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Omar Abdullah (center), leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party, arrives to address the media outside his residence in Srinagar on Tuesday, after his election win in Indian-administered Kashmir.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade

Voters backed opposition parties to lead the Muslim-majority territory's regional assembly in the first local elections since 2014.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during an economic forum in Budapest on March 4.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip

As Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally within the European Union, Orban's nationalist government is at loggerheads with its partners on a host of issues.
Even with the success of "Crazy Rich Asians" and improvements in on-screen representation, Asian actors still comprise just 18.4% of film roles, which is an improvement compared to 3.4% in 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2024

To win back audiences, put more Asians behind the camera

The movie industry is losing out at a time when it can ill-afford to do so. Betting on Asian talent would help.
U.K. Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch (left) and Robert Jenrick after delivering speeches at the party's annual conference, in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Who are Badenoch and Jenrick, the candidates to lead U.K. Tories?

By choosing Badenoch or Jenrick, the Conservative party looks set to appeal to supporters lost to Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform U.K. party.
Just 1 in 10 researchers and 1 in 5 students at the prestigious University of Tokyo are women.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 10, 2024

Women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance with posters

Gender bias begins early in Japanese education.
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 14, 2024

Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs

Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo is a community of comedians, comedy fans and others with connections to Indonesia seeking a reminder of home.
Nobuyo Oyama
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 11, 2024

Long-time 'Doraemon' voice actor Nobuyo Oyama dies at 90

Oyama voiced the nation's beloved blue cat-robot in her own inimitable way from the time the show debuted in 1979 until 2005.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a party leaders' debate at the Upper House of parliament in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2024

Opposition party shakes up Japan’s rate debate with new inflation target

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan calls for redefining the Bank of Japan’s inflation target to “above 0%” from the current 2%.
“The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” centers on a local shrine in Ushimado’s Honmachi district, which has become home to a colony of street cats.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2024

Kazuhiro Soda embraces the wisdom of street cats

The filmmaker turns his camera closer to home in his new documentary, “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine,” and brings a community into focus.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a debate with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

Japan to ‘seriously consider’ U.N. nuke ban treaty observer status, Ishiba says

Japan, the sole country to be attacked with nuclear weapons, has faced criticism for not participating in some form in the treaty.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba chairs an Asia Zero Emission Community meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 13, 2024

Where does Shigeru Ishiba stand on the climate issue?

Ishiba appears to be charting a new course on renewable energy, especially with a nascent effort to tap Japan's bountiful geothermal potential.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks during a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

Harris baits Trump on his health records after releasing her own

Harris also took a swipe at Trump the same day for spreading false claims about the disaster response to Hurricane Helene for political gain.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a debate session with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2024

Japan’s sales tax likely to remain 10% as big parties avoid third rail

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba aims to fund social security programs without changing the current tax rate of 10%.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivers his annual State of the Nation Address, ahead of the country's Independence Day, in Jakarta on Aug. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

A decade of Joko Widodo: Popular Indonesian leader leaves rocky legacy

When Widodo steps down on Oct. 20, he will leave Indonesia in the hands of Prabowo Subianto, the former son-in-law of an authoritarian ruler.
Nobuyuki Baba, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, says the party aims to secure seats in single-seat constituencies outside the Kansai region.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 15, 2024

Nippon Ishin may cooperate with LDP coalition if it loses majority

In a recent interview, Nippon Ishin leader Nobuyuki Baba hinted at the possibility and said he will decide after seeing the results of the Oct. 27 election.
A young man waits for customers, while selling national flags and patriotic memorabilia in Karachi in August.
WORLD / Society
Oct 15, 2024

Pakistan 'vigilantes' behind rise in online blasphemy cases

Cases of online blasphemy — a crime that carries the death penalty in the country — have exploded in recent years, with arrests turning lives upside down.
Donald Trump (left) greets billionaire Elon Musk at a campaign rally for the former president, who is the Republican presidential nominee, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Elon Musk’s $75 million gift cements role as a top Trump donor

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer made seven contributions between July 3 and Sept. 5, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Yuichiro Tamaki, the head of the Democratic Party for the People, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

DPP chief noncommittal about alliances ahead of Oct. 27 polls

Yuichiro Tamaki keeps the door open for a pact with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and a team-up with the Liberal Democratic Party on individual policies.
A view of the soon-to-be-completed and sealed central detector at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), during a media tour organized by the Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Kaiping, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2024

Inside the underground lab in China tasked with solving a physics mystery

Learning more about neutrinos would offer clues to subatomic processes during the early days of the universe.
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto (right) talks with the country's outgoing leader, Joko Widodo, after the latter delivered the annual State of the Nation Address in Jakarta on Aug. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Indonesia’s new president will keep the world guessing

Eliminating hunger is one thing — ensuring the economy is able to provide enough jobs for young people as they graduate from school and university is quite another.
A billboard displaying pro-Russian slogans in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. The billboard reads: "We are the one people. We are together with Russia."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Like in magic, Moscow is playing a game of distraction

Defying common sense, the Kremlin continues to proclaim with a straight face that its attack on Ukraine was an act of self-defense.
Demonstrators burn an Indian flag and deface a placard depicting Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during a Sikh rally outside the Consulate General of India in Toronto on Sept. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

The notorious syndicate Canada says is India's proxy

Ottawa said there was "credible" evidence linking New Delhi to the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
A voting station for the general election set up at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Overseas voting for Japan's general election begins

In Beijing, a voting station was set up at a hall inside the Japanese Embassy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would face a number of obstacles to updating the Status of Forces Agreement — something that hasn’t occurred since its promulgation in 1960.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Oct 16, 2024

Ishiba's goal of revising U.S. troops pact likely long-term project

The prime minister's push to change the Status of Forces Agreement governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is unlikely to happen any time soon.
A man looks at campaign posters for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo on Tuesday. Japan faces important challenges, but there is little reason to believe this election will bring about real change.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2024

Japan goes to vote, but it’s not clear why

To smooth over those tensions, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has begun to recast his positions on many policies, moving closer to the LDP mainstream.
Gantry cranes at the Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen, China, on April 15
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024

World economy fault lines shift from prices to politics and debt

The U.S. presidential election, soaring government debt and the escalating conflict in the Middle East all hang over the global economic outlook.
Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii shakes hands with a voter in his district in Saitama Prefecture on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2024

Komeito's new leader faces trial by fire in general election

Once local allies, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai are going head-to-head for the first time ever, adding to the challenge facing Keiichi Ishii.
An attendee walks past a picture of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holding a gun and the words "Merry MAGA you filthy animal!" at the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, which the organizers call "the largest open carry rally in America," in Greeley, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

New cases of political violence roil U.S. before contentious election

There have been at least 300 cases of political violence since Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech in Osaka Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

Ruling and opposition parties focused on close races

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is on defense especially in urban areas due to a slush funds scandal involving the party.
A poster for the Voting Rewards program outlines the steps voters need to take to claim the perks on offer.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

Young Japanese encouraged to vote with deals and discounts

A return of the Voting Rewards program will allow voters to claim various perks — at restaurants, cafes and even matchmaking agencies — by submitting proof of voting,

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo