Kenyan troops and rescue workers scour the wreckage of a Nairobi shopping mall for bodies and booby traps after a four-day siege by Islamist gunmen.

Pakistani rescuers hustle to reach victims of a huge earthquake that killed more than 230 people and had enough force to create a new island off the coast.

Japan will build the world’s largest storage battery system in Hokkaido as early as this autumn in a bid to rectify fluctuations in the electricity produced by renewable energy sources. The project is aimed at promoting renewable energy by addressing a key defect — ...

Like the 1964 Olympics, the 2020 Summer Games are expected to have a positive impact not only economically but psychologically as well. They will also offer Japan the chance to set an example for the industrialized world, to demonstrate that despite its troubles — ...

Local fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday restarted operations suspended late last month after heavy amounts of contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was found leaking into the ocean. A fleet of 20 fishing boats set off at around 2 a.m. ...

Mieko Kitai takes a huge gulp of air as she surfaces from the clear, blue waters off the Pacific coast with a large abalone in her hand. Now in her 70s, the dive — with nothing more than a mask — does not get ...

A Sunni militant group known for targeting rival Muslims has emerged as a dangerous new player in Pakistan, sending a pair of suicide bombers this week to detonate themselves inside a church in the deadliest ever attack against Pakistani Christians. The brutal assault, which ...

An ambitious studio complex built by China’s richest man will be a major boost for the country’s film industry, but experts say it needs more than sprawling grounds to rival Hollywood. Global A-listers Nicole Kidman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Catherine Zeta-Jones showed up for the ...

When author and translator Roger Pulvers first arrived in Japan in 1967, he could not read or write the language and asked a friend to recommend “the most beautiful Japanese” literature. “(The friend) said, well, that’s Miyazawa Kenji,” Pulvers explained, recalling his struggles as ...

As the deadly attack unfolded inside Kenya’s Westgate Mall, the militants who claimed responsibility for the spreading mayhem sent out tweet after tweet, taunting the country’s military, defending the mass killings and threatening more bloodshed. Each time Twitter shut the account down — a ...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz escalated his conflict with fellow Republicans Tuesday when he stepped up his attacks on President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, complicating House GOP efforts to pass a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown next week. Launching a ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed Tuesday that Canada will begin exporting shale gas to Japan, making it the second country after the U.S. to provide the nation with the natural gas. During the summit talks in Ottawa, Abe ...

Thousands in Pakistan ran into the streets praying for their lives Tuesday as a powerful earthquake rocked a remote area in the southwest, killing at least 39 people and possibly creating a small island off the coast. The Pakistani military said it was rushing ...

Hopeful yet unyielding, U.S. President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani both spoke up fervently for improved relations and a resumption of stalled nuclear talks Tuesday at the U.N. — but gave no ground on the long-held positions that have scuttled previous ...

Finnair held a press conference at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on Sept. 24 to introduce Pekka Vauramo, who became the company’s new president and CEO in June. Founded in 1923, Finnair is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland and one of the ...

Top scientists from a variety of fields say they are about as certain that global warming is a real, man-made threat as they are that cigarettes kill. They are as sure about climate change as they are about the age of the universe. And ...

Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe reportedly once said “God is in the details.” Conductor Seiji Ozawa would literally agree. He meets The Japan Times at a cafe he frequents in Tokyo’s Seijo district.

From the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), Japanese art began to shift its fundamental cultural orientation from China to Europe. Kansetsu Hashimoto, however, (1883-1945) initially abjured, and this had much to do with his upbringing Born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, his father was ...

Noise — vast, enveloping noise — is at the core of My Bloody Valentine’s music. Halfway through “You Made Me Realise,” the quartet lands on a single chord that proceeds to suck the entire song into a gawping, sense-scrambling maw of distortion. On the ...

Kashiwa Reysol suffered a second-half meltdown to leave their Asian Champions League final dream hanging by a thread after a 4-1 home defeat to Marcello Lippi’s Guangzhou Evergrande in their semifinal first leg on Wednesday night. Jorge Wagner handed Emperor’s Cup winners Reysol a ...

The Hiroshima Carp will head to their first Climax Series after beating the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 Wednesday. Bryan Bullington (11-9) pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Carp to victory, which secured Hiroshima a top-three finish in the Central League. Brad Eldred went 3-for-3 ...

Two days after a victory that for this franchise was downright historic, the Detroit Lions are facing another dose of adversity. Receiver Nate Burleson broke his arm in a single-car accident early Tuesday after he reached over to keep two pizza boxes from falling ...

Yokozuna Hakuho propped himself back on the winning track with a strong win over sekiwake Myogiryu, staying in the lead through 11 days at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday. Hakuho was tripped up by sekiwake Goeido a day earlier to taste defeat ...

With New York quickly falling behind the Rays, the fans at Yankee Stadium were left with getting worked up over whether they would get their Mariano Rivera bobblehead dolls. The Yankees wasted several opportunities against the wild Matt Moore in a 7-0 loss to ...

Venus Williams came from a set down on Wednesday to defeat Simona Halep of Romania 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open. Williams, making her first appearance in the Tokyo tournament since 2009, broke serve to go up 5-3 ...

Shaquille O’Neal spent the first part of the century smashing Sacramento’s dreams of an NBA championship. Now he wants to spend the next part doing anything he can to build the Kings into a winner. Declaring the new name of the city “Shaqramento,” O’Neal ...

There is still plenty of life left in the J. League title race, but after opening up a four-point gap at the top of the table last weekend, Yokohama F. Marinos have taken a bold step toward their first championship in nine years. Marinos ...