A reactor damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan has cleared a major hurdle to getting back online.
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced seven members of an Islamic militant group to death for their involvement in a deadly attack in the capital Dhaka in July 2016.
Yokohama is set to start issuing certificates to same-sex couples, recognizing their partnerships as equivalent to marriage.
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Key words : reactor 2011 earthquake cleared
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_22/
A reactor damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan has cleared a major hurdle to getting back online.
On Wednesday, the Nuclear Regulation Authority approved a draft assessment for the No.2 reactor at the Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture.
It says safety steps taken by the plant's operator, Tohoku Electric Power Company, meet the stricter regulations introduced after the Fukushima accident.
The regulator notes that the utility decided to raise its seawalls to 29 meters after increasing its estimate of the maximum height of tsunami that could hit the plant to 23.1 meters.
Tohoku Electric applied for the regulator's screening in 2013 in a step required to restart the reactor.
The regulator will now solicit opinions from the public before giving its formal approval.
It's still unclear how soon the reactor could be back online. The operator plans to complete seismic and anti-tsunami reinforcing work by March 2021. But local governments must give their approval as well.
So far, the only reactor damaged in the disaster to pass the restart screening is at the Tokai No.2 plant in Ibaraki Prefecture.
The Onagawa plant has two more reactors. The No.1 reactor is to be decommissioned. The operator is considering applying for the screening to restart the No.3 reactor.
Key words : governor
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_38/
The governor of Miyagi Prefecture, Yoshihiro Murai, says he will make a comprehensive decision on the restart of a nuclear reactor in the prefecture.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved a draft assessment of the No.2 reactor at the Onagawa plant on Wednesday, clearing a major hurdle to getting back online.
The reactor was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A restart also needs the approval of local governments.
Governor Murai said he believes a very strict assessment was made.
He said, however, he cannot say if he is for or against restarting the reactor.
He said he will make a decision after considering the opinions of the prefecture's safety panel as well as local residents.
Residents of the Yoriiso district in Ishinomaki City, five kilometers from the nuclear plant, have voiced concerns over evacuation plans in the event of an accident.
Under the city's plan, residents are to evacuate by car to designated places.
But during the 2011 disaster, roads leading to the city center and a neighboring town were blocked by mudslides, stranding evacuees.
The district is located on a peninsula with narrow roads, which may cause traffic congestion if all 200 residents were to evacuate by car at the same time.
The district leader, Youetsu Watanabe, said the residents are considering evacuation by fishing boats in case they are left stranded.
He said residents want authorities to widen the roads and take other steps to reduce risks to the community.
Key words : 2020 budget
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_20/
A draft of the fiscal 2020 budget policies that the Japanese government has been working on calls for economic risk reduction and deep cuts in administrative costs.
The draft says the government will take flexible and comprehensive measures against downside risks for the economy resulting from US-China trade friction and other factors.
The government will work to boost the economy after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. It aims for sustainable economic growth led by private demand.
The government will also strengthen its ability to prevent, reduce and better respond to floods and other natural disasters.
Given the tight budget, the government will aim for a so-called primary balance surplus of the national and local governments in fiscal 2025.
The draft says the government will reduce administrative costs by more than 20 percent through the digitization of services and streamlining processes.
The government will present the draft at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Wednesday. The Cabinet is set to finalize and approve the policies by early December.
Key words : Pope moving experience
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_05/
Pope Francis says his visit to Hiroshima was a moving experience.
The pontiff made the remark during an in-flight press conference on his way back to the Vatican on Tuesday. He was the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Japan in 38 years.
In Hiroshima, he spoke with atomic bomb survivors, and heard their stories. He said the Catholic Church will state in its teachings that the use and possession of nuclear weapons is immoral.
He said he would not use atomic energy until there is total security of use.
The pope also visited Nagasaki. He said both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked by US atomic bombs, but one difference is that there are many Christians in Nagasaki. He said he was deeply touched by the history of Christian persecution in Nagasaki.
Former death-row inmate Iwao Hakamada was invited to the pope's mass at Tokyo Dome. Hakamada has long proclaimed his innocence in a high-profile murder case in 1966 and is waiting for a retrial.
Some people had expected that Pope Francis would speak with Hakamada, but that did not happen. The pontiff said he did not know about Hakamada's case.
The pope said he mentioned the abolition of capital punishment during his meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The pontiff revised the Catholic Church's teachings in 2018 to declare the death penalty inadmissible.
Key words : anti-government protest even though
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_44/
Sporadic anti-government protests continue in Hong Kong, even though the pro-democracy camp won a landslide victory in Sunday's local district council elections.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters on Tuesday, "We were aware of the large number of voters coming out to cast a vote. Perhaps not only to select a preferred candidate to sit on the district council, but also to express a view on many issues in society."
But she did not suggest conceding to demands from protesters including the introduction of a direct vote to choose the chief executive.
More than 100 people gathered for a rally in the central part of Hong Kong Island on Wednesday.
They called on the government to meet their demands. A participant in his 20s said he is outraged by the government rejecting people's demands. He added that he will continue fighting until it gives in.
Meanwhile, the transportation network, severed amid violent unrests, has gradually been restored. A tunnel linking Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon Peninsula was reopened on Wednesday morning.
Key words : Trump raised hope
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_33/
US President Donald Trump has again raised hopes of a trade deal with China, hinting an agreement is close. But negotiators still seem divided on key issues.
Trump said on Tuesday, "I have a very good relationship as you know with President Xi. We're in the final throes of a very important deal. I guess you could say one of the most important deals in trade ever."
The world's two largest economies are trying to hammer out a "phase one" agreement. Officials from both sides spoke on the phone on Tuesday.
Details were not available but China says they agreed to keep talks going on pending matters.
Sticking points include Beijing's demand for the partial removal of US tariffs, while Washington is pushing for better protection of intellectual property rights.
Key words : Bangladesh sentenced deadly
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_42/
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced seven members of an Islamic militant group to death for their involvement in a deadly attack on a restaurant in the capital Dhaka in July 2016.
The special anti-terrorism tribunal in Dhaka on Wednesday found the seven men guilty. One person was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Twenty-two people were killed when gunmen from an organization describing itself as a Bangladesh affiliate of the Islamic State militant group stormed the restaurant.
The victims included seven Japanese citizens working for a project run by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA.
Five of the assailants were shot dead on the spot by security forces. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility.
Eight other members of the terrorist group had been indicted for charges including supporting the attackers by procuring funds and weapons. They have asserted innocence because of lack of evidence except their confessions. A defense lawyer said the men would appeal.
Following the attack that shocked the world, Bangladeshi police have killed or detained nearly 100 people who they say are militant group members, as an effort to restore order.
Key words : researcher Kyoto
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_27/
Researchers at Kyoto University have filed an application to the government to run clinical tests transplanting cartilage tissue created from iPS cells to patients with damaged knee joints.
The team is led by professor and orthopedic surgeon Noriyuki Tsumaki at the university's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application.
iPS cells are a special type of stem cell and have the potential to turn into any kind of body tissue.
Damaged knee joint cartilage is incapable of repairing on its own. Current transplants use cartilage cells taken from other parts of a patient's body. But the patient has to suffer extra burden from such treatment.
In the proposed trials, Tsumaki's group plans to transplant cartilage tissue grown from iPS cells into patients' knees.
The researchers hope to confirm safety and effectiveness of the treatment while reducing the burden on patients in enabling them to move their knees again.
The government is expected to start examining the application as early as next month. If approved, the group could begin clinical tests as early as next year.
Clinical trials using iPS cells in regenerative medicine are already under way at a few institutions.
Another research team at Kyoto University transplanted nerve cells produced from iPS cells into a brain of a patient with Parkinson's disease.
A team based in Kobe has transplanted retina tissue from iPS cells into patients, while an Osaka University group has given cornea tissue to a patient.
Key words : Yokohama couple
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191127_13/
A major city just south of Tokyo is set to start issuing certificates to same-sex couples, recognizing their partnerships as equivalent to marriage.
Yokohama City, which has a population of over 3.7 million, will launch the partnership system on Monday of next week. An increasing number of local governments have established similar systems in recent years.
Yokohama officials say the documents will be offered in English, Chinese and Korean as well as in Japanese. The city is home to many foreign residents.
Regardless of their genders on family registers, adult couples are eligible to apply for the certificates by submitting a written pledge recognizing each other as partners in life.
The certification is not legally valid, as Japanese law defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. But officials say the city plans to allow certificate holders to receive the same public services as married couples, such as the eligibility to apply for city-run apartments.
The city's system also covers those whose gender identity is neither exclusively male nor female, and common-law couples.
A Yokohama official in charge of human rights affairs says many minority people choose not to disclose their sexual orientations, even though public understanding of the issue has improved. He adds that the city hopes that introducing the system will bring a positive change to the current situation.
Earlier this month, Kanagawa Prefecture started accepting applications for prefectural housing units from couples with certificates from municipalities within the prefecture. Yokohama is the prefectural capital.
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