please stay tuned for more.
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