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November 24, 2025
 

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Labor unions in Japan have already made clear they will again demand bumper pay hikes, as real wage growth has remained negative despite hefty increases in recent years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 24, 2025
Early signs for 2026 wages bolster case for near-term BOJ rate hike
Sustained wage growth would underpin private consumption, giving Japan's central bank confidence to raise rates without derailing Japan's economic recovery.
Yurika Lacy in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture, with her grandfather's book and the English version she translated
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 24, 2025
Aichi Prefecture resident tells grandfather's WWII story in English
Translating notes about being a student soldier took seven years to complete, in time for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang (left) and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
China boosting international campaign against Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Only a handful of countries close to China, including Russia, appear to be supporting Beijing’s argument.
On Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang laid out at the G20 summit China’s rationale for its sweeping curbs of rare earths, then unveiled details of a global mining initiative with friendly nations.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 24, 2025
China’s Li launches charm offensive on rare earths at G20
Critical minerals became a defining theme of Africa’s first G20 summit, with sessions dedicated to the topic as European leaders grappled with supply chain issues.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) and Ukrainian Presidential Office Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak hold a news conference following their closed-door talks on a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine at the U.S. Mission in Geneva on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
U.S., Ukraine say they have an 'updated and refined' peace framework
Work remains to be done on unresolved questions, including on the role of NATO, in the plan to end Ukraine's war with Russia.
Former press officer Roberto Fico during the final rally for the Campania regional elections in Naples. Fico is the front-running candidate of Italy's center-left alliance looking to unseat Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
An anti-Meloni coalition is coming together in Italy
The alliance of parties with disparate political beliefs looks to rally behind single, strategically chosen candidates and consolidate the anti-Meloni vote.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (second from left) stands for a group photo with leaders including Chinese Premier Li Qiang (second from right) at the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
Japan-China divide widens as fears of long-lasting chill in ties grow
The cavernous gap was on full display over the weekend as any contact between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang failed to materialize at a G20 summit.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (left) meets Tsuneo Uechi, mayor of Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture (second from right) at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Yonaguni on Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2025
Takaichi government to ramp up efforts for defense of Japan's southwest
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has visited some of the islands in the region, only about a month after taking office.
People inspect a damaged building after the Israeli military said it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday.
WORLD
Nov 24, 2025
Israel says it killed Hezbollah chief of staff in Beirut strike
Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of a ceasefire in November 2024.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ​Johannesburg Expo Center for the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
Trump’s attacks push India, Brazil and South Africa closer together
The U.S. president has upended Washington’s decades of careful diplomacy to cultivate relations with the three major emerging markets.
A flooded road in London on Nov. 7. Private companies are filling the void as the U.S. government slashes science spending amid rising demand for data on extreme weather and other climate change-related risks.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 24, 2025
U.S. government pullback from climate science fuels boom for private data firms
The private data boom is also raising questions around accuracy and access for those unable to pay.
A bottle of Coldrif cough syrup, which has been linked to the deaths of multiple children.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2025
Indian officials probe whether safety lapses led to children dying from cough syrup
Despite Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s track record and regulations that require annual checks, the drugmaker’s factory had not been inspected since 2023.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2024. Bolsonaro, sentenced last September but not yet serving his term, was taken into police custody on Nov. 22.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2025
Bolsonaro says medications made him tamper with tracking device, triggering detention
A Brazil judge ordered Bolsonaro’s detention on Saturday, after more than 100 days of house arrest, citing potential flight risk.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (R), EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen (C) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) wait for a family photo with other leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
South Africa judges G20 summit a triumph of multilateralism despite U.S. no-show
Ramaphosa pushed through the declaration addressing challenges such as climate change despite objections from the U.S., which boycotted the event.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters after inspecting the Ground Self-Defense Force garrison on Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2025
Japan on track to deploy missiles to island near Taiwan, Koizumi says
Japan is planning to station medium-range surface-to-air missiles on Yonaguni, about 110 kilometers east of Taiwan, as part of a broader military build-up.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with her Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, at the Group of 20 Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2025
Takaichi embraces Meloni at Group of 20, but keeps distance from China
In a sea of dark-suited men and Group of 20 stalwarts, a bonding moment this weekend between two populist women stood out.
Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki receives the Prime Minister's Cup from Takahiro Inoue, an adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on Sunday in Fukuoka after becoming the first from his nation to win a tournament in the traditional Japanese sport.
SUMO
Nov 23, 2025
War refugee Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win sumo tournament
The 21-year-old won the Kyushu tournament after a tie-breaking victory over grand champion Hoshoryu from Mongolia.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing on Oct. 27.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2025
Top Chinese diplomat weighs in on Takaichi’s ‘shocking’ Taiwan remarks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi became the country’s highest-ranking official to weigh in on the row over comments that Japan could intervene in a Taiwan crisis.
The former Syrian Embassy behind locked gates in Washington on Nov. 14. It has symbolically reopened after 11 years while many similar buildings remain abandoned.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2025
Washington's abandoned embassies have stories to tell
Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, states are supposed to respect and protect other countries' embassies in cases where diplomatic relations are severed.
DHL Supply Chain is betting on Saudi Arabia’s push to become a regional trade gateway with a ¥23.6 billion investment in a Riyadh logistics hub.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2025
DHL bets on Saudi expansion with $150 million Riyadh hub
Saudi Arabia has loosened foreign investment rules to lure multinational corporations beyond the oil sector as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030.
Crown Princess Kiko and Prince Hisahito watch an orienteering event of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics on Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2025
Crown Princess Kiko and Prince Hisahito watch Deaflympic event
The members of the imperial family watched the final round of the orienteering event's men's relay, which included Japan and seven other teams.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about the Golden Dome missile defense shield in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in May.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2025
Delays and setbacks loom over Trump's Golden Dome missile shield
The slow progress threatens Trump's promise that the $175 billion program will be in place to protect the continental United States by 2028.
The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier strike group, including the flagship USS Gerald R. Ford, USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Mahan and USS Bainbridge, sail toward the Caribbean under F/A-18 Super Hornets and a B-52 bomber in the Atlantic Ocean on Nov. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2025
Troubled by U.S. Venezuela operation, Europeans limit intel sharing
French, Dutch and British official worry that their intel could be used for strikes that would be considered illegal in their countries.
Two men suspected of smuggling 1 ton of gold into Japan from South Korea
U.K. gold bullion bars and coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden in London.
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ¥3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.
War refugee Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win sumo tournament
Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki receives the Prime Minister's Cup from Takahiro Inoue, an adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on Sunday in Fukuoka after becoming the first from his nation to win a tournament in the traditional Japanese sport.
Americans with four-year degrees now comprise a record 25% of unemployed workers
A job fair in Fletcher, North Carolina. The unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree-holders in the U.S. rose to 2.8% in September, up a half-percentage point from a year earlier.
Top Chinese diplomat weighs in on Takaichi’s ‘shocking’ Taiwan remarks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing on Oct. 27.
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ¥3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Japanese companies advised to change mindset about investment in Africa
Bernard Laurendeau, chief of Enkopa Lab Japan, in Tokyo last month
Munetaka Murakami headlines quartet looking to move to MLB via posting system
The Swallows' Munetaka Murakami has 246 career home runs in eight NPB seasons.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.

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Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40
By Weiwen Lin