Albanese refuses to say sorry for ‘insulting’ melon joke about Takaichi

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sidestepped calls to apologise on Tuesday after a clip emerged of him engaging in crude banter about a gift from his Japanese counterpart. Albanese had already faced a backlash and apologised over comments made during an interview last month with the Bush Deep podcast in which

This is not the type of gaffe that will shake the bilateral relationship, but nor should Japanese officials’ public silence be interpreted as an absence of dismay about the framing of their leader in such a way.

This is not the type of gaffe that will shake the bilateral relationship, but nor should Japanese officials’ public silence be interpreted as an absence of dismay about the framing of their leader in such a way.