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People and rescuers gather near the smouldering rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.
WORLD
Sep 28, 2024

Israeli airstrikes rock Beirut as Hezbollah command center is hit

A massive strike on the Iran-backed movement's command center apparently targeted leader Hassan Nasrallah.
A screen displays Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, as he delivers an address in Baalbek, Lebanon, in May 2018. In 32 years in charge of Hezbollah, Nasrallah, 64, has built the Iranian-backed militia into an influential force in Lebanon and a potent adversary of Israel.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 28, 2024

Hezbollah reckons with future amid Beirut strikes

Killing or incapacitating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would deal a significant blow to the group he has led for 32 years, analysts say.
The upscale Gangnam area of Seoul is one area in South Korea where high-end apartments for seniors are being developed.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2024

Fast-aging South Korea sees money in luxury retirement homes

The popularity of such residences have prompted the likes of Lotte and Hyundai to invest billions of dollars on new projects.
A photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping is displayed at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong on Monday. The 24-man Politburo led by Xi has recently unveiled a series of pro-growth goodies to help the country's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2024

Xi’s big stimulus week aims to draw a line under China slowdown

A recent barrage of policy announcements marked a sea change in Xi’s approach to managing China’s $18 trillion economy.
Morinari Watanabe speaks during an interview on Wednesday in Tokyo
OLYMPICS
Sep 28, 2024

IOC presidential candidate Watanabe vows to update Olympics

Watanabe, 65, said he is seeking the IOC's top post with the believe that "there are things that must be done for children and the athletes who perform in Olympic Games."
Hezbollah fighters take part in a funeral procession for one of the movement's commanders who was killed in an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024

Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's penetration of Hezbollah

The Hezbollah leader had been even more cautious than usual since the Sept. 17 pager blasts, out of concern Israel would try to kill him.
Keiichi Ishii was chosen as new leader of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party,at a party convention on Saturday, the first change of its leadership in 15 years.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2024

Ishii named Komeito head in first leadership change in 15 years

The change came as the term of the previous leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, 72, expired and he did not seek re-election.
The “Fragment Shadow” exhibition by Shunichi Kasahara and Satoru Higa, in which people’s shadows were digitally re-created and manipulated.
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Sep 29, 2024

Researchers in Japan look to art to mold the scientific process

From astrobiology to cybernetics, scientists are trying to use art not just for public outreach, but to shape research itself.
Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates in Tokyo with party rival Shigeru Ishiba after Abe won the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote in September 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba made his career as an anti-Abe

Over the years, Ishiba's opposition earned him few friends; indeed, he has a reputation for being a "traitor” due to his public criticism of party orthodoxy.
While Shigeru Ishiba’s victory suggests a shift within the Liberal Democratic Party, he still faces challenges from those who remain loyal to the old party guard. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Japan’s perennial political underdog finally gets a win

Ishiba margin of victory was slim, meaning that there is still a sizable portion of the party who will be resistant to his initiatives.
A banner honoring the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is displayed on a street in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 29, 2024

As Hezbollah threat loomed, Israel built up its spy agencies

Israel has spent the years since bolstering what was already considered one of the world’s best intelligence-gathering operations.
Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
CULTURE / Stage / Longform
Sep 29, 2024

Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh

The art form’s younger dancers are experimenting with long-standing approaches to the choreography, marketing and image of this captivating piece of Japanese culture.
A man holds pictures of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) and Hassan Nasrallah (left), the late leader of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut days earlier, in Baghdad's eastern suburb of Sadr City on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 30, 2024

Israel strikes Yemen port and keeps up Lebanon assault

The airstrikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah come amid fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and the United States.
The four remaining U.K. Conservative leadership contenders (from left): Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Tories turn on each other in race to succeed low-key Sunak

The U.K. Conservatives' annual conference has kicked off with jibes between leadership contenders.
New members of the Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) riot squad hold a drill in Tokyo on Thursday. The MPD plans to set up a section to specialize in the investigation of lone wolf terrorists.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2024

Tokyo police to set up specialist section for lone wolf terrorists

The section will form part of the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau via a reorganization in April to strengthen information gathering.
An employee works on the production line of Nio electric vehicles at a JAC-NIO manufacturing plant in Hefei, Anhui province, in China in 2022.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2024

China's factory and service sectors skid as stimulus calls grow

The data showed China's manufacturing industry remains a pain point for policymakers, who acknowledged the economy faces "new problems."
Volkswagen expects to deliver fewer vehicles this year than in 2023 — its fourth annual sales slump in five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2024

Volkswagen’s second profit warning exposes a carmaker in decline

The company expects to deliver fewer vehicles this year than in 2023.
Shigeru Ishiba, the new head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Incoming PM Ishiba sets Oct. 27 as date for snap election

The newly elected Liberal Democratic Party president's announcement is highly unusual and not without controversy.
Knowing how Earth’s temperature behaved deep in the past can also help scientists test climate models that predict the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2024

We just got a wake-up call from the time before dinosaurs

The die-offs happen when the Earth’s temperature changes too rapidly for organisms to evolve and adapt — as is starting to happen now.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to sign a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech Chinese goods at the White House in March 2018.
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2024

Trumpism, Stalinism and the tariff debate

Trump loyalists — which these days means almost the entire Republican Party — insist as a group that foreigners, not American consumers, pay taxes on imports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via videoconference in Moscow on Sept. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2024

Putin orders conscription of 133,000 servicemen in autumn draft

Head of Russia's conscription office says new conscripts will not be sent to Ukraine
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday. Some 45,000 union workers could walk off the job at seaports on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts on Oct. 1.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2024

U.S. port labor dispute threatens range of products

A possible strike by 45,000 union workers could affect the availability of anything from bananas to clothing to cars and cost the U.S. economy $5 billion daily.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani on deck in the ninth inning against the Rockies in Denver on Sept. 28.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 1, 2024

How far will Japanese players go in this year’s MLB playoffs?

The 2024 postseason begins on Tuesday, when another group of players will have the chance to join the ranks of Japanese World Series champions.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola addresses a news conference in Bratislava on Monday.
SOCCER
Oct 1, 2024

Guardiola promises strong City side in Slovan Champions League tie

Team will play without Rodri, who will miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury.
A U.S. Marine participates in counterdrone training in June 2021.
WORLD
Oct 1, 2024

Pentagon’s Replicator 2 to focus on countering threat from small drones

U.S. military facilities around the globe, including those in Japan and South Korea, are expected to benefit from the initiative.
Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte takes over as NATO secretary-general from Jens Stoltenberg of Norway at a ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2024

Mark Rutte set to assume NATO top job amid Ukraine and U.S. uncertainty

Rutte is expected to continue rallying support for Ukraine, pushing members to spend more on defense and keeping the U.S. engaged in European security.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024

HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval

The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
An electronic stock board displays the 225-issue Nikkei average and the rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024

Ishiba cool on Abenomics, pragmatic and a bit of a mystery

Analysts argue that the new prime minister will be more like former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida than former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Incoming child care policy minister Junko Mihara (center) arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday. Mihara is one of only two female ministers in Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 1, 2024

A very LDP Cabinet — more of the same, despite hints of a power shift

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba retained veterans in key posts and rewarded those who supported him in the LDP presidential race.
A pedestrian walks past a 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo. The Japanese model for a convenience store is gaining fans overseas where similar stores sell mostly gasoline and junk food.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 1, 2024

Making a habit of describing your morning convenience store run

Hitting up the local convenience store before or after work can wind up becoming habitual, and there are a number of grammar points to help describe it.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly