1. Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei has held a first round of trade negotiations with his US counterparts. The meeting took place on Wednesday in Washington. Akazawa, who heads the Japanese delegation, held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The Japanese minister also met President Donald Trump at the White House ahead of the ministerial-level negotiations. 2. NHK has learned that personal information has unintentionally been made publicly available on a service operated by Google. The service started in the 2000s, but NHK found out this year that emails shared among users of certain groups, such as those set up by private businesses, labor unions and medical institutions, could be accessed by anyone on the web. 3. A survey by a US research firm shows that hotel room rates in Tokyo have been rising sharply since 2022, when the coronavirus pandemic started to ease. The firm said the 2024 price was the highest since 1996.