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Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Apr 15, 2024

For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on

After a five-year absence, kabuki has returned to Kotohira. Can it be the draw that this tourism-hungry town desires?
Israeli soldiers mount an Israeli flag on a military vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

Israel vows response to Iran attack amid growing calls for restraint

Israel's military chief of staff said Iran's direct attack "will be met with a response" as world leaders call for no further escalation.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, arrives to a state dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House in Washington on April 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

U.S. envoy visits Korean border after Russian veto dents sanctions enforcement

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield's trip is the highest-profile visit by a U.S. official since Vice President Kamala Harris went there in 2022.
A member of the aircrew aboard a Jordanian Air Force C-130 during a humanitarian aid drop over the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2024

Iran’s conflict with Israel puts U.S. ally Jordan on edge

Iran's direct attack on Israel, and a potential retaliation, has put Western and Gulf state ally Jordan in a precarious position.
An electronic board shows stock indexes at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai on March 21, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2024

China's money managers lament loss of quality research amid analyst cutbacks

A prolonged market slump has reduced trading commissions as authorities tighten limits around what research analysts are allowed to publish.
The possibility of a deepening conflict between Israel and Iran suggests higher energy prices for energy import-dependent Japan, meaning more downward pressure for the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 19, 2024

Oil poses more risks for yen as Japan depends on energy imports

Crude oil futures jumped on Friday following reports that Israel launched a missile strike on Iran.
People work to move into a cemetery bodies of Palestinians killed during Israel's military offensive and buried at Nasser hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 22, 2024

Bodies found at Gaza hospital as Israel vows to 'increase pressure' on Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said its teams had discovered 50 bodies buried in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks at an event held by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the U.S.-China Business Council on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2024

Raimondo says Huawei’s chip breakthrough is years behind U.S. tech

Raimondo said the technology gap shows the Biden administration’s success in imposing export controls on China.
A robotics company’s research and development center in Shenzhen. Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

China needs a better innovation ecosystem

Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy, putting a damper on their ability to innovate.
Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in the country's Darfur region cross the border into Chad in August.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Humanitarian catastrophes and the world's forgotten conflicts

Tragically, there are global catastrophes that, by virtue of their longevity and their distance from us, have fallen out of sight.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in February 2022. Emanuel has praised the Kishida administration's efforts to boost national and regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan's unlikeliest cheerleader is an American ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel showers his host country, and its government, with praise. And in his view, Washington doesn't understand Japan well.
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Apr 28, 2024

Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers

As Japan’s rice farmers prepare for a new planting season, many will be hoping that this summer brings a reprieve from 2023’s brutal weather conditions.
A cardboard cut-out of a cyborg is on display in the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in Vienna, during a conference on regulating autonomous weapons systems often referred as "killer robots," in the Austrian city on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024

AI faces its ‘Oppenheimer moment’ during killer robot arms race

Governments worldwide have taken steps to collaborate with companies integrating AI tools into defense
Japan's industrial production rose 3.8% in March from February, as demand picked up after two straight months of declines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2024

Japan’s factory output records weakest quarter since pandemic

The yen’s plunge to a fresh 34-year low versus the dollar could spur a resurgence of cost-push inflation via higher costs for imports of food and energy.
A woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, in January.
WORLD
Apr 30, 2024

Surrounded by fighters and haunted by famine, Sudan city fears worst

The contest for control of El Fasher in Darfur has prompted alarmed warnings from American and United Nations officials who fear mass bloodshed.
A boy next to a nearly dried-up lake during an electricity blackout in Yangon on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC
May 3, 2024

Myanmar's junta stops issuing permits for men to work abroad

The junta said in February it would enforce a law allowing it to call up all men to serve in the military for at least two years.
A man maneuvers media equipment following an Israeli police raid on an Al Jazeera de facto office at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.
WORLD
May 6, 2024

Israel raids Al Jazeera’s offices after banning broadcaster

Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and access to its website are now blocked throughout Israel.
A supporter wears a mask depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally for Amit Shah, the Indian Home Minister and a leader of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the city of Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, on April 30.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

As India votes, Modi's BJP takes aim at opposition seats to win supermajority

As the Hindu nationalist party targets 400 seats in India's lower house of parliament, it also hopes to wrest vital constituencies from the opposition.
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 7, 2024

Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate

Some point to a shift in the nation’s security stance, while opposition party lawmakers indicate a general apathy among the media to cover the story.
If Donald Trump were to win a second term, his aggressive stance toward China and inclination for protectionist measures could complicate the situation for Southeast Asian nations.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2024

What a second Trump term could mean for Southeast Asia

Donald Trump has made bold promises about U.S.-China policy that, if enacted, would transform the world.
In response to the Manila Times report, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the chief of staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, said that transcripts could be fabricated and audio recordings could be manufactured using deepfake tools.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

Philippine military chief accuses China of 'malign influence effort'

He said Beijing's claim of a secret deal to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea is a distraction from its coast guard's aggression in the waterway.
Andrei Belousov, economic aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Putin taps economist to run defense in unexpected move

It is vital to ensure military spending aligns with Russia's overall economy, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
People ride past a JD.com advertisement promoting a Singles Day shopping festival in Beijing in 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2024

China's e-commerce giants face a delicate balance

Chinese consumers are seeking discounts and lower-cost shopping following the pandemic.
North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song speaks during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 8, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024

U.N. experts: North Korea laundered $147.5 million in stolen crypto

The money was stolen from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March this year, the experts said.
Philippine fishermen along with volunteers from nongovernmental organization Atin Ito aboard fishing boats arrive at a meeting point in South China Sea on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2024

Philippine boat convoy won't proceed to China-held reef, organizers say

An "advance team" that distributed supplies to Filipino fishermen about 46-56 kilometers from the disputed Scarborough Shoal was "sent away by various Chinese vessels."
The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon as seen from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, on May 10.
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
May 18, 2024

'Danger behind the beauty': More solar storms could be heading our way

For those charged with protecting Earth from powerful solar storms such as the one that caused the recent auroras, a threat lurks beneath the stunning colors.
Iran's Mehr news agency has confirmed the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, reporting that "all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred"
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi killed in helicopter crash

Iran's Mehr news agency confirmed the death, reporting that "all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred."
Mrauk U, in Myanmar's Rakhine state, in June 2019. Clashes have rocked Rakhine since the Arakan Army attacked security forces in November.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 20, 2024

U.N. warns of further 'atrocities' in Myanmar

Clashes have rocked Rakhine state since the Arakan Army attacked security forces in November.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with the families of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 22, 2024

Raisi death reshapes Iran succession, putting focus on Khamenei son

Following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's, son Mojtaba has emerged as a top contender.
A man looks on as Palestinians inspect a tent camp damaged in an Israeli strike during an Israeli military operation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

U.S. says latest Rafah deaths won't change its Israel policy

Recent deaths in Rafah have tested U.S. President Joe Biden's promise to withhold weapons from Israel if it put displaced persons there at risk.

Longform

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