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Debris reportedly belonging to a drone shot down by Myanmar resistance fighters is pictured in southeastern Myanmar, in this handout picture released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 13, 2024

Stung by rebel's drone tactics, Myanmar's junta builds its own fleet

Observers say the junta started procuring commercial UAVs at the start of the year and is modifying to arm with locally-manufactured munitions.
Tim Cook (left), chief executive officer of Apple; John Giannandrea (center), senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy at Apple; and Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

Apple to ‘pay’ OpenAI for ChatGPT through distribution, not cash

The partnership is apparently not expected to generate meaningful revenue for either party — at least, not at the outset.
A hydrogen storage tank with an under-construction green hydrogen compressor at a liquid fuels facility in Sasolburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

South Africa’s biggest green-hydrogen project woos Japanese investors

If approved, the plant will use 3,700 megawatts of renewable power generation capacity to split water to produce 1 million tons of hydrogen a year.
Harmony Korine (center-left, in orange) DJs a set with his EDGLRD crew at a Tokyo event promoting his film, “Aggro Dr1ft,” at WWW X on June 6.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 14, 2024

Harmony Korine wants us to dream movies, and he’s working on a ‘pill’ for that

Korine and his collaborators came to Tokyo to screen his new film "Aggro Dr1ft," his first visit to Japan in 17 years.
The Shein logo on hangers at a pop-up store in Dublin on Nov. 8, 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

Shein steers tough course in pursuit of blockbuster London IPO

Both of the U.K.’s major political parties have met with Shein leaders, according to reports, though neither has come out in support publicly.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Fasano, Italy, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 14, 2024

Japan locks in support for Ukraine with nonbinding security agreement

The deal formalizes Tokyo’s support for Kyiv and includes a pledge to conduct consultations in the case of future attacks on the war-torn country.
Rose (pronounced like the wine) is nothing to fear.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 17, 2024

A Rose by any other name

As lovely as a flower and as smooth as wine, Rose would make a wonderful, loving companion for someone who can recognize the precious gem she is.
A demonstration of Microsoft's Copilot artificial intelligence on screen during an event in Sydney on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 14, 2024

Microsoft pulls back wide release of criticized Windows AI tool

Recall, a Windows feature unveiled in May, creates a record of everything people do on their PCs.
A firefighting plane disperses fire retardant over a wildfire in Puertollano, near Tarifa, Spain, on June 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2024

Airplanes won't solve Europe's wildfire problem, but prevention might.

Climate change is costing Europe tens of billions of euros per year, and that will rise if nothing is done to reduce emissions and invest in prevention.
Donald Trump after attending a meeting in Washington on Thursday. The Republican former president celebrates his 78th birthday on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 14, 2024

At 78, Trump too is showing signs of aging

While he tries to position himself as an energetic alternative to Joe Biden, recent events show the ex-president give off the "old, drunken uncle vibe."
Installation view of Calder: Un effet du japonais, Azabudai Hills Gallery, 2024 Photo: Tadayuki Minamoto
CULTURE / Art
Jun 16, 2024

Alexander Calder’s kinetic sculptures arrive to full Japanese embrace

With the first Calder solo exhibition in Tokyo in 35 years, it feels like the artist and his works have finally arrived.
Opal Lee, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," visited Japan last month shortly after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Jun 14, 2024

U.S. civil rights icon Opal Lee brings her Juneteenth walk to Tokyo

Juneteenth, held on the 19th of the month, celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Opal Lee sees it as more than an American holiday.
Akira Endo was born on Nov. 14, 1933, in Yurihonjo, a city in a mountainous area near the Sea of Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 15, 2024

Akira Endo, scholar of statins that reduce heart disease, dies at 90

His research on fungi helped lay the groundwork for widely prescribed drugs that lower a type of cholesterol that contributes to heart disease.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is welcomed by Italian leader Giorgia Meloni on the first day of the Group of Seven summit in the Italian resort of Borgo Egnazia on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2024

Japan and Italy agree to beef up defense and diplomatic cooperation

Japan and Italy have agreed on a plan to deepen cooperation over the next three years in key areas such as diplomacy, defense and trade.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at Zurich airport, Switzerland, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2024

In Ukraine, soldiers and civilians shrug off Zelenskyy's summit

The conference is coming at a perilous moment for exhausted Ukrainians and outgunned soldiers, after more than two years of war.
Wang Shun of China races to gold in the final of the men's 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 15, 2024

Doping regulator knew of previous positive tests by Chinese swimmers

Three Chinese swimmers who failed drug tests before the 2021 Olympics had tested positive for a powerful steroid several years earlier.
What's believed to be loudspeakers at the top of a hill on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 15, 2024

North Korea building roads and walls inside DMZ, report says

The construction activities are taking place north of the Military Demarcation Line that runs through the middle of the DMZ, the report said.
The International Olympic Committee's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland
OLYMPICS
Jun 15, 2024

IOC issues first list of Russians and Belarusians eligible for Olympics

Each qualified athlete must undergo the vetting process by a three-member panel appointed by the IOC to make sure they meet eligibility criteria.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in Savelletri, Italy, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 16, 2024

Modi seizes center stage at G7 to ambush Biden and Trudeau

Modi arrived at the G7 meetings bruised by disappointing election results and facing an outcry over a pair of assassination plots allegedly backed by his government.
A facial recognition system at ticket gates has been introduced at the Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024

Facial recognition for train passengers in use in Chiba Prefecture

A boarding system using a facial recognition technology was introduced at the Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024

Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset

Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
A growing number of local governments in Japan are selling reusable oversize waste collected from households on marketplace app Mercari.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024

Japan local governments using Mercari app to recycle oversize waste

From clothing boxes to furniture, the initiative aims to raise awareness of reusing goods while reducing carbon emissions from incineration.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in November 2022. The plant was shuttered in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has sat idle since.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

World’s largest nuclear plant sits idle while energy needs soar

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has the potential capacity to power more than 13 million households.
A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says

Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.
Professor Hong Jin-kee poses with a bowl containing pink "meaty rice" at the Yonsei University in Seoul, where a team of South Korean scientists are injecting cultured beef cells into individual grains of rice in a process they hope could revolutionize how the world eats.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 17, 2024

'Meaty rice'? South Korean professor aims to change global protein

No animals were harmed in the creation of the dish, which looks like regular rice aside from its color.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk speaks during a news conference in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

As China’s pressure on Taiwan rises, departing U.S. envoy urges steady hand

Worries about Chinese belligerence rose during Sandra Oudkirk’s three years in Taipei. As she leaves, she is seeking to assure Taiwan of continued U.S. support.
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group repeatedly violated its clients’ confidentiality by breaking firewalls among its units.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2024

MUFG unit misses out on arranging flurry of bonds in wake of scandal

The Development Bank of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and NEC dropped MUMSS from arranging planned bond deals.
A protest accusing Deutsche Bank of greenwashing. Its subsidiary DWS was fined $25 million last year for misstating its environmental, social and governance activities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Too many companies make false claims about their social impact

Exaggerated claims about companies' positive social and environmental impact ruin our chances of achieving a sustainable future. An entirely new system is needed.
While the government aims to supply all public elementary school pupils with an electronic device for learning in school, communication between parents and teachers is still largely paper-based.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2024

Parents need digital tools to cope with 'first-grade barrier'

More flexibility and efficiency would lighten the load put on the families of public elementary school children, where paper-based communication is still too prevalent.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is in custody on espionage charges, waves behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow on April 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

Russia sets closed espionage trial for U.S. reporter Gershkovich

The White House has called the charges "ridiculous," and President Joe Biden has said the reporter's detention is "totally illegal."

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