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As a small open economy, Hong Kong is vulnerable to financial contagion and capital flights to and from China.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024

Hong Kong is facing a repeat of 1998 Asia financial crisis

As the Hang Seng Index selloff deepens, bankers and traders are preparing for the worst.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, even faster than the shinkansen. However, demand for the new railway service remains lacking.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

Linking 17,000 islands in Indonesia tests a nation on the rise

President Joko Widodo's grand vision for the world’s largest archipelago is colliding with financial realities.
Ireland's Johnny Sexton retired after the team's loss against New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup in Oct. 2023.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jan 29, 2024

Former Irish player Hugo MacNeill says it will be tough to replace Johnny Sexton

The Irish have big shoes to fill as they attempt to defend the Six Nations title.
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.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2024

Pay hikes at small firms in focus at Japan’s spring wage negotiations

The decisions of such companies will play a big role in determining whether Japan can achieve a healthy wage-price cycle.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s new factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, in May 2023
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 29, 2024

Can Japan again master semiconductors to relive its glory days?

Competition in the sector is fierce, with many countries pushing to develop their own capabilities and insulate supply chains from geopolitical tensions.
Women walk past an army-related billboard at the All-Russia Exhibition Center in Moscow on Jan. 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

New anti-Ukraine disinformation campaign targets Western media

Examples of disinformation include thefts from the Paris catacombs by a Ukrainian and military aid misappropriated by Ukraine.
Workers assemble vehicles at Toyota's Tsutsumi plant in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2024

Toyota union eyes extra month's bonus in annual negotiations

Wage increases by Toyota and other carmakers will be seen as a bellwether for the rest of Japan's manufacturing sector and economy.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in Washington in January 2023. Some Japanese businesses are keenly waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election in November.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 1, 2024

Japanese firms seek political stability and stronger alliance: survey

A possible Taiwan contingency is just one of the issues on the minds of companies in the country.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed that 8.8 million people in the U.S. in 2022 were living with long COVID.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2024

A promising turn in the quest to treat long COVID

A new study doesn’t explain why the immune response is out of whack, but it is an important new piece to the vexing puzzle that is long COVID.
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.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 31, 2024

Quake-hit Noto faces a long road to recovery. Here's how you can help.

After initially asking people to refrain from coming as volunteers, municipalities in Ishikawa are now open to outside help.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Kishida faces heat from all sides over political funds scandal

The prime minister finds himself in hot water not only with the main opposition party, but also with his own ruling party.
After suffering a bruising loss this week in Delaware's Chancery Court that voided his $56 billion pay package, Musk said that Tesla would "move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer state of incorporation to Texas."
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Feb 2, 2024

Shifting Tesla incorporation to Texas may not give Musk what he wants

Musk is not the first corporate leader to suffer a loss in a Delaware court and question the state's position on companies.
U.S. President Joe Biden has come under intense pressure from Republicans to take strong action, up to attacks directly on Iranian assets or territory.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024

The world waits as Biden telegraphs attack on Iran-backed groups

The U.S. has accused Iran of funding groups that have attacked American bases and personnel in the region.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks in Washington on Wednesday. Japan has stepped up attempts to engage with people close to Trump in recent weeks, worrying that if he returns to power he may seek some kind of deal with Beijing that could undermine recent efforts by the Group of Seven countries to counter China.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2024

Japan's message for Donald Trump: Don't cut a deal with China

Tokyo has stepped up attempts to engage with people close to Trump in recent weeks.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is seen on the surface of the moon in an image released Jan. 25.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 2, 2024

Japan’s historic moon landing was right on target

Japan made history last month when it became the fifth nation to soft land on the moon.
Japanese regulations determine which hunters can handle certain firearms based on the individual's experience and the level of rifling in a long gun's barrel.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 3, 2024

Hokkaido hunters say more firepower means more humane kills

A revision to Japan’s firearms laws would mean new hunters would be temporarily limited to less potent shotguns.
Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa will likely face some institutional challenges in achieving quick and meaningful progress in advancing the United Nation's Women, Peace and Security initiative.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2024

Japan unveils task force for gender-inclusive security issues

U.N. mandate spurs Japan into action with new task force aimed at enhancing women's roles in global conflict resolution.
The title monster in “Godzilla Minus One” is a threat, of course, but the real story is about finding community in the wake of destruction.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2024

‘Godzilla Minus One’ stomps into ‘Oppenheimer’ territory

Those movies, along with “The Boy and the Heron,” are essentially in conversation about the moral weight of American and Japanese actions in World War II.
Water jugs are filled at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 22.
WORLD
Feb 4, 2024

The 8 days that roiled the U.N.’s top agency in Gaza

UNRWA is the largest aid agency on the ground in Gaza, providing shelter to more than half the population and coordinating aid from Egypt and Israel.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (third from left) visits a navy base in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. U.S. President Joe Biden is being urged to attack Iran directly, but that may not be the right solution.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024

Biden’s air strikes won’t work, nor would hitting Iran

Deterrence, especially as it pertains to air strikes, isn’t only about what U.S. does, but also what Iran thinks.
Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink, but experts says his statements raised more questions than they answered about the trial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Want details on Musk's brain implant trial? You'll have to ask him

Neuralink does not have to divulge even basic details about its trial, including the facility where patients are being implanted.
Wall Street giants are endorsing India as the prime investment destination for the coming decade.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Wall Street snubs China for India in a historic markets shift

India has vastly expanded infrastructure under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his bid to lure global capital and supply lines away from Beijing.
Pills move through a sorting machine at a pharmaceutical plant in Visakhapatnam, India. A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

U.S. taps Indian pharma, but supply chains still lead back to China

A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen holds a welcome ceremony in September 2022 for then-Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano in Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2024

Tuvalu could recognize China, but how much would it affect Taiwan?

Taipei might benefit from shifting its energy and resources away from competing with Beijing over formal recognition.
A railway crossing in Japan. A railway crossing gate in Osaka city opened before a train passed through on Tuesday, scraping a car that had proceeded to cross.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024

Train scrapes car in Osaka after railway crossing gate opens prematurely

No one was hurt in the incident, which was caused by stray bolts causing a malfunction of a system that detects approaching trains.
The “dogeza” position is used for the sincerest of apologies and it was deployed by the man who mistakenly ruined an attempt at a Guinness world record on live television.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2024

The year so far has been marked by some good and bad apologies

A social norm seems to persist in Japan that one should apologize first and explain later. That goes for companies as well.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) fist bumps U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2024

Saudi Arabia pushes for U.S. defense pact ahead of presidential election

Such a major regional deal would face numerous political and diplomatic obstacles, not least the uncertainty over how the Gaza conflict will unfold.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2024

Japan’s Valentine’s Day chocolate budget sees 34% rise

About 22% of survey participants said they would purchase chocolates for themselves — 3.4 times more than those buying for a romantic partner.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami