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JAPAN
Nov 25, 2000

Body eyed to curb rights abuses by media

The deputy managing editor of the daily Mainichi Shimbun was shocked when he found out that a Justice Ministry panel had been holding discussions on the premise that the media is an enemy of human rights.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Nov 19, 2000

Poetry readings in Okinawa

In Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture Oct. 15, Shuntaro Tanikawa read such scatological, contemporary poems as "Onara (Fart)" and "Unko (Crap)" from his collection "Hadaka" (the English edition, "Naked," is jointly published by Stone Bridge Press and Saru Press).
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2000

Where information is only for the rich

PHNOM PENH -- In an information-technology world, the vast majority of Cambodians remain deprived. While the amount of information in the country has been growing significantly, compared with the dark past, as with everything else here information is being hoarded by the rich and powerful.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 19, 2000

Kwangju: a turning point for South Korea

THE KWANGJU UPRISING: Eyewitness Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen, edited by Henry Scott-Stokes and Lee Jai Eui. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 268 pp. $18.95 (paper). "Covering the Kwangju uprising -- and writing of it in the aftermath," a Korean observer writes, "I was stuck for words. A reporter is supposed...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 1999

Aum mouthpiece Joyu freed from prison, returns to cult

Aum Shinrikyo's charismatic ex-spokesman, Fumihiro Joyu, 37, was released Wednesday from Hiroshima Prison after finishing a three-year sentence for forgery and perjury. Upon his release, four years and two months after his arrest in October 1995, he announced his intention to rejoin the cult and flew...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2023

Elon Musk wants to pause AI? It’s too late for that

A petition on OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology calling for a pause on further development ignores the risk already unleashed.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 20, 2023

To combat food shortages, North Korea deploys the military

Kim Jong Un, the country's leader, has called for soldiers to be “a driving force” in increasing food production, a reflection of the North's economic and geopolitical challenges.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2023

Where are Russia's top generals? Rumors swirl after mercenary mutiny

Valery Gerasimov, Russia's top general, has not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny. Absent from view too is Gen. Sergei Surovikin.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol greet each other ahead of a trilateral meeting during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima on May 21.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2023

U.S. announces trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea

The leaders of the three countries will use the summit at the Camp David presidential retreat to expand trilateral cooperation “across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
Then-Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a news conference in Beijing on May 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 1, 2023

China's ex-foreign minister is gone but wait for explanation goes on

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Thursday said Beijing will release information in a timely matter regarding Qin Gang and opposes "malicious hype."
A woman takes a picture of the poster for the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 2, 2023

Hayao Miyazaki’s confusing new masterpiece

Our critics Thu-Huong Ha and Matt Schley discuss what they thought of the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
Three MV-22B tilt-rotor Ospreys fly in formation above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sydney in June 2017. A U.S. Marine Osprey crashed on a remote island north of Australia's mainland while taking part in military exercises on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 28, 2023

Three U.S. Marines die in Osprey crash during Australia drills

Australian personnel were not involved in the crash that occurred during Exercise Predator's Run 2023.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Manet, as they arrive at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2023

The ASEAN Summit gives us just more of the same

ASEAN needs to address problems internal divisions and maintain its role in the region.
For the first time since 2019, the Tokyo Game Show returns in full force.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 20, 2023

Your livestreaming guide to Tokyo Game Show 2023

Giants of Japanese gaming will be livestreaming their major presentations for anyone across Japan — or the globe — to follow.
Washington is taking steps to prevent U.S. chipmakers from circumventing government rules in order to sell to China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2023

U.S. to tighten rules aimed at keeping advanced chips out of China

The Biden administration is aiming to close loopholes that might help its geopolitical rival gain cutting-edge technologies.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command released video footage that it said showed a Chinese J-11 fighter executing an "unsafe intercept” of a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber, such as the one seen above, which was "lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace.”
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

Dueling Chinese and U.S. videos show alleged provocations at sea

The rivals accused the other of provocative or unprofessional actions by military craft in and around the disputed South China Sea.
“Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again” fully articulates the intentions behind the creation of Japan’s most infamous "kaijū" (monster) before Toho Studios releases the newest chapter in the “Godzilla” saga.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2023

‘Godzilla’ novellas expand on infamous monster’s origins

Shigeru Kayama’s entertaining and informative stories delve deep into the underlying pacifist beliefs of the entire “Godzilla” franchise.
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 1, 2023

Israel kills at least 50 in military strike on Gaza refugee camp

An Israel Defense Forces statement said the strike by fighter jets on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, had killed a Hamas commander.
In addition to its regular whiskies, Suntory is released a limited-edition 100th Anniversary Hibiki blend retailing at $5,000 per bottle.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 5, 2023

A century of Suntory's whisky mastery costs $5,000 per bottle

Suntory's 100th anniversary blends are already selling for double their original retail prices online.
New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) and and his predecessor, Wen Jiabao (center), attend the 12th National People's Congress where Chinese President Xi Jinping was first elected in Beijing in March 2013.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2023

China's opaque politics and the Li Keqiang mystery

Li reportedly had bypass surgery and was taking drugs after a liver transplant, both of which would have increased the risk of a heart attack.
OpenAI said it fired chairman Sam Altman after it concluded that he was not candid with the company's board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2023

Profit, not progress, animates the tech world

Reliable sources said Altman's firing came amid difference in views about the speed at which OpenAI should push its artificial intelligence.
The former lead singer of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, attends the funeral service of his mother in Silvermines, Ireland, in January 2017.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023

The life of the Pogues' frontman and the ‘banality of crazy’ in U.S. politics

The current focus on performative acts in politics diminishes serious policy debates, leading to social and political divides.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 15, 2023

Hokkaido to face issues around Rapidus, seafood and '2024 problem'

An influx of foreign residents is expected in Chitose, while China's ban on marine products continues to hurt the region.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Who might succeed Fumio Kishida in 2024?

Several names have emerged as potential candidates for prime minister in the wake of a political funds scandal enveloping the LDP.
Police vehicles are parked outside the Perry Middle School and High School complex following a school shooting, in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 5, 2024

Sixth-grade student killed in Iowa school shooting, suspect dead

Police also discovered an improvised explosive device when searching the high school.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, inside the Congress Center ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 16, 2024

OpenAI will roll out new tools to thwart election misinformation

New tools will attribute information about current events provided by its chatbot ChatGPT, and help users determine if an image was created by its AI software.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 18, 2024

U.S. envoy to Japan vows to continue calling out Chinese ‘hypocrisy’

Emanuel also gave a speech on what he described as Japan’s “groundbreaking accomplishments” in fields such as defense, economic growth and diplomacy.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jan 20, 2024

Sungoliath leave it late to see off Dynaboars in classic

The Sungoliath, who came back late to win a week earlier, repeated the trick for their fifth win from six games.
U.S. President Joe Biden has presided over a growing economy and some foreign leaders have said after meeting him that he is sharp and focused in private meetings, but his age is still an issue that is posing a drag on his poll numbers.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

Democrats bungle Joe Biden age concerns, some critics say

Their strategy so far has not quelled criticism or concerns about the U.S. president's fitness for the Oval Office.
The war in Ukraine has pitted the United States and its allies against Russian President Vladimir Putin (center).
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Russia’s advances on space-based nuclear weapon alarm the U.S.

A satellite-killing weapon, if deployed, could destroy civilian communications, surveillance from space and military command-and-control operations.

Longform

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