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Australian-born Connor O'Leary will represent Japan in the surfing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Surfing
Jun 11, 2024

At Paris Games, Connor O’Leary aims to win and inspire

The waves in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, may bode well for the goofy-footed surfer.
Judges from common law jurisdictions are invited to sit as nonpermanent members at Hong Kong's top court, the Court of Final Appeal, which is separate from mainland China's opaque, party-controlled legal system.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

U.K. judge says Hong Kong rule of law in 'danger' as third justice quits

Jonathan Sumption wrote in the Financial Times that it was "no longer realistic" for overseas judges to remain in the city's top court, from which he resigned last week.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam speaks during a ceremony marking the new legal year in Hong Kong on Jan. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

British judges' resignations put Hong Kong rule of law in spotlight

Foreign judges have been described as a "canary in the coalmine," generating confidence in Hong Kong's judiciary system.
Some experts believe if Beijing wants to assert its dominance on the world stage, then it is hard to see where common ground for compromise with the West can be found.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2024

The U.S. debate over China policy intensifies

Some experts believe if Beijing wants to assert its dominance on the world, then it is hard to see where common ground for compromise with the West can be found.
Naran Unurtsetseg became one of Mongolia's most well-known journalists by exposing sexual abuse in a Buddhist boarding school, violence in the military and by taking on some of the country's most powerful people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

Hard-hitting journalist ensnared in Mongolia's press freedom crackdown

Mongolia has plummeted in press freedom rankings amid what critics say is a declining rule of law and a government seeking to curb criticism of its record on corruption.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary soldiers in Sudan. The International Criminal Court has begun investigating the events of an eight-month period in 2023 when soldiers from the RSF targeted unarmed civilians.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

Top war crimes court appeals for evidence of atrocities in Sudan

The move comes days after a U.N. official warned of a strong chance genocide had been committed in Darfur — a worrying echo of events two decades ago.
Researchers are still years away from understanding the actual impact of AI on addressing human diseases. But given the speed with which the technology is evolving, its increasingly looking like the impact could be vast.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024

Inventing medicines is one of the most exciting uses of AI

AlphaFold has advanced significantly since its earlier version, offering static images of protein interactions.
However non-Japanese fathers in Japan manage the vagaries of life abroad, many share a preference for forging ahead for the benefit of their children.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 14, 2024

There’s no one-size-fits-all fatherhood for foreign-born dads in Japan

From Hokkaido to Okinawa, fathers in Japan talk getting married, raising kids and taking life as it comes.
Isamitsu Knives makes their blades in large batches to optimize the use of both the resources at its disposal and its small team of three smiths.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 16, 2024

‘A good knife is not only about the steel’

Founded in 2022, the knife-making process at Isamitsu Knives differs from industrial manufacturers in small but significant ways.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Fasano, Italy, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 14, 2024

Japan locks in support for Ukraine with nonbinding security agreement

The deal formalizes Tokyo’s support for Kyiv and includes a pledge to conduct consultations in the case of future attacks on the war-torn country.
Rose (pronounced like the wine) is nothing to fear.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 17, 2024

A Rose by any other name

As lovely as a flower and as smooth as wine, Rose would make a wonderful, loving companion for someone who can recognize the precious gem she is.
Gyaru Daijin poses in the city of Oita. Now a staffer at CGO.com, she has worked at Tenjin Core, a recently closed commercial complex in the city of Fukuoka that features gyaru fashion.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jun 24, 2024

‘Gyaru’ culture makes comeback as businesses aim to loosen up meetings

The subculture is attracting attention as a way to make unproductive meetings and boring presentations more interactive and flexible.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
By April 2024, dengue fever cases in the Americas passed the total for the previous year.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 15, 2024

What's behind the post-COVID surge in communicable diseases?

Many regions have reported at least one infectious disease resurgence that’s at least ten times worse than the prepandemic baseline.
Wang Shun of China races to gold in the final of the men's 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 15, 2024

Doping regulator knew of previous positive tests by Chinese swimmers

Three Chinese swimmers who failed drug tests before the 2021 Olympics had tested positive for a powerful steroid several years earlier.
A facial recognition system at ticket gates has been introduced at the Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024

Facial recognition for train passengers in use in Chiba Prefecture

A boarding system using a facial recognition technology was introduced at the Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line.
Police officer Suzunosuke Kose (right) helps an elderly resident buy a phone equipped with fraud prevention features at an electronic store in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2024

Attacked police officer uses experience to help victims

Kose was stabbed multiple times by a knife-wielding man in the left chest and both thighs in front of a police box.
Palestinians hold Eid al-Adha prayers by the ruins of the Al-Rahma mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

Netanyahu denounces tactical pauses in Gaza fighting to allow in aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza.
Rohingya refugee children walk along a road at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on May 2.
WORLD
Jun 17, 2024

Thousands of Rohingya feared trapped in fighting in western Myanmar

Nearly a million Muslim minority group live in refugee camps in Bangladesh's border district after fleeing a military-led crackdown.
Expecting that the Palestinian Authority implement reforms, build institutions, reconstruct Gaza and police its people while Israel withholds its main source of finance is unfair and unrealistic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Palestine's fiscal demise

The G7 and other powerful countries should help the Palestinian economy tap into international financial assistance like any other developing country.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform U.K., during the launch of the party's 'Our Contract with You' general election manifesto in Merthyr Tydfil, U.K., on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

Taking aim at U.K.'s Sunak, Nigel Farage pledges border control and tax cuts

Reform's policies are designed to suck support from Sunak's Conservatives, focusing on immigration, which has divided the governing party.
Doctors take part in a rally to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions, in Seoul on March 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

More doctors walk off the job in South Korea in one-day strike

The dispute began in January, when the South Korean government announced a plan to dramatically expand admissions to medical schools.
Hjelmer Hammeken, Greenland's greatest polar bear hunter, rides his dog sled to look for seals on the sea ice outside Ittoqqortoormiit, on the frozen Scoresbysund Fjord.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

On thin ice: Greenland's last Inuit polar bear hunters

Climate change and hunting quotas have been threatening the livelihood on which Inuit families have long survived.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2024

Japan 'seriously concerned' over Russian cooperation with North Korea

The Russia-North Korea treat included a pledge to come to each other's aid if attacked.
Members of Onomichi High School's baseball team (back) have longer hair than members of teams that stick to traditional buzz cuts.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 1, 2024

High school baseball gets a makeover as buzz cut rules are no more

What was once seen as a symbol of fighting spirit is getting a rethink as coaches try to be mindful of students' mental states and preferences.
Founder and owner Kazunori Otowa (left) in the kitchen of his eponymous restaurant together with his two sons, head chef Hajime Otowa (center) and restaurant manager Sou Otowa.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 22, 2024

Kazunori Otowa: Tochigi’s patriarch of French fine dining

Superb cuisine, family values and deep regional roots have elevated Restaurant Otowa to its lofty position.
The Oku knife "hooks or wraps elegantly along the edge of a plate or board," designer Kathleen Reilly says.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 22, 2024

A playfully subversive knife from a rising Scottish design star

The Scottish artist fuses East and West in a new knife design crafted in and inspired by Niigata Prefecture’s Tsubame-Sanjo.
Ruby might be shy at first, but as long as you have some treats, she'll warm up to you in no time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 24, 2024

When Ruby warms up to you, you've got it made

Once this tricolor girl finds that special person who will adopt her, Ruby is sure to settle in, breathe easy and make a gentle, precious and very pretty companion.
Occupational therapist Mitsuyoshi Okutsu interacts with children at Kamioka Elementary School in Hida, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 1, 2024

Occupational therapists join the ranks of staff at Gifu schools

It is estimated that there are around 110,000 occupational therapists in Japan, working mainly at hospitals and welfare facilities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toast during a reception at the Mongnangwan Reception House in Pyongyang on Wednesday following summit talks.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 21, 2024

New Kim-Putin pact sparks unease — and talk of more aid for Ukraine

An opaque new treaty signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week could end up bolstering U.S.-allied cooperation.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years