Search - health

 
 
People pray at the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima to mark the anniversary of the dropping of the A-bomb in 1945. Over half a century on, the global framework to stop nuclear weapons proliferation needs a serious rethink.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2024

What stands in the way of a nuclear weapon-free world?

Almost 80 years after the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the world is still far from abolishing nuclear weapons due to a crumbling of the nonproliferation architecture.
An ambulance dispatched in Tokyo on Friday. The Tokyo Fire Department issued an ambulance shortage alert 19 times last month, up from five a year before.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2024

Heatstroke cases behind record number of ambulance dispatches in Tokyo

The 542,256 instances for the January to July period this year was the highest since the statistics began in 1936.
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson crosses the line to win the women's 800-meter final at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Aug 6, 2024

In her teens, this British runner struggled to walk. Now she's an Olympic champion.

The 22-year-old buried a reputation for being always the bridesmaid and never the bride as she stormed to victory.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, leaves his house to attend a court hearing in Dhaka on May 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 7, 2024

Nobel winner Yunus to lead Bangladesh after shunning politics

Though he’s mostly stayed away from politics, Muhammad Yunus is one of Bangladesh’s most famous faces.
China's Quan Hongchan competes in the women's 10-meter platform diving final on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Diving
Aug 7, 2024

Perfectionist Quan wins third Olympic diving gold at age 17

Quan's first dive was given perfect scores of 10 across the board on the way to sealing a China one-two in the women's 10-meter platform.
American Gabby Thomas celebrates after winning the women's 200-meter final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
OLYMPICS
Aug 7, 2024

I wanted to quit several times, says newly crowed 200-meter champion Thomas

The 27-year-old American secured her first global title after beating 100-meter champion Julien Alfred.
Yahya Sinwar, head of the political wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City in April 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 8, 2024

Israel vows to eliminate new Hamas leader as Gaza war drags on

Israel's army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said they would "find him (Yahya Sinwar), attack him" and force Hamas to find another leader.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 9, 2024

U.S., Qatar and Egypt push for Israel and Hamas talks on August 15

Leaders of the three countries want to jumpstart talks amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the Middle East.
Moved by an experience with a local hunter, Shota Sasaki has since focused on elevating the image of game meat in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 11, 2024

Elezo Esprit: A visceral celebration of Hokkaido’s wild game

Game meat specialist Elezo Esprit has hunters on staff who are directed to ensure the animals they supply arrive at the butchery within an hour of being killed.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 9, 2024

Kishida Cabinet members resume holding fundraising parties

"I will continue to carry out (fundraising through parties) in a restrained manner," said Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki.
Across Japan, sports fans are sacrificing a good night’s sleep to catch their favorite Olympics events and beloved athletes.
OLYMPICS
Aug 9, 2024

Sleepless in Japan: How to recover from ‘Olympic fever’

The Paris Olympics are just about done, so sleep-deprived sports junkies can take comfort in the fact that they’ll soon be able to get a full night’s rest.
The Nagasaki peace ceremony on Friday at the city's Peace Park
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2024

Nagasaki marks 79 years since atomic bombing as top envoys pay respects in Tokyo

The ambassadors from the U.S., the U.K. and other Group of Seven nations skipped the Nagasaki ceremony due to Israel being left out.
Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Aug 9, 2024

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

You've likely heard of the American dream. In Japan, where no such concept exists, immigrants forge their own ideals.
Hamas named Yahya Sinwar as new political leader earlier this month.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 10, 2024

Israel's hunt for Hamas' elusive new chief Sinwar

Israeli commanders believe Sinwar, 61, is hiding in a labyrinthine maze of tunnels that Hamas has built under the Gaza Strip over the years.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024

Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom

For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Ana Barbosu of Romania competes in the women's floor exercise final at Bercy Arena in Paris on Aug. 5.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Aug 12, 2024

Romanian gymnast Barbosu to be awarded American Chiles' Olympic floor bronze

The IOC decision follows a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling on Saturday which canceled the reevaluation of Chiles' score in the floor exercise final.
A woman checks her phone as she stands amid the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood on Sunday.
WORLD
Aug 12, 2024

In Gaza, keeping the internet on can cost lives but also save them

Preserving the war-torn territory's internet connection comes at a price and the risks can be deadly for desperate users.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a summit in Bangkok in November 2022. Despite Japan-China relations stagnating in recent years, Xi's administration presents some interesting opportunities for an overture between the two countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 12, 2024

Will Japan and China’s relations continue to stagnate?

Japan and China have historically been at odds and relations have stagnated. This pattern can be broken by seizing the moment, one that offers some key opportunities.
Polina Oba enjoys the food in Fukuoka, but still finds herself traveling to Tokyo often as that’s where most of the decision-makers are based. 
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 12, 2024

Polina Oba: ‘Try quick, fail quick, learn quick and you need to always pivot’

Networking is at the core of Polina Oba's GourmetPro startup. Not only is it great meeting new people but you'll never know where those connections may lead.
California Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, the first Sikh-American politician to be elected in the California State Legislature, poses for a picture with fellow assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva while attending a luncheon gathering in Artesia, California, on June 8.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Some U.S. Sikhs fear Modi government is threatening them

Some Sikhs in the U.S. described experiencing online harassment and surveillance at their homes.
U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 2020
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 13, 2024

Musk scorns subsidies, but Tesla still lobbies for U.S. benefits

Despite Musk's gradual embrace of Trump, the company continues to lobby the U.S. and state governments for benefits championed by the Democratic Party.
People walk past a banner with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a street in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Only Gaza cease-fire can delay Iran's Israel response, Iranian officials say

Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, could launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations.
An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border on July 25
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

U.S. approves sale to Israel of $20 billion weapons package

Washington is facing mounting domestic and international criticism for its support of Israel.
Takashi Morita, a proponent of implementing Japan's A-bomb survivors' support law overseas, died of old age at a hospital in Sao Paulo on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 14, 2024

Takashi Morita, who led efforts to help A-Bomb survivors overseas, dies at 100

Morita was exposed to radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945 when he was a military police officer.
Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok on Wednesday. He became the fourth Thai prime minister to be ousted by the Constitutional Court in the past two decades.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Thai political upheaval shows royalists still firmly in charge

The difference this time is that former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is now in an alliance with his former conservative adversaries as part of a deal struck last year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to step down as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader has thrown the race for his successor into uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2024

Kishida’s resignation opens the door to a chaotic era

With Fumio Kishida's resignation, the LDP faces a crucial election next month with no clear front-runner to become its next leader.
An Apple Store in New York on July 29
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024

Developing new tabletop home device, Apple pushes ahead with robotics shift

The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which would offer a twist on products like Amazon’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms’s Portal.
Akari Fujinami leapt into the arms of her father and coach after she became an Olympic champion in the women's 53-kg freestyle wrestling class on Aug. 8.
OLYMPICS
Aug 15, 2024

The emotional highs — and lows — of competing for Japan at the Olympics

From golden celebrations like that of wrestler Akari Fujinami to crushing defeats of stars like Uta Abe, Japanese athletes let it all out during the Paris Games.
The Shein logo adors the company's first pop-up store in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 2.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 15, 2024

Seoul authorities find toxic substances in Shein and Temu products

The explosive growth has led to increased scrutiny of their business practices and safety standards, including in the EU and South Korea.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight