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A woman carries firewood she bought at a marketplace in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Oct. 2. Telehealth — the use of technology to provide and access health care services remotely — has been growing around the world but is relatively new in Zimbabwe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2024

In Zimbabwe, Starlink’s fast internet gives telehealth a boost

The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX received the green light in May to operate its internet services in Zimbabwe.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony in Pyongyang in June. If North Korean troops sent to the war in Ukraine under an agreement between the two nations are used for anything other than cannon fodder, they may gain experience that could improve the communist nation's military.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2024

Autocrats challenge traditional geopolitics and strategic boundaries

Emerging "common market of autocracies" are enabling regimes like Russia and North Korea to evade Western sanctions through unconventional networks and barter systems.
Environmental activists demonstrate in front of the convention center in Busan, South Korea, where delegates from around the world are seeking to reach a binding treaty against plastic waste.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2024

Showdown looms on plastic treaty days before deadline

With just two days of talks left, countries seeking an ambitious treaty urged delegations that "have not moved a centimeter" to make compromises or "get out of the way."
Charles Kushner attends the funeral for Ivana Trump, socialite and first wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in New York in July 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

Trump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France

The choice is in keeping with Trump's pattern, so far, of selecting people, often wealthy, who are close to his family or of proven loyalty.
Jean-Pierre Charriton
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 2, 2024

President of L’Oreal Japan leverages innovation

Entered L’Oreal in 1991, in charge of the Biotherme products. After a career path in many countries, he arrived in Japan in 2021.
Students give a presentation at a competition in London on Friday for revitalization strategies in the Hokuriku region
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2024

London students compete on ideas to promote Hokuriku region

The presentations set out unique tourism strategies, such as "sake passports" to encourage tourists to visit local breweries, and "health tourism" to promote local foods.
Passengers line up at Narita Airport to board a flight to Seoul on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2024

Japanese companies weigh impact of South Korea's martial law chaos

The Foreign Ministry estimates that over 40,000 Japanese nationals reside in South Korea, with around 3,000 Japanese companies maintaining local offices.
No new turbines have been ordered in Sweden since the first quarter, according to the latest data from industry group Svensk Vindenergi, the longest such stretch in two years.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 7, 2024

Free green power in Sweden is crippling its wind industry

The country has one of the greenest grids in the world. But even more is needed to electrify the rest of its economy.
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2024

Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones

Many foreign nationals struggle with the idiosyncrasies of Japan's employment system. Firms tend to assimilate overseas personnel rather than utilize their unique skills.
A variety of rice cookers at a home appliance store
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 16, 2024

Companies rush to high-end rice cookers as consumer tastes change

Appliance-makers are working with rice growers to boost demand, as well as debuting products that focus on flavor and features.
A smartphone with a displayed Nvidia logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024

Nvidia hit with China probe in global tech war escalation

The move against Nvidia is Beijing’s latest riposte to escalating U.S. technology curbs.
The government is preparing to set Japan’s new Nationally Determined Contribution, an emissions reduction commitment made by members of the United Nations climate framework's Paris Agreement.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 10, 2024

As Japan nears new climate goal, criticism of policy process ramps up

Critics say the process is not intended to facilitate genuine debate, and that those who support the energy status quo are overrepresented on policy panels.
A protester wears a mask depicting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a rally calling for his impeachment, in Seoul, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024

South Korea's soft power gains at risk from extended political crisis

How the country — a top global destination for medical and plastic surgery tourism — gets through the period of uncertainty will impact foreign visitor numbers.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's downfall stemmed from his failure to reform the country's corrupt, sectarian regime and an economy ravaged by war, leaving his government unable to withstand the recent rebel offensive.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2024

Syria’s kleptocratic rule and a house of cards

Like the fictional mafia family, Assad’s regime relied on kickbacks from wealthy business owners and shaking down foreigners.
Attendees view a concept model of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) fighter plane at the BAE Systems pavilion at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, England, in July.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024

Trilateral fighter project takes big step with joint venture deal

The U.K.-headquartered entity, to be set up by mid-2025, will be responsible for the industrial side of Japan, Britain and Italy's Global Combat Air Program.
George Glass in July 2017
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2024

Trump reportedly eyeing businessman George Glass as envoy to Japan

Glass, who served as ambassador to Portugal under Trump's first administration, is one of the biggest fund donors who supported his comeback as U.S. president.
Crystal Smith, the elected chief of the Haisla people, stands on the shoreline of the Douglas Channel in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada, on Oct. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 15, 2024

Indigenous people in Canada weigh costs of a gas windfall

The promise of billions of dollars of gas investment has renewed a generations-old debate over Indigenous identity and environmental stewardship.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Starmer’s China reset plans get undercut by royal access scandal

It has emerged in court documents that a Chinese man who acted as a business adviser to the Duke of York was banned from Britain on national security grounds in 2023.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is launched for the Europa Clipper mission to study one of Jupiter's 95 moons, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 14.
WORLD
Dec 18, 2024

Power failed at SpaceX mission control before September spacewalk

The outage, which hasn't previously been reported, meant that SpaceX mission control was briefly unable to command its Dragon spacecraft in orbit.
A demonstrator reacts after lawmakers passed a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

South Korea’s ‘hurry hurry’ culture helps bring down a president

The swiftness of Yoon Suk Yeol's fall gestures at the country's culture of taking a head-on approach to solving conflict.
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Lula’s rival-turned-vice president finds himself in unwanted limelight

Many business leaders consider VP Geraldo Alckmin better equipped than Lula to respond to the growing economic and political challenges that are besieging Brazil.
Residential buildings under construction at China Evergrande Group's Riverside Palace development in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China, in November 2023
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 20, 2024

China’s economic rebound hangs on the fate of its richest cities

Preserving earning power in China was given fresh urgency as U.S. Presidential-elect Donald Trump says he will choke off critical Chinese exports.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a bilateral meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 18.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

Starmer is deepening China ties while the U.K.’s allies turn away

Starmer’s pursuit of closer ties with China has raised private questions from Trump’s incoming administration, European diplomats and even some senior British officials.
People's Bank of China Gov. Pan Gongsheng meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing in April.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

What will happen to China’s economy in 2025?

Economic activity in China has been relatively weak since the COVID-19 crisis. This was not unexpected, at least not at first.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 3, 2025

AI has not yet destroyed democracy

The worst predictions about AI disrupting the democratic process were not borne out in 2024.
A North Korean hacker group is believed to have planted a virus on the computer of an employee at Ginco — a company that was entrusted with the deposit and withdrawal of DMM Bitcoin’s virtual currency — through a fake job recruitment message sent via LinkedIn.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2024

North Korean hacker group behind DMM Bitcoin’s cryptocurrency leak

The hacker group is believed to have planted a virus on an employee's computer using a fake job recruitment message sent via LinkedIn.
Japan, which relied on coal and natural gas for more than 60% of electricity generation last year, has been slow to shift to lower-emission energy sources.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2024

Japan aims for 60% emissions cut by 2035 in target seen as lax

The target was proposed last month, and was criticized by experts who said the plans don’t align with international ambitions to curb global warming.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality

The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
The labor ministry conducted the survey on foreign workers, the first of its kind, in October to November last year.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2024

Many foreign workers in Japan face high employment agency fees

The survey found that 14.4% of foreign workers in Japan are facing problems or difficulties at work.
China's solar industry, hit hard in 2024 by overcapacity and financial losses, is expected to recover in 2025 with tighter market conditions and a 25% revenue growth forecast.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024

Here’s the best climate news you missed this year

There are plenty of positive trends out there once you peer past the alarmist headlines.

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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