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Scientists are increasingly exploring mechanisms that can help the body adapt to rising temperatures affecting our sleep and leading to health complications.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 13, 2025

Scientists exploring how to beat heat for better sleep

The human brain is very sensitive to heat, with higher temperatures raising the body's central thermostat and activating stress systems.
India's air conditioner market is set to grow from the current 14 million units to 30 million units in terms of volume by 2030, driven by hotter summers and rising disposable incomes.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 13, 2025

Indians buy 14 million air conditioners a year, and need many more

A record 14 million AC units were sold in India last year, with a ninefold increase in residential ownership forecast by midcentury.
People smoking in Yuxi, in China's southwest Yunnan province. China is home to a third of the world's smokers and tobacco-related diseases are a major cause of death in the country — a trend likely to worsen as its population rapidly ages.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 13, 2025

Tobacco town thrives as China struggles to kick the habit

China is home to a third of the world's smokers and tobacco-related diseases are a major cause of death in the country.
A Chinese national flag flies as people walk over a pedestrian bridge in Shanghai on April 15.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Japanese man gets 12-year prison sentence in China over spying

The Japanese consul-general in Shanghai was allowed to observe the court hearing but has not disclosed details of the ruling.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Zelenskyy insists on face-to-face talks with Putin in Istanbul

The planned talks have become the main focus of peace efforts led by U.S. President Donald Trump, who is sending his secretary of state has also offered to attend.
FemUniti was founded in 2024 by Setsu Suzuki (right) and Meagan Ward (second from left) to empower women entrepreneurs and connect them to resources and opportunities.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
May 19, 2025

Detroit-Nagoya network empowers women-owned businesses around the world

Supporting women in business is a “blueprint for the future,” says the cofounder of femUniti — and she has the data to back it up.
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 14, 2025

Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia

The recent conflict is challenging long-held perceptions of Chinese weapons' inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing.
Nippon Life Insurance is diversifying its investments to enhance yields, although it’s a tricky time to invest with U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war fueling global market volatility.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025

Japan’s biggest insurer weighs riskier overseas CLO investments

Japan’s biggest life insurer is considering taking on a little more risk with its investments in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), as it looks for ways to eke out better returns abroad.
Japan ranked 14th out of 36 developed countries in the latest child well-being survey, improving from 20th place in the previous survey released in 2020, a report by a UNICEF research institute showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025

Japan ranks 14th in UNICEF child well-being survey

Top positions in the latest overall rankings were held by the Netherlands, Denmark and other European countries.
Along with running a commissary located outside a prison, Shinji Kaneko (Ryuhei Maruyama) carries out requests on behalf of detainees and their families in “Kaneko’s Commissary.”
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2025

‘Kaneko's Commissary’ explores prison culture from the outside in

First-time director Go Furukawa’s heartfelt film stands out from the genre crowd for its informed examination of how the prison complex operates.
NTT said last week it will take its data service unit NTT Data Group private. That followed its acquisition of its mobile service arm, NTT Docomo, in 2020.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2025

Listed subsidiaries get the ax in Japan after investor pressure

The trend stems from pressure on firm to cater to shareholders in response to activist campaigns, demands from the stock exchange and hostile takeovers.
Solar panels on display at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, on April 16
BUSINESS / Tech
May 15, 2025

Rogue communication equipment found in Chinese-made solar power inverters

The rogue components provide undocumented communication channels that could allow security measures to be circumvented remotely, sources said.
The annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9 marks Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 16, 2025

Russian nationalists call for Moscow to fight on in Ukraine

Analysts say the nationalists have been useful to the Kremlin, but those who make too much of a fuss about any eventual peace deal risk being purged.
A tricolored calico cat (left) and a tortoiseshell cat. A Japanese research team has discovered a gene that determines the fur color patterns of the two breeds of cats.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 16, 2025

Japan team finds gene that determines calico cats' color patterns

Researchers led by Kyushu University professor Hiroyuki Sasaki found that the coloring was decided by the ARHGAP36 gene on the X chromosome.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, in Antalya, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025

'Paradigm shift': Germany says to meet Trump's NATO spending target

Germany, with its dark World War II history, has long been reluctant to spend big on defense.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as first lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe look on while on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Kaga, stationed at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 28, 2019.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

SDF activities expand 10 years after key security legislation

Japan has enhanced cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations in the face of challenges such as China's maritime expansion.
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of transferring a food delivery driver account to a foreigner who is not qualified to work in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2025

Four arrested for letting Uzbek use their delivery driver account illegally

The suspects were arrested for allegedly creating a Demaecan driver account under a Japanese name on Oct. 21, 2023, then transferring it to an Uzbek national.
The Upper House passed the active cyberdefense bill on Friday with majority support spanning the ruling bloc and the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025

Japan enacts active cyberdefense law

Through the law, the government aims to set up defenses against cyberattacks that are on par with or better than major Western countries.
The agriculture ministry on Friday announced a set of measures aimed at speeding up the distribution of government-released stockpiled rice to store shelves, including the creation of an auction quota for bidders ready to sell rice to retailers sooner.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

Japan announces fresh measures to improve supply of rice

Among the measures is an auction quota for bidders ready to sell stockpiled rice to retailers within a month of purchase.
Tesla's story about keeping used cars for "robotaxis" fits a long pattern of unfulfilled promises to deploy self-driving vehicles — most recently announced for June in Austin, Texas.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025

Tesla took back leased cars for use as 'robotaxis,' but sold them instead

Despite repeated promises, the robotaxis never came and Tesla flipped many of the off-lease cars to new buyers.
Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and kabuki actor Nakamura Shido II first performed together in 2016. This month, they’re reviving the show for the Osaka World Expo.
CULTURE / Stage
May 17, 2025

Traditional performing arts are plugging into modern audiences

Noh and kabuki are getting an image update by teaming up with pop culture figures such as Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and DJ Ken Ishii.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra "is appalled at the sham trial and 13-year sentence given to Australian man Oscar Jenkins."
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2025

Canberra slams Russian jailing of Australian who fought for Ukraine

Oscar Jenkins, 33, was convicted of being a "mercenary in an armed conflict" by the court in Ukraine's Russian-occupied east Luhansk region.
Maserati's Stoffel Vandoorne holds up the trophy after winning the Tokyo E-Prix on Saturday, alongside Nissan's Oliver Rowland (left) and McLaren's Taylor Barnard.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 17, 2025

Stoffel Vandoorne rides perfect strategy to Tokyo E-Prix win

The Belgian’s triumph was to the dismay of the loyal Nissan fans at the track, with championship leader Oliver Rowland slipping down to second after starting on pole. 
U.S. President Donald Trump will speak by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday in an attempt to find a way out of the "BLOODBATH" in the Ukraine war, the American president said on social media.
WORLD / Politics
May 18, 2025

Trump says he will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Kyiv said Russian negotiators have demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before any ceasefire deal.
Scottie Scheffler pumps his fist on the 18th green during the third round of the PGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 18, 2025

Scheffler back in groove and on brink of third major title

The 28-year-old American fired three birdies and an eagle in the last five holes to post a 6-under par 65 on Saturday at the PGA Championship.
Nissan's Oliver Rowland races to victory at the Tokyo E-Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 18, 2025

Oliver Rowland’s ‘dream’ Formula E season continues as Nissan driver wins in Tokyo

The win gives Rowland an iron grip on the championship trophy.
A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 19, 2025

That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb

A tragic accident in Saitama shows how aging pipes, soft soil and climate threats are straining the country’s infrastructure.
Scottie Scheffler holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 19, 2025

Scottie Scheffler claims third major with 5-shot win at PGA Championship

Scheffler is also the first player since Seve Ballesteros more than four decades ago to win his first three majors by at least three shots.
Supporters of far-right Portuguese party Chega celebrate general election results at its party headquarters in Lisbon on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 19, 2025

Ruling party tops Portugal polls marked by far-right surge

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's Democratic Alliance remains short of a parliamentary majority.
Coco Gauff hits a return against Jasmine Paolini during the Italian Open final in Rome on Saturday.
TENNIS
May 19, 2025

Coco Gauff hopes to break through at French Open after losing two finals on clay

Gauff lost to Jasmine Paolini in the Italian Open final after falling against Aryna Sabalenka in the final round at the Madrid Open

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb