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October 16, 2025
 

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POVERTY

Over half of financially struggling pregnant women and new mothers in Japan have no savings, a survey by Save the Children Japan found.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Over half of needy pregnant women in Japan have no savings
An official from Save the Children Japan urged the central and local governments to strengthen their support measures.
Haitian children walk past piles of garbage at the School Argentine Bellegarde, converted into a shelter for displaced people, in downtown Port-au-Prince on Oct. 3. More than 16,000 people have been killed in armed violence in Haiti since the start of 2022, the United Nations said on October 3, warning that "the worst may be yet to come."
WORLD / Society
Oct 9, 2025
'Daily struggle for survival' for Haiti children, U.N. report says
An estimated 680,000 children have been displaced by gang violence in crisis-wracked Haiti, nearly double the number from a year ago.
The World Bank has highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2025
Asia’s youth struggle to find good jobs, World Bank warns
The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies.
Remittance inflows to low-income countries have boosted welfare, reduced poverty and strengthened economic resilience, but the Trump administration’s 1% tax on the transactions threatens to undermine these critical benefits.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2025
Trump’s beggar-the-poor remittance tax
America is now the world’s top remittance-sending country, with at least 134 recipient countries in 2021, the most recent year with reliable bilateral data.
Moroccan youth from a collective calling itself GenZ 212 chant slogans as they rally for a seventh straight day to demand reforms to public health care and education.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 5, 2025
Gen Z anger at ruling elites is erupting across the world
There has been a surge in Gen Z demonstrations in Africa and Asia against aging leaders and corruption.
Students suffering from food poisoning after eating a meal from the government's free meal program receive treatment at the Kadungora Public Health Center in Garut, West Java on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 3, 2025
Indonesia free meals program under fire after thousands sickened
More than 1,300 children were rushed to health clinics last week after suffering from breathing difficulties, nausea and diarrhea.
Bipinkumar Padaya (center) sits with his wife and son at home in Dharavi, a slum settlement in Mumbai.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 27, 2025
In India's Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia is for sale
The plan to redevelop Dharavi, led by Mumbai authorities and billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani, reflects modern India — excessive, ambitious, and brutal.
Some 91% scholarship recipients say their livelihoods are worsening due to rising prices, with nearly 20% describing their situation as dire, according to a nonprofit organization survey.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2025
Most scholarship recipients in Japan are struggling with inflation
Over 90% of scholarship recipients are facing financial strain, with nearly 20% describing their situation as dire, a recent survey has found.
A displaced Palestinian boy carries a tent on his head as he moves south in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday.
WORLD
Sep 21, 2025
'Shocked and devastated': Gaza City assault leaves Palestinians traumatized
Israel has pummeled Gaza City with air strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize what it describes as one of Hamas' last strongholds.
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2025
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
A survey conducted by Save the Children Japan has found that single-parent households were among those facing the most dire food insecurity.
Kinga Skiers (left) co-founded the Tokyo chapter of Food Not Bombs in 2023. The organization aims to provide the capital’s homeless population with food and other essentials.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Aug 18, 2025
Solidarity with Tokyo’s homeless residents, one day at a time
Since 2023, the Tokyo chapter of Food Not Bombs has been supplying vegetarian meals and everyday goods to homeless people across the city.
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.
Food banks are struggling to secure rice and other food items to distribute to people in need as inflation has put a dent in donations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2025
As rice shortage hits donations, food banks urge politicians to tackle poverty
Food banks are struggling to secure rice and other food items to distribute to people in need as inflation has put a dent in donations.
A survey by Tokyo-based nonprofit Good Neighbors Japan showed that the number of respondents saying that their children eat two meals or fewer a day during holidays was about 2.5 times higher than during the school term, at 32.2%.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2025
More kids going hungry during school holidays as food costs soar, survey finds
Rising food and utility prices are placing additional pressures on families already struggling to make ends meet.
Yumiko Watanabe (left), head of nonprofit group Kidsdoor, announces in Tokyo last month the results of a survey conducted on struggling families.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 4, 2025
80% of lower-income families in Japan say financial situation getting worse
Many respondents cited the price of rice as a key factor, with some saying they are struggling to put enough food on the table.
Plaintiffs of lawsuits on welfare benefit reductions hold up signs celebrating their victory in Tokyo on Friday following the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of them.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2025
Japan's Supreme Court finds welfare benefit cuts unlawful
The top court revoked the welfare cuts but dismissed plaintiffs' damages claims.
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 Children and Families Agency will conduct a survey in an effort to offer better assistance measures for expectant mothers in trouble.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 9, 2025
Japan to study ways to help more pregnant women in danger
As of January, 23 prefectural and municipal governments have taken part in a program to offer temporary housing, meals and medical services to struggling women and their babies.
The basic framework adopted by the government calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan government to boost support for job 'Ice Age' generation
The framework calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Could an opposition candidate become Japan's next prime minister?
The lawmaker that secures a majority of votes in the Lower House will become prime minister. If no one gets a majority, the two top contenders will enter a runoff in which the person with the highest number of votes gets elected.
Coalition talks could bring Takaichi closer to being PM
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura meets with Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Wednesday.
As temperatures drop in Japan, bear attacks shoot up to historic highs
Bear warning signs at the Akita Prefectural Government building
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Pace eyes great strides for Japan’s art market
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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