Search - health

 
 
While a new Alzheimer’s test offers hope for early intervention, it also raises complex ethical and practical questions about its implementation and potential impact on individuals' lives.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2024

Do you really want to find out if you'll get Alzheimer's?

Would you want to know there’s something going wrong in your brain — even if there’s no cure?
Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (right) speaks at a news conference with then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after their trilateral summit at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul in November 2015.
JAPAN
May 5, 2024

Japan, China and South Korea arranging summit for May 26-27

The meeting is expected to bring together Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
National flags of the Alliance's members flutter at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

Far right gains expected in EU election may test policy ideals for all

To what extent will mainstream parties, used to working together to pass laws, be willing to cooperate with the extreme right?
Over the past two years, 2.4 million people arrived in Canada, more than the population of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Yet Canada barely added enough housing that would cater to just the residents of the New Mexico capital of Albuquerque.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2024

Global housing shortages are crushing immigration-fueled growth

In developed economies such as Canada, Australia and the U.K., life is getting tougher for both locals and immigrants alike.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson calls on USC President Carol Folt to convene an emergency student dialogue for the protest encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of Southern California's Alumni Park in Los Angeles on April 29.
WORLD
May 6, 2024

Police clear pro-Palestinian encampment at USC

The demonstrations have emerged as a political flash point during a contentious election year as President Joe Biden seeks a second term in office.
French President Emmanuel Macron warns of existential threats to Europe from Russia, China and the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2024

Is this Macron's moment to shine?

Underlying all the problems that Europe faces in a new age of geopolitical, economic and climate insecurity is a crisis in leadership.
Cars pass Chinese flags on a highway ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 6, 2024

China’s billions help Xi make useful friends in Eastern Europe

China's ties with Serbia and Hungary highlight how it's helping transform a corner of Europe when much of the continent views Beijing as a strategic rival.
A man films with a smartphone in front a placard for the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections, and ahead of Saxony's municipal and state elections, in Dresden, eastern Germany, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

German far right's TikTok success sparks rush to platform

Germany's political heavyweights have been spooked by the successes in reaching youth voters ahead of June's European elections.
Supporters of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city of Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

In election videos, India's BJP depicts opposition favoring Muslim minority

The videos reflect a shift in BJP campaign focus, accusing Congress of plans to redistribute Hindu wealth among "infiltrators" who have "more children."
Protesters link arms outside Hamilton Hall barricading students inside the building at Columbia University, despite an order to disband the protest encampment supporting Palestinians or face suspension, in New York on April 30.
WORLD
May 7, 2024

Columbia University cancels main graduation ceremony in wake of protests

The protests drew national attention, inspiringf similar demonstrations at dozens of universities around the country.
Head of North Korean propaganda Kim Ki Nam has died at 94.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 8, 2024

North Korea propaganda boss who shaped image of leaders dies at 94

He played an essential role in shaping the country’s messaging as leadership transferred to Kim Jong Il, and helped in the succession of Kim Jong Un.
A member of staff at Momuri responds to a request for assistance in submitting a resignation in Tokyo on April 18.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024

Japan's workers turning to agencies that help them quit jobs

One firm that provides such a service saw the highest-ever number of requests following the long Golden Week holiday.
Despite Shinzo Abe's numerous achievements as prime minister, including job creation and efforts to promote workforce gender equality, recent controversies surrounding his tenure, including ties to controversial groups and scandals within his political faction, have tarnished his image.
COMMENTARY
May 7, 2024

The economic legacy of Japan's longest-serving prime minister

Under Abenomics and the BOJ's monetary policy, employment rose more than under any other Japanese government in the 21st century.
Displaced Palestinians construct makeshift shelters in the rubble of destroyed homes after fleeing from Rafah, in central Khan Younis, Gaza, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2024

Biden warns he’d hold back more weapons if Israel invades Rafah

U.S. President Biden's warning does not signify a break with Israel, U.S. officials said, but is rather to exert as much pressure as possible.
Cambodia's then-Prime Minister Hun Sen and Aung San Suu Kyi walk past the honor guard during her visit to Phnom Penh on April 30, 2019. Myanmar's junta said on Wednesday that it would not permit Hun Sen to meet with Suu Kyi, who has been detained since a 2021 coup.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

Myanmar junta rebuffs Hun Sen's request to meet Suu Kyi

Cambodia's former leader said he had requested a meeting with the Nobel laureate, detained since 2021, during talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
With a rise in the number of single elderly people in Japan, local governments are offering support for their end-of-life preparations.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2024

Japan local governments offering support for end-of-life preparations

According to a health ministry survey, the number of single-person households with members aged 65 or older came to 8.73 million in 2022.
Ryo Wakabayashi, a distal myopathy patient, lives alone in the city of Fukushima.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 20, 2024

Persistence pays off with approval of distal myopathy drug

The disease is estimated to affect only 300 to 400 people in Japan.
Israeli soldiers walk amid military vehicles near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel, on Thursday. Washington has long urged the Israeli government not to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip without safeguards for civilians.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2024

Israel due to get more U.S. weapons despite Biden pause

A range of military equipment worth billions of dollars, some in the works since December, remain in the pipeline as a result of a slow approval process.
The Upper House passes a security clearance bill on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Japan's parliament enacts new economic security clearance bill

The new law will work in conjunction with an existing law on the protection of specially designated secrets.
Palestinians sit on an animal-pulled cart as they move to safer areas in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Friday amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2024

U.S. working to keep Israel and Hamas engaged in Gaza truce efforts

The United Nations warned that aid for Gaza could grind to a halt within days after Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing.
CIA Director William Burns testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 11.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 11, 2024

U.S. spy chief becomes key envoy as Biden-Netanyahu ties fray

CIA Director William Burns is quietly keeping Washington’s lines of communication open across the Middle East.
Smoke billows from an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD
May 12, 2024

Fighting rages across Gaza as U.N. chief urges 'immediate cease-fire'

Correspondents and witnesses and said Israeli air strikes pounded parts of northern, central and southern Gaza during the night and into Sunday morning.
Nemo representing Switzerland appears on stage after winning the Grand Final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 12, 2024

Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision Song Contest

Twenty-four-year-old Nemo's "The Code" won the highest score from nations' juries, and enough of the popular votes to get 591 points.
Activists from Amnesty International march in support of the Uyghurs during Chinese President Xi Jinping's two-day state visit in France on May 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 13, 2024

China accused of targeting overseas citizens for political activism

Students said their family in China received threats after they attended events such as the commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks at the Congress of South African Trade Unions National Worker's Day rally at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Who’s who in South Africa’s tightest post-apartheid election

For the first time since White-minority rule ended, South Africa is heading into national elections in which an outright winner isn’t apparent.
Smoke billows following Israeli strikes on the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) on October 11, 2023.
WORLD / Society
May 13, 2024

Gazans strive to study as war shatters education system

The U.N. estimates that 72.5% of schools in Gaza will need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation.
Lawrence Wong will become Singapore's fourth prime minister on Wednesday. He will be tasked with steering the city-state into new territory as its economy slows down and its population ages rapidly.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2024

New Singaporean PM faces some economic headwinds

Lawrence Wong will be sworn in as the city-state's fourth prime minister on Wednesday. Despite Singapore's strong economy, new challenges lie ahead.
Pending the offer’s success, I’rom Group will be delisted and Blackstone will own 55% of the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2024

Blackstone to take Japan drug trial firm private in management buyout

A tender offer will be made to acquire I’rom Group shares at ¥2,800 per share — a roughly 50% premium to Monday’s closing price of ¥1,873.
Singapore Prime Minister-designate Lawrence Wong at the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting in Indonesia in 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 14, 2024

Singapore PM-designate Lawrence Wong keeps old guard in reshuffle

Wong picked Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong as his deputy, keeping the Cabinet of outgoing leader Lee Hsien Loong largely intact.
An employee at Otsuka Foods has filed a damages suit against the company with the Otsu District Court in Shiga Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 14, 2024

Otsuka Foods whistleblower sues company for work-related depression

The man has claimed he suffered from depression after being reassigned and given little work following a report over the company's alleged wrongdoing.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past