Despite a proposal by legal experts, the Japanese government has ruled out setting up a commission to review capital punishment. The Cabinet Secretary cited public support for this penalty, but legal experts believe most Japanese are not adequately informed.

Xi’s tour of the region began yesterday. One stop included the virtual inauguration of Chancay Port, a key trade hub between China and the region. His aim is to boost cooperation and multilateralism. Donald Trump's return to the White House is a challenge for the future.

The 27 years the Spanish religious spent on the  mission between Tokyo and Hiroshima were remembered during the closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of his beatification process. Head of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983, he loved the Japanese people and culture and provided heroic service among the thousands of injured in the atomic bomb blast of 6 August 1945.

With the tycoon’s return, hundreds of thousands of Asians risk deportation from the United States, along with Latin Americans. The Philippine government is getting ready to assist 370,000 Philippine migrants. Indians are one of the largest groups of asylum seekers, along with the Chinese. Due to a legislative void, many South Koreans adopted as infants until the 1980s are at risk.

Yesterday, a 62-year-old man tried to kill himself after driving his car into a group of people who were exercising. Police report that a family-related issue trigger the incident. Party officials stress the need to help “people in hardship”. An airshow opened today in Zhuhai (Guangdong) and next month President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Macau, near Zhuhai, for the installation of the new local government.

In his speech at Peking University and in his visit to the graves of Intorcetta and Martini in Hangzhou, the Italian leader noted the contribution made by missionaries to dialogue, before and after Marco Polo. Following in their footsteps, the Italian president also spoke in China about human rights.