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A U.S. Army specialist peers out from the shadows during a 12-day jungle operations training course near Honolulu on Oct. 10.
WORLD
Oct 30, 2024

The U.S. army prepares for war with China

What the Pentagon calls a Great Power War would put the world’s two strongest militaries in direct conflict,
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, places a paper rose on an LDP candidate's name to indicate their a victory in the Lower House election, with LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Signs of revolt against Ishiba emerging within LDP

The ruling camp of the LDP and Komeito fell short of a majority in the House of Representatives in Sunday's election.
DPP head Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. Tamaki has reportedly rejected a request for a meeting with Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

All eyes on DPP ahead of prime minister vote in Lower House

The party — which has quadrupled its seats to 28 — is expected to sway the outcome of the vote, potentially in a way that would benefit Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
People ride scooters in heavy rain as Typhoon Kong-rey approaches Taiwan, in Yilan County on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 30, 2024

Taiwan battens down for Super Typhoon Kong-rey

The storm is expected to unleash "destructive" winds when it makes landfall on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration said.
A man at a rail station in Seoul watches a news broadcast on Thursday with file footage of a North Korean missile test.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 31, 2024

North Korea fires off ICBM with longest flight time yet

The missile, which flew for 86 minutes, fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, landing in waters some 300 kilometers west of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun during the U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting at the Pentagon in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024

North Korea troops could lengthen and broaden Ukraine war, U.S. warns

The move looks increasingly like a deployment to support Russia's combat operations in the Kursk region, the U.S. defense secretary said.
Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation and President of the Security Council for the month of July, chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York on July 25.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024

Russia questions 'flawed logic' in U.N. decrying North Korea's help

Russia faced accusations of violating U.N. resolutions and the founding U.N. Charter with the deployment of troops from North Korea to help Moscow.
Tsunehisa Katsumata was known for his quick decision-making, which earned him the nickname “Razor Katsumata.”
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2024

Former Tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata dies at 84

Katsumata was the company's point man after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant went into meltdown in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
The Usasuka Ryuchu throne carving on the second floor of Shuri Castle’s main hall features a unique twisted dragon design — a detail missing from prior reconstructions.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2024

Okinawa's Shuri Castle marks five years since devastating fire

With completion set for 2026, national and Okinawan authorities are working together to restore intricate details.
People walk among piled up cars, following floods in Sedavi, Valencia, Spain, on Thursday.
WORLD
Nov 1, 2024

Spain's floods are among Europe's worst storm disasters ever

A year's worth of rain fell in eight hours in parts of the Valencia region on Tuesday.
Various kinds of over-the-counter drugs seized by police after being illegally kept to be sold in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district and other locations
JAPAN / Society
Nov 1, 2024

Experts call for action on OTC drug abuse among youth in Japan

A number of people have experienced organ damage, including liver failure, with some cases resulting in death.
Tokyo police have arrested a Uniqlo store manager on suspicion of secretly filming women in the outlet's fitting rooms.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2024

Uniqlo store manager arrested over filming of women in fitting rooms

Kohei Takahashi, who manages the Atre Vie Otsuka Uniqlo branch in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward, allegedly filmed a female junior high school student as well as other women.
Police officers control traffic in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2024

Fewer Halloween revelers seen in Tokyo following street drinking ban

Measures taken that include the street drinking ban to prevent problems are "beginning to produce results," Shibuya's mayor said.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba speaks during the party's executive meeting in Osaka on Thursday as co-leader Hirofumi Yoshimura looks on.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

Nippon Ishin likely to hold leadership election after poor showing at the polls

Calls for leader Nobuyuki Baba's resignation have grown following the party's poor showing in Sunday's general election.
Cream-filled 'maritozzo' buns are just one of the many sweet treats on offer at Japanese convenience stores.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 3, 2024

Exploring the ‘B-gourmet wonderland’ of Japanese convenience stores

Tourists who obsess over 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can seem a bit absurd, but there's no denying the integral role these stores have in daily life in Japan.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

Democrats have a plan if Trump prematurely declares election victory

Trump said he hoped to be able to declare victory on Election Day, but experts have cautioned that it could be days before the final result is known.
In a June paper, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People's Liberation Army's leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta's Llama as a base for what it calls "ChatBIT."
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 2, 2024

China researchers develop AI model for military use on back of Meta's Llama

The evidence was believed to be the first showing that Chinese military experts have been systematically trying to leverage the power of open-source LLMs.
Early voters at a polling site during early voting in Queens, New York, on Oct. 27. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia is behind a video that appeared on social media this week falsely claiming that Haitians illegally voted multiple times for Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

U.S. spy agencies issue new warning on Russia’s election misinformation campaign

Three recent videos have sought to undermine confidence in the security of the vote.
Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team who had climbed in the Alps, Patagonia, Pamir Mountains and Himalayas, fell into a crevasse on Langtang Lirung peak in Nepal on Thursday.
WORLD
Nov 3, 2024

Top Slovak mountaineer dies in Nepal after historic ascent

Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team, fell into a crevasse on Thursday.
Colombian Environment Minister and COP16 President, Susana Muhamad, attends the last plenary session of the COP16 Summit in Cali, Colombia, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Nov 4, 2024

U.N. nature summit ends in limbo as countries spar over funding

Notwithstanding the last-minute drama, the summit did achieve some of its goals.
Royal Canadian Navy Commander Vice Adm. Angus Topshee inspects an honor guard with Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Adm. Akira Saito during a meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2024

Canada Navy chief sees more chances for multiservice exercises with Japan

Ottawa has been gradually boosting its military engagement with Asian partners since unveiling its Indo-Pacific Strategy in late 2022.
In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
Flags of the Khalistan separatist movement are seen on Sept. 20, 2023 at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in the parking lot three months earlier, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Sikh activists see it as freedom. India calls it terrorism.

The cause to carve out a land called Khalistan from Punjab fizzled out decades ago, but the Indian government still frames the movement as a national security threat.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a news conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

First candidates grilled in parliament test for EU top team

The showdown is a rare opportunity for the European Union parliament to flex its muscles against the bloc's powerful executive.
President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr. at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 23
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Palau's pro-U.S. president faces election test

Palau is one of Taiwan's few remaining diplomatic friends and is seen as a steadfast U.S. supporter in a region where China has made inroads.
Alongside foreign students, some Japanese students attend a special lecture held entirely in English at Nagoya University in early October.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 11, 2024

Amid rising costs, universities try to help students study abroad

The cost of studying abroad, including travel and living expenses, is much higher now compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan controlled half or more of the global chips market through the 1980s but has less than a tenth of the market today.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024

Japan taps U.S. chip startup Tenstorrent to help train new wave of engineers

The contract is part of Japan's effort to reinvigorate its semiconductor industry.
There will be considerable consistency in U.S. policy regardless of who wins the presidential election, however, and, unfortunately, many of them will trouble allies and partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2024

Regardless of election results, U.S. foreign policy is sure to trouble allies

“Strategic competition between the United States and China is poised to intensify no matter who assumes the U.S. presidency in January 2025.”
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attends a press conference shortly after he was sacked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited a lack of trust, at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Netanyahu fires defense minister, jolting Israeli politics

After Yoav Gallant was fired, protesters in Israel blocked highways and lit bonfires on roads.
An exhibition of captured military hardware from NATO countries in Moscow in May.  Whatever the results of the U.S. presidential election, the prospect of improved U.S.-Russia relations seems even more distant.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Whether Trump or Harris, pessimism reigns in Russia over U.S. election winner

The sentiment is prevalent in a Russia that feels scorned and underestimated by Democrat administrations and betrayed by Trump.

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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?