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U.S. soldiers from the Eighth Army participate in a competition at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, on April 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 27, 2024

U.S., South Korea outline visions for cost-sharing on troops

The allies named envoys last month to launch early talks for a new deal to take effect in 2026.
Palestinians cover a body that was buried in a mass grave in the northern Gaza Strip.
WORLD / EXPLAINER
Apr 27, 2024

Mass graves in Gaza: what do we know?

The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation.
Atlanta Falcons first round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. speaks to the media at a news conference on Friday in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 28, 2024

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. confident and eager to start career

"A dream came true," Penix said. "It's a dream I've had since I was a little kid. ... It's a special moment and something I will forever remember."
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2024

Putin’s war will soon reach Russians’ tax bills

The move reflects both the burgeoning costs of his war in Ukraine and the firm control he has over the Russian elite.
Palestinian children stand amid the debris of a house destroyed by overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2024

Some U.S. officials say Israel may be violating international law in Gaza

A joint submission from four U.S. bureaus raised "serious concern over non-compliance" with international humanitarian law.
The combined market capitalization of shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime section stood at roughly ¥970 trillion at the end of last month.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2024

TSE Prime's market cap nears ¥1 quadrillion two years after shake-up

The total market capitalization of the new top tier has grown some 40% while the number of companies fell 10%.
Palestinian children stand in a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the border with Egypt on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2024

U.S. pushes for Gaza truce and hostage release as Blinken visits

The White House said that Israel has agreed to hear out its concerns.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint ministerial meeting of the GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership in Riyadh to discuss the humanitarian crises in the Gaza, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

U.S. warns ICC action on Israel would hurt cease-fire chances

The U.S. and its allies are concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials just as the country is getting closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, potentially jeopardizing a deal, people familiar with the matter said.
A scene from "The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves" ("Benten Kozo") at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
CULTURE / Stage
May 5, 2024

Students from Hawaii to perform English-language kabuki in Japan

The group will perform "Benten Kozo," a play depicting the twists and turns of five thieves following their own code of honor.
For a little more than a decade, scientists have been studying a subset of people they call "super-agers.” These individuals are age 80 and older, but they have the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024

A peek inside the brains of ‘super-agers’

New research explores why some octogenarians have exceptional memories.
Taiwanese soldiers participate in battlefield rescue training in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2024

Taiwan on alert for post-inauguration Chinese drills

China has a strong dislike of Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te, believing him to be a dangerous separatist.
Kim Kyu-li holds a protest placard at her home in southwest London.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2024

As border reopens, North Koreans in China vanish

Hundreds of North Koreans have been repatriated by China in recent months, where they face imprisonment, torture and even execution.
Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward has offered a stationmaster experience at Shinjuku Station as a return gift for donations of ¥1 million to the ward.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024

Tokyo offers 'experience packages' as gifts to curb tax outflow

As their tax revenues continue to decline, Tokyo wards have begun diversifying their gift offerings under the hometown tax program.
Lucio is still a bit on the shy side when it comes to humans. Cats are no problem, however.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
May 6, 2024

Lucio the cat's eyes are bound to charm

His eyes a deep blue, little tufts of fur on the tips of his ears, it's hard not to spend hours staring at this sweet little kitten.
Manahel al-Otaibi wears western clothes in the Saudi capital Riyadh in September 2019. Human rights groups have denounced an 11-year prison term recently handed down by a counterterrorism court to the Saudi fitness instructor and women's rights activist.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

Saudi Arabia cracks down on online speech, jailing critics for decades

Fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison after criticizing male guardianship laws and women's dress requirements.
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024

Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it

Stakeholders are pulling out all the stops to restore the creative energy of the Tokyo district known for setting fashion trends in its heyday.
Attendees at the Leap technology conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 6, 202. The oil-rich country is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

‘To the future’: Saudi Arabia spends big to become an AI superpower

Saudi Arabia was long a financial spigot for tech, but is now building its own industry.
Nomura Holdings and Mizuho Bank are hit by more than $100 million of potential losses related to All Blue Capital, raising questions about their monitoring of high-risk investment funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024

Nomura and Mizuho face losses after fund’s failed trades

The size of the potential losses raises questions about the risk-management practices at two of Japan’s largest banks.
Resistance soldiers ride in the back of a pickup truck in southern Karenni State, Myanmar, on Jan. 28. Three years after a military coup, the Southeast Asian nation is teetering on the brink of failed statehood.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 3, 2024

What’s happening in Myanmar’s civil war?

The military is still the country’s most influential institution, and a militarized culture pervades many areas that ethnic minorities control.
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
May 4, 2024

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

Once an exotic curiosity, Japanese gardens have gone on to inspire green thumbs around the world.
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2024

G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine

The plan is being discussed among the Group of Seven nations, with the U.S. pushing to have an agreement when G7 leaders meet in Italy in June.
A salmon farm in Giske, Norway. The country produces more than half of the world’s farmed salmon.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 4, 2024

The world’s hunger for salmon is linked to an ecological disaster

High demand for salmon is driving another species to the verge of extinction.
Exiled Russian historian Tamara Eidelman delivers a lecture titled “The Judgment of History” at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington community center in Rockville, Maryland, on April 25.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

Exiled Russian historian rallies fellow emigrants in dark times

Tamara Eidelman, who was declared a "foreign agent" by the government in Moscow, is one of many who are rebuilding their careers abroad.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kaga destroyer has undergone the first stage of modifications to turn it into a de facto aircraft carrier for F-35B stealth fighter jets.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 13, 2024

MSDF’s Kure base expanding mission as it marks 70th anniversary

The unit has increased its activities not only in national defense, but also in disaster relief operations and overseas missions.
Tourists pose in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji on Friday in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Local residents are upset over littering, overcrowding and the inconvenience caused by the visitors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 7, 2024

Thanks, tourists. Views of Mount Fuji are now blocked.

Japan needs better long-term strategies to manage tourism sustainably.
Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge (center) among his pacers during a training session in Kaptagat, Kenya, on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
May 8, 2024

Kipchoge's road to third Olympic gold starts in Kenya's Rift Valley

"I'm feeling good. But I think the next months will be more interesting," the athlete said after a training session.
A Chinese flag is flown near a Huawei store in Shanghai in 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2024

U.S. revokes some export licenses for firms supplying China's Huawei

Huawei was placed on a U.S. trade restriction list in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans.
Despite Shinzo Abe's numerous achievements as prime minister, including job creation and efforts to promote workforce gender equality, recent controversies surrounding his tenure, including ties to controversial groups and scandals within his political faction, have tarnished his image.
COMMENTARY
May 7, 2024

The economic legacy of Japan's longest-serving prime minister

Under Abenomics and the BOJ's monetary policy, employment rose more than under any other Japanese government in the 21st century.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Hiroshima in May 2023. Yoon's focus on mending ties with Japan since he took office has seen relations recover from what officials and experts said was the worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1965.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Japan-South Korea ties remain on rocky ground over history

The possibility of disagreements over wartime labor in particular poses a constant threat to the dramatically improved relations built up in recent years.
Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 11, 2024

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

Five years into the Reiwa Era and the challenges Japan's moms face are unique, though the qualities that help them persevere haven't changed a bit.

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