Home-grown rice is a key part of Japanese culture, identity and politics, dating back thousands of years. So much so that any disruption can spark a wave of consumer anger, reaching even the highest echelons of power. But as the country grapples with a shortage of the grain, locals are asking whether it’s finally time to learn to love the imported version. Reged Ahmad speaks to the Guardian’s Japan and Korea correspondent, Justin McCurry, in Osaka.
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Back to Back Barries: do Labor voters have buyer’s remorse?
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry take a look at Anthony Albanese’s support of Donald Trump’s bombing of Iran and ask: will the US - Australia relationship send traditional party supporters elsewhere? Also: why it’s time for the Liberals to embrace gender quotas. And, keen to canvas opinion on Chinese influence in the Pacific region, Barrie conducts his own focus groups in the Cook Islands.
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Guilty ... and not guilty: understanding the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs verdict
The rapper faced charges often levied at mafia bosses. Anna Betts explains what the jury heard, and Andrew Lawrence tells Nosheen Iqbal what the verdict means for the music mogul
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Newsroom edition: the perils of covering extreme weather during the climate crisis
This week headlines warned of a ‘bomb cyclone’ forming on the Australian east coast. However, the Bureau of Meteorology has stopped short of using that terminology in media commentary and has not officially called this week’s event anything other than a ‘vigorous’ coastal low. But the severe weather system did wreak havoc on some parts of the coastline, causing flooding, damage to properties and flight cancellations.Nour Haydar speaks with the head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about why language matters and how crucial it is to refer to the climate crisis when covering extreme weather
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Bougainville’s rocky path to independence
In 2019, the people of Bougainville overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence. Once controlled by Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea, some see the reopening of a massive copper and gold mine known as Panguna as the key to the new nation’s success. But it was only three decades ago that Bougainvilleans went to war to shut it down.Nour Haydar speaks with Ben Doherty about the road to independence for Australia’s Pacific neighbour and the risk of repeating mistakes from the past
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