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Leaders of Japan’s political parties pose for a group photo at the start of a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Oct. 12. Sunday’s Lower House election saw the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party take a drubbing.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2024

The balance of power shifts in Japan’s politics

Despite the LDP's losses at polls, the recent election didn't exactly indicate popular support for an opposition-led government either.
Sierra Leone, ridden by Flavien Prat, wins the Breeder's Cup Classic on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Nov 3, 2024

Sierra Leone finds redemption in Breeders' Cup Classic

Fierceness finished in second while Japan's Forever Young was third.
Flags of the Khalistan separatist movement are seen on Sept. 20, 2023 at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in the parking lot three months earlier, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Sikh activists see it as freedom. India calls it terrorism.

The cause to carve out a land called Khalistan from Punjab fizzled out decades ago, but the Indian government still frames the movement as a national security threat.
Quincy Jones attends a reception in his honor at the Residence de France in Los Angeles on April 25, 2017.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 4, 2024

Quincy Jones, renaissance man of American music, dies at 91

Jones died at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family, according to a statement from his publicist.
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Poland's Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Nov 6, 2024

Gauff beats Swiatek at WTA Finals as Sabalenka earns year-end No.1

Gauff, 20, entered the contest having lost 11 of her 12 previous meetings with Swiatek.
The film character Godzilla poses on the red carpet during a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, in November 2004.  
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2024

After nearly three-quarters of a century, Godzilla’s monstrous empire is thriving

The famed Japanese monster went from serious metaphor for nuclear destruction to a kitschy pop culture icon.
Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance (left) and President-elect Donald Trump speak during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

JD Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now, he's his vice president-elect.

Trump and many of his allies see Vance's transformation as genuine, but detractors see his shift in views as a ploy to ascend the ranks of Republican politics.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

South Korean president says 'not ruling out' direct weapons to Ukraine

South Korea has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.
Indian and Bangladeshi girls rescued from sexual exploitation stand near the window of a house provided by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kolkata on Sept. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024

Trafficked: The girls sold for sex in India

A 2023 U.S. report on trafficking said that India is making "significant efforts" but still falls below minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Masayoshi Son (front, center) poses with the members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after the team won the Pacific League championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 18, 2024

Masayoshi Son’s aim for SoftBank Hawks remains, 20 years after buyout

This year, the team became Pacific League champions for the first time in four years. But its owner has loftier goals.
European Union Ambassador to Japan Jean-Eric Paquet says the bloc's unprecedented security and defense partnership recently launched with Japan is a clear reflection of Brussels' moves to “enhance and fortify ties” with its Indo-Pacific partners.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

New EU-Japan partnership to take ties to ‘next level,’ envoy to Tokyo says

It will complement existing initiatives between Tokyo and individual European states and pave the way for broader, collective measures at the EU level in critical areas.
Outgoing German Finance Minister Christian Lindner receives his dismissal certificate after being sacked by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, following a coalition crisis in the government, in Berlin on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2024

Germany’s government puts itself out of its misery

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his Finance Minister Christian Lindner over deep rifts within the government on how to revive Germany’s ailing economy.
This year is expected to be the hottest year on record, and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service predicts it will also be the first year ever to breach 1.5 C of warming.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 12, 2024

Global warming is already on the cusp of 1.5 C, new research finds

While there is nothing symbolic about the number 1.5 in particular, every extra increment of heat risks worsening climate impacts like powerful storms and drought.
Susie Wiles, Republican Donald Trump's campaign manager, attends a rally in Kinston, North Carolina, on Nov. 3.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2024

In Susie Wiles, Trump picks quiet competence for chief of staff

The longtime Florida-based Republican strategist's shrewd strategies, low profile, and work ethic are credited with helping Trump stage a stunning political comeback.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with senior adviser Susie Wiles as he speaks, following early results from the 2024 U.S. presidential election in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 12, 2024

As Donald Trump staffs up for second term, only MAGA loyalists need apply

As advisers and allies of Republican President-elect Donald Trump search for personnel to staff his coming administration, one quality is absolutely paramount: unquestioning loyalty.
SoftBank returned to the black in the three months to September, as it benefited from higher share prices of listed companies in its Vision Fund investment vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024

SoftBank back to quarterly profit with ¥1.18 trillion gain

The tech giant benefited from higher share prices of listed companies in its Vision Fund investment vehicles.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki wants to the tax-free annual income ceiling raised to ¥1.78 million ($11,410).
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2024

Japan’s key political issue rests on an enduring economic myth

Economists cast doubts on the Democratic Party for the People's push for raising the tax-free income threshold — its key demand to the ruling coalition for its support.
The streets of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in October show that the city is still struggling from the aftermath of the Jan. 1 earthquake and heavy rain in September.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Nov 15, 2024

Japan faces urgent need to boost state finances for emergencies

If a major earthquake were to strike directly beneath Tokyo, the projected damage would total around ¥107.5 trillion.
There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors looking for merger and acquisition deals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 15, 2024

Japan's newfound love of M&A makes for strange bedfellows

There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors.
A large screen shows news footage of China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe collecting a sample from the far side of the moon, in Beijing in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 16, 2024

China tests building moon base with lunar soil bricks

A cargo rocket carrying brick samples blasted off late Friday for the Tiangong space station, part of Beijing's mission to put humans on the moon by 2030.
Kenyan climate scientist Joyce Kimutai during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 16, 2024

World not listening to us, laments Kenyan climate scientist at COP29

"If the world was listening to science, maybe we wouldn't be doing these COPs," the 36-year-old Kenyan climate scientist said.
U.S. gymnastics team coach Bela Karolyi watches over a training session in Sydney in September 2000.
OLYMPICS
Nov 17, 2024

Famed gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi dies at 82

Known as a strict disciplinarian, Karolyi was a controversial figure at times.
Rice fields in the town of Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture. The water-filled paddies glistening under the sun is a symbol of a long-running effort to preserve the prefecture’s groundwater.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Nov 17, 2024

Japan's chipmaking rush pressures Kumamoto's special water supply

TSMC and others hope that support for existing projects and proper wastewater management can avoid undermining water development efforts lauded by the U.N.
Masahide Endo, chief consultant at Daiwa Institute of Research noted that Alimentation Couche-Tard's bid for Seven & I Holdings had spawned a sense of crisis in other industries over sudden takeover proposals.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2024

Japanese companies increasingly targeted in foreign M&A bids

The total value of inbound acquisitions from overseas is up about 3.7 times year on year.
Ichiro Suzuki became one of the best hitters in baseball history during his 19-year career in MLB.
BASEBALL
Nov 19, 2024

Ichiro makes debut on Hall of Fame ballot

The superstar outfielder is considered by many to be a lock to gain induction during his first year on the ballot.
Donald Trump, the then-Republican presidential candidate and now the president-elect, visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in February. His appointments to key positions in his new administration show he is moving aggressively on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024

Trump's mass deportation plan has its leaders in place

Even before Trump’s victory, Tom Homan, the former acting director for ICE, promised to "run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen.”
People look at weapons kept on display at the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2022 in Hanoi.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 19, 2024

Iran and Israel among rivals to showcase their arms at Vietnam defense expo

At the defense expo to be held in the capital Hanoi on Dec. 19-22, nearly 200 companies from 27 countries have already reserved booths.
People walk near the entrance of the venue of the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2024

Development banks seek private money for climate change fight

Development banks committed to increasing their lending to poorer countries to $120 billion a year by 2030.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in a joint military drill involving Japan, the United States, Britain and Australia at Narashino exercise field in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in January 2023.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2024

Japan hosts Five Eyes group meeting for first time

The move highlights the growing cooperation between Tokyo and its allies amid shared concerns about a rapidly deteriorating security environment.
A post-election analysis by the polling company Blueprint discovered that the top reason why American swing voters eventually supported Donald Trump over Kamal Harris was culture (+28) followed by inflation (+23).
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2024

It’s too soon to say wokeism is dead

The Republicans ran the most unwoke man in America for the presidency, Donald Trump, and were amply rewarded for it.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.