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Plans are underway for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to start offering, from April, a subsidy for epidural births, which have traditionally been the exception rather than the norm in Japan. While many women welcome the news, some experts point to the limited capacity of institutions ready to offer epidurals and the potential risks of inexperienced doctors rushing to provide them. The subsidy — which Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike first proposed during her reelection bid last year — will likely cover women who live in Tokyo and give birth at institutions in the capital, where anesthesiologists or doctors versed in anesthesia are present. Source link

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said China would face severe consequences if it launches a cyberattack that causes physical destruction in the U.S., and deterring such a move should be a priority for the incoming Trump administration. Sullivan said in an interview in Washington on Monday that the U.S. has evidence that China is prepositioning for just such an attack at some point in the future, underscoring past concerns from U.S. officials. “We’ve sent a clear message to China’s leaders that if they did that — if they actually took a physically destructive cyberattack in the United States — that there would be severe consequences,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to have to continue to deter China from doing that because we have seen them setting up or positioning to be able to do that in the future. That’s something the new team will have to continue to work on internally.” Source link

BRUSSELS – Growing support for far-right parties across Europe looks set to shape migration policy in 2025 after a bumper election year in which immigration became a major political battleground. With the European Union gearing up to implement its revamped asylum pact by 2026, some countries are calling for the rules fast-tracking asylum processes and returns to be sharpened or implemented sooner. Rights groups say this would risk rolling back people’s rights to seek asylum and put them at risk of arbitrary detention and increased pushbacks by authorities operating on Europe’s external borders. Source link

Seoul – North Korea launched several suspected short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, a week after Pyongyang reported firing a new hypersonic missile system. “The South Korean military detected multiple projectiles suspected of being short-range ballistic missiles launched into the East Sea,” South Korea’s military said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. The launch came a day after Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya held talks in South Korea with top officials including South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, as the Asian neighbors seek to strengthen ties before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to office. Source link

Japan’s Morinari Watanabe is a rank outsider to become International Olympic Committee president but he hopes his “crazy idea” to host the Games in five cities at once can spark debate. The 65-year-old International Gymnastics Federation chief is one of seven candidates vying to succeed Thomas Bach as head of the IOC, with members set to decide in March. The son of a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor, Watanabe would be the first Asian in the high-profile post. Source link

Roki Sasaki’s window to sign with a major league team opens Wednesday, but the coveted Japanese right-hander has already closed the door on a few clubs, including the New York Yankees, according to multiple media reports. Per the reports, the New York Mets and Texas Rangers are also out of the running before talks begin. On Monday, the San Francisco Giants announced that they also won’t be a part of the negotiations. The Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres met with Sasaki a second time, The Athletic reported on Monday. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs have also met with the 23-year-old hurler. Sasaki’s window to sign opens Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET and runs until Jan. 23 at 5 p.m. ET, per the posting system between MLB and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB’s international amateur signing rules. If Sasaki signs, that team will have him under club control for six years before he will be eligible to test unrestricted free agency. Though he has pitched four seasons in NPB, Sasaki is classified as an international amateur because he is not yet 25 and has not played six seasons in the league. As a result, he is limited to a minor league contract subject to international signing bonus pools ranging from $5,146,200 to $7,555,500. Thanks to a fastball that frequently touches 161 kph (100 mph) and a splitter that often misses bats, Sasaki has shined while playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines of NPB since 2021. In 394⅔ innings with the club, Sasaki had 29-15 record with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts against 88 walks. Sasaki had his 45-day posting window open on Dec. 15. Source link

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake, measuring a lower 5 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, struck southwestern Japan at 9:19 p.m. on Monday evening, according to the Meteorological Agency. The quake occurred at a depth of 30 km in the Hyuganada Sea, off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. Immediately following the quake, the agency issued a tsunami advisory for the coasts of Miyazaki and Kochi prefectures. Waves of about 20 cm were recorded before the advisory was called off. Kyushu Electric Power reported no irregularities at its Sendai Nuclear Power Plant and Genkai Nuclear Power Plant. Shikoku Electric Power also reported no abnormality at its Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, according to NHK. More information: Source link

With some elections set for the summer, Yoshihiko Noda, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is looking to beef up support for local elections in a bid to build momentum for his party. Noda participated in gatherings of candidates for the assembly election for the city of Kitakyushu on Friday and Saturday to call for support. In his stump speech, Noda talked about CDP’s strategies in parliament with the minority government. Source link

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called on U.S. President Joe Biden Monday to take steps to dispel concerns about investments in the United States following his rejection of the sale of United States Steel to Nippon Steel. Ishiba made the request during a three-way virtual summit of leaders from Japan, the United States and the Philippines, he told reporters after the talks. Biden’s decision has raised “strong concerns in the business community of not only Japan but also the United States,” Ishiba said. “I strongly urged (Biden) to dispel this,” he said. Source link

Japanese companies are scrambling to improve English-language disclosures ahead of a requirement for many of them to publish financials more accessible to international investors. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Japan is teaming up with Takara Printing, a Tokyo company that offers investor relations (IR) disclosure support, to roll out services to help listed companies release English-language information from this month. “Our primary goal is to improve the international credibility of companies by facilitating engagement with various stakeholders. Through our services, we hope to contribute to the growth of Japan’s capital market,” said Ryutaro Otsuji, a partner at PwC Japan. Source link