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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021

A post-Merkel postmortem

While Angela Merkel pushed the SPD to the left, she vacated so much space on the right that the far-right AfD emerged to take important votes away from the CDU.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021

Japan faces a rapidly changing Indo-Pacific strategic environment

Tokyo has witnessed several significant political, economic and military developments over the past month following the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021

How to address the Asia-Pacific’s biodiversity crisis and encourage nature-positive growth

The threat of climate change is especially acute in the Asia-Pacific, which lies at the heart of the global biodiversity crisis and is home to two-thirds of the world's population.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2021

Fumio Kishida to become Japan's PM following close LDP leadership race

The LDP veteran defeated Taro Kono, the vaccine czar and No. 1 choice for prime minister in public opinion polls, in a runoff thanks to strong backing from lawmakers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 29, 2021

Government may start process to sell ¥950 billion stake in Japan Post this week

The sale was expected in 2019 but became difficult after the value of Japan Post shares fell sharply following a scandal over improper sales practice at its insurance unit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 29, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic pushes Chinese tech giants to roll out more courier robots

More than a thousand courier robots are set to join the delivery personnel ranks over the next year as the pandemic fuels demand for contactless services.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2021

In backing Fumio Kishida, LDP opts for 'stable realist'

Criticized as bland and indecisive following his loss in the September 2020 LDP presidential race, Kishida is seen as having grown tougher and more passionate this time round.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021

Even the People’s Bank of China can’t kill Bitcoin's appeal

The bulls reckon the latest attempt by Beijing to crack down on crypto — the seventh — will fail to throttle an asset that bypasses borders and banking systems.
If the economic situation remains the same as in the past 30 years, the financially fragile basic pensions are projected to continue decreasing until fiscal 2057, with the basic pensions for people aged 65 expected to be 30% lower than the current amount.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2024

Japan's government proposes raising future basic pensions by 30%

The biggest obstacle will be whether Japan can secure stable financial resources for the measure.
The services producer price index rose 2.9% in October from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan data shows, accelerating from a 2.8% gain in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 26, 2024

Japan's steady corporate service inflation bolsters BOJ rate-hike view

The Bank of Japan is watching service-sector inflation for clues on whether demand-driven price gains are broadening enough to justify further raising interest rates.
Hong Kong's main financial district in October 2023. U.S. lawmakers say the city "has shifted from a trusted global financial center to a critical player in the deepening authoritarian axis” of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2024

Hong Kong a ‘global leader’ in financial crime, U.S. lawmakers say

The city's shift from a trusted global financial center raises questions on whether longstanding U.S. policy toward it is appropriate, they say.
An IBM research facility in Albany, New York. Despite some continuity between the first Trump administration and Biden's policies on critical and emerging technologies, the outgoing president placed more emphasis on cooperation with allies.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 26, 2024

Will Trump change course on critical and emerging tech?

Washington's policies to protect key tech fields have not just hurt China, but U.S. allies too, leading to a form of cooperation with friction whose future is uncertain.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has halted an engine combustion test of its Epsilon S rocket at its Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 26, 2024

Japan's space agency halts Epsilon S rocket engine test after fire

Footage showed a blaze breaking out shortly after the ground combustion test started at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
A thermal power plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. Policymakers suggest setting a target of cutting emissions by 60% by 2035.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024

Japanese panel suggests 60% emissions reduction target for 2035

Japan already has a goal to reduce 2013-level emissions by 46% by 2030.
A satellite image shows a suspected missile assembly building under construction, visible in the lower central part of the image, at the "February 11" plant near the city of Hamhung in North Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 26, 2024

Satellite images may show North Korea expanding missile plant, researchers say

The plant in North Korea's second-largest city is the only one known to produce solid-fuel ballistic missiles Ukrainian officials say have been used by Russian forces.
Eriko Nakamura (left) and Ryo Narita play star-crossed lovers in Shinzo Katayama’s hallucinatory romp through past and present, dreams and reality.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2024

The mind-bending melancholy of ‘Lust in the Rain’

Shinzo Katayama’s hallucinatory film boldly explores both the absurdities of wartime violence and the erotic psyche.
Zoom Video Communications has failed to impress investors with its latest sales forecast, who were expecting a bigger boost from the company’s expanded suite of products. An ongoing loss of consumers and small businesses from Zoom has also concerned investors, particularly since these customers are typically higher-margin than corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Zoom fails to impress investors with sales forecast for expanded lineup

While Zoom’s outlook met estimates, the stock had gained about 48% since the company’s last earnings report in August on optimism about the new products.
The Google campus in Mountain View, California, on May 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Google arguments draw skepticism from judge in ad tech case

The case is one of several against Google over antitrust issues.
Hong Kong's top court sided against the government on Tuesday by affirming housing and inheritance entitlements for same-sex couples.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2024

Hong Kong court affirms housing and inheritance rights for same-sex couples

Judges of the Court of Final Appeal ruled that existing policies "cannot be justified" and are "discriminatory and unconstitutional."
Vegetable intake by Japanese adults has sunk to the lowest level on record, a government survey shows.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 26, 2024

Average vegetable intake among adults in Japan sinks to record low

By age group, the average vegetable intake was lowest among respondents in their 20s. The older the respondents, the more vegetables they consumed.
The U.S. federal prosecutors' indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani over an alleged bribery plot last week has sent ripples across the globe.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 26, 2024

Japan’s SBI follows Nomura in disclosing Adani funds exposure

The moves underscore how U.S. federal prosecutors’ indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani over an alleged bribery plot has sent ripples across the globe.
The tech giants behind Google and Facebook are asking the Australian government to postpone a ban on most forms of social media for children under the age of 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Google and Meta urge Australia to delay bill on social media ban for children

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government wants to pass the bill into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
Cardboard beds at a designated evacuation shelter in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31, following the Noto earthquake
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024

Citing Noto quake, experts urge Japan to bolster disaster shelters

Key recommendations from a government task force include the provision of cardboard beds and adequate cooking and toilet facilities.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight