People take a stroll at Ueno Park in Tokyo, famous for cherry blossoms in spring, on Feb. 23, 2021, with traffic pylons placed to guide visitors to walk in a single direction in an effort to enable them to maintain social distancing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 25

• Japan Airlines Co. said Thursday it will slash its hiring of new graduates in fiscal 2022 by 90 percent from the number that joined JAL group companies last spring, as the coronavirus pandemic is expected to continue putting pressure on travel demand.
  
  
• The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Thursday released a set of coronavirus countermeasures for the torch relay, just a month before the start of the nationwide event, ranging from asking fans to applaud instead of shouting along the route to requiring runners to monitor their health.
  
  
• Golf has surged in its popularity in Japan amid the coronavirus pandemic as a sport that can be enjoyed in the great outdoors, avoiding the "3Cs" of confined spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings people should avoid to reduce the risk of infection.
  
  
• The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday it will deliver more than 25 million free masks to communities still lacking affordable access to the basic protection against the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Japan's Olympics minister said Wednesday that coronavirus vaccinations would not be a prerequisite for participation at this summer's Olympics and Paralympics, despite a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal that athletes be inoculated.

As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 24

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Wednesday it has started a clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. biotechnology firm Novavax Inc. in Japan, planning to domestically produce and supply it in the second half of 2021.
  
  
• Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin kicked off the country's largest COVID-19 immunization exercise on Wednesday by becoming the first to get the vaccine jab.
  
  
• The first batch of a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine arrived in Thailand on Wednesday morning ahead of a vaccination rollout next week.
  
  
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with members of his Cabinet on Wednesday to discuss whether to lift the COVID-19 state of emergency ahead of its scheduled end date on March 7 for parts of Japan that have seen improvements in their situation..
  
  
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economic outlook remains "highly uncertain" amid the coronavirus pandemic, although ongoing vaccinations raise hope for an improved situation later this year.