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U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Harris to hold Philadelphia rally with vice president pick

Kamala Harris is being forced to select her running mate on a highly compressed timeline.
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh delivers a speech in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, in 2017.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2024

Tough-talking Ismail Haniyeh was seen as Hamas' more moderate face

Hamas' political leader, who was killed in Iran, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks at a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday. Trump, in an interview broadcast Monday night, repeated his recent assertion that Christians will never have to vote again if they vote for him this November, and brushed aside multiple requests to walk back or clarify the statement.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Trump again says Christians ‘won’t have to vote anymore’ if they vote for him

Such comment were especially striking given his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his shattering of other democratic norms.
Diners in the Salamanca neighborhood of Madrid in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 31, 2024

Spain ranked as the best country for remote work: report

Japan, which announced a digital nomad program on April 1, was 16th on the list.
Talented radio announcer Nobutaka Wada (Go Morita) becomes conscience-stricken about pushing the Japanese government’s propaganda during World War II in “The Voices at War.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2024

‘The Voices at War’ shines light on wartime radio announcers

The NHK film holds up a smudged mirror to the role its predecessor, Radio Japan, and its employees played in serving as government mouthpieces during World War II.
Katie Ledecky with her first gold medal of the Paris Games and eight overall.
OLYMPICS
Aug 1, 2024

Ledecky admits it is 'not getting easier' after another Olympic masterclass

The 27-year-old was untouchable, surging home in an Olympic record and more than 10 seconds ahead of France's Anastasiia Kirpichnikova in second.
Protesters are being detained in a police van while protesting outside the High Court building as they demand justice for the victims arrested and killed in the recent countrywide violence in Dhaka on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Bangladesh police disperse march over excessive use of force

The unrest is the biggest test facing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since she won a fourth term in January.
Jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing to consider an appeal against his prison sentence, in Moscow, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Signs of major prisoner exchange between Russia and the West multiply

Many major figures jailed in Russia have suddenly disappeared in a sign they might be being gathered for a swap.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura is calling for ride-hailing services with no limitations on time zones, locations, dates or the number of vehicles during the Osaka Expo.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 1, 2024

Uncertainty looms over ride-hailing plans for 2025 Osaka Expo

A flood of tourists from Japan and overseas is expected to visit the Osaka Expo, which will open in April next year and run for six months.
Members of Myanmar's military security force patrol a street in Yangon, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 1, 2024

Myanmar junta extends emergency rule as civil war rages on

This is the sixth time Myanmar's highest body has decided to extend the emergency, further pushing back long-promised elections.
Then U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, on June 30, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

North Korea wants to restart nuclear talks if Trump wins, says ex-diplomat

The former diplomat said North Korea has also set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities.
Surrounded by Iranian lawmakers, Ismail Haniyeh (center), a chief political leader of Hamas, flashes a victory sign at a swearing-in ceremony for President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran on Tuesday. Haniyeh was assassinated hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said, a severe blow to the Palestinian group that threatens to engulf the region in further conflict.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Iran and Hamas blame Israel for killing of top official and vow to strike back

In recent years, Israel has carried out several high-profile assassinations in Iran, rattling the country’s leaders.
Mountain climber Kazuya Hiraide, from Nagano Prefecture. Hiraide and his climbing partner, Kenro Nakajima, fell 7,000 meters while climbing K2. He was 45.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Rescue called off for two Japanese climbers falling from K2

The two were spotted from a helicopter, but it could not land to retrieve them due to the steep location and other logistical problems.
Toyota's hybrids are selling well in North America, making up for sluggish demand for its vehicles in Japan and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Toyota quarterly profit rises 17% on year as weak yen drives U.S. demand

Despite ongoing turmoil from a government probe that found issues with vehicle certifications, analysts still project the carmaker will post a record profit this year.
Hakushi Hasegawa places their emotive vocals and dexterous keyboard work at the center of the music on their latest album, “Mahogakko” – reminding listeners that there’s a very human presence at the controls.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 2, 2024

Electronic wiz Hakushi Hasegawa pulls back the curtain

The musician's latest album, “Mahogakko,” strikes a delicate balance between the dazzling and the downright baffling.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday. The bank raised rates to 0.25% in just the second hike since 2007.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 1, 2024

Ueda’s big day was lost in a communication black hole

The BOJ should improve its information release process, including fixing leaks and setting fixed release times, to avoid similar issues in the future.
Israel is engaged not only in fighting real wars but also in ideological conflicts that shape its security, existence and global legitimacy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2024

Challenged on all fronts: Israel’s five wars

What do those who support Israel's right to self-defense suggest it do to combat an enemy that entrenches itself in hundreds of miles of tunnels beneath civilians?
People cross a street in Tokyo's Harajuku district on Wednesday. In July, the deviation from the average temperature between 1991 and 2020 — a period when warming was already well underway — was 2.16 degrees Celsius.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 1, 2024

Japan experienced its hottest July on record

The number of “extremely hot days” — those where the highest temperature hits 35 C and above — was the largest figure for a July.
Japan has made an extradition request for anti-whaling activist Paul Watson.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Denmark says Japan made extradition request for anti-whaling activist Watson

Japan is one of only three countries in the world to permit commercial whaling, along with Iceland and Norway.
U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, inside a defendants' cage in Moscow on April 23.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Russia releases U.S. reporter in major swap for Kremlin agents

The swap included two dozen people, 16 going to the West and eight being returned to Russia.
Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro (left) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greet each other before a summit in Brasilia on May 29, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Maduro’s crackdown thrusts Brazil's Lula into global hotseat

Venezuela's election dispute and Nicolas Maduro’s crackdown on dissent have thrust Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva into an increasingly uncomfortable position.
U.S. President Joe Biden holds the arm of Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap that included the release of Paul Whelan from Russia, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2024

The Russia prisoner swap was years in the making for the U.S.

Talks that led to the prisoner exchange started more than two years ago and almost didn't happen.
Katie Ledecky competes in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Aug 2, 2024

Ledecky takes medal record but Australia wins 4x200 free

Ledecky now has 13 medals — eight golds, four silvers and a bronze — across four Olympics.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Thailand's Move Forward Party, in Bangkok on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Thailand opposition leader warns of instability ahead of court rulings

Top judges will rule next week on whether to disband Move Forward, and whether Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin should be removed from office.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Premier Kim Tok Hun visit a flood-affected area near North Korea's border with China in this undated photo released on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Kim Jong Un wades into North Korean floods in propaganda drive

Showing a hands-on Kim Jong Un in a disaster could mean North Korea's government is trying to enhance the cult of personality around him.
Security cameras in front of a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 11
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

China’s proposed digital ID system stokes fears of overreach

China's new centralized digital ID system may give authorities a more direct and complete view of people’s online lives.
What would the Fuji Rock Festival have looked like if it had been an urban festival? Not like this, that's for sure.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 2, 2024

The Fuji Rock experience is as much about its natural setting as it is about music

Having attended every edition of Fuji Rock except one, Philip Brasor believes the concert's natural setting is one of its best draws.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government is working hard to enhance Japan's global and regional influence through strategic defense reforms and international partnerships.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2024

Japan’s defense reforms and diplomacy boost regional security

Considerable progress was made this week in a series of meetings with Tokyo's counterparts in various endeavors, the heart of which is the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Leon Marchand swims during the 200-meter individual medley final at La Defense Arena in Paris on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Aug 3, 2024

Leon Marchand breaks Michael Phelps’ Olympic record to win fourth gold in Paris

Marchard set his fourth Olympic record of the Games during the race.
Japan's Yuki Kawamura goes to the basket in the men's preliminary round group B basketball match between Japan and Brazil during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 3, 2024

Japan's 'Slam Dunk' fans upstaged by 'Brazilian chapulines'

The Brazilians crushed Japan 102-84 in men's Group B to end the Asian side's Olympic dreams.

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