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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attend a meeting in Harbin, China, on May 17.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

Russia and China find workarounds as the U.S. sanctions net widens

One workaround involves smaller, regional banks that can, for the time being, fly below the U.S. sanctions radar.
The Mioya Shuzo brewery was damaged by the 2024 New Year's Day earthquake — but not to the extent that it couldn't serve as a shelter of sorts for the region's many sake breweries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 22, 2024

To Miho Fujita, ‘rules are meant to be broken in the sake world’

Miho Fujita knows the old songs sung by sake brewers by heart, but she's updated the tradition in her own way, infusing the age-old craft with a modern twist.
Perhaps being seen in the company of your own children in the right places — playgrounds, schools, etc. — can make you seem more approachable and allow children to say exactly what’s on their mind.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 24, 2024

‘You’re a spy, then?’ The odd interactions of a non-Japanese father in Japan

Remember to keep your ears open whenever you’re near children and you’re guaranteed to hear something that’ll make you think.
Military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Tiananmen Square during a military parade in Beijing in October 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

U.S. and China held first informal nuclear talks in five years in March

Beijing's representatives told their U.S. counterparts that they would not resort to atomic threats over Taiwan, according to two American delegates.
A tribute to Willie Mays behind home plate at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 21, 2024

In Alabama, Willie Mays is the star of the show, one more time

Willie Mays' death added poignancy to MLB’s celebration of the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field — the nation’s oldest professional ballpark.
An election poster board in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Friday. Incumbent Yuriko Koike and former Upper House lawmaker Renho may be stealing the spotlight for the July 7 Tokyo governor poll, but some other candidates highly unlikely to win are nonetheless running in the hope of gaining publicity during the campaign period.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

PR opportunity pushes Tokyo governor candidates to record number

The amount of publicity to be gained during the campaign period is a major draw, with the ¥3 million candidate deposit described as a bargain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toast during a reception at the Mongnangwan Reception House in Pyongyang on Wednesday following summit talks.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 21, 2024

New Kim-Putin pact sparks unease — and talk of more aid for Ukraine

An opaque new treaty signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week could end up bolstering U.S.-allied cooperation.
Despite mainstream media downplaying the significance, the rise of figures like France's Marine Le Pen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni indicates a normalization of the radical right.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2024

The specter of neo-fascism is haunting Europe

Despite mainstream media downplaying the significance, the rise of figures like Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni indicates a normalization of the radical right.
The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima
JAPAN / History
Jun 21, 2024

Oppenheimer apologized to atomic bomb survivors, Japan nonprofit says

Oppenheimer apologized profusely while crying intensely as soon as he met the visitors, an interpreter said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an event in Hanoi on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 22, 2024

One year after Wagner uprising, Putin more powerful than ever

In the aftermath, a bruised Putin implemented a new rule: no one would ever be allowed the same level of autonomy again.
People participate in a hustings event focused on the Hong Kong community, in Sutton, London, earlier this month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 22, 2024

Hong Kongers embrace politics in U.K., but some still fear Beijing

Since 2021, more than 180,0000 Hong Kongers have moved to Britain under a special visa program set up in response to a crackdown in their homeland.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako wave to wellwishers on the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in February.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2024

Japan imperial couple's U.K. visit highlights history of exchanges

The eight-day state visit to Britain by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako from Saturday highlights some 150 years of exchanges.
Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 22, 2024

Ditching paper money makes Sweden a haven for digital criminals

Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
Office employees drink outdoors in Kabukicho. Street drinking at night will be banned in certain areas of Shinjuku on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. However, the ban has no penalties.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2024

Tokyo's Shinjuku bans street drinking at night on Halloween

The move comes as Shinjuku has faced increased disturbances and other nuisances from young people moving from neighboring Shibuya.
Japan Airlines jets at Haneda Airport in 2020
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2024

Japan Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Aomori

JAL Flight 2154, an Embraer 170, returned after takeoff from Aomori Airport to land just over 30 minutes later. No one was injured.
Britain's Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage attends an interview in London.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 22, 2024

U.K.'s Nigel Farage says the West provoked Putin's invasion of Ukraine

The remarks, made in an interview with the BBC aired late on Friday, drew strong criticism across the British political spectrum.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024

Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China

China’s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
Taiwanese soldiers run during the annual Han Kuang anti-landing drill in New Taipei City last July.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2024

Taiwan war games to mimic combat as closely as possible

A senior Taiwan defense official said there was an urgent need to rethink how the drills were conducted.
Caeleb Dressel dives into the pool during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 23, 2024

Resurgent Caeleb Dressel has new take on young swimming rivals

Dressel's five golds at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games included individual triumphs in the 50 and 100 free and the 100 butterfly.
A man visits the Cornerstone of Peace, a monument in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, with his family, including his great-grandchildren, on Sunday, the 79th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

Okinawa marks 79 years since end of fierce ground battle

During a memorial service, participants observed a moment of silence in honor of the more than 200,000 war dead and renewed a pledge for peace.
A Ground Self-Defense Force member welcomes a local resident at a bathing facility set up on the grounds of an elementary school serving as an evacuation shelter in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

Noto mission becomes SDF's longest quake response project

The record 175-day mission has highlighted the time-consuming work of restoring water supplies and sewerage systems.
Amid AI chip juggernaut Nvidia's staggering successes, startups seeking the attention of Silicon Valley venture capitalists are being asked to innovate — but without a clear indication of where the next chapter of AI will be written.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jun 23, 2024

Beyond Nvidia: the search for AI's next breakthrough

Startups are being asked to innovate — but without a clear indication of where the next chapter of AI will be written.
Seaweed in the ocean off Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Local residents aim to restore seagrass and seaweed beds suffering from marine desertification, and their project has also been certified to receive "blue carbon" credits.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jun 23, 2024

Japan looks to 'blue carbon' to cut emissions — and restore its coasts

The nation's net zero goal has driven interest in these ecosystems, but verifying the amount of carbon stored by seaweed presents a challenge.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un holds a reception for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Agreements reached by the two leaders this time were tactical in nature and hardly strategic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2024

Putin’s Pyongyang visit, pivotal talks and a generational shift reshape regional dynamics

The move by Russia and North Korea this time is tactical in nature and hardly strategic.
An Afghan woman carries empty containers to fetch water in Balkh province, Afghanistan, in August 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

U.N.-led Doha meeting with Taliban sparks outcry over women's rights

The U.N. has been seeking a unified, international approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have cracked down on women's rights since returning to power.
The skeleton remains of a town building of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, are set to be preserved as a relic of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2024

Mayor decides to preserve tsunami-wrecked town building

The building will be preserved as a disaster relic when its management returns to the town from the Miyagi prefectural government on July 1.
Families of those killed in Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crashes hold up pictures of their deceased loved ones as the planemaker's CEO Dave Calhoun testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the safety culture at Boeing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 18.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

U.S. prosecutors recommend DOJ criminally charge Boeing as deadline looms

They concluded the planemaker had violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving its 737 MAX jet, source say.
A feminist demonstration against the far-right party in Toulouse, France, on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

French feminists protest Marine Le Pen even as she pulls in women

Protesters have had to reckon with a difficult reality: The National Rally leader has made progress in casting her party as a defender of women’s rights.
Israelis protest for the release of hostages held in Gaza and against the government in Tel Aviv on June 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Israel tech leaders, irked by Netanyahu, eye moves into politics

The war against Hamas is straining Israel's economy, with the central bank projecting costs of around $67 billion through 2025, nearly 15% of the annual GDP.
Emperor Naruhito meets with British people with connections to Japan at a hotel in London on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2024

Emperor Naruhito visits London

Empress Masako did not attend events on Sunday based on medical advice, due to fatigue from her flight to Britain.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan