Search - 2023

 
 
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2024

The yen pays the price for a timid Bank of Japan

Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
Police officers and fire department officials investigate a vehicle that crashed into a barricade outside the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Saturday morning after a man threw Molotov cocktail-like objects outside the ruling party's headquarters. The vehicle's number plate has been digitally obscured.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2024

Man arrested after throwing apparent firebombs at LDP headquarters

The suspect, identified as a 49-year-old man from Saitama Prefecture, was arrested on the spot and no injuries were reported from the incident.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (from left), U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron pose for a family photo at the Chancellery in Berlin on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2024

Biden and allies in Berlin vow no let-up in support for Ukraine

In a joint statement, the leaders "reiterated their resolve to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to secure a just and lasting peace."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on July 25.
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2024

With Sinwar dead, Israel aims to lock in strategic gains before U.S. election

Goals include reshaping the regional landscape in Israel's favor and shielding its borders from any future attacks, according to sources.
Moninder Singh, a spokesperson for BC Gurdwara council, speaks at a news conference at the site of a 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, in May.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 19, 2024

Warned by police, some of Canada's Sikhs feel threatened by India

The Canadian police said this week it has communicated more than a dozen threats to people who are advocating for Sikh separatism.
A demonstrator holds a megaphone, as families and supporters of hostages kidnapped by Hamas protest against the government and demand their immediate release, in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
WORLD
Oct 19, 2024

Sinwar's death clouds path to freeing Israeli hostages

Hamas now needs to appoint a replacement, and that person will play a key role in determining the fate of the Israelis kept hostage since its attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Wakaba Higuchi competes in the Skate America women's free program in Allen, Texas, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Oct 20, 2024

Wakaba Higuchi wins Skate America women's gold in Japan one-two

It was a big day for Japanese skaters as former world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara claimed pairs gold.
A billboard depicting Hamas' slain leader Yahya Sinwar during a rally in Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2024

U.S. ‘fusion cells’ assist in Israel’s hunt for Hamas leaders

Officials have insisted that the U.S. aren't directly supporting Israel on the ground in Gaza, but the search for Hamas leaders was different.
INAC Kobe's Megumi Takase (left) battles Hiroshima's Funa Yanase during a match in Hiroshima in 2022.
SOCCER
Oct 20, 2024

Struggling WE League seeks course correction as it aims close gap with world’s top leagues

The top women's soccer league in Japan has struggled to meet its ambitious targets. Officials hope a new vision can right the ship.
A portion of the Tokyo skyline from an observatory deck at an industrial port in Kawasaki
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 20, 2024

Japan scientists are tracking the big climate problem with tiny aerosols

The clear signs of climate change are everywhere, but a Japan team has found a way to trace the crisis with something that's a little less visible: aerosols.
Feminist Women's Health Center employees Sincere Porter, Naomi Desta-Bell, Habeebah Yasin and Kwajelyn Jackson following a vigil and rally for abortion rights and in response to the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, who died of complications during pregnancy, in Atlanta on Sept. 28.
WORLD / Society
Oct 20, 2024

Advocates hope U.S. election will mark turning point for Black maternal health

Such concerns go beyond abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized women since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022.
Police officers remove a vehicle that crashed into a barricade outside the Prime Minister's Office in central Tokyo on Saturday after a man threw Molotov cocktail-like objects outside the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters and later drove into the barricade.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2024

More details emerge about suspect in attack at LDP headquarters

The suspect was sent to prosecutors on Sunday, although his motives for the attack remain unclear.
Masami Oka
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2024

Masami Oka named first head of fighter jet international body

The announcement of the trilateral body between Japan, Britain and Italy was timed to coincide with a meeting of their defense ministers on Saturday.
Gantry cranes at the Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen, China, on April 15
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024

World economy fault lines shift from prices to politics and debt

The U.S. presidential election, soaring government debt and the escalating conflict in the Middle East all hang over the global economic outlook.
Ilia Malinin performs his free skate program during Skate America in Allen, Texas, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 21, 2024

Ilia Malinin captures third straight Skate America crown

Malinin became the first three-time Skate America champion since Nathan Chen won four straight from 2017 through 2020.
A collage made of undated handout pictures released by the Yamagata University Institute of Nasca shows 10 of 303 new geoglyphs discovered by scientists at the university in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Oct 21, 2024

The Japanese researcher uncovering the mystery of Peru’s Nazca Lines

Masato Sakai has dedicated his career to the collection of desert etchings. AI is starting to make his work much easier.
Israeli Home Front Command soldiers walk down a street in Caesarea, Israel, on Saturday following a drone attack from Lebanon.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2024

Israel hones plans to attack Iran after attempt on Netanyahu

While neither the prime minister nor his wife were home, his ministers and he said it was another reason retaliation against Iran is warranted.
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Billie Jean Cup finals, the last event on her 2024 schedule due to an injury.
TENNIS
Oct 21, 2024

Naomi Osaka cuts season short due to injury

Osaka has been sidelined since retiring from her last-16 match at the China Open against Coco Gauff in early October.
Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii shakes hands with a voter in his district in Saitama Prefecture on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2024

Komeito's new leader faces trial by fire in general election

Once local allies, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai are going head-to-head for the first time ever, adding to the challenge facing Keiichi Ishii.
Shizuoka Prefectural Police Chief Takayoshi Tsuda bows to Iwao Hakamata (second from right), recently exonerated over a 1966 murder, and others on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2024

Shizuoka police chief apologizes to Iwao Hakamata after his acquittal

Takayoshi Tsuda visited the home of Hakamata, 88, in the city of Hamamatsu, bowing deeply for about two minutes.
The emotional impact of constant news about wars and disasters is weighing heavily on many in the younger generations, causing them to seek ways to cope with their distress and anxiety.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Is the apocalypse making you too anxious to work?

A poll reveals that a significant portion of the Gen Z and millennial generations feel unable to function at work due to distress over current events.
Having learned from the experience of losing in the last election and from actions taken by similar movements elsewhere, another Trump administration would be far more effective at wielding — and maintaining — power.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Why another Trump term would be worse than the first

A political movement with autocratic tendencies often becomes more ruthless and effective after experiencing electoral defeat.
The move of extending to employees with same-sex partners spousal welfare benefits follows the enforcement of a law on boosting understanding for sexual minorities in June 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2024

Central Japan Railway to recognize employees' same-sex partners

Finer details of the system, such as whether official certificates will need to be submitted, are planned to be hammered out at a later date.
Indian soldiers disembark from a military transport plane at a forward airbase in Leh, in the Ladakh region, on Sept. 15, 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

China and India end border impasse ahead of likely Xi-Modi meet

Relations between China and India have been frozen since June 2020 following clashes between soldiers along the disputed Himalayan border.
Waight Keller, who designed Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, finds a different kind of luxury at a mass market brand.
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 22, 2024

A designer moves easily from royal gowns to Uniqlo

Clare Waight Keller, who designed Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, finds a different kind of luxury at a mass market brand.
Palestinians gather to receive aid, including food supplies provided by World Food Program (WFP), outside a United Nations distribution center in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Aug. 24.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

Top U.N. officials call on Netanyahu to help ease civilian suffering

The amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest level all year, according to U.N. data.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe during the Spanish league football match between RC Celta de Vigo and Real Madrid in Vigo, Spain, on Saturday
SOCCER
Oct 22, 2024

Ancelotti wants goals from Madrid star Mbappe

The striker has scored eight goals for Madrid in 12 games across all competitions this season.
Debt-laden companies in Japan are rapidly growing in number, in some measures even faster than in 1992 after the collapse of its asset price bubble.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024

Zombie companies may finally succumb to bankruptcy on BOJ hikes

Bankruptcies topped 5,000 cases for the first time in a decade between April and September, a report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed earlier this month.
An attendee walks past a picture of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holding a gun and the words "Merry MAGA you filthy animal!" at the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, which the organizers call "the largest open carry rally in America," in Greeley, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2024

New cases of political violence roil U.S. before contentious election

There have been at least 300 cases of political violence since Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
High construction costs due to rising material and labor costs continue to push up sales prices of new condominiums.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2024

Tokyo-area condo price hits new high in first half of fiscal 2024

The average price in the area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, rose 1.5% from ¥78.36 million a year earlier.

Longform

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