August 4, Friday, 2023

1. Japan’s weather officials continue to urge people in Okinawa Prefecture to be on high alert as Typhoon Khanun nears the region’s Miyakojima Island. The typhoon has left two people dead and more than 60 others injured in the prefecture. Officials are calling for caution against high waves and storm surges.
2. The European Union, Norway and Iceland on Thursday lifted all import restrictions on Japanese food products that had been implemented following the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says it welcomes the removal of the restrictions as it will boost reconstruction efforts in the areas affected by the nuclear disaster. 3. A variety of colorful fireworks lit the night sky over Nagaoka City in central Japan as one of the country’s most popular fireworks festivals opened on Wednesday. The two-day Nagaoka Fireworks Festival started at 7:20 p.m. with the release of three white fireworks, carrying with them a wish for peace. The long-standing event honors those who died in an air raid in 1945 and prays for recovery from a major earthquake that struck the area in 2004.