Search - 2023

 
 
In the past 11 months, health minister Keizo Takemi has been charting his own path, seeking to make Japan's health care policies more global and digitalized.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024

Global mindset crucial for reform of Japan's health care, minister says

International strategies and domestic health care reform are inextricably linked, says health minister Keizo Takemi.
Former Kobayashi Pharmaceutical President Akihiro Kobayashi, currently director in charge of compensation, speaks during a news conference in Osaka earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2024

Chinese shoppers’ infatuation with Japanese brands wears thin

The backlash is reminiscent of last year’s outcry over the Fukushima wastewater release
Officials of JR Kyushu Jet Ferry bow at a news conference in Fukuoka on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2024

JR Kyushu ferry unit found covering up leak problem

The jet ferry service has been suspended since Tuesday, seen affecting about 22,000 people in the middle of the Bon summer holiday season.
A ward for heatstroke patients at a hospital in Chennai, India, in May. The country experienced a severe heat wave over the spring and summer, raising concerns about the long-term impact of climate change-induced extreme heat on human health.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Climate change: A health emergency in the making

Global warming's impact on health is an increasingly urgent issue — just look at excess deaths caused by extreme heat. But are health care systems well-equipped enough?
The chance of open civil unrest in the United States within the next year is low — just 2.9% — but is third highest among the Group of 20 major economies, according to the analysis.
WORLD / Society
Aug 15, 2024

Threat of U.S. civil unrest is low but rising, analysis finds

The U.S. trails only Turkey and Russia among the world’s biggest economies likeliest to see violent political turmoil in the next year.
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on May 6 in Beverly Hills, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 15, 2024

Musk’s free speech mantra collides with crackdowns on hate speech and disinformation

Since taking over, Musk has largely abandoned X’s prior efforts to curb misinformation, instead asking users to police themselves.
Considering there is another full year left before the current term of the Lower House expires, Fumio Kishida’s announcement he is standing down as the Liberal Democratic Party's leader has many wondering why.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2024

With Kishida’s sudden departure, who will lead Japan?

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s unexpected decision to not seek reelection has prompted a leadership race within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and LDP Vice President Taro Aso attend an executive meeting in Tokyo on July 23.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 15, 2024

With resignation, Kishida looks to LDP's political future

Once it became clear that his chances of winning the September vote were minimal, Kishida chose to prioritize the party’s interests.
Pheu Thai party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra greets members of the media at local news outlet Voice TV in Bangkok on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 16, 2024

Thaksin’s 37-year-old daughter becomes new Thai premier

Paetongtarn Shinawatra will become the youngest Thai prime minister and only the second woman to occupy the position, after her aunt.
Tourists at a water fountain at the Acropolis archaeological site during extreme hot weather conditions in Athens in July 2023.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2024

Extreme weather drives travelers to cooler destinations this summer

Cruise operators, hotel companies and airlines are adding trips and accommodations to meet rising demand for temperate destinations.
Defending champion Coco Gauff suffered a surprise defeat against Yulia Putintseva at the Cincinnati Open on Thursday.
TENNIS
Aug 16, 2024

Defending champion Gauff crashes out in her WTA Cincinnati opener

The second-round shock to America's Paris Olympic flag bearer stunned a partisan crowd in the U.S. heartland in the final major tuneup for the U.S. Open.
Casey Harrell, who is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and observers react as a brain-computer interface system developed by University of California, Davis, works on the first attempt.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 16, 2024

Brain tech breakthrough restores ALS patient’s ability to speak

The brain-computer interface developed by University of California, Davis, is aimed at restoring movement, but its improvement of speech underscores its broader promise.
The Afriski slope in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho
MORE SPORTS
Aug 16, 2024

Skiing in Lesotho: An African adventure under pressure

As enthusiastic as the visitors are, high running costs threaten the unique African ski adventure, which relies on artificial snow when snowfalls are patchy.
Efforts to hold the Kremlin accountable for the war in Ukraine have begun, with the International Criminal Court already issuing arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and others for unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2024

The rule of law is coming for Putin

Though the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes and genocide in Ukraine, it can't prosecute Russian leaders for aggression.
The display window of a brokerage showing the closing numbers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, along a street in the capital on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 17, 2024

Foreign investors are trading Japan’s stocks like never before

The Nikkei 225-issue average slumped 12% on Aug. 5, the biggest percentage fall since Black Monday in 1987, before rebounding 10% the next day.
Produced by Toei Animation, “Girls Band Cry” follows five young women who form a band and navigate the Japanese rock landscape.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 17, 2024

Prepare for a new wave of anime-born bands

'Girls Band Cry' and its in-real-life band Togenashi Togeari offer the latest evolution of mixed-media music projects.
A growing number of ransomware attacks has forced Japanese firms to take measures to combat computer viruses that encrypt data until a ransom is paid.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2024

Ransomware attacks force companies to take precautionary measures

In many cases, attackers apparently gain entry via network devices for remote work, through clients and affiliated companies or systems at data centers.
The volunteer lifesavers of Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club never know what's in store at the start of their day.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 19, 2024

It's no simple day at the beach for Japan's volunteer lifesavers

Protecting beachgoers from drowning, heatstroke and possible tsunami, lifesavers are seeking formal recognition for what they do.
If there is one person who can tell you all about the building that used to be the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch, which survived the atomic bombing, it's Yasuhiro Nanba.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 19, 2024

A building that survived the A-bomb, and the man who tells its story

A security guard's fascination with the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch led him to compile personal accounts of people who were there when the bomb was dropped.
This season's first batch of saury that fetched a record high price of ¥500,000 ($3,400) per kilogram at the Toyosu market in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2024

Season's first saury sell at record ¥500,000 at Toyosu market

Some large fish weighing around 140 grams each fetched prices exceeding ¥70,000 for one fish.
Wind turbines in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2024

Japan offers lifeline to ESG investing amid backlash overseas

In light of the anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said that Japan can play a key role in driving sustainable finance globally.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the press at David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

Blinken says Israel accepts Gaza proposal and urges Hamas to do the same

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier said this latest push for a cease-fire was probably the best and possibly last opportunity for a deal.
The Metropolitan Police Department holds a workshop on dealing with cybercrimes in February.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2024

Tokyo police expand team for initial cybercrime investigations

The team will focus on investigations pertaining to online fraud, distribution of indecent images of children and drug trafficking.
E-scooter startup Lime has launched its service in some of Tokyo’s most densely populated neighborhoods
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2024

Uber-backed e-scooter startup Lime enters Japan after Korea exit

Lime, which has a global fleet of around 200,000 e-bikes and scooters, on Monday launched its service in some of Tokyo’s most densely populated areas.
A non-genuine battery for electric bicycles catches fire in an experiment conducted by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Number of fires linked to 'fake' lithium-ion batteries on the rise

Non-genuine alternatives are not subject to the same rigorous design and quality control standards, making them more prone to causing fires.
North Korean soldiers are seen outside a guard post (top) from near South Korean guard post in the South Korean border city of Paju in April 2022. A North Korean has defected to the South by walking across the heavily fortified border that separates the peninsula, Seoul's military said Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 20, 2024

Second North Korean soldier defects to South this month

Preliminary figures from the Unification Ministry show this year until June some 105 people had defected.
The Supreme Court has upheld a damages order against police for removing a heckler during a stump speech by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2024

Japan's top court finalizes damages order over removal of heckler

Hokkaido police officers grabbed the heckler's shoulder and arm, moved her away from the location, and followed her for about an hour afterwards.
The World Health Organization is not recommending the use of masks amid the recent mpox outbreak, a spokesperson for the organization said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2024

Mpox 'is not the new COVID,' World Health Organization says

Mpox's risk to the general population is low, the organization said.
Maria Branyas Morera celebrates her 117th birthday in March in this image posted to her official X social media account.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2024

Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, dies at 117

Morera died peacefully in her sleep in Olot, Spain at her nursing home, Residencia Santa Maria del Tura, according to family.
An electronic ticker at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo earlier this month
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2024

Sticky money stays in Japan while short-term players dump stocks

Foreign investors sold $5.28 billion in Japanese equities, cash and futures combined in the first week of August.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami