Search - 2019

 
 
Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer (left), defender Ian Maatsen (center) and forward Donyell Malen celebrate their team's victory over Paris Saint-Germain in Paris on Tuesday.
SOCCER
May 8, 2024

Borussia Dortmund overcome the odds to return to Wembley

In the June 1 Champions League final, Dortmund will face either Bayern Munich or 14-time champions Real Madrid.
Despite Shinzo Abe's numerous achievements as prime minister, including job creation and efforts to promote workforce gender equality, recent controversies surrounding his tenure, including ties to controversial groups and scandals within his political faction, have tarnished his image.
COMMENTARY
May 7, 2024

The economic legacy of Japan's longest-serving prime minister

Under Abenomics and the BOJ's monetary policy, employment rose more than under any other Japanese government in the 21st century.
SoftBank is in talks with South Korea's Naver over control of LY, which operates the popular messaging app Line, the telecommunications firm's CEO has said.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2024

SoftBank in talks with Naver over control of Line operator LY

LY is majority owned by a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.
Penny Sackett, a former director of the Australian National University’s Mount Stromlo Observatory, in the remains of the observatory, which was destroyed by a wildfire in 2003, just outside Canberra on May 6.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 14, 2024

Alarmed by climate change, astronomers train their sights on Earth

Seeing how climate change has impacted the earth, many astronomers have left science to become full-time activists.
Author Yukio Mishima accepts the Arts Festival Award in the drama category at the 20th Arts Festival Award Ceremony on Jan. 22, 1966.
LIFE / Bilingual
May 16, 2024

Unraveling the Japanese prose of Yukio Mishima

Achieving success at a young age, Yukio Mishima's creative use of compound verbs and kanji stand out in his writing.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (left) and then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin on May 7. While President Vladimir Putin has no real challengers, powerful actors within his government are vying against each other.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2024

The battle of ministries in Putin’s Russia

Historical parallels suggest that Putin’s top-down approach, like Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization and Gorbachev’s perestroika, risks sparking opposition by causing intra-elite infighting.
Missile systems form part of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9. The FBI tries to maintain a tricky balance in spy operations: the more access informants have to valuable intelligence, the higher the risk that they could be compromised.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

FBI shed informants linked to Russian influence operations

After a secret review several years ago, the bureau cut off confidential sources thought to be connected to Russian disinformation.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the High Commissioner's residency in Noumea, New Caledonia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 24, 2024

The colonial-era inequalities that fueled the New Caledonia crisis

The island territory is marked by deep disparities in education and employment, according to data and experts.
A passenger who was on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 arrives at Changi Airport in Singapore on Wednesday. The flight had experienced severe turbulence, resulting in the death of a British man and multiple injuries.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2024

Fliers concerned about safety after airline mishaps

But despite this year's spate of high-profile airline accidents, statistics show that flying is still safer than the drive to the airport.
The Japanese government updated its English education guidelines in 2017 to emphasize communication over grammar and memorization. Public school teachers are incredibly busy, however, which means schools haven’t been able to implement changes uniformly. Private and alternative schools are attempting to remedy this.
LIFE / Language / Longform
May 27, 2024

The language of opportunity: Bilingual education is on the rise in Japan

Stuck with a reputation for poor English, Japan is pushing its next generation to be bilingual. Privately run schools are seeing the benefits.
The increase in foreign student numbers in Japan came after the government started to gradually lift its COVID-19 travel restrictions in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
May 24, 2024

Foreign student numbers in Japan grew in 2023

A survey found 279,274 foreign students in the country as of May 2023, up 20.8% from a year earlier but still below prepandemic levels.
Shipping containers at Pier J at the Port of Long Beach wait for processing in Long Beach, California.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 25, 2024

USTR extends some Chinese tariff exclusions, but many to fall away

Friday's action means certain goods will maintain exclusions from import tariffs.
Carpenters and others in traditional attire perform a ritual in Naha on Monday to mark the completion of the framework of Shuri Castle's main hall.
JAPAN
May 27, 2024

Ceremony held for restoration of Shuri Castle in Okinawa

Carpenters and others dressed in traditional attire performed a ritual to mark the installation of the ridge beam on the roof.
The African National Congress’ manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Feb. 24
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024

Where South Africa’s crunch election will be won and lost

As the country heads into its tightest election since apartheid ended in 1994, the ANC is facing competition like never before.
Pine trees in a coniferous forest Canterbury, New Zealand
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 28, 2024

Millions more trees isn’t the climate fix New Zealand envisaged

The result of a project linking incentives for forestry development and emissions trading turned out to be less effective than hoped.
The wealthy don’t live only in global glamour cities, and family offices are now popping up in places like Perth in Western Australia.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2024

Catering to the ultrarich is a booming business in Western Australia

After an almost two-decades-long mining boom, Perth has 64 centimillionaires, and family offices are now popping up in the city.
President of China Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend the China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 24, 2023.
WORLD
May 28, 2024

Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals

While new Chinese investment in Africa increased 114% last year, it was centered on minerals essential to the global energy transition and China's plans to revive its economy.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2024

Rare spat shows China and North Korea still at odds on nuclear weapons

Pyongyang condemned China, Japan and South Korea on Monday for discussing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
While the recent trilateral summit between Japan, South Korea and China in Seoul was aimed at restarting dialogue, it yielded minimal concrete outcomes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 30, 2024

Lessons from the Japan-South Korea-China summit

The underlying force driving the trilateral summit — which yielded little in substance — is the fact that Beijing needed these talks more than Tokyo and Seoul.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang listen on.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2024

A long-neglected trilateral resumes — to expected results

Revival of this trilateral has been driven by Chinese uncertainty: worries about its economy and anxiety regarding geopolitical developments.
In a boon to Saudi Arabia's government, which is seeking to fund a massive economic transformation plan, Saudi Aramco’s $12 billion share sale sold out shortly after the deal opened on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 3, 2024

Saudi Aramco’s $12 billion stock offer sells out in hours

The extent of foreign participation will be closely watched as an indicator of interest in Saudi Arabia's assets.
While European countries such as Germany have strengthened bilateral ties with Beijing, the EU as a whole is set on reducing reliance on the Chinese economy: a strategy that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls "de-risking."
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 31, 2024

Europe’s vulnerability in the EU-China-U.S. geoeconomic triangle

Behind a semblance of unity, the EU and U.S. could be on clashing trajectories in their pursuit of economic security to reduce dependence on China.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flashes victory signs as he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi late Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2024

India’s Modi gets Pyrrhic poll victory as challenges loom for BJP

A better-than-expected performance by the opposition denied the ruling party a majority, forcing it to rely on its coalition partners to stay in power.
Father's Day is said to have come to Japan around 1950, shortly after the establishment of Mother's Day.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 15, 2024

The evolving nature of fatherhood in Japan

Meiji Era fathers were stern, those from Showa had to be productive for the nation. Heisei dads were told to get involved at home. What will the "Reiwa Dad" look like?
Naomi Osaka hits a backhand during her French Open match against Iga Swiatek last month.
TENNIS
Jun 15, 2024

Osaka out of Wimbledon warm-up after losing thriller

A battling performance by Canadian Bianca Andreescu took her into the semifinals with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory over the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Police officer Suzunosuke Kose (right) helps an elderly resident buy a phone equipped with fraud prevention features at an electronic store in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2024

Attacked police officer uses experience to help victims

Kose was stabbed multiple times by a knife-wielding man in the left chest and both thighs in front of a police box.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

Disastrous results in U.K. polling show scale of Sunak’s challenge

Seat-by-seat analysis by Survation found Labour to be on course to a large majority.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk speaks during a news conference in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

As China’s pressure on Taiwan rises, departing U.S. envoy urges steady hand

Worries about Chinese belligerence rose during Sandra Oudkirk’s three years in Taipei. As she leaves, she is seeking to assure Taiwan of continued U.S. support.
Staff lower the Chinese national flag in the Central Financial District in Hong Kong in March. Hong Kong is an established trading hub for raising capital while Singapore excels in private wealth management.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2024

Stop comparing Hong Kong to Singapore

Think of it this way: Hong Kong is where the Chinese can grow their wealth while Singapore is where they can preserve it.
People participate in a hustings event focused on the Hong Kong community, in Sutton, London, earlier this month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 22, 2024

Hong Kongers embrace politics in U.K., but some still fear Beijing

Since 2021, more than 180,0000 Hong Kongers have moved to Britain under a special visa program set up in response to a crackdown in their homeland.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?