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A handful of trees stand at the Tabqa Reserve near the village of Jaabar, in the Kurdish-held part of Syria's Raqqa province.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023

Illegal logging turns Syria's forests into 'barren land'

Fuel shortages and rampant poverty have pushed many Syrians to chop the trees to sell or use for heating, dealing a blow to the nature surrounding Jaabar.
It is still unclear whether BA.2.86 will be able to out-compete other strains of the virus that causes COVID-19, or have any advantage in escaping immune responses from prior infection or vaccination.
WORLD / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2023

What you need to know about BA.2.86, the new COVID variant

Scientists are keeping an eye on the new lineage because it has 36 mutations that distinguish it from the currently dominant XBB.1.5 variant.
U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles (right) beats the field to the finish line to win the 100-meter final at the world championships in Budapest on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 21, 2023

U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles eager to pick up baton Usain Bolt left behind

Noah Lyles is ready to take aim at Usain Bolt's 200-meter world record after winning the 100 at the word championships.
The port in Ensenada as Tropical Storm Hilary hits Baja California state, Mexico, on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023

Storm Hilary puts California at risk of catastrophic flooding

A state of emergency was declared for much of Southern California, with flash flood warnings throughout a region more accustomed to drought.
JAPAN / History
Aug 21, 2023

Colorized photos of 1923 Tokyo quake to be displayed

The photos of the 1923 disaster will be displayed as part of an exhibition set to start at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo on Sept. 1.
While most players in the field of neurotechnology are exclusively concerned with medical uses, Elon Musk is touting the possibility of telepathy, using the technology to store memories or to enable humans to continue their existence without their bodies.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2023

The race to link our brains to computers is heating up

Brain implants have long been trapped in the realm of science fiction, but medical trials suggest the devices could play a big part in humanity's future.
The U.S. has 8,000 km of carbon dioxide pipelines, but will need at least 50,000 to hit climate goals, according to a carbon transport engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2023

U.S. Midwest is ground zero in the fight over carbon capture

The U.S. wants to greatly expand carbon capture and storage infrastructure, including pipelines, but many projects face opposition in the Midwest.
With temperatures around the world reaching record highs this summer, you may want to reconsider which sunscreen you are using, experts say, as not all sunscreens are the same.
WORLD / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2023

Extreme heat may mean using a different sunscreen

The two major types — mineral and chemical — handle the sun's ultraviolet rays differently and during extremely hot weather, those differences can matter.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2023

Japanese ministry panel gives OK to Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab

The panel’s endorsement will be followed by official approval by the health minister in coming days.
U.S. President Joe Biden (second from rigt), U.S. first lady Jill Biden (right), Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (second from left) and Jaime Green, first lady of Hawaii, visit an area devastated by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Monday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 22, 2023

Biden vows to help Maui rebuild after ‘unimaginable tragedy’

"Whatever you need, you’re going to get,” Biden said in the historic town of Lahaina, which was ravaged by the fires, vowing to help residents rebuild.
An office worker in London. A new report found that 36% of so-called workpoints — cubicles and desks — are never occupied, "indicating a general oversupply.”
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2023

More than one-third of desks globally sit empty all week long

The dearth of desk usage could prompt employers to rethink their real estate needs.
Pheu Thai's Srettha Thavisin. Thailand's parliament voted in favor of his prime ministerial candidacy in Bangkok on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 23, 2023

Thai property mogul Srettha Thavisin's unlikely rise to PM

The conservative establishment sees Srettha and his Pheu Thai party as more palatable than the progressive Move Forward Party.
Flames reach upward along the edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, in June.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 23, 2023

As wildfires multiply, a new era of air pollution

The average American had already been exposed to 450 micrograms of smoke per cubic meter by early July, worse than from 2006-2022.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023

China and Hong Kong to toughen import restrictions on Japan foods

Of Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food items, 36% went to mainland China and Hong Kong in total in 2022.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 23, 2023

Nihon University scandal puts focus on 'collective responsibility'

Critics of the approach of punishing an entire team for wrongdoing by some say it can unfairly affect athletes that weren't involved.
Artificial intelligence is likely to help Big Tech companies cement their industry dominance as they are the ones with the resources to develop and maintain the most powerful AI models.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2023

Unlocking AI’s potential for everyone

The tech industry’s dominant players are now deploying artificial-intelligence models to reinforce their positions in the market.
Sushi made with fish imported from Japan at a Japanese supermarket in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023

China's sushi fans flounder over Fukushima water release

Chinese sushi lovers have expressed reservations after Japan kicked off plans for the disposal of wastewater from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant.
People watch a live stream of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's landing on the moon, at an auditorium of Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 24, 2023

‘India is on the moon’: Nation’s success opens next space chapter

The mission makes India the first nation to reach the moon's south polar region in one piece and adds to the achievements of the country’s space program.
Emergency specialists carry a body bag near wreckage of the private jet that was believed to be carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, at the crash site in Russia's Tver region on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2023

Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin believed to have died in fatal plane crash

No cause was announced but the crash immediately raised suspicions that Prigozhin had been killed.
Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and attorney of former U.S. President Donald Trump, outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Wednesday after he surrendered to authorities
WORLD
Aug 24, 2023

Giuliani surrenders at jail in Georgia election case

Giuliani, whose bond was set at $150,000, arrived in Atlanta as another defendant in the sprawling case filed a motion seeking a speedy trial.
A customer shops at a sushi counter at the Food Le Parc supermarket in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2023

Hong Kong restaurants brace for cost jump after Japan seafood ban

The saga is yet another headache for the city’s restaurant industry, which is still suffering from the effects from pandemic curbs and a worker shortage.
Kim Hau's tea shop was raided by police in February 2022, when she was arrested for sedition.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 24, 2023

Ordinary Hong Kongers convicted under colonial-era sedition law

Authorities in Hong Kong are using the law to punish any kind of criticism or dissent, even coming from ordinary citizens rather than activists.
A promotional poster for the film "Barbie" in Tokyo on Aug. 3
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2023

Why is the ‘Barbie’ movie bombing in Japanese theaters?

The fact that the movie's female empowerment theme won’t have a positive, lasting impact in Japan is a shame.
By 2060, it is estimated that the combined gross domestic products of China, India and Indonesia will equal $116.7 trillion, making the bloc's economy three times larger than the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

The irresistible rise of the rest of the world

With 90% of the world's population, non-Western countries will no longer accept being excluded from global decision-making.
Matt Daniels of the Buffalo Bills Wheelchair Football Team moves with the ball during a scrimmage against the Cleveland Browns Adaptive Sports team in Cleveland on Aug. 5, 2023.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 24, 2023

Wheelchair football provides camaraderie amid metal-on-metal clashes

Dawson Broad was instantly drawn to wheelchair football after attending a game in Buffalo.
Locals protest the release of tritium-laced water from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant on Thursday in the town of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 24, 2023

Fukushima locals worry about the 'what ifs' from water release

Towns and villages around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were buzzing with the “what ifs” from the plant’s tritium-laced water release on Thursday.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian private mercenary group Wagner, speaks in an unknown location, in this still image taken from video published on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 25, 2023

Prigozhin's presumed death may create new problems for Putin

A full investigation of the cause of the crash is unlikely to shake the belief that he was killed as an act of vengeance for staging a mutiny.
Wagner mercenaries guard the president and other high-ranking attendees at an event in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, in May 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 25, 2023

Wagner’s empire in Africa will live on after Prigozhin

Prigozhin built a business empire on the continent over the past five years, becoming an iconoclastic celebrity in places like Mali.
People wait in line to take a COVID-19 oral swab test on a sidewalk in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City on June 20.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2023

Highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86 found in two more countries

Omicron offshoot BA.2.86 carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2023

Japan's top court takes steps to ensure preservation of case records

The Supreme Court plans to work hard to change the mentality of court officials and prevent any recurrence of document destruction.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years