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September 02, 2025
 

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DEVELOPMENT

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at the closing ceremony of the Japan-led Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, on Friday in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025
TICAD adopts Yokohama Declaration to strengthen multilateral trade
The communique emphasized proposals to solve problems facing African states, apparently reflecting Japan's wish to highlight a different approach to that of China.
The World Health Organization's funding squeeze was sparked by the U.S. decision to leave the agency, announced on day one of Donald Trump’s presidency in January this year.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2025
WHO plans to relocate units and cease some work in wake of U.S. withdrawal
The organization cut its 2026-27 budget by 21% in May, has already halved its management team, and has seen over 400 staff depart since January.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera on the sidelines of the TICAD meeting in Yokohama on Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2025
Japan calls for private investments in Africa at TICAD
Tokyo is offering itself as an alternative to China as African nations reel from a debt crisis made worse by Western aid cuts, conflict and climate change.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) and African leaders prior to the opening of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2025
Ishiba unveils new regional economic initiative as TICAD 9 conference begins
The initiative is designed to enhance economic ties between the African continent and regions linking it with India.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025
Japan to donate $550 million to Gavi vaccine alliance over five years
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will announce the pledge at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, set to begin in Yokohama on Wednesday.
South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana (right) and the country’s reserve bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, attend the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Cape Town on Feb. 27. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
A new trade agenda for climate-resilient development
Policymakers must be prepared to introduce new trade rules that support low-carbon transitions in Africa and across the Global South.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday. Ishiba plans to launch a new economic initiative to strengthen ties with India, the Middle East and Africa at an event near Tokyo next week.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2025
Ishiba to launch new regional economic initiative
The initiative is aimed at helping Japanese companies expand operations in India, the Middle East and Africa.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is looking to expand its presence in the market for debt swaps as a way for emerging countries to alleviate their debt burdens and put savings toward sustainable goals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 13, 2025
MUFG in talks to arrange new debt swaps after $465 million deal
Japan’s biggest bank is looking to expand its presence in the market for debt swaps after helping to wrap up a deal for Cote d'Ivoire in December.
Beneficiaries line up to receive support at a WFP distribution center in Damboa, Borno State, Nigeria, on Sunday.
WORLD
Jul 24, 2025
Millions go hungry in Nigeria as aid dries up and jihadists surge
The limited food will soon run out by the end of July as Western aid cuts — including the dismantling of USAID — send humanitarian programs into a tailspin.
A nurse takes a blood sample from a child for an HIV test at a clinic in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
Tighter borders bar poor nations from summits — on poor nations
Sudanese climate activist Roaa should have been leading meetings with other youth advocates at a United Nations climate conference in Germany in June.
Women and children arrange their containers as they line up at a standpipe, where incomplete water connections caused by USAID funding cuts to the NGO Mercy Corps have led to ongoing water shortages, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 16.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025
Trump's funding cut stalls water projects, increasing risks for millions
The White House's decision to slash nearly all U.S. foreign aid projects has created new hazards for some of the people they were designed to benefit.
The $9 billion cut to foreign aid and public media the U.S. House of Representatives passed amounts to roughly one-tenth of 1% of the $6.8 trillion federal budget.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
U.S. House Republicans pass Trump plan to cut foreign aid and public broadcasting
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 216 to 213 in favor of the funding cut package, with only two Republicans voting against it.
BRICS leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (front row left), Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (second left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center), Chinese Premier Li Qiang (second right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov join hands during a group photo at the bloc's summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2025
BRICS fills soft-power vacuum as Trump-led U.S. retreats
The 10-nation BRICS grouping of major emerging economies has stepped up its efforts on issues such as AI, health care and climate change.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during the opening segment of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, in Seville, Spain, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025
Blistering heat and empty chairs mar U.N.'s flagship development event
Two key ingredients were in less abundance at the once-a-decade International Conference on Financing for Development: money and power.
A malnourished child reacts while a health care worker takes his vitals at Tudun Gambo Primary Health Care Center, Tudun Gambo, Nigeria, in May. Programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development are estimated to have helped prevent more than 91 million deaths over the past two decades, including 30 million among children.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2025
Trump’s plan for USAID cuts risks 14 million additional deaths, study warns
Researchers project 1.8 million excess deaths in 2025 alone if the cuts continue.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi steps off the plane upon his arrival at OFranjo Tudjmano airport in Zagreb, Croatia, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2025
Modi's ambitious water plan fails to quench India's thirst
On paper, the water initiative is a success. But unconnected water tanks and broken taps point to a very different reality on the ground.
The United Nations' World Food Programme is expected to cut up to 30% of its staff.
WORLD
Jun 17, 2025
U.N. slashes global aid plan over 'deepest funding cuts ever'
The United States — the world's top donor — has heavily slashed foreign aid since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January.
The launch of Vayve Mobility Eva, India's first solar electric vehicle, at the New Delhi auto show in January. An uptick in SEV development and adoption could help least developed and small island states leapfrog to a cleaner transport sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025
Solar EVs are a ray of hope for cutting emissions
Decarbonizing transport is key to cutting emissions in least developed and small island developing states, where travel demand is growing. Solar EVs offer a bright way forward.
Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 14
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025
Developing nations face 'tidal wave' of China debt, report finds
The poorest 75 countries are set to make "record high debt repayments" to China in 2025 of a combined $22 billion.
A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025
How efficiency can transform sustainable development
In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Woman dies after possible knife attack in Setagaya
Police investigate the scene where a woman was found bleeding on a street in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on Monday.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
More sweltering days forecast for September after hottest summer on record
By the end of August, 8,341 people had been transported by ambulance for heatstroke in Tokyo alone.
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
‘Cool’ Patagonia wants to take used items into the mainstream
"It's not just about sales. It's about system change," said Marty Pomphrey, general manager of Patagonia Japan, on Aug. 6.
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.

Podcast

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

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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