Search - 2020

 
 
Japan's Koki Kano (left) in action with Yannick Borel of France in the men's epee individual final on Sunday in Paris
OLYMPICS / Fencing
Jul 29, 2024

Koki Kano: A gymnast-turned-fencer — and now a two-time Olympic gold medalist

Koki Kano, who was training as a gymnast, found inspiration from watching Olympic fencing on TV as a young boy.
Nicolas Maduro speaks to members of the media after casting a ballot in Caracas on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Venezuela opposition rejects Maduro election win

Venezuela’s political opposition has vehemently rejected the electoral authority’s ruling that Nicolas Maduro was reelected as the nation’s president, calling on the military to intervene. The U.S. and some Latin American neighbors also raised concerns about the official result.
Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) virions (spherical in appearance) bud from a cultured human lymphocytes in this scanning electron microscopic image obtained from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2019.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Cured HIV patients 'living proof' of hope in fight against virus

Only seven people are considered to have been effectively cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant.
A man cools himself in a water mist spray in Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Multiple regions topped 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Multiple places in Japan see mercury top 40 C for first time this year

Notable readings include a peak of 41 degrees Celsius in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, as well as 40.2 C in the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by The Metals Company, carries seabed samples from the remote Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean on June 7, 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 30, 2024

The future of deep sea mining hinges on a contentious election

The vote will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals despite concerns about the impacts.
Bronze medalists Kazuma Tomoto, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Yoshiaki Oiwa and Ryuzo Kitajima celebrate on the podium with their medals Monday in Versailles.
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2024

Japan earns first equestrian medal in 92 years

The last time Japan won an equestrian medal was in the 1932 Los Angeles Games, when Col. Takeichi Nishi won gold.
Harley-Davidson motorcycles on display in Tokyo. Japan's antitrust watchdog has raided the manufacturer's Japan unit for allegedly imposing excessive sales quotas on its dealers.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2024

Harley-Davidson's Japan unit raided after quotas force dealers into hardship

The motorcycle manufacturer's unit in Tokyo is also suspected of having dealers buy Harley-Davidson models that they did not want.
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Harris to hold Philadelphia rally with vice president pick

Kamala Harris is being forced to select her running mate on a highly compressed timeline.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks at a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday. Trump, in an interview broadcast Monday night, repeated his recent assertion that Christians will never have to vote again if they vote for him this November, and brushed aside multiple requests to walk back or clarify the statement.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Trump again says Christians ‘won’t have to vote anymore’ if they vote for him

Such comment were especially striking given his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his shattering of other democratic norms.
The Taung Kalat Buddhist complex on Mount Popa in central Myanmar's Mandalay Region on July 7. A shrine perched on an extinct volcano in Myanmar once thronged with the bustle of pilgrims praying to flower-eating spirit Popa Maedaw, but civil war has cut the complex off from the faithful.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 31, 2024

War in Myanmar heartlands silences volcano shrine

The plains around the temple are now a battle zone, with the faithful blocked from access by fighting and checkpoints.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2024

BOJ probes website crash that blocked traders before decision

It was not immediately clear whether the website became available for everyone at the same time or if some market participants had access before others.
Hungary, which has increased its birth rate since 2010, has adopted policies that support those who want or have children, including financial incentives, housing subsidies and better work-life balance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2024

Why do young people in Hungary want kids more than in Japan?

Marriage and birth rates are plummeting in Japan, while many young people in Hungary want families thanks to measures that support their choices in life and at work.
Georgia's Lasha Bekauri (top) and Japan's Sanshiro Murao battle in the men's gold medal bout in the under-90 kg judo event at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Aug 1, 2024

Georgian Bekauri retains judo title over Japan's Murao

Bekauri won a controversial bout over Murao in the gold-medal match to secure the victory.
Japan's personal mortgages are set to rise for the first time in a generation following the Bank of Japan's rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2024

Japan’s ultralow mortgages to see first increase in 17 years

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it plans to increase the short-term prime rate for the first time in 17 years in September.
Gold medalist Pan Zhanle of China celebrates on the podium after winning the men's 100-meter freestyle event at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Aug 1, 2024

Chinese swim fans hit back at doping claims as Pan takes gold

Pan burnished his reputation in his home country with a world-record time of 46.40 seconds, beating the previous fastest time of 46.80 he had set in February.
A line of children's clothes featuring slogans about lazy, uninvolved fathers have sparked an online backlash.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Japan store pulls 'lazy dad' kid clothes after backlash

Some commentators called them an affront to hard-working fathers, while others said they highlighted the country's childcare gender gap that weighs heavily on women.
Takeshita street in Tokyo's Harajuku shopping district on Wednesday, when temperatures reached 35.6 degrees Celsius.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 1, 2024

New 'most severe' category added to Japan’s heatstroke guidelines

The move is meant to stress the need for urgent medical attention in severe cases as the number of heatstroke cases soars amid record-high temperatures.
People cross a street in Tokyo's Harajuku district on Wednesday. In July, the deviation from the average temperature between 1991 and 2020 — a period when warming was already well underway — was 2.16 degrees Celsius.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 1, 2024

Japan experienced its hottest July on record

The number of “extremely hot days” — those where the highest temperature hits 35 C and above — was the largest figure for a July.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Thailand's Move Forward Party, in Bangkok on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Thailand opposition leader warns of instability ahead of court rulings

Top judges will rule next week on whether to disband Move Forward, and whether Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin should be removed from office.
Cyberespionage has become a powerful tool in China’s tool set as it pursues its geopolitical aims, cybersecurity experts say.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024

Suspected Chinese hackers hit Taiwanese research center

The attackers used a kind of malicious software tool that’s almost entirely used by China-based groups, cybersecurity researchers at Cisco Systems said.
Founded in the early 2000s, Ichiro's Malt has since become a third pole in Japan's whisky world dominated by beverage giants.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 4, 2024

In sleepy Chichibu, Japan's whisky landscape is quietly shifting

Ichiro’s signature flavor profile of rich, woodsy flavors complemented by a clear fruitiness owes in large part to the tempermental 'mizunara' Japanese oak.
Photographer Gaku Lange says Japan's film photography scene is growing, but it still lags behind overseas communities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 5, 2024

Looking at Japan’s ‘tribal’ photography scene through a new lens

More young people in Tokyo are ditching smartphones for film cameras, but the old guard isn't necessarily pleased about it.
Road signs are tilted over a road damaged by the New Year's Day earthquake in Nishiaraya, Ishikawa Prefecture. A new report, part of a long-term assessment, was swiftly drawn up in response to the 7.6-magnitude quake that struck the Noto Peninsula area, so that coastal municipalities can improve their disaster reduction measures.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2024

Government reveals 25 offshore active faults on country's Sea of Japan side

The active faults are located off the coast stretching from the northern area of Hyogo Prefecture to the Joetsu area of Niigata Prefecture.
Gold medal-winning judoka Teddy Riner of France celebrates his victory at the Paris Olympics in the French capital on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Aug 3, 2024

France's Teddy Riner reigns supreme with record fourth gold

The judoka now has three individual titles — a record shared with Japan's Tadahiro Nomura, who won three consecutive titles in the -60kg category in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, during an event at the Buergenstock Resort in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2024

Ukraine’s allies are worried about the power of Zelenskyy’s top aide

Some of Ukraine’s international backers are growing concerned about just how much decision making power Andriy Yermak has.
Freshly-caught bonito fish unloaded in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Japan's food exports to China plunged in the first half of 2024 due to Beijing's import ban on Japanese fishery products.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2024

Japan's first-half food exports fall for first time in four years

The latest result reflected China's import ban on Japanese fishery products since last summer in response to the release of treated Fukushima water.
From left: Gymnastics men's team gold medalists Takaaki Sugino, Kazuma Kaya, Wataru Tanigawa, Shinnosuke Oka (who also won gold in men's all-around) and Daiki Hashimoto at Champions Park in Paris on Thursday. The gymnastics team was one of the highlights of a successful first half of the 2024 Games for Team Japan.
OLYMPICS
Aug 4, 2024

Gymnastics and skateboarding highlight a solid first half of the Paris Olympics for Japan

Japan ended Saturday with eight gold, five silver and nine bronze medals and sat seventh on the medal table.
The entrance gate of the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen, China, on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2024

With smugglers and front companies, China is skirting U.S. AI bans

The U.S. worries advanced semiconductors could help China develop superior weaponry, launch cyberattacks and make faster decisions on the battlefield.
The Great War of Africa between 1998 and 2003 was the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Now, hostilities between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda are reigniting.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2024

Africa is heading toward another deadly war

Armed clashes between Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and others could see a repeat of the world’s deadliest conflict since WWII, unless an escalation can be averted.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio following their bilateral meeting at the Luxon's residence on June 19.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2024

New Zealand scraps clean, green policies to boost economy

New Zealand's government is shifting its priorities toward increasing exports to support its flailing economy.

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