Search - 2019

 
 
Qatar players celebrate after defeating Lebanon in the opening match of the Asian Cup on Friday in Lusail, Qatar.
SOCCER
Jan 13, 2024

Qatar puts World Cup heartache behind it to win Asian Cup opener

The hosts beat Lebanon 3-0 at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, where a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final 13 months ago.
A toy gun is assembled at an Aequs toy manufacturing facility in the city of Belgaum in India.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2024

Infrastructure hurdles hinder toy manufacturers' shift from China

That other countries struggle to match China for efficiency is limiting firms' efforts to shift to lower cost bases and raising the risk of higher toy prices in the future.
An offshore wind turbine off the coast of Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, in 2013. Japan aims to increase its offshore wind power capacity to 10 GW by 2030.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jan 21, 2024

As Japan makes major investments in wind power, some residents are pushing back

In a sense, the city of Ishikari represents the idealized, natural version of Hokkaido for many Japanese. Some residents say massive wind turbines will destroy that image.
Australia's Mack Horton celebrates after winning gold in the men's 400 freestyle final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, on April 5, 2018.
MORE SPORTS / Swimming
Jan 22, 2024

Australian swimming star Mack Horton retires ahead of Olympics

Horton, a fierce anti-doping campaigner, called time on his career on Sunday just months ahead of the Paris Olympics.
A Cathay Pacific Airways aircraft prepares to land at Hong Kong International Airport. Data shows that major airlines produce almost twice as much emissions for every passenger they carry than low-cost carriers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 23, 2024

No-frills flying emerges as air travel’s painful, greener future

Budget airlines’ obsession with lowering weight to save fuel happens to produce the best emissions metrics in the skies.
According to the the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, international economic activity is expected to slow amid changing trade patterns.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2024

From 'hyperglobalization' to 'thin globalism'

How geopolitics, pandemics, and economic tensions are transforming global trade.
A man prays on July 19, 2019, outside the Kyoto Animation building where 36 people died in a fire caused by Shinji Aoba the previous day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2024

Possible death penalty looms for Kyoto Animation arson suspect

The trial shed light on his upbringing, the emergence of his grudge against the studio and how he went ahead with his plan of attack despite some hesitation.
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat was declared not guilty in his media shareholding case by Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

Thai court clears former PM hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat in share case

Thailand’s constitution bars politicians from owning shares in media firms to prevent platforms being abused for personal gains and to protect media freedom.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 26, 2024

Kyoto Animation arsonist files appeal against death sentence

A Kyoto District Court spokesman on Friday confirmed that the defense team was appealing the ruling.
Sensoji Temple, a popular tourist location, in Tokyo on Jan. 18
JAPAN / Society
Jan 26, 2024

Japan aims to direct Asian tourists to places less traveled

The tourism body is attempting to direct visitors to places outside Tokyo in order to prevent over-tourism, specifically by appealing to “light repeaters.”
E. Jean Carroll and her attorneys Shawn Crowley and Roberta Kaplan react outside the Manhattan Federal Court, after the verdict in the second civil trial was reached after she accused former U.S. President Donald Trump of raping her decades ago, in New York on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2024

Jury orders Trump to pay $83 million for sex assault defamation

Writer E. Jean Carroll said the former president had destroyed her reputation as a trustworthy journalist by denying he raped her.
A woman grills a piece of beef at a barbeque restaurant in Yokohama. Greenhouse gas emissions from food amount to a third of all human-caused emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jan 28, 2024

The complicated balance between health and climate in the Japanese diet

In Japan, people with higher-emitting diets also tend to eat healthier, raising questions for the health- and environment-conscious consumer.
A courtroom sketch shows Shinji Aoba (center) listening to a ruling handed down at the Kyoto District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2024

Kyoto Animation arsonist sentenced to death says he 'accepts' verdict

But Shinji Aoba said he had appealed the ruling because "there are a few more things that I want to leave behind as lessons for others."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Jan. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

Threats from Trump and China stoke a very European leadership fight

As a new term as European Commission president hangs in the balance, Ursula von der Leyen's future is intertwined with wider dilemmas.
Masanao Saito harvests his mikan tangerines with his grandson, Akihito Oyama, at his farm in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on Dec. 8. Behind them are apple trees full of fruit.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Feb 5, 2024

How fruit farmers in Tohoku are coping with climate change

Last year, extreme heat dubbed the "boiling Earth" phenomenon hit the region’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries hard.
Celebrations mark the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday in Dharamsala, India, in July 2015. The question of who will succeed the Tibetan leader, Tenzin Gyatso, now 88, looms large.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2024

Atheist China should have no say in Dalai Lama's reincarnation

Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Why, then, is it obsessed with controlling the succession of someone it despises?
Business people, diplomats and academics are watching developments in Hong Kong closely, saying the prospect of new laws targeting espionage, state secrets and foreign influence could have a deep impact on the global financial hub.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

Hong Kong leaders start push to tighten national security laws

New legislation could sharpen the 2020 regulations imposed by Beijing on the territory in response to months of pro-democracy protests.
La Rochelle's Gregory Alldritt (left) runs with the ball during a match between Sale Sharks and Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) in Salford, England, on Jan. 21. Alldritt will captain France for the upcoming Six Nations tournament.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jan 30, 2024

France eyes Six Nations boost after World Cup despair

France will have to play without Antoine Dupont, however, the combative scrum-half having chosen to play for the national rugby sevens team.
China's rural banking system plays a crucial role in lending to underdeveloped areas, but many had long struggled with weak profits, soured assets and lax governance.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2024

China merges hundreds of rural banks as financial risks mount

But legacy issues — if unresolved — could still cripple the operations of the newly formed institutions and cause bigger problems.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jan 31, 2024

Ninth title puts Terunofuji on cusp of joining all-time greats

His most recent victory puts him ahead — in terms of silverware won — of all but eight wrestlers to have made their debut in the past 65 years.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup, presides over an army parade in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 31, 2024

Arms dealer linked to Myanmar junta acquitted in money laundering case

Authorities had accused Tun Min Latt of engaging in a scheme to launder drug money by using it to buy electricity in Thailand and sending it to Myanmar.
Curbs on Boeing production in the wake of a mid-air blowout is adding to pressures forcing airlines to fly older planes for longer.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Feb 2, 2024

Boeing 737 Max crisis adds to high demand for older planes

Curbs on Boeing production in the wake of a mid-air blowout are adding to pressures forcing firms to fly older planes for longer.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Feb 5, 2024

Fighters' Tsuyoshi Shinjo needs to match substance with style in third season

Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo is trying to turn around the Fighters after last-place finishes in 2022 and 2023.
Police in riot gear stand guard next to a barricade near a fire outside the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 1 during a protest by farmers from Belgium and other EU countries over price pressures, taxes and green regulation.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Green backlash looms over EU elections

Polls show that while a large majority of Europeans support action to fight climate change, a many are also worried about the cost of doing this.
England's Jess Carter in action with Spain's Salma Paralluelo during the Women's World Cup final in Sydney in August 2023
SPORTS
Feb 8, 2024

Women's sports draw record viewership in U.K. in 2023, research shows

The FIFA Women's World Cup final, which England lost 1-0 to Spain, was 2023's most-watched women's sports event on TV with 38.4 million viewing hours.
At the new teamLab Borderless museum, the crowd-favorite room of lamps from Borderless 1.0 has evolved into a room of light bubbles, which interact with each other and the bodies passing by.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2024

Have we reached teamLab saturation?

The art collective re-opens its Borderless museum in Azabudai Hills. But the experience is starting to feel stale.
The “myahk,” a community currency implemented on Okinawa Prefecture’s Miyako Island in 2018, is intimately tied to local efforts for environmental preservation.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Feb 10, 2024

Japanese communities are creating currencies to educate and empower citizens

The yen will do when paying for things throughout the country. In some places, though, you may try paying with a coin that also helps reduce plastic waste.
Indonesian Defense Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto salutes supporters during a campaign rally in Jakarta on Feb. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2024

How could Indonesia’s presidential vote affect foreign relations?

While all three candidates portend continuity with their predecessor, only the front-runner vows more visible leadership in the region.
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto votes at a polling station during the general election in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

Prabowo on track to win Indonesia’s presidential election

This is Prabowo’s third time to run for the country’s top job, after losing in 2014 and 2019 to incumbent Joko "Jokowo" Widodo.
U.S. allies reevaluate priorities in relations with Washington out of concern Donald Trump may win the U.S. presidency again.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2024

U.S. allies fear the fallout of a new Trump era

The world appears to have priced in former U.S. President Trump’s disdain not only for allies but the entire global order his predecessors created.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?