News Headlines - 09 September 2020

▽Bob Woodward's New Book Says Trump Admitted Minimizing Coronavirus - The New York Times

President Trump acknowledged to the journalist Bob Woodward that he knowingly played down the coronavirus earlier this year even though he was aware it was life-threatening and vastly more serious than the seasonal flu.
“This is deadly stuff,” Mr. Trump said on Feb. 7 in one of 18 interviews with Mr. Woodward for his coming book, “Rage.”

▽Saudi Arabia jails eight over Khashoggi murder, fiancee decries trial | Reuters

A Saudi Arabian court on Monday jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside... State media reported that five people were handed 20-year prison sentences, one person was sentenced to 10 years and two people received seven-year sentences for the killing.
None of the defendants was named.

▽Plane lands after passenger refuses to wear mask | NHK WORLD

A plane on a Japanese domestic flight made an unscheduled landing on Monday after a passenger refused to wear a face mask and threatened the cabin crew.
Budget carrier Peach Aviation said the crew spotted the man without a mask before takeoff on the flight from Kushiro in Hokkaido, northern Japan, to Kansai Airport in western Japan.
Airline officials said the crew asked him to wear a mask, but he refused.

▽Olympics sponsors in limbo as year-end contract expiration looms: sources | Reuters

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers have not extended sponsors' contracts set to expire at the end of the year, sources said, leaving some questioning whether to continue after COVID-19 forced a delay of the world's largest sporting event.
Postponing the Games for a year has created additional costs for sponsors, including fees to extend contracts, and some wonder whether it's worth doing so, three of the sources said, declining to be identified because the information is not public.
At the same time, sponsors fear damaging their image by abandoning a politically important national project.

▽Kazuyoshi Miura: A professional footballer at 53 - how he does it - BBC News

The second round of the Japanese League Cup is not normally international news. But when top-division side Yokohama FC played Sagan Tosu last month, it made headlines around the world. Why?
Because the Yokohama captain, Kazuyoshi Miura, was 53 years old.
Miura's never-ending career fascinates football fans around the world. His contract extensions are reported by the BBC and CNN. He holds the Guinness record for “world’s oldest goalscorer”.