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LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite, unveiled at Kyoto University in Kyoto on Tuesday
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 29, 2024

Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry unveil world's first wooden satellite

LignoSat is developed with the aim of combating space clutter and promoting more environmentally friendly space activity.
Nawaf Al-Osimy, chief technical officer of the Jazlah Water Desalination plant, which draws vast quantities of water from the Persian Gulf and makes it drinkable, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on March 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 30, 2024

Saudi Arabia eyes a future beyond oil

The kingdom is trying to juggle its still-vital petroleum industry with alternative energy sources like wind and solar as it faces pressure to lower carbon emissions.
Chinese electric vehicles bound for shipment at the Port of Taicang in China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2024

EU seeks roadblocks for Chinese EVs without sparking trade war

Crucially, the bloc must strike a balance with its aim for more Europeans to drive EVs as it prepares to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.
Massive oil reserves mean the U.S. is less enthusiastic about energy transition than China, which is charging ahead with clean technology.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2024

America is joining its frenemies back in the fossil fuel club

For most nations, the energy transition isn’t just sought for climate reasons, it’s also a strategic and economic necessity.
A ground crew worker refuels a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2024

Waste-to-fuel company that raised $1 billion verges on collapse

Fulcrum BioEnergy has recently laid off nearly all of its staff of about 100 and halted most of its operations, according to more than a half-dozen former employees.
Kanoa Igarashi, who earned a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is excited to get another shot at gold at this year’s Summer Games.
MORE SPORTS / Surfing
May 31, 2024

Kanoa Igarashi ready to challenge Teahupo'o in search of gold at Paris Olympics

Igarashi earned the silver medal in the inaugural Olympic surfing competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain

And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
Greek-flagged bulk cargo vessel Sea Champion is docked to the port of Aden, Yemen to which it arrived after being attacked in the Red Sea in what appears to have been a mistaken missile strike by Houthi militia, in February.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 1, 2024

How Red Sea disruptions are driving up carbon emissions

A surge of attacks on ships traveling the waters of the Red Sea is forcing shippers to reroute their vessels, driving up emissions.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan defense minister warns of ‘simultaneous crises’ in Asia and beyond

Defense chief Minoru Kihara said Tokyo is “ready to lead the way” in preserving and strengthening a free and open international, rules-based order.
China's Chang'e 6 lunar probe on the launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province on May 3
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 2, 2024

China lands on moon's far side in historic sample-retrieval mission

The mission "involves many engineering innovations, high risks and great difficulty," China's space agency said in a statement on its website.
A new bus service was introduced in Kyoto as part of the city's efforts to address overtourism.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 2, 2024

Overtourism-hit Kyoto launches new bus service for tourists

The new line is part of the city's plan to thin the crowds of tourists clogging local buses that residents rely on.
Pedestrians holding umbrellas during a downpour in Tokyo in June 2023
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Jun 2, 2024

The growing link between extreme rain and respiratory health in Japan

Researchers have found a strong association between respiratory mortality and severe downpours of the kind being made worse by climate change.
The ultimate challenge for the next government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024

India’s election winner has a repair job waiting

The ultimate challenge for the next Indian government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean defense chief Shin Won-sik attend a trilateral meeting on sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2024

Japan, South Korea and U.S. unveil new initiatives to cement defense ties

The three partner nations agreed to develop a framework to institutionalize trilateral cooperation within the year.
An earthquake-damaged area in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in May 2023. The Noto Peninsula has been experiencing an ongoing “seismic swarm” since late 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Jun 3, 2024

How rain and snow play a role in Noto’s ‘seismic swarm’

The seismic activity in the region is synchronized with changes in underground pressure, which is influenced by seasonal patterns of precipitation.
A North Korean soldier is seen at a guard post inside the country in this picture taken from Paju, South Korea, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in June 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Seoul to suspend inter-Korean military pact with Pyongyang over balloons

South Korea said the halt will last "until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored,” after the North sent trash-filled balloons across the border over the last week.
Tokyo Gas storage tanks in Tokyo. The firm is looking to add more U.S. natural gas assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024

Tokyo Gas seeks more U.S. natural gas assets, president says

Japan's top city gas supplier is aiming to expand its gas-related businesses in North America after its recent acquisition of a U.S. shale gas producer.
A hydrogen storage tank and loading system at a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe. Japan and the European Union have agreed to work together on policies related to clean hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 4, 2024

Japan and EU agree to work on creating hydrogen demand and supply

Tokyo sees hydrogen as a new and cleaner source to gradually substitute liquefied natural gas, part of Japan's path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Transport ministry officials head to Toyota's headquarters in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday for on-site inspections.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2024

Auto certification in spotlight as Toyota raided over data tampering

Questions have emerged over whether Japan's regulatory standards and their subjective interpretation might be hindering automakers.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo. Some investors are expecting the central bank to cut bond purchases this month and then raise rates in July.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

BOJ weighs reducing bond buys as early as June meeting

The bank will conclude its two-day policy meeting on June 14.
A government estimate has shown that lifetime disposable income for households with wives who continue working post-childbirth is ¥167 million higher than that for those who quit their jobs and remain unemployed.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

¥170 million income gap estimated with women's continued employment

The government will promote reform in the workplace environment to achieve structural wage increases, said the prime minister.
Women at a water well as a sand storm passes by in Ethiopia
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024

Climate disasters in Africa push women to sell sex, risking HIV progress

Hunger is pushing women and girls into sexual exploitation and increasing the risk of HIV, health experts and aid workers have warned.
A large sign against Halloween gatherings is displayed outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo on Oct. 28 last year.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2024

Shibuya and Shinjuku crack down on street drinking

Both areas in Tokyo have been grappling with issues related to drinking in public following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving spent two seasons with the Celtics earlier in his career.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 6, 2024

Mavs' Kyrie Irving has 'no fear' about returning to Boston for NBA Finals

Dallas guard Irving and Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis find themselves pitted against their former teams during the NBA Finals.
A solar farm in Switzerland. Solar power is leading the power’s sector’s transformation, with investment in the area set to reach $500 billion this year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 6, 2024

Clean energy spending set to reach twice that on fossil fuels, IAEA reports

Nonetheless, continued spending on coal, gas and oil remains at a level that’s too high to conform with global climate goals.
Simone Biles, seen after winning the U.S. championship on Sunday, brought greater awareness to the subject of mental health during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
OLYMPICS
Jun 6, 2024

Olympic organizers committed to protecting athletes' mental health in Paris

Research suggests that elite athletes suffer from mental health disorders in around the same proportions as the general population, experts say.
Officials of Japanese and Ukrainian companies meet in Kyiv on Thursday during an exchange event organized by the Japan External Trade Organization.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 7, 2024

Japanese firms eye opportunities to help Ukraine rebuild

The networking event was organized by government-linked JETRO following a Japan-Ukraine meeting held in Tokyo in February.
Shizuoka Gov. Yasutomo Suzuki (left) meets with JR Central President Shunsuke Niwa in the city of Shizuoka on June 5.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 7, 2024

Kishida maintains 2037 target for Tokyo-Osaka maglev line

Prime minister pledges support of the central government in helping stakeholders meet the deadline.
Some major world economies want to finalize a plan ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit to halt new private sector funding for coal projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 8, 2024

Major world economies seek to halt new private sector coal financing

The biggest pushback on the OECD proposal to halt new private sector funding for coal projects has come from Japan, sources said.

Longform

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