Homeless initially excluded from blanket cash handout program in Kochi

A western Japan city initially excluded people with no bank account from the blanket cash handout program as part of the central government's coronavirus response on the assumption that most such citizens belong to organized crime groups.The Kochi city government's handling in May of the across-the-board handouts may have deprived homeless people and recipients of welfare payments who do not have identity documents needed to open accounts of receiving 100,000 yen ($920) per person, their supporters said.The local authorities opened a special counter last month for impoverished people so the…READ FULL ARTICLE