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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.
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against COVID-19 measures Munich in 2022.
WORLD / Society
Oct 4, 2023

AI 'supercharges' online disinformation and censorship, report warns

Internet freedom declined for the 13th straight year, with China, Myanmar and Iran having the worst conditions of the 70 countries surveyed.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2023

Probe launched over 'serious' Kumamoto soccer team bullying

A member of the renowned school team was allegedly forced to kneel on the ground in apology while naked as he was filmed by senior members of the team.
Tanks containing water from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 4, 2023

Russia says Japan did not fully inform it about Fukushima water

"Japan has failed to properly respond to these issues and to guarantee the absence of a threat, including a long-term one," a spokesperson has said.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2023

Japan begins releasing second batch of treated Fukushima water

The release, part of a decommissioning process expected to take decades, has stirred tensions with some neighboring nations.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Defense Minister Minoru Kihara to the Pentagon in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 5, 2023

Japan expedites purchase of Tomahawks as security concerns grow

In light of the increasingly challenging Asian security environment, Japan will acquire the cruise missiles a year earlier than initially planned.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2023

Pentagon developing AI to aid Indo-Pacific and other commands

Several AI platforms under development may help connect commanders and their forces and increase the volume of data they can analyze at one time.
Children jump rope in a park. Young people with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) can have difficulties in jumping rope, throwing a ball or doing other common physical activities.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 16, 2023

Better understanding of developmental coordination disorder needed

DCD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that makes it hard for children to control their bodily movements to perform daily activities.
A barge carrying grain is unloaded at the port in Constanta, Romania, in August last year. Romanian radar detected a breach of its territory last weekend, the latest in a string of such incidents.
WORLD
Oct 7, 2023

Russian attacks are edging closer and closer to NATO territory

As Ukraine reaps a bumper harvest, Russia is targeting the export routes that run from the ports around Odesa.
Dendrobium orchids — highly sought after due to their use in traditional Chinese medicine — growing in the wild in Nepal.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Oct 8, 2023

The orchid obsession: How science and smuggling meet in a global trade

Love of the flowers has a dark side, with the desire for rare varieties underpinning a robust illegal trade believed to have wiped out entire species.
Since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida launched his administration in 2021, he has vowed to boost spending by trillions of yen to tackle some deep-rooted issues. But how exactly the government will fund such efforts remains unclear.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2023

Private group calls for independent body to monitor long-term fiscal policy

The proposal suggests future projections can help citizens think more seriously about how fiscal matters could affect future generations.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of social media site X, attends the Viva Technology conference in Paris in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 11, 2023

EU warns Musk over 'illegal' disinformation on X after Israel attack

Everything from video game and movie clips to old images of conflicts are being used to push false narratives across Elon Musk's platform.
Palestinians flee following the Israeli army's warning to leave their homes and move south before an expected ground offensive, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2023

Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israel masses troops for assault

Israel announced overnight that it would temporarily guarantee the safety of Palestinians fleeing the area on two main roads.
Israeli soldiers during searches of burned homes in Kfar Azza, a village just across the border from Gaza that was attacked by Palestinian gunmen, in Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2023

The secrets Hamas knew about Israel’s military

Hamas gunmen surged into Israel in a highly organized and meticulously planned operation that suggested a deep understanding of Israel’s weaknesses.
In residential areas, bears are said to be attracted to compost waste, persimmons and chestnuts.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 20, 2023

Bear attacks on the rise in Akita and Iwate due to lack of food

According to Akita Prefecture, a record 39 people were attacked from April through Oct. 11.
In almost 30 years of fighting wildfire, Art Gonzales has seen blazes grow progressively bigger and stranger.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 20, 2023

‘It’s all-consuming.’ Wildfire whispering is now a year-round job

What was once limited to certain months now encompasses an entire ‘fire year'
A deal between Mitsubishi Electric and Australia’s Department of Defence taps the company’s know-how in electronic and optical systems.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2023

In industry first, Mitsubishi Electric secures defense deal with Australia

The deal taps the company’s know-how in electronic and optical systems.
Speech-generating AI works by sifting through reams of data, categorizing how people speak then using an algorithm, to replicate human vocal patterns and speech characteristics.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2023

Whose voice is it anyway? Actors take on AI copycats

Artists around the world are joining forces to protect their jobs, and their souls, from the ramifications of AI that sounds just like them.
Ukrainian commandos known as Kukhar (left), 23, and Askold, 38, who conceal their identities, in a bare office used as a safe house in Kyiv on Oct. 5. Inside the commando raids unnerving Russia in Crimea; the lightning assaults are part of a larger campaign using drones and missiles to degrade Russian forces and demoralize the public.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023

Inside the commando raids unnerving Russia in Crimea

The lightning assaults are part of a larger campaign using drones and missiles to degrade Russian forces and demoralize the public.
A used KIA electric car is seen for sale outside the showroom of a used car dealer in Manchester, Britain
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2023

The battery test race to work out what used EVs are really worth

There used to be no way to measure battery health. But that is changing as firms rush to scale up EV battery tests — some of which take just minutes.
Munakata Shiko's "Oshira-sama: The Flying Silkworm Deities" (1968)
CULTURE / Art
Oct 26, 2023

Major retrospective traces hero's journey of 'Japan's van Gogh'

An exhibition of Shiko Munakata's works shows evidence of a charismatic character and a career that reflects Japan's changing relationship with the West.
A community health worker speaks during a meeting with pregnant teenagers, teen mothers and their partners, in Navotas, Metro Manila, in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 28, 2023

Can new law help tackle Philippines' teen pregnancy emergency?

The costs of teen pregnancies in the country are high, with around 30% of the population now under 15 years old.
Reporters take cover upon hearing sirens warning of an incoming rocket attack from Gaza, in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, on Oct. 23
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2023

Media reporting on Israel-Hamas war face singular challenges

Lack of access to Gaza, with both the Israeli and Egyptian access points closed, is creating difficulties journalists say they have rarely seen before.
An assembly engineer works on a lithography system at chipmaker ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on June 16.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 2, 2023

How can the EU strengthen its strategic autonomy regarding chips?

The bloc has felt a sense of crisis over the fact that its growth strategy has been largely dependent on third countries.
A Tasaki jewelry store in Ginza, Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 2, 2023

MBK Partners to sell jewelry brand Tasaki for over $500 million

Alleged trade with Myanmar has limited the scope of potential bidders, sources said.
"The Ones Left Behind" documents the successes and struggles of single mothers in Japan.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 2, 2023

Why single mothers in Japan have been left behind

Filmmaker Rionne McAvoy joins us to discuss the hidden poverty present in one of the world’s richest nations.
A group of chimpanzees listen to other chimpanzees heard at a distance in the West African forests of Cote d'Ivoire, studied as part of research by the Tai Chimpanzee Project, in this undated handout photograph.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 3, 2023

Scientists observe chimpanzees using human-like warfare tactic

The study, the researchers said, records for the first time the tactical use of elevated terrain by our species' closest living relatives.
Group photo after an NTT smart city was certified Level 4
ESG CONSORTIUM
Nov 6, 2023

NTT sustainable smart city effort is developing tools for well-being

As envisioned in its new fundamental principle, “Innovating a sustainable future for people and planet,” the NTT group has been contributing its strength as Japan’s leading telecommunications company to the realization of new values and a sustainable society using the power of data and technology....
JAPAN / Explainer
Nov 6, 2023

What to know about the Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan

The project is controversial due to the potential felling of thousands of trees, loss of green space and threat to historic gingko trees.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a news conference in San Francisco on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2023

U.S. Treasury chief to 'intensify communication' with top Chinese official

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that she agreed with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to "intensify communication" on economic issues.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?