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Max Lange, 19, a plant mechatronics engineering trainee from Oederan, stands next to a solar panel rolling off the assembly line as part of the last production of solar modules at the Meyer Burger Technology AG plant, due to an announced closure of the plant, in Freiberg, Germany, on March 12.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2024

Lacking support in battle with China, European solar firms head to U.S.

This week the European Commission has launched a voluntary charter for governments and companies to sign in support of solar manufacturing plants.
A direct military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities by the U.S. and its allies would likely only delay its program while risking regional war and increasing the likelihood of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons in the long run.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2024

Iran hawks want to strike now. They're wrong.

One thing Iran hawks get right, starting with the contention that by attacking Israel directly on Saturday night, Iran changed rules of engagement.
Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after the club ousted Barcelona from the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Apr 17, 2024

PSG exorcise old ghosts as Mbappe keeps Champions League dream alive

Another disappointing exit looked possible for the Qatar-owned club, which had gone out in the last 16 in five of the previous seven seasons.
Jamoliddin Makhmaliyev sits with his grandson and granddaughters in front of his new house in the village of Khuroson, some 70 kilometers south of the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe, on March 26. “We lived in fear, until the day the mountain collapsed and destroyed our house,” recalls his wife Yodgoroy. Tajikistan is the Central Asian country most vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 17, 2024

Tajikistan builds villages for climate migrants fleeing fatal landslides

The former Soviet country says it relocated 45,000 people between 2000 and 2017, and that tens of thousands of others are waiting their turn.
“Beyond the Fog” depicts the struggles of a family-run inn through the eyes of the proprietor’s 12-year-old daughter (Shuri Miyake, right, with Asami Mizukawa).
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2024

‘Beyond the Fog’: Evocative mood piece leaves a dreamy impression

Daichi Murase’s understated drama about a dying community in rural Nara Prefecture benefits from Takeshi Dodo’s beautiful cinematography.
Yoasobi vocalist Lilas Ikuta, who goes by “Ikura,” and bandmate Ayase performed a solo set Friday night and appeared a second time as part of the American company 88Rising’s showcase Sunday at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 17, 2024

A White House dinner, a slot at Coachella — Yoasobi is having a great week

J-pop's Ikura and Ayase say they had to cut their hair and learn English for a string of stateside engagements.
Efforts by Russia and China to shape U.S. politics through propaganda and cyberattacks have been less pronounced during this year’s election cycle than they were in 2016 and 2020, Microsoft said on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

Microsoft sees slowing in Russian and Chinese efforts to sway U.S. vote

Researchers concluded that there have been few signs of people being broadly swayed by sophisticated deepfake videos made with AI by the nation-states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during the signing of the Rasht-Astara railway agreement in May 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

New 'sanctions-proof' transport routes put Russia at heart of global trade

Shipping and rail networks via Iran and an Arctic sea passage could strengthen Moscow’s pivot toward China and India and away from Europe.
A volunteer sits near a Starlink terminal constructed for local residents at a street in Kherson, Ukraine, in November 2022.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 23, 2024

Starlink highlights economic security challenges facing democracies

The system has stirred a variety of debates over the issue of military application of civil technology.
South Korean officials count ballots following a parliamentary election on April 10. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative bloc is set for a major setback in a vote for a new parliament, exit polls showed, likely meaning he will be in a weak position for the remaining three years of his term and face political gridlock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

Billionaire families lose hope for tax cut after Korean vote

South Korea’s regular maximum inheritance levy of as much as 50% is the second-highest among members of the OECD, after 55% in Japan.
Badminton star Kento Momota leaves a news conference after announcing his retirement from Japan's national team, in Tokyo on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Badminton
Apr 18, 2024

Former No. 1 Kento Momota retires from international badminton at 29

Momota was once badminton's undisputed king, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.
A traditional Ainu preserved food called satchep (dried fish) is made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, in December.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024

Japan court denies fishing rights to Ainu people

It was the first court decision on Indigenous rights related to Ainu people.
Members of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission have agreed to cut the 2024 catch quota for saury in the high seas in the northern Pacific in response to declining resources.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024

Japan and others agree to cut northern Pacific saury catch quota

Nine economies agreed to introduce the rule to calculate catch quotas based on scientific evidence.
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Top 5
Apr 21, 2024

A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives

From microbreweries to tiny pubs stocking umpteen bottled choices, Tokyo is now more than ever a beer lover’s dream.
Four-piece Atarashii Gakko! and Okinawan rapper Awich (center) shared the Mojave Stage at 88Risings’s “Futures” showcase at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 19, 2024

Japanese acts seize Coachella's spotlight — and this ain't your typical J-pop

Yoasobi, Awich and Atarashii Gakko! shine at the California festival, proving just how much J-pop has made strides in reaching international audiences.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia. Current and former U.S. officials say the Pentagon may have to revisit assumptions about military needs in the Middle East if the crisis deepens.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 20, 2024

U.S. military strategy tested as Iran-Israel warfare comes out of shadows

The tit-for-tat attacks have raised fears of an unpredictable regional war that the United States has sought to prevent.
Lithium powder from recycled batteries in Nevada in March
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 21, 2024

Japanese trading firms look abroad to diversify lithium supply

The resource-limited country is aiming to create a stable supply of the mineral, which is critical for producing batteries for electric vehicles.
Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei poses with her gold medal after winning the women's 200-meter butterfly during the Tokyo Games.
OLYMPICS
Apr 22, 2024

Chinese doping case sends swimming world into uproar and exposes bitter rifts

The disclosure of an incident that had been a secret for more than three years has drawn strong reactions from athletes, coaches and others.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Apr 22, 2024

Resurgent Tomoyuki Sugano off to strong start on mound for Giants

Sugano is off to a 2-0 start in three outings this season.
A robotics company’s research and development center in Shenzhen. Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

China needs a better innovation ecosystem

Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy, putting a damper on their ability to innovate.
A dealer works in the trading room at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on March 28. An overwhelming majority of respondents who currently work remotely in some capacity say they wish to continue to do so.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2024

Hybrid work takes root in Japan, survey finds

While remote working has declined with the end of the pandemic, many of those who adopted a hybrid work model are sticking to it.
Former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to court on the first day of opening statements in his trial in New York on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

On first day of Trump hush money trial, prosecutors say he corrupted 2016 election

New York prosecutors said on the first day of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial that the former president corrupted the 2016 election.
Tesla remains the dominant EV maker in the U.S. market, but its earnings have been under pressure for several quarters.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2024

Tesla speeding up release of cheaper cars after sales miss

The maker of electric vehicles plans to release more affordable models by the end of this year or in early next year.
World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Banka speaks during a symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March.
OLYMPICS
Apr 24, 2024

USADA calls for WADA overhaul and probe into China swimmers

WADA has continued to rebut accusations that the organization covered up the revelation that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance.
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 24, 2024

Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds

The Tohoku region takes the top spot in both the number and percentage of municipalities at risk of disappearing due to a sharp population decline.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government has so far shown restraint in responding to a drumbeat of U.S. trade curbs, but driving TikTok out of the U.S. could challenge that calibration.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

TikTok ultimatum puts U.S. firms in firing line for China response

Legislation approved on Wednesday would give parent company ByteDance nearly a year to divest the video-sharing platform before facing an outright ban.
Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2024

How U.S. allies are preparing for a possible second Trump term

They want to avoid Trump's "America First" policies dealt them before, which included trade wars and a shakeup of security alliances.
Exporters will be helped both by the stronger dollar, and also by their exposure to the U.S. economic resilience.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 25, 2024

Dollar wrecking ball forces investors to seek cover in exporters

Those with significant dollar earnings are set for a windfall, with major beneficiaries including heavyweight Asian chipmakers.
Former Auburn and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix Nix thinks his experience gives him an edge over the other potential first-round quarterbacks.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 25, 2024

NFL draft pool shrinks as NIL money entices more players to stay in school

Only 58 underclassmen have declared for this week’s draft, the smallest number since 2011.
The Mount Holland lithium mine is a glimpse of the future of what Western Australia hopes will be a new, greener stage of development.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2024

On lithium’s frontier, miners are betting on a greener second act

Despite weak prices for the metal deemed critical to energy transition, they are gearing up for a rebound in demand for batteries and electric vehicles.

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