News Headlines - 28 September 2020

▽Volkswagen, China joint-venture partners to invest $17 billion in electrified vehicles

Volkswagen Group said Monday it plans to invest about 15 billion euros ($17.44 billion) in electric mobility with three local joint ventures in China.
The investment will allow VW and FAW Group, SAIC Motor and JAC to build 15 different full-electric or plug-in hybrid models in China by 2025.
VW will start making EVs based on its MEB architecture at two Chinese factories starting in October. It will source batteries from CATL, Guoxuan and A123.

▽Japan Coast Guard has brush with Taiwanese fishing boat off Senkakus | The Japan Times

A Japan Coast Guard (JCG) patrol ship and a Taiwanese fishing boat were involved in a minor collision Sunday off the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, according to Japanese and Taiwanese authorities.
The incident occurred within Japanese territorial waters off the Japan-administered islets when the patrol boat was warning the boat to leave the waters while sailing alongside it, the JCG said Monday.
No one on either side was injured in the incident, according to the authorities. The JCG said the Taiwanese boat was fishing illegally.

▽Japan gov't sued over disclosure of 'Abenomask' unit price, order numbers - The Mainichi

More than 120 million of the washable masks, two per household, were distributed nationwide from April to June, with masks in short supply amid the pandemic. They were dubbed "Abenomask," which means "Abe's mask" in Japanese and is a pun on Abe's signature "Abenomics" economic policy mix... The project cost the government 26 billion yen ($247 million), with 18.4 billion yen spent on procurement and 7.6 billion yen on delivery... The government did supply some documents but they were heavily redacted, with the unit price and size of orders concealed. The government justified withholding the information, saying disclosure could have a negative impact on future price negotiations and reveal sensitive procurement details.
However, the plaintiff said some parts of the documents that were not blacked out showed the unit price of the cloth masks at 143 yen including tax.

▽Tokyo Games torch relay to start on March 25 | NHK WORLD

The torch relays of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, postponed to next year, are to be held based mostly on the original plan.
The organizing committee announced on Monday that the Olympic torch relay will start in Fukushima Prefecture on March 25 and continue for 121 days covering all parts of Japan. The starting day is one day ahead of the original plan.
The Olympic flame has been kept burning since it arrived from Greece on March 20 before the decision to postpone the Games was made.

▽Japan issues suicide warning after death of Miss Sherlock actress | Al Jazeera

The death of Miss Sherlock star Yuko Takeuchi, 40, shocked the nation and follows other recent cases of Japanese celebrities taking their own lives, with figures showing a recent rise in suicides.
On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato did not mention a particular case but noted that some people were struggling to cope during the coronavirus crisis... Kato, who was Japan’s health minister until earlier this month, urged people to use suicide-prevention hotlines and other services.
Takeuchi was a household name in Japan. She played the lead in the 2018 series Miss Sherlock on the Hulu-HBO Asia network, and also had a minor part in the 1998 Japanese horror classic Ring.