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April 28, 2024
 

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FOCUS

Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 27, 2024
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Efforts to revitalize rural areas through various incentives has yielded limited results as people continue to gravitate toward urban centers.
Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2024
How U.S. allies are preparing for a possible second Trump term
They want to avoid Trump's "America First" policies dealt them before, which included trade wars and a shakeup of security alliances.
Tests for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. According to the Alzheimer's Association, the disease is estimated to affect more than 6 million Americans.
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 24, 2024
Alzheimer's drug adoption in U.S. slowed by doctors' skepticism
There is an entrenched belief among some doctors that treating the memory-robbing disease is futile.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a news conference at the end of a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting on Capri Island, Italy, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 23, 2024
Top U.S. diplomat returns to China, but breakthroughs unlikely
From Ukraine and Taiwan to the South China Sea and the Middle East, the list of bilateral and global issues on the agenda will be long.
An employee prepares to place a mortar into a box at an arms production facility in an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 23, 2024
Cash shortages and attacks take toll on Ukraine's growing arms sector
Firms are struggling to fund production and secure long-term deals, and all are concerned about being targeted in intensifying Russian missile strikes.
A young supporter of presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 2
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024
In chance for Trump, youth at rally see him as answer to economic woes
If Trump, 77, stays close to Biden, 81, in this demographic all the way to Election Day on Nov. 5 it would be a major gain compared with 2020.
The Air Self-Defense Force's T-4 jet trainers are expected to be replaced with a new trainer co-developed by Japan and the United States.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024
Japan-made jet trainer plans dim after Kishida-Biden summit
Some lawmakers in Japan's ruling bloc have questioned the idea of joint development
Ukrainian gunners from the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade fire at the enemy from a position near the town of Kupyansk, in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024
U.S. aid gives Kyiv respite but battlefield shift remains far off
Much will depend on how quickly U.S. assistance can get to the front line.
U.S. President Joe Biden Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in November 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024
China braces for worst as it becomes punching bag in U.S. election
Chinese policymakers already battling a protracted property crisis and weak demand at home have scant incentive to escalate tensions.
Boxes of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 developed by Walvax Biotechnology and Abogen Biosciences
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024
China's drugmakers can't sell mRNA shots but haven't quit yet
While Chinese firms are pursuing new targets for the novel messenger RNA technology, they face a tough path, crimped by a lack of revenue.
People walk past a mural depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024
Israel's Iran attack carefully calibrated after internal splits and U.S. pressure
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war Cabinet had initially approved plans for a strike on Monday night, but held back at the last-minute.
A member of the aircrew aboard a Jordanian Air Force C-130 during a humanitarian aid drop over the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2024
Iran’s conflict with Israel puts U.S. ally Jordan on edge
Iran's direct attack on Israel, and a potential retaliation, has put Western and Gulf state ally Jordan in a precarious position.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses supporters during an election campaign rally in Pushkar, India, on April 6, ahead of the country's upcoming general election starting Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 15, 2024
For Modi, the Indian election is less about winning and more about by how much
For Indian leader Narendra Modi, an upcoming parliamentary election is less about winning and more about by how much.
A protester demands the United Kingdom make reparations for slavery, outside the British High Commission, in Kingston, Jamaica, in March 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
Slavery tribunal? Africa and Caribbean unite on reparations
A tribunal was proposed last year, and it has now gained traction within a broader slavery reparations movement.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order rolling back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law on Wall Street reform at the White House in Washington in February 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
If Trump wins, he plans to free Wall Street from 'burdensome regulations'
If elected, Trump would likely cut back protections for small-scale investors and borrowers, and allow companies to raise money with less scrutiny.
Ukrainian soldiers take cover during fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
Kharkiv's civilians under fire as Ukraine faces 'catastrophic' air defense shortage
The city is so near the border that Russian missiles can reach their target in less than a minute.
U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
It's inflation, stupid: Biden faces renewed election threat
The cost of living is rising more quickly again, just when he thought he had put the issue behind him to get a clear run at November's vote.
The departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Now with inflation at its strongest in decades, Japanese are starting to realize that years of static wages leave many of them budgeting each month before their next pay check.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
Japan’s young workers head abroad as huge wage gap persists
The outflow is also a sign that many Japanese aren’t buying into the nation’s economic optimism as it exits from decades of deflation.
Health experts say the beni kōji supplement scandal should not be treated as a one-off incident. Instead, it should be seen as a cautionary tale about how such health food items could pose more risks than benefits.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024
Kobayashi Pharma’s slow response to scandal spotlights deeper issues
Health experts say the scandal should be seen as a cautionary tale, and not a one-off incident.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reviews soldiers of the German armed forces in Berlin on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024
Between the U.S. and a hard place, Germany's Scholz reheats China ties
With Germany's economy slumping, the nation hopes to gain fairer access to China's markets despite promises to "de-risk" from them.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal
A Comac C919 during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore in February
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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