Search - 2018

 
 
Visitors have their photo taken by a portrait of President Xi Jinping at the Military Museum in Beijing on Oct. 20, 2023. The Chinese leader’s crackdown on military corruption reveals how deep his concerns run, not only about battlefield readiness, but about political survival, as well.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 11, 2025

Xi looks to tighten grip after scandals shake China’s military elite

Outwardly, China’s military has never been stronger. Its naval ships venture farther across the oceans. Its nuclear force grows by about 100 warheads every year. Its military flights around Taiwan are increasingly frequent and intimidating. Every few months, China unveils new weapons, like a prototype...
Military personnel in tanks participate in a parade in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 12, 2025

Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, U.N. report says

Investigators said victims were subject to beatings, electric shocks, gang rape, strangulation and other forms of torture.
Akio Kuroi holds a photograph of his father, Keijiro, as he speaks during an interview in Tokyo in April about how his father had changed after World War II.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 13, 2025

'War trauma' transformed caring father into a complete stranger

A growing number of family members of former Japanese servicemen are sharing their experiences, prompting the government to launch a survey to document such realities.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2025

For Trump, Putin summit presents the ultimate test of dealmaking

Trump, voicing uncharacteristic humility about his diplomacy, said it was a "feel-out meeting" that would not in itself lead to a deal on Ukraine.
Fred Kerley celebrates with his 100m bronze medal at the Stade de France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Aug 13, 2025

Olympic medalist Kerley provisionally suspended for whereabouts failure

Kerley took 100m silver in Tokyo and bronze last year in Paris as well as the 2022 world 100m crown.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies over the island of Okinawa in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025

Precautionary Osprey landings signal safety, not alarm

Two precautionary V-22 Osprey landings in northern Honshu demonstrated the aircraft’s safety and its role in enhancing Japan’s rapid-deployment and island-defense capabilities.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 15, 2025

Which Donald Trump will negotiate with Putin in Alaska?

A tough negotiator or a conciliatory one — the world is waiting to see which version of Trump shows up in Anchorage on Friday.
Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 15, 2025

The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers

An decades-long effort to recover the remains of those who died during World War II, most of them abroad, may be entering its final phase.
The Japan Boxing Commission's safety protocols have been thrust into the spotlight following the deaths of Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, who suffered fatal brain injuries while fighting on the same card on Aug. 2.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Aug 15, 2025

Recent deaths of Japanese boxers underline importance of emergency action plans

Such plans are crucial to minimize delays and increase a fighter’s chances of survival after sustaining a serious injury in the ring.
PayPay is the most popular payment app in Japan, with 70 million users.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025

SoftBank's PayPay prepares for listing on a U.S. exchange

It has filed registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Canada's Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, speaks at a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in May.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 16, 2025

Canada conservative leader mounts comeback after Trump-linked defeat

Pierre Poilievre, who is running to reclaim a seat in Canada's parliament next week, was on track to be prime minister until Donald Trump upended Canadian politics.
A Pertamina fuel storage facility at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025

Indonesia’s ‘gasoline godfather’ targeted in $18 billion graft probe

Mohammad Riza Chalid is the most audacious target to date for the current administration, as it reshuffles its energy procurement and attempts to supercharge growth.
Reigning Olympic and world javelin champion Haruka Kitaguchi poses during a photo session in the Athletics tunnel in Domazlice, Czech Republic, on August 14, 2025.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 19, 2025

Javelin star Kitaguchi finds new home in small Czech town

The 27-year-old Japanese athlete is getting ready for next month's world championships in Tokyo in the western Czech town of Domazlice.
In honor of his longstanding ties and contributions to Japan's business, legal and nonprofit communities, Carl J. Green was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2018.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 20, 2025

Carl J. Green, mentor to a generation of ‘Japan hands,’ dies at 85

A lawyer and scholar with deep ties to Tokyo’s business and legal communities, Green opened the Ford Foundation’s Tokyo office.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after winning the Diamond League men's 800m final at the London Stadium on July 19.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 20, 2025

Former cattle herder Wanyonyi ready to eclipse Rudisha

Wanyonyi was crowned Olympic champion at last year's Paris Games at just 20, a year after sealing silver at the world championships in Budapest.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the economy in the Oval Office on Aug. 7. From immigration to the Fed, Trump is making risky moves that could undo his wins while Democrats double down on policies that so far are not working.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2025

On economic policy, the White House is its own worst enemy

The White House needs to calm down and choose consolidation over controversy and chaos while the Democratic Party must dump, not just downplay, its plainly unpopular positions.
A Shein distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, on April 8. Shein and other e-commerce sites originating from China are believed to have taken advantage of duty exemption systems of other countries to export goods of modest value in small lots.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2025

Duty exemptions for low-value imports face review amid exploitation

An expert panel at the government's Tax Commission has noted that overseas sellers of inexpensive goods effectively exploit tax exemption systems for small-ticket item imports.
Workers carry solar panels to install them at a solar farm in the desert in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, in April.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2025

The world’s biggest polluter is cleaning up its act

Coal output is still climbing, but China’s clean power surge means much of it now sits in stockpiles rather than fueling growth.
Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in November 2017
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2025

U.N. investigation seeking justice for Rohingya hit by cost-cutting

A million Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, fled a Myanmar military offensive in August 2017 — a campaign seen by prosecutors as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 22, 2025

Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas

Yellowish and high in acidity, German sake won't please the purists, but open-minded consumers, especially wine drinkers, may find something appealing.
The Savannah River Site, an 800-square-kilometer Department of Energy site, located in the sand hills region of South Carolina
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2025

Trump plans to make Cold War-era plutonium available for nuclear power

Plutonium has previously only been converted to fuel for commercial U.S. reactors in short-lived tests.
Brazilian lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro discusses his efforts to put U.S. pressure on Brazil to halt the trial of his father, right-wing former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in Washington, on Aug. 14.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 24, 2025

Bolsonaro’s family dynasty creaks under pressure of Brazil coup trial

The tariff fight has also given Lula a shot in the arm, allowing the leftist to seize a nationalistic mantle and paint himself as a defender of Brazil.
The Saudi Arabia delegate waves the OCA flag during the closing ceremony of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, on Feb. 14.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 25, 2025

Olympic Council of Asia says Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia 'on schedule'

Saudi Arabia is supposed to host the next edition of the regional winter competition in a move derided by environmental groups.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch are both nonbelievers. That’s a rare shared trait in the country’s political history.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2025

How much does faith influence British politics?

For the first time in British political history, both the nation’s premier and the official leader of the opposition have shared such an attitude toward God.
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025

Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam

A decision is expected in the “coming months,” a senior government official in Manila said, following an inspection of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts.
Suyun Ham, an engineering professor at UTA, reviews data from a recent inspection with two other researchers. Ham likens his technology to a “portable MRI,” which can detect cracks and other hidden dangers in a bridge.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 26, 2025

Are bridges near you safe? This MRI-like scan may prevent disaster

An engineering professor from the University of Texas at Arlington is experimenting with a novel approach to inspecting bridges for heat damage.
Naomi Osaka advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Aug 28, 2025

Naomi Osaka hoping to recapture old magic at U.S. Open

Osaka, a former world No. 1, has not gone beyond the last 32 of a Grand Slam since capturing the last of her four major titles at the 2021 Australian Open.
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Aug 28, 2025

Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'

After evolving from an online presence into a live performer, Kaf has now stepped into voice acting as part of a multimedia project built around a supergroup of virtual artists.
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 28, 2025

Can anime carry the memories of World War II?

The medium could serve as a doorway to exploring the complexities behind the war and the horrors associated with it.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and British Defense Minister John Healey speak in Tokyo on Thursday ahead of the Pacific Future Forum.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2025

In a first, U.S. skips Asia security forum being held in Japan

The Pacific Future Forum features the U.K. and Japanese defense ministers as speakers and senior military officials from Japan and Western nations, but no U.S. representatives.

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?