Japan

[ad_1] A new COVID-19 vaccine has sparked extreme anxiety among parts of the public, leading some businesses to deny services to those who have received the shot and causing at least one clinic to stop giving the vaccine for fear of being harassed.The health ministry and experts say such fears — fueled by comments circulated both online and offline that the vaccine multiplies in the body indefinitely and as a […]

[ad_1] JERUSALEM/CAIRO – Hezbollah rockets hit Israel's third-largest city of Haifa, police said early Monday, and Israeli media reported 10 injured in the country's north on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, which has spread in the Middle East.Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, the Palestinian militants group fighting Israel in Gaza, said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with a salvo of "Fadi 1" missiles.Media said […]

[ad_1] Japan's new finance minister hinted Monday that the new administration might be less hawkish on rates than originally expected.“I will put every effort into getting Japan out of deflation,” said Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, who is also the minister charged with battling deflation.Beating deflation requires loose monetary policy, according to Abenomics, of which Kato is a known supporter. The economic philosophy, introduced by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo […]

[ad_1] Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba found himself increasingly between a rock and a hard place over whether to endorse Liberal Democratic Party members implicated in a recent slush funds scandal in the Oct. 27 general election as he faced off against opposition leaders in parliament Monday.Questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda on where Ishiba and the ruling party would draw the line with scandal-tainted members intending […]

[ad_1] A pair of U.S. scientists involved in the study of gene activity were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.Victor Ambros, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Gary Ruvkun, a professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules […]

[ad_1] New internal affairs minister Seiichiro Murakami has stressed his eagerness to improve regional revitalization measures amid the ongoing concentration of the population and industry in Tokyo."I'd like to work on enhancing and strengthening measures so that regions can develop according to their characteristics," Murakami said in a recent interview.He unveiled plans to strengthen public relations and other support for local governments so that the number of regional development cooperation […]

[ad_1] Ruling and opposition party lawmakers agreed on Monday to hold a planned debate of party leaders in parliament for 80 minutes, against the standard length of 45 minutes. The debate will pit Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, against heads of opposition parties, including Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The leaders debate will be the last opportunity for […]

[ad_1] A group photograph of Cabinet ministers taken last week underwent minor digital edits before being posted online by the government, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi admitted Monday following media reports of the picture's alteration. The digital manipulation came to light after multiple media agencies reported that the pictures taken by their photographers appeared slightly different from what was posted on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office. While photos […]

[ad_1] For most of sports history, there was no recourse when a referee made a bad call. Fans could boo and players could complain, but the game went on. Instant replay changed that a few decades ago, allowing coaches to challenge a call and ask the referees to review it. That made games fairer, but it also made them slower.Now, many professional sports are on the verge of a new […]