2025-05-16 21:51:00
Regarding Japan's flagship rocket, the H3, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced that it will postpone the final test scheduled for this month for a new launch format that keeps costs down by not using auxiliary rockets. The reason given is that data different from what was expected was found during the inspection work for the test, and it is being evaluated in detail.
2025-05-16 21:38:00
US President Donald Trump has completed a four-day visit to the Middle East and is on his way home to Washington from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
2025-05-16 19:26:00
In response to the collapse of a high-rise building under construction in neighboring Thailand following the major earthquake in Myanmar, local Thai police had obtained arrest warrants for 17 people, including executives of companies involved in the construction, for allegedly building a building that did not meet safety standards. On the 16th, 15 of these people turned themselves in to police, and attention is now focused on whether progress will be made in identifying the cause of the collapse.
2025-05-16 19:15:00
In the accident where an Air Self-Defense Force training aircraft crashed into a pond in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and two crew members are missing, the Ministry of Defense announced just before 7 p.m. on the 16th that "something resembling a crew member was found and transported to Komaki Air Base." The ministry said it is currently investigating the details of the incident.
2025-05-16 18:49:00
In a hit-and-run incident in Misato City, Saitama Prefecture, in which four elementary school students were injured, police are interviewing one person believed to have been in the car that fled the scene and are investigating the circumstances at the time, according to an interview with a person involved in the investigation. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the other person believed to have been the driver are unknown, and police are continuing to search for him.
2025-05-16 17:39:00
Amid concerns that the existence of UFOs (unidentified flying objects) poses a security issue, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the 16th called on the Ministry of Defense to establish a specialized organization to collect and analyze information.
2025-05-16 17:39:00
The Imperial Household Agency revealed that the Emperor Emeritus, who was diagnosed with insufficient blood flow to his heart muscles when subjected to a certain level of exercise, has resumed exercise to maintain his muscle strength, although at a reduced volume and duration, from the day after he was discharged from hospital.
2025-05-16 16:40:00
Regarding the next management structure of Fuji Media Holdings, the parent company of Fuji Television, the company decided at the board of directors meeting on the 16th to add four more people, including Sawada Takashi, former president of convenience store giant FamilyMart, to the list of director candidates independently proposed by the investment fund, a major shareholder. Regarding the next directors of Fuji Television's parent company, the company proposed seven people, including Fuji Television President Shimizu Kenji, while the investment fund, a major shareholder, Dalton Investments, independently proposed 12 people, including Kitao Yoshitaka, president of SBI Holdings, as director candidates. If the personnel proposals of both the company and the fund are proposed at the general shareholders' meeting next month, there is a possibility that a proxy fight will take place over the appointment of directors, and the focus will be on the fund's future response.
2025-05-16 15:49:00
For many years, the question of how a calico cat's fur color is determined has remained a mystery, but researchers at Kyushu University and other institutions have announced that they have identified the gene that determines the cat's fur color.
2025-05-16 15:48:00
On the 16th, Toyoaki Nakamura, a member of the Bank of Japan's Board of Directors involved in deciding monetary policy, gave a speech in Fukuoka City, in which he expressed the view that further interest rate hikes should be considered more carefully, as raising the policy interest rate could suppress consumption and investment amid the spreading impact of tariff measures imposed by the Trump administration in the United States.
2025-05-16 15:39:00
A meeting was held by officials of the Liberal Democratic Party's Tax System Research Council to discuss the treatment of the consumption tax, with attendees pointing out that the tax rate reduction advocated by the opposition parties is unrealistic.
2025-05-16 14:34:00
The ranking of JASRAC's music copyright fees for the most listened to or sung songs on music streaming services and karaoke last year has been announced, with YOASOBI's "Idol" coming in first for the second year in a row.
2025-05-16 14:26:00
To mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea this year, the governments of Japan and South Korea are working to set up dedicated lanes at some airports for about a month next month to shorten the time it takes for citizens of both countries to undergo immigration checks.
2025-05-16 13:43:00
Regarding the issue of a subsidiary of Japan Airport Terminal Co., which operates the terminal building at Haneda Airport, providing benefits to a company whose president is the eldest son of a former member of the House of Representatives, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plans to request reports from airport building operators across the country on whether there have been any inappropriate transactions between the eldest son's company and others.
2025-05-16 13:38:00
A public opinion poll conducted in South Korea showed that 51% of people supported Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition candidate, in the presidential election to be held on June 3rd, while 29% supported Kim Moon-soo, the ruling party candidate.
2025-05-16 13:15:00
It was reported in some media that Liberal Democratic Party Senator Fusae Ota had asked local assembly members for support before the Upper House election six years ago, offering to provide funds in return. Ota denied any such allegations.
2025-05-16 13:12:00
A bill to introduce "active cyber defense" to prevent cyber attacks before they occur was passed and enacted in the House of Councillors plenary session with a majority vote in favor from both the ruling and opposition parties.
2025-05-16 12:52:00
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers in Major League Baseball hit his 15th home run of the season in two consecutive at-bats in a game against the Athletics on the 15th.
2025-05-16 12:05:00
On the 16th, the Nikkei average fell slightly as sell orders were placed mainly on export-related stocks due to the yen's appreciation against the Tokyo stock market and foreign exchange market.
2025-05-16 12:01:00
On the morning of the 16th, a train collided with a light truck in Matsuura City, Nagasaki Prefecture, killing a man in his 70s who was driving the light truck.
2025-05-16 11:01:00
The government has decided to send Liberal Democratic Party Chief Advisor Taro Aso as a special envoy to the mass celebrating the inauguration of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.
2025-05-16 11:01:00
At 11:00 a.m. on the 16th, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that "the rainy season appears to have begun in southern Kyushu." The start of the rainy season in southern Kyushu is 14 days earlier than average and 23 days earlier than last year. The start of the rainy season has not yet been announced for Okinawa and Amami, and this is the first time since the Japan Meteorological Agency began keeping statistics in 1951 that the rainy season has begun earlier in the country in southern Kyushu.
2025-05-16 10:15:00
In Major League Baseball, Orioles pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano took the mound against the Twins, throwing 103 pitches, the most since moving to the major leagues, and giving up only four runs through the seventh inning.However, he did not receive support from his team's batting lineup and suffered his third loss of the season.
2025-05-16 10:07:00
In response to concerns that the released stockpiled rice is not being distributed sufficiently, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officially announced improvement measures on the 16th to facilitate smooth distribution. The main pillars of the measures include extending the deadline for buying back the same amount of stockpiled rice sold from the current "within one year in principle" to "within five years in principle," with the aim of easing concerns about the buyback and making it easier to distribute stockpiled rice.
2025-05-16 09:15:00
GDP (gross domestic product) for the January-March 2025 period compared to the previous three months was down 0.7% on a real annualized basis, marking the first negative growth in four quarters.
2025-05-16 09:02:00
A bill related to pension system reform, which the government and the Liberal Democratic Party have had difficulty in coordinating, was approved by the Cabinet on the 16th. The bill's main pillars include the abolition of the wage requirement known as the "1.06 million yen annual income barrier" to make it easier for part-time workers to join the Employees' Pension Insurance, and the government plans to pass the bill in the current Diet session.
2025-05-16 07:33:00
In the early hours of the 16th, two men broke into a precious metals buying store in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, stole gift certificates, hit the store manager with something like a crowbar, and fled. One of the men, believed to have been involved in the incident, was soon arrested, and police are investigating the whereabouts of the other man as a case of robbery and assault.
2025-05-16 07:20:00
US President Trump, who is currently on a tour of the Middle East, said at his final stop, "I'm leaving tomorrow with an undetermined destination, but I'll probably return to Washington," with direct talks between Ukraine and Russia in mind. President Trump has often mentioned the possibility of heading to Turkey himself, where a proposal to hold direct talks has been made, and his actions are attracting attention.
2025-05-16 07:00:00
On the 15th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would send a delegation to Istanbul, Turkey, to hold direct talks with Russia. If face-to-face talks between the two countries are realized, it will be the first since March 2022, immediately after Russia began its military invasion.
2025-05-16 06:30:00
American retail giant Walmart has predicted that price hikes are unavoidable, as it will be difficult to absorb all of the increased costs caused by the Trump administration's tariffs.
2025-05-16 06:11:00
In a case where a group of Vietnamese people were arrested for registering other people's credit card information on their smartphones and abusing a system called "offline payment" to purchase large quantities of goods, it was revealed that the members of the group put their smartphones into "airplane mode" to block communications and repeatedly made fraudulent payments. The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the possibility that they may have aimed to delay a response by preventing notification to payment companies and cardholders.
2025-05-16 05:48:00
Regarding the US tariff measures, the government is considering a plan for Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa to visit Washington later next week for the third round of ministerial negotiations. The government plans to expedite the creation of a strategy to achieve concrete results, including paving the way for a review of tariffs on automobiles in the next round of negotiations.
2025-05-16 05:43:00
On the 14th, in Misato City, Saitama Prefecture, a hit-and-run incident that left four elementary school students injured, the vehicle that escaped was found in a residential parking lot near the scene on the 15th. The car had been seen regularly entering and leaving the parking lot, and police are investigating further to see if there are any clues to the two missing passengers.
2025-05-16 05:25:00
Israel, which continues to attack the Islamic organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip in Palestine, is reportedly planning to expand its military operations if ceasefire talks with Hamas are not concluded by the end of U.S. President Trump's Middle East visit, and the international community is growing concerned about an increase in civilian casualties.
2025-05-16 05:21:00
The Self-Defense Forces conducted a search through the night and into the morning of the 16th for the Air Self-Defense Forces' training aircraft that crashed into a pond in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, but have not yet found the two crew members. The aircraft rapidly lost altitude and crashed about one minute after takeoff, and the cause of the accident is being investigated, including the possibility of engine trouble.
2025-05-16 04:43:00
In an effort to solve the technical issue that makes it difficult to see LCD screens on car navigation systems and other devices when wearing polarized sunglasses, a group at Keio University has developed a special film that they hope to commercialize in the future.
