In a statement on Sunday (Feb 22), South Korea's foreign ministry said it strongly objected to the Takeshima Day event held by Japan's Shimane prefecture and urged Japan to abolish the ceremony immediately.

It is the latest transit of the sensitive waterway by a US ally, which Chinese state-backed media said was tracked and monitored by the nation's military.

According to data from the Indonesian Financial Services Authority, outstanding peer-to-peer (P2P) loans stood at almost 90 trillion rupiah as of September 2025. Just a year prior, the figure stood at about 74.5 trillion rupiah. 

Cat Day, which is set on Feb 22 in Japan, has exploded in recent years, with companies embracing a growing market for felines, says Gearoid Reidy for Bloomberg Opinion.