News Headlines - 21 May 2020

▽Senior prosecutor to resign over gambling scandal | NHK WORLD

The weekly Shukan Bunshun magazine reports that Kurokawa Hiromu, the head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, played mahjong for money at the Tokyo home of a newspaper reporter on May 1 and 13.
Tokyo has been under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak, and people are being asked to refrain from nonessential outings.
Sources say Kurokawa admitted to the facts in the report.

▽April travelers to Japan dropped 99.9% from year earlier to 2,900 | The Japan Times

An estimated 2,900 foreign travelers visited Japan in April, down 99.9 percent from a year earlier, amid the global coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest government data.
It is the first time that the monthly figure, which was released Wednesday, has slipped below the 10,000 mark since 1964, when the Japan Tourism Agency began compiling such statistics. The percentage decrease was also the largest ever.
The previous low for monthly foreign visitors was 17,543, recorded in February 1964.

▽Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen outlines challenges as she begins 2nd term | NHK WORLD

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen kicked off her second term Wednesday with a vow to “reinvent Taiwan.” Her much-praised handling of the coronavirus pandemic means she begins with record approval ratings. But in a speech outside the Taipei Guest House, she asked people to be prepared for “countless challenges and difficulties.”
Tsai’s administration was quick to come up with measures to contain the coronavirus. As of May 20, there had been just 440 cases and seven deaths recorded in Taiwan.

▽Malaysian man sentenced to death in Singapore via Zoom call | Al Jazeera

A man has been sentenced to death in Singapore via a Zoom video call for his role in a drug deal, in the first case in the city-state where such a decision has been delivered remotely... It was the first criminal case where a death sentence was pronounced by remote hearing in Singapore, the spokesperson added.
Genasan's lawyer, Peter Fernando, said his client received the judge's verdict on a Zoom call and was considering an appeal.

▽Ukraine to investigate leaked tapes with ex-President Poroshenko and Biden - Stripes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Wednesday that prosecutors have opened a criminal inquiry into leaked tapes that allegedly feature the country's former leader discussing conditions for a $1 billion loan with former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
The tapes, which are yet to be authenticated, were released on Tuesday by Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Derkach, who long has aired unsubstantiated corruption accusations against Biden and his son, who used to serve on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
The Ukrainian investigation was opened on treason and abuse of office charges, indicating it was mostly directed against former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Poroshenko rejected the tapes as a fabrication by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.
There was no immediate sign that the probe could be directed against Biden. The Prosecutor General’s Office gave no further details.