Search - 2020

 
 
U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday
WORLD
Dec 14, 2023

Biden impeachment inquiry authorized by House Republicans

The White House has dismissed the inquiry as unsubstantiated by facts and politically motivated.
Scientists discovered what they described as widespread and dangerous levels of toxic chromium in areas of Northern California severely burned by wildfires in 2019 and 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 15, 2023

Wildfires are unleashing dangerous metals from soil, study shows

Firefighters and anyone living downwind of a wildfire would be at most immediate risk if chromium 6 becomes airborne.
A law requires the Pentagon to inform Congress and extensively justify any program when costs exceed the original estimate by 15%, 25% or as much as 50% depending on the categories measured.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 15, 2023

New U.S. ballistic missile costs risk project termination

A U.S. Air Force review will take about 45 days before a determination is made as to whether the ICBM program exceeds congressional cost thresholds.
Media mogul Jimmy Lai, the founder of now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of China's Communist Party leadership, has faced a salvo of litigation since a wave of pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2023

China crackdown on Hong Kong in focus as Jimmy Lai goes on trial

Media tycoon faces possible life imprisonment on charges he colluded with foreign forces, including the U.S.
The Dodgers officially introduced two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani during a news conference on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2023

Another extraordinary milestone for Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers secure baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani with record-breaking $700 million contract.
Kuwait's then-Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah arrives to attend a conference in Kuwait City in 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2023

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf dies; Sheikh Meshal named as successor

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, 83, who has been Kuwait's de facto ruler since 2021, was named as Sheikh Nawaf's successor.
A security personnel stops a supporter during the national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2023

Security tight ahead of landmark Hong Kong trial for Jimmy Lai

Now jailed for over 1000 days, one of Hong Kong's biggest critics of China has faced Beijing's wrath since the pro-democracy protests in 2019.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 20, 2023

Stablemaster Shikoroyama's lasting sumo legacy

The stablemaster √ leaves behind a legacy as a popular star who fostered respect for the sport and its participants among the general public.
People's Liberation Army forces walk near the Sagaing Region of Myanmar on Nov. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2023

China is using Myanmar civil war to destroy cyber scam networks

The ruling Communist Party is cracking down on criminal gangs that have scammed, kidnapped and tortured its citizens
Worshipers pray to the sea goddess Mazu at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung, Taiwan, on Nov. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

China finds sudden faith in 'peace goddess' ahead of Taiwan vote

China sees faith in a sea goddess with origins in Fujian province as the "axis" of its influence operations, according to an intelligence analysis.
A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released Nov. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Saudi Arabia holds back as U.S. Red Sea task force tests ties

Riyadh's priorities include extricating itself from both a messy war in Yemen and a destructive feud with the Houthis' principal backer, Iran.
Fans praised Nintendo for following up one of the best open-world games ever made with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a worthy sequel that introduced enough new mechanics to keep the experience fresh for players new and old alike.
CULTURE / 2023 in Review
Dec 22, 2023

Zelda was a gem among many in a crowning year for gaming

Japanese studios’ hits included: Street Fighter 6, remakes of Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, to name a few.
A drugstore in Tokyo in October
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2023

Fund that got in before Buffett now likes Japan drugstores

A top fund manager says there’s opportunity to profit from consolidation in the sector.
Desi Permatasari, 32, comforts her daughter, Sheena Almaera Maryam, 5, who was prescribed contaminated cough syrup last year in their home in Bogor, Indonesia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2023

When children take toxic cough syrup — and live

In Indonesia, one of the places most impacted by the contamination, families struggle to care for survivors while taking action against those responsible.
Demonstrators rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Buffalo, New York, in February 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2023

It’s past time scientists admitted their COVID-19 mistakes

In 2019, 13% of Americans were distrustful enough to say they weren’t confident in scientists to act in the public’s best interest. Now it is 27%.
The iconic structure with its shell-shaped roof at Bennelong Point in Sydney is a source of immense pride for many Australians.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2023

Yuzo Mikami: The unsung hero behind the Sydney Opera House

On the building's 50th anniversary, those with memories and knowledge of the Japanese architect say recognition of his achievements is long-overdue.
A JFE Steel plant in the city of Chiba. JFE Steel plans to buy more coking coal on the spot market to increase the liquidity of the market and to reflect true demand and supply.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 29, 2023

Japan's JFE takes new tack to tame volatile coking coal prices

Japan's No.2 steelmaker plans to buy more coking coal from the spot market to boost activity and make prices more transparent.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on June 16, 2020. Lai pleaded not guilty to "sedition" and "collusion" charges on Tuesday in a high-profile national security trial that could see him jailed for life.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2024

Hong Kong tycoon Lai pleads not guilty in landmark security trial

Jimmy Lai, a leading critic of the Chinese Communist Party, faces two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
Yuki Kondo-Shah beside the U.S. Embassy where she works in London on Dec. 22. As U.S.-China tensions rise, national security employees with ties to Asia say U.S. counterintelligence officers wrongly regard them as potential spies and unfairly ban them from jobs.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Asian American officials cite unfair treatment in China tensions

Federal employees say they are being blocked from jobs for security reasons because of their ties to Asia, even distant ones.
U.S. President Joe Biden departs a campaign fundraising event in Washington on Oct. 27, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Biden unplugged: President goes off-script in election fundraisers

Biden's open-mic disclosures are clashing with the White House system built to keep him on script.
A general view of the Colorado Supreme Court in Denver, Colorado
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Trump takes Colorado ballot disqualification to U.S. Supreme Court

Trump has also appealed to a Maine state court a decision by that state's top election official barring him from the primary ballot.
People gather near a body lying on the ground at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Iran vows revenge after blasts kill nearly 100 at commander's memorial

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions at the cemetery where Qassem Soleimani, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, is buried.
People gather at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2024

Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly Iran attack

The militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated explosive belts in the crowd in Kerman on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College, in Blue Bell, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2024

Biden says democracy on ballot as he makes case against Trump

Biden’s remarks Friday offered some of his sharpest warnings yet about the threat he says Trump poses to the country’s institutions.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Newton, Iowa, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Trump, in Iowa, skirts Jan. 6 talk on attack's anniversary

The lack of mention reflects the degree to which Republican voters have absolved him of responsibility for that day's events.
China is the world’s second-largest investor in research and development, having spent $410 billion in this area in 2022, 10% more than the previous year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2024

China is lowering transaction costs for greater innovation

With projects such as a cooperation zone between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China is championing small- and medium-sized firms as the engine of innovation.
The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. China’s manufactured goods surplus relative to global gross domestic product is now around 2%, and an estimated 45% of China’s manufacturing output is being exported as the nation’s 1.4 billion people can’t buy enough goods such as electric vehicles, ships and household appliances to meet the increased supply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2024

Xi Jinping’s solution for China’s economy risks triggering new trade war

Manufacturing focus sets up Beijing for renewed tensions with both developed countries and emerging economies pushing to reach the lower rungs of the industrialization.
Voters wait in line outside a polling station during the last presidential and legislative elections, in Taipei in January 2020. Taiwan is one of only 53 political systems that require in-person voting.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

To protect election from China, Taiwan disenfranchises thousands of voters

In-person voting is hard to infiltrate, but it also deprives those who can't leave their posts or overseas Taiwanese unable to return from casting ballots.
Hiromi Uetake has future plans to turn some of the currently unused rooms of the former elementary school into taprooms for visiting customers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 14, 2024

Craft beer’s hoppy road to the deep north

Beer drinkers in these occasionally frozen lands now enjoy flavors infused with deep stories and their home prefectures’ splendid natural beauty.
People take part in a first aid and emergency training course by the Taiwanese civil defense group the Forward Alliance.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024

Taiwan civil defense groups push for more resilience as China threat grows

The organizations offer training courses in first aid, media literacy, disaster response as well as in understanding the different layers of modern warfare.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person