A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to life imprisonment on Wednesday. The case has revealed decades of cozy ties between Japan’s governing party and a controversial South Korean church.

Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan’s first female Prime Minister in October; now she’s gambling it at the polls. Here’s why.

Core inflation touched its lowest level since October 2024, and was in line with expectations

Japan's snap election could upend long standing political alignments, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi strong personally but her party weakened by scandals, defections and voter frustration over the cost of living.

With debt running at 200% of GDP, unfunded tax cuts could be a problem. Still, the PM is very popular, and Japan is a creditor nation with a currency that is seemingly fated to rebound.

Ms Takaichi supports a revival of Abenomics, named after her late predecessor Shinzo Abe, a programme of heavy government spending to drive away persistent deflation. But she is hemmed in by Japan’s public debt – 240 per cent of GDP – and by rising spending on welfare and defence.

The gunman charged with killing Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe faces a verdict Wednesday, more than three years after the broad-daylight assassination shocked the world.The slaying forced a reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence,

Japan's top government spokesperson has pledged to spearhead efforts to realize the early return of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago.