Top Asian News 3:37 a.m. GMT

Johnny's becomes Smile-Up. Japanese music company hit with sex abuse scandal takes on a new name

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese entertainment company that has acknowledged its founder sexually assaulted hundreds of boys over the span of half a century, took a new name on Monday: Smile-Up. It also vowed to focus on compensation for victims of the abuse. Tokyo-based Johnny & Associates, founded in 1975, will eventually fold, but its performers can join an independent company that is being set up, said Noriyuki Higashiyama, the company's new leader and a former star at Johnny’s, as the company is known. Higashiyama, tapped last month to head the old Johnny’s, will now be president of both Smile-Up and the new company.