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Voters wait in line outside a polling station during the last presidential and legislative elections, in Taipei in January 2020. Taiwan is one of only 53 political systems that require in-person voting.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

To protect election from China, Taiwan disenfranchises thousands of voters

In-person voting is hard to infiltrate, but it also deprives those who can't leave their posts or overseas Taiwanese unable to return from casting ballots.
The Shika nuclear plant in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 4
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024

Three-meter tsunami recorded at Japan nuclear plant after quake

The plant is 11 meters above sea level and protected by a 4-meter seawall built after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Shu Kokaji (center) speaks with fellow volunteers on Saturday at Sunlife Plaza, an evacuation center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture. At the facility, he aims to bring people joy in some aspects of evacuee life.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024

Noto quake: 'In times of crisis, all we have is each other'

A team from Iwate Prefecture is just one of many grassroots campaigns mobilizing to support quake victims.
A supporter of KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih in Taipei on Tuesday
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2024

Cross-strait relations hang in the balance with Taiwan election

Despite voter fatigue with the DPP and Lai Ching-te’s own lackluster campaign, his opponents have failed to articulate a compelling alternative.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 10, 2024

Authorities challenge ruling over machinery export probe

A Dec. 27 Tokyo District Court ruling determined that the arrests of three people in the case lacked reasonable grounds.
A Ukrainian sapper from the 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade prepares an anti-tank mine during a military training exercise in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Nov. 28, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sappers are often the first to get to the front line, clearing territory before assault troops, but work also to allow civilians to return to their homes.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2024

'Definitely a trap': Ukraine's sappers face new dangers

Getting rid of the mines is essential to Ukraine's war effort, as they clear the way for offensive operations and allow civilians to return to their homes.
A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile on Saturday, which Ukrainian authorities believe to have been made in North Korea and which was used in a strike in Kharkiv earlier this week.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

Ukraine is 'test site' for North Korean missiles: Seoul

Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied conducting any arms deals but they vowed last year to deepen military relations.
A Palestinian girl who survived an Israeli strike is carried by her father next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

Israel to face Gaza genocide charges at International Court of Justice

A case brought by South Africa in December claims Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
British lawmakers are calling for billions of dollars of government contracts with Fujitsu to be reexamined amid public outrage over the scandal, ignited by a hit TV drama aired last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Japan tech firm Fujitsu in firing line over U.K. Post Office scandal

Its faulty software had resulted in hundreds of local post office managers being wrongly convicted for theft and false accounting between 1999 and 2005.
U.S. President Joe Biden gives a thumbs-up as he walks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15. Their meeting attempted to calm the waters and tried to convey a sense that the U.S. and China could effectively manage their differences.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2024

In 2024, U.S.-China ties likely to get worse before they get better

The trajectory of Washington and Beijing's relationship this year will have profound effects on Japan's own policies going forward.
Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza move southward as trucks carrying aid and fuel head toward north Gaza during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City on Nov. 27.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 16, 2024

What the Hamas-Israel 'humanitarian pause' really meant

While many civilians have been victimized in the conflict, other countries have been at odds over calls for a break in the conflict.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces leads residents from Fukamimachi, a village isolated by the Jan. 1 earthquake, to safety in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

Ishikawa earthquake response sees growing opposition scrutiny

Criticisms of the number of SDF personnel deployed to the area and level of financial support for evacuees have grown louder among opposition parties.
Meiji's canned liquid baby formula is in high demand following the New Year's Day quake that hit central Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Meiji to boost liquid baby formula production after quake

The company has received more than twice the usual number of orders for such products so far this month.
Grounded Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Boeing's latest Max problem creates more headaches for airlines

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines together have 70% of the Max 9 planes in service and have canceled hundreds of flights.
Roberta Wilson-Garrett, who has Parkinson's disease, poses with her GyroGlove, made by GyroGear, which uses a gyroscope to help stabilize tremors before this week's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2024

High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors

GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Taiwanese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.
Pro-Israel demonstrators march toward the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 12, 2024

Israel faces accusation of genocide as South Africa brings case to U.N. court

South Africa argued that Israel "means to create conditions of death” in Gaza, and demanded the court order an emergency suspension of the military campaign.
Outgoing New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick holds a news conference in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Thursday to announce his departure from the team.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 12, 2024

Why Bill Belichick fit in so well, for so long, in New England

Belichick departed Thursday as the head coach of the New England Patriots after 24 years of unmatched dominance in America’s most popular sport.
A drone soccer match is demonstrated at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
SPORTS
Jan 12, 2024

Buzz, bump, goal! Drone soccer aims high at CES

There was a loud whirring sound at CES in Las Vegas this week. It wasn't a swarm of insects, but instead a demonstration of drone soccer.
Instead of hoping seats are free and scrambling to find luggage space on the shinkansen, what if you could fly charter across Japan on your next trip instead?
LIFE / Travel
Jan 13, 2024

Can charter flights connect rich tourists with rural Japan?

The tours, which fly to cities in western, central and northern Japan, will be priced from around ¥1.5 million per person for a group of four people staying two nights.
Hiromi Uetake has future plans to turn some of the currently unused rooms of the former elementary school into taprooms for visiting customers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 14, 2024

Craft beer’s hoppy road to the deep north

Beer drinkers in these occasionally frozen lands now enjoy flavors infused with deep stories and their home prefectures’ splendid natural beauty.
Wannabe has an insatiable appetite — a tasty snack coming his way will always put this pup in a good mood.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jan 15, 2024

Wannabe the Shiba wants to be yours

This dashing pup is a little nervous when meeting new people, but he’ll soon let you into his inner circle.
People take part in a first aid and emergency training course by the Taiwanese civil defense group the Forward Alliance.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024

Taiwan civil defense groups push for more resilience as China threat grows

The organizations offer training courses in first aid, media literacy, disaster response as well as in understanding the different layers of modern warfare.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 people, including post office managers, were falsely charged with fraud or embezzlement following the discovery of discrepancies between cash balances at counters and accounting records at post offices that introduced Fujitsu's Horizon accounting system.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 12, 2024

Co-CEO of Fujitsu Europe to testify over U.K. Post Office scandal

He will be questioned on what more can be done to deliver "full, fair and fast compensation" for post office managers falsely charged due to the tech firm's faulty software.
The natural attractions and the friendly locals convinced Norihiro Kanzawa and his wife, Zoe, to set up a business, Niyodo Adventure, in Kochi Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 13, 2024

Norihiro Kanzawa: 'Smiles are always a great source of inspiration'

An adventure tourism professional and soon-to-be father shares his journey into making canyoning and packrafting his full-time job.
Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of ruling Democratic Progressive Party, waves to supporters while riding in the back of a vehicle during a campaign event ahead of the elections in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024

Candidates make final pitches before voters head to polls in Taiwan

Many view the upcoming vote as one with potentially significant geopolitical consequences for both Taiwan and the region.
J-pop duo Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol," during the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” giving the show its best moment — and drawing anger from netizens.
CULTURE / Sound Off
Jan 12, 2024

Yoasobi delivered the standout moment of ‘Kohaku.’ Why did some music fans hate it?

The J-pop duo brought artists from J-pop and K-pop together on stage for the night's best performance, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge on social media.
After a fuselage panel ripped off during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5, all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes were grounded in the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2024

We're stuck with the 737 Max, like it or not

The most recent incident involving a Boeing 737 Max won't stop airlines from using the craft. There simply aren't that many other options.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2024

Futenma moves forward, but local concerns must be addressed

Originally planned to have been finished by now, the base project is now anticipated to take over nine years to complete.
Snow falls on collapsed buildings in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 7, as the area began to look toward recovery from the massive earthquake that struck on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 17, 2024

'Noto is kind, right down to its soil': A community's long road to recovery

Volunteers are coming together to help each other in the wake of disaster. However, eventually isolated rural villages will need rethinking.
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, of Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP), and his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, wave as they hold a news conference, following their victory in  presidential elections, in Taipei, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 13, 2024

Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te elected president in ‘victory for democracies’

The victory — described by Lai as a “victory for the community of democracies” — was historic third-straight win for the DPP, much to China's chagrin.

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?