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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz eats with members of the German Olympic team at the athletes village on Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2024

Some top Olympic athletes choose cardboard beds over king-size luxury

Star athletes are divided over whether it's better to be in the Olympic Village in Paris or at one of the city's finest hotels.
Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Motegi shows readiness to run in LDP presidential race, but hurdles remain

He faces three leadership hurdles: the disbandment of factions, low public popularity and even his current position as the secretary-general.
Gold medal-winning judoka Teddy Riner of France celebrates his victory at the Paris Olympics in the French capital on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Aug 3, 2024

France's Teddy Riner reigns supreme with record fourth gold

The judoka now has three individual titles — a record shared with Japan's Tadahiro Nomura, who won three consecutive titles in the -60kg category in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
The judge and last year's winner, Lettie Shiels, sits in the dressing room during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 4, 2024

Transformative hobby: Going for gold at Japan's World Cosplay Summit

The three-day event in Nagoya drew thousands of fans — many keen to show off their own costumes.
Visitors enter a haunted house at the Namjatown indoor theme park in Tokyo on July 30.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 7, 2024

Japanese beat the heat in 'liver-chilling' haunted houses

A visit to a haunted house is seen as a refreshing respite in Japan from the summer's heat and humidity.
Anti-racism counterprotesters assemble ahead of a potential anti-immigration protest in Walthamstow, London, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 8, 2024

U.K. anti-racism protesters take to streets after days of far-right unrest

Nightly riots — during which mosques and migrant-related facilities have been attacked — have erupted across towns and cities.
A tsunami advisory, shown in yellow, was issued following an earthquake in Kyushu on Tuesday afternoon.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2024

Tsunami advisory lifted after strong quake jolts Kyushu

The 7.1 magnitude quake, measuring a weak 7 on Japan's intensity scale, triggered small tsunami waves in some areas.
A Russian battle tank drives outside the town of Sudzha on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2024

Russia battles Ukrainian troops for third day after shock incursion

It is one of the biggest Ukrainian attacks on Russia since the war began in February 2022.
California Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, the first Sikh-American politician to be elected in the California State Legislature, poses for a picture with fellow assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva while attending a luncheon gathering in Artesia, California, on June 8.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Some U.S. Sikhs fear Modi government is threatening them

Some Sikhs in the U.S. described experiencing online harassment and surveillance at their homes.
The city of Yangon in July
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2024

Japan supermarket director detained in Myanmar released: junta

Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, director of Aeon Orange, which runs several supermarkets in Myanmar, was detained following an investigation into rice mills and supermarkets.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the presidential office in Taipei on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Is it fifth time's the charm for Shigeru Ishiba?

Ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race, a short trip to Taiwan is allowing the former defense minister to burnish his foreign policy chops.
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.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to let President Joe Biden's administration enforce a key part of a new rule protecting LGBT students from discrimination in schools and colleges based on gender identity in 10 Republican-led states that had challenged it.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 17, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court won't allow LGBT student protection in certain states

The Biden administration sought to restore a provision clarifying that discrimination "on the basis of sex" includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
People take part in a protest organized by pro-abortion rights, pro-LGBT rights and pro-Palestinian activists, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, in Chicago on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Pro-Palestinian delegates to Democratic convention to push for Israel arms embargo

Pro-Palestinian activists say Harris has been more sympathetic to Gazans than Biden has been.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks on the first night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

Democratic Party platform emphasizes Asia, but muted on Harris

The platform laid out a familiar list of priorities and also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over his shaky history with regional allies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the press at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

U.S. push for Gaza cease-fire falls short on key points, officials say

Israeli and Hamas officials have downplayed the idea that a cease-fire deal could be imminent.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left) and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (second from left) pose for a photo with Indian defense chief Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2024

Japan and India to update key document on security cooperation

Tokyo is also looking to provide New Delhi with advanced naval antennas and exploring the possibility of repairing Japanese warships in India.
Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing in September 2015.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Biden approved secret nuclear strategy refocusing on Chinese threat

In a new classified document, the U.S. president ordered preparations for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.
Existential risks like bioterrorism or climate change, created by humans, are not being treated by governments with anything like the seriousness or urgency they deserve.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2024

Will we survive the next 100 years?

Existential risks like bioterrorism or climate change, created by humans, are not being treated by governments with anything like the seriousness or urgency they deserve.
A ship transports passengers to Honiara Port in the Solomon Islands. The region’s maritime location between Asia, North America and Australia is set to keep it at the forefront of major powers’ defense strategies.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

New ‘great game’ in Pacific between U.S. and China puts development at risk

Great power attention in the Pacific could cause local needs like poverty reduction, education, health and other key areas to be neglected in favor of strategic projects.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024

Special counsel investigating Trump proceeds with 2020 election case

Special Counsel Jack Smith filed an updated indictment that removes several pages of allegations following a Supreme Court ruling.
The government made it mandatory for companies to disclose their gender pay gap in 2022, but disclosure alone isn’t enough to improve the situation, data suggests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024

Disclosure rules fail to narrow Japan’s yawning gender pay gap

There has been little progress toward equality, with the highest-paying firms showing some of the biggest disparities.
From mid-August through late September, eggplants reach their height of flavor in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Sep 1, 2024

Japan’s autumn eggplant: Too delicious for your daughter-in-law

In Japan, autumn eggplant has become a shorthand symbol for keeping the most pleasurable things in life to yourself.
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2024

Harris isn’t looking to pick new fights with China, unlike Trump

The U.S. vice president is betting that Americans don’t want an all-out confrontation when they tell pollsters they’d like their leaders to get even tougher on China.
A man raises his arms in front of burning wooden pallets on Sunday as protesters block Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway during an antigovernment rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since October.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Hostage deaths prompt angry Israelis to push Netanyahu’s red lines

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested to demand a truce with Hamas.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a new conference for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2024

Africa's rising importance for Japan’s Indo-Pacific goals

Africa is becoming an increasingly important element of Japanese FOIP strategy. It is a work in progress, but it is proceeding.
Fulton County voters cast their ballots during the Georgia primary at Morningside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2024

U.S. voters targeted by Chinese influence online, researchers say

The messaging does not appear to favor one side of the political spectrum — either Democrats or Republicans.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's remarks on Friday suggest the central bank has a long way to go since its latest rate hike took the key rate to just 0.25%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2024

Kuroda indicates that BOJ is still a long way from neutral rate

A nominal neutral rate could be less than 2%, the former central bank governor told the Bund Summit in Shanghai via video link.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shakes hands with former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Harris rattles Trump in combative U.S. presidential debate

The Democratic vice president put her Republican rival on the defensive with a stream of attacks on abortion limits, his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes.
Palestinians look at the destruction following Israeli airstrikes in the humanitarian zone known as Mawasi, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Israel offers Hamas leader safe exit from Gaza in a bid to end the war

A senior Israeli official said he put the offer of safe passage on the table for Hamas a day and a half ago but declined to characterize the response so far.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji