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With the average farmer in Japan over 65, the agricultural sector, like others, faces the challenge of demographic decline as an aging workforce strains productivity and growth.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2025

Graying Japan needs both globalization and immigration

Japan has the highest ratio of elderly to working-age people in the world — over 50% — meaning there are only two workers for every person over 64.
Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikyan (left), Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun (right) and Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Seiha meet at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Sept. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 30, 2025

Peace broker and arms supplier: China’s dual roles in a deadly conflict

The five-day war between Cambodia and Thailand in late June killed 40 people, including civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Although Ryan Bader is stepping into somewhat unfamiliar territory at Rizin, where he will be fighting in a boxing-style ring as opposed to the cage typically used in Western promotions, his New Year’s Eve bout won’t be his first time competing in Japan.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 1, 2025

From Hollywood to Japan, MMA star Ryan Bader has his sights on Rizin glory

After starring alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt in "The Smashing Machine," Ryan Bader has a new mission: become a champion with Rizin.
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025

Trump speech to military brass hints at looming Pentagon shift to focus on homeland

Amid a litany of talking points were Trump’s hints at an increasingly inward-looking foreign policy stance.
Ukrainian soldiers walk past a damaged apartment building, amid Russia's war against Ukraine, in the front-line city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Sept. 10.
WORLD
Oct 1, 2025

Ukraine's front-line cities filled with dread and defiance

Thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles hover above more than 1,000 kilometers of front lines in Ukraine's east and south at any one time.
Destruction in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, on Monday. Israel has been seeking to destroy Hamas for almost two years, devastating Gaza in the process.
WORLD
Oct 2, 2025

Hamas pressed by Arab and Muslim states to accept Trump’s Gaza plan

The leaders apparently see Israel’s campaign in Gaza and the assertion of military hegemony over the Middle East as a threat to their own national security.
Jane Goodall spun her love of wildlife into a lifelong campaign that took her from a seaside English village to Africa and then across the globe in a quest to better understand chimpanzees.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 2, 2025

Wildlife advocate and primate expert Jane Goodall dies at 91

The scientist and global activist was a pioneer in her field, both as a female scientist in the 1960s and for her work studying the behavior of primates.
Director Park Chan-wook and the cast of his latest film “No Other Choice” attended the Busan International Film Festival’s glittering opening ceremony where the film’s lead actor, Lee Byung-hun, served as host.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 2, 2025

Revamped Busan film festival turns 30 with expanded cinematic showcase

Since its inception, BIFF has been a launchpad for Asian cinema. This year, it grew bigger and brighter with a new Competition section, 90 world premieres and high-profile guests.
Mitsubishi Electric's new semiconductor plant in Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2025

Mitsubishi Electric completes semiconductor facility in Kumamoto Prefecture

The new facility in Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture, will start operations in November, with mass production targeted for 2027.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (left), former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi (center) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi arrive at a news conference for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sept. 23. The three are the front-runners ahead of Saturday's vote.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2025

No matter who wins the LDP presidential race, prospects for change are dismal

The key for the LDP is whether the once-proud party can win back its traditional supporters who have abandoned it in recent elections and shifted to opposition parties.
A Tomahawk missile is launched from a U.S. guided missile cruiser.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2025

US Tomahawk missile shipments to Ukraine unlikely, sources say

Supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could significantly expand its strike capabilities, enabling it to hit targets deep inside Russian territory.
A woman collects flour from the ground as Palestinians receive aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip in August.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2025

Aid after Gaza: What is the future of the humanitarian system?

"What's happening in Gaza sets an incredibly dangerous precedent for humanitarian crises globally," said Save the Children's global policy lead.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is strengthening its focus on business catering to the rich, as a bullish Japanese stock market and recovering real estate prices have pushed up the number of such clients in recent years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2025

MUFG is hiring more bankers in Japan wealth management push

MUFG is targeting clients with at least ¥300 million in total assets. The bank estimates that about 300,000 of its account holders fit that description.
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, holds a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 4, 2025

Takaichi poised to become Japan's first female PM after winning LDP poll

Takaichi earned 185 votes against Koizumi’s 156 in a runoff after none of the five candidates in the party leadership race secured a majority in the first round of voting.
Bangladeshis celebrate in Dhaka on Aug. 5, the first anniversary of student-led protests that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2025

What Western media call insurrection at home, they call revolution abroad

Western media have perfected a seductive but dangerous narrative: the romanticized tale of youth-led “revolutions” toppling supposedly repressive, graft-ridden governments abroad.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greet each other during a meeting of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2025

Trump and Hegseth advance militaristic noise over nuance

For countries that study U.S. actions closely, this week’s spectacle was anything but reassuring.
“KPop Demon Hunters” director Maggie Kang discussed how she fused Korean folklore with K-pop spectacle at Netflix’s Creative Asia event in Busan.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Oct 5, 2025

With Hollywood facing headwinds, Netflix looks eastward

The streamer’s Creative Asia event at the Busan International Film Festival unveiled new initiatives designed to expand the region’s storytelling role.
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2025

A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration

Residents are protesting a planned housing facility for foreign workers, exposing the conflict between labor needs and worries over immigration.
A trade fair for video games in Paris in 2023. The games industry in general has struggled in recent years, with players spending more time on existing titles and not taking as many chances on new ones.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2025

Xbox’s hike on Game Pass shows cost of lost Call of Duty sales

The price hike and other changes are a sign that Xbox’s big streaming push is still not generating the revenue it would like eight years after launch.
Andy Weyman and Terry Davis are among the many people in Malibu, California, who are waiting to rebuild their home after this year’s California wildfires.
WORLD
Oct 5, 2025

The LA fires destroyed 11,000 homes. Less than 10% have permits to rebuild

People trying to restore their homes are grappling with slow permit approvals, high costs and low insurance payouts.
Construction is underway on a Project Stargate AI infrastructure site, a collaboration between three large tech companies — OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle — in Abilene, Texas, in April.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2025

Trump targets deals in pharma, AI, energy and mining before midterm elections

Washington is pursuing deals across up to 30 industries, involving dozens of companies deemed critical to national or economic security.
A member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army stands as a DF-17 hypersonic missile is displayed during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Sept. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 5, 2025

The missiles threatening Taiwan

China is transforming parts of its east coast into a platform for potential missile strikes against Taiwan and the nearby seas as it eyes taking the democratic island.
Sanae Takaichi, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 5, 2025

Japan's economic policy outlook unclear under Takaichi-led minority government

Much depends on whether new Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi can successfully find an additional coalition partner.
French President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed most senior members from the Cabinet of ousted premier Francois Bayrou in a clear continuation of his centrist policy aims.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2025

Macron’s continuity Cabinet risks another government collapse

Most senior members from the Cabinet of ousted premier Francois Bayrou were renamed to their posts in a clear continuation of Macron’s centrist policy aims.
A member of one of Syria's local committees votes in the country's selection process to designate an interim parliament, in Damascus on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2025

Syria selects members of first post-Assad parliament

The process has been criticized as undemocratic, as instead of holding a nationwide vote, lawmakers are being selected by local committees and interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on the BBC's "Sunday Morning" political television show in Manchester, England, on Sunday. She will give police new powers to place limits on repeated protests
WORLD
Oct 6, 2025

U.K. to introduce limits on protests after synagogue attack

The move comes a day after police arrested nearly 500 people in the latest protest in Trafalgar Square in support of the banned Palestine Action group.
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 6, 2025

‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan

India and Pakistan’s brief war earlier this year has offered numerous lessons on the evolving nature of warfare, according to Indian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Upendra Dwivedi.
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi celebrates in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2025

Takaichi kicks off LDP presidency with polls showing strong support

Sanae Takaichi, who was elected party leader Saturday, also gave the ruling LDP a much-needed boost, one of the polls showed.
Air traffic controllers work in the control tower at Los Angeles International Airport in 2016. Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn up for work during the government shutdown, but they are not being paid.
WORLD
Oct 7, 2025

Slight rise in U.S. air traffic controllers calling in sick seen since shutdown began

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn up for work during the shutdown, but they are not being paid.
Boxes of single-use e-cigarettes are displayed for sale on shelves in a shop in Gardanne, France
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025

Surging numbers of children using e-cigarettes, WHO says

In countries that have the data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape, the organization said.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes