December 21, Friday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Mr. Raja Pradhan

  1. Japanese prosecutors have slapped a fresh arrest warrant on former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
  2. U.S. President Donald Trump says Defense Secretary James Mattis will leave his post at the end of February.
  3. Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Japan will have to take U.S. policies into account during its talks with Russia over four islands.

December 19, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. The telecom unit of Softbank group has made its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange—in Japan’s largest-ever Initial Public Offering.
  2. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is to conduct its first joint drill with the U.S. and British navies in the Pacific off southern Japan later this week.
  3. Top executives of Nissan and Renault are mapping out a new direction for the Japanese automaker and its alliance partner following the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

December 18, Tuesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. Japan has approved new defense guidelines, including a plan to upgrade an existing destroyer into a de-facto aircraft carrier.
  2. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights situation.
  3. The prospects for Nissan Motor having a new chairperson any time soon disappeared, after the company delayed naming a successor to Carlos Ghosn.

December 17, Monday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Emma Howard

  1. North Korea has warned that new sanctions Washington has imposed on its high-ranking officials could forever block the path to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
  2. Canada’s Foreign Ministry says that its ambassador to Beijing, John McCallum, met on Sunday with Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, who is now being detained in China.
  3. The Japanese government is finalizing a draft budget for the next fiscal year.

December 15, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. Nissan Motor plans to put off naming a successor to former chairman Carlos Ghosn at its board meeting next Monday.
  2. Okinawa Prefecture is set to consider legal measures to counter a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture.
  3. The former personal lawyer of Donald Trump says the president knew he was breaking the law by paying hush money to 2 women who said they had affairs with him.

December 14, Friday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Ms. Fumiko Konoe

  1. Japan’s central government is moving forward with a controversial plan to relocate an American military base within the southern prefecture of Okinawa.
  2. French police have shot dead the suspect in the Strasbourg gun attack that left 3 people dead and 13 others wounded.
  3. Russia says the former Soviet Union’s memo in 1960, which called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Japan, needs to be taken into account during the expected peace treaty talks with Japan.

December 13, Thursday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

  1. Researchers say up to 60 percent of sandy beaches in Japan could disappear by the end of this century because of rising sea levels brought by global warming.
  2. The Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Japan appears set to come into effect on February 1st.
  3. British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a non-confidence vote brought against her by members of her Conservative Party.

December 12, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Reese and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. A judge in Canada has granted bail to Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. It was set at about 7.5 billion dollars and has a number of conditions.
  2. A former Canadian diplomat who now works for an international think tank has been detained in China.
  3. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has ignored some questions from reporters over Russia’s strong stance in negotiations with Japan on a territorial issue.