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Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2024

Japan's revised immigration bill clears Lower House

Permanent residency holders may have their status revoked if they deliberately fail to pay their taxes, impacting only those "with malicious intent."
Kyoto University researchers have found a way to create “near-indefinite” volumes of early-stage sperm and egg cells from iPS cells — a milestone that could potentially lead to new infertility treatments.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 21, 2024

New Japan study on germ cells may help advance infertility treatments

The research aims to expand our understanding of how human germ cells develop, and also opens up possibilities for creating sperm and egg cells in a lab.
Passengers of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London to Singapore, which made an emergency landing in Bangkok, greet family members upon arrival at Changi Airport in Singapore on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 22, 2024

‘It felt like we had crashed,’ a Singapore Air passenger says

With a good two hours left before Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 was due to touch down in Singapore, the plane was suddenly and forcefully shaken.
Demonstrators during a protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 22, 2024

Thousands protest contentious Taiwan parliament reforms

The protests in Taiwan outside parliament, and a raucous session inside, demonstrate the feverish political atmosphere facing new President Lai Ching-te.
Shinichiro Kashima
ESG CONSORTIUM
May 22, 2024

Nippon Life engages to encourage green transition

Engaging with high-emitting companies to spur transformation of their business rather than divesting from them is becoming increasingly important to combat climate change, said an executive officer of Japan’s biggest insurance company. “Thinking about society as a whole, it is important that we asset...
Spain's Rafael Nadal takes part in a practice session ahead of the French Open, in Paris on Tuesday.
TENNIS
May 22, 2024

Djokovic backs Nadal for French Open title

Nadal is contending with injury problems and growing competition from a younger generation.
People hold anti-war placards before a rap concert for Ukraine by Russian rapper Oxxxymiron in Istanbul on March 15.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2024

Another Russian exodus: Many who fled to Turkey move on again

When the war began in February 2022, Turkey emerged as a magnet for Russians, but now, many are moving on to nations like Montenegro and Serbia.
Japan's Ayumi Fukushima competes in the women's Breaking B-Girls semifinal during an Olympic Qualifier Series ahead of the 2024 Paris Games, in Shanghai on Sunday.
OLYMPICS / Breakdancing
May 22, 2024

Japanese break dancer on cusp of fulfilling Olympic dream

Ayumi Fukushima, 40, has been busting moves for longer than some of her rivals have been alive.
Kiichi Morita addresses a gathering commemorating the 70th anniversary of the U.S. hydrogen bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, held in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on April 27.
JAPAN / Society
May 22, 2024

70 years after U.S. nuclear tests in Bikini Atoll, Japan port recalls legacy

The first 1954 hydrogen bomb test at the atoll was one of six, with nearly 1,000 Japanese ships confirmed to have been exposed to radiation by the end of the year.
An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border on Tuesday
WORLD
May 22, 2024

Israeli forces raze parts of Gaza's Jabalia and hit Rafah with airstrikes

Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip have sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
To Lam takes his oath as Vietnam's president during the National Assembly's summer session in Hanoi on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 22, 2024

Vietnam appoints top policeman as country's new president

The move is a temporary end to two-months of heightened political turbulence that saw the exit of three of Vietnam's top five leaders over unspecified wrongdoings.
Demonstrators during a protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 22, 2024

Taiwan lawmakers defy protesters as they look to pass bill Friday

Opposition lawmakers will make a final push to pass legislation aimed at reining in new President Lai Ching-te’s administration.
The Osaka Prefectural Police building in the city of Osaka
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2024

Osaka college student's boyfriend arrested over her murder

Karen Watanabe was found lying on the floor by her bed with multiple stab wounds to her upper body.
New Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te speaks on stage during his inauguration ceremony outside the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2024

Japan protests Chinese envoy's 'inappropriate remarks' over Taiwan

Ambassador Wu Jianghao appeared to insinuate that the Japanese people would be “brought into the fire” of conflict over support for self-ruled Taiwan.
Rishi Sunak speaks at a meeting of finance ministers ahead of the 2021 G7 leaders' summit in London on June 4, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2024

G7 finance chiefs seek common line on Russian assets and China

Negotiators have been discussing for weeks how to best exploit some $300 billion worth of seized Russian funds.
Lee Dong-hyun and her son, 19-month-old Choi Hee-woo, pose at a playground on May 17, ahead of the final public hearing at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday of a climate lawsuit against the South Korean government, for which Hee-woo is the youngest plaintiff.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2024

Embryo activist: Baby's lawsuit takes on South Korea climate inaction

South Korea is the G20's second-highest carbon emitter per capita.
View of the apparent remains of a ballistic missile, as it lies in the desert near the Dead Sea, following a massive missile and drone attack by Iran on Israel, in southern Israel on April 21.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2024

After Israel defense, U.S. seeks to entice Gulf allies on missile shield

It's unclear whether Gulf allies have the same confidence the U.S. would rush to their defense, say experts.
In trying to govern AI, the U.N. and other institutions need an approach as dynamic, innovative and creative as the pursuit of the technology itself.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2024

We need effective governance to shape AI for good

How can we govern AI so that it serves the interests of humanity? Three key principles can guide the way for the U.N. and other actors undertaking this daunting challenge.
Kakunoshin Yanagida (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), a ronin and master of go, seeks revenge and justice in Kazuya Shiraishi’s “Bushido.”
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2024

‘Bushido’: A realistically stylish samurai throwback

Slashing realism, fluid camera work and moody color palettes achieve an evocative effect in Kazuya Shiraishi’s samurai drama “Bushido.”
The dying words of a wounded man (Yang Ik-june, back) come back to haunt him when he fails to meet his maker on schedule in Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “Confession.”
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2024

‘Confession’ takes a stab at the dark side of getting it off your chest

The film’s South Korean actor Yang Ik-june brings the intensity needed to deliver a macabre B-movie that's a bloody good time for gore fans.
Palestinian kids stand in a house an Israeli strike destroyed, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 23, 2024

Israeli forces move deeper into Rafah in night of heavy fighting

Israel's assault on the city has set hundreds of thousands of people fleeing in what had been a refuge for half of the enclave's 2.3 million people.
Service prices, a key component of Japan’s inflation data, may be sturdier than in the past.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 23, 2024

Steady and widening service price rises may spur BOJ’s next move

Service prices, a key component of Japan’s inflation data, may be sturdier than in the past.
People hold antiwar placards in Madrid during a protest to call for a cease-fire in Gaza on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Israel's isolation deepens as European countries recognize Palestinian state

The move follows warnings by Washington over withholding arms, sanctions against violent settlers and accusations of genocide in international courts.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a meeting with New Caledonia's elected officials and local representatives at French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc's residence in Noumea, New Caledonia on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Macron arrives in riot-hit New Caledonia for high-stakes talks

Local group warns things may take a turn for the worse if the French president does withdraw an electoral bill that protesters fear will dilute Indigenous votes.
Artificial-intelligence-related talks in Geneva between China and the U.S. yielded no concrete agreements, but the conversations set the stage for continued engagement on safety and risks related to the technology.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Seven hours in Geneva hotel highlight U.S.-China struggle on AI

Officials from the U.S. and China stressed in the meeting at the hotel a shared desire to prevent nightmare scenarios like a computer-triggered nuclear war.
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith delivers a speech at the French Microsoft headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris, on May 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2024

Microsoft’s UAE deal could move U.S. chips and AI technology abroad

The sales accord could progress to a second phase that entails the export of crucial components of AI technology such as model weights, Microsoft's president said.
Ukrainian serviceman Mykola, 42, jammer specialist of the "Achilles" drone battalion of the 92nd assault brigade, sets the antenna of a drone signal jamming system on an armored four-wheel-drive vehicle, in an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region on April 30.
WORLD
May 23, 2024

Signal jammers offer hope as drones shape Ukraine's battlefields

More than two years into Russia's invasion, the devices have become essential for Ukrainian forces.
A damaged multistory apartment block, a section of which collapsed as the result of what local authorities called a Ukrainian missile strike, in the city of Belgorod, Russia, on May 13
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Inside the White House, a debate over letting Ukraine shoot U.S. weapons into Russia

Russia’s forces have placed weapons right across the Ukrainian border and aimed them at Kharkiv — knowing weaponry that can be used in response is limited.
Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said in a video posted on TikTok in December that the party did not want to be seen as part of the same group as the LDP.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Challenges mount for Komeito amid rift with LDP

As the junior partner in the ruling coalition approaches its 60th anniversary, an existential crisis looms over it.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s ERA in nine starts since returning from Seoul is 2.38.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 23, 2024

Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto finds rhythm on mound after early stumble

Yamamoto has impressed even the organization that went out and committed $375 million (including posting fees) to add him to its roster this winter.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb