The government said Friday it will retract its plan to ask financial institutions to ensure restaurants follow the ban on serving alcohol during the latest state of emergency, only a day after it put forward the initiative as a way to strengthen its anti-coronavirus response.Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan's coronavirus response, unveiled the controversial policy the previous day, drawing criticism that the government was attempting to use lenders to pressure such establishments.Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, who received complaints about Nishimura's remarks fr…READ FULL ARTICLE
