A court in western Japan has nullified regulatory approval for the operation of two nuclear reactors in the first such decision since regulations were tightened following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
The Osaka District Court on Friday handed down the ruling in a lawsuit over the Number 3 and Number 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu says there is no need at the moment to review the country's approval of the antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19.
Kato spoke to reporters on Friday after the World Health Organization published a guideline recommending that the drug should not be used for hospitalized coronavirus patients.
An NHK opinion poll shows that the approval rating for Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide's Cabinet has dropped 7 points to 55 percent. The disapproval rating has risen 7 points to 20 percent.
NHK telephoned 2,236 randomly chosen people aged 18 or older over a three-day period starting on Friday. Fifty-seven percent, or 1,284 people, responded.
NHK's latest opinion poll puts the approval rating for Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's Cabinet at 34 percent. The figure is down by two points from last month.
This is the lowest support rate since the launch of Abe's second administration in December 2012, although a simple comparison is not possible as the survey method has changed.
Japan's health minister says the government will fast-track approval of the antiviral drug remdesivir as a possible treatment for the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Remdesivir is being developed abroad as a treatment for Ebola. It's now being clinically tested in several countries, including Japan, to see whether it's also effective against the coronavirus.