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Japan to begin allowing foreign Olympic athletes' entry next month: Nikkei

Feb 28, 2021 (Japan Today) - Athletes participating in this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo can begin entering Japan after it lifts its emergency declaration order next month, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

Nikkei reported that the emergency declaration is set to be lifted March 7 with the travel ban on foreign athletes removed shortly after.

The report added that Olympic athletes will not be required to self-isolate for two weeks on arrival to help them prepare for the Games set to begin on July 23, but they must restrict themselves to their accommodation and sports venues.

Japan has temporarily suspended exemptions allowing foreign athletes to train in the country ahead of the Tokyo Games as it closes its borders to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases.

More than 7,800 people have died in Japan due to the virus, while more than 431,000 have been infected.

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Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

The rainy season ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions on July 20 as strengthening high pressure brought intense heat across Japan, with temperatures forecast to reach 38 C in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Kofu.

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More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

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A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.