投稿者: tomoyasu

1. The head of Japan’s technology and investment conglomerate SoftBank Group says artificial intelligence is set to make huge contributions to the global economy. Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi dismissed concerns about overinvestment in the technology and said he is confident the company will recoup its massive spending on AI in a short period.
2. US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Moscow to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The visit comes soon after US-Ukraine talks in Florida over the weekend. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Witkoff and Putin are expected to meet on Tuesday. Ahead of the talks in Moscow, Zelenskyy met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday. He stressed that the “territorial issue” is the most difficult.
3. The head of the International Criminal Court has urged members to stay unified in the face of pressure from the United States and Russia, saying “coercive measures” are clearly aimed at undermining the existence and reputation of the court. ICC President Akane Tomoko stressed: “The response of the Court has been absolutely unambiguous. Our independence and impartiality are our polar stars and remain unaffected. The ICC’s mandate is to try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.

1. Japan’s Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, has visited her grandparents, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, on the occasion of her 24th birthday.
2. Japan’s Tohoku University says it will raise master’s and undergraduate degree tuition for overseas students.
3. Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s vow to “work, work, work, work, work” and “female prime minister” have together won the award for Japan’s buzzword of the year for 2025.

1. Hong Kong media say the death toll from a massive fire at a high-rise residential complex has climbed to at least 94. More than 70 have been injured, with many others unaccounted for.
2. Pope Leo XIV has expressed a sense of alarm about the future of humanity during his first trip abroad as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. Tokyo’s consumer inflation remained flat in November as food prices continued to rise across the capital.

1. A massive fire at a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong has so far left 55 people dead. The blaze erupted on Wednesday in seven residential buildings over 30 stories high in the northern district of Tai Po. The fires have been brought under control in four of the buildings, but firefighters are still battling the flames in the other three.
2. The Wall Street Journal says US President Donald Trump advised Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae during their recent phone talks not to provoke China over the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty. The report said Trump suggested that Takaichi “temper the tone of her comments about Taiwan.”
3. An international conference on trade in endangered species held a vote Thursday on the protection of all types of eel. The European Union proposal that all kinds of eel, including Japanese eel, should be regulated, was rejected.

1. Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki has won promotion to the second-highest rank of Ozeki. The Japan Sumo Association made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors on Wednesday. Aonishiki earned his first grand sumo tournament title in the Kyushu tourney that ended on Sunday. He has notched 34 wins over the past three tournaments, surpassing a benchmark for promotion.
2. The United Nations is beginning the process of selecting its next secretary-general, and member states are being encouraged to nominate women for the top post. The current secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, is due to step down at the end of 2026, when he completes his second five-year term.
3. A 380-kilogram brown bear was found in a box trap Tuesday morning in Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan. Tuesday morning, the bear was found inside the trap. It filled the trap from side to side. The bear weighed 380 kilograms, was 1.9 meters in length, and had paws roughly 17 centimeters wide. It was later put down.

1. The Japanese government says there is no change to its existing position on what constitutes a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. The government decided on a written reply at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It was drawn up in response to an opposition lawmaker’s question regarding Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s recent remark on Taiwan.
2. Japan has sent a letter to the UN secretary-general to rebut China’s assertions over Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s remark on Taiwan. Takaichi told the Diet earlier this month that a possible Taiwan emergency involving the use of force by China could be considered a situation that threatens Japan’s survival.
3. Police in Thailand say they believe a woman who allegedly trafficked her 12-year-old daughter in Tokyo will be sent to Japan from Taiwan in one of two months for an investigation. The woman brought her daughter from Thailand to Japan where the mother allegedly made the girl provide sexual services at a so-called private-room massage parlor in Tokyo. The mother then left Japan and was later detained in Taiwan.

1. Aonishiki became the first sumo wrestler from Ukraine to win a grand tournament after he defeated Yokozuna Grand Champion Hoshoryu in a playoff on Sunday. Aonishiki beat Ozeki Kotozakura on the final day of the November Grand Sumo Tournament. He then faced off against Hoshoryu, as both had 12 wins and three losses. He won the match with a rear throw down. The 21-year-old, whose real name is Danylo Yavhusishyn, was promoted to the third-highest rank of Sekiwake for the Kyushu tournament. He rose to the position at a record pace, just after this 13th tournament.
2. The United States and Ukraine say they have drafted an “updated and refined” framework for a potential peace agreement, following high-level talks on Sunday. In a joint statement released after the meeting, both sides said they reaffirmed that any deal must “fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace.”
3. The annual Tori-no-ichi festival got underway at Ootori Shrine in Tokyo’s Asakusa district on Monday, drawing crowds of business owners and tourists looking to buy a traditional “lucky rake.” The Tori-no-ichi festival dates back to the Edo period, which spanned the 17th to 19th centuries, and is held across Japan each November on the tori—or rooster – days determined by the zodiac and lunar calendar. The Asakusa event is one of the largest in the country, with lines of stalls selling ornate bamboo rakes called “kumade.”

1. Russia’s top military commander has reported to President Vladimir Putin that the country’s forces have captured a strategic hub in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine.
2. Bargain hunters are flocking to an autumn ceramics festival that opened on Thursday in the town of Arita, southwestern Japan.
3. Ukraine’s presidential office said Thursday it received a new peace plan from the United Sates.

1. Fire officials in Oita City in southwestern Japan say they have brought under control a large fire that broke out in a coastal area on Tuesday evening. The head of the city’s fire department, Harada Koji, reported to a disaster taskforce meeting on Thursday afternoon that the fire was confirmed to be under control in the district of Saganoseki as of 11 a.m.
2. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has posted a photo of himself eating a Japanese-sourced sushi lunch, amid increasing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over Taiwan. In the photo posted on his social media on Thursday, Lai said both in Japanese and Chinese that “today’s lunch is sushi and miso soup.”
3. The view is growing in Japan that it could take a while to ease tensions with China. Their rift began after a comment by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae about Taiwan earlier this month. Tokyo has indicated it is trying to maintain dialogue to keep the situation from escalating.

1. NHK has learned that China has notified Japan that it is suspending imports of Japanese maritime products. This comes amid the ongoing fallout over Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s Taiwan comments. China’s notification does not reference her remarks. Instead, it reportedly cites concerns over treated and diluted water accumulated at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
2. Senior Japanese and Chinese diplomats made little headway in easing tensions between their tow countries during talks in Beijing. The relationship has been strained after a comment by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae about Taiwan earlier this month led to a sharp backlash from China. Kanai Masaaki is the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. He met on Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart Liu Jinsong.
3. Workers are busy making roasted red sea bream in central Japan’s Mie Prefecture. Sea bream are a symbol of good fortune in Japan. People offer them as year-end gifts and they’re eaten during the New Year holidays.