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Japan's cyberdefense legislation is designed for the government to acquire and analyze communication information in normal times.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025

Japan's active cyberdefense bills include normal-time monitoring

The bills also call for establishing an independent organization to supervise cyberdefense operations and file relevant reports to parliament.
People gather at the National Covid Memorial Wall on the COVID-19 Day of Reflection, marking 5 years since the start of the pandemic, in London on March 9.
WORLD / Society
Mar 18, 2025

Debt, job loss and eviction weigh on parents of children with long COVID

Five years after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, the families of over 111,000 children in the U.K. sick with long COVID feel invisible.
U.S. President Donald Trump reviews troops aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, in May 2019. The shifting global security landscape has sparked discussions in many countries, including Japan, about developing nuclear weapons in response to changing U.S. commitments.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Changing U.S. commitments spark nuclear armament debates, including in Japan

Given Japan's unique history in 1945, it will take more than fear or harsh rhetoric to push the country into considering the development of nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang in June 2024. Moscow has ditched its historic hostility to North Korea's nuclear program, a clear sign of Russia's scramble for allies amid its international isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2025

It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes

Countries who want deterrence and stability must stop Russia from influencing perceptions of North Korea's nuclear program — one that, in an about-face, Moscow now supports.
A monument stands in Fujigane Park at the former site of an Aum Shinrikyo facility in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025

Former member of Aum Shinrikyo expresses regret 30 years on

The 59-year-old man who has served time in prison admitted to following the doomsday cult's leader despite thinking it wasn't right.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas presents the white paper on the future of European defense, in Brussels on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2025

EU proposes joint defense push amid Russia fears and U.S. worries

EU countries have already begun boosting their own defenses in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Wataru Endo speaks during a news conference in Paris earlier this month.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 20, 2025

Endo says Japan won't be satisfied just to reach World Cup

Samurai Blue have been dominant in qualifying and can book their spot at the 2026 finals if they beat Bahrain in Saitama.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left), who had stormy exchanges earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described their call on Wednesday as "fantastic.”
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2025

Trump and Zelenskyy pledge in phone call to work for end to war in Ukraine

Describing the move as a step toward fully ending Ukraine's war with Russia, the Ukrainian president said his country is "ready to implement it."
Russians queue to apply for visas at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow on March 4.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Cherry blossoms and free visas draw Russians to Japan

The number of Russians holidaying in Japan is set to double this year from around 100,000 in 2024, helped by a strengthening ruble.
Newly-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry during her first news conference in Costa Navarino, Greece, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 21, 2025

Kirsty Coventry enjoys 'extraordinary moment' as she becomes IOC's first female leader

The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe is also the youngest person to hold the most powerful position in sports governance.
As the founder of Z Rakugo, Edanoshin Katsura is introducing the traditional storytelling form to younger audiences by blending it with club visuals and electronic music.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 22, 2025

Edanoshin Katsura: ‘Rakugo and techno are both about rhythm and groove’

A 23-year-old entertainer is redefining the Japanese comedic storytelling tradition for Gen Z by introducing elements of techno and underground youth culture.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces and seen from across the Dnipro River, in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 21, 2025

Financial folly or pressure tactic? Trump eyes Ukraine's occupied nuclear plant

The vast plant is beset with problems and it would be years before there is even a hope of it making a return on investment.
U.S. President Donald Trump with Elon Musk and his son at the White House this month. The Pentagon is scheduled on Friday to brief Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, two U.S. officials said Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

Musk set to get access to top-secret U.S. plan for potential war with China

Providing Musk with access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets would bring into sharp relief questions about his conflicts of interest.
Novelist Genki Kawamura wrote in the dedication to his “One Hundred Flowers” novel that his grandmother’s memories “bloomed like a hundred flowers” at the close of her life.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 22, 2025

'One Hundred Flowers': A moving exploration of loss, love and living with dementia

Author Genki Kawamura drew inspiration from his grandmother's experiences to thoughtfully portray a woman suffering from dementia in his novel.
AMKK’s latest exhibition, “X-Ray Flowers,” is the culmination of seven years of work aided by CT technologists, who help with the highly specialized imaging techniques.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 21, 2025

Avant-garde botanists AMKK illuminate the inner worlds of flowers

The punk florists' latest exhibition immerses visitors in darkness, bathed only in the glow of X-rays and CT scans of plants and flowers.
The Pentagon's disbandment of the Office of Net Assessment ends a key institution that provided long-term strategic analysis, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to future geopolitical challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025

A sad day for U.S. strategic analysis as the Office of Net Assessment is disbanded

While most focused on the military, ONA was the only group to conclude that winning the Cold War relied on economic means, not troop numbers.
A Self-Defense Forces officer speaks during a news conference Friday at the Tokyo District Court over a power harassment lawsuit he filed against the state earlier in the day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025

SDF officer sues the state over alleged power harassment

The officer is seeking more than ¥14 million in damages after being transferred to a post completely different from his field of expertise, which led to mental illness.
San Francisco-based OpenAI sees the new studies as a way to get a better sense of how people interact with, and are affected by, its popular chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 22, 2025

OpenAI study finds links between ChatGPT use and loneliness

Those who spent more time typing or speaking with ChatGPT each day tended to report higher levels of emotional dependence on the chatbot.
An employee works at a production line of 155 mm artillery shells at the plant of German company Rheinmetall, which produces weapons and ammunition for tanks and artillery.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2025

Europe is short of gunpowder and TNT when it needs them most

European governments dug into their munitions stockpiles to arm Ukraine, exposing how shallow their reserves were.
Former World heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman poses during a media conference in Johannesburg in April 2001.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2025

George Foreman, ageless heavyweight champion, dies at 76

Foreman claimed a world title in his 20s and again in his 40s, and then made millions selling grills.
Keio University in Tokyo
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 22, 2025

Keio University team says stem cell treatment helped improve spine injuries

Keio University said that the motor function score for two patients improved after an operation to implant more than 2 million iPS-derived cells into a spinal cord.
Protesters outside a Tesla showroom in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on March 20.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 22, 2025

Tesla vandalism sparked by fury against Musk draws GOP ire

Caught in the middle are millions of customers whose electric vehicles increasingly are viewed as political symbols.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks toward Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 23, 2025

Trump plans his tariff ‘Liberation Day’ with more targeted push

Trump is preparing a "Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2.
The Tokyo District Court is expected to present its decision regarding the dissolution the Unification Church on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 23, 2025

Tokyo court may decide on Unification Church dissolution on Tuesday

The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shed light on the Unification Church's controversial practices.
Yuma Kagiyama performs during the men's free skate at Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki in November.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Mar 23, 2025

Top skaters prepare to do battle at worlds as 2026 Olympics loom

From Kaori Sakamoto to the "Quad God," here are five skaters to keep an eye on over the next week in Boston.
Viktor Hovland celebrates with the trophy after winning the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Mar 24, 2025

Viktor Hovland ends PGA title drought with Valspar Championship victory

Hovland claimed his seventh U.S. tour title, but his first since the Tour Championship in 2023.
The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, on Sunday, where talks are underway with U.S. mediation to try to reach a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
WORLD
Mar 24, 2025

U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine begin in Saudi Arabia

U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes talks in Riyadh could pave the way for a breakthrough.
Saudi fans cheer during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers group C match between Saudi Arabia and China in Riyadh on Thursday.
SOCCER
Mar 25, 2025

Renard expecting no letup from Japan as Saudis eye World Cup spot

The Saudis picked up their first win in five qualifiers when they beat China 1-0 at home last week.
Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics, in Suwon, South Korea, on March 19
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 25, 2025

Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee dies of cardiac arrest

Han, who joined Samsung Electronics nearly 40 years ago, built his career in the TV business. He became vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics in 2022.
A Ukrainian coast guard serviceman on a patrol boat as a cargo ship passes by in the Black Sea on Feb. 7, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 25, 2025

U.S. and Russia wrap up Saudi Arabia talks on proposed Black Sea ceasefire

Even as the talks were underway, a Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine wounding at least 88 people.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear