Lower House Passes Second Supplementary Budget Bill To Tackle Inflation

Lower House passes second supplementary budget bill to tackle inflation

Japan's Lower House has passed a second supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to tackle soaring prices. The bill was sent to the Upper House.

The budget passed on Tuesday totals about 28.9 trillion yen, or about 209 billion dollars, including funding for measures to ease the burden of surging electricity and gas bills for households and companies.

Japan Passes 1,000 Covid-19 Deaths

Japan passes 1,000 COVID-19 deaths

Two deaths from the coronavirus were confirmed in Japan on Monday, bringing the nationwide total to 1,001. The tally includes 13 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was docked just outside the capital earlier this year.

The latest two were in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture.

Diet Passes Second Supplementary Budget

Diet passes second supplementary budget

Japanese lawmakers have passed a second supplementary budget to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Upper House approved the bill on Friday. The package is worth a record 31.9 trillion yen, or almost 300 billion dollars.

Actor Shiga Kotaro Passes Away At Age 71

Actor Shiga Kotaro passes away at age 71

It's been reported that actor Shiga Kotaro passed away on April 20 at 8:20 pm due to aspiration pneumonia. He was 71 years old. 

His agency stated, "After receiving surgery for cerebral thrombosis last April, he had been working hard in rehab aiming for complete recovery. However, that was not fulfilled. We would like to respectfully make this announcement while being grateful for his life."

Okae Kumiko Passes Away From Coronavirus Complications

Okae Kumiko passes away from coronavirus complications

It's been reported that actress and talent Okae Kumiko passed away on April 23rd due to pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. She was 63 years old.

After developing a fever on April 3rd, Okae was told to monitor her condition at home for about four to five days. Then on the 6th, her condition took a turn for the worse. She was hospitalized and was put on a ventilator in ICU. She finally received the PCR test, which came back positive for the coronavirus. 

Lower House Passes Emergency Declaration Bill

Lower House passes emergency declaration bill

The Lower House of Japan's Diet has passed a bill to enable the prime minister to declare a state of emergency to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The legislation won the approval at a plenary session of the Lower House on Thursday with a majority vote from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner Komeito, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, and others. The bill was then sent to the Upper House for a final Diet endorsement.

Lower House Committee Passes Bill On Coronavirus

Lower House committee passes bill on coronavirus

A Lower House committee in Japan's Diet has passed a bill that would allow the prime minister to declare a state of emergency to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The bill was approved on Wednesday with a majority vote from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner Komeito, as well as the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, Democratic Party for the People, Nippon Ishin and others.

Toyota Rav4 Passes Swedish Moose Test On Second Try After Software Tuning

Toyota RAV4 passes Swedish moose test on second try after software tuning

Last year, Swedish publication Teknikens Värld gave the Toyota RAV4 a failing grade after it showed video of it performing poorly on the so-called moose test. That's a test that puts a vehicle under maximum load through an abrupt S-shaped course correction to simulate how it would react if a moose or some other object suddenly appeared on the road before it, forcing the driver to take evasive action. Video of the magazine's test of two identically equipped, all-wheel drive RAV4s, including the one pictured below, showed the crossovers bouncing and skidding, the rear ends fishtailing badly and inner wheels briefly lifting off the pavement.

Now the publication is back with a followup test after having communicated with Toyota, and the results are much improved.

The magazine says Toyota arranged for a new test with its editors at a race track near Seville, Spain, along with a RAV4 it custom-prepped for the test. Instead of using actual passengers in the rear seats, as Teknikens Värld usually does, Toyota secured weights into the rear seats and attached a pair of lightweight aluminum outriggers to the rear doors to ensure the car wouldn't roll over.

Those changes make the test a little easier, the magazine says, but it still gave the fifth-generation RAV4 passing marks after Toyota engineers said they simply tuned the software controlling the Vehicle Stability Control system to make the electronic stability control stronger and more assertive. The RAV4 passed the Moose Test at 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph), 68 km/h (42 mph), 70 km/h (43.5 mph) and 72 km/h (45 mph). In the previous test, the RAV4 could handle no better than 68 km/h.

But there's a hitch: According to the magazine, the fix Toyota made to the RAV4 isn't yet included in production versions of the crossover unless European customers specifically request it from dealers. Toyota told it the modifications would be made available during the second quarter of 2020 for Europe-bound models.

What this means, if anything, for U.S. versions of the wildly popular crossover is unclear; Toyota hadn't respond to Autoblog's request for comment, but we'll update this post if we hear back. Toyota had previously said the RAV4, which was redesigned for 2019 as a slightly higher-riding vehicle with a lower center of gravity, had previously passed the moose test under its own supervision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the 2020 model four out of five stars for rollover crash risk and an overall five-star rating.