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Investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police raid a metal shop in Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024

Four shops raided in Japan for allegedly buying stolen cables

By October, Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department had arrested seven members of a Thai group for stealing copper cables from solar power plants.
The Bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the U.S. election. The company reported a recent gain of 700,000 new users joining the social media platform, an alternative to X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024

How Bluesky, alternative to X and Facebook, is handling explosive growth

Bluesky’s meteoric growth underscores its role as a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks, prioritizing user control and developer creativity.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer poses for a photograph with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting at the Sheraton Hotel, on the sidelines of G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 19, 2024

Starmer confronted Xi on human rights at G20. It did not go well.

The incident in the first meeting between the leaders of the U.K. and China in almost seven years underscores the challenge Keir Starmer faces in seeking to thaw ties.
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 19, 2024

Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby

Up to 17 teams are slated to join this year’s Asian Japanese Rugby Cup tournament in Malaysia on Dec. 14.
Donald Trump, the then-Republican presidential candidate and now the president-elect, visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in February. His appointments to key positions in his new administration show he is moving aggressively on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024

Trump's mass deportation plan has its leaders in place

Even before Trump’s victory, Tom Homan, the former acting director for ICE, promised to "run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen.”
Haruna Kojima sings at an event held in Central Park, New York, in 2015 as a member of the AKB48 pop group.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2024

Chinese man suspected of stalking celebrity Haruna Kojima

The man is suspected of ambushing Haruna Kojima several times since around August, including near event venues in Tokyo.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2024

Japan to hold regular economic security talks with U.K. under two-plus-two model

The talks are set to focus on improving growth and advancing bilateral cooperation in trade and economic security.
Leaders of over 70 universities and research institutions from Japan and India attended a forum in New Delhi in mid-October.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2024

Japan's public and private sectors seek workers from India

The number of technical trainees and what are known as specified skilled workers coming from India to Japan has been on the rise in recent years.
From left: Pakistani education activist and producer Malala Yousafzai, U.S. actress Jennifer Lawrence, producer Justine Ciarrocchi and director Sahra Mani attend the Los Angeles premiere of "Bread and Roses" on Nov. 14.
WORLD / Society
Nov 19, 2024

Phone documentary details Afghan women's struggle under Taliban rule

Exiled Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani reached out to a dozen women after the fall of Kabul in 2021, tutoring them on how to film themselves for the purpose of the film.
Omar Nok arrived in Japan 250 days after leaving Egypt. He didn't use a plane for any part of his journey.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 20, 2024

Omar Nok: 'There are good people everywhere'

Omar Nok says the hospitality he has received from locals at every stop on his journey from Egypt to Japan has been nothing short of inspirational.
Mika Abe (right) opened a restaurant committed to animal welfare in Sendai in November.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 2, 2024

Restaurant committed to animal welfare opens in Sendai

Muku offers dishes including grilled pork from pasture-raised pigs and poached eggs from cage-free chickens, served as part of a salad bowl.
A strait-laced tax officer (Seiyo Uchino) teams up with a gang of con artists to take down a crooked property developer in “Angry Squad: Civil Servant and Seven Swindlers.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2024

‘Angry Squad’: A caper comedy with a lot of heart

The film’s two-hour running time breezes by as a strait-laced tax officer joins a colorful crew of con artists.
The Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 (right) is anchored while being monitored by a Danish naval patrol vessels in the sea of Kattegat, near Jutland, Denmark, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2024

Chinese ship stirs suspicions after Baltic Sea cables damaged

The Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier was in the vicinity of fiber optic cables connecting several countries when they were damaged.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen (left) speaks with McLaren's Lando Norris after the sprint race during the weekend of the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo on Nov. 2.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 21, 2024

Verstappen in sight of exclusive club of four-time F1 champions

Red Bull's three-time champion needs only to stay ahead of Lando Norris to secure the title.
Students at Fujinokuni Junior High School in the city of Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, learn how to write postcards in Japanese.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chubu
Dec 2, 2024

Night schools offer alternative route to completing compulsory education

More such schools are being set up, which would provide learning opportunities to those unable to complete junior high school education.
Kurdish people in Japan in 2015. A court injunction has banned acts that defame the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association and are disrespectful, such as putting up banner flags or handing out fliers with hate speech like “Refugees should go back to their home countries.”
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2024

Saitama court bans demonstrations over anti-Kurd hate speech

The individuals targeted by the injunction have said things like “Kurds should get out of Japan” at demos around the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association’s office.
The remains of the original Moji Station in Kitakyushu
JAPAN / Society
Nov 22, 2024

133-year-old Kyushu railway station remains to be partially preserved

Sections of the foundation of what used to be the locomotive shed — which experts believe is the most important element of the remains — will be kept.
This 6-year-old pug loves being held, snuggling with his favorite blanket, relaxing on a sofa and going for strolls.
COMMUNITY / ADOPT ME!
Nov 25, 2024

After some rough times, Tosca needs a home for Christmas

This 6-year-old pug loves being held, snuggling with his favorite blanket, relaxing on a sofa and going for strolls.
The Northvolt facility in Skelleftea, Sweden.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 23, 2024

Northvolt crisis may be make or break for Europe's EV battery ambitions

Europe's biggest hope for an electric vehicle battery champion filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday after talks for funding failed.
Health minister Takamaro Fukuoka in an interview last week
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2024

Government aims to ease care worker shortages through wage hikes

Staff shortages at care facilities are "very serious," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said.
Yisrael Medad, an activist and writer on Israel's political right, looks at a book in his home in the Israeli settlement Shilo, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Nov. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2024

Israeli settlers set sights on Trump support for full control of West Bank

Settlers have celebrated Trump's nomination of a clutch of officials known for pro-Israel views.
An employee of Trex stands with bales of used plastic, which the company recycles into decking material.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 25, 2024

Can the world unite to end the plastic pollution crisis?

The rising toll of plastic in the environment is impossible to ignore.
Taiwan celebrates with the trophy after beating Japan in the Premier12 final at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Nov 25, 2024

Taiwan celebrates after team's victory over Japan in Premier12 final

Taiwan is not a global sporting powerhouse but baseball is hugely popular.
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024

Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics

Average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October, while figures for X were down over that time.
Plastic waste that manicurist Naomi Arimoto collected from the sand at a beach, is pictured at her nail salon in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Oct. 21.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024

Japanese manicurist takes on plastic pollution, one nail at a time

Naomi Arimoto carefully sifts beach sand for tiny bits of plastic that she can mold into decorative tips to put on the false nails at her salon.
Aiku Kurotaki’s “Human 1” (2024) — and “Human 0” (2024) to the left — on display at Tokyo’s Som Gallery earlier this year.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2024

‘From 0 to 1’: Aiku Kurotaki’s fabric of existence

The artist's wool sculptures play off the idea of string theory, which conceptualizes subatomic particles as infinitesimal strings vibrating in fixed patterns.
Investigators seize items after raiding a store in the city of Sakado, Saitama Prefecture, that is suspected to have been used by a Vietnamese theft ring as a collection point, on Wednesday. The store's signboard is partly blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024

Police raid Vietnamese theft ring's collection points

The group, linked to crimes in at least 10 prefectures, is believed to have sent stolen items to Vietnam for resale.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah at Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2024

Biden hopes to parlay Lebanon cease-fire into a broader regional peace

With a deal to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the U.S. leader turns his attention back to halting the war in Gaza before leaving office.
Southern Lebanon near the country's border with Israel on Wednesday, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Hezbollah faces long recovery, with thousands of fighters believed killed

One source said the Iran-backed group may have lost up to 4,000 people — well over 10 times the number killed in its monthlong 2006 war with Israel.
Vehicles pass in front of an Exxon service station in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday. Material stolen from the company's critics in a hack-and-leak operation continues to be used today to counter litigation claiming the oil giant misled the public and its investors about the risks of climate change.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024

Exxon lobbyist probed over hacked papers that disrupted climate lawsuits

The stolen material continues to be used today to counter litigation claiming the oil giant misled the public and its investors about the risks of climate change.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight