Overview
- Sapporo’s Central Police re-arrested a 25-year-old childcare worker from Yakumo on suspicion of secretly filming four children and saving the videos, marking his third arrest on related charges.
- Aichi Prefecture finalized a five-year plan to survey roughly 4,600 km of prefectural roads with a radar-equipped probe vehicle and will book costs in the FY2026 initial budget, a response to the Yashio road collapse and the first full-network effort in the Chubu region.
- Nagoya City University launched the Student Research Step‑Up Fund, its first fund dedicated to supporting student research, seeded with ¥10 million in donations to help undergraduates cover conference and research costs.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she will push for swift passage of the FY2026 budget and related bills when the Diet convenes on Jan. 23, and she highlighted debate over Lower House electoral-system reforms, including possible seat reductions, as well as China policy.
- The Wall Street Journal reported a CIA analysis suggesting any Venezuelan interim governance should come from regime insiders, and separate coverage said former‑head‑of‑state immunity may be a key issue in court proceedings for Nicolás Maduro, with a Panama-style precedent uncertain.