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May 04, 2025
 

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Ramen shop Menya Taisei's owner Taisei Hikage cooks ramen at his shop in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024

Japan's rising ramen prices give election voters food for thought

The problems facing ramen shop owners reflect a cost-of-living crunch that has become a top issue for voters in the general election on Sunday.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is launched for a mission to study one of Jupiter's 95 moons from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 14.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2024

In space, no one can hear Musk's rivals scream

The billionaire's gravity-defying lead is a painful one for competitors. Is it too late to catch up?
Suspect Shiho Hosoya enters the Asakusa Police Station in Tokyo on Friday. The handcuffs and waist ties are blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2024

Tokyo police rearrest couple suspected of multiple murders of family members

Investigators are looking at inheritance as the primary motive behind the string of murders.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, makes a speech at a campaign event for the Lower House election, in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

In tight Japan election, candidates make last-ditch appeals

Opinion polls have suggested the ruling bloc might fall short of a majority, delivering a potentially devastating blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Is Kamala Harris’ race or gender affecting her support? ‘It’s very complicated.’

While she frequently recounts her background on the campaign trail, Harris tends to focus more on her middle-class roots than her race or gender.
This screen grab released on Oct. 26 by the Israeli military shows one of its air force planes departing to carry out strikes on Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2024

Israel’s strike on Iran was smart. Now take the win.

Both Iran and Israel need to reconsider their aggressive postures to prevent a devastating regional conflict.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also LDP president, dissolved the Lower House only eight days after assuming office on Oct. 1
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Why Ishiba’s strategy of a surprise battle backfired

His dissolution of the Lower House only eight days after assuming office and backtracking on previously touted policies left voters with little to base votes on.
Supporters react as Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Novi, Michigan, on Saturday.
WORLD
Oct 28, 2024

Will Trump's unbridled rhetoric cost him the U.S. election?

Kamala Harris is increasingly pointing to Donald Trump's ramblings as evidence he isn't fit for the presidency.
Lebanese soldiers inspect a damaged vehicle marked as 'Press' at the site of an Israeli strike that killed a few journalists and wounded several others as they slept in guesthouses used by media, Lebanon's health ministry and local media reported, in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon, on Friday.
WORLD
Oct 28, 2024

Deadly Israeli strike on journalists in Lebanon prompts global outcry

The strike hit a collection of guesthouses housing only reporters in the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya, killing two journalists.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters on Sunday, the day of a general election in which his party failed to secure even a simple majority together with its junior coalition party, Komeito.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

Breaking down the LDP’s punishing defeat

The LDP has been delivered a crushing electoral setback. How did this happen? What comes next? What does this mean for policymaking? Some of the key questions answered.
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.
U.S. President Joe Biden waves as he walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, in November 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

China pressing U.S. to alter language on Taiwan after request from Xi to Biden

Xi's aides have repeatedly followed up and made the requests in the months since, U.S. officials have said.
Today's religious thinkers face the challenge of demonstrating that faith offers deeper meaning and understanding in an increasingly secular world.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Is the world ready for a religious comeback?

Individuals are seeking meaning through alternative avenues, suggesting a readiness for religious discourse.
Masayoshi Son last month invested $500 million in OpenAI through his Vision Fund, having missed out on the AI company’s previous funding rounds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2024

Masayoshi Son inflates the AI bubble even more

Masayoshi Son last month invested $500 million in OpenAI through his Vision Fund, having missed out on the AI company’s previous funding rounds.
The Liberal Democratic Party's panel meets at the party headquarters in Tokyo in April to discuss measures to ensure stable imperial successions.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2024

U.N. panel urges Japan to revise imperial succession rules

The panel also urged Japan to implement a law revision toward introducing a selective dual surname system for married couples.
Tohoku Electric Power workers restart the Unit 2 reactor of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2024

A lack of workers threatens Japan's nuclear power revival

The slow revival of nuclear power has dramatically worsened a skills crunch visible across the nation’s nuclear industry.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris along with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a rally on the National Mall in Washington one week before the Nov. 5 national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

The U.S. election is happening too soon

The upcoming U.S. election is unlikely to lead to national renewal or a decisive defeat of MAGA populism.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26. There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Trump, Harris, Zelenskyy — no one’s plan will end the war

There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
Mike Tyson is scheduled to fight Jake Paul in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 15.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Oct 31, 2024

Mike Tyson brushes off criticism of upcoming fight against Jake Paul

British promoter Eddie Hearn dismissed the bout as "dangerous, irresponsible and disrespectful to boxing."
Tech entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between California's technology culture and Japan.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2024

Masayoshi Son may be the oddest of the oddball billionaires

Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between Californian tech culture and Japan.
Krishna Srinivasan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Asia Pacific Department
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2024

Japan must avoid issuing debt to fund fresh spending, IMF says

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to compile another large-scale spending package to cushion the blow to households from the rising cost of living.
Officials gather at the BRICS summit in Russia on Oct. 24. It it estimated that by 2040-2050, the gross domestic product of the Group of Seven countries will be surpassed by that of emerging economies, raising questions as to whether the U.S. is prepared for this shift.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024

The U.S. is unprepared for a multipolar world

There is little acknowledgement in the U.S. that the world it now made up of multiple centers of power, which risks making Washington's foreign policy ineffective.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an official welcoming ceremony with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on June 19. Some 10,000 Korean soldiers are headed to the battlefields of Ukraine to assist Russia in its illegal invasion.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2024

North Korea troop deal exposes Putin's weakness

Many North Korean soldiers will die and some will desert despite the consequences, but their military impact will likely be insignificant.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

Democrats have a plan if Trump prematurely declares election victory

Trump said he hoped to be able to declare victory on Election Day, but experts have cautioned that it could be days before the final result is known.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers comfort a woman crying over the body of her 15-year-old son following a missile attack in Kharkiv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2024

In Ukraine, hopes of war breakthrough slim whoever wins U.S. election

For many in war-torn county, the outcome of the U.S. election and its impact on the war with Russia feels less likely to be pivotal than it once did.
Polling has failed spectacularly in recent U.S. presidential elections and the country can only hope it navigates this year's volatile race with its credibility intact.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2024

Broken political polling failing American democracy

To restore confidence in polling, pollsters must recognize the limitations of traditional random sampling and improve methods for diagnosing nonresponse bias.
Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan (center) looks on at a court during her fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 4, 2024

Appeal begins for Vietnam death row tycoon

The appeal comes after the tycoon was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case last month.
While NATO membership is unlikely until the war concludes, some NATO members are open to allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia, though U.S. President Joe Biden remains hesitant.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2024

Biden has a crucial decision to make on Ukraine

Biden may not be the U.S. president to make the congratulatory call to Ukraine's leader when peace is declared, but he can help keep him in the fight until it happens.
U.K. university tuition fees for domestic students are set to rise for the first time in seven years due to a financial crisis in higher education.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2024

Britons don't pay enough to go to university

U.K. university tuition fees for domestic students are set to rise for the first time in seven years due to a financial crisis in higher education.
Tesla CEO Elon Mus joins former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of the first assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2024

The growing shadow of big money in U.S. politics

Changes in federal election law have made it easier for candidates like Donald Trump to trade influence for donations.
Britain responds after Expo 2025 afternoon tea brews outrage
The café space at the Osaka Expo's British pavilion
Woman says archbishop of Tokyo ignored her pleas after priest allegedly raped her
In a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Tokie Tanaka, 64, details her allegations of sexual abuse against a Catholic priest.
Israel protests after Kyoto inn seeks war crime declaration from tourist
A street in Kyoto in March 2023. An Israeli tourist was asked to sign a document stating that he had not committed war crimes when he checked in at a Kyoto guesthouse in April, prompting a response from Israel's ambassador.
Second round of U.S.-Japan tariff talks ends inconclusively in Washington
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (far left), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator. The second round of tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States were held on Thursday in Washington.
Inflation and high hotel prices curtail Golden Week travels
Travelers in front of a flight information panel in a departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on April 26
'Ukiyo-e in Play' showcases traditional art carved anew
The Adachi Institute has been working on creating brand new ukiyo-e prints in collaboration with contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, whose “Mt. Fuji in Seven Colours: When life boundlessly flares up to the universe” (2014) can be seen on display at “Ukiyo-e in Play.”
Want to see the future at Expo Osaka? Get in line.
“‘Future of life,’ by Ishiguro,” the World Expo pavilion by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, displays humanlike androids.
Ishiba hears advice from across the aisle on how Japan should handle Trump
Prime Minister Shigaru Ishiba and CDP head Yoshihiko Noda at a parliamentary session in Tokyo on April 23.
Don't send in the clones: AI event nixed as Alt accounts get reality check
A screenshot from the website for Alt's AI conference, which was canceled after the company disclosed an investigation into its sales figures.
CDP submits bill proposal on separate surnames, but challenges remain
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers speak to reporters in parliament on Wednesday after submitting a bill in the Lower House to allow married couples to retain different surnames.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
By Alex K.T. Martin

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