April 15, Thursday, 2021 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline

1. A Japanese research institute predicts that the U.K. variant of the coronavirus will account for more than 80 percent of cases in Tokyo and its surrounding areas by early May. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases says the U.K. variant called N501Y, which was first detected in Britain, is 1.32 times as transmissible as the original virus in terms of the number of people who can be infected by one person.
2. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is considering sending a multinational team of experts to Japan. That’s according to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. 3. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is set to start climate change talks with his Chinese counterpart in Shanghai on Thursday. Kerry is the first senior official of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit China.