News Headlines - 01 June 2016
▽Japan PM delays sales tax hike, puts fiscal reform on back burner | Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Wednesday his widely expected decision to delay a scheduled sales tax increase by two-and-a-half years, putting his plans for fiscal reforms on the back burner due to growing signs of weakness in the economy.
While the decision may help Abe win votes at an upper house election on July 10, it could fan doubts about his plans to curb Japan's huge public debt and fund ballooning social welfare costs of a fast-ageing population.
▽Fresh inquest into 1974 Birmingham pub bombings — FT.com
A fresh inquest is to be opened into the Birmingham pub bombings, more than 40 years after 21 people were killed in the deadliest IRA attack on the UK mainland during the Northern Ireland conflict.
▽Richard Huckle faces life sentences for Malaysia child abuse - BBC News
A British man is facing multiple life sentences for numerous sex crimes against Malaysian children which he boasted about on the "dark web"... It is believed Huckle abused up to 200 children.
▽Eight Russian Athletes Test Positive for Doping in 2012 Olympics - WSJ
It was the second admission in a month that Russian athletes could have used illegal substances, and it raises uncertainty about Russia’s participation in the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August. Risks that Russia could be banned from the Rio games emerged after an examination by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, suggested that Russia could have used a wide-scale doping program. Russian officials have acknowledged the possibility of missing the Summer Games.
These poignant never-seen-before pictures of Harambe the gorilla reveal his human side and show just why the world fell in love with the mammal dubbed a 'gentle giant'.
They were taken by amateur photographer Robert Streithorst, who lives five miles from the zoo where the silverback was shot dead by staff on Saturday.
