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The disapproval rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has also exceeded 60% for the first time.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Support for Kishida Cabinet hits new low of 16.9% in Jiji poll

The approval rate is also the lowest for a Liberal Democratic Party-led administration since the party returned to power in December 2012.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally ahead of the Republican caucus in Las Vegas on Jan. 27.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 22, 2024

How East Asia should prepare for a possible Trump comeback

Questions over defense funding and military support could potentially return to the fore for U.S. allies.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Thursday that a visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024

North Korea-Japan summit push gains steam after remarks by Kim’s sister

A visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats, Kim Yo Jong said.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Kazunori Yamanoi shows a Liberal Democratic Party survey about a slush funds scandal to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024

LDP survey doesn't quell demand from opposition for ethics hearing

The scandal, and the demand to convene a meeting of the ethics committee, have Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a political bind.
Donald Trump's recent remarks on defense spending by allies, which were highly criticized, highlight the complexities of U.S. foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2024

Trump's defense spending critiques: Valid concerns or political rhetoric?

Do U.S. allies need to step up defense spending? What do the numbers really say?
A road in Uchinada, Ishikawa Prefecture, is impassable as a result of what appears to be liquefaction on Feb. 4.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2024

Quake-induced liquefaction hampers Noto reconstruction

Houses are tilted or buried halfway underground, while roads have caved in or risen up — all because of the liquefaction.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

‘Dictators do not go on vacation,’ Zelenskyy warns Washington and Europe

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on world leaders not to abandon his country saying that Russia would continue to test the international order.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg traveled to the U.S. last month for a visit partly designed to sell the alliance and support for Ukraine to the Donald Trump camp.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Europe seeks to sway Trump camp on NATO and Ukraine aid

European leaders argue that they are spending more on defense and will do more, and that protecting Europe projects U.S. strength to China.
Italy's Ange Capuozzo in action with Ireland's Craig Casey at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Feb. 11.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Feb 20, 2024

Capuozzo defends Italy's place in Six Nations ahead of France test

Italy heads to Lille on Sunday to play France, facing the possibility of earning another Six Nations wooden spoon.
Education Minister Masahito Moriyama bows to parliament after a motion of no confidence against him was voted down in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Japan opposition fails with censure motion against education minister

The CDP's move against a Unification Church-linked minister came as the party also called for questioning over a slush funds scandal.
Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born electric cars on the production line at the company’s plant in Zwickau, Germany.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2024

Europe is being forced to reboot its car industry

Unless they can get strategies back on track, Europe’s automakers risk falling further behind China and Tesla
A man who struggles with a panic disorder (Hokuto Matsumura, left) and his colleague (Mone Kamishiraishi) who suffers from severe premenstrual syndrome learn to support each other in “All the Long Nights.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2024

‘All the Long Nights’: Leads’ chemistry delivers in heartwarming drama

Sho Miyake’s observant film, which explores the healing powers of a heartfelt friendship, is enhanced by evocative visual and aural beauty.
A general election must take place in the U.K. by late January 2025, which means plenty of time for expats abroad to register and vote.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 26, 2024

As more U.K. expats get the vote, Japan’s ballot box stays closed

As of Jan. 16, Brits abroad — including the more than 17,000 in Japan — are able to register to vote regardless of how long they have lived overseas.
The LDP's Takuo Komori stepped down from his post as parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs after it was revealed he had underreported political funds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024

Will the LDP funding scandal change Japanese politics?

What can we learn from the LDP funding scandal? One thing is certain: The saga fits a pattern that is anything but unseen in Japanese politics.
What would you do if you received a juicy piece of gossip at work, do you know the Japanese for how you'd respond?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 23, 2024

Rumor, gossip and misinformation with neither roots nor leaves

Areas hit by the New Year's Day earthquake find themselves subject to damaging misinformation as they try to focus on reconstruction.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson walks out of a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2024

U.S. House speaker must now confront his own party’s sabotage

Multiple senior House Republicans, granted anonymity to speak frankly, now portray Mike Johnson as an insecure leader who faces a steep learning curve.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July 2023.
WORLD
Feb 24, 2024

Europe’s east is losing faith in its west over arming Ukraine

The mood in diplomatic circles is that, should Russia ultimately win its war in Ukraine, Western Europe will not be forgiven.
A woman and children place flags for friends who are in the Ukrainian military at Independence Square in Kyiv on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2024

Ukraine marks second anniversary of Russian invasion, determined despite setbacks

Western leaders gathered in Kyiv to pledge support for Ukraine amid U.S. reluctance, while its troops suffer growing losses on the battlefield.
Palestinians help an injured man in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024

The Gaza war isn't a Holocaust, but it's still a nightmare

There are, sadly, many examples in history of the kind of conflict under way in Gaza, and the Holocaust isn’t one of them.
France's Matthis Lebel carries the ball against Italy during their Six Nations match in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Feb 26, 2024

France coach Fabien Galthie denies talk of crisis after close call against Italy

Galthie's side was hammered by Ireland in the tournament opener before edging Scotland earlier this month.
Feleti Teo was formally selected by lawmakers as Tuvalu's premier on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Taiwan envoy says Tuvalu ties 'rock solid' post-election

With a population of just 11,000, Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
People read newspapers at a roadside tea stall in Patna, Bihar, India. Newsrooms are being reshaped, journalists say, by India’s richest press barons, many of whom are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Billionaire press barons are squeezing media freedom in India

Many press barons are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
U.S. President Joe Biden announces new provisions in March 2022 requiring the government to buy more made-in-America goods.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2024

Biden doesn’t get why we need the WTO

What do Biden and Trump have in common? Protectionism. As a result, the 13th WTO ministerial conference underway in Abu Dhabi is doomed to fail.
In principle, political ethics committee meetings are not open to either the media or other lawmakers. But the committee can open them to both at its discretion.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

What to know about the ethics committee probing the LDP funds scandal

When the committee convenes later this week, at least five senior ruling party officials are expected to testify on what they knew about the scandal.
Houthi supporters and other protesters rally in solidarity with the Palestinians in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

After U.S. strikes, Iran’s proxies scale back attacks on U.S. bases

Tehran, wary of igniting open warfare with Washington, has told militia groups it backs to curtail assaults on targets such as military installations.
Former yokozuna Hakuho apologizes for the bullying caused by his protege Hokuseiho (right), outside the Miyagino stable in Tokyo on Friday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 28, 2024

How a rethink of supervision at stables could curtail bullying in sumo

Incidents of bullying and harassment of younger wrestlers by their seniors continue to erupt with regularity, causing major issues for the world of sumo.
An employee organizes baby supplies at a store in Siheung, South Korea, on Tuesday. A lack of babies is speeding up the aging of South Korean society, generating concerns about the growing fiscal burden of public pensions and healthcare.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 28, 2024

South Korea keeps shattering its own record for lowest fertility rate

The number of babies expected per woman in a lifetime fell to 0.72 last year from 0.78 in 2022.
While Tokyo and Washington have maintained strong ties under U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida amid intensifying concern over China’s regional ambitions, Japanese officials are still hedging their bets by sending out feelers in the event of another term under Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2024

Ex-senior Trump official reassures Tokyo over possible comeback

A former deputy assistant to the ex-president swatted away concerns, saying Trump's 2024 White House bid "is a very different effort than 2016."
Even if a solution for peace is found to end the conflict between Hamas and Israel, any transitional authority will need to reckon with the militant group's large footprint in Gaza.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2024

A total 'de-Hamasification' of Gaza may be a bad idea

A peace plan needs to reckon with many difficult questions: Who will rebuild Gaza; who will pay for reconstruction and who will adjudicate any war crimes.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether former U.S. President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court immunity case jeopardizes Trump trial pre-election

Polls indicate a conviction of Trump could undercut the Republican front-runner’s bid to reclaim the White House.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat