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TOKYO -- On Saturday morning, some of Asia's best-known politicians, corporate leaders and academics gathered at a hotel conference room just steps away from the Japanese prime minister's office. At each place on the table was a large envelope that contained the detailed biographies of the roughly 50 attendees and a white folder with the words "The Trilateral Commission." First time attendees were elated. One Japanese professor told one of the panels he "truly appreciated" the invitation, because "The Trilateral Commission has been a big enigma to me." "Some websites say that all the significant events in the world have...

Turkey arrests bakers' union head for calling bread-eating societies 'stupid' ANKARA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Turkey jailed a bakery union head for "publicly insulting the Turkish nation" on Wednesday, state media reported, after he said society's "stupid" fondness for bread explained why it had elected President Tayyip Erdogan's governments for two decades. Union for Bread Producers Chairman Cihan Kolivar made the comments to broadcaster Haberturk on Monday as he spoke about the rising price of bread and Turkey's soaring inflation. "Bread is the staple food for stupid societies. I speak scientifically, I am not making it up - per capita...

France and Germany on Friday hailed the conclusion of a deal to build a new European fighter jet after months of disagreements between two companies involved -- Airbus and Dassault Aviation. Launched by France and Germany in 2017 and since joined by Spain, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) aims to have a next-generation jet in service by 2040, along with integrated drone fleets. But progress on the new delta-wing stealth aircraft has been plagued by fighting over the sharing of the industrial work as well as intellectual property for the cutting-edge technologies. "After intense negotiations, a deal between manufacturers...

Japan, Britain and Italy are expected to reach a formal agreement in December to develop a next-generation fighter jet that will be used by the Air Self-Defense Force, Japanese government sources said. Japan plans to deploy the new fighters by around 2035, when the ASDF’s current F-2s will start to retire. The airframe of the new fighters will be mainly developed by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) and BAE Systems Plc, a major British defense contractor. Italian aviation and defense company Leonardo SpA will join in this part of the project, the sources said. Japan’s IHI Corp., Britain’s Rolls-Royce...

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap)--North Korea revealed Kim Jong-un's daughter for the first time Saturday in photos showing them atending the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous day. The North's state media reported that Kim inspected the launch of the Hwasong-17, the country's largest ballistic missile, at Pyongyang International Airport on Friday. He was present at the scene "together with his beloved daughter and wife," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Photos released by the agency showed his daughter in a white winter jacket standing and walking, together with Kim in front of the missile sitting...

SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap)-North Korea fired an apparent long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Friday, the South Korean military said, in apparent protest over the United States' move to reinforce its "extended deterrence" protection of South Korea and Japan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 10:15 a.m. It did not provide other details...

In celebration of her new hit single, "7 Rings," pop star Ariana Grande got a new tattoo on the palm of her hand, paying homage to the song and its music video. The star said she had the phrase "7 rings" tattooed in Kanji, a Japanese style of writing. But it actually spells "BBQ Grill," as some of Grande's Japanese fans quickly pointed out. The two characters separately mean seven (七) and ring (輪), but together "七輪" means Shichirin, the name for a small charcoal grill. Amazon offers several 七輪 for sale. The combined characters roughly translate to "7 wheels"...

**SNIP** She also shared the text conversation with the tutor who specifically advised her to add the character above the initial tattoo in order to make sense in Japanese, as characters are typically read top to bottom, right to left. But Grande included the new character below the original tattoo with a drawing of a heart, instead, which resulted in the ink making even less sense than the original. Neither of these configurations are coherent in Japanese, as BuzzFeed notes, so most people would likely read the phrase left to right as 七輪指♡, which roughly translates to “small charcoal grill...

Curators at the Cincinnati Art Museum made a surprising discovery when they shined a flashlight onto a mirror in their collection, revealing a hidden image. Last spring, Hou-mei Sung, a curator in the museum's East Asian art collection, was rummaging through one of the archives while conducting research on "magic mirrors." When these rare mirrors, typically from Japan or China, are viewed in a certain light, they reveal images on their reflective surfaces, according to CNN. Sung noticed that the mirror, which measures less than 9 inches (23 centimeters) in diameter and is affixed with a strand of bright-red rope,...

Japan hosted its first international fleet review for seven years on Sunday (Nov 6) with ships from 12 other nations in a show of unity as North Korea fires record numbers of missiles and China increases its pressure on Taiwan. The naval parade in Sagami Bay near Tokyo involved 38 vessels, 18 from friendly countries such as the United States, South Korea, Britain, Australia, Singapore, India and Thailand. Thirty-three aircraft flew overhead, including submarine-hunting patrol planes and helicopters. "We must ready for those who violate rules and who would use force to trample on the peace and security of other...

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- South Korea scrambled fighter jets after detecting North Korean warplanes flying north of the border for four hours on Friday, Seoul defense officials said. South Korea's military detected about 180 flights of North Korean military aircraft between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the defense ministry said in a text message to reporters. In response, South Korea "urgently scrambled its superior air force," including around 80 F-35A stealth fighter jets, the message said. Another 240 U.S. and South Korean aircraft participating in an ongoing large-scale joint air drill, called Vigilant Storm, also "maintained a readiness posture,"...

North Korea appears to have launched a ballistic missile. Japan is under emergency alert, and the world is far more dangerous under Joe Biden than the “orange man.” The missiles are a message to Joe Biden as South Korea’s Defense Minister meets with the US Defense Secretary at the Pentagon. If it is an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, as South Korea believes, it is designed to carry a nuclear warhead. The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests in recent months. Yesterday, on Wednesday, Pyongyang fired more than 20 missiles. It was a record for the...

Japanese government officials say North Korea launched what may have been a ballistic missile Thursday morning. But they confirmed that it did not fly over Japan, as earlier feared. Japan's Defense Ministry has confirmed that the missile has disappeared over the Sea of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard has announced that North Korea may also have launched two additional missiles. All are believed to have fallen. The government continues to monitor the situation...

Tokyo (AFP) – Tokyo began issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the capital on Tuesday, a long-awaited move in a country without marriage equality. The certificates allow LGBTQ partners to be treated as married couples for some public services in areas such as housing, medicine and welfare. More than 200 smaller local authorities in Japan have already made moves to recognise same-sex partnerships since Tokyo's Shibuya district pioneered the system in 2015. The status does not carry the same rights as marriage under the law but represents a welcome change for couples like Miki and...

Beijing should take note of the risks posed by a property bubble and demographic changes, says the Financial Times’ Leo Lewis.Next year, according to a recent estimate, Japan will have roughly 11 million unoccupied residences — slightly more than the entire residential stock of Australia. By 2038, under one scenario in the same forecast, just under a third of Japan’s dwelling units could lie empty. A gloomy prognosis for Japan, where spooky, semi-abandoned rural villages already abound, but a portent of much bigger trouble, potentially, for China. For many economies, “Japanification” may be a vague worry; where bubbles are concerned...

India and Türkiye emerged as major importers of Russian goods and produce, demonstrating an enormous surge of 430% and 213% respectively. Brazil, whose imports from Russia soared by 166%, was ranked third on the list. Russia’s exports to China saw an increase of 98%, while imports of Russian goods by Saudi Arabia grew by 45%.Thus, imports of Russian goods by Spain saw a surge of 112%, while Russian exports to Belgium soared 130%. The Netherlands increased imports from Russia by 74%. Japan’s purchases of Russian goods and produce grew by 40%, while Germany and Norway ramped up imports from the...

The US air force plans to replace its entire fleet of F-15 fighter jets based in Okinawa, Japan, with a “rotational” force, a shift that some American and Japanese officials worry will send a dangerous signal to China about deterrence. The air force intends to retire two squadrons of ageing F-15 Eagles that have been permanently based in Okinawa, according to six people familiar with the situation. The decision has triggered alarm in some parts of the Japanese government and the Pentagon because the air force does not intend to replace them with a permanent presence in the near term....

Japan’s experience shows how difficult it is to reverse a shrinking population, especially when a country has a sizable population and a persistently low birth rate, says this academic.After hovering around zero growth in the late 2000s, Japan’s population has been shrinking since 2010, with the decline accelerating in recent years. Breaking its own record every year for the last 10 years, the country experienced another record population loss of 644,000 in 2020 to 2021. The population is projected to shrink well into the middle of this century, dropping to an estimated 88 million in 2065 – a 30 per...

On Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Justice publicly presented a draft to amend the country’s penal code and raise the age of consent. Currently, the age of consent in Japan is 13, but the proposed revision would raise it by three years, to 16.

‘We won’t let the Jewish community be some pinata for people to attack,’ says Florida governor at synagogue visit. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis emphasized his pro-Israel bona fides at a campaign stop in a synagogue north of Miami Sunday night, ahead of the November 8th gubernatorial election. Speaking at a Forward Action Fund event at a synagogue in Bal Harbour, DeSantis drew cheers from the audience as he referenced his policies against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, and rejected claims that Judea and Samaria is “occupied territory.” “One of the things I said we would do, is that I...