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JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 18, 2022

Japan reviewing the way it gathers COVID info amid high case numbers

Alternative methods proposed by experts include collecting information only on patients diagnosed at designated hospitals, as is done for seasonal influenza.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 14, 2022

As North Korean missiles fly, Seoul signals need to revitalize intel pact with Tokyo

Pyongyang's record-breaking number of launches this year continues to push Seoul and Tokyo closer after years of soured ties, including on the contentious GSOMIA pact.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2024

Putin says Ukraine shot down plane, deliberately or in error

Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the plane in Russia's Belgorod region and killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2024

Noto quake exceeded projections of nuclear plant operator

The quake caused a transformer for the No. 1 reactor and another for the No. 2 reactor to stop functioning due to issues that included oil leakage.
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.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties

Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's supporters demonstrate against U.S. extradition in front of the British Consulate in Barcelona on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

Assange absent at final hearing against extradition to U.S.

The two-day session is likely the WikiLeaks founder's last chance to fight the extradition in Britain's courts after a half-decade battle.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, at a House Oversight Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 10.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

FBI informant got false dirt on Bidens from Russia: prosecutors

Alexander Smirnov, 43, a dual U.S. and Israeli national, was arrested last week.
Visnu CEO Ryosuke Chiba explains an AI-equipped security camera his company is developing for the city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 22.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2024

Japan firms look to AI to bolster disaster prevention and mitigation

Tools are being developed to focus on getting timely information to the relevant parties to facilitate evacuation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has upended Communist Party norms since consolidating power and installing a coterie of loyalists in 2022, marking a shift from the more collective decision-making that helped propel China’s economic rise.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 1, 2024

Xi’s one-man rule over China’s economy is spurring unrest

While the Chinese leader attempts to put the China's economy on a more sustainable footing, he is failing to convince the nation that's a good idea.
An Israeli soldier patrols near the site of the Hamas attack on a music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 12.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2024

U.N. finds evidence of sexual violence by Hamas since Oct. 7

A separate report by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel concluded that the sexual violence committed by Hamas was systematic and deliberate.
Motoki Taniguchi (left) and one of his clients, Maurice Shelton, hope their lawsuit can change alleged police practices involving stop-and-search.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 8, 2024

A lawsuit puts alleged racial profiling by police on trial in Japan

Three residents with foreign roots have filed a lawsuit claiming Japanese police target visible minorities. We discuss what they hope to achieve.
An AI-generated story about the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "psychiatrist" committing suicide has exploded online, prompting warnings from experts.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Proliferating 'news' sites spew AI-generated fake stories

At least 739 AI-generated "news" sites in multiple languages operating with little to no human oversight have been identified in recent investigations.
A Zara clothing store in Brussels on November 2022. Inditex is an outlier among big clothing retailers in not publishing details of the factories from which it sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2024

Zara owner Inditex faces pressure from investors on supply chain disclosure

Regulators and investors want transparency from clothing retailers, to prove supply chains are free of forced labor and workers are paid decent wages.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers remarks during the Third Summit for Democracy in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

South Korea-hosted summit warns of AI risks to democracy

South Korea is hosting the Summit for Democracy conference, an initiative aimed at discussing ways to stop the erosion of rights and freedoms.
Lawmakers vote on the new national security law at Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024

Hong Kong adopts sweeping security laws, bowing to Beijing

The body fast-tracked a major piece of legislation that critics say further threatens the China-ruled city's freedoms.
A commuter walks along an overpass in Jakarta.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 20, 2024

Only 10 countries had healthy air quality in 2023, report finds

Sources of PM2.5 pollution vary widely, but the overwhelming cause is the burning of fossil fuels.
Both the U.S. and U.K. have announced sanctions against Chinese nationals for cybercrimes.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

U.S. and U.K. accuse China of broad cyberattacks and voter data theft

The revelations add to a growing list of cybersecurity breaches that the U.S. and its allies say are backed by the Chinese government.
At least 139 people were killed when gunmen in camouflage stormed Crocus City Hall. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the mass shooting.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

Russia's security chief accuses Ukraine, U.S. and U.K. of being behind Moscow shooting

Hardliners in Moscow could use the claim to justify an escalation of the Ukraine war and to explain how security services failed to prevent the attack.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 29, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma scandal reignites debate on ‘functional food’ labels

The labels have been criticized for years over the lack of sufficient scientific proof of safety and efficacy accompanying their use.
People place their bets at the Fanduel sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the Super Bowl in February 2019.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 31, 2024

U.S. sports leagues bet on gambling. Now they’re facing its risks.

Leagues have signed lucrative marketing deals with betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings and recent incidents have highlighted issues.
Cardboard beds at an evacuation center in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31. Because evacuation shelters are operated by municipalities, the quality of disaster relief varies depending on the strength of each local government, one expert points out.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024

Over 8,000 still in evacuation centers three months after Noto quake

The patchy progress of Japan's decentralized disaster relief shows that lessons from past disasters have not been learned, experts say.
Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to the gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2024

Ohtani swings and misses at PR, but he’s not Japan’s first

Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to a gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
People ride motorcycles near the site where a building collapsed, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 4, 2024

Taiwan's strongest quake in 25 years kills at least nine, injures over 1,000

Scores of emergency workers were trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save.
In fiscal 2022, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan fielded 4,024 inquiries concerning online game microtransactions made by students of elementary, junior high and high schools without the knowledge of their parents.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2024

Watch out for microtransactions in kids' online games, parents urged

Watchdog reports surge in complaints of children racking up unauthorized charges on smartphones using their parents' payment credentials.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, testifies before a foreign interference inquiry in Ottawa on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Trudeau rejects claim China meddled to try to help his election

Canada's prime minister said he believes the elections were "held in their integrity."
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in December at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
BASEBALL
Apr 12, 2024

How Ippei Mizuhara allegedly wired millions from Shohei Ohtani’s account

Crucially for Ohtani, a U.S. investigation clearly paints him as a victim without any involvement in or knowledge of his interpreter's gambling woes.
Canada has become ground zero for Facebook's battle with governments regarding laws that force internet giants to pay media companies for links to news published on their platforms.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

When Facebook blocks news, studies show the political risks that follow

The blocking of news links has led to changes in the way Canadian Facebook users engage with information about politics, two unpublished studies found.
Satoshi Harada from the Meteorological Agency explains about the magnitude 6.6 earthquake during a news conference early Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2024

No link to Nankai Trough quake seen after temblor in Shikoku

There was no tsunami from the quake and reports suggested only minor injuries and damage.
Recent cases of alleged Chinese espionage in Germany and Britain are the latest reminder of Beijing's immense intelligence network and its ability to penetrate into the heart of European capitals.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

Europe ill-prepared to counter China's espionage push, analysts say

This week's cases of alleged Chinese spying in Germany and Britain are the latest reminder of Beijing's immense intelligence network.

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A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake