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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.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2024

Kishida's LDP factions gamble fails to improve his popularity

A Yomiuri Shimbun poll conducted over the weekend found the Kishida Cabinet’s approval rating was 24%, the lowest since the LDP returned to power in 2012.
A man maneuvers media equipment following an Israeli police raid on an Al Jazeera de facto office at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.
WORLD
May 6, 2024

Israel raids Al Jazeera’s offices after banning broadcaster

Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and access to its website are now blocked throughout Israel.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024

For Kishida, the LDP election means a fraught summer ahead

Attention is turning to what the prime minister will do as potential rivals rally support ahead of September's vote for party president.
A rendering of the next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed and manufactured by Japan, Britain and Italy
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 25, 2024

Concerns raised over strength of Japan's fighter jet export 'brakes'

The closed nature of decision-making has been criticized, while worries persist over the potential use of Japanese equipment.
Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba answers reporters' questions at parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba remains public's favorite for next LDP leader, poll shows

In the August poll, Shigeru Ishiba was backed by 18.7% of respondents, followed by former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi with 12.5%.
Indonesia's new leader, Prabowo Subianto, arrives for his presidential inauguration ceremony in Jakarta on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 20, 2024

Prabowo Subianto, a former general, sworn in as Indonesian president

The inauguration marks a noteworthy comeback for a man who faced Western-imposed sanctions and had two failed election bids against Widodo, the man he is now replacing.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Chisato Morishita bows to reporters on Sunday in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, after she was projected to win a seat in the Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Record number of women elected to Japan's Lower House

A total of 73 female candidates won seats in Sunday’s general election, making up about 16% of the membership of the chamber of parliament.
Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli strike in the Chiyah district of Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday.
WORLD
Nov 26, 2024

Israel and Hezbollah seen on the cusp of a deal as attacks continue

Israel’s security cabinet is expected to vote on an agreement on Tuesday, and passage is considered likely.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Musk pushes his preferred political picks via X. Trump isn't always swayed.

Several high-profile cases show some early limits to the billionaire's influence even as he has emerged as one of the president-elect's most powerful allies.
Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano in Seoul in October
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

Japan announces new national security adviser

Masataka Okano is a 60-year-old career diplomat with experience in both Washington and Beijing and a former chief of the Foreign Ministry’s Russia division.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

Trump ousts White House national security adviser Waltz, replacing him with Rubio

Waltz was blamed for adding the editor of The Atlantic to a private thread describing details of an imminent U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 17, 2023

Kishida may call snap election to halt rise of rival Nippon Ishin

The prime minister, however, must first regain his standing in the polls to a level where he will feel more confident about holding an election.
For Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, tackling the impact of rising prices has become a key priority.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2023

Upcoming parliament session puts Kishida's stimulus package in spotlight

Tackling inflation has become a key priority for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as economic trends have played a part in his low approval ratings.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023

Netanyahu's two-front war against Hamas and politics

The Israeli prime minister is conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida awaits the results of  a vote on a no-confidence motion in the Lower House against his Cabinet on Wednesday over the ongoing party financing scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2023

Kishida tries to clean up the Liberal Democratic Party house

A political event of the magnitude of the LDP-funding scandal bears close observation of what happened, why and what comes next.
Relatives and supporters hold signs as they rally for the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 17, 2023

Netanyahu, under pressure over hostage deaths, vows to press on

The premier is also taking heat for what’s been termed inaction on securing a new prisoner exchange deal, two weeks after a brief cease-fire ended.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes a toast with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a Japan-ASEAN luncheon meeting at the Japan Business Federation in Tokyo on Dec. 18. Kishida’s chance of reelection in the LDP presidential race in September will largely depend on his administration’s response to the current funding scandal and its entanglement in it.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023

Scandal, economic policy and LDP race to weigh on Kishida in 2024

How he balances all three will determine whether he keeps his job as LDP party president and, by extension, prime minister.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Jan. 4.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 20, 2024

Kishida takes risky gamble by dissolving LDP faction

Members of the factions led by LDP Vice President Taro Aso and Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi have resisted following suit, potentially endangering the PM.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi meets Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefectural Government building on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2024

Japanese government to proceed with U.S. base relocation within Okinawa

During the meeting with Hayashi, Tamaki demanded that the central government immediately stop the landfill work related to the Futenma relocation project
Factions, cliques, caucuses — whatever they may be called, groupings in legislatures are not unusual in many countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Mar 2, 2024

Is the funding scandal unraveling the LDP?

The media is caught up in the money-politics scandal of the moment, framing factions as all good or all bad. Things are a lot more nuanced than that.
Japan’s Cabinet agreed to ease defense export rules for the nation’s next-generation fighter jet, a concept model of which is seen on display here at a defense show in Chiba in March 2023.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2024

Japan greenlights its defense industry

The government's steps on easing defense export rules will allow Japanese companies to participate more fully in the global market for defense equipment.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz addresses the media after his ultimatum to withdraw his centrist party from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government expired, in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2024

Gantz quits Israel government while U.S.-Saudi deal moves forward

The treaty would commit the U.S. to helping defend Riyadh as part of a deal aimed at encouraging Saudi-Israel diplomatic ties, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Praty hopes to capitalize on a sense of renewal stemming from the election of a new president to succeed Fumio Kishida, who has said he will not seek reelection.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2024

LDP pinning hope on boost from leader change

The LDP will hold a leadership election in September to choose the successor to President Fumio Kishida, who said last week that he will step down.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2024

In CNN interview excerpts, Harris defends ideological shift to center

In her interview, Kamala Harris sought to stake out political ground that would appeal to swing voters even as she assured progressive supporters she was still with them.
Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has a strong influence over the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 8, 2024

LDP linchpin Moriyama has big influence over Ishiba

The newly elected president took his secretary-general's advice on several key matters, including party and Cabinet appointments as well as calling a snap election.
U.K. Conservative leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch (left) and Robert Jenrick after delivering speeches at the party's annual conference, in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Who are Badenoch and Jenrick, the candidates to lead U.K. Tories?

By choosing Badenoch or Jenrick, the Conservative party looks set to appeal to supporters lost to Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform U.K. party.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, face off in an election Tuesday that will have wide-ranging implications for Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024

Status quo or disruption? Breaking down the U.S. election's impact on Japan

Regardless of who wins, Washington is likely to have limited bandwidth to change tack in a significant way with its most important Asian ally.
Sanae Takaichi (left) celebrates Shigeru Ishiba’s victory in becoming the head of the Liberal Democratic Party along with then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo in September. Takaichi appears to be the only woman in any party who is close to breaking the glass ceiling to become the nation’s first female leader. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 26, 2024

The derailing of potential female prime ministers

Sanae Takaichi stands as the closest woman to breaking the glass ceiling and becoming Japan's first female prime minister.
Canadian Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 30, 2020
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Trudeau teeters in Canada after deputy’s scathing resignation

Even before the deputy shocked the country with her letter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s grasp on power already appeared to be slipping.

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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