Search - 2019

 
 
Israelis protest for the release of hostages held in Gaza and against the government in Tel Aviv on June 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Israel tech leaders, irked by Netanyahu, eye moves into politics

The war against Hamas is straining Israel's economy, with the central bank projecting costs of around $67 billion through 2025, nearly 15% of the annual GDP.
In the future, more tour operators and sites of interest may start marketing themselves based on travelers' preferences to set their own schedules.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024

When Japan travels, it doesn’t mind going it alone

Regardless of the destination, more tour operators and regions are leaning on “travel as a form of self-care.”
Supporters listen as President Joe Biden speaks at a reelection campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, one day after his debate with former President Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

The road to a crisis: How Democrats let Biden glide to renomination

Many fear U.S. President Joe Biden will lose to former President Donald Trump and drag Democrats to devastating defeats in congressional and state elections.
A city street in Kyoto crowded with tourists in April. American tourists headed for Japan have surged this year, according to data from the International Trade Administration.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2024

More American tourists head to Japan as battered yen beckons

Airlines are also moving in tandem with this trend, adding 9% more seats between the United States and Japan in the three months through August.
A Chinese worker organizes plastic doll heads after painting them at a toy factory in Xietang, Zhejiang Province, China, in 2015.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2024

China’s plastics boom is set to create another trade headache

Parts of the country’s sprawling petrochemicals sector are running at as little as half capacity as producers cut back.
Plaintiffs of a series of lawsuits on forced sterilization and their lawyers hold banners saying "victory ruling" after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 3, 2024

Japan's top court orders compensation for forced sterilization victims

The landmark ruling was made on the basis that the now-defunct eugenics law was unconstitutional.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is welcomed by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Oct. 5, 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

India's Modi heads to Moscow for first visit since Ukraine invasion

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday makes his first visit to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, walking a fine line between maintaining a longstanding Moscow alliance while courting closer Western security ties.
London's financial district in August 2023
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2024

Labour win brings few hopes — or fears — to London's financial district

The Labour Party has assiduously courted the City of London, mindful that their plans for boosting economic growth will need a big dose of private capital.
Visitors walk past an Amazon exhibition booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

Is AI a major drain on the world's energy supply?

The spread of data centers across the globe is throwing a spotlight on the amount of energy the technology uses as well as its impact on the environment.
The government aims to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 400,000 by 2033, despite a recent Justice Ministry ordinance that puts in place tougher rules on accepting overseas applicants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Can Japan boost its foreign student count to 400,000?

The government recently tightened rules for accepting overseas applicants, though it hasn't lost sight of its lofty goal of increasing foreign student numbers.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February 2019. At the summit, Trump lost his patience and cut negotiations with Kim short just as they were gaining momentum.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2024

Blame Trump for North Korea’s saber-rattling

What would have happened if Donald Trump hadn't failed to capitalize on Kim Jong Un's willingness to deescalate by losing his patience on that fateful February day?
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.

The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
Tokyo police have arrested four people for allegedly luring their targets into multilevel marketing, using dating apps, last year, despite orders for the suspension of network marketing-related business.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

Four arrested in Japan over multilevel marketing using dating apps

The police believe that the four collected a total of some ¥850 million from about 2,000 people in 42 prefectures, including university students.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others at a position of Ukrainian servicemen in the town of Kupiansk last November.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Being Volodymyr Zelenskyy: How war has changed Ukraine's leader

His ambition when he was elected in 2019 had been to help Ukraine become a modern democracy, before that was shattered by Russia's invasion in 2022.
China's 15-day visa-free policy is giving tourism a huge boost, with bookings from eligible countries surging 150% and attracting millions of visitors post-pandemic.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it's a hard sell for some

The recent surge in tourism comes after China closed its borders in early 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and kept them shut until the start of 2023.
Artwork is displayed in the home of Mikiko Watanabe, who was killed in an arson attack at a Kyoto Animation studio in 2019, in Shiga Prefecture on June 11.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2024

Mother of Kyoto Animation arson victim continuing to deliver lectures

Tatsuko Watanabe's 35-year-old daughter Mikiko was an art director at the anime company.
A group of Chinese tourists walks through the Ginza district of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 19, 2024

Japan sees more tourists than before pandemic, breaking half-year record

The weak yen is attracting large crowds to Japan, with many tourists splashing out.
Pedestrians walk past fences closing off access to the Trocadero in Paris on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 21, 2024

The bickering and 'cold sweat' as Paris built its Games

Following the horse-trading to win the Games came the French infighting over how to host them.
People visit the Volkswagen booth at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, on April 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 24, 2024

Volkswagen is reeling in China. Can EVs help it grow in the U.S.?

Volkswagen CFO Arno Antlitz said the company expects to continue losing China market share and hopes to merely maintain its position in Europe.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris

Team Japan is looking to build on the momentum from three years ago in Tokyo, where the nation earned a record medal haul.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama embraces Vice President Kamala Harris while arriving to speak on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid in the East Room of the White House in Washington in April  2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2024

Harris to lean on tight team and Obama staff in White House run

Here’s a look at the people in her orbit as she moves to reshape the campaign and form the nucleus of a potential new administration.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in April 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 3, 2024

Alongside the Trump-Russia inquiry, a lesser-known look at Egyptian influence

The Justice Department investigated whether a Trump adviser was part of an Egyptian plan, never proven, to funnel $10 million to the 2016 Trump campaign.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, during an event at the Buergenstock Resort in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2024

Ukraine’s allies are worried about the power of Zelenskyy’s top aide

Some of Ukraine’s international backers are growing concerned about just how much decision making power Andriy Yermak has.
The entrance gate of the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen, China, on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2024

With smugglers and front companies, China is skirting U.S. AI bans

The U.S. worries advanced semiconductors could help China develop superior weaponry, launch cyberattacks and make faster decisions on the battlefield.
Naomi Osaka serves to Ons Jabeur during her first round match in Toronto on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Aug 8, 2024

Osaka defeats Jabeur to advance in WTA Toronto opener

The four-time Grand Slam champion needed only 72 minutes to eliminate ninth-seeded Jabeur.
The Intel Corporation logo at a temporary office during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in 2022
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 8, 2024

How spurning OpenAI set chip giant Intel behind in the AI marketplace

OpenAI went on to launch the groundbreaking ChatGPT in 2022 and is now reportedly valued at about $80 billion.
Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Aug 9, 2024

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

You've likely heard of the American dream. In Japan, where no such concept exists, immigrants forge their own ideals.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024

Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom

For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Lions players celebrate after a win over the Buffaloes on Wednesday at Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2024

A fight over free agency in NPB, with help from an American union

The union representing players in NPB is fighting to secure rights over players' images and give them the opportunity to make the jump to MLB sooner.

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?