December 26, Tuesday, 2023

1. Japanese automaker Daihatsu Motor suspended operations at its main assembly plant in Osaka on Tuesday. This comes after irregularities were found in safety test data. Production has now come to a halt at all four of the carmakers’ factories in Japan. The plants in Shiga, Kyoto and Oita prefectures were shut down on Monday.
2. Sources say Tokyo prosecutors have questioned Hagiuda Koichi, a former policy affairs chief of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on a voluntary basis. The move is part of an investigation into a political fundraising scandal involving the party’s largest faction, which was once led by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
3. The Japanese government has decided to impose additional sanctions against three more senior Hamas members. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved freezing the assets of the individuals, who are thought to have been in a position to use funds for terrorist activities. This follows a similar government decision in October against nine Hamas members.