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The opposition has no means to force the six current and former Liberal Democratic Party members to testify in parliament without the agreement from the party's leadership, starting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who concurrently serves as party president.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Kishida weighs demand for sworn testimonies to clear air on scandal

Opposition parties want six current and former LDP members to testify before parliament on their knowledge of party fundraising kickbacks.
A recent $1 billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will make the school tuition-free indefinitely, but greater systemic changes would better serve students and society.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2024

Free tuition is no panacea for medical schools

An historic $1 billion donation paves the way for debt-free medical education.
Baseball player Shohei Ohtani poses with his Japanese interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara (right), and his agent, Nez Balelo, during a news conference after signing a 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 22, 2024

Shohei Ohtani scandal raises the stakes on sports betting

The speed at which U.S. sports leagues have embraced betting put the Japanese star's fastball to shame.
A lack of comprehensive consumption — and inflation — data makes it impossible to get an accurate picture of India's poverty.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2024

India’s poor will not be wished away

Poverty remains deeply entrenched in India and appears to have increased significantly.
Myanmar's military high ranking officials attend a ceremony to mark the country's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Myanmar army behind Facebook pages spewing hate speech: U.N. probe

In 2021, Rohingya refugees sued Facebook for $150 billion (¥22.6 trillion), claiming it had failed to stem the hate speech directed against them.
People place their bets at the Fanduel sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the Super Bowl in February 2019.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 31, 2024

U.S. sports leagues bet on gambling. Now they’re facing its risks.

Leagues have signed lucrative marketing deals with betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings and recent incidents have highlighted issues.
An employee of Jet Blue airlines walks around an engine of an Airbus A320 passenger aircraft in a maintenance hangar of the company at JFK International Airport in New York on March 4.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2024

Maintenance staff shortage in U.S. could clip aviation industry's wings

The sector lacks some 24,000 aviation maintenance technicians in North America, a figure due to reach nearly 40,000 by 2028.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center), and Taro Aso, the party's vice president, meet in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2024

LDP’s formal punishment likely to spark discontent

Exempting Kishida and Nikai from any reprimands over the slush funds scandal will likely deepen rifts within the party, experts say.
Warnings have been issued for people to safely use household appliances, including gas stoves.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2024

Warnings issued for household safety in Japan's new fiscal year

The guidelines aim to raise awareness on product safety and mitigate potential risks surrounding household appliances.
Peru's President Dina Boluarte, who is facing an inquiry into possible illicit enrichment and failure to declare ownership of luxury watches, addresses the audience during an assistance program for the elderly, in Lima on Feb. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

How Rolexes put Peru's presidency at risk

Dina Boluarte is under investigation for illicit enrichment for possessing luxury timepieces watches without proving how she got them.
Workers on Thursday inspect a building damaged by an earthquake a day earlier in Hualien, Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 5, 2024

Resilient Taiwan responded fast to earthquake after years honing skills

While past temblors have provided lessons for strengthening coordination, the potential for an attack from China also keeps the island on its toes.
Drivers in California’s Marin County rely on a single hydrogen fueling station.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 6, 2024

Few stations and $200 to fill up: Life on California’s ‘hydrogen highway’

Fuel shortages and soaring prices have stalled the adoption of hydrogen cars — but proponents aren’t throwing in the towel.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani needs to find a way to keep his eye on the ball as he plays his first 162-game season without his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 9, 2024

Can Shohei Ohtani achieve Michael Jordan-level mental resilience?

One expert says ensuring that he can pivot smoothly into a new support system is crucial for the player.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left to right), Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Sochi, Russia, on May 15, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Spy's arrest puts Cold War spotlight back on Vienna

Vienna being considered a spy haven has come under harsh scrutiny following accusations an Austrian intelligence agent spied for Russia.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani during a spring training game on March 12.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 15, 2024

Ohtani’s dizzying three weeks end in exoneration by authorities

At times, baseball’s biggest star seemed in danger of being tainted by a gambling scandal, before his longtime interpreter was charged with fraud.
Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
CULTURE / Books / Longform
Apr 22, 2024

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

Shops without staff, shelves for rent, cafes and meetups are some of the ways the country's dwindling bookstores are trying to survive.
Former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to court on the first day of opening statements in his trial in New York on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

On first day of Trump hush money trial, prosecutors say he corrupted 2016 election

New York prosecutors said on the first day of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial that the former president corrupted the 2016 election.
The Lions' Yuji Kaneko hit .219 in the team's first 25 games of the season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Apr 29, 2024

Lions muzzled by poor performance at plate

The record will show the Seibu Lions lost to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Sunday after a 2-2 slider from Jefry Yan got away from catcher Takeru Furuichi as Riku Ogata raced home to score the walk-off run in the 12th inning of a 3-2 Hawks win.
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024

Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million

The preliminary figure jumped by 510,000 from 2018, when the previous survey was taken, and doubled from 4.48 million in 1993.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the United Steelworkers Union headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 17. Biden made clear that he does not want the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel to happen.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 4, 2024

Political furor over Nippon Steel's U.S. Steel bid puts investment panel in spotlight

Backlash over the deal has echoes of the 1980s when Nippon Steel tried and failed to buy another American metal company.
Employees work on a production line at an automotive plant producing electric cars near Ningbo, China. The U.S. is set to announce new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other goods as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2024

Biden set to hit China EVs and strategic sectors with tariffs

The decision, which could come as early as next week, represents one of Biden’s biggest moves in the economic race with China.
Atlanta Braves second baseman David Fletcher throws for a double play against the Miami Marlins in Cumberland, Georgia, on April 23.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 21, 2024

MLB investigates ex-Angels infielder David Fletcher over gambling claims

Fletcher reportedly wagered through Matthew Bowyer, the same bookmaker who took bets from Ippei Mizuhara.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara is expected to hold bilateral talks with  his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, during the Shangri-La Dialogue to be held in Singapore from May 31.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2024

Tokyo and Seoul to bolster defense ties with deal to prevent radar row repeat

The two neighbors' defense ministers hope to use an agreement to kick-start their defense relationship, which has been in limbo since the incident.
Makoto Hasebe during a news conference following his retirement, in Tokyo on Friday. Hasebe played in 114 games for Japan's national team and played over 500 professional games between Japan and Germany.
SOCCER
May 24, 2024

Makoto Hasebe at peace with retirement, says body still 'wants to kick the ball'

Hasebe will eventually return to Germany and begin to lay the foundation for his coaching career.
Shipping containers at Pier J at the Port of Long Beach wait for processing in Long Beach, California.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 25, 2024

USTR extends some Chinese tariff exclusions, but many to fall away

Friday's action means certain goods will maintain exclusions from import tariffs.
The Supreme Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. This case will mark the first time for the Supreme Court to rule on a parent-child relationship in a case in which the biological father has a child after transitioning to a woman.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2024

Top court to rule on recognizing post-transition woman as parent

The Tokyo Family Court rejected the woman's petition in 2022, stating that she did not fit the definitions of a father or a birth-giving mother under the Civil Code.
A North Korean soldier is seen at a guard post inside the country in this picture taken from Paju, South Korea, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in June 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Seoul to suspend inter-Korean military pact with Pyongyang over balloons

South Korea said the halt will last "until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored,” after the North sent trash-filled balloons across the border over the last week.
A man looks toward North Korea through a pair of binoculars from the observation deck near the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

South Korea to resume all military activities along demarcation line

Seoul said that mobile loudspeakers could be sent to border and operational "right away" after the South suspended an inter-Korean military agreement.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is the world's leading chip contract manufacturer.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2024

Chinese AI chip firms downgrading designs to secure TSMC production

They submitted the less-powerful designs to TSMC — the world's leading chip contract manufacturer — to comply with U.S. restrictions, sources say.
Kenya's Rhonex Kipruto celebrates after finishing third in the men's 10,000 meter final at the 2019 IAAF Athletics World Championships in Doha on Oct. 6, 2019.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Jun 6, 2024

Kenya's Rhonex Kipruto gets six-year ban and loses world record over doping

Kipruto was banned until May 10, 2029.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami