A court in Japan has cleared a former high-ranking Finance Ministry bureaucrat of liability for compensation relating to the 2018 suicide of a regional official who was allegedly pressured to falsify government documents.

The Osaka District Court on Friday dismissed a claim for damages filed by the official's widow, Akagi Masako.

Japanese financial companies are moving to stop investing in or financing coal-fired power stations, in an effort to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A major non-life insurance company, Sompo Japan Insurance, plans to end investment and financing for the construction of new fossil fuel power plants, which are inefficient and emit large amounts of carbon dioxide.