News Headlines - 28 February 2018

▽North Korean leaders used Brazilian passports to apply for Western visas - sources

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his late father Kim Jong Il used fraudulently obtained Brazilian passports to apply for visas to visit Western countries in the 1990s, five senior Western European security sources told Reuters.
While North Korea’s ruling family is known to have used travel documents obtained under false pretences, there are few specific examples. The photocopies of the Brazilian passports seen by Reuters have not been published before.

▽Dodgy data casts cloud over Japan PM's labor reform push

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to revise labor laws, a key part of his economic reforms to boost growth, is facing political headwinds after the government admitted using flawed data to back up its proposals.

▽Mongolia protests Japanese kids' cartoon mocking Genghis Khan - The Mainichi

Mongolia lodged a diplomatic protest with Japan on Friday after a monthly comic magazine aimed at children included a picture of national hero Genghis Khan with a crude sketch of male genitalia across his forehead.
The comic's publisher Shogakukan Inc. apologized Friday evening in a meeting with Dambadarjaa Batjargal, the charge d'affaires at Mongolia's embassy in Tokyo.

▽Olympics: Futuristic pointy-eared mascots chosen for Tokyo 2020

Mascot-loving Japan has two new characters to get excited about after two futuristic designs with pointy ears and chequered patterns were unveiled on Wednesday to promote the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Chosen by schoolchildren across Japan and announced before a gymnasium of cheering pupils in Tokyo, the as yet unnamed blue character will be the mascot for the Olympics and the pink cherry blossom-inspired one for the Paralympics.

▽IOC lifts suspension on Russian Olympic Committee — RT Sport News

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has lifted its suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which was imposed prior to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.