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Asako Osaki attends the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York in March.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Nov 3, 2024

How global lessons can improve prospects for women in rural Japan

Through motherhood, education and work, Asako Osaki worked to bring global standards to the front lines of gender issues.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. There is growing speculation that the central bank will push ahead with rate hikes in the coming months, particularly as the yen continues to weaken.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 23, 2024

Japan’s 40-year yield rises to highest since 2008 on Fed outlook

There is also growing speculation that the BOJ will push ahead with rate hikes in the coming months, particularly as the yen continues to weaken.
Election campaign staff rally support for their respective candidates, waving their hands from the open windows of campaign vehicles.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 4, 2024

‘Bush warbler ladies’ name bows out from Japan’s election campaigns

Workers who rally support for candidates using loudspeakers on vehicles are increasingly being referred to by a gender-neutral term.
The concept of "Buy American" has gained political traction among both leading U.S. parties, appealing to nationalist sentiments and the idea of supporting domestic jobs. But such a policy comes with real costs, monetary and otherwise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

‘Buy American’ policies don’t help Americans

Overall, the study's researchers estimate that "Buy American" provisions cost about $125,000 per job created, a relatively expensive investment.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visits Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was heavily damaged by the New Year's Day earthquake, on Oct. 5.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2024

Noto residents view upcoming election with mixed hope and resignation

Only about 16% of publicly subsidized demolition work on buildings damaged in the Jan. 1 quake in Ishikawa had been completed as of the end of September.
Wang Huning, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attends a high-level meeting on industrialization and agricultural modernization with African leaders at the National Convention Center in Beijing on Sept. 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

The man who shaped China’s strongman rule has a new job: winning Taiwan

Xi Jinping’s top adviser, Wang Huning, is credited with shaping the authoritarianism that steered China’s rise. But can he influence Taiwan?
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

As U.S. election looms, Biden aides struggle with Middle East wars

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was dispatched to the region to find a way toward stability, but there was no sign of progress.
A man votes in the Lower House election at a polling station set up at a school  in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Voters head to the polls across Japan in crucial test for ruling coalition

Recent polls have indicated the coalition might lose its majority in the powerful Lower House of parliament for the first time in 15 years.
Former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Michelle Obama makes a searing appeal to men: ‘Take our lives seriously’

Michelle Obama told her audience that Trump would further damage women’s health care, while Harris has vowed to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, walks past a monitor displaying Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of the Liberal Democratic Party. Neither party gained a majority in Sunday's general election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

A general-election postmortem

The LDP is left to pick up the pieces of Ishiba's disastrous decision to call a snap election, putting him at risk of becoming Japan's shortest-lived prime minister.
Election administration staff count ballots for the general election at a ballot station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Japan marks third lowest general-election turnout in postwar history

Low turnout typically benefit political parties with organizational power, but the LDP and partner Komeito struggled Sunday despite having powerful support bases.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, places a paper rose on an LDP candidate's name to indicate their a victory in the Lower House election, with LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Signs of revolt against Ishiba emerging within LDP

The ruling camp of the LDP and Komeito fell short of a majority in the House of Representatives in Sunday's election.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris along with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a rally on the National Mall in Washington one week before the Nov. 5 national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

The U.S. election is happening too soon

The upcoming U.S. election is unlikely to lead to national renewal or a decisive defeat of MAGA populism.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Ishiba Cabinet's approval rating sinks to around 30%

Public support for the LDP and its ruling coalition partner Komeito dropped significantly after they lost their Lower House majority on Oct. 27.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba speaks during the party's executive meeting in Osaka on Thursday as co-leader Hirofumi Yoshimura looks on.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

Nippon Ishin likely to hold leadership election after poor showing at the polls

Calls for leader Nobuyuki Baba's resignation have grown following the party's poor showing in Sunday's general election.
Officials gather at the BRICS summit in Russia on Oct. 24. It it estimated that by 2040-2050, the gross domestic product of the Group of Seven countries will be surpassed by that of emerging economies, raising questions as to whether the U.S. is prepared for this shift.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024

The U.S. is unprepared for a multipolar world

There is little acknowledgement in the U.S. that the world it now made up of multiple centers of power, which risks making Washington's foreign policy ineffective.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki’s personal YouTube channel has more than 326,000 subscribers, by far the highest number among party leaders.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

How Japan’s new kingmaker party won over young voters

The Democratic Party for the People's election gains can be traced to two different factors: its youth-oriented policies and skillful use of social media platforms.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2024

Harris and Trump nearly cross paths in final days of U.S. election campaign

The encounter was an apt illustration of how the two candidates are focusing on a handful of swing states in the final days of the campaign for president.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, face off in an election Tuesday that will have wide-ranging implications for Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024

Status quo or disruption? Breaking down the U.S. election's impact on Japan

Regardless of who wins, Washington is likely to have limited bandwidth to change tack in a significant way with its most important Asian ally.
U.K. university tuition fees for domestic students are set to rise for the first time in seven years due to a financial crisis in higher education.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2024

Britons don't pay enough to go to university

U.K. university tuition fees for domestic students are set to rise for the first time in seven years due to a financial crisis in higher education.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu speaks after winning the presidential election runoff in Chisinau on Monday. The pro-EU incumbent won a tense presidential runoff, beating her rival backed by a pro-Russian party in what she described as a "lesson in democracy."
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Moldova's pro-Western Sandu claims election win after meddling allegations

With 98% of the ballots counted, Sandu led Stoianoglo with 54.35%, the Central Election Commission said.
In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
A person walks past residents' belongings covered in mud, following heavy rains that caused floods in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, on Monday.
WORLD
Nov 5, 2024

Troops reinforce rescue efforts in flood-hit Spain as anger grows

Public anger in Spain is mounting over the disaster that has killed at least 217 people, with dozens still unaccounted for.
Meta has long faced criticism from researchers, watchdog groups and lawmakers for not fostering a healthy information ecosystem during elections across the globe.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Meta struggles to curb hate speech before U.S. vote, researchers say

The findings come as Meta has long faced criticism from researchers, watchdog groups, and lawmakers for not fostering a healthy information ecosystem.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris concluded their presidential campaigns on Monday with closing arguments that mirrored, in tone and in substance, the competing visions they have offered a deeply divided nation.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Harris and Trump conclude historic campaign with dueling rallies

Their closing arguments mirrored, in tone and in substance, the competing visions they have offered a deeply divided nation.
There will be considerable consistency in U.S. policy regardless of who wins the presidential election, however, and, unfortunately, many of them will trouble allies and partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2024

Regardless of election results, U.S. foreign policy is sure to trouble allies

“Strategic competition between the United States and China is poised to intensify no matter who assumes the U.S. presidency in January 2025.”
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang on June 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Xi’s balancing act on Ukraine disrupted by Putin-Kim alliance

Beijing has portrayed itself as neutral regarding the war in Ukraine while looking to improve ties with the U.S. and its allies.
An exhibition of captured military hardware from NATO countries in Moscow in May.  Whatever the results of the U.S. presidential election, the prospect of improved U.S.-Russia relations seems even more distant.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Whether Trump or Harris, pessimism reigns in Russia over U.S. election winner

The sentiment is prevalent in a Russia that feels scorned and underestimated by Democrat administrations and betrayed by Trump.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he steps on stage during a rally for former U.S. President and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Oct. 27
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

What Trump's re-election means for Elon Musk

Trump has vowed to give Musk an official role cutting government spending — and with it, the power to influence policy and the federal agencies.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at the White House in 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump victory gives Modi chance to reset India’s image with West

Trump's administration will likely be less stringent in demanding accountability from New Delhi for its alleged involvement in extra-judicial killings in North America.

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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