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A number of stone blocks originally intended for the building of Osaka Castle are set to find a new home in the toilet facility of the 2025 Expo in Osaka.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2024

Unused stones for Osaka Castle diverted to expo toilet pillars

Designers emphasize the importance of utilizing the stone blocks that have never seen the light of day.
The cooling towers of the Saint-Laurent-Des-Eaux nuclear power plant site near Orleans, France, in 2023. Long a nuclear-power holdout, Australia is now debating a switch that could see the country end its decadeslong resistance to the energy source.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 11, 2024

One of the last holdouts, Australia weighs nuclear power pivot

Australia's potential turn to nuclear power is in line with a global trend amid a rethink about energy security and efforts to reduce emissions across the world.
Electronic waste — also known as e-waste — from computers in a junk shop in Metro Manila, Philippines
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2024

U.N. warns digital economy drive is damaging the environment

The U.N. agency called for sustainable strategies to counter the growing environmental toll digitalization creates, particularly in developing countries.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday before leaving for Washington for NATO meetings.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

Kishida and Yoon vow cooperation over Russia-North Korea ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pledge with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
People attend a seminar, hosted by Daiwa Securities, on the new NISA tax-free investment program last November. Retail investors in Japan have been favoring international investments as they deploy funds held in their fast-growing NISA accounts.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 11, 2024

Yen takes hit as ¥1 trillion flows abroad monthly after NISA tweak

Many taking advantage of changes to the rules for Japan's tax-free savings accounts have been shifting their savings to international investments.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen strengthening to the ¥157 range against the dollar late Thursday evening.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 12, 2024

Japan likely spent $22 billion on yen intervention Thursday

Japan’s currency firmed from around ¥161.58 against the dollar to ¥157.44 in little more than half an hour.
Bean might be 5 years old, but he still has the energy and personality of a puppy.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jul 15, 2024

Bean has all the potential for a magical companion

If you need someone to perk you up throughout your days together, Bean may be the perfect pup for you.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the NATO Summit in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

At high-stakes news conference, Biden vows to ‘finish the job’

The U.S. president conceded for the first time that polls show "other people can beat Mr. Trump in the fall” but added that, "it’s hard to start from scratch.”
A photo supplied by a local resident shows buildings in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, damaged by a landslide on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024

Search on for family of three after landslide in Matsuyama

Heavy rain since late Wednesday led to the 4 a.m. landslide that originated from the eastern side of Matsuyama Castle's main keep, which is under restoration.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Donald Trump at the former U.S. president's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Thursday. A spokesperson for Orban said the pair discussed the "possibilities of peace" in Ukraine during their meeting.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

NATO outlier Orban discusses possibilities of peace in Ukraine with Trump

The nationalist Hungarian prime minister made surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in the past two weeks on a self-styled "peace mission," angering NATO allies.
Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano efforts were underway to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea where Manila and Beijing have accused each other of aggressive behavior.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Manila rejects ‘use of force’ to undermine its South China Sea interests

Amid efforts to de-escalate tensions between the Philippines and China, Manila's national security adviser outlines its commitment to dialogue and diplomacy.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024

Defense Ministry hands out rare mass punishment over SDF issues

The ministry has disciplined a total of 218 Self-Defense Force members and senior officials following a wide-ranging investigation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, view international order as hinging on the concept of indivisible security.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2024

Russia and China want security for themselves and no one else

Putin and Xi seek indivisible security, that is, exercising draconian control over their respective spheres of influence — which shows the extent of their hypocrisy.
Everyone should relax as Japan’s capital, Tokyo, isn’t ripping out thousands of trees to redevelop the famed Jingu Gaien park. Quite the opposite is planned.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 12, 2024

Tokyo's Jingu Gaien is at the center of an urban debate amid a redevelopment rift

Concerns about plans for Tokyo's Jingu Gaien may be exaggerated, as key trees will be preserved and more green space will be created post-development.
An experiment found that, on the collective level, artificial intelligence-assisted stories looked much more similar to each other than those produced without any AI help.
WORLD
Jul 13, 2024

AI makes writing easier, but stories sound alike, study says

The research comes amid rising fears over the impact of AI tools that turn simple text prompts into relatively sophisticated music, art and writing.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito bows at a news conference at the prefectural government office in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 13, 2024

Hyogo vice governor to resign over death of prefectural official

Vice Gov. Yasutaka Katayama's resignation comes after the death of an official who distributed a document about alleged harassment by Gov. Motohiko Saito.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024

Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 is pictured in space after it lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, in this screenshot from video released on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 13, 2024

SpaceX's Falcon 9 grounded after failure dooms batch of Starlink satellites

The incident marks the first failure in more than seven years of a rocket relied upon by the global space industry.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Watford, England, in December 2019.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024

Whether it’s Biden or Trump, Europe knows it must stand alone

European officials say they’re expecting both Trump and Biden to concentrate more on China at the expense of Europe.
A Shinto priest leads prayers for safety before the opening of Kitaizumi beach in the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 13, 2024

Fukushima beach opens for first time since treated water release

The Fukushima Prefectural Government said last month that no tritium was detected in seawater at eight beaches in the prefecture set to open this year.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a return against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their Wimbledon men's semifinal match on Friday in London.
TENNIS
Jul 13, 2024

History 'fuels' Djokovic's Wimbledon title bid against Alcaraz

Just five weeks after undergoing surgery on his right knee, Djokovic can become the oldest Wimbledon champion of the modern era.
Palestinians look at the debris of destroyed tents and makeshift housing structures on Saturday following an Israeli military strike that killed dozens of people, near the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2024

Israel launches major attack against a senior Hamas commander

The Gaza Health Ministry said 90 people had been killed in the assault, half of them women and children, and 300 wounded.
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 14, 2024

She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics

While news sites have suggested that being a volunteer is a way to attend the Games for “free,” that doesn’t apply to international volunteers like Mai Tarumi.
A bloodied Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2024

‘America’s under attack’: A gleeful Trump rally shattered by gunfire

A campaign rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump was a day of big emotions. Glee, unity and righteous anger — and then suddenly fear.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles final tennis match on the fourteenth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jul 15, 2024

No escape from Alcaraz as Djokovic suffers Wimbledon mauling

For much of Alcaraz's 6-2 6-2 7-6(4) victory — a scoreline that flattered Djokovic — the packed crowd in the old arena were left stunned at what they were witnessing.
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike at a camp for displaced Palestinians in the Al-Mawasi district of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Hamas denies report it’s quitting Gaza cease-fire talks

A member of the Hamas political bureau described Israel’s airstrike over the weekend as an “escalation” engineered to “block the way to reaching an agreement.”
Peru's former President Alberto Fujimori waves to supporters as he is wheeled out of the Centenario Clinic in Lima on Jan. 04, 2018. He was sent to prison in 2009 over massacres committed by army death squads in the 1990s but was released last year for humanitarian reasons.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Alberto Fujimori to stand in 2026 Peru elections, his daughter says

It is unclear if the ex-president is eligible to stand for election due to his conviction over massacres committed by the army in his campaign against Maoists guerillas.
Police officers stand guard in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in April 2023 during a Lower House by-election campaign.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2024

Japan police to tighten security after Trump shooting

Specifically, prefectural police across the country have been urged to enhance vigilance in areas around venues for political events.
A child receives an oral Malaria vaccine in Lilongwe, Malawi.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 15, 2024

Rising conflicts globally slowed childhood vaccination rate in 2023, U.N. says

About 14.5 million children failed to get vaccinated in 2023, compared with 13.9 million a year earlier, according to U.N. estimates.
A new rule of having prison officers use honorifics when addressing inmates sparked apprehension when it was introduced in April. Three months later, a prison officer said the rule helps avoid situations where older inmates might not feel comfortable being called by their names without honorifics by officers fresh out of school.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2024

Prison officers and inmates warm up to rule on use of honorifics

Since April, a new rule requires prison officers to use the honorifics san and kun when addressing inmates by their last names.

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