JAPAN LAWMAKER DRANK WITH 30 PEOPLE DESPITE COVID WARNINGS

A ruling party lawmaker attended a drinking party Friday with about 30 people in a central Japan city, his office said Saturday, despite authorities' warnings to refrain from dining in large groups to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, Kyodo News reported.

Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, a 70-year-old House of Representatives member from the Liberal Democratic Party, also fell down and was taken to a hospital by ambulance after drinking on Friday night in Toyama, sources familiar with the matter said.

"I deeply regret attending the drinking party and apologize to people," the former minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories said in a statement released by his office.

He suffered a minor injury and some bleeding, according to the sources. The incident follows the government warning that dining with five or more people carries a high risk of spreading the virus.

Miyakoshi drank with members of the fishing industry in Toyama, his constituency, according to the sources.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who heads the LDP, has been under mounting criticism himself after taking part in two dinner gatherings in Tokyo on the same day earlier this month, the first at a luxury hotel with about 15 people and then at an upscale steakhouse with a total of eight.

WEEKLY FEATURE

JOSE MARI CHAN AND THE CHRISTMAS ANTHEM