Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on June 8th, 2023. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has reported a gradual increase in COVID-19 cases since the transition to Category 5 status a month ago. The Fisheries Agency’s study group has recommended combining multiple fish species and promoting dual-use with aquaculture to address the issue of declining catches of fish such as Pacific saury and salmon due to changes in ocean environments. The Nagano District Court will deliver its verdict on the bus accident in Karuizawa that killed 15 people, including college students, seven years ago. The president of the bus company and a former employee responsible for operations management have been charged with negligent homicide and injury, claiming they could not have anticipated the accident. Heavy rain is expected to fall in western Japan and the Pacific side of eastern Japan over the next few days, raising the risk of landslides and other disasters in areas that were hit hard by record-breaking rainfall last weekend. The victim in the Akita body disposal case had reportedly consulted with an acquaintance about a customer who used drugs for work, and the customer may have been one of the five men, including a former yakuza member, who were arrested for dumping her body in a wooded area. The Japan Meteorological Agency will conduct experiments using the supercomputer Fugaku to predict the occurrence of linear precipitation zones, which brought record-breaking rainfall last weekend. The Fukuoka District Court will deliver its verdict in a same-sex marriage lawsuit, one of five collective lawsuits filed by same-sex couples across the country, arguing that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution. Finally, a documentary film about Ukrainian President Zelensky, aimed at raising awareness of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, was screened at Waseda University in Tokyo on June 7th. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, it will be partly cloudy with a high of 23°C and a low of 20°C, and there is no chance of rain. And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to Japan Daily News.