Search - 2003

 
 
Al Ain celebrates after defeating Marinos in the Asian Champions League final in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday.
SOCCER
May 26, 2024

Al Ain routs Marinos to capture Asian Champions League crown

Al Ain won the Asian Champions League for the second time.
Marinos coach Harry Kewell directs his players during the second leg of the Asian Champions League final against Al Ain in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates on Saturday.
SOCCER
May 26, 2024

Marinos coach Harry Kewell says club will use ACL final loss as motivation

"We as a club, we will lick our wounds," Kewell said. "We'll come back stronger. Especially the next time around."
To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2024

The authoritarians have the momentum

To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
U.S. soldiers participate in a joint exercise conducted for South Korean and U.S. soldiers in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, on March 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

China's military drills 'remain underdeveloped' amid regional tensions

Noting the U.S. military may eventually lose its edge over China in the region, a new study says China is challenged by a lack of combat experience.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
Protesters and militia fighters carry the logo of the U.S. Embassy during a protest to condemn airstrikes on bases belonging to Hashd al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces), in Baghdad on Dec. 31, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

Iran's allies in Iraq are firing at Israel. What if they draw blood?

Though experts do not see the attacks as posing the same level of threat to Israel as Hamas and Hezbollah strikes, they have increased in number and sophistication.
Ukrainian soldiers patrol a heavily war-damaged area of the town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on May 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2024

Ukraine and its allies need a new strategy. Here’s a start.

With the war in Ukraine, stop talking about ‘liberal’ democracy and the ‘rules-based international order.’
Chef Yusuke Murayama’s creative cuisine at Pas Mal spotlights the premium produce of Yamagata Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 8, 2024

Pas Mal: French cuisine spotlighting Yamagata’s premium produce

Chef Yusuke Murayama’s signature dessert is a framboise mousse the color of glossy lipstick rouge in the shape of a mouth.
Former lawmaker Tomohiro Konno has been arrested for allegedly lending his name as a lawyer to other people to do legal work in violation of the attorney law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 13, 2024

Ex-Japan Lower House member Konno arrested over name-lending

Konno allegedly lent his name to have other people do legal work to recover special fraud damage for five victims, with virtually no cases of damage recovery.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in November 2022. The plant was shuttered in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has sat idle since.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

World’s largest nuclear plant sits idle while energy needs soar

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has the potential capacity to power more than 13 million households.
The Mioya Shuzo brewery was damaged by the 2024 New Year's Day earthquake — but not to the extent that it couldn't serve as a shelter of sorts for the region's many sake breweries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 22, 2024

To Miho Fujita, ‘rules are meant to be broken in the sake world’

Miho Fujita knows the old songs sung by sake brewers by heart, but she's updated the tradition in her own way, infusing the age-old craft with a modern twist.
Estonian Prime Minister and newly nomiated EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addresses a news conference at the end of the European Council summit at EU headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

A lifetime fighting Putin’s aggression drives EU’s next diplomatic chief

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the bloc's next foreign policy chief, will be charged with shaping its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
An aerial view of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest near the Lago do Cunia Extractive Reserve, on the border of the states of Rondonia and Amazonas, northern Brazil, on Aug. 31, 2022. Brazil recorded 13,489 fire outbreaks in the Amazon in the first half of this year, according to satellite data available on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 2, 2024

Brazil's Amazon sees worst 6 months of wildfires in 20 years

They were caused by a historic drought that struck the world's largest tropical rainforest last year, experts say.
Lakers forward LeBron James during a play-in game on April 16
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 5, 2024

LeBron James cements his billionaire status with record contract

James agreed to a two-year, $104 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, the most ever for someone his age.
The government aims to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 400,000 by 2033, despite a recent Justice Ministry ordinance that puts in place tougher rules on accepting overseas applicants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Can Japan boost its foreign student count to 400,000?

The government recently tightened rules for accepting overseas applicants, though it hasn't lost sight of its lofty goal of increasing foreign student numbers.
Dolphins Arena in Nagoya. While the new IG Arena will almost certainly provide a more enjoyable experience for fans, the hope is that action on the raised ring will retain the heat that Dolphins Arena has long been famous for.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 10, 2024

A farewell to a Nagoya sumo arena known for heat — inside and outside the ring

The upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament will be the last to be held at Dolphins Arena, which has been the scene of numerous memorable moments over the years.
A Japanese high court decision on Wednesday touched on the contentious issue of whether transgender people need to undergo surgery in order to have their gender changed in official records.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024

Japan high court backs gender status change without surgery

The development is likely to put more pressure on the government to revise the contentious 2003 law on gender dysphoria.
Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball as he plays with Norway's Casper Ruud during a men's double tennis match against Argentina's Guido Andreozzi and Mexico's Miguel Reyes-Varela at the Nordea Open ATP tournament in Bastad, Sweden, on Monday.
TENNIS
Jul 16, 2024

Nadal returns to competition with Bastad doubles win

This month, the Spanish player skipped Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics.
The Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes statue in Seattle's Peace Park. The statue was reported missing on Friday by the city government of Seattle.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2024

Statue of A-bombed Japanese girl in Seattle stolen

The feet of the statue are the only remaining part of it after the theft, which was reported last Friday, according to The Seattle Times.
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2024

Trump's VP pick signals stronger focus on China

J.D. Vance represents a hardening of Trump’s “America First” stance, but could also help push a tougher line on China and support for democratic Taiwan.
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” incorporates six Murakami short stories from three books into a single intertwined narrative that centers on a trio of lonely Tokyoites.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 20, 2024

'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' is an immersive journey into Murakami's world

Pierre Foldes' beautiful adaptation of six Haruki Murakami stories features one of the author's most memorable characters, who injects the film with self-aware humor.
An aerial view on Monday of the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

From honor student to the gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump

Thomas Crooks was a brainy and quiet young man who built computers and won honors at school, impressing his teachers. Then he became a would-be assassin.
The misinterpretation of data on guns and self-defense in the United States highlights how studies may overstate the benefits while downplaying risks and unintended consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2024

Guns aren’t as good for self-defense as America thinks

Like other public health crises, gun violence has been studied and scientists have data pointing to ways the carnage can be reduced.
U.S. soldiers during a handover ceremony of Taji military base from U.S.-led coalition troops to Iraqi security forces, in the base north of Baghdad on August 23, 2020
WORLD
Jul 23, 2024

Iraq eyes drawdown of U.S.-led forces starting September, sources say

The U.S. currently has around 2,500 troops in Iraq at the head of a more than 80-member coalition that was formed in 2014.
Japanese badminton players participate in one of Ajinomoto's Kachimeshi Kai gatherings.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2024

Ajinomoto offering food-related support to Japan athletes in Paris

Ajinomoto has been offering athletes light traditional Japanese meals at an on-site nutrition support base set up for every Summer and Winter Olympics.
The exchange rate for the Japanese yen against the euro (left) and the U.S. dollar is displayed at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on June 27.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 23, 2024

Citi flags possible euro-yen intervention if rate nears ¥180 level

The euro-yen pair traded as high as ¥175.43 on July 11 — a record since the common currency was launched in 1999 — before retreating.
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown dunks during Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals in Dallas on June 12.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 25, 2024

NBA signs broadcasting deal with Disney, Amazon and Comcast worth $77 billion

The NBA rejected a last-minute offer from TNT, which it said fell short of Amazon's proposal, ending a four-decade relationship with the media company after next season.
U.S. soldiers are seen during the handover ceremony for Taji military base, from U.S.-led coalition troops to Iraqi security forces, in the base north of Baghdad in 2020.
WORLD
Jul 31, 2024

U.S. conducts strike in Iraq amid deepening regional tensions

Iraqi police and medical sources said the strike inside a base south of Baghdad killed four members of a group that contains several Iran-aligned armed militias.
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh delivers a speech in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, in 2017.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2024

Tough-talking Ismail Haniyeh was seen as Hamas' more moderate face

Hamas' political leader, who was killed in Iran, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy.
Jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing to consider an appeal against his prison sentence, in Moscow on July 31, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Poisoned and jailed: Kremlin critic Kara-Murza

Convicted in April 2023 of treason and spreading "false information," Kara-Murza was sentenced to one of the longest prison terms ever handed down to a Putin critic.

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?