December 29, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. A wintry weather pattern over Japan is bringing snow mostly along the Japan Sea coast from northern to western Japan. Heavy snow is blanketing mountainous regions.
  2. Egypt’s Interior Ministry says three Vietnamese tourists and one Egyptian tour guide were killed when an explosion struck their bus in the outskirts of Cairo.
  3. U.S. President Donald Trump says he will close the southern border with Mexico unless the Democrats agree to fund the building of a border wall.

December 28, Friday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Mariko Kojima and Ms. Emma Howard

  1. Defense officials of Japan and South Korea have failed to reconcile their differences in the first talks on a dispute concerning a South Korean military ship’s recent radar operations.
  2. Japan’s foreign minister says Japan will make efforts to gain understanding for its decision to pull out of the International Whaling Commission, or IWC.
  3. Tokyo stocks ended the morning session lower on the final trading day of the year.