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Spain's Rafael Nadal leaves the court after losing against Germany's Alexander Zverev in their men's singles match on day two of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Monday.
TENNIS
May 28, 2024

Paris darling Nadal exits French Open in farewell-like defeat

"I hope to be back on this court for the Olympics," Nadal said after his loss to Alexander Zverev.
Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko attend a World War II memorial service held at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2024

World War II memorial service held in Tokyo without COVID-19 restrictions

The number of people whose remains are placed at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery now totals 370,700.
President of China Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend the China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 24, 2023.
WORLD
May 28, 2024

Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals

While new Chinese investment in Africa increased 114% last year, it was centered on minerals essential to the global energy transition and China's plans to revive its economy.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic during his first-round match against France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the French Open in Paris on Tuesday
TENNIS
May 29, 2024

Djokovic shrugs off troubles in winning start at French Open

The player has advanced to the French Open quarterfinals or better every year since 2010.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the first China-Arab States forum in Riyadh in 2022
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

Xi hosts Arab leaders as China-Mideast ties widen beyond trade

As the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden backs Israel in its war in Gaza, China sees eye-to-eye with Arab nations.
Mainland Chinese tourists on a converted car ferry in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on April 19, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Business-first Hong Kong now comes with a catch: Beijing politics

The former British colony is hewing closer to mainland China, blurring distinctions that once cemented the city’s status as mostly free from Chinese politics.
Naomi Osaka plays a forehand return to Lucia Bronzetti during their women's singles match on Day 1 of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Sunday.
TENNIS
May 29, 2024

Osaka 'really excited to face' Swiatek at French Open

Osaka will be a big underdog against Swiatek in the pair's first ever meeting on clay.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of her meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, Palestinian Authority prime minister, at the Chigi Palace in Rome on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 29, 2024

Once ostracized, Italy's Meloni is now center stage in Europe

If Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backs center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term, expect the Italian leader's influence to grow.
Despite the United Arab Emirates taking "significant steps to address" gold smuggling, Bern-based NGO SwissAid says billions of dollars worth of the precious metal arrive in the country from Africa every year.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2024

Billions in African gold smuggled to UAE every year, SwissAid says

The nongovernmental organization estimates that the illicit trade amounts to between $23.7 billion and $35 billion annually, based on current market prices.
A Liberal Democratic Party fundraising event in Tokyo in 2023
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 31, 2024

Why Japanese politics can't quit fundraising parties

To succeed in Japanese politics, it’s long been said that a politician must have, among other things, a fat purse.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Friday night.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

Marcos lays out red line in South China Sea at security conference

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his clearest remarks yet on his red lines in the ongoing row with China over the disputed waterway.
A monitor showing the Nikkei 225 index and the yen exchange rate in Tokyo. The yen is expected to remain under pressure given the yawning gap between interest rates in Japan and the U.S.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 1, 2024

Japan spent record ¥9.8 trillion to prop up yen in past month

The record spending on intervention shows the government’s resolve to push back against speculators betting against the yen.
Wang YunHe's residence in Singapore, overlooking the country's premier shopping belt.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 1, 2024

Singapore wealth flows face new scrutiny in superhacker case

The case is a reminder of the difficult balancing act faced by Singapore and other financial hubs as they push to attract the world’s ultra rich.
In addition to the supply shortages, the yen's depreciation is also blamed for the recent surge in orange juice prices in Japan, which relies almost entirely on imported orange juice.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2024

Orange juice crisis hits consumers in Japan

Supply shortages have forced many Japanese makers to suspend sales of orange juice products.
An ambulance bearing a message calling for the appropriate use of ambulance services enters Matsusaka Municipal Hospital in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 10, 2024

City in Mie Prefecture starts charging some ambulance-borne patients

Matsusaka is targeting patients taken to any of its three core hospitals by ambulance but who are assessed as not needing hospitalization.
The Iranian flag flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 5, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

Draft IAEA resolution presses Iran on particles and inspectors

The new text calls on Iran to cooperate without delay, including by letting the International Atomic Energy Agency take samples if it needs to.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet guests during the spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo on April 23. The imperial couple will make a state visit to U.K. in late June.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2024

Japan's emperor and empress to pay three-day state visit to U.K.

The imperial couple will arrive on June 22, but will spend the first three days in private engagements before the official state visit from June 25 to 27.
Fans cheer after Japan's men's volleyball team qualified for the Paris Olympics on Oct. 7 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Jun 4, 2024

Japanese volleyball’s fastest growing fan base — female superfans

More than 80% of the fans at men’s domestic competitions are said to be women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Protesters and militia fighters carry the logo of the U.S. Embassy during a protest to condemn airstrikes on bases belonging to Hashd al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces), in Baghdad on Dec. 31, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

Iran's allies in Iraq are firing at Israel. What if they draw blood?

Though experts do not see the attacks as posing the same level of threat to Israel as Hamas and Hezbollah strikes, they have increased in number and sophistication.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, outside a U.S. federal court in Santa Ana, California, on Tuesday
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 5, 2024

Ohtani's ex-interpreter pleads guilty to stealing nearly $17 million

Ippei Mizuhara admitted to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence, and one count of filing a false tax return.
Energy companies are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear power as geopolitical tensions raise the risk of energy supply disruptions and power price hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2024

In Japan, energy security fears put nuclear back in favor for 2040 plan

The Japanese government wants to lock in greater use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar power, to secure stable energy supply.
Tucupita Marcano, then with the Pirates, throws to first base during a game against the Giants in Pittsburgh in July last year.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 5, 2024

San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano banned for life for gambling

Michael Kelly, a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, and three minor league players were also suspended for a year for gambling on baseball games, MLB said.
Yuichi Nishimura is taken into police custody in Tokyo on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2024

Hokkaido man arrested for defrauding ‘fiancee’ with fake kidnapping scheme

The suspect, Yuichi Nishimura, allegedly enticed the victim with promises of marriage while concealing the fact that he was already married.
Amateur actor Chihiro Kawano (front) performs in Hikaru Fujii's video art installation "War Is Over" in Saiki, Oita Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2024

War is (not) over: Hikaru Fujii probes historical memory in Kyushu

Viewable at its current location until June 16, “War Is Over” simply would not be the same work in a different location.
Postage rates for sealed letters and other documents are expected to be raised by 30% as early as October, the first rise in 30 years aside from when prices increased along with consumption tax hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2024

Postage rate hikes seen denting New Year's card tradition in Japan

The tradition of sending New Year's greetings on postcards began in 1873 with the introduction of postcards.
The Asia Peace March is held in observance of Human Rights Day in Tokyo in December 2021. This year, as Japan sits on key U.N. bodies, the government can show leadership in tackling human rights issues in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 7, 2024

Japan can aid in preventing human rights slide in Asia

As a stable democracy and big development donor, Japan should lead in tackling human rights abuses in countries like China, North Korea and Myanmar, and across Asia.
Bill May (rear, second from left) poses with the rest of the U.S. team after earning silver at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka on July 17, 2023.
OLYMPICS
Jun 10, 2024

No men chosen to compete in artistic swimming at Olympics in Paris

World Aquatics said it was very disappointed that there would be no men in the Olympic competition.
Local governments are stepping up support for single elderly people, to tackle the issue of unclaimed bodies.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 10, 2024

Japan's municipalities take action to tackle issue of unclaimed bodies

A spate of incidents involving unclaimed bodies has led to the formulation of measures to provide end-of-life support to single elderly people.
Retired boxing champion Manny Pacquiao (left) and mixed martial artist Chihiro Suzuki pose during a news conference on Monday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 10, 2024

Retired boxing great Manny Pacquiao hints at comeback against Mario Barrios

Pacquiao has signed up to fight a three-round exhibition bout against Japanese mixed martial artist Chihiro Suzuki next month in Saitama.
Traffic at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Last year, it opened the DIFC Family Wealth Center, a registry for family offices that also offers advisory services, workshops, mentoring, dispute resolution and certification based on how "structured” their governance is.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2024

Dubai takes on Abu Dhabi in race for supremacy in family offices

Last year, the number of registered foundations in Dubai rose by 53%. In rival Abu Dhabi, the number jumped by 35%.

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