1. Overseas-bound travelers are crowding an international airport in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi, ahead of the year-end and New Year holidays. Airport officials say that on Friday more than 8,200 people had booked departures from the Chubu Centrair International Airport. Outbound travel is expected to peak on Saturday, with nearly 9,000 bookings.
2. Japan’s government has approved a draft budget for the next fiscal year starting in April, 2025. It is the largest-ever initial draft budget in yen terms and is worth about 115.5 trillion yen, or 732 billion dollars. Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s Cabinet approved the bill on Friday. The draft budget has exceeded the 110 trillion yen-mark for the third consecutive year.
3. Multiple media outlets say an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was downed by a Russian air defense system. Reuters and other media outlets broke the news on Thursday. They quoted sources in Azerbaijan.
日: 2024年12月28日
December 26, Thursday, 2024
1. Japan Airlines says its systems have been restored following a glitch caused a cyberattack on Thursday morning. It adds that sales of tickets for Thursday flights have resumed. JAL says the systems were back and running by 2:20 p.m. on Thursday.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Japan will continue working with Ukraine to realize a just and lasting peace as soon as possible. The two leaders talked by phone for over half an hour on Wednesday. Ishiba expressed his respect for Zelenskyy, saying he is fighting for his country. Ishiba stressed that Japan will never waver in its position of standing with Ukraine. 3. Authorities in Kazakhstan say 38 people have died in the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet in the country’s west on Wednesday. Officials at the Azerbaijani foreign ministry and others said the aircraft went down and burst into flames near an airport in Aktau on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. They added that the plane was carrying 62 passengers and five crewmembers.