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Activists hold placards during a rally ahead of environment day in Jakarta on June 4, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 1, 2024

Green pledges lack ambition, say Indonesian youth ahead of vote

While candidates have spoken during campaigns about the urgent risks posed by climate change, in a new development, detail is missing from policies.
A decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) could yet take time to implement, but if carried through, is set to disrupt the region's trade and services flows, worth nearly $150 billion a year.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2024

West Africa's 'Brexit' moment spells trouble for the region

The latest crisis highlights the growing rift between the Western-allied governments and military-run countries increasingly relying on Russia and China.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2024

One month after Noto quake, challenges remain in restoration effort

About 14,000 people are still living at evacuation shelters as officials race to repair infrastructure in the region.
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires toward Gaza on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war Cabinet have been under increasing pressure to bring home the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024

Gaza cease-fire negotiations advance as Israel-Hamas war grinds on

While talks are still in the early stages, sources said the proposal had a realistic chance of success and could lead to a longer-term cease-fire.
A fundraising event for the LGBTQ+ community in New Delhi in 2022. Sexual minorities say it is hard enough being openly gay or transgender in India, and the pressure only mounts in the online world.
WORLD / Society
Feb 2, 2024

Gay, teenaged and online: LGBTQ+ Indians fight for safe space

Sexual minorities say it is hard enough being openly gay or transgender in India, with the pressure only increasing in the online world.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is seen on the surface of the moon in an image released Jan. 25.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 2, 2024

Japan’s historic moon landing was right on target

Japan made history last month when it became the fifth nation to soft land on the moon.
Japanese regulations determine which hunters can handle certain firearms based on the individual's experience and the level of rifling in a long gun's barrel.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 3, 2024

Hokkaido hunters say more firepower means more humane kills

A revision to Japan’s firearms laws would mean new hunters would be temporarily limited to less potent shotguns.
A native of Seoul who grew up in Shanghai, Hana Yoon moved to New York to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 4, 2024

In Japan’s age-old capital, a young head chef stirs the pot

Upon her arrival in Kyoto, Yoon spent four months delving into the distinctive varieties of “kyōyasai,” vegetables grown in Kyoto and its suburbs.
Migrants on a beach at sunrise after a failed attempt to cross the Channel to the U.K. on a small boat, in Sangatte, near Calais, France, in August 2023.
WORLD / Society
Feb 2, 2024

U.K. says migration likely to drive stronger population growth

While the trend will help boost the economy, it will also exacerbate a rift within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party.
Aeon is aiming to encourage male workers to take child care leave. While almost all of its female employees currently take child care leave when they have a child, the rate for male employees is only 15%.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2024

Aeon employees to receive 100% of income during child care leave

The retailer aims to gradually roll out the program from March to some 150 group companies.
There are currently over 35 million digital nomads around the world, with a collective economic value of $787 billion.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 2, 2024

Japan's digital nomad visas to require ¥10 million in income

People from 49 countries and territories will be able to stay in Japan under the “specified activities” visa category.
People distribute bags of flour to Palestinians in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on behalf of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in November. The agency has come under fire after a few of its employees were accused of supporting terrorism.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2024

Hold UNRWA accountable — but don’t harm those in need

Some 30,000 UNRWA employees serve 5 million people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, with 13,000 of them working in Gaza alone.
Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink, but experts says his statements raised more questions than they answered about the trial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Want details on Musk's brain implant trial? You'll have to ask him

Neuralink does not have to divulge even basic details about its trial, including the facility where patients are being implanted.
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.
Giant African snails are unpopular among local residents and are referred to as an alien species that shouldn’t be touched, as they damage crops and sometimes hosts rat lungworms.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 19, 2024

Giant African snails mark 90 years of history in Okinawa

The snails, one of the world’s largest of the kind, are native to East Africa, and their shells can grow to as high as 20 centimeters.
Flags fly at Union Station in Washington on June 27. With the U.S. presidential election approaching, caution is being urged over the widespread proliferation of propaganda.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 13, 2024

The battle to tackle U.S. election propaganda heats up

The race is set to become more and more intense amid increased political polarization and pluralistic values.
Palestinian Irish plastic surgeon Ahmed El Mokhallalati checks a Palestinian man wounded in an Israeli strike, at the European Hospital, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 7, 2024

Doctors in Gaza must 'prioritize' patients most likely to survive

Staff and equipment are in such short supply in Gaza's European Hospital that medical teams are having to make agonizing decisions.
Displaced Palestinians react near their tents following an Israeli strike on a car in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2024

Gaza cease-fire hopes alive with more talks planned

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sees room for negotiation in Hamas' counteroffer despite Israel's rejection of it.
The “myahk,” a community currency implemented on Okinawa Prefecture’s Miyako Island in 2018, is intimately tied to local efforts for environmental preservation.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Feb 10, 2024

Japanese communities are creating currencies to educate and empower citizens

The yen will do when paying for things throughout the country. In some places, though, you may try paying with a coin that also helps reduce plastic waste.
Israeli history teacher Meir Baruchin
WORLD / Society
Feb 9, 2024

Pressure piled on Israelis who speak up for Palestinians

Israeli schoolteacher Meir Baruchin has paid a high price for denouncing the war in Gaza: being let go from his teaching job and even being detained.
Taylor Swift kicked off her four-night stint at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday while Lionel Messi played at the Japan National Stadium, just a few kilometers away.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 9, 2024

The Taylor Swift and Messi moment shows Tokyo is back

On Wednesday, Swift and Messi wowed their respective fans, just 5 km away from each other. Their overlap in Tokyo is proof of the city's great resurgence.
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto speaks during a campaign rally in Jakarta on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 11, 2024

Indonesian election candidates make their case as election day looms

With young people accounting for almost 60% of the electorate, the candidates have needed to factor in their demands and preferences.
U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2024

Biden’s gaffe-heavy week shows dilemma over 2024 media strategy

The president's aides ponder whether it’s better to confront or ignore concerns about his age and acuity.
Maritime Self-Defense Force officers engage in a training of emergency medical treatment in the Kunisaki transport vessel in September 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2024

Japan Defense Ministry to make blood products fit for all types

The use of whole blood products will help save time checking blood type compatibility and provide speedier treatment to injured troops.
Experimentation seemed to be a driving force throughout conductor Seiji Ozawa’s life as he pushed the boundaries of what a Japanese artist could achieve with classical music to magnificent heights.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2024

Seiji Ozawa’s boundless experiment

The influential conductor was not only a man of extraordinary talent, his warm character had the power to unite people as one.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva (right) speaks during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024

IMF and World Bank warn Gaza and Red Sea chaos imperils global economy

The Israel-Hamas war and its knock-on effects could impact the world the longer the fighting drags on, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
Ukrainian soldiers in a trench in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in January
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

Short on soldiers, Ukraine debates how to recruit new troops

A potential expansion of the nation’s military draft to replenish the exhausted, battered army has become an emotional, politically charged issue.
A sea turtle swims off the coast of Brazil. Sea turtles can migrate hundreds or thousands of miles.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 14, 2024

Overhunting and habitat loss endanger migratory animals, U.N. says

One in five migratory species is at risk of extinction, according to a new report by the United Nations.
U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner speaks to media at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

U.S. supports Japan's push for talks with North Korea, envoy says

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament last week that he wants to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A Starlink satellite internet system is set up near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, in March 2023.
WORLD
Feb 15, 2024

Musk’s Starlink wins license for Israel and parts of Gaza

The service will be available to some authorities in Israel and a field hospital run by the UAE in southern Gaza.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past