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Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2022

Germany to lift defense spending in latest historic policy shift

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country will spend more than 2% of GDP each year on defense, in line with a NATO target that Berlin has consistently failed to meet.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2022

Putin puts nuclear forces on alert, citing NATO threat and sanctions

The Ukrainian president's office said negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow would be held at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border without preconditions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2022

Germany to step up plans to cut dependence on Russia gas

Germany has been under pressure from other Western nations to become less dependent on Russian gas and is taking steps to do so.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 27, 2022

New research points to Wuhan market as pandemic origin

Two new studies represent a significant salvo in the debate over the origins of a pandemic that has killed nearly 6 million people and sickened 400 million more.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 27, 2022

Putin races against clock as fast military advance is ‘frustrated’

Russia's plans for Ukraine face rapidly rising costs due to delays caused by tougher-than-expected resistance from forces on the ground, even as its military retains overwhelming advantages.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2022

Putin faces sanctions, but his assets remain an enigma

On paper, the Russian president appears to own very little. Yet estimates put his hidden wealth well over $100 billion.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 27, 2022

India's LGBTQ+ 'pioneer' state bans abuse and boosts trans rights

Changes to state law in Tamil Nadu could eventually mark a true turning point in socially conservative India, according to campaigners.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2022

College dreams dashed as young Afghan women fight to keep poverty at bay

The return of the Taliban and the economic collapse that followed has hit woman the hardest — without jobs and income, many cannot afford to go back to school.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 27, 2022

North Korea launches apparent ballistic missile as world watches Ukraine

The missile was believed had traveled about 300 kilometers, hitting a maximum altitude of 600 km. It did not land in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
JAPAN / History
Feb 27, 2022

Japan's New Left remains a thing of memory, 50 years on from hostage incident

The Asama-Sanso lodge incident, a dramatic 10-day standoff with police that saw three lives lost, sealed the fate of the nation's student protest movement, some analysts say.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 27, 2022

SWIFT block deals crippling blow to Russia, but leaves West room for more sanctions

Russian banks denied access to SWIFT will find it harder to communicate with peers internationally, even in friendly countries such as China, slowing trade and making transactions costlier.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 27, 2022

Norway tells Russian athletes to skip upcoming World Cup ski events

'Russia's violations of international law and attacks on the Ukrainian people demand international condemnation and sanctions,' Norway's skiing federation said in a statement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation about his decision to not seek reelection from the Oval Office on Wednesday. Biden’s decision to step aside and pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris now looks like it was inevitable in retrospect. 
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2024

The U.S. political roller coaster is just getting started

U.S. President Joe Biden’s stunning decision to abandon his reelection campaign looks inevitable in retrospect.
Beijing's push to integrate core socialist values into its chatbots highlights a significant challenge in China's bid to compete with the U.S. in AI development.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2024

What's wrong about ‘Chat XiPT’ is bigger than China

The difficulty of creating AI models infused with specific values will likely hurt China’s efforts to create chatbots as sophisticated as those in the U.S.
The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Longform
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports

At risk of sunburns and heatstroke, principals across Japan are trying to protect students' health as well as their athletic opportunities.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past