January 3, Tuesday, 2023 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1. Japan’s airports, railway stations and expressways are crowded on Tuesday as people return from their year-end and New Year holidays. This holiday season saw more travelers as it was the first time in three years that there were no coronavirus restrictions in place.
2. Japanese businesses are increasingly finding practical applications for quantum technology from worker shift-scheduling to railway operations. Electronics and other firms have been engaged in research into quantum computers, which would vastly surpass the calculating power of supercomputers.
3. Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday 63 of its soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian rocket strike in the eastern region of Donbas. It also said Ukraine used a HIMARS rocket launcher supplied by the US.