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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during an interview at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of his visit to the United States this week.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2024

Kishida advocates wider defense network ahead of U.S. trip

The Japanese leader said he would push ahead on cooperation with like-minded countries on security, including on defense equipment and technology.
Supporters of the Senior Women for Climate Protection association outside the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on March 29, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 8, 2024

How three European human rights cases could shape climate litigation

The verdicts will set a precedent for future litigation on how rising temperatures affect people's right to a livable planet.
Broken fridges in the yard of a recycling workers' tenement house in Dongxiaokou village in Beijing in 2014
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 8, 2024

Climate-warming gases being smuggled into Europe, investigation says

Law enforcement agencies across the European Union are struggling to keep track of illicit shipments entering via Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.
With the resignation of Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu, a major hurdle may have been removed in the construction of the maglev high-speed train, which is expected to connect Tokyo to Osaka in just over 60 minutes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024

Maglev train is back on track after Shizuoka governor's derailing

Shizuoka's governor was blocking the construction of Japan's maglev bullet train. Now that he has resigned, the project can finally move at full speed.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps speak during a news conference following an AUKUS defense ministerial meeting in Mountain View, California, last December.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 9, 2024

U.S., U.K. and Australia consider working with Japan on AUKUS security pact

The three countries said they were weighing inviting Tokyo to join the pact’s second stage, with talks with Japan and others set to begin this year.
Deer that are kept in a fenced-off area in the city of Nara
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024

Nara Prefecture to expand area for culling iconic deer

The prefectural panel will discuss culling methods and other details to draw up a new protection program in fiscal 2025.
The U.S. military’s Kawakami Ammunition Depot in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. High levels of PFAS have been detected in well water around the facility.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 15, 2024

U.S.-Japan pact hampers PFAS survey at U.S. facility in Hiroshima

The bilateral Status of Forces Agreement gives exclusive authority to the U.S. forces over the management of their facilities in Japan.
Haruko Obokata speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka in 2014. Ten years after the STAP scandal, structural problems that led to the scandal persist, leaving ample room for researchers to tamper with research data, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024

Little change in Japan’s research sector 10 years after stem cell fraud

A decade after the STAP scandal, there is still a lot of leeway for researchers to tamper with data.
Anne Mahrer and Rosmarie Wyder-Walti talk to journalists after the verdict of the court in the climate case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 9, 2024

Swiss climate policy shortcomings violated human rights, top court rules

The European court's decision on the case, brought by more than 2,000 Swiss women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond.
Anne Mahrer and Rosmarie Wydler-Walti talk to journalists at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2024

In landmark climate ruling, European court faults Switzerland

Experts said it was time an international court determined that governments were legally obligated to meet their climate targets under human rights law.
An Apple store in Shanghai. Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Activists press Apple over Vietnam's detention of climate experts

Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
A Wisconsin resident prepares to vote in the presidential primary election in Superior, Wisconsin, on April 2.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 16, 2024

Can we trust the polls? How emerging technologies affect democracy

In a global election year, all eyes are on the ties between emerging technologies and democracy.
A portrait of the 13th Ryukyu King Sho Kei, which was returned to the Okinawa Prefectural Government from the United States
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 22, 2024

Artifacts missing after Battle of Okinawa returned from U.S.

Items that include portraits of kings from the Ryukyu Kingdom have returned after going missing in 1945.
A brine pool at an SQM lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The industry that deals with one of the world’s most important commodities is asking whether it's doomed to repeat a boom and bust cycle again and again.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 12, 2024

Lithium industry braces for long-term oversupply after price instability

Those involved with the commodity are asking whether they're doomed to repeat a boom and bust cycle again and again.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike in Tokyo on April 1
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2024

Tokyo Gov. Koike denies claim she falsified academic credentials

The governor denied allegations published in a monthly magazine that she drafted a fake graduation document from Cairo University.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
Signage for MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking in Tokyo. A coalition of climate groups filed shareholder proposals with the three banks calling for stricter board oversight of climate-related risks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024

Climate investors target board oversight of top Japan banks: sources

The proposal marks the first time climate groups have targeted bank boards as a way to pressure the lenders on climate change.
Construction on the Techo Funan Canal, which will span some 180 kilometers from Phnom Penh to the Cambodian coastal province of Kep, is slated to begin later this year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

U.S. urges transparency over China-backed canal in Cambodia

The waterway will span some 180 kilometers from Phnom Penh to the coastal province of Kep.
On average between 1991 and 2020, the highest temperature in Sapporo on April 15 was 11.5 degrees Celsius, but the temperature rose above 25 degrees on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2024

Japan's Sapporo sees earliest 25C day since records began

A city known for the 1972 Winter Olympics and hosting one of the country's biggest snow festivals saw summer-like temperatures.
Yukio Kani, chairman and global CEO of Jera
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024

Japan’s top power producer Jera considers IPO to fund green push

The Tokyo-based company plans to develop 20 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by fiscal 2035.
JTC and Sun Electric's SolarRoof project in Singapore in July 2018
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 15, 2024

Southeast Asia 'woefully off track' on green investment

Energy consumption in the region is expected to grow 40% this decade.
Coral reefs bleach in the Great Barrier Reef as scientists conduct in-water monitoring during marine heat in Moore Reef, Australia, on Feb. 27.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 16, 2024

Coral reefs suffer fourth global bleaching event, NOAA says

At least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching among their reefs since February 2023.
From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 16, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

We discuss everything from accessibility in Tokyo to dealing with trains and the country’s shifting attitudes.
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time

The deployment for joint military exercises in the northern Philippines — effectively China's backyard — was widely expected to unnerve Beijing.
Japan and other countries are holding annual talks on saury catch quota.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2024

Japan and eight other countries discuss saury catch rules

Slated to run until Thursday, the talks will focus on setting calculation rules to allocate catch quotas.
Japan's exports grew 7.3% year-on-year in March, up for the fourth straight month, showing that the economy continues to benefit from the effects of the sliding yen.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2024

Japan’s exports get boost from China aided by yen tailwind

Exports gained 7.3% in March from a year earlier, with growth slightly decelerating from February’s 7.8% gain.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Apr 17, 2024

Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan

The group sees potential benefits in tapping Japan’s strong industrial and technological capacity.
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.
As of April 4, the bird flu virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024

Bird flu in cows demands vigilance, not panic

Bird flu had been confirmed in herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
Tourists in Kyoto on Saturday. Japan saw a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 17, 2024

Inbound tourism numbers hit record high, with Japan set to achieve 2025 goal

The nation welcomed a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March, surpassing the previous high of 2.99 million from July 2019.

Longform

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