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The buzz surrounding MediaTek casts a spotlight on growing competition between semiconductor firms that are exploiting the use of AI to grab a larger share of the smartphone business.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2023

AI chip boom fuels Taiwan firm’s 40% rally, beating Qualcomm

A five-month rally in MediaTek looks set to extend as booming demand for smartphones and a promising new AI chip brighten the company’s outlook.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane poses in his new Suntory Sungoliath uniform at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 28, 2023

All Blacks captain Cane looks 'to evolve' game during Japan stint

Cane is one of several All Blacks moving to Japan for the new domestic season, which kicks off on Dec. 9.
An advertisement for Lai Ching-te, whose presidential campaign was the target of an audio deepfake, in Taipei on Nov. 14. Ahead of a presidential election in January, Taiwanese fact checkers and watchdogs say they are ready for Beijing. But they are still worried.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

Can Taiwan continue to fight off Chinese disinformation?

Ahead of a presidential election in January, Taiwanese fact checkers and watchdogs say they are ready for Beijing. But they are still worried.
Disney CEO Bob Iger
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023

Disney CEO Bob Iger says company is ready to start building

CEO Bob Iger said the company is poised to begin building its business again, after a year of restructuring.
The Amazon.com logo on a laptop. The online retailer has announced the launch of its own AI chatbot, Q.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023

Pursuing rivals, Amazon announces corporate AI chatbot

Last year's Amazon Web Services trade show was overshadowed by the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which quickly wowed users.
A Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024, at a time when rivals are on the attack with competitive pricing and reward campaigns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023

Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone

Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's vision of a low-cost network using cloud-based software and cheap hardware did not pan out.
With COP28 taking place during a year set to be the hottest on record, the need for more progress has never been greater.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 29, 2023

Japan's relationship with coal likely to be in focus at COP28

With the climate talks taking place during a year set to be the hottest on record, the need for more progress has never been greater.
Demonstrators protest outside India's consulate in Vancouver on Sept. 25, one a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023

Indian official was behind plot to assassinate Sikh American in U.S., DOJ says

The target has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs.
GMC Hummer electric vehicles on the production line at General Motors' Factory ZERO all-electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2023

GM commits billions to shareholder returns as EV push stalls

"We have confidence in the cash generation of this company”
Honda will invest ¥500 billion in its electric motorcycle business by 2030.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2023

Honda to invest $3.4 billion in electric motorcycles by 2030

The company plans to introduce 30 new electric motorcycle models worldwide by the same year.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger listens to a question at the China Development Forum in Beijing in 2015.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023

Henry Kissinger, controversial American diplomat, dies at 100

While many hailed Kissinger for his brilliance and broad experience, others branded him a war criminal for his support for anti-communist dictatorships.
A sign at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 7, 2023

How AI fits into China's raft of global initiatives

The administration of President Xi Jinping has recently attached great importance to AI technology and is actively set on promoting it.
Hayao Miyazaki came out of retirement this year with “The Boy and the Heron,” which opened to critical acclaim and has so far earned ¥8.56 billion — a good showing but not enough to take the top spot at the box office for the year.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Nov 30, 2023

The year that defined the post-Miyazaki era

The success of “Oshi no Ko,” “Detective Conan” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” proved that anime is the mainstream now.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, speaks during a news conference in Kyiv in Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023

Zelenskyy faces manpower dilemma in Ukraine’s stalled offensive

Both sides have recruitment issues almost two years into the war
Pages from a new Otaku Dictionary catalog the lexicons of Japan’s various subcultures.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 30, 2023

A problematic otaku dictionary and the Japanese approach to sitting

An “Otaku Dictionary” has Japan’s subcultures upset at an attempt to define them.
Rules changes will limit the weighing of gymnasts in Britain.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 30, 2023

Britain restricts weighing of gymnasts in wake of abuse

Gymnasts who are 11 and older in Britain may now be weighed only with their permission and with the permission of a parent if they are under 18.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 30, 2023

Panel submits final report on Japan's foreign trainee program

After roughly a year of meetings, the cumulative report contains recommendations on a newly designed policy.
Chef Masato Nishihara chose Nara as the site for his restaurant, Tsukumo, for its antiquity, its proximity to nature and its ancient connections with overseas cultures.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 3, 2023

Tsukumo: Japanese cuisine inspired by Nara's ancient roots

Like the treasures housed inside Nara's Shosoin repository, it may be years before chef Masato Nishihara reprises some of his exquisite dishes at Tsukumo.
Tesla's new Cybertruck is displayed at a Tesla store in San Diego on Nov. 20.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023

Tesla's Cybertruck is priced 50% higher than initial estimate

Cybertruck's new body material and unconventional, futuristic styling has added complexity and costs to production.
A man walks past national flags of participating countries at the venue of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 1, 2023

Early pledges on 'loss and damage' fund build shaky trust at COP28

More pledges are expected to be made to the new fund during the two-week COP28.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with Angolan President Joao Lourenco during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2023

Biden’s unfulfilled vow to visit Africa renews fears of neglect

Work to revitalize U.S.-Africa ties to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence may be taking a back seat to the Ukraine war and Gaza conflict.
New Zealand's Ardie Savea (right) in action with South Africa's Jean Kleyn at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on Oct. 28
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 1, 2023

All Black Savea eager to test himself with Japan move

The All Blacks loose forward has signed for Kobe Steelers on a one-season deal that means he will not miss any games for his country.
Gen Nakatani, then-special adviser to the prime minister for international human rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 1, 2023

Kishida’s puzzling decision to ax his human rights adviser

Why did the prime minister eliminate the post of special adviser on human rights from the Cabinet and what does this mean for Tokyo's foreign policy?
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Dec 2, 2023

The entertainment story of the year is long overdue

As entertainment heavyweights Johnny & Associates and Takarazuka Revue are hit by scandals, hope for reform emerges with changing attitudes toward abuse.
A worker at the Ford F-150 Lightning plant in Dearborn, Michigan in April last year. New government rules will try to shift more production of electric vehicle batteries and the materials that power them to the United States.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2023

U.S. sets limits on Chinese content to receive EV tax credits

The guidelines establish a 25% ownership threshold for a company or group to be classified as a foreign entity of concern.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at a high-level segment at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2023

U.S. lays out plan at COP28 to slash methane emissions from oil and gas

The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai.
The Idaho National Laboratory, Materials and Fuels Complex. Researchers there were the first to generate electricity from splitting the atom back in 1951, and countless scientists have since visited the remote site to test reactor designs.
WORLD
Dec 3, 2023

The future of nuclear energy will be decided in Idaho

It’s been 50 years since the last reactor was switched on there, which speaks to the challenges of harnessing a fission reaction.
Ukrainian Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Sushkevych has said a recent vote to allow Russian athletes to compete at the Paris Games was tainted.
PARALYMPICS
Dec 3, 2023

Ukrainians strive to force IPC into Russia Paralympics U-turn

Sushkevych says he has "new facts" that reveal the extent of the Russian Paralympic Committee's support for the war in Ukraine.
If we let writers and translators be replaced by AI tools such as ChatGPT, we lose control over language and how it shapes us.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2023

When we abandon language to AI, we abandon our humanity

Not only does AI threaten writers' and translators' jobs, giving it control over how we shape and are shaped by language is detrimental to who we are.
A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. semiconductor wafer. Osaka-based Fuso Chemical, which has gone into debt rather than raise prices, counts TSMC as one of its clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 4, 2023

Key maker of chip materials goes into debt rather than raise prices

Osaka-based Fuso Chemical is bearing the cost to help churn out bigger volumes of sophisticated chips without asking customers for more.

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