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Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 14, 2022

The legality of foreigners fighting for Ukraine

Because volunteers will be fighting as members of the Ukrainian army, they are unlikely to face charges in their home country over their specific actions in the war.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 14, 2022

Finding a way out of the war in Ukraine proves elusive

Just as the past two weeks revealed that Russia's vaunted military faltered in its invasion plan, the next two or three may reveal whether Ukraine can survive as a state.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 14, 2022

More Ukraine-Russia talks scheduled as attack brings war close to NATO's border

Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine were stepping up, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators set to talk again after both sides cited progress, even as fighting raged elsewhere.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 14, 2022

World’s central banks set policy for economies shaken by the war

Global central banks this week will offer the biggest collective assessment of a changed world since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 14, 2022

‘Things will only get worse.’ Putin’s war sends Russians into exile.

Tens of thousands of Russians have fled to Istanbul since Russia invaded Ukraine last month — outraged about what they see as a criminal war.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2022

China fires mayors and closes schools as COVID-19 outbreak spreads

China's National Health Commission announced Saturday that another 1,524 locally transmitted coronavirus cases had been detected in provinces across mainland China.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 12, 2022

Top China COVID fighter is woman who hit party’s glass ceiling

Sun Chunlan is the only female vice premier in China's entrenched patriarchy, the sole woman on its powerful 25-member Politburo and the top official overseeing pandemic control.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 12, 2022

Over Ukraine, lumbering Turkish-made drones are an ominous sign for Russia

More than two weeks into the conflict, Ukraine's drones — Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 models that buzz along at about half the speed of a Cessna — are still flying.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 12, 2022

Theory about U.S.-funded bioweapons labs in Ukraine is unfounded

Prominent conservative voices have mischaracterized remarks from American officials to amplify baseless claims promoted by Russian state media.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 12, 2022

Kharkiv nuclear facility safe but war poses big risks, institute director says

The head of the research facility says that its grounds had been struck by Russian shells during recent fighting, but the core housing nuclear fuel remains intact.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 12, 2022

India says it accidentally fired missile into Pakistan

Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars.
While Tokyo has secured enough fuel to deal with expected surges in power demand as temperatures rise this summer, economy minister Ken Saito is urging people not to waste electricity.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024

Japan on ‘high alert’ for summer power shortages, economy minister says

Thermal power facilities put on maintenance earlier this year are set to come online by end-July while earlier fixes are expected for other equipment failures.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 12, 2024

SoftBank buys struggling U.K. chip startup Graphcore in AI race

The deal marks Softbank's second acquisition of a U.K. semiconductor firm, following its 2016 purchase of Cambridge-based Arm Holdings.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a Ukraine Compact meeting on the sidelines of NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Major hurdles await Ukraine's ‘irreversible path’ to NATO membership

Observers don't expect the alliance to extend a membership invitation to Kyiv until after the war in Ukraine is over.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Donald Trump at the former U.S. president's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Thursday. A spokesperson for Orban said the pair discussed the "possibilities of peace" in Ukraine during their meeting.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

NATO outlier Orban discusses possibilities of peace in Ukraine with Trump

The nationalist Hungarian prime minister made surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in the past two weeks on a self-styled "peace mission," angering NATO allies.
The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force serviceman based at Kadena, on Friday pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2024

U.S. serviceman in Okinawa pleads not guilty to sexual assault

Brennon Washington, who is stationed at the Kadena Air Base, said he did not kidnap or assault an underage girl in December.
Beds that once were used by children to take naps at a kindergarten-turned-elderly center in Taiyuan, in China's northern Shanxi province, on July 2
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Chinese kindergartens pivot to senior care as population ages

Some educational facilities are remaking themselves as a recreational center for people of retirement age and above.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024

Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks at a news conference on Friday over sexual assault incidents involving U.S. service members.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2024

Japan lawmakers criticize U.S. for failing to report military assault cases

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has not protested the failure or demanded improvements, saying there was no problem with the U.S. side.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa in April. Trudeau has faced accusations of not responding swiftly enough to foreign interference.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2024

Canada said to have mapped out secret Chinese police operations

Concern has grown over whether or not Beijing monitors and intimidates members of the Chinese diaspora living in Western democracies.
U.S. President Joe Biden prior to a rally in Detroit on Friday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2024

Is Biden competent to serve again? Here's what health experts say.

A battery of new cognitive tests could enlighten voters on the mental abilities of both Biden and Trump, who has had his own share of verbal lapses.
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 14, 2024

She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics

While news sites have suggested that being a volunteer is a way to attend the Games for “free,” that doesn’t apply to international volunteers like Mai Tarumi.
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 14, 2024

How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet

As summers get hotter across the world we’re met with a paradox: To stay cool, it seems we’re compelled to consume more.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses a meeting on the Ukraine Compact during the NATO Summit in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2024

Kremlin says NATO summit outcome is ‘threatening’ to Russia

During the summit in Washington that ended on Thursday, NATO allies promised more support to Kyiv.
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike at a camp for displaced Palestinians in the Al-Mawasi district of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Hamas denies report it’s quitting Gaza cease-fire talks

A member of the Hamas political bureau described Israel’s airstrike over the weekend as an “escalation” engineered to “block the way to reaching an agreement.”
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn

In a country already on edge, the assassination attempt on the former president has enraged his supporters and paused the Democratic campaign.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Can Kishida's diplomacy boost support at home?

Facing calls to step down even from within the LDP, the Prime Minister apparently hopes to shore up support through his latest meetings overseas.

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