Tokyo, 30 August, /AJMEDIA/
Fukushima nuclear plant town sheds evacuation order after 11 yrs
FUKUSHIMA, Japan – An evacuation order in a town hosting the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was lifted Tuesday for the first time since the March 2011 disaster 11 years and five months ago, as the municipality prepares for the return of some of its residents.
The order for the Fukushima Prefecture town, which hosts the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. complex, was imposed after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the country’s northeast, triggering reactor meltdowns and making the area uninhabitable due to high radiation levels.
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Japan’s July jobless rate remains flat at 2.6%
TOKYO – Japan’s unemployment rate stood at 2.6 percent in July, unchanged from the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Tuesday.
The job availability ratio rose 0.02 point to 1.29 from the previous month, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said separately. The ratio means there were 129 job openings for every 100 job seekers.
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Japan’s new daily COVID-19 cases drop to 6-week low below 100,000
TOKYO – Japan’s daily coronavirus tally totaled 95,916 cases on Monday, falling below 100,000 for the first time in six weeks.
While numbers for Mondays are typically lower than for other days due to reduced testing on the weekend, the last time the nationwide tally was below six digits was on July 19.
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IAEA team arrives in Kyiv for visit to Russian-seized nuclear plant
KYIV – A team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts and inspectors arrived in Kyiv on Monday on its way to the Russian-seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The team led by Director General Rafael Grossi plans to visit the plant later this week and “assess the physical damage to the facilities, (and) determine the functionality of the main and backup safety and security systems,” according to a statement by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
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Honda, LG Energy to set up $4.4 bil. EV battery venture in U.S.
TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Monday they will set up a joint venture in the United States to produce batteries for electric vehicles with a total investment of $4.4 billion.
The Japanese and South Korean companies plan to begin construction of the battery plant early next year and mass production by the end of 2025, they said in a press release.
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Taiwan’s working-age population projected to halve in 2070
TAIPEI – Taiwan’s working-age population in 2070 is projected to shrink to less than half of the current total, a government agency said, as the self-ruled island has been struggling to counter security threats from China.
The number of the working-age population, or people aged 15 to 64, is estimated to drop from this year’s 16.3 million to 15.07 million in 2030 and to 7.76 million in 2070, according to a report released last week by the National Development Council.
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North Korea yet to show any sign of immediate nuclear test: S. Korea
SEOUL – North Korea has yet to show any sign that it will carry out a nuclear test in the very near future, but the country is ready to hold the seventh of its kind, South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong Sup said Monday.
The minister also said during a parliamentary session that Pyongyang has continued to prepare for the launch of new types of intercontinental and short-range ballistic missiles, which would pose security threats in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Tokyo stock index down 760 points, biggest fall in 2 months on Fed remarks
TOKYO – Tokyo’s key Nikkei stock index suffered its largest point drop in over two months on Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks about fighting inflation late last week raised worries about the U.S. economy.
Investor sentiment was hurt as the Dow Jones index logged its largest point drop since mid-May on Friday after Powell’s speech at a forum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, prompting the Nikkei to lose over 850 points at one point and finish down 762.42 points, or 2.66 percent, from Friday to close at 27,878.96, the lowest finish since Aug. 10.
