1. Japan’s Cabinet has approved a draft budget for the next fiscal year starting April. It marks a record high of 122.3 trillion yen, or about 780 billion dollars.
2. A survey of survivors of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake in central Japan shows that two-thirds feel there has been little or no progress in recovery and reconstruction, a result similar to a survey conducted a year ago.
3. Pope Leo XIV has used his first Christmas message as the head of the Roman Catholic Church to call on “the parties involved” to advance dialogue on the situation in Ukraine.