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People standing on a rooftop watch as a ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Saturday during an Israeli airstrike.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2023

Israel battles Hamas as PM warns of 'long and difficult war'

Israel said tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed to fight militants and rescue hostages, and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 9, 2023

Downsizing dinner: Aging Japan is eating less

As older citizens' shrinking appetites lead to less on the plate, businesses are having to adjust to a new market.
Dendrobium orchids — highly sought after due to their use in traditional Chinese medicine — growing in the wild in Nepal.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Oct 8, 2023

The orchid obsession: How science and smuggling meet in a global trade

Love of the flowers has a dark side, with the desire for rare varieties underpinning a robust illegal trade believed to have wiped out entire species.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2023

G7 to draw up AI code of conduct this autumn: Kishida

Part of the plan will deal with battling disinformation by establishing systems to verify who has created content using AI.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Oct 9, 2023

Shinnosuke Abe hoping to join special group of Giants managers

Shinnosuke Abe is hopeful of guiding the Giants back to the Central League summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile at Plesetsk cosmodrome via video link in Moscow on April 20.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2023

Russian nuclear test would prompt others to follow suit

Only North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion during this century.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2023

Johnny’s founder accused of sexually abusing teen in NHK bathroom

The man, who was a high school student at the time, said that he was assaulted in the fall of 2002 when he attended a dance lesson.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2023

Hokkaido lawmaker leaves Nippon Ishin over visit to Russia

Calls from within the party to punish Suzuki had been growing, especially after he told Russian media he was sure Moscow would win its war with Ukraine.
A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip strikes an area near Sderot, southern Israel, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 10, 2023

Middle East crisis exposes limits of China's diplomatic ambitions

After the killings of more than 900 Israelis in coordinated assaults by the Islamic group Hamas, China's response was muted.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2023

Johnny's denies that it was involved in reporter blacklisting

The agency responded to the backlash that arose over a journalist blacklist for a news conference addressing sexual abuse allegations by its late founder.
The number of skiers and snowboarders in Japan has been declining, and is down about 75% in 2020 from its peak in the late 1990s, according to the Japan Productivity Center.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2023

Skiing in Japan is getting a $1.4 billion upgrade

Ken Chan, the former Japan head of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, aims to invest $1.4 billion in the resort of Myoko, Niigata Prefecture.
Japan faces tough choices amid the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. The issue now is how Tokyo will navigate the conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 12, 2023

Hamas tests the limits of Japan's Israel-Palestine policy

Japan is the lone outlier in the Group of Seven, condemning the Hamas attacks but also expressing concern over potential casualties in the Gaza Strip.
A breaker performs during the Red Bull BC One 2023 Camp Day and National Finals at the Fillmore in Philadelphia on Aug. 26
MORE SPORTS
Oct 12, 2023

Breakers grapple with hip-hop’s Olympic moment

B-boys and B-girls wonder if their art will translate into sport when breaking makes its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2023

Japan and Thailand to cooperate to improve investment climate

Thailand's foreign minister reportedly said that he hopes his country can cooperate with Japan in new areas, including digital transformation.
The Russian Olympic Committee was banned with immediate effect by the IOC on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Oct 13, 2023

IOC bans Russian Olympic Committee over annexed Ukrainian territories

The IOC added the ROC would not be eligible for any funding after it recognized Olympic Councils from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
A 19-year-old girl plagued with strange visions sets out with her younger brother to uncover the truth about her perfect family in Banana Yoshimoto’s “The Premonition.”
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2023

Banana Yoshimoto’s new book is a sickly sweet fantasy

In “The Premonition,” the characters exist in a dream-like state of sweetness and steer clear of examining complex questions.
Nearly 60 years old, Pop-Tarts remain a polarizing yet iconic symbol of America's love of processed sweets.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 15, 2023

How one family influenced the rise and recipes of Pop-Tarts

As Kellogg’s prepares to celebrate the 60th birthday of Pop-Tarts next year, the polarizing treats remain a cultural touchstone.
SOCCER
Oct 14, 2023

Sanfrecce outlasts Albirex for WE League Cup title

The sister team of three-time J. League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima earned its first major trophy since its 2020 inception.
Israeli soldiers during searches of burned homes in Kfar Azza, a village just across the border from Gaza that was attacked by Palestinian gunmen, in Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2023

The secrets Hamas knew about Israel’s military

Hamas gunmen surged into Israel in a highly organized and meticulously planned operation that suggested a deep understanding of Israel’s weaknesses.
New Zealand's National Party leader Christopher Luxon addresses his supporters in Auckland after winning the general election on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 15, 2023

New Zealand elects its most conservative government in decades

Former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon's center-right National Party will lead a coalition with a smaller libertarian party.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told his Saudi Arabian counterpart that Israel's actions in Gaza have gone "beyond the scope of self-defense."
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2023

China says Israel acting 'beyond scope of self-defense'

Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks came as Israel appeared poised for a ground offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza.
A ball of fire and smoke rises during an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2023

Gaza border crossing set to reopen before Israeli ground assault

Hundreds of metric tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for days, pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza.
Visitors walk down the main shopping street of Nanjing East Road, one of Shanghai's main commercial and tourist areas, on Sept. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2023

China data likely to show fragile economy in need of support

Data due Wednesday will likely show gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the July-to-September period from a year earlier.
An attendee tries out the XR Catch game at the Sony Group booth at CEATEC in Chiba on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023

Major Japan tech show opens with focus on sustainability

The major trade show kicked off on Tuesday, with firms keen to showcase how their latest technologies could contribute to creating a sustainable society.
Palestinian refugees flee to Rafah, in southern Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2023

Japan must uphold humanitarianism in the Middle East

War cries from Israel and Hamas must be met with appeals for the defense of human life, a position Japan has historically held.
Various student and left-wing organizations march in support of Palestinians in New Delhi on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2023

Hamas' war and what it means for India

Some strategic thinkers are calling for a broader "Indo-Abrahamic Alliance" that includes not only the I2U2 but also Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Chinese fishing boats depart from a port in Zhejiang province on their way toward the East China Sea where the disputed Senkaku Islands are located. China uses swarming tactics around the islets involving multiple vessels in its effort to challenge Japan's control over the area.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2023

Increased vigilance is needed to address unconventional warfare in the Indo-Pacific

Increased vigilance is needed to address security challenges posed by states that use unconventional methods to achieve their geopolitical objectives.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a ceremony at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 17, 2023

Putin arrives in China to meet 'dear friend' Xi

China this week welcomes representatives of 130 countries for a forum on Xi's vast trade and infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative.
Cooling towers and reactors at a nuclear power plant in Cattenom, France
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 17, 2023

Nukefluencers are on a quest to push clean power from reactors

Influencers are tapping into a generation that’s increasingly anxious about climate change by focusing on how nuclear energy is carbon-free.
Troy Sutton, a virologist at Pennsylvania State University, on July 25, 2023. Sutton says that health officials referred to the public controversy over the lab leak theory in advising him to pursue different experiments.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2023

Lab leak fight casts chill over virology research

While some believe practices such as gain-of-function research could fend off the next pandemic, others worry that they are more likely to start one.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan