January 18, Thursday, 2024

1. Japan Airlines has appointed a former flight attendant as president. She will be the first woman to lead a major airline in the country. Tottori Mitsuko is currently a senior managing executive officer. She will assume the new post on April 1.
2. The Japanese Communist Party has picked a woman as its leader for the first time in its 102-year history. The party’s current policy chief, Tamura Tomoko, was appointed as the new chairperson at its congress on Thursday. She succeeds Shii Kazuo, who had been the chairperson since 2000.
3. Russian forces are continuing their attacks on Ukraine using Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as Russia and Iran step up military cooperation. Ukraine’s Air Force said on Thursday that Russia fired 33 Iranian strike UAVs and Ukrainian forces destroyed 22 of them. The Air Force also said Russia conducted a missile attack in the eastern region of Kharkiv.