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Latest News

Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears a bandage on his ear during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18. Trump was indeed hit by an assassin's bullet or a fragment of one, the FBI said Friday, putting to rest questions over the nature of the Republican candidate's wounding at a campaign rally this month.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 27, 2024
FBI confirms Trump hit by bullet in assassination attempt
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was indeed hit by an assassin's bullet or a fragment of one, the FBI said Friday, putting to rest questions over the nature of the Republican candidate's wounding at a campaign rally this month.
Leqembi, which was developed by U.S. multinational Biogen and Japanese-based Eisai, is the brand name of an active substance called lecanemab, which is used to treat adults with mild memory and cognitive problems resulting from the early stages of the common type of dementia.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 27, 2024
European medicines watchdog rejects new Eisai's Alzheimer's drug
The watchdog said the risks of side effects, including potential brain bleeding, outweighed the benefits.
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2024
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Swaps markets suggest a roughly 45% chance of the Bank of Japan hiking rates by 15 basis points at the conclusion of its July 31 policy meeting.
Flavor Flav is at the Paris Games as the hype man for the U.S. water polo team.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav relishes role as hype man for U.S. water polo team
The rapper is using his fame to help support the U.S. team.
Passengers wait at Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station in Bordeaux, France, after the nation's high-speed rail network was disrupted by an attack on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
Team Japan not impacted by French train attacks ahead of opening ceremony
The French railways system was hit by a series of attacks on Friday.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority holds a meeting in Tokyo on Friday to discuss whether the No. 2 unit at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture meets safety standards.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
Tsuruga nuclear reactor fails to gain approval for restart
The No. 2 unit at the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture failed to meet stricter regulations imposed following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Record-breaking rainfall in Yamagata and Akita prefectures has led to floods, landslides and power disruptions.
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Team Japan is looking to build on the momentum from three years ago in Tokyo, where the nation earned a record medal haul.
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
The rise in life expectancy may possibly be a reflection of a drop in fatality rates for COVID-19 patients.
A tunnel inside the Sado Island Gold Mines in Sado, Niigata Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
South Korea to accept Sado Gold Mines as World Heritage site
The International Council on Monuments and Sites urged Japan to provide visitors with information on all mining periods at the site.
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 26, 2024
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japan’s benchmark index is now down 10% from its July peak, meeting the textbook definition of a market correction.
Passengers gather around the departure boards at a train station in Paris on Friday as France's high-speed rail network was hit by malicious acts disrupting the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2024
France's high-speed railway hit by 'sabotage' during Olympics
The attacks were launched as Paris was under heavy security ahead of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
Masanori Matsugawa, mayor of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
Ginowan mayor dies on official trip to Tokyo
The 70-year-old mayor was found dead in his hotel room after failing to turn up at the hotel's lobby at a prearranged time.
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 26, 2024
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
At a time when sports fans in Japan are usually united in support of the nation's athletes, one issue is proving divisive: Shoko Miyata's withdrawal.
American tennis star Coco Gauff speaks during a news conference on Thursday in Paris.
OLYMPICS / Tennis
Jul 26, 2024
Coco Gauff 'going in blind' as she prepares to carry U.S. flag in Paris
The world No. 2 tennis player will join NBA superstar LeBron James as the U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremony.
With the Bank of Japan seen raising rates this year, there are heightened expectations that banks’ profitability will improve.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024
Expectations high for Japan’s bank results to spur stock rally
Japanese lenders are set to report quarterly results that for the first time fully reflect the end of negative rates next week.
Kiyomitsu Nagai (right), head of Tsukui Yamayuri-en, and others offer a prayer before a memorial monument on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a knife attack at the prefectural care home for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
Memorial ceremony held for 2016 care home attack victims
The memorial ceremony was attended by 89 people, including bereaved families, who offered a moment of silence for the victims and laid out flowers.
Clinical psychologist Shinpei Hirota speaks in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, earlier this month about how he offers counseling to students in quake-hit areas.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Mental health support continues in schools affected by Noto quake
Since the disaster, over 160 counselors have visited the Okunoto region, lending an empathetic ear to those grappling with insomnia and distressing thoughts.
A vehicle carrying Kohei Iitsuka, suspected of killing his probation officer, leaves the Otsu Kita Police Station in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on June 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2024
Justice Ministry to assign multiple volunteer probation officers to watch over offenders
Previously in Japan, one volunteer probation officer was assigned to watch over one individual, except in rare cases.
London Stadium, which hosted track and field during the 2012 Olympics. The stadium's primary tenant is West Ham United, but it hosts a variety of major events throughout the year.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
How London paved the way for Olympics sustainability
Before Paris, London demonstrated in the 2012 Olympics that host cities didn’t have to end up with empty venues long after the Games are over.
A Lower House plenary session is held in June. One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency for the lower chamber is at least twice as powerful as that in the eight most populous constituencies, an analysis has found.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2024
Vote-value disparities may be unconstitutional in eight Lower House districts
One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency is at least twice as powerful as one in the eight most populous constituencies, a new analysis shows.
Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII
The apology aims to restore the dignity Japanese Brazilians lost due to the government's past atrocities, 79 years after the end of the war.
Core inflation in Japan's capital accelerated for a third straight month in July, keeping alive market expectations of a near-term interest rate hike by the central bank.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 26, 2024
Tokyo inflation quickens, keeping BOJ hike option in play
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.2% in the capital, versus 2.1% in June, the internal affairs ministry reported.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals