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The top of the damaged No.1 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Nuclear fuel debris extracted from Fukushima No. 1 reactor

Tepco retrieved a device holding a small amount of fallen debris from the containment vessel of the plant's No. 2 reactor as part of experimental removal work.
Nagoya Grampus players celebrate after the club won the Levain Cup at National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 2, 2024

Keeper Mitch Langerak gets perfect send-off as Nagoya captures Levain Cup

Langerak converted one of Grampus' five successful kicks during penalties in a roller coaster win over Albirex Niigata on Saturday.
Suzumi Suzuki’s “Gifted,” translated by Allison Markin Powell, centers on a hostess working in Kabukicho. Rather than focusing on the protagonist’s occupation, the story plunges the reader into her strained relationship with her dying mother.  
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2024

A nuanced glimpse into the cloistered world of Kabukicho

Drawing on her own experience working in adult entertainment, Suzumi Suzuki crafts a fresh, visceral work for her debut novel, "Gifted"
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole pitches against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 25.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 3, 2024

Yankees' Gerrit Cole opts out of contract

Cole, 34, opted out less than a week after losing the World Series-clinching Game 5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Koki Ikeda competes in the men’s 20 kilometer race walk at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 1.
OLYMPICS
Nov 3, 2024

Olympic medallist Koki Ikeda vows to clear name after doping suspension

The Athletics Integrity Unit said Friday that the 26-year-old, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had been provisionally banned for suspected blood doping.
Police officers investigate near a house in Tokyo where a resident was assaulted by a group of burglars on Saturday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024

Spate of burglaries in Kanto highlight importance of home security

Amid a surge in burglaries linked to "dark" part-time jobs across the Tokyo area, experts are advising people to take measures that would delay intruders.
As the European Commission prepares to make decisions on Google’s practices by the end of 2024, there is hope for a collaborative approach with U.S. regulators to create meaningful structural reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2024

Google’s breakup needs an international tag team

There’s a growing consensus among regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to redefine antitrust harm beyond just pricing issues.
The Indonesian Navy's KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 frigate. Jakarta and Moscow have different maritime goals, with Indonesia facing threats of smuggling and piracy while Russia is looking for willing allies.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2024

Joint Russia sea drills signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or U.S.-China rivalry
Former U.S. President Donald Trump with Elon Musk during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Musk’s close ties with Trump give Xi a friend with influence

Elon Musk, who has donated more than $100 million to support Donald Trump, has extensive business interests in China.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 20 and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 15
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Harris makes last-minute appeals while Trump embraces violent rhetoric

Opinion polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris locked in a tight presidential race.
Tesla CEO Elon Mus joins former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of the first assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2024

The growing shadow of big money in U.S. politics

Changes in federal election law have made it easier for candidates like Donald Trump to trade influence for donations.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a live interview with U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson in the finale of the Tucker Carlson Live Tour at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Election falsehoods take off on Youtube as it looks the other way

The largest video platform has become a home for election conspiracy theories, half-truths and lies, which provide it with revenue.
Smoke billows from a chimney at a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Drogenbos, Belgium, on Dec. 6, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 4, 2024

The world promised to tame methane, but emissions are still rising

World leaders and fossil fuel executives have declared tackling methane — and doing so quickly — a crucial priority.
An experiment by NITE shows an oil heater catching fire from leaked kerosene.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

Consumers urged to check heater safety ahead of winter accident surge

Past incidents typically surged in November and peaked in December, with elevated levels of heater-related accidents continuing through April.
Operators respond to telephone directory inquiries from Tokyo at a call center in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 1997.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 11, 2024

As NTT ends its Dial 104 service, Okinawa's call centers look elsewhere

Naha and Nago were home to Japan's biggest call center operations, receiving around 125,000 calls a day at their peak in 1999.
Saitama Gov. Motohiro Ono (right) and others call on users to stand still on the escalator in the city of Saitama in September.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 6, 2024

Stop walking on escalators, local Japanese authorities say

Prefectures and cities are using legislation or exploring other measures to discourage pedestrians from walking on escalators in the interest of safety.
Astronauts Ayu Yoneda (left) and Makoto Suwa at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 23
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024

New Japanese astronauts see moon landing as real possibility

Under the Artemis international lunar exploration program, Yoneda and Suwa, may become the first Japanese to land on the moon as early as the late 2020s.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump points to supporters as he holds hands with his wife, Melania, before claiming victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump defeats Harris, returning U.S. to era of uncertainty

Kamala Harris congratulated her rival on a win expected to have a dramatic impact on the United States' relationships with allies like Japan and rivals like China.
Workers unload a large marble Buddha statue from a truck in Mandalay, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 6, 2024

The marble 'living Buddhas' trapped by Myanmar's civil war

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been mired in bloody conflict since the military toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
The film character Godzilla poses on the red carpet during a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, in November 2004.  
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2024

After nearly three-quarters of a century, Godzilla’s monstrous empire is thriving

The famed Japanese monster went from serious metaphor for nuclear destruction to a kitschy pop culture icon.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Nov. 1.
WORLD
Nov 6, 2024

White House win gives Trump a legal reprieve

As U.S. president, the 78-year-old Trump can make the federal criminal cases facing him vanish and see the state cases put on hold.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage to address supporters at his rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump 2.0: Who is in the running for top jobs in Trump's second administration?

Trump’s potential cabinet choices signal a hard-line approach, prioritizing tariffs, strict immigration policies, and assertive national security strategies.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, China's president, shake hands during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Xi is better prepared for Trump even as 60% tariffs risk chaos

Xi would much prefer to avoid a tariff battle that risks proving much more devastating than the first round.
Asian chipmakers, led by Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung Electronics, have collectively invested at least $117 billion in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

What's at stake for Asian companies under a Trump presidency

Trump has floated the idea of a 10% or more tariff on all goods imported into the U.S.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump managed to win the support of over 72 million Americans despite his history of trying to overturn elections, a lack of policy expertise and his authoritarian rhetoric.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2024

A Donald Trump victory: How did it come to this?

How did a convicted felon, who sought to overturn a presidential election that he decisively lost just four years ago, win the votes of more than 72 million Americans?
U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2024

Nippon Steel seeks to close U.S. Steel deal before Trump is president

Before the Nov. 5 election, which handed him victory, Donald Trump promised to block the deal if reelected.
Outgoing Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii speaks at the party's executive meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

Komeito pins hopes on new leader after dismal electoral performance

Transport minister Tetsuo Saito, 72, is set to formally succeed party leader Keiichi Ishii.
Outgoing German Finance Minister Christian Lindner receives his dismissal certificate after being sacked by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, following a coalition crisis in the government, in Berlin on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2024

Germany’s government puts itself out of its misery

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his Finance Minister Christian Lindner over deep rifts within the government on how to revive Germany’s ailing economy.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2024

After GOP wins, Senate Democrats eye major push to confirm Biden judges

The loss of the White House and the Senate majority will end Democrats’ ability to fill judicial vacancies come January.
Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. attends the ASEAN-U.S. summit at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 9, 2024

China summons Philippine ambassador over new maritime laws

China objected to new laws in the Southeast Asian nation that asserted maritime rights over disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Longform

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