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Ayaka Saito works on a lathe to make a part for a ship at Ena Seisakusho in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Saito, who has a 1-year-old child, takes comfort in the fact that her employer allows time off for workers for parenting duties.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 8, 2024

Special skills allow Fukushima mother to shine in full-time job

Her employer also lets her take time off to care for her child, a rare policy seen as pivotal in getting more women back to the workforce.
The focus on artificial intelligence comes as the Self-Defense Forces grapple with concerns about recruitment and its abilities to harness the power of new technologies.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024

Japan’s Defense Ministry unveils first basic policy on use of AI

The new policy comes as Japan looks to stave off a manpower shortage and keep pace with China and the U.S. on the technology’s military applications.
A Ukrainian serviceman waits for Russian drones next to a military vehicle with a anti-aircraft cannon at an undisclosed location in Donetsk region, Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

China is making and testing lethal attack drones for Russia

Beijing may be edging closer to providing Russia with the sort of lethal aid that western officials have warned against.
Anti-landing barricades protrude from the beach in Kinmen, Taiwan, in February, with China's Xiamen city visible in the distance. Taipei has demanded that Beijing release a Taiwanese-registered fishing boat boarded and seized by the China Coast Guard near Kinmen late Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

China’s detention of Taiwan fishing boat risks raising tensions

The incident follows the expansion of China Coast Guard regulations allowing it to detain foreigners suspected of trespassing in waters Beijing claims for up to 60 days.
A demonstration of a clear-screen translation system is conducted at a counter at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2024

Clear-screen translation system is being tested at Tokyo's Haneda

The translation system is designed to rapidly provide information to foreign travelers and those with hearing difficulties.
Mizuho Financial Group is seeking to develop its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Mizuho hires ex-OTPP executive Karen Frank as senior adviser for EMEA business

Her appointment will likely be announced in the coming days, sources said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
The labor ministry plans to compile a report on foreign workers by the end of fiscal 2024 and use it to improve measures to secure and retain foreign human resources.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024

Japan to survey job changes by foreign care workers

The labor ministry aims to improve measures to secure and retain foreign human resources.
Housed in ARK’s shelter in western Japan, Jade waits day after day for someone to come along and give her a proper home.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jul 8, 2024

Jade knows the love you take equals the love you make

Jade's search for someone to return the love she wants to show people is such a contrast to her initial shyness that it might seem out of character at first.
Commercial food trucks are seen near a checkpoint near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 28.
WORLD
Jul 5, 2024

Feeding Gaza: Traders run gauntlet of bullets, bombs and bribes

Getting food to the Gaza Strip's mostly displaced population of 2.3 million has been beset by bureaucracy and violence since Oct. 7.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2024

Japan criticizes China over buoy in Pacific Ocean

The Chinese side said that the buoy is for tsunami observation and not intended to violate Japan's sovereign rights over its continental shelf.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview at The Hague, in the Netherlands, in February.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

ICC prosecutor opted for warrants over visit to Gaza

The sudden cancellation of a planned visit to the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and Ramallah has angered Washington and London.
An unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile is released from a B-52 bomber over the Utah Test and Training Range during a Nuclear Weapons System Evaluation Program sortie in September 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024

Trump advisers call for U.S. nuclear weapons testing if he is elected

A number of nuclear experts reject a resumption as unnecessary and say it would threaten to end a testing moratorium that has been honored for decades.
Yu Darvish, 37, a five-time All-Star, last pitched in a game on May 29.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 7, 2024

Padres put Yu Darvish on restricted list over 'personal matter'

A five-time All-Star, Darvish is 4-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 11 starts this season.
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on March 9, 2023. On Saturday, Manila accused China of intimidation over its anchoring of its largest coast guard vessel in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

China anchors 'monster ship' in South China Sea: Philippine coast guard

The anchoring of the 165-meter Chinese coast guard vessel in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is “intimidation,” Manila says.
A sprawling, secretive influence operation is attempting to vilify Qatar, the Gulf state mediating between Israel and Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Shadow campaign: Global influence op targets Qatar in wartime

The campaign against Qatar shows the ease with which a person or an entire country can be tarnished in the age of disinformation while masking the ultimate perpetrators.
The government aims to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 400,000 by 2033, despite a recent Justice Ministry ordinance that puts in place tougher rules on accepting overseas applicants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Can Japan boost its foreign student count to 400,000?

The government recently tightened rules for accepting overseas applicants, though it hasn't lost sight of its lofty goal of increasing foreign student numbers.
A gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark, on Sept. 27, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

NATO supports work to back up internet by rerouting it to space

The initiative comes amid intensifying fears that Russia or China could mine, sever or otherwise tamper with undersea cables.
Japan's excessive dependence on certain countries for chip imports is a risk to supply networks, government white paper has warned.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024

Government white paper flags Japan's risks of import dependencies

The paper stressed the importance of import source diversification, to prevent excessive dependence that poses a risk to supply networks.
Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who served as the chief of staff to Trump's National Security Council, said he has met several European officials in recent days, including foreign ministers.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

Trump foreign policy adviser meets European officials attending NATO summit

Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who served as the chief of staff to Trump's National Security Council, said he had met several European officials.
A truck drives along India's Tezpur-Tawang highway, which runs to the Chinese border, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Plans for the hydropower stations in the state are expected to be announced in the 2024/2025 federal budget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will unveil on July 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

India races to build power plants in region claimed by China, sources say

The construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh could raise tensions with Beijing that lays claims to the region.
Interceptions of rockets launched from Lebanon to Israel over the border on June 27
WORLD
Jul 10, 2024

Pagers and drones: How Hezbollah aims to counter Israel's surveillance

Stepped-up attacks on Lebanon's southern border in recent weeks have intensified concerns it could spiral into a full-scale war.
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket takes off in Kourou, French Guiana, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2024

Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket goes retro in challenge to SpaceX

Reusable rockets and frequent launches "were once aspirational but are now minimal requirements" to compete commercially, said the Rocket Lab CEO and founder.
University of Texas at Austin Anthropology Professor Craig Campbell leads chants with other university faculty members during a pro-Palestinian protest on the campus in Austin, Texas, on May 5.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

Doxxed, disciplined: U.S. students tally price of Gaza protests

Many protesting students fear they will be penalized academically or professionally as they prepare to enter the workforce or return to classes.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 10, 2024

Japan’s megabanks are said to seek deep cuts to BOJ bond buying

The bank’s ¥585 trillion bond stockpile exceeds the world’s fourth-largest economy, making bond players watchful for the BOJ’s next move.
As NATO marks its 75th anniversary, the alliance is looking to engage with Generation Z through social media to explain its importance.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

TikTok, Instagram influencers help aging NATO connect with Gen Z

The move is an acknowledgment that traditional media outlets may not be reaching this key demographic.
A conceptual design of a potential Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO). HOSPO is aiming to become one of Japan’s major domestic spaceports for launching satellite-equipped rockets and spacecraft as well as for the aerospace industry to conduct research and development.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jul 22, 2024

Small Hokkaido town looks to the stars for future growth

Taiki, population 5,300, is home to what is billed as Asia’s first privately operated spaceport — Hokkaido Spaceport.
In order to emphasize its grandeur, architect Gonkuro Kume designed the entrance hall of Nikko Kanaya Hotel's Annex Building with "karahafu" curved gables.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2024

Nikko Kanaya Hotel: A gateway to the art of Meiji Japan in the hills of Tochigi

Over 150 years on, the structure stands as a remarkable example of Japanese art and architecture in an era known for rapid modernization.
A Palestinian casts his shadow on a damaged wall as he inspects the site of an Israeli strike outside a school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 11, 2024

Gaza airstrike hits gathering at school soccer match, witnesses say

The Israeli military said the strike, which Palestinian officials said killed at least 29 people, targeted a Hamas fighter who took part in the Oct. 7 raid on Israel.
Electronic waste — also known as e-waste — from computers in a junk shop in Metro Manila, Philippines
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2024

U.N. warns digital economy drive is damaging the environment

The U.N. agency called for sustainable strategies to counter the growing environmental toll digitalization creates, particularly in developing countries.
From a Michelin-star kitchen in Italy to a central-Tokyo gelateria, Masako Minaguchi of Gelato MinNa believes doing what you love should always be a priority.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2024

Masako Minaguchi: ‘Gelato is full of possibilities’

From a Michelin-star kitchen in Italy to a central-Tokyo gelateria, this foodie believes doing what you love should always be a priority.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji