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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a session of the World Governments Summit, in Dubai on Feb. 12.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 2, 2024

Nvidia CEO says AI could pass human tests in five years

As of now, AI can pass tests such as legal bar exams, but still struggles on specialized medial tests such as gastroenterology.
Migrant workers harvest and package vegetables in a greenhouse in Gasan-myeon, South Korea, in December.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 3, 2024

South Korea needs foreign workers, but often fails to protect them

Though a shrinking population makes imported labor vital, migrant workers routinely face predatory employers, inhumane conditions and other abuse.
Lakers forward LeBron James acknowledges the crowd after scoring his 40,000th career point, during a game against the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles on Saturday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 3, 2024

LeBron James becomes first player to score 40,000 points

The four-time NBA champion, known as "King James," became the league's scoring king just over a year ago when he passed Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump attends the NATO summit in Watford, England, in December 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024

The Trump effect takes Europe

There is a chance that the Trump effect could leave the trans-Atlantic order stronger than it has been for a long time.
Chris Gayle of the West Indies poses at an event to mark 100 days until the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Feb. 22. The 2024 tournament will be hosted by the West Indies and the U.S. from June 1 to 29.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Mar 4, 2024

Gayle hopes T20 World Cup can help cricket crack U.S. market

The Twenty20 showpiece, which starts on June 1, is being jointly hosted by the United States and the West Indies.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani speaks to members of the media in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB / Sac Bunts
Mar 4, 2024

How Shohei Ohtani mastered the media

By promising to meet with the press, the star circumvented the need for people to go digging into his marriage.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo speaks during an interview on the sidelines of the Australia-ASEAN summit in Melbourne on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

Philippines foreign minister urges China to 'stop harassing us'

Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo was speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne.
SMBC Nikko Securities has set up an alumni organization for former employees to interact and share their experiences.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2024

As more move midcareer, Japan firms tap former hires with alumni networks

As well as seeking business opportunities, companies also recognize the value of rehiring individuals with expertise and skills gained elsewhere.
Junior high school students from the inland town of Sumita, Iwate Prefecture, visit the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum in the city of Rikuzentakata in December.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 4, 2024

Educational tours aim to preserve memory of Tohoku quake

Efforts are being made to ensure lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake are passed on to future generations.
A 2015 protest against the construction of military infrastructure in Okinawa Prefecture. Many residents are also worried about the impact of a Taiwan contingency on their islands.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2024

Okinawa’s peace movement carves its own path

Many Okinawans worry about a Taiwan contingency and are angered by U.S. base relocation: Grievances that have given impetus to the islands' own diplomacy.
The Supreme Court decision on whether Donald Trump should be immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office will likely come in late June, and his trial will start even later.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024

The Supreme Court isn’t slow-walking Trump’s immunity case

The delay in the trial of former president Trump on his role in the Jan. 6 attack isn't the Supreme Court's fault, but rather the prosecution's.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that he recognized China's advances in development and in alleviating poverty, but urged that such policies be accompanied by reforms "to align relevant laws and policies with international human rights standards."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2024

U.N. says China violating 'fundamental rights' in Xinjiang, Tibet

The U.N. human rights chief also asked Beijing to release rights defenders arrested under the "vague" offense of "picking quarrels and making trouble."
Randolph-Macon College students pose with a monument to Taylor Anderson in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Jan. 23.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2024

Tsunami victim's dream of becoming Japan-U.S. bridge realized

Taylor Anderson was one of the 33 foreign nationals killed in the March 2011 disaster.
The nun said she hopes her going public will cast a spotlight on the extremely cloistered nature of temples that she warned can be a hotbed of sex crimes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2024

Japan Buddhist sect probes nun's sexual assault claims

The woman, reportedly now in her 50s, had previously accused the older monk of rape but authorities dropped her case in 2019, media reports said.
Former world No. 1 Simona Halep arrives at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, in February.
TENNIS
Mar 6, 2024

Simona Halep free to return after four-year doping ban reduced by CAS

The two-time Grand Slam singles champion had appealed to CAS in February, arguing that her positive test was the result of a "contaminated product."
Red Bull's Max Verstappen shakes hands with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 6, 2024

FIA looking into allegations that chief tried to nix Las Vegas F1 race

The BBC said the claim appeared in a report it had seen and which was submitted by the FIA's compliance officer to an ethics committee.
A childhood snapshot of Shohei Ohtani and his mother, Kayoko, posted on MLB’s account on social media website X.
BASEBALL
Mar 7, 2024

'Sporting geniuses are made, not born': How to be an all-star sports parent

If you want your child to be a top 1% athlete like Shohei Ohtani, a good place to start is to take a look at what his parents did.
Naoya Inoue, who has a 26-0 record with 23 knockouts, speaks at an event in Tokyo last month.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Mar 6, 2024

'Monster' Inoue officially set to face Nery at Tokyo Dome in May

The unbeaten Inoue will be back in action for the first time since beating Marlon Tapales of the Philippines in December.
Since September 2022, Patagonia has allocated profits amounting to $71 million to environmental initiatives that include stopping a proposed mine in Alaska and conserving land in South America, as well as helping to elect pro-environment U.S. Democrats.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2024

The competitive edge of doing good in business

Are companies that give all profits to charity also doing good for their business? Some examples show they are, and that this model is worth pursuing.
In “Matched,” a dating app makes a wedding planner’s (Tao Tsuchiya, center) love life all the more difficult when it turns up a string of murders and a stalker.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024

‘Matched’: Contrived thriller tries to make dating scarier

Clueless characters and a strained plot are hardly a perfect match in Eiji Uchida’s suspense film about murder and dating apps.
Chai Wanrou at the Daming Palace National Heritage Park, in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. The 28-year-old is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 7, 2024

More Chinese women choosing singledom as economy stutters

Chinese President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to "cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing."
Korean Canadian director, playwright and screenwriter Celine Song walks on the stage to pose for photos after a screening of her film, "Past Lives" in Seoul last week.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024

Oscar-nominated Korean diaspora film follows 'lives we leave behind'

"Past Lives," which marks Celine Song's debut as a director, is one of several recent films that address the Korean diaspora.
Lewis Hamilton (left) and Fernando Alonso drive during the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 2.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 7, 2024

Lewis Hamilton says F1 faces 'pivotal moment' as it battles controversies

Multiple controversies have marred the start of the Formula One season.
Beyond factors such as the "motherhood penalty," Japanese women struggle to advance in their careers due to the structure of the workforce, including the two-tiered clerical versus managerial track.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024

Why is it taking so long to break the glass ceiling?

Japan isn't unique in having a thick glass ceiling, but some factors don't apply to other countries, like the U.S., where many more managers are women.
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama waves during his first day of a teaching session at the Kalachakra Ground in the village of Bodhgaya, in the Indian state of Bihar, in December 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 8, 2024

Will reincarnation or realpolitik determine the Dalai Lama's successor?

Esoteric questions of rebirth rarely have political consequences, but many fear the search for the next Dalai Lama could inflame regional rivalries.
Masaya Shibasaki, 26, an employee of EXEO Group, reacts as he tries the Osaka Heart Cool-developed VR electrical device Perionoid, which simulates menstrual pain, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2024

Japanese male office workers experience simulated menstrual pain

Companies are required to offer menstrual leave, but the time off doesn't have to be paid and around half of female workers never take it.
Trevor Bauer has not pitched in MLB since the 2021 season.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 8, 2024

Trevor Bauer to return to Dodgers' facilities on quest for MLB comeback

Bauer's quest to return to the major leagues will take him through the Los Angeles Dodgers' facility in Glendale, Arizona.
A war survivor details vivid recollections of World War II in footage never before made public. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has released parts of a collection of interviews with over 300 war survivors for public viewing this month.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2024

Witness accounts recall 1945 firebombing of Tokyo

The Tokyo government is screening a collection of interviews of survivors for the first time to serve as a reminder of the destruction of war.
An ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniteru depicts the assault of Asano Naganori on Kira Yoshinaka, an incident that triggered the tragedy of the 47 Ronin and one that was re-created in the play “Chushingura.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 8, 2024

Revenge: A dish seldom served in Japanese history but still cold as ice

When Confucius was asked, "Should we kill those who are evil?" The response came, "What need is there for you to kill?"
A worker checks the carbon fiber at the composite production line at the Swancor factory in Nantou, Taiwan, in February.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 9, 2024

Recycling wind turbine blades can solve the industry’s biggest problem

Swancor is one of several firms globally trying to develop products that mimic the physical properties of current blade material but can be recycled.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan