Search - 2023

 
 
A Wizzair Airbus A320-200 plane lands in Riga International Airport, Latvia, in 2019.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

European airline pilots and crews voice concerns about Middle East routes

The safety debate about flying over the Middle East is playing out in Europe largely because pilots there are protected by unions, unlike other parts of the world.
Cocoa beans are pictured next to a warehouse at the village of Atroni, near Sunyani, Ghana, on April 11, 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 25, 2024

How a hedge fund exodus reshaped global cocoa markets 

The impact of hedge funds' exit illustrates how reliant trading has become on these lightly regulated funds that increasingly shape financial markets.
Africa’s growing resource nationalism is prompting governments to renegotiate mining deals, aiming for a larger share of profits from mineral resources and reducing the revenues for multinational companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

Africans demand a bigger share of their natural resources wealth

Multinational companies should hurry to find sustainable ways in which they can share risk and revenue with governments, as they do elsewhere.
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
CULTURE / Music / 2024 in Review
Dec 27, 2024

Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024

Japanese music made waves globally, fueled by Coachella debuts, TikTok virality and unexpected hits like Creepy Nuts' "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born."
Greenpeace activists protest nuclear power in Berlin in April 2023, just as Germany was shutting down its three remaining nuclear power plants. 
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

It's time for Germany to admit its mistake on nuclear energy

The main thing standing in the way of Germany rebuilding its nuclear sector is a stubborn insistence that it can’t be done.
Education costs for children who attend private schools from kindergarten through high school have hit a record high of approximately ¥19.76 million, according to a survey released by the education ministry.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2024

Cost of private education through high school hits record high in Japan

Total education costs for children who attend private schools from kindergarten through high school, including tuition and cram school fees, are approximately ¥19.76 million.
New Nadeshiko Japan coach Nils Nielsen (center) poses for photos with JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (left) and Norio Sasaki, the JFA’s women’s soccer chair, during a news conference on Dec. 18.
SOCCER
Dec 26, 2024

JFA hopes Nils Nielsen's international focus leads Nadeshiko Japan back to glory

Nils Nielsen was officially unveiled as the new Nadeshiko boss at a packed news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 18. 
Stefan Kaufmann, former president and CEO of Olympus, in 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2024

Ex-Olympus CEO Kaufmann gets suspended sentence over drugs

The judge decided to suspend the sentence, given that the former Olympus CEO has been staying away from drugs.
A transport ministry panel experiments with a dummy to determine how quickly a person lying on the road during the night would be spotted when drivers use low and high beam lights.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2024

Japan drivers warned to steer clear of drunk pedestrians sleeping on road

Collisions involving pedestrians asleep on the road typically spike in December, when more people get imbibed at New Year's gatherings.
A bear trap in Hokkaido Prefecture. Bears have recently been found inside homes and shops.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2024

Increasing number of Japanese bears find human dwellings ‘just right’

Cases of bears making their way into homes and shops are on the rise across the country as the animal's natural food sources become scarce.
Ground Self-Defense Force members conduct a military drill next to an anti-ship missile unit on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2024

Japan defense spending goals hit by inflation, weak yen and political uncertainty

A slew of obstacles are jeopardizing Tokyo's pursuit of raising defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by fiscal 2027.
A Toyota RAV4 at a car dealership in California on Dec. 18. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to impose additional tariffs on imports has sparked concern among Japanese automakers with significant operations in Mexico.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2024

Trump tariffs spark concern among Japanese automakers

The pressing question now is how Japan will navigate and respond to the emerging order shaped by deepening global divisions.
Stuttgart's Anrie Chase applauds the fans after a match against Bayer Leverkusen on Nov. 1.
SOCCER
Dec 29, 2024

How Anrie Chase went from a Fukushima high school to playing against Real Madrid

Just three years ago, the Stuttgart defender was still playing for Shoshi High School in Koriyama. Now he's competing against the likes of Kylian Mbappe.
Private detective Marcus Lentz holds his camera as he poses for photos in his office in Hanau, western Germany, on Dec. 20.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2024

For German 'sick leave detective,' business is booming

Workers in Germany, on average, took 15.1 days of sick leave last year, up from 11.1 days in 2021.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?

Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
Hisamido set up a return box at its bookstore in Machida, Tokyo, to allow its customers to borrow and return books owned by municipal libraries.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2024

Japanese bookstores collaborate with libraries for survival

A survey found that 493 municipalities had no bookstores as of November 2024.
A customer uses a bank card at a contactless payment terminal on a stall at the Bauveau Market in Paris on Feb. 15, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

Drama-prone fintechs face mixed regulatory environment in 2025

The incoming U.S. administration has made financial deregulation a policy priority for the next four years while European policymakers continue to take a cautious approach.
A satellite image shows the Sverdlov plant in Dzerzhinsk, Russia, on Sept. 13, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

The Russian billionaires whose chemical factories fuel Moscow's war machine

The analysis demonstrates how heavily plants forming part of Russia's war machine rely on the chemical factories.
The Nippon Steel logo is displayed at the company's headquarters in Tokyo in April.
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2025

Nippon Steel offers U.S. government veto power in bid for U.S. Steel approval

The Japanese firm offered to give the U.S. government a veto over any reduction in U.S. Steel's production capacity.
Gabriela Dabrowski (right) and Erin Routliffe celebrate after winning the doubles final at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Nov. 9, 2024.
TENNIS
Jan 2, 2025

Gabriela Dabrowski reveals run to Olympic bronze came amid cancer treatment

Dabrowski said her "surreal" second half of the 2024 season included two surgeries and radiotherapy.
Populist and far-right parties globally are gaining working-class support as center-left parties fail to address their economic concerns and cultural disconnects.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2024

The working class and the rise of populism

Talking about creating good jobs in the industries of the future is not the same as doing it. Workers want bold, effective leaders who will take concrete action.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland (left) moves past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (center) during their match in Manchester, England, on Dec. 26, 2024.
SOCCER
Jan 3, 2025

Premier League chief concerned about impact of Club World Cup's impact on Man City and Chelsea

The two clubs will be England's representatives in FIFA's expanded 32-team event in the United States, with players' unions threatening legal action on welfare grounds.
Residents and bomb squad members stand in front of a house destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Japan plans to help Ukraine with measures to fight corruption.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2025

Japan to help Ukraine eradicate corruption

Ukraine was 104th among 180 countries and regions in the 2023 corruption perceptions rankings by Transparency International.
A member of the Taiwan Coast Guard monitors a Chinese vessel in waters east of Taiwan on Dec. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Taiwan says Chinese ship broke subsea cable in alleged sabotage

The incident follows another Chinese vessel’s suspected involvement in the severing of data cables in the Baltic Sea in November.
Children at a traditional festival in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. A forecast made by Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Yoshida estimates that Japan will be left with just one child on Jan. 5, 2720, based on current birthrate trends.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 6, 2025

2720 — the year when Japan is left with just one child

An expert on the graying of society has warned that the nation will be left with just one child age 14 and below in 695 years if its birthrate continues to decline.
Signage at the TikTok offices in Singapore, on Aug. 4, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 7, 2025

TikTok ban thrusts Apple and Google into U.S.-China geopolitical fray

TikTok creators are posting videos promoting ways to get around a looming shutdown of the app in the U.S., which could spell trouble for companies required to enforce the ban.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official explains a new system for detecting vacant houses, on Dec. 23.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2025

Government developing AI-based system to detect vacant houses

The aim of the system is to spot such properties at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
A subsidy for epidural childbirths was one of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's campaign promises when she ran for her position last year.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025

Tokyo looks to ease the pain — both physical and financial — of childbirth

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to begin offering a subsidy for epidural childbirths in fiscal 2025.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tries on a pair of Orion augmented reality glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025

Meta shelves fact-checking in policy reversal ahead of Trump inauguration

It plans to implement on Facebook, Instagram and Threads a system of "community notes" similar to that used on rival X.
Taiwanese authorities are investigating the Shun Xing 39, a Chinese-owned, Cameroon-flagged cargo ship, on suspicions of damaging a subsea telecoms cable northeast of the island, Taiwan's coast guard said on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2025

Ship alleged to have damaged Taiwan's undersea cable ‘has multiple IDs’

Taiwan says the Chinese-linked ship appeared to use two sets of Automatic Identification System equipment, which is used to broadcast a vessel’s position.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building