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Digital minister Taro Kono (right) tries out a device that allows the use of My Number cards as health insurance cards at Chigasaki City Hall in Kanagawa Prefecture on Aug. 9.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2023

My Number and beyond: What's holding back Japan’s digitalization?

The transition from analog to digital in the public sector has been a long-standing challenge for the country, spanning at least the past two decades.
Lionel Messi is tossed in the air by his teammates after Miami's win in the Leagues Cup final on Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday.
SOCCER
Aug 21, 2023

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami eyes treble after Leagues Cup triumph

Messi and Miami will play in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup before returning to MLS play.
The initial public offering for Arm Holdings is set to be the biggest in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 22, 2023

SoftBank’s planned IPO for Arm set to be biggest of 2023

Arm didn’t disclose proposed terms for the share sale in the document, but it’s expected to seek a valuation of $60 billion to $70 billion.
Sha'carri Richardson celebrates winning gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Monday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 22, 2023

Sha’Carri Richardson is the fastest woman in the world

Richardson on Monday won her first title at a world track and field championships, running 10.65 seconds to win the 100 meters.
New Zealand's Dane Coles celebrates after winning a Bledisloe Cup test match against Australia at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Aug. 5.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Aug 22, 2023

All Blacks star 'gobsmacked' by former coach assisting Australia

Former New Zealand coach Steve Hansen is helping rivals Australia prepare for the Rugby World Cup, it was revealed this week.
Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas (left) battles for the ball against English forward Lauren James during in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sydney on Sunday. Spain won the match 1-0.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2023

FIFA boss should read the pitch on women’s pay

More than 2 billion people are expected to have tuned in. About 2 million attended matches in person. Both records. The FIFA Women’s World Cup generated more than $570 million to break even.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

BOJ's Ueda meets Kishida but says yen volatility wasn't discussed

The talks took place after the dollar's recent ascent above ¥145, a level that last September triggered Japan's first yen-buying operation since 1998.
An Air Koryo plane is reflected in a glass structure of the airport in Pyongyang in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2023

North Korea sees first passenger flight in three years

An Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang landed in Beijing early Tuesday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began in 2020.
The European Union has named 19 platforms that face stricter rules on policing online content and transparency.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 23, 2023

Big tech to face full force of new EU law

The landmark law is part of the EU's legal arsenal deployed to bring tech companies to heel and enforce order.
A news report about Japan's decision to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean is shown on a big screen in Beijing on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023

China and Hong Kong to toughen import restrictions on Japan foods

Of Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food items, 36% went to mainland China and Hong Kong in total in 2022.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on China in Washington last May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2023

U.S. commerce chief to be latest Cabinet official to visit China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will visit China next week at the invitation of her Chinese counterpart.
South Korean soldiers prepare for a counterterrorism drill, as part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, at a subway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 23, 2023

South Korea holds first nationwide defense drills in six years

The drill, focused on a North Korea attack, required South Korea’s 51 million residents to practice evacuating to shelters or underground spaces.
People protest in Hong Kong on Tuesday after Japan announced that it would release treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the sea.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023

Treated water release from Fukushima sparks mixed reactions in Asia

After reaching an agreement with the IAEA on information-sharing about the operation, Seoul announced that it would not stand in the way of the plan.
Emergency specialists carry a body bag near wreckage of the private jet that was believed to be carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, at the crash site in Russia's Tver region on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2023

Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin believed to have died in fatal plane crash

No cause was announced but the crash immediately raised suspicions that Prigozhin had been killed.
Storage tanks containing treated water on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant earlier this week. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the plant’s operator, started releasing some of the water into the sea on Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2023

Japan begins controversial release of treated Fukushima water

The discharge is a major step in the decommissioning process for the reactors hit by meltdowns following the March 2011 tsunami.
People visit Semicon China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai in 2021
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2023

China quietly hires overseas chip talent as U.S. tightens curbs

The revamped recruitment drive is said to offer perks including home-purchase subsidies and typical signing bonuses of $420,000 to $700,000.
An illustration of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, which will be carried by JAXA’s H2-A rocket if it launches on Sunday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2023

Japan set to shoot for the moon after Russia and India missions

Success could provide the thrust JAXA badly needs to begin rebuilding its battered reputation after a series of costly setbacks over the past year.
Koenji-based dance troupe Tengu-ren performs at an Awa odori event in Tokyo's Kagurazaka neighborhood a month before the Koenji Awa Odori.
CULTURE / Longform
Aug 26, 2023

The party returns to Koenji

While the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary pause to one of Tokyo’s biggest festivals, its dancers never stopped practicing their steps.
The Supreme Court in Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2023

Japan's top court takes steps to ensure preservation of case records

The Supreme Court plans to work hard to change the mentality of court officials and prevent any recurrence of document destruction.
A makeshift memorial in Moscow for Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin who is presumed to have died in private plane crash earlier in the week
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2023

If Prigozhin is gone, where does that leave Wagner?

What’s been said about President Vladimir Putin’s reign can also be applied to Prigozhin’s Wagner Group: "Nothing is true and everything is possible.”
Sheep rest under a starry night in Pontimia Pasture in the Swiss Alps.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 25, 2023

Crying wolf to save livestock and their predator

Preservation groups have hailed the return of wolves, seeing it as a sign of a healthier ecosystem. But breeders decry soaring attacks on livestock.
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2023

Tritium level near Fukushima plant well below Tepco standards

The plant operator said the level in the Pacific Ocean was below about 10 becquerels per liter in all 10 locations it surveyed.
Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani has a torn UCL, the team announced on Wednesday night.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 25, 2023

Will Ohtani’s injury pick his pocket in free agency?

Baseball’s history-making two-way player has a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Vendors carry lobster at a seafood market in Shanghai, China, on Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2023

Japan fishing industry reels after China’s seafood embargo

The average price of fresh Aomori tuna at the Toyosu market in Tokyo fell 24% on Aug. 25 from the previous day to ¥9,383 per kilogram.
Investors stand in front of an electronic board showing stock information on the first trading day after the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday at a brokerage house in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2023

China’s market rescue is failing as Xi holds back on stimulus

China’s regulators face a losing battle convincing global funds to invest in the nation’s stocks without stronger stimulus packages.
A view of burned debris after wildfires devastated the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 10.
WORLD
Aug 26, 2023

List of hundreds missing since deadly Maui wildfire released

In the hours after the list was published, the FBI had received reports that about 100 people on the list were accounted for.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2023

With Prigozhin’s death, Putin projects a message of power

The Kremlin appears to be sending the signal that no degree of effectiveness can protect someone from punishment for disloyalty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk during World War II in Russia's Kursk region on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2023

Russia pushes long-term influence operations aimed at U.S. and Europe

Russian spy agencies are using the techniques to hide the Kremlin’s involvement in cultivating pro-Russia messages, a U.S. analysis has shown.
Residents embrace after a deadly shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, killed three.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2023

Florida gunman driven by racial 'hate' kills three

The deadly incident in Jacksonville is the latest in a series of racially motivated shooting sprees in the United States.
A new Russian textbook for high school students on general world and national history
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2023

Putin’s history lessons fail to heed the lessons of history

Putin seems to have forgotten is that rewriting history to serve the interests of those in power tends to invite dissent and often backfires.

Longform

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