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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield attends a U.N. Security Council meeting on Sept. 4 in New York City.
WORLD
Sep 12, 2024

U.S. supports two permanent U.N. Security Council seats for Africa

The move comes as the U.S. seeks to repair ties with Africa, where many are unhappy about Washington's support for Israel's war in Gaza.
Israeli soldiers near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. With about 170,000 active personnel, Israel’s army is large by global standards, relative to its population of 10 million. But it’s still too small to cope with today’s threats.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2024

Israel needs more soldiers as reservists tire of constant war

That Israel is fighting a protracted war on numerous fronts almost a year after Hamas' deadly rampage on Oct. 7 last year is exacerbating its troop shortage.
The government is considering financial support for liquefied natural gas operators to secure storage tanks in Japan and abroad.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 12, 2024

Japan considers company support measures for long-term LNG contracts

Possible measures included financial support for securing storage tank and a new program to assist LNG buyers committing to long-term contracts.
Nippon Steel argues that its acquisition of U.S. Steel would be a win-win.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2024

Quiet assurances mooted as U.S. Steel deal shakes global order

Analysts and informed observers have been gaming out the possible outcomes and adding up the potential damage.
The U.S. presidential debate is unlikely to change the minds of voters significantly; instead, it may maintain the current momentum of the race, with Harris emerging as the apparent victor and Trump revealing his limitations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

Trump may not have met his Waterloo, but he more than met his match

The race is too close to call, but Tuesday, Harris was the clear victor. Trump, on the other hand, left no doubt about his limitations.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the dugout after hitting his 47th home run of the season during the first inning against the Cubs in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 12, 2024

Shohei Ohtani moves closer to 50-50 milestone as Dodgers beat Cubs

Ohtani's sixth leadoff homer of the season came on the fourth pitch of the game.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an event in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 13, 2024

Giving Kyiv long-range missiles pulls West into war, Putin says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with Kyiv's allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles deep into Russian territory.
A vendor attends to a customer at the secondhand books section of Panjiayuan antiques market in Beijing
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2024

China wants academic exchanges, but censorship could stand in the way

The Chinese Communist Party has exerted control over all publications since establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Palestinians search for survivors of an Israeli strike in the Shejaiya suburb east of Gaza City on Thursday. A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development described the economy of the Gaza Strip as being "in ruins" more than 11 months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 13, 2024

Gaza economy shrinks to less than a sixth of its pre-war size, U.N. says

A document from the U.N.'s trade agency also describes "a rapid and alarming economic decline" in the occupied West Bank.
Hokkaido's cuisine and the culture that underpins it get top billing in Tim Anderson's newest cookbook.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 15, 2024

‘MasterChef U.K.’ winner’s new cookbook puts Hokkaido cuisine on vivid display

Tim Anderson's cookbook covers a lot, but its strength is in presenting Japan’s largest prefecture as a detailed tapestry via straightforward recipes.
American Kara Harris is on the verge of attaining a high-level certification in the world of kimono — and may possibly be the first Black woman to do so.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Black Eye
Sep 16, 2024

‘The people I’d seen in kimono didn’t have as much melanin as I do’

A student of Kara Harris says the kimono instructor knows how to expertly fit the traditional garment to bodies with more curves than the stereotypical Japanese frame.
Swallows star Norichika Aoki announced his plan to retire on Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 13, 2024

Swallows great Norichika Aoki to retire

Veteran Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki, one of the best hitters Japan has ever seen, plans to retire at the end of this season, he announced on Friday.
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers

Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
An MUFG Bank branch in Tokyo. The bank is stepping up its electronic trading capabilities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

MUFG pushes to bring its trading into electronic age, except JGBs

MUFG is catching up to rivals, vying to become more competitive across fixed income and equities where electronic trading has taken hold.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rate fell to 20% in a weekly tracking poll released Friday by Gallup Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2024

Yoon’s support rate at new low amid concerns over medical crisis

The government has offered some concessions to bring the doctors back to work but they have shown little signs of returning.
Union members react as Aerospace Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden (out of frame) announces that union members rejected a proposed Boeing contract and will go on strike, following voting results at their union hall in Seattle, Washington, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Boeing workers going on strike after 96% vote for walkout

The Boeing workers' last strike in 2008 shuttered plants for 52 days and hit revenue by an estimated $100 million per day.
A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft fly over the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg in the Asia-Pacific region in November 2020. Canada has been gradually boosting its military engagement with Asian partners.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2024

Canada and Japan aiming to rapidly expand defense ties

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair has said he thinks there are "unlimited areas of cooperation" between the two countries.
Takanori Takebe (behind the lectern) speaks after his team of researchers and he were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2024

Scientists win Ig Nobel for discovering anal breathing in mammals

The research team of Japanese and American scientists hope the discovery will help treat people with COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.
Looming interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and a new hawkishness on the part of the Bank of Japan can make a claim for the yens recent movements.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2024

Epic yen rally is a lesson in the lost art of FX intervention

Japan's own proactive currency interventions have played a crucial role in the yen's recent recovery.
Activists hold up symbolic eye masks during a protest against deepfake porn in Seoul on Aug. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2024

South Korea is facing deepfake porn crisis

The industry creating AI technology must develop safeguards to address this epidemic.
Ayuko Kato (center), state minister in charge of building an inclusive society, and government officials bow their heads in apology to victims of forced sterilization, at a meeting to sign a compensation agreement in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024

Forced sterilization victims to receive ¥15 million in compensation

The agreement covers those involved in 13 ongoing lawsuits at courts across Japan.
Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher are the subjects of a mural by artist Pic.One.Art in the Burnage area of Manchester, England.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 14, 2024

A potential reunited Oasis gig in Japan should have promoters salivating

The British rock act has a huge Japanese following, one that could provide a much-needed shot in the arm for the country's summer festivals.
Elderly people rest at a park in Fuyang in eastern China's Anhui province on Friday.  China said the same day that it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an older population.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 14, 2024

China’s first retirement age hike since 1978 triggers discontent

The move could stem a decline in the labor force but risks angering workers already wrestling with a slowing economy.
Workers with picket signs outside the Boeing Seattle Delivery Center during a strike in Seattle on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 14, 2024

Boeing and union negotiators to resume talks next week amid strike

A long strike could further damage Boeing's finances, already groaning due to a $60 billion debt pile.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speak to the media outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Friday following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 14, 2024

Biden hasn’t let Ukraine strike deep into Russia. Could Britain change that?

A trip to Washington by Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, came after President Vladimir Putin of Russia warned that the allies’ next step could mean war for NATO.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy as he arrives at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 14, 2024

Diplomacy over Ukraine war is about weapons more than peace talks

For both Ukraine and Russia, battlefield gains now might provide an upper hand in any negotiations later. That’s reflected in their discussions over arms with allies.
A guest uses chopsticks to grab and taste raw meat from a fin whale at the exhibition and business meeting of domestically produced fin whales hosted by Japan's whaling company Kyodo Senpaku at Tokyo's Toyosu market on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2024

Hearts, tails and blubber at Japan fin whale tasting

"Once young people eat it and they realize it's good, they will eat it more and more," said Hideki Tokoro, the head of Japan's main whaling firm.
A secretive program called Secure Enclave and involving Intel and the Pentagon seeks to establish production for advanced chips with military and intelligence applications.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 14, 2024

Intel solidifies $3.5 billion deal to make chips for U.S. military

The secretive program, called Secure Enclave, seeks to establish production for advanced chips with military and intelligence applications.
"Nightbitch," which premiered at the Toronto film festival on Sept. 7, stars Amy Adams (center) as Mother, an artist who becomes a harried stay-at-home mom caring for a boisterous toddler.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2024

Amy Adams gets real about motherhood in 'Nightbitch'

The film explores various facets of motherhood — the wonder and joy, but also the darkness and exhaustion — using equal doses of comedy, drama and magical realism.
Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election stand together onstage at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls outline approach to U.S. and China concerns

The nine candidates jostled over the best way to resolve Nippon Steel's contentious bid for U.S. Steel, while also grappling with the Chinese military challenge.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it