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Japan's new justice minister Hideki Makihara says abolishing the death penalty would be "inappropriate."
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024

New justice minister says scrapping death penalty 'inappropriate'

Capital punishment has strong public support in Japan, where scrapping it is rarely discussed.
People walk with water collected from a truck following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2024

Many in North Carolina still without water after Helene's destruction

The powerful storm inundated the western part of Georgia in the U.S. with catastrophic flooding, destroying pipes, damaging water plants and cutting off power.
A male employee of Gunma Bank in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture, allegedly swindled clients out of a total of ¥55.35 million ($377,000) by falsely claiming to exchange their old banknotes for new ones.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2024

Gunma Bank dismisses employee over alleged ¥55 million scam

He allegedly took money from clients under the pretext of exchanging old banknotes for new ¥10,000 ones.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024

Early Ishiba missteps add to anticipation over key policy speech

The prime minister's early days in power have been marked by a U-turn on the approach to a general election as well as challenges forming his government.
U.S. voters are increasingly concerned about misinformation spreading the good-old-fashioned way — through politicians sowing falsehoods.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 4, 2024

More than AI misinformation, U.S. voters worry about lying politicians

Politicians face almost no legal consequences for distorting the truth, researchers say.
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
JAPAN / Longform
Oct 7, 2024

The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free

The Advanced Landmine Imaging System being tested in Cambodia promises to speed up landmine clearance work and save lives.
To preserve the integrity of the game in the legalized gambling era, Major League Baseball must double down and maintain its now posthumous ban on Pete Rose.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Pete Rose fans are wrong: He's not worthy of the Hall of Fame

Backing down would undermine the league’s zero-tolerance stance and signal that "permanently ineligible" isn't always permanent.
HIF Global's Haru Oni clean hydrogen plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, last month
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / FOCUS
Oct 5, 2024

Latin America gears up for clean hydrogen boom but the road is not smooth

Government leaders expect a major boom for the region from clean hydrogen, produced using electricity from renewable sources that do not emit carbon.
A damaged road in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6, after a major earthquake struck the area on New Year's Day
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Oct 6, 2024

Important tool or alarmism? Japan experts split on megaquake advisories.

Supporters say the advisories are about reducing risk, but critics see a system that isn’t based on science and one in which the cons outweigh the pros.
A couple from Orlando walks along a street covered in sand as a result of Hurricane Helene in Clearwater, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected midweek landfall.
WORLD / Society
Oct 7, 2024

FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation as Florida braces for Milton

The head of the U.S. disaster relief agency lashed out at a "dangerous" misinformation war being waged over the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo on Oct. 1. Experts say fears over the newly approved replicon vaccine are unwarranted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2024

Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash

The health ministry and experts say concerns around "shedding" are unwarranted.
An Oct. 1 picture of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Cabinet posted on the website of the Prime Minister's Office (right) appears slightly different from one taken by a media agency (left). Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi admitted on Monday that the photo underwent minor digital edits before being uploaded to the government website.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2024

New Cabinet photo on government website had minor edits, Hayashi admits

Media agencies had reported that their pictures appeared slightly different to what was posted on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office.
A new U.N. report claims that use of the Telegram messaging app by criminal networks in Southeast Asia has enabled a fundamental change in the way organized crime operates.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024

Southeast Asian crime networks thriving on Telegram, U.N. reports

Scrutiny of the app has brought attention to the criminal liability of app providers and the debate on where freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the law begins.
DAZN, the sports-streaming group backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, may soon sell a stake to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, according to insiders.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2024

Saudi Arabia's PIF considering minority stake in sports streamer DAZN

Deal could increase Saudi fund's influence in European football, as DAZN is a partner for Italy's Serie A, Spain's LaLiga, Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1.
Coal-fired power plants in Bataan, the Philippines, in June 2023. A third of the 158 agreements signed under the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community are linked to fossil fuel technologies, a recent study by a climate research group has found.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 9, 2024

Japan pushes fossil fuel tech in Asia carbon neutrality initiative

A third of the 158 agreements signed under the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community are linked to fossil fuel technologies, according to a report.
Just 1 in 10 researchers and 1 in 5 students at the prestigious University of Tokyo are women.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 10, 2024

Women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance with posters

Gender bias begins early in Japanese education.
Annual festival Peter Barakan’s Live Magic! was born a decade ago when Barakan (left) decided to create a platform to share his love of roots music, which he attributes to growing up in 1960s England.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 11, 2024

Peter Barakan’s Live Magic! takes its final bow

The 11th edition of the annual blues, jazz and roots festival will also be its last, at least in its current form, but the core concept of the event will live on.
A United Nations flag on the back of an armored vehicle in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. The U.N. children's agency said in a new report that sexual violence against children cuts across geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries.
WORLD / Society
Oct 10, 2024

One in 8 girls and women raped or sexually assaulted before 18, UNICEF says

Among boys and men, 1 in 11 have experienced rape or sexual assault during childhood, the United Nations children's agency said on Wednesday.
Cider in Japan doesn't have as long a history as other alcoholic beverages, but with consumer preferences shifting, it might be just the easy sip for drinkers sick of stiff tipples.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 13, 2024

As Japan shuns stiff drinks, cider aims for a bigger share of the market

Sake brewer Isamu Yoshii was the first person in Japan to produce cider as an alcoholic drink in 1954, paving the way for a possible cider boom in the future.
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 14, 2024

Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs

Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo is a community of comedians, comedy fans and others with connections to Indonesia seeking a reminder of home.
The history of cooking shows that no country can claim exclusive ownership of a dish, as many iconic foods like kabobs, pizzas, or pad thai have international roots shaped by cultural exchanges.
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2024

A battle over the kebab’s nationality

National dishes are often recent constructs, with many foods evolving across regions and influenced by various cultures.
Shohei Ohtani's success symbolizes a broader resurgence in Japanese sports, with contributing factors including increased investment in sports, modern coaching techniques and a generational shift in mindset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 11, 2024

What baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s success says about Japan

The phenom has had what many are calling the greatest season ever. But his success is also a story of change in his home country.
A Starlink satellite communication system installed on the training ship Kashima of the Maritime Self-Defense Force for test operations at the Harumi Pier in Tokyo on May 15.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

Japan's MSDF eyeing Starlink for better internet connectivity at sea

Hoping to create an environment where MSDF members can freely use the internet while at sea, the MSDF plans to introduce the Starlink service on its vessels.
Former President Donald Trump makes calls to voters backstage after a town hall-style presidential campaign appearance at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan on Sept. 27.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

A frustrated Trump lashes out behind closed doors over money

Trump has groused about the amount of time he is having to spend raising money, angry that he is not on the trail doing what he draws energy from — his rallies.
Outrageous stories about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump online were widely mistaken as real across social media, underscoring how content from satirical websites is being repurposed to fuel political misinformation and sow confusion ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2024

'Stolen satire' feeds U.S. election misinformation

False claims are being widely mistaken as real across social media, underscoring how content from satirical websites is being repurposed to fuel political misinformation.
Tom Brady before a game between the Cowboys and Lions on Sunday in Dallas
MORE SPORTS
Oct 16, 2024

Tom Brady approved by NFL to buy stake in Las Vegas Raiders

The deal had been in the works since May 2023, but stalled due to concerns over the valuation discount given by Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Experts of a Justice Ministry panel hold a meeting in Tokyo in June to discuss revision of the probation officer system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2024

Justice Ministry to consider public recruitment of volunteer probation officers

The officers regularly meet with individuals released from prison, including those on parole, offering guidance on life and employment support.
Election workers oversee early voting at a polling station in Marietta, Georgia, on Oct. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Judge blocks Georgia rule to hand count 2024 election ballots

The judge sided with challengers who argued the election board risked introducing confusion and delays into the process.
A view of the soon-to-be-completed and sealed central detector at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), during a media tour organized by the Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Kaiping, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2024

Inside the underground lab in China tasked with solving a physics mystery

Learning more about neutrinos would offer clues to subatomic processes during the early days of the universe.
A volunteer for Moldovan presidential candidate Octavian Ticu's campaign hands out leaflets while agitating voters in a street ahead of the country's upcoming presidential election and a referendum on future European Union membership, in Chisinau, Moldova, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Moldova votes on European future in shadow of alleged Russian meddling

Pro-Western president Maia Sandu hopes to advance her agenda by winning a second term.

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