July 17, Wednesday, 2024

1. US President Joe Biden has resumed his election campaign and underscored the need for gun control. Biden returned to his campaign trail on Tuesday by visiting Nevada, one of the battleground states in the November presidential election. He had suspended the campaign in the wake of the attempted assassination of his rival, former President Donald Trump, on Saturday. 2.A shortage of workers is a big headache for Japanese firms, especially smaller ones. Some are being urged to hire people who can’t commit to full-time hours as regular employees, allowing them to qualify for benefits such as health insurance.
3. Gorgeously decorated floats have paraded through Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto as part of its annual Gion Festival. The summer festival reportedly started more than 1,000 years ago to pray for the end of a plague. The parade of 23 floats – a festival highlight – kicked off at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. A child dressed in a traditional costume on the lead float used a sword to cut a sacred straw rope stretched across a main street in central Kyoto.