Search - special

 
 
U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2024

Biden’s gaffe-heavy week shows dilemma over 2024 media strategy

The president's aides ponder whether it’s better to confront or ignore concerns about his age and acuity.
A tsugumi (dusky thrush). Bird-watching increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 11, 2024

How a new flock of bird-watchers is contributing to science

The hobby increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
Indonesian Defense Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto salutes supporters during a campaign rally in Jakarta on Feb. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2024

How could Indonesia’s presidential vote affect foreign relations?

While all three candidates portend continuity with their predecessor, only the front-runner vows more visible leadership in the region.
Yemeni security forces stand guard upon the arrival of the United Nations' special envoy for Yemen ahead of a meeting with local officials in the city of Taez on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2024

Red Sea crisis puts Yemen peace process on hold

As recently as December, painstaking negotiations were gaining ground.
Experimentation seemed to be a driving force throughout conductor Seiji Ozawa’s life as he pushed the boundaries of what a Japanese artist could achieve with classical music to magnificent heights.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2024

Seiji Ozawa’s boundless experiment

The influential conductor was not only a man of extraordinary talent, his warm character had the power to unite people as one.
A sign erected in Hokkaido’s port of Nemuro calls for the return of the Russian-occupied islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2024

Geopolitical chess: Unpacking the Northern Territories conundrum

While domestic motivation for Tokyo to resolve the Northern Territories dispute may endure, the opposite is true in Moscow.
U.S. allies reevaluate priorities in relations with Washington out of concern Donald Trump may win the U.S. presidency again.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2024

U.S. allies fear the fallout of a new Trump era

The world appears to have priced in former U.S. President Trump’s disdain not only for allies but the entire global order his predecessors created.
Kim Jong Un gives a speech in Pyongyang on Feb. 8. The North Korean leader has reportedly sent new batches of his workers overseas since relaxing pandemic border controls and launched a fresh crackdown on his people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2024

North Korea sending new batches of workers abroad: U.S. envoy

North Korea has sent workers to Russia and China for years, where they earn hard currency needed by Pyongyang.
U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner speaks to media at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

U.S. supports Japan's push for talks with North Korea, envoy says

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament last week that he wants to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Israeli officials evacuate a person who was injured by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Feb 15, 2024

Israel-Hezbollah tensions rise with strikes from Lebanon

The assault, presumed to be carried out by Hezbollah, prompted Israeli fighter jets to launch extensive strikes.
Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto leaves from his residence to attend a gathering with supporters after polls closed in the country's presidential and legislative elections in Jakarta on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 15, 2024

Prabowo could usher in a new era in Indonesian foreign policy

As president, the ex-general is expected to seek an elevation of Indonesia’s role on the global stage while balancing ties with Washington and Beijing.
Motenashi Kuroki's smart new premises boast an eye-catching window display, aptly enough featuring a colorful display of ramen bowls.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 18, 2024

Motenashi Kuroki finally has a place worthy of its premium ramen

Naohito Kuroki has finally found a worthy location for his ever-popular, self-named ramen shop.
Paian Siahaan, the 77-year-old father of Ucok Munandar Siahaan who went missing during the May 1998 riots, at his house in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 16, 2024

Indonesia's next president haunts father of missing activist

"We feel afraid, but I'm fighting for my son."
Smoke billows following Israeli bombardment over Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 16, 2024

Israel raids main hospital in southern Gaza as Rafah concerns grow

The Israeli military said the raid was based on intel that Hamas militants were hiding and had kept hostages there, which the militant group denies.
A Palestinian woman stands at al-Najar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Fears grow for crucial Gaza hospital after Israeli raid

Several patients had died there from a lack of oxygen at one of Gaza's main hospitals after Israeli troops raided the facility.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Feb 18, 2024

Preparing for the hottest year Japan has ever seen

In 2023, summer heat persisted across Japan well into the fall. Predictions by scientists indicate 2024 could be even worse.
A delegation of Ukrainian officials look at machinery used for debris processing in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024

Japanese technology to contribute to Ukraine reconstruction, government hopes

Japanese officials will meet with Ukrainian counterparts in Tokyo on Monday to discuss measures to support the reconstruction of their country.
The International Olympic Committee denied Manny Pacquiao's request to compete in the Paris Games due to his age.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 19, 2024

Manny Pacquiao gives up Olympic dream after being denied spot in Paris

Pacquiao conceded that his Olympic boxing dream was over after being denied a berth at this year's Paris Games.
Damian Lillard scored 39 points and was named MVP after leading the East to a 211-186 win over the West in the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 19, 2024

East scores record 211 points to beat West in NBA All-Star Game

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard scored 39 points and drained 11 3-pointers to lead the Eastern Conference to a record-setting 211-186 win over the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Alexei Navalny, who Russian authorities say died on Friday, attends a 2019 rally in Moscow with his wife, Yulia Navalnaya (right), in memory of murdered dissident Boris Nemtsov.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2024

Navalny was too brave to be allowed to live

Alexei Navalny never stopped speaking truth to the powers of Russian despotism. His fearlessness was simply too much for the Kremlin to bear.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (right) presents a gift to a Ukrainian refugee an event at the Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

As war fatigue grows, Japan pledges long-term support to Ukraine

Describing the aid as an investment in the future, Tokyo emphasized how Japan’s technology and expertise in reconstruction could serve Ukraine’s needs.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's supporters demonstrate against U.S. extradition in front of the British Consulate in Barcelona on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

Assange absent at final hearing against extradition to U.S.

The two-day session is likely the WikiLeaks founder's last chance to fight the extradition in Britain's courts after a half-decade battle.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, at a House Oversight Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 10.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

FBI informant got false dirt on Bidens from Russia: prosecutors

Alexander Smirnov, 43, a dual U.S. and Israeli national, was arrested last week.
A bloody demonic outbreak strikes Japan in “Visitors: Complete Edition.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2024

‘Visitors’ revels in all its gory glory with deadpan humor

Kenichi Ugana’s extended version of his brilliant splatter short is endearingly shaggy — and messy.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2024

Japan plays a game of Pacific islands geopolitical chess

The influx of Chinese investment and activities have introduced risk for some Pacific island nations, moves which Japan cannot ignore.
Specimen M831 stored at the National Museum of Nature and Science’s Tsukuba Research Departments in Ibaraki Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 22, 2024

How a 13-year-old discovered a possible Japanese wolf specimen

A new paper by Hinako Komori and two academics says a specimen she found could be one of two Japanese wolves kept at Ueno Zoo in the late 19th century.
Passengers line up for security at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

The five most exciting innovations coming to an airport near you

Updating an existing airport terminal is time-consuming, expensive work that often costs hundreds of millions of dollars — and sometimes billions.
Hideo Shimoju points to a possible site that his fellow neighbors may relocate to. Such relocations have happened before, but not preemptively.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Longform
Feb 24, 2024

In disaster-prone Japan, some communities consider major moves

Rural communities are considering collective relocation as a means to deal with worsening climate disasters.
A symbolic illumination called "Ray of Memory" is seen over the graves of Ukrainian soldiers who died in the war with Russia, at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2024

Ukraine on the defensive as Russia war enters third year

On Friday, more than 50 countries, including Japan and the United States, issued a joint statement blasting Russia for the invasion.
Vocalist Adam Lambert (center) and original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor hit Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo and Tokyo for the final leg of their marathon Rhapsody Tour.
CULTURE
Feb 24, 2024

Queen wraps marathon Rhapsody Tour in Japan

The final leg of the global tour hit four Japanese cities, providing fans with an appropriately grandiose send-off from the rockers on Valentine's Day.

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