Tokyo, 3 June, /AJMEDIA/
Court orders TEPCO to pay 73.5 million yen over Fukushima crisis
FUKUSHIMA, Japan – A Japanese court on Thursday ordered the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to pay a total of 73.5 million yen ($566,000) in compensation to current and former residents of Tamura City in the west of the complex hit by the March 2011 disaster for emotional distress.
But the 525 plaintiffs, who sought 11 million yen per person in damages from both Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and the Japanese government, are considering appealing the ruling, some of them said in a press conference.
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Tennis: Shibahara, Koolhof win French Open mixed doubles
PARIS – Japan’s Ena Shibahara and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof beat Belgium’s Joran Vliegen and Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri in straight sets to win the French Open mixed doubles championship on Thursday.
The second seeds, Shibahara and Koolhof, clinched the 7-6(5), 6-2 victory in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
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China calls on S. Korea to work together to improve bilateral ties
BEIJING – China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Thursday called on South Korea’s new national security adviser, Kim Sung Han, to work together to improve ties between the two Asian countries, the Foreign Ministry said.
During their telephone talks on the day, Yang and Kim, who assumed the current post in May, also exchanged views on issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese ministry said, but it did not elaborate the details.
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Japan-born American files suit against Japan’s dual nationality ban
FUKUOKA – A Japanese-born American said Thursday she has filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court claiming that the country’s nationality law, which bans its citizens from also holding a foreign nationality, violates the Constitution.
Yuri Kondo, 75, who currently lives in Fukuoka in southwestern Japan and filed the lawsuit at the Fukuoka District Court, said at a press conference with her legal team that acquiring U.S. citizenship should not have automatically stripped her of her Japanese one.
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N. Korea’s Kim sends congratulations to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
BEIJING – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday sent a congratulatory message to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the landmark 70th anniversary of her ascension to the throne, the nation’s Foreign Ministry said.
“I extend my congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the National Day of your country, the official birthday of Your Majesty,” said Kim in his message to the queen, according to the ministry. North Korea has diplomatic ties with Britain.
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U.S. targets Putin-linked yachts in latest sanctions on Russia
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government on Thursday imposed further sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting yachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a cellist allegedly serving as his middleman, among others.
Noting that Putin and other Russian elites rely on complex support networks to hide their wealth and luxury assets, Brian Nelson, a Treasury Department official, said, “Today’s action demonstrates that Treasury can and will go after those responsible for shielding and maintaining these ill-gotten interests.”
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Amazon to close its Kindle digital bookstore in China in June 2023
BEIJING – Amazon.com Inc. said the U.S. tech giant will close its Kindle eBook store in China in June 2023, as economic and security tensions between the world’s two major economies have been escalating.
Chinese authorities have been stepping up internet regulations at home in recent years, but Reuters reported that the closure is not attributed to pressure from or censorship by the Communist-led government under President Xi Jinping.
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Japan mulls alternative to visa-free visits to Russian-held isles
TOKYO – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday said he will seek an alternative to a visa-free visit program to Russia-controlled, Japan-claimed islands off Hokkaido as it remains stalled since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida made the remarks when he met with Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and a group of former residents of the islands, who called for the program’s resumption.
