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JAPAN

JAPAN / Society
Dec 17, 2019
From bad to worse: Japan slides 11 places to 121st in global gender equality ranking
The nation's attempts to create “a society in which women shine” are falling well short of its G7 peers and much of the rest of the world.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2019
'You can't go home': Monthlong escape to Ogasawara Islands a hit with teleworkers
Liner service Ogasawara Kaiun Co. is looking for participants for a 28-day, 27-night tour to the Ogasawara Islands, an archipelago of over 30 subtropical islands some 1,000 kilometers south of central Tokyo, highlighting a special chance to escape into nature.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2019
Risk that Aussies could face death penalty in Japan is holding up defense pact, report says
The capital punishment system may be an obstacle for Australia to conclude a security agreement with Japan during Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's visit in January next year, The Australian reported Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2019
Court nixes compensation claim over dispatch of Tokyo riot police to Okinawa
The Tokyo District Court rejected a claim on Monday for compensation over the Metropolitan Police Department's dispatch of anti-riot officers to guard construction work at a U.S. military facility in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2019
Japan's foreign minister hopes to restart territorial talks during Moscow trip
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who begins a five-day trip to Moscow on Tuesday, will seek to restart stalled negotiations with Russia over a territorial row.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2019
Akihiro Hatsushika of Japan's CDP opposition party suspected of sexual assault
The Metropolitan Police Department sent papers on the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Akihiro Hatsushika to public prosecutors last week over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in a taxi in May 2015, according to police sources.

ASIA PACIFIC

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2019
China's first domestically built aircraft carrier enters service 'at doorstep of South China Sea'
China announced the delivery and commissioning Tuesday of its second aircraft carrier — the first built domestically — while also revealing its name, the Shandong, state-run media reported.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2019
U.S. rejects sanctions relief for North Korea as Trump says he will 'take care of' Pyongyang's plans
The U.S. has knocked back a call to ease sanctions on North Korea despite threats of further provocations, with President Donald Trump saying he would "take care of" any threats the regime had in the works.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2019
Australian court sentences would-be airline bombers to 76 years in prison
Two brothers have been sentenced to a total of 76 years in prison by an Australian court for planning to blow up an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2019
Australian firefighters warn of uncontrollable blazes as conditions worsen
Firefighters in Australia warned Tuesday they would not be able to contain some of the 100 fires still ablaze in the country before conditions are expected to deteriorate later this week.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 17, 2019
Trump says U.S. is watching North Korea closely and would be upset if something is 'in the works'
President Donald Trump on Monday said he would be disappointed if something is "in the works" in North Korea and the United States is watching activities in the Asian nation closely.

WORLD

Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2019
Burglars nab jewelry worth $64 million from British model Tamara Ecclestone
Tamara Ecclestone, the daughter of former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, has had an estimated £50 million ($64 million) worth of jewelry stolen in an audacious raid from her west London home.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2019
Boris Johnson plans law to force EU into trade deal with U.K. by end of 2020
Britain set a hard deadline of December 2020 on Tuesday to reach a new trade deal with the European Union, betting that the prospect of another Brexit cliff-edge would force Brussels to move more quickly than usual to seal an accord.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2019
U.S. Supreme Court leaves in place ruling barring prosecution of homeless
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear Boise's defense of its policy of sometimes prosecuting homeless people for sleeping in public after a lower court found ordinances in Idaho's capital violated the U.S. Constitution's bar on cruel and unusual punishment.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2019
Rudy Giuliani associate denies hiding Russian payment and asks to stay free on bail
An associate of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Monday urged a judge to let him stay free on bail while he awaits trial, denying prosecutors' accusations that he lied about receiving a $1 million payment from Russia shortly before he was arrested.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 17, 2019
Dengue fever finds breeding ground in war-weary Yemen
Ibrahim Ali al-Jadari's four teenage daughters lie at home on intravenous drips that will soon run out as they, like tens of thousands of other Yemenis, battle a seasonal surge of dengue fever.

BUSINESS

BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 17, 2019
Fiscal policy must play key role in supporting Japan's economy, says ex-BOJ exec
Fiscal policy must play a key role in supporting the nation's economy if overseas risks threaten to derail a fragile recovery, as the central bank has little left in its policy tool kit, a former Bank of Japan executive said on Tuesday.
Nikkei hits 14-month high on U.S. rally, weaker yen
JIJI
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2019
Apa Group opens 913-room hotel in Osaka
Real estate and hotel developer Apa Group opened in Osaka on Tuesday a 32-story hotel with 913 guest rooms, making it one of the largest inns in western Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2019
Japanese securities firm SMBC Nikko to offer option of three-day workweek
SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. is planning to introduce in fiscal 2020 a system that allows employees to work three or four days a week, according to President Yoshihiko Shimizu.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2019
Honda to release Japan's first domestic 'level three' autonomous car
Honda Motor Co. will be the first automaker in Japan to release a domestically produced car with "level three" autonomy, according to sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 17, 2019
Bank of Japan's next move will be to dial back stimulus, most economists now say
The Bank of Japan's next move will be to dial back its massive stimulus, according to an increasing number of polled analysts, reflecting receding market expectations of imminent monetary easing by the central bank.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2019
Boeing's 737 crisis deepens as production stops for first time in two decades
Boeing Co. said Monday it is suspending production of its best-selling 737 Max jetliner in January, its biggest assembly-line halt in more than 20 years, as the consequences of two fatal crashes of the now-grounded aircraft look set to drag into 2020.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 17, 2019
Struggling regional banks in Japan buying riskier debt to survive
Struggling to revive profits as low yields persist, a handful of troubled regional banks are wading deeper into riskier credit such as near-junk rated overseas bonds, according to a Bloomberg survey.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2019
Cobalt fallout: Tesla and Apple among firms accused of aiding child labor in Congo
Five of the world's largest tech companies have been accused of being complicit in the death of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo forced to mine cobalt, a metal used to make telephones and computers, in a landmark lawsuit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2019
Germany to raise carbon emission price to €25 per metric ton in 2021 after pressure, sources say
Germany will raise the price for carbon dioxide emissions from transport and heating buildings to €25 ($27.56) per metric ton from 2021 after a proposed €10 price tag was criticized for being too low, government sources said on Monday.

Opinion

EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2019
A big trade win for Trump
A restoration of order to regional trade relations is welcome, but there was no reason to have to endure the uncertainty, confusion and pain in the first place.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2019
RCEP without India isn't to Japan's liking
In Japan's view, India's participation in the RCEP is crucial to prevent it from becoming a China-led trade block.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2019
The U.S. media is in the gutter with Trump
American journalism used to adhere to strict standards, then the U.S. media declared war on Donald Trump.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2019
India is abandoning its founding principles
The country's embrace of religious nationalism is trampling on a tradition of secular liberalism that has served its people well
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2019
Labour's defeat offers the left hard lessons
Some serious rethinking needs to happen if the Labour Party is not planning to be a spent, past force in British politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2019
Xi Jinping's annus horribilis
Chinese President Xi Jinping suffered major setbacks in 2019 and his prospects for 2020 appear even worse.

Sports

Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2019
Adeyami relishes another X Bowl title for Fujitsu
The Fujitsu Frontiers have built a dynasty having won their fourth straight X League championship with a 28-26 victory over the Panasonic Impulse in Monday night's Japan X Bowl at Tokyo Dome.

LIFE

Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Dec 17, 2019
What would a 'kanji of the decade' say about the state of Japan?
This year's kanji of the year is 'u4ee4,' but writer Paul Dargan posits a guess as to what the kanji of the decade might be while looking back on the annual tradition and what the top picks say about the state of the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 17, 2019
The structure 'to itta' is a great example of the ways Japanese give examples
Not to be confused with 'to iu,' the structure that uses 'to itta' can help when you're providing examples for things in a designated category.

CULTURE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / 2019 in Review
Dec 17, 2019
Creative expression stifled by 'safety concerns' in Japan
As the taboo-busting comic Joan Rivers used to say after pressing her audience's buttons, 'Can we talk?' On the evidence of this year's Aichi Triennale, if it's about World War II atrocities, the answer seems to be 'no.'

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji