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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in San Francisco on Tuesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' week.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2023

Biden and Xi must not forget North Korea

China is still the first stop on the road to managing the arms race with North Korea and the growing danger that tensions could lead to conflict.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Lawmakers submit proposal to revise law on Unification Church assets

A group of lawmakers has submitted proposals to amend existing laws governing religious organizations, aiming to prevent the outflow of church funds.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in June. Both men met again in early November during which the former told the latter that Iran would not intervene directly following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel faces trial by fire

Iran has built a military alliance over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East.
Japan's exports gained 1.6% from a year earlier in October, slowing from a 4.3% increase in the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 16, 2023

Japan’s economy remains under pressure as export growth slows

The value of exports gained 1.6% from a year earlier, slowing from a 4.3% increase in the previous month, according to the Finance Ministry.
The Formula One track in Las Vegas is lit up ahead of the Grand Prix on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 16, 2023

Formula One’s Las Vegas race isn’t living up to the hype

Liberty Media, the owner of F1, has started to lower profit expectations for the race, blaming unexpected costs.
A Self-Defense Forces officer talks to participants in an information session at Camp Nerima in Tokyo on Aug. 7. The SDF raised the maximum age for new recruits to 32 from 26 in 2018 but has still struggled to attract them.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2023

Asia’s aging soldiers force U.S. allies to widen recruitment drive

In some branches of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, more positions are now being opened up to retirees.
Kyrgyz male labor migrants wait to depart for work in Russia at the office of a company organizing passenger transportation on Oct. 17.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 16, 2023

Pressured amid war effort, Central Asia migrants leave Russia

Moscow is offering incentives for migrants to work in places like Mariupol, while enlistment offices seek to entice them into the Russian army.
A residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in the Serhiivka, in Ukraine's Odesa region, in July 2022. Daria Krokva, a doctor, fled Ukraine for Japan in April 2022 after being advised to evacuate by a cousin in Kobe.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2023

Ukrainian doctor aims for national license in Japan

Daria Krokva is working hard on her Japanese proficiency in order to qualify for taking the national examination for medical practitioners.
Tunnel construction for the Hokkaido Shinkansen has proved slow in some areas due to geological reasons and the difficulty of blasting through the earth.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 20, 2023

Tight labor market puts Hokkaido Shinkansen 2030 goal in doubt

The 212-kilometer route now under construction will link cities between Hakodate, at the southern tip of the prefecture, and Sapporo.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders week in Woodside, California, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 16, 2023

Biden and Xi agree to pick up the phone to avert crisis. But now what?

Agreed measures are unlikely to be enough to improve bilateral ties, as neither side appeared willing to tackle fundamental differences head on.
Palestinians flee northern Gaza on Sunday as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave amid the ongoing conflict. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

Where is outrage against Hamas over Gaza’s death toll?

Palestinian deaths weren’t a bug in Hamas' plan but an essential part of it.
Professional groups may lobby for regulations to control artificial intelligence and steer it toward labor-augmenting uses rather than labor-replacing ones.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

Managing the AI backlash: Lessons from the past

The history of professional guilds in Europe provides clues as to how workers may react to AI-caused disruptions.
Dutch driver Max Verstappen speaks to the press after the opening ceremony for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 16, 2023

Verstappen slams Las Vegas race as '99% show'

The Red Bull three-time world champion criticized the new street course and said Wednesday he had no interest in the razzmatazz around the event.
A home that was burned in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Kissufim, an Israeli kibbutz. Antisemitic and Islamophobic hate speech has soared on social media platforms since the war broke out between Hamas and Israel.
WORLD / Society
Nov 16, 2023

Antisemitic and anti-Islam hate speech surges across the internet

On Oct. 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel, the hashtag #HitlerWasRight appeared on X, formerly known as Twitter. Over the next month, more than 46,000 posts featured the hashtag, often alongside language that called for violence against Jews.
BASEBALL
Nov 16, 2023

Samurai Japan overcomes slow start to beat Taiwan in APBC opener

Shota Morishita got Japan going with a home run in the seventh inning.
Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after a go-ahead, two-run home run against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on June 12.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 17, 2023

Shohei Ohtani wins second American League MVP award

Shohei Ohtani was named the AL MVP for the second time in three seasons.
Mika and Jesse say their landlady prefers a hands-off style of property management, leaving all matters, including maintenence and repairs, to the renting couple.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 18, 2023

Renting akiya: A backdoor into Japan's abandoned homes

“If the choice is between leaving (an akiya) empty or renting it out, please rent it out.”
Kyoji’s Ma_do Fragments Wall Art collection of stainless steel frames, designed by Katsuyama Motonori, features off-cuts and other objects selected from Kyoji’s collaborating craftspeople.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 18, 2023

Off-the-wall designs to spruce up your home or office

On: Design looks at some products that can bring new life to bare walls.
Weapons and equipment that Israel's army says were found at the Shifa hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, as seen in this screen grab from video released by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Gaza communications down as Israel searches main hospital

Al-Shifa hospital has become a focal point for Israeli operations in northern Gaza since soldiers raided the complex hunting for a Hamas command center.
Rakuten Securities President Yuji Kusunoki
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 17, 2023

Rakuten Securities sees payoff from free trading plan after a year

The firm plans to make up for the decrease in domestic stock trading commission fee revenues by expanding its financial services such as margin trading.
Yoshiko Koide, a professor at Nagoya College, and 12 female students delved deep into otaku culture to create “Otaku Dictionary Daigenkai,” a dictionary of terms from all walks of fandom.
LIFE / Language
Nov 20, 2023

Test your otaku vocabulary, from 'oshi' to 'bacon lettuce'

“Otaku Dictionary Daigenkai” has gathered the language of fandom, from idols to games and anime.
An offshore wind turbine, operated by Swancor Holding stands in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of Miaoli County, Taiwan, in 2018.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2023

Japan firms exit Taiwan offshore wind projects amid industry woes

Shikoku Electric Power decided to pull out of the Yunlin Offshore Wind Project in the Taiwan Strait due to delays threatening its profitability.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a family photo during an APEC summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Kishida and Xi aim for trade progress despite lingering tensions

Their talks signaled initial momentum toward a cautious detente, although the two countries appeared to prioritize an improvement in economic ties.
Indian cricket is struggling against climate change-induced heat and rain and the last thing it needs is oil-rich Saudi Arabia buying into the league.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

The last thing cricket needs is Saudi money

Indian cricket is struggling against climate change-induced heat and rain. A partnership with oil-rich Saudi Arabia would lead to a certain defeat.
A study using a late 20th century baseline determined that glaciers in south Greenland shrank in length by 18% on average, while glaciers in other parts of Greenland retreated by up to 10%.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023

Greenland’s glaciers are shrinking at ‘unprecedented’ rate as Earth warms

Over 1,000 peripheral glaciers and ice caps are disappearing twice as fast as they did during the 20th century.
Sam Altman, the then-chief executive officer of OpenAI, speaks at Keio University in Tokyo in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2023

In shock move, ChatGPT maker OpenAI ousts CEO Sam Altman

The shock firing followed a review the company's board, which concluded that "he was not consistently candid in his communications."
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrives for the leaders and spouses dinner during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

Philippines' Marcos meets China's Xi amid South China Sea tensions

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, seeking ways to come up with mechanisms to lower tensions.
Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2023

Backlash spreads over Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic post

Large advertisers have pulled ads from Elon Musk's social media site X and the White House has chastised the billionaire.
Overflowing trash next to a vending machine in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, which is popular with tourists, in March
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2023

Trash cans make techie comeback in Japan as tourists flood cities

This week, the tourist-heavy Dotonbori district in Osaka installed around 20 new technologically enabled garbage cans called SmaGO.
Palestinians hold a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Oct. 20.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 18, 2023

How Putin is trying to use the Gaza war to his geopolitical advantage

Putin, experts say, is trying to use Israel's war against Hamas to escalate what he has cast as an existential battle with the West.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years