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Sicily and organized crime have been synonymous since at least the 19th century. The island's mafia infiltration is extending beyond violence, manifesting in subtle economic coercion and sophisticated tax evasion schemes.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Sicily's mafia is expanding its white collar crime

Economic inequality fuels mafia exploitation, with wealthy enclaves thriving while impoverished areas provide fertile ground for criminal activity.
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama

Nobuyasu Nikai, who serves as secretary to his 85-year-old father, has been asked to stand for election by local leaders in the prefecture.
Taylor Swift's new album "The Tortured Poets Department" was released on Friday. The rush for immediate reviews in this digital age is undermining the listening experience.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024

Taylor Swift is proof that how we critique music is broken

In the age of half-baked hot takes on online forums, anyone with a smartphone can word-vomit their thoughts into the ether.
Race walker Nanako Fujii wears thick-soled shoes during a national race walking event in Kobe on Feb. 18.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2024

Japanese race walkers slow to embrace thick-soled shoes

The key benefit of athletes wearing thick-soled shoes is that they are propelled forward by the bounce generated by the soles of the shoes.
Palestinian women in Gaza sit amid the rubble of a residential building they once lived in, which was destroyed by an Israeli raid earlier this month.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2024

Biden must prove he doesn't have a double standard for Israel

If the U.S. wants to convince the world that it doesn't have a double standard, it should condition military aid to Israel on its use of American weapons.
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 26, 2024

Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past

Chef Ryohei Ikemi will open dinner with a warming soup featuring vegetables from Aomori's Lake Towada and close with a local Kyogoku apple gelato.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is guarded by the Lakers' Rui Hachimura during the second half in Game 3 of their first-round series in Los Angeles on Thursday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 26, 2024

Nuggets win on road to push Lakers to brink in playoff series

The defending champion Nuggets erased a 10-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Lakers 112-105 in Los Angeles.
Members of the town assembly of Genkai, Saga Prefecture, on Friday deliberate a petition calling for a survey to examine the town's suitability for hosting a radioactive waste disposal site.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2024

Town assembly in Saga approves petition for nuclear waste site survey

A town in Saga Prefecture has become the first host municipality for a nuclear plant to approve a petition to accept a survey for nuclear waste.
The first Lower House political reform committee meeting begins in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2024

Gaps between Japan's parties on political reform on show at committee

At the committee's first meeting, differing views were expressed on the legal responsibility of politicians as well as punishments for wrongdoing.
IOC President Thomas Bach speaks during an interview in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Apr 28, 2024

Interest in hosting Olympics 'never so high,' says IOC boss

After a string of Games in wealthy democracies, 2036 could be an opportunity for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia or India.
Vendors wearing headwear for protection against the sun talk amid the heat in Manila on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 28, 2024

Philippines suspends in-person classes due to heat and jeepney strike

The temperature in the city hit a record high of 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday with the heat index reaching 45 C.
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards dunks against the Suns during the second half in Phoenix on Sunday.
BASKETBALL
Apr 29, 2024

Anthony Edwards uses huge second half to help Timberwolves sweep Suns

"I knew we had a chance to sweep them and why would we want to go back to Minnesota," Edwards said.
Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaks during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

Solomon Islands pro-China PM says not standing for new term

During four spasmodic spells as the Pacific nation's leader, the 69-year-old Sogavare has maneuvered through armed coups, riots and the rise of China.
A screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, at the GAC Motor booth at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

Xi seems on a mission to drive a wedge between Europe and the U.S.

During his five-day trip to France, Serbia and Hungary on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to show the EU how much China can offer them.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara takes part in an arrival ceremony with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington last October.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2024

‘Collective capacity’ to top agenda at four-way defense talks in Hawaii

One thing will be on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation with allies to counter China.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

What's next for Kishida after LDP's by-election loss?

Speculation has been rife over how he may decide to take responsibility, from dissolving parliament to making senior party leadership changes.
This Israeli Army handout released on April 18 shows Israeli soldiers conducting operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2024

Freeing hostages matters more than destroying Hamas

After a joint plea from the US and 17 other nations focusing on Hamas, Israel should lean into a deal.
Studies have observed that patients eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis initially complain of common issues like anxiety, fatigue or bladder problems. Researcher may be on the road to developing a simple test that can definitively tell a patient if they have the disease.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2024

This multiple sclerosis discovery could be a breakthrough

Researchers have found evidence that neurons are being damaged years before the disease makes itself known.
Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala (left) battles with Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior during the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday in Munich.
SOCCER
May 1, 2024

Vinicius hits brace as Real Madrid come back to snatch draw at Bayern

The draw puts Madrid in the driver's seat ahead of next week's return leg in the Spanish capital.
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga pitches against the Mets during the second inning at Citi Field in New York on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 2, 2024

Cubs' Shota Imanaga shuts down Mets to continue strong start to MLB career

Imanaga (5-0) gave up three hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven scoreless innings.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 2, 2024

U.S. market swings reveal inflation uncertainty ahead of key data

Some may be less likely to take the Fed chair at his word this time around after a dovish pivot in December was followed by months of upside surprises.
The ruling Georgian Dream Party, whose leader is pro-Russian, holds a rally in support of the government in Tbilisi on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2024

What if Russia wins in Ukraine? Ask Georgia.

A billionaire leader in Tblisi echoes Moscow as he rails against “global party of war.”
Birdhead members Ji Weiyu (left) and Song Tao, who are exhibiting “The Matrix” facing the “chikuin no ma” garden at Kondaya Genbei as part of Kyotographie 2024.
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2024

Shanghai duo Birdhead flips photography

Artists Ji Weiyu and Song Tao play with randomness and control in their Kyotographie exhibition, "Welcome to Birdhead World Again, Kyoto 2024."
Mike Tyson (left) and Buster Douglas fight during the seventh round of their world heavyweight title fight at Tokyo Dome on Feb. 11, 1990.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 3, 2024

Tokyo Dome to host boxing for first time since Buster Douglas upset Mike Tyson

Super-bantamweight world champion Naoya "Monster" Inoue will put his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery at the Big Egg.
Senator Tim Scott (center), a Republican from South Carolina, speaks during a campaign event with former U.S. President Donald Trump, (left), and Doug Burgum (right), governor of North Dakota, in Laconia, New Hampshire, in January.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2024

Trump auditions VP picks before wealthy donors in Palm Beach

Trump’s running mate may have to take on an unusually large amount of campaigning if his legal troubles prevent him from keeping a robust travel schedule.
An <i>awamori</i> distillery in Okinawa Prefecture. Shipments of the rice spirit in 2023 dropped more than 50% from their peak in 2004.
JAPAN
May 3, 2024

Okinawa's rice spirit industry seeks rebrand amid falling shipments

Producers are seeking to devise new marketing strategies to make awamori appealing to both young consumers and international markets.
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2024

Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges

Lawmakers are instead focusing their attention on reviewing the political funds control law in the wake of the LDP's slush funds scandal.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the garden of the residence of the governor of Guangdong, China, in April last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 5, 2024

France’s Macron calls for reset of economic ties with China

The French president said that Europe wants more reciprocity in its economic ties with China, in order to better ensure its economic security.
Volunteers help carry out furniture in the town of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture on April 26.
JAPAN / Society
May 5, 2024

Volunteer activities in full swing in Noto during Golden Week

Local governments prepare for an influx of traffic during the holiday period as some volunteers begin entering the area in their own vehicles.
The 1960s protests, rooted in civil rights and anti-war movements, convulsed campuses nationwide for nearly a decade, while recent protests lack comparable breadth and intensity.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2024

Comparing Gaza protests to the ’60s is wrong — and dangerous

Confusing a few weeks of pro-Palestinian activism with a more than decade-long movement could lead to needless tragedy.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?