What is the meaning of "allege"? ・His stories included an alleged cover-up of infections, and a busy crematorium. ・They allegedly worked as government intelligence officers. Could you tell me how to translate "allege" in the above sentences? I think "allege" mainly means "insist" or "state". Are there different meanings you often use?

summer in Tokyo One of the most popular topics in summer is ‘Is it getting hot in summer compared to the old days?’ According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the temperature in Japan is steadily increasing in these 100 years and it’s obvious especially in Tokyo and other large cities. Compared with 100 years ago, the average temperature in Tokyo rose by 3.2 degrees. The highest temperature is picked up often but there’s a more serious problem in winter. In other words, the rate of increase in lowest temperature is larger than highest temperature. How and when the heat of summer has been changed? There is a heat map which shows the average daily temperature in Tokyo between June to September for these 140 years. The map shows that in 1920s it started to get warmer and warmer in Tokyo and the trend got obvious during the period of high economic growth between 1960 and 1980. Since 1990s, it’s not rare that the maximum temperature exceeds 30 degrees in July. On the other hand, 1993 is known as a cold summer. In 2010, it was the record-hot summer. Also, the temperature is increasing and at the same time the duration of the peak of heat is getting longer. Especially since the late 2000s, the average temperature exceeds 30 degrees in some days even in September. Although the average temperature changes every summer, it’s no doubt that it’s getting severe. It’s important we exercise caution more.

Inflation Inflation is a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money. From the view of consumers, an increase in prices is not welcomed. Why do many countries target 2% inflation? The brief answer is that inflation leads to economic growth. If you own cash at the time of inflation, the value of your cash will decrease and you will be encouraged to consume and invest instead of saving. This cash flows from savings to consuming and investments lead to expand the economy. Also, it is expected for companies to increase sales because of the price rise. This corporate performance increases the wage and creates the wage-price spiral which suggests that rising wages increases disposable income raising the demand for goods and causing prices to rise. The Japanese bank has targeted 2% inflation since 2013. How come do they stick to 2%? One of the reasons is that the USA and other developed countries also mark 2%. When we look back on history, we can see that to follow other countries’ inflation rate enables to avoid strong yen. When we think inflation rate as a decreasing rate of the value of money and set a lower goal than others, there is a possibility that the currency is treated as a currency that has relatively low risks. This is why the 2% is important for the Japanese bank.

Japanese high schools are closed due to high school student’s strike. High school students are also afraid of the Coronavirus pandemic. In Ibaraki prefecture, prefectural high schools of 10 towns were closed since the 8th of April to protect students and teachers from the Coronavirus. 12 grade students in Hitachi high school that was out of subject to close, started to strike requiring to close all of prefectural high school in Ibaraki prefecture. On the 9th of April, about 80 students which is one-third of the 12 grade agreed and did not come to the classes. The notifications of the strike were sent to the high school and the board of Education. The students stated “It is obviously clear that all people concerned about school should be protected immediately.” The strike was continued for 3 days from the 8th to 10th. During the time, their representatives had discussion with the high school and the board of Education and other students studied at home. The board of Education said they were willing to talk with them and try to accept their opinions. The notification emphasized the risk of spreading the virus. They pointed that it was not enough to change their commuting time because most of students used public transportations that is one of the riskiest places to be infected. Also, they said to close a part of high schools without online teaching system would cause the educational gaps. Furthermore, they required to close the all prefectural schools until enough masks would be prepared and precaution would be done in schools. The students called agreement through LINE (which is the most common SNS app in Japan) and more students back their proposal. On the 9th of April, the principal said that he did not have authority to close the school but he thought students thought well and took their actions. Finally, on the 13th of April, the Ibaraki prefectural governor announced to close all of prefectural schools until the 6th of May. The high school students showed us that it is important to take an action and express their opinions if there are something wrong. I hope this strike will wake Japanese adults up and increase voter turnout which is about 30% at the last national election.

The historical agreement The USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other major oil producing countries agreed to reduce the amount of producing oil over 15% which is over 1.5 million barrels per day. They are trying to increase the oil price which is going down due to the spread of Coronavirus. This is a historical agreement because the amount of reduction is the biggest ever and the USA joined the oil reducing agreement for the first time. President Trump posted that a big deal was realized and 100 thousands of employees were protected in the USA. He kept criticizing OPEC for their decrease in oil production. However, he changed his attitude because he needed to consider about Shale gas industry that supports him strongly. In the industry, they were forced to decrease the production and some were bankrupted due to the low price of oil. According to a British research company, the expenses of energy companies in North America will decrease by 36% compared with last year. It might increase bankrupted companies and unemployed workers and cause a financial crisis. Since the end of March, he urged oil producing countries to reduce the production.

Corona generation When we look back on history, every generation experienced social events which changed their life. For baby boomers (now 56~74 years old), they are the Vietnamese war and the civil rights movement. For X generations (40~55 years old), it is the AIDS disaster. For millennials (24~39 years old), the 2008 financial crisis had a big impact on their career. The big social shifts such as the policy of apartheid are likely to cause generation gaps between youth and upper generations. Why does this happen? Because experiencing big events while they mold their character effects on their identity and sense of values. And for Z generations (5~23 years old), the pandemic of Covid-19 will be a memory that effects on their life in some form throughout their life. They are called “corona generation” on twitter. Nobody knows how their sense of values will be like.

Coronavirus kills twice more men than women More men are sacrificed by Coronavirus than women. Research shows that men are more likely to be infected with the virus. Also, the mortality rate caused by the virus of men is twice higher than that of women. New York City announced that so far 43 out of 100,000 men passed away while only 23 out of women passed away. So, men risk being severe and hospitalizing. But this was not very surprising for researchers because this tendency was already seen in China and Italy. In both countries, male mortality was higher than female. Some say the gender differences in behavior cause these results. For example, in most of countries more men tend to smoke compared to women. According to a website of Centers for Disease Control, until the 6th the number of coronavirus cases was 68,776. The older they were, the higher their mortality rate and the hospitalizing rate were. The highest points were for 65 years old and 75 years old. The number of infected women was 712 out of 100,000 and men was 932. Also, men are more likely to hospitalize. 140.3 out of 100,000 women and 228.7 out of 100,000 men were admitted to hospitals. The most remarkable gender difference is the mortality rate. A doctor in NY says “more than two-third patient needs ventilators are men. I have never seen diseases which shows such big gender differences.” An organization announced that they assumed that 65% of the cases are men although they don’t know the number clearly. When they were asked about the gap between gender, they answered “we don’t know the reasons. Nobody knows so far.”

The Japanese company's entrance ceremony Traditionally Japanese companies hold the entrance ceremony in the beginning of April. However, due to the spread of coronavirus, a lot of companies cancelled or postponed it this year. Some companies held it in a different way as usual. One company located in Tokyo welcomed 170 new employees. New recruits wearing masks entered the venue one by one. They introduced themselves and had small conversation with the CEO. The representative of the new recruits stated “we will do our best with responsibilities to produce innovations.” Another company cancelled the ceremony but the employees welcomed new workers at the entrance of the head office clapping their hands. They entered the office keeping distance each other. After joining short orientations, they will take training for 2 weeks at their home. The CEO talked that he felt the fresh energy even though they wore masks. Also, there are some companies which held the ceremony. In a ceremony which was held in a bank in Fukuoka, more than 150 new recruits participated. All of them were forced to wear masks, wash their hands, and take their temperature at the entrance. Also, they seated leaving enough spaces between others.