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An Israeli military helicopter flying away from the helipad of a hospitalin Tel Aviv, Israel, after transporting a patient on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Israel deploys expansive facial recognition program in Gaza

Members of Israeli intelligence and its military are concerned about the experimental surveillance effort's false positives and cases of mistaken identity.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman rings a ceremonial bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to celebrate the company's initial public offering on March 21.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 28, 2024

Reddit’s IPO is a content moderation success story

Deciding what users are and aren’t allowed to post is something every social media company has to embrace eventually, if it wants to succeed.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 29, 2024

The vocabulary of shogi can help you make moves in your conversations

The world of shogi, a game that is often described as a form of Japanese chess, has given us much more than just checkmates.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an Upper House Budget Committee session on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Ex-PM Yoshiro Mori may face LDP probe over kickback scheme

The target and scope of such an investigation has yet to be decided, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says.
People exit the platform at a train station along the Yamanote Line in Tokyo in 1986. A time-traveling TV comedy with a bawdy middle-aged hero from the era has become a big hit in Japan, juxtaposing brash 1980s attitudes with the more politically correct present day.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 29, 2024

Satire TV show strikes a generation-spanning chord in Japan

"Extremely Inappropriate" uses a time-traveling protagonist to humorously highlight the gap between attitudes of the 1980s and the 2020s.
Dried cocoa beans at the Somos Cacao farm and production in Ragonvalia, department of Norte de Santader, Colombia, on March 22, 2024. Cocoa is the best-selling commodity in the world so far in 2024, and futures have doubled in less than three months as poor harvests in West Africa, where most of the world's cocoa is grown, have led buyers to look elsewhere for supplies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 29, 2024

Cocoa market 'broken' as crop failure drives third year of shortages

here’s a risk poor harvests in West Africa could be long-lasting, with climate change and crop disease ravaging trees.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Chavis Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 30, 2024

Kamala Harris pushes the envelope as Biden struggles with some Democrats

The U.S. vice president's new role is seen as part of a high-profile effort to persuade the fractious coalition of voters to give them a second term.
With emerging headwinds in the U.S. and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will have their work cut out for them next month as they look to maintain the momentum driving change in the alliance between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024

Kishida heads to U.S. with a mission — maintain alliance momentum amid challenges

Defense and security will likely top the agenda, though it is unclear how the PM will handle the issue of Ukraine assistance amid a split U.S. Congress.
Children wash their hands with a new public pump installed as part of a climate resilient water system in Inn Chey in Kratie Province.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Mar 31, 2024

Japan sits at the forefront of climate resilient infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Japanese businesses and government agencies are pouring billions of yen into various programs across Cambodia and Southeast Asia to reduce climate risks.
A woman pays her respects at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday, a week after a deadly attack by gunmen there killed at least 143 people.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2024

Putin's conspiracy theories make Russians less safe

The Kremlin hopes that blaming Kyiv and the West for the attack will turn a difficult domestic political situation to its advantage.
The Bank of Japan's tankan survey showed that large nonmanufacturers saw improvement in their sentiment with the index reaching the highest level since 1991, helped by a surge in inbound tourists.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2024

Japan service firms’ optimism tempered by softer factory sector

The deterioration in manufacturing sentiment partly reflects the impact from scandals among some vehicle producers.
Clergymen conduct a memorial service for victims at a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall following a deadly attack on the concert venue outside Moscow on Friday.
WORLD
Apr 1, 2024

Russia seeks extradition of Ukraine security service head; Ukraine rejects demand

Russia is demanding that Ukraine hand over all people connected with terrorist acts committed in Russia.
Cardboard beds at an evacuation center in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31. Because evacuation shelters are operated by municipalities, the quality of disaster relief varies depending on the strength of each local government, one expert points out.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024

Over 8,000 still in evacuation centers three months after Noto quake

The patchy progress of Japan's decentralized disaster relief shows that lessons from past disasters have not been learned, experts say.
Around 90% of China’s increased oil demand between 2021 and 2024 comes from chemical feedstocks, driven by the manufacturing of products such as those sold by fast-fashion retailers Shein and Tamu.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2024

China's Shein and Temu are driving oil, not Toyota and GM

The cause behind recent a surge in China's oil demand is not to be found in people's transport habits, including car use, but in fast-fashion clothing.
The top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, has said that Beijing is maintaining its goal of being able to invade Taiwan by 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 2, 2024

Will China truly be ‘ready’ to invade Taiwan by 2027? It’s complicated.

The most important factor shaping any plan will not be based on just military readiness, but rather on political and strategic objectives, analysts say.
Chinese Coast Guard ships fire water cannons at a Philippine boat during a supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on March 5. This incident highlights the danger that such confrontations could have for sparking a wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024

Beware the steady creep toward crisis in the South China Sea

The Philippines is pushing back. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a policy of “assertive transparency” to show the world what China is doing.
An audio work by Saga University's Art Works to Listen and Imagine project is available on the internet.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 8, 2024

Experiencing art exhibitions through listening

Events and exhibitions are being held to encourage visitors to appreciate artworks with their ears and imagination.
Heita Kawakatsu, governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, explains his remarks at the prefectural government office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2024

Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu to resign over latest gaffe

"Unlike (those who) sell vegetables, raise cattle and make things, you are basically highly intellectual people," he said to newly hired officials.
Former Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Hakubun Shimomura attends a Lower House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

LDP eyes membership suspension for Shimomura and Nishimura

It also plans to ask Shionoya and Seko to leave the party over the slush funds scandal involving certain factions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios

Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
An official of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical speaks to reporters on Saturday in Osaka following the health ministry's inspections of the firm's plant.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 3, 2024

166 hospitalized over health issues linked to beni kōji

Taiwan's health ministry said the number of people experiencing ill health after taking Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni koji had risen to 11 as of Monday.
Both Godzilla and Kong have a rich screen history to draw on, but “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” feels like a desperate attempt for the crossover franchise to justify both its existence and its continuation.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024

‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’: Running out of steam

The latest in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse franchise shows signs of an anemic imagination.
Sebastian Vettel ahead of his last race, in Abu Dhabi in November 2022
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 4, 2024

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel hints at return to Formula One

The German recorded 53 victories over 16 years before retiring at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
World Central Kitchen’s damaged vehicle hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2024

Strikes in Gaza and Iran show limits of Biden’s leverage on Israel

They draw scrutiny to the question of how much leverage the U.S. president has over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and whether he’s willing to exert it.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr., RB's Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Williams' Alexander Albon, Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly during a news conference in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 4, 2024

Five drivers to watch this weekend at Suzuka

The battles that take place further down the grid promise plenty of excitement this weekend.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani before playing against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 4, 2024

Ohtani blasts first homer for Dodgers in Giants sweep

"I've just been working on making sure I can swing the way I want to without rushing things," Ohtani said.
Climate change, with its natural disasters, is putting nuclear facilities and weapons complexes at risk.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2024

Climate change and nuclear waste are a toxic stew

Nuclear power could be a crucial part of a clean-energy transition, but not if it comes with a high risk of multiple Fukushima-like catastrophes.
Palestinians carry aid as others struggle to receive their portion amid widespread hunger in Gaza City on Thursday.
WORLD
Apr 5, 2024

Peace feels further than ever at six months of Israel-Hamas war

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
A Wheeling-Nippon Steel facility in in Follansbee, West Virginia. Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024

Why Japan is not giving up on fraught U.S. Steel deal

Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
Developing nations feel that international trade rules favor developed countries and undermine their interests, particularly in areas like agriculture and fishing subsidies.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024

Why have developing countries soured on multilateralism?

The efforts of advanced economies to link trade agreements to labor and environmental standards could disadvantage developing nations.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan