News Headlines - 07 July 2020
▽Hong Kong police granted sweeping powers under security law - The Mainichi
In implementing the national security law for Hong Kong, police will have sweeping authority that allows them to take actions including conducting searches without a warrant, restricting suspects from leaving the city, and intercepting communications.
Hong Kong's government issued the details of Article 43 in the city's national security law on Monday night, which outlines the measures that the police force can take to implement the legislation in the city.
▽Japan May real wages fall at quickest pace in nearly five years - Reuters
Japan’s May inflation-adjusted real wages dropped at the fastest pace in nearly five years, government data showed on Tuesday, in a sign of labour market stress as the economy takes a heavy blow from the novel coronavirus pandemic... Real wages, a gauge of household purchasing power, tumbled 2.1% in May from a year earlier, labour ministry data showed, falling at the fastest pace since a 2.8% decline in June 2015.
▽Japan's household spending slumps by record as curbs hit travel, dining out - Reuters
Japan’s household spending fell at the fastest pace on record in May, as consumers heeded authorities’ calls to stay home to contain the coronavirus pandemic, pushing the world’s third-largest economy deeper into decline... Household spending slumped 16.2% in May from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, falling at the quickest pace since comparable data became available in 2001.
The drop, which was larger than a median market forecast for a 12.2% fall, extended an 11.1% decline in April.
Companies including major advertising agency Dentsu Inc. and religious corporations have applied to register over 10 trademarks relating to a Japanese folklore creature said to drive away epidemics; but the move has sparked online criticism over using the creature for profit.
The Amabie creature is a mystical "yokai" similar in appearance to a mermaid, and it has enjoyed a popular resurgence since the spread of the novel coronavirus... Dentsu told the Mainichi Shimbun on July 6 that it had withdrawn its application.
▽Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tells fans he had lung screening - CNN
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told supporters gathered outside the presidential palace in Brasilia Monday that he took a Covid-19 exam and that his lungs were screened.
"I've came back from the hospital now, I've done a lung screening, my lung is clean, OK? I went to do a Covid exam a while ago, but everything is okay," he said... The President's office said he expects to receive the results on Tuesday.
