1. The two-person race for the US Republican presidential nomination is intensifying. Both candidates are competing in New Hampshire, which is set to vote Tuesday in the latest state-by-state primary election. Former President Donald Trump faces ex-United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in a poll that is open both to members of the Republican Party and undecided voters.
2. Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have wrapped up their two-day meeting on Tuesday. The say they are leaving the central bank’s easing program unchanged. They decided to stick with the current policy to achieve sustainable and stable price gains led by stronger wage growth. The central bank will keep its short-term benchmark interest rate in negative territory, and will continue asset purchases to keep long-term rates “around zero percent.”
3. Shinkansen bullet train services on the Tohoku Hokuriku and Joetsu lines have been partially suspended, due to a power outage that occurred on Tuesday morning. JR East says the power outage occurred at around 10 a.m. It says workers found an overhead power cable dangling in an area between the stations of Ueno and Omiya.
日: 2024年1月23日
January 22, Monday, 2024
1. Officials at the weather observatory at Abashiri City in Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido say ice floes have reached the coast for the first time this season. They confirmed at 9:45 a.m. on Monday that the ice floes arrived, blocking navigation of ordinary vessels in the sea.
2. Voters in the US state of New Hampshire will have a choice between former President Donald Trump and former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s Republican primary. The contest became a one-on-one race after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Sunday that he was suspending his campaign. DeSantis said it is clear to him that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Trump another chance. He also noted that Trump is “superior” to President Joe Biden and he has his support.
3. More than 15, 000 people are still staying at shelters in Ishikawa Prefecture three weeks after a powerful earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day. Officials in the prefecture have confirmed 232 people dead and 22 others still unaccounted for.