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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is examining allegations that Microsoft is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024

Microsoft faces wide-ranging U.S. antitrust probe

The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area will host a major international art festival called Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025 from October to December next year.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024

Triennale aims to energize Tokyo's Odaiba area with art

The event will bring together works by famed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama and other artists from Japan and abroad.
Workers install solar panels at the Khavda Renewable Energy Park of Adani Green Energy in the village of Khavda, in India, on April 12.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024

Adani allegations cast light on barriers to India's ambitious solar drive

India's states are unprepared for a rapid rise in renewable generating capacity, lack adequate transmission infrastructure and storage.
A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

U.S. readies China chip curbs that stop short of earlier proposals

American chip equipment makers have warned that tougher measures would bring catastrophic harm to their business.
U.S. President Joe Biden leaves after delivering remarks from the White House Rose Garden in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Biden readies $725 million arms aid package for Ukraine, sources say

The Biden administration plans to provide a variety of anti-tank weapons from U.S. stocks to blunt Russia's advancing troops.
According to a recent survey by Child Fund Japan, a nonprofit, one in eight minors in Japan have experienced online requests from strangers to meet or for sexual photos. Despite the potential harms of social media, strong regulations are lacking.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Japan doesn't need a social media ban, but it must protect children

Short of stopping minors from using social media, Japan needs to beef up its response to an evermore perilous online environment. One that adults often struggle to grasp.
Fentanyl pills found by officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York on Oct. 4, 2022
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump places high-risk, high-reward bet on tariffs to stem fentanyl

The U.S. president-elect has vowed to impose tariffs on China and Mexico unless they stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the U.S. border.
Trump faced a barrage of lawsuits that slowed down his ability to turn campaign promises into reality the last time he was in the White House, even if those challenges ultimately fell short.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump agenda set to collide with slow pace of U.S. legal system

The stubborn realities of litigation stymied the president-elect’s ability to carry out quick changes during his first term.
Toyota's global sales, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, rose 0.4% in October compared with last year, the first uptick in three months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024

Toyota’s sales and output plateau on downturn in Japan and China

The world’s biggest carmaker has seen sales and output fall throughout the year as Japanese carmakers struggle to compete in China.
Masato Kanda, then the foreign ministry's vice minister for international affairs, speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo in February.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024

Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda chosen as next ADB chief

Masato Kanda will be tasked to navigate the ADB through fresh challenges such as helping Asia reduce poverty and mitigate risks from climate change.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Putin warns Russia may strike Kyiv with new ballistic missiles

Russia has said it will strike back for recent Ukrainian attacks using U.S.-supplied ATACMS and U.K.-made Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 29, 2024

Australia passes social media ban for children under 16

The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
A damaged vehicle sits near Roman ruins in the eastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, on Thursday, the second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024

Israel and Hezbollah trade accusations of ceasefire violations

The Israeli military said its air force struck a facility used by Hezbollah to store midrange rockets in southern Lebanon.
A girl stands next to her house damaged by a Russian missile strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Ukraine calls Russian strikes on energy facilities 'despicable escalation'

Ukrainian president said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions on Thursday, its second big attack on energy infrastructure this month.
Yoshitaka Ito, minister for regional revitalization (right), and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba set up a signboard for an office in charge of regional revitalization on Nov. 8 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2024

Japan will help revitalize willing municipalities, minister says

The government is working to create a 10-year basic plan for rural revitalization, said Yoshitaka Ito, minister for regional revitalization.
The Moscow skyline. Heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defense industries has drawn workers away from civilian enterprises, as has emigration, pushing unemployment to a record low of 2.3%, data showed Wednesday.
WORLD / Society / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024

Russia's labor shortage spreads as defense sector poaches staff

A growing labor shortage is affecting all areas of life since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Iran has well over 10,000 existing centrifuges operating at two underground plants at Natanz and Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Iran plans new uranium-enrichment expansion, IAEA report says

The confidential report details Iran's response to a resolution against it that the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week.
U.K. Members of Parliament will vote on assisted dying for the first time in nine years.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024

U.K. Parliament to hold first vote on assisted dying in nine years

Under the legislation put forward, assisted dying would be restricted to adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware

“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
Despite a range of backgrounds and culinary traditions, food served as the ultimate lingua franca for chefs touring Nagano Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 1, 2024

Putting mountainous Nagano on a plate

Nagano’s natural bounty became the star attraction as chefs from Europe, Southeast Asia and Oceania showed off their chops with local ingredients.
The industry ministry plans to provide aid of up to ¥70.5 billion to auto parts maker Denso and Fuji Electric for the joint production of power semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024

Denso and Fuji Electric to get government aid for power chips

Although Japanese companies have a large share of the global power semiconductor market, production volume per maker is smaller compared with European and U.S. peers.
A stone pillar at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, on which the word "toilet" was spray-painted in May
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024

Chinese man pleads guilty to role in vandalizing Yasukuni Shrine

Jiang Zhuojun said he assisted with the vandalizing to protest against Japan's discharging of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Ishiba sticks to the basics in second policy speech

Rather than expand on his broader vision, Ishiba chose to focus on less-contentious individual policy matters.
While the economic benefits of Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel are clear, concerns remain about sustaining U.S. domestic steel production, preserving national security interests and addressing union concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Nippon Steel endgame: Resistance or renaissance for the U.S. steel industry

The endgame for Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel appears near and the results could have a significant impact on U.S.-Japan relations, depending on the outcome.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives to deliver a policy address during a Lower House session in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 29, 2024

Japan earmarks extra ¥1.5 trillion for chips and AI this year

Japan is fighting to keep up in a global spending spree on cutting-edge tech led by China and the U.S.
An observation deck at a Starbucks store with views of North Korea in Gimpo, South Korea, on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 29, 2024

Starbucks serves South Koreans coffee and a glimpse into the North

Hundreds showed up on Friday for the opening of the U.S. coffeehouse chain's newest store in an observatory near the city of Gimpo.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te gives a keynote address on the island's national day in Taipei on Oct. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

China urges utmost caution by U.S. ahead of Taiwan leader's Hawaii trip

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te starts a trip this week that will see him transit both Hawaii and Guam, as part of a Pacific tour.
Syrian jihadis in the streets of the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday. Jihadis and their Turkish-backed allies reached Syria's second city of Aleppo earlier, as they pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government.
WORLD
Nov 30, 2024

Jihadis and allies breach Syria's second city in lightning assault

The fighters took control of "half of the city of Aleppo" as regime forces withdrew, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years

She said on Friday that she regretted the 2018 email and had apologized to him.
Britain's Andy Murray and Serbia's Novak Djokovic during a practice session ahead of the 2022 Laver Cup in London on Sept. 22, 2022.
TENNIS
Dec 1, 2024

Shared experiences make Murray the 'perfect coach,' Djokovic says

Murray, a three-time major winner, retired after the Paris Olympics at the age of 37, finally admitting defeat in his long battle against injury.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan