NEWSWORTHY
Japan's Diet passes record ¥101 trillion budget with spending hikes for defense and social security
Key to the budget is a ¥2.03 trillion stimulus package that the government hopes will underpin domestic demand after the consumption tax is increased.
Tokyo pension office head replaced over hate speech tweets, some targeting South Koreans
The head of a Tokyo pension office who repeatedly tweeted discriminatory remarks against individuals including South Koreans was replaced Monday. The governmental Japan Pension Service and sources said that in the now deleted tweets Yukihisa Kasai called South Koreans "cowardly people with vassal-like spirits" and ...
Record $135 billion loss by Japan's pension fund shows shifting from bonds to stocks has a cost
A record quarterly loss at the world's largest pension fund is prompting a debate on whether its shift to stocks from bonds was excessive. Domestic debt held by Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund returned 1 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, while the ...
Bolsonaro says Brazil must reform or it will become the next Venezuela
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged swift and sweeping measures to fix the economy and ward off what he said was a risk that Latin America's largest nation turns into a Venezuela-style regime. Plans to sell a large number of state-owned companies are nearly ready, and ...
Government panel paves way for Japan's working age limit to be raised to 70
In the course of preparing to bills on the age limit, the government will also consider promoting different working styles such as working shorter hours.
British women protest as their pension age rises to meet men's at 65
Millions of British women feel "betrayed" and many are facing poverty, campaigners said on Tuesday, as the age they can claim the state pension rose to 65 to match that of men. The government is accused of failing to give women enough warning of the ...
Macron tells French to stop moaning and instead emulate Charles de Gaulle
France's President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged his compatriots to moan less, saying the country would be better off if they emulated wartime leader Charles de Gaulle. Macron — on a visit to the northeastern village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, known as the home and burial place ...
In polluted city above Russian Arctic Circle, prisoners of Putin's pension reform
Russian railway worker Andrey Bugera had a singular goal: get to pension age so he can leave the polluted, frigid coal mining town above the Arctic Circle where he works and move south to live out even a brief bit of retirement in comfort. But ...
Japan eyes expansion of corporate pension and insurance schemes to cover more part-timers
The government plans to allow more part-time workers to join the corporate pension and health insurance programs, hoping it will reinforce the financial base for Japan's overall pension and health insurance systems, sources said Monday. Currently, part-timers who put in at least 30 hours a ...
Protesters chant anti-Putin slogans at Moscow rally against plan to up retirement age
Thousands protested in central Moscow on Sunday over a proposed increase to the retirement age and the crowd chanted slogans critical of President Vladimir Putin whose approval ratings have been dented by the bill. The rally organized by the opposition Libertarian Party chanted "Putin is ...
My company didn't enroll me in the Japanese social insurance program. What to do?
A non-Japanese worker wrote to Lifelines with some questions about the shakai hoken social insurance system.
Advice on HIV tests, Japanese pensions, rugby and reuniting with kids
Lifelines works through a selection of topics that have come our way recently.
