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Demonstrators hold a rally to honor the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in front of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2024

The lonesome death of a Russian opposition leader

The prison where Navalny died, Nicknamed “Polar Wolf,” is a freezing cold gulag for violent criminals. But Navalny — an anti-corruption lawyer and blogger.
“The Rise and Fall of the EAST” author Yasheng Huang blames the “keju,” the imperial national civil service exam, for the decline in China’s technological innovation. Its influence continues in the “gaokao,” the annual university entrance exam that high school students take in June.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 19, 2024

‘The Rise and Fall of the EAST’: China’s ancient successes paint worrying picture of its future

Economist Yasheng Huang delves into the impact of the "keju" imperial national civil service exam on the ebb and flow of China’s technological innovation.
Washington Nationals relief pitcher Dylan Floro during spring training workouts in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 20, 2024

Owners say MLB's Nationals no longer for sale

Under the tenure of the Lerner family, the Nationals have reached the playoffs five times.
Japan's fall to No. 4 in the global economic rankings reflects an aging population and declining resources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2024

Japan slips in the global economic rankings: So what’s next?

The IMF has forecast that India will overtake Japan economically in 2026 and Germany in 2027.
Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born electric cars on the production line at the company’s plant in Zwickau, Germany.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2024

Europe is being forced to reboot its car industry

Unless they can get strategies back on track, Europe’s automakers risk falling further behind China and Tesla
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's supporters demonstrate against U.S. extradition in front of the British Consulate in Barcelona on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

Assange absent at final hearing against extradition to U.S.

The two-day session is likely the WikiLeaks founder's last chance to fight the extradition in Britain's courts after a half-decade battle.
A government worker destroys counterfeit cigarettes in Durban, South Africa.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2024

Chinese man held in Australia for U.S. over North Korea smuggling scheme

Jin Guanghua is suspected of having purchased tobacco for companies owned by North Korea that was then used to make counterfeit cigarettes for sale.
A man who struggles with a panic disorder (Hokuto Matsumura, left) and his colleague (Mone Kamishiraishi) who suffers from severe premenstrual syndrome learn to support each other in “All the Long Nights.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2024

‘All the Long Nights’: Leads’ chemistry delivers in heartwarming drama

Sho Miyake’s observant film, which explores the healing powers of a heartfelt friendship, is enhanced by evocative visual and aural beauty.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2024

Japan plays a game of Pacific islands geopolitical chess

The influx of Chinese investment and activities have introduced risk for some Pacific island nations, moves which Japan cannot ignore.
Brooklyn-based startup HEVO is working with other firms to develop wireless EV charging systems.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

Wireless charging for electric cars is inching closer to reality

Major hurdles include slow charging speeds and the money and interest needed to build stations and get more carmakers on board.
A general election must take place in the U.K. by late January 2025, which means plenty of time for expats abroad to register and vote.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 26, 2024

As more U.K. expats get the vote, Japan’s ballot box stays closed

As of Jan. 16, Brits abroad — including the more than 17,000 in Japan — are able to register to vote regardless of how long they have lived overseas.
The Huawei Mate 60 Pro, launched in August 2023 and powered by a sophisticated chip, was seen as a symbol of the China's technological resurgence despite Washington's ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

U.S. targets China chipmaking plant after Huawei Mate 60 Pro

The Biden administration seeks to cut off China's most advanced factory from more American imports after it produced a sophisticated chip for the phone.
Gunma Bank's video message in English is geared toward those from overseas who are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2024

English video shows Japanese regional banks opening up to overseas investors

Foreigners are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
The Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin throws during a game against the Rays in September.
BASEBALL
Feb 22, 2024

Former Blue Jays pitcher Ryu returns to South Korea with Hanwha

The 36-year-old left-hander's deal with the Eagles, where Ryu played from 2006 to 2012, includes the most guaranteed money ever for a KBO player.
Zazen Boys (from left: So Yoshikane, Shutoku Mukai, Miya and Atsushi Matsushita) released “Rando,” its first original album in 12 years, last month. The 13-song collection features the sonic hallmarks of the band while also reflecting a new focus on the everyday, informed by frontman Mukai’s bike rides through Tokyo’s residential areas and sleepy side streets.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 23, 2024

Character studies of city folk reinvigorate Zazen Boys

Frontman Shutoku Mukai brings a newfound focus on ordinary life and youth to his rock project's first original album in 12 years.
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft passes over the near side of the moon following lunar orbit insertion on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2024

Why it took the U.S. 51 years to get back on the moon

Intuitive Machines has landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon, becoming the first private firm to place a vehicle intact on the lunar surface.
U.S. President Joe Biden chats with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau as Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown looks on during a summit at the White House in Washington in September.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 23, 2024

Chinese police are working in Kiribati, Hawaii's Pacific neighbor

Kiribati has not publicly announced the policing deal, which comes as Beijing renews a push to expand security ties in the Pacific islands.
A member of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service attends a transfer ceremony of special vehicles from Japan to Ukraine in Kyiv on Nov. 20, 2023.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024

An ominous portent emerges for Japan as Ukraine war enters third year

There are growing indications that the once-durable coalition of partners backing Kyiv’s war effort is crumbling — an ominous sign for Japan.
A relative of a missing passenger on MH370, in Beijing on the one year anniversary of the aircraft's disappearance.
WORLD
Feb 23, 2024

A decade after MH370, planes still at risk of vanishing off the map

An industrywide push to eliminate the chances of a similar case has been stymied by bureaucracy and financial pressure.
Vocalist Adam Lambert (center) and original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor hit Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo and Tokyo for the final leg of their marathon Rhapsody Tour.
CULTURE
Feb 24, 2024

Queen wraps marathon Rhapsody Tour in Japan

The final leg of the global tour hit four Japanese cities, providing fans with an appropriately grandiose send-off from the rockers on Valentine's Day.
A new future initiative aimed at training foreign workers is part of a broader strategy to address pressing labor shortages in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2024

Japan eyes training foreign workers amid labor shortages

The proposed training system will supersede the current foreign technical internship system.
Feleti Teo was formally selected by lawmakers as Tuvalu's premier on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Taiwan envoy says Tuvalu ties 'rock solid' post-election

With a population of just 11,000, Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
Asahi Group Holdings chief executive Atsushi Katsuki
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024

Asahi eyes overseas acquisitions to quadruple sales of Super Dry beer

Spurred on by the need to seek growth outside of the shrinking home market, Japanese firms went on an overseas buying spree worth ¥8.1 trillion last year.
Flags of the Solomon Islands and China near the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing in last July
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

China’s expansive diplomatic network still outstrips that of U.S.

Beijing had a larger footprint last year than Washington in key areas of geopolitical interest including the Pacific, East Asia and Central Asia.
The Tokyo High Court ruled that there was a causal relationship between Kazuo Ishibashi’s driving and the fatal crash that followed, upholding the Yokohama District Court’s findings and 18-year prison term.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2024

Tokyo court upholds 18-year prison term for driver over 2017 road rage

Kazuho Ishibashi had deliberately slowed down his vehicle in front of the victim’s car on an expressway, resulting in its rear-ending by a truck.
People take pictures of the city skyline lit up by drones during a performance to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, at Marina Bay in Singapore on Feb. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2024

Singapore embraces AI to solve everyday problems

Ranked the fifth most innovative country by the GII last year, Singapore was an early adopter of AI, releasing its first national strategy in 2019.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh convenes a Cabinet meeting in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigns

The move comes amid growing U.S. pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Palestinian Authority.
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen drives during the third day of the Formula One pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 27, 2024

F1 starts longest season with Red Bull still the team to beat

Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin are all confident that gremlins in their new cars have been removed.
A vigil is held for Russian activist Alexei Navalny in Munich on Feb. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Prisoner swap deal for Alexei Navalny was in works when he died

The U.S. State Department said in early December it made a "new and significant” proposal to Russia, but Moscow had rejected the offer.
Farmers in India take part in a recent march on New Delhi to demand that minimum crop prices be written into law in scenes reminiscent of protests in 2021. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2024

India’s farmers are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore

Farmers in India are marching to demand that guaranteed crop prices promised in 2021 be written into law. Will Modi acquiesce like he did three years ago?

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