Search - media

 
 
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, delivers remarks as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on at an event on Medicare drug price negotiations, in Prince George's County, Maryland, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2024

Biden goes from star to sideshow at Democratic convention

Like all U.S. presidents, Biden has an eye on the history books, and he knows that the surest way to secure his legacy now runs through Harris.
The parliament building in Tokyo. With concerns about summer heat rising and many elections taking place in summertime, it may not be tenable to conduct campaigns as in the past given health risks to candidates, their staff and voters.
JAPAN / Politics / Boiling Point
Aug 17, 2024

Hotter summers pose a threat to Japan's tradition of stump speeches

Balancing health concerns with legal restrictions as well as candidates' desire to be as publicly visible as possible, even in super hot weather, might be tricky.
If two veterans, Toshimitsu Motegi and Shigeru Ishiba, run for the role of Liberal Democratic Party president, the race might come down to a choice between one of former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s allies versus one of LDP Vice President Taro Aso’s allies.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 16, 2024

Despite disbandment, factions still loom over LDP leadership race

Faction leaders' continued influence means they can't be ignored by candidates for party president.
Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan, but there are strategies to keep yourself from spiraling into stress and despair over future catastrophes.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 17, 2024

Dreading the Big One? How to manage pre-disaster anxiety.

Anxiety about potential natural disasters can take its toll, but mental health experts say there are practical solutions.
A Tokyo man who scuttles around the city in a dirty cardboard box finds himself fighting off odd characters in Gakuryu Ishii’s “The Box Man.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2024

'The Box Man': Absurdist Kobo Abe adaptation speaks to the present

Director Gakuryu Ishii makes the novel’s philosophical musings and metaphorical conundrums more audience-friendly while saying something true about the modern day.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier (left) and its strike group sails in formation with Italy's Cavour carrier (right) strike group in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2024

NATO steps up naval presence in Western Pacific to counter China

The latest entrant is the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, the first time Rome has deployed its lone carrier to the Pacific.
A growing number of ransomware attacks has forced Japanese firms to take measures to combat computer viruses that encrypt data until a ransom is paid.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2024

Ransomware attacks force companies to take precautionary measures

In many cases, attackers apparently gain entry via network devices for remote work, through clients and affiliated companies or systems at data centers.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol arrive for a joint news conference at Camp David in Maryland on Aug. 18, 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

South Korea, Japan and U.S. leaders renew pledge to cooperate on regional challenges

The principles on trilateral cooperation established at the summit last year continues to serve as a roadmap for the three countries' cooperation.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Harris heads to Chicago with momentum as GOP attacks her economy plans

A recent poll shows U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly leads former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup.
Hideki Matsuyama poses with the FedEx Cup TPC Southwind Champion trophy during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Aug 19, 2024

Matsuyama survives wobble to clinch St. Jude Championship

The win was the 10th on the PGA Tour for Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters winner, and his second this season.
Doctors shout slogans as they hold placards during a protest rally demanding justice following the rape and murder of a trainee medic at a hospital in Kolkata, in New Delhi, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 19, 2024

Protests spread over Indian doctor's rape and murder

Activists say the incident highlights how women in India continue to suffer despite tougher laws following a similar crime in Delhi in 2012.
Collector containers at the Climeworks AG carbon removal plant in Hellisheiði, Iceland. Once fully operational, the facility will be capable of capturing up to 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 19, 2024

New 'carbon removal budget' suggests massive removal shortfall

Much of the technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere hasn’t reached its full potential — and time is running out.
People take part in a protest organized by pro-abortion rights, pro-LGBT rights and pro-Palestinian activists, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, in Chicago on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Pro-Palestinian delegates to Democratic convention to push for Israel arms embargo

Pro-Palestinian activists say Harris has been more sympathetic to Gazans than Biden has been.
A man tests his lung function free of charge using a device provided by the Tokushima Prefectural Government at an event organized by companies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 19, 2024

Japan takes new steps against lifestyle-linked lung disease COPD

A health ministry survey highlighted 16,384 deaths from COPD in 2021, making it the ninth leading cause of death among men.
Damage to a Philippine Coast Guard vessel allegedly incurred during a collision with a China Coast Guard ship in the disputed South China Sea is seen in this image released on social media Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Beijing and Manila trade blame over South China Sea ship collisions

China claims the Philippine side "intentionally rammed" one of its ships in the disputed waterway — an accusation Manila denies.
Graffiti was found on the pillar bearing Yasukuni Shrine’s name and at its base at the Tokyo shrine's entrance Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2024

Pillar at entrance to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine vandalized again

Staff discovered Chinese characters for “toilet” and various letters of the English alphabet written on the pillar bearing the shrine’s name on Monday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnam's President To Lam shake hands after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Xi meets Vietnam's new leaders and says Hanoi is 'diplomacy priority'

Vietnam's new leader To Lam is in Beijing on his first state visit since he took office.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi announces his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Rising star Takayuki Kobayashi launches bid for LDP president

The former economic security czar has touted his candidacy as a symbol of radical change in a party embattled by scandals.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the press at David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

Blinken says Israel accepts Gaza proposal and urges Hamas to do the same

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier said this latest push for a cease-fire was probably the best and possibly last opportunity for a deal.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui offers flowers for the victims of the massive landslides on the 10th anniversary of the disaster during a ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Victims of Hiroshima landslides remembered 10 years on

The landslides, which occurred in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2014, claimed the lives of 77 people and completely or partially destroyed 396 houses.
A huge black screen was set up to block a view of Mount Fuji from across a convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on May 21. The screen was removed last Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Screen blocking view of Mount Fuji removed to avoid typhoon damage

Town authorities had erected the screen on May 21 to dissuade tourists from flocking to the spot, following local residents' complaints about visitors' bad manners.
Yukio Edano, a former leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks to reporters on Aug. 9 to express his intention to run in the party's leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2024

CDP faced with division as it heads into leadership race

The next CDP leader will be expected to unify the different groups within the party and cooperate with other opposition parties to increase its seats during polls.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the press at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

U.S. push for Gaza cease-fire falls short on key points, officials say

Israeli and Hamas officials have downplayed the idea that a cease-fire deal could be imminent.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Nashville, Tennessee, in July.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Kennedy reportedly considering ending campaign to join Trump

As an independent, U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could siphon enough votes away in the tight race to have an impact.
The World Health Organization is not recommending the use of masks amid the recent mpox outbreak, a spokesperson for the organization said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2024

Mpox 'is not the new COVID,' World Health Organization says

Mpox's risk to the general population is low, the organization said.
A glittering cast of Tokyoites comes together in a collection of dreamlike vignettes in Atsuhiro Yoshida’s novella “Goodnight Tokyo.”
CULTURE / Books
Aug 21, 2024

'Goodnight Tokyo': Late-night search for meaning become magical in the big city

Atsuhiro Yoshida's novella, composed of intersecting vignettes, is a fitting introduction to an atmospheric, visually adept writer known for his quirky worldbuilding.
Jannik Sinner poses with the Rookwood Cup trophy after winning the men’s singles final against Frances Tiafoe at the Cincinnati Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Monday.
TENNIS
Aug 21, 2024

Jannik Sinner cleared of wrongdoing after failed drug tests, ITIA says

The tribunal accepted Sinner's explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left) and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (second from left) pose for a photo with Indian defense chief Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2024

Japan and India to update key document on security cooperation

Tokyo is also looking to provide New Delhi with advanced naval antennas and exploring the possibility of repairing Japanese warships in India.
A recruiter holding a placard advertising jobs talks to young men at an unofficial job market in the suburbs of Beijing.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 21, 2024

China's rising youth unemployment breeds new working class

Millions of graduates are being pushed into a tough bargain, with some forced to accept low-paying work or even subsist on their parents' pensions.
China's Sun Yang swims to win the men's 1500m freestyle final during the World Swimming Championships at the Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona in August 2013.
MORE SPORTS / Swimming
Aug 21, 2024

China's Sun set to return to the pool after long doping ban

The swimmer will represent Zhejiang province at the National Summer Swimming Championships, which start on Sunday in Hefei.

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