Executions of Ex-Aum Members Top Jiji Press List of 10 Biggest News for Japan in 2018

December 17, 2018

Tokyo- Following are this year's top 10 news events for Japan and those for abroad, selected by Jiji Press editors, with the executions of all 13 former Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult members on death row ranking top among domestic news.

--Japan-- (1) Justice Ministry Executes All 13 Former Aum Shinrikyo Members on Death Row (2) Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn Arrested for Allegedly Underreporting Pay (3) Finance Ministry Alters Records on Land Deal with Moritomo Gakuen (4) Nation Hit by Spate of Disasters, including Heavy Rains in West, Hokkaido Quake (5) Abe Apparently Shifting Focus to Return of 2 of 4 Russian-Held Isles (6) GSDF Iraq Mission Logs Once Claimed Nonexistent Discovered, Released (7) Japanese Athletes Earn Record 13 Winter Olympic Medals in Pyeongchang Games (8) 28 Govt Agencies Pad Number of Disabled Workers by 3,700 (9) Work Style Reform Bills Enacted; Law Revised to Accept More Foreign Workers (10) BOJ Tolerates Slight Rise in 10-Year JGB Yields in Policy Fine-Tuning

--Overseas-- (1) First U.S.-N. Summit Held, in Singapore, in June (2) U.S.-China Trade Friction Intensifies (3) Leaders of 2 Koreas Agree to Denuclearize Korean Peninsula (4) U.S. Withdraws from Iran Nuclear Deal, Reimposes Sanctions on Tehran (5) S. Korea Top Court Orders Japan Firms to Compensate for Wartime Labor (6) Merkel's plan to Retire Sends Shock Waves across Europe (7) Democrats Win Back U.S. House Majority in Midterm Elections (8) Chinese Pres. Xi Cements One-Man Rule (9) Saudi Journalist Killed; Suspicion Falls on Crown Prince (10) 11-Nation TPP Free Trade Pact without U.S. Set to Go into Force

Jiji Press