Kyoto (京都, Kyōto) served as Japan’s capital and the emperor’s residence from 794 until 1868. It is one of the country’s ten largest cities with a population of 1.5 million people and a modern face.

Over the centuries, Kyoto was destroyed by many wars and fires, but due to its exceptional historic value, the city was dropped from the list of targ…[Read more]

Asian shares mostly rise after U.S. stocks wobble as Treasury bond yields veer

TOKYO
Shares mostly rose Tuesday in Asia after Wall Street wobbled to a mixed close as yields on U.S. Treasury bonds fell back after creeping above 5%.

Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai and Taiwan, but fell in Hong Kong.

Rapidly rising yields in the…[Read more]

IMF projects Japan’s GDP to fall to world’s 4th in 2023 after Germany

WASHINGTON
Japan’s nominal gross domestic product in 2023 is expected to slip from third to fourth in the world on a U.S. dollar basis, to be overtaken by Germany, on the back of the yen’s depreciation, recent International Monetary Fund projections showed.

As the nominal GDP…[Read more]

Japan to extend gasoline, energy subsidies through April

TOKYO
The Japanese government is planning to extend subsidies aimed at curbing gasoline and other fuel prices as well as utility bills from the end of this year to the end of April, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The government will consider phasing out gasoline subsidies…[Read more]

Turkey’s Erdogan calls Israeli siege and bombing of Gaza a ‘massacre’

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned Israel’s blockade and bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip, calling it a “massacre”.

Speaking to the members of his ruling AK Party in parliament on Wednesday, Erdogan said even war had a “morality” but the flare-up since…[Read more]

Türkiye sends aid to Gaza amid Israeli blockade

Turkiye’s humanitarian aid allocated for residents of Gaza, which suffers from an Israeli blockade and an imminent offensive, is en route to Egypt on Friday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they were planning assistance to the people of Gaza in the face of the absence of food, fuel and other v…[Read more]

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces struggling to recruit new members

A recent open day at a Japanese military base near Tokyo was a fun family outing but, despite the games and snacks, the Self-Defense Forces recruitment stand was bereft of visitors.

“This is the reality. The festival is always packed but no one comes,” confessed one of the two…[Read more]

Japan to send SDF plane to Djibouti to evacuate citizens in Israel

Japan is considering sending Self-Defense Forces’ aircraft to its operating base in Djibouti as part of efforts to evacuate its nationals in Israel, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday, amid the fierce conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

While Japan…[Read more]

Stop Wasting Taxpayers’ Money: Insights from the Japan-US Innovation Summit

In Japan, there is a peculiar variety of daytime TV shows known as “wideshow” (ワイドショー). The wideshow is a hybrid of news, pseudo-political discussion, and telemarketing for facial toning products. Panels can consist of not-so-busy lawyers, comedians, and magicians.…[Read more]

ENVIRONMENTEDITORIAL | Double Standard: Okinawa Gov Kept Own Cancer-causing Leak Secret

Tamaki left his Okinawa constituents exposed to toxic spills from his prefectural offices while he was at the UN, ranting about the US bases’ chemical waste.
Recently the leak of a fire extinguishing agent containing the toxic compound PFOS (perfluorooctane…[Read more]

Japanese retailer Aeon earns record profit amid inflation

Aeon President Akio Yoshida was upbeat regarding sales of private brand products, saying sales “have been growing very steadily.”

Nice, the fifth largest city in France, acts as a magnet attracting people from all over the world, for a multitude of reasons, Not only renowned for its grace, Nice has become a hub for research in industry, science and advanced technology since the creation of such centers as Acropolis and Sophia Antipolis. The Palais de Congres, a convention…[Read more]

Nice, seaport city, Mediterranean tourist centre, and capital of Alpes-Maritimes département, Provence–Alpes–Côte-d’Azur région, southeastern France. The city is located on the Baie (bay) des Anges, 20 miles (32 km) from the Italian border. Sheltered by beautiful hills, Nice has a pleasant climate and is the leading resort city of the Côte d’A…[Read more]

French forces depart Niger, US declares military rulers conducted coup

French soldiers have started to withdraw from their bases in Niger, with the first convoy of troops escorted out of the country by Niger’s military as it travelled in the “direction of Chad”, authorities in the capital Niamey said.

Pick-up trucks and armoured personnel carri…[Read more]

France begins withdrawing its troops from Niger

France has begun withdrawing its troops from Niger after being ordered out of the West African nation by the leaders of the July coup that ousted the pro-Paris president, the military said Tuesday.

Huge Ancient Solar Storm Revealed by Tree Rings in French Alps

Israeli action in Gaza will bring it int’l disrepute: Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday directed criticism at Israel by saying it was not conducting itself “like a state” in the Gaza Strip.
The comments come after Israel continued an indiscriminate bombing campaign of the blockaded coastal enclave, in retaliation to a s…[Read more]

A person can only be born in one place. However, he may die several times elsewhere: in the exiles and prisons, and in a homeland transformed by the occupation and oppression into a nightmare,” said Mahmoud Darwish, the prominent Palestinian poet and author, in 2004 in an award acceptance speech in the Netherlands.

These profound words resonate t…[Read more]

Jean Pisani-Ferry: ‘Emmanuel Macron has missed the opportunity to set out a motivating narrative’ on the matter of environmental planning

Planification is closely linked to scarcity. In an economy damaged by war, it was the scarcity of productive resources that led to the introduction of the Plan, and it was the return to abundance that…[Read more]

Macron meets Meloni in Rome amid tensions over migration

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held talks Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron in Rome, against a backdrop of tensions between the two countries over migration