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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.
Buildings in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on May 2
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2024

Ban on nighttime drinking around Shibuya Station passed by ward

The ordinance, an extension of measures at Halloween and New Year, comes into effect Oct. 1 and carries no penalties.
Richard Katz argues in his new book that the key to Japan emerging from decades of economic sluggishness depends on stimulating companies with high energy and dynamism, over the lumbering, older firms.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2024

Hope for Japan, if the elephants get out of the way

Protecting older companies, the jobs they have produced and the political and financial relationships they have nurtured, starves newer, more innovative businesses.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun makes a rare public appearance at the Berlin Aviation Summit on June 4. His presentation — swinging between defiance and contrition — might offer clues on how he aims to handle himself during the Washington hearing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2024

Boeing faces senate grilling as CEO search gains momentum

How outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun handles the spotlight is important not just for his legacy, but also for the company’s work to shore up confidence.
A courtroom sketch of Nikhil Gupta — whom U.S. federal prosecutors accused of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. resident who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India —  in federal court after his extradition from the Czech Republic, in New York City on Monday
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2024

Suspect in plot to kill Sikh separatist pleads not guilty in U.S.

The discovery of alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists in the U.S. and Canada has tested relations with India.
Doctors take part in a rally to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions, in Seoul on March 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

More doctors walk off the job in South Korea in one-day strike

The dispute began in January, when the South Korean government announced a plan to dramatically expand admissions to medical schools.
Japan is shifting its defense strategy to prioritize logistics and supply chain resilience, recognizing them as critical components of its overall defense capability.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 18, 2024

Real defense demands more than just being able to fight

U.S. Gen. Omar Bradley famously warned that “amateurs talk strategy and professionals talk logistics.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk past children during a welcoming ceremony in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Putin and Kim sign mutual defense pact in dramatic upgrade of ties

The North Korean and Russian leaders inked a "strategic partnership treaty," upgrading ties to a level that Kim said was on par with a formal alliance.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays poses for a portrait at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 1, 1967.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 19, 2024

Willie Mays, baseball’s do-it-all ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93

One of Major League Baseball’s first Black stars, Mays was widely considered the greatest all-around player of his era, perhaps ever.
A typhoon hits Hong Kong. Scientists warn that the danger ahead isn’t just from supercharged weather catastrophes. A warmer planet increases the chances of "compound events,” where multiple disasters — natural and manmade — occur at the same time or place.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

The era of super-wild weather is already here

Floods, wildfires, droughts and heat waves have become more widespread and volatile than before.
Inmates at the Sirindhorn Vocational Training School in Nakhon Pathom province in Thailand receive training on March 21 using an engine donated by Nissan.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Japan-aided juvenile training facility in Thailand offers route away from crime

Support provided by Japanese firms to the Sirindhorn Vocational Training School includes the provision of training equipment.
Zhang Yufei during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September of last year
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 19, 2024

Eleven swimmers in doping scandal named to Chinese Olympic team

WADA's decision not to punish the swimmers has provoked intense criticism, particularly from the United States.
Anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 14.
WORLD / Society
Jun 19, 2024

'Unthinkable' normalized two years after U.S. abortion ruling

From medics to single mothers to abused minors, Americans from all walks of life have been affected.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk looks at a Switchblade 300 drone during the 2023 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

U.S. approves sale of more than 1,000 ‘suicide drones’ to Taiwan

The $360 million arms sale comes as Washington doubles down on helping Taipei counter a potential Chinese attack on the self-ruled island.
While the education ministry recently introduced a new subject called “logic and expression” in its new curriculum guidelines, experts say that many teachers, in practice, are still focusing on grammar acquisition.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Japan study downplays complex grammar in improving English writing skills

English learners are better off focusing on making good arguments, according to the Kobe University research.
GMO Internet Group is making a foray into the artificial intelligence and robot business to spread the use of such tech products and services in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024

Japan’s GMO takes aim at labor shortage with AI and robotics company

It will focus on matching robot and drone manufacturers and AI developers with businesses.
Two Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon national park in Indonesia's Banten province. In 2023, a newborn Javan rhino in Indonesia raised hopes for the highly endangered species.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 19, 2024

Javan rhino clings to survival after Indonesia poaching wave

Conservationists fear poachers have killed up to a third of the surviving population, possibly with inside help.
A bill to require facilities for children to check whether workers have criminal records for sex crimes is approved unanimously at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Bill enacted to create sex crime screening system for work involving children

Records that can be checked will include those on nonconsensual sexual intercourse and violations of prefectural ordinances banning molesting and voyeurism.
The European leader to watch in the months and perhaps years ahead is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party was among the big winners in the recent European elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2024

EU populists are blind to the real threat to the bloc

The center-right will continue to dominate parliament, the surge in support for the extreme right evokes memories of the ugliest moments of the 20th century.
Balaji Srinivasan addresses the Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2022. A techno-libertarian, Srinivasan, who made his name as an anti-government crusader, tried to attach himself to the U.S. government when he was under consideration for a position in the Donald Trump administration.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 19, 2024

How techno-libertarians fell in love with big government

When faced with the prospect of the government becoming a major client for Silicon Valley techno-libertarians, once-principled opposition to state power dissipates.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan. Germany's air force plans to send three of the fighters to Japan next month for the first-ever joint aerial exercise between the Luftwaffe and Air Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Germany laser-focused on Indo-Pacific despite hurdles, top envoy to Japan says

German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze expects soaring ties with Japan to continue to reach unprecedented heights.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi (left) faces off against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

CDP's Izumi challenges Kishida to dissolve Lower House

Izumi said Kishida ought to seek a fresh mandate from the public due to his party's handling of its slush funds scandal.
Beijing’s response to the European Union's proposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles looks more like the targeted playbook it deployed against Australia a few years ago. The government and state media are already publicly identifying specific products that could get taxed.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

China eyes trade war targets across Europe for counterstrikes

Among the possible targets: brandy, pork, wine, dairy products and cars.
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea on March 9, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Collisions make visible China's 'salami-slicing strategy' in South China Sea

A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in a confrontation with China's coast guard at the Second Thomas Shoal on Wednesday, according to the Philippine navy.
A potato field in summer in Hokkaido. The prefecture is a significant source of food and produced 81% of Japan's potatoes in 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 24, 2024

Hokkaido's farmers look for a silver lining to climate change disruption

As the prefecture becomes warmer, it could produce more apples and sweet potatoes, agricultural cooperative officials say.
For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2024

Heat waves are deadlier than hurricanes. Make them ‘disasters.’

For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
Electric cars are stacked for export at the international container terminal of Taicang Port in Suzhou, China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 20, 2024

Europe’s EV battery plans fade on China price war and U.S. subsidies

As electric-vehicle sales slow, companies including Volkswagen, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz are scaling back or refocusing battery projects.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the new missiles are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and should provide Ukraine with capabilities through the remainder of this and the next fiscal year.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

U.S. diverts air defense missiles ordered by allies to Ukraine

The redirection is part of a "difficult but necessary decision” to reprioritize planned deliveries, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 21, 2024

Deadly heat waves mark Northern Hemisphere's first day of summer

Record temperatures in recent days are suspected to have caused hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths across Asia and Europe.
JJ Redick looks on before Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 14.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 21, 2024

Lakers reportedly set to hire JJ Redick as next coach

Redick was offered a four-year contract on Thursday morning, according to ESPN. Financial terms were not yet known.

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo