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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an extraordinary session at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2023

Prime Minister Kishida and a month of misery

The challenges Fumio Kishida faces are eroding confidence in his leadership and are likely to influence policy decision-making.
A man stands next to a robot in use at ROLEC Gehause-Systeme in Rinteln, Germany on Oct. 6
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023

As baby boomers retire, German businesses turn to robots

Small and medium-sized companies are turning to automation as the gradual retirement of the post-war "baby boom" generation tightens the labor squeeze.
Reporters take cover upon hearing sirens warning of an incoming rocket attack from Gaza, in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, on Oct. 23
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2023

Media reporting on Israel-Hamas war face singular challenges

Lack of access to Gaza, with both the Israeli and Egyptian access points closed, is creating difficulties journalists say they have rarely seen before.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa waits for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to arrive for a meeting in New York in September.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2023

Japan top envoy faces diplomatic test on trip to Israel and Jordan

One of the key focuses of Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa's trip will be the role Japan can play in easing the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
A serviceman, wearing prosthetic legs, walks past Ukrainian flags symbolizing fallen soldiers on the Independence Square in Kyiv, on Oct. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2023

'When will it end?': Ukrainians turn to psychics for war forecasts

Military forecasts by Ukraine's most popular soothsayers rack up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and TikTok.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 3, 2023

With Naoto Kan's exit from the CDP, some see a generational shift

The exit of the former prime minister, a high-profile figure and political veteran from the CDP’s liberal wing, comes at a time of change for the party.
Cracks run through the partially dried-up river bed of the Gan River during a regional drought in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, in August last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Global warming will reach 1.5 C threshold this decade, report says

The new paper adds to evidence suggesting that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 C is already out of reach.
With a year left until the 2024 presidential election, Arab and Muslim American support for U.S. President Joe Biden threatens to plummet over his Middle East policy — a factor that could even swing certain states.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2023

Muslim anguish over Gaza holds electoral risks for Biden

While Muslims account for a small fraction of the U.S. population, the election could swing on votes in a few close races.
Occupy Wall Street protesters hold a rally in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve bank in downtown Denver in November 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

When minority rule by neoliberals fails

Left-leaning movements and progressive ideas and policies have gained ground in the United States, altering the perception of free markets.
The Gaza Strip is hit with an Israeli bombardment amid ongoing battles between the Israeli military and Palestinian Hamas militants on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 4, 2023

U.S. renews talk of Palestinian state, but prospects bleak

With Israel's campaign against Hamas raging, the United States has renewed calls to work toward a Palestinian state, but few expect success now after decades of failure.
Members of the international press gather on a hill in Sderot, Israel, with a view of the Gaza Strip, on Oct. 28.
WORLD
Nov 4, 2023

In Israel-Hamas war, recycled images from past conflicts can undercut true toll

Videos and photos of the conflict are competing with misappropriated depictions of unrelated tragedies.
In some cases, it's up to individual foreign residents to understand the unique tax implications of their home countries and Japan in order to avoid a penny-pinching retirement.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / Age Wise
Nov 5, 2023

Retiring in Japan? Be prepared to foot your own bills.

“In an ideal world, everyone should have retirement planning on their radar as soon as possible when working life begins.”
Demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2023

Protesters march in major cities to demand Gaza cease-fire

Demonstrators protested in London, Berlin, Paris, Ankara, Istanbul and Washington on Saturday as the U.S. and Arab nations remained divided over Gaza.
A Grab food delivery cyclist makes a delivery in Singapore on Aug. 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2023

Consolidation looms for Southeast Asia’s food delivery giants

With growth in the sector slowing, companies are slimming down or bolstering their ties with other operators.
Palestinians gather at the scene of a strike in a refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2023

Japanese aid worker tells of her harrowing last days in Gaza

Maiko Shirane, a 36-year-old Tokyo native, says the violence she witnessed in Gaza is something "nobody should experience."
A woman and her children at the Minnanouen Kitakagaya community garden in Osaka's Suminoe Ward
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 5, 2023

How simple steps can help alleviate climate anxiety

From gardening to flood-proofing your home, experts say there are simple ways you can ease some of your concern.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he drew on the graphic of a bomb used to represent Iran's nuclear program as he addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York in September 2012.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 6, 2023

Israeli minister's Gaza nuclear comments spotlight opaque arsenal

The country has long had a policy of ambiguity as to whether it has nuclear weapons, though it is widely believed to possess a sizable number.
Japan's real wages dropped 2.4% in September from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2023

Japan's wages and spending extend declines in test for BOJ policy

Japan's real wages dropped 2.4% in September from a year earlier.
New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) and and his predecessor, Wen Jiabao (center), attend the 12th National People's Congress where Chinese President Xi Jinping was first elected in Beijing in March 2013.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2023

China's opaque politics and the Li Keqiang mystery

Li reportedly had bypass surgery and was taking drugs after a liver transplant, both of which would have increased the risk of a heart attack.
Seoul-based American physician John Linton — Korean name Ihn Yohan — speaks during a meeting in Seoul on Nov. 3
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2023

'Blue-eyed Korean' tasked with shaking up Seoul politics

Born in rural Jeolla province, John Linton is nicknamed the "blue-eyed Korean" and speaks the language perfectly, albeit with a strong regional accent.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attend a working dinner during G7 ministerial meetings, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2023

G7 support for Ukraine will not waver due to Gaza crisis, Japan says

The G7 nations, as well as the European Union, meet in Tokyo on Nov. 7 to 8 to discuss issues including the Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza crisis.
A Palestinian man walks in a tunnel linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt in 2012. The sprawling network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip has become a primary target for the Israeli military.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 8, 2023

Israel targets Hamas tunnels in new phase of Gaza war

Targeting the Islamist group's labyrinth of tunnels and command structures in northern Gaza is an operation that may take Israel months to complete.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2023

Bill on sperm and egg donors seeks disclosure of some information

The draft seeks to allow information that is not personally identifiable, such as height, blood type and age, to be disclosed without donor's consent
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 8, 2023

Tigers’ triumph resonates in a sumo world full of Kansai natives

As Hanshin fans celebrate a long-awaited championship, it's timely to look back at what sumo looked like when Hanshin last won it all in 1985.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Kishida rules out snap election amid record low popularity

The prime minister has once again ruled out a snap election as he faces record low popularity ratings and growing criticism from within his own party.
A union team captain reacts after SAG-AFTRA approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to bring an end to the 118-day actors strike, at a brewery in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023

Hollywood actors reach tentative deal with studios to end strike

The deal also provides protections against unauthorized use of images generated by artificial intelligence.
Naomi Osaka, seen during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will make her return to the WTA Tour at the Brisbane International.
TENNIS
Nov 10, 2023

Naomi Osaka to make return at Brisbane International

The four-time Grand Slam winner made her last appearance in a WTA tournament at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in late September 2022.
Port Plus is a training and education facility in Yokohama built by and for general contractor Obayashi, a storied Japanese builder that traces its roots back to 1892.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2023

Wooden high-rise in Yokohama grows Japan’s timber ambitions

Port Plus, which was finished last year, is composed mainly of 540 wooden rigid cross-joints.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with entrepreneur Elon Musk during a chat session on the rewards and risks of artificial intelligence in London, earlier this month.
EDITORIALS
Nov 10, 2023

Can the world harness AI’s fire without getting burned?

Calls are increasing for governance of artificial intelligence, the world-changing tech that bears both major rewards and risks.
Palestinians arrive in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday after fleeing their homes in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2023

As fighting rages, Israel says ready to evacuate babies from Gaza's main hospital

Israel's three major TV news channels, without citing named sources, said there was some progress toward a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past