News Headlines - 09 December 2019

▽UN Assembly calls on all States to observe Olympic Truce throughout Tokyo Summer Games | UN News

The symbolic Truce would start one week before the XXXII Olympiad, set for 24 July to 9 August 2020, and the XVI Paralympic Game, to be held from 25 August to 6 September 2020.
Adopting a consensus resolution, the 193-Member Assembly underlined the importance of cooperating to “collectively implement the values of the Olympic truce around the world,” and agreed to “cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond” the holding of the Games.

▽NHK to cut online service budget as part of bid to start internet simulcasts | The Japan Times

Responding to a request by the communications ministry, NHK will cut its budget for online services as part of its efforts to win government approval for simultaneous broadcasting of all of its television programs on the internet.
NHK also said Monday it will reduce the number of its satellite TV channels from the current four to three as part of efforts to streamline operations.
The public broadcaster apparently announced the measures to allay criticism over its ballooning operations while aiming to boost support for its full-scale online simulcast service.

▽Mitsubishi Electric worker investigated over suicide of recruit | The Japan Times

A Mitsubishi Electric Corp. employee has been referred to prosecutors for allegedly abetting suicide after one of the company’s recruits killed himself in August, company and other sources said Saturday.
The Nov. 14 referral of the man, in his 30s, came as police questioned him over information that he had regularly subjected the new employee, in his 20s, to verbal abuse... The trainer told an internal investigation that he did not tell the trainee to go die, but may have said something similar, according to the sources. Other colleagues have testified the trainee had been verbally abused.

▽NLRB investigating Google over labor practices and employee firings - CNN

Google is under investigation by the US government over its labor practices and the firing of several employees.
The National Labor Relations Board confirmed to CNN Business it launched an investigation following a formal complaint filed by four fired employees alleging they were let go for speaking out against Google and its practices, such as having controversial government contracts. The news was first reported by CNBC.

▽Pete Frates, A Driving Force Behind The Viral Ice Bucket Challenge, Dies At 34 : NPR

Pete Frates, the former Boston College baseball star whose battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis inspired the viral Ice Bucket Challenge and raised millions for ALS research, died Monday at age 34... Frates did not invent the Ice Bucket Challenge, but he helped it gain national attention. The idea originated with another ALS patient, Patrick Quinn, whom Frates met online and later befriended.