Search - 2020

 
 
U.S. citizen Chrishan Wright from New York after an interview in Lisbon on April 9
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Fearing Trump's policies, some Americans start new lives in Europe

Relocation firms said there has been a spike in interest since Trump returned to the White House, with clients expressing concern over policy and social issues.
Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi scores against Arsenal during the second leg of their Champions League semifinal in Paris on Wednesday.
SOCCER
May 8, 2025

Paris Saint-Germain gets past Arsenal to book spot in Champions League final

It will be the second Champions League final in the club's history, and comes five years after its defeat against Bayern Munich in Lisbon.
A security guard stands outside a branch of Yes Bank in New Delhi last August.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2025

Japan's SMBC to buy stake in India's Yes Bank

The Sumitomo Mitsui deal marks the biggest foreign investment in India’s banking sector, and is the latest move by Japanese lenders to expand in the country.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
NTT said last week it will take its data service unit NTT Data Group private. That followed its acquisition of its mobile service arm, NTT Docomo, in 2020.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2025

Listed subsidiaries get the ax in Japan after investor pressure

The trend stems from pressure on firm to cater to shareholders in response to activist campaigns, demands from the stock exchange and hostile takeovers.
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 21, 2025

Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo

It's been 5½ years since two yokozuna battled head-to-head for an Emperor's Cup. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion, that streak could soon be over.
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2025

Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia proves that less time doesn't have to mean a lack of substance.
Posters, flowers, and letters are placed at a memorial honoring victims of police violence in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on May 18.
WORLD / Society
May 25, 2025

George Floyd's uncertain legacy is marked five years on

Americans on Sunday mark five years since George Floyd was killed by a U.S. police officer, as President Donald Trump backtracks on reforms designed to tackle racism.
Workers ride motorbikes into Weda Bay Industrial Park (WBIP), a major nickel processing and smelting hub, in Lelilef Sawai, Central Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia, on April 18.
ENVIRONMENT
May 28, 2025

Nickel rush for stainless steel guts Indonesia tribe's forest home

The plight of the Indigenous people there started gaining attention last year after a video online showed emaciated members emerging from their homes to beg for food.
A vehicle exits Shek Pik Prison after former leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, Jimmy Sham, served a four-year, three-month sentence for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security case, in Hong Kong, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2025

Second group of Hong Kong democrats freed after 4 years in jail

Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups.
Bangladesh hoped to celebrate progress towards eradicating tuberculosis this year. Instead, it is reeling from a $48 million snap aid cut by U.S. President Donald Trump's government, which health workers say could rapidly unravel years of hard work and cause huge numbers of preventable deaths.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 4, 2025

From Nigeria to Pakistan, TB testing 'in a coma' after U.S. aid cuts

Moves by U.S. President Donald Trump have stalled vital research in South Africa and left TB survivors lacking support in India.
Harvey Weinstein, accused of three sex crimes, appears for his retrial at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 9.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2025

'No means no,' prosecutor tells jurors as Harvey Weinstein trial wraps

The cinema magnate's retrial follows the overturning of his 2020 convictions on rape and sexual assault charges by an appeals court.
The measures to sanction judges follow a January vote at the U.S. House of Representatives to punish the International Criminal Court in protest over its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025

Trump administration imposes sanctions on four ICC judges in unprecedented move

The ICC slammed the move, saying it was an attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution.
Activists, filmmakers and survivors attend a symposium in Tokyo marking 60 years since the discovery of Niigata Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2025

Film symposium marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease outbreak

The disease caused by mercury poisoning was documented in such films as “Fighting Pollution” and “Minamata Mandala.”
A pollster for the national census leaves a note at a house in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in September 2020 after no one answered the door.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2025

Japan faces staffing challenges for crucial census

The pollster workforce is aging, while increased public concerns over privacy have led more residents to refuse to participate.
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (left) looks to pass the ball as Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall defends during the third quarter at FedExForum on April 18.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 16, 2025

Magic acquire Desmond Bane in blockbuster trade with Grizzlies

Memphis will receive guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi talks to rice farmers in Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Agriculture ministry aims to stop publishing rice index amid accuracy concerns

A gap between the rice crop situation index and farmers’ testimonies about actual yields occurred because the agriculture ministry was using outdated sampling numbers.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow in March. If U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy meets Lukashenko, he would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the authoritarian state in years.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Trump's Ukraine envoy to meet Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko

Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in private has portrayed the trip as a step that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine.
A Disaster Medical Assistance Team commander (Shun Oguri, right) and a health ministry official (Tori Matsuzaka) work together to respond to Japan’s first brush with COVID-19 in “Frontline — Yokohama Bay.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2025

‘Frontline — Yokohama Bay’ revisits nation’s first pandemic struggles

Part docudrama, part recognition of unsung crisis responders, “Frontline — Yokohama Bay” looks back at the ship that warned a nation: COVID-19 is here.
Rie Usui has been working to help people with disabilities get jobs, and now runs a talent agency for disabled people.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 29, 2025

Tokyo woman working to help people with disabilities secure jobs

Rie Usui's talent agency represents about 40 models and television personalities who feature in advertisements and TV drama series.
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2025

From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan

There is plenty of room for Lego to grow in Japan, but the low birth rate is undeniably a challenge.
Racks of servers being tested at the new Amazon Web Services facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, on June 3
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 30, 2025

AI data-center boom could destroy Big Tech's net-zero plans

The tech sector faces a "climate strategy crisis" as its data centers demand ever more electricity and water to power growing fields, such as artificial intelligence.
The Dalai Lama is served food during his 90th birthday celebration at the Tsuglagkhang, also known as the Dalai Lama Temple complex, in the northern town of Dharamshala, India, on July 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 14, 2025

China says Dalai Lama succession issue a 'thorn' in relations with India

The comments came as India's foreign minister prepares to visit China for the first time since deadly border clashes in 2020.
Lawrence Lau arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, ahead of hearing appeals from 13 jailed pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 14, 2025

Twelve Hong Kong activists appeal convictions in landmark '47 democrats' case

The court found 45 of defendants guilty of organizing an unofficial primary election in in 2020 after massive pro-democracy protests brought the city to a standstill.
One of the early exemplars of Chinese innovation is a cell therapy that has shown promise to potentially cure a deadly blood cancer.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025

China biotech’s stunning advance is changing the world’s drug pipeline

The number of novel drugs in China entering into development ballooned to over 1,250 last year, far surpassing the European Union.
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2025

‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change

As rural towns in Japan decline, Yukio Iokibe’s documentary offers a hopeful reminder that democracy endures through advocacy, persistence and human connection.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Jair Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2025

Brazil’s top court defies Trump and signals no retreat on Bolsonaro

After the U.S. threatened 50% tariffs on Brazil, a group of justices advocated for the court to issue a statement challenging President Donald Trump ’s assertion of a "Witch Hunt.”
Ichiyamamoto (left) defeats Gonoyama to secure a winning record at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, at IG Arena on Monday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 23, 2025

Disappointing start to Nagoya tournament turns into fascinating final stretch

Sumo’s schedule makers will almost certainly ensure that if Ichiyamamoto is going to taste glory for the first time, he’ll have to do it the hard way.
A mobile battery ignites during a simulation experiment.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2025

Agency warns of fire risks from lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to heat and impact, making them prone to accidents when temperatures rise.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks at a rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025

A fringe party or political force: Will the real Sanseito stand up?

There were a few things that might raise eyebrows, but nothing especially scary. Sanseito's published policy platform is relatively benign.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers