Asian View
Key words : nuclear watchdog
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210415_05/
The UN's nuclear watchdog is considering sending a multinational team of experts to Japan. That's according to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with NHK.
The aim would be to ease concerns about Tokyo's plan to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.
The Japanese government announced that plan on Tuesday. The wastewater is treated to remove most radioactive materials, but still contains radioactive tritium.
Before the water is discharged, it will be diluted so the concentration of tritium is well below national standards.
It will be about one-seventh of the level the World Health Organization suggests for drinking water.
The government plans to start releasing the treated water in about two years.
In an interview on Wednesday, Grossi said the Japanese government had formally requested the IAEA's cooperation regarding the plan.
He said the agency has been preparing for Japan's decision for months. And he revealed the IAEA may dispatch a multinational team to help dispel concerns by verifying the process for releasing the treated water is safe.
Grossi said, "We may be having advisors -- that might be coming from different areas, different countries, different expertise. Every serious concern has a chance to be discussed and to be analyzed technically."
Grossi said the worries expressed by some local residents and by neighboring countries such as South Korea and China cannot be ignored.
Grossi added, "All of these concerns -- we may agree or disagree, but they have to be taken seriously. We have a common responsibility."
He added that the agency will consider whether to include experts from nearby countries such as South Korea on the team.
Key words : myanmar sentenced seven
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210414_32/
A military tribunal in Myanmar has sentenced seven civilians to death on charges of killing a suspected informant of security authorities.
Myanmar's state-run television on Tuesday night reported that the seven killed a woman on March 15 in the Hlaingthaya district of Yangon, where martial law has been declared.
It said the woman was suspected of giving information about anti-military demonstrators to security authorities.
The report said three of the seven were sentenced to death in absentia, and that the military is searching for them.
Earlier this month, the tribunal sentenced 19 civilians to death on charges of killing a member of the armed forces.
In the district under martial law, serious crime cases are tried by a military tribunal and appeals are not allowed.
The military has been fiercely cracking down on anti-coup protesters. A local human rights group says 714 protesters had been killed as of Tuesday since the February 1 coup.
Key words : india infection
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210414_29/
The Indian government reported 184,372 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the highest daily tally so far in the country. The figure topped 150,000 for four straight days, surpassing those of other countries.
The western state of Maharashtra, where the country's commercial capital Mumbai is located, said it will impose restrictions on outings from Wednesday night through May 1, exempting shopping for essential items only, going to hospital, or other necessary errands.
The state has confirmed more than 50,000 new cases per day recently, and its medical care system is overwhelmed. Over 2,500 beds in intensive care units there have almost been fully occupied.
India faces shortages of vaccines amid the surge in infections. People aged 45 years and older are currently eligible to receive shots, but increasing numbers of people are wanting vaccinations.
Despite being one of the world's largest producers of a coronavirus vaccine, supplying it to more than 80 countries, India approved an emergency use of a Russian vaccine on Tuesday.
It is set to authorize more vaccines from other countries.
Key words : Japan 80 percent
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210415_07/
A Japanese research institute predicts that the UK variant of the coronavirus will account for more than 80 percent of cases in Tokyo and its surrounding areas by early May.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases made the prediction on Tuesday based on the results of tests for coronavirus variants.
The institute says the UK variant called N501Y, which was first detected in Britain, is 1.32 times as transmissible as the original virus in terms of the number of people who can be infected by one person.
It says cases of the UK variant have been increasing in Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures since the middle of March.
It says that the share of the variant was about 10 percent in early April and this is expected to reach 80 to 90 percent by early May.
In Osaka and two nearby prefectures, cases of the UK variant began soaring in February and are believed to have made up the majority of infections by the end of March. The institute estimates that the ratio of the variant has now risen to 80 percent from the estimate of about 75 percent earlier this month. The ratio is expected to hit almost 100 percent by the end of next month.
The institute predicts a majority of the coronavirus cases in four prefectures in central Japan and Okinawa will probably be of the UK type by early next month.
In Britain, cases of the variant have shot up since last October. By February and March, all cases in the country are believed to have been caused by the UK variant.
A senior expert of the institute says at the current pace, the UK variant is expected to account for a majority of cases in Japan by the first half of May.
He added that the prediction could be revised as it does not take account of changes resulting from anti-infection measures, including possible reductions in the movement of people.
Key words : senior member
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210414_23/
A senior member of the International Olympic Committee has stressed that the Tokyo Olympics will be held as scheduled later this year.
IOC Coordination Commission chair John Coates made the comments in a video message with 100 days left before the start of the Games.
Coates said the Games "certainly will happen. They will commence the Games on the 23rd of July."
He added that he and others say the Games will be the best-organized ever.
He said, "The work of the organizing committee has just been quite outstanding in this regard and I have no hesitation in saying that the Games will take place and they'll be the safest Games possible."
The Tokyo Games, originally scheduled for last year, were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Coates said coronavirus countermeasures have been put in place to ensure the safety of the public, athletes and other participants.
He said the Olympic movement will show that this has been a victory of humankind over the pandemic, and will "enable us to show just what can be achieved working together."
Key words : Toshiba 20 billion
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210414_24/
The head of Japanese industrial giant Toshiba has stepped down. President and CEO Kurumatani Nobuaki's resignation comes days after the company got a buyout offer from a UK-based investment fund that he had ties to.
Toshiba says Kurumatani offered his resignation ahead of a board meeting on Wednesday. The firm says he has rebuilt the company from huge losses incurred from its nuclear business in the United States.
Toshiba's nomination committee chairperson Nagayama Osamu said, "We accepted his resignation offer as Toshiba's rehabilitation has been completed with the company's return to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in January."
UK-based CVC Capital Partners made a buyout proposal last week worth over 20 billion dollars.
The equity fund plans to acquire a majority stake to take Toshiba private. That would free management from the influence of activist shareholders.
Some had opposed Kurumatani's reappointment at a shareholders' meeting last July.
There has been skepticism about the motive behind the buyout offer, as Kurumatani previously headed CVC's Japan operations.
Sources say despite his departure, CVC will submit a detailed proposal to Toshiba as early as this weekend.
Former Toshiba CEO, Tsunakawa Satoshi, will retake the company's top spot. He says the key for Toshiba is to create a relationship of trust with shareholders.
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