The extraordinary session of the Diet closed on December 17th, with Prime Minister Takaichi using a press conference to stress inflation relief as her top priority, defend the government’s handling of cost-of-living pressures through a supplementary budget, reaffirm her determination to pass a bill cutting the number of lawmakers, and signal a dual-track approach toward China that combines dialogue with vigilance over security concerns. (News On Japan)

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the shelters will be in public buildings across the country.

The trial of a woman accused of urging two male followers to take their own lives opened on December 17th, with the defense arguing that she lacked criminal responsibility at the time and pleading not guilty. (News On Japan)

A fire at a private sauna in Akasaka, Tokyo, that claimed the lives of a couple in their 30s has revealed serious flaws in safety management, with the shop owner telling investigators that the control panel linked to the sauna’s emergency button had never been powered on. (News On Japan)

Tokyo has climbed to second place in the Global Power City Index, overtaking New York for the first time and ending a nine-year run in third place, according to the latest ranking released on December 17th. The index evaluates 48 major cities worldwide across six fields, including economy, cultural interaction, accessibility and livability, using a total of 72 indicators. Tokyo posted sharp gains in areas such as the number of foreign visitors and the richness of its nightlife under the cultural interaction category, while ranking first globally for the sheer number of restaurants in the livability category. (News On Japan)

Today, we explore Hiroshima, Japan. On 6th August, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on this city, reducing it almost entirely to ash in a single second. Today, it stands as a modern metropolis like any other. (Oli Barrett Travel)