Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on June 19th, 2024. In a recent case involving the murder of a 17-year-old high school girl in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, two individuals have been arrested. The suspects allegedly pushed the girl off a bridge into a river in a valley, resulting in her death. During police questioning, one of the suspects in their 20s denied knowing whether the girl fell off the bridge, stating that they only left her there. Moving on to politics, the trial of a former accounting officer of the Nukaga faction within the Liberal Democratic Party will begin today at the Tokyo District Court. The former officer is facing charges of falsifying financial reports related to the faction’s political funds party. According to sources, the former officer is expected to admit to the charges brought against them. Shifting gears, an apple sorting facility equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been established in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, to address labor shortages in the apple production industry. The AI-powered device is designed to sort apples based on factors such as the size of their blemishes. Unfortunately, a tragic accident occurred in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, where a woman in her 50s using a wheelchair was fatally struck by a large truck while crossing the intersection on a pedestrian crosswalk. The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the details of the incident. In another incident last month in Nagoya’s bustling district of Sakae, two individuals in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. They allegedly drove onto the sidewalk, hitting a male cyclist with their car and fleeing the scene, leaving the victim injured. The suspects have denied the allegations against them. Turning to weather news, heavy rain has caused concerns about landslides and other disasters, despite the peak of the rainfall having passed. The Pacific side of eastern Japan, including the Izu Peninsula and Izu Islands, experienced heavy rain, with the amount of rainfall over a 12-hour period reaching a record high for June in Shizuoka Prefecture. Although the front has moved southward and the peak rainfall has subsided, the Japan Meteorological Agency continues to urge caution against potential landslides in areas affected by the heavy rain. Lastly, a report proposing revisions to disaster prevention information related to weather has been released. The current system of complex and confusing warnings and advisories will potentially be updated to include a new category called ‘danger warnings,’ in addition to the existing ‘special warnings’ and ‘warnings.’ These danger warnings would be issued for specific types of disasters, such as heavy rain and landslides. The aim is to provide clearer and more understandable information to the public during times of potential danger. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, the weather will be sunny with a maximum temperature of 29°C (84°F) and a minimum temperature of 20°C (68°F). Visit JapanDailyNews.com for the news, yen exchange rates, and a daily Japanese proverb.