Tokyo, 23 July, /AJMEDIA/
Ukraine, Russia agree to resume grain exports amid soaring prices
ISTANBUL – Representatives from Ukraine and Russia signed Friday an agreement to resume grain exports in a meeting mediated by the United Nations, as fears mount over a food crisis triggered by soaring commodity prices.
The deal, reached in Istanbul during a four-way meeting also including the United Nations and Turkey, will guarantee safe sea routes, after passage through the Black Sea was blocked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Biden’s COVID-19 symptoms improved after taking antiviral pill
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 symptoms have improved since he started taking an antiviral drug, his physician Kevin O’Connor said Friday, a day after the 79-year-old tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“President Biden completed his first full day of Paxlovid last night,” O’Connor said in a memorandum, referring to the oral COVID-19 pill developed by Pfizer Inc. “His symptoms have improved,” the doctor said.
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Japan’s daily COVID-19 count sets record for 3rd straight day
TOKYO – Japan’s daily coronavirus cases exceeded 190,000 on Friday, hitting a new record for the third consecutive day, official data showed, as the country experiences its seventh wave of infections driven by the BA.5 Omicron subvariant.
The surge is slowly straining the health care system, but Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government is “not considering new restrictions on the movement of people.”
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Nuclear regulator approves treated Fukushima water release plan
TOKYO – Japan’s nuclear regulator on Friday officially approved a plan to discharge into the sea contaminated but since-treated water accumulating at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the northeast.
The government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. aim to begin releasing the water from about 1 kilometer off the Pacific coast in Fukushima Prefecture around next spring. The water contains hard-to-remove tritium below an allowed ceiling and will be further diluted.
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Japan goes ahead with state funeral plan for slain ex-leader Abe
TOKYO – The Japanese government officially decided Friday to hold a state funeral for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a Tokyo arena in the fall, despite concerns among some opposition parties and members of the public that it may lead to forced condolences for the figure, much more highly praised abroad.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference after the Cabinet decision that a secretariat was set up in the Cabinet Office to prepare for the Sept. 27 event, to be held at the Nippon Budokan with foreign dignitaries among those attending.
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Japan to create 2 Cabinet minister posts to support startups, cut CO2
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he plans to create two new ministerial posts within his Cabinet responsible for promoting startup businesses and decarbonization efforts in the country.
Unveiling the positions during a speech in central Japan’s Nagano Prefecture, Kishida aims to increase investment in decarbonization by aligning the public and private sectors while driving economic growth through the cultivation of more startups.
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Japan ministry rapped for all-male lecturers’ lineup in online course
TOKYO – Japan’s land ministry has come under fire for its all-male lineup for lecturers in a planned online course about community development aimed at public servants, with the minister on Friday describing the lack of female representation as “inappropriate.”
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on its website and also tweeted earlier this week it will begin the course in September, but having no women among the 25 lecturers immediately drew flak from users of Twitter.
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KDDI to pay damages to millions of users after network outage
TOKYO – Mobile service operator KDDI Corp. said Friday it plans to compensate millions of customers affected by a major service disruption that lasted several days earlier this month.
The damages will mainly cover “calls-only” customers who use cell phones unable to access mobile data, likely meaning they would mostly be elderly users. For users that do not qualify for damages, KDDI is considering compensating them with an “apology.”