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Nolan Arenado, seen during a game at Yankee Stadium in August 2024, reported to spring training with the Cardinals on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 17, 2025

Nolan Arenado reports camp with Cardinals 'ready to go play ball'

"I'm back, and I'm ready to go play ball," Arenado told reporters on Sunday. "I'm a ballplayer, and I'm a Cardinal, until I'm told I'm not.
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's  engagement with studying English and its benefits.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2025

Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test

An excessive focus on testing students' English ability is turning language learning into a chore, depriving children of the joy and opportunities of intercultural communication.
The government has made a shift toward nuclear amid predictions of higher electricity demand stemming from semiconductor production and data centers for AI in the decades to come.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Japan backs nuclear power in climate plan criticized as insufficient

The government is targeting emissions cuts of 60% by fiscal 2035, but environmental groups and businesses have called for more ambition.
Mike Sunda at a concert in Haikou, China
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 20, 2025

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

Creative strategist Mike Sunda talks about his influences and the filming of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi” music video.
Yamanote Jijosha has a long history of staging Shakespeare plays, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the company will present “Othello” and “Macbeth.” Previously, it toured productions like “Titus Andronicus,” which premiered in Tokyo in 1999, saw multiple revivals and had a homecoming in 2015.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 21, 2025

Directing is never a monologue at the experimental Yamanote Jijosha theater company

To mark its four decades of existence, the company stages two Shakespearean tragedies for a triumph.
David Moreton, a former professor at Tokushima University, originally came to Japan as a missionary in 1988. He is now one of the world’s foremost experts on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 24, 2025

How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku

David Moreton has devoted decades to researching southern Japan’s famed 88-temple pilgrimage, established by influential monk Kobo Daishi.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025

U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule

The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
Pope Francis in February 2016. As of Saturday, his condition "continues to be critical," the Vatican said.
WORLD
Feb 23, 2025

Pope Francis in critical condition after health deteriorates, Vatican says

The pope was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs after being hospitalized earlier this month.
Nuns pray at the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis is hospitalized for pneumonia in Rome, on Sunday
WORLD
Feb 24, 2025

Pope Francis remains critical and has 'slight' kidney issue, Vatican says

The pope is particularly prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
Co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel reacts during the electoral evening in Berlin on Sunday after the first exit polls in the German general elections.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Alice Weidel, the unlikely queen of German's far-right AfD

Alice Weidel led the Moscow-friendly AfD to a record result of around 20% in Germany.
Catholics attend a Mass to pray for Pope Francis' health at the Plaza Constitucion in Buenos Aires on Monday.
WORLD
Feb 25, 2025

Pope Francis still critical but shows 'slight improvement,' Vatican says

The 88-year-old pontiff was spending his 11th night in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, making it the longest hospital stay of his nearly 12-year papacy.
Amid rising global defense spending, U.S. President Donald Trump's push for 5% of GDP on military budgets poses a challenge for American allies, including Japan, which is already struggling to meet its 2% target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025

U.S. defense spending demands could transform global security

The level of spending the U.S. is demanding could spark an arms race as adversaries try to match NATO and America's Asian allies.
The co-leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel (left) and Tino Chrupalla (right), deliver a statement after the first parliamentary group meeting of their party on Tuesday, two days after Germany's general elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2025

Far right lurks in the shadow of Germany's coalition dilemma

As victor Friedrich Merz tries to build a coalition, Germany could find itself in a vicious cycle where the compromises required to govern deepen the divisions that plague it.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha stand in front of an iron gate with the slogan "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work will set you free") as they arrive for a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site in southern Germany on Feb. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2025

Without America, ‘the West’ will splinter, wither and die

Trump and his movement do not share similar values, at least not unequivocally, and that is now sinking in across the rest of the West, which the U.S. has led for eight decades.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025

'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages

Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 1, 2025

Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination

For those with yen to burn, the Seven Stars in Kyushu is one of the most luxurious ways to experience some of southern Japan’s best hidden gems.
Hidetaka Ishii, an official at the Chiba Municipal Government, says close coordination with private-sector operators is key for regional decarbonization efforts.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Mar 2, 2025

Japan’s climate heroes show potential and limits of local initiatives

Chiba and others show the potential for local areas to accelerate the energy transition, as well as the challenges of building locally driven, carbon-free energy models.
Nuns pose for a photo in the rain in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Saturday, ahead of a prayer service as Pope Francis continues his hospitalization.
WORLD
Mar 2, 2025

Pope Francis remains stable, has not had new breathing crisis, Vatican says

The 88-year-old pontiff suffered a constriction of his respiratory airways on Friday, akin to an asthma attack, renewing concerns over his well-being.
Astros left fielder Jose Altuve makes a throw home during a game against the Nationals in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 3, 2025

Jose Altuve takes on challenge of learning to play left field for Astros

Jose Altuve is moving to left field after 14 seasons in MLB.
Former Executive Vice President Ichiro Takekuro enters the Tokyo High Court for the appellate court ruling in January 2023 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

Acquittal of two former Tepco executives to be finalized

The Supreme Court supported the lower courts' decisions that the accident was unpredictable and decided to dismiss an appeal by lawyers acting as prosecutors.
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.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Mar 7, 2025

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

Despite longstanding taboos, evolving attitudes toward women's health highlight shifting cultural norms.
Ichiko Aoba’s latest full-length album, “Luminescent Creatures,” weaves in sounds mimicking whale songs and wind to express her fascination with the natural world and its interconnectedness.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2025

Ichiko Aoba’s intimate sonic fantasy born from dreams

The singer-songwriter turns her subconscious into songs about the natural world and its interconnectedness on “Luminescent Creatures.”
A makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Ten days that shook Ukraine’s world reverberate in defiant Kyiv

The U.S. shift is as calamitous for Ukraine as it is shocking for European allies. But the mood remains defiant in Kyiv.
Syrian army personnel gather as they head toward Latakia to join the fight against the fighters linked to Syria's ousted leader Bashar Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, on Friday.
WORLD
Mar 10, 2025

Syrian leader scrambles to contain deadliest violence in years

Clashes that a war monitoring group said had already killed over 1,000 people in Syria continued for a fourth day.
Every year, there is heightened interest in commemorating the 3/11 disaster around the time of the anniversary. But memorial facilities and operators are increasingly struggling to keep their activities going all year round and as time passes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2025

Preserving the memory of 3/11 is becoming more difficult

Despite a peak in interest around the 3/11 anniversary, disaster memorial facilities and operators are facing mounting challenges in keeping their activities going as time passes.
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe (center) takes his seat for the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford in Manchester on March 9, 2025.
SOCCER
Mar 11, 2025

Ratcliffe slams 'not good enough' and 'overpaid' Man Utd flops

The British billionaire named Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, Casemiro, Jadon Sancho and Antony as the chief causes of his frustration.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 13. Darnold reportedly plans to sign with the Seahawks.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Mar 11, 2025

QB Sam Darnold to sign $100 million contract with Seahawks: reports

Darnold parlayed a career season with the Minnesota Vikings into the largest contract of his career.
A tank holds untreated waste from plutonium production at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a site that was integral to the nation’s nuclear arsenal after World War II, north of Richland, Washington, in March 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 11, 2025

Most contaminated U.S. nuclear site is set to be the largest solar farm

Plans to transform Hanford had just begun inching forward when U.S. President Donald Trump started his second term.
Many in Japan are increasingly concerned that under the Trump administration's shifting policies, the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally, raising fears of a weakened security partnership amid rising threats from China and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2025

Japan reels from — and steels for — U.S. policy shifts

“What Japan has learned from the Ukraine war is that the era where we could rely entirely on the U.S. is over.”
A handout image received from Manchester United on March 11, 2025, shows Foster + Partners' illustration of a proposed new 100,000-seat stadium, unveiled as part of the regeneration of the Old Trafford area.
SOCCER
Mar 12, 2025

Manchester United to leave Old Trafford for new 100,000-seat stadium

The stadium, which will be built on land surrounding Old Trafford, will cost around $2.6 billion and the timescale for the project is five years.

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.