Search - 2022

 
 
The entrance gate of the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen, China, on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2024

With smugglers and front companies, China is skirting U.S. AI bans

The U.S. worries advanced semiconductors could help China develop superior weaponry, launch cyberattacks and make faster decisions on the battlefield.
People rest outside Matadero cultural center during the fourth heatwave of the summer in Madrid on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 12, 2024

Experts are fighting over whether to give heat waves names

The arguments against naming heat waves aren’t so removed from the arguments in favor: Heat is complicated, and its threat level tricky to generalize.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2024

How Trump’s intimidation tactics have reshaped the Republican Party

Those seen as disloyal to Trump and his Make America Great Again agenda have been the target of threats by his most ardent supporters.
A television station broadcasts U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Chair Jerome Powell speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

Powell's Fed not shy about election-year cuts and ready to defend job market

The Fed chief sent a strong signal that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in mid-September, roughly seven weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Mosquitoes under a microscope in a lab at Sahmyook University in Seoul on July 24
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 27, 2024

As the world warms, South Korea's latest border threat is mosquitoes

Climate change, especially warmer springs and heavier rainfall, could bring more mosquito-borne diseases to North and South Korea.
Naomi Osaka hits a return against Karolina Muchova during the second round of the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday.
TENNIS
Aug 30, 2024

Naomi Osaka reflects after losing to Karolina Muchova in second round of U.S. Open

Osaka, who won the title in 2018 and 2020, missed last year's edition after the birth of her daughter.
Vadim Morus, a Russian professional skater and trainer, practices for his performance in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 19.
WORLD / Society
Sep 11, 2024

A mini-Russia emerges in Serbia as thousands flee war

Russian-owned clubs, kindergartens and medical practices have sprung up in Belgrade, a city of less than two million people.
Migrant workers and union members hold a demonstration in favor of fair working conditions in the Made in Italy supply chain, in Geneva on Sept. 11.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2024

How migrant workers suffer to craft the 'Made in Italy' luxury label

Brands rely on a chain of contractors and subcontractors, with checks on conditions and the treatment of workers virtually nonexistent.
Indian soldiers participate in a mock drill exercise in New Delhi in 2016. The transfer of Indian munitions to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and customs data.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Ammunition from India enters Ukraine, raising Russian ire

The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data.
A man mourns at the memorial altar for victims of a crowd crush that killed over 150 people in the party district of Itaewon in Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2024

Ex-police chief jailed three years over deadly South Korea crowd crush

Former Yongsan district police chief Lee Im-jae was convicted of failing to prevent the Halloween 2022 crush in the Itaewon district that killed over 150.
A funeral is held for Russian military personnel and civilians killed in the war with Ukraine, at a cemetery in Luhansk, in Russian-controlled Ukraine, in May 2023. The U.S. estimates that 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and another 180,000 injured, further worsening the nation's manpower shortages and economic output.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2024

The Russian war economy’s days are numbered

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies boast that the sanctions make Russia stronger, but they incessantly call for all restrictions to be lifted.
The surge in spending came as countries across Africa, including Uganda, attempted to introduce legislation targeting LGBTQ+ people.
WORLD / Society
Nov 6, 2024

U.S. anti-LGBTQ+ groups' spending in Africa soars, report finds

The Institute for Journalism and Social Change found that seventeen American groups spent $5.2 million in 2022, up 47% compared to 2019.
A national flag of Saudi Arabia at their pavilion at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 14
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024

Saudi Arabia executes more than 100 foreigners in 2024

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive.
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Dec 2, 2024

Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?

Shrinking funding and limited support spark fears for the country's scientific prowess moving forward.
The challenge for African governments and communities is how to harness this wave of youthful talent — with all their innovation, resilience and determination — rather than lose them to developed economies.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2024

Africa must act to stem its youth brain drain

African governments must harness youthful talent or risk losing it to developed economies.
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.
LIFE / Digital / 2024 in Review
Dec 6, 2024

It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth: Wukong both have a claim to the best game of 2024, a year marked by cultural scandals and lawsuits.
Rivers and canals meander through many of the townships in Ningbo, with some homes built close to the water.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Can China shield the biggest uninsured economy from floods?

Only about 10% of Chinese families have a home insurance policy, compared to nearly 90% in the U.S.
Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in October 2022.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

How one man became a Ukrainian traitor and Russian spy

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian nationals were mainly recruited during trips to Russia, but approaches are more often made online now using social networks.
People walk around the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on December 29, 2023. Investors are more confident about the economy than this time a year ago.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 25, 2024

Investors hope for U.S. stock market trifecta in 2025 after boom years

They are eyeing a solid economy supporting corporate profits, moderating interest rates and pro-growth policies from incoming President Donald Trump.
Stock market information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jan 1, 2025

Investors hope for U.S. stock market trifecta in 2025 after back-to-back boom years

Investors are more confident about the economy than this time a year ago, with consumers and businesses having absorbed higher interest rates.
TikTok has discovered that their TikTok Live feature has facilitated money laundering, allowed users to sell drugs and fund terrorism, according to a new lawsuit, which also accuses the social media company's livestream feature of exploiting and "grooming” minors to perform sexual content.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 6, 2025

TikTok’s live video feature ‘groomed’ minors, Utah AG claims

Tiktok has emphasized its commitment to enforcing its policies and said it shut down more than 45 million streams last year.
Demonstrators inside the U.S. Capitol after breaching barricades on Jan. 6, 2021
WORLD / Society
Jan 8, 2025

Violent extremism lingers online with U.S. flagging less content

Donald Trump’s return to the White House promises to cement the hands-off approach toward online behavior.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in August 2022, after returning from a trip to Kentucky.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

How Biden’s inner circle protected a faltering president

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.
People line up to use an ATM  in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Western financial sanctions have weighed on the Russian ruble, which has sunk from 34 to the dollar in 2013 to around 100 today.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2025

Putin’s war is fueling Russian stagflation

For a normal country, a budget deficit of 2% of GDP would be of no concern. But Russia is not a normal country.
Economic coercion has become a prominent tool in global geopolitics, with both China and the U.S. relying on it to pursue their policy goals, and more so with Donald Trump now in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025

When big countries wave their big economic sticks

There is no agreed definition of economic coercion under international law; like pornography, we know it when we see it.
Russian demand for Japanese grand pianos is always very high, a dealer has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2025

Smuggled grand pianos show Trump’s challenge in pressuring Putin

High-end Japanese pianos still make their way to Russia despite export ban, highlighting Tokyo's struggle to enforce sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Trump says he has spoken to Putin about ending the Ukraine war

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS state news agency that "many different communications are emerging."
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Trump says U.S. making progress on talks with Russia to end war

Trump says he will meet Putin "at an appropriate time" to discuss ending the war, but no date has been set.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify

“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms President Vladimir Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025

Kyiv and Moscow are divided by a valley of lies

When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan