Ishiba on the counteroffensive in parliament's final rush
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is gradually mounting a counteroffensive as the parliamentary session comes to a close, energized by a recent bump in popularity and weakening momentum for a no-confidence motion among opposition parties.
This week, Ishiba used two opportunities — a debate with party leaders on Wednesday and a meeting between ruling and opposition parties on Thursday — to attempt to stage a show of bipartisan unity.
Ahead of an expected meeting between Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of Seven summit in Alberta, Canada, opposition leaders responded to a request for talks initially put forward by the government.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
an hour ago
- NHK
BOJ to focus on inflation, JGB buying
The Bank of Japan's upcoming policy meeting could reveal clues about the central bank's inflation views and its future plans to buy Japanese Government Bonds.
Kyodo News
an hour ago
- Kyodo News
Japan draws up 100 bil. yen policy to attract foreign researchers
KYODO NEWS - 9 minutes ago - 16:20 | All, Japan The Japanese government unveiled on Friday a 100 billion yen ($700 million) policy package designed to attract foreign researchers, some of whom may have joined the exodus of talent from the United States due to research funding cuts. The measures aim to create an elite research environment in Japan, as competition to lure talent intensifies globally in fields such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The government also plans to use profits generated from a 10 trillion yen investment fund set up by the state to help universities produce internationally competitive research. "We will make utmost efforts to make our country the most attractive in the world for researchers," said science and technology policy minister Minoru Kiuchi at a press conference. Many researchers have departed the United States as President Donald Trump's administration has pushed elite universities to prioritize American students over those from other countries and slashed federal funding for many programs. Japan's new policy package will fund many existing programs, including a plan by Tohoku University to spend around 30 billion yen to recruit about 500 researchers from Japan and abroad. An education ministry project in which hubs will be created to promote top-level research is also included. The government aims to raise salaries for researchers and reduce their administrative burden, allowing them to concentrate on their work. It also seeks to acquire advanced technology for use at institutions. Kiuchi said the government will consider additional measures to retain researchers after bringing them in from abroad. Despite the government's recent efforts to promote science and technology research, an education ministry institute said that last year Japan remained ranked at a record-low 13th place in the number of highly cited scientific papers. Related coverage: Japan calls on colleges to accept students in U.S. after Harvard ban Univ. of Tokyo mulls accepting Harvard foreign students if barred Defense tech subsidies for Japan universities totaled 2.7 bil. yen
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Parliament enacts revised pension reform bill
Parliament on Friday enacted a revised pension reform bill that calls for a measure to shore up basic pension benefits. The legislation passed the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of the Diet, by a majority vote, receiving support from the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and others. The basic pension improvement plan was initially not included in the government-submitted bill, reflecting opposition among LDP members, but a supplementary provision calling for such a measure was added following an agreement between the ruling bloc and the CDP. The revised bill had cleared the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, last month.
