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Takeshi Kimura, special adviser to the board for Nippon Life Insurance Co.
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 28, 2023

PRI’s global ESG investing talks in Tokyo to tackle ‘sense of crisis’

The leading global conference on responsible investment will be held in Tokyo for the first time this fall, focusing on what investors can do to make society sustainable at a time when many industries are struggling to meet their targets for combating climate change.
As long as there’s a power plant sitting on its coast and as long as the treated water is being disposed of locally, Fukushima will continue to battle the same problems it has faced for the past 12 years, says Sakurai.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 24, 2023

Fukushima water plan 'complete opposite' of recovery: former mayor

Discharging treated water from the plant only communicates a drive to sustain nuclear power and profit while dismissing the concerns of locals, he said.
Eiko Higuchi at her microphone production station at Sony Taiyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 25, 2023

A tiny factory is handcrafting mics for Justin Bieber and Dr. Dre

Sony Taiyo, a Sony Group subsidiary, is designed to give people with disabilities a fair chance in the workplace.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, during the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 25, 2023

BRICS expansion to boost bloc’s clout, but political rifts remain

While expanding may be a step toward challenging the G7, experts have mixed views over whether the BRICS summit was a success.
Walter F. Hatch sheds light on how Japan's actions during World War II continue to haunt the country in "Ghosts in the Neighborhood."
CULTURE / Books
Aug 27, 2023

‘Ghosts in the Neighborhood’ illuminates a path to reconciliation

Asian politics expert Walter F. Hatch sheds light on the role multilateral institutions can play in Japan coming to terms with its World War II past.
One big challenge public health officials now face is how to restore trust so that people listen to future guidance on everything from flu shots to childhood vaccines.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2023

Not all COVID-19 ‘misinformation’ is equal — nor misinformation

Public health scientists have to figure out how to get back to the kind of nuanced, thoughtful discussions that were the pre-pandemic norm.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris will be used as a venue for five-a-side football during the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
PARALYMPICS
Aug 28, 2023

Paris 2024 eyes sell-out Paralympics crowds to beat London record, IPC says

Tickets for the Paralympics, to be held between Aug. 28 and Sept. 8, weeks after the Olympics in the French capital, go on sale on Oct. 9.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 31, 2023

What the trilateral fighter jet program means for Japan

The program, also involving the U.K. and Italy, is the first such project with countries other than the U.S.
The Nagor fishing harbor in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2016
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2023

Indian fishermen use smartphones to map a vanishing way of life

Port and power plant development plans could beach a flotilla of boats that trawl the waters for mackerel and sea bass.
Travelers arrive for security checks at the newly-inaugurated terminal of Ercan airport outside Nicosia in the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus on July 21
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2023

New airport sparks unlikely dreams in isolated north Cyprus

Tourism provides crucial income for the north, whose economy relies on Ankara for support and, like Turkey, has suffered from soaring inflation.
Former Foxconn founder Terry Gou gestures during a news conference in Taipei on Monday. Gou announced that he will run for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2023

Foxconn founder Terry Gou announces Taiwan presidential bid

Trailing his competition, he will must secure signatures from around 290,000 voters for his bid to become official.
A protest against the redevelopment of Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, in Mumbai. Banners read: "Remove Adani, Save Dharavi" and "First we fought the whites now we fight the thieves".
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2023

Billionaire's bid to remake Mumbai slum spurs residents' doubts

Amid massive financial setbacks and allegations that political allies gave him favorable treatment, some question Adani's intentions.
The Sasso 2 Geothermical power plant in Italy
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 28, 2023

Dante’s inferno may have the answer for Europe’s energy bind

One geothermal site in Italy generates more than 5% of the nation’s clean power production.
Toyota Motor has suspended operations at a dozen factories in Japan due to a system failure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2023

Toyota set to resume operations after glitch halts production

Tuesday's halt raised concerns that the stoppage could be due to a cyberattack, though the company said that was unlikely.
The Bank of Japan's inflation outlook doesn’t reflect reality, according to one of the country’s leading experts on prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2023

BOJ’s outlook doesn’t reflect reality, key price expert says

While the bank sharply raised its price outlook last month, it was still kept too low, said University of Tokyo economics professor Tsutomu Watanabe.
A monitor displays a news report about the death of Johnny Kitagawa in July 2019.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2023

Media respond to report on sexual abuse at Johnny and Associates

The committee said Japan's mainstream media chose to ignore Kitagawa’s sexual abuse in order to maintain access to Johnny & Associates' talent pool.
A woman cooks in the old district of Kashgar, in China's Xinjiang region, in 2011.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2023

Amnesty calls for action on rights in China's Xinjiang region

Group says international community has "shied away from the kind of resolute steps needed to advance justice, truth and reparation for victims."
Taliban security personnel in Kabul on Aug. 15. So far, U.S. President Joe Biden has not decided to restore any U.S. support to Afghanistan, despite the country's worsening humanitarian crisis.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2023

Two years after exit, Biden resists calls for more Taliban contact

Some analysts and U.S. officials had clung to the hope that the Taliban had moderated since they last controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s.
Singaporean presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian gives speech on Aug. 22 in the lead-up to Friday's election.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2023

Singaporeans should vote in their imperfect elections

While the selection process for presidential candidates and the behavior of some of them may not be perfect, Singaporeans should vote on Friday.
Items from the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake are on display at the memorial museum in Yokoamicho Park in Tokyo. Here, a warped clock is frozen minutes after the quake struck at 11:58 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1923.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 31, 2023

The Great Kanto Earthquake: A wall of fire, a picture of hell

On Sept. 1, 1923, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Kanagawa Prefecture. It came to be defined by fire and vigilantism.
Rough guidelines on gifting cash at a Japanese wedding recommended between ¥10,000 and ¥50,000, depending on your own financial standing and your relationship to the married couple.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 2, 2023

The unwritten rules around cash at Asian weddings

Should a gift reflect the cost of your banquet meal? How do you put a numerical value on a friendship?
Environmental activist Yakov Demidov inspects a landfill on the outskirts of Penza, Russia.
WORLD / Society
Sep 1, 2023

Russian teen eco-activists fight for future as risks mount

Environmental groups in Russia not linked to the government have long faced pressure from authorities.
Of the five nations in Southern Africa where elephants live, a survey has found that Botswana has the largest elephant population with 131,909.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Sep 1, 2023

More elephants in Southern Africa than previously thought: survey

The aerial survey done using seven fixed-wing aircraft covered Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
A farmer examines rice in a paddy near a farm house in Dhaka.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 1, 2023

First crops, now animals: Climate change hurts Bangladesh farmers

The country's coastal regions, which make up a third of all arable land, have been hit by worsening drought, heat and water scarcity.
A clothing packaging warehouse near Barcelona last month
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Sep 1, 2023

Fast fashion firms prepare for EU crackdown on waste mountain

Fast fashion, or making and selling cheap clothes with a short lifespan, is "highly unsustainable," the European Commission said in July.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigators raid the dormitory of the Nihon University football team in Tokyo's Nakano Ward on Aug. 22.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2023

Nihon University suspends football team over cannabis allegations

Tokyo police searched the team's dormitory on Aug. 22, after more players were suspected of possessing cannabis, investigative sources said.
Susan Barber, an AP English teacher at Atlanta's Midtown High School, in class Tuesday. Barber said using AI chatbots could make students' college essays too generic.
WORLD / Society
Sep 2, 2023

Ban or embrace? Colleges wrestle with AI-generated admissions essays.

A.I. chatbots could facilitate plagiarism on college applications or democratize student access to writing help. Or maybe both.
A painting in the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2023

China marks WWII victory day on high alert

China marked the 78th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan on Sunday.
Outgoing Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is seen as having built up a strong rapport with allied defense ministers and military officials.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2023

Zelenskyy moves to replace Ukraine's wartime defense minister

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he has described as smears.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis-equipped destroyer Maya in Yokohama in March 2020. Japan plans to introduce two new Aegis-equipped vessels that are expected to be bigger than the 8,200-ton Maya-class Aegis ships.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2023

Japan's costs ballooning for new Aegis vessel plan

Overall costs will reach ¥900 billion if the amount already spent to purchase large radar and weapons systems is included.

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