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Latest News

A makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Ten days that shook Ukraine’s world reverberate in defiant Kyiv
The U.S. shift is as calamitous for Ukraine as it is shocking for European allies. But the mood remains defiant in Kyiv.
Qianmen street, Beijing, in March 2023. Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Five years on, the economic impact of COVID-19 lingers
Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan must fix "any misunderstanding" held by U.S. President Donald Trump that its central bank was intentionally weakening the yen with monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Japan must fix 'misunderstanding' it is manipulating yen, says ex-BOJ chief Kuroda
Trump said he had told Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Marine One, while departing the White House en route to Florida, in Washington, on Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2025
Majority in Japan expect stronger economic ties under Trump
Also in the survey, 81.5% said they strongly or somewhat agree that the security environment in East Asia is becoming more severe.
Tokyo Metro President Akiyoshi Yamamura (front) and others observe a moment of silence near the site of the accident in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2025
Tokyo Metro marks 25th year since deadly derailment
The subway derailment accident on March 8, 2000, killed five passengers and injured 64 others.
A demonstration by the Polish army at the Bemowo Piskie Land Forces Training Center in Poland in September 2023. As U.S. President Donald Trump casts doubt on his country's alliances, Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Alarmed by Trump, Poland must look at nuclear options, premier says
Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Elon Musk departs the White House for the Capitol on the night of U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, in Washington, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Inside the explosive meeting where Trump officials clashed with Elon Musk
Simmering anger at the billionaire’s unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting. The president quickly moved to rein in Musk.
A man is silhouetted beneath a screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 8, 2025
Japanese stocks expected to remain on downward trend amid tariff turmoil
Uncertainties over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs this week pushed the Nikkei 225 index below 37,000 for the first time in six months.
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata (left) and secretary to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry, Mahinda Siriwardana, attend a joint news conference after the signing of debt restructuring agreements between the two countries in Colombo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Sri Lanka signs $2.5 billion debt deal with Japan
Japan said it was granting concessions on a ¥369.45 billion ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda addresses a rally calling for the introduction of a system allowing married couples to choose whether to use the same or different family names on Feb. 26 at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Some 44% of Japanese lawmakers back selective dual surname system
The figure far outstrips the 1% who said that the country should maintain its current same surname system.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday about his decision to cancel plans to raise the ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Ishiba cancels planned August medical expense cap hike
It is the third time for the Ishiba administration to change its policy about the high-cost medical care system.
A demonstrator holds a sign with a picture of death row inmate Brad Sigmon outside the South Carolina Department of Corrections following his execution by firing squad, at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2025
South Carolina carries out first firing squad execution in U.S. in 15 years
The convicted murderer said he feared the alternatives of the electric chair or lethal injection would risk a slower and more torturous death.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto speaks during a meeting with steel and aluminum company executives on Feb. 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Japan to send trade minister Muto to U.S. amid tariff tensions
The visit is set to take place from March 9 to March 11, just before the extra levies on steel and aluminum are expected to kick in on March 12.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump said tariffs could be imposed on Canadian dairy and lumber products within days, in a growing trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2025
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy sows confusion
Hasty announcements have injected chaos into the economy and financial markets, casting doubts about the White House’s trade strategy.
British Secretary of State for Business Jonathan Reynolds, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and trade minister Yoji Muto shake hands after a joint news announcement after their economic "two-plus-two" ministers' meeting at the Iikura Guesthouse on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Japan and Britain stress free trade in Tokyo talks
The comments followed Japan and Britain's first "two-plus-two" talks between the country's trade and foreign ministers.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to members of Iran's air force in Tehran in February.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Trump says he sent Iran leader letter urging nuclear talks
Trump said that while he isn’t ruling out a military intervention, he would "rather negotiate a deal.”
US President Donald Trump listens to a reporter as he speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Trump threatens Russia with sanctions until Ukraine peace reached
Trump's threat of banking curbs and tariffs followed a report Monday that the White House was preparing to give Russia possible sanctions relief as part of the push to end the war.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly