In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Electric vehicles are leading the charge to decarbonize the global auto industry, but Brazil is making a strong case for bioethanol. And some of the biggest names in the business are jumping on board.

The United Nations Development Programme has maintained a presence in the Gaza Strip since 1989. Many of the group's workers remain on the ground despite the dramatic escalation in violence that began earlier this month. NHK World spoke with Noguchi Chitose, the Deputy Special Representative of the UNDP's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, about the work being done to provide support amid the barrage of Israeli attacks.

The family photo above was taken in July 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York. Two months later, the man in the baseball cap was killed when a hijacked passenger jet slammed into the Twin Towers. His father, pictured far right, soon embarked on a quest for answers. Twenty-two years on, Sumiyama Kazusada remains as committed to his cause as ever.

Japan's education and culture ministry has asked the Tokyo District Court to issue an order to dissolve the religious group formerly known as the Unification Church. NHK spoke with one former member, whose parents are still involved with the group, about why he knew it was time to cut ties.

Bear attacks in Japan are on the rise, with the number of incidents reaching a record high for the period from April to July this year. Amid the escalating cases, the environmental ministry is calling on people to be on alert and take extra precautions.

A fatal apartment fire in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last November forced the Chinese government to ease anti-coronavirus rules after the tragedy triggered protests against its strict "zero COVID" policy.

The six-year-old girl in this photo wears a wary expression. The picture, taken more than seven decades ago and discovered last year, was a key piece of evidence in the struggle of a woman who had spent her life without a nationality. Now 84, she has finally acquired Japanese citizenship. Her plight is not unique. She is one of many descendants of Japanese who were left behind in the Philippines after World War Two.

NHK Producer Mohammed Shehada and Cameraman Salam Abu Tahoun recently described the situation on the ground in the Gaza Strip to their colleagues in Tokyo. Relentless Israeli airstrikes are robbing innocent people of their lives and displacing many more. The two reporters say war crimes are occurring right under the nose of the global community.

Video games comprise one of the world's largest entertainment industries. But as the Tokyo Game show revealed in September, some of the hottest action is happening on the sidelines — from gaming furniture to customized apartments.

NHK spoke on Wednesday with the family of a young man captured by Hamas ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel. They're urging Washington to pressure the Palestinian militant group into letting their son and all other hostages go free.