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Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII

The apology aims to restore the dignity Japanese Brazilians lost due to the government's past atrocities, 79 years after the end of the war.
A Lower House plenary session is held in June. One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency for the lower chamber is at least twice as powerful as that in the eight most populous constituencies, an analysis has found.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

Vote-value disparities may be unconstitutional in eight Lower House districts

One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency is at least twice as powerful as one in the eight most populous constituencies, a new analysis shows.
People who made hometown tax donations to the city of Narita in Chiba Prefecture take part in a tour on Sunday at Narita Airport in the city, which was offered as a return gift.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's hometown tax donations top ¥1 trillion for first time

The number of people who received residence tax breaks through the system is also believed to have hit a record 10 million.
American tennis star Coco Gauff speaks during a news conference on Thursday in Paris.
OLYMPICS / Tennis
Jul 26, 2024

Coco Gauff 'going in blind' as she prepares to carry U.S. flag in Paris

The world No. 2 tennis player will join NBA superstar LeBron James as the U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremony.
Kiyomitsu Nagai (right), head of Tsukui Yamayuri-en, and others offer a prayer before a memorial monument on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a knife attack at the prefectural care home for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Memorial ceremony held for 2016 care home attack victims

The memorial ceremony was attended by 89 people, including bereaved families, who offered a moment of silence for the victims and laid out flowers.
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 26, 2024

Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there

At a time when sports fans in Japan are usually united in support of the nation's athletes, one issue is proving divisive: Shoko Miyata's withdrawal.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation about his decision to not seek reelection from the Oval Office on Wednesday. Biden’s decision to step aside and pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris now looks like it was inevitable in retrospect. 
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2024

The U.S. political roller coaster is just getting started

U.S. President Joe Biden’s stunning decision to abandon his reelection campaign looks inevitable in retrospect.
Beijing's push to integrate core socialist values into its chatbots highlights a significant challenge in China's bid to compete with the U.S. in AI development.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2024

What's wrong about ‘Chat XiPT’ is bigger than China

The difficulty of creating AI models infused with specific values will likely hurt China’s efforts to create chatbots as sophisticated as those in the U.S.
Leqembi, which was developed by U.S. multinational Biogen and Japanese-based Eisai, is the brand name of an active substance called lecanemab, which is used to treat adults with mild memory and cognitive problems resulting from the early stages of the common type of dementia.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 27, 2024

European medicines watchdog rejects Eisai's new Alzheimer's drug

The watchdog said the risks of side effects, including potential brain bleeding, outweighed the benefits.
Sora Shirai trains at the Olympic skateboarding venue in Paris on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 28, 2024

Will these sensational skateboarding tricks win Japan Olympic gold?

Japanese skateboarders like Yuto Horigome and Sora Shirai are creating some of the most difficult tricks in the history of the sport, and landing them in high style.
While traditional hybrid vehicles use gas to turn the wheels, a new crop of cars are burning it exclusively to charge a large onboard battery.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 28, 2024

A new wave of electric vehicles are ready to charge at 70 mph

But while fossil fuels may be a curious catalyst for sparking EV sales, the strategy is arguably far greener than it looks.
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024

For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia

The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during question time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra June 27.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 28, 2024

Australia reshuffles senior ministers ahead of upcoming election

If Albanese wins the upcoming election, he will be the first Australian leader to secure consecutive victories since 2004.
A screen shows news coverage of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Italy's Meloni vows to 'relaunch' cooperation with China

Rome seeks to improve trade ties with Beijing after exiting the Belt and Road infrastructure investment plan last year.
NEC employees attend a Japan Asset Management seminar to learn about building up financial assets.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2024

Japanese firms helping employees build up financial assets

Companies are inviting financial experts to guide employees on managing their pension plans and provide insights into the revamped NISA.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, in May against a bill labeling organizations that receive foreign funding as spies. The passing of the so-called Russia law has been a setback for Georgia's democracy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 29, 2024

Democracy is on tenuous ground this ‘election year’

From former Soviet countries to India and even the U.S., democracies are backsliding and authoritarianism is gaining ground, with far-reaching global implications.
French fans cheer on their team during an Olympic rugby sevens match on Sunday. Fans are back in force at the Games and providing a lively atmosphere for the competition after COVID-19 forced the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics to be mostly played without spectators.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

The Olympic roar is back in Paris after two pandemic-hit Games

The sights and sounds of the Olympics have returned to normal this year, with fans able to attend the Games without restrictions for the first time since 2018.
Stilt houses at the village of the Bajau sea nomads in Pulau Papan in Sulawesi, Indonesia
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 29, 2024

Indonesia's sea nomads forced into finding jobs on land

For many Bajau people living in Pulau Papan in Indonesia, their ancestors' way of life at sea has all but died out.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left) speaks with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center left) as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (center right) is greeted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) after the four delivered remarks to the media after their "Quad" ministerial meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

'Quad' top diplomats decry situation in South China Sea

The top diplomats from Japan, Australia, India and the U.S. also pledged to boost maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Police officers patrol past travelers during service disruptions at Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris on Friday. Trains to and from Paris were hit by what authorities called a “massive attack aimed at paralyzing the network” of France’s superfast trains just hours ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games.
WORLD
Jul 30, 2024

French Olympic security caught out by ‘soft underbelly’ attacks

Overnight Sunday across France, cables in multiple locations carrying broadband service were cut.
Japan's unemployment rate edged lower to 2.5% in June from 2.6% a month earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2024

Japan’s labor market stays tight, supporting wage growth

Japan's unemployment rate edged lower to 2.5% in June from 2.6% a month earlier, the Internal Affairs Ministry reported.
The U.S. Capitol building stands past visitors taking photographs at the Washington Monument in Washington in 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Russia, Iran and China all seek to shape U.S. election, officials say

Some U.S. citizens have been knowingly helping foreign governments shape the election narrative while others have been tricked into helping.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping up efforts to position himself as a peacemaker in regards to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

China seizes chance to play peacemaker in Ukraine before U.S. vote

Xi is looking to forge a bigger diplomatic role at a time when Kyiv and the broader European region are bracing for a dramatic shift in foreign policy from the U.S.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia

The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
The edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, Canada on June 12, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 30, 2024

World's forests failed to curb 2023 climate emissions, study finds

That means a record amount of carbon dioxide entered Earth's atmosphere last year, further driving climate change.
Tadanobu Kanno, the vice principal of Shoin Gakuen Fukushima High School in the city of Fukushima, goes through the itinerary of the school's trip to the Kansai region this year.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 5, 2024

Fukushima schools hesitate to resume overseas trips

The yen's weakness and inflation have resulted in the cost of such excursions to surge — in some cases, more than double what it was prepandemic.
An expert panel discusses the creation of a database for all civil court rulings, on Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2024

Japan expert panel calls for database of all civil court rulings

The ministry plans to submit a related bill during next year's ordinary session of parliament, with a view to launching the database in fiscal 2026.
World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Banka holds a news conference in Paris on July 25. WADA and the entire global anti-doping system have been under intensifying scrutiny in recent months.
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2024

Anti-doping agency acknowledges concern over use of tainted food as excuse

The global anti-doping regulator disclosed Tuesday that it is investigating why athletes in China and other countries who are testing positive for banned drugs are escaping discipline through claims that they have unwittingly ingested the performance-enhancing substances through food.
Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Japanese ambassador to Ukraine urges continuing of aid

Kuninori Matsuda said that Japan should not feel that it has no direct stake in the conflict, as Ukrainian aid helps protect the international order.
Prosecutors leave Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose's home in Tokyo on Tuesday after searching it as part of an investigation into alleged fraud.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Resignation of LDP lawmaker over pay scandal adds to party's woes

Megumi Hirose has left the party over allegations she pocketed public money to pay the salary of a secretary who didn’t actually work.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear