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The Nikkei stock index on June 1. Japan equity has gained 95% since 2020, the highest rate among G7 nations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2023

Japan shows how to defeat secular stagnation

Outperforming other G7 countries on several economic indicators, Japan is demonstrating how prosperity can grow despite a shrinking population.
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 12. Macron said on Sunday that France would withdraw its ambassador from Niger, followed by the French military contingent in the coming months.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

West losing sight of Sahel after France announces exit from Niger

France's decision to exit from Niger leaves a large hole in efforts to counter Islamist insurgents and could bolster Russian influence across West Africa.
Anti-war demonstrators mark the 78th anniversary of the United States' 1945 atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima with a march and protest in New York's Times Square on Aug. 6.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 26, 2023

Nuclear specter rises as world marks day for eliminating weapons

The goal of ridding the world of nukes appears more distant than ever as the U.S., Russia and China ramp up activity at their test sites.
China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

Evergrande’s billionaire chairman Hui under police surveillance

Hui was taken away by Chinese police earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location. It’s not clear why he is under surveillance.
A worker in a factory that makes seats for BMW in Shenyang, China, on Sept. 11. China, facing an economic slump, wants to make its industrial northeast more productive, turning to policies that some economists say have outlived their time.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 27, 2023

Slowing and in debt, can China’s industrial heartland be revived?

The country, facing an economic slump, wants to make its northeast more productive, turning to policies some economists say have outlived their time.
The cast of Chelfitsch’s play “The Window of Spaceship ‘In-Between’” includes individuals with different levels of Japanese-language proficiency. They participated in workshops hosted by the theater company to promote more inclusivity in Japanese theater.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2023

Chelfitsch challenges Japanese theater's language barriers

The theater company questions the status quo of the Japanese stage by casting non-native speakers in new project, 'The Window of Spaceship "In-Between."'
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2023

Biggest selloff in 25 years hits Japan bonds as BOJ loosens grip

The selloff is a reminder that the nation’s debt market relies in part on support from public-sector institutions to outperform global peers.
A meeting to discuss how to prevent the use of kiken drugs (hazardous drugs), is held at the health ministry on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 29, 2023

As drug use rises in Japan, government eyes prevention plans

The ministry reported that by the end of August, around 300 stores in the country were found to be selling quasi-legal products known as “kiken drugs.”
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington in December 2014.
WORLD
Sep 29, 2023

Long-serving U.S. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at 90

Feinstein was a Washington trail-blazer who among other accomplishments became the first woman to head the influential Senate Intelligence Committee.
Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 22.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 30, 2023

Concern over losses won't affect monetary decision, BOJ chief says

Gov. Kazuo Ueda also said there was "still a distance to go" before the BOJ exits ultraloose monetary policy.
People's National Congress candidate Mohamed Muizzu speaks during a news conference in Male, Maldives, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 2, 2023

Pro-China winner vows to unite Maldives and releases ex-leader

The result upends the outgoing leader's efforts to revert to alliances with India since taking office five years ago.
A screen at the Karolinska Institute shows this year's laureates Katalin Kariko of Hungary (left) and Drew Weissman of the U.S. during the announcement of the winners of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2023

Pair win medicine Nobel for work related to COVID-19 vaccines

Their findings "fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system," the Nobel committee said.
The U.S. Supreme Court justices
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2023

Curtain rises on new term for conservative U.S. Supreme Court

The nine-month legal journey that will test how far its 6-3 conservative majority is willing to steer American law in a rightward direction.
Katalin Kariko (right) and Drew Weissman, the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries enabling the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023

Nobel for mRNA vaccines shows the power of perseverance

Decades of work by Nobel Prize winners Kariko and Weissman made the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible.
A man walks toward Sankore mosque, also known as the former University of Sankore, in Timbuktu, Mali
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

Mali in meltdown as militants advance and U.N. withdraws

The violence risks adding instability to a region already reeling from military coups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Ozu High School in Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2023

Probe launched over 'serious' Kumamoto soccer team bullying

A member of the renowned school team was allegedly forced to kneel on the ground in apology while naked as he was filmed by senior members of the team.
A man carrying shovels walks along an area affected by a flood near the bank of the Teesta River in Singtam, Sikkim, India, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 7, 2023

A calamitous flood shows the dangers lurking in melting glaciers

At least 26 people were killed in the tiny state of Sikkim. But as much as the disaster was a shock, it was hardly a surprise.
Peak of fossil fuel consumption may be approaching, but the post-peak period may not lead to a rapid decline, which could impact global efforts to combat climate change.
COMMENTARY
Oct 8, 2023

With fossil fuels, ‘peak demand’ isn’t what it sounds like

Peak fossil-fuel consumption will be a cause for celebration. But we should remain skeptical it’s as near as the IEA has said, especially for gas.
A rocket is fired from Gaza toward Israel on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2023

How Israel was duped as Hamas planned devastating assault

While Israel was led to believe it was containing war-weary forces, Hamas fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight.
Russian lawmakers attend a session of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, in Moscow in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 10, 2023

Russian lawmakers asked to study revoking nuclear test ban treaty

Revoking the ratification would send a warning that Moscow can fundamentally change the assumptions of post-Cold War nuclear planning.
Trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks at a ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday to launch a new platform for the trade of carbon credits.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2023

Carbon pricing platform kicks off at Tokyo Stock Exchange

More than 180 organizations, including oil firms and regional banks, have decided to participate in the platform.
The Seagram Building in New York on April 24. Three years into a mass workplace experiment, we are beginning to understand more about how work from home is reshaping workers’ lives and the economy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2023

Here’s what we do and don’t know about the effects of remote work

Over three years since the pandemic forced many to telework, studies of productivity in work-from-home arrangements are all over the map.
Ground Self-Defense Force members take part in a military review in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, in October 2018.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2023

'Not proud at all': Japan struggles to recruit for Self-Defense Forces

Experts have said that the country's armed forces could be weakened because of a lack of personnel.
Japan faces tough choices amid the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. The issue now is how Tokyo will navigate the conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 12, 2023

Hamas tests the limits of Japan's Israel-Palestine policy

Japan is the lone outlier in the Group of Seven, condemning the Hamas attacks but also expressing concern over potential casualties in the Gaza Strip.
There are expectations that Japan’s life insurers may increase purchases of Japanese government bonds as yields rise at home along with signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 13, 2023

Japan’s rising yields and yen hedging costs drive insurers to JGBs

Japanese government bonds are drawing interest amid signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
A representative of Chevalier Brewery presents a bottle of its sake adapted to French drinkers' tastes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 15, 2023

Sake fights an uphill battle for France’s wine lovers

Among many French drinkers, sake is still associated with cheap, low-quality alcohol only served at the end of meals in Japanese restaurants.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem in July 2017.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2023

India’s realism comes of age in response to Israel-Hamas war

Unlike other Global South country leaders, Modi wasted no time expressing solidarity with Israel, an ally of India.
Hiroshi Watanabe, former Japanese currency policy chief and onetime head of  the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, speaks during an interview in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 15, 2023

IMF warning on China puts 'Japanization' risk in spotlight

Stalling inflation and a deepening real estate crisis were said to be among the biggest risks to global growth during a recent IMF and World Bank meeting.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks on the first day of the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai on Sunday.
OLYMPICS
Oct 16, 2023

IOC members call on Bach to stay on past 2025

Elected in 2013, Bach is due to step down in 2025 in line with current Olympic Charter rules.
The 2028 Los Angeles Games are set to feature cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball, following approval from the International Olympic Committee.
OLYMPICS
Oct 16, 2023

Cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash make 2028 Games cut

Each host city, under IOC rules, can request the inclusion of several sports for their edition of the Games.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?