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Passersby holding parasols walk through Tokyo on July 9 amid a heatstroke alert in the capital and other prefectures.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Jul 19, 2024

Boiling Point

This special series focused on this year’s scorching summer will also lay the groundwork for enhanced heat coverage in future years.
An election observer (on the screen) remotely monitors early voting for the Kofu mayoral election in Kofu, Tottori Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 19, 2024

Tottori town becomes first in Japan to monitor voting online

Polling stations are decreasing as it is getting harder to find observers due to depopulation, and online monitoring is viewed as a possible solution.
Shoko Miyata had been set to lead the Japanese women's gymnastics team at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 19, 2024

Japanese gymnast Shoko Miyata leaves Olympic team over drinking and smoking

The decision to have Miyata leave the team appeared to strike some observers as being overly harsh.
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” incorporates six Murakami short stories from three books into a single intertwined narrative that centers on a trio of lonely Tokyoites.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 20, 2024

'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' is an immersive journey into Murakami's world

Pierre Foldes' beautiful adaptation of six Haruki Murakami stories features one of the author's most memorable characters, who injects the film with self-aware humor.
A large screen in the Dubai Metro is out of service on Friday amid a massive global IT outage.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2024

From ATMs to flights, epic IT crash leaves trail of destruction

In what will go down as the most spectacular IT failure the world has ever seen, a botched software update from a cybersecurity firm caused a global systems outage.
Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, participates in a panel discussion at the 2023 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, in March 2023.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2024

U.S. prepares jamming devices targeting Russian and Chinese satellites

The Pentagon’s space service branch tested the system for the first time earlier this year at two locations, with control of the system at a third.
Participants from government ministries and agencies take part in the Cyber Defense Exercise with Recurrence (CYDER) in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

Japan eyes new law to introduce 'active cyberdefense'

The envisaged law will make it possible to collect online communications data from telecommunications companies and use the data to detect signs of cyberattacks.
Matthew Barry (right) tastes sake at the Hyper Japan Festival on Friday in London.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2024

Japanese culture festival kicks off in London

The three-day event is is expected to attract around 25,000 visitors and is said to be one of the largest Japanese culture-themed events in Britain.
Fuji Rock Festival's smaller stages such as the Field of Heaven offer a number of younger acts that demonstrate the thrilling new directions Japanese music is taking in the 2020s.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2024

Domestic acts at Fuji Rock's smaller stages are not to be missed

From Summer Eye to Nene, this year’s gathering offers one of the strongest collections of Japanese music present at a large-scale festival in recent times.
The U.S. and its allies have accused China of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, in part by exporting parts and equipment needed by Moscow's weapons makers, including semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024

Illicit chip flows to Russia seen slowing in China

Both mainland China and Hong Kong are seen by the U.S. government as key global nodes for Russia to source materials for its military.
The annual number of Self-Defense Forces personnel quitting mid-career has reached around 6,000, accounting for around 2% of all SDF staff.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024

Defense ministry concerned as more SDF staff quit citing workplace issues

The government's Defense Buildup Program, formulated in 2022, emphasized curbing mid-career resignations of SDF personnel as an "urgent issue."
Fireworks during Irumagawa Tanabata Festival in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture in July 2023
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024

Many summer fireworks festivals in Japan canceled due to complaints

Property damage caused by debris, and littering and trespassing by those looking for a better view are among the reasons for the cancellations.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Maryland, on June 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2024

Inside the weekend when Biden decided to withdraw

U.S. President Joe Biden did not tell most of his staff until a minute before making his announcement to the world on social media on Sunday.
Covers for paper fans used for oshikatsu activities are sold at a Sanrio shop in Nagoya.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024

60% of Japanese moms enjoy supporting their favorites through 'oshikatsu'

68.5% of mothers spend less than ¥50,000 a year on oshikatsu, with those who spend ¥50,000 or more and less than ¥300,000 accounting for 20.7%.
Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Shingo Miyake speaks at a news conference in Kitadaito, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2024

Okinawa island accepts ASDF radar deployment

An ASDF mobile radar will monitor the Chinese military's growing activities in the Pacific.
A man squats next to a fire as Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis, were ordered by Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 23, 2024

Israel sends tanks back into Khan Younis area and kills 70

"It is like doomsday," said one resident of the area affected in Gaza.
As of Sunday, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical reported 279 deaths and 2,274 hospital visits due to health issues related to its beni kōji supplements, among which 461 required hospitalization.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 23, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma's president and chairperson resign over health scandal

For the first time in its history, someone outside of the Osaka-based drugmaker's founding family will become its president.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks aboard the USS Howard destroyer at the Yokosuka Naval Base, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September 2022.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2024

Continuity in Asia: Harris' policies likely to assuage concerns in Japan

Tokyo is already quite familiar with the approach of the U.S. vice president, who will likely continue her predecessor's foreign policy if she is elected president.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.

Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
A woman watches as soldiers practice laying mines and nets to stymie the landing of enemy forces at the mouth of a major river leading to the city in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 24, 2024

China squeezes Taiwan by targeting islands and fishing sites

Mostly using its Coast Guard, Beijing appears to be asserting itself in new ways around Taiwan’s offshore outposts.
A construction worker during a heat wave in Folsom, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 25, 2024

What the temperature doesn’t tell you about extreme heat’s hazards

After its nationwide rollout in April, the HeatRisk forecasting tool is getting a real-world test as deadly temperatures stress much of the U.S.
American musician and visual artist Kim Gordon released her second solo album, “The Collective,” earlier this year, and it’s a bona fide banger.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2024

Ahead of her Fuji Rock set, Kim Gordon weighs in on punk and U.S. politics

The former Sonic Youth bassist, guitarist and vocalist is in Japan for the first time in over 10 years to promote her latest album, "The Collective."
A vengeful spirit threatens the residents of Edo Castle’s maze-like women’s quarters in “Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2024

‘Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain’: A fast and furious visual spectacle

Kenji Nakamura’s cinematic sequel to his “Mononoke” anime series is an overwhelming onslaught of sights and sounds.
Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan’s “The Objects from Another Place,” erected at a former power station, was created in the likeness of structures that appeared in children’s playgrounds all over the former Soviet Union.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 27, 2024

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale's quiet expansion of hyper-local art

The event’s ninth edition doesn’t offer new bangers, but its detailed installations in the verdant mountains of Niigata Prefecture still present a unique experience.
New Zealand's forward Indiah-Paige Riley battles with Canadian forward Cloe Lacasse during their Olympic group stage match on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

'We're not cheats,' Canada insists after Olympic soccer spying scandal

The Canadian Olympic Committee on Thursday removed head coach Bev Priestman, who took no part in the opening game, from her post.
Internationally isolated North Korea has a long history of using covert hacking teams to steal sensitive military information.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

North Korea is trying to steal military secrets, U.S. and allies say

North Korea has a long history of using covert hacking teams to steal sensitive military information.
Passengers gather around the departure boards at a train station in Paris on Friday as France's high-speed rail network was hit by malicious acts disrupting the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2024

France's high-speed railway hit by 'sabotage' during Olympics

The attacks were launched as Paris was under heavy security ahead of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
Passengers wait at Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station in Bordeaux, France, after the nation's high-speed rail network was disrupted by an attack on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

Team Japan not impacted by French train attacks ahead of opening ceremony

The French railways system was hit by a series of attacks on Friday.
Ismael "El Mayo"  Zambada (left), cofounder of the Sinaloa Cartel and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of the cartel's other co-founder, were arrested in Texas this week in a dramatic achievement for U.S. law enforcement that could usher in a seismic shift to Mexico's criminal landscape.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 27, 2024

Captured alleged Mexican drug kingpin pleads not guilty to U.S. charges

The arrests were seen as a dramatic achievement for U.S. law enforcement that could usher in a seismic shift to Mexico's criminal landscape.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris,  candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, speaks during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 27, 2024

Harris team champions her ‘strong’ foreign policy record in memo

The VP's team sent memo to national security professionals highlighting the new Democratic nominee’s "strong record” on foreign policy.

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