News Headlines - 20 March 2021

▽Japan decides to end COVID-19 emergency in Tokyo area on March 21

The Japanese government formally decided Thursday to end the COVID-19 state of emergency in the Tokyo region on Sunday as planned as infections have declined from their peak and the strain on hospitals has eased... Suga formally announced the lifting of the state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, the last areas of the country under the measure, at a coronavirus task force meeting after an expert panel approved the decision.

▽Communications minister admits to dinner with NTT president : The Asahi Shimbun

The head of the telecommunications ministry has admitted to having dined with the president of the telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., after a weekly magazine released details about the event.
The news comes amid an expansive wining and dining scandal that has beleaguered the ministry and led to disciplinary actions against a number of bureaucrats, along with two resignations.
After Bunshun Online broke the story on March 17, telecommunications minister Ryota Takeda acknowledged in the Diet that he had attended a dinner with NTT President Jun Sawada, a major industry stakeholder.

▽Japan Reviewing Government Use of Line App: Suga - JIJI PRESS

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday that the government is reviewing the use of popular messaging app Line within the government, following the revelation that a Chinese affiliate of app provider Line Corp. once had access to personal data of Line users in Japan.
The prime minister vowed to make efforts to ensure information security within the government. He was responding to a question from a ruling party lawmaker at a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting.

▽Why Georgia attack spurs fears in Asian Americans - The Mainichi

The shootings at three Georgia massage parlors and spas that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, come on the heels of a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans since the coronavirus first entered the United States.
As details emerge, many members of the Asian American community see the Georgia killings as a haunting reminder of harassment and assaults that have been occurring from coast to coast.

▽Tanzania’s president dies of ‘heart condition’

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has died at the age of 61, the government said Wednesday... Magufuli was admitted to the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Dar Es Salaam on March 6, where he was treated for chronic atrial fibrillation, a heart condition he had suffered for more than 10 years, Hassan said... Magufuli’s death came after two weeks of speculation about his health on suspicion of contracting COVID-19.