News Headlines - 07 August 2020

▽Abe vague and brief at first news conference in nearly 50 days : The Asahi Shimbun

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first news conference in nearly 50 days lasted for only 15 minutes and came amid criticism that he has been missing in action during the resurgence of novel coronavirus infections... Also on Aug. 6, The Asahi Shimbun lodged a formal protest with the Press Office of the prime minister’s office over a male staff member who grabbed the arm of an Asahi reporter who was trying to ask Abe a question.

▽Japan's NHK to combine channels, cut back on AM radio under new plan - The Mainichi

Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Aug. 4 disclosed its midterm business draft plan for fiscal 2021-2023 that specifies reducing satellite TV and AM radio channels and cutting back 63 billion yen (about $597 million) in expenditure over three years, among other proposals... NHK will combine its BS1 and BS Premium satellite TV channels, and is considering also including BS4K later on. It will also combine NHK radio 1 and 2 into one. The specific date of reduction will be revealed in the future. The broadcaster will mull what to make of BS8K after the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games that are scheduled to be held next summer.

▽Toyota profit sinks 74% on 40% drop in revenue - MarketWatch

The Japanese auto maker said it booked net profit of 158.84 billion yen ($1.50 billion) for the quarter ended June, compared with net profit of Y619.13 billion a year earlier... First-quarter revenue dropped 40% to Y4.601 trillion.
Operating profit fell 82% to Y77.4 billion for Japan and dropped 61% to Y42.8 billion for Asia excluding Japan, while its North American operations posted Y68.5 billion loss, compared with Y112.6 billion profit a year earlier.

▽Japan curry chain operator Ichibanya opens 1st restaurant in India - The Mainichi

Japanese curry restaurant chain operator Ichibanya Co. opened its first eatery in India near the capital New Delhi on Monday hoping to tap into the market with a population of over 1.3 billion, the second largest in the world.
The outlet was initially scheduled to open in spring, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Ichibanya, operator of CoCo Ichibanya curry restaurants in Japan and abroad.
Since a vast majority of people in India do not eat beef and pork based on their religious beliefs, the restaurant's menu is based on dishes using chicken, seafood and vegetables, the company said.

▽Foreign Office cat Palmerston retires to countryside - BBC News

In a "letter", he says he has moved away from Whitehall and is now climbing trees rather than "overhearing all the foreign dignitaries' conversations".
The black-and-white rescue cat, who has more than 105,000 Twitter followers, arrived from Battersea in 2016.
He has been known to clash with Larry, Number 10's main mouse-catcher.