October 12, Thursday, 2023

1. Japan’s education and culture ministry has announced it will seek a court order to disband the group formerly known as the Unification Church. Education and Culture Minister Moriyama Masahito said, “We have interviewed over 170 victims, gathered information and considered the details of this case. As a result, the ministry will request a dissolution order based on the Religious Corporation Act.”
2. A vice-ministerial-level meeting of three countries jointly chairing discussions between creditor nations working to resolve Sri Lanka’s debt problems has been held in Morocco. Japan, India and France say the talks have been making progress, but many challenges remain. Sri Lanka has been facing a rapid weakening of its currency and inflation due to failed financial policies. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　3. Shogi star Fujii Sota has become the first player to hold all eight major titles after winning the Oza championship. The 21-year-old Fujii faced Nagase Takuya, the 31-year-old defending champion of the Oza title, in the fourth match of the best-of-five series in Kyoto on Wednesday.　The players spent a long time pondering their moves, and Nagase gradually got the upper hand. After they had both used up their allotted time, they had to make their moves within one minute. In that situation, Nagase failed to find moves that would lead him to victory. The balance then turned to Fujii, and Nagase conceded after the 138th move of the match. Fujii won the series with three wins and one loss.