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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 28, 2021

U.S. intelligence community says it cannot solve COVID-19 mystery without China

'China's cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19,' U.S. officials said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 22, 2021

‘Ridiculous’: Vaccine myths cripple U.S. uptake as delta surges

Just as the Biden administration appeared on the verge of snuffing out COVID-19 in the U.S., a shadow pandemic of disinformation threatens to prolong the crisis.
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 21, 2024

The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem

Flowing more than 4,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to Vietnam, the Mekong River is the lifeblood of the region. It also faces a spiraling problem with plastic.
The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok

In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
Workers retrieves tsunami buoy Thai 23461 in the Andaman Sea on Nov. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 25, 2024

The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand

They form part of a warning system intended to ensure no disaster is as deadly as a huge December 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality

The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
The danger of overreaction and misinformation in the digital age is real, and authorities must provide clear explanations to prevent tragedies while also addressing legitimate concerns about drones.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

How to make America's drone panic so very much worse

The weak and ineffective response of government authorities should serve as a lesson in exactly how not to handle such incidents in the digital age.
Katsumi Arase (left), head of the Central Council for Education, receives from State Minister of Education Arata Takebe a consultation document asking the panel to consider ways to give schools more discretion in setting their curriculum, at the education ministry on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2024

Japan eyes more discretion for schools in upcoming curriculum revision

A government panel has been tasked with considering ways to give schools more flexibility in determining class hours and content as part of the next curriculum revamp.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn

For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2024

Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

Trump’s return to the White House is expected to widen the free speech divide that has long existed between the United States and Europe.
DOPS Director Dr. Jim Tucker (back row, from left), David Acunzo, Marina Weiler, Philip Cozzolino (front row, from left) Marieta Pehlivanova and Elliot Gish, pose for a photo on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 15. Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the "beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025

Do you believe in life after death? These scientists study it.

Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the “beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near his official residence in Seoul on Friday morning. Right-wing YouTube​rs helped Yoon win his election. They are now his allies in the wake of his botched imposition of martial law.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

How fear and conspiracy theories fuel South Korea’s political crisis

Right-wing YouTube​rs helped President Yoon Suk Yeol​ win his election. They are now his allies in the wake of his botched imposition of martial law.
Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of Bamban, Philippines, arrives at a regional trial court in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025

China takes aim at Philippine democracy

China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives.
Apollo Global Management is discussing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion for an equity stake in a bid by Seven & I’s founding Ito family to take the convenience store operator private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025

Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout

Under the current proposal, Apollo would join the Ito family and Itochu, the operator of FamilyMart in Japan, as key investors.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on houses in Gaza City on Jan. 4
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Jan 16, 2025

How many Palestinians has Israel's Gaza offensive killed?

The official Palestinian Health Ministry count of more than 46,600 Palestinian dead is disputed by Israeli officials but is seen by the U.N. as an undercount.
The new Switch is a tablet-style device with detachable controllers that can be played in handheld mode or hooked up to a TV, like its predecessor.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 17, 2025

Nintendo announces Switch 2, its first new console in eight years

Japan residents can apply via lottery for a hands-on demo of the Switch 2 on April 26 and 27 at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe convention center.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in August 2022, after returning from a trip to Kentucky.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

How Biden’s inner circle protected a faltering president

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s potential role in any plan to save TikTok remains both intriguing and complicated. The ban is set to take effect just one day before his inauguration, and while it has been reported that President Joe Biden won’t enforce the ban on day one, the decision on what to do long-term will become Trump’s problem almost immediately.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2025

TikTok’s fate rests on Trump after U.S. Supreme Court upholds law

U.S. President -elect Donald Trump’s potential role in any plan to save TikTok remains both intriguing and complicated.
A training session for a new reporting system that the Japan Coast Guard began operating on Saturday
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2025

Japan Coast Guard launches emergency video reporting system

The coast guard hopes the new system will improve life-saving measures in the event of emergencies at sea.
A nurse prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 27, 2020, at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. Five years since COVID-19 started upending the world, the virus is still infecting and killing people across the globe — though at far lower levels than during the height of the pandemic.
WORLD / Society
Jan 20, 2025

Vaccine misinformation: A lasting side effect from COVID-19

Concerns have emerged over whether vaccine hesitancy could inhibit the world's ability to fend off another pandemic.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2025

Meta's move to halt fact-checking program in U.S. prompts concern

Instead of using trusted media organizations to fact-check, Meta plans to use "community notes" to check content.
Fuji TV President Koichi Minato speaks at a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Media
Jan 20, 2025

What went wrong at Fuji TV's news conference on allegations against Nakai?

The broadcaster, which imposed various restrictions for the event that included denying access to many media agencies, ended up worsening the scandal.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025

BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs

The possibility is "quite high" if markets remain calm following Trump's inauguration on Monday as the 47th president of the United States.
Ayumu Hirano competes at the X Games Oslo in 2016.
MORE SPORTS / Snowboarding
Jan 22, 2025

Was that a 900 or 1080 on the halfpipe? X Games can now ask AI.

During the snowboard SuperPipe competitions, video cameras will capture the moves of each athlete, and AI will provide an unofficial score for the routine.
Transparent Display installed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2025

Smoother communication breaking barriers in Tokyo with Transparent Display

The Transparent Display can translate and project the text in 32 different languages.
Steps against diversity form part of U.S. President Donald Trump's broader campaign targeting the federal bureaucracy, which he has sometimes disparaged as the "deep state" secretly working against his agenda.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Trump accelerates campaign to remake federal bureaucracy

The U.S. president says his orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs would make America a "merit-based country" once again.
Tomin First no Kai adviser Hirotada Ototake speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

Tomin First adviser Hirotada Ototake keen to use social media

"Through social media outreach, we want to become an option for unaffiliated voters who have not decided for whom to vote" in the June 22 race, said Ototake.
People pray for the victims of a deadly stabbing attack outside Nagano Station, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 27, 2025

Nagano stabbing suspect sent to prosecutors after deadly attack

The apparently random stabbing follows two other similar attacks, including the high-profile killing of a teenage girl at a Kitakyushu McDonald's last month.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami