In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The Federal Reserve kept up its aggressive stance at its September policy meeting. An expert explains that inflation in the US remains "sticky," with some prices set to keep rising, and warns of the consequences of runaway price rises.

South Korea's booming defense industry has the enthusiastic backing of the country's President Yoon Suk-yeol as it sets out to manufacture an increasing share of the global arms production.

Giant panda Xiang Xiang has a legion of fans who are eager to follow her progress as she adapts to her new life. Born at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in 2017, she was raised there until February of this year when she moved to China under an ownership agreement between the two countries. Reporters were invited to see how the adorable six-year-old is faring at a panda facility in Sichuan Province.

A director who had to remain anonymous. His work filmed in secrecy. Dark times in Myanmar are depicted onscreen in "Losing Ground", a 23-minute work that was honored in October at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.

As avian influenza continues to spread around the world, researchers in Japan are turning to human medicine to protect rare and endangered bird species. Anti-virals are turning out good results in experiments so far, with the aim being to protect animals in zoos and keep natural habitats free of dangerous disease.

Under avian flu quarantine guidelines, a record 17.7 million chickens were culled during the past year in Japan. The arrival of migratory birds carrying the virus from overseas could cause further outbreaks.

Olena Ivanenko quit her job and joined the fight for Ukraine after Russia began its invasion in February 2022. Now she's battling on the frontlines against enemy attacks while struggling with her injuries and the loss of comrades.

The operator of Japanese online marketplace Mercari recently sent ripples through workplaces across the country when it exposed a substantial pay disparity between its male and female staff. In an example to other employers, the firm moved quickly to address the problem, and says it will remain transparent about its efforts to eliminate the gender gap in its offices.

This year's final Grand Sumo competition, the November Tournament, concluded on Sunday, November 26, in Fukuoka. Without the presence of the sport's alpha male, the Emperor's Cup was up for grabs. In the end, a wrestler who's in line to become the new king of the ring took center stage in dominating fashion.

Ophthalmologist Hattori Tadashi quit his high-paying job in Japan two decades ago to give impoverished people in Vietnam access to eye care. Since then, he and his team have restored the vision of more than 20,000 people free of charge. Now he has been named one of four recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often called "Asia's Nobel Prize" -- for his humanitarian work.

The global tourism industry is trying to bounce back following more than two years of coronavirus restrictions, and many countries are still struggling to regain foreign tourists.

In Greece, officials on the island of Alonissos are boosting the recovery by offering unprecedented access to an otherworldly relic, submerged underwater for thousands of years.