Search - 2019

 
 
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024

For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia

The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
Hifumi Abe reacts after defending his Olympic title in the judo men's under-66 kg division at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris on Sunday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 28, 2024

Japan's Hifumi Abe defends Olympic title after sister falls early

The Abe siblings famously both won gold at their home Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 just 30 minutes apart.
The United Nations headquarters building is pictured though a window with the U.N. logo in the foreground in New York in 2014.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 29, 2024

U.N. cybercrime treaty faces new scrutiny

After seven negotiating sessions to date, criticism of the text has increased.
A screen shows news coverage of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Italy's Meloni vows to 'relaunch' cooperation with China

Rome seeks to improve trade ties with Beijing after exiting the Belt and Road infrastructure investment plan last year.
Nicolas Maduro speaks to members of the media after casting a ballot in Caracas on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Venezuela opposition rejects Maduro election win

Venezuela’s political opposition has vehemently rejected the electoral authority’s ruling that Nicolas Maduro was reelected as the nation’s president, calling on the military to intervene. The U.S. and some Latin American neighbors also raised concerns about the official result.
Inscriptions on a disaster monument in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture (left), can be seen clearly when illuminated using a smartphone app "Hikari Takuhon" developed by researcher Hideyuki Uesugi.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2024

Number of natural disaster monuments on state map increasing in Japan

Stone monuments inscribed with descriptions of the damage caused by past natural disasters and lessons from forerunners have been erected since ancient times.
Christa Deguchi of Canada (right) battles South Korea’s Huh Mi-mi in the finals of the women's under-57 kg judo competition at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 30, 2024

Japan-born Christa Deguchi claims Olympic gold for Canada in women's judo

Born and raised in Nagano Prefecture to a Canadian father and Japanese mother, Deguchi excelled for Japan before switching her representation to Canada.
Harley-Davidson motorcycles on display in Tokyo. Japan's antitrust watchdog has raided the manufacturer's Japan unit for allegedly imposing excessive sales quotas on its dealers.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2024

Harley-Davidson's Japan unit raided after quotas force dealers into hardship

The motorcycle manufacturer's unit in Tokyo is also suspected of having dealers buy Harley-Davidson models that they did not want.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris might maintain some of the economic policies of former President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2024

A President Harris might be decidedly Trumpy in approach to Asia trade

The efforts to contain China economically is a common theme that is likely to be maintained after the election.
A man bangs a cooking pot during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Valencia, Carabobo state, Venezuela on Monday, the day after the Venezuelan presidential election.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Vote tallies show proof of election fraud, says Venezuela’s opposition

Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets of Caracas to protest what they say is President Nicolas Maduro’s fraudulent win.
Technicians assemble a component of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN nuclear research facility in Cessy, France, in March 2007. International cooperation in science is essential for solving global challenges and maintaining innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2024

Geopolitics threatens science and societal progress

In this world, the prospect of greater controls or reduced international cooperation can only be damaging.
Police officers stand near a billboard with an image of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Venezuela braces for possibility of more opposition arrests

The U.S.-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said Venezuela's election "cannot be considered democratic."
Then U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, on June 30, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

North Korea wants to restart nuclear talks if Trump wins, says ex-diplomat

The former diplomat said North Korea has also set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities.
Hakushi Hasegawa places their emotive vocals and dexterous keyboard work at the center of the music on their latest album, “Mahogakko” – reminding listeners that there’s a very human presence at the controls.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 2, 2024

Electronic wiz Hakushi Hasegawa pulls back the curtain

The musician's latest album, “Mahogakko,” strikes a delicate balance between the dazzling and the downright baffling.
U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, inside a defendants' cage in Moscow on April 23.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

Russia releases U.S. reporter in major swap for Kremlin agents

The swap included two dozen people, 16 going to the West and eight being returned to Russia.
Britain's Andy Murray says goodbye after he and teammate Dan Evans lost their men's doubles quarterfinal on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Tennis
Aug 2, 2024

'Proud' Murray bows out of tennis with Paris Olympics defeat

The former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam title winner slipped into retirement at age 37 when he and Dan Evans lost in the men's doubles quarterfinals.
Customers stand in line outside a Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo's Ginza district on July 19.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2024

Luxury brands count cost as shoppers from overseas enjoy weak yen discount

Goods sold in Japan by global luxury brands, ranging from designer sneakers to whisky, now tend to be cheaper in dollar terms than elsewhere.
Founded in the early 2000s, Ichiro's Malt has since become a third pole in Japan's whisky world dominated by beverage giants.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 4, 2024

In sleepy Chichibu, Japan's whisky landscape is quietly shifting

Ichiro’s signature flavor profile of rich, woodsy flavors complemented by a clear fruitiness owes in large part to the tempermental 'mizunara' Japanese oak.
Chef Hironori Fujii moved his restaurant, Oryouri Fujii, to the Iwase district of Toyama City in 2019, finding the ideal setting in its historic surroundings.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 4, 2024

Oryouri Fujii: High-end Japanese cuisine in a picture-perfect Toyama setting

Chef Hironori Fujii will serve according to the seasons: ‘ayu’ (sweetfish) and ‘nodoguro’ (blackthroat perch) in summer; snow crab and yellowtail in winter.
Okinawan rapper Awich’s dynamic and emotional set proved her ability to headline any festival moving forward.
CULTURE
Aug 2, 2024

Why Fuji Rock is still the best party in Japan, no matter who headlines

Kraftwerk paid tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto in a sentimental set, while Awich, Man with a Mission and Turnstile provided some of the weekend's most thrilling moments.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi meets with victims of forced sterilization at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024

Victims of forced sterilization seek ¥15 million in compensation

Under a now-defunct eugenics law, the government allowed doctors to perform nonconsensual sterilization surgery and abortion on those with disabilities.
Algeria's Imane Khelif walks to the ring for her bout against Italy's Angela Carini during the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Aug 2, 2024

IOC addresses boxing controversy at Paris Olympics

The IOC says boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting will remain in the competition at the Paris Olympics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Russian nationals, including Artyom Dultsev, Anna Dultseva, convicted of spying in Slovenia, and their children at 
an airport in Moscow on Thursday following a prisoner exchange with Western countries.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2024

Russia’s prisoner trade says all you need to know about Putin

Among those released to Russia were people convicted by independent courts of cybercrimes, insider trading and breaking sanctions.
Children use a mobile shower, provided by the local government, amid extreme heat in metro Manila on May 2.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 6, 2024

From the Philippines to Mali, countries fail to count deaths from extreme heat

A lack of reliable data is undermining efforts to mitigate the risk of extreme heat and provide better protection for the most vulnerable.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance and three other insurance firms will be issued with cease-and-desist orders by the the Fair Trade Commission for forming a cartel, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Japan's FTC to issue orders to four major nonlife insurers in premium cartel

The insurers are said to have started prearranging premiums on contracts for Keisei Electric Railway, in which they shared the risk of covering payments, before 2020.
Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, speaks during an event at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin, on Jan. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 7, 2024

How Tim Walz pushed Minnesota toward aggressive climate policies

Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor tapped to become the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has accelerated his state’s embrace of clean energy and electric vehicles.
The U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaks at Temple University in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 7, 2024

Walz pick shines spotlight on U.S. VP's possible foreign policy role

Walz brings to the table a strong background on China issues as well as a number of foreign policy stances that line up with that of Harris.
English actress Daisy Ridley is seen arriving for the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in Hollywood on Dec. 16, 2019.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 8, 2024

'Star Wars' star Daisy Ridley diagnosed with Graves' disease

The actress said she initially dismissed her symptoms, attributing them to residual stress from a role in the 2023 thriller "Magpie."
Masahiro Nimura’s “Mommy” features interviews with family members of Masumi Hayashi (right), who was convicted of killing four people and poisoning over 60 others with arsenic-laced curry.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2024

‘Mommy’: A flawed but fascinating dive into a notorious murder case

Masahiro Nimura’s documentary raises reasonable doubts about a crime that gripped the nation over 20 years ago.
Avocados hang off a tree at an orchard in Tancitaro, Michoacan state, Mexico
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 7, 2024

Avocado goldrush links U.S. companies with Mexico's deforestation disaster

The U.S. demand for avocados divides communities in Mexico, where it is both a driver of economic growth and a catalyst for environmental crises.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?