Search - 2020

 
 
A person looks at the first sunrise of the year on the beach in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday.
WORLD
Jan 1, 2024

World rings in 2024 after war, bots and 'Barbie'

Jubilant crowds bid farewell on Sunday to the hottest year on record, closing a turbulent 12 months marked by clever chatbots, climate crises and devastating wars.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Dec. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2024

Japan emperor hopes for expanded support for needy people

Emperor Naruhito, in a New Year's message on Monday, expressed his wish that support will expand for people facing difficulties.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Who might succeed Fumio Kishida in 2024?

Several names have emerged as potential candidates for prime minister in the wake of a political funds scandal enveloping the LDP.
People's Liberation Army forces walk near the Sagaing Region in Myanmar on Nov. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Myanmar's 'watermelons': Soldier on the outside, rebel inside

Opposition groups say it is difficult to determine how many members of the security forces supplied information to the resistance, but they play a crucial role.
Paper pulp processed from used disposable diapers
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2024

Graying Japan pushes to recycle disposable diapers to curb waste

The amount of diaper waste grew to 2.2 million tons in fiscal 2020. While efforts are being made to recycle them, high costs remain a hurdle.
Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns on science.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2024

Let’s stop insulting each other as ‘anti-science’

Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns in science.
Naomi Osaka leaves the court after losing her match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday in Brisbane.
TENNIS
Jan 3, 2024

Pliskova rallies to oust Osaka in Brisbane

Osaka had eased through her first tour match in 15 months on Monday but former world No. 1 Pliskova proved an altogether tougher prospect.
Books published by Tuttle Publishing on a bookshelf in Infinity Books in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Saturday
CULTURE / Books
Jan 3, 2024

Asia publishing mainstay Tuttle rides new wave of interest in Japan

The back catalog of Tuttle, which traces its history in Japan to 1948, is in high demand, and it has even branched out to graphic novel versions of classic Asian literature.
China has cast Taiwan's Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections as a choice between war and peace, warning that an attempt to push for the island's formal independence means conflict.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

'Hawkish' China likely to squeeze Taiwan militarily after poll

With both the DPP and KMT pledging to bolster the island's defenses, Beijing is expected to continue its saber-rattling regardless who emerges victorious in the polls.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping after a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21. China has refused to push back against the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, in the hopes that the war would weaken the United States and NATO.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 11, 2023

Europe’s Chinese new year

The last year has solidified China’s status as one of the most salient foreign-policy challenges facing Europe. But it has been a long time coming.
A scientist works on a quantum computer at the IBM Quantum lab in Yorktown Heights, New York.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024

Your money may not survive a quantum heist

Prime numbers have served the internet age well, but the private sector and public authorities can no longer take their continued guardianship for granted.
Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Harvard chief’s abrupt exit exposes decade-spanning rifts

The school’s first Black leader resigned after just six months due to plagiarism allegations and anger over her handling of antisemitism on campus.
Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand, the first openly transgender female Olympian, competes at the Tokyo Games in August 2021.
SPORTS
Jan 4, 2024

Pendulum swings toward tighter measures against transgender athletes

There has been a seismic shift recently in the sporting landscape for trans athletes, with tighter measures coming into force on a divisive issue.
Portugal's Joao Monteiro drives his South Racing CAN-AM ahead of the Dakar RAlly in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 4, 2024

Sharp-shooting Nasser Al-Attiyah takes aim at sixth Dakar title

A 425-strong colorful caravan made up of cars, bikes, quads and trucks sets out from Al-Ula on a treacherous 4,900-mile (7,886 kilometer) odyssey around Saudi Arabia.
A man inspects what remains of his liquor shop which was burnt down by a fire, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2024

Death toll rises in Ishikawa as rescue effort continues amid poor weather

Rain and snow might lead to landslides where the ground is loose as a result of continuing quakes.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, in December last year. Trump's potential return to the White House could have serious implications for the U.S, as well as Japan, as he appears set to be even less inhibited and open to reason than before.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2024

Potential Trump redux: Unrestrained in Asia or bound by a changed region?

A win for the ex-president in November's election would potentially have big implications for Japan, given the death of Shinzo Abe, its most effective “Trump whisperer.”
The Sapporo Snow Festival offers outdoor dining, markets, sports, ice sculptures and more across three event sites.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 6, 2024

Asia's winter festivals: Snow, fire and spectacle galore

The ancient city of Nara wards off the wintertime darkness with an unusual tradition: lighting a local mountain on fire.
Carbon capture could help mitigate emissions at polluting power plants, but with the technology largely unproven at scale, it also risks extending their lives.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 5, 2024

The world’s next big carbon capture challenge? Figuring out how to use it

Fossil fuel industry's involvement raises fears that the technology might be used to prolong oil and gas extraction, while costs and scalability could limit its utility.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns, in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Trump appeal of Colorado ballot disqualification

The case thrusts the court — whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump — into the effort to invalidate his bid to reclaim the White House.
NRA chief Wayne LaPierre speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Indianapolis last April.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2024

Powerful NRA chief Wayne LaPierre resigns ahead of graft trial

LaPierre, 74, chief executive since 1991, steps down just as New York state Attorney General Letitia James brings a corruption trial against the NRA.
Voters cast ballots for the U.S. presidential election at a polling station in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 3, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Trump ballot removals reflect efforts of liberal-funded groups

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Free Speech for People have been catalysts for the yearslong campaign.
Ukrainian officials inspect a Russian cruise missile shot down near Kyiv in January 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2024

U.S. preeminence is threatened by a real 'missile gap'

The U.S. isn’t just being tested politically. Its military dominance also is in question, partly due to overextension.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits the bedside of a person injured in Jan. 3 twin blasts in Kerman, at a hospital in the southern city.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 7, 2024

Middle East player Iran weakened by internal woes

Tehran is accused by the West of playing a key role in unrest plaguing the Middle East, but recent twin bombings are a keen reminder of its own weaknesses.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers his Quad Fellowship Announcement as the leaders of the United States, India and Australia look on after meeting in Tokyo in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2024

Dialogue can boost security where military deterrence can’t

Military buildup without dialogue is too risky — civil society actors in East Asia understand this better than their governments.
Arsenal's Jakub Kiwior scores an own goal in the side's defeat to Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup at Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday.
SOCCER
Jan 8, 2024

Klopp hails Liverpool spirit after FA Cup win at Arsenal

Klopp's side had to survive a sustained Arsenal assault at the Emirates Stadium before two goals in the closing stages gave the team a hard-fought success.
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max-9 aircraft grounded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on Saturday. Alaska Airlines will ground its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max-9 aircraft after a fuselage section in the rear part of the brand-new jet blew out shortly after takeoff last Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 8, 2024

Boeing CEO’s comeback plan for 2024 takes a blow five days in

Alaska Airlines incident could hinder the year's manufacturing pace for 737s amid immense pressure on the planemaker to return its factories to 2019 rates.
Poland's Iga Swiatek serves against Germany's Angelique Kerber during their women's singles final match at the United Cup tennis event in Sydney on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 9, 2024

Swiatek tunes out the noise in search of first Australian Open title

The player got 2024 underway by winning all of her singles matches at the United Cup mixed team tournament, helping Poland to the final.
(From left) The Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-te, who is also Taiwan's vice president, faces off against the main opposition Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih and the Taiwan People's Party's Ko Wen-je on Saturday's presidential election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 9, 2024

Close race emerges as Taiwan election enters final stretch

Expectations that front-runner Lai Ching-te would simply stroll to victory on Saturday have been dashed, with his polling lead having narrowed significantly.
A Joshua Tree is seen as the York fire burns in the distance in the Mojave National Preserve on July 30, 2023. The year of 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2024

2023 declared hottest recorded year as Earth nears key limit

Climate change intensified heatwaves, droughts and wildfires across the planet, and pushed the global thermometer 1.48 C above the preindustrial benchmark.
Elon Musk attends an interview in New York on Nov. 29.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 10, 2024

SEC’s ‘compromised’ account amplifies X mistrust, security concerns

The high-profile breach comes at a time when X and billionaire owner Elon Musk are seeking to win back trust from both users and advertisers.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami