News Headlines - 03 August 2019
A section of a major art festival in central Japan featuring a statue symbolizing wartime “comfort women” shut down Saturday following a flurry of protests, the organizer said.
One of exhibits on display was the “Statue of a Girl of Peace,” which has been receiving harsh criticism since Aichi Triennale 2019 started on Thursday.
▽Ministry keeps mum on fact that Siberia remains not Japanese：The Asahi Shimbun
In an embarrassing revelation, the welfare ministry learned about a year ago that remains it had brought back from Russia's Siberia purported to be of World War II Japanese prisoners were identified as not being Japanese.
The ministry kept the information from the public until the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) broadcast it in a news report on July 29.
The ministry has yet to return the remains of the 16 individuals to the Russian side.
▽How Japan's #KuToo fights pressure to wear high heels - BBC Worklife
Ishikawa, a freelance writer and former model, had been working as a funeral parlour usher at the time. This involved standing up to eight hours at a time in heels, alongside male colleagues wearing comfortable flats. Outraged by the disparity, she created the hashtag #KuToo, a play on the Japanese words for shoes ("kutsu") and pain ("kutsū"), with a nod towards #MeToo.
#KuToo quickly became a movement aiming to stop employers from demanding that women to wear high heels. Ishikawa has collected over 30,000 online signatures for a change.org petition, and in June called for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to ban companies from pressuring women to wear certain types of shoes.
In response, Japan's health minister stated that heels are "necessary and appropriate" in the workplace. While not all Japanese companies demand high heels for female employees, his remarks reflect a pervasive mentality and gendered social pressure.
▽Kristalina Georgieva selected by EU for IMF top job | Financial Times
Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian chief executive of the World Bank, has been picked as Europe's choice to lead the IMF after a divisive 14-hour round of voting that split EU capitals and descended into fierce recriminations... Ms Georgieva is now favourite to become the next head of the IMF when the fund’s governing board votes on candidates in early October. No other candidates from large emerging economies have declared their candidacy.
▽Ronaldinho, ravaged by crippling debts and unable to leave Brazil - AS.com
According to el Folha de São Paulo, 57 properties owned by the former player have been seized by authorities - four of them for a 2.2 million euro fine for breaching environmental regulations. On top of that fine, he has other debts totalling 1.8 million euros. Brazilian authorities have revoked both of Ronaldinho's passports (he owns a Brazilian and Spanish passports) so that he cannot leave the country until his creditors are paid.
