December 12, Monday, 2022 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Mr. Yamaguchi Hiroaki

1.China’s official coronavirus case count has dropped, but the actual number is believed to be much higher after the government eased its zero-COVID policy. The Chinese government says more than 8,000 new cases were confirmed on Sunday. The daily tally dropped to about one-fifth of the figure when the infection peaked in late November. But the case count is believed to have fallen partly because fewer people are taking PCR tests, after authorities stopped requesting people to present negative test results at may public places. 2. The US government says it has taken custody of a Libyan man accused of being involved in making the bomb that destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. 3. Japanese venture firm has successfully launched what could become the first privately-funded spacecraft to land on the moon.