Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on July 22nd, 2023. The Kanto Expressway, which connects the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area in a circular route, is facing delays in its opening. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has abandoned its plan to open an approximately 18-kilometer section in Chiba Prefecture next year due to difficulties in tunnel construction, resulting in a significant delay.

In other news, the Japan Meteorological Agency has revealed that it failed to accurately predict two-thirds of the ‘linear rainbands’ that have caused heavy rainfall and subsequent disasters in various parts of the country. The agency acknowledges the difficulty in forecasting such weather patterns and advises the public to remain vigilant and use other disaster prevention information for early response.

Moving on to another story, four individuals, including the mother and siblings of a 6-year-old boy, have been arrested in Kobe on suspicion of abandoning the boy’s body in a suitcase. Police are now planning to re-arrest the four individuals on charges of murder, as they are suspected of fatally beating the child with a pipe-like object.

In a separate incident, NTT Docomo, a major Japanese telecommunications company, has announced that over 5 million personal information records were leaked due to the unauthorized actions of a former temporary employee from a group company that had been entrusted with the company’s internet connection services.

In Tokyo, an elementary school teacher has been arrested on suspicion of quasi-compulsory indecent acts against a junior high school student.

The family of a man who died in a fatal accident caused by a driver who was traveling at over 160 kilometers per hour in Utsunomiya City is calling for the application of the more severe charge of dangerous driving resulting in death, instead of the current charge of negligent driving resulting in death.

Furthermore, in response to the recent revelation that Big Motor, a used car sales company, had been intentionally damaging vehicles and fraudulently claiming insurance money, the company has notified all its branches to suspend accepting new vehicle repair requests. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, the weather will be sunny with a high of 27°C and a low of 25°C. And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to Japan Daily News.