Covid: Japan town builds giant squid statue with relief money

A seaside town in Japan has raised eyebrows after it used funding from an emergency Covid-19 relief grant to build a giant statue of a squid.

The 13m-long (43ft) sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.

It reportedly used 25m yen ($228,500; £164,700) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

Noto officials have told local media it is part of a long term plan to lure tourists back after the pandemic.

Japan is battling another surge in coronavirus cases, and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency - the third for the country since the pandemic began.

The fishing town of Noto - which is located in Ishikawa prefecture on Japan's central-west coast - has had a very low number of cases, but it has been impacted by the significant drop in tourists.Noto received 800m yen ($7.3m; £5.3m) through the national grants, which were intended as an emergency economic boost to help regional areas affected by the pandemic, reports Yahoo Japan.

The funds did not have to be spent directly on Covid relief. Some however have criticised the town's administration for spending so much money on the giant cephalopod, especially as the pandemic is not yet over.

One local told the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper that while the statue may be effective in the long run, the money could have been used for "urgent support", such as for medical staff and long-term care facilities.

But a spokesperson for the town told Fuji News Network that the statue would be a tourist attraction and part of a long term strategy to help promote Noto's famous flying squid.

Like in many other countries, the coronavirus pandemic has badly hit Japan's tourism industry. The country is hosting the Olympics this year but no international fans will be allowed at the event, which could amount to losses of 200bn yen ($1.8bn; £1.3bn), according to Takahide Kiuchi, an executive economist at Nomura Research Institute.

Read More : Bill and Melinda Gates agreed 'separation contract' before announcing divorce

Bill and Melinda Gates agreed how to divide their property and assets before announcing their divorce on Monday, US media report.

The billionaire couple, who have been married for 27 years, reportedly signed a separation contract outlining how their estate would be split.

But they did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their wedding in 1994.

The couple run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has spent billions on charitable causes around the world.

They have pledged to continue to work together at the foundation once their divorce is finalised.

Gates divorce puts spotlight on their foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates: A life in pictures
The Bill Gates ‘microchip’ claim fact-checked
Solving Covid easy compared with climate - Gates
Bill Gates, 65, is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $124bn (£89bn).

He made his money through the firm he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, which is the world's biggest software company.

The couple's estate is believed to include multi-million dollar properties in Washington, Florida and Wyoming. Their main residence is a lakeside mansion in Medina, Washington that is reported to be worth at least $127m.

'Irretrievably broken'
The couple filed for divorce at a court in Seattle on Monday, according to documents obtained by a number of US media outlets and published by the TMZ website.

"This marriage is irretrievably broken," the petition for divorce states. "We ask the court to dissolve our marriage."

It says the couple's property, business interests and assets should be divided "as set forth in our separation contract". That contract, however, has not been made public.

Read More News Popular : 

https://connect.informs.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=618773e4-a499-4df1-80cf-b2a577c4b35b&CommunityKey=c97ccff0-0331-43c8-bb70-dd552f6181d3&tab=digestviewer#bm618773e4-a499-4df1-80cf-b2a577c4b35b
https://connect.informs.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=903ac28a-ab0f-47c8-9828-a4be2984247f&CommunityKey=c97ccff0-0331-43c8-bb70-dd552f6181d3&tab=digestviewer#bm903ac28a-ab0f-47c8-9828-a4be2984247f
https://connect.informs.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=8258ebd1-768b-4b85-8dd0-661e947e5cc3&CommunityKey=c97ccff0-0331-43c8-bb70-dd552f6181d3&tab=digestviewer#bm8258ebd1-768b-4b85-8dd0-661e947e5cc3