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Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jul 15, 2024

Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?

Vocaloid creators’ recent cacophonous approach to using Miku’s voice sounds like nothing in mainstream pop right now — and people love that.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against attempts to change government policy that grants them exemption from military conscription, in Jerusalem on April 11.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Israeli government votes to extend mandatory military service

Israel's attorney general criticized the move as unconstitutional in the absence of concrete actions to draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men as well.
A flag waves in the wind as law enforcement conducts an investigation into the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
WORLD / Society
Jul 17, 2024

Four in five Americans fear country is sliding into chaos, poll finds

Eighty percent of voters surveyed — including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans — said they think the country is spiraling out of the control.
Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, closed 2.4% lower on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 17, 2024

Trump says Taiwan should pay for defense, sending TSMC stock down

The U.S. is Taiwan's key international supporter and arms supplier, although there is no formal defense agreement between them.
China's success in retrieving samples from the far side of the moon and its strategic advances in space exploration are prompting calls for international collaboration amid growing concerns over efforts to achieve space dominance.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2024

It's too early to be fighting a space race with China

Lunar exploration is dangerous enough without turning it into a contest between great powers.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2024

U.K.'s Starmer to use forum to advocate EU reset and Ukraine support

A one-day meeting of more than 40 nations provides British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with an opportunity to push for closer defense cooperation.
A commercial district in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. Thomas Crooks, 20, a lifelong resident of the borough, has been identified as the gunman who opened fire during a campaign appearance by former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2024

Trump gunman Thomas Crooks leaves behind a pile of mysteries

Gunman Thomas Crooks seemed to have a bright future waiting for him after having earned a spot at a college engineering program.
Apple’s nature is as gentle as her coloring despite having survived some very horrid conditions.
COMMUNITY / ADOPT ME!
Jul 29, 2024

Shy but sweet, Apple is a treat looking for a home

Despite her wariness, Apple is prone to bouts of talkativeness with a meow that is just the cutest.
(From left) Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the SDF's Joint Staff, and Gen. Charles Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024

Japan and South Korea top uniformed officers resume dialogue

The meeting emphasized strong Japan, South Korea, and U.S. ties as the international community faces a crucial moment for maintaining order and the rule of law.
The West in developing its response to the new Russia-North Korea alliance should leverage the strategic incongruence between China and its junior allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2024

What to make of Russia and North Korea's new relationship

Russia and North Korea's military alliance has unnerved China as much as it has the U.S. and its Asian allies owing to its potential to destabilize the region.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a news conference near Oxford, England, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

U.K.'s Starmer sees Trump comeback as a warning about his own danger

The U.K. prime minister's overarching aim is to avoid the struggles other world leaders are facing at the hands of the populist right.
Smoke rises from a fire following an Israeli airstrike in Hodeidah, Yemen, in this photo released Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 21, 2024

Israeli jets strike Houthi targets in Yemen after Tel Aviv attack

A port that was one of the main targets had been used to receive weapons shipments from Iran, according to Israel.
Lamposts and other signs throughout Hirogawa, Wakayama Prefecture, display warnings, evacuation routes and measurements of height above sea level. The town has been hit by eight tsunami in its recorded history.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Jul 21, 2024

Why Japanese researchers are looking to submarine cables for faster tsunami warnings

While Japan boasts one of the world's most sophisticated earthquake and tsunami detection systems, gaps still remain.
Ama female free divers, who fish in the ocean, lead volunteers as they swim with torches during Shirahama Ama festival in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2024

Short of ama female free divers, Chiba festival turns to volunteers

Age and disinterest have reduced the number of women willing to make a livelihood out of this type of diving.
A lone tree stands near a water trough on the outskirts of Walgett, in New South Wales, Australia, in 2018. Energy analysts said high construction costs, plus Australia's lack of nuclear expertise and abundant land and sunshine, make nuclear a less logical choice in the country.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024

Nuclear wildcard reignites Australia's climate wars

Ahead of expected polls, the country's federal opposition has unveiled plans to slow the roll-out of renewable energy and build a network for nuclear reactors.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2024

'Dark and sorrowful day': New Zealand PM promises reform after inquiry finds 200,000 abused in care

Nearly one in three children and vulnerable adults in care from 1950 to 2019 experienced some form of abuse, according to a public enquiry.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2024

What the ‘extreme’ Project 2025 says and who wrote it

Recent polling shows there has been a dramatic uptick in awareness and negative views of Project 2025 since late June, when U.S. Democrats began emphasizing it.
A construction worker during a heat wave in Folsom, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 25, 2024

What the temperature doesn’t tell you about extreme heat’s hazards

After its nationwide rollout in April, the HeatRisk forecasting tool is getting a real-world test as deadly temperatures stress much of the U.S.
Family members of Gary Gerbes, founder of the Mongrel Mob gang, gather ahead of the release of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care outside New Zealand's Parliament House in Wellington on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2024

Survivors recount trauma as New Zealand releases child abuse report

Many survivors suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and resorted to substance abuse and violence as a result of the trauma.
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 27, 2024

When did summer in Japan stop being fun?

Summer in Japan used to be something to enjoy. Now, it’s something to endure.
More tourists than ever are guided around Japan based on the content they consume online, but can those same creators help direct them to less-populated areas of the country?
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 29, 2024

Influencers helped cause overtourism. Can they help fix it?

“I don't want to use filters or put out content just for the sake of views and followers,” one content creator says. “I want to show people what the real Japan is.”
Flames and smoke rise from a burning wildfire, as seen from a highway in Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 26, 2024

Wildfire roars through a Canadian town popular with tourists

The town is in the heart of Jasper National Park, which is one of Canada’s premier tourist destinations, receiving about 2.5 million visitors each year.
Kiyomitsu Nagai (right), head of Tsukui Yamayuri-en, and others offer a prayer before a memorial monument on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a knife attack at the prefectural care home for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Memorial ceremony held for 2016 care home attack victims

The memorial ceremony was attended by 89 people, including bereaved families, who offered a moment of silence for the victims and laid out flowers.
TikTok has deployed Washington power brokers and $1,500-an-hour attorneys to fend off a new law barring the app unless its Beijing-based parent, ByteDance, divests.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2024

TikTok’s survival is at stake in all-out fight against U.S. ban

TikTok has deployed Washington power brokers and $1,500-an-hour attorneys to fend off a new law barring the app unless ByteDance divests.
Sora Shirai trains at the Olympic skateboarding venue in Paris on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 28, 2024

Will these sensational skateboarding tricks win Japan Olympic gold?

Japanese skateboarders like Yuto Horigome and Sora Shirai are creating some of the most difficult tricks in the history of the sport, and landing them in high style.
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024

For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia

The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
A man with a whip tries to control a crowd of Sudanese refugees waiting to receive food at an impromptu aid distribution on the outskirts of a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, on July 8. As starvation spreads in Sudan, its military is blocking the United Nations from bringing food into the country via the most straightforward route.
WORLD
Jul 29, 2024

As starvation spreads in Sudan, military blocks aid trucks at border

Distrust and the loss of border control is hindering delivery of food by the United Nations via the most straightforward route.
Nicolas Maduro speaks to members of the media after casting a ballot in Caracas on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Venezuela opposition rejects Maduro election win

Venezuela’s political opposition has vehemently rejected the electoral authority’s ruling that Nicolas Maduro was reelected as the nation’s president, calling on the military to intervene. The U.S. and some Latin American neighbors also raised concerns about the official result.
Inside TSMC’s plant in Taiwan. Chip plants, with rows of advanced equipment, require massive amounts of electricity.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 5, 2024

TSMC’s Kumamoto plant pledges to use 100% renewables despite high costs

The move is not just an exercise of corporate responsibility but also a response to demands from the chipmaker's large customers.
Technicians assemble a component of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN nuclear research facility in Cessy, France, in March 2007. International cooperation in science is essential for solving global challenges and maintaining innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2024

Geopolitics threatens science and societal progress

In this world, the prospect of greater controls or reduced international cooperation can only be damaging.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan