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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and members of his new Cabinet at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 14, 2023

More flash than substance in Kishida’s Cabinet reshuffle

The reshuffle was consistent with past Liberal Democratic Party practices and portends a continuation of status quo policies and initiatives.
People look on at what remains of Derna, Libya, on Thursday.
WORLD / Society
Sep 15, 2023

Libyans come together for flood aid effort despite conflict

Inside Derna, where a torrent washed away whole districts, volunteers from Misrata, Tripoli and Benghazi were distributing clothes and food packages.
Emperor Naruhito greets newly appointed reconstruction minister Shinako Tsuchiya during the attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2023

Kishida's Cabinet shuffle will make little difference

It will take more than new faces — and inexperienced ministers — to address the issues that bedevil the Kishida government and the country.
Kabul is diverse and culturally rich, like the rest of Afghanistan. Yet the country has struggled with political inclusivity.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2023

Japan can help pave the way for an inclusive Afghanistan

A new generation of Afghan leaders wants to be included in the country's future. Japan is well-positioned to facilitate dialogue with the Taliban.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Sep 16, 2023

Rugby turns 200: A history of the sport in Japan

As the sport of rugby turns 200, Japan hopes to celebrate its own success in a game that first arrived in the 1860s.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (left) laughs as he welcomes Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves during the G77+China summit at the Convention Palace in Havana on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2023

G77+China summit in Cuba calls for new global order

The grouping of developing and emerging countries representing 80% of the world's population kicked off a summit in Cuba on Friday.
An engineer works on a K-9 self propelled howitzer at Hanwha Aerospace factory in Changwon, South Korea, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 16, 2023

Inside the South Korean factory that could be key for Ukraine

South Korea has ramped up arms exports while traditional behemoths like the United States struggle with production shortages.
A woman walks past a roadside television screen reporting the death of Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, in Tokyo in July 2019.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 16, 2023

Johnny's sex abuse scandal causing TV sponsors to reconsider

A growing number of Japanese companies have been rethinking their involvement as sponsors of television programs starring members of Johnny & Associates.
A visitor looks at portraits of former United Nations Secretaries-General at U.N. headquarters ahead of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2023

World disappointed by the U.N. now looks elsewhere for answers

If the body's strongest members keep resisting reform, the Global South may have no choice but to seek new options, including those offered by China.
Ukraine's Kateryna Volodko hits a return against Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic during a qualifying match prior to the start of the WTA Guangzhou Open in Guangzhou, China, on Saturday.
TENNIS
Sep 17, 2023

Women's tennis returns to China after Peng Shuai boycott

The WTA tournament in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou will be the first in mainland China since 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 17, 2023

Climate litigation remains a tough sell in Japan despite wins overseas

So far, Japan has seen just four climate lawsuits, all concerning the construction and operation of coal-fired power plants.
U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2023

Can Joe Biden and a wad of cash win rural America for Democrats?

Billions of dollars in federal funding have flowed to rural areas' infrastructure since Biden took office.
Oleg Panchurin, 32, head of the Union of Veterans of the Special Military Operation, speaks during an interview in the town of Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, on Aug. 25.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2023

Back from Ukraine war, Russia's veterans begin reintegration

In the last few months, Russian media have reported a rise in incidents involving veterans from the front.
Banking on strong investor appetite for emerging market growth in the absence of Chinese stock offerings, some Southeast Asian companies are considering listing in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2023

More Southeast Asian firms consider U.S. IPOs

Senior executives at some firms have said they were looking into New York as one of their initial public offering venues.
Bank of Japan officials view Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s scholarly communication style as the most obvious difference from the previous governor.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2023

Ueda abandons ‘shock and awe’ on path toward BOJ normalization

BOJ officials view Ueda’s scholarly communication style as the most obvious difference from the previous governor.
October's by-elections will be the first national elections since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2023

October by-elections to be first test for Kishida's new government

The results of the by-elections are expected to influence Kishida's strategy for dissolving the Lower House for a general election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 19, 2023

CDP and DPP face growing rift three years after merger failure

While the DPP has taken a cooperative line with the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition, the CDP has taken a confrontational stance toward the LDP.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2023

The Bank of Japan faces a monetary policy conundrum

The BOJ may need to interpret the 2% price stability target more flexibly.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2023

In first court hearing, ex-lawmaker GaaSyy apologizes for defamation

Yoshikazu Higashitani admitted in court Tuesday to making defamatory remarks toward celebrities in videos he posted on social media.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2023

Zelenskyy tells U.N. it has stake against Russia 'genocide'

The Ukrainian president renewed an invitation for world leaders to join a "peace summit" to end the war on Kyiv's terms.
Hou Yu-ih, Taiwan presidential candidate and mayor of New Taipei City, speaks during a news conference in New York on Sept. 16. The Kuomintang, Taiwan's main opposition party, picked Hou Yu-ih, a popular local leader with little foreign policy experience, as its candidate for next year's presidential election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 21, 2023

Taiwan’s former top cop wants China talks if voted president

"I have participated in countless gun battles and I always stood on the front line.”
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 21, 2023

Scandal-tainted Yuko Obuchi's appointment could backfire on Kishida

Obuchi still faces questions over a nearly decade-old political funds scandal, and last week she was hit with fresh allegations of financial impropriety.
China's Xi Jinping (left) will attend the Asian Games opening ceremony in host city Hangzhou and meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad along with other visiting leaders there, state media said Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 21, 2023

Syria's Bashar Assad to visit China seeking financial support

With his trip to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Assad also becomes the latest in a string of leaders ostracized by the West to be feted by Beijing.
The new Parliament building in New Delhi. The Indian parliament approved a bill to reserve a third of lawmakers’ seat for women.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 22, 2023

India parliament passes bill to reserve more seats for women

The bill can be enforced only after the country conducts a fresh census and reshapes its political districts, a process that has been frozen until 2026.
Lachlan Murdoch, the elder son of Rupert Murdoch, solidified his rise to the top on Thursday, when his father announced that he would retire from the boards of Fox Corporation and News Corporation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2023

Rupert Murdoch leaves media empire to son Lachlan

Murdoch’s decision to step aside is unlikely to take Fox and News Corp in new directions right away.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a high-level Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine on the sidelines of the 78th U.N. General Assembly, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 22, 2023

As Kishida takes center stage, Japan's diplomacy enters a new phase

The prime minister looks set to take on a larger role in representing the country on the world stage as he struggles to build a legacy domestically.
Katsuura in Chiba Prefecture — around 90 minutes by express train from Tokyo — has never seen the mercury climb above 35 degrees Celsius, a benchmark the meteorological agency uses to describe “extremely hot” weather, since records began in the city in 1906.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 24, 2023

Japan’s endless summer pushes some toward cooler places

Amid a summerlong heat wave, more people are showing interest in moving to places like Katsuura that are known for their milder temperatures.
Slovaks will vote on Sept. 30 in a tight election that polls show could deliver an unlikely comeback for Robert Fico.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 25, 2023

Russia may be about to get a new friendly leader in Europe

Slovaks will vote on Sept. 30 in a tight election, and former Prime Minister Robert Fico has tapped into concerns over the fallout from the Ukraine war.
Rupert Murdoch in his office in New York in 2007. Murdoch's decision to step down from the boards of News Corp. and Fox Corp. marks the end of a decadeslong media career.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2023

Rupert Murdoch, the last of the press barons

No living person has influenced the media landscape like Rupert Murdoch. Should we view his career in a favorable light, or is his legacy one of darkness?
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses media on the first day of the five-day long special parliamentary session, in New Delhi on Sept.18.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

India's ruling party linked with anti-Muslim hate speech: report

The report found that more than half of the documented incidents this year were orchestrated by the ruling BJP and affiliates.

Longform

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