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Japan forward Mao Hosoya controls the ball during a game against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.
OLYMPICS
Jul 3, 2024

Japan goes with all U-23 men's soccer squad for Paris Olympics

Veterans like Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, 31, had been rumored as possible options to supplement the 18-man squad, but instead Japan will be counting on youth in Paris.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024

Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?

The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
Israeli tanks operate near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

Gaza cease-fire efforts show signs of revival as Israel pounds enclave

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to secure a truce in Gaza, but their efforts have repeatedly failed.
An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer will win 410 seats in Britain's general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House in London on July 4, 2024. Labour is set for a landslide win in U.K. election, exit polls showed.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

U.K.'s Labour set to sweep into power with huge majority, exit poll shows

The result would give Labour a majority of 170 and would bring the curtain down on 14 years of increasingly tumultuous Conservative-led government.
Asuka was one of Japan's earliest imperial capitals before the court eventually decamped for other locales.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 6, 2024

Cycling through Asuka, the forgotten capital of ancient Japan

During the Yamato Period (300-710), this village was one of the earliest capitals of the nascent Yamato state, even meriting its own aptly named Asuka Period (552-645).
France forward Kylian Mbappe during his team's quarterfinal win over Portugal on Friday.
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2024

Winning is all that matters at Euro 2024 for Mbappe's minimalist France

Mbappe is surrounded by other world-class attackers, but his penalty in a group-stage match is the only goal scored by a French player at Euro 2024.
A woman holds a baby wrapped in a blanket as displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Khan Younis after the Israeli army issued a new evacuation order for parts of the city on July 1.
WORLD
Jul 10, 2024

Gaza's pregnant women defy odds to give birth and protect their babies

For new mothers in Gaza, giving birth in a warzone is just the first step on a traumatic journey marked by constant fear and anxiety.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (right) and Suni Williams pose ahead of the launch of Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 25.
WORLD
Jul 11, 2024

NASA astronauts are confident Boeing's Starliner will bring them home

Several issues with Starliner's propulsion system have extended the astronauts' mission indefinitely.
Politicians pay their respects to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday in the city of Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 11, 2024

Two years after Abe’s death, LDP's conservatives still lack direction

The absence of a figure who is able to embody conservative ideals and marshal widespread consensus within the party has weighed heavily on conservatives.
The members of Glay — (from left) Jiro, Teru, Takuro and Hisashi — are celebrating 30 years of rocking out as a band.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 12, 2024

Glay celebrates three decades of rock greatness

The band's 12-month-long Glay Expo takes the idea of a concert tour to the next level for the anniversary of its major label debut.
Barbora Krejcikova (left) and Jasmine Paolini will met for the Wimbledon title on Saturday in London.
TENNIS
Jul 12, 2024

Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini set up showdown in Wimbledon final

The final will mark just the second time Krejcikova and Paolini have met.
Japanese businessman Kazunori Takishima, seen at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, has attended four Summer Games and four Winter Games since his first in 2006.
OLYMPICS
Jul 12, 2024

Japanese superfan with Olympic-sized wallet eager to make new memories in Paris

The 48-year-old Tokyo native spends large chunks of his disposable income on Olympic tickets.
Armin Papperger, CEO of German weapons producer and automotive supplier Rheinmetall, during a virtual news conference. The United States foiled a Russian plot earlier this year to assassinate Papperger, CNN has reported.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 13, 2024

Germany says it won't be cowed after reported Russian plot to kill arms firm CEO

U.S. intelligence officials warned German authorities that Russia was plotting to kill Armin Papperger, the head of Europe’s biggest weapons producer.
Palestinians look at the debris of destroyed tents and makeshift housing structures on Saturday following an Israeli military strike that killed dozens of people, near the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2024

Israel launches major attack against a senior Hamas commander

The Gaza Health Ministry said 90 people had been killed in the assault, half of them women and children, and 300 wounded.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is greeted by supporters after arriving at the airport in Canberra on June 26 as a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2024

Assange may be free, but are we?

The world needs heroes like Julian Assange. He did what needed to be done and he paid a high price.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses a meeting on the Ukraine Compact during the NATO Summit in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2024

Kremlin says NATO summit outcome is ‘threatening’ to Russia

During the summit in Washington that ended on Thursday, NATO allies promised more support to Kyiv.
An Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. facility in Fujairah, which uses technology developed by 44.01, a startup backed by Sam Altman
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2024

Sam Altman-backed startup scaling technology to store CO2 in rocks

A type of rock found under every continent holds the potential key to permanently trapping planet-warming carbon dioxide under the Earth’s surface.
England head coach Gareth Southgate walks past the trophy after his side lost the final of Euro 2024 against Spain on Sunday in Berlin.
SOCCER
Jul 17, 2024

Southgate stands down: Who's next for England's hot seat?

Southgate announced his departure less than 48 hours after England's second successive Euro final defeat, this time a shattering 2-1 loss to Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
People hold umbrellas while watching baseball to deal with the heat in the city of Shizuoka on July 7.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 19, 2024

As risk of heatstroke rises in Japan, so does that of COVID-19

Patients examined for suspected heatstroke have been diagnosed with COVID-19 instead, as symptoms can be similar.
At a waste center in Kamikatsu, Tokushima Prefecture, residents separate trash into 45 different categories as the town aims to become "zero waste."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2024

How circular economy initiatives are changing the world

From Asia to Europe to Africa, public and private entities are finding new ways to revolutionize the economic paradigm from a linear to a circular model. In Japan, too.
Canada's Evan Dunfee poses as he celebrates winning bronze in the men's 50-kilometer race walk at the World Athletics Championships in Doha on Sept. 29, 2019.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2024

Chilled athletes embrace strategies to beat Paris heat

In a warming world, heat acclimatization has moved rapidly from the fringes of sports science into the mainstream.
King Charles and Queen Camilla of Britain attend a ceremony on June 25 to welcome Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on a seven-day state visit to the U.K.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 24, 2024

The imperial visit that crowned Japan-U.K. friendship

Having overcome past tensions, Japanese-British relations are at their peak, as seen during Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako's state visit to the U.K. in June.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
Nakazakicho may be just a few minutes outside the major commercial district of Umeda, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2024

The dancer keeping Osaka’s Nakazakicho indie

Nakazakicho’s transformation is more than the success story of a small neighborhood turning the tide against inner-city decay.
A vengeful spirit threatens the residents of Edo Castle’s maze-like women’s quarters in “Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2024

‘Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain’: A fast and furious visual spectacle

Kenji Nakamura’s cinematic sequel to his “Mononoke” anime series is an overwhelming onslaught of sights and sounds.
While Japan’s media may influence global perceptions of robots as friendly and lovable, the near-future robots will likely not match the capabilities or roles depicted in TV show's like "Sunny."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2024

Japan isn't the 'robotopia' Apple TV's 'Sunny' portrays

One of the reasons we still see relatively few robots doing the menial jobs is that human labor is cheap.
A study shows that autocracies and weak democracies are more likely to import Chinese artificial intelligence facial-recognition technology, especially during times of domestic unrest. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2024

China is exporting its AI surveillance state

Trade does not always foster democracy or liberalize regimes. Instead, China’s greater integration with the developing world may do precisely the opposite.
Actors Kento Kaku (left) and Ryoma Takeuchi star in Amazon Prime Video's new show "Like A Dragon: Yakuza," which is based on a hugely popular Sega video game series about Tokyo crime gangs.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 29, 2024

Japan TV can catch 'Shogun' wave, says 'Like A Dragon' star

Kento Kaku says it is important for Japan to seize the opportunity to create more shows that are recognized internationally.
A man bangs a cooking pot during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Valencia, Carabobo state, Venezuela on Monday, the day after the Venezuelan presidential election.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Vote tallies show proof of election fraud, says Venezuela’s opposition

Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets of Caracas to protest what they say is President Nicolas Maduro’s fraudulent win.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech as he visits a helicopter unit of the North Korean military that rescued people in flood-hit areas in the northwestern part of North Pyongan Province in this image released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 4, 2024

North Korea says Russia's Putin offered humanitarian aid over flood damage

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked Putin for the offer but said his government has already taken measures to conduct recovery work.

Longform

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