月: 2024年12月

1. US President-elect Donald Trump has saic that a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru could take place before his inauguration if that is the wish of the Japanese side. Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday. It was his first news conference since the November presidential election. 2. US President-elect Donald Trump announced on social media on Monday that he has picked George Glass to be the next US ambassador to Japan. Trump said that as a former investment bank president, Glass will bring his business acumen to the ambassadorial role. Trump also introduced Glass as having been the US ambassador to Portugal during his first term.
3. US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group will invest $100 billion to boost the economy and create at least 100,000 jobs. Trump made the announcement at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday. He was joined by SoftBank CEO Son Masayoshi.

1. US President Donald Trump has met with Abe Akie, the widow of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Her visit has gained attention as world leaders seek meetings with Trump. US media outlet CNN reports that Trump and Akie have stayed in touch since her husband’s assassination two years ago. The visit was reportedly arranged in one of their conversations, and not through a diplomatic channel. 2. South Korea’s joint investigation unit says it will ask President Yoon Suk-yeol to appear for questioning over his short-lived declaration of martial law. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reports that the team will ask Yoon to appear at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. It says Yoon will be questioned on suspicions of internal insurrection and abuse of power.
3. Post offices across Japan started accepting New Year’s greeting cards on Sunday and many people are now dropping them off. But the custom is threatened by online communication and higher card prices. Japan Post says it has issued just over a billion cards so far. That’s a 25 percent decline from a year earlier and the lowest number since 2004, when comparable data became available.

1. US President Joe Biden has pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes, and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others. Biden announced on Thursday that he was granting pardons to the 39 who have shown successful rehabilitation, as well as 1,499 commutations. The White House says these actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.
2. A high court in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has ruled that not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The Fukuoka High Court handed down the decision on Friday on lawsuits filed by three couples in Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures. The plaintiffs sued the state, claiming the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Six similar lawsuits have been filed in five locations in Japan. The Fukuoka High Court became the third high court to rule that the ban is unconstitutional. It dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for damages. 3. A closely watched survey on business sentiment in Japan shows an improvement among major manufacturers for the first time in two quarters. The Bank of Japan’s “Tankan” survey puts the index at plus 14. The reading released Friday was 1 point better than the previous poll. A positive number indicates that more companies are optimistic about recent business conditions than those feeling pessimistic. Much of the positive sentiment came from the auto sector, which is seeing a recovery in production.

1. A Japanese court has handed down a not-guilty verdict to a 28-year-old woman who was charged with the murder of her wealthy elderly husband six years ago. The Wakayama District Court in western Japan handed the ruling on the widow, Sudo Saki, on Thursday.
2. People in Japan have chosen the Chinese character meaning “gold” or “money” as the kanji that best symbolizes this year. Chief priest Mori Seihan of Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto City wrote the kanji “Kin,” which can also be read as “kane,” with a brush on a large sheet of paper.
3. Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings has picked the great-grandson of its founder to be its new president. Torii Nobuhiro will be the first person from the founding family to assume the top post in about 10 years.

1. Syria’s newly appointed interim prime minister says he held a Cabinet meeting days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. Mohammed al-Bashir told Syrian state-run media and other outlets that the meeting was joined by ministers from the Assad administration.
2. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of joint efforts among Japan, the United States and Australia to upgrade the operational capabilities of their forces. 3. Nippon Life Insurance says it will acquire Resolution Life Group Holdings for 8.2 billion dollars. It’s the largest takeover by a Japanese insurer. Bermuda-based Resolution runs insurance businesses globally, including the US, Europe and Australia.

1. Delegates of Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, have entered their hope of a world without nuclear weapons into a guest book in Oslo, Norway. Tanaka Terumi, Mimaki Toshiyuki and Tanaka Shigemitsu, are the three co-chairs of the Japanese organization made up of survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. Some Volkswagen employees worked shortened hours under a warning strike as union and management remain apart on proposed steps to slash costs. Talks over planned plant closures by the German carmaker are expected to continue this month. Union and management representatives held a fourth round of talks on Monday in Wolfsburg, the northern German city where the firm is headquartered.
3. Japan’s largest power generator Jera and major British oil firm BP have announced they are to combine their offshore wind power businesses. They are teaming up for greater efficiency in procurement and investment as development costs soar.

1. US President-elect Donald Trump has suggested that the United States may reduce assistance to Ukraine after he launches his new administration in January. Trump spoke about his views on major domestic and international issues in an interview with NBC television aired on Sunday. Trump said that he is trying to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, referring to “the people that are being killed, hundreds of thousands on both sides.” 2. The government of Syria has collapsed following the capture of the capital, Damascus, by anti-government forces on Sunday. Ousted President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly arrived in Moscow with his family. Syrian refugees in neighboring Lebanon expressed the hope to return to their country. Many gathered in an eastern Lebanon border town from Sunday morning. Some held the flags of anti-government forces and said they hoped to rebuild their country.
3. South Korean prosecutors say they are investigating President Yoon Suk-yeol for alleged treason and abuse of power. They are also questioning Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who they suspect advised Yoon to declare martial law.

1. The leader of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party says President Yoon Suk-yeol should be suspended from office immediately. The country’s media say his remarks effectively indicated support for the impeachment bill. Han Dong-hoon said it has been confirmed that when Yoon declared emergency martial law, he ordered the arrest of prominent politicians.
2. Anti-government forces in Syria say they have advanced into one of the major cities in the central part of the country, amid continuing fighting with government troops. The rebels claimed on social media on Thursday that they had entered the city of Hama and taken control of a prison. 3. A researcher at a Ukrainian institute says North Korean short-range ballistic missiles that Russia is using in its invasion of Ukraine are more powerful than Russian missiles.

1. The fate of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol hangs in the balance, as lawmakers are poised to vote on an impeachment motion against him on Saturday night. The ruling People Power Party says it will unite against the motion, while the main opposition Democratic Party is pushing to remove Yoon from the presidency.
2. Mexico’s government has announced the country’s largest-ever seizure of the synthetic opioid drug fentanyl. President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Wednesday that soldiers found a total of 1,100 kilograms of fentanyl pills in a house and vehicle in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. Sheinbaum said the amount totals more than 20 million doses, and stressed that the seizure resulted from a long-term investigation. 3. Foreign ministers from NATO member states have affirmed they will speed up the provision of air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine as Russia steps up its offensive. Speaking at a news conference, Secretary General Mark Rutte noted that the increasing alignment of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran highlights the global nature of existing threats, including the escalating dangers of the ongoing war in Ukraine. He added: “We must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight. We must provide enough support to change the trajectory of this conflict once and for all.”

1. Multiple South Korean media outlets have reported that opposition parties have submitted a bill to the National Assembly to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol. Yoon is under growing criticism over his declaration of emergency martial law, just hours before reversing course and lifting the decree. 2. Opposition supporters in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have continued to clash with police following the government’s announcement that it is suspending talks on joining the European Union. Mass demonstrations by people supporting EU membership continued for five days.
3. China’s foreign ministry says Chinese researchers are analyzing samples of seawater collected near Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The ministry’s spokesperson Lin Jian told said that their results will be announced soon if there is any progress.