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Aeon is aiming to encourage male workers to take child care leave. While almost all of its female employees currently take child care leave when they have a child, the rate for male employees is only 15%.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2024

Aeon employees to receive 100% of income during child care leave

The retailer aims to gradually roll out the program from March to some 150 group companies.
People distribute bags of flour to Palestinians in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on behalf of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in November. The agency has come under fire after a few of its employees were accused of supporting terrorism.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2024

Hold UNRWA accountable — but don’t harm those in need

Some 30,000 UNRWA employees serve 5 million people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, with 13,000 of them working in Gaza alone.
The burned down house in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, where Yuki Endo fatally stabbed the father and mother of an acquaintance in 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 2, 2024

Death sentence finalized for man over 2021 murder committed as minor

The defense team for Yuki Endo filed an appeal at the deadline Thursday, but the defendant withdrew it later in the day, the Kofu District Court said.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves a court in Kuala Lumpur on April 3, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 3, 2024

Malaysia reduces sentence of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak

The leniency for Najib comes after weeks of speculation in Malaysia that he might be pardoned by the reigning monarch.
Michelle O'Neill at the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 4, 2024

Michelle O'Neill makes history as Northern Ireland's first nationalist leader

The landmark move follows the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ending its walkout after striking a deal with the U.K. over post-Brexit trade.
Asia's pandemic-era policies must now be unwound against a backdrop of slower GDP growth, higher inflation and increased debt.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024

A new economic policy agenda for Asia

Asia's pandemic-era policies must now be unwound against a backdrop of slower GDP growth, higher inflation and increased debt.
Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink, but experts says his statements raised more questions than they answered about the trial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Want details on Musk's brain implant trial? You'll have to ask him

Neuralink does not have to divulge even basic details about its trial, including the facility where patients are being implanted.
The Fugaku supercomputer at Riken Center for Computational Science in Kobe in June 2020. Many companies leverage its simulation capabilities to streamline processes, saving labor on experiments and calculations crucial for the development of large products.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2024

Fugaku supercomputer tops predecessor in corporate usage

While Fugaku has primarily garnered attention for academic applications it has also proved instrumental in product development.
Eisai's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Eisai sees 'huge' growth potential for Alzheimer's drug in China

The Japanese pharmaceutical firm aims to roll out its groundbreaking Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi to 1,500 people in China later this year.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee arrives at a court in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2024

Samsung chief Jay Y. Lee cleared of charges in 2015 merger case

The sentence prevents a return to jail for Lee who was convicted in 2017 of bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye.
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2024

Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo

Bound together by shared neglect and marginalization, the group have formed a distinct, social media-linked youth subculture on the streets of Shinjuku.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, attends a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2024

Zuckerberg’s apology isn’t enough to stop children being harmed

META's CEO apologized to the families of children abused via social media, but real regulation is needed for such harm to be avoided in the first place.
Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo is trying to turn around the Fighters after last-place finishes in 2022 and 2023.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Feb 5, 2024

Fighters' Tsuyoshi Shinjo needs to match substance with style in third season

Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo is trying to turn around the Fighters after last-place finishes in 2022 and 2023.
Japan's Hiroki Ito stands on the pitch with his teammates after their loss against Iran in the Asian Cup quarterfinals in Doha on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 5, 2024

Japan's Asian Cup exit raises questions ahead of World Cup qualifiers in North Korea

Former Japan star Keisuke Honda, who was part of the team that won the Asian Cup in 2011, said the country's soccer needed "innovative change."
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waits for the start of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2024

Parties clash over release of LDP's internal funds scandal probe

The opposition had demanded that the LDP publish a list of all party members responsible for the underreporting of political funds in the last five years.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (left), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen (center) and health minister Keizo Takemi attend a ceremony to mark the opening of the U.S. agency's East Asia and Pacific regional office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2024

U.S. CDC opens regional office in Tokyo

The regional office, located inside the U.S. Embassy, will collaborate with 26 countries and territories in East Asia and the Pacific.
Naomi Osaka takes part in a news conference after losing her women's singles match on the second day of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2024

Inspired by daughter, Osaka aims to return to top spots this year

The four-time Grand Slam champion suffered an early Australian Open exit following 15 months out of the sport.
Britain's King Charles leaves the London Clinic with Britain's Queen Camilla after receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, in London on Jan. 29.
WORLD
Feb 6, 2024

King Charles diagnosed with cancer just 18 months into his reign

Buckingham Palace said that the king would postpone public-facing duties while he undergoes treatment.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan during an interview at his residence in Lahore on May 18, 2023. His name may not be on the ballot, but Khan will be on the country's mind as Pakistan votes in an election on Feb. 8 that observers say is deeply flawed without his participation. The former international cricket star has been given three lengthy prison sentences in under a week and banned from politics for 10 years — officially excluding him from an election it never looked like he would allowed to contest.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Days before Pakistan vote, former leader Imran Khan campaigns from jail

Khan's campaign involves use of generative AI technology to create audio footage of him reading speeches conveyed to lawyers from his prison cell.
Wall Street giants are endorsing India as the prime investment destination for the coming decade.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Wall Street snubs China for India in a historic markets shift

India has vastly expanded infrastructure under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his bid to lure global capital and supply lines away from Beijing.
Analysts say the sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both Canberra and Beijing affirmed the need to bolster ties.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Harsh sentence for Australian writer tests ties with China

The sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both nations affirmed the need to bolster ties.
Foreign investors are seeking more English-language disclosure from companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Foreign investors want more English info from TSE firms

The TSE plans to make Prime firms release key information in Japanese and English simultaneously.
Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024

Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy

The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
Vietnam is sitting on around 17% of the world’s known rare-earth reserves, second only to China. 
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2024

Vietnam should seize a 'rare' opportunity to take on China

Vietnamese officials have approved plans to supercharge rare-earths production, aiming to process as much as 62,500 tons of the minerals by 2030.
Europe's climate agenda is entering a difficult phase as it begins to touch sensitive sectors, such as farming, and as traditional industries face fierce green tech competition from China.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2024

EU recommends ambitious 2040 climate target but goes light on farming

Europe's climate agenda is entering a difficult phase as it begins to touch sensitive sectors, such as farming.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner ahead of a practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November
MORE SPORTS
Feb 7, 2024

Red Bull's Christian Horner has Friday hearing over complaint against him

The BBC said it understood the complaint is related to "inappropriate behavior of a controlling nature."
Education minister Masahito Moriyama (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Chinami Nishimura in the Lower House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2024

Education minister under fire for unreported ties to Unification Church

Masahito Moriyama said he could not remember 2021 meeting with the group or the agreement he signed with it for electoral support.
Members of the police dog units of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department take part in a New Year march in Tokyo in January 2023.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024

How dogs have helped Tokyo police for over a century

The role of police dogs has changed due to the spread of DNA testing, security cameras and other tools of technology.
Star Flyer began allowing owners to bring certain pets into cabins on some routes in 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024

Haneda plane collision prompts discussion about pets on flights

Most domestic airlines ban the carrying of pets in airplane cabins, out of consideration for those with allergies.
Since 2006, North Korea has been subject to sanctions, which the U.N. Security Council has repeatedly strengthened to try and cut off funding for its weapons of mass destruction development.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 8, 2024

U.N. experts investigate cyberattacks worth $3 billion by North Korea

Monitors wrote that the funds reportedly help the country's development of weapons of mass destruction.

Longform

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