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Japanese fans of Taylor Swift take a selfie before entering Tokyo Dome for the pop star's Eras Tour show in Japan on Feb. 7.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 7, 2024

Taylor-mania hits Tokyo as Swift resumes tour before Super Bowl

Excited fans from countries such as Australia, Thailand and China joined the vast crowd at Tokyo Dome ahead of the megastar's Eras Tour show on Wednesday.
A Chinese J-10 jet fighter in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, in November 2014. Relations between Saudi Arabia and China have become closer in the energy industry and beyond. The two countries are working to expand cooperation in fields including aircraft, artificial intelligence and infrastructure.
WORLD
Feb 8, 2024

China grabs spotlight with major presence at Saudi weapons show

Exhibiting for the first time under a single brand, state companies displayed a range of weaponry, from drones to anti-aircraft and ballistic missiles.
While online influence campaigns are increasingly common as powerful people and governments around the world seek to manipulate public opinion, experts tracking such operations say China is one of the biggest sources of such drives alongside Russia and Iran.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2024

Chinese firm behind ‘news’ sites pushes pro-Beijing content globally, report says

Spread over websites in 30 countries, the propaganda material is interspersed with news aggregated from local news outlets and Chinese state media.
People walk past a billboard promoting Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister and a presidential candidate, and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and current Surakarta's mayor, in Jakarta on Jan. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 8, 2024

Generative AI faces major test as Indonesia holds election

Front-runner Prabowo Subianto is using AI tools to create campaign art, track social media sentiment, build interactive chatbots and target voters.
The location of the water leak (left) and a close-up of the vent where the water was released at part of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 8, 2024

Tepco reports leak at Fukushima but says no contamination detected

The nuclear plant operator plans to remove soil from around the area that may have been contaminated by the 5,500 liters of radioactive water that leaked.
Seoul may be a cosmetic surgery mecca, but Tokyo has its fair share of high-quality clinics as well.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 12, 2024

A wrinkles-and-all guide to cosmetic surgery in Japan

Japan is uniquely positioned between two opposing hot spots of the beauty industry: Seoul and Tokyo.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left), South Korea's then-Foreign Minister Park Jin (center) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrive for a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan, South Korea, in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2024

Japan, China and South Korea still out of step over summit

Despite their foreign ministers agreeing to convene a meeting of top leaders promptly, no concrete scheduling has emerged.
A Uniqlo store in Shanghai, China. The clothing chain's operator Fast Retailing announced last year that it expected to open 80 stores in China and roughly 60 new stores each year in Southeast Asia, India and the Australian region.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2024

Fast Retailing’s peer-beating 48% jump may extend on global push

Uniqlo owner has become one of the top performers among 10 other clothing companies worldwide that have a market value exceeding $10 billion.
Michelin guides are published yearly, but there are only a handful of Black chefs whose restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2024

Black chefs are scoring with new Michelin stars; but they deserve more

Michelin stars were recently announced for restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland: The number of Black chefs increased, but the pace is still too slow.
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi fires toward the Vissel Kobe goal during a friendly at National Stadium in Tokyo on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 11, 2024

Amid row over Messi's no-show, China nixes Argentina matches

The upcoming friendly with the Argentine squad has been canceled due to "well-known reasons,” the sports authority in the eastern city of Hangzhou said.
Sikhs in Peshawar, Pakistan, hold a protest on Sept. 20 against the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader who was murdered months earlier in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2024

Does India have a secret hit list?

The pressure is on for India to salvage its global reputation and preserve its relationship with the United States amid assassination plots against Sikhs.
Local residents use a Starlink terminal in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Jan. 31, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2024

Ukraine says Russia uses Musk’s Starlink terminals at front

Intercepted conversations between Russian troops indicate they had Starlink devices installed for internet access.
Fans gather outside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the start of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 13, 2024

NFL’s Roger Goodell already wants another Super Bowl in Las Vegas

Sunday's Super Bowl marks an important milestone for a city that’s trying to become one of the world’s sports capitals.
Domino's Pizza Japan has apologized for a video of its employee pretending to pick his nose and wipe it on pizza dough.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 13, 2024

Domino's apologizes over online video of employee's pizza antics

The pizza delivery giant's move came after a video surfaced online Monday of an employee pretending to pick his nose and wipe it on pizza dough.
Wang Xiuting chats with her virtual boyfriend on Wantalk — an AI chatbot created by Chinese tech company Baidu, on her phone in Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 13, 2024

'Better than real men': Young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends

Users say they are driven by a desire for companionship because China's fast pace of life and urban isolation make loneliness an issue for many.
Masahiro Inoue, incoming chief executive officer of Daihatsu Motor, during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2024

Toyota replaces Daihatsu chief after safety scandal

Masahiro Inoue, the CEO of Toyota Latin America, will replace Soichiro Okudaira effective March 1.
Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and a professor at the Gregorian, the Harvard of Rome's pontifical universities, in his office at the university in Rome on Jan. 29. Benanti advises the Vatican and the Italian government on navigating the tricky questions — moral and otherwise — raised by artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024

The friar who became the Vatican’s go-to guy on AI

Father Paolo Benanti, an ethics professor and self-proclaimed geek, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.
A Japan Airlines passenger aircraft at Haneda Airport in Tokyo
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2024

JAL plane crossed runway stop line at U.S. airport

The aircraft crossed the stop line in front of the runway at San Diego International Airport just after noon on Feb. 6.
Soldiers stand next to military vehicles in Yangon, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

Myanmar junta plans mandatory military service, media says

Some retired members of the security forces may also have to return to the army.
Gross domestic product contracted 0.4% on an annualized basis in the October-December 2023 quarter, following a 3.3% contraction in the previous quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2024

Japan loses spot as No. 3 economy after surprise GDP contraction

Analysts caution that the data is perhaps not as bad as it seems, given solid readings from other economic indicators.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a session of the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Nvidia overtakes Alphabet, one day after eclipsing Amazon

The AI frenzy has boosted tech stocks associated with the field, but Nvidia stands out for its significant revenue growth.
Volkswagen has long come under scrutiny over its factory in Urumqi in Xinjiang, which opened in 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Pressure mounts on Volkswagen to exit China's Xinjiang region

The carmaker said it was discussing the future of its activities in the region, following fresh allegations of human rights abuses.
Sun simulation at the Rail Tec Arsenal facility in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 15, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 16, 2024

Climate change threatens EU trains, but resilience is expensive

Europe’s railways, a safe, low-carbon technology that still carries a little glamor, are on the brink of a new era.
The exact timing of the roll out of Rakuten Mobile's commercial satellite-to-mobile service is uncertain, but the plans for coverage encompass mountainous and remote areas across Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 16, 2024

Rakuten plans satellite mobile service across Japan in 2026

The service, to be rolled out in partnership with AST SpaceMobile, will be directly accessible by regular smartphones and won’t require a terminal.
A young man (Ayumu Nakajima) argues over trivial matters with his love interest in “This Hamburger Has No Pickles.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2024

‘This Hamburger Has No Pickles’: A hefty helping of awkward heart-to-hearts

Satoshi Kimura’s rambling rom-com offers a peek into the lives of entangled adults struggling to communicate with each other.
Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists after he was released from a detention center in Moscow in August 2019
WORLD
Feb 16, 2024

Alexei Navalny, corruption fighter who defied Putin, dies at 47

Navalny fell sick during a walk and medical staff were unable to revive him, prison authorities said Friday.
A delegation of Ukrainian officials look at machinery used for debris processing in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024

Japanese technology to contribute to Ukraine reconstruction, government hopes

Japanese officials will meet with Ukrainian counterparts in Tokyo on Monday to discuss measures to support the reconstruction of their country.
More than 1,000 people lined up at the Thai Embassy in Yangon on Friday after Myanmar's junta said it would soon enforce military service on all men between the ages of 18 and 35 and women between the ages of 18 and 27.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Myanmar junta's conscription plan shows toll of fighting rebels

The military has been battling an armed resistance since a 2021 coup toppled the democratically elected government.
Anastasiia Pelykh (left) and Daria Datsenko talk about their lives in Japan after evacuating from Ukraine during an interview in Kyoto earlier this month.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 19, 2024

Two years after invasion, Ukrainians in Japan forge their own paths

A pair of women have taken different paths, but echoed the same refrain: They want the war to end as soon as possible so they can see their families.
Romance scams are designed to exploit individuals emotionally, leading them to part with their money.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2024

Deceptive lawyer ads exploit victims of romance scams Japan

Some legal practitioners exaggerate their success records in recovering stolen funds and fail to follow through on the collection process.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight