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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s first Kumamoto plant in the town of Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Feb. 10
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

Japan boosts aid to chip projects amid global race

Prompted by concerns, the government acted swiftly to prevent the potential loss of domestic production bases.
The decisions by JPMorgan and State Street to quit a global investor coalition will collectively remove trillions of dollars from efforts to coordinate Wall Street action on climate change.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

JPMorgan and State Street quit climate group as BlackRock steps back

Financial firms have faced growing pressure from Republican politicians over their membership in such groups.
Displaced Palestinian children play as they take shelter at the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 16, 2024

Egypt setting up shelter area for Palestinians at Gaza border, sources say

Some 1.5 million Palestinians are currently in Rafah. A mass exodus into Egypt due to an Israeli offensive would be "a sort of nightmare."
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, is considering opening an office in Tokyo to trade electricity, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

Vitol considers entering Japan power market with Tokyo office

Japan's power market is attracting more overseas firms due to increased volatility amid shifts away from fossil fuels
Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists after he was released from a detention center in Moscow in August 2019
WORLD
Feb 16, 2024

Alexei Navalny, corruption fighter who defied Putin, dies at 47

Navalny fell sick during a walk and medical staff were unable to revive him, prison authorities said Friday.
BASEBALL
Feb 16, 2024

Seoul mayor hopes interest in Shohei Ohtani and MLB brings more games to South Korea

The Seoul Series will be a chance for South Korea and MLB to work together to revive professional baseball’s popularity in the nation.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow in August 2013. Navalny, the most outspoken domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died in prison, Russian state media said Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 17, 2024

Alexei Navalny's death deprives Russia's opposition of a leader and hope

His death leaves the groups that oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin with no obvious candidate to try to turn any discontent into mass protests.
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a news conference at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday after signing a bilateral security agreement.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2024

Bilateral accords offer Ukraine a way to shore up security

New agreements with Germany and France deal with both current military support for Ukraine and its future defense against Russia.
People walk past the Trump Building after a ruling against former U.S. President Donald Trump ordering him to pay $354.9 million and barring him from doing business in New York state for three years, in New York City on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Trump keeps New York empire intact as judge rescinds asset-sale order

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was banned from doing business in New York for three years and ordered to pay $354 million for lying about his wealth.
Residential buildings heavily damaged by  Russian military strikes in the front-line town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, last November.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Ukraine troops withdraw from front-line city of Avdiivka

Capturing Avdiivka is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May.
Police officers detain a woman during a gathering in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, near the Wall of Grief in Moscow on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

Risking arrest, Russians mourn Navalny in small acts of protest

Bouquets at the Wall of Grief become a form of dissent in a country where such action could result in detention.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Feb 18, 2024

Preparing for the hottest year Japan has ever seen

In 2023, summer heat persisted across Japan well into the fall. Predictions by scientists indicate 2024 could be even worse.
Iga Swiatek of Poland celebrates after winning against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday.
TENNIS
Feb 18, 2024

Swiatek holds off Rybakina to capture third straight Qatar Open crown

The Pole became the first player to capture a title at an event in three successive years since Serena Williams triumphed in Miami from 2013 to 2015.
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic had a season-high 73 points in a single game. Scoring has risen across the NBA, but the league's commissioner, Adam Silver, says he isn't concerned.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 18, 2024

NBA season's scoring surge doesn't worry Adam Silver

Speaking Saturday to reporters on the eve of the NBA All-Star Game, Silver said scoring was only about one point per game higher than last season.
In Hokkaido’s Niseko ski resort area, a bowl of ramen or soba from a food truck easily goes for more than three times what it costs at a sit-down joint in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2024

¥3,800 ski-slope ramen is a glimpse of Japan’s future

Foreign tourist spending has potential to stimulate growth but needs careful management to ensure equitable distribution of benefits for locals.
Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military commander Mohammad Hejazi, in Tehran, on April 14, 2022.
WORLD
Feb 18, 2024

Iraqi armed groups dial down U.S. attacks on request of Iran commander

A top Iranian security official said: "Commander Qaani's visit was successful, though not entirely, as not all Iraqi groups consented to de-escalate."
South Korea has one of the lowest ratios of doctors to population in the developed world, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which shows 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 18, 2024

South Korean doctors warn of ‘catastrophe’ if punished for strike

About 2,700 interns and residents at five major general hospital groups plan to walk off the job.
People lay flowers and candles at a memorial in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin on Sunday, following the death of the Kremlin's most prominent critic Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Russian courts hand jail terms to dozens of Navalny mourners

Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public shows of opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia.
In the U.S., proof that inflation remains sticky and the labor market sound has convinced traders to embrace the Federal Reserve’s pushback against market bets on near-term easing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024

Cracks start to emerge in global central bank synchronicity

The synchronization among central banks might be about to weaken as domestic drivers take over from global trends in determining price outlooks.
Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao railway station on Feb. 6. For the Feb. 10-17 period, there were 99.5 million rail trips made in China, a figure 36% higher than the comparable period in 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024

China’s new year travel and spending top pre-COVID levels

Some 474 million tourist trips were made around the country during the festival, which began Feb. 10 and concluded Saturday.
Smoke billows over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Prospects dim for truce as Israel rejects calls to spare Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls to spare Rafah, arguing that failing to launch the operation would mean to "lose the war."
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties

Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
Western Conference forward LeBron James dunks during the first half of the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday. James said he hopes to finish his career with he Lakers.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 19, 2024

LeBron James hoping to end career with Lakers

LeBron James has not formulated a plan for his retirement, but is looking forward to the Paris Olympics this summer and wants to finish his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, the four-time NBA champion said Sunday.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said she had also spoken to her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi about making sure that Western sanctions against Russia held as the war in Ukraine dragged on.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Canada says China has role to play in keeping Red Sea safe

Chinese ships that ply the key trade route between Asia and Europe are at risk of attacks by Houthi militants as well, Canadian foreign minister says.
The International Olympic Committee denied Manny Pacquiao's request to compete in the Paris Games due to his age.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 19, 2024

Manny Pacquiao gives up Olympic dream after being denied spot in Paris

Pacquiao conceded that his Olympic boxing dream was over after being denied a berth at this year's Paris Games.
The Japanese equity market is likely to benefit a lot from the Bank of Japan's exit from its ultraeasy monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024

BlackRock sees Japan stocks as big winner from BOJ policy shift

Japan seems to be in its final stage of declaring victory over decades of deflation.
Protesters hold a Palestinian flag as they gather outside the International Court of Justice as judges rule on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague on Jan 24.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

U.N. court to weigh consequences of Israel occupation

Nations including the United States, Russia and China will address judges in a weeklong session at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2024

North Korea eyes well-worn playbook with Japan summit hints

Pyongyang's offer of repairing ties with Japan may be concealing what may be a more likely motivation — to drive a wedge between Tokyo and its partners.
South Korea plans to increase the number of slots in university medical school programs by 2,000 from the current 3,058 next year to alleviate a shortage of doctors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2024

For South Korea’s top students, medical school beats chips

Students are enticed by what many see as better job security and higher pay in the medical field.
An advertisement for the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) at a Mizuho Bank branch, a unit of Mizuho Financial Group, in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2024

Turning the tide? Japan warms up to becoming an asset management hub.

The beefing-up of the NISA program alongside a new policy plan by the government shows its commitment toward getting households to invest.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?