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A 500 series bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen line with the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series decoration. The aging 500 series will retire in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2024

JR West to retire 500 series Shinkansen in 2027

JR West plans to introduce new N700S Shinkansen trains after the 500 series' retirement.
Devices used in a scam center in Manila that has been shut down by police. Scam centers have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, with crime syndicates luring, kidnapping or coercing workers into predatory online activity and raking in billions of dollars.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2024

Raid on Philippine gambling hub unravels elaborate scheme implicating mayor

The scandal has fueled calls for a ban on the online gambling industry over its links to financial scams, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, torture and murder.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2024

The LDP members best placed to deal with the next U.S. president

With Kamala Harris entering the race, the LDP now has to prepare to deal with either a familiar former president or a not-so-familiar vice president.
Nissan's operating profit for the April-June period totaled ¥995 million, compared with ¥128.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2024

Nissan shares hammered as Q1 profit wiped out by U.S. discounts

The automaker has cut its operating profit forecast for the financial year by 17% to ¥500 billion from ¥600 billion.
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.
Gamers can play Assassin's Creed Shadows as either female assassin Naoe or Yasuke, a Black samurai.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 25, 2024

Assassin's Creed makers defend 'creative liberties' in Black samurai row

UbiSoft, the game's maker, said its Assassin's Creed games aren't meant to be perceived as factual representations of history or historical characters.
Minamitorishima
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2024

Ground Self-Defense Force eyes missile training on remote Tokyo island

The GSDF is holding talks with local communities in hopes of starting missile training on Minamitorishima in 2026.
Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two as she departs from Ellington Airport in Houston, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

Harris pushes ahead with campaign blitz, gaining ground on Trump

A series of polls conducted recently show Harris and Trump beginning their head-to-head contest on roughly equal footing.
Spain's Aitana Bonmati scores past Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita during Spain's 2-1 win to open the women's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics, in Nantes, France, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

Aitana Bonmati leads Spain to comeback win over Japan

Olympic debutants Spain recovered from going behind to an early goal to beat Group C rivals Japan and avenge a 4-0 group stage loss in last year's World Cup.
Israeli mobile artillery units stand near the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

Israel seeks changes to Gaza truce plan, complicating talks, sources say

Word of the new sticking points came as U.S. President Joe Biden pressed for a cease-fire in Gaza.
The U.S. Department of Defense has faced challenges in accurately valuing defense articles sent to Ukraine due to unclear accounting definitions, a new report showed.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

Pentagon finds another $2 billion of accounting errors for Ukraine aid

The Department of Defense faced challenges in accurately valuing defense articles sent to Ukraine due to unclear accounting definitions, a government report said.
A cyclist cools off at a fountain at Madrid Rio park during a heat wave in Madrid, on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 26, 2024

U.N. demands action on extreme heat as world registers warmest day

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges governments to "heatproof" their economies, critical sectors such as health care, and the built environment.
A Lower House plenary session is held in June. One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency for the lower chamber is at least twice as powerful as that in the eight most populous constituencies, an analysis has found.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2024

Vote-value disparities may be unconstitutional in eight Lower House districts

One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency is at least twice as powerful as one in the eight most populous constituencies, a new analysis shows.
Ryo Ogawa (right), chief executive officer of Timee, and Tomoaki Yagi, chief financial officer, strike the trading bell during the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024

Shares of job app firm Timee jump in Japan stock trading debut

The stock surged to as high as ¥1,855 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth market.
A gas blending station for testing gas and hydrogen mixtures in Germany. The energy transition in Germany became urgent after its supply of relatively inexpensive gas from Russia ended following the Ukraine war.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / EXPLAINER
Jul 26, 2024

How Germany's hydrogen economy could transform energy use

For some, Germany's bet on green hydrogen is a gamble, but for others, it is a world-leading example.
La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, which will host the Olympic swimming competition starting Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

China doping row set to raise tension at Paris pool

Some of the world's best in the sport have criticized anti-doping authorities and raised concerns about the competition's integrity.
Double trailers will be allowed to run on the Hokkaido Expressway for the first time as part of measures to cope with a truck driver shortage.
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2024

Japan to open up more expressways to double trailers

The move aims to address disruptions in cargo transport services caused by truck driver shortages due to a new overtime regulation introduced in April.
Waves crash against the coast of Sansha town in Ningde, Fujian province, China, on Thursday as Typhoon Gaemi approaches.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 26, 2024

Climate change driving change in rainfall and fiercer typhoons

About 75% of the world's land area has seen a rise in "precipitation variability," or wider swings between wet and dry weather, scientists have found.
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 26, 2024

Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory

Japan’s benchmark index is now down 10% from its July peak, meeting the textbook definition of a market correction.
A tunnel inside the Sado Island Gold Mines in Sado, Niigata Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

South Korea to accept Sado Gold Mines as World Heritage site

The International Council on Monuments and Sites urged Japan to provide visitors with information on all mining periods at the site.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority holds a meeting in Tokyo on Friday to discuss whether the No. 2 unit at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture meets safety standards.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Tsuruga nuclear reactor fails to gain approval for restart

The No. 2 unit at the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture failed to meet stricter regulations imposed following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
Flavor Flav is at the Paris Games as the hype man for the U.S. water polo team.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav relishes role as hype man for U.S. water polo team

The rapper is using his fame to help support the U.S. team.
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2024

‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday

Swaps markets suggest a roughly 45% chance of the Bank of Japan hiking rates by 15 basis points at the conclusion of its July 31 policy meeting.
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears a bandage on his ear during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18. Trump was indeed hit by an assassin's bullet or a fragment of one, the FBI said Friday, putting to rest questions over the nature of the Republican candidate's wounding at a campaign rally this month.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 27, 2024

FBI confirms Trump hit by bullet in assassination attempt

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was indeed hit by an assassin's bullet or a fragment of one, the FBI said Friday, putting to rest questions over the nature of the Republican candidate's wounding at a campaign rally this month.
The Sado Gold Mine, so heavily tapped that the mountain bearing it has been cleaved in two, is up for consideration for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site status.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2024

Japan should display full history of Sado mine, South Korean archaeologist says

He will not advise the South Korean UNESCO delegation against accepting the designation of the mine if Japan explains its history properly.
Tokiko Shimizu, a former Bank of Japan executive director, is known as someone who broke glass ceilings after becoming the first woman to take various senior management roles at the BOJ, including branch manager in 2010.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2024

BOJ’s former top female executive takes gender fight to Japan’s schools

Tokiko Shimizu is launching her own consultancy to focus on bringing more women into STEM-related fields starting at the high school level.
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign event at Radford University in Radford, Virginia, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 27, 2024

J.D. Vance’s ‘cat ladies’ insult sparks criticism of Trump’s VP pick

Comments JD Vance made in 2021 disparaging "childless cat ladies” are drawing criticism from not only Democrats, but also some members of his own party.
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.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama embraces Vice President Kamala Harris while arriving to speak on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid in the East Room of the White House in Washington in April  2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2024

Harris to lean on tight team and Obama staff in White House run

Here’s a look at the people in her orbit as she moves to reshape the campaign and form the nucleus of a potential new administration.

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