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Jeon Jong-duek, a former mathematics professor, on the Seoul Subway Line 1 during a trip home, in Dongdaemun-gu, a suburb of Seoul, on Aug. 3. With the fare free for those older than 65, some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 23, 2023

For South Korea’s senior subway riders, the joy is in the journey

The fare is free for those older than 65, and so some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.
The Chinese Navy's nuclear-powered Long March 11 submarine takes part in a naval parade off the eastern port city of Qingdao, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, in April 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 23, 2023

U.S. revives Cold War submarine spy program to counter China

The multibillion-dollar effort, known as the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System, comes as China ramps up activities near Taiwan.
Katsuura in Chiba Prefecture — around 90 minutes by express train from Tokyo — has never seen the mercury climb above 35 degrees Celsius, a benchmark the meteorological agency uses to describe “extremely hot” weather, since records began in the city in 1906.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 24, 2023

Japan’s endless summer pushes some toward cooler places

Amid a summerlong heat wave, more people are showing interest in moving to places like Katsuura that are known for their milder temperatures.
Women with portable electric fans in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo on Sept. 12. In Japan, Cool Biz became especially popular with women, who tended to wear lighter clothes and often complained about the cold temperatures needed to make business suits comfortable for their male colleagues.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2023

Where did all the dark-suited Japanese businessmen go?

Under Cool Biz, salarymen and government workers don short-sleeved shirts in the summer as offices are kept above 28 degrees Celsius to save energy.
Since the arrival of ChatGPT and other bots, fears over the potential for abuses and unintended consequences have gripped the public conscious.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

Worried about rogue chatbots? Hire a hacker.

It’s the good hackers being dangerous that allows us to find out what are the risks to artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2023

Syphilis cases in Japan top 10,000 for second year in 2023

It is unclear why new cases have shot up, reaching 10,000 two months earlier than last year.
A boat piloted by a Philippine fisherman is intercepted by Chinese coast guard boats as they tried to enter the Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 25, 2023

With bullhorns and water cannons, Chinese ships wall off the sea

The world’s most brazen maritime militarization is gaining muscle in the South China Sea, waters through which one-third of global ocean trade passes.
China's push to obtain hard power and "meta-power" has seen it lean heavily on its science and technology sectors.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 28, 2023

China looks to science and technology in its push for more power

Further power could give Beijing the ability to restrict other nations by structuring or restructuring systems, rules or frameworks.
The city of Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, is known as a haven for insects such as rhinoceros beetles.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2023

'Insect tourism' launched in rural Fukushima city

Tamura, located in the center of the Abukuma plateau, is known as a haven for insects such as rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2023

As Japan OKs Alzheimer's drug, issue of side effects comes into focus

There are big challenges ahead for the use of lecanemab, particularly on how to control side effects such as brain swelling and bleeding.
Rupert Murdoch in his office in New York in 2007. Murdoch's decision to step down from the boards of News Corp. and Fox Corp. marks the end of a decadeslong media career.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2023

Rupert Murdoch, the last of the press barons

No living person has influenced the media landscape like Rupert Murdoch. Should we view his career in a favorable light, or is his legacy one of darkness?
Self-proclaimed president of the "Free Republic of Liberland" Vit Jedlicka (center) poses with the Liberland flag and future citizens in the village of Backi Monostor, Serbia, in May 2015
WORLD / Society
Sep 25, 2023

Breakaway Balkans micronation dreams of a crypto future

"Liberland" has attracted libertarian supporters across the globe who see a natural harmony between libertarianism and crypto.
A car leaves Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that has been inhabited by ethnic Armenians, on Monday after fighters were defeated by Azerbaijan in a lightning military operation.
WORLD
Sep 26, 2023

Ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after defeat by Azerbaijan

The leadership of the 120,000 Armenians who call Karabakh home said they feared persecution and ethnic cleansing.
People queue to get tested for dengue fever in the eastern Gedaref state of Sudan on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 26, 2023

Hundreds dead from dengue fever in war-torn Sudan, medics say

More than five months into the war, 80% of the hospitals in Sudan are out of service, according to the United Nations.
Zaein, created by artificial intelligence company Pulse9, is one of South Korea's most active virtual humans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 26, 2023

In South Korea, AI-driven virtual humans go mainstream

Digital humans have been created for some of the country's largest conglomerates, with research indicating the tech could be worth $527 billion by 2030.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner outside the party's state office in Kolkata, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

Modi's ruling BJP plots election drive of epic scale

Growing anti-incumbency sentiment is conspiring with a newly formed national alliance to pose what BJP officials say will be Modi's toughest test by far.
Ukrainian refugees arrive at Haneda airport in Tokyo on April 5, 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

Japan to introduce new residency status for asylum-seekers

A program to offer a long-term residence status that will allow asylum-seekers to work in Japan will be introduced in December.
Blackberries from Pairwise, a company that uses gene-editing technology to create new breeds of plants, in Durham, North Carolina, on Sept. 13. Pairwise hopes to create a seedless blackberry that grows on compact, thorn-free bushes.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 26, 2023

Meet the climate-defying fruits and vegetables in your future

Breeding new crops that can thrive under these assaults is a long game.
Customers load their shopping into a vehicle at a New World supermarket in Wellington, operated by Foodstuffs New Zealand.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023

Cost-of-living stress fuels crime wave in Australia and New Zealand

While the thefts are brazen, organized and increasingly violent, experts say the shoplifting underscores the hardship many people are facing.
Dave Limp speaks during the Amazon Devices and Services event at the HQ2 campus in Arlington, Virginia, on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

At Amazon, he launched Alexa. His new job is to launch rockets.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has spent two decades trailing Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space-exploration race.
A screen in a shopping area in Beijing broadcasts news footage of military drills by China's People's Liberation Army around Taiwan on Aug. 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2023

China says drills near Taiwan target 'arrogance' of separatists

Taiwan has said this month that it had observed dozens of fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships operating nearby.
China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

Evergrande’s billionaire chairman Hui under police surveillance

Hui was taken away by Chinese police earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location. It’s not clear why he is under surveillance.
Refugees sit in a truck after crossing the border, near the town of Kornidzor, on Tuesday. Hundreds of vehicles were heading to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, following Azerbaijan's lightning offensive against the separatist enclave.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2023

Armenia says ‘ethnic cleansing’ happening in Karabakh region

Armenia's prime minister met with top U.S. officials as the exodus of people fleeing to his country from Azerbaijan accelerated.
(From left) G.R.D.V., Marao and Ryuseigun Saionji make up BBBBBBB (seven Bs pronounced one letter at a time), an Aichi Prefecture-based project whose brand of digital hardcore has made it one of the up-and-coming figures in Japan’s contemporary underground scene.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2023

BBBBBBB's sense of humor cuts through the noise

The Aichi Prefecture-based digital hardcore project finds inspiration in the loud chaos of Hollywood blockbusters from the 1990s.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023

Supreme Court may adjust requirements for gender status change

If the court deems the surgery requirement for a gender change to be unconstitutional, it is expected to pave the way for an amendment of the law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023

Court recognizes 128 plaintiffs as Minamata disease sufferers

Presiding Judge Yuki Tatsuno ordered that ¥2.75 million in damages be paid to each of the 128 people who sued the central government.
The Palais de Rumine, one of the former buildings of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland where famed-Italian sociologist, economist, political scientist and philosopher Vilfredo Pareto taught and penned many of his major works.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2023

Italian intellectual Vilfredo Pareto and the roots of politics

The great Italian public intellectual Vilfredo Pareto saw free trade as beneficial to all and military spending as detrimental to many.
Students from Yanagawa High School and its Thai-affiliated junior high school pose for a photo during an exchange event in August.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 2, 2023

Pioneering Thai-Japanese school aims to nurture global minds

Yanagawa Junior High School Thailand is affiliated with a school in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region arrive at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Sep 28, 2023

Nearly half of Karabakh population flees Azerbaijani control

The Armenian government said more than 53,000 people had left since Azerbaijan lifted its nine-month blockade on the enclave.
TikTok can advertise to more than 100 million users in Indonesia, but they now need to go on a different app or site to buy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 28, 2023

TikTok’s e-commerce ambitions stall as global backlash grows

Complaints about how TikTok is squeezing local players has stalled the Chinese-owned social media platform's e-commerce ambitions

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji