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Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin's narratives.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2024

Russia sentences journalist to two years in prison and detains others

Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago.
Sogo Fitness believes there's no point in working out if you're not having a good time and making new friends while you're doing it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 1, 2024

Blurring the lines between fitness and social club

Sogo Fitness started with a simple goal — create a community through social events based around keeping fit and healthy.
Elon Musk, X's owner, has been open about his belief that X should carry almost all content that isn’t illegal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 29, 2024

Elon Musk’s X is testing ‘adult content’ groups for users

Openly offering "NSFW” groups may be another way for X to try to differentiate itself from other mainstream social networking services.
California’s share of U.S. wine production, around 90% in the 1990s and 2000s, dropped below 80% for the first time on record in 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2024

Who will save the U.S. wine industry? Not California boomers.

California’s share of U.S. wine production, around 90% in the 1990s and 2000s, dropped below 80% for the first time on record in 2022.
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.
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6. Over 400 stories portraying Taiwan's military exercises as rehearsals for its leadership to desert in the event of war have been uncovered by an NGO based on the island.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2024

Chinese state media stoked allegation Taiwan's president would flee war

They are among the many unsupported tales that have been fed into the island by Chinese state media outlets, according to an analysis by Taiwan-based NGO.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024

Rakuten considers combining financial units

A proposed IPO of its securities unit may not proceed if the integration is realized, while the banking arm is expected to remain listed.
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.
The Alphabet unit allegedly surreptitiously collected user browsing data when they were in "incognito" mode.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024

Google agrees to delete web browsing data as it settles ‘incognito’ lawsuit

The case, filed in 2020, alleged that Google surreptitiously collected user's browsing history when they were in "incognito" mode.
People attend a vigil in memory of the victims of a shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow, in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2024

Russian conflicts with Islamists key to Moscow attack, analysts say

Russia's conflicts with Islamist forces over half a century are key to understanding the likely motives behind concert hall attack.
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.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo destroyer docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in November 2021
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2024

Online video of Japanese destroyer may be fake: Defense Ministry

Video seemingly shot by a drone, which are banned around the military base.
Renegade director Koji Wakamatsu (Arata Iura, right) heads to Nagoya in the early 1980s to open his own cinema in “Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024

‘Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2’ captures origins of indie theater boom

Junji Inoue’s semi-autobiographical film is a love letter to independent cinemas — and their fans.
Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to the gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2024

Ohtani swings and misses at PR, but he’s not Japan’s first

Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to a gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
The National Police Agency has found that about 80% of crime victims in Japan have not received damages from perpetrators or state benefits.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 4, 2024

80% of crime victims in Japan are not receiving damages or benefits

Only 1.3% of victims received assistance from lawyers in negotiating with perpetrators.
“Extremely Inappropriate!” centers on Ichiro Ogawa (played by Sadao Abe), a crude high school teacher who is chain-smoking his way through 1986. He accidentally ends up on a bus that turns out to be a time machine, which drives him to 2024.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Apr 5, 2024

‘Extremely Inappropriate!’ took a big swing. TV is better for it.

The drama — which features a fish-out-of-water protagonist and satirizes social issues — is the most divisive Japanese TV show of the year so far.
A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after air defenses downed an alleged Ukrainian drone, in Kursk, Russia, on Thursday.
WORLD
Apr 5, 2024

Small Ukrainian plane likely used in attack deep inside Russia: experts

A Ukrainian-made Aeroprakt A-22 light aircraft is likely to have been modified into a long-range drone for the attack, they said.
Lawyers representing families of former leprosy patients seeking damages from the state hold up signs in front of the Kumamoto District Court in June 2019 after winning the case.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 5, 2024

35% in Japan prejudiced against ex-leprosy patients: survey

The health ministry will consider necessary measures given the survey results.
A worker inadvertently discovered that the latest version of the open source software program XZ Utils had been deliberately sabotaged by one of its developers, a move that could have carved out a secret door to millions of servers across the internet.
WORLD
Apr 6, 2024

Why a near-miss cyberattack put U.S. officials and the tech industry on edge

Security experts say it’s only because a change was accidentally spotted that the world was spared a digital security crisis.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) concluded that China interfered in the last two elections, an official probe heard on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024

Canada spies found China interfered in last two elections, probe hears

Intelligence analysts and the Conservatives say Trudeau's government has not done enough to combat Chinese interference.
Rescuers search for residents to evacuate as they drive in a flooded residential area in the city of Orsk, Russia, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024

Orenburg residents call on Putin for aid as record floods destroy defenses

Swaths of Orsk, a city of 230,000 in the region about 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow, have been left submerged.
Haruko Obokata speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka in 2014. Ten years after the STAP scandal, structural problems that led to the scandal persist, leaving ample room for researchers to tamper with research data, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024

Little change in Japan’s research sector 10 years after stem cell fraud

A decade after the STAP scandal, there is still a lot of leeway for researchers to tamper with data.
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station in Seoul early on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Opposition projected to retain majority in South Korean parliament

The Democratic Party and its satellites are forecast to win between 184 and 197 seats, up from 156 in the last parliament.
Get the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies out. This is the time of year when we should clean our homes and prepare them for the upcoming rainy season.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2024

Dust off your tidying vocabulary with a refreshing spring clean

While most Japanese households take part in a big clean at the end of the year, it doesn't hurt to tidy a little as the weather changes.
Indian folk singer Maithili Thakur speaks during an interview at her residence in New Delhi on April 2. Thakur thought she was successfull with millions following her Hindu devotional tunes on social media — but then Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent her popularity stratospheric.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Modi taps India's influencers to rally millions ahead of key elections

Many social media stars given government-organized awards have a striking similarity in their promotion of India's Hindu-majority culture.
Puma launches a new brand campaign with Olympic athletes in Paris on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Apr 10, 2024

Puma hones focus on speed in Olympic battle with Adidas and Nike

As Puma tries to win over more everyday and serious runners, its sponsorship of Jamaica's Olympic team helps to associate the brand with speed.
D.B. Weiss, co-creator of the Netflix sci-fi drama series "3 Body Problem," is interviewed in Las Vegas, in January.  Some Chinese viewers have expressed disappointment with the adaptation's departure from the original source material.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024

The ‘3-Body Problem’ of adapting content across borders

From anime to the latest Netflix blockbuster, changing material can be a controversial subject. How much modification is acceptable?
A demonstration in front of a Nagoya court in 2020 before the appeal trial for a father accused of sexually assaulting his 19-year-old daughter. Sexual violence remains a widespread problem in Japan and one affecting many young victims.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 10, 2024

Landmark sexual violence survey reveals shocking data

Sexual violence remains a huge problem in Japan. Despite recent legal reforms, much more needs to be done to prevent crimes and protect victims.
Thai military personnel stand guard overlooking the Moei river near the Tak border checkpoint with Myanmar, in Thailand's Mae Sot district on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Thai soldiers patrol border town in second day of clashes nearby in Myanmar

Hundreds queued to enter Thailand at the immigration checkpoint in Mae Sot, many fleeing the newest round of fighting.
A Wisconsin resident prepares to vote in the presidential primary election in Superior, Wisconsin, on April 2.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 16, 2024

Can we trust the polls? How emerging technologies affect democracy

In a global election year, all eyes are on the ties between emerging technologies and democracy.

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