Briefly

JAPAN

Pipeline work begins for Fukushima water dump

The construction of facilities needed for a planned release of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea next year from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant began on Thursday despite opposition from the local fishing community. Plant workers started construction of a pipeline to transport the wastewater from hillside storage tanks to a coastal facility before its planned release next year, according to operator Tokyo Electric Power Company. The digging of an undersea tunnel was also to begin later on Thursday. Local fishing communities and neighboring countries have raised concerns about potential health hazards from the water and the reputation damage to local produce, and oppose the release.

CAUCASUS

Fresh tensions explode over Nagorno-Karabakh

Fresh tensions erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday as three soldiers were killed, according to Agence France-Presse. The escalation drew immediate international attention, with the Kremlin calling for restraint from both sides and the European Union urging an "immediate cessation of hostilities". The US government also expressed its concerns over the tensions. On Wednesday, Azerbaijan said it had lost a soldier and Karabakh militants said two of its troops had been killed and more than a dozen injured. The two sides accuse each other of violating the cease-fire. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two battles, in 2020 and in the 1990s, over the region.

INDIA

New emissions targets approved for climate

India, the world's third-largest carbon polluter, has finally approved new targets for slashing planet-warming emissions, more than a year after a United Nations deadline for updated commitments. On Wednesday, the Indian federal cabinet approved the country's new national emissions pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. India's new targets will commit the country to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 percent from its 2005 level in the next seven years, a 10 percent increase over its previous 2016 pledge. The updated NDC will now be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Agencies Via Xinhua