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Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2024

Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore

Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
Nakazakicho may be just a few minutes outside the major commercial district of Umeda, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2024

The dancer keeping Osaka’s Nakazakicho indie

Nakazakicho’s transformation is more than the success story of a small neighborhood turning the tide against inner-city decay.
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024

One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku

Record-breaking rainfall in Yamagata and Akita prefectures has led to floods, landslides and power disruptions.
Waves crash against the coast of Sansha town in Ningde, Fujian province, China, on Thursday as Typhoon Gaemi approaches.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 26, 2024

Climate change driving change in rainfall and fiercer typhoons

About 75% of the world's land area has seen a rise in "precipitation variability," or wider swings between wet and dry weather, scientists have found.
A vehicle carrying Kohei Iitsuka, suspected of killing his probation officer, leaves the Otsu Kita Police Station in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on June 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2024

Justice Ministry to assign multiple volunteer probation officers to watch over offenders

Previously in Japan, one volunteer probation officer was assigned to watch over one individual, except in rare cases.
The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Longform
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports

At risk of sunburns and heatstroke, principals across Japan are trying to protect students' health as well as their athletic opportunities.
The Bonham Strand Trade Centre, a location housing shell companies that ship restricted military technology to Russia, according to an analysis by The New York Times, in Hong Kong on June 14
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 27, 2024

The illicit flow of technology to Russia goes through this Hong Kong address

Defying sanctions, Moscow has obtained nearly $4 billion in restricted chips since the war began in Ukraine.
Though some in the country rejected their wartime associations, the Japanese government made the Hinomaru flag and "Kimigayo" anthem official 25 years ago.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Aug 1, 2024

Japan Times 1999: Flag, anthem now official

After some controversy, the Hinomaru flag was made official alongside the country's national anthem, "Kimigayo."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton waves to the crowd during the podium ceremony for the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jul 29, 2024

Hamilton wins Belgian Grand Prix after teammate Russell disqualified

It is the second win of the season for the seven-time world champion following his success at Silverstone earlier this month and the 105th of his Formula One career.
A doctor consults with a COVID-19 patient at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Excess deaths in Australia reveal COVID-19's long, lethal tail

Excess mortality — the increase above the expected toll had the pandemic not occurred — was 5% for Australia in 2023.
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.
Skateboarding women's street gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa (left) alongside silver medalist and compatriot Liz Akama in Paris on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 30, 2024

A star is born as teen Coco Yoshizawa basks in the glow of skateboarding gold

Yoshizawa has been receiving congratulatory messages from all corners after her golden performance on Sunday in Paris.
Supporters of Venezuelan opposition protest following the announcement by the National Electoral Council that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro won the presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Protests erupt in Caracas after Maduro claims Venezuela reelection win

Venezuela's opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was also accused of being involved in a plot to alter voting results.
Japan's unemployment rate edged lower to 2.5% in June from 2.6% a month earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2024

Japan’s labor market stays tight, supporting wage growth

Japan's unemployment rate edged lower to 2.5% in June from 2.6% a month earlier, the Internal Affairs Ministry reported.
A child holds a water container in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 31, 2024

Destruction of Gaza water wells deepens Palestinian misery

The Israeli military did not respond to the allegations that its soldiers had torched the wells.
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.
Police officers stand near a billboard with an image of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Venezuela braces for possibility of more opposition arrests

The U.S.-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said Venezuela's election "cannot be considered democratic."
Members of Myanmar's military security force patrol a street in Yangon, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 1, 2024

Myanmar junta extends emergency rule as civil war rages on

This is the sixth time Myanmar's highest body has decided to extend the emergency, further pushing back long-promised elections.
An event that was part of a regional sumo tour in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, in April 2019.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Aug 1, 2024

Summer sumo tour may be tough for wrestlers, but it's a boon for fans

Grueling tours can be quite taxing for top pros, but they offer fans in small cities a rare chance of seeing their heroes up close.
Hakushi Hasegawa places their emotive vocals and dexterous keyboard work at the center of the music on their latest album, “Mahogakko” – reminding listeners that there’s a very human presence at the controls.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 2, 2024

Electronic wiz Hakushi Hasegawa pulls back the curtain

The musician's latest album, “Mahogakko,” strikes a delicate balance between the dazzling and the downright baffling.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday. The bank raised rates to 0.25% in just the second hike since 2007.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 1, 2024

Ueda’s big day was lost in a communication black hole

The BOJ should improve its information release process, including fixing leaks and setting fixed release times, to avoid similar issues in the future.
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.
Members of rescue teams cross a temporary bridge after multiple landslides in the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 2, 2024

Indian soldiers building metal bridge to area affected by landslides

Landslides in the Kerala area destroyed the original bridge, then rising waters washed away a makeshift bridge.
Wreckage from a crashed U.S. Air Force CV-22B Osprey is brought ashore at a port on Yakushima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Nov. 30, 2023.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2024

Gearbox fault caused fatal Osprey crash in Japan, U.S. Air Force says

The crash was caused by a "catastrophic” failure of the left-hand gearbox, which destabilized the aircraft.
The judge and last year's winner, Lettie Shiels, sits in the dressing room during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 4, 2024

Transformative hobby: Going for gold at Japan's World Cosplay Summit

The three-day event in Nagoya drew thousands of fans — many keen to show off their own costumes.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024

Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long

Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Shigekix, whose real name is Shigeyuki Nakarai, in action during the world championships in Leuven, Belgium, in September
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 7, 2024

From the Bronx to Paris: Breaking set for its Olympic close-up

B-boys and B-girls from across the globe will soon compete in Olympic dance battles that feature intricate steps, acrobatic moves and plenty of flair.
Vinesh Phogat of India (in red) wrestles Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba in the women's 50-kg semifinals on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. Phogat was later disqualified for being 100 grams over the weight limit.
OLYMPICS
Aug 8, 2024

Disqualification costs India a medal, but its Olympic future still looks bright

Vinesh Phogat had a chance to win a first Olympic gold for Indian women. But even after he disqualification, the country's female athletes have a promising future.
Anti-racism counterprotesters assemble ahead of a potential anti-immigration protest in Walthamstow, London, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 8, 2024

U.K. anti-racism protesters take to streets after days of far-right unrest

Nightly riots — during which mosques and migrant-related facilities have been attacked — have erupted across towns and cities.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami