Search - 2022

 
 
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2024

Committee probing LDP funds scandal set to open next week

The committee will likely gather next Wednesday and Thursday to interrogate five senior LDP lawmakers over their involvement in a kickback scheme.
China’s tech firms were caught off guard by breakthroughs in generative artificial intelligence — Beijing’s regulations and a sagging economy aren’t helping.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

China’s rush to dominate AI has a twist: It depends on U.S. technology

Even as the United States has tried to slow China’s advancements, it has not held back the practice of openly releasing software to encourage its adoption.
Passengers line up for security at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

The five most exciting innovations coming to an airport near you

Updating an existing airport terminal is time-consuming, expensive work that often costs hundreds of millions of dollars — and sometimes billions.
Nippon Steel's Kashima plant seen from a park in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture. Scrutiny over Nippon Steel’s China holdings threatens to add another complication to its politically contentious deal to acquire United States Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 23, 2024

Nippon Steel’s China assets could derail United States Steel deal

Regulators may look unfavorably on whether the acquisition of U.S. Steel could allow more access to U.S. markets for Chinese-sourced steel.
U.S. President Joe Biden embraces Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Alexei Navalny, in San Francisco, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2024

Biden holds poignant meeting with Navalny's widow and daughter

The White House also announced fresh sanctions against Russia over the Kremlin opposition leader's death.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during an interview at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Feb. 4. Yoon has been working to cheer domestic retail investors, who have been heavy sellers of Seoul shares.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024

Seoul hopes Japan stock playbook can narrow 'Korea discount'

Reforms floated last month by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol may not continue to boost the Seoul bourse, analysts say.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2024

Noto quake highlights aging water systems in depopulating areas

Nearly 22,000 homes in Ishikawa Prefecture are still without water, and the shortage has sparked debate on how to maintain services in depopulating areas.
A relative of a missing passenger on MH370, in Beijing on the one year anniversary of the aircraft's disappearance.
WORLD
Feb 23, 2024

A decade after MH370, planes still at risk of vanishing off the map

An industrywide push to eliminate the chances of a similar case has been stymied by bureaucracy and financial pressure.
Pedestrians look at an electronic board displaying the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on a street in the Japanese capital on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 24, 2024

Record-high Nikkei’s rise just getting started on foreign demand

Investors and strategists are also watching for a broadening of equities gains that may take the wider Topix index to an all-time high this year.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media about sanctions against Russia, following his meeting with late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s widow and daughter in San Francisco on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2024

U.S. targets Russia with hundreds of sanctions over Ukraine war and Navalny death

The measures targeted Russia's Mir payment system, financial institutions and its military industrial base, as well as other areas.
Jeff Bezos — the world’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Ranking — is investing in a business that’s developing human-like robots.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 24, 2024

Bezos and Nvidia join OpenAI in funding humanoid robot startup

The startup Figure AI is raising about $675 million in a funding round that carries a pre-money valuation of roughly $2 billion.
A symbolic illumination called "Ray of Memory" is seen over the graves of Ukrainian soldiers who died in the war with Russia, at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2024

Ukraine on the defensive as Russia war enters third year

On Friday, more than 50 countries, including Japan and the United States, issued a joint statement blasting Russia for the invasion.
Vocalist Adam Lambert (center) and original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor hit Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo and Tokyo for the final leg of their marathon Rhapsody Tour.
CULTURE
Feb 24, 2024

Queen wraps marathon Rhapsody Tour in Japan

The final leg of the global tour hit four Japanese cities, providing fans with an appropriately grandiose send-off from the rockers on Valentine's Day.
The Nautica, a replacement oil tanker for the decaying FSO Safer, arrives in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen, in July last year.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2024

Shortage of oil tankers at hand as Red Sea attacks divert trade

Only two new supertankers join the fleet in 2024 — the fewest additions in almost four decades.
A new future initiative aimed at training foreign workers is part of a broader strategy to address pressing labor shortages in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2024

Japan eyes training foreign workers amid labor shortages

The proposed training system will supersede the current foreign technical internship system.
France's Matthis Lebel carries the ball against Italy during their Six Nations match in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Feb 26, 2024

France coach Fabien Galthie denies talk of crisis after close call against Italy

Galthie's side was hammered by Ireland in the tournament opener before edging Scotland earlier this month.
Electron micrograph of Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 26, 2024

Syphilis cases hit record high for third straight year in Japan

While the precise reasons for the surge in reported cases remain unclear, experts have identified several potential contributing factors.
Daniel Ricciardo speaks during Formula One preseason testing at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on Feb. 21.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 26, 2024

Daniel Ricciardo happy to embrace Visa Cash App RB's new identity

Ricciardo will not be cutting any corners in saying his Formula One team's lengthy new name.
Customers shop at the GU store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. The brand's operator Fast Retailing hopes to expand its share in markets in the United States and Europe.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024

Uniqlo’s sister brand GU takes aim at market in U.S. and Europe

International sales made up more than half of Uniqlo’s revenue in the latest fiscal year, GU has mostly only flourished domestically.
Flags of the Solomon Islands and China near the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing in last July
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

China’s expansive diplomatic network still outstrips that of U.S.

Beijing had a larger footprint last year than Washington in key areas of geopolitical interest including the Pacific, East Asia and Central Asia.
People take pictures of the city skyline lit up by drones during a performance to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, at Marina Bay in Singapore on Feb. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2024

Singapore embraces AI to solve everyday problems

Ranked the fifth most innovative country by the GII last year, Singapore was an early adopter of AI, releasing its first national strategy in 2019.
Russia's Daniil Medvedev speaks during a news conference after losing to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their men's singles final match on day 15 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 29.
TENNIS
Feb 27, 2024

Medvedev says Australian Open final loss 'easy' to get over

The Russian world number four will be contesting his first tournament since the Australian Open this week in Dubai.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during a news conference in Stockholm on Monday after Hungary's parliament voted yes to ratify Sweden's NATO accession.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Sweden clears final hurdle to join NATO as Hungary approves accession

Hungary's vote ended months of delays to complete Sweden's security policy shift amid concerns over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A floating barrier at the entrance of Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Feb. 22
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Satellite images reveal floating barrier at mouth of disputed atoll in South China Sea

China claims the Scarborough Shoal, although it is inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, at his office in Burbank, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024

Disney reshuffles leadership at troubled namesake movie division

New President David Greenbaum oversaw the release of Oscar nominated "Poor Things" and previous winners such as "The Shape of Water" and "Nomadland."
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Japan Cabinet OKs bill on new economic 'security clearance' system

Government officials and private sector employees will be given access to classified information under the system once they pass a screening process.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms, arrives following a break during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Jan. 31.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 27, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg meets with Kishida to discuss AI

The Meta Platforms CEO is in Japan as part of an Asia tour, during which he will also travel to South Korea and India.
Farmers in India take part in a recent march on New Delhi to demand that minimum crop prices be written into law in scenes reminiscent of protests in 2021. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2024

India’s farmers are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore

Farmers in India are marching to demand that guaranteed crop prices promised in 2021 be written into law. Will Modi acquiesce like he did three years ago?
Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma after sustaining an injury in a match against Sheffield United on Feb. 18
SOCCER
Feb 28, 2024

Brighton's Mitoma set to miss rest of season with injury

The Japan international has scored three goals and provided six assists in 26 appearances in all competitions this season.
Hong Kong has been promised significant autonomy until 2047, but Beijing's actions have undermined fundamental rights essential for its success.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 28, 2024

China says Hong Kong’s ‘one country, two systems’ is permanent

Hong Kong has been promised significant autonomy until 2047, but Beijing's actions have undermined fundamental rights.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami