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Chinese runner He Jie, Ethiopian Dejene Hailu Bikila and Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat take part in a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 17, 2024

Did three African runners let a Chinese runner win a race in Beijing?

The results of a half-marathon are under investigation after footage of the finish led many to question whether three runners had deliberately slowed down.
Jamoliddin Makhmaliyev sits with his grandson and granddaughters in front of his new house in the village of Khuroson, some 70 kilometers south of the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe, on March 26. “We lived in fear, until the day the mountain collapsed and destroyed our house,” recalls his wife Yodgoroy. Tajikistan is the Central Asian country most vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 17, 2024

Tajikistan builds villages for climate migrants fleeing fatal landslides

The former Soviet country says it relocated 45,000 people between 2000 and 2017, and that tens of thousands of others are waiting their turn.
Ryoma Shimoseki (90) was playing at Kosei Gakuen High School in Tokyo when he was discovered by NFL Academy coaches.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 17, 2024

Japanese NFL hopeful gets dream chance on football field in U.K.

Ryoma Shimoseki was recently announced as the newest addition to the NFL Academy as he bids to become the first Japanese to make an NFL roster.
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 18, 2024

'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV

Min Tanaka plays a powerful political fixer in the 10-episode show, which centers on the behind-the-scenes machinations of "kuromaku."
Yoasobi vocalist Lilas Ikuta, who goes by “Ikura,” and bandmate Ayase performed a solo set Friday night and appeared a second time as part of the American company 88Rising’s showcase Sunday at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 17, 2024

A White House dinner, a slot at Coachella — Yoasobi is having a great week

J-pop's Ikura and Ayase say they had to cut their hair and learn English for a string of stateside engagements.
Children give a presentation on volcano studies during a workshop at Tairadate Elementary School in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 29, 2024

Raising awareness over Mount Iwate eruption urged as memories fade

Interest in preparing for possible volcanic eruptions is difficult to muster in a nation prone to other natural disasters.
Machida supporters wave giant flags during the team's game against Vissel Kobe at National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 18, 2024

Upstart Zelvia shows that, in the J. League, it’s anyone’s game

The fast start by Go Kuroda’s men has highlighted the remarkable parity in the Japanese game when compared with top competitions in Europe.
Manga titles that have been uploaded onto Manga-Mura, a manga piracy website, on display in Tokyo in 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2024

Manga piracy website operator ordered to pay ¥1.7 billion to publishers

Kadokawa, Shueisha and Shogakukan said they hoped the lawsuit would help deter other manga piracy site operators from uploading content illegally.
Badminton star Kento Momota leaves a news conference after announcing his retirement from Japan's national team, in Tokyo on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Badminton
Apr 18, 2024

Former No. 1 Kento Momota retires from international badminton at 29

Momota was once badminton's undisputed king, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.
A traditional Ainu preserved food called satchep (dried fish) is made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, in December.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024

Japan court denies fishing rights to Ainu people

It was the first court decision on Indigenous rights related to Ainu people.
Iran is now enriching uranium to up to 60% purity and has enough material enriched to that level, if enriched further, for two nuclear weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency's theoretical definition.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Apr 19, 2024

As the 2015 nuclear deal crumbles, how close is Iran to weaponization?

With the possibility of Israel retaliating, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said the nation might review its "nuclear doctrine."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The national election results won’t be known until June 4, when vote counting takes place.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 19, 2024

Modi bets on third term as India’s massive election kicks off

The national election results won’t be known until June 4, when vote counting takes place.
Sauber's Zhou Guanyu poses for pictures with fans after the world premiere of a documentary about his life in Shanghai on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 19, 2024

Local hero Zhou Guanyu expects to feel 'mix of emotions' at Chinese GP

Formula One is returning to China for the first time in five years after previous editions were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024

Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat

A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
The average daily room rate of hotels in Japan for March marked the highest level since August 1997, as the country saw a record number of foreign visitors in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 19, 2024

Japan hotel prices near 30-year high as weak yen lures record tourists

The average daily room rate for March was about ¥20,986 ($136), the highest level since August 1997 and a nearly 20% increase from the same period in 2023.
Finding capital needed to start a business can be challenging. But for many women in the Global South, it’s not just difficult — it’s often impossible.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2024

Women entrepreneurs could make the world $6 trillion richer

When a woman walks through the door with a good idea, a smart business plan and a dream to improve her future, lenders too often see only risk.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia. Current and former U.S. officials say the Pentagon may have to revisit assumptions about military needs in the Middle East if the crisis deepens.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 20, 2024

U.S. military strategy tested as Iran-Israel warfare comes out of shadows

The tit-for-tat attacks have raised fears of an unpredictable regional war that the United States has sought to prevent.
The Malaysian state of Sarawak is blessed with the rivers and heavy rainfall needed to create hydropower that can generate clean electricity needed for emissions-free hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 20, 2024

Clean hydrogen’s best bet may be a rainforest state in Borneo

The state is hoping an abundance of hydropower can help it defy challenges that are clouding the fuel’s prospects elsewhere.
Raptors center Jontay Porter during a game against the Pistons in March. Porter wagered money on his own team to lose, pretended to be hurt for betting purposes and shared confidential information with gamblers, leading to a lifetime ban from the NBA.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 21, 2024

In latest gambling scandal, some see glimpse of sports’ future

There are those who worry that recent sports gambling scandals are just the tip of the iceberg.
From left: Willy Mnangat, Robert Keter, He Jie and Dejene Hailu Bikila cross the finish line in the Beijing half-marathon on April 14. He crossed first but the top three were later disqualified after it appeared they let He win.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 21, 2024

Beijing half-marathon runners stripped of medals after controversial finish

A Chinese runner crossed the line first in a bizarre finish after three others seemed to deliberately allow him to win.
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks stand on a log as plastic bottles and trash float on the the El Cerron Grande reservoir in Potonico, El Salvador, in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 22, 2024

Negotiations on global plastic treaty to resume in Canada

After promising to finalize a treaty by the end of this year, 175 countries are meeting in Canada from Tuesday to hammer out the details.
A robotics company’s research and development center in Shenzhen. Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

China needs a better innovation ecosystem

Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy, putting a damper on their ability to innovate.
Elections kicked off in India on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the likely winner. Though India’s wages and employment have not mirrored its stellar growth, the government has managed to keep inflation stable.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

Modi has one thing to teach leaders facing voters

Despite India's rapid growth, wages and employment have not risen at pace. Yet Modi is spectacularly popular. How? By controlling inflation.
Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour speaks at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday after a resolution calling for the recognition of Palestinian statehood failed when it was vetoed by the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

The urgency of Palestinian statehood

The U.N. Security Council rejected Palestine's membership bid last week. But Palestinian statehood remains the only viable path to peace, for Israel too.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says the government is  closely monitoring reports about a missing Chinese professor from a Japanese university.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2024

Japan monitoring reports of professor 'missing' in China

Media reports have said the professor may have been questioned by Chinese authorities before he disappeared.
The dollar's resurgence has come on the back of a slew of signs that the U.S. economy avoided the slowdown many anticipated.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 23, 2024

U.S. dollar’s extended reign delivers stark wake-up call to markets

Global investors are talking about "U.S. exceptionalism” after a predicted slowdown to the nation's economy didn't transpire.
Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in the country's Darfur region cross the border into Chad in August.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Humanitarian catastrophes and the world's forgotten conflicts

Tragically, there are global catastrophes that, by virtue of their longevity and their distance from us, have fallen out of sight.
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2024

Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party

The princess joined the party hosted by the emperor and empress at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens after graduating from Gakushuin University last month.
Japanese project Serani Poji, founded and operated by musician Tomoko Sasaki, was a relatively under-the-radar group during the early 2000s. Thanks to short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts, however, it has suddenly become one of the most successful Shibuya-kei groups in terms of streaming numbers.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2024

Serani Poji’s retro Shibuya-kei sounds find viral fame

The video game-related pop project gets a second life after online listeners rediscover chipper cuts from a 2002 album.
Exporters will be helped both by the stronger dollar, and also by their exposure to the U.S. economic resilience.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 25, 2024

Dollar wrecking ball forces investors to seek cover in exporters

Those with significant dollar earnings are set for a windfall, with major beneficiaries including heavyweight Asian chipmakers.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.