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Commercial food trucks are seen near a checkpoint near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 28.
WORLD
Jul 5, 2024

Feeding Gaza: Traders run gauntlet of bullets, bombs and bribes

Getting food to the Gaza Strip's mostly displaced population of 2.3 million has been beset by bureaucracy and violence since Oct. 7.
Tools at an exploration site run by KoBold Metals in Chililabombwe, Zambia, on June 11. A complex AI-driven technology that data crunchers at KoBold Metals painstakingly built over years helped identify a copper bonanza deep below a site in Zambia, and the company’s process could radically transform the discovery of metal and mineral deposits critical not only to the tech industry but to the fight against climate change.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 18, 2024

AI joins search for needed metals just in time

KoBold’s find comes as the United States and China are increasingly clashing over global access to minerals.
A supermarket in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, operated by Aeon. Shares of Aeon have extended their gains to 25% this year and reached a record high this week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Seven & I proposal fuels rally in Japanese retailers like Aeon

An increase in Japan’s consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of Asia’s second-biggest gross economy, is also supporting retailers.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions

The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
A Nepali paramilitary police force office in the village Hilsa, Nepal, on Oct. 12, 2023
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2024

China’s ‘new Great Wall’ casts a shadow on Nepal

The fortification building spree is placing intense pressure on China’s poorer, weaker neighbors.
A farmer salvages some of the harvest from a flooded rice field near Hanoi on Sept. 24
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 16, 2024

AI enhances flood warnings but cannot fully erase risk of disaster

One issue is that the effectiveness of an artificial intelligence model is only as good as the information it is fed.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani runs to first after hitting a single in the first inning against the Mets during Game 6 of the NLCS in the MLB playoffs in Los Angeles on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB / Sac Bunts
Oct 22, 2024

Shohei Ohtani closer than ever on World Series mission

The star stands four wins away from capping off a storybook first season with the Dodgers by achieving his dream of winning the World Series.
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI employee, in San Francisco on Oct. 3. Balaji helped gather and organize the enormous amounts of internet data used to train the startup’s ChatGPT chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 24, 2024

Former OpenAI researcher says the company broke copyright law

Suchi Balaji is among the first employees to leave a major AI company and speak out against the way these companies use copyrighted data to create their technologies.
When Italy’s Cavour aircraft carrier visited Japan in August, it was the latest in a string of other ports of call by European nations such as Britain, Germany and France, all of whom are engaging in military and defense industry partnerships in East Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Longform
Oct 25, 2024

Will Europe's pivot to Asia have any teeth?

Deals are being made and carriers are making visits, but it is yet to be seen if nations on the other side of the world will come when a crisis hits.
Japanese comedian and Shohei Ohtani impersonator Aki Teriyaki has been to every MLB game Ohtani's teams have played since 2022.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 28, 2024

Meet the tiny, but mighty, Shohei Ohtani impersonator who went to 500 MLB games

Japanese comedian and Shohei Ohtani impersonator Aki Teriyaki has been to every MLB game Ohtani's teams have played since 2022.
The topics nominated for this year’s buzzwords of the year ranged from new banknotes and Olympian quips to political scandals and rice shortages.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

From cat memes to Olympians with too much rizz, these are Japan's 2024 buzzword nominations

The buzzword of the year, along with the top 10 picks, will be decided from the 30 nominated terms on Dec. 2.
Brian Harman poses with the Claret Jug after winning the British Open in Hoylake, England, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jul 24, 2023

Unflappable Brian Harman wins British Open

Brian Harman, an avid hunter back home in Georgia, simply refused to allow himself to fall prey to the world's leading golfers as he showed nerves of steel to win the British Open on Sunday.
Hitachi CEO Keiji Kojima. The company’s metamorphosis belies the argument that the bastions of Japan Inc. are set forever in their ways.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2023

Hitachi reinvents itself in sign of hope for Japan

The old-school conglomerate revamped its governance, shrank its empire to focus on growth and evolved into a more global enterprise.
A Ukrainian ship in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa in March 2022. Ukraine has issued a warning that commercial ships using any of six Russian Black Sea ports would be considered military targets.
WORLD
Aug 6, 2023

Ukraine drone hits second Russian ship in two days

Ukraine has issued a warning that commercial ships using any of six Russian Black Sea ports would be considered military targets.
A stock board at an intersection in Shanghai in October
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 6, 2023

China is losing out as global funds chase returns in Japan stocks

Foreign buying of Japanese equities has exceeded that of Chinese peers for the first time since 2017, according to a Goldman Sachs Group report.
Indian border security force soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh in Kashmir's Ganderbal district in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2023

China-India border conflict holds lessons for Japan, too

India has learned that bilateral ties and economic interdependence do not constrain China's territorial ambitions. That is a lesson Japan should heed.
In 1990, there were five times as many men who had alcohol use disorder than women — now it’s two times, according to the director of a research institute on alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023

Women are drinking more alcohol and it’s killing them

Analysis of data from the CDC found that alcohol-related deaths among women increased by nearly 15% per year between 2018 and 2020.
Load and haul operations at Thungela's thermal coal mining operation, Isibonelo Colliery (formerly Anglo American), in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, in March 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2023

Coal miners forced to insure themselves amid climate concerns

Dozens of insurers have announced restrictions on their cover for the coal industry, particularly for new projects
Journalists tour the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the tanks that contain contaminated water on Aug. 27
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2023

We need to put low-dose radiation into perspective

Public fear of the effects of low-dose radiation isn’t backed by science. The Fukushima water release shows, once again, that better education is needed.
Many scientists say more research into volcanoes is vital to gauge how far eruptions can briefly affect the long-term trend of global warming, which is primarily driven by burning fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / ANALYSIS
Sep 15, 2023

Why is 2023 so hot? A rare Pacific volcano is among the suspects

Greenhouse gas emissions are overwhelmingly to blame, scientists say, but water vapor from the Tonga eruption last year may have played a role too.
A nurse pushes a bed at the COVID-19 ward at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 23, 2023

Long COVID linked to multiple organ changes, research suggests

A third of people hospitalized with COVID-19 have "abnormalities" in multiple organs months after getting infected, the study said.
Boxes of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug made by Novo Nordisk
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 6, 2023

Popular weight loss drugs linked to higher risk of certain serious gastrointestinal problems

The drug type was associated with significantly higher risks of stomach paralysis, pancreatitis and bowel obstruction.
Chef Stuart Brioza (left) of San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions explores the vineyard at Domaine Takahiko in Yoichi, together with his partner, Nicole Krasinski, and their son, Jasper.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 22, 2023

A California chef's quest across Hokkaido for umami

Acclaimed chef Stuart Brioza has been to Hokkaido many times — but never with a focus like this on the island’s stunning natural bounty.
Matthew Perry at the premiere of "The Kennedys After Camelot" in Beverly Hills, California, in 2017
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 29, 2023

'Friends' actor Matthew Perry dies at age 54

Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home.
A stock board in Beijing last month. China’s benchmark CSI 300 has slumped 7.4% as a faltering economy dashed optimism over the nation’s reopening from COVID-19 restrictions.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2023

Japan’s fading rally drives some investors to cheap China shares

Japanese stocks have trounced their Chinese peers this year, but some investors are betting the tide is about to turn.
U.S. President Joe Biden attends an event at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2023

Trump leads in five critical states as voters blast Biden, poll finds

Voters in U.S. battleground states said they trusted Donald Trump over Joe Biden on the economy, foreign policy and immigration.
Lukasz Krupski, a service technician for Tesla in Norway who says he was fired after expressing safety concerns, in Drammen, Norway, on Nov. 6
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023

Man vs. Musk: A whistleblower creates headaches for Tesla

An employee who was fired after expressing safety concerns leaked personnel records and sensitive data about driver-assistance software.
Palestinian children hold pots as they queue to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages in food supplies, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Society
Dec 15, 2023

Desperation grows among families in Gaza as aid deliveries falter

The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has made it almost impossible for aid convoys to move around.
Dodgers owner Mark Walter puts a jersey on Shohei Ohtani during the superstar's introductory news conference on Thursday. The structure of Ohtani's contract could help the Dodgers get a full return on their investment in the two-way player.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2023

For the Dodgers, Ohtani's megadeal could end up being a bargain

The Dodgers have the makings of a juggernaut, and success on the field will allow the franchise to cash in on Ohtani’s transcendent marketability.
Music streaming service Spotify started offering audiobooks in October, but not everyone in the book industry is thrilled.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Spotify's push into audiobooks sparks concern among authors

Spotify began offering complimentary audiobooks to millions of customers in October as part of their monthly subscriptions.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?