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Artisan Suzanne Ross says Japanese lacquerware is a "treasure that belongs to the world."
JAPAN / Society
Mar 20, 2024

Wajima artisan’s livelihood, four decades in the making, upended by disaster

Lacquerware artist Suzanne Ross' life was upended by a massive earthquake. Now, she's determined to keep her craft alive.
Afghan schoolgirls in 2022. Boys and men will return to classes when the Afghan new year starts in late March, but girls and women will be left behind again by a Taliban government education blockade that is part of a raft of restrictions the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid."
WORLD / Society
Mar 21, 2024

Afghan girls and women cling to glitchy, lonesome online learning

Schools in Afghanistan have opened for the new academic year, but girls have been banned from joining classes for the third year in a row.
According to one of the researchers, Sune Lehmann, the algorithm can be used predict health outcomes such as fertility or obesity, who will or will not get cancer, and even whether one is going to make a lot of money.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 22, 2024

How long you got? Danish AI algorithm aims to predict life, and death

It analyses variables such as birth, education, social benefits or even work schedules to predict a wide range of health or social "life events."
Globally, the area covered by mines has doubled over the past three years, driven by demand for critical minerals, according to a 2023 study.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 25, 2024

For mineral-rich Philippines, green metals rush is a balancing act

The county has the world's fourth-largest copper reserves, fifth-biggest nickel deposits and is also rich in cobalt — which are important for clean energy.
High school students visit seawalls in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Thursday during a weeklong tour of areas hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024

Students from wildfire-struck Hawaii learn about disaster recovery in Miyagi

The students visited four municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture to study their efforts to rebuild following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, holds a photograph of his son Thomas in Akron, Ohio, on March 4. How Trump and Biden address a lethal chapter of the U.S. drug-overdose epidemic will be pivotal in swing states that are likely to decide the election.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

270,000 overdose deaths thrust fentanyl into heart of U.S. presidential race

More than 4 in 10 Americans personally know someone who has died from a drug overdose.
Jacky Im, Elizabeth Chan and Kate Maco are the founders of Neptune Robotics, a firm building robots that remove debris from the hulls of ships to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2024

Underwater robots offering practical route to greener shipping

Technology that removes the algae, barnacles and debris that accumulate on ships' hulls can reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Tesla Model 3 assembly line at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, in 2018. Before the Shanghai plant opened, Fremont was Tesla’s principal factory.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024

A pivot to China saved Elon Musk. It also binds him to Beijing.

Musk is now treading a fine line, sounding the alarm about Chinese rivals, even as he remains reliant on the Chinese market.
An online army of Chinese nationalists have taken it upon themselves to punish perceived insults to the country — including from some of China’s leading business figures.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

Why are China’s nationalists attacking the country’s heroes?

Many of the grievances seem to be fueled by discontent over China’s economic malaise, potentially making it harder for authorities to quell public anger.
Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), speaks at an election night party in The Hague, Netherlands, on Nov. 22, 2023. The resounding victory of far-right ideologue illustrates the shift in public opinion in the Netherlands since 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024

Populism is scaring away big businesses in the Netherlands

Among the various firms uneasy with the current state of affairs in the Netherlands, tech companies are the most influential.
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns says Japan's bears feel the pressure of human presence and have learned that encountering us is not worth their time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 30, 2024

Amelia Hiorns: 'Guiding and introducing people to Japan's nature has been rewarding'

Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns shares how separate interests in Japan and in bears culminated in conservation work in the mountains of Nagano.
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried attends his sentencing hearing at Federal Court in New York on Thursday in this courtroom sketch.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2024

Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years over FTX collapse

While there is no parole in the federal system, Bankman-Fried could be released a few years early for good behavior.
An employee of Jet Blue airlines walks around an engine of an Airbus A320 passenger aircraft in a maintenance hangar of the company at JFK International Airport in New York on March 4.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2024

Maintenance staff shortage in U.S. could clip aviation industry's wings

The sector lacks some 24,000 aviation maintenance technicians in North America, a figure due to reach nearly 40,000 by 2028.
Workers prepare processed crickets at Hygente Technology in Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, in November.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 8, 2024

Next-gen protein sources explored as meat replacements in Tohoku

While proponents tout the benefits of edible insects and plant-based meat, getting consumers to change their eating habits remains an uphill task.
Historian Frederik Cryns’ “In the Service of the Shogun” is a biography of William Adams, the inspiration for the character John Blackthorne (played by Cosmo Jarvis) in “Shogun.” Cryns also served as a historical adviser on the FX TV series.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 4, 2024

'Shogun' adviser dives into main character's real-life counterpart for new book

After working on the FX TV series, historian Frederik Cryns explores the life of William Adams in detail for his biography, "In the Service of the Shogun."
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Tokyo office. An investigation into the cause of the health issues is underway, with partner companies attempting to recall products that could include the batch of beni kōji said to have caused kidney problems.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma's wide supply chain complicates search for tainted products

Looking at the overall market, one study showed that around 33,000 companies have sold and distributed products using the firm's red yeast rice.
If it's too hot to do much (and the costs for air conditioning continue to surge) during the day, it might be time to consider shifting the bulk of our activities to cooler nighttime hours.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 6, 2024

A solution for scorching days: Do everything at night.

Working night shifts, however, comes with a host of health problems, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu during a practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Komatsu is the first Japanese to hold the top position at a non-Japanese F1 team.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 7, 2024

Tokyo native Ayao Komatsu brings ‘calm’ and ‘focus’ to improving Haas F1 team

The impact is apparent three months into leadership change that made Komatsu team principal.
The American and Japanese flags are posted on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House in Washington in preparation for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's state visit to the United States this week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2024

More investment is needed to strengthen U.S.-Japan collaboration

Despite the countries' shared challenges, investment in U.S.-Japan intellectual exchange programs and expertise building is at a historic low.
Simon Harris, Ireland's prime minister-in-waiting, is among a vanguard of European politicians embracing the Chinese-owned social media platform, calculating that the need to reach younger voters outweighs security concerns.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024

European politicians embrace TikTok despite security fears

Ahead of elections, mainstream politicians are wary of ceding ground to fringe parties who have successfully exploited its short video format.
Deer that are kept in a fenced-off area in the city of Nara
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024

Nara Prefecture to expand area for culling iconic deer

The prefectural panel will discuss culling methods and other details to draw up a new protection program in fiscal 2025.
Haruko Obokata speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka in 2014. Ten years after the STAP scandal, structural problems that led to the scandal persist, leaving ample room for researchers to tamper with research data, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024

Little change in Japan’s research sector 10 years after stem cell fraud

A decade after the STAP scandal, there is still a lot of leeway for researchers to tamper with data.
The Nishi no Ma room of the State Guest House Akasaka Palace in Tokyo will be opened to the public from Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2024

State guest house room in Tokyo to be opened to public

Sketching events and brass band events are also planned for visitors.
U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

It's inflation, stupid: Biden faces renewed election threat

The cost of living is rising more quickly again, just when he thought he had put the issue behind him to get a clear run at November's vote.
A voter arrives at a polling station in San Diego, California. According to a recent survey, young U.S. men were the only population group in the United States or seven EU member states actually to have become more conservative since 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

Despair makes young U.S. men more conservative ahead of U.S. election, poll shows

The study offered context for November's U.S. presidential poll and a plethora of votes worldwide, including an EU parliamentary election in June.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
Paolo Pasco, winner of the 2024 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
LIFE
Apr 14, 2024

How Gen Zers made the crossword their own

A younger generation of constructors is using an old form to reflect their identities, language and world.
O.J. Simpson listens to the not guilty verdict after his murder trial with his attorneys F. Lee Bailey (left) and Johnnie Cochran Jr. (right) in Los Angeles in October 1995.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2024

What happened to damages that O.J. Simpson owed to the victims’ families?

Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman in a 1995 criminal trial, but a civil jury later concluded that he caused their deaths.
An exterior view of Qasr al-Basha in 2021 in Gaza City, where Napoleon Bonaparte slept for several nights during his campaign in Egypt and Palestine.
WORLD
Apr 15, 2024

Gaza's historic treasures saved by 'irony of history'

Invaluable artifacts remain intact thanks to the blockade that made life in the Gaza Strip such a struggle for the past 16 years.
Residents of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, collect supplies in the aftermath of the Jan. 1 earthquake. When it comes to preparing for and responding to disasters in Japan, the specific needs of women are still not being sufficiently met. One way to fix this would be to increase the number of women involved in the area of disaster prevention.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2024

Women’s needs in disasters are still not accounted for

In Japan, women's needs in disaster situations are not being sufficiently met, as the Ishikawa earthquake shows, partly due to poor female representation.

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat