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Japan’s robo-adviser market, estimated to be worth around ¥3 trillion, has massive room for growth, says the CEO of robo-adviser Folio Holdings.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2025

SBI-backed Japan robo-adviser Folio targets swing to profit and IPO

Japan’s robo-adviser market is estimated to be worth around $19.8 billion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov (center left), German Head of the Federal Chancellery and Minister for Special Tasks Wolfgang Schmidt and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend the Munich Security Conference in Munich on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2025

Security demands cast new shadow on Europe's finances

Some fear a political backlash if governments simply slash social spending to buy more soldiers and guns.
Members of Taiwan's armed forces, riding on a M60A3 tank, participate in a drill as part of a demonstration for the media to show combat readiness, at a military base in Taitung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Taiwan considering multibillion dollar arms purchase from U.S., sources say

Taipei is hoping to win support from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump as China continues to apply military pressure on the island.
Karlheinz Rabas, an 87-year-old historian, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Jan. 16
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

German voters demand change as Europe's biggest economy stalls

A constitutional debt brake has prevented successive governments from making vital investments needed to overhaul Germany's ailing economic model.
Work to dismantle wastewater storage tanks are under way at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as part of steps to decommission the entire facility.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

U.N. nuclear chief to view soil removed from Fukushima

Workers at the wrecked plant on Japan's northeast coast last week began dismantling wastewater storage tanks to free up space for tons of nuclear debris.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying 53 Starlink internet satellites, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 18, 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2025

Vietnam paves way for Musk's Starlink amid U.S. tariff threats

A regulatory change can be seen as "an olive branch" to SpaceX amid nervousness in Vietnam about tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida holds a news conference last week, rejecting Honda's proposal to make the company a subsidiary.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025

Nissan shares rally on report talks with Honda could be reopened

The Japanese auto giants said last week they had scrapped plans to join forces.
A statue of of a bull in Pudong's Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2025

Xi's new corporate champions showcase his priorities and control

The tech champions present at a meeting with the Chinese president suggest that he is rallying troops from the business sector to fight a geopolitical battle.
Tents belonging to Palestinians are seen amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Talks on next phase of Gaza ceasefire to begin this week: Israeli minister

Negotiations over the second stage are expected to be tough because they include issues such as the administration of post-war Gaza.
A gasoline blend containing bioethanol is sold at a gas station in Illinois in December. The United States and Brazil are keen to expand exports of bioethanol to Japan.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2025

With 2050 net-zero goal on horizon, momentum builds for biofuel in Japan

Experts hope the increasing push for use of biofuels in gasoline-powered vehicles may help shift public awareness on environmental issues.
The eastern Myanmar state of Kayin seen from Mae Sot in northwestern Thailand in May
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025

Japanese boy says he was forced to work at scam center in Myanmar

The boy said that he was given electric shocks when he refused to take part in the fraud.
South Korean Constitutional Court acting head Moon Hyung-bae attends the first formal hearing of the impeachment trial of suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Jan. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Top South Korean judge faces disinformation deluge as Yoon impeachment looms

The attacks by the suspended president's party and allies come amid expectations that the Constitutional Court will finalize his impeachment in March.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (center) arrives at the Federal Senate in Brasilia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025

Brazil's ex-President Bolsonaro charged over alleged coup plot

The charge further complicates the far-right firebrand's already narrow hopes of pulling off a political comeback.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged troops for a Ukraine peacekeeping force, but Britain and its military lack the resources to deliver.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Starmer offers Ukraine a defense check it can't cash

Under Starmer’s leadership, there has been no sign that the U.K. is ready to expand its armed forces to the numbers that could sustain such a campaign.
Laborers at a shipyard on the outskirts of Dhaka. Worker deaths, injuries and exposure to hazardous substances are common in the ship-breaking industry, as is environmental harm with toxic chemicals seeping into the beach and water, harming marine life.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 19, 2025

Shipyards of Bangladesh brace as heavy emitting ships near end of life

Worker deaths and environmental harm are common in yards where vessels that have supplied richer nations are dismantled for scraps that can be used in manufacturing.
A visitor feeds the deer at Nara Park in Nara on Jan. 27. The monthly number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a record high in January.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025

Monthly number of visitors to Japan hit record high in January

The number of inbound visitors is estimated to have risen 40.6% from a year before to 3,781,200, exceeding 3 million for the fourth consecutive month.
Takashi Tachibana, leader of controversial political group NHK Party, said he received information from Minoru Kishiguchi of Nippon Ishin no Kai, relating to allegations of harassment by Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Nippon Ishin says member involved in giving papers to NHK Party head

Nippon Ishin says Minoru Kishiguchi provided documents related to alleged harassment by Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito.
The city government of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, used corporate donations to create a volunteer tour, during which participants help farmers harvest apples and enjoy sightseeing in the city.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2025

Corporate hometown donations gain traction in Japan

Some local governments have been found to provide de facto rewards to donor companies, violating the system's rules and raising concerns about improper practices.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe (left) celebrates with Jude Bellingham after completing a hat trick against Manchester City during their Champions League match in Madrid on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 20, 2025

Kylian Mbappe wants to make history with Madrid after Champions League hat trick

Kylian Mbappe's hat trick against Manchester City propelled Real Madrid into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday and saw the French superstar reach a new personal high with Los Blancos.
A bill to revise the public offices election law was submitted to the House of Representatives by Ichiro Aisawa (third from right), chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, and other bipartisan lawmakers, on Thursday in the Diet.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Bill calling for campaign poster decency submitted in Japan

Some campaign posters drew controversy in last summer's Tokyo gubernatorial election for depicting an almost fully naked woman and an advertisement for a sex services shop.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a bilateral meeting at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019. A Putin-Trump summit is on the horizon.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 20, 2025

Russian forces advance on Ukraine's critical minerals as Trump talks of a deal

The seizure of Kyiv's mineral wealth, while not the main war aim, is among Moscow's strategic goals, experts say.
Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso speaks in a group interview in Morioka on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2025

14 years on, Iwate to ask for continued reconstruction support

"Reviving sources of livelihood is important to enrich the lives of affected people," Gov. Takuya Tasso said in an interview.
Supporters watch archive footage of speeches by South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol on a screen near the Central District Court in Seoul on Thursday, as the ousted South Korean leader became the country's first sitting head of state to stand trial in a criminal case.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2025

Ousted South Korean president sought to stop 'dictatorship,' lawyer says

Yoon Suk Yeol has has been behind bars since he was arrested last month on charges of insurrection.
Mushroom loves walks and gets along with people of all ages.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Feb 20, 2025

Make room for Mushroom the dog

This laidback Shiba gets along easily with all kinds of people and dogs.
Australia's spy chief, Mike Burgess, called for a greater effort to tackle the threat from extremism, especially among young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2025

Australian spy chief warns of rising role of minors in terror

Almost all foiled terrorist attacks in Australia over the past year involved the radicalization of children, according to the spy chief's annual assessment.
The poet and essayist Kamo no Chomei wrote “Hojoki” in 1212 after bearing witness to a series of natural and man-made disasters. His experiences caused him to withdraw into a hermetic lifestyle.
LIFE / Language
Feb 20, 2025

Attempting the classics: Deciphering impermanence in ‘Hojoki’

With modern-day aids, this 13th-century piece of text isn't as challenging as you may think.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16, 2018
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

China risks becoming U.S. military’s top priority if Trump cuts a deal with Putin

U.S. and Russian officials have started talks in Saudi Arabia to negotiate an end to the three-year war, prompting deep concern in Europe and Ukraine itself.
Yamanote Jijosha has a long history of staging Shakespeare plays, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the company will present “Othello” and “Macbeth.” Previously, it toured productions like “Titus Andronicus,” which premiered in Tokyo in 1999, saw multiple revivals and had a homecoming in 2015.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 21, 2025

Directing is never a monologue at the experimental Yamanote Jijosha theater company

To mark its four decades of existence, the company stages two Shakespearean tragedies for a triumph.
In Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, an entire street is dedicated to Japanese spirits, monsters and ghouls — a sign that the overall region is rich in spine-tingling tourist draws.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2025

Shimane and Tottori to bewitch tourists with supernatural charms

The two prefectures are leaning on spooky folklore to draw more travelers.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear