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Tag: japan olympics

  • Priyanka Chopra helps Team India at Tokyo Olympics 2020: ‘You are giving an embattled world something to collectively cheer for’

    Actor Priyanka Chopra on Friday despatched her needs to taking part nations of Tokyo Olympics 2020. During the opening ceremony, Priyanka shared a protracted put up on Instagram, the place she mentioned the video games have been a lot wanted within the present instances.
    Priyanka Chopra posted a click on from her lounge, completely engrossed in watching the opening ceremony of the much-delayed video games. Along with the picture, she wrote, “I’m sitting in front of my TV watching the opening of the Olympic Games happening right now in Tokyo and the mood is somber, yet the moment feels nostalgic. We all know the games are unlike anything we’ve experienced before, with the best of the best athletes in the world competing for the pride of their countries. The arenas may be without an audience, but our cheers won’t stop, no matter where we are. Good luck to everyone participating. Know that you are giving an embattled world something to collectively cheer for.”

    Her particular shout out went to Team India and Refugee Olympic Team. She particularly named Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, Kumari Deepika and Sania Mirza from the Indian contingent. “Best of luck #TeamIndia! I’m cheering for each and everyone of you! P.S. @mcmary.kom, gave an extra loud cheer for you ! @pvsindhu1, @dkumari.archer – go Queens! Show em @mirzasaniar #Cheer4India #GarvHai #Tokyo2020,” Priyanka additional wrote.

    The Tokyo Olympics bought delayed for 12 months because of the pandemic. It is the primary time that the occasion will likely be held with out spectators.

  • Japan might face vaccine crunch because it nears Olympics begin

    Some Japanese municipalities have stopped taking vaccination reservations because of quick provides from the central authorities, presumably slowing inoculations nationwide simply weeks earlier than Tokyo hosts the Olympics.
    Osaka City — a part of Japan’s second largest metropolitan space — will droop reservations for first-time vaccinations on July 12 due to an absence of readability on provide from the federal government, Mayor Ichiro Matsui mentioned Friday in Tokyo after assembly Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The metropolis of Chiba, simply east of Tokyo, mentioned it might droop new appointments beginning Friday, whereas a handful of different areas have stopped taking new reservations or pushed again plans to open entry to folks under the age of 65, in accordance with Jiji Press.

    Japan’s vaccination drive has picked up velocity after getting off to a sluggish begin however shall be nowhere reaching the majority of the inhabitants earlier than the nation hosts the Olympics. Any slowdown in vaccinations places strain on Suga’s authorities because it tries maintain the worldwide sports activities spectacle throughout a pandemic and tamp down on a worrying spike in infections in Tokyo forward of the July 23 opening ceremony.
    Tokyo Sees Highest Daily Virus Tally Since May Ahead of Olympics
    “It is the issue of maldistribution rather than a shortage,” mentioned Kenji Shibuya, a former World Health Organization adviser now accountable for overseeing vaccinations in Soma, Fukushima in northern Japan. Shibuya mentioned town has secured sufficient doses for its inhabitants of round 34,000 and plans on ending inoculations in mid-July.
    When requested concerning the scenario in Osaka, Katsunobu Kato, the federal government’s high spokesman, informed reporters Friday they have been persevering with with plans to supply advance data on vaccine distribution plans as rapidly as attainable.

    In current days, Suga and different high officers have reminded the general public that holding the Olympics with out spectators stays an possibility.
    Japan is especially utilizing imported Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE vaccines and inoculations are principally carried out by native governments. Municipalities design inoculation plans for residents, and put in requests with the central authorities for the anticipated quantity of vaccine. The central authorities, which holds the availability, then distributes the doses.
    The nation has administered greater than 1,000,000 day by day pictures for a number of days in June however solely about 12% of Japan’s inhabitants is totally vaccinated — the bottom amongst its Group of Seven friends, which have full-vaccination charges of between 31% to 50% of the inhabitants.

    Japan is racing to completely vaccinate round 36 million of its residents over the age of 65 earlier than the tip of July. The Olympics have fueled worries of potential virus unfold because of extra folks transferring round domestically to look at the video games, and tens of 1000’s of individuals coming in from abroad.
    Health Minister Norihisa Tamura mentioned in late June it was attainable some municipalities have been stockpiling vaccines, including extra cautious calculations of requested vaccine doses have been wanted for extra environment friendly distribution, in accordance with the Nikkei newspaper.
    The National Governors’ Association mentioned in an announcement June 19 the availability of Pfizer pictures to native governments would significantly lower in July and known as for the central authorities to offer extra concrete data on deliveries to municipalities so the vaccination program can proceed easily.

  • Japan to increase COVID-19 states of emergency forward of Tokyo Olympics

    Japan is trying to prolong a state of emergency in Tokyo and different areas by about three weeks to June 20, a cabinet minister stated on Friday, because the COVID-19 pandemic reveals no indicators of easing lower than two months earlier than the Summer Olympics open.
    The state of emergency within the capital and eight different prefectures had been scheduled to finish on May 31, however strains on the medical system stay extreme. Japan’s southern island of Okinawa is already below a state of emergency set to finish on June 20.
    Japan has seen a file variety of COVID-19 sufferers in important situation in latest days, even because the variety of new infections has slowed.
    “In Osaka and Tokyo, the flow of people is starting to creep up, and there are concerns that infections will rise,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who additionally heads the nation’s coronavirus countermeasures, stated initially of a gathering with specialists.
    The specialists later authorized the federal government proposal and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is predicted to formally announce the prolonged state of emergency afterward Friday.
    Worries about variants of the novel coronavirus and a sluggish vaccination drive have prompted pressing calls from docs, some high-profile enterprise leaders and tons of of 1000’s of residents to cancel the Olympic Games, attributable to begin on July 23.
    Japanese officers, Olympics organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have stated the Games would go forward below strict virus-prevention measures. IOC Vice President John Coates, who oversees the preparations, stated final week the Games have been on whether or not or not the host metropolis, Tokyo, is below an emergency state on the time.
    Japan has recorded about 727,000 coronavirus infections and 12,597 deaths up to now. About 6 per cent of its inhabitants has been vaccinated, in response to Reuters knowledge.
    ANGER MOUNTS
    Comments by IOC officers showing to dismiss Japanese considerations have sparked outrage on social media, together with IOC President Thomas Bach telling an International Athletes Forum on Thursday: “Come with full confidence to Tokyo and get ready”.
    “I want to say ‘shut up’,” stated one Twitter person. “Let’s beat up on the IOC, which denigrates Japan, and halt these crazy Olympics.”
    Polls present a majority of Japanese need the Games, postponed final yr attributable to COVID-19, both cancelled or postpone once more.
    That is a fear for Suga, whose help has slid over his dealing with of the response to COVID-19 and who faces a common election and a ruling occasion management race later this yr.
    But cancellation would carry its personal political threat for the premier, some ruling occasion lawmakers stated.
    “The demerits would outweigh the merits,” Liberal Democratic Party MP Hajime Funada advised Reuters. “It would give the impression that Japan is in such dire straits in cannot hold the Games.”
    In a joint assertion after a summit on Thursday, the European Union and Japan backed Tokyo’s internet hosting of the Olympic Games this yr.
    European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated the European Union had authorised the export to Japan of greater than 100 million vaccine doses, sufficient to inoculate about 40 per cent of the inhabitants. “We have of course said we are looking forward to the Olympics Games,” she advised a information convention.

  • Most Japan companies say Olympics must be cancelled or postponed, ballot reveals

    Nearly 70% of Japanese companies need the Tokyo Olympics both cancelled or postponed, a Reuters survey discovered, underscoring issues that the Games will enhance coronavirus infections at a time when the medical system is below heavy pressure.
    With simply 9 weeks to go earlier than the Games, states of emergency have been imposed in a lot of Japan till the top of the month to counter a spike in infections that has resulted in a scarcity of medical employees and hospital beds in some areas.
    The nation’s vaccination programme has additionally been notably gradual, with simply 4% of the inhabitants inoculated, the bottom price among the many Group of Seven nations.
    The Corporate Survey, carried out May 6-17, confirmed 37% of companies have been in favour of cancellation, whereas 32% need a postponement.
    In specific, these calling for a cancellation have elevated from February when the identical questions have been requested within the month-to-month survey. Then, 29% have been eager on a cancellation whereas 36% favoured a delay.
    “There’s no way that the Olympics can go ahead under the current circumstances,” a supervisor at a metals agency wrote within the survey.
    “Nothing the government does seems to be well-planned. All it appears to be doing is spreading anxiety.”

    The outcomes of the survey are roughly in keeping with public opinion polls.
    Many Tokyo residents say, nonetheless, they’re conflicted about holding the Games.
    “Variant strains could enter, creating a terrible situation,” stated Keiko Yamamura, a 58-year previous yoga teacher. “But when I think of the athletes who have worked so hard, I’d like to let them do it.”
    The authorities and International Olympic Committee have repeatedly stated the Games will go forward. About 70% of the ten,500 athletes resulting from attend have already certified.
    If the Games, which have already been postponed by a yr, have been cancelled, 1 / 4 of the companies anticipate huge financial losses. But almost 60% stated financial losses can be restricted whereas one other 13% stated they anticipate financial losses to be comparatively small.
    The survey, carried out for Reuters by Nikkei Research, canvassed some 480 giant and midsize non-financial corporations, of which about 230 answered questions on the Olympics. Respondents take part within the survey on situation of anonymity.

  • LGBT teams need equality regulation in Japan earlier than Tokyo Olympics

    Activists submitted a petition with over 106,000 signatures to Japan’s ruling get together Thursday, calling for an LGBT equality regulation to be enacted earlier than the Tokyo Games, saying Japan as host nation ought to dwell as much as the Olympic constitution banning gender and sexual discrimination.
    Their motion got here on the day the Olympic torch relay started within the northern prefecture of Fukushima counting right down to the Games that begin in July.
    LGBTQ and different human rights activists say the momentum for the regulation is rising as Japan will get consideration over its dealing with of gender equality, variety and different human rights points.
    “Many LGBT people in Japan are still discriminated against… We need legislation to guarantee human rights and equality of LGBT people,” mentioned Yuri Igarashi, director of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, one in every of 4 primary teams that organized the petition. “It is a responsibility for a host nation to legalize the equality act.”
    Igarashi mentioned the teams submitted the signatures to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition associate Komeito, in addition to opposition lawmakers.
    Japan has slowly proven elevated assist and consciousness of sexual variety however lacks authorized protections, whereas dozens of different international locations have allowed same-sex marriages and enacted different legal guidelines defending the rights of sexual minorities.
    Pressure to evolve nonetheless forces many lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender individuals to cover their sexual identities fearing discrimination at college, work and even from their households. Transgender individuals should get their reproductive organs eliminated earlier than their gender might be modified on official paperwork _ a requirement that worldwide medical consultants and human rights teams criticize as inhumane.
    But not too long ago, a district courtroom in Sapporo, in northern Japan, dominated that the prohibition of same-sex unions violates the constitutional proper to equality. That case has no rapid authorized affect however may promote public assist for equal rights.
    The ruling get together has promised to boost its consciousness of LGBT points and says it’s engaged on laws “to promote understanding,” however the transfer is anticipated to face robust resistance from the conservatives within the get together.
    Fumino Sugiyama, a transgender activist and former Olympian in fencing, mentioned on the information convention that few Japanese LGBT athletes have come out due to concern of discrimination or disappointing their households, and so they fear about hurting their future profession and relationship with athletic organizations.
    “I believe a change in the athletic community could be a driving force toward a social change,” Sugiyama mentioned. “We call for the equality law so that we can achieve a society where not only LGBTQ people but everyone can live in a safe and secure environment.”

  • North Korea missile check casts shadow over Biden administration, Japan Olympics

    North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the ocean close to Japan on Thursday, Japan’s prime minister stated, fuelling tensions forward of the Tokyo Olympics and ramping up strain on the brand new Biden administration in Washington.
    UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles and if the launch is confirmed it might symbolize a brand new problem to President Joe Biden’s efforts to interact with Pyongyang.
    The missile launches spotlight the menace North Korea’s illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the worldwide group, the United States army’s Indo-Pacific Command stated in an announcement on Thursday. The command stated it was monitoring the state of affairs and consulting with allies.
    The Japanese authorities stated one missile flew about 450 km (280 miles) and landed outdoors the Japanese unique financial zone, indicating it was a short-range missile. “The first launch in just less than a year represents a threat to peace and stability in Japan and the region and violates UN resolutions,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stated in feedback aired by public broadcaster NHK.

    The launches coincided with the beginning of the Olympic torch relay in Japan on Thursday, starting a four-month countdown to the summer season Games in Tokyo which had been delayed from 2020 because of the pandemic.
    Suga stated he would guarantee a secure and safe Olympics and “thoroughly discuss” North Korea points together with the launches with Biden throughout his go to to Washington subsequent month.
    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier reported no less than two “unidentified projectiles” had been fired into the ocean between the Korean peninsula and Japan from North Korea’s South Hamgyong Province on the east coast.
    South Korean and US intelligence businesses had been analysing the information of the launch for extra info, the JCS stated in an announcement.
    South Korea’s presidential Blue House will convene an emergency assembly of the nationwide safety council to debate the launches.
    Japan’s coast guard warned ships towards coming near any fallen objects and requested them to offer info to the coast guard.

    US coverage problem
    North Korea has not examined a nuclear weapon or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) since 2017, forward of an historic assembly between chief Kim Jong Un and former US President Donald Trump in 2018.
    US officers confirmed North Korea carried out a brand new projectile launch, with out providing particulars on the quantity or sort of projectile detected. There was no official remark from the White House or State Department.
    The Biden administration is within the “final stages” of reviewing its North Korea coverage, senior US officers informed Reuters this week.
    Analysts have famous a change in wording from the earlier administration, emphasising the “denuclearisation of North Korea”, fairly than the entire peninsula – a extra unilateral place more likely to be anathema to Pyongyang.
    Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, stated the North Korea coverage evaluate would come inside the context of the administration’s technique on China, North Korea’s solely main ally. “North Korea’s military activities after reaffirming ties with Beijing raise questions about how China is complicit in sanctions evasion and may be enabling the Kim regime’s threats to the region. This will increase calls in the US and elsewhere to sanction Chinese firms involved in illicit trade,” he stated.

    ‘Step up’
    Over the weekend North Korea fired two short-range cruise missiles, US and South Korean officers stated, however Biden performed down the these checks as “business as usual” and officers in Washington stated they had been nonetheless open to dialogue with Pyongyang.
    Even short-range ballistic missile checks could be a “step up” from the weekend check, and permit North Korea to enhance its expertise and ship a proportionate response to latest US-South Korea army drills, stated Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs knowledgeable on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology within the United States.
    The check launches mustn’t torpedo diplomatic efforts, however they’re a reminder of the price of the failure to safe a take care of Pyongyang, he stated. “Every day that passes without a deal that tries to reduce the risks posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile arsenal is a day that it gets bigger and badder,” Narang stated.
    Biden’s diplomatic overtures to North Korea have gone unanswered, and Pyongyang stated it might not interact till Washington dropped hostile insurance policies, together with finishing up army drills with South Korea.
    North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile programmes all through 2020 in violation of UN sanctions relationship again to 2006, serving to fund them with about $300 million stolen by cyber hacks, in response to unbiased UN sanctions screens.
    In early 2018, North Korea introduced a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and ICBMs, although it says it not feels certain by that after negotiations with the Trump administration faltered.It has examined a lot of new short-range missiles that may threaten South Korea and the 28,500 US troops stationed there, most lately in March 2020.

  • Japan PM vows to press forward with Olympics regardless of virus surge

    Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed on Monday to forge forward with preparations to carry the Tokyo Olympics this summer time, within the face of rising public opposition as Japan battles a surge in coronavirus infections.
    Suga faces heightened scrutiny after Taro Kono, his administrative and reform minister, informed Reuters final week the Games could not go forward as deliberate, changing into the primary cabinet member to voice doubt over their staging.

    Kono’s feedback added gasoline to the fireplace after current media polls confirmed near 80% of Japanese consider the Olympics, already postponed by a 12 months due to the pandemic, ought to be delayed once more or cancelled fully.
    “We will press ahead with preparations, with determination of building watertight anti-infection measures and holding an event that can bring hope and courage to the world,” Suga mentioned in a coverage speech at the beginning of an everyday parliament session.
    Japan has been much less severely hit by the pandemic than many different superior economies, however the current surge in instances spurred it to shut its borders to non-resident foreigners and declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and main cities.

    Suga’s assist scores have tumbled as critics have described the federal government’s dealing with of the pandemic as too sluggish and inconsistent.Monday’s feedback echo a pledge by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach that the Tokyo Olympics will probably be a “light at the end of the tunnel” within the world pandemic combat.
    Organisers face no scarcity of logistical complications, with powerful selections looming over the way to welcome spectators and athletes whereas safeguarding in opposition to the virus.The IOC expects simply 6,000 athletes on the opening ceremony, down from an preliminary determine of about 11,000 from 200 nations, the Yomiuri newspaper mentioned on Monday.

    It plans to cut back the ceremony as a result of athletes won’t be allowed to reach on the Olympic Village greater than 5 days earlier than they compete and should depart inside two days of completion of their occasions, the paper added.”We consider it’s essential to rethink the variety of members on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the way they may enter the stadium,” the Tokyo 2020 organising committee mentioned in an electronic mail.

    This step would guarantee the security and safety of the athletes and simplify operations, it mentioned, whereas including {that a} particular method had not but been determined in its talks with the IOC and different teams.