The number of babies born in Japan continued to fall in 2019, declining by around 53,000 from the previous year to a record low 865,234, government data showed Friday. It is the first time that the annual number of newborns had dropped below 900,000. The ...

Yokota led other victims' relatives in pushing the government to resolve the abduction issue for over 10 years but died without ever seeing Megumi again.

Friday's figure brings the total COVID-19 infections in the capital to 5,343, media reports quoted Tokyo Metropolitan Government sources as saying.

The coronavirus pandemic has left Malaysia’s palm oil industry without enough workers, a shortage that could cost farmers as much as 25 percent of their annual production — a loss worth about $2.8 billion. Malaysia’s economy relies on palm oil, its most important agricultural commodity, ...

Prominent U.S. civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton told mourners on Thursday that George Floyd's fatal encounter with police and the nationwide protests his death ignited marked a reckoning for America over race and justice, demanding, "Get your knee off our necks." Memorial tributes ...

Finance Minister Taro Aso said Thursday that Japan's relatively low mortality rate from the new coronavirus reflects the country's higher "level of cultural standards." "I have received phone calls (from overseas) asking 'Do you have any drug that only you guys have?' My answer is ...

Compared with many parts of the world, Japanese protest rallies are quite orderly and peaceful.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday warned American investors against fraudulent accounting practices at China-based companies and said the Nasdaq's recent decision to tighten listing rules for such players should be "a model" for all other exchanges around the world. His remarks on ...

Penalties for repeat offenders will be up to two years in jail or a maximum fine of ¥2 million ($18,320), or both.

The planned investment, if completed, would mean Amazon acquiring a roughly 5 percent stake based on the current market value of the company.

Hong Kong protester Crystal has yet to tell her parents she has fled overseas to seek asylum in Canada, one of a growing number of residents choosing self-exile as Beijing tightens control. The 21-year-old student spent months on the front lines of the pro-democracy protests, ...

The authorities said their reasoning was that most such people are members of anti-social organizations such as organized crime syndicates.

A lavish one-year-to-go celebration is being seen by those planning the Olympic Games as inappropriate.

Joining the U.K. and Japan in emphasizing fiscal-monetary coordination, the two women put on an impresive show of financial force to get Europe past the pandemic.

Many analysts expect consumption to have bottomed out in April or May, as businesses re-open after last month's lifting of nationwide lockdowns.

Indian and Chinese forces are facing off by a glacial lake in the Himalayas that traverses their fluid frontier. The standoff at 14,000 feet (4,270 meters) is the most visible theater of conflict between the world’s two most populous nations, but it’s far from ...

Industrial conglomerates Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp, as well as Miraca Holdings subsidiary Fujirebio, said on Friday they will jointly set up a facility to produce antigen-testing kits for the coronavirus. The line would help double production of Fujirebio's testing kits, which received government approval ...

The White House, in a statement on the 31st anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, urged Beijing on Thursday to respect human rights, fulfill its commitments on Hong Kong and end persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. "The Chinese Communist Party's slaughter of unarmed Chinese ...

The chairman also indicated that a new team will be set up within Keizai Doyukai to put the proposed forum into action.

The Lancet on Thursday retracted a study that raised safety fears over the use of a drug favored by U.S. President Donald Trump to treat COVID-19, after the paper's authors said they could no longer vouch for its underlying data. It was soon followed by ...

Researchers who work in laboratories and new employees expected to acquire skills during workplace training sessions have been left in limbo.

Under the current law, people must go through multiple court proceedings before they can identify individuals who make hateful posts against them.

George Floyd's death was staged. U.S. authorities cut communications in the country's capital. People can be paid to be a "professional anarchist." False information and conspiracy theories such as these surrounding demonstrations over Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody are spreading online, sowing more mistrust ...

Tasmania wants to turn itself into a battery. The island state off the Australian mainland’s southern tip is pursuing what its leaders say is the world’s most ambitious renewable energy target, boosting hydro and wind generation to twice its own needs by 2040 and exporting ...

A project in Okinawa is aiming to help workers at risk of COVID-19 infection by offering hotel rooms and cars to help them continue with daily life

Tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba effectively admitted that the costs are excessive, saying he will make efforts to cut them "as much as possible."

The Financial Services Agency will consider temporarily easing restrictions on regional banks' investments in nonfinancial businesses as a measure to support small firms vital to local economies amid the coronavirus crisis, FSA chief Toshihide Endo told Jiji Press on Thursday. The Financial System Council, which ...

With university students having headed home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, business owners are feeling the effects of a severe labor shortage.

After clusters of COVID-19 infections were reported at care centers, the city asked some facilities to close down for two weeks.

The pandemic, the economy, race relations and foreign affairs are likely to affect the outcome of the elections, not only for the White House but also for Congress.

The ongoing pandemic isn’t the first time the U.S. has had to confront its collective pathologies.

The recent passing of "Terrace House" star Hana Kimura has focused Japan's attention on the topic of cyberbullying.

Smash Japan announced today that the 2020 edition of Fuji Rock Festival will be postponed until August 2021 due to ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19. The summer music festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 21 through 23 at the Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata, is the ...

On his formidable debut album, “Passport & Garcon,” South Korea-born rapper Moment Joon lays claim to his present home in suburban Osaka with unusual specificity.

By taking a key arts festival online, Satoshi Miyagi is finding ways to ensure that theater survives the pandemic.

The J. League's first division will finish its season on Dec. 19, the league's board of directors decided Friday. In an extraordinary session held online, the board decided the second and third divisions, the J2 and J3, would finish the following day. The J1 was originally ...

Former Olympic minister Toshiaki Endo believes a decision on the fate of the games will need to be made by next March.

The WE League has the right message, but delivering on its promises for the sport will take more than a slogan.

The former ozeki has battled back from relegation to sumo's second-lowest division.

Motor racing's all-female W Series cancelled its 2020 season on Thursday due to the COVID-19 pandemic but promised to return next year with at least two support races on the Formula One calendar. The series, which started last year, had been due to award points ...