Search - information

 
 
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tries on a pair of Orion augmented reality glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025

Meta shelves fact-checking in policy reversal ahead of Trump inauguration

It plans to implement on Facebook, Instagram and Threads a system of "community notes" similar to that used on rival X.
Japanese cybersecurity authorities raised an alarm Wednesday over a China-linked hacker group called MirrorFace, saying it has struck 210 targets in Japan since 2019.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025

Japan authorities raise alarm over China-linked cyberattacks

Analyses of the targets and methods and malware used by the hackers suggested that the attacks were an organized activity with a suspected link to the Chinese government.
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck southwestern Japan at 9:19 p.m. on Monday evening
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2025

Strong quake strikes southwestern Japan

The quake measured a lower 5 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale.
A drone view shows makeshift tents for quake-affected residents following the earthquake that struck Tingri county, in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on Jan. 8.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 14, 2025

Earthquake shakes Tibetan monasteries; casualties among clergy unknown

The magnitude 6.8 quake reduced to rubble roofs and walls at a monastery and a nunnery about 15 kilometers east of the epicenter in Tingri county.
If it is banned in the United States, TikTok plans that users attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025

TikTok preparing to shut down app in U.S. on Sunday, sources say

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has expressed ambitions to build an "everything app," and adding TikTok to X, formerly Twitter, could bring him closer to that vision.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2025

Elon Musk won’t save TikTok

A Musk takeover of TikTok remains far from a done deal. It would require a wildly complex spinoff and it’s not immediately clear how he would fund a purchase.
A firefighter lights a controlled burn in a forest environment in Bages, southwestern France, on Saturday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 19, 2025

Slew of satellite projects aims to head off future wildfires

Tech-focused groups are launching new orbiters as space launches get cheaper, while machine-learning techniques will sift the torrent of information.
The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, in April 2020
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025

CIA now favors China lab leak theory to explain COVID’s origins

A new analysis that began under the Biden administration is released by the C.I.A.’s new director, John Ratcliffe, who wants the agency to get “off the sidelines” in the debate.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Thursday about the midair crash between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2025

Trump blames diversity programs over midair collision

The crash was nation's most deadly commercial airline accident in over a decade.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 26.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

TikTok influencers leverage power of gossip to thwart ICE raids

They say that as authorities ramp up raids in the early days of the Trump administration, they’re trying to inform migrants of their rights.
Visitors to a UFO festival in the town of Iino in the city of Fukushima turn up dressed as aliens and other characters in November last year.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2025

UFO fans increasingly active in Japan

The trend may be a sign of social anxiety amid geopolitical tension and conflicts across the globe, an expert says.
A coalition of mostly Democratic-led U.S. states filed a lawsuit to stop billionaire Elon Musk from accessing government systems used to process trillions of dollars in payments.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 8, 2025

U.S. states sue to block Musk's DOGE from accessing payment systems

The suit claims Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has no legal power to access the U.S. Department of Treasury systems.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hold a bilateral meeting during the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2025

Trump’s initial moves will benefit China

And while Trump has claimed that his policies will strengthen America, in reality, thus far, the biggest winner of many of his actions has actually been China.
Elon Musk speaks next to U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Elon Musk's tactics frustrate some White House senior officials

Trump officials want more coordination from Musk's team as he slashes the U.S. government.
Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2025

The race to save 20th-century history

Analog recordings are at risk of disappearing as old tech breaks down and spare parts run out.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro assists Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as he signs a guest book prior to their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Japan and Philippines to establish high-level defense gear framework

The two sides also agreed to establish a “strategic dialogue” between the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine Armed Forces to deepen operational collaboration.
Kusatsu Onsen resort, a popular tourist destination in Gunma Prefecture, on Dec. 26, 2022
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

Gunma ranks top among city dwellers eyeing countryside, survey shows

Respondents picked the prefecture for its child-friendly environment, rich natural surroundings and proximity to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2025

Seven & I buyout talks stall over management control

The founding Ito family and Itochu have yet to reach consensus on the composition of the board of the post-buyout entity, sources said.
Minoru Kishiguchi, a prefectural assembly member expelled from the Hyogo prefectural arm of Nippon Ishin no Kai (left), and Makoto Masuyama, a prefectural assembly member who received a recommendation to leave the party, at the Hyogo Prefectural Government Office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Nippon Ishin's Hyogo group expels member over probe info leak

Minoru Kishiguchi had been serving as the committee's deputy chief and head of the party's assembly group at the time.
A wildfire spreads in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday, prompting authorities to order more than 2,000 people to be evacuated.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025

At least one dead, 84 homes destroyed in Iwate Prefecture wildfire

This is the third wildfire in Iwate Prefecture in the past week, as dry weather continues.
A S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade in Tehran on April 17, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Russian missile experts flew to Iran amid clashes with Israel

It could not be determined what the seven specialists were doing in Iran.
Hiromi Okuda’s study abroad experience at the University of Mumbai inspired her to build a career at the intersection of social welfare and IT.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 7, 2025

Hiromi Okuda: 'Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically'

For the past 30 years, Hiromi Okuda has forged a career at the intersection of social welfare and technology.
Tetsu Okumura, former emergency room physician at St. Luke's International Hospital, talks about how he treated the victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system 30 years ago, during an interview last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2025

Former ER doctor recalls fear treating victims in 1995 Tokyo sarin attack

At around 8 a.m. on March 20, 1995, cult members released sarin in train cars on three subway lines in Tokyo during the morning rush hour.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang in June 2024. Moscow has ditched its historic hostility to North Korea's nuclear program, a clear sign of Russia's scramble for allies amid its international isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2025

It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes

Countries who want deterrence and stability must stop Russia from influencing perceptions of North Korea's nuclear program — one that, in an about-face, Moscow now supports.
A maternal handbook used by Heba Jibril in northern Gaza
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025

In Gaza, Japan-backed maternal handbooks a vital source for child care

The health handbooks provide crucial information for women at a time when medical facilities are closed and digital information is scarce.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks to the West Wing of the White House on March 21. Hegseth disclosed war plans in an encrypted chat group that included a journalist two hours before U.S. troops launched attacks against the Houthi militia in Yemen, the White House said on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 25, 2025

White House mistakenly shares Yemen war plans with journalist

The plans were shared in a Signal messaging group that included a journalist from The Atlantic just before the U.S. attacked Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen.
While AI advisers could improve decision-making by providing useful information, autonomous AI "agents" may erode human agency and exacerbate inequality, potentially leading to more conflict and job displacement.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2025

From advisers to autonomous 'agents,' how AI could reshape society

While AI could serve as a good adviser to humans — providing useful and reliable information — autonomous AI "agents" could become a problem.
Japanese Ambassador to NATO Osamu Izawa (left) meets with the alliance's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, at NATO headquarters in Brussels recently.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2025

Japan’s NATO envoy targets industrial tie-ups to boost defense supply chains

Tokyo's first dedicated ambassador to the alliance says this will also boost interoperability with partners amid the tense regional security environment.
Officials in northeast China have accused the U.S. of launching cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025

China accuses U.S. of launching 'advanced' cyberattacks and names alleged NSA agents

The report contained a considerable amount of detail on the cyberattacks and the alleged individuals involved.
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
Apr 28, 2025

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

Last year the government issued its first "megaquake" advisory. Ever since, those living in the areas it's expected to hit have been preparing for the worst.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji