Search - 2021

 
 
Israeli President Isaac Herzog's claim all Gazans are responsible for Hamas' actions ignores the iron grip the group has over the strip and how isolated its people are.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2023

No, Gazans can’t rise up against Hamas

Claiming all Gazans are responsible for Hamas' actions ignores the iron grip the group has over the strip and how isolated its people are.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend a news conference after visiting the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Australia’s Albanese to face anti-nuclear push at Pacific talks

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is beginning 24 hours of intensive meetings between the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Staff at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon 2023 collect used paper cups after the event on Oct. 15.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023

Japanese paper-makers pioneer domestic recycling of paper cups

Until now paper cups have typically been discarded as flammable waste, but are made from high quality pulp that can be reused.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Kishida rules out snap election amid record low popularity

The prime minister has once again ruled out a snap election as he faces record low popularity ratings and growing criticism from within his own party.
With water drawn from sources in upstate New York, new sake brewing facilities in the Empire State back by Niigata Prefecture's Hakkaisan will be producing bottles by 2024.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023

Hakkaisan and New York brewer to produce U.S.-based sake by 2024

The water for sake will come from upstate New York, while rice will come from California and Arkansas.
Germany, which likely plays a key role in determining Europe’s China strategy, unveiled its 64-page strategy on China on July 13.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 14, 2023

Germany’s China strategy is epoch-making but ambiguous

While attempting to protect its interests, Berlin has had to deal with business circles attempting to avoid damaging ties with Beijing.
Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa attends a news conference after returning to Japan following a 12-day journey into space, in Tokyo, in January 2022.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2023

Yusaku Maezawa's lunar orbital trip postponed indefinitely

His craft's development is still incomplete, after the rocket blew up immediately after blasting off in an unmanned test-launch in April.
A mother assists her child to breathe with the help of a nebuliser at the emergency ward of the government-run Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya children hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 10, 2023

'Like breathing poison': Delhi children hardest hit by smog

"Imagine telling a parent not to let their child go out and play in this toxic environment."
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin during a committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin will not seek re-election in 2024

The move by the 76-year-old lawmaker will make it very difficult for Democrats to defend the West Virginia seat.
Yoon Suk-yeol, then the 2022 presidential election candidate of South Korea's main opposition People Power Party, attends a news conference in Seoul in November 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

President’s war against ‘fake news’ raises alarms in South Korea

Critics say South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is silencing journalists in the name of fighting disinformation.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at an event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2023

South Korea boosts diplomatic reach while North Korea retreats

Seoul has said the expansion is part of efforts to “exert global leadership and bolster our diplomatic power.”
Both Israelis and Arabs must think carefully about what their policies and actions are likely to accomplish.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023

The futility of violence in the Middle East

In the Israeli-Palestinian context, wars have a long history of achieving little, beyond satisfying a self-destructive desire for vengeance.
An assembly line at Honda Motor's  Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, in November 2016
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2023

Honda will give autoworkers 11% raise after UAW’s big wins

While nonunion automakers race to boost pay and keep the union out of its gates, the UAW is trying to organize foreign-owned factories in the U.S.
A protester looks on during a protest on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

APEC San Francisco protesters span gamut of political issues

Demonstrations could become confrontational on Wednesday, with protesters calling to block attendees from entering the San Francisco conference center.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

State minister of finance resigns in further blow to Kishida

Kenji Kanda submitted his resignation after admitting that his firm had failed to pay fixed asset taxes.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2023

Japan to create ¥1 trillion fund to develop outer space industry

The ¥1 trillion fund will be allocated over a 10-year period for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as a new global space race heats up.
Young monks practice writing Tibetan at a monastery in Yushu, China. Beijing has restricted the teaching and practice of minority languages and religions.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2023

China’s new law on religion: A great leap backward

Beijing's new law on religious venues has received little attention but has far-reaching consequences in restricting religious freedom.
Smoke and steam billow from a coal-fired power plant in Suralaya, Banten province, Indonesia.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 13, 2023

Can Indonesia deliver a green power plan for the people?

Communities impacted by a major climate deal are at risk of losing out because they have had limited involvement in planning the transition so far.
U Moe Zaw Oo, the deputy foreign minister of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, a shadow government seeking recognition as the legitimate leadership of the country, at the group’s headquarters in Washington on July 17
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Fighting to govern Myanmar, from a teeny office in Washington

The U.S. capital attracts political refugees from all over the world who hope proximity to power will draw attention to their national plights.
Major ports handling nearly 40% of Australia's freight trade may be crippled for days, officials said on Monday, three days after a cyberattack blocked the key gateways.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2023

The growing cybersecurity threat to global shipping

An attack on DP World's ports — which handle 40% of Australia's freight trade — was the latest in a series of breaches around the world in recent years.
The shortage of a class of diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists is being driven in part by healthy people looking to use them for dieting purposes.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 14, 2023

Japan tackles surge in off-label diabetes drug use for weight loss

Officials are aiming to ensure that the medications are prescribed for people with diabetes, and not for those seeking weight loss.
Australian economist Sean Turnell who worked as an advisor with Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, spent 650 days in a Yangon prison following the junta's bloody crackdown on democracy protests and those who had worked with Suu Kyi's government.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Australian economist recounts 'Kafkaesque' time in Myanmar jail

"I thought I just might die there."
Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida take part in a news conference in September 2021 in the lead-up to the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 15, 2023

Takaichi makes another play to become the next PM

With the creation of a new study group, Cabinet minister Sanae Takaichi aims to build support for her bid for the top political job.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed David Cameron as foreign secretary, a shock return to government for a man who previously led the country and whose legacy is defined for calling the Brexit referendum.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2023

Sunak’s gamble on former U.K. leader Cameron is an act of desperation

The return of the former prime minister creates an unprecedented imbalance at the summit of U.K. power.
Students engage in group work during a class at Ogawara Elementary School in Ogawara, Miyagi Prefecture, in September.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 20, 2023

Small Miyagi town excels in national test amid education reforms

This year the average percentage of correct answers by Ogawara's sixth graders in the National Achievement Test was one of the highest.
Rassemblement National member of Parliament Marine Le Pen (left), and the president of the far-right party Jordan Bardella (right) march during a demonstration against antisemitism in Paris on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

EU's far right joins rally against antisemitism, unsettling some Jews

The strategy is to normalize the party's image, helping politicians bolster their anti-migration agenda while rebutting suggestions they are racist.
The Formula One track in Las Vegas is lit up ahead of the Grand Prix on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 16, 2023

Formula One’s Las Vegas race isn’t living up to the hype

Liberty Media, the owner of F1, has started to lower profit expectations for the race, blaming unexpected costs.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives in San Francisco on Wednesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Public approval for Kishida Cabinet sinks to new low of 21.3%

The support rate fell 5.0 percentage points from the previous month, while the disapproval rate rose 7.0 points to 53.3%.
Bears doing yoga? If you’re in the city, why not?
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 16, 2023

Bear goes the neighborhood? Japanese wildlife is on the move.

This week, Alex K.T. Martin joins us to discuss why people are encountering bears, boars and other wildlife in the most unlikely of places.
Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after a go-ahead, two-run home run against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on June 12.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 17, 2023

Shohei Ohtani wins second American League MVP award

Shohei Ohtani was named the AL MVP for the second time in three seasons.

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