News Headlines - 30 July 2020

▽Taiwan’s former leader Lee Teng-hui dies in hospital at 97 | South China Morning Post

Taiwan’s former president Lee Teng-hui died on Thursday after spending the past five months in hospital in Taipei. He was 97... Lee was the first president of the Republic of China - Taiwan’s official name - to be born on the island.
During his time as leader, between 1988 and 2000, he oversaw the end of martial law and the “white terror” period, and the island’s democratisation. He also led an ambitious foreign policy to increase Taiwan’s presence on the world stage.

▽Hong Kong bars 12 opposition candidates from election - BBC News

Hong Kong authorities have disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from upcoming elections, deepening political tensions in the Chinese territory.
Opposition legislators had hoped to obtain a majority in the Legislative Council (LegCo) in September's poll after Beijing's imposition of a highly controversial national security law.
Among those barred are high-profile activists Joshua Wong and Lester Shum.

▽Coronavirus blamed for over 40,000 job losses | NHK WORLD

The ministry says 40,032 people became unemployed between late January and July 29 after they were dismissed or did not have their contracts renewed.
At least 15,000 of them are non-regular workers, including temporary staff and part-timers.
The number of people who lost jobs due to the virus outbreak has topped 10,000 for three straight months, from May to July.

▽Overstated magnitude caused quake alert that set Tokyo on edge | The Japan Times

The alert at 9:38 a.m. was a false alarm, caused by a system designed to give residents precious seconds to protect themselves before an earthquake hits, which overstated the magnitude of a smaller temblor, the Meteorological Agency said.
The system mistook the epicenter of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake off Japan’s coast, calculating it to be about 450 kilometers (280 miles) further away. That caused it to overestimate the size of the quake and trigger the alert. The warning was issued to Tokyo and 14 other prefectures - areas that account for about half of nation’s total population of 126 million - and halted trains and subway lines in the capital for hours.
The quake was far enough from shore that no shaking was felt in Tokyo or the surrounding regions.

▽Blast in Fukushima restaurant kills 1, injures at least 18 - Japan Today

A sudden explosion from a suspected gas leak blew out walls and windows of a restaurant in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on Thursday morning, killing one person and injuring at least 18 others.
There was no sign of a fire and investigators at the site believe a gas leak may have cause the blast, Koriyama fire department official Hiroki Ogawa said. Local media say a gas leak and explosion occurred at a shabu-shabu restaurant just before 9 a.m. The restaurant, which had been renovated, was due to reopen Friday, locals said.