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Nobuyuki Baba (left), the leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, faces Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a parliamentary debate among party leaders in June.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Japan's allowance disclosure reform for lawmakers stalled

Efforts have slowed as an agreement between two key parties on the issue lacks a specific deadline.
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on May 6 in Beverly Hills, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 15, 2024

Musk’s free speech mantra collides with crackdowns on hate speech and disinformation

Since taking over, Musk has largely abandoned X’s prior efforts to curb misinformation, instead asking users to police themselves.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (center) visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday, the 79th anniversary of the country's surrender in World War II.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2024

Three Cabinet ministers visit war-linked Yasukuni Shrine

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, economic revitalization minister Yoshitaka Shindo and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visited the shrine.
An Apple Store in New York on July 29
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024

Developing new tabletop home device, Apple pushes ahead with robotics shift

The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which would offer a twist on products like Amazon’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms’s Portal.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Kishida clears the way for ministers to campaign in LDP election

Prospective candidates are weighing whether they can gather the necessary endorsements and rake in enough votes to have a decent shot at winning.
Defending champion Coco Gauff suffered a surprise defeat against Yulia Putintseva at the Cincinnati Open on Thursday.
TENNIS
Aug 16, 2024

Defending champion Gauff crashes out in her WTA Cincinnati opener

The second-round shock to America's Paris Olympic flag bearer stunned a partisan crowd in the U.S. heartland in the final major tuneup for the U.S. Open.
If two veterans, Toshimitsu Motegi and Shigeru Ishiba, run for the role of Liberal Democratic Party president, the race might come down to a choice between one of former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s allies versus one of LDP Vice President Taro Aso’s allies.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 16, 2024

Despite disbandment, factions still loom over LDP leadership race

Faction leaders' continued influence means they can't be ignored by candidates for party president.
American Sepp Kuss celebrates after winning Vuelta a Espana in September last year. The Visma rider will be looking to go back-to-back when the Grand Tour begins Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Aug 16, 2024

Kuss and Roglic to battle for wide open Vuelta a Espana

With star trio Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel not competing this year, several other cyclists are eyeing the chance to claim a Grand Tour triumph.
Children practice tennis at a club in Beijing on Wednesday. Zheng Qinwen's historic tennis gold at the Paris Olympics this month followed a decadeslong surge in the sport's popularity among China's burgeoning middle class.
OLYMPICS
Aug 16, 2024

China's Olympic tennis glory tracks booming middle classes

Zheng Qinwen's tennis gold at the Paris Olympics followed a decadeslong surge in the sport's popularity among China's burgeoning middle class.
Security guards on the observation deck of the Istanbul Sapphire building.
WORLD
Aug 17, 2024

The shaky ground below Istanbul is getting people worried

After last year's devastating quake, and criticism the authorities weren’t prepared, banks are now getting ahead on contingency planning.
Hideki Matsuyama poses with the FedEx Cup TPC Southwind Champion trophy during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Aug 19, 2024

Matsuyama survives wobble to clinch St. Jude Championship

The win was the 10th on the PGA Tour for Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters winner, and his second this season.
Sailors line the deck of the German frigate F222 Baden-Wuerttemberg as it arrives in New York Harbor in New York on May 22 during a parade of ships to kick off "Fleet Week 2024.”
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2024

German warships await orders on crossing disputed Taiwan Strait

While the U.S. and other nations have sent warships through the strait in recent weeks, it would be the German navy's first passage through it since 2002.
An ambulance is parked at the entrance of the emergency room of Saitama Hospital in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, on July 24.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Aug 20, 2024

How Japan's health care system is gearing up for more heatstroke cases

Rising heatstroke cases are weighing on the nation’s health care system, which is already wrestling with the growing burden of a rapidly aging population.
Jacob Roberts, a former Wake Forest football player, changes tires alongside other athletes in simulated pit stops during the annual pit crew combine at Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, on June 13. Top racing teams have found former college football players often make the best prospects for their pit crew teams.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 20, 2024

When NFL dreams end, NASCAR’s pit crews beckon

Former football players often make the best prospects for the five-man crews, thanks to their strength, agility and speed.
Bangladesh's instability adds to the existing regional tensions in South Asia, which is already grappling with violence in Myanmar, terrorism in the Pakistan-Afghanistan area and political turmoil in the Maldives and Nepal.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

South Asia’s deepening political turmoil

The ouster of Bangladeshi's government is the latest example of political volatility in South Asia — a region struggling to achieve stability, let alone democratization.
The size of the carry trade strategy is hard to determine because currency transactions, unlike stock trades, aren't tracked on exchanges. We only have estimates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2024

How big is the yen carry trade, really?

There is now worry that the unwinding of yen-funded carry trades would wreck investors’ frothy exposures to U.S. technology and AI-related companies.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 14
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Kishida to visit U.S. just before stepping down

While in New York, Kishida is expected to hold bilateral meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and other global leaders.
A recruiter holding a placard advertising jobs talks to young men at an unofficial job market in the suburbs of Beijing.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 21, 2024

China's rising youth unemployment breeds new working class

Millions of graduates are being pushed into a tough bargain, with some forced to accept low-paying work or even subsist on their parents' pensions.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama waves after speaking on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday night.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Obama night at the DNC: Barack and Michelle rouse crowd for Harris

Obama has thrown his considerable political capital behind Harris as she seeks to make history herself on Nov. 5 as the first woman president.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen in action during the Belgian Grand Prix on July 28
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 21, 2024

Verstappen needs a home win to end losing streak

Verstappen, who leads Formula One by 78 points with 10 rounds remaining, has not stood on top of the podium since Spain on June 23.
The integration of large language models into war-game simulations and planning promises faster scenario analysis, but recent research highlights significant issues, including a risk of escalation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2024

Resist the seductive power of AI in military decision-making

The maturation of AI and the creation of large learning models have driven the war-gaming industry — and it is an industry — to new heights of fever and frenzy.
Existential risks like bioterrorism or climate change, created by humans, are not being treated by governments with anything like the seriousness or urgency they deserve.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2024

Will we survive the next 100 years?

Existential risks like bioterrorism or climate change, created by humans, are not being treated by governments with anything like the seriousness or urgency they deserve.
The Italian Navy's aircraft carrier ITS Cavour at the Yokosuka naval base on Thursday. The 244-meter, 27,100-ton Italian flagship arrived at the base in Kanagawa Prefecture Thursday morning for a port call.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Italy-Japan ties enter ‘new era’ amid deepening alignment, top envoy to Tokyo says

Underscoring this rapidly expanding partnership was the 244-meter, 27,100-ton flagship's visit to the Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are escorted outside the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest on Wednesday
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2024

Romania detains Andrew Tate, raids home in new probe

Tate and his brother have already been accused of having formed an organized criminal network in Romania and Britain.
A ship transports passengers to Honiara Port in the Solomon Islands. The region’s maritime location between Asia, North America and Australia is set to keep it at the forefront of major powers’ defense strategies.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

New ‘great game’ in Pacific between U.S. and China puts development at risk

Great power attention in the Pacific could cause local needs like poverty reduction, education, health and other key areas to be neglected in favor of strategic projects.
A drone view shows Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, on Aug. 11.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Trump earns big from Florida golf resorts as his other businesses flag

The health of Donald Trump’s golf business is a bright spot at a precarious moment for the Trump Organization.
Jannik Sinner has been cleared to continue competing despite failing two doping tests this year.
TENNIS
Aug 22, 2024

Tennis players decry double standards after Jannik Sinner avoids doping ban

Some players have suggested that the Italian received preferential treatment.
Japan coach Futoshi Ikeda consoles Fuka Nagano after their quarterfinal loss against the United States at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3.
SOCCER
Aug 22, 2024

Nadeshiko Japan parts ways with coach Futoshi Ikeda

The 53-year-old led Nadeshiko Japan to the last eight at the Women's World Cup last year, but the team was unable to improve on that showing in Paris earlier this month.
Jannik Sinner chases a shot during his match against Frances Tiafoe during the Cincinnati Open final on Monday.
TENNIS
Aug 22, 2024

Jannik Sinner hopes to tune out noise after avoiding doping ban

Sinner tested positive for clostebol at Indian Wells in March with low quantities of the banned substance found in his system again after another test days later.
Work to extract nuclear fuel debris from the No. 2 reactor of the meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant has been halted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2024

Tepco halts Fukushima nuclear fuel debris removal work

The suspension follows the discovery of an error in procedures to install equipment to extract the debris during preparatory work.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami