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U.S. Air Force General C.Q. Brown (left), the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is greeted upon arrival in Cairo on Sunday. Brown made a three-day trip to the Middle East last weekend that saw him fly into Israel just hours after Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, and Israel's military struck Lebanon to thwart a larger attack.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 27, 2024

Risk of broader war eased 'somewhat' after Israel-Hezbollah exchange

Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, cautions that Iran's militant allies in other locations continue to pose a risk.
A child eats as Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Aug 27, 2024

U.N. humanitarian work in Gaza impacted by evacuation order

The United Nations on Monday said humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip has taken a serious blow after Israel ordered a new evacuation.
Freed Israeli hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi talks on the phone after arriving for a checkup at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. The Israeli military said its forces rescued Alkadi on Tuesday after a "complex operation."
WORLD
Aug 28, 2024

Israel rescues hostage taken on Oct. 7 from a Gaza tunnel

A 52-year-old Bedouin Arab Israeli from the town of Rahat was found by special forces in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
Political polarization in the U.S. is fueling domestic social divisions, eroding democratic norms and leading to a more self-centered U.S. foreign policy that threatens the global liberal order.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 28, 2024

The transformation of American liberalism

Liberalism in the U.S. is the product of overextending the idea of individual autonomy, resulting in selfishness, and, at the same time, a return to traditional morality.
The Todoroki Falls in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Saturday. Seven high school students who had played in a river nearby experienced vomiting and diarrhea.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024

Over 100 people fall sick in Kumamoto with river eyed as potential source

The city has set up signs near the river due to the suspected norovirus cases, calling on visitors to refrain from playing in the water.
People shop at a flea market hosted by Bunjang, an e-commerce platform for secondhand sales, in Seoul on Aug. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2024

South Korea's birth rate drive struggles to sway 'YOLO' generation

Asia's fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges.
Quokkas have been dubbed the "happiest animal in the world."
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024

Saitama zoo seeks donations for 'smiling' quokkas

The Saitama Children's Zoo in Higashimatsuyama is the only place in Japan where people can see quokkas.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces wipes away sweat as he conducts a search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by heavy rain in Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 11, 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Boiling Point
Aug 29, 2024

Can Japan handle a heat wave and natural disaster at the same time?

Recent typhoons and the Nankai Trough megaquake alert have put the spotlight on how the country would deal with a dual disaster.
Yasuyuki Kurosawa at his paddy fields in Meiwa, Gunma Prefecture. Tending the crops "is something that we cannot avoid, so we must do what we must do even if it's hot," the 77-year-old farmer said.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2024

Heatstroke risk won't stop Japan's aging farmers as temperatures soar

Agriculture accounts for about 1% of Japan's economy and almost 70% of its 1.4 million farmers are age 65 and above.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (center) and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, disembark from their campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 29, 2024

VCs want Harris to prioritize abortion rights and pro-tech policies

Of about 800 venture capitalists who signed an open letter of support, 225 detailed their reasons for endorsing Harris and the policies they favor in a survey.
The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has expanded the scope of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to include diseases that manifest in adulthood.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2024

More PGD tests performed after gynecology group widens scope of procedure

More than twice as many applications for screening have been approved after diseases that manifest in adulthood were included in the tests in 2022.
If you're still trying to be active during Japan's record-setting heat, you should also know how best to care for yourself when you inevitably get a sunburn.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 31, 2024

Japan’s nasty summer has left you with a nastier sunburn. Now what?

Aloe facial masks, non-alcohol-based lotions and souped-up sunscreen can take the edge off the pain of getting a sunburn.
From mid-August through late September, eggplants reach their height of flavor in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Sep 1, 2024

Japan’s autumn eggplant: Too delicious for your daughter-in-law

In Japan, autumn eggplant has become a shorthand symbol for keeping the most pleasurable things in life to yourself.
Chung Pui-kuen, the former chief editor of now-shuttered Hong Kong pro-democracy news outlet Stand News, leaves the district court in Hong Kong on Thursday after he was found guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 30, 2024

Hong Kong editors convicted of sedition in blow to press freedom

Local news outlets in Hong Kong already self-censor to survive and some foreign news organizations have left or moved out staff.
Hiroshi Sunairi’s documentary “From Okinawa with Love” follows the unwavering Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa, who made her name documenting the relationships between Japanese bar girls and African American servicemen.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024

‘From Okinawa with Love’: A revealing documentary about a true original

Hiroshi Sunairi takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to explore the life of Mao Ishikawa, who photographed Okinawans and the effects of the U.S. military.
If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 31, 2024

Births in Japan hit record low for January to June period

If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.
People walk in front of closed ticket gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen in Tokyo Station as train operations between Tokyo and Nagoya remain suspended due to Tropical Storm Shanshan on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024

Tropical Storm Shanshan soaks Japan as flood and landslide risks rise

Shanshan was moving slowly south-southwest of Wakayama Prefecture on Saturday afternoon, bringing widespread torrential rain to much of the country.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & i Holdings Co., at the company's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2024

Couche-Tard seeks pension fund backing for Seven & I bid

The retailer is reaching out to some of Canada’s largest pension funds to gauge their interest in providing equity, sources said.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump dances during a campaign rally at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania,  on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2024

Trump moves to contain fallout of abortion and IVF rows

The ex-president has been under fire from conservatives over an announcement that in a second term he would ensure free in vitro fertilization.
People watch the male giant panda Ri Ri at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in June 2017.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024

Panda pair in Tokyo to return to China

The elderly pandas Ri Ri and Shin Shin will be returned to China next month for medical care.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg Polin, speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21.
WORLD
Sep 1, 2024

Israel recovers bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including an American captive

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has closely followed the fate of the hostages seized on Oct. 7, said the six included Israeli American Goldberg-Polin.
The challenge for Australia’s Indigenous communities that dot a harsh, sprawling landmass is how to mesh their thousands of years of cultural traditions that guide everyday life with today’s economic realities.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024

60,000 years of history is facing economic reality

Both big business and governments have a role to play to improve the lives of Australia’s First Nations citizens.
An elevator at the Stade de France commuter train station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France. Paris built highly accessible accommodation for competitors in the 2024 Paralympic Games, but overall, the city remains difficult to navigate for people with disabilities.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 2, 2024

Paris is utopia for Paralympians until they leave the athletes village

It will be decades before the city's streets, sidewalks and parks achieve even a semblance of the Paralympic Village’s accessibility.
Tongan dancers performing a traditional dance at the closing ceremony of the 53rd Pacific Island Forum leaders' meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on Friday.  Taiwan said it signed a pact with the forum's secretariat on Friday that will see it continue its support for the strategically important region until 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2024

Taiwan staves off exclusion with Pacific island cooperation pact

The signing of the pact will see the self-ruled island continue its support for the Pacific islands until 2027.
People at the Sensoji temple in Tokyo in July. The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average in Japan.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Sep 2, 2024

Japan sees joint hottest summer on record

The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average, matching the record set only last year.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrives to attend a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Aug. 6. Lammy said the decision to suspend the licenses did not amount to a blanket ban or an arms embargo, but only involved those that could be used in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

U.K. suspends 30 of its 350 arms export licenses to Israel

The suspension is due to the risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law, its foreign minister David Lammy says.
Daikin's air conditioners for sale at a home appliances store in Mumbai
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Daikin, world’s No. 1 air-conditioner maker, to expand capacity in India

The Japanese company has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire an additional 13.4 hectares to build a new plant near its current factory in southern India.
A man raises his arms in front of burning wooden pallets on Sunday as protesters block Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway during an antigovernment rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since October.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Hostage deaths prompt angry Israelis to push Netanyahu’s red lines

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested to demand a truce with Hamas.
Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource

The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.
Therapy dogs are brought in for correctional education at the Kakogawa Gakuen juvenile correctional facility in Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2024

Novel dog training program aids rehab at juvenile correctional facility

An official involved in the program highlighted its importance, saying, 'Interaction with animals plays a valuable role in the rehabilitation of juveniles.'

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