Key words : second shipment received
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_12/
Japan has received its second shipment of the coronavirus vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
The doses arrived at Narita Airport near Tokyo on Sunday from Belgium.
The vaccine doses, in special cartons packed with dry ice, were transported to a warehouse. They were then carried to a storage site outside the airport by truck.
The shipment follows the first delivery on February 12. Government officials say the latest arrival is equivalent to more than 450,000 shots, if the maximum six doses are extracted from each vial.
Combined with the first shipment, Japan has received about 838,000 doses, or shots for nearly 420,000 people.
The government plans to distribute up to 1.17 million doses to prefectures for medical workers over the two weeks starting March 1.
It plans to airlift additional doses once the European Union grants authorization.
The number of healthcare workers who are expected to receive vaccinations is likely to increase by about a million from the initial estimate of roughly 3.7 million.
The timing of vaccinations, including those for the elderly, could be affected if the supply of vaccines to Japan does not go smoothly.
Key words : college
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_09/
The Japanese government has found that at least 5,800 college students either left school or took time off because of the spread of the coronavirus between April and December of last year.
The ministry of education conducted a survey of four-year universities and colleges, junior colleges and technical colleges across Japan. About 95 percent, or 1,009 schools, responded.
The spread of the coronavirus was cited as one of the main reasons for students leaving school.
The survey found that 1,367 students left school permanently, while 4,434 took some time off due to the pandemic.
Overall, 28,647 students left school permanently during the eight month period. This is down about 20 percent from the same period of the previous year.
65,670 students left school temporarily, which is almost 10 percent less than the previous year.
Ministry officials believe the decline is likely due to support mechanisms introduced during the pandemic.
They say 99 percent of schools extended tuition payment deadlines for the second term and 74 percent either reduced or waived tuition for students facing financial difficulties.
The government also rolled out a new national scholarship system for students from low income households last April. Officials say scholarships had been granted to nearly 270,000 students as of December.
But Professor Suetomi Kaori, a child poverty expert at Nihon University, believes the system is letting down students just above the scholarship threshold. She says many such students work to support their families and may eventually be forced to drop out if the pandemic continues.
Key words : 272 new
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_14/
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 272 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Sunday.
The daily tally is below 500 for a 15th straight day.
The total number of people who have tested positive in Tokyo now stands at 109,734.
Officials say the number of patients in serious condition is 82, the same as the previous day.
Key words : myanmar shot dead oil
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_04/
Multiple media outlets in Myanmar report that two anti-coup protesters were shot dead and many others wounded by security police in the country's second largest city, Mandalay, on Saturday.
Massive rallies have taken place across the country for more than two weeks, protesting a coup staged by the military on February 1.
On Saturday, protesters occupied major roads in the largest city, Yangon, as well as in the central city of Mandalay and elsewhere in the country.
Local media report that security police opened fire shortly after ordering workers to return to oil-supplying facilities. They were staging a walkout in protest over the coup.
In Yangon, demonstrators headed for the US Embassy and called on Washington to step up the sanctions it had imposed on Myanmar's military leaders.
They shouted they won't return to their workplaces until the generals are ousted.
In the capital, Naypyitaw, a 20-year-old woman was confirmed dead on Friday after being shot in the head during a massive protest on February 9. She was the first death among the protesters.
Tension is expected to grow as her funeral is scheduled for Sunday.
Key words : two chinese spotted
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_15/
The Japan Coast Guard is warning two Chinese government vessels that they must immediately leave Japan's territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Coast Guard officials say that four Chinese vessels were spotted in the contiguous zone, and two of them entered the waters off Kubashima Island shortly before 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
They left the area shortly after 11:00 a.m., but reentered Japan's waters near Taisho Island after about two-and-a-half hours.
The two vessels appeared to be following a Japanese fishing boat.
The Japan Coast Guard says its patrol ships are sailing with the Japanese fishing boat to ensure its safety, while telling the Chinese vessels they must leave the territorial waters.
Japan controls the islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains that the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory, in terms of history and international law. It says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved.
Key words : maritime french
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210220_18/
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has held a joint drill with US and French military vessels in waters off Kyushu in southwestern Japan.
The MSDF says its replenishment ship Hamana, US destroyer Curtis Wilbur and French frigate Prairial conducted a trilateral replenishment-at-sea drill on Friday.
Japan and France signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, or ACSA, in 2019. The ACSA allows the two countries' defense forces to reciprocally provide supplies, such as food, fuel and ammunition. The replenishment-at-sea drill was the first such action under the agreement.
The French frigate that took part in the drill was dispatched to the East China Sea from this month to monitor ship-to-ship transfers by North Korea.
The aim of the replenishment drill, in addition to providing logistical support, was apparently to demonstrate strong cooperation between the countries as China steps up its maritime activities.
Key words : bird
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_13/
Russia's health authorities say they have confirmed the world's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain of avian flu virus passed from birds to humans.
The head of the country's public health watchdog, Anna Popova, said on Saturday that Russia had reported the matter to the World Health Organization.
She said the H5N8 strain had been detected in seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia following an outbreak there among birds in December.
The workers reportedly fell temporarily ill, but later recovered.
Popova called for calm, stressing there was no sign of transmission between humans.
She said future mutations could lead to person-to-person transmission, but it is not clear how soon that could happen.
Japanese avian flu expert Professor Emeritus Otsuki Koichi of Tottori University said that while bird flu is not easily transmissible to humans, people could become infected if they inhale a large volume of virus particles.
Otsuki said it is important for poultry farm workers to take thorough measures to avoid inhaling such particles.
He noted that avian flu is currently raging in the northern hemisphere, and called for anti-virus measures to be stepped up on farms.
Otsuki added that it might be necessary to assume the virus can be transmitted from human to human.
But he said he believes the risk is not great, as the H5 strain has been monitored for decades, and has not become transmissible from person to person.
Key words : russian prison
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_06/
A Moscow court has rejected an appeal by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and sentenced him to nearly three years in prison.
Navalny was arrested in mid-January upon his return to Russia from Germany where he had been undergoing treatment following an alleged poison attack.
Earlier this month, he was ordered to report to prison after a court canceled a suspended prison sentence stemming from an embezzlement case seven years ago. The court said he violated the terms of his parole while in Germany. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled the original conviction unlawful.
Navalny's appeal was rejected on Saturday and his lawyers say he will now serve a two-and-a-half year sentence, after the court deducted time he spent under house arrest. The original sentence was for three-and-a-half years.
In a separate case, Navalny was found guilty of defaming a World War Two veteran on social media last June. He was fined about 11,500 dollars.
Navalny has been a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin and has gathered a large following. The alleged poison attack has galvanized opposition to the Russian government and demands for his release are growing around the world.
Key words : star explosion
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210221_07/
An international group of scientists says it will take more than 100,000 years for the star Betelgeuse to go supernova. Supernova explosions occur at the death of a massive star.
Betelgeuse marks the shoulder of the constellation Orion. A recent drop in its brightness prompted speculation that it might soon explode.
The scientists, including Nomoto Kenichi, senior scientist at the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, the University of Tokyo, analyzed data such as the star's brightness variation and temperatures.
They say the results show that Betelgeuse's radius is about 750 times that of the sun, and about two thirds of the size previously thought.
The group says the figure indicates Betelgeuse is still in the early core helium-burning phase, which is more than 100,000 years before a supernova.
Nomoto says people who are alive today will not be able to see the star exploding.
Massive stars produce heavy elements through fusion, and huge explosions can occur at the end of their life.
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