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Kazuyoshi Konishi, 52, a journalist who has experienced being a “trailing spouse” to accompany his wife on an overseas assignment, says men should be more involved in addressing gender inequality issues in Japan. Gender inequality in the household is a significant barrier to women’s participation in politics, creating a vicious cycle that delays progress, Konishi said in a recent interview ahead of International Women’s Day on Saturday. Konishi took a leave of absence from his job as a political reporter at major news agency Kyodo in 2017 to accompany his wife to the United States. He left Kyodo in 2020 and now works as a freelance journalist specializing in gender equality, with a particular focus on engaging male audiences. Source link

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday emphasized that Japan has “no intention of taking sides” following U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s extraordinary blowup at the White House last week. Ishiba, speaking during a Lower House budget committee meeting, expressed surprise at Trump and Zelenskyy’s verbal dustup, which ended without a key minerals deal being signed and the Ukrainian leader being kicked out of the White House. “From what I saw on TV and in the news, I can’t help but wonder how this could have happened,” he said in response to a question about his views on the heated argument in front of live cameras last Friday. Source link

A nonprofit group helping victims of the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult plans to disband at the end of March. The Tokyo-based Recovery Support Center, which conducts mass health examinations for victims, will end its activities due to the decreasing number of people receiving checkups and the aging of staff members. “Victims have gradually come to terms with their mental and physical problems,” group head Shinsuke Kimura, 80, said last week. “We decided to disband at the 30-year milestone.” Source link

SEOUL – South Korea tightened rules on carrying lithium batteries on planes from Saturday, highlighting a growing risk to flights worldwide from the batteries used in cellphones and e-cigarettes that can malfunction to produce smoke, fire or extreme heat. Last year, three incidents of overheating lithium batteries on planes were recorded every fortnight across the globe by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, compared with just under one a week in 2018. Aviation has long recognized the increasingly used batteries as a safety concern, and rules are periodically tightened in response to accidents. Source link

Jerusalem – Israel on Sunday blocked aid flowing into Gaza, where a six-week truce enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance, prompting the U.N. to call for an immediate restoration of humanitarian assistance. The Israeli decision came as talks on a truce extension appeared to hit an impasse, after the ceasefire’s 42-day first phase drew to a close. Truce mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of blatantly violating the ceasefire deal by halting the aid, a move which, according to AFP images, left trucks loaded with goods lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to Gaza. Source link

President Donald Trump is on the verge of slapping new tariffs on Canada and Mexico while doubling a levy on China, moves that would dramatically expand his push to reshape the U.S. economy, tap new revenues and upend ties with the biggest U.S. trading partners. The long-promised tariffs scheduled to take effect Tuesday would easily be among the most sweeping of the Trump era, applying to roughly $1.5 trillion in annual imports. They would put a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, except Canadian energy, which would face a 10% rate. He has also said he’ll double a tariff on China to 20%. The tariffs may yet be delayed — the Canada and Mexico measures were already stalled once — but any reprieve could prove temporary, with a host of other Trump levies due in April. Trump says the tariffs are a tool to bring the neighboring nations to heel on securing the borders from migrants and drugs, particularly fentanyl. Source link

U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to sign a “complete pardon” of the late Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball for gambling. Trump made the declaration late Friday on his Truth Social account. It wasn’t exactly clear what the pardon would cover. Source link

Beijing – A simple handshake between President Xi Jinping and once-shunned entrepreneur Jack Ma sent Chinese tech stocks booming in recent weeks as it was interpreted as the latest sign that the sector is being brought in from the cold — though experts advise caution. Beijing launched a regulatory blitz on the industry in 2020 that triggered a massive sell-off, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from major tech firms’ market value. But there are increasing signals that it is adopting a friendlier attitude, as domestic economic woes persist and leaders nervously eye a heightened trade war with the United States. Source link

Ottawa – Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky is facing backlash at home over his support for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to use economic force to make Canada the 51st state. The 64-year-old retired NHL player has recently faced criticism on social media, boos in Canadian pubs when he appeared at a televised Canada vs. U.S. hockey game and a push to rename a freeway that bears his moniker. The online petition to rename Wayne Gretzky Drive in Edmonton, Alberta, says Canadians feel “betrayed” by his support of Trump. Source link

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that his government will reconsider its plan to raise the ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care. The government will conduct the first phase of the expense cap hike this August as planned, and make a decision by this autumn on further increases, currently scheduled for August 2026 and beyond. Ishiba made the announcement in response to a question from Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), at a meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee. Source link