月: 2025年10月

1. Finance officials from the Group of 20 economies say that disruptions to global supply chains pose a potential risk to growth.
2. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Japan Innovation Party have held talks over forming a possible coalition government.
3. People in northeastern Japan are on the alert after a series of bear attacks. The incidents have occurred in places where people lead their daily lives or go to relax.

1. US news website Axios says Israel has warned the administration of US President Donald Trump that the Gaza peace plan could stall if Hamas does not return the remains of dead Israeli hostages. Axios quoted Israeli and US officials as saying Israel told Washington on Wednesday that the Islamic group is not doing enough to recover the bodies, and the Gaza deal cannot move into the next phase until that changes.
2. Sumo fans in Europe and elsewhere are gathering at the Royal Albert Hall in central London for a rare overseas tournament. Sumo rikishi, or wrestlers, have flown out of Japan for a tournament abroad for the first time in 20 years, while London is hosting a sumo tournament for the first time in 34 years. The five-day Grand Sumo Tournament kicked off on Wednesday.
3. Japan’s political maneuvering has intensified ahead of the Diet vote on the country’s next prime minister. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has asked the opposition Japan Innovation Party, or JIP, to support its candidate and join the ruling coalition. Political party leaders have held a series of meetings since Komeito announced last week it was withdrawing from the ruling coalition. Noda Yoshihiko, the head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, or CDP, met his opposition counterparts from the JIP and the Democratic Party for the People, to seek cooperation to field a unified opposition candidate.

1. A survey by Japan’s labor ministry has found that the increase in average wages hit a record high this year since record-keeping began in its current form in 1999.
2. In the latest NHK poll, 52 percent of respondents said they have expectations for the newly elected leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Takaichi Sanae, while 44 percent said they do not.
3. The International Monetary Fund raised its global economic growth forecast for this year, saying US import tariffs have had limited effect so far. But it warns the tariffs and resulting trade tensions still pose significant risks to overall economic stability.

1. The head of the United Nations refugee agency is hopeful that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will help to achieve a lasting peace. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi spoke to NHK during his visit to Japan on Monday. He said that as the former head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, he was “very, very relieved and happy” about the ceasefire, which he called a “breakthrough.”
2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has condemned the Chinese Communist Party for recently detaining dozens of leaders of the unrecognized Zion Church in China. In a statement issued on Sunday, Rubio called for the immediate release of the detained church leaders. According to Weiquanwang, a website that supports human rights activities in China, since October 9 about 30 members of the church have either been detained or gone missing.
3. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes to visit Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump on Friday. The topics at the summit are likely to include the possible provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States to Ukraine.

1. The Israeli government has announced that some of the living hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip have been released and handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli military says seven hostages have been freed on Monday. This follows a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Friday under a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. More hostages are expected to be released later in the day. The freed hostages will later be reunited with their families.
2. The Smithsonian Institution has temporarily closed its museums in Washington DC amid the US government shutdown. The Smithsonian had used prior-year funds to remain open since the shutdown began on October 1. But it decided to temporarily close the museums from Sunday, as the shutdown drags on.
3. The 2025 World Expo in Osaka will close on Monday with a ceremony to be attended by Crown Prince and Princess Akishino, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and other dignitaries. The Expo opened in April, centering on the theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” A total of 158 countries and territories as well as seven international organizations have been taking part. The closing ceremony will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the exhibition’s venue on the artificial island of Yumeshima.

1. The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck near the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Officials say there is not longer a threat of tsunami.
2. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was responsible for shooting down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that killed 38 people last year. He said the crash was a “tragedy,” and that technical failures in the Russian air defense system were to blame. Putin made the remark at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday.
3. Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai has been named the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. The 71-year-old writer was born in Hungary and studied law and literature at university.

1. The Israeli government is expected to convene a Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon to formally approve a ceasefire and hostage release deal with the Islamic group Hamas. The two sides agreed to the first phase of the US-proposed peace plan for the Gaza Strip in the latest round of indirect talks that began in Egypt on Monday. Egypt is one of the mediators for the negotiations. US President Donald Trump announced on social media on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had both signed off on the first phase of his peace plan.
2. Japanese scientist Kitagawa Susumu, one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, says he hopes to tell people in an easy-to-understand way about the molecular materials he has created. Kitagawa and two other scientists were selected for the prize on Wednesday. They were recognized for developing “a new form of molecular architecture” by making new substances with extremely tiny holes. The substances are called metal-organic frameworks.
3. Real wages in Japan are down for the eighth straight month as price rises continue to outpace pay growth. Preliminary data released by the labor ministry on Wednesday show inflation-adjusted pay in August fell by 1.4 percent from the same month last year.

1. Japan posted a current account surplus for the seventh straight month in August. That’s largely due to a drop in prices for energy imports, such as crude oil and natural gas.
2. NHK has learned that a hacker group has claimed responsibility for the theft of data from Japanese beer and beverage giant Asahi Group Holdings. Asahi has been suffering a major system outage since September 29 due to a ransomware cyberattack. Its group companies in Japan became unable to process orders, ship their products or handle inquiries from customers.
3. Children on an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, have been going door to door collecting sweet potatoes and treats in a local custom to mark the mid-autumn harvest moon. The tradition has been passed down for many years in Tomiemachi in Goto City. Children visit homes chanting “Imowa-mandakana”, which means “Are the potatoes ready?”

1. Japanese scientist Sakaguchi Shimon has expressed hope that his winning of the Nobel Prize will lead to further progress in studies of the immune system. Sakaguchi and two American scientists were named winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday. They were honored for their groundbreaking achievements in immunology, including the discovery of regulatory T cells that prevent immune cells from attacking the body.
2. Students and staff at the University of Osaka have celebrated the awarding of the Nobel Prize to scientist Sakaguchi Shimon, who serves there as a specially appointed professor.
3. A study by a global organization shows that elementary and junior high school teachers in Japan work the longest hours in the world. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released the results of its 2024 survey on Tuesday. The study showed that while elementary school teachers around the world worked an average of 40.4 hours a week, those in Japan stayed on the job for 52.1 hours. That was followed by New Zealand at 50.6 hours and Australia at 46.3 hours.

1. US President Donald Trump has pressed the Islamic group Hamas to accept the 20-point ceasefire plan he announced last week. Trump replied “Complete obliteration!” when asked by CNN via text message on Saturday what would happen if Hamas insists on staying in power in the Gaza Strip.
2. There is just one week to go until the World Expo in Osaka draws to a close. Organizers are bracing for a surge in last-minute traffic. They are also looking ahead to preserve the legacy of the 6-month event.
3. The Nobel Prize winners for 2025 are set to be announced this week. The prizes were created by dynamite inventor Afred Nobel. They are awarded to people who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind during the preceding year.