"Kyoto Animation Arsonist Sentenced to Death for 2019 Studio Attack"

A Japanese man, Shinji Aoba, has been sentenced to death for killing 36 people and injuring many others in an arson attack on Kyoto Animation studio in 2019. The judge ruled that Aoba was not insane or suffering from diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime. Aoba admitted to starting the fire but his lawyers argued that he was mentally unstable. The attack shocked Japan, and the severity of the crimes led to the heaviest sentence possible. Japan is one of the few developed countries to retain the death penalty, and despite international calls to abolish it, a government poll showed that 80 percent of the public favor retaining it.