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A WeWork co-working office space in San Francisco on Wednesday. WeWork has said there's 'substantial doubt' about its ability to continue operating, citing sustained losses and canceled memberships to its office spaces.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2023

WeWork’s ‘substantial doubt’ about its future marks a stunning fall

The New York-based company is bleeding cash, and customers of its office rentals are canceling their memberships in droves.
Smoke billows as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina in Mauii County, Hawaii, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Aug 10, 2023

Hawaii wildfires kill 36 as 'apocalypse' hits resort city

Multiple neighborhoods were burnt to the ground as the western side of the island was nearly cut off.
Logistics companies have started asking truck drivers to use sleep-tracking devices.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2023

Japan truck industry monitors drivers' sleep ahead of overtime cap

Firms are asking drivers to use mattress sleep trackers and wearables as they ready for an expected industry-wide crunch once overtime is limited.
An office of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in San Francisco. The firm recently assured corporate partners that their data would not be used to train the chatbot further.
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2023

ChatGPT fever spreads to U.S. workplace, sounding alarm for some

Some 28% of respondents to an online poll on artificial intelligence said they regularly use ChatGPT at work.
Nadeshiko Japan head coach Futoshi Ikeda is all but certain to continue his role through the 2024 Paris Olympics and beyond.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 13, 2023

Futoshi Ikeda wants youngsters to grow as Nadeshiko heads home

The emergence of a crop of talented youngsters has reinvigorated a Nadeshiko side set to benefit from greater stability over the next four years.
Sydney Swail and Jolly, a young tabby cat, at an adoption event at Manhattan’s Animal Care Center in New York on Aug. 4
WORLD
Aug 13, 2023

Too many cats, too few vets: New York city animal shelters are bursting

Because of overcrowding, dogs at the Manhattan shelter are being kept in makeshift kennels in offices and stacks of cat cages line the halls.
A burned palm tree droops in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on Friday, two days after the historic town was devastated by wildfire.
WORLD / Society
Aug 14, 2023

How climate change turned lush Hawaii into a tinderbox

The devastation on Maui happened in a state defined by its lush vegetation, a far cry from the dry landscape normally associated with fire threats.
Nadeshiko Japan reached the knockout stage at a fourth consecutive FIFA Women's World Cup before being eliminated in the quarterfinals on Friday by Sweden.
SOCCER / Women's World cup / From the Spot
Aug 15, 2023

Bold steps needed from JFA, WE League to maintain momentum after WWC

After Nadeshiko Japan's inspiring quarterfinal run in New Zealand, the country's soccer bodies must avoid the missteps of the post-2011 boom and bust.
An attendee walks past a wall decorated with binary code during July's World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2023

Beijing aims to regulate China’s AI sector while maintaining edge

Like Europe, China is moving ahead with government oversight of what may be the most promising — and controversial — technology of the last 30 years.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend a memorial service marking the 78th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 15, 2023

Japan marks 78th anniversary of the end of World War II

Members of bereaved families from 10 prefectures were unable to participate in the ceremony due to Typhoon Lan.
Cirebon-1, an 11-year-old coal power station in West Java, Indonesia, is set to close early, sparing the planet millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 16, 2023

Indonesian facility shows cutting coal is a hard sell for banks

The early closure of the Cirebon-1 coal plant could be a decarbonization model for Asia, but big banks have been shy about fueling the transition.
The ocean has absorbed a whopping 90% of the warming that’s occurred in recent decades as a result of increasing greenhouse gases. Shipping is responsible for a large portion of those emissions, pumping out more than a billion tons in 2018.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 16, 2023

Shipping's quest for greener fuel runs into climate complications

Three-and-a-half years ago, a new rule was established to cut ships’ sulfur emissions. Yet some scientists have linked that to warmer ocean temperatures.
U.S. President Joe Biden during an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. The president has crisscrossed the nation visiting groundbreakings and factories to sell his agenda, dubbed Bidenomics, with the Inflation Reduction Act as the centerpiece.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2023

Fires and heat block Biden from taking victory lap for climate law

It’s not the first time circumstances beyond Biden’s control have undone his efforts to revel in a victory.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol attend a photo op on the day of trilateral engagement during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea to announce new hotline at summit

The three countries' leaders will to agree on a “very ambitious set of initiatives that seek to lock in trilateral engagement,” a top U.S. official said.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax breaks for clean energy will help mitigate climate change but they will not meet the 2050 net-zero carbon goal.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2023

Biden’s climate bill was too tame

U.S. President Biden and the Democratic Party's Inflation Reduction Act was too tame on fixing the climate.
Pedestrians pass stores in Guangzhou. Economists say China needs measures to boost consumption and business confidence, but add that unlike previous slowdowns, there is no quick fix.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2023

Why is China not rushing to fix its ailing economy?

Even in a country known for opaque decision-making, analysts are pointing to signs that Beijing seems hesitant to deliver the bold policies needed.
Vehicles leave Yellowknife on the only highway in or out of the city after a state of emergency was declared due to the proximity of a wildfire, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Aug 18, 2023

Canada crews battle wildfires as all Yellowknife residents evacuate

Officials say the fire is now 15 kilometers northwest of the city and could reach the outskirts over the weekend if there is no rain.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol meet during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2023

A trilateral summit to reshape Northeast Asia

The summit follows years of hard work to overcome bitter historical legacies, most stemming from Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Social division and the polarization of the American political system are becoming more and more apparent.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023

Where is the America I once knew headed?

The sociopolitical transformation I witnessed in San Francisco is not just a West Coast phenomenon, but perhaps a nationwide trend.
The McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills of West Kelowna, British Columbia, on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 19, 2023

State of emergency in western Canada as wildfires rage

The expanse of fires and disruption to life and land underscore the severity of this year's worst-on-record Canadian wildfire season.
Residents walk past trees and powerlines that were downed following the passage of Hurricane Fiona, later downgraded to a post-tropical storm, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 19, 2023

Climate haven no more? Floods and fires ravage eastern Canada

Storms, floods, a cold snap and record wildfires have all battered the eastern province of Nova Scotia over the past year.
Residents clean up debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Aug 20, 2023

A Japan research team dares to ask: Can typhoons be controlled?

Researchers in Yokohama are probing whether tropical cyclones can be weakened or diverted, with energy they produce also tapped to generate power.
NASA and the Department of Defense are collaborating with Lockheed Martin to build and test a nuclear rocket engine by 2027.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2023

NASA’s $500 million rocket gamble is worth it

Nuclear rockets are worth pursuing, but only with careful safeguards and international cooperation.
The port in Ensenada as Tropical Storm Hilary hits Baja California state, Mexico, on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023

Storm Hilary puts California at risk of catastrophic flooding

A state of emergency was declared for much of Southern California, with flash flood warnings throughout a region more accustomed to drought.
With temperatures around the world reaching record highs this summer, you may want to reconsider which sunscreen you are using, experts say, as not all sunscreens are the same.
WORLD / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2023

Extreme heat may mean using a different sunscreen

The two major types — mineral and chemical — handle the sun's ultraviolet rays differently and during extremely hot weather, those differences can matter.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) meets with Masanobu Sakamoto (right), head of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, and other representatives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2023

Japan's release of Fukushima treated water could start Thursday

The government is set to announce Tuesday when the release of tritium-laced water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will begin.
New Zealand's Dane Coles celebrates after winning a Bledisloe Cup test match against Australia at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Aug. 5.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Aug 22, 2023

All Blacks star 'gobsmacked' by former coach assisting Australia

Former New Zealand coach Steve Hansen is helping rivals Australia prepare for the Rugby World Cup, it was revealed this week.
A bulk carrier at the Panama Canal on April 19
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

Historic drought and hot seas slow Panama Canal shipping

Restrictions already are sending China-U.S. spot shipping prices up as much as 36% amid soaring sea temperatures.
Shinobu Yamanaka, a mom of three sons and director of a day care facility in Konan, Kochi Prefecture, serves up to eight "members" six days a week.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2023

Kochi dementia care center aims to set new paradigm in Japan

A new generation of people with Alzheimer’s in Japan are trying to change not only dementia care but also social attitudes toward patients.
A construction site in Dubai, where workers often face temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 23, 2023

As temperatures climb, millions more people face food insecurity

A recent study shows that extreme heat leads to an impossible conundrum for many workers: Risk your health to earn a living, or go hungry.

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