VOA常速英语:日本政府决定将核污水排入大海

This VOA news. Via remote I'm Tommy McNeil. Japan's government has decided to start releasing radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea within two years after it's treated. That decision was long speculated but delayed due to safety concerns and protests Cabinet ministers meeting on Tuesday and endorsed that release as the best option. The water has been accumulating at the Fukushima nuclear plants since 2011 and the meltdown after the massive earthquake and tsunami. The plants operator says storage capacity there will be full in the fall of 2022.

And direct talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal have been thrown into uncertainty following an attack on Iran's underground Iran's nuclear facility.Although neither Iran nor the USA the incident will crater the negotiations, the destruction of a significant amount of Iran's uranium enrichment capability cast the major shadow over the discussions in Vienna. Those talks are set to resume this Tuesday with the aim of bringing both Iran and the US back into compliance with the deal. Iran has blamed Israel for the destruction and Israeli media have cited intelligence sources as claiming responsibility.

The United Nations chief says the world's failure to unite on tackling COVID-19 has created wide inequalities. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Monday for urgent action, including a wealth tax to help finance the global recovery of the Coronavirus. He says latest reports indicate there has been a $5 trillion surge in the wealth of the world's richest in the past year of the pandemic. There is more at VOAnews.com. This is VOA news.