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Ishiba addresses the ASEAN-Japan Summit meeting in Laos on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Ishiba keeps low profile as he makes diplomatic debut

The prime minister made pledges to strengthen maritime security and promote decarbonization during his first international trip since taking office.
By windsurfing around the British Isles, Jonathan “Jono” Dunnett says he was rescued from disillusionment and depression.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 10, 2024

Jonathan Dunnett: ‘The ocean is far bigger than we are, and it will humble us.’

With his bright orange sail, windsurfer Jonathan Dunnett is pretty visible out on the water. This means he draws attention from other boaters and the odd shark.
Lauretta is much calmer and more demure than her operatic name might suggest.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 14, 2024

Named for an opera, Lauretta is more adorable than dramatic

Named after the daughter of Gianni Schicchi in the Puccini opera of the same name, it was Lauretta’s big, round face and lovely eyes that won her the name.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the East Asia Summit during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2024

Ishiba clears low bar in diplomatic debut

Experts said Ishiba's visit signaled that he would maintain continuity with the policies set by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
People inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
WORLD
Oct 12, 2024

After heavy Israeli blows, Hezbollah forges new command for crucial ground war

Friends and foes alike are now watching how effectively the Iran-backed group resists Israeli troops that have crossed into Lebanon.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a debate with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

Japan to ‘seriously consider’ U.N. nuke ban treaty observer status, Ishiba says

Japan, the sole country to be attacked with nuclear weapons, has faced criticism for not participating in some form in the treaty.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

Trump ratchets up rhetoric, calling for death penalty for migrants who kill Americans

He has already proposed an expansion of the death penalty for other offenders, including people convicted of sex trafficking women and children.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba chairs an Asia Zero Emission Community meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 13, 2024

Where does Shigeru Ishiba stand on the climate issue?

Ishiba appears to be charting a new course on renewable energy, especially with a nascent effort to tap Japan's bountiful geothermal potential.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier takes part in the Joint Sword-2024B military drills east of Taiwan, in this screenshot from video released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 15, 2024

China says it won't rule out use of force to take Taiwan as war games end

Japan and the U.S. condemned the large-scale Chinese military exercises around Taiwan as Beijing hinted that more could come.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (center), with Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly (right), and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, takes part in a news conference about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's investigation into "violent criminal activity in Canada with connections to India," on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2024

Canada expels top India diplomats, linking them to murder of Sikh leader

India retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Flint, Michigan, on Oct. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2024

Harris to raise concern about Trump's 'enemy from within' comments

Harris' trip to Pennsylvania is her 10th to the battleground state since she announced her candidacy for president in July.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the East Asian Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2024

Ishiba openness to nuke ban treaty involvement puts pact in spotlight

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said his government will “seriously consider” participating as an observer in a conference of signatories to the U.N. treaty.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) welcomes Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his arrival at the Group of 20 Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 9, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Canada-India rift seen as a momentary gain for Modi and Trudeau

The divide could bolster Narendra Modi's image as a hawk on national security while taking the spotlight off of Justin Trudeau reportedly being asked to step down.
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children's social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2024

Australia's planned social media ban raises teen isolation fears

For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
A pig bone is hung at the entrance to the Shiokawa district in the village of Tamara, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2021.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 21, 2024

Okinawan pig slaughter ritual blocked by public health authorities

The ban presents a dilemma to residents who say making changes takes away the practice's meaning.
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto (right) talks with the country's outgoing leader, Joko Widodo, after the latter delivered the annual State of the Nation Address in Jakarta on Aug. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Indonesia’s new president will keep the world guessing

Eliminating hunger is one thing — ensuring the economy is able to provide enough jobs for young people as they graduate from school and university is quite another.
Demonstrators burn an Indian flag and deface a placard depicting Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during a Sikh rally outside the Consulate General of India in Toronto on Sept. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

The notorious syndicate Canada says is India's proxy

Ottawa said there was "credible" evidence linking New Delhi to the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
The Champayan Lagoon in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico. A new report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 17, 2024

Water crisis endangers 8% of GDP in high-income countries, report warns

The report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
The vast space and massive pillars of the Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel dwarf visitors.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 24, 2024

Massive underground infrastructure protects the Tokyo metropolitan area from floods

The Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel is a unique feat of engineering built to keep homes and businesses safe and dry.
A new report said that fires in the northern boreal forests, which span from Russia to North America, have almost tripled during the past 20 years.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 18, 2024

Global forest fire carbon emissions have jumped 60% in 20 years

Forest fire severity — a measure of how much carbon is emitted per unit of area burned — is also up by nearly 50% globally.
Stays at Aman Kyoto start at around $2,500 (about ¥375,000) and increasing to $4,000 (about ¥600,000) per night, but for the right traveler, it's not money entirely wasted.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2024

Kyoto’s most expensive hotel offers inner peace — for a price

Aman Kyoto is one of the most luxurious options for stays in Japan’s ancient capital — but is it worth the hefty price tag?
New and strengthened rules aim to make street drinking a thing of the past in Shibuya's nightlife center — but the reality may not be that simple.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Oct 21, 2024

Can you drink in Shibuya and Shinjuku this Halloween? It depends.

Shibuya and Shinjuku are both planning on cracking down on street drinking this Halloween and beyond. But the problem might be bigger than a night of drunken revelry.
Sesame has small ears short legs — and a big heart.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 21, 2024

Sesame is a grown-up dog with a puppy’s heart

After spending several months in a pound, Sesame is eager to communicate and desperate for love.
The Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced Australian Daniel Mathew Otto, 32, to two years in jail for breaking into a home in Shinjuku Ward in June 2023 and injuring an elderly man who lives there. Otto had claimed that a language mix-up led to the victim thinking he was a robber.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 18, 2024

Australian man claiming language mix-up jailed over Tokyo break-in

He claimed he was trying to warn the home owner of danger by telling him to “Go to a door.” The victim heard him shout "gōtō da" (This is a robbery) instead.
An image from South Korea's National Intelligence Service released on Friday shows Russia's Khabarovsk military facility, where the spy agency says North Korean troops gathered on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 18, 2024

Ukraine and South Korea warn of North Korean troops helping Russia

A statement from the office of South Korea's president called it "serious security threat” to South Korea and the international community. 
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.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Huntington Place in Detroit on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2024

U.S. cities seek to 'Trump-proof' inequality action ahead of election

After the pandemic and protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, racial and economic inequality moved to the center of federal policymaking.
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.
Less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island, warships from the U.S. and Canada sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait together on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 21, 2024

U.S. and Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

The transit demonstrated the United States' and Canada's commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all countries, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government has intelligence that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to link up with Russian forces fighting Ukraine, warning that such a move would be “the first step to a world war.”
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 21, 2024

Zelenskyy seeks 'strong reaction' to North Korean involvement in Ukraine war

The Ukrainian leader has urged partners to take measures in response to claims Pyongyang is sending thousands of troops to fight beside Russia on the front lines.

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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