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Chinese President Xi Jinping at the first China-Arab States forum in Riyadh in 2022
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

Xi hosts Arab leaders as China-Mideast ties widen beyond trade

As the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden backs Israel in its war in Gaza, China sees eye-to-eye with Arab nations.
With the recent focus on the yen and individual investing, the phrase "Mrs. Watanabe" — one of the most common pieces of jargon in Japanese financial circles — has seen a resurgence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2024

My search for the original 'Mrs. Watanabe'

Yen retail traders are back in the spotlight. But where did the phrase for the archetypal Japanese housewife investor come from?
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2024

In unusual move, North Korea fires off barrage of at least 10 ballistic missiles

While the North has in the past launched multiple missiles in a single volley, the sheer number fired Thursday pointed to training for so-called saturation strikes.
Chinese electric vehicles bound for shipment at the Port of Taicang in China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2024

EU seeks roadblocks for Chinese EVs without sparking trade war

Crucially, the bloc must strike a balance with its aim for more Europeans to drive EVs as it prepares to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (right) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh on Dec. 8, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Xi lays out vision for greater cooperation with Arab states

China has been stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East in recent years to win new allies in its global contest for influence with the U.S.
As the world marks World No Tobacco Day on Friday, debate is growing over passive smoking in one crucial space that remains unregulated: private homes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 30, 2024

In Japan, neighborly debates light up over secondhand smoke

Passive smoking has become a concern because many people live in multiunit apartment buildings or small houses with little space between them.
With brightly colored hair and equally colorful attire, the 48-year-old Maaya Orii certainly stands out in a crowd.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 1, 2024

Paging Dr. Maaya, the neurosurgeon doubling as a fashion designer

Maaya Orii works as a neurosurgeon in Tokyo on weekdays and as a doctor in Kushiro, Hokkaido, on weekends. In her spare time, she’ll shift gears and focus on fashion.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
Anti-Donald Trump protesters celebrate outside the Manhattan Criminal Court where the former U.S. president was convicted Thursday in a criminal trial.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Trump fought the law and the law finally won

Trump, a presidential candidate who is now a convicted felon, still faces a sentencing hearing on July 11.
Wang YunHe's residence in Singapore, overlooking the country's premier shopping belt.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 1, 2024

Singapore wealth flows face new scrutiny in superhacker case

The case is a reminder of the difficult balancing act faced by Singapore and other financial hubs as they push to attract the world’s ultra rich.
People protest in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip at the headquarters of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Oct 18, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

ICJ is collateral damage in dysfunctional global system, experts say

That countries comply with its rulings — or not — based on their own double standards is hamstringing the international court adjudicating disputes between nations.
People walk with their luggage after a rainstorm hit Dubai, UAE, causing delays at Dubai International Airport on April 17.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 3, 2024

Airlines eye 'new frontier' of AI ahead of global summit

Aviation companies, long accustomed to thin profit margins, see AI as the newest way to boost productivity and gain a competitive edge.
Israeli soldiers ready a tank near the border with Gaza on Thursday. The Jewish state's victory in the Gaza conflict will depend on addressing Palestinian despair.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2024

Israel will always be held to a different standard

Arrest warrants, campus protests and genocide accusations were not inevitable. These were the direct results of Netanyahu’s choices.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gives a presentation on Sunday night before Computex Taipei’s official opening to talk about the chipmaker’s strategic plans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 4, 2024

Nvidia and AMD square off in fight to take control of AI

The heads of both companies employed different tacks in conveying their expertise during back-to-back shows at the world’s largest computing conference this week in Taipei.
Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem speaks during an interview in Beirut's suburbs on June 6, 2022.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2024

Israel nears decision on Lebanon border offensive, army chief says

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel intensifying adds concerns that an even wider confrontation could break out between the heavily armed adversaries.
Geely Automobile Holdings' Zeekr electric vehicles bound for shipment to Europe at the Port of Taicang in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Aug. 24, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2024

China risks trade war on two fronts as low-tech exports soar, too

The European Union is poised to slap tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this week, the latest example of rising barriers to global trade.
Christina Griffin-Jones was a big part of a historically strong U.S. women's team at the 2023 Sumo World Championships.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 5, 2024

American sumo organization becomes battleground in fight for equality

At the heart of the fight is growing opposition to a longtime federation trustee who has not been shy about expressing his homophobic views.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 7, 2024

At Computex, Nvidia billionaire Jensen Huang showcases Taiwan's tech dominance

With this year’s raucous Computex — the world’s biggest computing conference — Taiwan sent a message: If you want AI, you need Taiwan.
Farm labourers, with their faces covered for protection from heat, work in a field on a hot day in Karnal, India, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 7, 2024

Everyone you know will eventually be highly vulnerable to extreme heat

Intense heat waves in recent years offer a stark warning of what’s at stake for humanity and particularly the vulnerable elderly population.
Gold prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2024

You can now buy gold bars from vending machines in South Korea

Prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning his semifinal match against Italy's Jannik Sinner.
TENNIS
Jun 8, 2024

Alcaraz and Zverev win to set up tantalizing French Open final

Having already captured a Wimbledon and U.S. Open trophy at the age of 21, Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach major finals on all three of the sport's surfaces.
People wait for the main act to begin at Summer Sonic, which holds simultaneous music festivals for those in Tokyo and Osaka.
CULTURE / Music / Longform
Jun 9, 2024

Can Japan's summer music festivals adapt to a post-pandemic reality?

Soaring temperatures, the cheap yen and a dearth of headline options may require reshaping the outdoor concert formula.
A balloon believed to be North Korean and loaded with various objects, including trash and excrement floats, over a rice field at Cheorwon county, South Korea, on May 29.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2024

South Korea to blast loudspeaker broadcasts after North's trash balloons

Pyongyang began sending balloons carrying trash across the border in May and has said the move was in retaliation for anti-North leaflets flown by South Korean activists.
Russian officials have increasingly been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join its military and fight against Ukraine, sources say.
WORLD
Jun 10, 2024

Russia is sending young Africans to die in its war against Ukraine

Moscow has also been enlisting convicts from its prisons, one source said.
The Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp was patrolling the East China Sea on Friday in support of U.N. sanctions against North Korea when it was circled several times by two Chinese fighter jets.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

China's defense ministry says Dutch ship incident 'heinous'

Chinese jets circled a Dutch frigate and approached a Dutch helicopter, creating a "potentially unsafe situation," according to the Netherlands' defense ministry.
From behind his desk in a Tokyo office, Hideki (Arata Iura) yearns for something more in life, but he is not prepared for the culture shock of life on a Montana ranch in “Tokyo Cowboy.”
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jun 13, 2024

‘Tokyo Cowboy’ strikes balance between cross-cultural comedy and fish-out-of-water tale

From behind his desk in a Tokyo office, Hideki yearns for something more in life, but he is not prepared for the culture shock of life on a Montana ranch.
The Grand Kremlin palace in Moscow
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

How a Russian operative worked to shape Moscow’s story in Europe

The operative has contacted at least six European journalists and at times appears to have offered to pay for planted news articles.
During a visit to an Olympic exhibition in Paris on Tuesday, former U.S. athlete and Olympic champion Tommie Smith raises his fist in front of a photograph taken by Neil Leifer in which Smith (center) and his countryman John Carlos are raising their fists to protest racial discrimination during the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
OLYMPICS
Jun 13, 2024

Olympic anti-racism icon Tommie Smith sees no successors

Smith believes modern athletes are less political than before despite the need to continue fighting racism, including in the U.S. where it "could not get any worse."
Tomiji Suzuki (back) attends a workshop in Tokyo. The 89-year-old is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic, using ChatGPT to fine-tune his skills.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024

ChatGPT a mentor for 89-year-old app developer

So far, Tomiji Suzuki has developed 11 free iPhone apps to help Japan's aging population.
Container ships and bulk carriers off Singapore's shores on Feb. 19
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 13, 2024

Singapore port container logjam worsens as ships avoid Red Sea

The congestion is only emerging now because it took time for the port to reach its maximum utilization level.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji