Japan

[ad_1] Japan's current account surplus nearly doubled to ¥20.63 trillion ($140 billion) in 2023 from a year earlier, boosted by record returns on foreign investments and a sharp drop in the trade deficit, government data showed Thursday.Primary income swelled to ¥34.56 trillion, the highest since comparable data became available in 1985, with a weaker yen inflating the value of overseas investment returns for Japanese companies.The trade deficit more than halved […]

[ad_1] FUKUOKA – Returning Japan men's rugby head coach Eddie Jones provided glimpses this week of what he is looking for after putting his players through their paces over two days in his first training camp.The 64-year-old former England and Australia head coach returned in January to take charge of the Brave Blossoms, having left the post following the country's breakthrough 2015 World Cup, this time envisioning how "superfast rugby" […]

[ad_1] San Francisco – More than 100 websites disguised as local news outlets in Europe, Asia and Latin America are pushing pro-China content in a widespread influence campaign linked to a Beijing public relations firm, digital watchdog Citizen Lab has found.Spread over websites in 30 countries, the propaganda material is interspersed with news aggregated from local news outlets and Chinese state media, according to a research report the Toronto-based group […]

[ad_1] South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said the presentation of a designer bag to the first lady was a "political maneuver,” trying to stem public anger over the incident that has hit voter sentiment."It’s a plot,” Yoon said in the interview conducted over the weekend and broadcast nationally on Wednesday by KBS. He indicated the incident may have taken place to sway public opinion.Opposition lawmakers have said the first lady […]

[ad_1] Maebashi, Gunma Pref. – A dog attack near a park in Gunma Prefecture on Wednesday resulted in 12 people being bitten, including nine elementary school pupils, with five taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, local authorities said. Police received an emergency call around 4:10 p.m. from a man who witnessed the dog attack near Seibu Chuo park in the city of Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. Those hurt in the […]

[ad_1] The title of Yuki Saito’s penetrating yet overplotted debut feature, “Sin and Evil,” stands out; Japanese humanistic dramas generally paint everyone in shades of moral gray — even the ostensible bad guys. To borrow the title of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film, evil does not exist.Based on Saito’s original script, the film depicts a small town in the director’s native Fukui Prefecture as a hotbed of corruption, with a cynical […]

[ad_1] MOSCOW – In the late 18th century, Catherine the Great planned a tour of Crimea, which her court favorite, Count Grigory Potemkin, had conquered a few years earlier. But while Potemkin had managed to seize the agriculturally rich peninsula from the Ottoman Empire, he had failed to achieve the promised colonization.To save face, Potemkin ordered the construction of a row of painted pasteboard facades beside the river along which […]

[ad_1] Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday vowed to conclude a peace treaty with Russia after resolving a territorial row over four northwestern Pacific islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan."Although Japan-Russia relations are in a difficult situation, we will stick to our policy of resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty," Kishida said at a government-sponsored rally in Tokyo campaigning for the return of the Russian-held islands […]

[ad_1] Controversy over Lionel Messi’s failure to play in a soccer match in Hong Kong is showing no sign of ending, with many in China taking to social media to vent their frustration over his no-show.Comments by Hong Kong sports lawmaker Kenneth Fok accusing Messi and his U.S. club Inter Miami of disrespecting local fans were among the top trending topics on Weibo on Wednesday. Another popular topic was partly […]