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International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Fall meetings signage outside the IMF headquarters in Washington on Sunday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024

As poor nations' default wave peaks, a cash shortage could replace it

The issue, and what to do about it when Western countries are increasingly loath to send money overseas, is a key topic at the IMF World Bank autumn meetings this week.
Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii shakes hands with a voter in his district in Saitama Prefecture on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2024

Komeito's new leader faces trial by fire in general election

Once local allies, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai are going head-to-head for the first time ever, adding to the challenge facing Keiichi Ishii.
North Korean special forces troops take part in training at a base in an undisclosed location in the country in this image released on Oct. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

U.S. warns against North Korean troops in Ukraine as Seoul eyes arms to Kyiv

South Korea, Japan and the U.S. are rushing to address the high possibility of Pyongyang sending combat troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

Ishiba vows steps against crime-linked social media posts

The Prime Minister said that the government will consider supporting patrol activities by volunteers under a supplementary budget.
Asako Osaki attends the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York in March.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Nov 3, 2024

How global lessons can improve prospects for women in rural Japan

Through motherhood, education and work, Asako Osaki worked to bring global standards to the front lines of gender issues.
A sculpture representing Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, located on the grounds of a park in Budapest
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024

Who was Bitcoin’s Satoshi? I need to know and so do you.

It’s only natural, and even healthy, to be curious about who could have created more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first inning of Game 4 against the Mets on Oct. 17.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 23, 2024

Flaherty to start World Series opener for Dodgers as Yamamoto gets Game 2

Yamamoto is 1-0 with a 5.11 ERA in three playoff starts and hasn't pitched beyond five innings in any of those outings.
Trump has threatened blanket 60% tariffs on China, forcing some companies to consider shifting their supply chains to Southeast Asia.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2024

China's exporters run for cover as U.S. election nears

A Trump trade war 2.0 would be a moment of reckoning for many Chinese exporters, whose profits are dwindling under heavy deflationary pressure.
Yahya Sinwar gives a speech in Gaza City in April 2023. Israeli forces cornered and killed the leader of Hamas in a ruined house in Gaza on Oct. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

The killing of Sinwar presents a tricky opportunity

It’s always a mistake to speak of "solutions” in the Middle East, but plausible grounds for optimism can do a lot to dissolve the allure of fanaticism.
Naoko (Ayaka Onishi, right) starts moonlighting as a paid companion for older men under her missing colleague’s identity in “Strangers.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2024

‘Strangers’: A satisfyingly unnerving stolen identity drama

Kenta Ikeda and his cinematographer imbue the thriller about a woman who takes on the identity of her more carefree and flirtatious colleague with a sense of paranoia.
Preparations ahead of the Bloomberg New Economy event at the B20 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 24, 2024

Brazil's business leaders reluctant to pick between U.S. and China ties

Brazil’s agriculture minister has called for the country to join China’s Belt and Road, the superpower’s flagship global trade and infrastructure program.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to voters in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

LDP rapped over funds for local chapters of scandal-tainted candidates

The LDP secretary-general said the funding was provided to the local chapters to expand the party’s influence, not to support individual candidates.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2024

China and India bury the hatchet — for now, at least

Despite the agreement to disengage, the lack of trust is palpable. We are still just one misstep from an army patrol from another dangerous flare-up.
A cyclist cools off at a fountain at Madrid Rio park during a heat wave in Madrid in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 25, 2024

U.N. says world is on course to warm up to 3.1 degrees Celsius

Little progress has been made over the past few years despite repeated calls for stronger action plans.
In Japan, terms like "progressive," "liberal," "conservative," and "nationalist" may sound familiar but do not align with their meanings in other democracies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 25, 2024

How to understand labels in Japanese politics

The issues that define political labels are often unique to Japan. As a result, quite a few Western authors will pick them up and use them.
Kazuhiro Soda’s “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” follows not only the felines that live on the grounds of the title shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture, but also the local community members, many of whom are of retirement age.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2024

‘The Cats of Gokogu Shrine’: Documentary paints intimate portrait of a community in decline

While stray cats that inhabit the grounds of a local shrine take center stage, the film also celebrates the aging humans doing their best to preserve their neighborhood.
Nvidia's stock market value on Friday briefly touched $3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple's $3.52 trillion, LSEG data showed.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 26, 2024

Nvidia overtakes Apple as world's most valuable company

Nvidia's stock market value briefly touched $3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple's $3.52 trillion, LSEG data showed.
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.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

As U.S. election looms, Biden aides struggle with Middle East wars

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was dispatched to the region to find a way toward stability, but there was no sign of progress.
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.
Japan's Yoshitaka Yazaki tries to tackle New Zealand's Mark Tele'a during a match on Saturday in Yokohama.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 27, 2024

After All Blacks loss, Brave Blossoms' new crop of players still needs time to bloom

The 64-19 score was not as bad as it looks on paper, but Saturday's game in Yokohama showed Japan has a long way to go to compete with the best.
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 poses for a photo with other members of the Liberal Democratic Party at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night after polls closed in the 2024 general election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Success and scandals: the Liberal Democratic Party

The LDP remains associated with the postwar economic miracle, said Tomoaki Iwai of Nihon University.
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.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sunday. Tamaki has not taken sides at the moment, saying only that his party will cooperate with those who are willing to cooperate with it to implement its policies.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

DPP's quadrupling of seats burnishes its potential as a coalition partner

The question now is whether it will join a battered Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition or work with a strengthened Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
A Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey transport aircraft
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024

GSDF suspends Osprey flights over accident during training

All GSDF Ospreys will remain grounded until the cause of the incident is identified and countermeasures are taken thoroughly.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri receives the Ballon d'Or award in Paris on Monday.
SOCCER
Oct 29, 2024

Rodri wins men's Ballon d'Or as Real Madrid boycotts

Real Madrid's Liga and Champions League double winner Vinicius Junior had been seen as favorite.
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte attends a Senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Duterte’s drug war becomes flash point in Philippines rivalry

He defended the operation that killed thousands during his presidency amid a deepening feud between his clan and incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
WORLD / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Harris and Trump battle for swing-state votes as Musk draws lawsuit

Trump rallied evangelical voters in Georgia, while Harris highlighted her plans to boost manufacturing during a tour of Michigan.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, walks past a monitor displaying a live news broadcast showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Oct 29, 2024

Without an LDP-Komeito majority, will Ishiba stay prime minister?

Opposition parties could band together and vote Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda into power, but this remains an unlikely scenario.

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