News Headlines - 15 April 2021

▽IAEA to oversee release of contaminated water from Fukushima nuclear plant | The Japan Times

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will play a central and "permanent" role in monitoring Japan's discharge of waste water, which has been treated but is still contaminated with radioactive tritium, from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the sea, Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview Wednesday.
He also said that the U.N. nuclear watchdog's involvement, including dispatches of experts, would lend credibility and offer reassurance about environmental safety.

▽Deputy PM Aso challenged by China to drink treated Fukushima water | The Japan Times

China on Wednesday asked Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to drink treated water that contains radioactive tritium accumulated at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, after he said it was safe to drink.
"A Japanese official said it is okay if we drink this water, so then please drink it," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, adding that Japan's "ignorance" of the ecological environment was "totally unjustifiable... Aso, a former prime minister who has often made controversial remarks since he became deputy prime minister and finance minister in 2012, said at a press conference on Tuesday, "I have heard that we will have no harm if we drink" the treated water.

▽Japan ruling party No. 2 says canceling Olympics may be option

The No. 2 ranking member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Thursday canceling the Tokyo Olympics could be an option if the COVID-19 situation worsens, underscoring the challenges amid a resurgence of infections facing the games with less than 100 days to go.
"If it becomes impossible, then it should be called off," LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai said while recording a TV program. "What is the point of the Olympics if it's responsible for spreading infections? We will have to make a decision at that point."
It is extremely rare for a senior Japanese official to touch on the possibility of canceling the Olympics and Paralympics.

▽Iran's state TV censors UK soccer match to avoid showing female referee's legs | The Times of Israel

Iranian state TV censored a live broadcast of a British soccer match to avoid showing the legs of a female assistant referee, a rights group said Tuesday.
The match was censored over “100 times,” according to My Stealthy Freedom, an Iranian rights group that opposes Iran’s compulsory hijab law.

▽Will Smith's slavery film Emancipation pulls out of Georgia over voting laws - BBC News

Will Smith's slavery film Emancipation has pulled out of filming in Georgia over what the star has called the US state's new "regressive voting laws".
In a statement issued to Deadline by Smith and director Antoine Fuqua, the pair said they felt "compelled" to act.
"We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access."