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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the launch of the "Energy Transition: Fuel for the Future" project at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Sept. 14. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are scheduled to meet on Wednesday in New York.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2023

Conflicted ideas hinder Brazil's drive to revive 'soft power'

Dependence on China trade, off-the-cuff remarks about Russia and an outdated position on human rights derailing efforts
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Ireland's scrum-half Conor Murray (far left) celebrates victory at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match against South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 24, 2023

Ireland beat South Africa in statement World Cup win as England romp

Ireland absorbed near-constant pressure from the physically imposing South Africans and took their chances when they got them.
United Hindu Front activists protest in New Delhi on Sunday over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the assassination of a Sikh independence proponent back in Canada.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2023

The politics behind Canada and India’s diplomatic tiff

Ottawa's soft-power righteousness over assassination of Sikh leader in British Columbia ruffles feathers in New Delhi
Blackberries from Pairwise, a company that uses gene-editing technology to create new breeds of plants, in Durham, North Carolina, on Sept. 13. Pairwise hopes to create a seedless blackberry that grows on compact, thorn-free bushes.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 26, 2023

Meet the climate-defying fruits and vegetables in your future

Breeding new crops that can thrive under these assaults is a long game.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023

Supreme Court may adjust requirements for gender status change

If the court deems the surgery requirement for a gender change to be unconstitutional, it is expected to pave the way for an amendment of the law.
In Australia, past El Nino events have led to destructive fire seasons, including the catastrophic Black Summer of 2019-2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2023

Australia hoped to dodge wildfires. El Nino has other plans.

The 1983, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2015 fire seasons, some of the most damaging in the country’s history, all occurred during El Nino.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev prior to a meeting in Brussels on May 14
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2023

In taking Karabakh, Azerbaijan's president avenged his father

A confluence of factors had convinced Ilham Aliyev, 61, that the time was right to do something his father couldn't.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 5, 2023

The Big Issue Japan marks 20 years of tackling homelessness

The publication has survived many challenges during its 20-year journey, including the global financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gamers play during the first day of Europe's leading digital games fair, Gamescom, in Cologne, Germany, in August 2019
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2023

Video game competitions should be in the Olympics

Esports is already among the world’s most popular competitive activities. Last year, the global audience totaled more than 500 million people.
French-Swedish physicist Anne L'Huillier, one of this year's Nobel laureates in physics, celebrates with students and colleagues in Lund, Sweden, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 4, 2023

What are attoseconds? New ways to measure time win physics Nobel.

There are around as many attoseconds in a single second as there have been seconds in the 13.8-billion year history of the universe.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Oct 5, 2023

Giants prepare to start new era as manager Tatsunori Hara walks away

Manager Tatsunori Hara's departure closes the book on an eventful chapter in the storied history of the Giants.
Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran in 2007. Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
WORLD
Oct 6, 2023

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited her “fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher celebrates his team's win over Scotland in their 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B finale at the State de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 8, 2023

Ireland thrashes Scotland as England avoids Rugby World Cup stumble

England survived a Samoan scare by a point, while Wales beat Georgia to top Pool C.
Ireland's Garry Ringrose scores a try during his team's Pool B match against Scotland at the Rugby World Cup in Saint-Denis, France, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 12, 2023

Ireland not weighed down by No. 1 ranking ahead of All Blacks clash

Ireland can match the top-tier record for winning streaks with its 18th straight victory on Saturday.
Australia head coach Eddie Jones speaks at a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 17, 2023

Eddie Jones says he's committed to Australia, stands by youth push

The 63-year-old Australian, whose mother and wife are Japanese, has been linked with the vacant Japan head coaching job.
Troy Sutton, a virologist at Pennsylvania State University, on July 25, 2023. Sutton says that health officials referred to the public controversy over the lab leak theory in advising him to pursue different experiments.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2023

Lab leak fight casts chill over virology research

While some believe practices such as gain-of-function research could fend off the next pandemic, others worry that they are more likely to start one.
Various aspects of Japan’s Sado Island — noh, taiko drumming, business investment and cultural regeneration projects — weave their way into “L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima,” with characters and cultures coming together in a melting pot of real-world political problems, theater styles and dark humor.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2023

Cultures collide in Ariane Mnouchkine's Sado Island-inspired play

The Kyoto Prize-winning French theater director's latest production, "L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima," draws from her experiences in Japan, both old and new.
Kanata Kimoto had his womb and ovaries removed in Thailand when he was 24, so he could have his legal gender status changed. Now he questions whether such an invasive and costly procedure was necessary.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2023

Calls grow to abolish Japan's surgery requirement for gender change

Between 2004 and 2022, a total of 11,919 people had their gender changed through the law in Japan.
Negotiations are pointless as Vladimir Putin will not offer peace in exchange for Ukrainian territories; his goal is to eliminate the country as a nation.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

Putin's defeat must be democracies’ goal

Only a strategic defeat of Russia can stop this cancer from spreading. Why, then, are many Western leaders allergic to this prescription?
South Africa's Handre Pollard (left) converts an eventual match-winning penalty kick against England during their Rugby World Cup semifinal in Paris on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 22, 2023

Handre Pollard's late penalty sends Springboks into RWC final

It was a second successive single-point victory for South Africa after it beat France 29-28 in the quarterfinals.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee delivers his annual policy address at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 25, 2023

Hong Kong's leader says to create new national security law in 2024

Pro-democracy protests rocked the finance hub in 2019, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for more autonomy from China.
Chinese astronauts attend a see-off ceremony at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Oct 26, 2023

China's youngest-ever crew of astronauts heads to space station

The spacecraft and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
South Africa players huddle ahead of the second half of the team's semifinal game against England in the Rugby World Cup, in Saint-Denis, France, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 27, 2023

Springboks expect 'grind' against All Blacks in World Cup final

South Africa has never lost a World Cup final, winning the 1995, 2007 and 2019 editions.
Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia celebrates after hitting the game-winning home run in the 11th inning of Game 1 of the World Series on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
BASEBALL
Oct 28, 2023

Adolis Garcia's blast lifts Rangers in World Series opener

Garcia's eighth home run of the postseason pushed his RBI total to 22, eclipsing David Freese (2011) for the most in one postseason in MLB history.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2023

Police prep crowd control plans in case Tigers win Japan Series

The Tigers are facing off against the Orix Buffaloes in the series, which kicked off on Saturday.
Petr Aven in Moscow to attend Russia Business week in in 2018
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2023

Squeezed by sanctions, some oligarchs head home to Putin's Russia

The penalties have destroyed the standing of many wealthy Russians abroad who remained silent or avoided direct criticism of Putin over the war.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 9, 2023

Japan’s 'four-eyed tax hiker' and the curse of Colonel Sanders

Baseball writer Jason Coskrey and editor Joel Tansey discuss the Hanshin Tigers’ Japan Series victory; Gabriele Ninivaggi explains how the prime minister hopes to get a home run with his tax plan.
Director Hideo Jojo made the switch from soft-core adult films to more mainstream entertainment with “On the Edge of Their Seats,” a drama about four teenagers watching their high school baseball team lose an important tournament game.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 10, 2023

'Pink film' director Hideo Jojo gets the red carpet treatment

Tokyo's annual film festival named Jojo — who has made over 100 titles, from soft-core adult films to theatrical features — this year's Director in Focus.
Destroyed buildings in Gaza on Thursday amid ongoing battles between Israeli forces and the Hamas militant group.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 10, 2023

Why are oil prices falling while war rages in the Middle East?

Intense fighting is underway in a region that holds much of the world’s petroleum resources. Yet, energy markets have been slumping.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?