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The city of Lyon after sunrise from the Fourviere esplanade as France issued a "red alert" for four southern regions amid a spell of excessively hot weather in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 25, 2023

Record-breaking weather in 2023 shows impact of climate change

July was not only the hottest month in over 170 years of record-keeping, but likely the hottest month in over 100,000 years.
Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

Commercial asteroid mining has a astronomical cost issue

Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
It’s hard to talk about space-based solar — that is, transmitting the energy — without conjuring images of a death ray. But the team at the California Institute of Technology says the power density of the beam would be comparable to the power density of sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Oct 27, 2023

Beam solar energy from space? These scientists say yes

The hurdles that have grounded space-based solar in the past aren’t merely technical, they’re also financial.
The interiors of what the Israeli military say is a cross-border attack tunnel dug from Gaza to Israel, on the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip border near Kissufim in 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

The Hamas tunnel city beneath Gaza — a hidden frontline for Israel

Hamas has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360-square-kilometer Gaza Strip — including attack, smuggling, and storage burrows.
Feel free to add more than two dried persimmons for an even jammier finish to this filling dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Oct 29, 2023

Recipe: Pork and dried persimmon stew

The orange hue of carrots and persimmons are perfectly autumnal, and the dried and fresh persimmons add a light sweetness.
Tokyo now boasts five different Quidditch teams, while universities in Osaka and Kyoto also play host to their own clubs.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 4, 2023

'Accio broomstick!' Quidditch is back and open to everyone

From relatively humble beginnings, Quidditch has continued to grow in popularity across Japan.
Plaintiffs, lawyers and supporters march to the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 30, the same day the court ruled that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's 'failed' same-sex marriage lawsuits can still propel reform

Even unsuccessful cases challenging Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage have gotten courts to acknowledge a constitutional problem.
Christopher Nolan's film about the creator of the atomic bomb, "Oppenheimer," was released in theaters worldwide this summer and received mostly strong reviews. However, distributors still have not announced whether the film will be shown in Japan's cinemas.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2023

Will Japan ever see 'Oppenheimer' screened in its cinemas?

Christopher Nolan’s film about the creator of the atomic bomb still doesn't have a Japan release date. There’s more than one possible reason for that.
“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.
A health care worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a child in Rio de Janeiro in January 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023

How we got COVID’s risk right but the response wrong

It was not the initial consensus on the fatality rate that drove the response but rather the way the risks of COVID-19 were balanced with the costs.
An Albanian communist hangs a banner with Enver Hoxha's image in a public cemetery in Tirana in April 2012 to mark the anniversary of the hard-line Stalinist dictator's death.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

When freedom does not bring about justice

From communism to capitalism, Lea Ypi's book,"Free: Coming of Age at the End of History" reflects on Albania's transition to freedom.
An Israeli man attends a day of prayer in the Old City of Jerusalem on Oct. 19 where attendees called for the safe return of hostages taken by Hamas militants earlier in the month. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2023

Israel’s own 9/11 moment

Israel needs to prepare now for when the fighting stops. Will it look to the Palestinian Authority to administer Gaza? What role will the U.N. play?
Economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura (center) is right to insist that economic security is linked to national power and determines the fate of the nation. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2023

Economic security demands attention and defies simple explanation

A global challenge: Resilience and innovation are key strategies in the pursuit of economic security.
Under President Vladimir Putin rule, reason, logic, and humanity appear to have been systematically eroded from Russian life, similar to the era of Stalin and his gulags. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2023

Russian life imitates dystopian art

The state in Russia has always tended toward absolutism and its coercive and penal arms have rarely wielded as much power as they do now.
Cracks run through the partially dried-up river bed of the Gan River during a regional drought in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, in August last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Global warming will reach 1.5 C threshold this decade, report says

The new paper adds to evidence suggesting that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 C is already out of reach.
A group of chimpanzees listen to other chimpanzees heard at a distance in the West African forests of Cote d'Ivoire, studied as part of research by the Tai Chimpanzee Project, in this undated handout photograph.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 3, 2023

Scientists observe chimpanzees using human-like warfare tactic

The study, the researchers said, records for the first time the tactical use of elevated terrain by our species' closest living relatives.
People wearing sun protection gear amid a heat wave walk on a street in Beijing in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet

The removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some Chinese cities than the warming from greenhouse gases.
Occupy Wall Street protesters hold a rally in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve bank in downtown Denver in November 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

When minority rule by neoliberals fails

Left-leaning movements and progressive ideas and policies have gained ground in the United States, altering the perception of free markets.
A woman and her children at the Minnanouen Kitakagaya community garden in Osaka's Suminoe Ward
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 5, 2023

How simple steps can help alleviate climate anxiety

From gardening to flood-proofing your home, experts say there are simple ways you can ease some of your concern.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in front of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2023

The global consequences of the Israel-Hamas war

The EU’s shambolic response to the Israel-Hamas war has made China’s forceful reaction all the more notable.
JAPAN / Explainer
Nov 6, 2023

What to know about the Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan

The project is controversial due to the potential felling of thousands of trees, loss of green space and threat to historic gingko trees.
Yogendra Puranik, the first person from India to win elected office in Japan, at the Indian cultural center he manages in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023

Japan needs Indian migrants. How can it attract them?

India can help fill the domestic labor gap, but for migrants to succeed, Japan must embrace a genuinely intercultural approach.
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla, discusses artificial intelligence in London on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 7, 2023

Elon Musk's X curtails disinformation research, spurring legal fears

Restrictions on critical methods of gathering data on the platform have suppressed the ability to untangle the origin and spread of false information.
Shipping containers near the train station near the China–Laos border in Boten, Laos, on June 29. The Global Times, a newspaper backed by the China’s Communist Party, said the railway “connects hearts” and promotes development.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2023

China revamps lending to Global South as U.S. narrows spending gap

Beijing is moving away from the big bilateral deals in favor of collaborative lending that reduces its exposure to financial risk, a new report says.
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.
David Joiner’s books all share a detailed focus on local arts and crafts . In his latest book, “The Heron Catchers,” "kutaniyaki" ceramics of Yamanaka Onsen, Ishikawa Prefecture, take center stage.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 12, 2023

Location is everything in 'The Heron Catchers'

Author David Joiner ties the local crafts and literary history of Ishikawa Prefecture's Yamanaka Onsen into his new novel.
An agent inspects a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest during an operation to combat deforestation in Para State, Brazil, on Jan. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 14, 2023

Forests key to climate fight along with cutting fossil fuels: study

Restoring global forests could sequester 22 times as much carbon as the world emits in a year, meaning trees are a key tool in fighting climate change.
India's exports represent about 40% of rice's global trade. New Delhi has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports to counter domestic food inflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023

India pushes the world toward another rice crisis

Spooked by volatile foodgrain prices ahead of a general election next year, India’s government has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports.
A giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington during one of its last days on American soil. Pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji were returned to China on Nov. 8 upon Beijing's request.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023

Pandas don’t play diplomatic hard ball like China does

Panda diplomacy is endangered, with the forced return of three bears from Washington to China an exercise in "dumb power."
A Self-Defense Forces officer talks to participants in an information session at Camp Nerima in Tokyo on Aug. 7. The SDF raised the maximum age for new recruits to 32 from 26 in 2018 but has still struggled to attract them.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2023

Asia’s aging soldiers force U.S. allies to widen recruitment drive

In some branches of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, more positions are now being opened up to retirees.

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