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U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

Netanyahu halts envoys' U.S. trip amid rift with Biden over Gaza U.N. vote

Famine looms in the Gaza Strip and there is growing global pressure for a truce in the war health authorities say has killed some 32,000 Palestinians.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Mar 26, 2024

Takerufuji’s triumph is one for the ages

The Isegahama stable rookie arguably achieved one of most surprising sporting victories of all time.
A view of apartment buildings with writing on a wall that reads "Here we build (ourselves)," in the Franc-Moisin neighborhood of Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb, on March 13. The Seine-Saint-Denis department north of Paris will host a number of events for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with venues including the Stade de France and Aquatics Centre, as well as the Olympic Village.
WORLD / Society
Mar 26, 2024

Amid Olympic redevelopment, have troubled Paris suburbs won gold?

The Paris Olympics will take place mostly on the other side of a ring road that divides the capital from some of its poorest and most notorious suburbs.
Cute characters like Pikachu are deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. The global reach of kawaii has contributed to Japan's soft power and international appeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2024

What does the global power of kawaii say about us?

Kawaii is one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. But cuteness is more than just a fad or a commercial success story: It's part of our evolution.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2024

Western business leaders help China challenge economic slump fears

Global executives are keen to show interest in participating in China's giant market despite deepening political tensions and moves to favor local firms.
Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, holds a photograph of his son Thomas in Akron, Ohio, on March 4. How Trump and Biden address a lethal chapter of the U.S. drug-overdose epidemic will be pivotal in swing states that are likely to decide the election.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

270,000 overdose deaths thrust fentanyl into heart of U.S. presidential race

More than 4 in 10 Americans personally know someone who has died from a drug overdose.
The U.K. government acknowledged in November that AI was already affecting jobs in the finance and insurance sector.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2024

U.K. stands to lose 8 million jobs from AI, analysis warns

AI already impacts 11% of tasks done by U.K. staff, a figure that could rise to almost 60% if firms integrate the technology more deeply.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
Joel Vaudreuil's "When Adam Changes" won the grand prix at this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival, the largest festival devoted to feature-length animation in Asia.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 28, 2024

Niigata film festival showcases cutting-edge overseas talent

The six-day event dedicated to feature-length animation presented a lineup of stories that were psychologically rich and emotionally dark.
A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The Jan. 5 blowout incident plunged Boeing into a new crisis five years after the second of two fatal crashes grounded the MAX.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2024

How Boeing's leadership was 'fired' by its own customers

With Boeing's major U.S. customers calling for a meeting without CEO Dave Calhoun, the company preempted their demands with a major upheaval.
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.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates with outfielder Teoscar Hernandez after an opening day win against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 29, 2024

'Sho-time' at last as Ohtani delights in Dodgers home debut

The 29-year-old did enough in a 7-1 victory to suggest that the Dodgers' money was well spent.
Williams' Alexander Albon drives during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 29, 2024

Williams will have two cars but still no spare in Japan

Team principal James Vowles said that both Williams drivers would be racing at Suzuka.
China coach Li Tie reacts during a soccer match between China and Australia in Qatar in September 2021.
SOCCER
Mar 29, 2024

Former China coach pleads guilty to taking millions in bribes

"Li Tie made his final statement, pleaded guilty and expressed remorse," a court said.
The giant green signs of this supermarket chain can be slightly intimidating, but chefs of all stripes are welcome in Gyomu's aisles.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 31, 2024

In praise of Gyomu Super, a gem of Japanese grocery shopping

With a name that translates to something like “commercial supermarket,” you might assume Gyomu is just a restaurant supply chain.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his eagerness to revise the political funds law in the current session of parliament, slated to end on June 23.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 29, 2024

Spotlight on political reform after budget clears Japan's parliament

Ruling and opposition parties are eager to outline a bolder plan for reform to raise their profile among voters amid growing political disenchantment.
Demand for infertility treatment is high in Japan, where the number of live births fell for eight straight years to another record low last year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2024

Fertility startups in Japan step in as treatment demand soars

In Japan, shortages of treatment options plague patients as the country grapples with one of the world’s lowest birthrates.
People place their bets at the Fanduel sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the Super Bowl in February 2019.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 31, 2024

U.S. sports leagues bet on gambling. Now they’re facing its risks.

Leagues have signed lucrative marketing deals with betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings and recent incidents have highlighted issues.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. While some BOJ watchers flag the risk the BOJ could move quickly to raise interest rates again, Tsutomu Watanabe, who was a potential governor candidate last year, says he doesn't think the move will come so soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2024

BOJ’s next hike likely in October at earliest, ex-official says

The views of Tsutomu Watanabe contrast with those of some BOJ watchers who flag the risk the BOJ could move quickly as the yen slumps near a 34-year low.
Anti-government protesters launch a prolonged demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in front of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 1, 2024

Protests against Netanyahu intensify as cease-fire talks resume

Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure at home and abroad over Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza.
An employee of Jet Blue airlines walks around an engine of an Airbus A320 passenger aircraft in a maintenance hangar of the company at JFK International Airport in New York on March 4.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2024

Maintenance staff shortage in U.S. could clip aviation industry's wings

The sector lacks some 24,000 aviation maintenance technicians in North America, a figure due to reach nearly 40,000 by 2028.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako speak with evacuees at a junior high school serving as an evacuation shelter in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on March 22.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024

Japan's imperial family makes Instagram debut

More than 180,000 people have followed the Imperial Household Agency account.
Princess Aiko speaks to reporters in front of the Japanese Red Cross Society in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2024

Princess Aiko joins Japanese Red Cross Society

"I feel that I have taken my first step as a working adult," the princess, 22, told reporters.
A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment on Khan Yunis as seen from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 1, 2024

Fighting rages across Gaza amid revival of truce talks

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (right) with then-wife Dasha Zhukova in 2014. Zhukova's mother, Elena Zhukova, is engaged to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2024

The oligarch, his ex-wife, her mother and Rupert Murdoch

Were it not for other stories coming out of Russia, Rupert Murdoch's engagement to Roman Abramovich's ex-mother-in-law would have made more headlines.
Customers browse Gashapon official shop “Ikebukuro Sohonten” in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024

Top capsule-toy maker Bandai bets on huge market outside Japan

Machines for capsule toys have become ubiquitous in Japan, found not only in arcades, but also malls, supermarkets, airports and train stations.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2024

New Indonesia leader visits China, promising close ties

Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto was also due to visit Japan for two days from Tuesday.
Ayuko Kato, minister for policies related to children, speaks at a parliament session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 2, 2024

One year on, Japan's children agency struggles to show leadership

The agency is facing challenges to demonstrate leadership, unable to move forward with unprecedented measures to combat the declining birthrate.
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.
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.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear