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Workers on a production line manufacturing false eyelashes at a workshop of Monsheery in Pingdu, China, in November
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 4, 2024

How North Korean eyelashes arrive in the West as 'made in China'

North Korea exported 1,680 tons of false eyelashes, beards and wigs to China in 2023, worth around $167 million.
Lewis Hamilton arrives at a news conference in Sao Paulo in November ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 4, 2024

Racing for Ferrari fulfills a childhood dream, Lewis Hamilton says

Britain's seven-time Formula One world champion stunned the sport when his move on a multiyear deal was announced on Thursday.
Michelle O'Neill at the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 4, 2024

Michelle O'Neill makes history as Northern Ireland's first nationalist leader

The landmark move follows the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ending its walkout after striking a deal with the U.K. over post-Brexit trade.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Feb 4, 2024

For Japan, earthquakes are an existential matter

The New Year's Day quake was a stark reminder of how Japan has been shaped by rumbling, grinding and often deadly convulsions and volcanic activity.
The chief of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, accompanies cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko as he gets ready to board the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, in September.
WORLD
Feb 4, 2024

Russian cosmonaut sets record for most time in space — more than 878 days

The 59-year-old took the top spot from compatriot Gennady Padalka, who accumulated a total of 878 days.
The Fugaku supercomputer at Riken Center for Computational Science in Kobe in June 2020. Many companies leverage its simulation capabilities to streamline processes, saving labor on experiments and calculations crucial for the development of large products.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2024

Fugaku supercomputer tops predecessor in corporate usage

While Fugaku has primarily garnered attention for academic applications it has also proved instrumental in product development.
Prolonged factory deflation is threatening the survival of smaller Chinese exporters, who are locked in relentless price wars for shrinking business as higher interest rates abroad and rising trade protectionism squeeze demand.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 5, 2024

China's small exporters threatened amid price wars and low demand

Producer prices have been falling for 15 straight months, crushing profit margins to the point where industrial output and jobs are now at risk.
The People's Liberation Army's Academy of Military Sciences had used an open-source standard known as RISC-V to reduce malfunctions in chips for cloud computing and smart cars.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 5, 2024

China bets on open-source chips as U.S. export controls mount

RISC-V is free to use and has a simpler outline, often leading to more energy-efficient chips, and users can build atop the framework to suit their needs.
Lionel Messi sits on the bench during Inter Milan's friendly against Hong Kong XI in Hong Kong on Sunday.
SOCCER
Feb 5, 2024

Lionel Messi and David Beckham booed after Argentine star sits out Hong Kong friendly

The Hong Kong government said organizers owed fans an explanation after the match.
According to a proposal from the EU’s executive arm, as much as 450 million tons of CO2 will need to be captured annually by 2050 to achieve net-zero goals, including 100 million tons from generators powered by fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 5, 2024

The $2.6 billion experiment to cover up Europe’s dirty habit

The project could start as early as next year, and pave the way for a new international trade in industrial emissions.
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2024

Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo

Bound together by shared neglect and marginalization, the group have formed a distinct, social media-linked youth subculture on the streets of Shinjuku.
A Beijing court heard Yang Hengjun's trial in secret in May 2021 and the case against him has never been publicly disclosed. He has denied working as a spy for Australia or the United States.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2024

Beijing court gives Australian writer suspended death sentence

Yang Hengjun had been accused of spying for a country China has not identified and the details of the case against him have not been made public.
Singer Taylor Swift celebrates after a touchdown by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce during a playoff game against the Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 5, 2024

Sportsbooks cashing in on Taylor Swift craze as Super Bowl approaches

Novelty bets around major sporting events are nothing new, but a number of sports betting companies decided to have some fun with the Swift-Kelce craze
Naomi Osaka takes part in a news conference after losing her women's singles match on the second day of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2024

Inspired by daughter, Osaka aims to return to top spots this year

The four-time Grand Slam champion suffered an early Australian Open exit following 15 months out of the sport.
Britain's King Charles leaves the London Clinic with Britain's Queen Camilla after receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, in London on Jan. 29.
WORLD
Feb 6, 2024

King Charles diagnosed with cancer just 18 months into his reign

Buckingham Palace said that the king would postpone public-facing duties while he undergoes treatment.
Elementary school students arrive at Wajima Senior High School in Ishikawa Prefecture as classes resume at vacant classrooms at the school on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2024

Schools reopen in quake-hit Wajima

The schools — six elementary schools and one junior high school — resumed their classes by using vacant classrooms at Wajima Senior High School.
Smoke rises over buildings in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip following Israeli bombardment on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Palestinians hope Blinken visit hastens truce before Rafah strike

Blinken's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lasted about two hours.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan during an interview at his residence in Lahore on May 18, 2023. His name may not be on the ballot, but Khan will be on the country's mind as Pakistan votes in an election on Feb. 8 that observers say is deeply flawed without his participation. The former international cricket star has been given three lengthy prison sentences in under a week and banned from politics for 10 years — officially excluding him from an election it never looked like he would allowed to contest.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Days before Pakistan vote, former leader Imran Khan campaigns from jail

Khan's campaign involves use of generative AI technology to create audio footage of him reading speeches conveyed to lawyers from his prison cell.
Analysts say the sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both Canberra and Beijing affirmed the need to bolster ties.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Harsh sentence for Australian writer tests ties with China

The sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both nations affirmed the need to bolster ties.
Pills move through a sorting machine at a pharmaceutical plant in Visakhapatnam, India. A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

U.S. taps Indian pharma, but supply chains still lead back to China

A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
Police in riot gear stand guard next to a barricade near a fire outside the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 1 during a protest by farmers from Belgium and other EU countries over price pressures, taxes and green regulation.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Green backlash looms over EU elections

Polls show that while a large majority of Europeans support action to fight climate change, a many are also worried about the cost of doing this.
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday, a day before his team faces Vissel Kobe in a friendly match.
SOCCER
Feb 6, 2024

Messi says leg 'getting better' but could miss Japan match

Inter Miami are set to face Japanese champions Vissel Kobe at Tokyo's National Stadium on Wednesday.
A man walks through panels at a solar power plant under construction in Aksu, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in 2012.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

Banned Chinese solar goods worth billions find route to U.S. via India

Amid a solar boom, India’s largest panel-maker has sent millions of panels to the U.S. made with parts from a Chinese firm denied entry to the U.S. market.
Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024

Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy

The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
Nintendo has raised its forecast for Switch console sales and its overall operating profit for the year ending in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

Nintendo raises sales and profit forecasts after strong holiday earnings

The Kyoto-based firm's shares are at an all-time high this year, with expectations for a next-generation Switch also playing into the lofty valuation.
Orienspace's Gravity-1 rocket blasts off from a sea-based platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, China, on Jan. 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

China startup aims to close gap with SpaceX on reusable rockets

Reusable rockets are transforming space access, as companies can reuse the most expensive parts of the device with little refurbishment.
Vietnam is sitting on around 17% of the world’s known rare-earth reserves, second only to China. 
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2024

Vietnam should seize a 'rare' opportunity to take on China

Vietnamese officials have approved plans to supercharge rare-earths production, aiming to process as much as 62,500 tons of the minerals by 2030.
Cars and homes destroyed by a Russian missile that fell between a residential building and a public preschool in Kyiv on Dec. 13, 2023. In January, the White House said it had evidence that North Korea had provided ballistic missiles used by Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

A Russian bank account may offer clues to North Korean arms deal

Russia has allowed the release of $9 million in frozen North Korean assets from a Russian financial institution, according to intelligence officials.
Japan’s shortage of software engineers in particular has caused the country to lag behind in its digital transformation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 6, 2024

Tech firms in Japan are scouring for talent amid labor shortage

Three-quarters of technology hiring managers in Japan found recruitment to be "very” or "quite” competitive last year.
U.S. President Joe Biden sought to cast responsibility for the failure to secure an agreement on the border — an issue which polls show is a major political liability for his re-election hopes — on congressional Republicans and Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2024

Biden pins border bill failure on Trump with Ukraine hanging

Biden acknowledged the Senate package was all but dead.

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