Tag: Japan
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Japan passes law to make COVID-19 vaccines free for residents
Japan enacted a law on Wednesday to cover the cost of vaccination against COVID-19 for residents. Amid rising hopes for the early arrival of vaccines, following recent progress and a resurgence of infections in Japan, the country’s House of Councilors unanimously passed a bill to revise the current vaccination law. The revision came as Japanese…
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Yoshihide Suga to take office as Japan’s new premier
Yoshihide Suga, the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is set to take office as the couñtry’s prime minister on Wednesday following the resignation of Shinzo Abe over ill-health, and amid the coronavirus pandemic. Suga, who won a resounding victory in the LDP leadership race on Monday, is expected to be nominated…
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Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister resigns
Japan’s longest serving prime minister Shinzo Abe has resigned. He quit today over health concerns. The 65 year-old Prime Minister is said to be suffering from an inflammatory bowel condition. “For eight years I controlled my disease, now the disease has surfaced again. I need to have continuous drug administered now, and I can’t lose…
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2020 Olympics: Tokyo marks one year to go ….. again
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee, who is battling back from leukaemia, provided a glimmer of hope for embattled Tokyo Olympics organisers during a sombre yet poignant ceremony on Thursday. The ceremony was used to mark one year to go until the rearranged 2020 Olympic Games. The Olympics were due to begin on Friday with an extravagant…
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Buhari praises Nigerian who returned missing wallet in Japan
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday applauded a Nigerian doctorate student in the University of Tsukuba, Japan, Mr Ikenna Nweke, who returned a missing wallet with huge sums of money to the police, and also turned down offer of a percentage by the authorities. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi…
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Japan pulls out of hosting bid for Women’s World Cup in 2023
Japan on Monday withdrew its bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup just three days before FIFA’s decision on the venue. FIFA had confirmed that Japanese Football Federation had pulled out of the running due to the Tokyo 2020 Games being delayed a year to commence on 2021 and the impact of the coronavirus…
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Formula One cancels Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan races
Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan joined the list of Formula One (F1) grands prix cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday. But F1 organisers said they were still aiming for a reduced season of 15 to 18 races. The sport had already cancelled four races, including the showcase Monaco Grand Prix in May. A revised…
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Naomi Osaka using lockdown to conquer inner demons
Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is using the novel coronavirus shutdown as one of self-reflection to try and overcome her crippling shyness. The tennis season was suspended in early March, due to COVID-19 outbreak and the hiatus will continue until at least mid-July with many countries in lockdown to contain the virus. Japan’s Osaka,…
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Japan records 53 new COVID-19 cases, 7,744 in total
Japan’s Health Ministry and local governments said on Tuesday that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose by 53 to 7,744. The latest figure is coming one week after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency over the crisis for Tokyo and six other prefectures. The death toll from the pneumonia-causing…
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Japan suffers worst economic slump in five years
Japan has suffered its worst quarterly GDP contraction in more than five years, with a tax hike and a deadly typhoon taking a toll on the world’s third-largest economy. The nation’s gross domestic product in the three months to December shrank 1.6 percent from the previous quarter, even before the novel coronavirus outbreak in China…