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The main goal of Australian's new defense strategy is to change a potential adversary’s belief that it could achieve its ambitions with military force at an acceptable cost.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 19, 2024

Australia, like Japan, sees national security interests ‘farther afield’

The goal of Australia's new strategy is to change a potential adversary’s belief that it could achieve its ambitions with force at an acceptable cost.
Rui "The Hurricane" Junior (right) takes down Mohamed Kamal during the World Championship Sumo tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 13.
SUMO
Apr 19, 2024

World Championship Sumo adds WWE-style pizazz to Japan's traditional sport

A boisterous, nearly full crowd got an in-person look at sumo wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Four-piece Atarashii Gakko! and Okinawan rapper Awich (center) shared the Mojave Stage at 88Risings’s “Futures” showcase at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 19, 2024

Japanese acts seize Coachella's spotlight — and this ain't your typical J-pop

Yoasobi, Awich and Atarashii Gakko! shine at the California festival, proving just how much J-pop has made strides in reaching international audiences.
Japanese businesses traditionally all hire graduates at the same time each year, but about one in 10 recruits fresh from college quit their jobs within a year, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2024

Japanese AI tool predicts when recruits will quit

The tool crunches data on employees at a company, from their attendance record to personal information such as age and gender.
The Malaysian state of Sarawak is blessed with the rivers and heavy rainfall needed to create hydropower that can generate clean electricity needed for emissions-free hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 20, 2024

Clean hydrogen’s best bet may be a rainforest state in Borneo

The state is hoping an abundance of hydropower can help it defy challenges that are clouding the fuel’s prospects elsewhere.
A microscopic view of the SARS-CoV-2 virus particles.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 20, 2024

It’s taken 100 scientists two years to rename airborne viruses after COVID mistakes

While the discussion may seem trivial, terminology carries important economic and public health consequences.
Boxes of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 developed by Walvax Biotechnology and Abogen Biosciences
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024

China's drugmakers can't sell mRNA shots but haven't quit yet

While Chinese firms are pursuing new targets for the novel messenger RNA technology, they face a tough path, crimped by a lack of revenue.
Ukrainian service members fire a multiple launch rocket system toward Russian troops. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, arms manufacturers have experienced something of a reversal of fortune.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 20, 2024

Defense companies are luring Germany’s struggling autoworkers

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, arms manufacturers have experienced something of a reversal of fortune.
China's Olympic gold-medal winning 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay team celebrates on the podium at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 29, 2021.  Zhang Yufei (third from left) is among 23 top Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in the lead up to the Games.
OLYMPICS
Apr 20, 2024

Top Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned drug, then won Olympic gold

The episode sharply divided the anti-doping world, where China’s record has long been a flashpoint.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage for a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 2.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 21, 2024

Deconstructing the spectacle and stagecraft of a Donald Trump rally

Trump's rallies are a defining feature of his presidential campaigns: all-day spectacles blending evangelical revivalist meeting and carnival.
A giant screen shows Chinese leader Xi Jinping next to a flag of the Communist Party of China, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 21, 2024

Xi orders China’s biggest military reorganization since 2015

China will terminate the Strategic Support Force, which was created to enhance capabilities in space, cyber, political and electronic warfare.
Lithium powder from recycled batteries in Nevada in March
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 21, 2024

Japanese trading firms look abroad to diversify lithium supply

The resource-limited country is aiming to create a stable supply of the mineral, which is critical for producing batteries for electric vehicles.
The "style architect" for Jay-Z since 1994, June Ambrose sees influences of her work across the Japanese fashion landscape.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 1, 2024

June Ambrose: ‘Cultural appropriation is the best form of flattery’

Ambrose has been Jay-Z’s designated “style architect” since the billionaire started Roc-A-Fella Records back in 1994.
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing in May last year.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Apr 22, 2024

Elon Musk’s robotaxi dreams plunge Tesla into chaos

The idea of creating an autonomous taxi service has been kicking around Tesla for at least eight years.
Home electric vehicle chargers during the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show in Quebec, Canada, on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is offering more tax breaks to automotive firms to put their electric vehicle factories in Canada.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2024

Honda nears deal with Canada to boost electric vehicle capacity

The auto sector is particularly important to Ontario, Canada’s largest province by population and home to assembly plants.
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.
Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei poses with her gold medal after winning the women's 200-meter butterfly during the Tokyo Games.
OLYMPICS
Apr 22, 2024

Chinese doping case sends swimming world into uproar and exposes bitter rifts

The disclosure of an incident that had been a secret for more than three years has drawn strong reactions from athletes, coaches and others.
A robotics company’s research and development center in Shenzhen. Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

China needs a better innovation ecosystem

Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy, putting a damper on their ability to innovate.
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2024

Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub

Massive redevelopment plans for the former site of Japan's world-famous fish market aim to turn the waterfront land into the new face of Tokyo.
Digital platforms have been flooded with disinformation, allowing foreign countries to conduct influence operations and leading to widened social divides.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 28, 2024

How democratic states are regulating digital platforms

Some platforms have been flooded with disinformation, allowing foreign countries to conduct influence operations.
Sicily and organized crime have been synonymous since at least the 19th century. The island's mafia infiltration is extending beyond violence, manifesting in subtle economic coercion and sophisticated tax evasion schemes.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Sicily's mafia is expanding its white collar crime

Economic inequality fuels mafia exploitation, with wealthy enclaves thriving while impoverished areas provide fertile ground for criminal activity.
Tesla remains the dominant EV maker in the U.S. market, but its earnings have been under pressure for several quarters.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2024

Tesla speeding up release of cheaper cars after sales miss

The maker of electric vehicles plans to release more affordable models by the end of this year or in early next year.
People backing Ukraine gather outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday. The Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a long-stalled $95 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 24, 2024

Congress passes Ukraine aid bill in boost to Kyiv — and Taipei — after long delay

The package, which had been delayed amid objections from Republican hard-liners, could be signed into law as soon as this week.
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ever-growing tensions in the South China Sea all point to an uncomfortable truth for Southeast Asian nations, as well as the U.S.: In this standoff, China is winning.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

Xi’s armada is winning the battle for energy in South China Sea

China’s increasingly assertive stance has sparked a flurry of diplomatic and military efforts aimed at countering Beijing’s footprint.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Taro Aso, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in New York on Tuesday. The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement.”
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

Japan's former PM Aso meets Trump for talks on security and economy

The visit highlights behind-the-scenes moves by Tokyo to cultivate ties with the Trump camp ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election.
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 24, 2024

For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship

Among the measures is an emphasis on wrestlers putting both hands down at the same time, with punishments including disqualification for noncompliance.
Taylor Swift's new album "The Tortured Poets Department" was released on Friday. The rush for immediate reviews in this digital age is undermining the listening experience.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024

Taylor Swift is proof that how we critique music is broken

In the age of half-baked hot takes on online forums, anyone with a smartphone can word-vomit their thoughts into the ether.
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 24, 2024

Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds

The Tohoku region takes the top spot in both the number and percentage of municipalities at risk of disappearing due to a sharp population decline.
Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2024

How U.S. allies are preparing for a possible second Trump term

They want to avoid Trump's "America First" policies dealt them before, which included trade wars and a shakeup of security alliances.
An image provided by Profluent Bio shows the physical structure of OpenCRISPR-1, a gene editor created by AI technology from Profluent.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 25, 2024

Generative AI arrives in the gene-editing world of CRISPR

AI has arrived on the scene of gene editing with the goal of outdoing billions of years of natural evolution.

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