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Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said that a person reposting online critical statements issued by foreign countries and people overseas might be committing an offense, depending on their "intention and purpose."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024

Online criticism could breach new Hong Kong law, official warns

A person might be committing an offense if they repost critical statements issued by foreign countries and people overseas.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024

Thailand starts aid deliveries to Myanmar under plan aimed at managing conflict

The first batch of 4,000 relief bags carrying rice, dried food, and other essentials for 20,000 people was delivered in a convoy by the Thai Red Cross.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda takes questions during a news conference. The bank's monetary policy overhaul announced last week was known by some Japanese media before it was made public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2024

The BOJ has sprung a leak. Japan must investigate.

The bank's policy of disclosing information selectively to certain media is harmful and needs to be looked into, as slip-ups in other countries show.
Legislative Council lawmakers in Hong Kong unanimously voted in favor of a new national security law on Tuesday. The legislation introduces penalties such as life imprisonment for crimes related to treason and insurrection.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2024

Is Hong Kong headed for a rubber-stamp legislature?

With the unanimous passing of the new national security law, Hong Kong's "patriotic" council has shown that its willingness to toe the government line.
The United States has abandoned its long-standing demand for World Trade Organization provisions to protect cross-border data flows.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2024

The U.S. is jeopardizing the open internet

The U.S. has changed its stance at the WTO on cross-border data flows, a move that could seriously harm the open internet that so many benefit from.
Though renewable energy can significantly reduce carbon emissions, if growth remains the global economic imperative, increased energy use will prevent us from reaching decarbonization goals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2024

A call for economic degrowth

To achieve the systemic change needed to tackle the climate crisis, we must abandon GDP as the measure of social progress. This is what degrowth calls for.
As of December 2022, the village of Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, had in its stockpile six of the nine items listed in a survey as necessary for women and 10 of the 11 items listed as necessary for babies and infants, doing much better than other municipalities in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 1, 2024

Municipalities push gender-inclusive disaster risk management

Some areas in Okinawa involve more women in decision-making and make an effort at stockpiling relevant items.
Fans wave Chinese national flags during an international friendly match between China and Syria, in Chengdu, China, in 2023.
SOCCER
Mar 26, 2024

Former China soccer chief given life sentence for 'huge' bribery

Chen Xuyuan took advantage of his positions to accept sums totaling 81.03 million yuan, reports said.
International bankers in Tokyo say their compensation remain a fraction of pay in other financial hubs despite booming markets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2024

Bonuses at Japan's global banks underwhelm despite booming markets

Bonuses at international investment banks fell by about 10% on average in Tokyo for 2023, bankers and recruiters have said.
A law enforcement officer patrols the scene of the gun attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

Moscow shooting poses awkward questions for Russia's intelligence agencies

Western security analysts say agencies may have its hands full dealing with the war in Ukraine and political opposition.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2024

Will Boeing leadership shake-up redeem plane-maker with airlines and fliers?

The embattled manufacturer has announced one of the most dramatic overhauls in its century-long history, with three top executives set to depart.
A Russian law enforcement officer walks near the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following a shooting incident, outside Moscow, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

The leader of Islamic State group linked to Moscow attack has global ambitions

The leader of the Afghan branch of the group has overseen its transformation into one of the most fearsome branches of the global Islamist network.
A view of the Dali cargo vessel that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Mar 26, 2024

Baltimore bridge collision sends vehicles tumbling into water

Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a "very serious condition," and were searching for more after the Francis Scott Key Bridge fell into the water.
Cute characters like Pikachu are deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. The global reach of kawaii has contributed to Japan's soft power and international appeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2024

What does the global power of kawaii say about us?

Kawaii is one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. But cuteness is more than just a fad or a commercial success story: It's part of our evolution.
High school students visit seawalls in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Thursday during a weeklong tour of areas hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024

Students from wildfire-struck Hawaii learn about disaster recovery in Miyagi

The students visited four municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture to study their efforts to rebuild following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Afghan evacuees arrive at Narita International Airport in October 2021. Applicants from Afghanistan made up the majority of those recognized as refugees by the Japanese government last year, similar to 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024

Japan granted refugee status to record 303 asylum-seekers in 2023

While this is a jump from the 202 people in 2022 and a new record high, the number is still considerably lower when compared with Western countries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2024

Western business leaders help China challenge economic slump fears

Global executives are keen to show interest in participating in China's giant market despite deepening political tensions and moves to favor local firms.
Kim Yo Jong, who serves as a top adviser to her brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Tuesday that Pyongyang had ruled out holding a leaders' summit with Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

North Korea rules out summit with Japan and rejects more talks

The sister of leader Kim Jong Un said that a meeting was not of interest to the North, alluding to Tokyo's unyielding stance on the abductions issue.
Saudi Arabia fans cheer on the national team during a World Cup qualifying match in Riyadh on March 21.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 27, 2024

Ten years from home World Cup, Saudi Arabia sizes up 'huge challenge'

As the only bidder, Saudi Arabia was anointed host of the 2034 World Cup last October by FIFA.
Japanese chocolatier Yasushi Sasaki holds a box of chocolates in his workshop in the Brussels commune of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2024

A Japanese 'flavor wizard' conquers the homeland of chocolate

Yasushi Sasaki has been named Brussels' chocolatier of the year by the prestigious Gault & Millau food guide.
The Dali cargo vessel that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2024

Baltimore’s freak bridge collapse reverberates from cars to coal

The aftermath of the bridge’s collapse throws another spotlight on the fragile nature of global supply chains.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2024

Concerns mount after two deaths linked to Kobayashi Pharma supplement

A government probe is being conducted to establish whether the supplement, which contains beni kо̄ji red fermented rice, led to the deaths.
Demonstrators on Tuesday in Washington, where the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it's likely to preserve full access to a widely used abortion pill as the justices heard arguments in a case carrying major stakes for reproductive rights and potentially this year's elections.
WORLD / Society
Mar 27, 2024

Judges' mention of 1873 obscenity law opens new front in U.S. war on abortion

Those opposed to the womens' health procedure cite the law as a reason to roll back a 2021 FDA decision allowing an abortion drug to be sent by mail.
Those who are planning to move to new homes are finding themselves either struggling to make a reservation or facing increasingly higher costs.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2024

Japan's moving companies struggle to meet demand amid driver shortage

Charges have increased, even doubled, during the March-April peak moving season as a regulation capping overtime hours for drivers kicks in.
Tesla Model 3 assembly line at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, in 2018. Before the Shanghai plant opened, Fremont was Tesla’s principal factory.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024

A pivot to China saved Elon Musk. It also binds him to Beijing.

Musk is now treading a fine line, sounding the alarm about Chinese rivals, even as he remains reliant on the Chinese market.
Among those who experienced physical abuse from their spouses or partners, 12.6% said they felt that their lives were in danger, according to the government survey conducted late last year.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2024

Record 1 in 5 in Japan report partner abuse, government survey shows

Among married couples, the rate is even higher at 1 in 4.
Activists opposed to lethal autonomous weapons, or so-called killer robots, protest in Berlin in March 2019.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2024

Don’t fear AI in war, fear autonomous weapons

It’s not the algorithmic intelligence in our weapons and nukes but automaticity that poses an existential risk.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
An online army of Chinese nationalists have taken it upon themselves to punish perceived insults to the country — including from some of China’s leading business figures.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

Why are China’s nationalists attacking the country’s heroes?

Many of the grievances seem to be fueled by discontent over China’s economic malaise, potentially making it harder for authorities to quell public anger.
Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), speaks at an election night party in The Hague, Netherlands, on Nov. 22, 2023. The resounding victory of far-right ideologue illustrates the shift in public opinion in the Netherlands since 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024

Populism is scaring away big businesses in the Netherlands

Among the various firms uneasy with the current state of affairs in the Netherlands, tech companies are the most influential.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years