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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2021

As delta variant rages in Southeast Asia, health workers warned not to speak out

In Southeast Asian nations, health care providers calling for stronger job security and better protection against variants of the coronavirus, have put governments on the defensive.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2021

Hong Kong broadcaster warned against implying Taiwan is country

Staff at Hong Kong’s public broadcaster have been told to avoid "inappropriate terminology” that would imply Taiwan is a sovereign state as the Asian financial hub continues to try to curb dissent.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2021

Organic farming should protect nature, not destroy it

Despite the advantages of organic farming over conventional practices, pristine ecological habitats are vastly better from a climate and biodiversity standpoint than any form of agriculture.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2021

Japan should reopen its doors to international students

The longer the ban goes on, the less likely talented students will want to travel to Japan and the progress it has made in internationalizing its universities will be quickly reversed.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 21, 2021

Hakuho and Terunofuji bout evokes memories of past sporting greats

Shots of the pair in action captured a moment truly significant to Japan's national sport.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2021

'Don't get sick': Indonesia's poor miss out on COVID-19 care

The pandemic has been a grinding descent toward poverty and hunger for many of the country's economically vulnerable.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 20, 2021

South Korean leaders apologize for navy ship COVID-19 outbreak amid vaccine furor

Almost 250 of the 301-strong unvaccinated crew aboard the destroyer were infected, the country's biggest cluster of COVID-19 military cases.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 20, 2021

China's wild elephants seek room to roam as habitats shrink

Under a footbridge in southwest China's Yunnan province, a lone female elephant makes a rare appearance at a clearing on the edge of thick forest, ignoring the heavy rain and the gathering crowds to graze and bathe in the chocolate-colored water.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2021

GPIF copycat fund bucks the trend to invest in Chinese debt

The move involves the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, or PMAC, which provides pension services to private school workers.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2021

South Korea’s Moon scraps plan to visit Tokyo for Olympics

Plans to hold the first in-person summit between the leaders of Japan and South Korea had hit a snag over a disparaging comment by a Japanese diplomat about the South Korean president.
OLYMPICS
Jul 19, 2021

Uncertain Olympic future for baseball and softball, despite Tokyo events

While Japan opted to include the sports, fans will have to wait until at least 2028 for another appearance at the Games.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jul 19, 2021

Japanese supporter of Myanmar orphanage forced to watch turmoil from afar

Takashi Takino has been warned that stocks of food at the facility in the city of Yangon are running low.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with his "Quad" counterparts at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Rubio clashes with Chinese top diplomat on Taiwan

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over Taiwan, with the top U.S. diplomat denouncing Beijing's "coercive" moves.
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a giant screen during his address by video conference at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 25, 2025

Trump spurs surprise world rally in first week on trade respite

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to immediately slap tariffs on U.S. trade partners triggered the surprising market response.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 Washington. U.S. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, as U.S. defense chief late Friday — despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other concerns about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Pete Hegseth confirmed in knife-edge vote to be new U.S. defense chief

In a mostly party-line result that saw no Democrats vote for Hegseth, three Republicans — including former GOP leader Mitch McConnell — also voted no.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 25, 2025

BOJ’s clear guidance on rate hike calms markets but may backfire

For some economists, the latest move was too completely priced in, begging the question of how explicitly the BOJ intends to signal its plans in the future.
Madison Keys celebrates with the trophy after winning the Australian Open on Saturday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 26, 2025

Madison Keys fulfills Grand Slam ambition after banishing doubts with therapy

Good things come to those who wait as the saying goes — but Keys' wait may have seemed interminable.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One upon departure from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

Trump's firing of independent watchdog officials draws criticism

Donald Trump's late-night firing of inspectors general was called illegal by Democrats and others and drew concern from at least one fellow Republican.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks after being sworn in during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025

Pete Hegseth vote portends glide path for other Trump nominees

Trump's success in pushing through his Pentagon chief nomination despite private doubts among lawmakers amounted to a fresh testament to his hold over the GOP.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes a test of what state-run media said was a strategic cruise missile at an undisclosed location in this image released Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 26, 2025

North Korea tests 'strategic' cruise missiles as it lashes out at U.S. and South Korea

The test of the weapons, believed to be nuclear-capable, were the first since U.S. President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left) swears in Pete Hegseth (center) as U.S. secretary of defense during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

New U.S. defense chief pledges to work with allies in message to Pentagon

Pete Hegseth appeared to try and dispel concerns in allied capitals that the U.S. could again see a more transactional approach to foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025

Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates

The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
Tomin First no Kai adviser Hirotada Ototake speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

Tomin First adviser Hirotada Ototake keen to use social media

"Through social media outreach, we want to become an option for unaffiliated voters who have not decided for whom to vote" in the June 22 race, said Ototake.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide detained migrants to board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Colombia caves on deportations after tariff threat tit-for-tat with Trump

Trump's threatened punitive action appeared aimed at making an example of Colombia, after the Latin American nation initially refused U.S. military deportation flights.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Ishiba carefully considering release of war anniversary statement

Conservative members of the prime minister's ruling Liberal Democratic Party oppose releasing such a statement.
Fujitsu and the National Institute of Informatics have launched a full-scale industry-academia collaboration to curb the spread of disinformation, including deepfakes created through generative artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 27, 2025

Japan launches industry and academia tie-up to combat online disinformation

Nine companies and academic institutions aim to put an integrated system for combating false information into use by March 2026.
Perplexity AI has revised a merger proposal submitted to ByteDance, owner of TikTok.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 27, 2025

Perplexity AI proposes to merge with TikTok, with U.S. government getting half, source says

The proposal calls for the U.S. government to own up to 50% of the new company upon a future initial public offering.

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