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Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, followed by Princess Aiko and Princess Kako, prepare to attend a funeral service for Princess Yuriko at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2024

Funeral held for Princess Yuriko at Tokyo cemetery

The princess had been hospitalized since early March due to a stroke and pneumonia. She died of natural causes on Nov. 15 at age 101.
Plastic waste that manicurist Naomi Arimoto collected from the sand at a beach, is pictured at her nail salon in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Oct. 21.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024

Japanese manicurist takes on plastic pollution, one nail at a time

Naomi Arimoto carefully sifts beach sand for tiny bits of plastic that she can mold into decorative tips to put on the false nails at her salon.
Aiku Kurotaki’s “Human 1” (2024) — and “Human 0” (2024) to the left — on display at Tokyo’s Som Gallery earlier this year.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2024

‘From 0 to 1’: Aiku Kurotaki’s fabric of existence

The artist's wool sculptures play off the idea of string theory, which conceptualizes subatomic particles as infinitesimal strings vibrating in fixed patterns.
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops at a front line, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 18
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Russia accelerates advance in Ukraine's east

The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its most dangerous phase.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's direct approach appears to mark a shift in the Japanese government's stance on the deal.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Ishiba urges Biden to approve Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, sources say

The prime minister sent a letter asking the U.S. president to avoid marring recent efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024

False report on Yasukuni Shrine visit 'extremely regrettable,' top spokesperson says

Kyodo news had reported on unconfirmed information that a parliamentary vice foreign minister had visited the shrine in 2022.
People near Martyrs Square in Beirut watch as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces a cease-fire on television on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire, brokered by U.S. and France, takes effect

The cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah promises to end a devastating conflict that has claimed thousands of lives over the past year.
Trucks wait near the Zaragoza-Ysleta border crossing bridge to cross into the U.S., in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Trump tariffs would harm all involved, U.S. trade partners say

Officials warn a trade war could erupt and damage economies, and seek talks with Trump after his surprise announcement of hefty tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro arrives at the President Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasilia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Bolsonaro was directly involved in 2022 coup plot, Brazil's police say

The final police report, the result of a nearly two-year investigation, lays out evidence pointing to a criminal conspiracy with Jair Bolsonaro at the helm.
Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 sails in the sea of Kattegat, near the city of Grenaa in Jutland, Denmark, on Nov. 20.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024

Sweden urges Chinese ship to return for undersea cable investigation

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country seeks clarity over how the fiber-optic cables linking several countries were severed.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Musk pushes his preferred political picks via X. Trump isn't always swayed.

Several high-profile cases show some early limits to the billionaire's influence even as he has emerged as one of the president-elect's most powerful allies.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi comments on use of the death penalty at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Nov. 14.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024

Two years pass since Japan's last execution, amid calls for abolition

Between 2012 and 2021, the average period from the finalization of a death sentence to its execution was about seven years and nine months.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun attends the opening ceremony of the Xiangshan Forum at the Beijing International Convention Center on Sept. 13. Dong is the third consecutive incumbent or former defense chief to be probed over alleged corruption.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

China defense minister being investigated for corruption, report says

The probe could undermine efforts to maintain military-to-military communications just months before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Trump team signs transition agreement with Biden White House after delays

Under the agreement, Trump's team avoided signing a government ethics pledge, saying it has its own ethics plan.
Two glasses of alcohol-free wine are pictured in a bar in Frankfurt on Nov. 20.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024

German family winery taps into zero-alcohol trend

The company produces about 17 million bottles of alcohol-free wine a year, with sales up by around 35% annually.
Cafe N°_5's take on the Dubai chocolate craze that has been circulating on social media over the past few months is a mix of bitter and sweet.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 28, 2024

Tokyo’s take on that viral chocolate from Dubai

Scarce and pricey, Dubai chocolate is winning over Japanese fans thanks to a few flavor modifications.
“What Divides Us" producer Cannon Hersey says his grandfather, who wrote about the aftermath of nuclear destruction in Hiroshima, never spoke about what he had seen while working with Japanese minister Kiyoshi Tanimoto to preserve the stories of survivors.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 27, 2024

‘What Divides Us’ producer honors grandfather’s Hiroshima reportage

The feature film centers on the bond between a Japanese minister and an American journalist who worked together to document the aftermath of nuclear destruction.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing presides over an army parade in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, in March 2021.
WORLD
Nov 27, 2024

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar military leader

Soldiers, police and Buddhist villagers are alleged by U.N. investigators to have razed hundreds of villages in the remote western Rakhine state.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a news conference in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in June
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024

Russia says it will respond if U.S. places missiles in Japan

A report on Sunday said that Japan and the U.S. aim to compile a joint military plan for a possible Taiwan emergency that includes deploying missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow last month.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Nuclear attack unlikely despite Putin's warnings, U.S. intelligence says

The U.S. believes Russia will aim to match what it views as U.S. escalation, and that nuclear force is unlikely — though not out of the question.
A man stands near a damaged house in Avivim, a community in northern Israel, on Wednesday, after a ceasefire was agreed to by Israel and Hezbollah.
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Northern Israel residents fume at ceasefire, still feel vulnerable to attack

Many residents of northern Israel fear Hezbollah may try to launch a ground assault, similar to the Hamas attack on Israel's south on Oct. 7, 2023.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is examining allegations that Microsoft is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024

Microsoft faces wide-ranging U.S. antitrust probe

The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area will host a major international art festival called Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025 from October to December next year.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024

Triennale aims to energize Tokyo's Odaiba area with art

The event will bring together works by famed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama and other artists from Japan and abroad.
Workers install solar panels at the Khavda Renewable Energy Park of Adani Green Energy in the village of Khavda, in India, on April 12.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024

Adani allegations cast light on barriers to India's ambitious solar drive

India's states are unprepared for a rapid rise in renewable generating capacity, lack adequate transmission infrastructure and storage.
A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

U.S. readies China chip curbs that stop short of earlier proposals

American chip equipment makers have warned that tougher measures would bring catastrophic harm to their business.
U.S. President Joe Biden leaves after delivering remarks from the White House Rose Garden in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Biden readies $725 million arms aid package for Ukraine, sources say

The Biden administration plans to provide a variety of anti-tank weapons from U.S. stocks to blunt Russia's advancing troops.
According to a recent survey by Child Fund Japan, a nonprofit, one in eight minors in Japan have experienced online requests from strangers to meet or for sexual photos. Despite the potential harms of social media, strong regulations are lacking.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Japan doesn't need a social media ban, but it must protect children

Short of stopping minors from using social media, Japan needs to beef up its response to an evermore perilous online environment. One that adults often struggle to grasp.
Fentanyl pills found by officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York on Oct. 4, 2022
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump places high-risk, high-reward bet on tariffs to stem fentanyl

The U.S. president-elect has vowed to impose tariffs on China and Mexico unless they stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the U.S. border.
Trump faced a barrage of lawsuits that slowed down his ability to turn campaign promises into reality the last time he was in the White House, even if those challenges ultimately fell short.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump agenda set to collide with slow pace of U.S. legal system

The stubborn realities of litigation stymied the president-elect’s ability to carry out quick changes during his first term.
Toyota's global sales, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, rose 0.4% in October compared with last year, the first uptick in three months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024

Toyota’s sales and output plateau on downturn in Japan and China

The world’s biggest carmaker has seen sales and output fall throughout the year as Japanese carmakers struggle to compete in China.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go