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The Capitol Building in Washington on Oct. 1. The mass layoffs of federal workers could begin if President Donald Trump decides negotiations to end a partial government shutdown are "absolutely going nowhere," a senior White House official said Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2025

White House says mass layoffs will start if shutdown talks 'going nowhere'

No tangible signs of negotiations have emerged between congressional leaders since Trump met with them last week.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new Pentagon policy mandating pre-approval for unclassified information threatens to reverse nearly a century of First Amendment protections.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2025

Hegseth tries turning back 94 years of press freedom

The history on his side has been discredited by the Supreme Court for a century.
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 7, 2025

Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely

While this year’s prize is expected to be out of reach, the U.S. president could gain momentum for next year’s award if his Gaza plan and North Korea outreach prove fruitful.
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 7, 2025

‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach

Tokyo stocks zoomed to a new record and then quickly retreated.
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hits a two-run homer during the ninth inning of Seattle's win over Detorit on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 8, 2025

Mariners club three homers to push Tigers to brink of elimination

J.P. Crawford, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh had the homers for Seattle, which is a win away from its first ALCS since 2001.
The "Text With Jesus" chatbot app displayed on an iPhone on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Society
Oct 8, 2025

Virtual Jesus? People of faith divided as AI enters religion

Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools are growing in number, offering counsel, comfort and spiritual guidance.
As Russia's economy faces stagnation, high inflation, a growing fiscal deficit and a demographic crisis, President Vladimir Putin is not ready to give up on his war in Ukraine just yet.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2025

Putin doubles down on Ukraine as economic woes grow

Understanding that under the current economic model he will run out of cash in less than a year, Putin just announced a budget for 2026-2028 which includes substantial tax hikes.
3D printed Telegram and WhatsApp logos are placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 21, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2025

Child protection versus privacy: decision time for EU

Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages?
Against the yen, the dollar was last up 0.53% at ¥152.7. It earlier reached ¥152.99, the highest since Feb. 14, and has risen from ¥147.44 on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 9, 2025

Yen weakest since mid-February on fiscal fears

The dollar has likely benefited from a lack of U.S. government economic data as the federal government remains shut.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, (left), U.S. President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, during a roundtable on Antifa in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2025

Trump looks to label Antifa as a foreign terrorist organization

Critics have said the administration is exaggerating the threat from Antifa, seizing on the movement to create a legal justification to quell protests against Trump’s policies.
Under new CEO Stephen Dacus, Seven & I Holdings is reshaping itself by selling weaker assets, buying back ¥2 trillion worth of shares and betting on growth in Japan and the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2025

Seven & I struggles to win back investors after failed takeover

Seven & I sits at a crossroads as it seeks to reassure investors it can thrive without a foreign takeover.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will have the full three years of his contract to prove himself, according to the club's co-owner.
SOCCER
Oct 9, 2025

Manchester United co-owner says Ruben Amorim will get full 3 years to prove himself

Amorim was Ratcliffe's choice to replace Erik ten Hag last November.
UK gold bullion bars are stacked at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025

Gold’s spectacular three-year rally is breaking all the records

Bullion has shaken off its reputation as a barbarous relic and muscled its way back toward the center of the global monetary system.
Among respondents in a recent survey who have been affected by inflation, 91.3% said price increases had impacted their food expenses.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2025

Over 80% of households in Japan feel impact of rising prices, survey shows

Over half of respondents said their cost of living had increased, with average monthly living expenses rising by ¥9,636.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters a the party headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2025

Jiji Press photographer reprimanded for improper remarks at LDP

Audio of the remarks was recorded during a live online broadcast, and the recording quickly went viral on social media.
Tokyo stocks have been rallying in recent months even as uncertainties build locally and globally.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025

Buzz builds for a 50,000 Nikkei 225 as index breaks yet another record

Benchmark has hit nine all-time highs in about six weeks.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025

Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity

Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
This year’s World's 50 Best Bars list features bars from 29 cities worldwide, including debuts from Eastern Europe.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 10, 2025

Tokyo earns three spots on World’s 50 Best Bars list

Bar Benfiddich climbs ranks, but Hong Kong steals the show with Bar Leone making history as the first bar in Asia to be named No. 1 in the listing.
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 10, 2025

‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears

The prefectural and city governments of Osaka have announced they will retain just a 200-meter portion of the world's largest wooden structure.
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi is often compared to Margaret Thatcher, but the analogy fails because Japan today is not 1980s Britain and her success depends on pragmatism, not ideology.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2025

Pragmatism, not ideology, must guide Takaichi

The key difference from Thatcher lies in economic policy, as the LDP has never been a truly neoliberal party.
People celebrate on Thursday in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2025

A deal that might heal — or haunt — the Middle East

A recent American intelligence assessment warned that Tehran views the ceasefire as a “strategic timeout,” a chance to rearm its proxies while Washington celebrates diplomacy.
Military and national security leaders across major Western countries and the world show dangerous overconfidence and cognitive biases, risking global conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2025

Global war and the cognitive traps leaders don’t see

Even a cursory scan of today’s major military powers suggests that their leaders and policy elites are dangerously overconfident.
A billboard showing an image of U.S. President Donald Trump to thank him for his role in reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas, and another one bearing Israel's national flag, are installed on a main highway in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2025

Major win for Trump on Gaza, but will it stand test of time?

It remains to be seen whether the 79-year-old Trump will devote the same level of energy to the conflict over the long term, once his victory lap is over.
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 12, 2025

At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?

While major Japanese gas companies have lauded e-methane as key in fighting climate change, experts paint a different picture.
The internet has become the main source of daily news in Japan, a survey has shown.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 12, 2025

Internet becomes Japan's top daily news source for first time

The newspaper subscription rate fell 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier to 50.1%, continuing to decline since marking 88.6% in fiscal 2008, when the survey began.
Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 13, 2025

Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building

A surge of new arenas from Chiba to Yokohama reveals how Japan’s cities are betting big on live entertainment.
The latest showdown underscores the difficulty for Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a trade deal.
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2025

Xi’s red line on Trump’s export curbs threatens to upend truce

The renewed brinkmanship between China and the U.S. revives fears of a deeper rupture in global trade that could push the two economies toward partial decoupling.
As horse-trading and speculation surge over  who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2025

A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be

Japanese diplomacy has landed in a precarious position following the exit of Komeito from the LDP-led ruling bloc as a spate of summits and meetings loom at the end of this month.
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2025

Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae

Of late, the country has suddenly given every impression of heat. There are good reasons to believe hypothermia is over.
The Bank of Japan in Tokyo. Turmoil in developed nations such as France and Japan underscores how politics is eclipsing central bank policy as a key market driver.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 13, 2025

The politics premium is punishing bonds from Paris to Tokyo

Investors are demanding fiscal consolidation, while anything resembling austerity can prove politically contentious and toxic at the ballot box.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years