News Headlines - 06 March 2021

▽China proposes changes to Hong Kong's electoral system

Beijing on Friday proposed changes to “improve” Hong Kong’s electoral system - a widely anticipated move as China tightened its hold on the semi-autonomous region.
Before the proposal was announced, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the start of China’s annual “Two Sessions” parliamentary meeting that the country will “resolutely guard against and deter external forces’ interference” in the city.
The proposed changes include adjusting the size, composition and formation of Hong Kong’s election committee, which selects the city’s leader or chief executive, said state media Xinhua.

▽Ministry swept broadcaster's irregularities under carpet : The Asahi Shimbun

Tohokushinsha Film Corp. is suspected of having violated the Broadcasting Law after it gained ministry approval to start ultra-high definition 4K resolution satellite broadcasting by allowing foreign individuals and companies to holding more than a 20 percent stake in shares of the company, thereby giving them voting rights.
Under the law, the telecommunications ministry should have immediately retracted the approval, but it did nothing.

▽Ex-PMs Kan, Koizumi urge Japan to quit nuclear power generation - The Mainichi

Former prime ministers Naoto Kan and Junichiro Koizumi on Monday urged Japan to stop using nuclear power, saying the country should learn from the Fukushima crisis a decade ago and turn to renewable energy.
Both were proponents of nuclear power while in office but became critics following the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and subsequent triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

▽Taiwan-Japan table tennis couple reportedly in divorce talks - Focus Taiwan

Japanese table tennis queen Ai Fukuhara and her Taiwanese husband, table tennis player Chiang Hung-chieh, are reportedly in talks to end their four-year marriage after the former accused the latter of "repeated verbal abuse," Japanese media reported Wednesday.
Japan's weekly tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun quoted sources as saying that 32-year-old Fukuhara asked for a divorce from Chiang, 32, as early as in January after she became fed up with her husband's verbal abuse.

▽329 candidates for 2021 Nobel Peace Prize - ABC News

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Monday that there are 329 candidates - 234 individuals and 95 organizations - that were nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by the Feb. 1 deadline.
The Oslo-based organization said that it was the third highest number of candidates ever, adding the current record of 376 candidates was reached in 2016.