Asian View
Key words : less than two weeks
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210711_11/
Local governments in Japan are rushing to rethink assignments for volunteers recruited to act as city guides following the decision to hold most events of the Tokyo Olympics without spectators.
Organizers of the Tokyo Games decided on Thursday to ban spectators in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. They announced later that venues in the prefectures of Hokkaido and Fukushima will also have no fans.
This has left about 40,000 volunteers' scheduled activities uncertain, with less than two weeks to go before the opening of the Olympics on July 23.
The cities of Yokohama and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture have notified their registered volunteers that their work as guides has been canceled.
Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture plan to ask their volunteers to serve at the Paralympics. They are also considering having them assist in promoting local attractions online.
Saitama Prefecture is planning a project to allow their city volunteers to help give momentum to the Games. It says it will unveil a detailed plan as it monitors the coronavirus situation.
Key words : beyond disappointed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210710_01/
In just two weeks, the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony will kick off the world's biggest sporting event under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. The countdown to the Tokyo Games comes with some major changes. Thursday's announcement that spectators will not be allowed at Tokyo-area venues has meant a new reckoning for fans and athletes.
Spectators are banned in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures -- Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa.
But a limited number of fans will be allowed at events in four prefectures -- Miyagi, Fukushima, Shizuoka and Ibaraki.
As for the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, the organizing committee had earlier said a limited number of spectators would be allowed to watch soccer games at the Sapporo Dome stadium.
However, the committee later decided to also ban spectators there.
Dedicated fan Takishima Kazunori has attended the past seven Olympic Games. He acquired about 100 tickets for himself and his friends for a range of this year's events, including judo and swimming. But all of them will be held behind closed doors.
"I'm furious, beyond disappointed. It's two weeks before the Olympics. People who wanted to watch the Games in person had to plan ahead and schedule their precious time, but now all their efforts were in vain," he said.
In Fukushima, baseball and softball games will be held with fans. Some people expressed concern about the pandemic.
One resident said, "I'm worried that the number of infections could rise, because I think cases will increase if people gather."
NHK has learned that a member of the Israeli delegation tested positive for the coronavirus at the airport on Friday.
This marks the fourth case to be confirmed among foreign teams. In recent weeks, two members of the Ugandan team and an athlete from Serbia were found to be infected.
An Olympic staff member also tested positive upon arrival in Japan on Thursday.
About 11,000 athletes will compete in the Olympics, and an additional 41,000 people are expected to arrive for the Games.
Meanwhile, the torch relay has begun in Tokyo. But the Olympic flame will not travel on most of the routes. Participants in the ceremonial event are lighting the flame without spectators.
Key words : taiwan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210711_01/
Authorities in Taiwan say Digital Minister Audrey Tang will visit Japan to attend the Tokyo Olympic Games that open on July 23.
A spokesperson for Taiwan's Cabinet made the announcement on Saturday.
Tang is a renowned software programmer and business person. She has worked for IT firms as a consultant.
In 2016, when President Tsai Ing-wen took office, Tang was appointed as a minister without portfolio in charge of IT policies of government offices.
Last year, Tang helped introduce an app that allows people to instantly locate stocks of face masks as demand for the products surged amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The app helped mitigate public concern about a possible shortage of masks.
Taiwanese authorities have sent the sports minister to Olympic Games in the past.
But they decided to send Tang this time as the sports minister is to engage in other official duties during the Tokyo Games.
The planned dispatch of Tang, who is highly recognized overseas including in Japan, is viewed as reflecting the policy of the Tsai administration to attach importance to its relations with Japan.
Key words : healthcare indonesia moderna
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210711_12/
The Indonesian government has decided to give an additional dose of the Moderna vaccine to healthcare workers, some of whom were infected with the coronavirus and died despite being fully vaccinated with a different vaccine.
The spread of the Delta variant, first identified in India, has pushed up the number of Indonesia's new cases and deaths.
The health ministry said on Friday that it expects the third dose will protect those who work in high-risk places every day and give them maximum immunity to variants.
Most healthcare workers received the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech. According to a group of doctors, 20 workers who were fully vaccinated with it were infected and died between February and June.
For the additional shots, the government plans to use the 3 million doses of the Moderna vaccine provided for free by the United States, which arrived on Sunday.
Key words : north china 60th
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210711_08/
North Korean media says the country's leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged messages to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty.
North Korea and China signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in the event of an armed attack, on July 11, 1961.
The ruling Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Sunday that Kim praises the treaty in his message.
Kim was quoted as saying the treaty ensures peace and stability in Asia and the rest of the world at a time when hostile forces have become more desperate in their challenges and obstructive moves.
Xi reportedly said he is willing to provide greater happiness to the two countries and their peoples by continuing to lead the bilateral relations of cooperation to a new stage.
North Korea apparently hopes to emphasize its ties with China, as it struggles with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, and to show willingness to work with Beijing to counter the United States.
Key words : election macao
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210710_03/
Electoral officials in Macao say they have disqualified 21 candidates from upcoming legislative assembly elections for being "disloyal" to the government.
At a news conference on Friday, the Electoral Affairs Commission said the candidates failed to uphold the Basic Law, which is effectively Macao's constitution.
It noted the decision was based on information from security authorities.
Officials have not clarified what constitutes disloyal conduct.
Media reports from nearby Hong Kong say most of the 21 candidates for the September elections were critical of the Macao government.
The reports also say that these are the first disqualifications on the grounds of being disloyal to the government.
Nearly half of Macao's legislature is directly elected by the public.
Macao and Hong Kong are under China's "one country, two systems" framework. The electoral system in Hong Kong has been reviewed under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Anyone considered to be disloyal to Beijing and the Hong Kong government will be stripped of their candidacy.
Key words : major japanese cotton
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210712_14/
Major Japanese companies may halt the use of cotton from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The firms are reviewing their supply chains amid allegations that the material is produced with forced labor.
Apparel company World is considering stopping the sale of items made with cotton from the Xinjiang region. World says the move is necessary to address human-rights issues.
Sporting-goods firm Mizuno is reviewing its supply chain, with an eye towards discontinuing the use of cotton products made in the region.
But the operator of Muji-brand household-goods stores plans to keep using Xinjiang cotton in its products. Ryohin Keikaku says a recent inspection found no major violations, including forced labor.
Allegations that ethnic Uyghur minorities in the Xinjiang region are being subjected to forced labor have drawn worldwide criticism. Beijing denies that the practice is taking place.
There have been boycotts in China of foreign brands that have come out against using Xinjiang cotton.
Key words : zelda
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210711_14/
An unopened copy of Japanese game company Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda" sold for a record 870,000 dollars at an auction in the United States on Friday.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, says this version of the game was only produced for a few months in the latter half of 1987. It says the previous record was set in April when it sold a "Super Mario Brothers" cartridge for 660,000 dollars.
French news agency AFP says retro video games have become increasingly popular among collectors in recent years, and prices of consoles and cartridges are soaring in auctions.
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