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BOJ's rate hike ambiguity causing unwelcome angst
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's unexpectedly dovish position on interest rate hikes expressed at a recent press conference puzzled many market players, calling further into question the central bank's communication style that it has previously admitted needs to be improved. Explaining the bank's latest decision to forego a rate… Read
8 people die in multiple early morning fires across Japan
Eight people, some of them elderly, died in multiple fires across Japan on Saturday, according to police. Two bodies, believed to be those of a 92-year-old man and his 89-year-old wife, were found after a fire gutted a two-story house in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, in the early morning, police… Read
A quarter of Japanese firms positive about reskilling workers
About a quarter of Japanese firms are positive about reskilling their workers -- seen as essential for improving labor productivity -- but only a small percentage are actively taking steps toward that goal, a research institute survey found. The government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba views increased investment in human… Read
82-year-old man killed in hit-and-run in Saitama Prefecture
An 82-year-old man riding a bicycle died after being hit by a truck that kept going in Koshigaya City, Saitama Prefecture, on Friday. According to police, a man called 110 at around 11:30 a.m. to report an accident involving a truck and a man on a bicycle on a prefectural… Read
U.S. Senate passes government funding bill, averting shutdown
The U.S. Congress passed spending legislation early on Saturday in a down-to-the wire burst of activity that will avert a destabilizing government shutdown ahead of the busy holiday travel season. The Democratic-controlled Senate in an 85-11 vote passed the bill to continue government funding 38 minutes after it expired at… Read
Japan's ruling bloc OKs FY2025 tax reforms to fund defense spending
Japan's ruling parties on Friday approved their tax reform plans for the next fiscal year starting April aimed at funding a scheduled defense budget hike through increases in corporate and tobacco levies from 2026. In an attempt to increase people's disposable incomes, the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition… Read
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
Freed anti-whaling activist Paul Watson on Friday arrived in France after five months in detention in the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland due to an extradition demand from Japan. Watson, a 74-year-old Canadian-American, was released on Tuesday after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.… Read
Cambodia to grant Japan visitation rights to China-linked naval base
Cambodia's influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday that Japan would be granted visitation rights to the country's Ream Naval Base, a facility the United States is concerned could become a military outpost for China. Chinese military vessels have been rotating through Ream since a Beijing-funded upgrade started… Read
Man arrested for assaulting wife after argument over pajamas in washing machine
Police in Sapporo have arrested a 63-year-old man on suspicion of assaulting his wife after they got into an argument over her putting his pajamas in the washing machine. According to police, the incident occurred at around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday at the couple’s home in Chuo Ward, Hokkaido Broadcasting… Read
At least 2 dead, 60 hurt after car drives into Christmas market in Germany
A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack. The driver was arrested at the scene shortly after the car barreled into the… Read
