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Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, resentment lingers over the handling of ticket sales last year that saw many locals priced out.
OLYMPICS
Jan 23, 2024

French gloom clouds Paris Olympics, six months from start

Several recent announcements have led to a spike in negative publicity for the sporting mega-event, which will start in just six months.
Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy (right), had interviewed for several top jobs, but wasn’t hired.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 23, 2024

NFL’s diversity push challenged by teams recycling older coaches

There are seven openings — and maybe more coming — among the league’s 32 franchises, compared to just five in 2023.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates with the trophy after winning her second-straight Australian Open women's singles title on Saturday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 27, 2024

Sabalenka overpowers Zheng to retain Australian Open crown

Aryna Sabalenka continued to be an irrepressible force at the Australian Open as she powered to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen.
As China struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis Beijing deems negative are blocked.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2024

China’s censorship dragnet targets critics of the economy

The government's new information campaign about the economy is wider than usual censorship, with efforts now extending to mainstream commentary.
Mario Andretti is "devastated" that his team's bid to join Formula One was rejected on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 1, 2024

Formula One rejects Andretti's bid to join circuit

Racing legend Mario Andretti said he was devastated after learning his team's bid to join Formula One was rejected.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers his keynote address at the f8 Developers Conference in San Francisco in 2011.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 1, 2024

Facebook, the social network old-timer, turns 20

"Facebook, when it launched, was revolutionary"
A Boeing 737 Max 7 during an FAA evaluation flight at Boeing Field in Seattle in September 2020
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2024

How a roller-coaster week left Boeing's credibility on the line

The tumult is not over. U.S. investigators are soon expected to release a preliminary report on the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines blowout.
Lewis Hamilton arrives at a news conference in Sao Paulo in November ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 4, 2024

Racing for Ferrari fulfills a childhood dream, Lewis Hamilton says

Britain's seven-time Formula One world champion stunned the sport when his move on a multiyear deal was announced on Thursday.
JAPAN / History
Feb 15, 2024

Imperial family boasts enduring bond with horse racing

Emperor Meiji saw the need to improve the quality of domestic horses to boost Japan's standing with Europe and the U.S.
The “myahk,” a community currency implemented on Okinawa Prefecture’s Miyako Island in 2018, is intimately tied to local efforts for environmental preservation.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Feb 10, 2024

Japanese communities are creating currencies to educate and empower citizens

The yen will do when paying for things throughout the country. In some places, though, you may try paying with a coin that also helps reduce plastic waste.
While in recent years Donald Trump is better known for his trade war with China, the former president has a long history of Japan-bashing and should be taken at his word on the U.S. Steel purchase by Nippon Steel.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 9, 2024

Trump is wrong to oppose Nippon Steel deal

"I would block it instantaneously. Absolutely,” Trump said of Nippon Steel’s bid, and he should be taken seriously and literally.
The Japanese government forecast that number of digital workers in 2026 will fall short of projected needs by 2.3 million.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2024

Japan struggles with digital transformation

Japan's general tendency toward risk aversion reduces the readiness to adopt new policies, procedures and technologies.
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto speaks during a campaign rally in Jakarta on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 11, 2024

Indonesian election candidates make their case as election day looms

With young people accounting for almost 60% of the electorate, the candidates have needed to factor in their demands and preferences.
This frame grab from handout video released by the Philippine Coast guard on Feb. 11 shows a Chinese coast guard vessel (front R) blocking and sailing past Philippine coast guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (back L) near Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2024

Philippines accuses Chinese vessels of 'dangerous' maneuvers

The reef of the incident has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
The tail of a BYD electric vehicle sports the company’s motto, “build your dreams,” at a dealership in Shenzhen, China, on Jan. 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2024

How China built BYD, its Tesla killer

BYD’s sales, over 80% of them in China, passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year.
Japan’s latest growth figures are set to confirm it slipped to become the world's fourth-largest economy last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024

Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world’s fourth-largest economy

Figures for the calendar year are almost certain to show the value of output falling behind Germany’s in dollar terms.
PVV's Geert Wilders addresses the media at The Hague on Feb. 7.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2024

Dutch government formation still a puzzle 12 weeks after election

A right-wing majority or minority government are both possible, but its unclear if poll winner Geert Wilders' Freedom Party can string one together.
A sign erected in Hokkaido’s port of Nemuro calls for the return of the Russian-occupied islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2024

Geopolitical chess: Unpacking the Northern Territories conundrum

While domestic motivation for Tokyo to resolve the Northern Territories dispute may endure, the opposite is true in Moscow.
The disapproval rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has also exceeded 60% for the first time.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Support for Kishida Cabinet hits new low of 16.9% in Jiji poll

The approval rate is also the lowest for a Liberal Democratic Party-led administration since the party returned to power in December 2012.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Feb 15, 2024

Giants' new Godzilla Yuto Akihiro taps into Hideki Matsui's teachings to level up

Akihiro is the latest player to try and walk in Matsui's footsteps.
Established in December 2021 in the middle of the pandemic-fuelled gaming craze, Sega Sapporo Studio is remarkable for growing amid a recent slump in the industry.
LIFE / Digital
Feb 17, 2024

Sega developers say new Sapporo studios lead to better lives

Aside from quality-of-life benefits that come from living outside a major metropolis, Sapporo also has a history of game development.
Naomi Osaka hits a return against Karolina Pliskova during their quarterfinal match at the Qatar Open in Doha on Thursday.
TENNIS
Feb 16, 2024

Naomi Osaka falls against Karolina Pliskova in Qatar Open quarterfinals

Osaka went down 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) after saving three match points.
Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists after he was released from a detention center in Moscow in August 2019
WORLD
Feb 16, 2024

Alexei Navalny, corruption fighter who defied Putin, dies at 47

Navalny fell sick during a walk and medical staff were unable to revive him, prison authorities said Friday.
Western Conference forward LeBron James dunks during the first half of the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday. James said he hopes to finish his career with he Lakers.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 19, 2024

LeBron James hoping to end career with Lakers

LeBron James has not formulated a plan for his retirement, but is looking forward to the Paris Olympics this summer and wants to finish his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, the four-time NBA champion said Sunday.
Japan's fall to No. 4 in the global economic rankings reflects an aging population and declining resources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2024

Japan slips in the global economic rankings: So what’s next?

The IMF has forecast that India will overtake Japan economically in 2026 and Germany in 2027.
A Rapidus factory construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, in December
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 21, 2024

Japan’s chip spree aims to kick economy into high gear

The government’s chip strategy aims to triple domestic chip sales to around ¥15 trillion by 2030.
Sanfrecce will play its first regular-season match against Urawa on Friday at the brand-new Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 22, 2024

The J. League is back with a top flight that's bigger than ever

Hiroshima has eyes on the title as the club raises the curtain at a new stadium, but Urawa will be looking to spoil the party starting Friday.
The Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin throws during a game against the Rays in September.
BASEBALL
Feb 22, 2024

Former Blue Jays pitcher Ryu returns to South Korea with Hanwha

The 36-year-old left-hander's deal with the Eagles, where Ryu played from 2006 to 2012, includes the most guaranteed money ever for a KBO player.
Yasuhiro Otomo and Miku Narisawa during one of Odyssey Nature Japan's educational fishing programs.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 22, 2024

A young 3/11 survivor and her vow to protect the ocean

At 12, Miku Narisawa experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed her home. Now she is working to protect it.
Zazen Boys (from left: So Yoshikane, Shutoku Mukai, Miya and Atsushi Matsushita) released “Rando,” its first original album in 12 years, last month. The 13-song collection features the sonic hallmarks of the band while also reflecting a new focus on the everyday, informed by frontman Mukai’s bike rides through Tokyo’s residential areas and sleepy side streets.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 23, 2024

Character studies of city folk reinvigorate Zazen Boys

Frontman Shutoku Mukai brings a newfound focus on ordinary life and youth to his rock project's first original album in 12 years.

Longform

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