Search - people

 
 
The construction site of a new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2023

Japan set to earmark ¥2 trillion for chips in extra budget

Japan is in the midst of a spending spree to revive its chip industry with an aim to triple the sales of domestically produced semiconductors by 2030.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press conference on the 2023 Enlargement package and the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans at the EU headquarters in Brussels Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Brussels recommends opening EU membership talks with Ukraine

The countries bidding to join the EU join an already crowded field of hopefuls.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Troubled 2025 Osaka Expo could see further cost increases

Amid numerous challenges, Osaka officials hope no further discussions on increasing the budget of the troubled event will be needed.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a news conference during the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday. The Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas on Israel fundamentally changed the nature of this year's meeting.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2023

Dispelling myths about Japan’s ‘balanced’ Middle East diplomacy

Unfortunately, many in the Japanese media do not seem to understand what is really happening in the Middle East.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

U.S. and South Korea condemn North Korean arms transfers to Russia

Antony Blinken's Asian stops follow a whirlwind tour of the Middle East for discussions on the Israel-Hamas war.
A union team captain reacts after SAG-AFTRA approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to bring an end to the 118-day actors strike, at a brewery in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023

Hollywood actors reach tentative deal with studios to end strike

The deal also provides protections against unauthorized use of images generated by artificial intelligence.
By the finale, I had completely bought into Samurai Restaurant Time's spectacle — a neon-lit festival with chants and cheers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023

Samurai Restaurant Time gives kitschy thrills fit for Kabukicho

To replace the defunct Robot Restaurant, the neon-soaked streets of Kabukicho are serving up a kitschy second course.
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.
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."
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2023

Cabinet approves ¥13.1 trillion extra budget to finance fresh stimulus

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appears to be eager to regain popularity with the relief package, but voters aren't convinced.
Au Pay offers points for each transaction up to ¥250,000, with users receiving reward points.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 10, 2023

Six arrested in ¥171 million au Pay points scam

The store owner is believed to have been recruiting people on social media to cooperate with him on the fake transactions.
Myanmar's junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, at a parade in Naypyitaw in March 2021
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2023

Losing ground to rebel alliance, Myanmar junta faces biggest test

The fiercest fighting has been near Myanmar's border with China in northern Shan state.
Ports operator DP World halted internet connectivity at its terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle on Friday to prevent "any ongoing unauthorized access" to its network, a company spokesperson said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 12, 2023

Australia ports firm fights to restore operations after cyber incident

Cybersecurity experts said inadequate safeguards and the stockpiling of sensitive customer information have made Australia a lucrative target for hackers.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023

Japanese island holds disaster drill in shadow of Taiwan threat

Yonaguni is only 110 km from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi.
Newborns are placed in bed after being taken off incubators in Gaza's Shifa hospital after power outage, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Largest Gaza hospital 'not functioning' amid Israeli assault

Hospitals in the enclave's north, including the Shifa complex, are blockaded by Israeli forces and barely able to care for those inside, staff say.
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.
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.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2023

Japan urges China to release national jailed on spy charges

Since China's amended anti-espionage law went into effect in 2015, at least 17 Japanese people have been detained by Chinese authorities.
Britain's former Prime Minister and newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Cameron walks outside 10 Downing Street in London on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Sunak brings back Cameron and sacks controversial interior minister

The return of David Cameron suggests the prime minister wants to bring in a more centrist, experienced hand rather than appease the right of his party.
A hearse carrying the coffin of England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton is driven past Old Trafford stadium ahead of his funeral in Manchester on Monday. Charlton, described by Manchester United as a "giant of the game," died on Oct. 21 at the age of 86.
SOCCER
Nov 14, 2023

Thousands line Manchester streets to bid farewell to Bobby Charlton

The 1966 World Cup winner, widely regarded as one of England's greatest players, died after an accidental fall at his care home on Oct. 21.
A giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington during one of its last days on American soil. Pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji were returned to China on Nov. 8 upon Beijing's request.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023

Pandas don’t play diplomatic hard ball like China does

Panda diplomacy is endangered, with the forced return of three bears from Washington to China an exercise in "dumb power."
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."
AOG, an obscure London-based company, has been accused by aviation regulators of falsifying paperwork and supplying unauthorized components for turbines that power aircraft such as Boeing and Airbus.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023

U.S. DOJ joins probe of fake-parts scandal gripping aviation industry

The U.S. Justice Department's involvement marks the first indication of scrutiny by law enforcement into the issue.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks as he holds a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

U.K. Tories face showdown over sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda

Sacked former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has accused Rishi Sunak of betraying the public and breaking a promise he made to clamp down on immigration.
Ichiro Ozawa (third from right) with other members of parliament at a ceremony to launch a new party in Tokyo in July 2012.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Ichiro Ozawa is once again looking for a way to defeat the LDP

The octogenarian political veteran is looking to cap his long career with another successful drive to defeat the ruling LDP at the polls.
Kuomintang head Eric Chu, Hou Yu-ih, the party's presidential candidate, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and the People’s Party chief Ko Wen-je posing for a group photo in Taipei on Wednesday. The two parties have agreed to team up to take on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in the January election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Taiwan opposition unite to challenge presidential front-runner

The island's two main opposition parties have vowed to renew talks with China even as the ruling party decries interference from Beijing.
Japan’s public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of such facilities in Tokyo alone dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2023

Japan seeks digital detox with return to ‘way of the sauna’

Public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of sentō baths in Tokyo dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in June. Both men met again in early November during which the former told the latter that Iran would not intervene directly following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel faces trial by fire

Iran has built a military alliance over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East.
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.
Armando Aroca, environmentalist, former guerrilla and current nursery manager of the Common Community Multi Active Cooperative (COMUCCOM) farm, points to a mural with the image of murdered environmentalist Jorge Santofimio in Puerto Guzman, Colombia, on June 27.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 16, 2023

How the murders of activists hurt Colombian ecological preservation

Conservationists are targeted as their work poses a threat to illegal activities

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan