Lawyers

• Afghanistan is worst country for older people: index

  Afghanistan is the worst country to live in as an older person, an annual index on the wellbeing of the elderly showed on Wednesday.

• Costs, politics erode chances for a Tokyo casino by 2020

  Plans to open Japan's first casino in Tokyo before the 2020 Olympics are becoming increasingly unlikely, with developers facing skyrocketing building costs and a city government that no longer considers casino development an economic priority.

• Japan, North Korea to meet next week on abductees

  Japanese and North Korean officials will meet next week for an update on the North's probe into the fate of Japanese citizens it kidnapped decades ago, Japan's top government spokesman said on Thursday.

• North Korea probe on Japan abductees in early stage: Japan government

  North Korea has told Japan it can only give a preliminary report on the status of its investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago and of other missing Japanese, the government spokesman in Tokyo said on Friday.

• North Korea ready to give Japan report on abductees: Kyodo

  North Korea is ready to provide Japan with initial findings from a special investigating team that looked into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang's agents decades ago, Kyodo news agency quoted a North Korean diplomat as saying.

• Japanese regulator approves restart of first nuclear reactors

  Japan's nuclear regulator gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for the restart of a nuclear power station, the first step to reopening an industry that was mothballed after the Fukushima disaster and which may involve the definitive closure of a dozen old plants.

• Japan's First Lady speaks out ahead of sales tax decision

  Japanese First Lady Akie Abe said on Thursday the country should consider cutting wasteful spending and boosting the economy before going ahead with a rise in the sales tax to 10 percent, as her husband wrestles with just that decision.

• ASEAN members call for self-restraint over China territorial claims

  Without mentioning China, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a statement yesterday that all parties involved in the territorial claim disputes in Asia should adopt self-restraint to avoid escalating tensions.

• Chinese court impounds Japanese vessel as compensation for World War Two losses

  A maritime court ordered the seizure of a Japanese ship to serve as compensation for the losses sustained by a Chinese company before the Second World War.

• Japan to mull over legal steps to clear roads of abandoned cars for emergency vehicles

  Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a press conference on Monday that the legal measures they were eyeing with regard to the removal of abandoned vehicles during a snowstorm would also be applicable in other natural events, like an earthquake.