Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on November 29th, 2023. In an effort to promote digitalization among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has decided to establish new guidelines outlining the steps for support. This comes as regional financial institutions and others have been pushing for the digitalization of SMEs, with some success. Moving on to our next story, in the incident where armed forces took control of a tanker in the Aden Bay off the coast of Yemen, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has revealed that a ballistic missile was fired in the vicinity of the escort ship involved in gathering information at the scene. Upon receiving the missile launch information, the escort ship immediately increased its speed to the maximum and left the area. Now let’s turn our attention to another news item. The underwater Christmas tree has been installed once again in the diving spot of Kushimoto Town in Wakayama Prefecture, known as one of the country’s top diving spots. Next, we have an update on the case of the 18-year-old woman whose body was found in Yamanashi Prefecture. It has been revealed through interviews with investigators that there were traces of her using social media accounts until last month, leading the Metropolitan Police Department to suspect that there was an attempt to fake her survival. The person she was in a relationship with, who has been arrested in another case, is also believed to have knowledge of the situation, and further investigation is underway. Shifting gears, we have news regarding the suspect involved in the case of abandoning the body of a high school girl in a rental car in Kamitsuga Town, Tochigi Prefecture last month. The police have decided to re-arrest the 28-year-old suspect on suspicion of murder, as there is evidence suggesting his involvement in the killing. Moving on, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has found that the percentage of children with a tendency towards obesity reached its highest level in many grades of elementary and middle school students last fiscal year. The ministry attributes this increase to factors such as a decrease in physical activity due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, we have the first verdict in a case involving illegal solicitation of organ transplants overseas. The Tokyo District Court has sentenced the director of a non-profit organization (NPO) to eight months in prison for arranging organ donations without obtaining permission from the government. This is the first time a court has made a judgment on the crime of illegally soliciting organ transplants overseas without permission. That’s all for today’s news. Thank you for listening to Japan Daily News. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, the weather will be sunny with a maximum temperature of 15°C and a minimum temperature of 11°C. Visit JapanDailyNews.com for the news, yen exchange rates, and a daily Japanese proverb.