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A helicopter sprays water over a fire on the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes on Tuesday. Wildfires have been raging in Greece amid scorching temperatures, forcing mass evacuations in several tourist spots including on the islands of Rhodes and Corfu.
WORLD
Jul 26, 2023

Wildfires bring death and destruction to Mediterranean

Greece has been particularly hard hit, with authorities evacuating more than 20,000 people in recent days from homes and resorts in the south of the holiday island of Rhodes.
Nissan Motor has finalized plans to invest in Renault’s electric-vehicle venture Ampere, capping months of negotiations to rebalance the troubled automotive alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2023

Nissan to invest $663 million in Renault EV unit as alliance rejigged

The deal caps months of negotiations aimed at rebalancing the troubled automotive alliance.
Sara Khadem poses for a photo in Spain on Feb. 14. Khadem was granted Spanish nationality on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 27, 2023

Iranian chess star who competed without hijab gains Spanish nationality

Khadem, a 26-year-old chess grandmaster, participated in a World Cup event in Kazakhstan in December 2022 without wearing the Islamic veil, which is compulsory for women in Iran.
Contrary to some news reports, the movie "Oppenheimer," starring (left to right) Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, has not been banned in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2023

'Oppenheimer' spurs debate on the atomic bombings

Christopher Nolan’s biopic has triggered a debate on the rights and wrongs of dropping the bomb. It could lead to a more useful discussion in Japan — assuming it’s ever released here.
The Ukrainian delegation marches during the opening ceremony of the European Games in Krakow, Poland, on June 21.
OLYMPICS
Jul 27, 2023

Ukraine still grappling with ramifications of threat to boycott Paris Olympics

In April, Ukraine barred its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that have competitors from Russia and Belarus.
Pedestrians hold umbrellas for protection from the sun during a heat wave in New York on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 28, 2023

July set to be world's hottest month on record

We may have to go back thousands if not tens of thousands of years to find similarly warm conditions on our planet.
John Lee, Hong Kong's chief executive, during an event in Hong Kong on April 15
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 28, 2023

U.S. should invite Lee to summit after report he’s barred: Hong Kong

Chief Executive John Lee and other top Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials were sanctioned by the U.S. for their role in the crackdown on civil liberties in the city.
Olga Kharlan (left) and Anna Smirnova compete during the Fencing World Championships in Milan on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 28, 2023

Ukrainian fencer disqualified for refusing to shake hands with Russian

Olga Kharlan, a four-time Olympic medalist and world champion, won the individual sabre bout 15-7 and then refused to shake hands with her opponent.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol greet each other ahead of a trilateral meeting during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima on May 21.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2023

U.S. announces trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea

The leaders of the three countries will use the summit at the Camp David presidential retreat to expand trilateral cooperation “across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
The Hamaoka nuclear power station in the city of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, is one of the areas that could be at risk if there is a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2023

Time for a Nankai Trough earthquake warning system

Edited A total of 707 municipal governments in 29 prefectures are considered at risk of major quakes in this region. The at-risk population is nearly 60 million.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda gives a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ jolted financial markets by loosening its grip on bond yields.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

BOJ yields some control, but also throws a curveball

In trying to keep several plates spinning as it pertains to monetary policy and inflation, BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda steps on his message.
While the pace of deploying clean-energy solutions is faster than it has ever been, with climate change, the world overall is racing in the wrong direction.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

What the climate fight is really about

Now that a future of higher average global temperatures is inevitable, managing the problem well requires that we cut off the tail end of the extreme-weather distribution.
Demonstrators gather in the capita Niamey, Niger, on Sunday. Signs read "long live CNSP," "down with France, ECOWAS."
WORLD
Jul 31, 2023

West Africa threatens force against Niger coup leaders

The response came as crowds in Niger's capital Niamey burned French flags and stoned the former colonial power's mission, drawing tear gas from police.
A Toyo Safety Industrial helmet with a built-in fan is showcased at Extreme Heat Countermeasures Exhibition in Tokyo in July.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023

Fan-cooled beds and baby carriers among new gadgets to beat heat

At Tokyo’s annual trade show last week the focus was on how to keep workers in high-temperature environments cool and reduce the risk of heatstroke.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 31, 2023

Tokyo ‘Joker’ train attacker sentenced to 23-year prison term

The Tokyo District Court ruled that Kyota Hattori stabbed a 72-year-old man and intended to murder 12 passengers by lighting a fire.
Residents walk through misters during a heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 1, 2023

How urban heat islands add to the misery of heat waves

While grass or soil absorb less heat, asphalt and concrete can absorb as much as 95% of the sun's energy then send it back into the atmosphere.
Ukrainian Olga Kharlan (left) and Russian Anna Smirnova compete during the women's sabre senior individual qualifiers at the FIE Fencing World Championships in Milan on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Don't ask Ukrainian athletes to shake hands with Russians

In fencing and tennis as in life, responsibility is individual, not collective. All the more reason why Olga Kharlan did the right thing.
Foreign entertainers are now permitted to work in event venues with a capacity of more than 100 people — including standing-only establishments — that sell food and drinks.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 1, 2023

Japan loosens requirements for entertainer visas

Entertainers earning more than ¥500,000 or more per day are now able to stay for up to 30 days, an increase from 15 days.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump makes his way inside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on April 4. Trump was indicted on Monday over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he campaigns to return to the White House.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2023

Trump charged with conspiracy for efforts to overturn 2020 election

The indictment alleges Trump knowingly spread lies about the election in order to undermine public faith in the vote and remain in power.
The social media backlash to “Barbenheimer,” an internet trend centered on the simultaneous release of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” in the United States, led to the hashtag #NoBarbenheimer trending recently on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 2, 2023

‘Barbenheimer’ memes trigger anger in atomic-bombed Japan

Warner Bros. Japan criticized its U.S. counterpart for participating in internet memes that appear to trivialize the effects of the atomic bombings.
Paris Saint-Germain players line up before the team's club friendly against Inter Milan at Tokyo's National Stadium on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Aug 2, 2023

Second straight tour shows PSG's commitment to Japanese market

The French superclub has experienced explosive growth in its global base, especially in Asia, since its 2011 takeover by Qatari ownership.
China and India both began liberalizing their economies around the same time in the 1980s. But China invested more in human-capital and is now benefiting from that decision.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Unlike China, India cannot be an economic superpower

In the 1980s, the belief among observers was that an authoritarian Chinese regime would mismanage its economy while a democratic India would thrive.
You may hear words like "kanshin" used when talking about baseball player Shohei Ohtani, but are people talking about "interest" or "admiration"?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 3, 2023

Step on a rhyme to better understand Japanese homophones

Spending time to learn the Japanese language's many homophones can result in a better understanding of definitions — and it's fun.
A young girl drinks water from a faucet in Bamako. At a site just 55 kilometers from Mali's capital city, pure hydrogen gas seeps from the ground like crude oil or methane.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Natural hydrogen could change the world, if we understood it

We know next to nothing about how natural hydrogen is produced, let alone how to extract and transport it most efficiently.
A courtroom sketch shows former U.S. President Donald Trump taking an oath during a court appearance in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2023

Civics lesson or reality TV? Calls grow to broadcast Trump trial

Lawyers and politicians in the U.S. are lining up to urge that cameras be allowed inside the courtroom.
A stock board at an intersection in Shanghai in October
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 6, 2023

China is losing out as global funds chase returns in Japan stocks

Foreign buying of Japanese equities has exceeded that of Chinese peers for the first time since 2017, according to a Goldman Sachs Group report.
A test event for the 2024 Summer Olympics' open swimming competition was scheduled to take place in Paris this weekend.
OLYMPICS
Aug 6, 2023

Paris Games swimming test in Seine canceled due to pollution

Heavy rains for the past week in Paris have caused sewers to overflow, polluting the Seine.
A participant operates the "Flappy Bird," a self-made flying machine, during an event in Hong Kong in May 2014. Vietnam first caught the attention of global gamers in 2013 after Hanoi developer Dong Nguyen created, Flappy Bird, a simple but addictive game app.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 7, 2023

A decade after Flappy Bird, Vietnam becomes gaming powerhouse

Moving beyond outsourced software and sneaker factories, Hanoi views mobile games as a crucial part of its emerging tech sector.
Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei — also known as "A-Mei" — poses with her mother (second from left) on the red carpet in Taipei in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 8, 2023

Chinese fans barred from wearing rainbows at gay-friendly show

Being gay, bisexual or transgender is increasingly seen by some in China as a concept imported from the West.
A partial view of the Lalibela town in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, in 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2023

Ethiopia just ended one war. Is another one beginning?

For many in the Amhara region, the peace deal's failure to account for their concerns portended another war. Now, that forecast looks to be coming true.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.