Search - 2023

 
 
ASML's headquarters and factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands
WORLD
Jul 16, 2024

ASML-backed university is caught in the middle of U.S.-China chip war

The Netherlands is facing increasing pressure from Washington to stem Beijing’s chip-making efforts.
Cadets at the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kure Recruit Training Center row in unison during a cutter boat drill in Kure Bay, Hiroshima Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 29, 2024

MSDF’s Kure base faces recruitment challenges as youngsters shy away

The stressful nature of service and an increasing likelihood of actual combat are causing many to opt for other careers.
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years

The rise in life expectancy may possibly be a reflection of a drop in fatality rates for COVID-19 patients.
Technicians assemble a component of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN nuclear research facility in Cessy, France, in March 2007. International cooperation in science is essential for solving global challenges and maintaining innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2024

Geopolitics threatens science and societal progress

In this world, the prospect of greater controls or reduced international cooperation can only be damaging.
U.S. President Joe Biden holds the arm of Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap that included the release of Paul Whelan from Russia, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2024

The Russia prisoner swap was years in the making for the U.S.

Talks that led to the prisoner exchange started more than two years ago and almost didn't happen.
The BMW logo. It took the German automaker more than two years to discover the extent of a braking system fault that is expected to cost the carmaker nearly €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to fix.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 16, 2024

BMW took two years to find extent of defect behind recall

The braking system fault is expected to cost the carmaker nearly €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to fix.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure

Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Sept. 18
WORLD
Oct 17, 2024

How Hezbollah came to possess bulky pagers with concealed explosives

The pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Chisato Morishita bows to reporters on Sunday in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, after she was projected to win a seat in the Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Record number of women elected to Japan's Lower House

A total of 73 female candidates won seats in Sunday’s general election, making up about 16% of the membership of the chamber of parliament.
People use umbrellas during a hot summer day in Ginza, Tokyo, in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 1, 2024

Extreme heat takes big toll on work and elderly mortality in Japan: report

The annual Lancet Countdown report says the world is facing elevated threats in 10 of 15 health indicators due to climate change.
Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
BUSINESS / Longform
Nov 11, 2024

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

Japan’s MICE sector is expanding rapidly, adapting with tech upgrades, flexible venues and sustainable initiatives as the Osaka Expo approaches.
Nigeriens gather in a street to protest against the U.S. military presence, in Niamey, Niger, on April 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2024

Trump inherits waning U.S. strength in Africa

Biden made sweeping political promises to Africa that he has yet to keep, including visiting during his presidency, which ends in January.
Roki Sasaki in action for Japan against the Czech Republic in the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo in March 2023
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 12, 2024

Roki Sasaki and MLB: How effective would his pitching arsenal be?

Every team should be interested in Sasaki, who has been putting up some huge numbers in Japan.
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said it recommended that the Financial Services Agency impose a fine on general contractor Yamaura for releasing false financial statements.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2024

General contractor Yamaura to be fined for false financial statements

A third-party investigation panel found the person in charge of preparing financial statements at Yamaura had illegally withdrawn about ¥2.6 billion.
Children stand next to the sea at the Kara Tepe camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece, in October 2020.
WORLD / Society
Dec 13, 2024

'Invisible' refugee children caught in Europe's migration red tape

In the first nine months of 2024, arrivals of unaccompanied children to the main entry points to the European Union were 8% higher, despite overall arrivals slowing.
Numbered evidence markers indicate where bullet casings were located at the crime scene outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Dec. 4.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

Suspect in UnitedHealthcare shooting visited Japan, then vanished

New details are emerging about Luigi Mangione’s growing impatience with "a capitalist society” and his search for refuge in the mountains of Japan.
 A poster for Hayao Miyazaki's anime film "The Boy and the Heron" (in the foreground) is displayed at a theater screening the film in Beijing.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Japanese films tug at Chinese moviegoers' heartstrings

Most of the Japanese movies making waves in China are anime titles capable of making solid profits.
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024

Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?

Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
Indonesia's plan to increase biodiesel mandates to 50% by 2028 could require clearing 5.3 million hectares of forest for palm oil plantations by 2042, an area larger than Denmark.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

The year’s worst climate news you haven’t heard about

Not enough floodwaters for dams, more coal burning and demand for Indonesian palm oil show efforts to slow global warming are flagging.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn

For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
Tonoike Sake Brewery has been gearing their brewery toward tourism since the late 1980s, attempting to lure tourists to the town of Mashiko.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 3, 2025

Traveling for sake's sake: The emergence of brewery tourism in Japan

While sake consumption has declined in Japan, breweries across the nation are taking advantage of a rise in overseas interest to promote themselves as tourist destinations.
The streets of Susukino district in the city of Sapporo, Hokkaido, in February 2020. Osamu Tamura, 61, is on trial to determine whether he was aware of the alleged actions of his daughter when he drove her to and from the hotel where a 62-year-old man was found dead and beheaded in July 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2025

Father of suspected killer pleads not guilty to aiding Sapporo murder

Osamu Tamura, 61, is on trial to determine whether he was aware of his daughter's alleged actions.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo hold a joint news conference in Taguig City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2025

Japan looks to up the ante with more money and partners in military aid program

As funds for Japan's official security assistance increase, so will Tokyo's efforts to boost the number of countries it assists, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump in Tokyo march ahead of the inauguration of then President-elect Joe Biden on Jan 20, 2021.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 17, 2025

Japan has nothing to fear from Trump — except in maybe one area

Japan is far better positioned in the areas most important to Trump than many other countries. If Shinzo Abe were still alive, Japan would be in a great place.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in August 2022, after returning from a trip to Kentucky.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

How Biden’s inner circle protected a faltering president

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025

Fall in Japanese bureaucrat aspirants shows signs of stabilizing

The number of applicants in fiscal 2023 rose by 36.0% from the previous year, and in fiscal 2024, it increased by 17.9%, reaching a record high of 4,734.
The four Israeli hostages stand on a stage just before their release, in Gaza City on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

Hamas releases four Israeli hostages in second swap

The four hostages are being released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza.
Hong Kong's commercial real estate sector is going through one of its worst slumps in history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 27, 2025

Hong Kong’s property distress is catching up with city’s banks

Banks with soured loans and mortgages have been reluctant to sell the underlying real estate assets at a loss — but that is changing.
Al Hilal's Neymar during an Asian Champions League fixture against Al Ain, in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 21
SOCCER
Jan 28, 2025

Neymar and Al Hilal agree to terminate contract, club says

The 32-year-old forward played just seven times since joining the club in August 2023.
Kirsty Coventry, who is bidding to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee, in Paris on Aug. 10, 2024.
OLYMPICS
Jan 29, 2025

Kirsty Coventry hopes to make waves in IOC presidential race

The former swimming star is one of seven candidates bidding to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami