Japan's Cabinet has approved a new policy for the reconstruction of areas in the country's northeastern Tohoku region, affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami as well as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
Japan's governing party has begun studying ways to make the country's pharmaceutical industry more competitive. The move comes as Japan falls behind in the global race to develop coronavirus vaccines.
Panel: Risk remains for huge quake off Tohoku
A Japanese government panel of experts warns that there is a possibility that powerful earthquakes will occur off the northeastern part of the country for years to come.
The Earthquake Research Committee on Tuesday gave its assessment of seismic activities off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region over the decade since a massive quake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.
The committee says 208 quakes with a magnitude of 4 or higher occurred in the aftershock area since March last year. That s less than one-25th of the number recorded in the year immediately after the disaster.