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Kyosuke Matsuyama (right) competes against France's Erwann Le Pechoux during the men's team foil semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jun 24, 2024

Japanese fencers heading to Paris Games with plenty of confidence

The men's national team is aiming to secure its first medal in three Olympics in the foil event, a category considered by many to be a Japanese specialty.
Both Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike (left) and Renho have been the targeted for threats in recent days.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2024

Koike and Renho targeted by threats

A threatening message warning of an attack using sulfuric acid has been sent via fax to people close to the governor, similar to that sent to the office of rival Renho.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack, on the day of national mourning in a church at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on March 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024

Dagestan shootings spotlight rising Islamist threat for Putin

The latest violence, with at least 20 killed in coordinated shootings in Russia's far south on Sunday, raises tough questions for its intelligence and security services.
An image of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released on social media on Tuesday. Assange pleaded guilty to a single charge of disseminating classified documents in a plea bargain that leaves him a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2024

Julian Assange’s saga will forever exist in a legal gray area

WikiLeaks founder Assange’s case lies on the boundary between espionage and protected speech. Its outcome has done nothing to shed light on this gray zone.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver next to Zaccharie Risacher after he was selected first overall by the Atlanta Hawks, at Barclays Center in New York on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 27, 2024

Hawks select Zaccharie Risacher No. 1 overall in NBA draft

Risacher most recently played for JL Bourg-en-Bresse of LNB Elite, France's premier division of professional basketball.
Fancl employees offer makeup lessons to those with blindness or low vision.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jul 8, 2024

Cosmetics makers hold makeup lessons for those with visual impairments

Each company has established its own methods for applying makeup without the need to look in a mirror.
If only there was that special someone who could show Cauliflower the same love he gives to everyone he meets.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 1, 2024

Won't you find Cauliflower someone to love?

Cauliflower is good with most dogs, adores people and would probably suit just about anyone — young, old or even a family with children.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate at a CNN studio in Atlanta on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Joe Biden's disastrous debate blamed on bad preparation and exhaustion

Biden's fumbling, halting performance has sparked calls from Democrats for him to end his quest for a second term.
Hyundai Wia robotic arms on the production line at the Kia plant in Gwangmyeong, South Korea, on Jan. 3
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2024

How one of the world's strongest car unions is dealing with EV job losses

Hyundai Motor and Kia’s moves toward electrification are provoking anxiety in South Korea’s highly active and organized labor movement.
The Spirit of Barrow statue celebrates Barrow-in-Furness’s long history of shipbuilding.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Starmer pledge on nuclear stance mends hole in Labour red wall

The arrival of the railways in the mid-1800s helped transform Barrow into an industrial powerhouse. Submarines have been built in the town’s shipyard since 1886.
Canada Day is held on July 1 to mark Canada’s founding in 1867. This year, the country celebrates its 157th anniversary among resounding successes and tough challenges at home and abroad.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2024

Canada at 157: Lots to celebrate, but also to rethink

At 157, Canada is stable and prosperous, but cracks are starting to form. Its citizens think politicians are out of touch and the country holds little sway abroad.
Actors Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, last month.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2024

Eddie Murphy's 'every man' hero returns in 'Beverly Hills Cop' sequel

Forty years after the original, the iconic 1980s franchise revists Axel Foley and his pals while serving old-school action.
Ayaka Saito works on a lathe to make a part for a ship at Ena Seisakusho in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Saito, who has a 1-year-old child, takes comfort in the fact that her employer allows time off for workers for parenting duties.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 8, 2024

Special skills allow Fukushima mother to shine in full-time job

Her employer also lets her take time off to care for her child, a rare policy seen as pivotal in getting more women back to the workforce.
A man holds new 10,000 yen bills at a Saitama Resona Bank branch in Saitama Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024

People flock to get new banknotes in areas linked to new bills

The ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 notes have been redesigned for the first time in 20 years.
Japan's Tatsuru Saito competes during the 2022 world championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 4, 2024

Japan's Tatsuru Saito aims to emulate late father with judo Olympic gold

Hitoshi Saito was a judo great who triumphed at consecutive Olympics in 1984 and 1988 at over 95 kilograms.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump has some immunity from election interference charges, though most of the charges are likely to stand.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

Hold up, Trump is still in serious legal trouble

Most of the election interference case against Trump stems from 'unofficial' acts not shielded from prosecution by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Russia isn’t a theocracy but Orthodox Christianity, the state religion, has become all-encompassing, with President Vladimir Putin claiming to have a divine mission.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

The demigods of populism

By claiming to represent the will of the divine, populist leaders like Putin, Modi, Erdogan — and even Trump — stake an otherworldly claim to political power.
Workers collect detritus after the Britain's Glastonbury Festival on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 4, 2024

Music festivals seek greener footprint

The world's top 1,000 DJs took 51,000 flights in 2019, equivalent to 35,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, according to climate group Clean Scene.
Britain's Andy Murray waves to the crowd after his men's doubles match on Thursday at Wimbledon in London.
TENNIS
Jul 5, 2024

'I wish I could play forever,' says tearful Murray at Wimbledon farewell

Murray and brother Jamie were defeated in the first round of men's doubles as the British great prepares to call it a career.
The People's Bank of China building in Beijing on May 29
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

China's central bank readies bonds to sell by tapping major banks

The bank said it has hundreds of billions of yuan worth of medium- and long-term bonds at its disposal to borrow.
Circulators on display at a Bic Camera store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on June 26
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2024

Japan companies beat drum for heat-beating goods

Sales of air conditioners, fans, and circulators are rising with the mercury, as high electricity prices make energy-saving products increasingly popular.
Essentially ramen broken down into a few constituent parts, 'tsukemen' was the creation of a Tokyo chef in 1961.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 7, 2024

How Tokyo’s ‘deconstructed ramen’ became a national favorite

Like other twists on quintessential Japanese dishes, ‘tsukemen’ has a decidedly more modern origin than you might think.
Japan has a long history of parasol use, and there's no time like the present to see if they can help you get a bit of heat relief.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Jul 6, 2024

Parasols are an age-old solution to today’s crippling heat

By Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868), bamboo and waterproofed paper ‘kasa’ (umbrellas) and ‘higasa’ (parasols) were everyday tools and props in kabuki plays.
Starting from September, foreign employees on a work visa must abide by a new points-based system to keep working in Singapore.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2024

Singapore is making life tougher for global talent

The city-state could lose its position as a global business hub if it keeps tightening the rules for overseas employees in a political bid to appease local residents.
Bain Capital partner Masashi Suekane during an interview last month
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

Bain Capital to invest ¥5 trillion in Japan over five years

Bain Capital plans to increase its workforce in Japan and has established a team to help firms make effective use of their real estate with low profitability.
"Shogun" features Hiroyuki Sanada as the warlord Toranaga. The series is generating major buzz ahead of the announcement of Emmy nominations on July 17.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 6, 2024

All hail the era of Japan-themed prestige TV

With shows like "Shogun" and "Tokyo Vice" vying for Emmy nominations this month, it's safe to say the streamers are having a bit of a "Japan moment."
Ryo Sakai, the chief of staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, is expected to quit his post following reports that several MSDF vessels allowed unvetted personnel to handle top secret information related to national security.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2024

MSDF chief may quit over widespread mishandling of secret info

The latest revelation comes just months after the ministry punished five SDF members over leaks of secret information to unvetted personnel.
Newly appointed British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves No. 10 Downing St. following the results of the election, in London, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

David Lammy: Friend of Obama now U.K. foreign minister

The 51-year-old's ancestors were enslaved in Guyana, South America — a family history that Lammy says will inform his approach to foreign policy.
England forward Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring during the penalty shootout at the end of his team's win over Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals.
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2024

England's savior Bukayo Saka finds Euros penalty redemption

Arsenal forward Saka was England's savior on Saturday, four years after a crucial miss against Italy.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes