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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in April. In July, Russia's defense minister said he needed to talk to Austin about an alleged Ukrainian operation. What happened next remains murky.
WORLD
Jul 27, 2024

A mysterious plot prompts a rare call from Russia to the Pentagon

Russia’s defense minister said he needed to talk to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about an alleged Ukrainian operation. What happened next remains murky.
Mourners hold a mass funeral in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on Sunday. The Israeli military said the victims, 12 youths, died when an Iranian-made missile fired by Hezbollah landed on a soccer field in the town.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2024

Thousands of Druze mourn youths killed in Golan rocket attack

Since October when war in the Gaza strip began, Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have regularly exchanged fire over the border.
A man with a whip tries to control a crowd of Sudanese refugees waiting to receive food at an impromptu aid distribution on the outskirts of a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, on July 8. As starvation spreads in Sudan, its military is blocking the United Nations from bringing food into the country via the most straightforward route.
WORLD
Jul 29, 2024

As starvation spreads in Sudan, military blocks aid trucks at border

Distrust and the loss of border control is hindering delivery of food by the United Nations via the most straightforward route.
A public safety officer wipes away sweat in Times Square during high temperatures in New York on June 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 31, 2024

This is how we know when the world has its hottest day

These conclusions rely on a near real-time picture of the Earth’s climate for roughly every 30-square-kilometer chunk of the planet’s surface.
Takashi Yuki (left) directs and stars in “Dito” as an aging boxer living in Manila who is reunited with his 17-year-old daughter (Momoko Tanabe, right).
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2024

‘Dito’ aims for authenticity rather than originality

Takashi Yuki’s Philippines-set boxing drama can be corny and it tends to telegraph its punches, but there’s also no denying its charms.
Hakushi Hasegawa places their emotive vocals and dexterous keyboard work at the center of the music on their latest album, “Mahogakko” – reminding listeners that there’s a very human presence at the controls.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 2, 2024

Electronic wiz Hakushi Hasegawa pulls back the curtain

The musician's latest album, “Mahogakko,” strikes a delicate balance between the dazzling and the downright baffling.
U.S. President Joe Biden holds the arm of Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap that included the release of Paul Whelan from Russia, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2024

The Russia prisoner swap was years in the making for the U.S.

Talks that led to the prisoner exchange started more than two years ago and almost didn't happen.
Tadakazu Sado speaks during an interview in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 2, 2024

Noto getting 'nowhere near enough support,' says volunteer

Tadakazu Sado says he is increasingly concerned about waning interest in volunteering to help the region recover from the Jan. 1 earthquake.
Map exercises for evacuations, simulating a situation in which an armed attack is expected, are conducted at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Jan. 30.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2024

Japan works on evacuation plans in event of Taiwan contingency

Issues such as stockpiling food and being able to swiftly evacuate all residents of the islands in Okinawa remain as Japan considers various contingencies.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024

Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long

Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Despite China’s advocacy for “no first use” as a global standard and its call for inclusion in international law for nuclear weapons, many analysts view it as a political statement rather than a practical strategy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2024

China’s 'no first use' nuclear policy rings hollow for many

Critics argue that China's NFU policy is less credible due to its expanding nuclear arsenal and the secrecy surrounding
Algeria's Imane Khelif celebrates after she won her semifinal bout in the women's 66-kg event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Aug 7, 2024

Boxer Khelif puts gender dispute aside to reach final as fans flock to support her

Khelif delivered a flawless performance against Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng in front of the massed Algerian fans in Paris.
The Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims, designed by Kenzo Tange, is built on the north-south axis of peace, which includes the Atomic Bomb Dome, in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 7, 2024

'Axis of Peace' continues to shape Hiroshima's distinctive urban development

The city's reconstruction plan, drawn up in 1946, included a plan to build the park and other facilities, and Tange's design proposal was picked from 145 proposals.
An unemployed man (Eita Okuno) whose community was decimated by the Great East Japan Earthquake grapples with rebuilding his life in “Shinpei.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2024

‘Shinpei’ takes on 3/11 disaster with a fresh angle

Tatsuro Yamashiro infuses his drama centered on a complex protagonist struggling with the Great East Japan Earthquake’s aftermath with humor and visual beauty.
Australia today is running aggressive recruitment campaigns to attract Kiwis to work in sectors like health care, early childhood education, police and prisons, tempting them with higher wages and relocation packages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2024

Fed-up New Zealanders are flocking to Australia for better pay

Some 44,534 New Zealanders, almost 1% of the nation’s population of 5 million, left to live in Australia in 2023.
Utagawa Hiroshige produced several highly successful series of landscape prints over the course of his career, including “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” — the largest collection of his career.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2024

The definitive guide to Utagawa Hiroshige's masterwork is a feast for the eyes

Ukiyo-e expert Andreas Marks' new book is a rare compendium of the Japanese artist’s landscapes, even by local standards.  
Olga Kharlan celebrates after Ukraine won the Olympic women's team saber gold-medal bout against South Korea on Aug. 3.
OLYMPICS
Aug 9, 2024

Olympic medals offer Ukraine a brief respite from war

Each of Ukraine’s 10 medals so far has been hailed in the war-torn country as a symbol of resilience and defiance.
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Aug 10, 2024

Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun

There are easily affordable ways to work some more cooling elements into your runs.
The Kirin Holdings logo. B9 Beverages — backed by Kirin — is building a new brewing facility in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which, once completed, will become India’s biggest beer factory.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2024

Kirin-backed Indian brewer seeks more clout with new factory

B9 Beverages is building a new brewing facility in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which, once completed, will become India’s biggest beer factory.
Homes surrounded by floodwaters in Steinhatchee, Florida, after Hurricane Debby made landfall on Aug. 5.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 10, 2024

Clashing risk predictions cast doubt on black box climate models

Insurers and investors are using private modeling tools to make risk assessments, but they have major inconsistencies.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company facility in Phoenix. The tech giant modeled its facility in Phoenix on one at home. But bringing the company's highly complex manufacturing process to America has been a bigger challenge than it expected.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2024

What works in Taiwan doesn’t always work in Arizona, a chipmaking giant learns

Bringing TSMC's highly complex manufacturing process to America has been a bigger challenge than it expected.
Although markets can promote economic efficiency under the right conditions, there is no “invisible hand” to deliver solidarity, agency, material sufficiency and environmental sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2024

A new worldview for troubled times

The problem is not that humans are predominantly ignorant or evil. Most people abhor social discord, abject poverty and environmental destruction.
Fireworks during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2024

The Olympics, a triumph of ambition, lift France from its gloom

France came into the Games shaken by a political impasse. It will exit with those problems unsolved but with a new self-confidence.
This photograph released Sunday from the official Telegram account of Igor Kutsak, mayor or Kursk, Russia, shows a fire at a residential building following a missile attack.
WORLD
Aug 12, 2024

Ukraine's Kursk rout sparks panic along its border with Russia

For Ukraine, the offensive has also been a morale boost at an otherwise perilous moment in the war.
People rest outside Matadero cultural center during the fourth heatwave of the summer in Madrid on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 12, 2024

Experts are fighting over whether to give heat waves names

The arguments against naming heat waves aren’t so removed from the arguments in favor: Heat is complicated, and its threat level tricky to generalize.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024

Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup

The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
A Palestinian mourns those killed in Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Extreme heat poses new challenge for aid agencies in Gaza

Aid trucks in Gaza often spend hours under the sun waiting for clearance due to Israeli restrictions.
The only surprise about Ukraine's offensive into Russian territory is that it came so late into the war, and that’s primarily because of Western restrictions on the use of donated weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Want peace for Ukraine? Let it strike in Russia

The only surprise is that it came so late — 2½ years into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A F-18 jet lands on the runway of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises about 160 kilometers south of Oahu, Hawaii, on July 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

U.S. Navy's newest long range missile could shift balance in South China Sea

The AIM-174B can fly several times farther than alternatives, does not require new production lines, and is compatible with Australian aircraft.

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