Search - 2018

 
 
A vehicle carrying murder suspect Kohei Iitsuka leaves the Otsu Kita Police Station in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on Monday to send him to prosecutors.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2024

Shiga man arrested for stabbing probation officer to death

The 35-year-old suspect's probation for a suspended jail term over the robbery of a convenience store was to end in July.
Traffic at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Last year, it opened the DIFC Family Wealth Center, a registry for family offices that also offers advisory services, workshops, mentoring, dispute resolution and certification based on how "structured” their governance is.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2024

Dubai takes on Abu Dhabi in race for supremacy in family offices

Last year, the number of registered foundations in Dubai rose by 53%. In rival Abu Dhabi, the number jumped by 35%.
A monitor shows the GPS tracking of balloons built by a Seoul-based activist group that are designed to distribute anti-Pyongyang messages over North Korean territory, in Seoul on June 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2024

Seoul activists develop 'smart balloons' to send into North Korea

The aim is to drop cargoes deeper into North Korea, including over Pyongyang.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi on Tuesday sought to allay the concerns of probation officers nationwide, saying it is important to create an environment in which they can work with peace of mind.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2024

Social media posts reveal potential motive in probation officer’s murder

Posts linked to the 35-year-old suspect suggest he was dissatisfied with his probation, police sources said.
A bereaved parent (Anne Watanabe, right) takes in an abused child with memory loss (Toma Nakasu) and convinces him that she’s his real mother in Kosai Sekine’s “Stay Mum.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2024

‘Stay Mum’: A tale of deception that doesn’t add up

A bereaved parent takes in an abused child with memory loss and convinces him that she’s his real mother.
A deminer clears mines in a field outside the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine on June 4. According to the Ukraine Ministry of the Interior almost a quarter of Ukrainian territory is contaminated by mines.
WORLD
Jun 12, 2024

Women deminers step in to clear up Ukrainian land

Almost a quarter of Ukrainian territory is contaminated by mines, according to the Ukraine Ministry of the Interior.
The number of people stranded on Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture in 2023 surged 90.2% from the average in the five years through 2022.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024

Over 3,500 people were stranded on mountains in Japan in 2023

Among those stranded, the number of foreign nationals accounted for a record 145.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa reacts after being reelected as president of South Africa on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2024

South Africa's Ramaphosa survives ANC hammering to win second term

A skillful negotiator, Ramaphosa clinched the agreement with the white-led Democratic Alliance and at least two other smaller parties.
Wang Shun of China races to gold in the final of the men's 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 15, 2024

Doping regulator knew of previous positive tests by Chinese swimmers

Three Chinese swimmers who failed drug tests before the 2021 Olympics had tested positive for a powerful steroid several years earlier.
NBA legend Ray Allen high-fives children during a basketball clinic in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Saturday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 15, 2024

Former Celtics great Ray Allen says 'distractions' played role in Game 4 blowout

The two-time NBA champion, who ran a basketball clinic for children in Tokyo on Saturday, also stressed that learning defense is key for developing young players.
Imanaga pumps his fist after closing out the seventh inning against the Cardinals on Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 16, 2024

Shota Imanaga is becoming a star for the Cubs. How did MLB not see this coming?

Shota Imanaga, who is an early candidate for the Cy Young Award, has quickly established himself as a dynamic presence who pitches with passion and style.
South Korean soldiers walk past a military facility where loudspeakers dismantled in 2018 used to be, near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

South Korea's loudspeakers face questions over reach into North

Tests in 2017 showed broadcasts could not be understood further than 7 kilometers, short of the 10 km that the military touted as reaching the North's Kaesong city.
The Dodgers' Mookie Betts reacts after being hit by a pitch during a game against the Royals in Los Angeles on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 17, 2024

Dodgers star Mookie Betts suffers fractured left hand after being hit by pitch

Betts was hit in the left wrist by a fastball from Royals reliever Dan Altavilla.
Expecting that the Palestinian Authority implement reforms, build institutions, reconstruct Gaza and police its people while Israel withholds its main source of finance is unfair and unrealistic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Palestine's fiscal demise

The G7 and other powerful countries should help the Palestinian economy tap into international financial assistance like any other developing country.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is in custody on espionage charges, waves behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow on April 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

Russia sets closed espionage trial for U.S. reporter Gershkovich

The White House has called the charges "ridiculous," and President Joe Biden has said the reporter's detention is "totally illegal."
Astronaut Koichi Wakata poses for a photo after holding a news conference on March 29 to announce his retirement from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at the end of March.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 18, 2024

After three decades, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata moves to private sector

Wakata became chief technology officer for the Asia-Pacific region at U.S. startup space company Axiom Space in April.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun makes a rare public appearance at the Berlin Aviation Summit on June 4. His presentation — swinging between defiance and contrition — might offer clues on how he aims to handle himself during the Washington hearing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2024

Boeing faces senate grilling as CEO search gains momentum

How outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun handles the spotlight is important not just for his legacy, but also for the company’s work to shore up confidence.
The border between the two Koreas is seen from an observatory inside the Demilitarized Zone.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2024

Warning shots fired as North Korean troops cross border again

More than 20 North Korean soldiers who were on maintenance work crossed the line Tuesday and moved back north after the shots were fired.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Amur Oblast region of Far East Russia on Sept. 13 .
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2024

Worry more about Putin’s visit than Kim’s dung balloons

Russia and North Korea, heavily sanctioned, have much to gain from each other and little to lose, reducing the leverage that the U.S. and its allies have over them.
Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe (second from right) and Aikasa founder Shoji Marukawa (second from left) hold rental umbrellas during a media briefing on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Shibuya launches initiative to set up 150 new umbrella-sharing stands

The initiative envisions a reduction of 76.1 tons in carbon dioxide emissions and 29.1 tons in waste per year.
Naomi Osaka in action during her second-round match against Iga Swiatek at the French Open in Paris on May 29
TENNIS
Jun 19, 2024

Osaka among four Grand Slam winners granted Wimbledon wildcard

The 26-year-old will be playing in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in five years.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024

Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get

With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
Beijing’s response to the European Union's proposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles looks more like the targeted playbook it deployed against Australia a few years ago. The government and state media are already publicly identifying specific products that could get taxed.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

China eyes trade war targets across Europe for counterstrikes

Among the possible targets: brandy, pork, wine, dairy products and cars.
Film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (left) and actor Lily Franky arrive for a photocall to promote the Official Selection feature film "Shoplifters" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September 2018.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese film startup aims to change industry working conditions

K2 Pictures is seeking to raise the money from domestic and foreign investors.
The Oku knife "hooks or wraps elegantly along the edge of a plate or board," designer Kathleen Reilly says.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 22, 2024

A playfully subversive knife from a rising Scottish design star

The Scottish artist fuses East and West in a new knife design crafted in and inspired by Niigata Prefecture’s Tsubame-Sanjo.
Japan is considering a system to let foreign visitors who are exempted from obtaining short-stay visa declare online their information such as purpose of stay before entering the country.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2024

Japan to launch online travel authorization system for visitors

The system's introduction aims to prevent illegal stays.
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday approved this year's honebuto economic and fiscal policy guidelines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese government restores 2025 primary budget surplus target

In its economic blueprint, the Kishida administration has pledged a balanced budget other than interest payments by fiscal 2025.
Renho announces her campaign pledges for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, in the capital on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024

The campaigners that Tokyo hopeful Renho doesn't want you to know about

The candidate for governor has kept quiet about Japanese Communist Party activities in support of her — ties that could alienate some voters.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024

Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China

China’s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
Amy Yang walks off the green on the 15th hole during the third round of the Women's PGA Championship in Sammamish, Washington, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 23, 2024

Eyeing first major, Amy Yang grabs two-shot lead at Women's PGA

Miyu Yamashita of Japan and Lauren Hartlage are tied for second heading into the final round of the major tournament.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40