News Headlines - 11 July 2020

▽Ex-top Tokyo prosecutor Hiromu Kurokawa escapes indictment over gambling | The Japan Times

Public prosecutors have decided not to indict former top Tokyo prosecutor Hiromu Kurokawa, who has been accused of playing mahjong for money, including when Japan was under a novel coronavirus state of emergency earlier this year.
In questioning by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, Kurokawa, the 63-year-old former top prosecutor at the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, has admitted gambling on mahjong with three employees of the Asahi Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun, both major Japanese dailies.

▽Japan to begin Go To Travel Campaign on July 22 - Japan Today

Japan will begin a subsidy campaign on July 22 to boost domestic tourism hit by the coronavirus, the tourism minister said, although concerns remain over a resurgence of infections.
The Go To Travel Campaign will eventually subsidize up to half of expenses, including accommodation and transport fees, with the government initially providing discounts worth 35 percent of total costs.
The remaining 15 percent will be covered by coupons to be issued after September, to be used at travel destinations for food, shopping and other travel activities, according to the tourism ministry.

▽Former Lotte pitcher Randy Jackson arrested for cannabis possession | The Japan Times

Former Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Randy "Jay" Jackson Jr. was arrested Friday on suspicion of cannabis possession at his home in Chiba, near Tokyo.
The 32-year-old American, who played for the Hiroshima Carp between 2016 and 2018 and joined the Chiba-based Marines this season, remained silent when asked about the bottles of cannabis concentrate in liquid form allegedly found during a search Tuesday, the Hiroshima prefectural police said.

▽Philippine lawmakers block license bid for broadcaster that angered Duterte - Reuters

Philippine lawmakers rejected the renewal of a 25-year license for country’s top broadcaster on Friday, outraging activists who saw the move to keep ABS-CBN Corp off the air as part of a political vendetta on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.
A legislative committee overwhelmingly agreed with a working group’s assessment that ABS-CBN, which employs 11,000 people and has an audience of tens of millions of Filipinos, was “undeserving of the grant of legislative franchise”.

▽Demonstrators storm Serbian parliament in protest over weekend lockdown

The crowds protested in the capital Belgrade over the government's handling of the crisis, with infections now spiking after Serbia shed its initial lockdown measures two months ago.
A group of opposition supporters stormed the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade on Tuesday night in a protest against a lockdown planned for the capital this weekend to halt the spread of the coronavirus.