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A soldier stands guard near the American University of Beirut Medical Center after as many as 2,800 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2024

Hezbollah pager attack looks like a decapitation strike

The sophisticated nature of the attack, involving the insertion of explosive material into pagers, suggests a high level of intelligence and planning.
The World Trade Center's South Tower (left) and the North Tower burn after al-Qaida terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the buildings in New York City on
Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died in the incident, including 24 Japanese nationals. 

REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024

The forgotten impact of 9/11 on Japan

Though an ocean away, 9/11 was a wake up call to the Japanese people that the 21st century would not be an era of everlasting peace.
Health ministry officials inspect the Wakayama factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical in March after reports of health damage surfaced among people who took the firm's red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2024

Puberulic acid confirmed as source of beni kōji health issues

The substance produced by blue mold was the cause of kidney problems suffered by consumers of the Kobayashi Pharma supplements, the health ministry said.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2024

Fed cuts rates by half-point in decisive bid to defend economy

It is the Fed’s first rate cut in more than four years.
White Sox catcher Chuckie Robinson sits in an empty dugout reviewing his at-bats after the team's game against the Angels on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 19, 2024

White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history

The White Sox lost 4-3 in 13 innings on Wednesday on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, falling to 36-117 with nine games remaining in a nightmare six-month season.
An Israeli naval officer holds the mooring rope of INS Tanin, a German-built Dolphin AIP class submarine, as it docks at a naval base in the northern city of Haifa after its arrival in Israel in 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says

Legal challenges across Europe have led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a news conference at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 29.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Yoon confident Czech nuclear plant deal will be completed

Westinghouse and EDF have appealed a deal made between the Czech Republic and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
Visitors take pictures of Tokyo's National Stadium before the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Aug. 8, 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024

¥300 million fine sought for Dentsu over Olympics bid rigging

The Tokyo District Court is slated to issue a ruling on Jan. 30 next year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture. The chipmaker is building a second plant in the prefecture that is scheduled to commence production in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024

Third TSMC plant in Japan remains up in the air 

Taiwan Minister of National Development Liu Chin-ching, who is on TSMC’s board, says it hasn't been decided yet.
A shinkansen bullet train is stopped in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Thursday morning following a decoupling incident.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024

Tohoku Shinkansen services briefly halted after train car decoupling

The incident marks the first time that a coupler has come undone while the train is traveling, according to JR East.
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Microsoft executive warns of meddling in final days of U.S. election

Brad Smith said lessons should be learned from certain other elections that have seen fake information circulated.
“Patlabor: The Movie” keeps the fun and irreverence of the small-screen series while adding a more contemplative touch.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 20, 2024

At 35, ‘Patlabor’ now looks awfully prescient

The robot-centric film is back in theaters across Japan in celebration of its 35th anniversary, and the future it paints looks mighty familiar.
The Shenzhen Japanese School in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 20, 2024

Xi’s nationalism faces a reckoning after the murder of a Japanese boy

The Chinese government is now grappling with online hatred spilling over into real-life violence.
OpenAI announced a new reasoning model on Thursday that it said was capable of surpassing human experts in a number of technical benchmarks for the first time. The new model received the company's first "medium" rating on bioweapon risk.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

Battle rages over U.S.' first binding AI safety bill in California

The legislation has exposed a deep divide across the tech industry and the political establishment, upending the usual coalitions.
Though none will yet say it openly, some in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party believe he should follow his idol U.S. President Joe Biden and step aside for a more charismatic champion.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

Far-right's fate in German regional vote could break or make Scholz

The vote in Brandenburg could trigger a party backlash against Olaf Scholz or, if his party holds the state, confirm him as their candidate for 2025.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Analysts polled ahead of Friday were in agreement that the BOJ would choose not to make any rate adjustments.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 20, 2024

Bank of Japan leaves rates unchanged as Ueda signals pause

The central bank on Friday kept the uncollateralized overnight call rate steady at 0.25% following a two-day meeting of its Policy Board.
Public awareness and support for people with dementia has significantly improved in Japan over the years, but the long-term sustainability of such support systems is a concern, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 20, 2024

Dementia advocates worry public attitudes preventing diagnosis

Eighty percent of the public thinks dementia is a normal part of aging, meaning the need for correct diagnosis and care is possibly being neglected.
A vaccine that can protect against six types of cancer is available: the human papillomavirus vaccine. Despite its proven effectiveness, many parents and others remain hesitant over its use.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2024

Boys need the HPV cancer vaccine as much as girls

The virus doesn’t only cause cervical cancer, it’s the culprit behind numerous other cancers
A shopper browses through locally caught seafood at a fish market in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, in August 2023. China has not imported any seafood from Japan since September last year.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2024

Japan agrees to stricter monitoring of Fukushima plant's treated water

Tokyo's nod to greater involvement of third-party inspectors — a key demand from Beijing — paves the way for a lifting of China's ban on Japanese seafood imports.
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday.
WORLD
Sep 21, 2024

Top Hezbollah commander among 14 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut

Ibrahim Aqil was killed with other senior members of an elite Hezbollah unit, sharply escalating the yearlong conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
Birds rest on the banks of the Susquehanna River near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant south of Middletown, Pennsylvania, in March 2019.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 21, 2024

Microsoft AI needs so much power it's tapping site of U.S. nuclear meltdown

The decision is the latest sign of surging interest in the nuclear industry as power demand for AI soars.
A scientist looks at brain scans of a patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Geneva in 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2024

Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs

For defenders, the drugs represent a real chance to fight the disease. For detractors, they are a disappointment after a long line of costly failures.
A China Coast Guard ship (left) collides with the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea, on Aug. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 22, 2024

'Quad' cements ties with coast guard patrols amid China concerns

China has long objected to the Quad, calling it part of a concerted effort to encircle and contain Beijing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a meeting in Washington in September last year
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2024

Zelenskyy to press U.S. on long-range missile strikes inside Russia

While visiting Washington, the Ukrainian leader plans to pitch his plan to end the war in a series of meetings with Biden, Harris and Trump.
A closure order on the door to the Ramallah Al Jazeera office in the West Bank after the Israeli raid on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2024

Israel forces raid Al Jazeera TV in West Bank and order 45-day closure

The Israeli parliament passed a law in early April allowing the banning of foreign media broadcasts deemed harmful to state security.
Criminal justice advocates said they hope U.S. President Joe Biden will grant more clemency requests before his term ends on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2024

As sun sets on Biden's term, some inmates pin their hopes on clemency

Since Biden took office in 2021, the White House has pardoned 25 people and commuted sentences for 131 people, according to Justice Department data.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, Lebanon, near the border with Israel, on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 23, 2024

Hezbollah and Israel exchange heavy fire in 'new phase' of fighting

The conflict escalated sharply in the past week after Hezbollah opened a second front, backing Palestinians amid Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during the Summit of the Future on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2024

Kishida seeks 'concrete actions' for U.N. Security Council reform

As next year marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the U.N., Kishida stated that "concrete actions" should be taken on Security Council reform.
Feeling overshadowed by U.S. elections, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might conduct a nuclear test, fire missiles, annul the Korean War armistice or demand territorial concessions.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2024

Kim Jong Un will have his October surprise

Feeling overshadowed by U.S. elections, Kim Jong Un might conduct a nuclear test, fire missiles, annul the Korean War armistice or demand territorial concessions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024

If killing one species might save another, should we do it?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.

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