News Events

What world leaders' names do you know?
Would you recognize their faces?
Are any of them women?
What ex-presidents and prime ministers do you know?

What famous people have died recently?
How did Michael Jackson die?
Why was Noriko Sakai arrested? What did she do?

What political parties do you know? in Japan? in the United States? in other countries?
What is your image of those parties?
Who are their most prominent members?
What three parties are in the new coalition government?
What do you hope they will do?
Are they proposing an eco car tax break?
What changes or policies are contained in the Democratic Party's manifesto?
What did Aso accomplish as Prime Minister?

Has Prime Minister Hatoyama taken any trips abroad? Where?
What was the purpose of his trip?
Have any members of his cabinet gone abroad?

Who can you name in the Obama administration?

Are you afraid of getting swine flu?

What records has Ichiro achieved in the Major League?
Was he thrown out of a game recently? Why?

Have there been any earthquakes recently? Where?
What rich and powerful business people do you know?
What are the major companies in each industry?
What government officials control the economy?
How long do you think the world-wide depression will continue?
Which country is the poorest in the world?

Have there been any important political or economic meetings recently?

Is the world economy growing? the world population?
How long can the population and economy continue to grow?

Are any wars going on now? In what countries?
Who is the Secretary-General of the United Nations? What country is he from?

1. Can you name any foreign world leaders?

Hit: Yes, President Obama.

1st: He is the first black President of the United States and one of the youngest.
2nd: He promised the voters change they could believe in. Now his is trying to get Congress to pass health care reform.
3rd: He has two daughters. They bought a poodle.

2. What happened to Noriko Sakai?

Hit: She was arrested for possession and use of drugs.

1st: Her husband got her hooked on stimulants.
2nd: When he was arrested, she ran away with their son.
3rd: But a week later after entrusting her son to friends, she turned herself in to police.
Hmrun: Police held and questioned her for about a month, then allowed her to post bail.

3. Have there been any earthquakes recently?

Hit: Yes, two. One near Samoa and one in Indonesia.

1st: The Samoan earthquake generated two tidal waves.
2nd: Whole villages were swept away and more than 100 people died.

1st: The Indonesian earthquake registered 7.6 on the Richter scale.
2nd: Many people are trapped under collapsed buildings and missing.
3rd: The death toll is expected to reach 4,000 or more.

4. Have any famous people died recently?

Hit: Yes, Michael Jackson and Shoichi Nakagawa.

1st: Both died of heart attacks.

2nd: Nakagawa, age 56, was a former Finance Minister.
3rd: He resigned after appearing drunk at a news conference and lost re-election.

2nd: Michael Jackson, age 50, was a super star from the 1980s.
3rd: He was getting ready to go on a final tour as the King of Pop.
Hmrun: The cause of his heart attack was an injection of an anesthetic to help him sleep.

Do you like to watch the news on TV? listen to news on the radio?
Do you read the newspaper? weekly magazines? Internet news sites?
What section of the newspaper do you read first?
Do you read the political page? the editorial page? the sports page?
Do you read sports newspapers? Chunichi Sports? Tokyo Sports?

What news have you heard recently? What news are you interested in?

Q1. What have been the biggest news stories of this (last) year?

1. kidnapped Japanese returned to Japan the Great Tokai Earthquake coming soon weapons inspection in Iraq Major League Baseball

Was there any good news this (last) year? What? any sad news?
Do you talk to friends about the news?
What news events do you remember from your childhood?
What were the most important events of 1995? 2001? 2004? 2005?
What historical news events can you recall?

Do you want to know about the private lives of famous people?
Q2. Who? What would you like to know?

( +alpha= ) Ayumi Hamasaki Mariah Carey Mr. and Mrs. Beckham Yuko Ogura o= what nail polish she uses who she's going to marry when they're going to get a divorce when they're going to come back to Japan

Are you interested in world news? national news? local news?
Have you or someone you know ever been involved in some news event? appeared in the news?

World News
Are you interested in the Japanese Imperial Family?
How old is Prince Hisahito?
Who can you name in the British Royal Family?
What are the two young princes doing these days?

Why did the U.S. and Britain attack Iraq? Afghanistan?
What would you do in Iraq if you were the President?
Are there any wars or armed conflict going on now?
Are any new countries developing weapons of mass destruction? conducting nuclear tests?
What is Kim Jong-il's government doing about the abduction of Japanese citizens?

Were any new presidents or prime ministers elected?
Who do you think will run for President of the United States in 2012? Hillary Clinton? Rudy Giuliani?

Terrorist Attacks
Have there been any massacres, assassinations, or other terrorist attacks in the news?

Q3. Where and when did the attacks take place?

3a. Bali Kenya New York City and Arlington, VA 3b. last month this week last year

Why did terrorists choose that particular target?
How many people were killed or injured? How many were Japanese?
How would you feel if one of the victims was your friend or a member of your family?
Who were the terrorists? What happened to them?

Japanese Politics
What politicians do you know? Name them.
What ministries can you name?
Who is the Prime Minister of Japan? the Foreign Minister? Minister of Finance?
Which members of the Cabinet do you know?
What good policies did Junichiro Koizumi and his administration establish? Any bad policies?
Are you glad that Japanese troops were sent to Iraq?

Have there been any general elections recently? upper house elections?
How do you feel about the Aso administration?
Will any government policies change?
What has happened to Abe's plans to reform Japanese education and make Japan a "beautiful" country?

Q4. Who do you think will be the next Prime Minister?

4. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Minister of Finance Taniguchi Minister of Trade and Industry Nakagawa Foreign Minister Kawaguchi Minister of Education Kawamura

Are other countries complaining about anything? visits to Yasukuni Shrine? history textbooks?

Accidents and Incidents

Q5. Has there been any biga traffican industrial a nuclear accident recently?

5. Yes, two cars collided head on. Yes, an explosion at a power plant. Yes, a radioactive leak.

What caused the accident? How many people were hurt? killed?
Did any of the victims file suit? Was it settled out of court?
How much did the defendant have to pay?
What are some major causes of traffic accidents?
Is drunk driving the number one cause?
Was the paparachi really responsible for Princess Diana's death?

Q6. Has there been an incidenta suicidea crime a war recently?

6. Yes, a man jumped off a building. Yes, a woman was murdered. Yes, America attacked Afghanistan.

How have false safety reports and sub-standard construction affected the building industry?
Who was responsible for the false reports?

Have there been any cases of sexual harrassment, stalking, child abuse? any murders?
What happened? Why? Was the anyone arrested?
Has the case gone to trial? What was the verdict?
How would you describe the criminal? the victim?
Have there been any suicides? Who committed suicide? Why?

Economics
Will stock prices rise? the Dow Jones? the Nikkei average?
Is the yen exchange rate going to go up, or down?
What is the unemployment rate these days?

Have any companies gone bankrupt recently?
Which companies may be next?
What will happen to their employees?
If you lost your job, what would you do?
Do you own any stock?

Entertainment News
What celebrities have come to Japan recently?
Will Brad PittLeonardo Dicaprio Tiger Woods come this year?
Why did Mr. Children get back together again?
Will Beckham and Victoria Miho Kanno and Takashi Tom and Penelope break up?

Q7. Who will be next to get married? divorced? pregnant?

7. Ayu and Nagase will get married. Brad Pitt and Angelina Joli will get divorced. Paris Hilton will get pregnant.

Who is getting divorced? from whom? Why? Do they have children?
Who is getting married? to whom? When and where did they meet?
How did they fall in love? Is the woman pregnant?
How do you feel about giving birth in your 30s? 40s?

Have any famous people died or become seriously ill?

Who was responsible for Michael Jackson's's death?
Do they have cancer? What kind? How much time have they got left?
Do they have AIDS? some other virus? liver disease? heart disease?
Did they die of heart attack? How old were they?
Why were they famous? Do they have any family?

Have there been any interesting photo collections recently?
Have any famous people been arrested? for what?
How long was Noriko Sakai in jail?
Have any celebrity babies been born recently?
What did the parents name their baby?

Are any famous entertainers attending a university? Which university?
Did they get in fairly? Will they study seriously?

Health
Have there been any recent outbreaks of disease? O-157? flu? ebola virus?
How many people have died of swine flu in Japan? in the U.S.?
Is a pandemic outbreak of H5N1 bird flu expected this year?
How many people have AIDS now? Where are they located?
Are they getting effective medical treatment?
Has anyone become sick from watching TV? Who? When?
What were they watching?

Environment
Have there been any big storms? floods? famines? earthquakes?
Where was the earthquake? How big was it?
How many points did it register on the Richter scale?
What areas were affected by the typhoon? the huricane? the flood? tornadoes?
Was anyone injured or killed?
How many people are affected by the famine? How many are starving to death?
Are you concerned about dioxin? Why?

Science
Did you watch the launching of the spaceshuttle?
Who is Takao Doi? Do you want to travel into outer space?
What is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) doing these days?
When will the space station be built? go into operation?
How many stations are there?
When will he return from space?
How many people have been in space so far?
How much does it cost to send a person into space?
Did you watch the meteor shower?