Search - 2022

 
 
A bulk carrier at the Panama Canal on April 19
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

Historic drought and hot seas slow Panama Canal shipping

Restrictions already are sending China-U.S. spot shipping prices up as much as 36% amid soaring sea temperatures.
U.S. and Japanese authorities are concerned that purchases of farmland near military bases and other critical facilities will allow China and other governments to spy on or interfere with their operations.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2023

For the best espionage, it’s location, location, location

Efforts by Chinese companies to purchase land — often, but not exclusively, agricultural — has authorities in Japan and the United States up in arms.
Hun Manet in Phnom Penh on Tuesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2023

Cambodia’s Hun Sen seals political dynasty as son becomes PM

Hun Manet officially assumed the role of prime minister, marking the conclusion of a political succession years in the making.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

BOJ's Ueda meets Kishida but says yen volatility wasn't discussed

The talks took place after the dollar's recent ascent above ¥145, a level that last September triggered Japan's first yen-buying operation since 1998.
Shinobu Yamanaka, a mom of three sons and director of a day care facility in Konan, Kochi Prefecture, serves up to eight "members" six days a week.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2023

Kochi dementia care center aims to set new paradigm in Japan

A new generation of people with Alzheimer’s in Japan are trying to change not only dementia care but also social attitudes toward patients.
A Dutch F-16 fighter jet. Although the jets will bring new capabilities to Ukraine's war effort, they also increase the complexity of managing a conflict where aviation has yet to take center stage in battles.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2023

F-16s: A victory and new challenge for war-torn Ukraine

Even though the jets bring new capabilities, they also increase the complexity of managing a conflict where aviation has yet to take center stage.
Pheu Thai's Srettha Thavisin. Thailand's parliament voted in favor of his prime ministerial candidacy in Bangkok on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 23, 2023

Thai property mogul Srettha Thavisin's unlikely rise to PM

The conservative establishment sees Srettha and his Pheu Thai party as more palatable than the progressive Move Forward Party.
Flames reach upward along the edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, in June.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 23, 2023

As wildfires multiply, a new era of air pollution

The average American had already been exposed to 450 micrograms of smoke per cubic meter by early July, worse than from 2006-2022.
The darkened area surrounding Lahaina shows where the fire spread on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 13.
WORLD / Society
Aug 23, 2023

After Maui wildfire residents fear land grab may threaten culture

Hawaii's Office of Consumer Protection has warned of people making below-market offers, playing on fears of foreclosure and the cost of rebuilding.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023

China and Hong Kong to toughen import restrictions on Japan foods

Of Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food items, 36% went to mainland China and Hong Kong in total in 2022.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2023

Goldman, KKR and Blackstone join investor rush for Japan hotels

Compared with before the pandemic, visitors to Japan are spending more, with most of that money going on lodgings and hospitality.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2023

Japan begins controversial release of treated Fukushima water

The discharge is a major step in the decommissioning process for the reactors hit by meltdowns following the March 2011 tsunami.
Kim Hau's tea shop was raided by police in February 2022, when she was arrested for sedition.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 24, 2023

Ordinary Hong Kongers convicted under colonial-era sedition law

Authorities in Hong Kong are using the law to punish any kind of criticism or dissent, even coming from ordinary citizens rather than activists.
Great Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's 1,500-meter final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 24, 2023

Josh Kerr upsets favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win 1,500 at worlds

Kerr dug deep and used a strong finish to hold off the reigning Olympic champion.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2023

El Nino could doom Indonesia's rare tropical glaciers by 2026

Indonesia expects the dry season could run until October as El Nino increases the risk of forest fires and threatens supplies of clean water.
People wait in line to take a COVID-19 oral swab test on a sidewalk in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City on June 20.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2023

Highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86 found in two more countries

Omicron offshoot BA.2.86 carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023.
A Cruise autonomous taxi in San Francisco on Aug. 10. Cruise is one of only two firms in California allowed to run paid robotaxi services around the clock.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 25, 2023

Robotaxis are making enemies as they go around San Francisco

Mishaps are adding to traffic and safety concerns over driverless vehicles, which zip around the city’s streets surrounded by sensors and cameras.
Sheep rest under a starry night in Pontimia Pasture in the Swiss Alps.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 25, 2023

Crying wolf to save livestock and their predator

Preservation groups have hailed the return of wolves, seeing it as a sign of a healthier ecosystem. But breeders decry soaring attacks on livestock.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2023

Confident Jose Osuna says Swallows just have to keep fighting

Jose Osuna still has faith in the Swallows despite the team's underwhelming performance this season.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2023

Tritium level near Fukushima plant well below Tepco standards

The plant operator said the level in the Pacific Ocean was below about 10 becquerels per liter in all 10 locations it surveyed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk during World War II in Russia's Kursk region on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2023

Russia pushes long-term influence operations aimed at U.S. and Europe

Russian spy agencies are using the techniques to hide the Kremlin’s involvement in cultivating pro-Russia messages, a U.S. analysis has shown.
Residents embrace after a deadly shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, killed three.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2023

Florida gunman driven by racial 'hate' kills three

The deadly incident in Jacksonville is the latest in a series of racially motivated shooting sprees in the United States.
A new Russian textbook for high school students on general world and national history
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2023

Putin’s history lessons fail to heed the lessons of history

Putin seems to have forgotten is that rewriting history to serve the interests of those in power tends to invite dissent and often backfires.
One big challenge public health officials now face is how to restore trust so that people listen to future guidance on everything from flu shots to childhood vaccines.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2023

Not all COVID-19 ‘misinformation’ is equal — nor misinformation

Public health scientists have to figure out how to get back to the kind of nuanced, thoughtful discussions that were the pre-pandemic norm.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 27, 2023

Some CDP leaders may accept the restart of idled nuclear reactors

Opposition to nuclear power remains strong in the CDP, as it has been a key plank in the party's platform since the party was created.
The Environment Ministry plans to launch a survey in fiscal 2024 on how manufacturers recycle plastics and metals contained in industrial waste.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2023

Japan to conduct survey on closed-loop recycling

Closed-loop recycling is spreading in recent years on the back of improvements in technology to remove impurities from recyclable waste.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 31, 2023

What the trilateral fighter jet program means for Japan

The program, also involving the U.K. and Italy, is the first such project with countries other than the U.S.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 28, 2023

Japan suspends H2A rocket launch for moonshot due to strong winds

Unsuitable wind conditions in the upper atmosphere forced a suspension less than 30 minutes before the planned liftoff.
The Nagor fishing harbor in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2016
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2023

Indian fishermen use smartphones to map a vanishing way of life

Port and power plant development plans could beach a flotilla of boats that trawl the waters for mackerel and sea bass.
Travelers arrive for security checks at the newly-inaugurated terminal of Ercan airport outside Nicosia in the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus on July 21
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2023

New airport sparks unlikely dreams in isolated north Cyprus

Tourism provides crucial income for the north, whose economy relies on Ankara for support and, like Turkey, has suffered from soaring inflation.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building