Tokyo, 19 June, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, China diplomats to hold talks on suspected gas developments
TOKYO – Senior diplomats from Japan and China are arranging to hold talks Thursday to discuss suspected gas field explorations by Beijing in a contested area of the East China Sea, diplomatic sources said Saturday.
Japan will lodge a protest against the development work and repeated intrusions by Chinese ships into Japanese waters around the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands, the sources said.
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Japan’s NTT to begin remote work as norm for 30,000 employees in July
TOKYO – Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. will in July begin remote work as its new norm for around 30,000 of its domestic employees, treating attendance as a business trip and allowing for work and commute from anywhere in Japan, even by air, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The telecom giant will have no limit set for transportation expenses and will pay for accommodations when employees commute to work after the company, like many other firms, has introduced different working styles as part of measures against the coronavirus pandemic, the source said.
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Olympics: Tokyo Games total cost to be 1.42 trillion yen: source
TOKYO – The cost of hosting last year’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is now being set at 1.42 trillion yen ($10.5 billion), down 30 billion yen from the amount forecast in December, a source with knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
The games’ organizing committee will announce the official figure following its Tuesday board meeting, with the Tokyo metropolitan government’s burden lightened by 20 billion yen following “close examination” of the costs, the source said.
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1,300 apply for Japan entry since tours reopen as COVID fears ease
TOKYO – More than 1,300 people have applied to travel to Japan on guided tours since the country restarted visa procedures to accept some leisure visitors from abroad a week ago as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic wane, a government agency said Friday.
Koichi Wada, who heads the Japan Tourism Agency, said at a press conference that over 300 applications have been received for June, with around 1,000 from July onward.
The very first group comprising a small number of people arrived in Japan on Wednesday, he said, without revealing their nationalities.
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U.S. regulators OK use of COVID vaccines in kids as young as 6 months
WASHINGTON – U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the emergency use of coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. to include children as young as 6 months old.
“We are the first country to protect our youngest children with COVID-19 vaccines,” President Joe Biden said in a statement, emphasizing the effectiveness and safety of the inoculations.
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U.S., EU, Japan eye curbing methane emissions in oil, gas sector
WASHINGTON – The United States, the European Union and countries such as Japan on Friday agreed to enhance efforts to achieve a goal of reducing global methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030, targeting emissions in the oil and gas sector.
Under the Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway launched the same day, nations are encouraged to eliminate “as soon as possible, and no later than 2030” routine flaring, a process of burning off excess gas during the production of crude oil and natural gas.
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Tennis: Former world No. 1 Osaka to miss Wimbledon with injury
LONDON – Japan’s former women’s No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka will not compete at Wimbledon, citing injury, the tournament’s organizers said Saturday.
The 24-year-old Osaka, a two-time winner at both the U.S. and Australian opens and currently ranked 43rd, said she had an Achilles tendon injury, according to the All England Club.
