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Naomi Osaka waves to the Australian Open crowd after losing her first round match on Monday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 17, 2024

Osaka vows not to mope after 'bittersweet' Australian Open exit

"I remember last year I wished I had an opportunity to play again on Rod Laver Arena and this year that happened, so one of my dreams already came true," she said.
Aryna Sabalenka will be seeking her second Grand Slam title when she competes in the Australian Open final on Saturday.
TENNIS
Jan 26, 2024

Aryna Sabalenka looking to lean on experience in Australian Open final

The world No. 2 is the favorite to claim her second major crown at Rod Laver Arena.
Farmers in India take part in a recent march on New Delhi to demand that minimum crop prices be written into law in scenes reminiscent of protests in 2021. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2024

India’s farmers are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore

Farmers in India are marching to demand that guaranteed crop prices promised in 2021 be written into law. Will Modi acquiesce like he did three years ago?
A woman views the National COVID-19 Memorial Wall, a dedication of thousands of hand-painted hearts and messages for those in the U.K. who have died from COVID-19, in London on Jan. 9, 2022.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 3, 2024

Countries worldwide face extra round of talks to save pandemic accord

A planned final round of negotiations missed its target of finishing the accord ready for its adoption by the World Health Organization at the end of May.
Hiroshige Seko, former Liberal Democratic Party Upper House secretary-general, announces Thursday his intention to leave the LDP after receiving an official recommendation he do so following the party's political funds scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024

Five takeaways from the funding scandal punishments

Political compromise was involved in the LDP punishment process, with many politicians caught up in the scandal remaining in relatively good positions.
A helmet jellyfish recorded at depth in the Lurefjord, Norway. The creatures experience acute physical effects from short-term exposure to suspended sediment, which could be caused by deep-sea mining.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 7, 2024

The weird deep-sea world, and how mining threatens it

Demand for metals such as lithium and nickel has driven a rush to take a stake in the seabed, with Japan being a major advocate of deep-sea mining.
Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday.
BASKETBALL
Apr 9, 2024

'Caitlin Clark Effect' set to transform WNBA

"No one has been able to capture the kind of magic or lightning in a bottle like Caitlin Clark has done," said one academic.
Get the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies out. This is the time of year when we should clean our homes and prepare them for the upcoming rainy season.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2024

Dust off your tidying vocabulary with a refreshing spring clean

While most Japanese households take part in a big clean at the end of the year, it doesn't hurt to tidy a little as the weather changes.
A worker inspects solar panels that provide electrical power to Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, in December 2023. High-ranking scholars and clergy have issued fatwas, or edicts, on how to rein in climate change. On a smaller scale, Muslim activists are telling their friends, family and neighbors that their duty to save the environment is embedded in the Quran.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 17, 2024

What can ‘Green Islam’ achieve in the world’s largest Muslim country?

Proponents of the movement say educating 200 million Muslims on environmental awareness could drive much needed change.
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024

Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat

A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
Wind turbines off the coast of Zhunan Township, Taiwan. Misguided policies threaten to sink outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s hopes of achieving his renewable energy targets.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2024

Taiwan’s wind power ambitions are in peril

Misguided policies threaten to sink outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s renewable energy targets, putting a lot on the incoming administration's plate.
Ryo Wakabayashi, a distal myopathy patient, lives alone in the city of Fukushima.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 20, 2024

Persistence pays off with approval of distal myopathy drug

The disease is estimated to affect only 300 to 400 people in Japan.
Natural gas burns on a domestic kitchen stove in London.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

As war stems Russian gas, Norway's Equinor gains outsized market impact

Norway now supplies 30% of Europe's gas, and roughly two-thirds of Norway's exports last year were sold by Equinor.
A slogan reads "Accelerate Industrial Transformation With AI" at the Microsoft booth at the Hannover Messe 2024 trade fair in Hannover, Germany, on April 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Microsoft’s AI push imperils climate goal as carbon emissions jump

The company’s total planet-warming impact is about 30% higher today than it was in 2020.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, soaked in rain,  pauses as he delivers a speech to announce July 4 as the date of the U.K.'s next general election, at 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Sunak gambles on July 4 election as Tories struggle in polls

The leading opposition party holds a poll lead of about 20 points that Sunak has been unable to shift since he took over from Liz Truss in late 2022.
Josef Newgarden celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 27, 2024

Newgarden wins second straight Indianapolis 500

Newgarden became the race's first back-to-back winner in 22 years.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering remarks at Trump Tower in New York on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2024

Biden's big weakness vs Trump: Voters without college degrees

Such results help set the stage for what national opinion polls show is a tied race between Biden and Trump.
Simone Biles, seen after winning the U.S. championship on Sunday, brought greater awareness to the subject of mental health during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
OLYMPICS
Jun 6, 2024

Olympic organizers committed to protecting athletes' mental health in Paris

Research suggests that elite athletes suffer from mental health disorders in around the same proportions as the general population, experts say.
Police officers patrol on the Trocadero square in front of the Olympic rings displayed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic games in Paris on June 7.
WORLD
Jun 13, 2024

Paris Olympics crowd scans fuel AI surveillance fears

Campaigners worry AI surveillance could become the new normal.
Renho speaks to reporters on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 13, 2024

Renho, the liberal politician who might dethrone Tokyo's Koike

Her candidacy in July's gubernatorial race presents voters in the capital with two choices: Change or stability.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both international pariahs, struggling to find ways to shore up their increasingly isolated countries.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2024

Don’t be alarmed by the new Russia-North Korea partnership

Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both international pariahs, struggling to find ways to shore up their increasingly isolated countries.
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.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (center), shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (left) and shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Paris in 2023
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Labour's Brexit red lines set to limit shift in U.K.'s ties with EU

Officials believe the party will struggle to deliver a significantly different trading relationship unless it U-turns on certain issues.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
The yen’s depreciation is largely down to the gap in interest rates between the U.S. and Japan. Therefore, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is, to all intents and purposes, “Mr. Yen.”
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 1, 2024

There’s a new 'Mr. Yen' in town

No matter what the Bank of Japan or the Finance Ministry do, ultimate control over the yen's value lies in the hands of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The Defense Ministry holds a lecture for military and police officials from Pacific island countries at the ministry on Friday as part of its security-related capacity-building support.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Japan Defense Ministry boosting aid to Pacific island nations

Only three out of 14 Pacific island nations — Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga — have armed forces.
With the vegan lifestyle becoming more popular in recent years, Japanese restaurants and inns have begun to offer more vegetarian options.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 4, 2024

Asking for food substitutions at a Japanese restaurant

If you're vegetarian, vegan or have some kind of allergy, then knowing how to ask about what you're eating is an essential skill to have.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris greets the crowd during a rally where President Joe Biden also spoke, at a community center in Raleigh, North Carolina, in March.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

The reintroduction of Kamala Harris

With U.S. President Joe Biden’s candidacy on the line, Democrats are assessing whether his VP pick is up to being the nominee.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center-left) meets with Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata’afa (center-right) in Samoa in February. Like other Pacific island and Global South states, Samoa is caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China rivalry.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 11, 2024

Japan can help Global South navigate U.S.-China clash

As Washington and Beijing adopt more inward-looking foreign policies, Japan can be a bridge to Global South countries, whose main concerns are security and growth.
Former President Donald Trump gets ready to take the stage shortly before the assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July, 13. Four U.S. presidents have been killed in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

The U.S. presidency is a deadly job — and always will be

Roughly a quarter of all U.S. presidents have been victims of serious assassination attempts — four of which ended in death.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight