Tokyo, 5 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japan gov’t budget for Okinawa development to be smallest in 10 yrs
TOKYO – The Japanese government has decided to allocate less than 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for Okinawa’s economic development for the first time in 10 years in fiscal 2022, an official familiar with the matter said Saturday, as confrontation over a U.S. military base intensifies between them.
The government’s stated reason is that reducing spending on public works in Okinawa is possible as infrastructure development has already progressed in the southern island prefecture, which next year marks the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan from U.S. control.
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Japan expands tougher quarantine rules to India, Greece, Romania
TOKYO – India, Greece and Romania, as well as four U.S. states, will be added Sunday to Japan’s list of places from which returning Japanese nationals and foreign residents will be subject to stricter quarantine requirements as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Travelers from the three countries, Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota and New York will be required to spend three days of their two-week quarantine period in government-designated facilities.
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1 dead, over 40 injured as volcano erupts in Indonesia’s East Java
JAKARTA – At least one person died and more than 40 people were injured as s volcano in Indonesia’s East Java Province erupted Saturday afternoon, forcing residents in villages and cities nearby to evacuate, local authorities said.
The eruption occurred at Mt. Semeru in Lumajang Regency in the province at around 3:20 p.m., the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said.
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Japan’s ruling LDP planning to hold party convention on March 13
TOKYO – Japan’s major ruling Liberal Democratic Party is planning to hold its annual convention on March 13 at a Tokyo hotel, an LDP source said Saturday.
The schedule of the party convention is expected to be decided Friday at a meeting of its General Council, the source said, adding the size of the annual event will be determined in accordance with the situation of the coronavirus pandemic following the emergence of the Omicron variant.
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Football: Celtic bidding to acquire stars Maeda, Ideguchi, Hatate
TOKYO – Scottish Premier League giants Celtic are in the process of trying to acquire Japanese forward Daizen Maeda, and midfielders Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate, a source with knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
Yokohama F Marinos, where the 24-year-old Maeda plays, and Gamba Osaka, the 25-year-old Ideguchi’s club, are said to be open to transfer talk out of respect for their players’ wishes to play again overseas.
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World Cup CEO hopes to build on Tokyo lessons for packed stadiums
DOHA – Nasser Al-Khater, the chief executive of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said he anticipates his nation’s COVID-19 preparedness and lessons learned from this summer’s Tokyo Olympics will allow soccer’s premier event to take place with packed stadiums.
Al-Khater is hopeful next year’s compact tournament, with all eight of the stadiums within 75 kilometers of each other, will be able to fully welcome fans, avoiding a repeat of the nearly spectatorless Tokyo Olympics.
