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An evening launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit as seen from Encinitas, California, on April 1.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Musk's undisclosed Starlink costs undercut profitability claims

Despite Elon Musk's claims of profitability, Starlink is spending more than it earns, those familiar with the company's finances say.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a meeting on AI strategy held at the Prime Minister's Office in December. Japan is beginning to draw global attention for its potential as an AI market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Google alums go big in Japan with months-old startup Sakana AI

Sakana is setting out to train low-cost generative AI models using small datasets, unveiling three AI models for Japanese speakers last month.
Dolls of Myaku-Myaku, the 2025 Expo's official mascot, at an official store for the event in Osaka on April 2
JAPAN / Society
Apr 12, 2024

Transport becomes most pressing issue one year out from Osaka Expo

As organizers look ahead to recruiting volunteers and planning events for the six-month expo, another concern has emerged: transportation logistics.
Protesters step on a caricature of Chinese leader Xi Jinping as they take part in a demonstration to condemn China's recent "aggressive actions" in disputed waters of the South China Sea, in front of the Chinese Consulate in Makati, Metro Manila, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 13, 2024

China feels boxed in by the U.S. but has few ways to push back

Aside from pointed words and the perfunctory maritime patrol, Beijing's options to push back against U.S. pressure appear limited, analysts say.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
Naomi Osaka serves to Yulia Putintseva during their women's singles match in a qualifying tie between Japan and Kazakhstan for the Billie Jean Cup finals, in Tokyo on Friday.
TENNIS
Apr 13, 2024

Osaka wants to play at Paris Olympics 'if they let me'

The four-time Grand Slam champion may need to go through an appeals process missing previous chances to play for Japan at the Billie Jean Cup.
Arthur Mensch, the chief executive and one of the founders of Mistral, a French artificial-intelligence startup, at the company’s offices in Paris in late March.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 14, 2024

Europe’s AI ‘champion’ sets sights on tech giants in U.S.

As Europe vies for AI leadership, Mistral, under Arthur Mensch, is emerging as a formidable contender against U.S. and Chinese giants.
Masayoshi Matsumoto
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2024

Osaka Expo legacy could bolster Kansai's economy

Kansai accounts for about 5% of Japan’s GDP, but by utilizing the new technologies to be showcased at the expo, it could possibly increase the size to 20%.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani during a spring training game on March 12.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 15, 2024

Ohtani’s dizzying three weeks end in exoneration by authorities

At times, baseball’s biggest star seemed in danger of being tainted by a gambling scandal, before his longtime interpreter was charged with fraud.
The National Security Education Day opening ceremony in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

China says Hong Kong must 'tightly hold' national security line to safeguard development

Some countries have criticized Hong Kong's new national security laws as a tool for authorities to clamp down on dissent.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses supporters during an election campaign rally in Pushkar, India, on April 6, ahead of the country's upcoming general election starting Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 15, 2024

For Modi, the Indian election is less about winning and more about by how much

For Indian leader Narendra Modi, an upcoming parliamentary election is less about winning and more about by how much.
Yukio Kani, chairman and global CEO of Jera
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024

Japan’s top power producer Jera considers IPO to fund green push

The Tokyo-based company plans to develop 20 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by fiscal 2035.
The heights Akebono reached in sumo helped pave the way for future foreign-born yokozuna Asashoryu and Hakuho.
SUMO
Apr 15, 2024

Akebono's human side eclipsed his incredible sumo achievements

Talk to anyone personally acquainted with recently deceased former yokozuna Akebono and almost immediately the words “generous” and “kind” will arise.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (left) with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2022. Scholz is travelling to China again this week with the goal of shoring up economic ties with Germany's biggest trading partner.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2024

An EV trade war with China would be an own goal for carmakers

As German Chancellor Scholz visits China this week, he should push for stronger ties between Chinese and European automakers, especially in the EV market.
The Eiffel Tower Stadium, under construction for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Paris on April 13
OLYMPICS
Apr 16, 2024

Stadiums rise at Paris landmarks ahead of Olympics

"The city's being tidied up and the monuments are clean. It's going to be great," said one resident.
A nationwide survey by Japan Press Research Institute released in October found that 74.6% of respondents see or hear news a few times a week on the internet. Meanwhile, 87.6% receive news through private broadcasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 21, 2024

How to deal with influence operations in the era of generative AI

A significant number of people in Japan don't care about where online news is sourced from, one poll found.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday. Kishida’s recent summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is being lauded as a success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2024

Give credit where credit’s due after prime minister's outstanding U.S. summit

The Japan-U.S. summit has been rightly called historic and a big deal for Tokyo and the alliance — if its long list of deliverables is realized.
Workers clean argeli bark in the Ilam district of eastern Nepal. Thousands of miles away, in Japan, the bark will be used to make yen notes.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 16, 2024

On Himalayan hillsides grows Japan’s cold, hard cash

One of the poorest pockets of Asia supplies a primary ingredient for the economy in one of the richest.
Japan's exports grew 7.3% year-on-year in March, up for the fourth straight month, showing that the economy continues to benefit from the effects of the sliding yen.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2024

Japan’s exports get boost from China aided by yen tailwind

Exports gained 7.3% in March from a year earlier, with growth slightly decelerating from February’s 7.8% gain.
Jamoliddin Makhmaliyev sits with his grandson and granddaughters in front of his new house in the village of Khuroson, some 70 kilometers south of the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe, on March 26. “We lived in fear, until the day the mountain collapsed and destroyed our house,” recalls his wife Yodgoroy. Tajikistan is the Central Asian country most vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 17, 2024

Tajikistan builds villages for climate migrants fleeing fatal landslides

The former Soviet country says it relocated 45,000 people between 2000 and 2017, and that tens of thousands of others are waiting their turn.
As of April 4, the bird flu virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024

Bird flu in cows demands vigilance, not panic

Bird flu had been confirmed in herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
Outside of some activist movements pressing governments for more climate action, global warming is not yet at the heart of the political agenda in most countries.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024

Climate change is political and we must treat it that way

Climate action hasn't made its way onto mainstream political agendas in most countries, to the detriment of our collective ability to solve the crisis.
Israeli soldiers conduct an operation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas fighters in late March.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2024

Concluding the conflict in Gaza is in Israel’s best interest

Iran’s attack should remind the Israelis that their war with Hamas is not being fought in an international vacuum and support from the outside matters.
Marinos' Jun Amano (left) and Ulsan's Joo Min-kyu fight for the ball during the AFC Champions League semifinal first leg soccer match between Ulsan Hyundai FC and Yokohama F. Marinos in Ulsan, South Korea, on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Apr 17, 2024

Ulsan edges Yokohama in Asian Champions League semifinal opener

The victory has clinched Ulsan's place at next year's Club World Cup.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry dribbes around a defender during a game against the Pelicans earlier this month.
BASKETBALL
Apr 18, 2024

LeBron, Curry and Durant head U.S. Olympic 'Dream Team'

USA Basketball confirmed a formidable 12-man roster bristling with NBA talent that also includes reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
An aircraft from the Thai Department of Royal Rainmaking deposits a sodium chloride-based material in an effort to produce rain.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Apr 18, 2024

How cloud seeding boosts rainfall — and why that’s controversial

Developed in the 1940s, cloud seeding can boost rain and snowfall, but the World Meteorological Organization warns we don't know enough about it yet.
Machida supporters wave giant flags during the team's game against Vissel Kobe at National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 18, 2024

Upstart Zelvia shows that, in the J. League, it’s anyone’s game

The fast start by Go Kuroda’s men has highlighted the remarkable parity in the Japanese game when compared with top competitions in Europe.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains 552 Japanese loanwords in English, a small number compared to the near 25,000 borrowings from French.
LIFE / Language
Apr 18, 2024

The unexpected ways in which Japanese words 'make it' into English

Thanks to new entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, pretty soon even your grandparents will know what "onigiri" and "omotenashi" mean.
Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto attends a ceremony to unveil the official uniforms of Team Japan for the Paris Games, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Apr 18, 2024

How green are your trainers? Team Japan uniforms to have carbon footprint labels

Japanese Olympians stepping up to the podium in Paris will have more than just a medal to be proud of this summer.
South Korean officials count ballots following a parliamentary election on April 10. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative bloc is set for a major setback in a vote for a new parliament, exit polls showed, likely meaning he will be in a weak position for the remaining three years of his term and face political gridlock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

Billionaire families lose hope for tax cut after Korean vote

South Korea’s regular maximum inheritance levy of as much as 50% is the second-highest among members of the OECD, after 55% in Japan.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?